Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

Stringbag : the Fairey Swordfish at war /David Wragg. "This is a narrative account of the operations of the Fairey Swordfish throughout World War Two. The most famous of these was the attack on the Italian fleet at Taranto, crippling three battleships and damaging several other ships as well as the seaplane base and an oil storage depot. The Swordfish played a prominent part in the Battle of Matapan and in the sinking of the Bismarck. Less happily, Swordfish were used in the unsuccessful and ill-prepared raid on the Germans at Petsamo and in the abortive attack on the battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau during the Channel Dash in 1942."--Provided by the publisher. 2004. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.544.9(42)

Alone on a wide, wide sea : the story of 835 naval air squadron in the Second World War "This is the history of 835 Naval Air Squadron told by one of its surviving commanding officers. [...] Many people now feel that the work of the Merchant Navy in the Second World War has seldom been given the recognition it deserves; for without the merchant vessels which continually battled their way through the stormy waters of the Atlantic, Britain would soon have been starved of essential supplies. 835 Squadron, flying mainly from the aircraft-carrier Nairana, spent much of the war defending our Atlantic and Russian convoys from the attacks of German U-boats and aircraft. Barringer has gathered together a wealth of first-hand accounts by the crew of the Nairana and other members of the squadron and these give his story a compelling sense of immediacy."--Provided by the publisher. 1995 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.544.9(261.1)

Admiral Byng : his rise and execution /Chris Ware. Admiral John Byng was born into an illustrious naval family in 1704. He qualified as a lieutenant at the age of 19 and was made post captain at 23. By the outbreak of the Seven Years War in 1756 he had become admiral of the blue. At the Battle of Minorca in 1756 it was alleged that he had failed to do his utmost to relieve the siege of the British garrison on Minorca. He was court-martialled and found guilty, although he was acquitted of personal cowardice. Despite pleas for clemency he was executed in 1757 on board the HMS Monarch in Portsmouth harbour. Voltaire referred to the incident in his novel Candide, creating the phrase "... pour encourager les autres". This book reappraises Byng's life and career in an attempt to discover whether he was a victim of injustice and the political situation at the time. There are black and white photographs of portraits of the various participants in Byng's story, extensive notes, a bibliography and a brief index. 2008. • BOOK • 1 copy available.

British military medals : a guide for the collector and family historian /Peter Duckers. "This second edition of Peter Duckers [sic] best-selling British Military Medals traces the history of medals and gallantry awards from Elizabethan times to the modern day, and it features an expert account of their design and production. Campaign and gallantry medals are a key to understanding - and exploring - British and imperial military history, and to uncovering the careers and exploits of individual soldiers. In a series of succinct and well-organized chapters he explains how medals originated, to whom they were awarded and how the practice of giving medals has developed over the centuries. His work is a guide for collectors and for local and family historians who want to learn how to use medals to discover the history of military units and the experiences of individuals who served in them."--Provided by the publisher. 2020. • BOOK • 2 copies available.

The pirate captain Ned Low : his life and mysterious fate /Nicky Nielsen. Nielsen, Nicky, 2022. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 364.16/4092

The Moon : a beginner's guide to lunar features and photography /James Harrop. A practical guide aimed at beginners interested in learning about the Moon and how to image our closest satellite neighbour. The book contains the complete photographic process including equipment, settings, capture techniques, stacking and image processing, each of which is vitally important to producing a good image. 2020. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 704.9/495233

Arctic genius : Sir William Edward Parry : the original Arctic explorer "This is the life of a forgotten hero. He joined the Royal Navy at the age of 13, endured years of arduous patrol duty in the English Channel, the Baltic and on the coast of North America, and became a pioneer of British Arctic exploration. He led four expeditions over ten years culminating in a failed attempt to reach the North Pole over land. Parry became an international celebrity. He and John Franklin, his close friend, made headline news frequently. The British public were absorbed by the Arctic regions with their mystical reputation whilst the explorers, marvelling at the sculpted icebergs, strange meteorological events and the inexplicable display of the Northern Lights, developed a spiritual relationship amounting to near obcession." 2025. • BOOK • 1 copy available.

