Rock Lighthouses of Britain & Ireland is a new edition of the classic work on the subject - but with some of the most famous Irish rock lighthouses included. The text has been updated to include the modern technology being used by the lighthouse authorities, as well as all the historical advances made over the centuries at British and Irish rock lights, complemented by scores of new and many stunning photographs. Also included are historic plans and drawings, many of them highly colourful and artistic, as used by the original lighthouse builders. At the end are comprehensive and detailed tables about the rock lighthouses maintained by all three lighthouse authorities. Building on the acclaim received for the earlier editions, it brings the history of these iconic structures completely up-to-date, from the day the first granite block was laid, through their construction, automation, the disappearance of the lighthouse keeper, right up to today's automated operation. Here are some of the world's most famous rock lighthouses. There are stories of men battling against Nature's most powerful forces to build a structure designed to save lives on a seemingly impossible site. Rock Lighthouses of Britain & Ireland spans the centuries between the world's first rock lighthouse on the Eddystone reef, to the very last rock lighthouse, constructed in the traditional style, on Ireland's Fastnet Rock and accordingly will remain the premier book about rock lighthouses.

Challenges the received wisdom about the relative weakness of French naval power when compared with that of England. This book traces the advances and deterioration of the early modern English and French sea forces and relates these changes to concurrent developments within the respective states. Based on extensive original research in correspondence and memoirs, official reports and accounts, receipts of the exchequer and inventories in both France, where the sources are disparate and dispersed, and England, the book explores the rise of both kingdoms' naval resources from the early sixteenth to the mid seventeenth centuries. As a comparative study, it shows that, in sharing the Channel and with both countries increasing their involvement in maritime affairs, English and French naval expansion was intertwined. Directly and indirectly, the two kingdoms influenced their neighbours' sea programmes. The book first examines the administrative transformations of both navies, then goes on to discuss fiscal and technological change, and finally assesses the material expansion of the respective fleets. In so doing it demonstrates the close relationship between naval power and state strength in early modern Europe. One important argument challenges the received wisdom about the relative weakness of French naval power when compared with that of England.

The Pacific of the early eighteenth century was not a single ocean but a vast and varied waterscape, a place of baffling complexity, with 25,000 islands and seemingly endless continental shorelines. But with the voyages of Captain James Cook, global attention turned to the Pacific, and European and American dreams of scientific exploration, trade, and empire grew dramatically. By the time of the California gold rush, the Pacific's many shores were fully integrated into world markets-and world consciousness.
The Great Ocean draws on hundreds of documented voyages--some painstakingly recorded by participants, some only known by archeological remains or indigenous memory--as a window into the commercial, cultural, and ecological upheavals following Cook's exploits, focusing in particular on the eastern Pacific in the decades between the 1770s and the 1840s. Beginning with the expansion of trade as seen via the travels of William Shaler, captain of the American Brig Lelia Byrd, historian David Igler uncovers a world where voyagers, traders, hunters, and native peoples met one another in episodes often marked by violence and tragedy. Igler describes how indigenous communities struggled against introduced diseases that cut through the heart of their communities; how the ordeal of Russian Timofei Tarakanov typified the common practice of taking hostages and prisoners; how Mary Brewster witnessed first-hand the bloody "great hunt" that decimated otters, seals, and whales; how Adelbert von Chamisso scoured the region, carefully compiling his notes on natural history; and how James Dwight Dana rivaled Charles Darwin in his pursuit of knowledge on a global scale.
These stories--and the historical themes that tie them together--offer a fresh perspective on the oceanic worlds of the eastern Pacific. Ambitious and broadly conceived, The Great Ocean is the first book to weave together American, oceanic, and world history in a path-breaking portrait of the Pacific world.

A wide-ranging history of the geography and communities of Kent from the earliest times to the present day. Kent, with its long coastline and its important geopolitical position close to London and continental Europe, and on major trading routes between Britain and the wider world, has had a very significant maritime history. This book covers a wide range of topics relating to that history from the earliest times to the present day. It sets Kent's varied coastline and waters in their geological and geographical context, showing how erosion and sediment deposition have contributed to the changing nature of maritime activities and populations. It examines Kent's strategic role in the defence of the country with the development and redevelopment of coastal defences, including four naval dockyards. It goes on to consider the supporting industries which grew up around the coastline, those which supplied raw materials and agricultural products from the county's hinterland, and its wider national and international trading links. It also discusses the diverse coastal communities of Kent and how they have changed in response to the demands of defence, trade, and changing population and migration patterns. In addition, the book includes detailed case studies which explore particular subject areas as exemplars of the major themes covered by the book.

