Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

Mariners' memorabilia : a guide to the china of British shipping companies of the 19th and 20th centuries, volume 3 /Peter Laister. "This book, the third in a series of four volumes, deals mostly with British coastal companies and a miscellaneous selection of foreign deep sea companies, together with two earlier volumes, is an attempt to illustrate examples of china used on board British merchant ships and covers the period from the beginning of the 19th century, through to the end of the 20th century. It also gives brief historical details of the companies themselves and the trades in which they were involved. Information about identifying patterns of china and details of the manufacturers are included. It also covers the difficulty of identification of china that is only marked with a monogram, initials, or a house flag. A total of 48 companies are dealt with individually and, in total, 226 companies are mentioned in the comprehensive index. These companies were so important to the lifeblood of the United Kingdom and traded to all parts of the world. Sadly, with one or two rare exceptions, they now remain only in memory. Whilst the name 'British' forms part of the title, the book also includes shipping companies that were owned in other parts of the world, these companies being of great importance to, what used to be the British Empire. Both the author and his wife are ex seafarers and met on the Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company's vessel, 'STIRLING CASTLE', on the weekly mail service from Southampton to Cape Town in the 1950s, when he was a Deck Officer and she, a Children's Hostess."--Provided by the publisher. 2020. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 738.20941

City of fortune : how Venice ruled the seas /Roger Crowley. "The New York Times bestselling author of Empires of the Sea charts Venice's astounding five-hundred-year voyage to the pinnacle of power in an epic story that stands unrivaled for drama, intrigue, and sheer opulent majesty. City of Fortune traces the full arc of the Venetian imperial saga, from the ill-fated Fourth Crusade, which culminates in the sacking of Constantinople in 1204, to the Ottoman-Venetian War of 1499-1503, which sees the Ottoman Turks supplant the Venetians as the preeminent naval power in the Mediterranean. In between are three centuries of Venetian maritime dominance, during which a tiny city of "lagoon dwellers" grow into the richest place on earth. Drawing on firsthand accounts of pitched sea battles, skillful negotiations, and diplomatic maneuvers, Crowley paints a vivid picture of this avaricious, enterprising people and the bountiful lands that came under their dominion. From the opening of the spice routes to the clash between Christianity and Islam, Venice played a leading role in the defining conflicts of its time - the reverberations of which are still being felt today."--Provided by the publisher. 2013. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 38(450.341)"10/15"

Victory without peace : the United States Navy in European waters, 1919-1924 /William N. Still Jr. "Victory Without Peace concentrates on the U.S. Navy in European and Near Eastern waters during the post-World War I era. As participants in the Versailles peace negotiations, the Navy was charged with executing the naval terms of the Armistice as well as preserving stability and peace. U.S. warships were deploying into the Near East, Baltic, Adriatic, and Northern Europe, while simultaneously withdrawing its demobilized forces from European waters. This signifies the first time the U.S. Navy contributed to peacetime efforts, setting a precedent continues today. Conversely, Congressional appropriations handicapped this deployment by demobilization, general naval policy and postwar personnel, and operating funds reductions. Though reluctant to allocate postwar assets into seemingly unimportant European and Near Eastern waters, the Navy was pressured by the State Department and the American Relief Administration's leader, Herbert Hoover, to deploy necessary forces. Most of these were withdrawn by 1924 and the European Station assumed the traditional policy of showing the flag."--Provided by publisher. 2018 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.353(73)

HMS Hood : pride of the Royal Navy /Daniel Knowles. "For over twenty years the battlecruiser HMS Hood toured the world as the most iconic warship in the Royal Navy. Unmatched in her beauty and charisma, Hood is one of history's greatest warships. During the twilight years of the British Empire the Hood toured the world showing the flag as a symbol of British power. As the Royal Navy's show-ship, Hood came to command a special place in the hearts and minds of the British public. Such was the regard for HMS Hood that her destruction in the Denmark Strait on the morning of 24 May 1941 by the German battleship Bismarck created dismay across the world. Within minutes of entering battle 'the Mighty Hood' as she was affectionately known, was destroyed by a catastrophic explosion which had echoes of Jutland a quarter of a century earlier. Out of a crew of a crew [sic] of 1,418, only 3 survived. The sinking of HMS Hood was the single largest disaster ever sustained by the Royal Navy. This book charts the life and death of this legendary battlecruiser in both peace and war from her early origins, through the interwar years, to her destruction."--Provided by the publisher. 2019. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 359.32530941

