Warships - Great Britain: Illustrated History Books & Guides

British Napoleonic Ship-of-the-line (Osprey)

The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars encompassed a period when rival European fleets vied for naval supremacy, and naval tactics were evolving. The British Royal Navy emerged triumphant as the leading world sea power, and the epitome of Britannic naval strength was the Ship-of-the-Line. These 'wooden walls' were more than merely floating gun batteries: they contained a crew of up to 800 men, and often had to remain at sea for extended periods.

This book offers detailed coverage of the complex vessels that were the largest man-made structures produced in the pre-Industrial era.

Contents: Introduction - Design - Operation - The Fleet 1792-1815 - Bibliography - Glossary - Colour Plate Commentary - Index.

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England's Medieval Navy 1066-1509 - Ships, Men & Warfare

Deploying a wide range of sources, this book looks at how English kings after the Norman Conquest learnt to use the Navy of England, a term which at this time included all vessels whether Royal or private and no matter what their ostensible purpose - to increase and safety and prosperity of the kingdom.

The design and building of ships and harbour facilities, the development of navigation, ship handling, and the world of the seaman are all described, while comparisons with the navies of England's closest neighbours, with particular focus on France and Scotland, are made, and notable battles including Damme, Dover, Sluys and La Rochelle included to explain the development of battle tactics and the use of arms during the period.

The author shows, in this lucid and enlightening narrative, how the unspoken aim of successive monarchs was to begin to build 'the wall' of England, its naval defences, with a success which was to become so apparent in later centuries.

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Heritage of the Sea - Famous Preserved Ships Around the UK

During the period from Sir Francis Drake to the 21st century the naval power of Great Britain rose from that of an obscure island to that of a world-wide empire. British shipping and seamen dominated the globe for four centuries and the ships that explored the world and those which guarded them represent a unique treasure-house of maritime history, unrivalled anywhere in the world.

This book lists all the major vessels, from the Museum ships to the exhibitions and replicas all of them evoke pride and diversity and invite study from all age-groups. All are fully illustrated with colour photographs. The ships and their proud histories are described in detail, along with details of how they may be visited and enjoyed.

Among the many vessels analysed and illustrated are HMS Victory, HMS Warrior, HMS Cavalier, HMS Belfast, HMS Caroline, HMS Wellington, HMS Aliance, HMS Trincomalee; the Chrysanthemum & President; the Royal Yacht Britannia; the Cutty Sark; the Discovery; Gypsy Moth II; Great Britain; the Medway Queen; the Gannet; the Unicorn; the Cambria and many more.

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HMS Victory - First-Rate 1765

HMS Victory is one of the best-known historic ship in the world. A symbol of the Royal Navy's achievements during the great age of sail, she is based in Portsmouth and seen by tens of thousands of visitors each year.

Written by experts and containing more than 200 specially commissioned photographs, this title takes the reader on a superbly illustrated tour of the ship, from bow to stern and deck by deck. Significant parts of the vessel - for example, the capstan, steering gear, armament, brody stove, cockpit, stern cabins - are given detailed coverage both in words and pictures, so that the reader has at hand the most complete visual record and explanation of the ship that exists.
In addition, the importance of the ship, both in her own time and now as a museum vessel, is explained, while her design and build, her fighting career and her life prior to restoration and exhibition are all described.

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Pepys's Navy : Ships, Men and Warfare 1649-1689

Describes every aspect the English navy in the second half of the 17th century, from the time when the Fleet Royal was taken into Parliamentary control after the defeat of Charles I, until the accession of William and Mary in 1689 when the long period of war with the Dutch came to an end. This is a crucial era which witnessed the creation of a permanent naval service, in essence the birth of the Royal Navy.

Every aspect of the navy is covered - naval administration, ship types and shipbuilding, naval recruitment and crews, seamanship and gunnery, shipboard life, dockyards and bases, the foreign navies of the period, and the three major wars which were fought against the Dutch in the Channel and the North Sea.

Samuel Pepys, whose thirty years of service did so much to replace the ad hoc processes of the past with systems for construction and administration, is one of the most significant players, and the navy which was, by 1690, ready for the 100 years of global struggle with the French owed much to his tireless work.

This is a hugely significant book for historians, naval enthusiasts and for all those with an interest in Pepys and this colourful era of the seventeenth century, and a new affordable paperback edition will be widely welcomed.

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Spanish Galleon vs English Galleon : 1550-1605 (Osprey)

Between 1550-1600, Europe witnessed a rapid evolution in the art of ship design which enabled safer and more efficient transatlantic travel. This was the pinnacle of the Age of Discovery and Exploration for the European powers, in which the galleon played a crucial role. Galleons were both the main vessels in maritime commerce and the principal warships used by the opposing fleets throughout the Age of Exploration.

