Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

Relics of the Franklin Expedition : Discovering Artifacts from the Doomed Arctic Voyage of 1845/Garth Walpole "Sir John Franklin's Arctic expedition departed England in 1845 with two Royal Navy bomb vessels, 129 men and three years worth of provisions. None were seen again until nearly a decade later, when their bleached bones, broken instruments, books, papers and personal effects began to be recovered on Canada's King William Island. These relics have since had a life of their own: photographed, analyzed, cataloged and displayed in glass cases in London. This book gives a definitive history of their preservation and exhibition from the Victorian era to the present, richly illustrated with period engravings and photographs, many never before published. Appendices provide the first comprehensive accounting of all expedition relics recovered prior to the 2014 discovery of Franklin's ship HMS Erebus."--Provided by publisher. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 069.51

Wooden warship construction : 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 artifacts made by the craftsmen of the Royal Navy or by the shipbuilders themselves. They range from the mid-seventeenth-century to the present day and represent a three-dimensional archive of unique importance and authority. Treated as historical evidence, these models offer more detail than even the most detailed plans, and demonstrate exactly what the ships looked like in a way that the finest marine painter could not. This book takes a selection of the best models from the beginning of the eighteenth century to the end of wooden shipbuilding to describe and demonstrate the development of warship construction in all its complexity. For this purpose, it reproduces a large number of photos, all in full color, and includes many close-up and detail views. These are captioned in depth, but many are also annotated to focus attention on interesting or unusual features. Although pictorial in emphasis, the book weaves the illustrations into an authoritative text, producing an unusual and attractive form of technical history." --Provided by the publisher. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 629.12.011.21

Edinburgh's Leith Docks 1970-80 : The transition years /Malcolm Fife "Leith has been Edinburgh?s main port since the Middle Ages. It is one of the oldest harbours in the country, dating back to the twelfth century. Modern Leith docks took shape in the nineteenth century with the construction of stone quays and breakwaters. The late 1930s saw a further major expansion of the docks with the building of the Western Breakwater, greatly expanding the area of the port. After the end of the Second World War, however, there was a gradual decline in the number of cargo ships being handled at Leith. It was bypassed by the container revolution which commenced in the 1960s, with most shipping operators preferring to use Grangemouth Docks instead. Nevertheless, today, it is the largest enclosed deep-water port in Scotland. The port was transformed in 1969 when a large state-of-the-art sea lock was installed, transforming the tidal harbour into a deep-water docks. Its fortunes were further boosted with the discovery of oil in the southern North Sea. A motley collection of vessels operated out of Leith to supply and service the oil rigs. There were further ships involved in the construction of the vast undersea pipeline network. Other examples transported heavy equipment to the Orkney and Shetland Islands where the search for oil was just beginning. Cruise ships also began to call at Leith in the 1970s and this has now become one of its main activities. In this book, Malcolm Fife explores this fascinating decade of change for Leith Docks."--Provided by the publisher. 2017 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 627.3(414)

Wellington and the Siege of San Sebastian, 1813 / Bruce Collins. "Bruce Collins's in-depth reassessment of the Duke of Wellington's siege of San Sebastian during the Peninsular War is a fascinating reconstruction of one of the most challenging siege operations Wellington's army undertook, and it is an important contribution to the history of siege warfare during the Napoleonic Wars. He sets the siege in the context of the practice of siege warfare during the period and Wellington's campaign strategies following his victory at the Battle of Vitoria. He focuses on how the army assigned to the siege was managed and draws on the records of the main military departments for the first time to give an integrated picture of its operations in the field. The close support given by the Royal Navy is a key aspect of his narrative. This broad approach, based in fresh archive research, offers an original perspective on both San Sebastian's significance and the nature of siege warfare in this period."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.48"1813"(460)