Showcasing photographs and illustrations from a variety of collectors' archives, The Unseen Mauretania 1907 reveals the Cunard company's most luxurious ocean liner of the early twentieth century as you have never known her before. When the Mauretania took to the North Atlantic for the first time in November 1907, she was the largest and fastest ship in the world, serving with her sister ship, the Lusitania, for nearly eight years. Although the Lusitania's life was cut short during the First World War, the Mauretania continued to have an impressive presence at sea, holding the Blue Riband for the fastest transatlantic crossing until 1929. This evocative visual history by maritime expert J. Kent Layton follows her glorious career, which spanned four decades of the twentieth century.

'I saw that ship sink, I never closed my eyes. I saw it, I heard it, and nobody could possibly forget it. I can remember the colours, the sounds, everything. The worst thing I can remember were the screams.' EVA HART This is the amazing story of how Eva survived the sinking of the Titanic - the disaster that claimed the life of her father. The events of a few hours during her childhood had a huge impact on Eva. Her vivid memories of being bundled into a lifeboat and of watching the unsinkable ship slip beneath the surface remained with her for the rest of her life, although it was nearly forty years before she could talk openly about the tragedy. A Girl Aboard the Titanic is the only eyewitness description we have from a child of this famous maritime disaster.

former US Coast Guard *Contains photographs, maps, line drawings, Notes and an explanatory Glossary *Recounts tales of shipwrecks and rescues From the East Coast to the West Coast, the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and Hawaiian islands, Lighthouses and Keepers explores the fascination of lighthouses in the United States. Among the most readily recognised buildings of the maritime world, these lonely sentinels by the sea have long been the subject of paintings and photographs. Today they continue to capture public imagination as visitors flock to their sites and help preserve them against the ravages of time and tide. Lighthouses and Keepers covers not only lighthouses and lightships, but buoys, buoy tenders, fog signals, and their keepers. The work is as rich in historical document as it is rarely seen photographs, and fourteen maps guide readers to the lighthouses'precise locations. Readers are also treated to stories of shipwrecks and rescues, including the extraordinary story of Ida Lewis, head keeper of the light at Lime Rock, Rhode Island, who saved the lives of eighteen people in a dramatic maritime rescue.

The Atlantic in World History, 1490-1830 looks at the historical connections between four continents - Africa, Europe, North America and South America - through the lens of Atlantic history. It shows how the Atlantic has been more than just an ocean: it has been an important site of circulation and transmission, allowing exchanges and interchanges which have profoundly shaped the development of the world. Divided into four thematic sections, Trevor Burnard's sweeping yet concise narrative covers the period from the voyages of Columbus to the New World in the 1490s through to the end of the Age of Revolutions around 1830. It deals with key topics including the Columbian exchange, Atlantic slavery and abolition, war as a global phenomenon, the Age of Revolution, religious conversion, nation-building, trade and commerce and intellectual movements such as the Enlightenment. Rather than focusing on the 'rise of the West', Burnard stresses the interactive nature of encounters between various parts of the world, setting local case studies within his broader interconnected narrative. Written by a leading historian of Atlantic history, and including further reading lists, images and maps as well as a companion website featuring discussion questions, timelines and primary source extracts, this is an essential book for students of Atlantic and world history.

Letters of seamen below the rank of commissioned officer which tell us a great deal about shipboard life and about seamen's attitudes. Letters of seamen below the rank of commissioned officer are rare, both in original form and in print. This edited collection of 255 letters, written by seamen in the British Navy and their correspondents between 1793 and 1815, gives voice to a group of men whose lives and thoughts are otherwise mostly unknown. The letters are extremely valuable for the insights which they give into aspects of life below decks and the subjects close to the writers' hearts:money matters, ties with home and homesickness. They also provide eye-witness accounts of events during a tumultuous and important period of British and European history. One group of letters, included as a separate section, comprises the letters of seamen and their family and friends which were intercepted by the authorities during the mutinies of 1797. These letters shed a great deal of light on the extraordinary events of that year and of seamen's attitudes to the mutinies. The editors' introductory material, besides highlighting what the letters tell us about seamen's lives and attitudes, also discusses the extent of literacy amongst seamen, setting this into its wider contemporary popular context. The letters are supported by a substantial editorial apparatus and two detailed appendices containing biographies of seamen and information on select ships which took part in the mutinies of 1797. Helen Watt, a professional archivist and researcher, is currently Project Archivist with the Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, and has also worked on other research projects at The National Archives, Kew, theNational Library of Wales and the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, Aberystwyth. Anne Hawkins, a retired civil servant, was Secretary of the Ships' Names and Badges Committee in the early 1990s and has family links with the Navy and Admiralty.

