Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

Radio man : Marconi Sahib /Mahrie Locket. "Radio Man consists of never before published stories and pictures about the British Merchant Marine seen through the eyes of Ship's Radio Officer Alan Patterson. His captivating diaries offer rare 1st- person insight to the harrowing state of the Pacific theatre at the time, taking us from 1938 through to the end of the war. Here is a glimpse of a typical day in Alan's life as the Ship's Radio Man. "We saw no patrol ships at all while at sea, the poor old Merchant Service had to just plug along on its own with no protection and no guns. However, the Navy had put a gun platform on our stern before we left, so we built an imitation of a gun with a mast spar and an empty oil drum. We hoped that if a sub saw it at a distance it might possibly mistake it for a gun and so prevent it surfacing and shelling us. I couldn't help thinking how futile and rather pathetic this was but still while there is life there is hope. We arrived in Calcutta safely-- thanks to no one but ourselves. Shortly after this trip we were given guns and taught how to use them!" Alan and his crew managed to escape submarine wolf packs several times. On one especially dangerous run near India, he discovered that the fine bunch of courageous men from the ship he had just left had been blown to bits while returning to India on a British India Vessel loaded with munitions. Alan writes about more than just the war however. His diary is also a wealth of historical sidebars and anecdotal observations covering both India and Burma as World War II smouldered ominously in the closing distance. Here is one of those obscure front-row seats which imparts a genuine sense of immediacy to the turbulence of the the times. One can almost sense the destruction and devastation caused by the bombing and the plundering as Alan's eye-witness accounts unfold before you. Radio Man is a fascinating read and it will keep you intrigued until the very end."--Provided by the publisher. 2007. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 377.6:656.61

The pirate who stole Scotland : William Dampier and the creation of the United Kingdom /Leon Hopkins. "Economic warfare is not a new phenomenon. In the protectionist climate of the seventeenth century, trade embargoes, exclusions and boycotts were common. England was among the most active nations when it came to using economic clout to get its own way. It did so to force Scotland to accept an Act of Union: to submerge its independence within a United Kingdom governed from London. Instrumental in this attack upon the Scots was William Dampier, the principal subject of this book. He was an extraordinary man. A farmer's son, he became the most travelled man of his generation. He was a pirate, a brute and a devious sociopath. But he was also a scientist and a talented writer who gave his readers accurate descriptions of previously unknown places, peoples, plants and animals. He was a daring explorer and an expert navigator who mapped coastlines and logged wind patterns and ocean currents. He led the first Royal Navy expedition to Australia, over 70 years before Captain Cook's arrival. Dampier's writing made him famous, but not rich. It allowed him to rub shoulders with the leading men of his day; scientists such as Robert Hooke, Edmund Halley and Hans Sloane, businessmen such as Sir John Houblon (first governor of the Bank of England) and William Paterson, politicians such as James Vernon and Charles Montagu (first Earl of Halifax), and Admiralty men such as Admiral Sir George Rooke and Samuel Pepys. And Dampier was in the pay of the English Government; an agent known to Queen Anne, in which capacity he engineered a financial disaster and political drubbing for Scotland." 2023. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.92

Navy (Trafalgar)--t.p. Great Britain. Parliament. 1913. • FOLIO • 4 copies available. 355.49"1805"(42:44)(093.2)

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

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

Great British shipwrecks : a personal adventure /Rod Macdonald. For more than 30 years, internationally acclaimed wreck diver and best-selling author, Rod Macdonald, has surveyed and researched shipwrecks around the world. In Great British Shipwrecks Rod uses his encyclopaedic knowledge and an intimate understanding of shipwrecks, gleaned from a lifetime's diving, to provide a snapshot in time of some of the best known and most revered shipwrecks around the UK. For each of the 37 shipwrecks covered Rod provides a dramatic account of its time afloat and its eventual sinking - with each wreck being beautifully illustrated by renowned marine artist Rob Ward. Rod's journey around the UK starts with the classic recreational diving shipwrecks at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands from giants such as the German WWI battleships, Markgraf, Konig and Kronprinz Wilhelm, to the legendary WWI British cruiser HMS Hampshire on which Lord Kitchener perished on a voyage to Russia in 1916. Rod then travels to the English Channel where he covers such famous ships as the P&O liners Moldavia and Salsette which were lost during WWI with many others such as the SS Kyarra and the British submarine HMS/M M2 - the first submarine to carry a seaplane for reconnaissance. The reader is then taken to the North Channel of the Irish Sea where the famous technical diving wrecks of the White Star liner Justicia, HMS Audacious, the first British battleship lost during WWI, and the SS Empire Heritage, which was lost with its deck cargo of Sherman tanks on a voyage from New York during WWII, are beautifully illustrated. Returning to Scotland, the famous West Coast shipwrecks such as the Thesis, Hispania, Rondo and Shuna in the Sound of Mull grace the pages, in addition to the renowned wrecks of the SS Breda, lost near Oban, and the WWII minelayer HMS Port Napier off Skye. Lastly, Rod covers some major North Sea shipwrecks, revealing for the first time the haunting remains of HMS Pathfinder, the first Royal Navy warship to be sunk by U-boat torpedo during WWI. 2012. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 656.61.085.3(42)