Captain Elliot and the founding of Hong Kong : pearl of the orient /Jon Bursey. "On 26 January 1841 the British took possession of the island of Hong Kong. The Convention of Chuanbi was immediately repudiated by both the British and Chinese governments and their respective negotiators recalled. For the British this was Captain Charles Elliot, whose actions in China became mired in controversy for years to come. Who was Captain Elliot, and how did he find himself at the center of this debate? This book traces Elliot's career from his early life through his years in the Royal Navy before focusing on his role in the First Anglo-Chinese War and the founding of what became the Crown Colony of Hong Kong. Elliot has been demonized by China and for the most part poorly regarded by historians. This book shows him to have been a man ahead of his time whose views on slavery, armed conflict, the role of women and racial equality often placed him at variance with contemporary attitudes. Twenty years after the return of Hong Kong to China, his legacy is still with us."--Provided by the publisher. 2018. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92ELLIOT:951.231.7

Battleship Duke of York : an anatomy from building to breaking /Ian Buxton and Ian Johnston. "Unlike the United States, which has preserved a number of battleships as museums or memorials, not a single British dreadnought survives in the country that invented them. This book is an ambitious attempt to achieve the next best thing - a level of documentation in plans, photographs and words that portrays every aspect of the ship, albeit in two dimensions. Although the ship was chosen primarily because of the wealth of source material, Duke of York enjoyed a distinguished wartime career that included sinking the German battleship Scharnhorst in 1943 and serving as the flagship of the British Pacific Fleet in 1945, so is a fitting subject for such in-depth treatment. The core of the book is the reproduction in full colour of a complete set of as-fitted plans of the ship, including many details and close-ups. These are complemented by an unusually thorough set drawn after the ship's major refit in March 1945, showing all the modifications undertaken to prepare the ship for service alongside the US Navy in the Pacific. Photographic coverage begins with the stunning views taken by the builder's professional cameraman during every stage of construction, and concludes with an illustrated chronology of the breaking up. This last is included not just for completeness but because photos of the ship at various stages of demolition demonstrate many aspects of the interior structure, compartments and their fittings that are otherwise invisible. While the emphasis may be primarily visual, the accompanying narrative and captions display the expertise and in-depth knowledge of the authors, making the text as enlightening as the illustration. The result is a uniquely comprehensive portrait of a great ship in all its complexity, and a book that no warship enthusiast will want to miss."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • FOLIO • 1 copy available.

The wisdom of George the Third : papers from a symposium at the Queen's gallery, Buckingham Palace June 2004 /edited with an introduction by Jonathan Marsden. "Recent research has suggested that the court of King George III and Queen Charlotte was intellectually and culturally far more outward looking than was previously imagined. Artists, musicians, scientists and philosophers were regular visitors, and the King in his early years was a notably active patron."--Provided by the publisher. 2005. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 941.073092

What happened to the battleship : 1945 to the present /Chris Baker. "In the hundreds of books written about battleships, the authors tend to draw down the curtain on the careers of these great vessels in September 1945, with the surrender of Japan. Yet, on that day some ninety-eight battleships or ex-battleships might be spotted around the world, and eleven of them were in or around Tokyo Bay for the surrender itself. What happened to all those ships? This new book takes a fresh look at the slow demise of the battleship. It examines the decisions made by the major world powers after 1945, and their aspirations to retain battleships in their navies, despite financial stringency. It places the history and role of battleships after 1945 in their geo-political context, centred around the Cold War and the need for the West to face down an aggressive Soviet Union. It also examines the impact on battleships of operational analysis of the Second World War and new technological developments, notably the atom bomb and the guided missile. The book uses the wealth of information from ship's books, ship's logs and gun logs to document in considerable detail what the ships actually did after the Second World War, with a particular focus on those of the Royal Navy. It covers United States battleship operations in Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf War, as well as the deterrent role played by battleships for NATO from the 1950s to the 1990s. Finally, it brings the story up to date by documenting the preservation as museum ships of the eight dreadnoughts which still exist today in the United States. Extensively illustrated with photographs of the huge range of activities of battleships after 1945, from their use as Fleet flagships to Royal or Presidential yachts and more poignantly as target ships, this new book will appeal equally to the historic ship enthusiast and naval specialist, and provide a novel perspective through a battleship-shaped lens on late twentieth-century history for the more general reader."--Provided by the publisher. 2022. • BOOK • 1 copy available.