Tracing your family history using the census : a guide for family historians /Emma Jolly. "The census is an essential survey of our population, and it is a source of basic information for local and national government and for various organizations dealing with education, housing, health and transport. Providing the researcher with a fascinating insight into who we were in the past, Emma Jolly's new handbook is a useful tool for anyone keen to discover their family history. With detailed, accessible and authoritative coverage, it is full of advice on how to explore and get the most from the records. Each census from 1841 to 1911 is described in detail, and later censuses are analyzed too. The main focus is on the census in England and Wales, but censuses in Scotland, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are all examined and the differences explained. Particular emphasis is placed on the rapidly expanding number of websites that offer census information, making the process of research far easier to carry out. The extensive appendix gathers together all the key resources in one place. Emma Jolly's guide is an ideal introduction and tool for anyone who is researching the life and times of an ancestor." --Provided by the publisher 2020. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 929.1072041

Battleships : the first Big Guns :rare photographs from wartime archives /Kaplan, Philip. "This new addition to the Images of War series takes as its focus the early Big Gun battleships that saw development and deployment during the First World War. Iconic ships such as HMS Warspite and Malaya feature amidst this pictorial history that is sure to appeal to fans of the series, and naval enthusiasts in particular. Vessels featured include the battleship Royal Sovereign, the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle, the cruiser HMS Gloucester, the Queen Elizabeth class battleship HMS Barham and the Italian battleships Littorio, Cesare, Duillo, Vittorio Veneto, Conte di Cavour and Doria, amongst many others. British and international battleships feature side by side in a publication that offers a truly representative selection of the kind of vessels in action at this time."--Provided by the publisher. 2014. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.821.2(100)

Second World War carrier campaigns / David Wragg. "Without the aircraft carrier, the Japanese would not have brought the United States into the Second World War through their attack on Pearl Harbour; without the carrier, the United States could not have rolled back the Japanese forces spread across the wide reaches of the Pacific and carried the war to Japan itself. Thus is can be argued that aircraft carriers were the decisive naval weapons system of the Second World War. Yet they had an uncertain start, with HMS Courageous sunk two weeks after the outbreak of war, followed by her sister, Glorious the following spring. This book is an authoritative, concise and hugely readable account of carrier operations throughout WW2. The text is given immediacy by the use of eyewitness accounts."--Provided by the publisher. 2004. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.822.7"1939/1945"

Yanagi : the secret underwater trade between Germany & Japan, 1942-1945 /by Mark Felton. "This fascinating book examines the exchange of information and goods by underwater means between Germany and Japan during the second half of WW2. Known as 'Yanagi' this trade was a high priority to both Axis partners. As the Allies' grip on control of the oceans and air tightened, it became necessary to rely on submarines. This posed an increasingly heavy but necessary burden on tight resources.Thanks to the Author's research, here is the first full account of these operations with descriptions of individual missions be they by German or Japanese submarines and crews. Even by modern standards these were of impressive duration and demanded the highest standards of seamanship and discipline."--Provided by the publisher. 2005. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.545.9(43:52)

Arctic convoy PQ-8 : the story of Captain Robert Brundle and the SS Harmatris /by Michael Wadsworth. The story of the convoy PQ-8 in 1941/2 and the costly return journey of the SS Harmatris in late 1942 is used to illustrate the wider context of the Russian convoys and the war in general. Derived from the diaries and memorabilia of Robert William Brundle, the book gives a personal view by the Master of a British vessel of the progress of a troubled convoy, of which he was appointed Commodore, and of his eight months in Murmansk and Archangel, observing the lives and straightened circumstances of the inhabitants in the interludes between the bombings, and his struggle to repair the ship, discover and distribute food among the crew, and simply to stay alive and return home safely. 2009. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.542.1(42)

Admiral of the blue : the life and times of Admiral John Child Purvis /Iain Gordon. This "is the [...] biography of Admiral John Child Purvis a [...] contemporary of Nelson. Purvis's ability as a fighting commander was proved in a bloody duel between his sloop-of-war and a French corvette during the War of Independence. [...] He was the first British officer to confront Napoleon Bonaparte [...] during the Siege of Toulon. Commanding the Princess Royal and then the London, he was involved in much action in the Mediterranean and served under Sir John Jervis (later Lord St Vincent) during his establishment of the 'Mediterranean Discipline'. The culmination of his [...] career at sea was when he undertook the [...] task of saving the Spanish fleet in Cadiz from capture by the French and preparing the city for siege."--Provided by the publisher. 2005. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92PURVIS, JOHN CHILD

