Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

The longitude prize / Joan Dash, pictures by Dusan Petricic. A narrative account of John Harrison's successful attempt in the 18th century to solve the problem of calculating longitude at sea by his invention of the marine chronometer. The book details Harrison's early life as a carpenter and self-taught clockmaker, the differing approaches taken by Harrison and competitors to tackle the issue of calculating longitude, and particularly the Longitude Prize, a monetary prize offered by British Parliament as a reward for advances toward this end. Illustrations throughout by Duésan Petricic. 2000. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92HARRISON

Heraldry of the oceans : the garb of the merchant seafarer /Alastair Arnott. "Throughout history, Britain's merchant seafarers have formed a mighty force, explanding throughout the nineteenth century and reaching its peak in the 1960s. Though seemingly one body, it comprised many individual companies, each with its own traditions and identity. However, the rapid diminution of the British-flagged fleet in recent years has all but extinguished this structure, and those who had intimate experience of it are now ageing and their memories fading. Heraldry of the Oceans is a celebration of the British and Commonwealth merchant seafarer and chronicles the characteristics that give the industry both corporate identity and an element of individuality. Featuring original colour artwork depicting uniforms, medals and badges, and enhanced by a detailed history and compendium of shipping companies, Alastair Arnott seeks to redress the balance of this largely unrecorded aspect of maritime history."--Provided by the publisher. 2015. • BOOK • 6 copies available. 355.14:656.61(42)

Grandfather Thames : a history of the Gravesend to Tilbury Ferries /by R.T.J. Hitchin. Hitchin, R T J [20--?]. • BOOK • 1 copy available.

The polar adventures of a rich American dame : a life of Louise Arner Boyd /Joanna Kafarowski. "Born in the late 1880s to a gritty mining magnate who made his millions in the California gold rush and a well-bred mother descended from one of New York's distinguished families, society beauty Louise Arner Boyd was raised during a glittering era. She was presented at the British royal court, and travelled in genteel style from one dazzling capital to another. After inheriting a staggering family fortune while only in her thirties, she began leading a double life. She fell under the spell of the north in the late 1920s after a sailing excursion to the Arctic Ocean. Over the next three decades, she achieved international notoriety as a rugged and audacious polar explorer while maintaining her flamboyant lifestyle as a leading philanthropist and society woman. Yet despite organizing, financing, and directing seven daring Arctic expeditions between 1926 and 1955, she is virtually unknown today."--Provided by the publisher. 2017 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 919.804092

The journal of HMS Endeavour 1768-1771 / by Lieutenant James Cook. Cook, James 1977. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 521.842

Sir Francis Drake : an exhibition to commemorate Francis Drake's voyage around the world 1577-1580 British Library (London) 1977 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 061.43(083.83)

Bywater : the man who invented the Pacific War /William H. Honan. A biography of British journalist and military writer Hector Charles Bywater, whose 1925 novel The Great Pacific War is widely believed to have been a primary resource for the Japanese military in planning its Pacific campaign during the Second World War. The book covers Bywater's early life and career as a naval correspondent for the New York Herald, his time serving as a British spy in Germany, and particularly his work on naval strategy and its influence on Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, and consequently the events of the Second World War. Includes 16 pages of black and white plates. 1990. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92BYWATER

The Lancastria tragedy / Stephen Wynn. "The story behind the sinking of the Lancastria comes in two parts: the sinking of the ship itself and the people who died, and the aftermath which led to allegations of a government cover up ordered by Winston Churchill. There is an 'officially accepted' list of those who died, but allegations that hundreds more went down with the ship, and have not been accounted for, still linger to this very day. The Lancastria, a pre-war Cunard cruise liner, was requisitioned by the Admiralty and turned in to a war-time troop ship. On 17 June 1940, whilst being used as part of Operation Aerial to evacuate civilian refugees and British military personnel from France, it was anchored about 5 miles from the coast of St Nazaire. While waiting for a naval escort to see it safely back to England, the Lancastria was attacked by enemy aircraft and sank within 20 minutes. As no official figures have ever been released, there is no way of knowing exactly how many lives were lost. Winston Churchill placed what was known as a 'D' Notice on the tragic events, thereby restricting the Press from reporting it. However, once a New York newspaper had broken the story, the flood gates were opened for British newspapers to follow suit. But what was the purpose of the 'D' Notice? Was it because the British public had already received too much bad news since the war had begun, as Churchill declared? Or was it a cover-up? Those who survived the incident were told in no uncertain terms not to speak about their experience, although plenty did. With much of the information about the Lancastria's sinking in the public domain within a matter of days, the question has to be asked, why are official documents in relation to the matter being kept secret until the year 2040?"--Provided by the publisher. 2020. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.54/21428

