Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

Better conceiv'd than describ'd : the life and times of Captain James King (1750-84), Captain Cook's friend and colleague /Steve Ragnall. Better Conceiv'd than Describ'd is the first full biography of James King - the interesting, though tragically short-lived, Royal Navy Officer in the reign of George III. Captain James King's adventurous life saw him lay claim to Alaska in the name of George III, fight as a frigate captain in the American War of Independence and test the marine chronometer that revolutionised navigation. Starting in the small town of Clitheroe (in Lancashire), and taking us to the edges of the then known world on a great voyage of discovery, this book shows the development of James King not only as a sailor but also as an astronomer sponsored by the Board of Longitude, while also examining the death of Captain Cook at the hands of the Hawaiians. With cameo appearances from Horatio Nelson, the infamous William Bligh, society artist Sir Joshua Reynolds, diarist Fanny Burney and statesman Edmund Burke, this is a 'who's who' of Georgian society and shows the importance of patronage in the second half of the 18th century. 2013. • BOOK • 2 copies available. 92KING, JAMES

Combat divers : an illustrated history of special forces divers /Michael G. Welham. "Combat divers are an elite within an elite. Every special forces combat diver is required to pass selection twice - first into the elite military unit and then a combat diving qualification. The combat dive units themselves are tiny and the operations highly classified. The role of a military diver is inevitably a lonely and a dangerous one, whether clearing mines or striking from the sea against enemy-held targets. Fully illustrated with rare and unusual images, Combat Divers reveals their little-known yet fascinating operations, from Dutch Special Forces combat divers covertly operating against Somali pirates to the actions of Soviet Spetsnaz divers in Swedish territorial waters during the Cold War. It also examines how the most famous units, such as the US Navy SEALs and the Royal Navy's SBS, are currently operating and adapting to threats in a multitude of theatres. Combat Divers gives an insight into specialist kit and vehicles presently used and equipment that is being developed and trialed throughout the world. Covering a variety of kit, from dry deck shelters to mini-submarines and swimmer delivery vehicles, former Royal Marines Commando Michael G. Welham draws on his own extensive diving experience to reveal exactly how this equipment is used by special forces dive teams. As their kit and equipment constantly evolve, so does the nature of their work and even the team element. Combat Divers also details the first female combat divers and includes their own first-hand accounts about their groundbreaking roles within their respective units to create a fascinating history of these elite special forces operatives."--Provided by the publisher. 2023. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 359.21:629.024

Duel in the deep : the hunters, the hunted, and a high seas fight to the finish /David Sears. "In autumn 1943 the Battle of the Atlantic, World War II's longest seagoing campaign, reached a new crescendo. Anti-submarine aircraft and ships using new tactics, technologies, weaponry dominated a seascape where German U-boats once ruled supreme. But then unexpectedly, in eerie, mid-ocean darkness, an elemental hull-to-deck, sailor-to-submariner duel erupted. On Halloween Eve, U.S. Navy destroyer Borie, an outmoded, thin-skinned 'tin can' of World War I vintage, set out alone to track down an elusive U-boat. Borie had thus far toiled in the war?s backwaters, her crew of young reservists anxious to prove its mettle. When Borie trapped U-405 on the surface, that chance arrived. As Borie's deck guns unleashed withering fire and U-40's skipper angled his submarine to launch torpedoes, Borie's young skipper - a salesman in civilian life - resorted to the original (and once the only) means of sinking a submarine: ramming, full speed ahead, consequences be damned. Borie's slashing collision with U-405 ignited a swashbuckling, no-holds-barred brawl of cannons, machine guns, small arms, and even knives and spent shell casings. In the wreckage-strewn aftermath, desperate sailors on both sides fought for survival in a heaving, frigid, unforgiving sea. Duel in the Deep weaves together high-stakes strategy and lethal gamesmanship with poignant human backstories, pounding air/surface/subsurface action, epic heroism, and wrenching sacrifice."-- 2023. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.54/293

An Universal dictionary of the marine : or a copious explanation of the technical terms and phrases employed in the construction, equipment, furniture, machinery, movements, and military operations of a ship, illustrated with variety of original designs of shipping, in different situations; together with separate views of their masts, sails, yards and rigging. To which is annexed, a translation of the French sea-terms and phrases, collected from the works of Mess. Du Hamel, Aubin, Saverien, etc. / By William Falconer, author of The Shipwreck. Falconer, William, 1780. • RARE-FOLIO • 1 copy available. 094:629.12(038)

