Mutiny on the High Seas – the Gold Hunter, 1828 I recently encountered a remarkable account of a mutiny on a commercial vessel in 1828. It appeared in a book published in New York sometime in the late 19th century and magnificently titled “Thrilling Narratives of Mutiny, Murder and Piracy – A Weird Series of [...]
Built to be unlucky? The French battleship Suffren The splendidly-expressive Yiddish word “schlemiel” describes a person who is invariably unlucky and whose endeavours are doomed to failure – “so inept even inanimate objects pick on them”. One does come across such unfortunate individuals – who are usually likeable – but in reading naval history [...]
"Snakes and Ladders" - Guest Blog by J.G. Harlond J.G. Harlond One of the great rewards for me of entering the writing community - an informal entity, rendered global by social media - is coming in contact with others who [...]
The loss of SMS Grosser Kurfürst, 1878 Two maritime disasters which involved large loss of life occurred in British waters in 1878. One was about the now-forgotten disaster on the Thames in September 1878 when the excursion paddle steamer Princess Alice was sunk in a collision with the loss of some 640 lives (about which a blog will appear [...]
The Troopship Sant Anna sinking, May 1918 The Sant Anna, pre-war. (With acknowledgement to the “Forum PAGES 14-18” website: Les combattants & l'histoire de la Grande Guerre) There is something especially poignant about soldiers being drowned at sea, far from a land battle-front, and May 11th this year was the hundredth anniversary of such [...]
Captain Richard Bowen, Beau Ideal of a Naval Officer – Part 1 of 3 There is something infinitely sad about the promise of greatness, already evidenced by solid achievement, being cut off in the prime of life. One such victim – a man who might have reached the highest ranks on the Royal Navy and [...]
The SS Arctic Disaster 1854 In my recent blog about the loss of the steamer SS Utopia in Gibraltar harbour in 1891 (click here if you missed it) I commented on the fact that for almost a century insufficient provision of lifeboats a major factor in marine tragedies. Only the Titanic loss in 1912 was [...]
Guest Blog: Quarantine on the Isles of Scilly Baggy Robinson Today’s blog is by a guest, Baggy Robinson, who deals with a most unusual subject – quarantining of shipping – but one which was of immense importance in the period before widespread innoculation and vaccination [...]