This period also saw a large amount of naval combat, much of it between individual ships belonging to the competing powers of England and Spain as they sought to control and exploit the rich mineral, material, agricultural and human resources of the New World. The conflict between the English Sea Dogs and the Spanish Adventurers has been a source of fascination for over four centuries.

This addition to the Duel series explores how the galleons used by Spain and England were built and armed, and examines the effectiveness of the cannon they used.
It also compares how they were sailed and manoeuvred, showing the strengths and weaknesses of each design, and explaining how these played out in several of their most prominent battles, including the Battle of San Juan de Ulua, the fight between the Golden Hind and the Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion, an action from the Spanish Armada, and the last fight of the Revenge.

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Tudor Warships (1) - Henry VIII's Navy (Osprey)

In this book, maritime expert Angus Konstam explores the fledging Tudor Navy, tracing its history from its origins as a merchant fleet under Henry VII through to its emergence as a powerful force under Henry VIII.
Examining the operational use of Henry VIII's warships the author analyses the battle of the Solent in 1545, in which Henry's fleet took on a French fleet of 200 ships - much larger than the Spanish Armada decades later. Despite the well-documented loss of his flagship, the Mary Rose, Henry's smaller force succeeded in preventing a French victory.
Although many people will have heard of the mighty Mary Rose, this book will tell the story of more than just the tragic sinking of Henry's flagship, describing how one of history's most dynamic kings grew the navy from the five warships that were his father's legacy to 53 deadly gunships at the forefront of his empire-building strategy.
Through contemporary illustrations and intricate artwork, the author traces the changing face of warship design during the Renaissance as Henry paved the way for English dominance of the sea.

Contents: Introduction - Ship Design - Operational History - Armament and Gunnery - The Tudor Fleet in Action - Further Reading - - Index.

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Tudor Warships (2) - Elizabeth I's Navy (Osprey)

In his second volume on the Tudor navy, naval expert Angus Konstam covers the extraordinary transformation of the Tudor fleet during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. This period witnessed the birth of a whole new breed of warships designed to dominate the seas and expand the corners of the empire.
Detailing warfare during the age of Sea Dogs such as Sir Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh, and the landmark event of the Spanish Armada, he explains the technological innovations that allowed this small but efficient navy to defeat the larger Spanish fleet.
Packed with new research, in-depth analysis, photographs, full-colour reconstructions and detailed cutaway artwork, this book is a must for any lover of maritime history, and for anyone who wants to understand how Britain came to rule the waves, creating and retaining her supremacy across the seas throughout the age of fighting sail.

Contents: Introduction - Design & Development - Operational History - Armament - The Tudor Fleet in Action - Bibliography - Colour Plate Commentary - Index.

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Warships of the Anglo-Dutch Wars 1652-74 (Osprey)

Three times during the 17th century, England and Holland went to war as part of an ongoing struggle for economic and naval supremacy. Primarily fought in the cold waters of the North Sea and the English Channel, the wars proved revolutionary in their impact upon warship design, armament, and naval tactics. During this time, the warship evolved into the true ship-of-the-line that would dominate naval warfare until the advent of steam power.

This book traces the development of these warships in the context of the three Anglo-Dutch wars.

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HMS Bellerophon

The story of HMS Bellerophon is a record of the many and varied duties which the Royal Navy had to carry out in the period 1793-1815. It was involved in the first great fleet action of the War and was involved in the last moments of the struggle with the surrender of Napoleon.

The 74-gun ship was the standard unit in the line of battle, Bellerophon was one of the most distinguished with a fine fighting record. Having fought at 'The Glorious First of June'; the battle of the Nile and at Trafalgar the ship saw more than her share of fierce ship-to-ship encounters.
In between there were the varying duties of blockade and escort carried out with service in the Channel, the Mediterranean, the North Sea, the Baltic and the West Indies. The ship saw every type of service which fell to the Navy in that period.

All the many and various aspects of the ship's life are covered from construction through maintenance and refits to final disposal. Sadly the ship could not be been saved like Victory and the ship and her fine record were confined to the history books.

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HMS Pickle : The Swiftest Ship in Nelson's Trafalgar Fleet

The smallest ship in Nelson's fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar was the curiously-named HMS Pickle. The ship was a topsail schooner and, though deemed too small to take park in the fighting it distinguished itself as the ship to bring Captain John Lapenotiere with the news of Nelson's victory at Trafalgar and his death.

The schooner set off on October 26th and took 9 days to reach Britain after facing a gale off Cape Finisterre. After the Pickle anchored in Flamouth Bay on November 4th Lapenotiere starte his journey to London (a trip that usually took a week was covered in 37 hours with 19 horse changes).

