Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

Souvenir of Clyde Anchorages Emergency Port 1940-1945. This volume consists of black and white photographs of paintings by Arthur James Wetherall Burgess depicting ships in the Clyde Anchorages Emergency Port from studies made in 1941. [1947?]. • BOOK • 1 copy available.

Ship's figureheads in Britain : an evaluation of their changing purpose and interpretation since 1750 /Erica Bernadette McCarthy. McCarthy, Erica. 2016. • FOLIO • 1 copy available.

British warship losses in the modern era 1920-1982 / David Hepper. "This important new reference work details all those ships and vessels of the Royal Navy, large and small, which were lost by accident or enemy action, during the twentieth century, from the end of the First World War, to the last years of the century. In all, the fates of over 2,000 ships and small craft are covered, from aircraft carriers and battleships to motor launches, harbour tenders and tugs. Those vessels hired or purchased for wartime service, such as trawlers, paddle steamers and yachts are also listed. During wartime ships are lost; it is their purpose to go in harm's way. Hostile gunfire, torpedoes and mines were established threats throughout the period, while the increasing threat of air attack and the introduction of weapons employing new technology, such as influence-triggered mines, homing torpedoes or air-launched guided weapons added to the risks of operating in a hostile environment. Ships operating in extremely hazardous conditions, such as at Dunkirk in 1940 or Singapore in 1942, suffered heavy losses in brief, concentrated conflicts; but the long continuous campaigns, such as the Atlantic convoys or the constant need to sweep for mines also took their toll. Peacetime losses are dominated by submarine casualties, demonstrating the dangerous character of that service. To this may be added the hazardous nature of the sea itself, when ships are lost in heavy weather; sometimes, human error or plain foolishness may play a part. The core of the book is taken up by those losses experienced during the Second World War, but peacetime losses and more recent conflicts such as the Falklands War of 1982 are included. Arranged chronologically, every entry notes the outline details of the vessel, identifies the Commanding Officer, where known, and gives a full and often harrowing account of the circumstances of the loss and the number of casualties. The details come from extensive original research using primary source material wherever possible, particularly the relevant War Diaries and the collected loss and damage reports, casualty reports and reports of proceedings, now in the National Archives. Wartime losses of the Dominions are included, to ensure completeness. This comprehensive record of warship losses, from all causes, suffered by the Royal Navy over the past one hundred years, is the first single-volume work on the subject and represents a major milestone in naval research and publishing."--Provided by the publisher. 2022. • BOOK • 2 copies available.

The Royal Navy in action : art from Dreadnought to Vengeance /John Fairley. "At the turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries, with the British Empire encompassing the globe, the Royal Navy indisputably ruled the waves. Times change but the magnificence and drama of warships at sea, whether in peace or war, remain an inspiration to artists. This fine book brings together a collection of superb art works which bear witness to the majesty of these mighty ships in action and, at the same time, are a memorial to the dangers, heroism and victories at sea. The reader is treated to a feast of the finest maritime paintings depicting the Royal Navy's dramatic confrontations of the last 120 years. Masters such as Norman Wilkinson, Richard Eurich and William Wyllie cover the two World Wars. Other works illustrate the crucial role of the Navy in the Falklands War and the latest aircraft carriers are also represented. The author draws on his own naval service experience to describe the background to, and significance of, the ships and conflicts that these paintings so vividly record."--Provided by the publisher. 2022. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 758.99

Camping and tramping, swallows and amazons : interwar children's fiction and the search for England /Hazel Sheeky. Sheeky, Hazel. 2012. • FOLIO • 1 copy available.

The Royal Navy and the suppression of the Atlantic slave trade, c. 1807-1867 : anti-slavery, empire and identity /by Mary Wills. Wills, Mary. 2012. • FOLIO • 1 copy available.

The development and abolition of British prison hulks, 1776-1857 / by Anna Lois McKay. McKay, Anna Lois. 2020. • FOLIO • 1 copy available.

