Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

Englishmen at sea : labor and the nation at the dawn of empire, 1570-1630 /Eleanor Hubbard. "Drawing on a wealth of understudied sources, historian Eleanor Hubbard explores the labor conflicts behind the rise of the English maritime empire. Freewheeling Elizabethan privateering attracted thousands of young men to the sea, where they acquired valuable skills and a reputation for ruthlessness. Peace in 1603 forced these predatory seamen to adapt to a radically changed world, one in which they were expected to risk their lives for merchants' gain, not plunder. Merchant trading companies expected sailors to relinquish their unruly ways and to help convince overseas rulers and trading partners that the English were a courteous and trustworthy 'nation'. Some sailors rebelled, becoming pirates and renegades; others demanded and often received concessions and shares in new trading opportunities. Treated gently by a state that was anxious to promote seafaring in order to man the navy, these determined sailors helped to keep the sea a viable and attractive trade for Englishmen." --Provided by publisher. 2021 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 382.0942009031

Cayman's 1794 Wreck of the Ten Sail : peace, war, and peril in the Caribbean /Margaret E. Leshikar-Denton. "The story has been passed through generations for more than two centuries. Details vary depending on who is doing the telling, but all refer to this momentous maritime event as the Wreck of the Ten Sail. Sometimes misunderstood as the loss of a single ship, it was in fact the wreck of ten vessels at once, comprising one of the most dramatic maritime disasters in all of Caribbean naval history. Surviving historical documents and the remains of the wrecked ships in the sea confirm that the narrative is more than folklore. It is a legend based on a historical event in which HMS Convert, formerly L'Inconstante, a recent prize from the French, and 9 of her 58-ship merchant convoy sailing from Jamaica to Britain, wrecked on the jagged eastern reefs of Grand Cayman in 1794. The incident has historical significance far beyond the boundaries of the Cayman Islands. It is tied to British and French history during the French Revolution, when these and other European nations were competing for military and commercial dominance around the globe. The Wreck of the Ten Sail attests to the worldwide distribution of European war and trade at the close of the eighteenth century. In Cayman's 1794 Wreck of the Ten Sail: Peace, War, and Peril in the Caribbean, Margaret E. Leshikar-Denton focuses on the ships, the people, and the wreck itself to define their place in Caymanian, Caribbean, and European history. This well-researched volume weaves together rich oral folklore accounts, invaluable supporting documents found in archives in the United Kingdom, Jamaica, and France, and tangible evidence of the disaster from archaeological sites on the reefs of the East End."--Provided by the publisher. 2020. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.9163/65

Fatal passage : the true story of John Rae, the Arctic hero time forgot /Ken McGoogan. A biography of John Rae (1813-1893). Born in Orkney, Rae qualified as a surgeon working for the Hudson's Bay Company in Ontario, Canada. He developed a reputation for stamina and his use of snowshoes, learning to live off the land while travelling long distances, adopting and learning the ways of indigenous Arctic peoples. Rae went on to explore the Gulf of Boothia and made three voyages along the Arctic coastline from 1848?1851. In 1854, back in the Gulf of Boothia, he obtained credible information from local Inuit peoples about the fate of the Franklin Expedition which had disappeared in 1848. His report to the Admiralty included evidence that cannibalism had been a last resort for some of the survivors. Franklin's widow Lady Jane Franklin was outraged and recruited many important supporters, including Charles Dickens, to condemn Rae for daring to suggest Royal Navy sailors would have resorted to cannibalism. Rae's reputation was ruined and although he had discovered the final link in the North-West passage, he was shunned by the establishment at the time and his achievements never recognised. 2002. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92RAE

The dress of the British sailor / comp. by Gerald Dickens. Dickens, Gerald,-Sir, 1957. • PAMPHLET • 7 copies available. 355.14(42)

The autobiography of a seaman Dundonald, Thomas Cochrane,-Earl of, 1860 • BOOK • 6 copies available. 355.49"17/18"

