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showing 4,212 library results for 'navy'

Mutiny on the Bounty / Peter FitzSimons. "The mutiny on HMS Bounty, in the South Pacific on 28 April 1789, is one of history's truly great stories - a tale of human drama, intrigue and adventure of the highest order - and in the hands of Peter FitzSimons it comes to life as never before. Commissioned by the Royal Navy to collect breadfruit plants from Tahiti and take them to the West Indies, the Bounty's crew found themselves in a tropical paradise. Five months later, they did not want to leave. Under the leadership of Fletcher Christian most of the crew mutinied soon after sailing from Tahiti, setting Captain William Bligh and 18 loyal crewmen adrift in a small open boat. In one of history's great feats of seamanship, Bligh navigated this tiny vessel for 3618 nautical miles to Timor. Fletcher Christian and the mutineers sailed back to Tahiti, where most remained and were later tried for mutiny. But Christian, along with eight fellow mutineers and some Tahitian men and women, sailed off into the unknown, eventually discovering the isolated Pitcairn Island - at the time not even marked on British maps - and settling there. This astonishing story is historical adventure at its very best, encompassing the mutiny, Bligh's monumental achievement in navigating to safety, and Fletcher Christian and the mutineers' own epic journey from the sensual paradise of Tahiti to the outpost of Pitcairn Island. The mutineers' descendants live on Pitcairn to this day, amid swirling stories and rumours of past sexual transgressions and present-day repercussions. Mutiny on the Bounty is a sprawling, dramatic tale of intrigue, bravery and sheer boldness, told with the accuracy of historical detail and total command of story that are Peter FitzSimons' trademarks."--Provided by the publisher. [2018] • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.133"1789"
Japanese carriers and victory in the Pacific : the Yamamoto Option /Martin Stansfeld. "'Japanese Carriers and Victory in the Pacific' focuses on the pre-war debate between building a new generation of super-battleships or adopting aircraft carriers as the capital ships' of the future. An Asian power in particular sees carriers as a way of challenging the USA and the colonial empires initially losing the contest yet coming out all right in the Cold War aftermath. Martin Stansfeld examines the much overlooked genesis of Japan's so-called shadow fleet that was a secret attempt to bring about parity with the US in carriers -- albeit only with slower speed conversions of liners and auxiliaries but along with the super-battleships cluttered launch facilities when these could have been devoted to keel-up fast fleet carrier production. This first analytical look at what major launch facilities were available in Japan shows that the Imperial Japanese Navy could have doubled its fast carrier fleet thereby able to give sufficient air cover for an invasion of Hawaii rather than just the raid on Pearl Harbor, but only providing nobody noticed they were building all these carriers. This is shown to have been entirely possible given the IJN's extraordinary success at covering up their super-battleship and shadow fleet production. This secret fast carrier fleet programme is given the name 'phantom fleet' by Stansfeld who proceeds to demonstrate how the strategy of the Pacific War would have been transformed. Weaving through the chapters is an exotic cast of characters led most notably by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the conceiver of Pearl Harbor and a figure of mythic status to Japanese today and famous around the world thanks to the movies. Stansfeld dwells on the ironies of war, notably how, without the day that will live in infamy', America might never have become the worldwide super-power it is today."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 2 copies available. 359.94835095209044
Britannia Royal Naval College 1905-2005 : a century of officer training at Dartmouth /Jane Harrold and Richard Porter. "In 2005 Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC) celebrated one hundred years of officer training and education at the shore-based establishment in Dartmouth. As part of the year long commemorations of the centenary of BRNC, Dr Jane Harrold and Dr Richard Porter have written a definitive history of the College, the genesis of Royal Naval Officers throughout the twentieth and into the twenty-first century. The story of BRNC is recounted focusing on the people and events that have shaped the College and the Royal Navy over a hundred years. The book starts by looking back at life for the cadets on board the College's predecessors HMS Britannia and HMS Hindostan, before exploring the Edwardian architecture of Aston Webb's College, using photographs of its unique architectural details. The development of naval education is examined, from the Selborne-Fisher Scheme of 1902, through the introduction of an all eighteen year old entry in the 1950s, up to present day restructuring of the syllabus and academic faculty. The College has also enjoyed a close association with the Royal Family, three twentieth century monarchs having received a Dartmouth education, in addition to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, HRH The Prince of Wales and HRH The Duke of York. The two World Wars also left their mark on the College and their impact is assessed. The first conflict saw the mobilisation of the College for war, while the second witnessed the bombing of the College itself. Finally the day-to-day life of the College, throughout a century punctuated by change, is examined to prove that the fundamental values of tradition, respect and leadership remain as valid today as one hundred years ago."--Provided by the publisher. 2005. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 359.00711423592
