The British Navy in the Baltic

The British Navy in the Baltic
Author: John D. Grainger
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2014
Genre: History
ISBN: 1843839474

A comprehensive overview of the activities of the British navy in the Baltic Sea from the earliest times until the twentieth century.

The Royal Navy and the British Atlantic World, c. 1750–1820

The Royal Navy and the British Atlantic World, c. 1750–1820
Author: John McAleer
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 231
Release: 2016-05-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 1137507659

This book foregrounds the role of the Royal Navy in creating the British Atlantic in the eighteenth century. It outlines the closely entwined connections between the nurturing of naval supremacy, the politics of commercial protection, and the development of national and imperial identities – crucial factors in the consolidation and transformation of the British Atlantic empire. The collection brings together scholars working on aspects of the Royal Navy and the British Atlantic in order to gain a better understanding of the ways that the Navy protected, facilitated, and shaped the British-Atlantic empire in the era of war, revolution, counter-revolution, and upheaval between the beginning of the Seven Years War and the end of the conflict with Napoleonic France. Contributions question the limits – conceptually and geographically – of that Atlantic world, suggesting that, by considering the Royal Navy and the British Atlantic together, we can gain greater insights into Britain’s maritime history.

Broke of the Shannon

Broke of the Shannon
Author: Tim Voelcker
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Total Pages: 351
Release: 2013-10-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 1473831326

Captain Broke's victory in 1813 over Captain Lawrence of USS Chesapeake, which was to have far reaching influence on the future of North America, did much to restore the morale of the Royal Navy, shattered by three successive defeats in single-ship duels with US frigates, and stunned the American nation which had come to expect success.2013 sees the bicentenary of the battle and this new book seeks to reverse the neglect shown by most modern historians of one of Britain's finest frigate captains, who by his skill, determination and leadership won one of the bloodiest naval duels the world has seen. Even now both Britain and the USA claim to have won the war but only Canada, the third country heavily involved, can fully claim to have done so, for the peace that followed established her as an independent nation.Leading historians from all three countries have joined to give their sometimes conflicting views on different aspects in a way to interest and entertain general readers, as well as challenge academics. It is a tale of political and military blunders, courage and cowardice in battle, a bloody ship-to-ship fight, and technical innovation in the hitherto crude methods of naval gunnery. It also tells the human story of Broke's determination to achieve victory so he could return to his wife and children after seven lonely years at sea.The near-fatal wound Broke received in hand-to-hand fighting as he boarded the Chesapeake meant that he never served again at sea, but his work on naval gunnery, paid for out of his own pocket, transformed Admiralty thinking and led to the establishment of the British naval school of gunnery, HMS Excellent. This Bicentenary year of his victory is timely for an up-to-date, wide-ranging work incorporating the latest thinking; this is the book.As seen in the East Anglian Daily Times and the Ipswich Star.

The Transformation of British Naval Strategy

The Transformation of British Naval Strategy
Author: James Davey
Publisher: Boydell Press
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2012
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 184383748X

Shows how the system of supply was perfected during the later part of the Napoleonic Wars, enabling fleets to stay at sea on a permanent basis. After the Battle of Trafalgar, the navy continued to be the major arm of British strategy. Decades of practice and refinement had rendered it adept at executing operations - fighting battles, blockading and convoying - across theglobe. And yet, as late as 1807, fleets were forced from their stations due to an ineffective provisioning system. The Transformation of British Naval Strategy shows how sweeping administrative reforms enacted between 1808and 1812 established a highly-effective logistical system, changing an ineffective supply system into one which successfully enabled a fleet to remain on station for as long as was required. James Davey examines the logistical support provided for fleets sent to Northern Europe during the Napoleonic War and shows how this new supply system successfully transformed naval operations, enabling the navy to pursue crucial objectives of national importance, protect essential exports and imports and attack the economies of the Napoleonic Empire. The Transformation of British Naval Strategy is a detailed study of national policy, administrative and political reform and strategic viability. It delves into the nature of the British state, its relationship with the private sector and its ability to reform itself in a time of war. Bureaucratic restructuring represented the last stage in a century-long process of logistical improvement. As a result of the reforms, the navy was able to conduct operations beyond the realms of possibility even twenty years earlier and saw the reach of its power transformed. Military and Napoleonic historians will find this book invaluable. JAMES DAVEY is Research Curator at the National Maritime Museum and Visiting Lecturer at the University of Greenwich, where he teaches British naval history.

