Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

May we be spared to meet on earth : letters of the lost Franklin Arctic expedition /edited by Russell A. Potter, Regina Koellner, Peter Carney, and Mary Williamson ; with the assistance of Alison Alexander, William Battersby, Matthew Betts, Rick Burrows, A.J. Campbell, Jonathan Dore, Alison Freebairn, Andrew Hill, D.J. Holzhueter, Olga Kimmins, Jonathan Moore, Alexa Price, Frank Michael Schuster, Michael Smith, and Michael Tracy ; foreword by Sir Michael Palin. "May We Be Spared to Meet on Earth is a privileged glimpse into the private correspondence of the officers and sailors who set out in May 1845 on the Erebus and Terror for Sir John Franklin's fateful expedition to the Arctic. The letters of the crew and their correspondents begin with the journey's inception and early planning, going on to recount the ships' departure from the river Thames, their progress up the eastern coast of Great Britain to Stromness in Orkney, and the crew's exploits as far as the Whalefish Islands off the western coast of Greenland, from where the ships forever departed the society that sent them forth. As the realization dawned that something was amiss, heartfelt letters to the missing were sent with search expeditions; those letters, returned unread, tell poignant stories of hope. Assembled completely and conclusively from extensive archival research, including in far-flung family and private collections, the correspondence allows the reader to peer over the shoulders of these men, to experience their excitement and anticipation, their foolhardiness, and their fears. The Franklin expedition continues to excite enthusiasts and scholars worldwide. May We Be Spared to Meet on Earth provides new insights into the personalities of those on board, the significance of the voyage as they saw it, and the dawning awareness of the possibility that they would never return to British shores or their families."--Provided by publisher. 2022 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.9163/27

The naval achievements of Great Britain from the year 1793 to 1817. Jenkins, James. 1817 • RARE-FOLIO • 5 copies available. 76.047(26:42)"18"

My time at sea / Eden S. Mathews (aka Tony). Autobiography by Eden S. Matthews detailing his career as a merchant sailor. Beginning with Matthews's training in HMS Cornwall in the 1950s, the book proceeds with detailed accounts of his apprenticeship with the Blue Funnel line in Asia and Australasia, travels to Africa and America with Elder Dempster Lines, his return to merchant navy service with Ocean Fleets in the 1970s, and brief stint on board the 'banana boats' travelling back and forth between the West Indies and UK, as well as a brief section on his childhood in Kenya, Tanzania, and the UK. 2010. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92MATHEWS

At the crossroads between peace and war : the London naval conference of 1930 /edited by John Maurer and Christopher M. Bell. "This volume provides fresh perspectives on the international strategic environment between the two world wars. At London in 1930, the United States, Great Britain, and Japan concluded an important arms control agreement to manage the international competition in naval armaments. In particular, the major naval powers reached agreement about how many heavy cruisers they could possess. Hailed at the time as a signal achievement in international cooperation, the success at London proved short-lived. France and Italy refused to participate in the treaty. Even worse followed, as within a few years growing antagonisms among the great powers manifested itself in the complete breakdown of the interwar arms control regime negotiated at London. The resulting naval arms race would set Japan and the United States on a collision course toward Pearl Harbor. "-- 2014. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.019.2"1930"

A voyage to Terra Australis; undertaken for the purpose of completing the discovery of that vast country, and prosecuted in the years 1801, 1802, and 1803, in His Majesty's ship Investigator, and subsequently in the armed vessel Porpoise and Cumberland schooner. With an account of the shipwreck of the Porpoise ... Flinders, Matthew 1814 • RARE-FOLIO • 1 copy available. 094:910.4(93)"1801/1803"

Lost at sea : true stories of disaster The author provides accounts of shipping disasters arising from a wide range of circumstances and involving many different types of ship. Those featured include the sinking of HMS Royal George in 1782 and the Empress of Ireland in 1914 and losses arising from fire on board, such as the Lakonia in 1963 and the Morro Castle in 1934. Other accounts cover Shackleton's Endurance and the loss of ships reportedly carrying treasure such as the Grosvenor in 1782, the Lutine in 1799, the Tobermory Galleon wrecked as part of the Spanish Armada fleet in 1588 and HMS Hampshire in 1916. The author also explores losses arising from significant mutinies at sea including those at Spithead and The Nore in 1797, the Kiel and Black Sea mutinies in 1918 and 1919 respectively and the Invergordon mutiny in 1931. Finally, the author considers losses arising from faulty design focusing on the stories of HMS Captain, HMS Victoria and the Navy K class of submarine. 1991 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 656.61.085.3

