Abstract This article gives an account of how a mixed fleet of East Indiamen and privately owned merchantmen successfully defended themselves against a French squadron of men-o-war. The merchantmen ...

The adoption of steam engines for oceangoing vessels in the mid nineteenth century revolutionized shipping. On the face of it shipbuilders were presented with two choices. They could either strive to ...

This is an article detailing the period when sidelights began to come into use and eventually became mandatory. Prior to their use it was only recommended that mooring lights be shown, with the ...

This article gives a detailed insight into the life of John Tyrrell, following archaeological investigations of the third rate ship Anne, the only English ...

This article provides a survey of Guernsey-based privateering from roughly 1689 to 1815. The opportunity is also used to discuss reciprocal privateering by the French (from St. Malo to Dieppe), as ...

Land-based gunpowder weapons were mounted in ships from the 1330s and thereafter were modified specifically for maritime use. Shipboard guns were primarily defensive weapons in the 14 th and 15 th ...

In response to the usual characterisation of dock labour as casual and exploited, this article suggests that throughout the nineteenth century a clearer distinction needs to be made between the ...

In this episode Dr Sam Willis explores HMS Warrior, one of the most groundbreaking ships in the history of naval power. An iron-framed, iron-clad single-gundeck warship, launched in 1860 HMS Warrior ...

Part 7 of a series of articles drawn from the manuscript of the late Sir Oswyn Murray, originally planned as a volume in the Whitehall Series. This Part deals with the organisational structure of the ...

The Battle of the Nile of 1798 was one of the most important naval battles that has ever been fought. This episode presents an introduction explaining the context of the battle and is followed by a ...

The fighting was particularly testing in the war as the Chinese kept their forces out of reach in inland waterways and creeks, protected by shoal water, booms and fire rafts. With a draught of only ...

This article is a detailed study of the costs involved in building warships of the period. It is based on Progress Books One, Two and Five. Direct comparisons between the costs of different vessels ...