Download or read book Steam Power and Sea Power written by Steven Gray and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-09-25 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines how the expansion of a steam-powered Royal Navy from the second half of the nineteenth century had wider ramifications across the British Empire. In particular, it considers how steam propulsion made vessels utterly dependent on a particular resource – coal – and its distribution around the world. In doing so, it shows that the ‘coal question’ was central to imperial defence and the protection of trade, requiring the creation of infrastructures that spanned the globe. This infrastructure required careful management, and the processes involved show the development of bureaucracy and the reliance on the ‘contractor state’ to ensure this was both robust and able to allow swift mobilisation in war. The requirement to stop regularly at foreign stations also brought men of the Royal navy into contact with local coal heavers, as well as indigenous populations and landscapes. These encounters and their dissemination are crucial to our understanding of imperial relationships and imaginations at the height of the imperial age.
Download or read book The Evil Necessity written by Denver Alexander Brunsman and published by University of Virginia Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 615 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fundamental component of Britain's early success, naval impressment not only kept the Royal Navy afloat--it helped to make an empire. In total numbers, impressed seamen were second only to enslaved Africans as the largest group of forced laborers in the eighteenth century. In The Evil Necessity, Denver Brunsman describes in vivid detail the experience of impressment for Atlantic seafarers and their families. Brunsman reveals how forced service robbed approximately 250,000 mariners of their livelihoods, and, not infrequently, their lives, while also devastating Atlantic seaport communities and the loved ones who were left behind. Press gangs, consisting of a navy officer backed by sailors and occasionally local toughs, often used violence or the threat of violence to supply the skilled manpower necessary to establish and maintain British naval supremacy. Moreover, impressments helped to unite Britain and its Atlantic coastal territories in a common system of maritime defense unmatched by any other European empire. Drawing on ships' logs, merchants' papers, personal letters and diaries, as well as engravings, political texts, and sea ballads, Brunsman shows how ultimately the controversy over impressment contributed to the American Revolution and served as a leading cause of the War of 1812. Early American HistoriesWinner of the Walker Cowen Memorial Prize for an Outstanding Work of Scholarship in Eighteenth-Century Studies
Download or read book British Imperial Air Power written by Alex M Spencer and published by Purdue University Press. This book was released on 2020-06-15 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: British Imperial Air Power examines the air defense of Australia and New Zealand during the interwar period. It also demonstrates the difficulty of applying new military aviation technology to the defense of the global Empire and provides insight into the nature of the political relationship between the Pacific Dominions and Britain. Following World War I, both Dominions sought greater independence in defense and foreign policy. Public aversion to military matters and the economic dislocation resulting from the war and later the Depression left little money that could be provided for their respective air forces. As a result, the Empire’s air services spent the entire interwar period attempting to create a strategy in the face of these handicaps. In order to survive, the British Empire’s military air forces offered themselves as a practical and economical third option in the defense of Britain’s global Empire, intending to replace the Royal Navy and British Army as the traditional pillars of imperial defense.
Download or read book To Rule the Waves written by Arthur Herman and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2005-10-25 with total page 688 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To Rule the Waves tells the extraordinary story of how the British Royal Navy allowed one nation to rise to a level of power unprecedented in history. From the navy's beginnings under Henry VIII to the age of computer warfare and special ops, historian Arthur Herman tells the spellbinding tale of great battles at sea, heroic sailors, violent conflict, and personal tragedy -- of the way one mighty institution forged a nation, an empire, and a new world. This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.