East China Sea 1945 : climax of the kamikaze /Brian Lane Herder ; illustrated by Adam Tooby. "During the Pacific War, the island invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa were the last two major ground campaigns. By the time these took place in early 1945, the US Navy had reached an exceptional level of coordination in its amphibious operations, and was able to overrun and subdue Japanese territories efficiently. Faced with the increasing might of these forces and to prevent further defeat, Imperial Japan deployed its kamikaze aircraft and attacked many US heavy aircraft carriers and destroyers; several were sunk, while others were knocked out of the war. This superbly illustrated book explores the air?sea aspects of the pivotal battles that took place, and includes the ?death ride? of the Japanese battleship Yamato (the largest ever built), and the mass kamikaze attacks off Iwo Jima and Okinawa, as well as the Iwo Jima and Okinawa amphibious invasions and the naval and air bombardments of the two islands. It also considers the contribution of the USAAF and the British Pacific Fleet to the eventual victory of US air and ground forces."--Provided by the publisher. 2022. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.54252

Warships of the Soviet Fleets, 1939-1945./ Przemys±aw Budzbon, Jan Radziemski, Marek Twardowski. "Seventy-five years after the end of the Second World War the details of Soviet ships, their activities and fates remain an enigma to the West. In wartime such information was classified and after a brief period of glasnost ('openness') the Russian state has again restricted access to historical archives. Therefore, the value - and originality - of this work is difficult to exaggerate. It sees the first publication of reliable data on both the seagoing fleets and riverine flotillas of the Soviet Navy, listing over 6200 vessels from battleships to river gunboats, and mercantile conversions as well as purpose-built warships."--Provided by the publisher. 2022-2023. • FOLIO • 3 copies available. 359.3250947

Leyte Gulf : a new history of the world's largest sea battle /Mark E. Stille. "A fascinating re-examination of the battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval encounter in history and probably the most decisive naval battle of the entire Pacific War, and one that saw the Imperial Japanese Navy eliminated as an effective fighting force and forced to resort to suicide tactics. Leyte was a huge and complex action, actually consisting of four major battles, each of which are broken down in detail in this book, using original sources. The plans of both sides, and how they dictated the events that followed, are also examined critically. So much of the accepted wisdom of the battle has developed from the many myths that surround it, myths that have become more firmly established over time. In this new study, Pacific War expert Mark Stille examines the key aspects of this complex battle with new and insightful analysis and dismantles the myths surrounding the respective actions and overall performances of the two most important commanders in the battle, and the "lost victory" of the Japanese advance into Leyte Gulf that never happened."--Provided by the publisher. 2023. • BOOK • 2 copies available. 940.5425

Nelson's Right Hand Man The Life and Times of Vice Admiral Sir Thomas Fremantle. ,E. J. Hounslow A biography of Vice Admiral Sir Thomas Fremantle (1765-1819). Joining the Royal Navy as a midshipman in the Hussar at the age of 11, he progressed quickly through the ranks, being promoted to lieutenant in 1782 and was given command of the sloop Spitfire in 1790. As a post-captain, Fremantle commanded the Tartar and came to the notice of Horatio Nelson during the Siege of Bastia. Further commands included the Inconstant and the Ganges at the Battle of Copenhagen. He continued to serve alongside Nelson as his companion and junior officer, taking command of the Neptune, the third in Nelson's division at the Battle of Trafalgar. Following the Battle, Fremantle towed the Victory back to Gibraltar and then spent the next five years in England serving as Member of Parliament for Sandwich and then rear-admiral before taking command of the Adriatic Fleet. Promoted to vice admiral, he became commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean Fleet in 1818. He died from a sudden illness at home in 1819 leaving his widow Elizabeth (nee Wynne) and children. The text includes extracts of letters and diaries and is supported by photographic plates and a bibliography. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92FREMANTLE, THOMAS