The RNAS and the birth of the aircraft carrier 1914-1918 / Ian M. Burns. "The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) origins were as the Naval Wing of the Royal Flying Corps in April 1912, but did not become a separate service until 1 July 1914. However, from the very beginning, the Naval Wing conducted itself as a distinct organisation. Its members commenced creating a dedicated arm of the Royal Navy with the intention of operating aircraft in support of and in association with the Fleet. On the outbreak of war in August 1914, the service quickly expanded to include service on land, initially in support of the Royal Naval Division in Belgium, later providing support to the Royal Flying Corps and as one of the early practitioners of strategic bombing. However, The RNAS and the Birth of the Aircraft Carrier 1914-1918 principally traces the development and operational use of aircraft serving with the fleet. It follows the selection and training of personnel and the struggle to produce suitable aircraft and weapons, including the evolution of the aircraft carrier. Nonetheless, the constant thread throughout will be the operational history of the RNAS over the North Sea with both the Grand Fleet and Harwich Force. Commencing over the Zeppelin base at Cuxhaven on Christmas Day 1914 the ending with two pivotal operations which determined the future of naval aviation, including the raid on Tondern which saw the first instance of carrier-launched airtcraft. The Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps merged in 1918 to become the RAF - yet those early years in World War One shaped the way that sea-based aircraft operated throughout the 20th Century - and beyond."--Provided by the publisher. 2014. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 359.38:623.822.74"1914/1918"

Recaptured Africans : surviving slave ships, detention, and dislocation in the final years of the slave trade /Sharla M. Fett. "In the years just before the Civil War, during the most intensive phase of American slave-trade suppression, the U.S. Navy seized roughly 2,000 enslaved Africans from illegal slave ships and brought them into temporary camps at Key West and Charleston. In this study, Sharla Fett reconstructs the social world of these "recaptives" and recounts the relationships they built to survive the holds of slave ships, American detention camps, and, ultimately, a second transatlantic voyage to Liberia. Fett also demonstrates how the presence of slave-trade refugees in southern ports accelerated heated arguments between divergent antebellum political movements--from abolitionist human rights campaigns to slave-trade revivalism--that used recaptives to support their claims about slavery, slave trading, and race. By focusing on shipmate relations rather than naval exploits or legal trials, and by analyzing the experiences of both children and adults of varying African origins, Fett provides the first history of U.S. slave-trade suppression centered on recaptive Africans themselves. In so doing, she examines the state of "recaptivity" as a distinctive variant of slave-trade captivity and situates the recaptives' story within the broader diaspora of "Liberated Africans" throughout the Atlantic world."--Provided by publisher. 2017 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 326.1

Battleships : WWII evolution of the big guns : rare photographs from wartime /Philip Kaplan. Beginning with a pictorial essay on battleship construction in the 1930s and 1940s, this new book looks at the various design facets of the last great capital ships of the world's navies. Kaplan offers us a glimpse into those massive American and German navy yards and construction facilities that were put to use during this time, acquainting us with the arenas in which these final examples of battleship technology were laid down, built up, launched, fitted out, commissioned and taken out to sea. The book roots itself in a period of monumental change within the history of contemporary warfare. With the baton being passed from the battleship community to that of the aircraft carrier, the iconic battleship was gradually superseded by a new and even more threatening weapons system. It was destined to be consigned to the history books, whilst newer, slicker and more efficient fighting machines took precedence. This publication serves as a tribute to a lost legend of naval warfare. There is a look at some of modern history's most significant battleships, relaying their thrilling stories, defining characteristics and eventual fates. Ships featured include Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Warspite, Tirpitz and Yamato. The book is completed with 'Fast and Last', a visit on board the four final examples of battleship technology and design, the last serving battleships USS Iowa, USS New Jersey, USS Wisconsin, and USS Missouri. Their Second World War careers are recounted, as are the qualities that made them special. 2015. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.821.2(100)"1939/1945"