Black Swan class sloops : detailed in the original builders' plans /Les Brown. "The technical details of British warships were recorded in a set of plans produced by the builders on completion of every ship. Known as the as fitted' general arrangements, these drawings represented the exact appearance and fitting of the ship as it entered service. Intended to provide a permanent reference for the Admiralty and the dockyards, these highly detailed plans were drawn with exquisite skill in multi-coloured inks and washes that represent the acme of the draughtsman's art. Today they form part of the incomparable collection of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, which is using the latest scanning technology to make digital copies of the highest quality. This book is one of a series based entirely on these draughts which depict famous warships in an unprecedented degree of detail - complete sets in full colour, with many close-ups and enlargements that make every aspect clear and comprehensible. Extensive captions point the reader to important features to be found in the plans, and an introduction covers the background to the design. This volume is devoted to the sloops of the Black Swan class and its improved derivatives, widely regarded as the Rolls-Royce' of Second World War convoy escorts. Heavily armed and superbly equipped for their role, they were among the most effective anti-submarine ships of the battle in the Atlantic. The design was gradually improved and this book uses plans of four selected ships to chart that development. These comprise: Black Swan as built; Flamingo as modified later; Starling, the single most successful U-boat hunter of the war, as in 1943; and Amethyst, as refitted after her clash with Chinese communists on the Yangtze in 1949."--Provided by the publisher. 2019. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.822/50223

The world on a plate : the impact of photography on travel imagery and its diessemination in Britain, 1839-1888 /Charlotte Mullins. Mullins, Charlotte. 2012. • FOLIO • 1 copy available.

Place and mobilities in the maritime world : the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company in the Caribbean, c. 1838 to 1914 /Anyaa Anim-Addo. Anim-Addo, Anyaa. 2012. • FOLIO • 1 copy available.

Willem van de Velde & son / Jeroen van der Vliet. "The catalogue 'Willem van de Velde & Son' will take you to The Northern Netherlands of around 1600, when trade and shipping were flourishing as never before. This activity of ships on the water and in the many ports was a new, inexhaustible source of inspiration for painters who chose the sea as their subject. Among these marine painters were a father and son, both named Willem van de Velde. They worked closely together for fifty years, first from their Amsterdam shop and from 1673 at the court of the English kings Charles II and James II. With their eye for detail and entrepreneurial talent, they became the most prominent marine painters of the seventeenth century. The painting studio has existed for over seventy years. Their productivity in that period was unprecedented, they made an estimated 2,500 drawings and 800 paintings. Their works of art can now be found in the collections of all major museums in the world. The work of the Van de Veldes symbolizes the heyday of Dutch marine painting. Their departure to England in the winter of 1672 also marked the end of a period in which Dutch marine painters, like the war fleet they depicted throughout their lives, ruled in an artistic sense. Step into the fascinating maritime world of Willem van de Velde & Son."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 700-9492

The Battle for Norway, 1940-1942 / Introduced and compiled by Martin Mace and John Grehan ; with additional research by Sara Mitchell. "Despatches in this volume include that on the first and second battles of Narvik in 1940; the despatch on operations in central Norway 1940, by Lieutenant General H.R.S. Massy, Commander-in-Chief, North West Expeditionary Force; Despatch on operations in Northern Norway between April and June 1940; the despatch on carrier-borne aircraft attacks on Kirkenes (Norway) and Petsamo (Finland) in 1941, by Admiral Sir John C. Tovey; the despatch on the raid on military and economic objectives in the Lofoten Islands (Norway) in March 1941, by Admiral Sir John C. Tovey, Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet; and the despatch on the raid on military and economic objectives in the vicinity of Vaagso Island (Norway) in December 1941, by Admiral Sir John C. Tovey. This unique collection of original documents will prove to be an invaluable resource for historians, students and all those interested in what was one of the most significant periods in British military history."-- 2020. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.5421481