The war with Hitler's Navy / Adrian Stewart. "As this well researched work reveals, Hitlers handling the German Navy during the Second World War was full of contradictions.The seriousness of the U-boat threat was never in doubt and in the dark days of 1940 1942, the Donitzs daring strategy coupled with the courage and determined actions of the captains and crews became perilously close to starving Britain into submission.But, despite having built and nurtured a surface fleet with capital ships of formidable power, Hitler was uncharacteristically cautious of employing them aggressively. Examination of the reasons for this make for fascinating reading, possibly stemming from the early loss of the Graf Spee and the fact that, whenever possible, the Royal Navy threw all its weight regardless of cost at the Nazi threat; the loss of the Hood in the pursuit of the Bismarck being one example. Even Goebbels could not spin the loss of a battleship.The War against Hitlers Navy describes in fascinating detail the many fronts on which the adversaries faced each other and analyzes the reasons for the ultimate outcome."--Provided by the publisher. 2018. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.545943

The 50 greatest shipwrecks / Richard M. Jones. "When you think of a shipwreck, what image springs to mind? A tall sailing ship on the rocks, or perhaps the sinking Titanic surrounded by lifeboats? Historian Richard M. Jones has put together 50 stories of lost ships throughout history that are among the most important, infamous and in some cases tragic ships in the whole of history. When did two liners collide and lead to one of the greatest rescues in history? How did a Scotsman become an American hero against his own country? Which warship sank with gold bullion on board during the Second World War? This book tells the story of these fascinating cases plus many more, explores the largest shipwrecks, the treasure wrecks and the ones that are talked about still as the most famous. Starting at the tiny island of Alderney in 1592, we take a journey through history, through the First and Second World Wars, into the age of the passenger ferry and finally to the modern day migrant issues in the Mediterranean Sea. Never before have these fifty wrecks come together in a book that really brings home to the reader just how many lost vessels there are, how deadly many can be and what this teaches us today about our own history."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available.

The history of navigation / Dag Pike "Today travellers by land, sea and air take accurate navigation for granted but it was not always thus. The author, a highly experienced sailor, sets out to record the development of navigational techniques from the earliest time, five millenniums ago. As explorers started to venture offshore into the unknown they had to rely on the sun and stars for direction. From this pioneers turned to mathematics, astrolobes, sextants and increasing accurate clocks to measure latitude and later longitude. More recently major breakthroughs with electronic navigation, GPS and other satellite systems have revolutionised travel. Focusing primarily but not exclusively on marine navigation, the author weaves a fascinating course through the successes and failures of mankind's quest to explore his world. The result is a thoroughly entertaining and informative work which has no rival."--Provided by the publisher. 2018. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 527

Sea wolves : savage submarine commanders of WW2/Tony Matthews. "From the heart-rending account of the sinking of the German liner Wilhelm Gustloff in 1945 - the worst maritime disaster in world history - through to a variety of other brutal actions carried out by numerous submarine commanders, including the sinking of the hospital ship Centaur in 1943, this book comes from the deep shadows of a tragic past to reveal the terrible truth of a secretive war that was responsible for the deaths of unimaginable numbers of innocent people. Discover how merchant seamen were savagely machine-gunned in the water, callously slaughtered with hand-grenades or simply left to the circling sharks. Elsewhere, hundreds of doctors, nurses, ship's crew, ambulance drivers and hospital orderlies were viciously killed without compassion, despite being protected by the Geneva Convention."--Provided by the publisher. 2023. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.545943

The air war at sea in the Second World War / Martin W. Bowman. "Martin Bowman's considerable experience as a military historian has spanned over forty years, during which time he has spent hundreds of hours interviewing and corresponding with numerous men and women and their relatives, in Britain, America and beyond, resulting in a wealth of material on the war at sea from World War One to the Falklands and the wars on terror. All these narratives have been woven into a highly readable and emotional outpouring of life and death in action in all his titles, as here, in World War Two, where the men of the Fleet Air Arm and the US Navy fighter, bomber and torpedo carrying aircraft describe the compelling, gripping and thought-provoking narrative of the air war in the freezing Atlantic wastes to the waters of the mighty Pacific." 2022. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.545

The great Edwardian naval feud : Beresford's vendetta against Fisher /Richard Freeman. Freeman, Richard 2009. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.353(42):392.77

