72006 results in Boydell & Brewer
A Brief Bibliography
- Edited by Michael Simpson
-
- Book:
- Anglo-American Naval Relations, 1919-1939
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 05 March 2024, pp xxiii-xxiv
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
Chapter VII - Lord Northbrook's 1885 Response to William T. Stead's Criticisms of Naval Preparedness in the Pall Mall Gazette
-
- By John Beeler
- Edited by Brian Vale
-
- Book:
- The Naval Miscellany
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 05 March 2024, pp 293-346
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
Thomas George Baring, 1st Earl of Northbrook has generally been regarded as one of the least effectual First Lords of the Admiralty of the Victorian era. Appointed to the post in 1880 by William Gladstone, he was, according to John Henry Briggs, of the same economical and ideological stripes as Gladstone himself:
Lord Northbrook was a politician, and, what is more, a very strong party man. From the date of his entering into public life he imbibed the extreme views advocated by his [Liberal] party in regard to economy and retrenchment; he was at all times disinclined to incur any expense which he thought might be inconvenient or embarrassing to the Ministry, and was consequently far more solicitous to keep down the estimates [i.e., expenditures] than add to the strength of the navy.
Briggs's credentials to pass judgment on the First Lord appear impeccable. Both he and his father were career Admiralty civil servants, their combined tenures spanning much of the nineteenth century. Briggs himself served almost forty-five years at Whitehall, of which more than thirty-five were spent assisting the Board itself. Thus, his boast that he ‘had the honour of serving with fifteen First Lords and upwards of fifty Admirals’ lends apparent credence to his subsequent claim that he ‘was cognisant of all that was taking place throughout the department’.
Having retired in 1870, Briggs was, unless clairvoyant, no longer ‘cognisant of all that was taking place throughout the department’ by the time that Northbrook assumed office, and historians have long been aware that his account of the Admiralty's doings, even when he was present, is often profoundly unreliable: marred by blatant partisanship, factual errors, and near-libels of many distinguished and capable Navy officials. And yet his allegations continue to inform modern judgments of many of those administrators, none more so than Northbrook.
Oscar Parkes, long-time editor of Jane's Fighting Ships, appropriated not only Briggs's verdict but enough of his words to warrant accusations of plagiarism: ‘Northbrook was a politician and a very strong party one at that. Having from early days imbibed the extreme views of economy and retrenchment associated with Liberalism, he was always more solicitous to keep down the Estimates than to incur any expenses which he thought might be embarrassing to the Ministry.’
Contents of Previous Naval Miscellany Volumes
- Edited by Susan Rose
-
- Book:
- The Naval Miscellany
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 05 March 2024, pp 671-676
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
List of Abbreviations
- Edited by Susan Rose
-
- Book:
- The Naval Miscellany
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 05 March 2024, pp xv-xviii
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
2 - Biographical Notes
- Edited by Charles S. Knighton, David M. Loades
-
- Book:
- The Navy of Edward VI and Mary I
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 05 March 2024, pp 525-576
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
This Appendix, which provides details on Admiralty officials, sea officers, shipwrights and military officers commanding troops aboard HM ships, also serves Elizabethan Naval Administration [ENA], and so includes some individuals not featured in this volume
Entry is restricted to those who appear twice or more in the texts. Any comment on such persons featuring once only is made in the footnotes. The footnotes briefly identify other known persons at the first occurrence.
Inset references are given for naval appointments, and any other details which augment or correct the general authorities listed in the several endnotes. Only the more significant naval commands are included; where not otherwise specified the sources are as for Appendix 1 (see pp. 461–4).
Note on Appointments
Where offices are conferred by letters patent, the date of passing the great seal marks the formal start of tenure, but the day from which the fruits are paid (where shown) is a surer guide to the actual period of employment.
Grants for life in survivorship were a common practice in an age which had no pensioned retirement; by agreement between the parties the younger man would take over most or all of the duties, leaving his senior colleague some part of the income.
A reversion gave right of succession to the incumbent office holder; it
The allowances for travel and boat-hire were flat rates payable for any day on which journeys were made. Because these moneys did not pass through the Navy Treasurer's books, the totals actually paid could only be discovered by an extensive examination of the Exchequer records beyond the scope of the present work.
Alexander, Stephen Admiralty clerk d. 1577
Listed as employee and shipkeeper at Deptford in 1548 [I.65]. By 1562 the clerk keeping the ‘book of report’ which recorded the purchase of provisions and other commodities [ENA, 4 (f. 10 and passim)]. Paid for ‘making perfect’ the Quarter Book entries for the whole of 1563 [f. 335v], so the scribe responsible for ff. 159–361. Buried at Deptford 31 July 1577 [Drake, Hasted's Kent, p. 40].
