Author Results for R C Anderson
Note: The “Henri Grace A Dieu”
Anderson compares three images of the above ship and wonders whether they are the same vessel. One engraving is dated 1523 which means it is much earlier than previously believed. Read More
Filed under: Other (Early Modern) | Other (location)
Subjects include: Art & Music
The Lee Line at Trafalgar
With the emergence of a Trafalgar reminiscence (1969), more light is shed on the distribution of the Lee line at the action. The account by the then signal midshipman of the Defence appears to clarify the line into a slightly different sailing order than that proposed by Corbett in ‘The Campaign of Trafalgar’. Ship’s log […] Read More
Filed under: Nelson | Atlantic | Napoleonic War
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics | Ship Handling & Seamanship
Naval Warfare in Fiction
The author analyses 16 mainly Victorian works of fiction dealing with future naval battles, many of them involving the invasion of Britain by other European nations. Where possible, the real ships and personalities upon which the fictional accounts are based are identified and assessments are made of the weaponry and tactics envisioned. Read More
Filed under: Other (Nineteenth C) | Other (location)
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics | Miscellaneous
Notes on a Collection of Ship Models
In this article, R C Anderson provides an update on his large collection of antique ship models. Each model is discussed in detail in an attempt to prove its providence and if possible identify the ship, a difficult task in most cases. Details of any repairs and re-rigging of the models is also given, to […] Read More
Filed under: Other (Twentieth C) | Other (location)
Subjects include: Historic Vessels, Museums & Restoration | Ship Models & Figureheads
The Royalists at Sea in 1648
The appointment by Parliament in 1648 of Thomas Rainborowe, a republican, as Vice Admiral triggered a mutiny in May in the English Channel, and 11 ships left to join the Royalists in Holland. In August, off Shoeburyness, 18 Royalist ships commanded by the Prince of Wales outnumbered the 12 of the Earl of Warwick for […] Read More
Filed under: English Civil War | English Channel
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics | Strategy & Diplomacy
The Classification of Ancient Galleys
The arrangements of rowers and oars has been a matter of controversy for some time. The author proposes a scheme for classifying galleys based on the number of rowers per set of oars This differs from other schemes based on numbers of banks or numbers of rowers per oar. The proposed classification is illustrated by […] Read More
Filed under: Antiquity | Mediterranean
Subjects include: Shipbuilding & Design
The Prince Royal and Other Ships of James I Part III
The article discusses an engraving, reproduced as a frontispiece to the magazine, and titled “An English Ship of War of 1602 (from a painting by Adam Willaerts)”, then in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle. It rehearses the author’s doubts about the identity of the ship and offers various other explanations. Read More
Filed under: Other (Early Modern) | Other (location)
Subjects include: Shipbuilding & Design
The Prince Royal and Other Ships of James I Part II
The article discusses a painting at Windsor Castle that has been variously described as “The Landing of Frederick, Elector of Palatine, at Gravesend”, “The Return of Prince Charles from Spain” and “A Naval Review by King James I”. Difficulties with each description are assessed but, despite these, the author assumes that the central ship of […] Read More
Filed under: Other (Early Modern) | Other (location)
Subjects include: Historic Vessels, Museums & Restoration
The Prince Royal and Other Ships of James I Part I
This article makes the point that many illustrations of Prince Royal of 1610 are, in fact, of Prince Royal of 1663. It then shows two paintings of the earlier ship and goes on to describe her construction, masts, rigging and armament, and compares her with other contemporary ships, some of which are depicted in the […] Read More
Filed under: Other (Early Modern) | Other (location)
Subjects include: Shipbuilding & Design
The Royal Sovereign of 1637 Part III