Download or read book A History of the Royal Navy written by Martin Robson and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2014-03-27 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars were the first truly global conflicts. The Royal Navy was a key player in the wider wars and, for Britain, the key factor in her eventual emergence as the only naval power capable of sustained global hegemony. The most iconic battles of any era were fought at sea during these years - from the Battle of the Nile in 1798 to Nelson's momentous victory at Trafalgar in October 1805. In this period, the Navy had reached a peak of efficiency and was unrivalled in manpower and technological strength. The eradication of scurvy in the 1790s had a significant impact on the health of sailors and, along with regular supplies of food and water, gave the British an advantage over their rivals in battle. As well as naval battles, the Navy also undertook amphibious operations, capturing many of France's Caribbean colonies and Dutch colonies in the East Indies and Ceylon; this Imperial dimension was integral to British strength and counteracting French success on continental Europe. This book looks at the history of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1793-1815, from a broad perspective, examining the strategy, operations and tactics of British seapower. While it delves into the details of Royal Navy operations such as battle, blockade, commerce protection and exploration, it also covers a myriad of other aspects often overlooked in narrative histories such as the importance of naval logistics, transport, relations with the army and manning. An assessment of key naval figures and combined eyewitness accounts situate the reader firmly in Nelson's navy. Through an exploration of the relationship between the Navy, trade and empire, Martin Robson highlights the contribution Royal Navy made to Britain's rise to global hegemony through the nineteenth century Pax Britannica.
Download or read book The British Seaborne Empire written by Jeremy Black and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2004-01-01 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Britain's seaborne tradition is used to throw light on the British themselves, the people with whom they came into contact and the British perception of empire. The oceans and their shores, rather than the mysterious interiors of continents, certainly dominated the English perception of the transoceanic world in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, climaxing in the fascination with the Pacific in the age of Captain Cook, and continuing into the nineteenth century, with Franklin in the Arctic and Ross in the Antarctic. The oceans offered much more than fascination. In England, from the late sixteenth century, maritime conflict and imperial strength were seen as important to national morale and reputation and without it there would have been no empire, or at least not in the form it actually took."--BOOK JACKET.
Download or read book Representing the Royal Navy written by Margarette Lincoln and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the 18th century, Britain became a great imperial power through war and its ability to maintain a strong navy. There have been many political and military histories of the sailing Navy that look at battles and personalities, aspects of naval administration and life below decks. This book is the first study of the Navy of the period in a cultural context. It explores the place of the Navy in the formation of public attitudes to war and peace, nation and empire, race and gender. It aims to help reposition naval history and illustrate its importance for interdisciplinary study. As well as drawing on literary sources, the author uses the vast collections of the National Maritime Museum - paintings, cartoons, ceramics, amongst others - to focus attention on material that has been little exploited.
Download or read book Poseidon s Curse written by Christopher P. Magra and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-10-14 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An investigation of the Atlantic origins of the American Revolution, focusing on the British navy's impressment of American ships and mariners.
Download or read book Engage the Enemy More Closely written by Correlli Barnett and published by Faber & Faber. This book was released on 2013-02-01 with total page 1104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The accepted interpretation of Britain's wartime role as an island sea power is challenged by Correlli Barnett's brilliant demonstration that the dependence on seashore imports of food and raw materials, together with the obligations of Empire, were less a form of strength to Britain than a weakness. Topics discussed in this book range from strategic debates in London and Washington to gripping descriptions of the Royal Navy in action: the remorseless struggle against the U-boat in the Atlantic, the desperate convoy battles in the Mediterranean and the Arctic, and the battles in the Far East. It weaves in the rivalry between Allied and German technology and the all-important secret war of the cryptographers. 'This outstanding military historian has turned to maritime war and written an authoritative, meticulously researched and stirring account of the Royal Navy's part in World War II.' Admiral of the Fleet Lord Lewin of Greenwich, KG, GCB, LVO, DSC
Download or read book A History of the Royal Navy written by Daniel Owen Spence and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Royal Navy Seapower and Strategy between the Wars written by C. Bell and published by Springer. This book was released on 2000-08-02 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This revisionist study shows how the Royal Navy's ideas about the meaning and application of seapower shaped its policies during the years between the wars. It examines the navy's ongoing struggle with the Treasury for funds, the real meaning of the 'one power standard', naval strategies for war with the United States, Japan, Germany and Italy, the influence of Mahan, the role of the navy in peacetime, and the use of propaganda to influence the British public.