What was it that led a man to make lighthouse-keeping his life's occupation - to select a monotonous lonely job, which takes him away from his family for months at a time, leaving him in a cramped, narrow tower with two other men not of his own choosing? Lighthouse-keepers and their families opened their souls to Tony Parker, who has been described as Britain's most expert interviewer. With this revelatory portrait of a small community he has given us an exceptional insight into the British character.

'An epic tale of exploration, daring and tragedy told by a fine historian - and a wonderful writer' Peter Frankopan, author of the bestselling The Silk Roads. 'The name of William Barents isn't that familiar to us these days...but this enthralling, elemental and literally spine-chilling epic of courage and endurance should change all that' Roger Alton, Daily Mail A dramatic and compelling account of survival against the odds from the golden Age of Exploration. The human story has always been one of perseverance - often against remarkable odds. The most astonishing survival tale of all might be that of sixteenth-century Dutch explorer William Barents and his crew, who ventured further North than any Europeans before and, on their third polar expedition, lost their ship off the frozen coast of Nova Zembla to unforgiving ice. The men would spend the next year fighting off ravenous polar bears, gnawing hunger and endless winter. In Icebound, Andrea Pitzer masterfully combines a gripping tale of survival with a sweeping history of the great age of Exploration - a time of hope, adventure and seemingly unlimited geographic frontiers.

The role and characteristics of armed force at sea in western Europe and the Mediterranean prior to 1650. This volume is both a restatement of current interpretations of sea power in the middle ages and the Renaissance and a general introduction to naval and maritime history over four and a half centuries. The book offers broad conclusions on the role and characteristics of armed force at sea before 1650, conclusions that exploit the best current understanding of the medieval period. The examination of naval militias in the Baltic, permanent galley fleets in the Mediterranean, contract fleets and the use of reprisal for political ends all illustrate the variety and complexity of naval power and domination of the sea in theyears from 1000 to 1650. The detailed and closely coordinated studies by scholars from Europe, North America, and Australia show patterns in war at sea and discuss the influence of the development of ships, guns, and the language of public policy on maritime conflict. The essays show theimportance and unique character of violence at sea in the period. Contributors: JOHN B. HATTENDORF, NIELS LUND, JAN BILL, TIMOTHY J. RUNYAN, IAN FRIEL, JOHN H. PRYOR, LAWRENCE V. MOTT, JOHN DOTSON, MICHEL BALARD, BERNARD DOUMERC, MARCO GEMIGNANI, FRANCISCO CONTENT DOMINGUES, LOUIS SICKING, JAN GLETE, N.A.M. RODGER, RICHARD W. UNGER.

The Battle Of the Bulge, in December 1944, was Hitler and the Wehrmacht's last great battle of World War II in the West. After losing the war for the beaches and hedgerows of Normandy, and barely escaping with huge losses from the Falaise pocket, the German Army fell back to just West of the Rhine and the German border. Hitler and his Generals planned a massive counter stroke and marshaled the forces to make it work. Striking in surprise on December 16, 1944 in the weakly defended Ardennes, German thrusts moved quickly to put Allied forces on the defensive. The Battle of the Bulge was that ensuing great battle. In this book Colonel David Pergrin reaches out for the other stories of that battle. Assisted by the Army Engineer Association, he has gathered numerous battlefield stories, anecdotes, and experiences told by those who were there and who lived them. With his own battlefield experience providing an understanding of people in war, he has crafted an interesting book that tells those stories of engineers in battle. Many of the participants in that great battle have never been recognized for their exploits. The stories Dave Pergrin has collected in this book bring attention to engineer soldiers in combat and construction units who fought and died with their comrades of infantry, tankers, artillery, and the others - units that have not before been accorded their due. Weaving these stories and vignettes together into the framework of the overall battle, this book honors the many engineer soldiers, their companies and battalions, that contributed greatly to the allied to the allied defeat of the Germans.

Terra Australis - the southern land - was one of the most widespread concepts in European geography from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, although the notion of a land mass in the southern seas had been prevalent since classical antiquity. Despite this fact, there has been relatively little sustained scholarly work on European concepts of Terra Australis or the intellectual background to European voyages of discovery and exploration to Australia in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Through interdisciplinary scholarly contributions, ranging across history, the visual arts, literature and popular culture, this volume considers the continuities and discontinuities between the imagined space of Terra Australis and its subsequent manifestation. It will shed new light on familiar texts, people and events - such as the Dutch and French explorations of Australia, the Batavia shipwreck and the Baudin expedition - by setting them in unexpected contexts and alongside unfamiliar texts and people. The book will be of interest to, among others, intellectual and cultural historians, literary scholars, historians of cartography, the visual arts, women's and post-colonial studies.