Here the author considers several sets of scale drawings and a model of the eponymous vessel. The model was prepared by Peter Pett the shipbuilder. The drawings are two sets of copies of Fincham’s original set plus those of Mr Brent, others held at Greenwich and another set held at South Kensington. The latter differs […] Read More
Filed under: Other (Early Modern) | Other (location)
Subjects include: Historic Vessels, Museums & Restoration | Ship Models & Figureheads
The Royal Sovereign of 1637 Part II
This is the second article in a series dealing with the Pett portrait and the Payne engraving of the eponymous vessel. A printed description by Heywood indicates that the engraving is remarkably accurate. The statues of the forward bulkhead and the distribution of the guns support this view. The engraving is of less value when […] Read More
Filed under: Other (Early Modern) | Other (location)
Subjects include: Historic Vessels, Museums & Restoration | Ship Models & Figureheads
Note: Seventeenth Century Rigging
Anderson offers alternative views as to the usefulness of taking the depictions of Cromwell’s ‘London’ and the ‘Sovereign of the Seas of 1637’ as being truly representative of the rigging of Seventeenth Century ships. The first he believes to be a copy of an earlier Dutch vessel and the second represents a later ‘Sovereign of […] Read More
Filed under: Other (Early Modern) | Other (location)
Subjects include: Shipbuilding & Design
Note: Round Bows
Although the Royal Navy adopted the round-bow in 1810 for new builds Anderson points out that this form of building had been used by the Venetians from the latter half of the Eighteenth Century. The capture of one of these vessels in 1801 many have been the catalyst for change in the Royal Navy. Read More
Filed under: Napoleonic War | Mediterranean
Subjects include: Navies | Shipbuilding & Design
Note: The Xebec
Anderson provides two sketches of Russian ‘shebeks’ of 1788 which appear very similar to the vessels discussed at some length in various issues of Volume 1. The shebeks were also rowed ships but one would more accurately be described as a ‘rowing-frigate’. Read More
Filed under: Other (Nineteenth C) | Other (Eighteenth C) | Other (location)
Subjects include: Shipbuilding & Design
Note: Hawse-Holes and Cheeks
Anderson seeks to correct the claims made in MM Volume 2, Issue 2 (The Establishment of 1719) that vessels could be dated by the differing relative positions of the hawse-holes and cheeks. Read More
Filed under: Other (Eighteenth C) | Other (location)
Subjects include: Shipbuilding & Design
Note: The Side Rudder
Anderson provides personal evidence that the side rudder was still in use in Venice at the time of writing, 1912, even though it was assumed it had long since been abandoned for the stern rudder. Read More
Filed under: High Middle Ages | Mediterranean | Other (Twentieth C)
Subjects include: Shipbuilding & Design
Note: The Henri Grace A Dieu and the Ark Royal
Anderson provides further evidence of the date Canot produced his engraving of the Henri Grace A Dieu, which appears to discount a date of 1523. (See MM Volume 2, Issue 8). He also disputes the claim made by R Morton Nance that the image was of the Ark Royal. Read More
Filed under: Other (Early Modern) | Other (location)
Subjects include: Art & Music
Note: The “Henri Grace A Dieu”
Anderson compares three images of the above ship and wonders whether they are the same vessel. One engraving is dated 1523 which means it is much earlier than previously believed. Read More
Filed under: Other (Early Modern) | Other (location)
Subjects include: Art & Music
Note: The Russian Flag
Following-up the ‘Note’ in MM Volume 2, Issue 12 Anderson provides an additional eight drawings of flags used on Russian naval vessels between 1694 and 1722. In his opinion the reason Peter the Great adopted the Dutch flag was because his first vessel was purchased from the Dutch and probably continued using that nation’s ensign. Read More
Filed under: Other (Early Modern) | Other (Eighteenth C) | Other (location)
Subjects include: Administration | Navies
Note: The Vicissitudes of Some Men-of-War
Anderson provides a very detailed listing of men-of-war that have passed through the hands of three or more nations. Information provided includes dates of change of ownership and kind of change, such as capture. Read More
Filed under: Other (Nineteenth C) | Other (Eighteenth C) | Other (location)
Subjects include: Navies