National Service / by Peter Doyle and Paul Evans. "Overshadowed in the public eye by the events of the Second World War - and of the impacts of recent wars at the transition of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries - the period of National Service is sometimes portrayed as a long-running and monumental waste of time, a period of 'bull' and 'blanco' of 'jankers' and 'whitewashing'. Yet, emerging from the harsh reality of a truly world war and into the new dawn of the Cold War, it was clear that Britain would have to face new threats from old allies, and to meet considerable overseas obligations from its vestiges of Empire. The occupation of Germany would require 100,000 troops, and Palestine Aden, Cyprus and the Suez Canal Zone, would demand a strong British military presence. With only a limited number of men still in service, the government of the day had no option but to continue conscription. The 1948 National Service Act fixed the period of National Service to eighteen months with four years in the reserves. With involvement in a major, UN sanctioned war in 1950, the period of service was extended to two years with three and a half years in the reserves. The Korean War would be just one of many conflicts - the 'bush-fire wars' - of the 1950s and early 1960s in which National Servicemen would serve, and 400 would lose their lives. Between 1945 and 1963, 2.5 million young men were compelled to do their time in National Service - with 6,000 being called up every fortnight. During a period of often-brutal basic training, the raw recruits would, in the main, be turned into soldiers and airmen - the navy required more specialist skills and took only a small number of men. The new servicemen would be posted to dreary bases up and down the country, subject to the mercies of iron-hard NCOs. Travelling from home, the young conscripts would be transformed within moments of arrival into uniformed rookies - still with no idea of military discipline, tradition or procedure. From all walks of life, some would prosper - others, separated from home life for the first time, would find it traumatic. The 'call-up' finally came to a halt on 31 December 1960 and the very last National servicemen left the Army in 1963. Born from good intentions, National Service was inevitably to supply more men than the services could absorb, and would draw criticisms for its often pointless activities - criticisms that hide today the role these men had in the defence of Britain, and the post-colonial transition. The National Serviceman will explore all aspects of the life of the post-war conscripts."--from the publisher. 2012. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.211.2(42)

Warship histories / [Chris Ware, J. J. Colledge, Charles Gray Pitcairn Jones] 1986]. • MICROFICHE • 2 copies available. 623.82

Ships & guns : the sea ordnance in Venice and Europe between the 15th and the 17th centuries /edited by Carlo Beltrame and Renato Gianni Ridella. 2011. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.42(450.341)"14/16"

Britain against Napoleon : the organisation of victory, 1793-1815 /by Roger Knight. "For more than twenty years after 1793, the French army was supreme in continental Europe. Only at sea was British power dominant, though even with this crucial advantage the British population lived under fear of a French invasion for much of those two decades. How was it that despite multiple changes of government and the assassination of a Prime Minister, Britain survived and eventually won a generation-long war against a regime which at its peak in 1807 commanded many times the resources and manpower? There have been innumerable books about the battles, armies and navies of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. This book looks beyond the familiar exploits (and bravery) of the army and navy to the politicians and civil servants, and examines how they made it possible to continue the war at all. It shows the degree to which, because of the magnitude and intensity of hostilities, the capacities of the whole British population were involved: industrialists, farmers, shipbuilders, cannon founders, gunsmiths and gunpowder manufacturers all had continually to increase quality and output as the demands of the war remorselessly grew. The intelligence war was also central: Knight shows that despite a poor beginning to both gathering and assessment, Whitehall's methods steadily improved.No participants were more important, he argues, than the bankers and international traders of the City of London, who played a critical role in financing the wars and without whom the armies of Britain's allies could not have taken the field. Knight demonstrates that despite these extraordinary efforts, between 1807 and 1812 Britain came very close to losing the war against Napoleon - not through invasion (though the danger until 1811 was very real) but through financial and political exhaustion. The Duke of Wellington famously said that the battle which finally defeated Napoleon was 'the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life': this book shows how true that was for the Napoleonic War as a whole."--Provided by the publisher. 2013. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.49"1793/1815"(42:44)

Uncommon warriors : 200 years of the of the most unusual American naval vessels /Ken W. Sayers. Sayers, Ken W. 2012. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.82(72)"19/20"

The official u-boat commander's handbook : the illustrated edition /edited by Bob Carruthers 2012. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.827(43)

Preparing for blockade, 1885-1914 : naval contingency for economic warfare /by Stephen Cobb. "Today, the First World War is remembered chiefly for the carnage of the Western Front, but at the time the Royal Navy's blockade of Germany was a more frequent source of debate. For, even at a time of war, there were influential voices in Britain who baulked at a concept of economic warfare that hindered the free passage of goods on the high seas, and brought German society to the brink of famine. To further our understanding of these issues, this book looks at the background to the blockade, and the effects of its implementation in 1914. It argues that there was a widely shared, but largely unwritten, strategic culture within British naval circles which accepted that in a war with a major maritime power the British response would be to attack enemy trade. This is demonstrated by the fact that from at least the late 1880s the Royal Navy planned for the use of armed merchantmen to enforce an economic blockade of an enemy. This it did by entering into detailed arrangements with major British shipping companies for the design and subsidy of liners with the potential for use as merchant cruisers, and stockpiling their prospective armament."--Back cover. 2013. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.49"1885/1914"(42:43)