Representing slavery : art, artefacts and archives in the collections of the National Maritime Museum /edited by Douglas Hamilton and Robert J. Blyth. 2007. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 326.1:7

The German fleet at war, 1939-1945 / Vincent P. O'Hara. "The German Fleet at War relates the little-known history of the Kriegsmarine's surface fleet with a focus on the sixty-nine surface naval battles fought by Germany's major warships against the large warships of the British, French, American, Polish, Soviet, Norwegian and Greek navies. It emphasizes operational details but also paints a broad overview of the naval war. The book addresses the lack of information about the specifics of naval engagements in World War II and provides a database of naval engagements for comparison and analysis, but unlike most reference works, it has a continuous narrative and a theme. The result is a unique overview of the German and Allied navies at war that provides new appreciation of their activities and accomplishments."--Publisher description. 2011. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.545.9(43)"1939/1945"

Indonesia pilot : volume II south coast of Jawa, north coast of Jawa east of Tanjung Awarawar, east coast of Jawa, Nusa Tegnara, south coast of Kalimantan east of Tanjung Puting, east coast of Kalimantan south of the parallel of 4 deg 10' N, Sulawesi and the west part of Kepulauan Sula Great Britain. Hydrographic Department 1976. • FOLIO • 5 copies available. 527.83

Movements of HM ships and submarines : unsunk. Great Britain.-Admiralty 1939-1945]. • FOLIO • 26 copies available. 940.545.9(42)

German destroyers of World War II / Gerhard Koop and Klaus-Peter Schmolke. "The warships of the World War II era German Navy are among the most popular subject in naval history with an almost uncountable number of books devoted to them. However, for a concise but authoritative summary of the design history and careers of the major surface ships it is difficult to beat a series of six volumes written by Gerhard Koop and illustrated by Klaus-Peter Schmolke. Each contains an account of the development of a particular class, a detailed description of the ships, with full technical details, and an outline of their service, heavily illustrated with plans, battle maps and a substantial collection of photographs. These have been out of print for ten years or more and are now much sought after by enthusiasts and collectors, so this new modestly priced reprint of the series will be widely welcomed. All the 40 or so German destroyers that saw service during the war are detailed in this book, including captures ships. Chapters range from their design and development, armament and machinery, to appearance differences, camouflage schemes and modifications. It also covers their careers and the many actions they fought, all illustrated with plans, technical drawings, maps, and a comprehensive gallery of photographs."--Provided by the publisher. 2014. • BOOK • 2 copies available. 623.823.1(43)"1939/1945"

Fifteen months in the Antarctic / by Adrien de Gerlache de Gomery ; translated by Maurice Raraty ; with foreword by Baron Gaston de Gerlache de Gomery. "The Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897-9 was the most cosmopolitan of the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration - and one of the most lucky. Led by Lt. Adrien de gerlache of the Royal Belgian Navy it was underfunded from the start and ill prepared to overwinter in the pack ice. Despite being stuck in the ice for almost a year the ship survived without serious damage. The mixture of nationalities - Belgian, Polish, Norwegian, American, Rumanian, Russian - ensured that communication was always a problem and this was exacerbated when they were all trapped inside the cold, damp ship in the winter. That all ended well was largely due to just four men: the American doctor Frederick Cook, the Norwegian second mate, Roald Amundsen, the Belgian first mate, George Lecointre and de Gerlache himself. The earliest known photographs of Antarctica were taken during this expedition."--Provided by the publisher. 1998. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.4(99)"1897/1899"