Ships, shawls and loyal service : the stories of three East Anglian brothers /David Blakely. "Ships, Shawls and Loyal Service details the history of three 19th century brothers, each of whom saw some success in his chosen occupation, but each quite distinct from the others in what he achieved. Inspired by the extensive family tree drawn up in the early 20th century by one of his great-uncles, David Blakely relates the stories of his three ancestors. With strong roots in rural Suffolk, the three Blakely brothers were born at the end of the 18th century into a long-established family. Their ancestors had been gentlemen farmers, but none of the brothers followed that occupation. The eldest spent a year as a midshipman in the Royal Navy and six years as an officer in the Army, before becoming involved in a rural church community in north Norfolk. The second served as an officer on East India Company ships, sailing to India and China and finally being promoted to captain. The youngest brother lived in Norwich and became a well-respected retailer and manufacturer in the textile trade. Ships, Shawls and Loyal Service is a fascinating insight into the lives of three brothers, each of whom took a very different path in life. Early history of the brothers' family is also explored, including their grandfather's business as proprietor of a stage-coach company in Ipswich and his acquaintance with the artist Thomas Gainsborough. This book will appeal to those interested in East Anglian life and trade in the 18th and 19th centuries. Readers interested in naval and military actions in Napoleonic times and in sailing between England and the Far East will also find this a valuable account."--Provided by the publisher. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 929.52

Naval hydrography, charismatic bureaucracy, and the British military state, 1825-1855 / Megan Barford "This thesis is an investigation into writing and record keeping practices of those in and around the Hydrographic Office of the Admiralty in the earlier-nineteenth century. It looks at the Hydrographic Office in the context of early-Victorian adminsitrative growth and the print culture of the Royal Navy. In doing so it draws on media-theoretic approaches to paperwork and archives which insist on treating them as topics for invesitigation, and suggests that these can be used to examine fundemental issues of the establishment and effacement of self, and group, and profession, and public as created through a sophisticated bureaucratic system. Hydrographic surveyors were a group of naval officers who role stressed record keeping in a peculiarly acute way, but this was underwritten by an intensive concern in this period about both record keeping and life writing. In particular this thesis focus on the bureaucratic practices at the Admiralty in London and on survey ships as the operated in regions of particular colonial, commercial or strategic importance to the British. It goes on to examine how the work of hydrography was defined and promoted in a popular magazine, explores a particular survery carried out on the St Lawrence River, and describes the way in which the circulation of instruments was managed within a system that relied on personal relationships between those involved. In finally discussing an episode when the system of correspondence organised by the office was placed under the greatest strain, the thesis explores ideas of institutional memory and absolution. As such, the work is a contribution to literature on paperwork, professionalism, and the early-Victorian state."--Provided by the author. 2016 • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 528.47

Zeebrugge : the greatest raid of all /Christopher Sandford. "The combined forces invasion of the Belgian port of Zeebrugge on 23 April 1918 remains one of Britain's most glorious military undertakings; not quite as epic a failure as the charge of the Light Brigade, or as well publicised as the Dam Busters raid, but with many of the same basic ingredients. A force drawn from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines set out on ships and submarines to try to block the key strategic port, in a bold attempt to stem the catastrophic losses being inflicted on British shipping by German submarines. It meant attacking a heavily fortified German naval base. The tide, calm weather and the right wind direction for a smoke screen were crucial to the plan. Judged purely on results, it can only be considered a partial strategic success. Casualties were high and the base only partially blocked. Nonetheless, it came to represent the embodiment of the bulldog spirit, the peculiarly British fighting âelan, the belief that anything was possible with enough dash and daring. The essential story of the Zeebrugge mission has been told before, but never through the direct, first-hand accounts of its survivors - including that of Lieutenant Richard Sandford, VC, the acknowledged hero of the day, and the author's great uncle. The fire and bloodshed of the occasion is the book's centrepiece, but there is also room for the family and private lives of the men who volunteered in their hundreds for what they knew effectively to be a suicide mission. Zeebrugge gives a very real sense of the existence of the ordinary British men and women of 100 years ago - made extraordinary by their role in what Winston Churchill called the 'most intrepid and heroic single armed adventure of the Great War.'"--Provided by the publisher 2018. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.458(493.3)

