Download or read book The Keith Papers written by W.G. Perrin and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-05-31 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: George Keith Elphinstone, Lord Keith (1746-1823) was a Scottish naval officer who entered the navy as a penurious midshipman towards the end of the Seven Years War. He had a long career at sea, during which he missed taking part in any major battle, but held major commands throughout the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (except 1807-1812). He is chiefly known for his skill in commanding very large fleets, often spread over a very wide area, and for the consequent prize money which made him the richest naval officer of his day. He also gained a reputation for being very keen on acquring it. These three volumes only represent a small fraction of the documents in Keith’s very large personal collection of letter and order books and loose documents in the National Maritime Museum, which occupies 124 foot of shelf space. The first document in this volume is dated 1771, and the first half covers Keith’s career as a promising captain in the American Revolutionary War. He took part in the operations off Florida in 1778 and at the capture of Charleston in 1780 in which he distinguished himself by his navigational skill, and by good relations with the army, which was to mark the rest of his career. The second part of the volume deals with Keith’s role in the occupation of Toulon in 1793, a small section of Lord Howe’s tactical memoranda in 1793-4, but the greater part is devoted to the operation which first bought Keith to the attention of the British public, the capture of the Cape of Good Hope from the Dutch in 1795-6.

Download or read book The Keith Papers written by George Keith Elphinstone and published by . This book was released on 1927 with total page 522 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Rodney Papers written by David Syrett and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-12-17 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Overbearing, avaricious and difficult, yet talented and ambitious, George Brydges Rodney has never attracted much sympathy or understanding. He was nevertheless an original thinker and one of the great admirals of the eighteenth century. The contents of this volume, the first of three, document his career from 1742 until 1763 - his private and political life. His early years as a captain were spent in the severe conditions of the North Sea and in taking privateers in the western approaches. During the peace after 1748 he was Governor of Newfoundland and in the Seven Years' War blockaded Le Havre before going, as a flag officer, to command in the Leeward Islands where he participated in the capture of Martinique. This volume also contains letters to his wife which indicate, against past opinion, that Rodney had a heart.

Download or read book The Milne Papers written by John Beeler and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-07-05 with total page 594 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection covers the period February 1862-March 1864, which constituted the final two years and one month that Rear-Admiral Sir Alexander Milne commanded the Royal Navy’s North America and West India Station. Its chief focus is upon Anglo-American relations in the midst of the American Civil War. Whilst the most high-profile cause of tension between the two countries — the Trent Affair — had been resolved in Britain’s favour by January 1862, numerous sources of discord remained. Most turned on American efforts to blockade the so-called Confederacy, efforts that often ran afoul of international law, not to mention British amour-propre. As commander of British naval forces in the theatre, Milne’s decisions and actions could and did have a major impact on the state of affairs between his government and that of the US. While noting in one private exchange with the British ambassador to Washington, Richard, Lord Lyons, that he had been "enjoined to abstain from any act likely to involve Great Britain in hostilities with the United States," Milne added ominously, "yet I am also instructed to guard our Commerce from all illegal interference" and it is plain from his correspondence that both he and the British government were prepared to use force in that undertaking. Thus, between apparently high-handed behaviour by the US Navy and Milne’s and the Palmerston government’s resolve not to be pushed beyond a certain point, the ingredients for a major confrontation between the two countries existed. Yet most of Milne’s efforts were directed toward preventing such a confrontation from occurring. In this endeavour he was joined by Lyons and by the British government. No vital British interest was at stake in the conflict raging between North and South, and thus the nation was unlikely to become directly involved in it unless provoked by rash US actions. Yet there was no shortage of such provocations: the seizure of British merchant vessels bound from one neutral port to another, detaining such ships without first conducting a search of their cargo for evidence of contraband of war, the de facto blockade of British colonial ports, apparent violations of British territorial waters, the seizure of British merchantmen off the neutral port of Matamoros, Mexico, and the use of neutral ports as bases of operations by US warships among them. In responding to these and other sources of dispute between the US and Britain, Milne proved adept at pouring oil on troubled waters, so much so that in a late 1863 letter to Foreign Secretary Lord Russell, Lyons lamented his impending departure from the station: "I am very much grieved at his leaving....No change of admirals could be for the better." This collection centres upon Milne’s private correspondence, especially that between him and Lyons, First Lord of the Admiralty the Duke of Somerset and First Naval Lord Vice Admiral Sir Frederick Grey. It also includes private letters to and from many of Milne’s other professional correspondents and important official correspondence with the Admiralty.

