Archive Results For: Baltic
Charles Sheldon’s Special Service Vessels 1696-1736
Charles Sheldon (1665-1739) was Chief Shipwright of the Stockholm shipyard from 1692 until his death. In 1703, Sheldon visited England, France and Holland studying developments in shipbuilding and dockyards. On his return, he proposed the building of a dry dock at the Karlskrona dockyard. This was accepted and construction began in 1716. Construction was disrupted […] Read More
Filed under: Baltic | Other (Early Modern) | Other (location)
Subjects include: Navies | Shipbuilding & Design
Image and Reality in Eighteenth-Century Naval Tactics
The history of naval tactics inspects communications, control and leadership; particularly in battle. Planned manoeuvres and the reality often differed. The admiral’s style of command, from autocratic to trusting, was often decisive. Signals were ambiguous, if received. Ships manoeuvred idiosyncratically; rarely in concert. Collision, confusion and a disorganised line of battle might result. Improved signals […] Read More
Filed under: Napoleonic War | Nelson | Atlantic | Baltic | North Sea | Eighteenth Century | Nineteenth Century | Indian Ocean | Caribbean
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics | Navies | Ship Handling & Seamanship
The Medical Staffing of the Royal Navy in the Russian War, 1854-6
The outbreak of war in 1854 posed numerous manpower problems for the Royal Navy: one of these was in the medical branch, where the Director General Sir William Burnett, thought there was a shortage of assistant surgeons. This paper tests the evidence as regards medical officers, to see if they really were in short supply, […] Read More
Filed under: Baltic | Crimean War | Mediterranean | Health at Sea | Other (location)
Subjects include: Navies
Note: The English Timber Cartel in the Napoleonic Wars
New information has led to a re-appraisal of the cartel of timber merchants who dominated the English timber trade during the Napoleonic wars. Read More
Filed under: Napoleonic War | Baltic
Subjects include: Navies | Shipbuilding & Design
The Norse Vika Sjovar and the Nautical Mile
In this article the author examines the theories pertaining to Norse measurements of sea travel put forward by Norse navigational authority Roald Morcken. In doing this the author compares Morcken’s sources with those of Anglo-Saxon, Dutch, Danish and German origins. Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | Early Middle Ages | Baltic | North Sea
Subjects include: Science & Exploration | Ship Handling & Seamanship
Soldiers at Sea and the Inter-service Relations during the First Dutch War
The article takes an in-depth look at the role of the soldiers-at-sea on both sides of the conflict during the First Dutch War 1652-1654. This crucial step in the evolution of the ‘fighting sailor’ in the Royal Navy has long been neglected. The author delves into the reasons why such a transition for both the […] Read More
Filed under: Baltic | English Channel | Dutch Wars | North Sea | Mutiny & Discipline | Health at Sea | Press Gangs
Subjects include: Manpower & Life at Sea
Naval Actions of the Thirty Years’ War
Although ship design and construction did not change and Charles 1st’s Sovereign of the Seas would not have been out of place at Trafalgar, the seventeenth century marked a major transition in naval tactics. The paper describes the evolution of tactics from the chaotic battles of the start of the period, using a very varied […] Read More
Filed under: Baltic | English Channel | North Sea | Other (Early Modern)
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics
The Model of La Légère in the Central Naval Museum, St Petersburg: Master Shipbuilder Blaise Pangalo in Peter the Great’s Shipyards
Among the ship models at the Central Naval Museum in St. Petersburg is one of the French frigate La Légère (1682). Its designer Blaise Pangalo, a French master shipwright for Louis XIV, was ‘released’ by the King for a year or so to work for the Russian Tsar Peter. Ship models such as this are […] Read More
Filed under: Baltic | Early Modern
Subjects include: Historic Vessels, Museums & Restoration | Ship Models & Figureheads | Shipbuilding & Design
Whipstaff and Helmsman: an Account of the Steering Gear of the Vasa
The Vasa, lost in August 1628 in Stockholm harbour and raised in 1961, has provided some unique possibilities to study various technical systems of seventeenth century ships. This paper looks at the parts of the whipstaff gear that were found aboard the Vasa, how they relate to the steering system and the function of individual […] Read More
Filed under: Baltic | Early Modern
Subjects include: Archaeology | Historic Vessels, Museums & Restoration | Ship Handling & Seamanship | Shipbuilding & Design
The Mysterious Hulc
The study of the development and structure of medieval ships has for many years relied on iconographic evidence and the hulc in particular has proved different from other types with its characteristic dish like shape and ‘reversed’ clinker construction. Any recognised remains have yet to be found in Europe but various forms, some very close […] Read More
Filed under: Baltic | English Channel | Medieval | North Sea | Indian Ocean
Subjects include: Shipbuilding & Design