The pirate who stole Scotland : William Dampier and the creation of the United Kingdom /Leon Hopkins. "Economic warfare is not a new phenomenon. In the protectionist climate of the seventeenth century, trade embargoes, exclusions and boycotts were common. England was among the most active nations when it came to using economic clout to get its own way. It did so to force Scotland to accept an Act of Union: to submerge its independence within a United Kingdom governed from London. Instrumental in this attack upon the Scots was William Dampier, the principal subject of this book. He was an extraordinary man. A farmer's son, he became the most travelled man of his generation. He was a pirate, a brute and a devious sociopath. But he was also a scientist and a talented writer who gave his readers accurate descriptions of previously unknown places, peoples, plants and animals. He was a daring explorer and an expert navigator who mapped coastlines and logged wind patterns and ocean currents. He led the first Royal Navy expedition to Australia, over 70 years before Captain Cook's arrival. Dampier's writing made him famous, but not rich. It allowed him to rub shoulders with the leading men of his day; scientists such as Robert Hooke, Edmund Halley and Hans Sloane, businessmen such as Sir John Houblon (first governor of the Bank of England) and William Paterson, politicians such as James Vernon and Charles Montagu (first Earl of Halifax), and Admiralty men such as Admiral Sir George Rooke and Samuel Pepys. And Dampier was in the pay of the English Government; an agent known to Queen Anne, in which capacity he engineered a financial disaster and political drubbing for Scotland." 2023. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.92

Navy (Trafalgar)--t.p. Great Britain. Parliament. 1913. • FOLIO • 4 copies available. 355.49"1805"(42:44)(093.2)

Principles of naval weapon systems / edited by Craig M. Payne. "This textbook is intended to serve as an introduction to the underlying science and engineering of weapons used in the naval service. The philosophy used in the material selected for this text is that individual weapons come and go, but the principles of their operation largely remain the same. Some subjects are covered in greater detail than needed for an introductory course to allow this text to serve as a basic reference to take into professional life. The text was written to be inclusive of all college majors; as such a conscious effort was made when possible to apply algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and avoid calculus. Therefore, many of the equations derived are 1storder, and provide approximations that are sufficient to illustrate the relative performance parameters of variables used in weapon system design. These same theories and principles can then be applied to actual sensors and weapons using operational parameters and specifications determined from technical manuals and warfare publications. Material has been drawn from pervious texts of the same title that have explained the principles for the last 40 years. Much of the work can be traced to the work completed by the Bureau of Naval Weapons in the 1960's. It was updated and expanded in the 1980's version and incorporated in this text. In some cases, principles of systems that the U.S. Navy no longer uses are described in a belief that sometimes it is good to know where you have been to know where you are going. In addition, many countries and organizations still employ some of these lower technology systems. Therefore, it is necessary to understand their basic capabilities. With advent of new technologies and methods, this text will require periodic updating."--Provided by the publisher. [2010]. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.41

Killing the Bismarck : destroying the pride of Hitler's fleet /Iain Ballantyne. "In May 1941, the German battleship Bismarck, accompanied by heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, broke out into the Atlantic, to attack Allied shipping. The Royal Navy's pursuit and subsequent destruction of Bismarck was an epic of naval warfare. In this new account of those dramatic events at the height of the Second World War, Iain Ballantyne draws extensively on the graphic eye-witness testimony of veterans, to construct a thrilling story, mainly from the point of view of the British battleships, cruisers and destroyers involved. He describes the tense atmosphere as cruisers play a lethal cat and mouse game as they shadow Bismarck in the icy Denmark Strait. We witness the shocking destruction of the British battlecruiser Hood, in which all but three of her ship's complement were killed; an event that filled pursuing Royal Navy warships, including the battered battleship Prince of Wales, with a thirst for revenge. While Swordfish torpedo-bombers try desperately to cripple the Bismarck, we sail in destroyers on their own daring torpedo attacks, battling mountainous seas. Finally, the author takes us into the final showdown, as battleships Rodney and King George V, supported by cruisers Norfolk and Dorsetshire, destroy the pride of Hitler's fleet. This vivid, superbly researched account portrays this epic saga through the eyes of so-called 'ordinary sailors' caught up in extraordinary events. Killing the Bismarck is an outstanding read, conveying the horror and majesty of war at sea in all its cold brutality and awesome power."--Provided by the publisher. 2014. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.82BISMARCK

