Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

Tracing your naval ancestors : a guide for family historians /Simon Fowler. Fowler, Simon 2011. • BOOK • 7 copies available. 929.5:359

A reluctant hero : the life of Captain Robert Ryder, VC /Richard Hopton. "A Reluctant Hero is the first biography of Captain Robert Ryder V.C., Royal Navy (1908-1986), one of the greatest naval heroes of the Second World War. Ryder led the audacious raid on St Nazaire in March 1942 which completely destroyed the port's dry dock, depriving the German's mighty pocket battleships of its use for the remainder of the war. The raid was one of the most brilliantly-executed combined operations of the war, much of the credit for which must go to Ryder's outstanding planning and courageous leadership. He received one of five Victoria Crosses awarded for the operation. Although Ryder's name will be forever linked with the raid on St Nazaire, the rest of his war service was no less distinguished. Torpedoed in a 'Q' ship in 1940 he was rescued after clinging to a piece of wreckage for four days. After St Nazaire, he was heavily involved in the planning of combined operations and took part in the ill-fated raid on Dieppe. On 'D' Day he lead a naval assault party in the first wave of the invasion. For the rest of the war Ryder commanded a destroyer on the Arctic convoys. Ryder's naval career before the war was, as The Times put it on his death, unorthodox. In 1933-34 he, as captain, and four other young naval officers sailed the Tal-Mo-Shan, a 54 food ketch, from Hong Kong to England via the Panama Canal in a voyage lasting exactly a year, an outstanding achievement. Recently there has been press speculation that the voyage was a cover for naval espionage in Japanese waters. The Tal-Mo-Shan herself has now acquired international celebrity as a result of her sail-on part in the Abba film Mamma Mia. Between 1934 and 1937 Ryder served in the Antarctic as captain of the Penola, the base ship of the British Graham Lane Expedition. His formidable navigation and seamanship was largely responsible for the Penola, which was ill-adapted to polar conditions, surviving her ordeal intact. Ryder also took part in some of the earliest ocean yacht races, including the second Fastnet race in 1926."--Provided by the publisher. 2011. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92RYDER

Early ships and seafaring. Sean McGrail. "In this volume Professor Sean McGrail introduces the reader to a relatively new branch of Archaeology - the study of water transport - how early rafts, boats and ships were built and used. Concepts, such as boatbuilding traditions, ship stability and navigation without instruments, are first described. Archaeological research is then discussed, including sea levels in earlier times, how to distinguish the vestigial remains of a cargo vessel from those of a fighting craft; and the difference between a boat and a ship. Chapters 2 and 3, the heart of the text, deal with the early water transport of the Mediterranean and Atlantic Europe, from the Stone Age to Medieval times. Each chapter includes a description of the region's maritime geography and an exposition of its boat-building traditions. The third element is a discussion of the propulsion, the steering and the navigation of these early vessels. The sparse, often jumbled, remains of excavated vessels have to be interpreted, a process that is assisted by consideration of early descriptions and illustrations. Studies of the way traditional builders of wooden boats ply their trade today are also a great help. Experimental boat archaeology is still at an early stage but, when undertaken rigorously, it can reveal aspects of the vessel's capabilities. Such information is used in this volume to further our understanding of data from boat and ship excavations, and to present as coherent, comprehensive and accurate a picture as is now possible, of early European boatbuilding and use."--Provided by the publisher. 2015. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 629.123.11

The Royal Navy Lynx : An Operational History /Larry Jeram-Croft. "This book tells the story of an incredibly capable naval aircraft, based primarily on the words of those who flew and maintained it. Beginning with the Lynx's entry into service in 1976, it goes on to discuss its remarkable performance in the Falklands War. Here it was used in both its primary roles of anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, as well as several others for which it had never been designed, such as Airborne Early Warning and anti-Exocet missile counter measures. The Lynx has been continuously employed in the Gulf from 1980 until the present day. What is not generally known is the fact that these aircraft were responsible for effectively destroying the Iraqi navy, sinking over fifteen warships in a matter of a weeks. All related operational details are included here. Also included are accounts of operations conducted around the world, including anti-drug interdiction, Arctic deployments, Search and Rescue, hurricane relief, as well as a few notable mishaps. Also described is the development of the aircraft from the Mark 2 to the current Mark 8 (SRU), bringing the narrative fully up to date. Although only a snapshot, the stories narrated here offer the reader a real understanding of the capabilities of an aircraft with a truly remarkable history of service."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.746.174