Download or read book Disease War and the Imperial State written by Erica Charters and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2014-11-03 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Seven Years’ War, often called the first global war, spanned North America, the West Indies, Europe, and India. In these locations diseases such as scurvy, smallpox, and yellow fever killed far more than combat did, stretching the resources of European states. In Disease, War, and the Imperial State, Erica Charters demonstrates how disease played a vital role in shaping strategy and campaigning, British state policy, and imperial relations during the Seven Years’ War. Military medicine was a crucial component of the British war effort; it was central to both eighteenth-century scientific innovation and the moral authority of the British state. Looking beyond the traditional focus of the British state as a fiscal war-making machine, Charters uncovers an imperial state conspicuously attending to the welfare of its armed forces, investing in medical research, and responding to local public opinion. Charters shows military medicine to be a credible scientific endeavor that was similarly responsive to local conditions and demands. Disease, War, and the Imperial State is an engaging study of early modern warfare and statecraft, one focused on the endless and laborious task of managing manpower in the face of virulent disease in the field, political opposition at home, and the clamor of public opinion in both Britain and its colonies.
Download or read book Operation Pacific written by Edwyn Gray and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 1990-09-27 with total page 413 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history of the United Kingdom’s contribution to the Pacific theater of the Second World War, by the author of Disasters of the Deep. Hollywood’s version of the World War II in the Pacific has led many people to believe that it was an all-American affair, and that Britain took no part in it. But, as Edwin Gray shows in Operation Pacific, that is false. The British Royal Navy and its Commonwealth partners played a very significant role in the Pacific War. They waged a vigorous, non-stop battle with the enemy from the earliest days to the ultimate triumph of victory. Japanese troops also landed in Malaya and opened hostilities in Britain a full ninety minutes before Nagumo’s dive-bombers swept down on the unsuspecting American pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor to bring the United States into the war. Operation Pacific is the first book to provide a full and detailed account of Britain’s Naval contribution to the ultimate defeat of Japan, a saga that ranges from the darkest days of December, 1941, to the carrier operations and kamikaze attacks of the final battles in 1945. While in no way disparaging the heroic achievements and fighting courage of the U.S. forces in the Pacific, Edwyn Gray reveals that the Royal Navy’s cooperation was not always welcomed by her over-mighty Ally, and that America’s top brass—notably admiral Ernest King and General Douglas MacAuthur—were opposed to British involvement in the Pacific for both practical and political reasons. Operation Pacific is an absorbing story, offering a comprehensive picture of the part played by the Royal Navy and Commonwealth forces in the Far East War.
Download or read book The Royal Navy in European Waters During the American Revolutionary War written by David Syrett and published by Univ of South Carolina Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the American Revolutionary War, Great Britain's Royal Navy faced foes that included, in addition to American forces, the navies of France, Spain and the Netherlands. In this operational history of a period that proved to be a turning point for one of the world's great naval powers, David Syrett presents a saga of battles, blockades, great fleet cruises and, above all, failures and lost opportunities. He explains that the British government severely underestimated the Americans' maritime strength and how that error led to devastating consequences. The seemingly invincible navy failed to muster even one decisive victory during the extensive naval conflict.
Download or read book The British Navy Book written by Cyril Field and published by Library of Alexandria. This book was released on 2012-01-01 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book In Nelson s Wake written by James Davey and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2016-03-17 with total page 457 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Battles, blockades, convoys, raids: An “impressive” account of how the indefatigable British Royal Navy ensured Napoleon’s ultimate defeat (International Journal of Military History). Horatio Nelson’s celebrated victory over the French at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 presented Britain with an unprecedented command of the seas. Yet the Royal Navy’s role in the struggle against Napoleonic France was far from over. This groundbreaking book asserts that, contrary to the accepted notion that the Battle of Trafalgar essentially completed the Navy’s task, the war at sea actually intensified over the next decade, ceasing only with Napoleon’s final surrender. In this dramatic account of naval contributions between 1803 and 1815, James Davey offers original and exciting insights into the Napoleonic wars and Britain’s maritime history. Encompassing Trafalgar, the Peninsular War, the War of 1812, the final campaign against Napoleon, and many lesser known but likewise crucial moments, the book sheds light on the experiences of individuals high and low, from admiral and captain to sailor and cabin boy. The cast of characters also includes others from across Britain—dockyard workers, politicians, civilians—who made fundamental contributions to the war effort, and in so doing, both saved the nation and shaped Britain’s history.
