On the outbreak of war in 1914, the Royal Navy found it required more small craft than it possessed to carry out minesweeping, anti-submarine patrols and coastal defense. This led to the formation of an auxiliary force of civilian vessels, including motor pleasure boats and yachts, relatively new types of craft powered by the internal combustion engine. The inclusion of these vessels came about when a group of motor boat owners suggested to the Admiralty that their vessels could play an im...

John Lambert was a renowned naval draughtsman, whose plans were highly valued for their accuracy and detail by modelmakers and enthusiasts. By the time of his death in 2016 he had produced over 850 sheets of drawings, many of which have never been published. These were acquired by Seaforth and this title is the fourth of a planned series of albums on selected themes, reproducing complete sheets at a large page size, with expert commentary and captioning. Trawlers and drifters served in bot...

The Power and the Glory tells the story of royal fleet reviews from the fifteenth century to the 2005 International Fleet Review, commemorating the 200th anniversary of Trafalgar, which was the final exhibition of that pomp and ceremony that had been an essential if irregular expression of naval strength for more than 500 years. Whether to impress or deter a foreign power, often when mobilizing for war, provide reassurance for domestic consumption or celebrate a sovereign’s access...

From the author of RAINE FALL and SCHOOL OF THOUGHT.  England, 999AD. Twelve-year old Amy's parents have gone missing, the summer has leapt into winter, and graves are bursting their occupants forth. As she gathers family and new friends to rescue her Ma and Pa, hell is uncovered from across the seas: an undead army and beasts from the darkest corners of their nightmares.  In a fast-paced adventure that spans an era and a continent, Amy must ensure that ...

The Battle of Coronel on 1 November 1914, when Rear Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock and ships of his 4th Cruiser Squadron were out gunned and out matched by the German East Asiatic Squadron under Vice Admiral Maximilian Graf von Spee, was the worst British naval disaster for more 100 years; two ships, HMS Monmouth and Good Hope were lost with all hands, totalling more than 1,600 men, including Cradock. He went to his death in a forlorn hope, believing that if he could damage his opponent s...

The Harwich Force has made its name and will not be forgotten during the future annals of history'; so said Rear Admiral Sir Reginald Tyrwhitt on Armistice Day 1918. But that fame has not endured. Yet for the whole duration of the First World War, the Harwich Striking Force was the front line of the Royal Navy, a force of cruisers and destroyers defending the seas for the Allies. Under a charismatic and aggressive leader, Reginald Yorke Tyrwhitt, U-boats, German cruisers, destroyers and li...

Scientific Essay from the year 2011 in the subject History - America, , course: American Revolution, language: English, abstract: On 4th July 1776, outside Independence Hall, Philadelphia, the first official reading of the Declaration of Independence commenced and for the first time the American people heard the immortal lines; “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these a...

"Steam Yachts at War is informative and Dunn is a competent writer. The book is also extremely well illustrated with the 150+ photos being uniformly excellent. The inclusion of plans for six yachts is a particularly nice touch." -National Maritime Historical Society This is the story of how the luxurious steam yachts of the Victorian and Edwardian eras were transformed into weapons of war. These beautiful vessels were the ultimate status symbols of British and European royalty, American ma...

“Dunn’s volume is well worth reading, and concludes that today Britain’s maritime shield has vanished, with unprotected coasts and sixty-two Royal Navy ships, one quarter of the number of US Coast Guard cutters.” – National Maritime Historical SocietyBy 1900, the British government and public had become gripped by a new and growing fear of invasion, not from traditional enemies such as France, but from Germany. Such terror was driven by lurid books and fanned by ne...

The little-known campaign to save Latvian and Estonian independence: "Anyone interested in naval operations is likely to find some useful food for thought." — StrategyPageFor most participants, the First World War ended on November 11, 1918. But Britain's Royal Navy found itself, after four years of slaughter and war weariness, fighting a fierce and brutal battle in the Baltic Sea against Bolshevik Russia in an attempt to protect the fragile independence of...

The Dover Patrol, which brought together an assortment of vessels ranging from the modern to the antique and included cruisers, monitors, destroyers, trawlers, drifters, yachts and airships, was commanded by a series of radical and polarizing personalities and increasingly manned by citizen volunteers. Between 1914 and 1918 the men of the Patrol sought to shut down German access to the Atlantic via the narrows of the English Channel, with the goal of preventing German bound trade going in ...

This WWI naval history vividly tells the story of the Royal Navy's Northern Blockade and the battles at sea that brought Germany to its knees.At the outbreak of World War I, Britain established a naval blockade that greatly diminished Germany's access to trade and vital resources. The Northern Blockade brought the German economy to its knees and greatly diminished home front morale. Patrolling the inhospitable waters between Iceland and Scotland, the 10th Cruiser Sq...