Sea and air fighting : Those who were there /David Bilton. "This is a compelling book for lovers of sea and air stories from the Great War era. In the twelve stories told by the participants, many of whom were decorated for bravery, they describe their experiences of events: stories of luck, tenacity, courage, extreme danger, excitement and bravery. Also included are photographs to help set the scene for the vignettes and details of the authors' lives where possible. Seven stories detail the war at sea, while the other six reflect the war in the air from a civilian and combatant point of view. The exciting thing about the stories, apart from their freshness, is that they have remained unpublished for nearly eighty years and they are written by participants who describe exactly what they experienced and felt. Mrs Peel describes what an air raid was like from a civilian?s point of view, and pilots describe both the humdrumness of some of their work and how it could suddenly change in to a fight for their life, in which luck often played a part in their survival. At sea, the authors describe the struggle to overcome the U-boat menace using Q ships and reveal the boredom, suspense and danger involved in laying a trap. The Battle of Jutland is described from an officer?s active view of events, and the sinking of the Audacious is described by someone who was aboard and sworn to silence about the events. There is also the exciting story of the chase and fight between the Carmania and the Cap Trafalgar."--Provided by the publisher. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.3/.4

Lighter-than-air : the life and times of Wing Commander N.F. Usborne, RN, pioneer of naval aviation /Guy Warner. "Neville Florian Usborne entered the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1897. In the years between him joining up and the outbreak of the First World War, he engaged in a huge number of enterprises and endeavours. Praise and respect garnered in accordance with his achievements all helped to establish his reputation in later years as an 'irreplaceable' pioneer and a leading light of early British airship design. His fertile imagination and enterprising spirit fused to form a dynamic personality, able in wartime to draw up countless schemes in an effort to outwit the enemy. His chief task during the Great War was to dream up new tactics and designs to combat the Zeppelin menace, perceived as one of the most damaging threats of the entire conflict. He was also deeply involved in the design of the very successful SS and Coastal Class airships; indeed, during 1915 he was actually appointed Inspector Commander of Airships at the Admiralty. Unfortunately, his illustrious career was destined to be cut short in 1916 when he was killed testing a prototype of one of his own designs. This new biography seeks to shine a light on an overlooked pioneer of early aviation and it does so in entertaining and reverential style. The importance of Usborne the pioneer is made plain; as one of his contemporaries commented upon his death, 'No one can talk of the early days of British airship design without mention of his name and work. A personality was lost that February day which was irreplaceable.'"--Provided by the publisher. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92USBORNE

Surviving the Arctic Convoys : the wartime memoir of leading seaman Charlie Erswell /John R. McKay. "Leading Seaman Charlie Erswell saw much more than his fair share of action during the Second World War. He was present at the 1942 landing in North Africa (Operation TORCH), D-Day and the liberation of Norway. But his main area of operations was that of the Arctic Convoys, escorting merchant ships taking essential war supplies to the Russian ports of Murmansk and Archangel. In addition to contending with relentless U-boat and Luftwaffe attacks, crews endured the extreme sea conditions and appalling weather. This involved clearing ice and snow in temperatures as low as minus thirty degrees Celsius. No wonder Winston Churchill described it as 'the worst journey in the world'. Leading Seaman Charlie Erswell saw much more than his fair share of action during the Second World War. He was present at the 1942 landing in North Africa (Operation TORCH), D-Day and the liberation of Norway. But his main area of operations was that of the Arctic Convoys, escorting merchant ships taking essential war supplies to the Russian ports of Murmansk and Archangel. In addition to contending with relentless U-boat and Luftwaffe attacks, crews endured the extreme sea conditions and appalling weather. This involved clearing ice and snow in temperatures as low as minus thirty degrees Celsius. No wonder Winston Churchill described it as 'the worst journey in the world'. Fortunately, Charlie, who served on two destroyers, HMS Milne and Savage, kept a record of his experiences and is alive today to describe them. His story, published to coincide with the 80th Anniversary of the first convoy, is more than one man's account. It is an inspiring tribute to his colleagues, many of whom were killed in action. No-one reading Surviving The Arctic Convoys could fail to be moved by the bravery and endurance of these outstanding men."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.5429