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.

Written by two World War II veterans who later became well-known war correspondents, this biography records the inspiring life of one of America's great naval heroes. Popularly referred to as "31-Knot" Burke, Admiral Arleigh Burke fought savage battles at sea and won every decoration a grateful nation could bestow, yet his service to his country was not in combat alone. This book is at once a stirring testament to Burke's World War II record as a combat leader and to his talents as a diplomat at the armistice table in Korea and as a politician in Washington. It details his legendary victories with DESRON 23 in the Pacific and his development of high-speed night tactics for destroyers that resulted in what many call the perfect naval engagement at the Battle of Cape St. George. Burke's most enduring contributions occurred during his unprecedented three terms as chief of naval operations when he directed the Navy's technical development during its revolutionary change from steam and gunpowder to nuclear concepts in ships, weaponry, strategy, and tactics. Published soon after Burke's retirement from the Navy in 1961, the book has remained a standard reference for four decades.

In the period leading up to the First World War Britain's naval supremacy was challenged by an arms race with Germany, fuelled not only by military and geo-strategic rivalries, but an onrush of technological developments. As this book demonstrates, steam turbines, bigger guns, mechanical computing devices and ever increasing tonnage meant that the Royal Navy was forced to confront many long-cherished beliefs and sensitive social and political issues. By looking at key continuities over the period of 1880-1919 the study explores how the service and its officers attempted to deal with fundamental changes in professional requirements, and how cultural and social values underwent a transformation in the run up to the First World War. In particular the book looks at how the executive officer corps was presented with a revolution in naval affairs. As the Navy was transformed into an industrialized workplace, officers were challenged by an alteration in the 'culture of command' as arrangements carried over from the days of sail began to breakdown under the practical requirements of a steam and steel fleet. The book charts the ebb and flow of the debate and the various ideas put forward to deal with the structural challenges faced by the Royal Navy. The writings of reformers and commentators such as Fisher, Beresford, Corbett, Laughton and Mahan provide the background to the specific problems faced, and are analysed both in relation to the nature of the reforms implemented, and more crucially, the performance of the 'Senior Service' during the First World War.

In 1909 the British Admiralty placed an order for a rigid airship, marking the beginning of the Royal Navy's involvement with airpower. This collection charts the Navy's involvement with aviation over the following century, and the ways in which its rapid expansion and evolution radically altered the nature of maritime power and naval strategy. Drawing on much new historical research, the collection takes a broadly chronological approach which allows a scholarly examination of key themes from across the history of British naval aviation. The subjects tackled include long-standing controversies over the control of naval air power, crucial turning points within British defence policy and strategy, the role of naval aviation in limited war, and discussion of campaigns - such the contribution of the Fleet Air Arm in the Mediterranean and Pacific theatres of the Second World War - that have hitherto received relatively little attention. The collection concludes with a discussion of recent debates surrounding the Royal Navy's acquisition of a new generation of carriers, setting the arguments within an historical context. Taken as a whole the volume offers fascinating insights into the development of a key aspect of naval power as well as shedding new light on one of the most important aspects of Britain's defence policy and military history. By simultaneous addressing historical and current political debates, it is sure to find a ready audience and stimulate further discussion.

This is the story of the unusually long and interesting career of a small Scottish schooner spent primarily in the southern hemisphere. From the construction of the vessel to the careers of those who sailed in her, the story is full of rogues, heroes, the famous and infamous, as well as ordinary people calmly going about their daily business in tempestuous and difficult times. Visionary colonists, whalers, sealers, Maoris, botanists, butchers, missionaries, cannibals, convicts, aristocrats, explorers and more are linked in this narrative and thereby exemplify the courage, skill and vision of people who experience hardship, danger and adversity in their quest for riches in colonial lands.

HMS Beagle has entered the collective imagination as the ship that carried Charles Darwin to the Galapagos, triggering his later work on the theory of natural selection. This book presents the accounts of the two Beagle voyages, written by the ships' captains Robert Fitzroy and Phillip Parker King.