Voyages with a merchant prince : secrets of the Ripley diary /J.M. & M.F. Hutchinson. "If it should be a pirate, we had a fine ship, well armed and plenty of men to use the arms, what had we to fear? Accordingly, all hands were set to make preparations for defence against an enemy. The bosun got ready the great guns, the arms chest was unlocked - muskets, swords, handspikes, pistols, all in demand ...' The Ripley Diary, 12th July 1830. A sailing ship on a voyage that would make a fortune. On board - an ambitious shipowner, his flirtatious young wife, and a crew on the verge of mutiny. Smuggling, piracy and shipwreck are all encountered on this amazing journey. For the first time, the remarkable Ripley Diary is in print. It documents an astonishing voyage to a secret destination in China. This original nineteenth-century text is unique, revealing the early days of free trade in defiance of the edicts of the Emperor of China. It is a national treasure. Enjoy the story of Thomas Ripley, hailed by the Liverpool Chronicle as 'one of our most successful merchant princes', a man who rose from rags to riches. Share the thrill of watching whales and dolphins, the excitement of racing a rival ship to Java, and the delights of exotic locations. If you want to know the truth about life on a sailing ship in the nineteenth century, then read this book. Find out why some of the men were pressed into the British Navy and others were clapped in irons. Discover for yourself the secrets of the Ripley Diary, secrets hidden for 180 years."--Back cover. 2012. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92RIPLEY

The German invasion of Norway, April 1940 / Geirr H. Haarr. "This new book documents the German invasion of Norway, focussing on the events at sea. More than most other campaigns of WWII, Operation Weserèubung has been shrouded in mystery, legend and flawed knowledge. Strategic, political and legal issues were at best unclear, while military issues were dominated by risk; the German success was the result of improvisation and the application of available forces far beyond the comprehension of British and Norwegian military and civilian authorities. Weserèubung was the first combined operation ever where air force, army and navy operated closely together. Troops were transported directly into battle simultaneously by warship and aircraft, and success required co-operation between normally fiercely competing services. It was also the first time that paratroopers were used. The following days were to witness the first dive bomber attack to sink a major warship and the first carrier task-force operations. The narrative is based on primary sources from British, German and Norwegian archives, and it gives a balanced account of the reasons behind the invasion. With its unrivalled collection of photographs, many of which have never before appeared in print, this is a major new WWII history and a definitive account of Germany's first and last major seaborne invasion."--Provided by the publisher. 2011. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.545.9(481)

The struggle for sea power : a naval history of American independence /Sam Willis. "For the first time, Sam Willis offers a fascinating naval perspective to one of the greatest of all historical conundrums: How did thirteen isolated colonies, who, in 1775 began a war with Britain without a navy or an army, win their independence from the greatest naval and military power on earth? The American Revolution was a naval war of immense scope and variety, including no fewer than twenty-two navies fighting on five oceans - to say nothing of rivers and lakes. In no other war were so many large-scale fleet battles fought, one of which was the most strategically significant naval battle in all of British, French and American history. Simultaneous naval campaigns were fought in the English Channel, the North and Mid-Atlantic, the Mediterranean, off South Africa, in the Indian Ocean, the Caribbean, the Pacific, the North Sea and, of course, off the eastern seaboard of America. Not until the Second World War would any nation actively fight in so many different theatres. In The Struggle for Sea Power, Sam Willis traces every key military event in the path to American Independence from a naval perspective and he also brings this important viewpoint to bear on economic, political and social developments that were fundamental to the success of the Revolution. In doing so Willis offers valuable new insights to American, British, French, Spanish, Dutch and Russian history. The result is a far more profound understanding of the influence of sea power upon history, of the American path to independence and of the rise and fall of the British Empire."--Provided by the publisher. 2015. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.49"1775/1781"(73)

Capital ships at war 1939-1945 / introduced and compiled by Martin Mace and John Grehan ; with additional research by Sara Mitchell. "Despatches in this volume include those relating to the sinking of the German battleship Graf Spee in the Battle of the River Plate in 1939, the loss of the battleships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse in the Far East, the sinking of the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst in 1943, the attack on Tirpitz by midget submarines, the contribution by British Pacific Fleet to the assault on Okinawa in 1945 (which included four Royal Navy battleships), and the sinking of Bismarck in 1941. This unique collection of original documents will prove to be an invaluable resource for historians, students and all those interested in what was one of the most significant periods in British military history"--Publisher's description. 2014. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.545.9(42)