Download or read book The Navy of Edward VI and Mary I written by C.S. Knighton and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-03-03 with total page 750 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The reigns of Edward VI and Mary I remain largely by-passed in naval history, yet it was a vital time for the administration of the navy and it saw the apprenticeship of many who would lead the service in Elizabeth's later years. This volume helps to fill the gap and includes all the extant Treasurer's and Victualler's accounts for the two reigns together with entries taken verbatim from the State Papers which augment the calendar summaries previously published, and correct a good many errors. In addition documents are printed here for the first time from a variety of archives in Britain and abroad.

Download or read book Chatham Dockyard 1815 1865 written by Philip MacDougall and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-11-25 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the seven home dockyards of the British Royal Navy employed a workforce of nearly 16,000 men and some women. On account of their size, dockyards add much to our understanding of developing social processes as they pioneered systems of recruitment, training and supervision of large-scale workforces. From 1815-1865 the make-up of those workforces changed with metal working skills replacing wood working skills as dockyards fully harnessed the use of steam and made the conversion from constructing ships of timber to those of iron. The impact on industrial relations and on the environment of the yards was enormous. Concentrating on the yard at Chatham, the book examines how the day-to-day running of a major centre of industrial production changed during this period of transition. The Admiralty decision to build at Chatham the Achilles, the first iron ship to be constructed in a royal dockyard, placed that yard at the forefront of technological change. Had Chatham failed to complete the task satisfactorily, the future of the royal dockyards might have been very different.

Download or read book Naval Courts Martial 1793 1815 written by John D. Byrn and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-12-18 with total page 473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of naval court martial transcripts and related documents from the time of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars contributes not only to our understanding of military jurisprudence in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries but also to our knowledge of Georgian and Regency criminal law in general. Each chapter presents transcripts relating to different groups of offences. Chapter one deals with procedural matters; Chapter Two covers trails arising from transgressions of the laws of Georgian and Regency society like drunkenness, theft, violence and homosexuality. Chapter Three is devoted to proceedings against types of naval offence, such a mutiny, insolence, desertion or loss of ship. Chapter Four treats of cases involving adjudications for multiple infractions. These transcripts are presented in their entirety and offer a unique window to the social conditions and behaviour aboard the King's ships at the time.

Download or read book Sea Power and the Control of Trade written by Nicholas Tracy and published by Boydell & Brewer. This book was released on 2019-01-15 with total page 598 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ability to influence world events through control of seaborne trade was profoundly affected by 19th-century developments in economic theory, commercial organization and naval technology, and by the growing power of the United States. In consequence the international law of belligerent rights at sea was repeatedly amended. Naval strategy in four wars reflected these changes in technology, power and law, and the ongoing process continues to influence international use of economic sanctions.

Download or read book The Battle of the Atlantic and Signals Intelligence written by David Syrett and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-10-24 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book contains the U-boats situations and trends written by the staff of the Admiralty’s Operational Intelligence Centre during the Second World War. Based largely on communications intelligence, the U-boat situations and trends were designed to inform a small number of senior officers and high officials of the latest events and developments in the Allied war against the U-boats. The Battle of the Atlantic and the war against the U-boats was the longest and the most complex naval battle in history. In this huge conflict which sprawled across the oceans of the world the U-boats sank 2,828 Allied merchant ships while the Allies destroyed more than 780 German U-boats. These documents relate on a weekly, and in some cases a daily, basis exactly what the Allies knew concerning the activities of the U-boats during the Battle of the Atlantic.

Download or read book The Naval Miscellany written by Susan Rose and published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. This book was released on 2008 with total page 736 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This seventh volume of Naval Miscellany contains documents which range in date from the late thirteenth century to the Korean War. They illustrate the many different ways in which the naval forces of the crown have served the realm.There is something here for every enthusiast for naval history and for all students of the relevant periods.

Download or read book The Mediterranean Fleet 1919 1929 written by Paul Halpern and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-03-03 with total page 664 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the end of the First World War the Mediterranean Fleet found itself heavily involved in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Sea of Marmora, the Black Sea and to a lesser extent, the Adriatic. Naval commanders were faced with complex problems in a situation of neither war nor peace. The collapse of the Ottoman, Russian and Habsburg empires created a vacuum of power in which different factions struggled for control or influence. In the Black Sea this involved the Royal Navy in intervention in 1919 and 1920 on the side of those Russians fighting the Bolsheviks. By 1920 the Allies were also faced with the challenge of the Turkish nationalists, culminating in the Chanak crisis of 1922. The 1923 Treaty of Lausanne enabled the Mediterranean Fleet finally to return to a peacetime routine, although there was renewed threat of war over Mosul in 1925-1926. These events are the subject of the majority of the documents contained in this volume. Those that comprise the final section of the book show the Mediterranean Fleet back to preparation for a major war, applying the lessons of World War One and studying how to make use of new weapons, aircraft carriers and aircraft.

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.