The wolf packs gather : mayhem in the Western Approaches 1940 /Bernard Edwards. "As a direct result of the capture of the British steamer City of Baghdad's secret code books by the German surface raider Atlantis in July 1940, the Nazis were able to de-cypher Admiralty convoy plans with deadly effect. Admiral Doenitz, aware of the movements of the Allied convoys, marshalled as many of his U-boats as possible.This book describes the resulting appalling Allied losses suffered by four convoys during the Autumn of 1940. The first convoy, SC2, consisting of fifty-three merchantmen, was attacked in early September by four U-boats. Due to poor weather only five ships were lost. Shortly afterwards, HX72, sailing from Nova Scotia, lost eleven of its forty-one ships to five Type VIIC U-boats. Top Aces Otto Kretschremer and Joachim Schepke, who penetrated inside the columns, accounted for nine. No less than nine U-boats attacked SC7 in October 1940. Of thirty-five merchantmen a staggering twenty were lost. Despite being a 'fast' convoy with ten escorts, HX79 also fared terribly losing twelve ships. In total forty-eight merchantmen were sunk and seven more damaged without any U-boat losses at all. A superbly researched and authoritative account of the darkest hours of the Battle of the Atlantic, The Wolf Packs Gather is a tragic account of unprecedented losses of seamen, ships and cargo from these merciless attacks on the four convoys. The Author, a much published and distinguished historian and Merchant Navy captain, is well qualified to describe not only the German tactics but the inadequacies of the Allied counter-measures."--Provided by the publisher. 2011. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.545.9

The aircraft carrier story 1908-1945 "Aircraft carriers came of age in the Second World War [?] Operating from their mobile bases, able to fly in all but the worst weather, no longer limited in their potential range from land, carrier aircraft could attack and defend with a freedom that changed the conduct of war at sea for ever. [...] this detailed history tells of the early days in the First World War, when seaplanes had to be lowered from the ship to take off from the sea and winched aboard again on their return. [...] The author examines Royal Navy, American and Japanese progress in carrier development and strategy through the interwar years, showing how naval powers gradually shifted their thinking to favour the carrier. Together with sharply reported accounts of wartime engagements, concentrating on US carrier deployment, this book offers a valuable account of the most significant weapons platform to have emerged in the mid-twentieth century."--Provided by the publisher. 2001 • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.822.7"1908/1945"

Early naval air power : british and german approaches /Dennis Haslop "This work provides new insights as to how two naval air services were influenced by internal and political interventions, and how each was integrated into the organizational structures of the Royal Navy and the Kaiserlichemarine (KM). Both the Admiralty and the KM made substantial alterations to their organizations and doctrine in the process. Principal air doctrines employed are examined chronologically and the application of operational doctrine is described. While they adopted similar air doctrines, there were differences in operational doctrine, which they addressed according to their different requirements. This book is a comparative study about the development of organization and air power doctrine in the RNAS (Royal Naval Air Service) and the IGNAS (Imperial German Naval Air Service). It investigates public and political interventions and early concepts of air power, placing into context the factors which contributed to how naval theorists came to think about the best means of controlling its working medium, air space. Ultimately, it examines the similarities, and differences, between the RNAS and IGNAS understanding of naval air power, within the broader strategic and theoretical framework of their parent organizations."--Provided by the publisher 2018. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.74(42:43)

Sail & steam : a century of maritime enterprise, 1840-1935 :photographs from the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich /John Falconer. Falconer, John, 1993. • FOLIO • 3 copies available. 629.123

German battleship Helgoland : detailed in the original builders' plans /Aidan Dodson. "Alongside its incomparable archive of British warship plans, the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich also holds a selection of drawings from foreign sources. Among the gems of this collection are a number of German warships dating from the First World War era. These are official plans, acquired by the Naval Inter-Allied Commission of Control as part of the peace treaty, and very similar in style, detail and draughtsmanship to Royal Navy 'as fitted' general arrangements, including the use of coloured line and washes. The very best of these, in terms of the completeness of coverage and the visual impact of the drawings, relates to the battleship SMS Helgoland, launched in 1909. The name-ship of the second class of dreadnoughts designed by the Germans, she was a big advance over the earlier Westfalen class, having 12in guns that matched those of her British opponents. She served in the High Seas Fleet throughout the war, fought at Jutland, and was ceded to Britain as part of the peace terms - which is probably why the plans are at Greenwich - and was broken up in 1924. This book is the latest in a series based entirely on original draughts which depict famous warships in an unprecedented degree of detail. Using the latest scanning technology to make digital copies of the highest quality, it reproduces complete sets in full colour, with many close-ups and enlargements that make every aspect clear and comprehensible. Extensive captions point the reader to important features to be found in the plans, and an introduction covers the background to the design. The result is a novel form of anatomy that will be a revelation to any warship enthusiast."--Provided by the publisher. 2019. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.82HELGOLAND