Fifty years a shipbuilder A self-published account by the author of his career as a shipbuilder or naval architect. Apprenticed in 1948 to the Burntisland Shipbuilding Company in Fife, Martin then spent three years at sea as an engineer with Alfred Holt & Company, in lieu of national service. Returning to his career as a naval architect with the Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company until 1960, Martin then joined Verolme United Shipyards in Cork Harbour until its closure in 1980. Martin then continued his career as a consultant naval architect until his retirement in 1999. Details of the ships on which Martin worked and aspects of ship design are covered. Volume 1 also includes a short biography of Victoria Drummond, marine engineer, who first joined the Caledon Shipyard from 1917 and was then at sea as an engineer with Alfred Holt & Company (Blue Funnel Line) and the British India Steam Navigation Company, serving throughout the Second World War. The text is illustrated with photographs. 2002 • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 629.12

Human performance and limitation for mariners / book editors Paul Bartlett and Margaret Freeth. "A system of examinations for aviation pilots in human performance and limitation has produced great advances in safety for that sector. This book introduces the concept to seafarers so that they can understand their own limitations and make the best use of their physical and mental abilities in the challenging shipboard environment. This book looks at the realities of living and working on board and explains how recognising human limitations can improve performance, safety and job satisfaction."--Provided by the publisher. 2015. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 623.88 HUM

Pigment compendium : a dictionary and optical microscopy of historical pigments /Nicholas Eastaugh, Valentine Walsh, Tracey Chaplin and Ruth Siddall. "This is an essential purchase for all painting conservators and conservation scientists dealing with paintings and painted objects. It provides the first definitive manual dedicated to optical microscopy of historical pigments. Illustrated throughout with full colour images reproduced to the highest possible quality, this book is based on years of painstaking research into the visual and optical properties of pigments. Now combined with the Pigment Dictionary, the most thorough reference to pigment names and synonyms avaiable, the Pigment Compendium is a major addition to the study and understanding of historic pigments."--Provided by the publisher. 2013. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 751.2

Dr John Rae A biography of John Rae (1813-1893). Born in Orkney, Rae qualified as a surgeon working for the Hudson's Bay Company in Ontario, Canada. He developed a reputation for stamina and his use of snowshoes, learning to live off the land while travelling long distances, adopting and learning the ways of indigenous Arctic peoples. Rae went on to explore the Gulf of Boothia and made three voyages along the Arctic coastline from 1848-1851. In 1854, back in the Gulf of Boothia, he obtained credible information from local Inuit peoples about the fate of the Franklin Expedition which had disappeared in 1848. His report to the Admiralty included evidence that cannibalism had been a last resort for some of the survivors. Franklin's widow Lady Jane Franklin was outraged and recruited many important supporters, including Charles Dickens, to condemn Rae for daring to suggest Royal Navy sailors would have resorted to cannibalism. Rae's reputation was ruined and although he had discovered the final link in the North-West passage, he was shunned by the establishment at the time and his achievements never recognised. The text is supported by photographs, detailed notes and a bibliography. 1985 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.4(987)"18"

Annual report / Friends of the National Libraries. Friends of the National Libraries. • JOURNAL • 1 copy available.

Administering the Empire, 1801-1968 : a guide to the records of the Colonial Office in the National Archives of the UK /Mandy Banton. "The handbook on colonial records at The National Archives prepared by Mandy Banton serves at least three important and useful purposes. First and foremost it is a new and extensively revised guide that takes fully into account records that have become accessible in recent decades, together with corrected and expanded lists of earlier eras. It covers the Colonial Office's relations with other government departments, including the Admiralty, the Cabinet Office, the Foreign Office, the Prime Minister's Office, the Treasury and the War Office.[...]A second function of the guide is historical perspective and comprehensive coverage of complicated and extensive lists of documents. Those using the handbook will be able to trace records on the evolution of the War and Colonial Office of the early 19th century and the creation of the geographical departments. [...] The third useful aspect of the handbook is its range and depth of historical detail. It is a historical work in its own right. It comments usefully on the 'informal' as well as the formal British empire and reveals the extent to which the Colonial Office was involved in the affairs of China, Argentina and Egypt, even listing, in Foreign Office records, the papers of Lord Cromer. It defines as well as guides. [...]"--Adapted from the Foreword. c2008. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 930.25

The naval miscellany. edited by Brian Vale Vale, Brian 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 061.22NRS

Only ghosts can live / Guy Morgan ; illustrated by John Worsley. A memoir by British novelist and screenwriter Guy Morgan recounting his experience as a German prisoner of war from 1943 to 1944, towards the end of the Second World War. The first section describes how Morgan, a Royal Navy officer, was injured in a German attack off the coast of the Dalmatian Island of Lussin in November 1943, and captured as a result. The second section describes elements of day-to-day life as a prisoner of war through a number of 'documentary short stories', including food and black market trade, solitary confinement, camaraderie between the prisoners, and a 'glossary of gefangenschaft' (imprisonment). Includes two black and white plates and 28 black and white illustrations by John Worsley. 1945. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92MORGAN