A uniquely detailed study of a Japanese aircraft carrier that took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor, before being sunk at Midway. Hiryu was an aircraft carrier built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the 1930s. Her aircraft supported the Japanese invasion of French Indochina in mid-1940 and during the first month of the Pacific War, she took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Wake Island. She supported the conquest of the Dutch East Indies in January 1942 and her aircraft bombed Darwin, Australia, and continued to assist in the Dutch East Indies campaign. In April, Hiryu's aircraft helped sink two British heavy cruisers and several merchant ships during the Indian Ocean raid. After a brief refit, Hiryu and three other fleet carriers of the First Air Fleet participated in the Battle of Midway in June 1942. After bombarding American forces on the atoll, the carriers were attacked by aircraft from Midway and the carriers USS Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown. Dive bombers from Yorktown and Enterprise crippled Hiryu and set her afire. She was scuttled the following day after it became clear that she could not be salvaged. The loss of Hiryu and three other IJN carriers at Midway was a crucial strategic defeat for Japan and contributed significantly to the Allies' ultimate victory in the Pacific. Drawing on new research and technology, this edition is the most comprehensive examination of Hiryu ever published. It includes a complete set of detailed line drawings with fully descriptive keys and full-color 3D artwork, supported by technical details, photographs, and text on the building of the ship and a record of the ship's service history.

This book recounts the efforts over many years to dive wrecks that contained treasure in one form or another. The often prolonged and sometimes dangerous expeditions tell of dives to many ships that were wrecked while carrying tons of gold or other valuables. Many of the wrecks came to lie at great depths which demanded considerable diving expertise using rebreathers which allowed longer dives to be performed.The authors are both diving experts and in addition to the accounts and historical pictures they have added their own photography to convey to the reader the challenges of the dives undertaken. The technical demands were considerable, from adjusting the camera housing to accommodate the depth to diving at particular times of the year because many of the wrecks were situated in areas of high seas and extreme currents. Many of these wrecks have been the subject of concerted efforts from salvage teams but success could never be assumed.It took several years to visit and photograph the wrecks mentioned in the book which provides a fascinating account of the vessels and their treasure, and the challenges of diving in what can be a dangerous environment. Each entry provides details and a brief history of the vessel and the means of its demise, enhanced by a modern diving account with photographs. As such the book will be of great interest to all divers whether active or armchair, and to anyone with an interest in maritime/military history.

When tourists travel, they often seek the exotic. The farther they venture, the more unique the cultures they gaze upon, the greater the prestige accrued; cross-cultural contact is commonplace. Yet despite the obviously transnational character of the tourist experience, national borders define existing studies of tourism. Spanish, French, or German tourism is treated almost in isolation and there are only hints of a larger transnational impetus behind the creation of national tourism products. This volume tells a different story. Although modern tourism first evolved in Europe changes were never confined to national borders. The Grand Tour, the birthplace of modern tourism, was consummately transnational in both its execution and its influence. Although seaside resorts originated in Britain, the aesthetic and scientific ideas that made beaches desirable emerged through conversation among Dutch painters, English travellers, and both British and Continental scientists and philosophers. When travel was finally available to the masses, Irish tourism advocates looked to England, Continental Europe, and America for ideas. The Nazi leisure organization, Strength through Joy (KdF), was based on an earlier Italian model, the Dopolavoro. World's Fair promoters raided previous fairs in other countries for ideas. European-wide demand and taste helped shape nudist practice in France and beyond. At every turn, practices and products developed because tourism lent itself to trans-national discourse. The contributors examine a wide range of topics that together make a powerful argument for the adoption of a new transnational model for understanding modern tourism. An essential addition to the library of academics studying the history of tourism, popular culture and leisure in Europe, the book will also provide interest to scholars of transnational topics, including Europeanization and globalization.

Overturns the generally held view that the press gang was the main means of recruiting seamen by the British navy in the late eighteenth century. SHORTLISTED for the Society for Nautical Research's prestigious Anderson Medal. The press gang is generally regarded as the means by which the British navy solved the problem of recruiting enough seamen in the late eighteenth century. This book, however, based on extensive original research conducted primarily in a large number of ships' muster books, demonstrates that this view is false. It argues that, in fact, the overwhelming majority of seamen in the navy were there of their own free will. Taking a long view across the late eighteenth century but concentrating on the period of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars of 1793-1815, the book provides great detail on the sort of men that were recruited and the means by which they were recruited, and includes a number of individuals' stories. It shows how manpower was a major concern for the Admiralty; how the Admiralty put in place a range of recruitment methods including the quota system; how it worried about depleting merchant shipping of sufficient sailors; and how, although most seamen were volunteers, the press gang was resorted to, especially during the initial mobilisation at the beginning of wars and to find certain kinds of particularly skilled seamen. The book also makes comparisons with recruitment methods employed by the navies of other countries and by the British army. J. Ross Dancy is Assistant Professor of History at Sam Houston State University.

This book presents an account of the use and actions of the aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin, one of the primary pieces of the German navy in WWII.