Mariners' memorabilia : a guide to the china of British shipping companies of the 19th and 20th centuries, volume 4 /Peter Laister. "This book, the last in a series of four volumes, deals mostly with British companies and a miscellaneous selection of foreign deep sea companies. Together with three earlier volumes, it is an attempt to illustrate examples of china used on board British merchant ships and covers the period from the beginning of the 19th century, through to the end of the 20th century. It also gives brief historical details of the companies themselves and the trades in which they were involved. Information about identifying patterns of china and details of the manufacturers are included. It also covers the difficulty of identification of china that is only marked with a monogram, or a house flag. A total of 59 companies are dealt with individually in the volume and, in total, 230 companies are mentioned in the comprehensive index. These companies were so important to the lifeblood of the United Kingdom and traded to all parts of the world. Sadly, with one or two rare exceptions, they now remain only in memory. Whilst the name 'British' forms part of the title, the book also includes shipping companies that were owned in other parts of the world, these companies being of great importance to, what used to be the British Empire. Both the author and his wife are ex seafarers and met on the Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company's vessel, STIRLING CASTLE, on the weekly mail service from Southampton to Cape Town in the 1950s, when he was a Deck Officer and she, a Children's Hostess."--Provided by the publisher. 2020. • FOLIO • 1 copy available.

River gunboats : An illustrated encylopaedia /Roger Branfill-Cook "The first recorded engagement by a steam-powered warship took place on a river, when in 1824 the Honourable East India Company?s gunboat Diana went into action on the Irrawaddy in Burma. In the 150 years that followed river gunboats played a significant part in over forty campaigns and individual actions, down to the Portuguese and American ?Brown Water? fighting in Africa and Vietnam respectively at the end of the twentieth century. They proved to be the decisive factor in operations against the Maoris, with Gordon?s Ever Victorious Army in China, during the river campaigns of the American Civil War, in the French conquest of Indochina, during Kitchener?s advance on Khartoum, and on the Rufiji and Tigris during the Great War. River gunboats fought for the Paris Commune, on the rivers of South America, against the Bolsheviks, and during the Second World War in the open waters of the Mediterranean, while armoured Soviet gunboats fought German Panzers, and a pair of ?Girls? attacked the Japanese on the banks of the Irrawaddy. This lavishly illustrated encyclopaedia describes vessels of every nation designed as river gunboats, plus those converted river steamers which took part in combat. Maps of the river systems where they operated are included, together with narratives of the principal actions involving river gunboats. Their story is brought up-to-date with data on current riverine combat vessels in service today."--Provided by the publisher. 2016. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.824

The decline and fall of the British Empire, 1781-1997 / Piers Brendon. Chronicles Britain's rise to imperial might in the wake of the American Revolution, recording life in its diverse colonies and reflecting on the inherent weaknesses of the empire, its inevitable decline, and its legacy for the present. 2010. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 941-44"17/19"

Cutty Sark : the last of the tea clippers /foreword, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh ; preface, Dr Kevin Fewster AM ; author, Eric Kentley ; picture editor, Jessica Lewis. An updated and expanded edition to celebrate the 150th anniversary of this iconic ship. The narrative spans her construction at Dumbarton in 1869; her famous tea voyages as well as those with other cargoes; her career under a Portuguese flag; her subsequent return to the Thames, Greenwich; and the dramatic fire, painstaking restoration and glorious reopening in April 2012. The book has been developed from the outset with the Cutty Sark Trust and takes the form of a chronological career narrative but also presents detailed features on crew accounts, log entries, pieces on seamanship, ports and cargoes and broader tall ship culture as well as an opportunity to focus on artifacts and the fittings of the ship.This unique opportunity allows the first publication of specially commissioned photography created as part of, and subsequent to, the clipper's restoration as well as the findings of resulting research. [2019] • BOOK • 2 copies available. 623.8224

Maps and the 20th century: Drawing the line/Tom Harper. "Accompanies a major exhibition at the British Library, opening on 4 November. This book will tell a global story of the most turbulent century in history through its most powerful and important object: the map. It includes over 120 illustrations of the most important and unusual maps of the period from the world's greatest map collection, and uses them to tell the story of war, peace, depression, prosperity, and social and technological change that has made the world what it is today. This bold new history will challenge the reader's perceptions about maps, revealing them as objects of persuasion and power, as well as humour and even sadness. Above all it will open the reader's eyes to the prevalence of maps in everyday life.Highlights will include a trench-map of the Somme battlefields, a bomb damage map of London, laminated rifle-maps from Belfast in 1990, the original sketch for the London Tube, early maps of the ocean floor, a poster showing Mao studying a map on his Long March, and a Russian Mars globe from 1961. Many of the illustrations will be unexpected: the United Nations flag, the first stamps of Independent Latvia, which were printed on the backs of maps, and a motorway sign. Leading historians of cartography, society and art will explore the myriad ways in which maps were made, used and understood during 100 years of conflict, change and upheaval."--Provided by the publisher. 2016. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 912.43(100)

