Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

The origins of the telescope / edited by Albert Van Helden ... [et. al.]. "The origins of the telescope have been debated since the instrument's appearance in the Hague in 1608. Civic and national pride has led local dignitaries, popular writers, and scholars to present sharply divergent histories over the years, crediting a variety of people and places with the invention. Drawing on newly discovered documents, re-examined records, and tests of early lenses and telescopes, this fascinating study proposes a new and convincing account of the origins of the instrument that changed mankind's vision of the universe."--Publisher's description. 2010. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 520.2

Sailors on the rocks : famous Royal Navy shipwrecks /Peter C. Smith. "For three hundred years or more the Royal Navy really did "Rule the Waves", in the sense that during the numerous wars with our overseas enemies, British fleets and individual ships more often than not emerged victorious from combat. One French Admiral was to generously acknowledge that the Royal Navy possessed, "a tradition of victory". And yet, in every other way, the waves were never ruled by any maritime power. Great fleets might wax and wane, ships grow ever more complex and powerful, but the sea, the eternally cruel sea, was always to have the final say. This book highlights a sample array of disasters, occurring when men-of-war faced the ultimate test of the elements and lost. Among such tragedies are the wrecking of the Coronation in 1691, the destruction of the Winchester in 1695 and the great storm of 1703, along with a host of shipwrecks on far-flung shores from New Zealand to Nova Scotia, and from Florida to South Africa. Some of the featured stories are already famous, like that of the Birkenhead. Others are lesser-known, like the sister cruisers Raleigh and Effingham, separated by many years. More recently, steam power replaced the uncertainties of sail, but even so losses continued, from little destroyers in both world wars (Narborough, Opal and Sturdy among them) through great battleships like Montagu. Even modern warships equipped with every modern navigational device come to grief; witness the strange affair of the frigate Nottingham, or the humiliating grounding of the nuclear 'wonder' submarine Astute on Skye in 2010. This unique book presents a fascinating insight into the malevolent power of the sea and storms over man's creation and dominion, chronicling some of the most dramatic shipwrecks ever to have occurred in our seas."--Provided by the publisher. 2015. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 656.61.085.3:355.49(42)

Red Funnel 150 : celebrating one hundred and fifty years of the Southampton Isle of Wight and South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Company Limited : the original Isle of Wight Ferries /by Keith Adams. An overview of the Red Funnel company from their beginnings as a paddle steamer ferry service in 1861, through to becoming a major provider of passenger and freight transportation between the south coast of England and the Isle of Wight. For over 150 years Red Funnel and its predecessors developed their services in line with the changing demands of travellers and business. They embraced the technological advancements of the day which enabled the early introduction of vehicle-carrying ferries and high-speed services. They also expanded into other areas of shipping, by acquiring companies such as Cosens & Co of Weymouth for their pleasure excursions, or merging with hauliers Vectis Transport. The first part of the book covers the company's history, with following chapters looking at all aspects of Red Funnel's business operations. These include the high-speed ferries Shearwater and Red Jet, River Medina crossings, Towage, and Red Funnel Distribution. There is also a compilation of the Red Funnel Fleet (from 1861) with a profile of each vessel, including dates when built, acquired, withdrawn or scrapped, builder's details, and technical information. All are accompanied by numerous photographs and illustrations from the Red Funnel archives. 2010. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 347.792RED FUNNEL:656.66

Le port de la libertâe : Brest, au temps de l'Indâependance amâericaine /Jean-Yves Besseliáevre, Alain Boulaire, Olivier Corre, Lenaèig L'Aot-Lombart, Marjolaine Mourot ; prâeface d'Olivier Poivre d'Arvor. "In March 1778, the Scottish privateer John Paul Jones landed at Brest. He is the first officer of the young American navy to whom Louis XVI entrusts a ship. France has just joined the United States in fighting against the British Crown. The freedom of the young American nation gets ready on the docks of Penfeld ..."--Provided by the publisher. [2016] • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.49"1778/1781"(42:44)

