Warships - Great Britain: books - history and ships

England's Medieval Navy 1066-1509 - Ships, Men & Warfare

Deploying a wide range of sources, this book looks at how English kings after the Norman Conquest learnt to use the Navy of England, a term which at this time included all vessels whether Royal or private and no matter what their ostensible purpose - to increase and safety and prosperity of the kingdom.

The design and building of ships and harbour facilities, the development of navigation, ship handling, and the world of the seaman are all described, while comparisons with the navies of England's closest neighbours, with particular focus on France and Scotland, are made, and notable battles including Damme, Dover, Sluys and La Rochelle included to explain the development of battle tactics and the use of arms during the period.

The author shows, in this lucid and enlightening narrative, how the unspoken aim of successive monarchs was to begin to build 'the wall' of England, its naval defences, with a success which was to become so apparent in later centuries.

The Royal Navy - 100 Years of Modern Warfare

This book examines how the Royal Navy protected Britain's shores and wider interests through the First World War and the one that was to follow, from the northern patrol lifelines of the Atlantic, Arctic and Mediterranean convoys and increasingly sophisticated amphibious operations that would mark it out in the Second.

The book ends with chapters on The Falklands War and Royal Navy's anti-piracy role and involvement in humanitarian crises. This visually stunning volume is complemented by 15 loose facsimile documents that include letters and diary entries, war reports and other items of memorabilia that bring an immediacy to the events being described.

Without the Royal Navy in two World Wars, Britain would have at best lost, and worst ceased to exist.

This book salutes the services' incredible achievements over the last 100 years.

Heritage of the Sea - Famous Preserved Ships Around the UK

During the period from Sir Francis Drake to the 21st century the naval power of Great Britain rose from that of an obscure island to that of a world-wide empire. British shipping and seamen dominated the globe for four centuries and the ships that explored the world and those which guarded them represent a unique treasure-house of maritime history, unrivalled anywhere in the world.

This book lists all the major vessels, from the Museum ships to the exhibitions and replicas all of them evoke pride and diversity and invite study from all age-groups. All are fully illustrated with colour photographs. The ships and their proud histories are described in detail, along with details of how they may be visited and enjoyed.

Among the many vessels analysed and illustrated are HMS Victory, HMS Warrior, HMS Cavalier, HMS Belfast, HMS Caroline, HMS Wellington, HMS Aliance, HMS Trincomalee; the Chrysanthemum & President; the Royal Yacht Britannia; the Cutty Sark; the Discovery; Gypsy Moth II; Great Britain; the Medway Queen; the Gannet; the Unicorn; the Cambria and many more.

Sailors on the Rocks : Famous Royal Navy Shipwrecks

For 300 years or more the Royal Navy really did "Rule the Waves", in the sense that during the numerous wars with our overseas enemies, British fleets and individual ships more often than not emerged victorious from combat. One French Admiral was to generously acknowledge that the Royal Navy possessed, "a tradition of victory."
And yet, in every other way, the waves were never ruled by any maritime power. Great fleets might wax and wane, ships grow ever more complex and powerful, but the sea, the eternally cruel sea, was always to have the final say.

This book highlights a sample array of disasters, occurring when men-of-war faced the ultimate test of the elements and lost. Among such tragedies are the wrecking of the Coronation in 1691, the destruction of the Winchester in 1695 and the great storm of 1703, along with a host of shipwrecks on far-flung shores from New Zealand to Nova Scotia, and from Florida to South Africa.

Some of the featured stories are already famous, like that of the Birkenhead. Others are lesser-known, like the sister cruisers Raleigh and Effingham, separated by many years. More recently, steam power replaced the uncertainties of sail, but even so losses continued, from little destroyers in both world wars (Narborough, Opal and Sturdy among them) through great battleships like Montagu.

Even modern warships equipped with every modern navigational device come to grief; witness the strange affair of the frigate Nottingham, or the humiliating grounding of the nuclear 'wonder' submarine Astute on Skye in 2010.
This unique book presents a fascinating insight into the malevolent power of the sea and storms over man's creation and dominion, chronicling some of the most dramatic shipwrecks ever to have occurred in our seas.