Explorers and their quest for North America / Philip J. Potter. "On 11 October 1492 the sun set on a clear Atlantic Ocean horizon and the night was cloudless with a late rising moon. As the lookouts high in the riggings of Christopher Columbus' three ships strained their eyes into the golden light of the moon, near two o'clock in the morning the watchman on the Pinta shouted out, 'Land, land' igniting the era of exploration to the New World. The Age of Discovery became an epic adventure sweeping across the continent of North America, as the trailblazers dared to challenge the unknown wilderness to advance mankind's knowledge of the world. Explorers Discovering North America traces the history of the discovery, exploration and settlement of the western hemisphere through the comprehensive biographies of fourteen explorers, who had the courage and inquisitiveness to search the limits of the world. The book features many famous adventurers including Hernan Cortes whose victorious battles against the Aztecs conquered Mexico for Spain, Henry Hudson's sea voyages in search of the Northwest Passage led to the colonization of New York and exploration of the Hudson Bay in Canada, while Meriwether Lewis' journey across the Louisiana Purchase began the mass migration of settlers to western America. Among the lesser known explorers discussed in the work are Vitus Bering whose discovery of Alaska established Russia's claim to the region and Alexander Mackenzie's 107-day trek across western Canada that opened the frontier to settlement, commerce and development of its natural resources. From Columbus to Lewis the exploration of the New World became one of humankind's greatest quests that altered history forever."--Provided by the publisher 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.4(7)

World War One aircraft carrier pioneer : the story and diaries of Captain JM McCleery RNAS-RAF /by Guy Warner. "Jack McCleery was born in Belfast in 1898, the son of a mill owning family. He joined the RNAS in 1916 as a Probationary Flight Officer. During the next ten months he completed his training at Crystal Palace, Eastchurch, Cranwell, Frieston, Calshot and Isle of Grain, flying more than a dozen landplanes, seaplanes and flying boats, gaining his wings as a Flight Sub-Lieutenant. In July 1917 he was posted to the newly commissioning aircraft carrier HMS Furious, which would be based at Scapa Flow and Rosyth. He served in this ship until February 1919, flying Short 184 seaplanes and then Sopwith 1½ Strutters off the deck. He also flew a large number of other types during this time from shore stations at Turnhouse, East Fortune and Donibristle. He served with important and well-known naval airmen including Dunning, Rutland (of Jutland) and Bell Davies VC. He witnessed Dunning's first successful landing on a carrier flying a Sopwith Pup in 1917 and his tragic death a few days later. He also witnessed the Tondern raid in 1918, the world's first carrier strike mission. He took part in more than a dozen sweeps into the North Sea by elements of the Grand Fleet and Battle Cruiser Fleet. He carried out reconnaissance missions off the coast of Denmark, landing in the sea to be picked up by waiting destroyers. He witnessed the surrender of the High Seas Fleet. Promoted to Captain, he acted as temporary CO of F Squadron for a time post-war. Guy Warner has been given access to McCleery's wartime dairy, his letters home, other memorabilia and three remarkable albums with hundreds of photos taken by Jack and others of the events described above. His intention is to edit Jack's diary and letters, to provide an introduction and conclusion and to annotate the text with explanatory details of important events, people, places, ships and aircraft."--Provided by the publisher. 2011. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92MCCLEERY

Japanese carriers and victory in the Pacific : the Yamamoto Option /Martin Stansfeld. "'Japanese Carriers and Victory in the Pacific' focuses on the pre-war debate between building a new generation of super-battleships or adopting aircraft carriers as the capital ships' of the future. An Asian power in particular sees carriers as a way of challenging the USA and the colonial empires initially losing the contest yet coming out all right in the Cold War aftermath. Martin Stansfeld examines the much overlooked genesis of Japan's so-called shadow fleet that was a secret attempt to bring about parity with the US in carriers -- albeit only with slower speed conversions of liners and auxiliaries but along with the super-battleships cluttered launch facilities when these could have been devoted to keel-up fast fleet carrier production. This first analytical look at what major launch facilities were available in Japan shows that the Imperial Japanese Navy could have doubled its fast carrier fleet thereby able to give sufficient air cover for an invasion of Hawaii rather than just the raid on Pearl Harbor, but only providing nobody noticed they were building all these carriers. This is shown to have been entirely possible given the IJN's extraordinary success at covering up their super-battleship and shadow fleet production. This secret fast carrier fleet programme is given the name 'phantom fleet' by Stansfeld who proceeds to demonstrate how the strategy of the Pacific War would have been transformed. Weaving through the chapters is an exotic cast of characters led most notably by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the conceiver of Pearl Harbor and a figure of mythic status to Japanese today and famous around the world thanks to the movies. Stansfeld dwells on the ironies of war, notably how, without the day that will live in infamy', America might never have become the worldwide super-power it is today."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 2 copies available. 359.94835095209044