Empire and globalisation : networks of people, goods and capital in the British world, c.1850-1914 /Gary B. Magee and Andrew S. Thompson. "Focusing on the great population movement of British emigrants before 1914, this book provides a new perspective on the relationship between empire and globalisation. It shows how distinct structures of economic opportunity developed around the people who settled across a wider British World through the co-ethnic networks they created. Yet these networks could also limit and distort economic growth. The powerful appeal of ethnic identification often made trade and investment with racial 'outsiders' less appealing, thereby skewing economic activities toward communities perceived to be 'British'. By highlighting the importance of these networks to migration, finance and trade, this book contributes to debates about globalisation in the past and present. It reveals how the networks upon which the era of modern globalisation was built quickly turned in on themselves after 1918, converting racial, ethnic and class tensions into protectionism, nationalism and xenophobia. Avoiding such an outcome is a challenge faced today"--Provided by publisher. 2010. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 325.1:382(100:41-44)"1850/1914"

Empires of the imagination : politics, war and the arts in the British world, 1750-1850 /Holger Hoock. "Between the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries, Britain evolved from a substantial international power yet relative artistic backwater into a global superpower and a leading cultural force in Europe. In this original and wide-ranging book, Hoock illuminates the manifold ways in which the culture of power and the power of culture were interwoven in this period of dramatic change. Britons invested artistic and imaginative effort to come to terms with the loss of the American colonies; to sustain the generation-long fight against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France; and to assert and legitimate their growing empire in India. Demonstrating how Britain fought international culture wars over prize antiquities from the Mediterranean and Near East, the book explores how Britons appropriated ancient cultures from the Mediterranean, the Near East, and India, and casts a fresh eye on iconic objects such as the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon Marbles."--Provided by the publisher. 2010. • BOOK • 2 copies available. 7:941-44"17/18"

Horrible shipwreck! : A full, true and particular account of the melancholy loss of the British convict ship Amphitrite, the 31st August 1833, off Boulogne, when 108 female convicts, 12 children, and 13 seamen met with a watery grave, in sight of thousands, none being saved out of 136 souls but three! /Andrew C.A. Jampoler. The story of the Amphitrite, a British convict ship which sank off Boulogne on 31 August 1833 after running aground in bad weather. The ship, bound for New South Wales and carrying female covicts and children, sank in full view of the French coastline and the destruction of the vessel was watched by onlookers from the shore. The event received sensational press attention in which the British Consul was accused of negligence and Captain John Hunter was blamed for the loss of life arising from his failure to accept assistance and his fear that the convicts might escape. A maritime tragedy was transformed into a national scandal and resulted in an Admiralty Investigation chaired by Lieutenant Henry Ducie Chads. While focusing on the circumstances of the wreck of Amphitrite, the author explores the wider history of convict transportation, the use of prison hulks and on board conditions on a transport ship. The author details prevailing weather conditions, the ship's history and the lives of some of the convicts on board as well as those of the ship's surgeon James Forrester and his wife (on board at the time of the wreck) and Captain John Hunter. A detailed bibliography is provided. 2010. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 656.61.085.3AMPHITRITE

The British way in warfare : power and the international system, 1856-1956 ; essays in honour of David French /edited by Keith Neilson and Greg Kennedy. 2010. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.02(42)"1856/1956"

Rough waters : American involvement with the Mediterranean in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries /edited by Silvia Marzagalli, James R. Sofka and John J. McCusker. 2010. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.49:382(73:262)

Trawler disasters, 1946-1975 : from Aberdeen, Fleetwood, Hull and Grimsby /byJohn Nicklin & Patricia O'Driscoll. Nicklin, John. 2010. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 656.61.085.3(42)"19"