White debt : the Demerara uprising and Britain's legacy of slavery /Thomas Harding. "When Thomas Harding discovered that his mother's family had made money from plantations worked by enslaved people, what began as an interrogation into the choices of his ancestors soon became a quest to learn more about Britain's role in slavery. It was a history that he knew surprisingly little about - the myth that we are often taught in schools is that Britain's role in slavery was as the abolisher, but the reality is much more sinister. In White debt, Harding vividly brings to life the story of the uprising by enslaved people that took place in the British colony of Demerara (now Guyana) in the Caribbean in 1823. It started on a small sugar plantation called 'Success' and grew to become a key trigger in the abolition of slavery across the empire. We see the uprising through the eyes of four people: the enslaved man Jack Gladstone, the missionary John Smith, the colonist John Cheveley, and the politician and slaveholder John Gladstone, father of a future prime minister. Charting the lead-up to the uprising right through to the courtroom drama that came about as a consequence, through this one event we see the true impact of years of unimaginable cruelty and incredible courage writ large. Captivating, moving and meditative, White debt combines a searing personal quest with a deep investigation of a shared history that is little discussed amongst White people. It offers a powerful rebuttal of the national amnesia that masks the role of the British in this devastating period, and asks vital questions about the legacy we have been left with - cultural, political and moral - and whether future generations of those who benefited from slavery need to acknowledge and take responsibility for the White Debt"--Provided by the publisher. 2022. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 306.362094109033

A dark history of sugar / Neil Buttery. "A Dark History of Sugar delves into our evolutionary history to explain why sugar is so loved, yet is the root cause of so many bad things. Europe's colonial past and Britain's Empire were founded and fuelled on sugar, as was the United States, the greatest superpower on the planet - and they all relied upon slave labour to catalyse it. A Dark History of Sugar focusses upon the role of the slave trade in sugar production and looks beyond it to how the exploitation of the workers didn't end with emancipation. It reveals the sickly truth behind the detrimental impact of sugar's meteoric popularity on the environment and our health. Advertising companies peddle their sugar-laden wares to children with fun cartoon characters, but the reality is not so sweet. A Dark History of Sugar delves into our long relationship with this sweetest and most ancient of commodities. The book examines the impact of the sugar trade on the economies of Britain and the rest of the world, as well as its influence on health and cultural and social trends over the centuries. Renowned food historian Neil Buttery takes a look at some of the lesser-known elements of the history of sugar, delving into the murky and mysterious aspects of its phenomenal rise from the first cultivation of the sugar cane plant in Papua New Guinean in 8,000 BCE to becoming an integral part of the cultural fabric of life in Britain and the rest of the West - at whatever cost. The dark history of sugar is one of exploitation: of slaves and workers, of the environment and of the consumer. Wars have been fought over it and it is responsible for what is potentially to be the planet's greatest health crisis. And yet we cannot get enough of it, for sugar and sweetness has cast its spell over us all; it is comfort and we reminisce fondly about the sweets, cakes, puddings and fizzy drinks of our childhoods with dewy-eyed nostalgia. To be sweet means to be good, to be innocent; in this book Neil Buttery argues that sugar is nothing of the sort. Indeed, it is guilty of some of the worst crimes against humanity and the planet."--Provided by the publisher. 2022. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 338.47664109

The Temne of Sierra Leone : African agency in the making of a British colony /Joseph J. Bangura. "Much of the research and study of the formation of Sierra Leone focuses almost exclusively on the role of the so-called Creoles, or descendants of ex-slaves from Europe, North America, Jamaica, and Africa living in the colony. In this book, Joseph J. Bangura cuts through this typical narrative surrounding the making of the British colony, and instead offers a fresh look at the role of the often overlooked indigenous Temne-speakers. Bangura explores, however, the socio-economic formation, establishment, and evolution of Freetown, from the perspective of different Temne-speaking groups, including market women, religious figures, and community leaders and the complex relationships developed in the process. Examining key issues, such as the politics of belonging, African agency, and the creation of national identities, Bangura offers an account of Sierra Leone that sheds new perspectives on the social history of the colony."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 966.4/0049632

