Archive Results For: Mediterranean
‘So Complete Was Our Victory! So Complete Their Ruin!’: An analysis of the battle of Çeşme, 1770
This article presents an analysis of why a technically advanced Ottoman fleet of overwhelming numerical superiority operating in its home waters should have been decisively defeated by a Russian fleet operating in totally unfamiliar waters and hampered by a divided command structure, with no truly safe harbour to fall back on and with ships manned […] Read More
Filed under: Mediterranean | Other (Eighteenth C)
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics
Did Vessels Beach in the Ancient Mediterranean? An assessment of the textual and visual evidence
The practice of beaching seafaring ships in the ancient Mediterranean is a widely accepted phenomenon. This paper examines the evidence for beaching and outlines the various methods, tools and technology employed. While habitual beaching for seafaring vessels is testi ed for the Geometric Period Aegean, for later periods the evidence is primarily negative. With the […] Read More
Filed under: Antiquity | Mediterranean
Subjects include: Ship Handling & Seamanship
Note: A Close Examination of an Ancient Naval Artefact
An identification of an ancient bronze artefact as a secondary ram. Read More
Filed under: Antiquity | Mediterranean
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics | Weapons
From galleys to square riggers: The modernization of the navy of the Kingdom of Sardinia
By the middle of the eighteenth century most navies operating in the Mediterranean had replaced their galley fleets with sailing navies. The Kingdom of Sardinia was one of the last to make the transition, acquiring its first square rigged ships in 1763. The galleys were decommissioned and a completely new naval administration was created. The […] Read More
Filed under: Mediterranean | Other (Eighteenth C)
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics | Manpower & Life at Sea | Merchant Marines | Navies | Strategy & Diplomacy
Caesar’s crossing of the Adriatic Countered by a Winter Blockade During the Roman Civil War
During the Roman Civil War that broke out in 49 bc between Julius Caesar and Pompey naval operations played a critical role. In order to confront Pompey’s army quickly in the Balkans, a major amphibious crossing of the Adriatic was undertaken by Caesar’s army. The text of Caesar’s Civil War and other sources, including Lucan’s […] Read More
Filed under: Antiquity | Mediterranean
Subjects include: Archaeology | Battles & Tactics | Navies
Document: ‘A Distinct Point in Modern Naval Tactics’
These are claimed to be the first written orders for a squadron going into battle, taking every eventuality into account. Read More
Filed under: Mediterranean | Other (Twentieth C) | Other (Nineteenth C)
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics
Paddle Wheels for Sailing Men-of-War
In 1720 Monsieur du Quest, a French engineer, presented to the Royal Society a paper titled ‘A Method for Rowing Men of War in a Calm’ in which he proposed to install man-operated paddle wheels on British sailing ships. The paper documented sea trials he had performed in 1693 with his invention installed on a […] Read More
Filed under: Mediterranean | Other (Eighteenth C)
Subjects include: Ship Handling & Seamanship | Shipbuilding & Design
Note: Tyrrhenian Naval Iconography During the First Ice Age: the origin of Etruscan ships
Starting from a critical analysis of some of the most important evidence concerning Etruscan maritime activities, the evolutionary line linking the ninth-century BC Villanovan clay models to the sixth-century BC figures of Etruscan ships is re-evaluated. Read More
Filed under: Antiquity | Mediterranean
Subjects include: Archaeology | Art & Music | Ship Models & Figureheads
Agincourt Sound Revisited
At the resumption of hostilities in 1803 after the Peace of Amiens, Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson, now commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, renewed his interest in Sardinia as a logistical base for the blockade of Toulon. The story of the selection of an anchorage, known in the British fleet as Agincourt Sound, situated in the Maddalena Islands […] Read More
Filed under: Nelson | Napoleonic War | Mediterranean
Subjects include: Navies | Science & Exploration
Lord Nelson and Earl St Vincent: Prize Fighters
The lengthy prize litigation over the proceeds of Spanish treasure conducted between 1801 and 1803 involving Lord Nelson and Earl St Vincent is often referred to, but little understood. Using contemporaneous records, correspondence and law reports, this article considers the original prize captures that gave rise to the dispute, the tactics adopted by the litigating […] Read More
Filed under: Nelson | Atlantic | Napoleonic War | Mediterranean
Subjects include: Administration | Navies