The Admiral Benbow / Sam Willis. "Admiral John Benbow was an English naval hero, a fighting sailor of ruthless methods but indomitable courage. Benbow was a man to be reckoned with. In 1702, however, when Benbow engaged a French squadron off the Spanish main, other ships in his squadron failed to support him. His leg shattered by a cannon-ball, Benbow fought on - but to no avail: the French escaped and the stricken Benbow succumbed to his wounds. When the story of his 'Last Fight' reached England, there was an outcry. Two of the captains who had abandoned him were court-martialled and shot; 'Brave Benbow' was elevated from national hero to national legend, his valour immortalized in broadsheet and folksong: ships were named after him; Tennyson later fãeted him in verse; in Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, the tavern where Jim Hawkins and his mother live is called 'The Admiral Benbow'. For the very first time, Sam Willis tells the extraordinary story of Admiral Benbow through an age of dramatic change, from his birth under Cromwell's Commonwealth; to service under the restored Stuart monarchy; to the Glorious Revolution of 1688; to the French wars of Louis XIV; and finally to the bitter betrayal of 1702. The Admiral Benbow covers all aspects of seventeenth century naval life in richly vivid detail, from strategy and tactics to health and discipline. But Benbow also worked in the Royal Dockyards, lived in Samuel Evelyn's House, knew Peter the Great, helped to found the first naval hospital, and helped to build the first offshore lighthouse."--From the publisher. 2010. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92BENBOW

Oceania / edited by Peter Brunt and Nicholas Thomas. "Encompassing thousands of islands from the remote shores of Rapa Nui to the dense rainforest of Papua New Guinea, Oceania is one of the world's most extraordinary and diverse regions. This book, accompanying the spectacular exhibition at the Royal Academy opening this September, showcases Oceanic art and the subsequent migrations of people, cultures and objects from the Pacific around the world, from the unrivalled navigational feats of the first settlers who traversed the open ocean in wooden canoes to the explorations of Captain Cook 250 years ago. Bringing together the most up-to-date scholarship by experts in the field, this book presents Oceania through the eyes of its own people - artists, poets and photographers - who explore the legacy of the past and the future of a world and way of life threatened by a changing climate."--Provided by the publisher. 2018. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 7(9)

Islanders : the Pacific in the age of empire /Nicholas Thomas. "This compelling book explores the lived experience of empire in the Pacific, the last region to be contacted and colonized by Europeans following the great voyages of Captain Cook. Unlike conventional accounts that emphasize confrontation and the destruction of indigenous cultures, Islanders reveals there was gain as well as loss, survival as well as suffering, and invention as well as exploitation. Empowered by imaginative research in obscure archives and collections, Thomas rediscovers a rich and surprising history of encounters, not only between Islanders and Europeans, but among Islanders, brought together in new ways by explorers, missionaries, and colonists. He tells the story of the making of empire, not through an impersonal survey, but through vivid stories of the lives of men and women - some visionary, some vicious, and some just eccentric - and through sensuous evocation of seascapes and landscapes of the Pacific. A fascinating re-creation of an Oceanic world, Islanders offers a new paradigm, not only for histories of the Pacific, but for understandings of cultural contact everywhere." 2010. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.4(96)

Bismarck : the epic chase : the sinking of the German menace /by James Crossley. "When the German Battleship Bismarck was commissioned in 1940 she was one of the fastest and most powerful ships afloat. To the Royal Navy and the security of Allied shipping in the Atlantic she posed an enormous threat - she must be destroyed. When she broke out into the Atlantic in 1941, some of Britain's most powerful ships were sent to pursue and sink her. The first encounter proved disastrous for the British Battleship HMS Hood, which was sunk at 0800 on 24 May. Bismarck had sustained several hits from HMS Prince of Wales but the Royal Navy were unsure of the extent of the damage and whether she would attempt to return to Germany for major repairs or sail for France to lick her wounds. Previous written accounts suggest that the whereabouts and course of Bismarck were unknown to the Allies until discovered by an RAF Catalina at 1030 on 26 May. This was followed an hour later by the arrival of a Fairey Swordfish flying off HMS Ark Royal. This aircraft hit the Bismarck with her torpedo and severely damaged her steering gear. It was now only a matter of time before the full firepower of the British capital ships would close in and destroy Germany's greatest ship. This new book revises previous theory of the events, in which earlier publications have failed to reveal the full extent of the capabilities of both British and German Radar or the significance of British ULTRA signal intercepts."--Provided by the publisher 2010. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.542.9(42:43)"1941"

