07 Feb 2018
Alone at sea: Donald Crowhurst and the story of solo yacht racing
The Mercy starring Colin Firth portrays Donald Crowhurst's tragic attempt to sail around the world single-handedly in the first race of its kind. Maritime specialist Jeremy Michell sheds light on the perils of sailing alone, the progress of yacht racing, and the importance of remembering failure.
06 Feb 2018
Voyage of the Dundee whaler ‘Erik’ to the Davis Strait and Baffin Bay, 1876
For February’s item of the month I have chosen JOD/133 a logbook written by T.F. Miller, the gunner on the whaling ship ‘Erik’ which records a voyage undertaken in 1876 from Dundee to the Davis Strait and Baffin Bay between Canada and Greenland.
31 Jan 2018
Queer Histories in the Queen’s House
Royals, courtiers and complex relationships - what can we learn from exploring the lives of those who loved at the Queen's House?
24 Jan 2018
The science behind astrophotography
The Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition received over 3800 entries from around 80 countries in 2017. Astronomer and judge Marek Kukula draws out the scientific and personal stories from five of his favourites.
24 Jan 2018
How to look after a 19th century clipper ship
At sea if you were visited by other sailors and the ship wasn't in top condition you are going to get talked about. The same standards are expected here.
20 Jan 2018
A relic from Trafalgar sold at auction: the Dobbie connection
What does a recent auction of a piece of a flag flown on HMS Victory have in common with this recently catalogued Dobbie collection?
09 Jan 2018
What happened to The King’s Ships?
The spine labels of The King’s Ships, by H. S. Lecky show that ships from ABOUKIR to JUPITER are included in these volumes, the title page states that this is a six-volume work, and the introduction explains that they contain a ‘history of all those ships which are in the Naval service of the Empire’. So where are the last three volumes?