The Great War at sea : a naval atlas 1914-1919 /Marcus Faulkner. "In the vast literature of the First World War there has never been a naval atlas that depicts graphically the complexities of the war at sea, and puts in context the huge significance of the naval contribution to the defeat of Germany. With more than 125 beautifully designed maps and charts, the atlas sets out to visualise the great sea battles as well as the smaller operations, convoys, skirmishes and sinkings. As well as the well known set pieces such as the battles of Coronel, Heligoland, Dogger Bank and Jutland, the Dardenelles campaign, the North Sea and Channel operations, and the responses to merchant ship losses, the atlas looks at the many significant events at sea which impacted on the land war and which have had scant coverage in much of the naval literature of the era. The distant waters defence of trade routes, the impact of the United States navy in Europe, operations in the Baltic and northern Russia, and Japanese naval contributions in the Middle East are just some of the themes given a new and exciting presentation. No other work has attempted such an ambitious coverage of the naval war in this period and it will become the definitive reference work for enthusiasts and historians as well as general readers fascinated by the naval war that extended across all the world's oceans and had such a significant impact on the outcome of the war."--Provided by the publisher. 2015. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 355.49"1914/1919"(084.3)

The ship of the line : a history in ship models /Brian Lavery. "The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich houses the largest collection of scale ship models in the world, many of which are official, contemporary artefacts made by the craftsmen of the navy or the shipbuilders themselves, and ranging from the mid seventeenth century to the present day. As such they represent a three-dimensional archive of unique importance and authority. Treated as historical evidence, they offer more detail than even the best plans, and demonstrate exactly what the ships looked like in a way that even the finest marine painter could not achieve. The Ship of the Line is the second of a new series that takes selections of the best models to tell the story of specific ship types - in this case, the evolution of the ship of the line, the capital ship of its day, and the epitome of British seapower during its heyday from 1650-1850. This period too coincided with the golden age of ship modelling. Each volume depicts a wide range of models, all shown in full colour, including many close-up and detail views. These are captioned in depth, but many are also annotated to focus attention on interesting or unusual features, and the book weaves the pictures into an authoritative text, producing a unique form of technical history. The series is of particular interest to ship modellers, but all those with an enthusiasm for the ship design and development in the sailing era will attracted to the in-depth analysis of these beautifully presented books."--Provided by the publisher. 2014. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 086.5:623.82

The Raid on Zeebrugge : 23 April 1918, as seen through the eyes of Captain Alfred Carpenter, Vc. /Carl Decaluwe, Tomas Termote. "This book is the fruit of the chance discovery of a series of photographic plates belonging to Alfred Carpenter, who commanded the lead ship, HMS Vindictive, during the raid. These pictures provide us with a unique insight into this daring naval operation, which was to result in the most Victoria crosses ever being awarded for a single action. The plates were used by Captain Carpenter to illustrate a lecture tour of the United States and Canada after the war. Winston Churchill called the raid on Zeebrugge 'the finest feat of arms of the Great War'. This brief, but bloody, action resulted in the highest number of Victoria Crosses ever awarded for a single action. Approximately one thousand officers and men of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines stormed the most heavily defended U-Boat base in Occupied Europe. German submarines based in Zeebrugge were responsible for a third of all allied shipping losses during the First World War. During the Passchendaele offensive of 1917, the Allies attempted to capture these U-boat bases by means of a land-based attack. The failure of the Battle of Passchendaele made it clear that a naval assault was the only solution. As a result, on 23 April 1918, a small force of fighting vessels, towing three blockships, set out across the North Sea..."--Provided by the publisher. 2015. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.458(493.3)

Jutland : the naval staff appreciation /edited, annotated and introduced by William Schleihauf ; additional text by Stephen McLaughlin ; diagrams redrawn by John Jordan. "Jutland, the largest naval battle of the First World War, was the most controversial engagement in the Royal Navy's history. Falling well short of the total victory expected by the public, it rapidly sparked argument and ill-feeling within the Navy and disagreements among those in its most senior echelons, many of whom had been directly involved in the battle. The first attempt to produce even an objective record was delayed and heavily censored, but this was followed by a more ambitious scheme to write a no-holds-barred critique of the fleet's performance for use in training future officers at the Naval Staff College. This became the now infamous Naval Staff Appreciation, which was eventually deemed too damaging, its publication cancelled and all proof copies ordered destroyed. Mentioned in virtually every book on Jutland since, but unavailable to their authors, it has developed the almost legendary status of a book too explosive to publish. However, despite the orders, a few copies survived, and transcribed from one of them this long-hidden work is here revealed for the first time. Now everyone interested in Jutland can read it and judge for themselves, with an expert modern commentary and explanatory notes to put it in proper context."--Publisher description. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.456(489)

