Britain's Historic Ships


Book Description

The British Isles have a long, rich and celebrated seafaring history stretching from the earliest times through the victories of Drake and Nelson, the voyages of discovery of Cabot and Cook and the defence of the realm by vessels of all types in the present century. Much of this history is recorded in literature and in museums but reaches its most tangible form in the large number of historical ships that have been preserved and are continually restored as monuments to a proud past. This lavish book explores 20 of the most celebrated and accessible ships and offers a comprehensive history of each vessel's design, construction, active service and subsequent restoration and preservation. Presented in order of each ship's launch date, each entry is written by the acknowledged expert on a particular vessel, gives full specification details and is sumptuously illustrated with contemporary photographs, historical illustrations and a full set of scale plans. In addition to the featured entries, an appendix presents all of the necessary contact details and opening times where applicable. The appendix also lists (and provides details for) other vessels of historical importance including a small number of working replicas such as the Matthew and the recently commissioned eighteenth-century frigate The Grand Turk, featured in the recent Hornblower television series. Principal vessels include: Mary Rose, HMS Victory, HMS Trincomalee, SS Great Britain, Cutty Sark, RRS Discovery, HMS Warrior, HMS Belfast, HMY Britannia, HMS Alliance, HMS Cavalier, Gypsy Moth IV and HMS Plymouth.




Britain's Historic Ships


Book Description

The British Isles have a long, rich and celebrated seafaring history stretching from the earliest times through the victories of Drake and Nelson, the voyages of discovery of Cabot and Cook and the defence of the realm by vessels of all types in the present century. Much of this history is recorded in literature and in museums but reaches its most tangible form in the large number of historical ships that have been preserved and are continually restored as monuments to a proud past. This lavish book explores 20 of the most celebrated and accessible ships and offers a comprehensive history of each vessel's design, construction, active service and subsequent restoration and preservation. Presented in order of each ship's launch date, each entry is written by the acknowledged expert on a particular vessel, gives full specification details and is sumptuously illustrated with contemporary photographs, historical illustrations and a full set of scale plans. In addition to the featured entries, an appendix presents all of the necessary contact details and opening times where applicable. The appendix also lists (and provides details for) other vessels of historical importance including a small number of working replicas such as the Matthew and the recently commissioned eighteenth-century frigate The Grand Turk, featured in the recent Hornblower television series. Principal vessels include: Mary Rose, HMS Victory, HMS Trincomalee, SS Great Britain, Cutty Sark, RRS Discovery, HMS Warrior, HMS Belfast, HMY Britannia, HMS Alliance, HMS Cavalier, Gypsy Moth IV and HMS Plymouth.







Great British Passenger Ships


Book Description

Great British passenger ships




HISTORIC SHIPS


Book Description




Ships Of Heaven


Book Description

‘Somerville is one of our finest gazetteers of the British countryside. He brings his formidable knowledge to bear on his personal quest to explore the cathedrals in this entrancing book’ The Spectator Christopher Somerville, author of the acclaimed The January Man, pictured cathedrals as great unmoving bastions of tradition. But as he journeys among Britian’s favourites, old and new, he discovers buildings and communities that have been in constant upheaval for a thousand years. Here are stories of the monarchs and bishops who ordered the construction of these buildings, the masons whose genius brought them into being, and the peasants who worked and died on the scaffolding. We learn of rogue saints exploited by holy sinners, the pomp and prosperity that followed these ships of stone, the towns that grew up in their shadows. Meeting believers and non-believers, architects and archaeologists, the cleaner who dusts the monuments and the mason who judges stone by its taste, we delve deep into the private lives and the uncertain future of these ever-voyaging Ships of Heaven. ‘Somerville paints word pictures of exquisite quality’ Church Times




British Ships in the Confederate Navy


Book Description

During the American Civil War, British-crewed warships harassed Union merchantmen, sinking a total value of more than $15,000,000 in ships and cargo. Considered pirates by the federal government, these ships and crew were at the center of a largely unknown but fascinating struggle between Commander James Dunwoody of the Confederate Navy, U.S. Ambassador Charles Francis Adams, and Consul Thomas H. Dudley. This history of British assistance to the Confederate Navy covers that story in full and provides a close look at the British seamen who manned warships and blockade runners.




Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1799


Book Description

The Lloyd's Register of Ships records the details of merchant vessels over 100 gross tonnes, which are self propelled and sea-going, regardless of classification. Before the time, only those vessels classed by Lloyd's Register were listed. Vessels are listed alphabetically by their current name.




The Wooden World


Book Description




The Ship Asunder


Book Description

A Sunday Times Book of the Year 'Three and a half millennia of British Maritime history, from the Middle Bronze Age to the early 20th century ... This book is written with passion and sympathy. It will live with me for a very long time' Francis Pryor, author of The Fens If Britain's maritime history were embodied in a single ship, she would have a prehistoric prow, a mast plucked from a Victorian steamship, the hull of a modest fishing vessel, the propeller of an ocean liner and an anchor made of stone. We might call her Asunder, and, fantastical though she is, we could in fact find her today, scattered in fragments across the country's creeks and coastlines. In his moving and original new history, Tom Nancollas goes in search of eleven relics that together tell the story of Britain at sea. From the swallowtail prow of a Bronze Age vessel to a stone ship moored at a Baroque quayside, each one illuminates a distinct phase of our adventures upon the waves; each brings us close to the people, places and vessels that made a maritime nation. Weaving together stories of great naval architects and unsung shipwrights, fishermen and merchants, shipwrecks and superstition, pilgrimage, trade and war, The Ship Asunder celebrates the richness of Britain's seafaring tradition in all its glory and tragedy, triumph and disaster, and asks how we might best memorialize it as it vanishes from our shores.




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