A Life at Sea by Simon Quail Can you survive the storms of youth? This lively and entertaining memoir reveals that you can. Life will get better. This authentic tale reveals how a young deck officer survived all that the wild ocean could throw at him. He survived challenges physically, emotionally, and spiritually. He became a Master Mariner and a...

Scotland’s Adventure on the Rivers of Burma by Paul Strachan The Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, known in colonial Burma as the ‘Fabulous Flotilla’, was the world’s largest privately-owned fleet of ships. It was an entirely Scottish enterprise with nearly all its investors, management, and ship’s officers drawn from Scotland. Over 1,200 ships were ordered mainly from Clyde yards, and each year...

In War & Peace by R O Neish This new book reveals the part played by the eight Bustler Class Rescue Tugs built at the Henry Robb Shipyard during the Second World War and will shed more light on the almost-forgotten role played by this country’s mariners. The men and women rescued under the most trying of times and dreadful...

The Life of a Marine Engineer by J W Richardson If anyone has ever wondered what happens in the engine room when the captain on the bridge rings ‘Full Ahead’ on the telegraph, then this book will enlighten the reader. This is a story of one man’s life at sea, from his beginnings as a lowly cadet to his qualification...

by Adrian Sweeney In 935, the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company fleet consisted of seventeen vessels. It would be no exaggeration to say that it was a very mixed fleet indeed, consisting of steamers built by the Company, steamers bought second-hand, coal burners, oil burners, steam turbine engines, steam reciprocating engines, passenger vessels and cargo-only ships. It was certainly...

The anatomy and evolution of the Olympic Class by Simon Mills The Olympic Class liners were conceived as the largest, grandest ships ever to set sail. Of the three ships built, the first only lost the record for being the largest because she was beaten by the second, and they were both beaten by the third. The class was meant...

The Most Highly Decorated Midshipman 1939–1945 by Jeremy Stoke By any standards, Mick Stoke’s experiences in the Royal Navy during the Second World War were remarkable. Aged nineteen, he was ‘Mentioned in Despatches’ and awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his courage during incessant bombing during the Siege of Tobruk. He survived multiple torpedo attacks, firstly serving on the cruiser...

The Autobiography of Admiral Andrew Cunningham Admiral Andrew Cunningham, best remembered for his courageous leadership in the Mediterranean in the Second World War, is often rated as our finest naval commander after Nelson, and indeed a bust of the Admiral was unveiled in Trafalgar Square close by his predecessor in 1967 by the Duke of Edinburgh. It was during the...

The Ross Expedition 1839-1843 by John Knight This under-documented expedition was a pivotal moment in the annals of polar exploration and was the starting point, in historical terms, of revealing the great unknown continent of Antarctica. It was the first time in nearly 70 years since Captain James Cook had circumnavigated Antarctica, that a Royal Naval voyage of discovery had...

by Christopher Nicholson Rock Lighthouses of Britain & Ireland is a new edition of the classic work on the subject but with some of the most famous Irish rock lighthouses included. The text has been updated to include the modern technology used by the lighthouse authorities and all the historical advances made over the centuries at British and Irish rock...

The Story of the Thames Sailing Barge Pudge 1922 – 2022 by David Wood, Penny Baines & John Rayment Unlike many rivals, the London & Rochester Barge Company kept faith with timber construction for their sailing barges until building of the genre ceased around 1930. Not surprising, perhaps, as their Quarry Yard at Frindsbury, where the firm’s barges were repaired...

by Geoff Lunn Amid peaceful countryside, past historic towns, and through the heart of London, the River Thames flows in an easterly direction for some 346 kilometres from its source in Gloucestershire until entering the North Sea. Over many centuries civilisations have traversed the ancient river by way of fords and early ferries, stone-built bridges, by locks, tunnels, and railway...

Strength Triumphs Over Adversity by William Smith The threat of Operation Barbarossa, Hitler’s surprise invasion of Russia in June 1941, succeeding prompted Churchill to decide to send vital military supplies to Britain’s new ally. The early sailings to Northern Russia via the Arctic Ocean between August 1941 and February 1942 were largely unopposed. But this changed dramatically during 1942 when...

Operations of the K-verbrand by Helmut Blocksdorf Hitler’s Secret Commandos is the history of the K-Verband naval commando unit, established in 1943 to wreak havoc amongst invading allied forces involved in amphibious landings or actions against German-occupied coasts. Following the Italian and British example, the basic idea was for a small, exceptionally well-trained, and absolutely reliable commando force using the...

by Ian Collard In this book, Ian Collard uses his collection of rare and previously unpublished images to tell the story of the Irish sea ports located on the River Mersey and River Dee. The history of these ports stretches back hundreds of years. The Mersey Docks & Harbour Board took control in 1858, and various boards and groups have...

Warships of the Royal Navy by Iain Ballantyne There is no current warship in the Royal Navy called HMS London, but vessels carrying the name have featured, for better or worse, in some of the most controversial episodes of British naval history. For example, the wooden wall battleship HMS London of the late 18th Century could be called ‘the ship...

London Bridge to Greenwich by Malcolm Batten London’s docks were once the busiest in Britain. They had developed piecemeal from the beginning of the nineteenth century as the existing riverside wharves became too congested and pilfering became rife. Dock systems were built on both sides of the Thames. The largest group, ‘The Royals’ comprising the Royal Victoria, Royal Albert, and...

The Royal Navy’s Front Line in the North Sea 1914-1918 by Steve Dunn The Harwich Force has made its name and will not be forgotten during the future annals of history, so said Rear Admiral Sir Reginald Tyrwhitt on Armistice Day 1918. But that fame has not endured. Yet for the whole duration of the First World War, the Harwich...

by Ian Collard The major company in the short-sea passenger and freight business is the Swedish Stena Line, who operate services to Europe, Scandinavia and Ireland from United Kingdom ports. The company was founded in 1962 by Sten A Olsson in Gothenburg, Sweden, and was one of the first ferry operators in Europe to introduce a computer-based reservation system. In...

The Science, Psychology and Art of Ship Camouflage by David L Williams Many people are familiar with the term ‘dazzle design’, even perhaps as it was applied to ships during wartime. But what of its origins and objectives as a defensive practice at sea? Moreover, was it the only approach to the painted protection of merchant and naval vessels during...

The Experience of War at Sea, 1939–1945 by James Goulty Although many books have been written about naval actions during the Second World War – histories and memoirs in particular – few books have attempted to encompass the extraordinary variety of the experience of the war at sea. That is why James Goulty’s vivid survey is of such value. Sailors...

A Cornish Shipwreck Tragedy by Kevin Patience This is the tragic story of the loss of an elegant German four-masted sailing ship in the early years of the twentieth century on the rugged south coast of Cornwall in the west of England. Nineteen of the crew died in the raging seas on the night of 31 January/1 February 1914, and...

Churchill and a Great War Naval Catastrophe by Stuart Heaver On the morning of 22 September 1914, just six weeks into the First World War, three Royal Navy armoured cruisers were sunk by a German U-boat in the southern North Sea. The action lasted less than 90 minutes but the lives of 1,459 men and boys were lost – more...