Captain Peter Hore describes the ship's beginnings as a civilian vessel called Sting, through conversion with 10 guns and its role with Admiral Cornwall's Inshore Squadron for French reconnaissance in 1803. HMS Pickle was also involved in the rescue for the crew of HMS Magnificent in 1804 and further reconnaissance missions.

This full history details other colourful episodes including a single-ship action against the French privateer Favorite in 1807. Pickle was wrecked in July 1808 when she was grounded as she entered Cadiz harbour but without loss of life. The Pickle's journey is commemorated by Royal Navy Warrant Officers on November 5th.

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Sailors on the Rocks : Famous Royal Navy Shipwrecks

For 300 years or more the Royal Navy really did "Rule the Waves", in the sense that during the numerous wars with our overseas enemies, British fleets and individual ships more often than not emerged victorious from combat. One French Admiral was to generously acknowledge that the Royal Navy possessed, "a tradition of victory."
And yet, in every other way, the waves were never ruled by any maritime power. Great fleets might wax and wane, ships grow ever more complex and powerful, but the sea, the eternally cruel sea, was always to have the final say.

This book highlights a sample array of disasters, occurring when men-of-war faced the ultimate test of the elements and lost. Among such tragedies are the wrecking of the Coronation in 1691, the destruction of the Winchester in 1695 and the great storm of 1703, along with a host of shipwrecks on far-flung shores from New Zealand to Nova Scotia, and from Florida to South Africa.

Some of the featured stories are already famous, like that of the Birkenhead. Others are lesser-known, like the sister cruisers Raleigh and Effingham, separated by many years. More recently, steam power replaced the uncertainties of sail, but even so losses continued, from little destroyers in both world wars (Narborough, Opal and Sturdy among them) through great battleships like Montagu.

Even modern warships equipped with every modern navigational device come to grief; witness the strange affair of the frigate Nottingham, or the humiliating grounding of the nuclear 'wonder' submarine Astute on Skye in 2010.
This unique book presents a fascinating insight into the malevolent power of the sea and storms over man's creation and dominion, chronicling some of the most dramatic shipwrecks ever to have occurred in our seas.

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Tudor Warship Mary Rose (Anatomy of the Ship)

The great warship the Mary Rose was built between 1509 and 1511 and served 34 years in Henry VIII's navy before catastrophically sinking in the Battle of the Solent on 19 July 1545. A fighting platform and sailing ship, she was the pride of the Tudor fleet. Yet her memory passed into undeserved oblivion - until the remains of this magnificent flagship were dramatically raised to the surface in 1982 after 437 years at the bottom of the Solent.

Part of the bestselling Conway Anatomy of The Ship series, Tudor Warship Mary Rose provides the finest possible graphical representation of the Mary Rose. Illustrated with a complete set of scale drawings, this book contains technical plans as well as explanatory views, all with fully descriptive keys.
Douglas McElvogue uses archaeological techniques to trace the development and eventful career of Henry VIII's gunship, while placing it in the context of longer-term advances in ship construction.

This volume features:
- The first full archaeological reconstruction of the Mary Rose, as she would have appeared when built and when she sank.
- The concepts behind the building of the ship, along with consideration of the materials used and her fitting-out and manning.
- The ship's ordnance, including muzzle loaders, breech loaders, firearms, bows,staff weapons, bladed weapons and fire pots.
- Analysis of the contemporary descriptions of the Mary Rose's sailing characteristics and ship handling, whether general sailing, heavy weather sailing, anchoring, mooring, stemming the tide or riding out storms.
- A service history of the Mary Rose examining the campaigns of the vessel: the battles she was involved in, when she held station in the Channel and the periods in which she was laid up.

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Victory vs Redoutable - Ships of the line at Trafalgar 1805 (Osprey)

Late in the morning on 21 October 1805, warships from the British and combined French and Spanish fleets clashed off Cape Trafalgar on the Spanish coast. After a six month game of cat and mouse across the Atlantic, 27 British ships of the line engaged the Allied force of 33 ships of the line. This was a duel of skill, tenacity and bravery as captains and crews battled for mastery of the seas.

This book is an opportunity to relive the action at Trafalgar - read the accounts of sailors who were there, and who experienced the sound of scraping cutlasses and bombarding cannons at one of the most important naval engagements of history.
Understand how the guns were operated, learn about the training of crews and study the design and development of the incredible ships which dominated naval warfare of the period, as Gregory Fremont-Barnes reveals the revolutionary tactics used by Nelson to secure a victory that saved Britain from the threat of invasion and ensured British naval dominance for over a century.

Contents: Introduction - Chronology - Design and Development - Technical Specifications - Strategic Situation - The Combatants - Combat - Statistical Analysis - Aftermath - Bibliography - Index.

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