Planning and profits : British naval armaments manufacture and the military-industrial complex, 1918-1941 /Christopher W. Miller "In a time of great need for Britain, a small coterie of influential businessmen gained access to secret information on industrial mobilisation as advisers to the Principal Supply Officers Committee. They provided the state with priceless advice, but, as "insiders" utilised their access to information to build a business empire at a fraction of the normal costs. Outsiders, in contrast, lacked influence and were forced together into a defensive "ring" - or cartel - which effectively fixed prices for British warships. By the 1930s, the cartel grew into one of the most sophisticated profiteering groups of its day. This book examines the relationship between the private naval armaments industry, businessmen, and the British government defence planners between the wars. It reassesses the concept of the military-industrial complex through the impact of disarmament upon private industry, the role of leading industrialists in supply and procurement policy, and the successes and failings of government organisation. It blends together political, naval, and business history in new ways, and, by situating the business activities of industrialists alongside their work as government advisors, sheds new light on the operation of the British state. This is the story of how these men profited while effectively saving the National Government from itself."--Provided by the publisher. 2017 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.02(42)

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)

Letters of seamen in the wars with France, 1793-1815 edited by Helen Watt and Anne Hawkins. "Letters of seamen below the rank of commissioned officer are rare, both in original form and in print. This edited collection of 255 letters, written by seamen in the British Navy and their correspondents between 1793 and 1815, gives voice to a group of men whose lives and thoughts are otherwise mostly unknown. The letters are extremely valuable for the insights which they give into aspects of life below decks and the subjects close to the writers' hearts: money matters, ties with home and homesickness. They also provide eye-witness accounts of events during a tumultuous and important period of British and European history. One group of letters, included as a separate section, comprises the letters of seamen and their family and friends which were intercepted by the authorities during the mutinies of 1797. These letters shed a great deal of light on the extraordinary events of that year and of seamen's attitudes to the mutinies. The editors' introductory material, besides highlighting what the letters tell us about seamen's lives and attitudes, also discusses the extent of literacy amongst seamen, setting this into its wider contemporary popular context. The letters are supported by a substantial editorial apparatus and two detailed appendices containing biographies of seamen and information on select ships which took part in the mutinies of 1797."--Provided by the publisher. 2016. • BOOK • 2 copies available. 940.2

The Shetland bus : transporting secret agents across the North Sea in WW2 /Stephen Wynn. "The Shetland Bus was not a bus, but the nickname of a special operations group that set up a route across the North Sea between Norway and the Shetland Islands, north-east of mainland Scotland. The first voyage was made by Norwegian sailors to help their compatriots in occupied Norway, but soon the Secret Intelligence Service and the Special Operations Executive asked if they would be prepared to carry cargoes of British agents and equipment, as well. Fourteen boats of different sizes were originally used, and Flemington House in Shetland was commandeered as the operation's HQ. The first official journey was carried out by the Norwegian fishing vessel the Aksel, which left Luna Ness on 30 August 1941 on route to Bremen in Norway. This book examines that first journey, as well later ones, and discusses the agents and operations which members of the Shetland Bus were involved in throughout the war. It also looks at the donation of 3 submarine chasers to the operation, made in October 1943, by the United States Navy. These torpedo-type boats were 110 ft long and very fast, allowing journey times between Shetland and Norway to be greatly reduced and carried out in greater safety. The story of the Shetland Bus would be nothing without the individuals involved, both the sailors of the boats and the agents who were carried between the two countries. These were very brave individuals who helped maintain an important lifeline to the beleaguered Norwegians. It also allowed British and Norwegian agents a way in to Norway so that they could liaise with the Norwegian Underground movement and carry out important missions against the German occupiers."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.5459481

Nimitz at ease / by Capt. Michael A. Lilly, USN (RET). "Nimitz at Ease relates the true and unpublished story of a grand relationship that developed between Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and Una and Sandy Walker during World War II and how the Walkers helped relieve Nimitz of the tremendous pressures of war, including awful letters from parents that accused him of killing their son. The Walkers gave Nimitz a place, space and time free of command or demand which, in a small but meaningful way, helped him cope with and win the war in the Pacific. Nimitz commanded all the armed forces in the Pacific during World War II - the largest military power that ever existed in history. Victorious over the Japanese Empire, he was elevated to the highest rank in the United States Navy - five-star Fleet Admiral. Nimitz wore two challenging hats, positions currently held by two different four-star admirals in Hawai'i - Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet (CinCPac), and Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas (CinCPOA). Under the latter hat, he had operational command of all Allied forces - air, land and sea - in the Pacific. He was the supreme commander, overseeing the enormous effort fighting World War II in the Pacific. Nimitz first met and became close friends of the Walkers when, as a young Lieutenant Commander, he was assigned to build the Submarine Base at Pearl Harbor in 1920. He rekindled that friendship soon after taking over the Pacific Fleet after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The day after taking command, Nimitz was asked by the press how he was going to handle a fleet under water and the Japanese juggernaut rampaging through the western Pacific. In response, he drew on a Hawaiian word given him by the Walkers - ho'omanawanui which means All things work out in the fullness of time."--Provided by the publisher. 2019. • BOOK • 1 copy available. txt

