Maritime

David Lance on the history of food in the Royal Navy, from canteen messing to professional catering.

M. Foster Farley introduces one of the most marked and original men of his day and generation; Tattnall distinguished himself in many hard-fought engagements from 1812 to 1864.

Michael Langley describes how, until a mid-eighteenth century innovation, navigators seldom knew exactly where they were when at sea.

Conrad Dixon describes how, in the service of the Dutch East India Company, Pelsaert of Antwerp was the first European to spend some time on shore.

J.W. Blake describes the development of a maritime empire of trade, built by traders.

C.R. Boxer describes how the Spanish and Portuguese empires were troubled by smugglers and interlopers on the high seas.

Bernard Pool describes how Pepys regarded the Naval shipbuilding programme of 1677 as his greatest administrative achievement.

Roderick Cavaliero introduces Admiral Pierre Andre de Suffren, an eighteenth century legend of the French navy.

John F. Bailey describes how all early navigators, until the mid-eighteenth century, were baffled by the problem of longitude in finding their ships’ position.

C.E. Hamshere describes how the famous Pirate-Governor of Jamaica helped to bring to an end Spanish control of the Caribbean Sea.