John Parish's Journal at Copenhagen

John Parish's Journal at Copenhagen
Author: Claudia Schnurmann
Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster
Total Pages: 202
Release:
Genre:
ISBN: 3643250436

1806 floh der wohlhabende schottische Kaufmann John Parish (1742 - 1829) aus seiner Wahlheimat Nienstedten bei Hamburg nach Kopenhagen, wo er 1807 unmittelbar den brutalen, völkerrechtswidrigen Angriff der britischen Flotte auf das neutrale Dänemark erlebte. Für seine fernen Angehörigen in Westeuropa und den USA agierte er als Chronist der dramatischen Ereignisse in seinem eleganten Exil, die ihn und seine Nachbarn, Freunde und Geschäftskollegen direkt betrafen und ängstigten. Präzise notierte Parish in seinen tagebuchähnlichen Aufzeichnungen und Briefen Luxus und Leid, Krieg und Kommerz in Kopenhagen und Göteburg, ehe ihm schließlich in einem zweiten Anlauf im Frühwinter 1807 die Flucht in den Westen Englands, nach Cheltenham und Bath, gelang.

Early Modern Shipping and Trade

Early Modern Shipping and Trade
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2018-08-07
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004371788

Early modern trade and shipping through the Danish Sound has attracted the interest of many historians since a long time. A prominent reason for this is that the route via the Sound connected Europe’s main economies with the economically important Baltic Sea region. The other reason why trade and shipping through the Sound attracted the attention of so many scholars is the fact that they are so very well documented by the Sound Toll Registers (STR): the records of the toll levied by the king of Denmark on the passage of ships through the Sound. Although the Sound Toll Registers have always been widely known as crucial, their sheer volume and detail make them virtually impossible to handle. To make the STR fully and quickly accessible to researchers, the online database Sound Toll Registers Online (STRO) has been called into existence. Since 2010, STRO has been becoming gradually available. The articles collected in this volume are examples of the kind of research that can be done with STRO, how it boosts the writing of the history of European maritime transport and trade, and how its use contributes to our knowledge of that history. Contributors are: Loïc Charles, Ana Crespo Solana, Guillaume Daudin, Maarten Draper, Jari Eloranta, Katerina Galani, Lauri Karvonen, Yuta Kikuchi, Sven Lilja, Maria Cristina Moreira, Jari Ojala, Pierrick Pourchasse, Magnus Ressel, Klas Rönnbäck, Werner Scheltjens, Siem van der Woude, Jerem van Duijl, and Jan Willem Veluwenkamp.

Eighteenth-Century Naval Officers

Eighteenth-Century Naval Officers
Author: Evan Wilson
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 245
Release: 2019-11-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 3030257002

This book surveys the lives and careers of naval officers across Europe at the height of the age of sail. It traces the professionalization of naval officers by exploring their preparation for life at sea and the challenges they faced while in command. It also demonstrates the uniqueness of the maritime experience, as long voyages and isolation at sea cemented their bond with naval officers across Europe while separating them from landlubbers. It depicts, in a way no previous study has, the parameters of their shared experiences—both the similarities that crossed national boundaries and connected officers, and the differences that can only be seen from an international perspective.

A History of the Royal Navy

A History of the Royal Navy
Author: Martin Robson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2014-03-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 0857723448

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.

The Foundations of British Maritime Ascendancy

The Foundations of British Maritime Ascendancy
Author: Roger Morriss
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 459
Release: 2010-12-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 1139494899

British power and global expansion between 1755 and 1815 have mainly been attributed to the fiscal-military state and the achievements of the Royal navy at sea. Roger Morriss here sheds new light on the broader range of developments in the infrastructure of the state needed to extend British power at sea and overseas. He demonstrates how developments in culture, experience and control in central government affected the supply of ships, manpower, food, transport and ordnance as well as the support of the army, permitting the maintenance of armed forces of unprecedented size and their projection to distant stations. He reveals how the British state, although dependent on the private sector, built a partnership with it based on trust, ethics and the law. This book argues that Britain's military bureaucracy, traditionally regarded as inferior to the fighting services, was in fact the keystone of the nation's maritime ascendancy.

The Rise and Decline of England's Watchmaking Industry, 1550–1930

The Rise and Decline of England's Watchmaking Industry, 1550–1930
Author: Alun C. Davies
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 399
Release: 2022-04-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 1000571904

This survey of the rise and decline of English watchmaking fills a gap in the historiography of British industry. Clerkenwell in London was supplied with 'rough movements' from Prescot, 200 miles away in Lancashire. Smaller watchmaking hubs later emerged in Coventry, Liverpool, and Birmingham. The English industry led European watchmaking in the late eighteenth century in output, and its lucrative export markets extended to the Ottoman Empire and China. It also made marine chronometers, the most complex of hand-crafted pre-industrial mechanisms, crucially important to the later hegemony of Britain’s navy and merchant marine. Although Britain was the 'workshop of the world', its watchmaking industry declined. Why? First, because cheap Swiss watches were smuggled into British markets. Later, in the era of Free Trade, they were joined by machine-made watches from factories in America, enabled by the successful application to watch production of the 'American system' in Waltham, Massachusetts after 1858. The Swiss watch industry adapted itself appropriately, expanded, and reasserted its lead in the world’s markets. English watchmaking did not: its trajectory foreshadowed and was later followed by other once-prominent British industries. Clerkenwell retained its pre-industrial production methods. Other modernization attempts in Britain had limited success or failed.