Exeter : a cruiser of the medium size /Reginald Cogswell "The title of this book are words Reginald Cogswell opens the book with to describe HMS EXETER. In June 1926, a grammar school boy from Westbury Wiltshire, he joined the Royal Navy as an Electrical Artificer 4th Class. More than 40 years later, having retired as a Lieutenant Commander MBE, he wrote of his experiences. The book covers just a small portion of Lt Cdr Cogswell's naval career, from August '36 to February '40 when he served as the Warrant Officer (E) aboard HMS EXETER. Those 43 months encompassed peace and war, aid to civil power during riots in Trinidad, helping earthquake victims at Talcahuano Chile, family separation and re-unions, calm seas and storms. In setting down his memories of peace time ship focussing on 'showing the flag' visits to the ports of South America, the transition to war and the bloody truth of battle at sea in company with HMS AJAX and HMNZS ACHILLES against the Graf Spee off the River Plate, Reginald Cogswell opens a window into the Royal Navy of the period and the impact of WWII. The chapters devoted the Battle of the RIver Plate are telling - trapped below deck, tasked with maintaining power to the ship, gun directors and turrets, Warrant Officer (E) Cogswell was 'in the thick of it', giving a blow by blow account of the battle, hearing Graf Spee's shells land and tackling the resultant shell damage. The story continues with EXETER's return, via the Falklands for temporary repairs, to Devonport and meeting Churchill, marching with the ship's company through London to an investiture by King George VI and the Lord Mayor's reception at the Guildhall. It ends with the author, and his wife, walking slowly through bomb damaged London to their hotel. This is not a history of naval strategy and tactics or the manoeuvres of battle at sea, but a most beautifully expressed story of one man?s personal experience of peace and war. A book to savour and enjoy for the period flavour and quality of the writing."--Provided by the publisher. 2017 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.82EXETER

A biographical dictionary of the twentieth-century Royal Navy : volume 1 :admirals of the Fleet and admirals /by Alastair Wilson. "Despite its recent decline in size and influence, for much of the twentieth century the Royal Navy was a major player in world history. Its senior officers carried out - and sometimes made - British policy in peace and war, but with the exception of a few star figures the details of their careers have never been published. This book is the first volume of a major study intended to provide a resumâe of the service lives of every flag officer, in the style of the great nineteenth century biographical dictionaries of Marshall and O'Byrne. Every entry is based on primary sources, including the Navy's confidential personnel files, cross-referenced with general historical data and, in the case of living officers, correspondence with the subjects themselves. The book comes with a CD which contains the service histories and careers of 336 most senior admirals on the Navy List from 1900 onwards. The length of each entry varies with the importance of the officer covered, but each includes both an outline of their careers and significant dates, like promotions and awards. In all, the CD contains more than 600,000 words - a truly epic work. The majority are not even included in the Dictionary of National Biography, and as such, this work will be a boon to historians, and invaluable to genealogists. A monumental and unique naval historical resource."--Provided by the publisher. 2013. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92:355.333.3(42)"19"

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)

Ideologies of Western Naval Power, c. 1500-1815 / edited by J.D. Davies, Alan James and Gijs Rommelse. "This ground-breaking book provides the first study of naval ideology, defined as the mass of cultural ideas and shared perspectives that, for early modern states and belief systems, justified the creation and use of naval forces. Sixteen scholars examine a wide range of themes over a wide time period and broad geographical range, embracing Britain, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Sweden, Russia, Venice and the United States, along with the "extra-national" polities of piracy, neutrality, and international Calvinism. This volume provides important and often provocative new insights into both the growth of western naval power and important elements of political, cultural and religious history."-- 2020. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 359/.030940903

Very special ships : Abdiel class fast minelayers of World War Two /Arthur Nicholson. "Very Special Ships is the first full-length book about the six Abdiel-class fast minelayers, the fastest and most versatile ships to serve in the Royal Navy in the Second World War. They operated not only as offensive minelayers - dashing into enemy waters under cover of darkness - but in many other roles, most famously as blockade runners to Malta. In lieu of mines, they transported items as diverse as ammunition, condensed milk, gold, and VIPs. Distinguished by their three funnels, the Abdiels were attractive, well-designed ships, and they were also unique - no other navy had such ships, and so they were sought-after commands and blessed with fine captains. To give the fullest picture of this important class of ships, the book details the origins and history of mines, minelayers, and minelaying; covers the origins and design of the class; describes the construction of each of the six ships, and the modified design of the last two; tells in detail of the operational careers of the ships in the second World War, when they played vital roles in the battle of Crete and the siege of Malta, plied the hazardous route to Tobruk, and laid mines off the Italian coast. The post-war careers of the surviving ships is also documented. Written to appeal to naval enthusiasts, students of World War II and modelmakers, the author tells the story of these ships through first-hand accounts, official sources, and specially- commissioned drawings and photographs."--Provided by the publisher. 2015. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.829.2(42)"1939/1945"

