Archive Results For: Other (Nineteenth C)
Driven Mad by the Sea Serpent: The strange case of Captain George Drevar
In 1881 George Drevar, a merchant captain who had survived a shipwreck in the Cape Verde Islands, was tried at the Old Bailey for libel and threatening the life of the Commissioner of Wreck, Henry Cadogan Rothery, in part because of a disagreement over the existence of the great sea serpent. This article explains the […] Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | Other (Nineteenth C)
Subjects include: Biography | Miscellaneous
The Fourth Duke of Portland’s Pantaloon (1831–1852): Private yacht, experimental ‘brig sloop of war’ and slave-ship hunter
The launch of the 323-ton private brig rigged yacht Pantaloon at Troon in 1831 for the Duke of Portland, marks the opening of the final and contentious ‘Symonds’ era in British wooden hull naval architecture. Designed for the duke by Captain William Symonds RN it was immediately acquired by the Royal Navy as a fast […] Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | Other (Nineteenth C)
Subjects include: Shipbuilding & Design
Some Considerations on the Causes of Mutiny Among Privateer Ships of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, 1815–1821
The United Provinces of the Río de la Plata used privateers during their war for independence against the Spanish crown. At first, this activity was limited to the River Plate, but in 1815 privateering became maritime, taking the offensive to the Spanish trade routes in the Atlantic and the Pacific. This way of waging war […] Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | Other (Nineteenth C)
Subjects include: Pirates, Corsairs & Privateers
Book Review-‘One of Howard’s: The life and times of John Howard, Maldon shipwright 1849–1915 and a history of shipbuilding in Maldon, by D. Patient,
On 30 April 1859, the Illustrated London News commented that ‘there is not much room for the exhibition of naval architecture in a sailing barge’. This was a common perception of vessels which were built as load-carrying workhorses for short sea and river transport, and which were an everyday sight, often in large numbers, in […] Read More
Filed under: Other (Twentieth C) | Other (Nineteenth C)
Subjects include: Shipbuilding & Design
Book Review-‘Britain and the Ocean Road: Shipwrecks and people, 1297–1825’ by I. Friel, Pen
Britain’s maritime history is often studied by looking at events on the large scale. Friel’s book does something different. This book tells the individual stories of eight different ships, through which we can get a snapshot of events spanning just over 500 years. This is the first of two volumes employing this approach, with the […] Read More
Filed under: Other (Early Modern) | Other (Nineteenth C) | Shipwrecks
Subjects include: Archaeology | Manpower & Life at Sea
British Responses to the US Steam Frigate Fulton the First
The launch of the world’s first steam-powered warship in 1814, Fulton the First, heralded the gradual transition from the age of sail to the age of steam. The United States Navy hoped that this ship would break the Royal Navy’s crippling blockade of New York City, but the conflict ended before it ever saw action. […] Read More
Filed under: Other (Nineteenth C)
Subjects include: Navies | Shipbuilding & Design | Strategy & Diplomacy
Book Review- ‘Leith-built Ships, vol. 1, They Once Were Shipbuilders’ by R. O. Neish
I had high hopes for this book. The important shipbuilding industry of Leith has long needed a comprehensive history. There is a great heritage of distinguished shipbuilders such as Menzies & Co. who built the transatlantic pioneer Sirius, Ramage and Ferguson who built the ill-fated København, and Henry Robb who carried on the shipbuilding tradition […] Read More
Filed under: Other (Nineteenth C)
Subjects include: Shipbuilding & Design
Book Review- ‘Stormflod 1825’ by B. Poulsen
The Limfjord is Denmark’s largest fjord and separates the northern tip of Jutland from the rest of the country. This shallow waterway is 180 kilometres long and prior to 1825 it had access to the open sea only through an outlet to the Kattegat on its eastern side. In February 1825, a major North Sea […] Read More
Filed under: North Sea | Other (Nineteenth C)
Subjects include: Miscellaneous
Notes:-Whaler versus Steamer: The pursuit of the Ville de Bordeaux, 1841
The Ville de Bordeaux was built in Bordeaux in 1836–7 as a man of war for the Brazilian navy. When payment was not forth- coming, it was bought by a group of business- men headed by a M. David and fitted out as a whaler. On 21 February 1837 it embarked on a whaling trip […] Read More
Filed under: Other (Nineteenth C)
Subjects include: Harbours & Dockyards | Whaling & Fishing
Documents:-The Letters of Commander John Corbett, 1855–1857
This is an account of two years in the life of (then) Commander John Corbett, constructed from his letters sent home, his sketches and paintings, and contemporary newspaper reports. It starts with the shipwreck of HMS Wolverene in the Caribbean in 1855 and his subsequent court martial in Bermuda. It continues with the commissioning of […] Read More
Filed under: Opium Wars | Other (Nineteenth C)
Subjects include: Biography | Manpower & Life at Sea
Book Review – ‘The New Coastal History: Cultural and environmental perspectives from Scotland and beyond’ by Jamin Wells
Our coasts matter. They are among the most populated, sought after, contested, and dynamic landscapes in the world. They are also among the least understood, at least by historians. The 17 essays in David Worthington’s tightly edited volume, begin to fill this gap in the scholarship while making an impassioned case for readers to ‘accept […] Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | Period | North Sea | Irish Sea | Eighteenth Century | Other (Twentieth C) | Nineteenth Century | Other (Nineteenth C) | Other (Eighteenth C) | Twentieth Century
Subjects include: Administration | Harbours & Dockyards | Miscellaneous
Book Review -‘Progressives in Navy Blue: Maritime strategy, American empire and the transformation of US naval identity 1873–1998’ by Eric Grove
During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the United States navy was transformed. The ‘old navy’ of wooden cruisers devoted to constabulary duties and monitors to be mobilized for coast defence was transformed into a steel navy primarily organized for war. Its capabilities were demonstrated against Spain in 1898. This has traditionally been seen […] Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | WW1 | Interwar | WW2 | Other (Twentieth C) | Nineteenth Century | Other (Nineteenth C) | Pacific
Subjects include: Navies | Shipbuilding & Design | Strategy & Diplomacy