Nelson's letters to Lady Hamilton and related documents / edited by Marianne Czisnik. "This critical edition of Admiral Nelson's letters to Lady Hamilton is to bring together the important letters of Nelson to Lady Hamilton that have only been published in parts over the last 200 years. Only by bringing the letters of Nelson to Lady Hamilton together is it possible to assess their relationship and to present certain insights into Nelson's personality that are not revealed in his official correspondence. Thorough research into this side of Nelson's personality and into the nature of his notorious and unconventional relationship with Lady Hamilton has been hampered in the past by a desire not to look too closely at Nelson's personal morality. To a considerable extent their relationship was regarded as a challenge to traditional gender roles and it indeed did not conform to stereotypes that are usually attributed to men and women in a heterosexual relationship. Lady Hamilton was so obviously lacking in the subservience and passivity expected from women in that era that authors over the course of time started to exclude her in their accounts of the public sphere by reducing her to a private weakness of Nelson's, who could be successful at sea, where he was far away from the enthralling influence of a manipulating woman. The letters in this edition testify how Admiral Nelson's life at sea was not exclusively public nor was Lady Hamilton's life ashore solely private. It also shows how the two supposedly separate spheres of male and female lives were connected. A fresh approach and a thorough discussion of this important and neglected aspect not only of Nelson's life, but of gender history, demands this exact and scholarly edition of the primary material, which consists of about 400 letters that Nelson wrote to Lady Hamilton over the course of the last seven years of his life and about a dozen letters of her to him that have survived."-- [2020] • BOOK • 1 copy available. 061.22NRS
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 sea and the Second World War : maritime aspects of a global conflict /edited by Marcus Faulkner and Alessio Patalano. "This volume illustrates the impact of naval operations on the Second World War by providing insight into political, strategic, administrative, and operational aspects of the maritime war from Axis and Allied perspectives. This colleciton emphasises the function of the sea as a bridge and as a barrier that can connect and protect nations or can be used to project power and sustain campaigns ashore. The sea shaped the course and conduct of World War II, from the first moments of the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, to the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945. The impact could be felt far beyond the shoreline, as the arms and armies carried across the oceans were ultimately destined to wage war ashore. Populations and industries depended on the raw materials and supplies in a war that increasingly became a contest of national will and economic might. Ultimately, it was the war at sea that linked numerous regional conflicts and theaters of operation into a global war. As the war grew in complexity and covered an increasingly larger geographical area, the organization of the maritime effort and the impact it had on the formulation of national strategy also evolved. This volume illustrates the impact of naval operations on the Second World War by highlighting topics previously neglected in the scholarship. In doing so, it provides new insights into political, strategic, administrative, and operational aspects of the maritime dimension of the war"-- 2019. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.54/5
Papers and correspondence of Admiral Sir John Thomas Duckworth / edited by John D. Grainger. "Sir John Duckworth commanded ships and squadrons and fleets throughout the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. He was an assiduous correspondent, writing to Admirals St Vincent, Nelson, Collingwood, and numerous other naval officers. He kept every piece of paper he wrote on or received. He was in the first expedition to the West Indies when he went on a mission to the United States to suppress a French privateer. He commanded a ship in First of June fight in 1794, and was peripherally involved in the great naval mutinies of 1797. He was picked out by Lord St Vincent to command the recovery of Minorca in 1798. He returned to the West Indies in 1799 where he was commander-in-chief in the Leeward Islands, and then at Jamaica. There he was much involved in the Revolutionary war in Haiti, eventually receiving several thousands of French refugees and sending them on to France. A spell with the Channel fleet was succeeded by time at the blockade of Gibraltar. Against orders, he chased a French squadron across the Atlantic and destroyed it (Battle of San Domingo 1796). One of his more curious adventures was a diplomatic mission to the Constantinople to browbeat the Ottoman Sultan into making peace with Russia in 1807. He failed, of course, and was criticised for not bombarding the city. He served out his time afloat with the Channel fleet, displaying his usual humanity. A three-year appointment as governor of Newfoundland completed his career."