The animal Victoria Cross : the Dickin Medal /P.J. Hawthorne. Sixty-three animals have won the Dickin Medal, the highest award for animal bravery. Four types of animal have been honoured, dogs, horses, pigeons and one cat. In addition to British animals, there are American, Canadian, Australian and Egyptian winners of this unique award. This delightful book will be treasured by animal lovers everywhere. 2012. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.134.22:636.045

The hunt for Blackbeard : the world's most notorious pirate /by Craig Cabell, Graham A. Thomas, Allan Richards. "Edward Teach - 'Blackbeard'-is one of the legends of the so-called 'golden age of piracy'. There have been so many accounts of his short, bloody career that it is hard to see him and his times in a clear historical light. This new study looks for the man behind the legend, and it gives a vivid insight into the nature of piracy and the naval operations that were launched against it. The narrative focuses on the roles played by the Governor of Virginia Alexander Spotswood who masterminded the pursuit of Blackbeard, and Lieutenant Robert Maynard of HMS Pearl who led the pursuit and finally cornered Teach and his crew and, after a vicious fight, saw him killed.In vivid detail it reveals how the hunt for Blackbeard was orchestrated, how he was tracked down, and the parts played in the drama by the larger-than-life leading characters in this extraordinary story. This freshly researched study of the pursuit of the notorious pirate and his crew - and of the final fight in which Blackbeard lost his life - makes compelling reading."--Dust jacket. 2012. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 341.362.1

Anzac : the landing /Stephen Chambers. The Anzac legend was born on the shores of Gallipoli during the historic morning of 25th April 1915. Landing on a hostile beach, under the cover of darkness, the Anzacs moved inland rapidly, but the response of the Ottoman forces was equally quick. The outcome of the campaign was arguably sealed during the first day, when the door for an Anzac victory was closed. With the order to dig, dig, dig and to stick it out, a stalemate was secured from the clutches of almost total disaster. After the Australians and New Zealanders received their baptism of fire, they became a stubborn thorn in the sides of the Ottoman army. Futilely after eight gruelling months of fighting, the campaign came to an end with the complete evacuation of the Gallipoli Peninsula. Failure did not mar the actions and sacrifice of the Anzacs who bestowed a powerful legacy, as well as being a landmark in the birth of modern Turkey. Almost a century later, with all the veterans now sadly gone, their legacy still survives in Anzac Day and with the ever increasing numbers of pilgrims who visit the battlefield today. 2008. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.455(496.1)

The Great War at sea : the opening salvos :contemporary combact images from the Great War /[Bob Carruthers]. "This powerful collection, depicting the events of the Great War at sea, showcases the work of the contemporary combat artists and illustrators from the Great War era. The result is a stunning and vivid graphic record of life and death on the high-seas from 1914-18, as reported to contemporary audiences at a time when the events of the Great War were still unfolding. During the Great War artists and illustrators produced a highly accurate visual record of the fleeting moments the bulky cameras couldn't reproduce. These works form a body of war reportage that are as valid as the written word. Today, the work of the combat illustrators and the official war artists from the Great War era is overlooked by historians in favour of photographs, but these illustrations are nonetheless important, as they provide a contemporary record of hand-to-hand fighting, trench raids, aerial dogfights, sea battles, desperate last stands, night actions and cavalry charges."--Provided by the publisher. 2015. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 7.044"1914/1918"

Skagerrak : the Battle of Jutland through German eyes /Gary Staff. "In January 1916 Vizeadmiral Scheer took command of the High Sea Fleet. This aggressive and pugnacious leader embarked upon a vigorous offensive program which culminated in the greatest clash between dreadnought capital ships the world had seen. Although outnumbered almost two to one, Vizeadmiral Scheer conducted a provocative operation on 31 May 1916. Who would prevail: the massive preponderance of British heavy calibre cannon, or the aggressive tactics of the street fighter Scheer? Manning the ships of both sides were the technically skilled and talented seamen who were prepared to carry out their duties loyally and courageously until the very end. Over 8,500 men perished in less than 10 hours of fighting, a horrendous loss, even by World War One standards. This book gives voice to many of the German Navy participants, from a German perspective, on this tumultuous battle fought over 100 years ago. These men gave their all and are gone now, but not forgotten."--Provided by the publisher. 2016. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.456(489)

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