Cracker hash; the story of an apprentice in sail. Autobiography by Royal Navy officer and Antarctic navigator Joseph Stenhouse, who is primarily known for his command of the SY Aurora while it drifted in sea ice during Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914-17. The book is almost entirely concerned with the earliest part of Stenhouse's career as a Merchant Officer apprentice on board sailing ships around the turn of the 20th century. Includes eight pages of black and white plates. 1955 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92STENHOUSE

A carrier at risk : Argentine aircraft carrier and anti-submarine operations against the Royal Navy's attack submarines during the Falklands/Malvinas war, 1982 /Mariano Sciaroni. "The naval warfare of the last few decades appears dominated by operations of fast missile craft and a wide diversity of other minor vessels in so-called 'littoral warfare'. On the contrary, skills and knowledge about antisubmarine warfare on the high seas - a discipline that dominated much of the World War II, and once used to be the reason for existence of large fleets of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and of the Warsaw Pact - appear nearly extinct. Indeed, it seems that no armed conflicts involving this form of naval warfare have been fought for a significant time. As so often, the reality is entirely different. Submarine and antisubmarine warfare remain one of most sophisticated forms of armed conflicts to this day. Unsurprisingly, considering the amount of high-technology equipment necessary for their conduct, they are shrouded behind a thick veil of secrecy. This is why the operations of the sole Argentinean aircraft carrier - ARA 25 de Mayo - during the much-publicized war in the South Atlantic of 1982 remain largely unknown until this very day. It is well-known that the United Kingdom deployed the largest task force its Royal Navy had assembled since the Korean War over 12,000 kilometers away from home. It is well-known that the operations of this task force proved decisive for the outcome of the war: it not only brought the air power that established itself in control of the air space over the battlefield, but also hauled all the troops and supplies necessary to recover the islands that were the core of the dispute. However, the impression created very early during this conflict - and largely maintained until today - is that ARA 25 de Mayo and other elements of the accompanying Task Force 79 of the Argentinean Navy were forced into a hurried withdrawal by the sheer presence of multiple nuclear attack submarines of the Royal Navy. Based on years of research, including extensive investigation into naval operations of both sides of the conflict, A Carrier at Risk is a vibrant and lucid account of a week-long cat-and-mouse game between antisubmarine warfare specialists on board ARA 25 de Mayo, and multiple nuclear attack submarines of the Royal Navy: an entirely unknown, yet crucial aspect of the South Atlantic War. Illustrated by over 100 photographs, maps, and color profiles, this volume closes one of the major gaps - though also a crucially important affair - in the coverage of this conflict."--Provided by the publisher 2019 • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 355.48"1982"(829)

Naval and military memoirs of Great Britain, from 1727 to 1783 / Beatson, Robert. 1804. Beatson, Robert 1804. • RARE-BOOK • 18 copies available. 094:355.48"1727/1783"

War Beneath the Waves : Uboat Flotilla in Flanders 1915-1918 /Tomas Termote "For four years the German U-boats of U-Flottille Flandern would become a serious threat to the omnipotence of the Royal Navy and its fleet. By the end of the war they had managed to sink a total of 2,554 Allied ships, totalling 2.5 million tons of shipping. The Royal Navy put everything it had at its disposal to defeat the U-boats. Mines, steel nets, patrol craft, Q-ships, aircraft, airships, convoys, espionage and specially equipped salvage units had to eliminate the activities of the U-boat. As a consequence, these countermeasures caused the loss of 80% of the U-boats which were stationed in the Flemish ports.Underwater archaeologist and naval historian Tomas Termote visited the wrecks of many U-boats and has unraveled many of their secrets. He also writes about life on board the U-boats, their importance in the war and the heavy losses on both sides. For the first time a detailed insight in this unique part of history is given with an account of the fate of every U-boat of the fleet.Illustrated with underwater colour photographs of the wrecks, drawings of the sites and artefacts which helped identify unidentified sites,including that of UB-88, which ended up after the war in US waters where she was paraded in every big port on the US East coast, and sailed right up north along the West coast where it ended its life after being sunk off San Diego."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.827.3

The private papers of John, Earl of Sandwich, first lord of the admiralty 1771-1782 Montagu, John 1932-1938 • BOOK • 7 copies available. 92Montagu

Under a yellow sky : a tale of the sea and coming of age /Simon J. Hall. Autobiography by Simon Hall recounting his experiences as a junior officer in the British Merchant Navy in the early 1970s. The book provides candid descriptions of life and work as a Deck Cadet in the early 1970s, from the earliest days of training, to naval college, to serving on board numerous voyages across the Pacific and South China Sea. Includes black and white photos throughout. [2013]. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92HALL S