Anthony, Robert naval commander
Occ. in list of captains 1553/5 [II.80]. Served with Sussex in raid on Western Isles 1558 [II.77].
Baeshe, Edward Surveyor-General of naval victualling 1550–87
Born c. 1507, son of Richard Bashe, shoehorn maker of Worcester.
Index
- Edited by Matthew S. Seligmann, Brunel University London
-
- Book:
- Naval Intelligence from Germany, 1906-1914
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 05 March 2024, pp 561-566
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
Contents
- Edited by Charles S. Knighton, David M. Loades
-
- Book:
- The Navy of Edward VI and Mary I
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 05 March 2024, pp vii-viii
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
Part I - The British Admiralty Delegation, Washington, D.C., March to September 1942
- Edited by Michael Simpson
-
- Book:
- The Cunningham Papers
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 05 March 2024, pp 1-16
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
The First Sea Lord, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound, had several motives for moving Cunningham from Alexandria to Washington. The fact that the United States was now a co-belligerent was to be welcomed but the American forces would now clamour for resources with more urgency and their shopping lists would be virtually endless; it was vital that the British should retain a major share of American industrial production. Secondly, America had been ushered into war most violently by the attack on Pearl Harbor (7 December 1941) and her other Pacific possessions; it was natural that the American people and their Navy would want to avenge themselves upon Japan, and leave Germany and Italy till later – an option which Britain could not countenance, for though she too had suffered greatly at Japan's hands, she knew that Germany alone possessed the strength to defeat her, while the collapse of Italy might well open a way to re-enter the European continent from the south. Finally, Admiral Ernest J. King, an enigmatic figure who seemed to the Royal Navy to embody anti-British features and appeared unlikely to be ‘a good co-operator’, became Chief of Naval Operations on 26 March. King's priorities seemed to be the rapid expansion of the U. S. Navy, the annihilation of the Japanese fleet, and the concentration of American naval effort in the Pacific. To counter this prospect, a forceful, resolute British Admiral who commanded respect in Washington for his fighting qualities and successes was required, someone who could engage the single-minded, dedicated and determined King on equal terms. No one in the Royal Navy fulfilled the criteria so completely as Cunningham.
Cunningham was most reluctant to go. He did not wish to leave his men and women in the Mediterranean in their hour of adversity. He was essentially a sea-going rather than a desk-bound admiral. He felt he lacked the qualities and interest required for astute maritime diplomacy, though he believed that he could match King's reputed toughness and bluntness [1]. Churchill was also most reluctant to let him go. He had become convinced that Admiral Sir John Tovey was too recalcitrant and too defensively-minded to continue as Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet and, though he had had sharp differences with Cunningham, too, he was attracted, as always, by the aura of aggressiveness about him.
Anglo-American Naval Relations, 1919-1939
- Edited by Michael Simpson
-
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 05 March 2024
-
Volume 156 of the Navy Records Society Publications
1 - The Scottish War and other Operations
- Edited by Charles S. Knighton, David M. Loades
-
- Book:
- The Navy of Edward VI and Mary I
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 05 March 2024, pp 11-104
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
Although Henry VIII had created a department of state to run the navy, the records of that body do not survive cohesively before the following century. For the sixteenth century there is no distinct archive of naval records, save that of the High Court of Admiralty. The general workings of the naval administration are spread among various classes of the Public Records, principally the State Papers (the files of the Principal Secretaries, through whom all government correspondence was channelled) and the accounts of the Exchequer. These official records are supplemented from other public collections and material in private hands.
For the first two years of Edward VI's reign the predominant naval concern was the war in Scotland. For this the evidence of the State Papers is plentiful and varied, though somewhat disjointed; we have formal instructions drafted in London [I.2, 3, 8, 50–51], but otherwise the communication is all inbound. At this date the Secretaries did not regularly keep copies of out-letters, and none of relevance survives here. The other half of the correspondence is known only from details rehearsed in reply [e.g., I.20]. Most of the papers printed in this chapter are in the artificially created class of State Papers Scotland. Ample calendared summaries have long been available, but by going back to the original documents and selecting those passages which particularly concern the navy, that aspect of the war can be seen in sharper focus. The manuscript evidence is interwoven with brief extracts from the contemporary printed account of the Pinkie campaign written by William Patten [I.11–16].