Schnellbootwaffe : Adolf Hitler's guerrilla warfare at sea: S-Boote 1939-1945 ; rare photographs from wartime archives /Hrvoje Spajic. "The Schnellbootwaffe was created in the early 1930s, before the Second World War, in concurrence with the regenerated Kriegsmarine, and young officers, most of whom learned their craft in the old Imperial Navy, would take responsibility for the operational use of these revolutionary vessels. Working with the naval engineers of Lurssen Shipyard, the Germans designed combat weapons that were never surpassed by their opponents. After the first series of Schnellboote were launched, constantly improved versions of these vessels would follow. The Schnellbootwaffe would achieve significant victories for the Kriegsmarine at the beginning of the war by using these vessels in high-level strategies, including a style of guerrilla warfare. The British often call German torpedo boats E-boats, and these fast vessels were a genuine threat not only to coastal trade, but also to the movement of Allied ships after D-Day. Indeed, Admiral Rudolf Petersen's flotillas remained combat-ready until the very end, even after the balance of power was in favour of the Allies. Allied air bombardment of German torpedo boat bases from 1944 onwards failed to destroy the offensive potential of the Schnellboote and their crews. The Allied disaster at Lyme Bay at the end of April 1944 shows how this guerrilla war at sea was still dangerous, even at this stage of the war. The Allied invasions plans were not yet known to the Germans, but Eisenhower learned a great deal from Lyme Bay and the Schnellbootwaffe was still potentially dangerous right until the end of the war. This book tells the fascinating story about these special people, whose pirate spirit and guerrilla style of naval combat is reminiscent of the ancient pirates and their own way of warfare."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.545943

The coal black sea : Winston Churchill and the worst naval catastrophe of the First World War /Stuart Heaver. "On the morning of 22 September 1914, just six weeks into the First World War, three Royal Navy armoured cruisers were sunk by a German U-boat in the southern North Sea. The action lasted less than 90 minutes but the lives of 1,459 men and boys were lost - more than the British losses at the Battle of Trafalgar or in the sinking of RMS Lusitania. Yet, curiously, few have ever heard of the incident. The Coal Black Sea tells the extraordinary true story of the disaster from the perspectives of the men serving on HMS Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy, and the German submariners who orchestrated the attack. It also examines how the ignominious loss provoked widespread criticism of the highly ambitious First Lord of the Admiralty, the 39-year-old Winston Churchill. While the families of the victims grieved, Churchill succeeded in playing down the significance of the disaster and shifted the blame to those serving at sea to save his faltering career. Using a range of official and archival records, Stuart Heaver exposes this false narrative and corrects over a century of misinformation to honour those who lost their lives in the worst naval catastrophe of the First World War."--Provided by the publisher. 2022. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.45941

Survivors of enemy action : experiences of merchant seamen, 1939-1945 /Bernard Edwards. "The war years 1939 - 1945 were the most perilous in the long history of the British Merchant Navy. The figures speak for themselves. With 2,535 ships sunk and 36,749 merchant seamen lost, the proportional casualty rate was higher than any branch of the Armed Forces except for Bomber Command. The danger to the lightly armed merchant ships came from enemy air attacks, surface warships, raiders and, of course submarines. Prisoners were seldom taken so the crews of stricken vessels had to fend for themselves. Those who survived enemy action faced death by drowning, exposure and lack of food and water. Compiled mainly from experiences related direct to the author, this inspiring book draws on first-hand accounts of the lucky few who survived. With extraordinary honesty and modesty their stories describe the events leading up to the enemy attack, the actions and the aftermath. Readers will be struck by the courage and fortitude of these men who often suffered extreme hardship and privation. Too many died before reaching land or being rescued. These men are without doubt the unsung heroes of the Second World War and this fine book is an overdue recognition of their sacrifices and courage."--Provided by the publisher. 2023. • BOOK • 2 copies available. 940.545941

The problem of protecting the underwater hull of the wooden vessel Upham, N E 1978 • PAMPHLET • 6 copies available. 629.12.011.1.004.5