The Nautical Institute on command : a practical guide 2000. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.88

Rain of steel : Mitscher's Task Force 58, Ugaki's Thunder Gods, and the Kamikaze war off Okinawa /Stephen L. Moore. "Rain of Steel follows Navy and Marine carrier aviators in the desperate air battles to control the kamikazes directed by Vice Admiral Matome Ugaki. Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher's Task Force 58 carriers had conducted air strikes on mainland Japan and supported the Iwo Jima landings, but his aviators were sorely tested once the Okinawa campaign commenced on April 1, 1945. Ugaki would unleash ten different Kikusui aerial suicide operations, one including a naval force built around the world's most powerful battleship, the 71,000-ton Yamato. These battles are related largely through the words and experiences of some of the last living U.S. fighter aces of World War II"--Provided by publisher. 2020 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.54/252294

No room for mistakes : British and Allied submarines in European waters 1939-1940 /Geirr H Haarr. "A new book from this bestselling author covering the events at sea in the early years of World War II, in which he has compiled comprehensive research and insight into a highly readable and detailed account of British and Allied submarine warfare in north European waters at the beginning of the war. The early chapters describe prewar submarine development, including technical advances and limitations, weapons, tactical use and life onboard, and examine the men who crewed them and explore their understanding of the warfare that they would become involved in. The core of the book is an account of the events as they unfolded in 'home waters' from the outset of war to the end of 1940, by which time the majority of the Allied submarines were operating in the Mediterranean. It is a story of success, triumph, failure and tragedy, and it tells of the tremendous courage and endurance shown by a small group of men learning how to fight a new kind of war in claustrophobic, sub-sea vessels with limited information about the enemy, or what they would meet off the alien coasts to which they were heading. Extensive primary sources are used to document the many aspects of this war, some of which remain controversial to this day. Max Horton, Vice Admiral Submarines 1940, said: 'There is no room for mistakes in submarines. You are either alive or dead.' This book makes plain how right he was."--Provided by the publisher. 2015. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.545.1

H-bombs & hula girls : Operation Grapple 1957 and the last Royal Navy Gunroom at sea /written and compiled by Michael Johnston. "Published to coincide with the 60th anniversay of Britain's first successful thermonuclear bomb testing in the Pacific, H-Bombs and Hula Girls tells the tale of ten young men brought together through National Service in the Royal Navy and taking part in Britain?s top secret tests near Christmas Island. They experience at extremely close quarters what the world is told were three megaton H-bomb explosions, going on to show their country's flag in Hawaii, then around the South Pacific, and finally round all of South America. Theirs is the only British warship ever to sail directly from Port Stanley to Puerto Belgrano, mooring next to the Argentine flagship General Belgrano. H-Bombs & Hula Girls evokes the Cold War atmosphere of Britain in the 1950s and the race to secure the nation's place among the thermonuclear powers, but also paints the picture of a heterogeneous group of young men enjoying life-shaping experiences together: learning to be sailors, exploring island paradises, participating in three vast explosions, being their nation's goodwill ambassadors as they encounter completely different cultures, and here and there experiencing life-threatening moments and even having their hearts broken. This fascinating memoir of the last Royal Navy Gunroom at sea, crafted from journals, letters, and contemporary records, plus the wonders of hindsight, culminates in the surprising realisation that Operation Grapple may not have been quite what it seemed." --Provided by the publisher. 2017 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.454.8