Download or read book Nelson s Pathfinders written by Michael Barritt and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2024-08-13 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The remarkable story of how a handful of intrepid scientific navigators underpinned British naval dominance in the conflict with Napoleon During the Napoleonic Wars, more than twice as many British warships were lost to shipwreck than in battle. The Royal Navy’s fleets had to operate in unfamiliar seas and dangerous coastal waters, where navigational ignorance was as great a threat as enemy guns. If Britain was to win the war, improved intelligence was vital. In this landmark account, Michael Barritt reveals how a cadre of specialist pathfinders led by Captain Thomas Hurd enabled Britain’s Hydrographic Office to meet this need. Sounding amongst hazards on the front line of conflict, alert for breaks in weather or onset of swell, these daring sailors gathered vital strategic data that would eventually secure the upper hand against Britain’s adversaries. Tracing this pathfinding around Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, Barritt shows how the honing of this skill set revolutionised the British way of war at sea—ultimately securing a lasting naval dominance.

Download or read book Waterloo The Campaign of 1815 Volume 2 written by John Hussey and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2017-09-30 with total page 492 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 2019 RUSI Duke of Wellington Medal for Military HistoryWinner of the 2017 Society for Army Historical Research Templer MedalShortlisted for Military History Monthly's "Book of the Year" AwardThe first of two groundbreaking volumes on the Waterloo campaign, this book is based upon a detailed analysis of sources old and new in four languages. It highlights the political stresses between the Allies, and their resolution; it studies the problems of feeding and paying for 250,000 Allied forces assembling in Belgium during the undeclared war, and how a strategy was thrashed out. It studies the neglected topic of how the slow and discordant Allies beyond the Rhine hampered the plans of Blcher and Wellington, thus allowing Napoleon to snatch the initiative from them. Napoleons operational plan is analyzed (and Soult's mistakes in executing it). Accounts from both sides help provide a vivid impression of the fighting on the first day, 15 June, and the volume ends with the joint battles of Ligny and Quatre Bras the next day.

Download or read book The Naval Miscellany written by Brian Vale and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2017-07-14 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brian Vale is a naval historian with degrees from Keele and King’s College London. A life-long member of the Society for Nautical Research and the Navy Records Society, he has long specialised in Anglo-South American maritime history. His books include Independence or Death! British sailors and Brazilian Independence, A Frigate of King George, The Audacious Admiral Cochrane and Cochrane in the Pacific: Fortune and Freedom in Spanish America.

Download or read book Expedition of Sir John Norris and Sir Francis Drake to Spain and Portugal 1589 written by R.B. Wernham and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-11-25 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Actions against the Spanish Armada and campaigns in the Netherlands left the Queen’s coffers empty. For this reason proposals to capture the Spanish treasure fleet were given royal support. The treasure fleet homeward bound from the Americas would be intercepted in the Azores. A diversion at Santander to damage the Spanish fleet would prevent protection of the treasure fleet and, more importantly, prevent further actions against England or Ireland. However, the project was diverted further with backers wanting to re-instate Don Antonio as King of Portugal, with ideas of gaining lucrative Portuguese trade rights. At sea a further diversion was taken, with news of shipping at Corunna and the prospect of capturing merchantmen. ‘Profit was already challenging strategy’. This diversion gave their enemies more time to prepare. The failure at Lisbon was partly from a lack of co-ordination between the navy and army but also from the lack of promised support from Don Antonio’s supporters. The decision to sail for the Azores to intercept the Spanish treasure fleet was at last made only for Drake to be driven back to England by a storm. Short of supplies and with sick crews the ships were in no condition to continue with the Queen’s demands so there was no great treasure and the Spanish fleet was still in being. The sale of prizes and their contents failed to cover the cost of the expedition, and so the expedition was considered a financial and strategic failure.

Download or read book Elizabethan Naval Administration written by C.S. Knighton and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-29 with total page 828 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first general selection from the substantial body of surviving documents about Elizabeth’s navy. It is a companion to The Navy of Edward VI and Mary I (Vol.157 in the NRS Series), where the apparatus serving both volumes was printed, and it complements the other NRS volumes that deal specifically with the Spanish Armada. This collection concentrates (though not exclusively so) on the early years of Elizabeth’s reign when there was no formal war. From 1558-1585 the navy was involved in a number of small-scale campaigns, pursuit of pirates and occasional shows of force. The documents selected emphasize the financial and administrative processes that supported these operations, such as mustering, victualing, demobilisation, and ship maintenance and repair. The fleet varied in size from about 30 to 45 ships during the period and a vast amount of maintenance and repair was required. The main component of the volume is the massively detailed Navy Treasurer's account for 1562-3 which is followed by and collated with the corresponding Exchequer Account. The documents illustrate just how efficiently the dockyards functioned. They were one of the great early Elizabethan achievements.