Mutiny on the Bounty
When mutiny on a ship is mentioned, there is only one that comes to the public’s mind. Helped by countless books, TV documentaries and...
The “Billy Ruffian”
HMS Bellerophon was affectionately known by the sailors who served on her as the “Billy Ruffian.” She was a 74-gun ship of the line...
Sextants
Mounted on my wall at home is a sextant. It is not an especially old or valuable one. Made from brass and steel, it was manufactured by...
The Battle of Copenhagen
On the 2nd of April 1801, Nelson fought the second of his major fleet actions against the Danish fleet in the shallow waters of The Sound...
The Fighting Temeraire
At the 1839 Royal Academy exhibition Joseph Turner revealed his most famous oil painting. It was a wonderful work, heavy with symbolism....
Rogue Waves
In May 1916, the explorer Ernest Shackleton and four of his men were approaching the end of a gruelling ordeal. They had left the rest of...
Thomas Earnshaw and the Marine Chronometer
The story of the quest to find a way of calculating longitude at sea is well known, thanks largely to Dava Sobel’s excellent book...
The Battle of Sinop and the End of Oak
In 1853 most of the world’s warships were still made from wood and powered by sail. The ships of the line that had dominated the great...
A City called Pompey
Portsmouth is on England’s southern coast and has long been the home of the Royal Navy. Known by the nickname Pompey, its special...
Why are ships female?
When Admiral Chester W Nimitz, the architect of the Allies victory in the Pacific during WW2, was asked this question, he replied; "A...