Action imminent : three studies of the naval war in the Mediterranean theatre during 1940 /Peter C. Smith. Smith, Peter C 1980. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.542.1

Abandon ship! : the post-war memoirs of Captain Tony McCrum, RN /Tony McCrum. "Captain Tony McCrum's naval career started in 1932. He survived the sinking of HMS Skipjack at Dunkirk and went on to serve on minesweepers and at sea during the landings at Salerno. His wartime experiences were recently published as Sunk by Stukas. This book covers the second part of his naval career between 1945 and 1963. Having arrived back in Plymouth from Trincomlee as a lieutenant aboard the destroyer Tarter in November 1945, his first appointment was as senior instructor at the RN Signals School in Devonport. There then followed two appointments as Flag Lieutenant; first to Admiral Pridham-Wippell, CinC Plymouth Command and then Admiral Sir Rhoderick McGrigor, CinC Home Fleet, where he was also Deputy Fleet Communications Officer. He was based on the admiral's flagship, the battleship HMS Duke of York which he joined in 1947. The fleet exercised in the Atlantic and Mediterranean and 'showed the flag' in various ports in the USA, Caribbean Islands and the Baltic. In May 1948 he was promoted Lt. Commander. In 1950 he instructed at the main Naval Signals School at Leyedene House near Petersfield. Promoted Commander, now 32 years of age, he was surprised to be appointed to accompany King George VI on a state visit to Australia and New Zealand. This was to be aboard the liner SS Gothic as there was no Royal Yacht at that time. However after months of preparation the voyage was cancelled because of the King's terminal illness and the coronation of Britain's new Queen. In November 1954 he took his first command, HMS Concord, a destroyer in the 8th Destroyer Squadron based in Hong Kong. During his eighteen month captaincy of this ship he saw action off the coast of Malaya and a lengthy visit to Australia to assist in the aftermath of a hurricane. After a spell ashore as Training Commander at HMS Ganges and after promotion to Captain in 1958, he was sent to Norway on the staff of the CinC Northern European Command. In November 1960 he was again given a seagoing command. He was to skipper HMS Meon and responsibility for the Amphibious Warfare Squadron in the Persian Gulf. The squadron composed of Meon, two tank-landing ships, four tank-landing craft and a Rhino (a pontoon-like vessel for the shallow-water landing of tanks). He was ordered to cover an area extending from the East African coast, the Red Sea and to the Persian Gulf. Having worked-up this mixed bunch of vessels and their crews, plus army personnel he was confronted with the defence of Kuwait when it was threatened by the Iraqi dictator General Kassem in 1961. He was charged with landing the twelve tanks in his squadron to defend Kuwait's main port of Shuwaikh. This was successfully carried out under difficult circumstances and the Iraqi invasion was defeated. After 42 years in the RN, Tony retired to be with his wife and young family."--Provided by the publisher. 2012. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92MCCRUM

The Kaiser's battlefleet : German capital ships 1870-1918 /Aidan Dodson. "The battleships of the Third Reich have been written about exhaustively, but there is little in English devoted to their predecessors of the Second Reich. This new book fills an important gap in the literature of the period by covering these German capital ships in detail and studying the full span of battleship development during this period. The book is arranged as a chronological narrative, with technical details, construction schedules and ultimate fates tabulated throughout, thus avoiding the sometimes disjointed structure that can result from a class-by-class approach. Heavily illustrated with line work and photographs, many from German sources, the book offers readers a fresh visual look at these ships, beyond the limited range of images available from UK sources. A key objective of the book is to make available a full synthesis of the published fruits of archival research by German writers found in the pre-WW2 books of Koop & Schmolke, Grossmer's on the construction programme of the dreadnaught era, Forstmeier & Breyer on WW1 projects, and Schenk & Nottelmann's papers in Warship International. As well as providing data not available in English-language books, these sources correct significant errors in the 'standard' English sources. This entirely fresh study will appeal to historians of WWI German naval developments as well as to enthusiasts and model makers." --Provided by the publisher. 2016. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.821(43)"1871/1918"