In the kingdom of ice : the grand and terrible polar voyage of the USS Jeannette /Hampton Sides. In the late nineteenth century, people were obsessed by one of the last unmapped areas of the globe: the North Pole. No one knew what existed beyond the fortress of ice rimming the northern oceans, although theories abounded. The foremost cartographer in the world, a German named August Petermann, believed that warm currents sustained a verdant island at the top of the world. National glory would fall to whoever could plant his flag upon its shores. James Gordon Bennett, the eccentric and stupendously wealthy owner of The New York Herald, had recently captured the world's attention by dispatching Stanley to Africa to find Dr. Livingstone. Now he was keen to re-create that sensation on an even more epic scale. So he funded an official U.S. naval expedition to reach the Pole, choosing as its captain a young officer named George Washington De Long, who had gained fame for a rescue operation off the coast of Greenland. De Long led a team of 32 men deep into uncharted Arctic waters, carrying the aspirations of a young country burning to become a world power. On July 8, 1879, the USS Jeannette set sail from San Francisco to cheering crowds in the grip of "Arctic Fever." The ship sailed into uncharted seas, but soon was trapped in pack ice. Two years into the harrowing voyage, the hull was breached. Amid the rush of water and the shrieks of breaking wooden boards, the crew abandoned the ship. Less than an hour later, the Jeannette sank to the bottom, and the men found themselves marooned a thousand miles north of Siberia with only the barest supplies. Thus began their long march across the endless ice -- a frozen hell in the most lonesome corner of the world. Facing everything from snow blindness and polar bears to ferocious storms and frosty labyrinths, the expedition battled madness and starvation as they desperately strove for survival. [2014]. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 656.61.085.3JEANNETTE

Britain, Canada and the North Pacific : maritime enterprise and dominion, 1778-1914 /Barry M. Gough. "From the time of Cook, the British and their Canadian successors were drawn to the Northwest coast of North America by possibilities of trade in sea otter and the wish to find a 'northwest passage'. The studies collected here trace how the British came to dominate the area, with expeditions sent from London, Bombay and Macau, and the Canadian quest from overland, and how commercial enterprise, the Royal Navy and British statecraft fended off American opposition and Russian and Spanish resistance to British aspirations. Elsewhere in the Americas, the British promoted trans-Pacific trade with China, conveyed specie from western Mexico, and established the South America naval station. The flag followed trade and vice versa; empire was both formal (at Vancouver Island) and informal (as in California or Mexico). This book features individuals such as James Cook, William Bolts, Peter Pond, and Sir Alexander Mackenzie. It is also an account of the pressure that corporations placed on the British state in shaping the emerging world of trade and colonization in that distant ocean and its shores, and of the importance of sea-power in the creation of modern Canada."--Provided by the publisher. c2004. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 656.61(218)"1778/1914"

Giants of the sea : ships & men who changed the world : the fascinating story of the colossal cargo ships that make today's world trade possible & the pantheon of nine visionary titans who created them /John D. McCown, Jr. "Giants Of The Sea: Ships & Men Who Changed The World" covers the history and development of the modern cargo shipping industry in 330 pages spread across 30 discrete chapters. The history of cargo shipping going back to the Egyptians moving obelisks by barge on the Nile is covered, but the focus is on the post-war revolution in shipping cost efficiency through specialization and geometric increases in vessel size. With detailed information on what comprises each major shipping segment today, it also includes chapters on the nine men whose fingerprints are still all over the industry. Three Americans, two Danes, two Greeks and two Chinese. The modern worldwide cargo shipping industry stands on the shoulders of these giants. The author, who worked on a daily basis for twenty years with Malcom McLean, the inventor of container shipping, demonstrates the direct link between the efficiency of the shipping industry and the explosion in world trade it has enabled. The book outlines how today's shipping industry touches almost everyone on the planet in ways that they may not even be aware. In addition to highlighting the industry's contribution to the global economy, the book makes the case that it has been a prime catalyst in reducing poverty and even increasing peace around the world. Packed with interesting and fun facts in an 8 1/2" x 11" hardcover format, it is the author's hope that this broad sweep of a largely invisible industry is an informative and enjoyable read for people both inside and outside of shipping."--Amazon.com. 2020 • BOOK • 1 copy available. txt

Britain's empire : resistance, repression and revolt /Richard Gott. This revelatory new history punctures the widely held belief that the British Empire was an imaginative and civilizing enterprise. Instead, BRITAIN'S EMPIRE reveals a history of systemic repression and almost perpetual violence, showing how British rule was imposed as a military operation and maintained as a military dictatorship. For colonized peoples, the experience was a horrific one, of slavery, famine, battle and extermination. Yet, as Richard Gott shows, the Empire's oppressed peoples did not go quietly into this good night. Wherever Britain tried to plant its flag, it met with opposition. From Ireland to India, from the American colonies to Australia, Gott traces the rebellions and resistance of subject peoples whose all-but-forgotten stories are excluded from traditional accounts of empire. He shows, too, how the British Empire provided a blue print for the annihilation of peoples in twentieth-century Europe, and argues that its leaders must rank alongside the dictators of the twentieth century as authors of crimes against humanity on an infamous scale. -- Publisher description. 2011. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 941-44"17/18"

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