Great British shipwrecks : a personal adventure /Rod Macdonald. For more than 30 years, internationally acclaimed wreck diver and best-selling author, Rod Macdonald, has surveyed and researched shipwrecks around the world. In Great British Shipwrecks Rod uses his encyclopaedic knowledge and an intimate understanding of shipwrecks, gleaned from a lifetime's diving, to provide a snapshot in time of some of the best known and most revered shipwrecks around the UK. For each of the 37 shipwrecks covered Rod provides a dramatic account of its time afloat and its eventual sinking - with each wreck being beautifully illustrated by renowned marine artist Rob Ward. Rod's journey around the UK starts with the classic recreational diving shipwrecks at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands from giants such as the German WWI battleships, Markgraf, Konig and Kronprinz Wilhelm, to the legendary WWI British cruiser HMS Hampshire on which Lord Kitchener perished on a voyage to Russia in 1916. Rod then travels to the English Channel where he covers such famous ships as the P&O liners Moldavia and Salsette which were lost during WWI with many others such as the SS Kyarra and the British submarine HMS/M M2 - the first submarine to carry a seaplane for reconnaissance. The reader is then taken to the North Channel of the Irish Sea where the famous technical diving wrecks of the White Star liner Justicia, HMS Audacious, the first British battleship lost during WWI, and the SS Empire Heritage, which was lost with its deck cargo of Sherman tanks on a voyage from New York during WWII, are beautifully illustrated. Returning to Scotland, the famous West Coast shipwrecks such as the Thesis, Hispania, Rondo and Shuna in the Sound of Mull grace the pages, in addition to the renowned wrecks of the SS Breda, lost near Oban, and the WWII minelayer HMS Port Napier off Skye. Lastly, Rod covers some major North Sea shipwrecks, revealing for the first time the haunting remains of HMS Pathfinder, the first Royal Navy warship to be sunk by U-boat torpedo during WWI. 2012. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 656.61.085.3(42)

The RNAS and the birth of the aircraft carrier 1914-1918 / Ian M. Burns. "The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) origins were as the Naval Wing of the Royal Flying Corps in April 1912, but did not become a separate service until 1 July 1914. However, from the very beginning, the Naval Wing conducted itself as a distinct organisation. Its members commenced creating a dedicated arm of the Royal Navy with the intention of operating aircraft in support of and in association with the Fleet. On the outbreak of war in August 1914, the service quickly expanded to include service on land, initially in support of the Royal Naval Division in Belgium, later providing support to the Royal Flying Corps and as one of the early practitioners of strategic bombing. However, The RNAS and the Birth of the Aircraft Carrier 1914-1918 principally traces the development and operational use of aircraft serving with the fleet. It follows the selection and training of personnel and the struggle to produce suitable aircraft and weapons, including the evolution of the aircraft carrier. Nonetheless, the constant thread throughout will be the operational history of the RNAS over the North Sea with both the Grand Fleet and Harwich Force. Commencing over the Zeppelin base at Cuxhaven on Christmas Day 1914 the ending with two pivotal operations which determined the future of naval aviation, including the raid on Tondern which saw the first instance of carrier-launched airtcraft. The Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps merged in 1918 to become the RAF - yet those early years in World War One shaped the way that sea-based aircraft operated throughout the 20th Century - and beyond."--Provided by the publisher. 2014. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 359.38:623.822.74"1914/1918"