--Provided by the publisher. 2022. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 359.3/32092
American sanctuary : mutiny, martyrdom, and national identity in the Age of Revolution /A. Roger Ekirch. "A. Roger Ekirch's American Sanctuary begins in 1797 with the bloodiest mutiny ever suffered by the Royal Navy--on the British frigate HMS Hermione, four thousand miles from England's shores, off the western coast of Puerto Rico. In the midst of the most storied epoch in British seafaring history, the mutiny struck at the very heart of military authority and at Britain's hierarchical social order. Revolution was in the air: America had won its War of Independence, the French Revolution was still unfolding, and a ferocious rebellion loomed in Ireland, with countless dissidents already arrested. Most of the Hermione mutineers had scattered throughout the North Atlantic; one of them, Jonathan Robbins, had made his way to American shores, and the British were asking for his extradition. Robbins let it be known that he was an American citizen from Danbury, Connecticut, and that he had been impressed into service by the British. John Adams, the Federalist successor to Washington as president, in one of the most catastrophic blunders of his administration, sanctioned Robbins's extradition, according to the terms of the Jay Treaty of 1794. Convicted of murder and piracy by a court-martial in Jamaica, Robbins was sentenced by the British to death, hauled up on the fore yardarm of the frigate Acasta, blindfolded with his hands tied behind his back, and hanged. Adams's miscalculation ignited a political firestorm, only to be fanned by news of Robbins's execution without his constitutional rights of due process and trial by jury. Thomas Jefferson, then vice president and leader of the emergent Republican Party, said, "No one circumstance since the establishment of our government has affected the popular mind more." Congressional Republicans tried to censure Adams, and the Federalist majority, in a bitter blow to the president, were unable to muster a vote of confidence condoning Robbins's surrender. American Sanctuary brilliantly lays out in full detail the story of how the Robbins affair and the presidential campaign of 1800 inflamed the new nation and set in motion a constitutional crisis, resulting in Adams's defeat and Jefferson's election as the third president of the United States. Ekirch writes that the aftershocks of Robbins's martyrdom helped to shape the infant republic's identity in the way Americans envisioned themselves. We see how the Hermione crisis led directly to the country's historic decision to grant political asylum to refugees from foreign governments--a major achievement in fulfilling the resonant promise of American independence, as voiced by Tom Paine, to provide "an asylum for mankind"."--Provided by the publisher. [2017] • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.133
The journals of Jeffery Amherst, 1757-1763 / edited by Robert J. Andrews. "Volume 1: General Jeffery Amherst served as commander in chief of the British army in North America during the Seven Years' War from 1758 until 1763. Under Amherst's leadership the British defeated French forces enabling the British Crown to claim Canada. Like many military officers, Amherst kept a journal of his daily activities, and the scope of this publication is from March 1757, while he was Commissary to the troops of Hesse-Kassel on British service in Germany, until his return to Great Britain in December 1763. The daily journal contains a record of and a commentary on events that Amherst witnessed or that he learned of through his correspondence. Where he mentions letters or orders received or sent, where possible, the present-day source locations of documents are identified. The Daily and Personal Journals are the record of the man who played a decisive role in British victories at Louisbourg, on Lake Champlain, and at Montreal. Amherst wrote the personal journal after he returned home. It does not have entries made on a daily basis. It is replete with lists, diagrams, and compendia to more fully explain events. Colored diagrams show dispositions or 'Orders of Battle', organizational structures, and evidence of uniform colors of units for campaigns at Louisbourg, Quebec, Niagara, Lake Champlain, the Carolinas, Montreal, and the Caribbean. In addition, Amherst made mileage charts and lists of ships, currency values, and officers who died during the war."--Provided by the publisher. [2015]. • FOLIO • 2 copies available. 92AMHERST