Naval aviation in the Second World War : rare photographs from wartime archives /Philip Kaplan. "The first aircraft carriers made their appearance in the early years of World War I. These first flattops were improvised affairs built on hulls that had been laid down with other purposes in mind, and it was not until the 1920s that the first purpose-built carriers were launched, but no-one was as yet clear about the role of the carriers and they were largely unloved by the 'battleship admirals' who still believed that their great dreadnoughts were the ultimate capital ships. World War II changed all that, At Taranto, Pearl Harbour, and in the North Atlantic, the carrier, the ugly duckling of the world's navies, proved itself to be the dreadnought nemesis. As the tide of war turned, the fast attack carriers of the U.S. Navy spearheaded the counter-attack in the Pacific while the makeshift escort carriers helped to seal the fate of the German U-boats in the Atlantic. The carrier, and naval aviation, thus emerged into the post-war world as the primary symbol and instrument of seapower; it would play a crucial role in the strategic encirclement of the Soviet Union and enabled western airpower to be rapidly and effectively deployed in areas of conflict as remote as Korea, Vietnam, the Falklands and the Gulf. Kaplan describes the adventure of the young American, British, and Japanese naval aviators in the Second World War. It is an account of their experiences based on archives, diaries, published and unpublished memoirs, and personal interviews with veteran naval airmen of WWII, providing a vivid and often hair-raising picture of the dangers they encountered in combat and of everyday life aboard an aircraft carrier. It considers some of the key aspects of the WWII naval aviator's combat career, such as why it was that only a tiny minority of these pilots - those in whom the desire for aerial combat overrode everything - accounted for such a large proportion of the victories. In the major carrier actions of that conflict, from the Royal Navy's attack on Taranto which crippled the Italian fleet in 1940, to the Japanese carrier-launched surprise attack on U.S. Navy battleships and facilities at Pearl Harbour in 1941, to the carrier battle of Midway in 1942, and the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot of 1944, through the Japanese Kamikaze campaign against the U.S. Carriers in the final stages of the Pacific war, this book takes the reader back to one of the most exciting and significant times in modern history."--Provided by the publisher. 2013. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.7"1939/1945"

The company-state : corporate sovereignty and the early modern foundation of the British Empire in India /Philip J. Stern. Stern, Philip J. 2011. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 347.71EAST INDIA:325.36

The Kaiser's pirates : hunting Germany's raiding cruisers in World War I /Nick Hewitt. "The Kaiser's Pirates is a dramatic and little-known story of World War I, when the actions of a few men shaped the fate of nations. By 1914 Germany had ships and sailors scattered across the globe, protecting its overseas colonies and 'showing the flag' of its new Imperial Navy. After war broke out on August 4 there was no hope that they could reach home. Instead, they were ordered to attack Britain's vital trade routes for as long as possible. Under the leadership of a few brilliant, audacious men, they unleashed a series of raids that threatened Britain's war effort and challenged the power and prestige of the Royal Navy. The next year saw a battle of wits which stretched across the globe, drawing in ships and men from six empires. By the end, the 'Kaiser's Pirates' were no more, and Britain once again ruled the waves. Including vivid descriptions of the battles of Coronel and the Falklands and the actions of the Emden, the Goeben and the Breslau, the Karsrèuhe and the Kèonigsberg, The Kaiser's Pirates tells a fascinating narrative that ranges across the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific, and the Caribbean."--Provided by the publisher. 2014. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.459(43)

Britain's maritime empire : Southern Africa, the South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean, 1763-1820 /John McAleer "A fascinating new study in which John McAleer explores the maritime gateway to Asia around the Cape of Good Hope and its critical role in the establishment, consolidation and maintenance of the British Empire in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Situated at the centre of a maritime chain that connected seas and continents, this gateway bridged the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, which, with its commercial links and strategic requirements, formed a global web that reflected the development of the British Empire in the period. The book examines how contemporaries perceived, understood and represented this area; the ways in which it worked as an alternative hub of empire, enabling the movement of people, goods, and ideas, as well as facilitating information and intelligence exchanges; and the networks of administration, security and control that helped to cement British imperial power"-- 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 941-44

National Maritime Museum : annual report : 1982. National Maritime Museum (Great Britain) [1983]. • PAMPHLET • 8 copies available. 069(26:421.6)

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