Recaptured Africans : surviving slave ships, detention, and dislocation in the final years of the slave trade /Sharla M. Fett. "In the years just before the Civil War, during the most intensive phase of American slave-trade suppression, the U.S. Navy seized roughly 2,000 enslaved Africans from illegal slave ships and brought them into temporary camps at Key West and Charleston. In this study, Sharla Fett reconstructs the social world of these "recaptives" and recounts the relationships they built to survive the holds of slave ships, American detention camps, and, ultimately, a second transatlantic voyage to Liberia. Fett also demonstrates how the presence of slave-trade refugees in southern ports accelerated heated arguments between divergent antebellum political movements--from abolitionist human rights campaigns to slave-trade revivalism--that used recaptives to support their claims about slavery, slave trading, and race. By focusing on shipmate relations rather than naval exploits or legal trials, and by analyzing the experiences of both children and adults of varying African origins, Fett provides the first history of U.S. slave-trade suppression centered on recaptive Africans themselves. In so doing, she examines the state of "recaptivity" as a distinctive variant of slave-trade captivity and situates the recaptives' story within the broader diaspora of "Liberated Africans" throughout the Atlantic world."--Provided by publisher. 2017 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 326.1

Battleships : WWII evolution of the big guns : rare photographs from wartime /Philip Kaplan. Beginning with a pictorial essay on battleship construction in the 1930s and 1940s, this new book looks at the various design facets of the last great capital ships of the world's navies. Kaplan offers us a glimpse into those massive American and German navy yards and construction facilities that were put to use during this time, acquainting us with the arenas in which these final examples of battleship technology were laid down, built up, launched, fitted out, commissioned and taken out to sea. The book roots itself in a period of monumental change within the history of contemporary warfare. With the baton being passed from the battleship community to that of the aircraft carrier, the iconic battleship was gradually superseded by a new and even more threatening weapons system. It was destined to be consigned to the history books, whilst newer, slicker and more efficient fighting machines took precedence. This publication serves as a tribute to a lost legend of naval warfare. There is a look at some of modern history's most significant battleships, relaying their thrilling stories, defining characteristics and eventual fates. Ships featured include Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Warspite, Tirpitz and Yamato. The book is completed with 'Fast and Last', a visit on board the four final examples of battleship technology and design, the last serving battleships USS Iowa, USS New Jersey, USS Wisconsin, and USS Missouri. Their Second World War careers are recounted, as are the qualities that made them special. 2015. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.821.2(100)"1939/1945"

Ships, shawls and loyal service : the stories of three East Anglian brothers /David Blakely. "Ships, Shawls and Loyal Service details the history of three 19th century brothers, each of whom saw some success in his chosen occupation, but each quite distinct from the others in what he achieved. Inspired by the extensive family tree drawn up in the early 20th century by one of his great-uncles, David Blakely relates the stories of his three ancestors. With strong roots in rural Suffolk, the three Blakely brothers were born at the end of the 18th century into a long-established family. Their ancestors had been gentlemen farmers, but none of the brothers followed that occupation. The eldest spent a year as a midshipman in the Royal Navy and six years as an officer in the Army, before becoming involved in a rural church community in north Norfolk. The second served as an officer on East India Company ships, sailing to India and China and finally being promoted to captain. The youngest brother lived in Norwich and became a well-respected retailer and manufacturer in the textile trade. Ships, Shawls and Loyal Service is a fascinating insight into the lives of three brothers, each of whom took a very different path in life. Early history of the brothers' family is also explored, including their grandfather's business as proprietor of a stage-coach company in Ipswich and his acquaintance with the artist Thomas Gainsborough. This book will appeal to those interested in East Anglian life and trade in the 18th and 19th centuries. Readers interested in naval and military actions in Napoleonic times and in sailing between England and the Far East will also find this a valuable account."--Provided by the publisher. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 929.52

