The Worm and the Welsh Mountain
The Teredo worm is a long, slimy, grey mollusc that can grow up to three feet long and an inch thick. It was feared by 18th century...
The Scent of Treasure – Rooke, and the Battle of Vigo Bay
In the summer of 1702, an Anglo/Dutch force under the command of Admiral George Rooke was attempting to capture the Spanish port of...
Deptford’s Royal Dockyard
By the 1980s, Deptford in southeast London was a rundown and dilapidated shadow of its former self. Pound-shops and fast food outlets...
Sails and the Art of the Sailmaker
By the close of the 18th century, warships were self-contained communities, capable of operating away from land for months at a time....
Invincible - how the French gave the world the 74
In 1747, the French dispatched a vital convoy of thirty merchantmen to carry reinforcements and supplies to their troops in North...
The Curious Career of a man named Home
Home Riggs Popham was one of the Royal Navy’s more controversial officers. His military record contained a sprinkling of both triumphs,...
Swinging the Lead
Ilfracombe is a charming little port on the North Devon coast in England. Close to its bustling harbour is the base of the local scuba...
“Oh God, it’s all over!” - the Naval Battle that cost an Empire
In the late summer of 1781, the British attempt to re-conquer Virginia from the American rebels was not going well. Their army was boxed...
The wreck of the Mars
In 2011, a team of divers operating off the Swedish Island of Oland found the wreck of a large warship. From artefacts recovered from the...
Tolstoy vs Jane Austen
Readers of my Alexander Clay series may have noticed a similarity between the main character’s sister, Betsey Clay, and the early life of...