Mr. Hilhouse of Bristol : shipbuilder for the Navy, 1749-1822 /Andrew Whitefield. "In this book Andrew Whitefield sets out to rediscover Hilhouse's career and answer the questions that first attracted him to the enigma of Hilhouse. How did he start as a first generation shipbuilder? How did he overcome the Navy's prejudice against merchants and reluctance to build at Bristol? Where was his famous Redclift yard? Why did the Navy cease to place orders? Drawing on hitherto unpublished primary sources and following tantalizing clues, he traces Hilhouse's family's origins, their involvement as Dissenters and Merchant Venturers in Bristol's Golden Age trading in sugar and risking all in privateering ventures. The book describes Hilhouse's shipbuilding career, not without setbacks, with details of his dockyard organization, dealings with the Navy and histories of his warships and also recounts the cultural side of his life and influential artistic friends. The story that emerges provides a fascinating portrait of a shipbuilder, artist and family man, during a vital period of Britain's maritime history and gives James Martin Hilhouse the recognition he deserves."-- 2010. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92HILHOUSE:629.12(424.1)

The discovery of Jeanne Baret : a story of science, the high seas, and the first woman to circumnavigate the globe /Glynis Ridley. "The year was 1765. King Louis XV had ordered the first French expedition around the world. appointing eminent botanist Philibert Commerson to seek out medicines, spices, and other resources that could give the French an edge in the ever-accelerating race for empire. Desperate not to be left behind, twenty-six-year-old Jeanne Baret - Commerson's peasant-born mistress, and a deeply knowledgeable plantswoman in her own right - disguised herself as a teenage boy and signed on as his assistant. As the ship stopped at strange new lands, the secret lvoers disembarked to collect and classify plants unknown to Western science, including the showy vine bougainvillea. But it wasn't long before the crew members on the cramped ship began to suspect her true identity. With this incredible true tale of intrigue on the high seas, Glynis Ridley offers a forgotten heroine the chance to bloom at long last."--Provided by the publisher. 2010. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.4092

Discovering the North-West Passage : the four-year Arctic odyssey of H.M.S. Investigator and the McClure Expedition /Glenn M. Stein. The story of HMS Investigator and the voyage undertaken by Vice-Admiral Robert McClure (1807-1873) in 1850-1854 to search for the missing Franklin expedition which had disappeared in 1848. McClure was born in Ireland and joined the Royal Navy in 1824, obtaining his first polar experience in HMS Terror in 1836. He joined an early expedition to find the Franklin expedition in 1848 and then in 1850 accompanied HMS Enterprise, under the command of Richard Collinson, on a further search. The two ships were separated in a storm, never to meet up again. McClure continued through the Bering Strait but was eventually forced to abandon the ship after she became icebound in Mercy Bay in 1853. The crew continued overland finally meeting up with HMS Resolute and HMS Intrepid, also searching for Franklin from the opposite direction. The text is supported by a detailed bibliography, notes and appendices which include the crew list of HMS Investigator and detail the creation of the Polar Medal. [2015]. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.4(987)"1850/1854"

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

War, empire and slavery, 1770-1830 / edited by Richard Bessel, Nicholas Guyatt and Jane Rendall. 2010. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.01:326(4-44)"1770/1830"

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

British warships in the age of sail, 1793-1817 : design, construction, careers and fates /Rif Winfield. Winfield, Rif. 2010. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.82(42)"1793/1817"