E-boat vs MTB : the English Channel 1941-45 /Gordon Williamson. "During the Second World War, German E-Boats were so active in the English Channel that the narrow stretch of water became known as 'E-Boat Alley'. To counter the threat of these E-Boats, Britain brought its coastal forces to bear ? flotillas of small Motor Torpedo and Gun Boats (MTBs and MGBs) and Motor Launches (MLs). As the Germans sought to maintain their supremacy in Channel waters, they continued to develop their E-Boat designs to accommodate more armour and more firepower. Rather than matching the newer E-Boats for armament, the British developed several types to fulfill the varied roles for which the Kriegsmarine were attempting to use the E-Boat."--Porvided by the publisher. 2011. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 940.545941

The other Windrush : legacies of indenture in Britain's Caribbean empire /edited by Maria del Pilar Kaladeen and David Dabydeen. "Between 1948 and the passing of the 1971 Immigration Act, half a million people came to the UK from the Caribbean. In the aftermath of the Windrush scandal, the story of the Windrush generation is more widely known than ever. But is it the whole story? Through a series of biographical essays, poems and articles, The Other Windrush shines a light on the hidden history of a 'minority within a minority': Caribbean migrants of Indian and Chinese descent - often the descendants of indentured labourers - who were the 'invisible passengers' of the Windrush generation. Highlightling the diversity of their lives and cultural backgrounds, and delving into the largely forgotten history of the system of indenture in the British Caribbean, The Other Windrush makes a unique addition to the literature on migration and the British Empire." --Provided by the publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 306.3/63

The Milne papers : the papers of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Alexander Milne, Bt., K.C.B. (1806-1896) /edited by John Beeler. Milne, Alexander, 2004 : PBF5461 • BOOK • 3 copies available. 359/.0092

British warships in the age of sail, 1793-1817 : design, construction, careers and fates /Rif Winfield. Winfield, Rif. 2008. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 623.82(42)"1793/1817"

The story of the Blackwater Sailing Club : the first hundred years Wise, Jan 1999 • BOOK • 2 copies available. 797.14(426.7)

British coastal forces : two world wars and after /Norman Friedman. "The Royal Navy invented the fast motor torpedo boat during the First World War, and used it and other small coastal craft to great effect during the Second. This book tells the dramatic story of British coastal forces, both offensive and defensive, in both World Wars and beyond. In the Second World War British coastal forces fought a desperate battle to control the narrow seas, particularly the Channel and the North Sea, and took the war to the coasts of German-occupied Europe, fighting where larger warships could not be risked. They also made a significant contribution to victory in the Mediterranean, but it was primarily warfare in home waters that shaped wartime British Coastal Forces and left lessons for postwar development. In this book, Norman Friedman uniquely connects the technical story of the coastal craft and their weapons and other innovations with the way they fought. In both world wars much of the technology was at the edge of what was feasible at the time. Boats incorporated considerable British innovation and also benefited from important US contributions, particularly in supplying high-powered engines during World War II. In contrast with larger warships, British coastal forces craft were essentially shaped by a few builders, and their part in the story is given full credit. They also built a large number of broadly similar craft for air-sea rescue, and for completeness these are described in an appendix. This fascinating, dramatic story is also relevant to modern naval thinkers concerned with gaining or denying access to hostile shores. The technology has changed but the underlying realities have not. This book includes an extensive account of how coastal forces supported the biggest European example of seizing a defended shore, the Normandy invasion. That was by far the largest single British coastal forces operation, demanding a wide range of innovations to make it possible. Like other books in this series, this one is based very heavily on contemporary official material, much of which has not been used previously ? like the extensive reports of US naval observers, who were allowed wide access to the Royal Navy as early as 1940. Combined with published memoirs, these sources offer a much more complete picture than has previously appeared of how Coastal Forces fought and of the way in which various pressures, both operational and industrial, shaped them."--Provided by the publisher. 2023. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 359.310941

Vrulje : glasilo Narodnog Mezeja u Zadru : vol. 1, no. 1 Uranija, Valentin et al 1970. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 930.26(204:497.1)

We're here because you were there : immigration and the end of empire /Ian Sanjay Patel. "Drawing on new archival material from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ian Sanjay Patel retells Britain's recent history in an often shocking account of state racism that still resonates today. In a series of post-war immigration laws, Britain's colonial and Commonwealth citizens from the Caribbean, Asia and Africa were renamed immigrants. In the late 1960s, British officials drew upon an imperial vision of the world to contain what it saw as a vast immigration crisis involving British citizens, passing legislation to block their entry. As a result, British citizenship itself was redefined along racial lines, fatally compromising the Commonwealth and exposing the limits of Britain's influence in the world. Combining voices of so-called immigrants trying to make a home in Britain and the politicians, diplomats and commentators who were rethinking the nation, Patel excavates the reasons why Britain failed to create a post-imperial national identity. From the Windrush generation who came to Britain from the Caribbean to the South Asians who were forced to migrate from East Africa, Britain was caught between attempting both to restrict the rights of its non-white colonial and Commonwealth citizens and redefine its imperial role in the world. Despite Britain's desire to join Europe, which eventually occurred in 1973, its post-imperial moment never arrived, subject to endless deferral and reinvention." --Provided by publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 304.8/41

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