A Falkland islander's wartime journal : surviving the siege /Graham Bound. "Port Stanley was the tiny capital of a British colony known to few beyond the world of stamp collecting. But then, suddenly, in April 1982, it was the place-name on everyone's lips. The outcome of a war, for which Britain had mobilised its most powerful task force since 1945, would be decided by the flag which flew over the corrugated iron and timber cottages of Stanley. The town became the epicentre of a ferocious conflict. Many islanders left the town following the invasion. But a few hundred remained. Among them was Graham Bound, who was then the editor of the Islands' only newspaper. This book is based on his journal, written during the occupation and siege. Such was the intensity of the fighting for the town, that the Ministry of Defence in London announced that it would be on the receiving end of 'the heaviest artillery bombardment since the Korean War'. The journals were stored, untouched and unread, for 39 years, before the author rediscovered them and prepared them for publication. Among the notebooks were unprocessed photographs that he took at the time. Some of these never-before seen photos are published in this book. This is a detailed account of the Falklands war, in particular the siege of Stanley, from an islander's point of view."--Provided by the publisher 2022. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 997.11024092

Bullen's voyages : the life of Frank T Bullen ; sailor, whaler, author /Alston Kennerley. "Frank Bullen burst on the national and international popular literary scene at the end of the nineteenth century like a supernova which shone for the first decade or so of the next century and then was gone. But the memory of that brilliance lasts, like his fictional whaling epic, The Cruise of the Cachalot, into the present; this is a book still in print in any number of editions. Bullen's Voyages is a long overdue tribute to that memory, focusing on the sea career which is so prominent in his writing. Of the era of his youth he wrote that 'those were the days when boys in Geordie colliers or East Coast fishing smacks were often beaten to insanity and jumped overboard, or were done to death in truly savage fashion, and all that was necessary to account for their non-returning was a line in the log to the effect that they had been washed or had fallen overboard'. It was a brutal world, and a close examination of maritime records shows that the bullying, two shipwrecks and the tropical illnesses he describes so vividly, really occurred before he was even fifteen; and those were just the start. Hardly a voyage passes without similar dramatic episodes. But disentangling truth from fiction is not always easy. At one level The Cruise of the Cachalot is undoubtedly fiction, and there are unanswered questions about his young life as a 'street arab', as he once described himself. Yet Rudyard Kipling could write in 1898 of Cachalot 'it is immense... I've never read anything that equals it... such real and new sea pictures'. Though Bullen conceals the names of several of his ships, this new biography reveals their real identities, while the author carefully distinguishes the fact and the fiction through his sea-going career. Bullen, who wrote more than thirty books, is second to none in his remarkable writing about the days of sail and the lives of merchant seafarers. A literary commentator writing in 1917, two years after his death, asserted: 'Perhaps no writer has ever written so graphically or so sympathetically of the trials and dangers incurred by our merchant sailors than Frank Bullen, and his books today are a living witness to the courage and loyalty of our mercantile marine'. This elegant and highly readable biography is the first to describe his extraordinary life, and Bullen's own vivid writing colours every page."--Provided by the publisher. 2022. • BOOK • 1 copy available.

Total undersea war : the evolutionary role of the Snorkel in Dèonitz's U-boat fleet, 1944-1945 /Aaron S. Hamilton. "During the last year of World War II the once surface-bound diesel-electric U-boat ushered in the age of 'total undersea war' with the introduction of an air mast, or 'snorkel' as it became known among the men who served in Dèonitz's submarine fleet. U-boats no longer needed to surface to charge batteries or refresh air; they rarely communicated with their command, operating silently and alone among the shallow coastal waters of the United Kingdom and across to North America. At first, U-boats could remain submerged continuously for a few days, then a few weeks, and finally for months at a time, and they set underwater endurance records not broken for nearly a quarter of a century. The introduction of the snorkel was of paramount concern to the Allies, who strived to frustrate the impact of the device before war's end. Every subsequent wartime U-boat innovation was subordinated to the snorkel, including the new Type XXI Electro-boat 'wonder weapon'. The snorkel's introduction foreshadowed the nearly un-trackable weapon and instrument of intelligence that the submarine became in the postwar world. This exhaustive study, the first of its kind, draws upon wartime documents from archives around the world to re-evaluate the last year of the U-boat's deployment, all its key technological innovations, the evolving operations and tactics, and Allied countermeasures. It provides answers to many long-standing questions about the last year of the war: How and why did U-boats patrol so close inshore? How effective was acoustic and anti-radar camouflage? Why was U-boat wireless communication so problematic? How did U-boats navigate so effectively submerged? What were the health implications of staying submerged for a month or more? What does an accurate snorkel-configuration look like? This new study is destined to become the authoritative reference for all these issues and many more."--Provided by the publisher. 2020. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.5451

Bergehus : some historical reflections on the site of a worldwide shipping enterprise /Ole Petter Bjerkek [and] Anne Kathrine Heggeb² Bjerkek, Ole Petter 1994 • FOLIO • 1 copy available.