British piers and pier railways / Anthony Poulton-Smith. "The British have always had a special affinity for their coastal resorts and piers are the epitome of the British seaside. This book takes the reader on a clockwise tour of our islands, stopping at every pier and walking through their histories. Yet this is not just a tour of the pier, for it is not the pier that makes the history, but the people who work and walk along it. Within these pages the reader will meet a prizefighter who achieved fame in a very different sport; learn of several 'professors' whose talents were solely being able to leap from the pier; discover why man would ever want to fly from a pier; meet the former Beatle who worked for a pier company; read about the ferries and steamers that carried visitors; the fires which are an ever-present danger; the men who designed and built the piers along with the entertainers, characters, enthusiasts and entrepreneurs who made the piers. Fascinating information is included on how piers became longer or shorter, which piers served as part of the Royal Navy during two World Wars, and the tremendous amount of work and effort it takes to keep the piers open to the public today. Several piers have embedded rails, with some still being used by trains or trams. These pier railways are described in detail: the engineering, the designs and the changes over the years. While electricity is the sole motive power today, these had once been either steam-driven, pulled by horses, moved by hand or even, in one example, wind-powered by a sail! With over one hundred photographs, both old and new, this is a tour of the coast of the mainland and two islands. Piers which sadly have not survived are included as well as those which never got off the ground (or the shoreline). It reveals why they were built, how they were repurposed over the years, and their role in the future. Join the tour and recall the sea air, candy floss, the music, the sounds of a holiday, that day trip, an encounter, a rendezvous or special memory"--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 627.31

Scratch one flattop : the first carrier air campaign and the Battle of the Coral Sea /Robert C. Stern. "By the beginning of May 1942, five months after the Pearl Harbor attack, the US Navy was ready to challenge the Japanese moves in the South Pacific. When the Japanese sent troops to New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, the Americans sent the carriers Lexington and Yorktown to counter the move, setting the stage for the Battle of the Coral Sea. In Scratch One Flattop: The First Carrier Air Campaign and the Battle of the Coral Sea, historian Robert C. Stern analyzes the Battle of the Coral Sea, the first major fleet engagement where the warships were never in sight of each other. Unlike the Battle of Midway, the Battle of the Coral Sea has received remarkably little study. Stern covers not only the action of the ships and their air groups but also describes the impact of this pivotal engagement. His analysis looks at the short-term impact as well as the long-term implications, including the installation of inert gas fuel-system purging on all American aircraft carriers and the push to integrate sensor systems with fighter direction to better protect against enemy aircraft. This essential text on the first carrier air campaign, Scratch One Flattop is a landmark study on an overlooked battle in the first months of the United States' engagement in World War II." [2019] • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.54/26

The first HMS Invincible (1747-58) : her excavations (1980-1991) /by John M. Bingeman. "In 1980, following the discovery of a wreck off the south coast by a local fisherman, John Bingeman applied for a Government Protection Order and subsequently identified the ship as the Royal Navy's first Invincible (1747-58). Invincible was a 74-gun warship that came to grief on Sunday the 19th February 1758 off Portsmouth. She was sailing as part of the expedition to besiege the French Fortress of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia. This was the beginning of a progressive series of military operations leading to the eventual colonisation of Canada. The Ship, brought into British service when only three years old, was the first newly designed 74-gun warship to be captured from the French. It represented a significant step forward in ship construction and was to become the prototype for a new generation of British men-of-war. In 1758 when Invincible foundered, she was a British ship-of-the-line fully equipped for an expedition abroad. Although her guns and much of her equipment were salvaged at the time, she was subsequently abandoned with a considerable amount of equipment still onboard. This volume includes a description of Invincible 's building as a French warship; her capture in 1747 by the Royal Navy, her foundering in the Solent, and the 1979-1990 excavations of the wreck site. Particular attention is paid to the artefacts recovered, which have provided naval archaeologists and historians with a time capsule of equipment aboard a warship in the mid-18th century. In addition, because Invincible was carrying troops to Canada, the wreck site contained regimental equipment, including army buttons that pre-dated previously accepted dates and are therefore of great significance to army historians."--Provided by the publisher. 2010. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 930.26(204)

