Ships Shipbuilding category: 835 books

The Port of Southampton saw many changes in the 1960s and 1970s. These two decades saw the decline of the liner trade, a major strike that all but killed the British shipping industry, the rapid growth of containerization, and the early shoots of Britain's cruise ship phenomenon. Using a unique collection...

From the early 1930s until the end of that decade long-distance air travel was the preserve of the flying-boat, which transported well-heeled passengers in ocean-liner style and comfort across the oceans. By the end of World War Two things had changed. The development of large landplane bombers had...

The UK has over 1000 miles of navigable canals and rivers which are home to an estimated over 70,000 boats. To the untrained eye canal boats can look much the same, but there are some very important distinctions and a new buyer has some very important choices to make. This book discusses those choices,...

Smuggling was rife in Britain between the seventeenth and mid-nineteenth centuries, and since then smugglers have come often to be romanticised as cheeky rogues – as highwaymen of the coasts and Robin Hood figures. The reality could be very different. Cut-throat businessmen determined to make a...

The Global Maritime distress and Safety System (GMDSS) is becoming the all-embracing term for communication and data transfer between ship and shore, and ship and ship. It's a highly automated system of terrestrial satellite communications technology whose primary role is to maintain safety of life...

Frank Pope pulls back the curtain on the intensely competitive underworld of shipwrecks in this thrilling story of treasure hunting gone wrong. When Oxford archeologist Mensun Bound—dubbed the "Indiana Jones of the Deep" by the Discovery Channel—teamed up with a financier to salvage...

The Cromford Canal ran 14.5 miles (23 km) from Cromford to the Erewash Canal in Derbyshire, England with a branch to Pinxton. Built by William Jessop with the assistance of Benjamin Outram, its alignment included four tunnels and 14 locks. From Cromford it ran south following the 300-foot (91 m) contour...

A graphic account of the defense of Hartlepool, Whitby and Scarborough against German sea borne raiders in 1914 and a detailed history the coastal defenses that confronted the German navy. For the first time the author relates the wider story of the batteries of the Northeast of England and of the...

Written by an eminent authority on pirate lore and literature, The History of Piracy is one of the most important books on the subject. Tracing the rise of piracy from its ancient beginnings to its ultimate demise, it leads readers down an exciting path of fortune, fame, and folly. Within this exhaustive...

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution was established in 1824, and has a long and proud tradition of saving life at sea; nowhere is this more evident than in the south-east of England. The lifeboats and lifeboat crews from Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Kent have been involved in some of the most dramatic,...

Why is Colonel pronounced "kernal"? Why does a Lieutenant General outrank a Major General? Why is Navy Captain a higher rank than Army-Air Force-Marine Captain? Why do Sergeants wear chevrons? Was John J. Pershing a six-star General? The answers to these and other such questions as well...

In 1819, the American whaler Essex was sailing deep into the great equatorial hunting grounds of the Pacific when it was destroyed by a maddened sperm whale. By all reports, the 85-foot whale deliberately rammed the ship twice and sank it. The incident, which occurred in the same year that Herman...

Pembroke Dock Through Time is a unique insight into the illustrious history of this part of the country. Reproduced in full colour, this is an exciting examination of Pembroke Dock, the famous streets and the famous faces, and what they meant to the people of this area throughout the 19th and into...

Perched on an isolated rock in the Scottish Hebrides, this is a fascinating account of Skerryvore, ‘the most graceful lighthouse in the world’, and the great Victorian engineer who designed and built it. At a height of 48m (156 feet), it is the tallest lighthouse in Scotland. The story of the...