Leaves from memory's log-book and jottings from old journals Recollections of Rear Admiral Frederick Byng Montresor (1811-1887) covering his naval career, firstly as a midshipman on board the Cambridge, Ramilies, Gloucester, Ocean, Isis, Southampton and HMS Zebra and then as a lieutenant, his duties in the West Indies on the President, Wasp, Magnificent, Forte, Melville, Champion and Winchester. Later chapters cover his command of HMS Pickle, Wanderer, Cygnet, Calypso and Severn. His voyages included passages to the West Indies, South America, Africa, Pacific Islands, Australia and New Zealand, India, Japan, China and Hong Kong. His encounters with the people he met and his observations on trading patterns are also described. Reflecting on visits in 1832 to New Zealand, Tahiti and Tonga, the author, for example, recollects meeting missionaries such as Henry Williams, Maori, the Tahitian Queen and Royal Family, and the King of Tonga. His many anecdotes include the story of Jack Rio, a former slave turned sailor from Brazil, who after a career of seven years with the Navy was revealed as a woman. Also included is a description of the author's visit to the Pitcairn Islands in the 1860s where he met descendants of the Bounty mutineers. 1887 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.124(42)"18"

Nelson's Arctic voyage : the Royal Navy's first polar expedition 1773 /Peter Goodwin. "In the summer of 1773 the 14-year old Horatio Nelson took part in an expedition to the Arctic, which came close to ending his naval career before it had begun. The expedition was to find a navigable northern passage between the Atlantic and Pacific, and was supported by the Royal Society and King George III. Two bomb vessels HMS Racehorse and Carcass were fitted out and strengthened under the command of Captain Hon. Constantine Phipps. It was an extremely cold Arctic summer and the ships became locked in ice far from Spitzbergen and were unable to cut their way out until days later when the wind changed and the ice broke up. The ships were extricated and returned home. On the trip, the young Nelson had command of one of the smaller boats of the ships, a four-oared cutter manned by twelve seamen. In this he helped to save the crew of a boat belonging to the Racehorse from an attack by a herd of enraged walruses. He also had a more famous encounter with a polar bear, while attempting to obtain a bearskin as a present for his father, an exploit that later became part of the Nelson legend. Drawing on the ship's journals and expedition commander Phipps' journal from the National Archives, the book creates a picture of the expedition and life on board. Using the ships' muster books it also details the ship's crews giving the different roles and ranks in the ships. The book is illustrated using some of the ship's drawings and charts and pictures of many objects used on the ship, while a navigational chart of the route taken has been created from the logbooks. The book also looks at the overall concept of naval exploration as set in train by Joseph Banks and the Royal Society. The fact that the expedition failed as a result of poor planning with potentially tragic results demonstrates the difficulties and uncertainties of such an expedition. It also looks at a great naval commander at the earliest stage of his career and considers how the experience might have shaped his later career and attitudes. Other great captains and voyages are discussed alongside Nelson, including Captain Cook and his exploration of the south seas and the later ill-fated northern journeys of Franklin and Shackleton."--Provided by the publisher 2018. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.4(98)

Science, utility and maritime power : Samuel Bentham in Russia, 1779-91 /Roger Morriss. "During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Samuel Bentham influenced both the technology and the administrative ideas employed in the management of the British navy. His influence stemmed from his passion for science, from his desire to achieve improvements based on a belief in the principle of Utility, and from experience gained over eleven years in Russia, a large part in the service of Catherine the Great and Prince Potemkin. Having travelled extensively throughout the north and south of Russia, Poland and Siberia, he managed Potemkina (TM)s industries at Krichev, built fast river galleys, armed the Russian flotilla of small craft at Kherson and served with the flotilla that defeated the Turks in the Black Sea. His main ambition was to open river communication in Siberia and develop trade into the Pacific. However he returned to England and in 1796 became Inspector General of Naval Works, a post in which he fought for innovations in the technology and management of the British royal dockyards. Regarded then by the Navy Board as a dangerous maverick, this book reveals the experiences, creativity and thinking that made him a major figure in British naval development."--Provided by the publisher. [2015]. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92BENTHAM

German and Italian aircraft carriers of World War II / Douglas C. Dildy and Ryan K. Noppen ; illustrated by Paul Wright. "This book explains the role of naval aviation in the two powers' rearmament programs, and how wartime experience proved how challenging it is for even a powerful navy to build and operate aircraft carriers. Packed with new artwork and archive photos, it tells the history of the Graf Zeppelin, the Italian attempts to convert the liners Roma and Augustus, and other German and Italian carrier conversion projects which never left the shipyard or the drawing board." 2022. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.8255094309044

