THE EPIC OF THE SCHOONER BETSEY, 1805 Some time ago I came across a book – undated, but clearly late 19th Century – entitled “Thrilling Narratives [...]

HMS Hector 1782 – an epic of leadership and survival Inman in later years Captain Henry Inman (1762 –1809), a noted frigate commander who was in overall command [...]

Routine on a Royal Navy warship, late-19th Century When one is interested in the navies of the late 19th Century, and especially when writing naval fiction [...]

China’s Zhongshan Gunboat – a splendid restoration  I was in Singapore in 2014 and on my way from the airport to the hotel I saw a large banner-like [...]

Captain Death of the Privateer Terrible, 1756 For the commander of a privateer to be named “Captain Death” seems over-theatrical, especially as his ship was called [...]

The French Navy's Iéna and Liberté Disasters, 1907 & 1911 In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries all major navies, other than the German, lost [...]