Maersk Drilling and its people 1972-2022 Cage, Sam 2022. • FOLIO • 1 copy available.

Ship ablaze : the tragedy of the steamboat General Slocum /Edward T. O'Donnell. "There were few experienced swimmers among over 1,300 Lower East Side residents who boarded the General Slocum on June 15, 1904. It shouldn't have mattered since the steamship was only chartered for a languid excursion from Manhattan to Long Island Sound. But a fire erupted minutes into the trip, forcing hundreds of terrified passengers into the water. By the time the captain found a safe shore for landing, 1,021 had perished. It was New York's deadliest tragedy prior to September 11, 2001. The only book available on this compelling chapter in the city's history, Ship Ablaze draws on firsthand accounts to examine why the death toll was so high, how the city responded, and why this event failed to achieve the infamy of the Titanic's 1912 demise or the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Masterfully capturing both the horror of the event and heroism of men, women, and children who faced crumbling life jackets and inaccessible lifeboats as the inferno quickly spread, historian Edward T. O'Donnell spotlights an important incident with which most Americans are unfamiliar. Ship Ablaze brings to life a bygone community while honoring the victims of that forgotten day."--Provided by the publisher. 2004. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.9163

Black Tudors : the untold story /Miranda Kaufmann. "A black porter publicly whips a white Englishman in the hall of a Gloucestershire manor house. A Moroccan woman in baptised in a London church. Henry VIII dispatches a Mautetanian diver to salvage lost treasures from the Mary Rose. From long-forgotten records emerge the stories of Africans who lived free in Tudor England ..."--Provided by the publisher. 2018. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 941/.00496009031

The band that went to war : the Royal Marines band in the Falklands War /Brian Short. "The Royal Marines are renowned for their military skill and also for having one of the finest military bands in the world. These highly trained and talented musicians are equally at home parading at Buckingham Palace, playing at the Royal Albert Hall, or on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier in a foreign port. Why then when the Argentines invaded the Falklands in April 1982 did these superb musicians get involved in what became a serious and deadly military campaign? The answer is that, in addition to their musical expertise, the RM Band Service members are trained for military service and fully qualified in a multitude of military and medical skills, providing support to their comrades, the fighting commandos. The Band That Went to War is a graphic first-hand account of the Falklands War as it has never been told before. It describes the roles played by Royal Marine musicians in the conflict; unloading the wounded from helicopters, moving tons of stores and ammunition, burying their dead at sea and guarding and repatriating Argentine prisoners of war. These and other unseen tasks were achieved while still ready to provide morale boosting music to their commando brethren and other frontline troops. These men are not just musicians; they are Royal Marines."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 997.11024

Humanitarian governance and the British antislavery world system / Maeve Ryan. "Between 1808 and 1867, the British Navy's Atlantic squadrons seized nearly two thousand slave ships, 're-capturing' almost two hundred thousand enslaved people and resettling them as liberated Africans across sites from Sierra Leone and Cape Colony to the West Indies, Brazil, Cuba, and beyond. In this wide-ranging study, Maeve Ryan explores the set of imperial experiments that took shape as British authorities sought to order and instrumentalise the liberated Africans, and examines the dual discourses of compassion and control that evolved around a people expected to repay the debt of their salvation. Ryan traces the ideas that shaped 'disposal' policies towards liberated Africans, and the forms of resistance and accommodation that characterized their responses. This book demonstrates the impact of interventionist experiments on the lives of the liberated people, on the evolution of a British antislavery 'world system', and on the emergence of modern understandings of refuge, asylum, and humanitarian governance."--Provided by the publisher. 2022. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 306.3/620941

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