Naval hydrography, charismatic bureaucracy, and the British military state, 1825-1855 / Megan Barford "This thesis is an investigation into writing and record keeping practices of those in and around the Hydrographic Office of the Admiralty in the earlier-nineteenth century. It looks at the Hydrographic Office in the context of early-Victorian adminsitrative growth and the print culture of the Royal Navy. In doing so it draws on media-theoretic approaches to paperwork and archives which insist on treating them as topics for invesitigation, and suggests that these can be used to examine fundemental issues of the establishment and effacement of self, and group, and profession, and public as created through a sophisticated bureaucratic system. Hydrographic surveyors were a group of naval officers who role stressed record keeping in a peculiarly acute way, but this was underwritten by an intensive concern in this period about both record keeping and life writing. In particular this thesis focus on the bureaucratic practices at the Admiralty in London and on survey ships as the operated in regions of particular colonial, commercial or strategic importance to the British. It goes on to examine how the work of hydrography was defined and promoted in a popular magazine, explores a particular survery carried out on the St Lawrence River, and describes the way in which the circulation of instruments was managed within a system that relied on personal relationships between those involved. In finally discussing an episode when the system of correspondence organised by the office was placed under the greatest strain, the thesis explores ideas of institutional memory and absolution. As such, the work is a contribution to literature on paperwork, professionalism, and the early-Victorian state."--Provided by the author. 2016 • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 528.47

Zeebrugge : the greatest raid of all /Christopher Sandford. "The combined forces invasion of the Belgian port of Zeebrugge on 23 April 1918 remains one of Britain's most glorious military undertakings; not quite as epic a failure as the charge of the Light Brigade, or as well publicised as the Dam Busters raid, but with many of the same basic ingredients. A force drawn from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines set out on ships and submarines to try to block the key strategic port, in a bold attempt to stem the catastrophic losses being inflicted on British shipping by German submarines. It meant attacking a heavily fortified German naval base. The tide, calm weather and the right wind direction for a smoke screen were crucial to the plan. Judged purely on results, it can only be considered a partial strategic success. Casualties were high and the base only partially blocked. Nonetheless, it came to represent the embodiment of the bulldog spirit, the peculiarly British fighting âelan, the belief that anything was possible with enough dash and daring. The essential story of the Zeebrugge mission has been told before, but never through the direct, first-hand accounts of its survivors - including that of Lieutenant Richard Sandford, VC, the acknowledged hero of the day, and the author's great uncle. The fire and bloodshed of the occasion is the book's centrepiece, but there is also room for the family and private lives of the men who volunteered in their hundreds for what they knew effectively to be a suicide mission. Zeebrugge gives a very real sense of the existence of the ordinary British men and women of 100 years ago - made extraordinary by their role in what Winston Churchill called the 'most intrepid and heroic single armed adventure of the Great War.'"--Provided by the publisher 2018. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.458(493.3)

Planning and profits : British naval armaments manufacture and the military-industrial complex, 1918-1941 /Christopher W. Miller "In a time of great need for Britain, a small coterie of influential businessmen gained access to secret information on industrial mobilisation as advisers to the Principal Supply Officers Committee. They provided the state with priceless advice, but, as "insiders" utilised their access to information to build a business empire at a fraction of the normal costs. Outsiders, in contrast, lacked influence and were forced together into a defensive "ring" - or cartel - which effectively fixed prices for British warships. By the 1930s, the cartel grew into one of the most sophisticated profiteering groups of its day. This book examines the relationship between the private naval armaments industry, businessmen, and the British government defence planners between the wars. It reassesses the concept of the military-industrial complex through the impact of disarmament upon private industry, the role of leading industrialists in supply and procurement policy, and the successes and failings of government organisation. It blends together political, naval, and business history in new ways, and, by situating the business activities of industrialists alongside their work as government advisors, sheds new light on the operation of the British state. This is the story of how these men profited while effectively saving the National Government from itself."--Provided by the publisher. 2017 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.02(42)

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