Nelson at the Nile, 1798: the Rewards of Victory Bonaparte's fury at the defeat! Nelson’s stunning victory at Aboukir, off the Nile Delta, in August 1798 was to raise his reputation to a European level. In this battle Nelson brought his force of fifteen ships, of which thirteen were ships-of-the line, close inshore to [...]

Death in the Ice – the USS Jeanette and Svyataya Anna expeditions In a recent blog we saw the Royal Navy gunboat HMS Newport, become the first vessel to pass through the Suez Canal, much to the embarrassment of the project’s French backers (click here if you missed that article). She was one of [...]

Sir George Nares – Sailor, Explorer and Oceanographer – PART 2 In the two last postings on this blog (Click here if you've missed them) we've seen George Nares (1831-1915) rise through the ranks of the Royal Navy, get a taste for Arctic exploration and surveying and snatching the honour of commanding the first ship [...]

Sir George Nares – Sailor, Explorer and Oceanographer - PART 1 Sir George Nares in polar kit, with acknowledgement to National Portrait Gallery My blog last week introduced us to Sir George Nares, a Royal Navy officer who first came to public attention for the trick he played to gain the honour for [...]

The Opening of the Suez Canal, 1869 The Royal Navy trumps the French Anybody interested in the Royal Navy of the Victorian era cannot but be fascinated by the sheer variety of tasks undertaken by the large number of gunboats in service. These small but usually heavily-armed vessels were not intended for service with [...]