Oceanic : White Star's 'ship of the century' /Mark Chirnside. "Oceanic was the largest ship in the world when she was launched in 1899. The White Star Line's 'Ship of the Century', she was their last express liner before the Olympic and Titanic and her lavish first-class accommodation became renowned among Atlantic travellers. Serving on the company's express service for fifteen years, she earned a reputation for running like clockwork. Days after the outbreak of war, she was commissioned into the Royal Navy and converted into an armed merchant cruiser. However, her new-found status was not to last -- she grounded on the rocks off Foula, in the Shetlands, within weeks and became a total loss. When she was wrecked, she had on board Charles Lightoller, Titanic's senior surviving officer. Oceanic: White Star's 'Ship of the Century' is the first book that looks at the entire career of this one-of-a-kind flagship. With human anecdotes, hitherto unpublished material and rare illustrations, Mark Chirnside's book is a beautiful tribute to a unique ocean liner."--Provided by the publisher. 2018. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 629.123OCEANIC

Historic ship models : of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries /Arnold and Henry Kriegstein. "In terms of quality, historical significance and sheer numbers, the Kriegstein family's ship model collection in the United States is the finest in private hands anywhere in the world. Principally made up of official seventeenth- and eighteenth-century models in the Admiralty or Navy Board style, the collection would be the envy of any maritime museum. As the models are not on public display, this book fills the need for a detailed catalogue and visual reference with superb colour photos of all the models, both overall portraits and multiple close-ups. Apart from lengthy descriptions of these magnificent artefacts, space is devoted to how they were identified, and the valuable research done by Arnold and Henry Kriegstein, the identical twins whose shared passion brought this all together. Beyond the technicalities of the ships, the story has a human dimension in the brothers' adventures in pursuit of every model and their dogged determination to secure them against official obstruction and dubious antiques-trade practices. This is an entirely new and revised edition of 17th and 18th Century Ship Models first published in 2007, now expanded to include the additions to the collection since that date."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.82010973

Indianapolis : the true story of the worst sea disaster in US naval history and the fifty-year fight to exonerate an innocent man /Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic. "Just after midnight on July 30, 1945, days after delivering the components of the atomic bomb from California to the Pacific Islands in the most highly classified naval mission of the war, USS Indianapolis is sailing alone in the center of the Philippine Sea when she is struck by two Japanese torpedoes. The ship is instantly transformed into a fiery cauldron and sinks within minutes. Some 300 men go down with the ship. Nearly 900 make it into the water alive. For the next five nights and four days, almost three hundred miles from the nearest land, the men battle injuries, sharks, dehydration, insanity, and eventually each other. Only 316 will survive. For the better part of a century, the story of USS Indianapolis has been understood as a sinking tale. The reality, however, is far more complicated and compelling. Now, for the first time, thanks to a decade of original research and interviews with 107 survivors and eyewitnesses, Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic tell the complete story of the ship, her crew, and their final mission to save one of their own. It begins in 1932, when Indianapolis is christened and launched as the ship of state for President Franklin Roosevelt. After Pearl Harbor, Indianapolis leads the charge to the Pacific Islands, notching an unbroken string of victories in an uncharted theater of war. Then, under orders from President Harry Truman, the ship takes aboard a superspy and embarks on her final world-changing mission: delivering the core of the atomic bomb to the Pacific for the strike on Hiroshima. Vincent and Vladic provide a visceral, moment-by-moment account of the disaster that unfolds days later after the Japanese torpedo attack, from the chaos on board the sinking ship to the first moments of shock as the crew plunge into the remote waters of the Philippine Sea, to the long days and nights during which terror and hunger morph into delusion and desperation, and the men must band together to survive. Then, for the first time, the authors go beyond the men's rescue to chronicle Indianapolis's extraordinary final mission: the survivors' fifty-year fight for justice on behalf of their skipper, Captain Charles McVay III, who is wrongly court-martialed for the sinking. What follows is a captivating courtroom drama that weaves through generations of American presidents, from Harry Truman to George W. Bush, and forever entwines the lives of three captains: McVay, whose life and career are never the same after the scandal; Mochitsura Hashimoto, the Japanese sub commander who sinks Indianapolis but later joins the battle to exonerate McVay; and William Toti, the captain of the modern-day submarine Indianapolis, who helps the survivors fight to vindicate their captain. A sweeping saga of survival, sacrifice, justice, and love, Indianapolis stands as both groundbreaking naval history and spellbinding narrative'and brings the ship and her heroic crew back to full, vivid, unforgettable life. It is the definitive account of one of the most remarkable episodes in American history."--Provided by the publisher. 2018. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.545973