We are one : the War of 1812: The Battles for St. Michaels, Maryland August 10 & 26, 1813 "Welcome to August 10, 1813, in the little town of St. Michaels, Maryland. On this hot, dark morning the feared British Navy attacked the town of three hundred, defended by local militia. This book tells the story of that attack and a subsequent attempt on August 26. We also look at the life of our citizens at that time and the lasting impact of this war in the Chesapeake Bay."--The preface. 2013. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.48"1812/1815"(42:73)

The man who caught Crippen : The amazing life of Henry Kendall /Joe Saward "Captain Henry Kendall was a mariner who lived from 1874 to 1965. He was a hero of his age and in 1910, as captain of the SS Montrose, sent a celebrated wireless message from his ship to Scotland Yard, as he headed out into the Atlantic Ocean: "Have strong suspicions that Crippen, London cellar murderer and accomplice, are among saloon passengers." Inspector Walter Dew of the Metropolitan Police raced to Liverpool and boarded a faster ship to Canada. In the newspapers each day the world watched... as the power of radio communication was proved for the first time, in the most dramatic fashion. The story made Kendall a household name. Four years later, at almost exactly the same spot as Crippen had been arrested, in the St Lawrence Estuary, close to the Father Point lighthouse, the RMS Empress of Ireland, which Kendall was commanding, was hit by a heavily-laden coal frieghter, with an ice-breaking bow. The liner sank in just 14 minutes, killing 1012 people. By a quirk of fate Kendall survived - although he had no desire to do so... Kendall's life reads like a work of fiction. He went to sea as a cabin boy at 15. He survived attempted murder, shipwrecks, torpedoes, icebergs, scorpion bites, cannibals, sharks, fevers, flying bombs and even a marauding leopard. The captain of an Atlantic liner by the age of 32, he played a key role in rescuing 800 refugees when the Germans invaded Belgium in 1914, using one liner to tow another out of Antwerp, despite attempts to stop the two ships leaving. The whole story has been researched in the course of the last 20 years and follows the amazing tale of "The Grand Prix Saboteurs", about the motor racing champions who became British secret agents in Occupied France during WWII."--Provided by the publisher. 2010 • BOOK • 1 copy available.

Trading nature : Tahitians, Europeans, and ecological exchange /Jennifer Newell. "When Captain Samuel Wallis became the first European to land at Tahiti in June 1767, he left not only a British flag on shore but also three guinea hens, a pair of turkeys, a pregnant cat, and a garden planted with peas for the chiefess Purea. Thereafter, a succession of European captains, missionaries, and others planted seeds and introduced livestock from around the world. In turn, the islanders traded away great quantities of important island resources, including valuable and spiritually significant plants and animals. What did these exchanges mean? What was their impact? The answers are often unexpected. They also reveal the ways islanders retained control over their societies and landscapes in an era of increasing European intervention. Trading Nature explores - from both the European and Tahitian perspective - the effects of "ecological exchange" on one island from the mid-eighteenth century to the present day. Through a series of dramatic episodes, Trading Nature uncovers the potency of trading in nature. In the interweavings of chiefly power, ordinary islanders, the ambitions of outsiders, transplanted species, and existing ecologies, the book uncovers the cultural and ecological impacts of cross-cultural exchange. Evidence of these transactions has been found in a rich variety of voyage journals, missionary diaries, Tahitian accounts, colonial records, travelers' tales, and a range of visual and material sources. The story progresses from the first trades on Tahiti's shores for provisions for British and French ships to the contrasting histories of cattle in Tahiti and Hawai'i. Two key exportations of species are analyzed: the great breadfruit transplantation project that linked Britain to Tahiti and the Caribbean and the politically volatile trade in salt-pork that ran between Tahiti and the Australian colonies in the nineteenth century. In each case, the author explores the long-term impacts of the exchanges on modern Tahiti. Trading Nature is a finely researched and entertaining work that will find a ready audience among those with an interest in the Pacific, ecological history, and the startling consequences of entangling people, plants, and animals on island shores."--Provided by the publisher. 2010. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 382(4:963)

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