The Naval Institute guide to combat fleets of the world, 16th edition : their ships, aircraft, and systems /Eric Wertheim. "Called 'the nation's premier naval reference book',The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World is internationally acknowledged as the best one-volume reference to the world's naval and paranaval forces. Updated regularly since 1976, it has come to be relied on for all-inclusive, accurate, and up-to-date data on the ships, navies, coast guards, and naval aviation arms of more than 170 countries and territories. Large fleets and small maritime forces get equally thorough treatment. Comprehensive indexes make the book easy to use and allow for quick comparisons between ships and fleets. This new 16th edition, presents information on all the major and minor maritime developments that could impact the world scene in the years to come. Heavily illustrated with 4,450 black & white photos and 179 multi-view line drawings, Combat Fleets provides the user with the most detailed views available for identification and comparison purposes. Additional aids for the user include a section on how to use the book, lists of terms and abbreviations,an informative ship-name index, and more. An expanded chapter on the Chinese navy provides major updates on the status of their new aircraft carrier and the latest Chinese submarines, surface ships and naval missiles. Dozens of detailed line drawings depict exactly where weapons and sensors are located on the world's combatants such as the Iranian Ghadir-class submarines, the French Forbin-class destroyers, and the U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ships. The ship data section for each country provides full coverage of all ships, from the largest aircraft carriers to the smallest training and auxiliary craft. The vessels of the world's coast guards and customs services are given thorough treatment as well. But the book is much more than a ship encyclopedia. It includes information on the personnel strengths of each country's naval forces, major base locations, and details on maritime radar, sonar, naval aircraft, and weapon systems currently in service."--Provided by the publisher. 2012. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.82(100)

From Versailles to Mers el-Kâebir : the promise of Anglo-French naval cooperation, 1919-40 /George E. Melton. "This book concerns itself with one of the most unlikely relationships in the two decades before World War II: the alliance of the Royal Navy and the French fleet. By the mid 1930s, both fleets had overextended themselves with global defense commitments, owing mainly to the collapse of the world war alliances and to an ominous shift in the balance of world naval power. To maximize their power, England and France combined their assets in a naval alliance. The union was not an altogether happy one, but it survived in one form or another until the British attack upon the French fleet at Mers el-Kâebir in 1940. George E. Melton brings new insights to the diplomacy that led to this often strained cooperation, and reinterprets some of the most important events of early World War II"-- [2015]. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.49"1919/1940"(42:44)

Going deep : John Philip Holland and the invention of the attack submarine /Lawrence Goldstone. "From Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea to The Hunt for Red October, readers the world over have demonstrated an enduring fascination with travel under the sea. Yet the riveting story behind the invention of the submarine-an epic saga of genius, persistence, ruthlessness, and deceit-is almost completely unknown. Like Henry Ford and the Wright brothers, John Philip Holland was completely self-taught, a brilliant man raised in humble circumstances, earning his living as a schoolteacher and choirmaster. But all the while he was obsessed with creating a machine that could successfully cruise beneath the waves. His struggle to unlock the mystery behind controlled undersea navigation would take three decades, during which he endured skepticism, disappointment, and betrayal. But his indestructible belief in himself and his ideas led him to finally succeed where so many others had failed. Going Deep is a vivid chronicle of the fierce battles not only under the water, but also in the back rooms of Wall Street and the committee rooms of Congress. A rousing adventure-surrounded by an atmosphere of corruption and greed-at its heart this a story of bravery, passion, and the unbreakable determination to succeed against long odds."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.462.7

The social history of English seamen, 1650-1815 / edited by Cheryl A. Fury. "Maritime social history is a relatively young and fertile field, with many new research findings being discovered on a wide range of aspects of the subject. This book, together with its companion volume The Social History of English Seamen, 1485-1649 ... pulls together and makes accessible this large body of research work. Subjects covered include life at sea in different parts of the period for both officers and seamen, in both the navy and in merchant ships; piracy and privateering; health, health care and disability; seamen's food; homosexuality afloat; and the role of women at sea and on land. Written by leading experts in their field, the volumes offer a nuanced portrait of seafarers' existence as well as an overview of the current state of the historiography."-- 2017. • BOOK • 2 copies available. 355.124(42)"1650/1815"

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