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The legendary Admiral Jacky Fisher and the energetic Winston Churchill were a formidable pair as the political and professional heads of the Royal Navy in the lead up to the First World War but their partnership ended in acrimony over the Gallipoli campaign. This detailed study of the two leaders’ term at the Admiralty draws on an extensive new analysis of the Churchill and Fisher papers held at Churchill College, Cambridge.

Andrew Peters, who has been a professional ship-carver for over two decades, presents a comparative study of European sailing ships’ decorative work – their figureheads, topside ornamentation and stern gallery design. He identifies how national variations of the Baroque style developed in France, Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden; and ends with a personal account of the application of his research in the meticulous reconstruction of a Swedish vessel from 1738.

Establishing control of the seas was a significant factor in eventually forcing the Central Powers to surrender in 1918. The complex struggle all over the world is traced in this naval analysis through 125 maps. Identifying the vessels involved, their courses, manoeuvres and engagements, the charts describe key operations such as the Battle of Jutland and the Dardanelles campaign as well as skirmishes, raids and U-boat activities up to the scuttling of the German fleet in 1919.

This new, more extensively illustrated edition of the authoritative 1990 work shows how, in the years after the Battle of Waterloo, British warships developed from sail and wood to steam and iron, culminating in the world’s first iron-hulled, seagoing battleship, HMS Warrior. Written by a naval architect, it progresses from the structural innovations of Robert Seppings (1767–1840) to subsequent refinements of steam and the paddle-fighting ship, metal hulls and screw propulsion, and the evolving role of the Royal Navy.

Scotland was at the forefront of Britain’s dominance of international trade in the 19th century: the greatest centre of shipbuilding in the world and the possessor, in Glasgow, of one of the principal ports and centres of industry. This history details these contributions to seaborne business and also describes the part that energetic and well-educated Scottish emigrants have played in encouraging maritime commerce by taking their engineering and entrepreneurial skills to all parts of the world.

Written to accompany an exhibition at the Royal Maritime Museum, this illustrated biography records the rise and fall of Emma Hamilton. The author frames her story in the broader context of the roles that women played in the daily life of the British Fleet, and examines how she was portrayed by the artists, caricaturists and satirists of the time.

Nelson never enjoyed robust health, and was even seasick when he first set sail. As this book demonstrates, it was his experience of illness and the serious injuries he suffered that made him uniquely aware of the importance of health and fitness to the Navy, using his fame and influence to improve the welfare of his men through better diet, shipboard hygiene, more modern surgical practices and greater attention to convalescence and aftercare.

This classic account, first published in 1976, analyses the ill-conceived operation in 1940 to capture French West Africa and the related dismissal of a British Admiral for allowing Vichy French ships to join the battle.

Although press-ganged into the Navy, and prone to bouts of lunacy, Lockwood (c.1775–1855) enjoyed a successful career and became Surveyor General of New Brunswick. Driven by a desire to instil democracy, he attempted to stage a coup, but his subsequent imprisonment and state of mind saw him ending his days in a London asylum.

The last volume in Marder's epic study of the early twentieth-century Royal Navy culminates in the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet and its scuttling in Scapa Flow in 1919.

Born in Newfoundland in 1850, Barnes went to sea in 1864 and, apart from a brief spell as a shopkeeper, stayed at sea until 1920, having survived yellow fever, jail in Aracaju and First World War torpedoes. His memoirs are reprinted here in the Seafarers’ Voices series.

From the fall of Poland in September 1939, to the invasion of Norway in April 1940, the Norwegian historian Geirr Haarr describes fierce naval struggles, including the sinking of Courageous, the German mining of the British East Coast and the Altmark incident. In this meticulously detailed study, Haarr shows that there was no ‘phoney war’ at sea in those early months of the Second World War.

From the early 19th century, millions of people crossed the seas to escape war, famine or poverty, or were taken against their will as slaves, convicts or indentured labourers. Based on original sources and first-hand accounts, this book examines the transition from one life to another, beginning with the journey to the port, the perils of the voyage and their reception in the Americas or Australasia.

English colonizing efforts in North America were painfully unsuccessful in comparison with Spain's empire-building further south. Investigating the reasons for England's slow progress, Childs uses primary sources to examine vessels and voyages from Cabot's Matthew in 1497 to Winthrop's fleet in 1630; the unrealistic ambitions of promoters like Ralegh; the nature of the conflict with Native Americans; and the lack of leadership and co-operation that doomed English attempts to settle on the American coast to failure.

From the mid 18th century to the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy was the nation's greatest expense and biggest employer. The ensuing public interest made household names of its commanders and established the 'Jack Tar' as an ideal of no-nonsense British pluck. This book explores the period through the lens of contemporary caricaturists such as Gillray, Rowlandson and Cruikshank; its selection of satirical and sometimes bawdy prints is drawn from the National Maritime Museum collection.

Before the advent of the car ferry, Britain served passengers on the short crossings to the Continent and Ireland with a fleet of small ferries or scaled-down liners. This history, featuring more than 300 photos, describes the success of these vessels, which proliferated on British coastal routes and spread to other parts of the world from the early 19th century, and examines how the designs evolved from paddle steamers to screw-driven craft and finally diesel-powered ships by the early 20th century.

When Royal Caribbean's Sovereign of the Seas was launched in 1988 it was the largest passenger ship to be built for more than 40 years, but it signalled a new era in the cruise business and has inspired the construction of dozens of ever more spectacular vessels. This book celebrates this new golden age of cruising by examining 40 modern ships – from floating resorts accommodating thousands of holidaymakers to purpose-built polar and river cruisers.

Over ten years before the Stockton and Darlington Railway opened, Henry Bell's Comet of 1812 started the steam revolution in shipping and paddle steamers were soon serving tourists on coastal cruises and carrying passengers and cargo around the world to reliable timetables. This book examines the developments in paddle steamer design and technology through the 19th century, describing the most important vessels including the pioneering transatlantic ships of Samuel Cunard and the famous Mississippi sternwheelers. Slightly off-mint.

The story of German U-boat U-604, using official war diaries and survivors’ testimonies to tell of her engagement in some of the fiercest convoy battles of the Atlantic war, of the throughout

The 20th century was a time of unprecedented change and action for the Royal Navy. The service's senior officers during this period included celebrated figures such as Jackie Fisher and Louis Mountbatten, and hundreds more whose names are not so well remembered. This reference work contains nearly 1,500 pages of biographical accounts of more than 300 admirals, in PDF format on a CD-Rom. The accompanying book provides background information on terminology, rank structure and career progression in the Navy.