The birth of the Royal Marines, 1664-1802 / Britt Zerbe. The Royal Marines come from a long and proud tradition dating back to 1664. However, the first incarnation of the service, the Marine Regiments, was plagued by structural and operational difficulties. The formation of the British Marine Corps at the onset of the Seven Years War in 1755 was a defining moment, for this was the first time the government gave operational priority to the Navy. Following many trials and tribulations, in 1802 the British Marine Corps were made the Royal Marines, giving them official sanction and permanency that has continued to the present day. This book explores the long period between the Corps of Marines' inception and its Royal codification in 1802. Based on extensive original research, it charts the development of the marines' organisational structures and the Corps' rapid expansion and change. It examines the operations and tasks the marines were required to undertake, showing how special operational requirements and organisational structures combined to give rise to the Royal Marines' distinctive identity, quite separate from exclusively land-based or exclusively maritime-based forces. Amongst a great deal of fascinating detail, the book provides interesting information on how marines were recruited, from what social backgrounds they came, how they were trained, how they were paid, and how their key duties included guarding against mutiny and desertion, and being available as an imperial "rapid reaction force". The book includes extensive material on the many, very varied actions in which the marines were involved, worldwide, including the famous, successful action against American rebels at Boston's Bunker Hill in 1775."--Provided by the publisher. 2013. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.353.4

River gunboats : An illustrated encylopaedia /Roger Branfill-Cook "The first recorded engagement by a steam-powered warship took place on a river, when in 1824 the Honourable East India Company?s gunboat Diana went into action on the Irrawaddy in Burma. In the 150 years that followed river gunboats played a significant part in over forty campaigns and individual actions, down to the Portuguese and American ?Brown Water? fighting in Africa and Vietnam respectively at the end of the twentieth century. They proved to be the decisive factor in operations against the Maoris, with Gordon?s Ever Victorious Army in China, during the river campaigns of the American Civil War, in the French conquest of Indochina, during Kitchener?s advance on Khartoum, and on the Rufiji and Tigris during the Great War. River gunboats fought for the Paris Commune, on the rivers of South America, against the Bolsheviks, and during the Second World War in the open waters of the Mediterranean, while armoured Soviet gunboats fought German Panzers, and a pair of ?Girls? attacked the Japanese on the banks of the Irrawaddy. This lavishly illustrated encyclopaedia describes vessels of every nation designed as river gunboats, plus those converted river steamers which took part in combat. Maps of the river systems where they operated are included, together with narratives of the principal actions involving river gunboats. Their story is brought up-to-date with data on current riverine combat vessels in service today."--Provided by the publisher. 2016. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.824

Unruly desires : American sailors and homosexualities in the age of sail /William Benemann. "In its voracious hunger to fill its decks and spars with the bodies of strong young sailors, the nineteenth century US Navy and the commercial maritime industry welcomed eccentrics, criminals, outcasts and misfits into a community of the marginalized, one that held very different values and expectations than the towns and villages from which the young men fled, a community that offered a tentative refuge to men who were sexually attracted to other men. Drawing from biographies and autobiographies, diaries, newspapers, government reports, Congressional hearings, religious tracts, pornography, ships' logs, medical treatises, maritime fiction, court-martial reports, personal letters and business correspondence, Benemann provides an in-depth examination of nineteenth century homosexual culture as it developed at sea and in America's port cities." [2019] • BOOK • 1 copy available. txt

The Beaver : first steamship on the west coast "The Beaver was the first, and for many years the only, steamship to work on the west coast of North America. Built for the Hudson's Bay Company, she was launched in London in 1835 and came out around Cape Horn under sail, a journey of over seven months. When she arrived at Fort Vancouver (now Vancouver, Washington), on the Columbia River, her paddlewheels were assembled and her boiler fired up for her first working trip under steam power. The Hudson's Bay Company intended her to serve as a floating fur-trade post, and over the years, skippered by Captain W.H. McNeill, she travelled many thousands of miles up and down the coast, in the quest for furs. Later, she was chartered to the Royal Navy for use as a survey vessel under the command of Lieutenant Daniel Pender, and again, she probed every waterway of the intricate coast. In 1874 the Beaver was sold and worked as a towboat until, in 1888, she was wrecked on the rocks of Prospect Point, at the entrance to Vancouver Harbour. [..] This is the 'biography' of the Beaver, a ship that made an unparallelled contribution to the history of the west coast."--Provided by the publisher. 1993 • BOOK • 2 copies available. 629.123.21(711)

Naval power and expeditionary warfare : peripheral campaigns and new theatres of naval warfare /edited by Bruce A. Elleman and S.C.M. Paine. 2011. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.462

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