Captain Carteret and the voyage of the Swallow / H.G. Mowat. An account of the voyage of HMS Swallow to the South Pacific from 1766 -1769 under the command of Lieutenant Philip Carteret (1793-1796). Carteret, born in Jersey, joined the Navy at the age of 14, first serving in HMS Salisbury. Later, he served as lieutenant in HMS Dolphin under Captain John Byron on his voyage of circumnavigation in 1764-1766. Tasked with exploring the Pacific in the Swallow to search for the great southern continent thought to exist there, Carteret was critical of the ship's capabilities for such a voyage and doubted whether this was in fact, the planned destination. Initially sailing in the company of the faster HMS Dolphin under the command of Captain Samuel Wallis, the ships were parted shortly after sailing through the Strait of Magellan. Carteret and the Swallow continued on independently resulting in the discovery of the Pitcairn Islands. Beset by illness on board and a lack of supplies, Swallow arrived back in England ten months after HMS Dolphin. 2011. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92CARTERET:910.4(93/96)"17"

Churchill and Fisher : titans at the Admiralty /Barry Gough. "A vivid study in the politics and stress of high command, this book describes the decisive roles of young Winston Churchill as political head of the Admiralty and the ageing Admiral 'Jacky'Fisher as professional master and creator of Dreadnought, locked together in perilous destiny. Upon these Titans at the Admiralty rested Allied command of the sea at the moment of its supreme test, the challenge presented by the Kaiser's navy under the dangerous Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz. Churchill and Fisher exhibited vision, genius, and energy, but the war unfolded in unexpected ways. German cruisers escaped to Constantinople bringing Turkey into the war, and though Coronel's disaster was redeemed at the Falklands, Jellicoe's Grand Fleet was forced to seek refuge from U-boats; the torpedo and mine became prominent, to German advantage. There were no Trafalgars, no Nelsons. Press and Parliament became battlegrounds for a public expecting decisive victory at sea. Then the ill-fated Dardanelles adventure, 'by ships alone' as Churchill determined, on top of the Zeppelin raids brought about Fisher's departure from the Admiralty, in turn bringing down Churchill. Wilderness years followed, with Churchill commanding a battalion on the Western Front and Fisher chairing an inventions board seeking an electronic countermeasure to the lethal U-boat. This dual biography, based on fresh and thorough appraisal of the Churchill and Fisher papers, is a story for the ages. It is about Churchill's and Fisher's war & how each fought it, how they waged it together, and how they fought against each other, face to face or behind the scenes. It reveals a strange and unique pairing of sea lords who found themselves facing Armageddon and seeking to maintain the primacy of the Royal Navy, the guardian of trade, the succour of the British peoples, and the shield of Empire."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92CHURCHILL

The Seaman's Medical Advocate : Or, An attempt to shew that five thousand seamen are, annually, during war, lost to the British Nation through the yellow fever /Elliot Arthy "Written by a naval surgeon in 1798, this medical treatise provides a frank and harrowing account of life in the British navy. Elliot Arthy started his career as a surgeon's mate in the Africa and West Indies merchant service. He eventually became a surgeon, and worked on a slave ship for many years. In this publication he shows that at least 5,000 seamen were lost to Britain annually through yellow fever and other illnesses, a loss the nation could little afford during wartime. Stressing the 'absolute necessity' for naval surgeons, Arthy's treatise is divided into six parts: the first examines the nature and causes of yellow fever; the second discusses how seamen come into contact with the disease; the third focuses on other causes of the loss of seamen on board ships of war; the fourth on statistics. The fifth and sixth parts suggest methods of prevention."--Provided by the publisher. 2011. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 613.68

The 'Clio', 1877-1920 : a study of the functions of an industrial training ship in North Wales /by Emrys Wyn Roberts. "Officially, the Clio - moored in the Menai Strait - was a care and training ship for young 'street ruffians' in the second half of the nineteenth century. This study shows that it also provided a regular supply of seamen for the Royal Navy and the Mercantile Marine. Letters of some of the old boys of Clio during the First World War and an unique collection of photographs combine to make this book a fascinating history of a pre-1918 Education Act establishment."--Provided by the publisher. 2011. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 629.123CLIO

Minutes of the proceedings at a court-martial assembled for the trial of Vice-Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser ... Great Britain. Royal Navy. Court-martial, Palliser : 1779 1779 • RARE-OVER • 4 copies available. 92Palliser

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