Dunkirk : The real story in photographs /Tim Lynch "The Second World War saw heroic efforts made by the Allied forces from its very outset, but in May 1940 disaster befell the British Expeditionary Force in France. Isolated from the rest of their allies, they faced insurmountable numbers of enemy troops. All was so very nearly lost, until the German land forces were given the surprise order by Adolf Hitler to halt briefly. Taking advantage of this unexpected but welcome turn of events, the British troops fled for the beaches of Dunkirk and fortified them while the Royal Navy dispatched almost 900 ships and boats to rescue British and Allied soldiers from the jaws of defeat. In all, over 300,000 men were evacuated, while 40,000 brave rearguard troops lost their lives or their freedom for the good of their allies. Operation Dynamo, and its remarkable evacuations from the beaches of Dunkirk, was hailed by Winston Churchill as a 'miracle of deliverance', but he also warned that 'wars are not won by evacuations.' This was only the beginning of a conflict that was to last five long years, but for now the fight for freedom could continue. Here Tim Lynch presents the true story of this miraculous event using stunning, rare images from the Mirrorpix archive."--Provided by the publisher. 2017 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.542.1"1940"

A soldier gone to sea : memoir of a Royal Marine in both world wars /Charles Frederic Jerram "In this memoir spanning nine decades, Lieutenant Colonel C.F. Jerram (1882-1969) of the Royal Marines recounts his life and military service through both world wars. Jerram describes in candid detail his late 19th-century childhood in Devon and Cornwall, the late Victorian and Edwardian Royal Navy, the Royal Navy's Far East Station, a traditional Corps of Marines, the Gallipoli Campaign, the World War I Western Front and the interwar and World War II years. His experience and insight convey two fundamental lessons: "Know thy profession and look after those for whom you are responsible." An essay by the editor, based on other sources, provides a broader perspective on Jerram, whose approach to professional military service is still pertinent today."--Provided by publisher. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92JERRAM

Tirpitz : the life and death of Germany's last super battleship /Niklas Zetterling & Michael Tamelander. "After the Royal Navy's bloody high seas campaign to kill the mighty Bismarck, the Allies were left with an uncomfortable truth-the German behemoth had a twin sister. Slightly larger than her sibling, the Tirpitz was equally capable of destroying any other battleship afloat, as well as wreak havoc on Allied troop and supply convoys. For the next three and a half years the Allies launched a variety of attacks to remove Germany's last serious surface threat. The Germans, however, had learned not to pit their super battleships against the strength of the entire Home Fleet outside the range of protecting aircraft. Thus they kept Tirpitz hidden within fjords along the Norwegian coast, forcing the British to assume the offensive. This strategy paid dividends in July 1942 when the Tirpitz stirred from its berth, compelling the Royal Navy to abandon a Murmansk-bound convoy in order to confront the leviathan. The convoy was ripped apart by the Germans, while the Tirpitz returned to its fjord. Trying an indirect approach, the British launched one of the war's most daring commando raids-at St. Nazaire-in order to knock out the last drydock in Europe capable of servicing the Tirpitz. Of over 600 commandos and sailors in the raid, more than half were lost during an all-night battle that succeeded, at least, in knocking out the drydock. It was not until November 1944 that the Tirpitz finally succumbed to British aircraft armed with 10,000-lb Tallboy bombs, the ship capsizing at last with the loss of 1,000 sailors."--Provided by the publisher. 2013. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.82TIRPITZ

Rear Admiral Sir John Franklin : A narrative of the circumstances and causes which led to the failure of the searching expeditions sent by government and others for the rescue of Sir John Franklin /John Ross "Sir John Ross (1777-1856), the distinguished British naval officer and Arctic explorer, undertook three great voyages to the Arctic regions; accounts of his first and his second voyages are also reissued in this series. (During the latter, his ship was stranded in the unexplored area of Prince Regent Inlet, where Ross and his crew survived by living and eating as the local Inuit did.) In this volume, first published in 1855, the explorer describes his experiences during his third (privately funded) Arctic voyage, undertaken in 1850 as part of the effort to locate the missing expedition led by Sir John Franklin, his close friend. Ross also summarises in partisan style the previous efforts by the Royal Navy to find out what happened to the Erebus and Terror, and is scathing in his account of what he regards as the mismanagement and incompetence of the Admiralty."--Provided by the publisher. John Ross • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.4(987)

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