Somerset aimed to maintain English control over Scotland from a string of garrisons across the Lowlands. This proved over ambitious and a severe drain on resources, not least because it required a continuing deployment of warships. The acquisition of Broughty Craig, on the Tay estuary some way north of the main theatre, caused special problems which are well illustrated below. In the most difficult conditions a new fort had to be constructed, with sailors seconded to the effort [I.40]. The high command wanted more great ships, not only because of their ability to ride out the winter gales, but because their boats made better landing craft [I.17, 28, 36]. Damaged ships had to be sent back to Newcastle for repair, if not to Hull or London [I.39–41]. There is insight into the performance of galleys.
Part V - The Far East
- Edited by Michael Simpson
-
- Book:
- Anglo-American-Canadian Naval Relations, 1943-1945
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 05 March 2024, pp 327-454
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
H. P. Willmott called his book on Britain's war in the Far East Grave of a Dozen Schemes and the title is most appropriate. Britain faced several major problems in defending – and winning back – her extensive Imperial territories in the period 1921–45. In the 1890s, it became apparent to British statesmen and naval chiefs that the extent and scattered nature of the Empire would be difficult to defend against a major foe, especially one who was much closer to Imperial territories than the ‘mother country’. Furthermore, the 1890s witnessed the rise to maritime ‘great power’ status of several new contenders – the United States, Japan and Germany – all of whom were ambitious to establish their own empires and were of doubtful friendliness. These new world powers were ranged alongside Britain's traditional colonial rivals, France and Russia (allied to each other since 1893). Despite a steady enlargement of the Royal Navy after 1889, it was recognised in Britain that the country could not hope to defend its Empire without defusing what had become a highly dangerous situation, with all the great powers, old and new, seemingly ranged against her, each with their own aims and, worse, disputes with Albion. It was necessary to solve these disputes peaceably and, if possible, to make alliances or at least tacit understandings with some of them.
In 1895, a dispute with the United States (and its client Venezuela) over territory in South America was resolved peacefully; Britain thereafter consistently appeased the United States (often to Canada's mortification). In 1902, Britain made an unprecedented move in signing a defensive alliance with Japan; if either power found itself at war with two or more countries, the other was treaty-bound to come to its partner's aid. Japan was a country of yellow-skinned people, not normally treated with respect by Europeans at that time. Moreover, she was at the beginning of her rise to ‘great power’ status and Britain was taking a real risk in going into an alliance with her. The alliance was to last 20 years and Japan fought on Britain's side in the First World War, effectively protecting the Empire's extensive Asian territories. In 1904 and 1907, settlements were made with France and Russia. They were much less binding and rather vague but they defused colonial disputes. Of the major world powers, only Germany remained immune to Britain's overtures.
VIII - The Diary of Signal Bosun Henry Eason: The Naval Brigade in the Zulu War, 1879
-
- By Paul Quinn
- Edited by Susan Rose
-
- Book:
- The Naval Miscellany
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 05 March 2024, pp 327-378
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
The Manuscript
The manuscript of Henry Eason's diaries was written over a period of about 30 years. It consists of 13 exercise books. His handwriting is not the best copperplate, but can be read without a great deal of difficulty and, once one is familiar with it, understood without effort or interpretation. The diary has been handed down within the Eason family, being now in the possession of Commander Christopher Eason, RN, Retd, OBE – his grandson. The current intention is that it will remain with the family. It is as accurately written as one could expect for a document mostly composed by the dim light of a mess deck in the days of transition from sail to steam. The only corrections used in this transcription are to rectify obvious mistakes such as the failure on occasion to begin sentences with capitals, failure to punctuate, and similar errors. His spelling is sometimes awry, and there is an occasional lapse of grammar, but it has not been necessary to correct these. There are also differences between the common usage of some words and phrases between his day and the present. Again, these have been allowed to stand, as they are an accurate representation of the times and do not obscure meaning. The most difficult words to present accurately are words that are probably nicknames for places, some of which obscure the real place name. One such is ‘Saccharine’, which is untraceable, and could not be Shakaskraal, which is too far north for the context in which it is used. Others are probably farms, which are not marked on any of the available maps. There are also various versions of place names, for example traditionalists called one of the rivers the Tugela, and the town of that name is given the same spelling. Probably the most accurate present-day spelling is Thukela. These variations come about because of the difficulty of rendering Zulu sounds into English spelling. The usage here is predominantly that contemporary with events, but more modern alternatives are often given in brackets.
Eason's language reflects the common prejudices of his day when writing about Africans. This feature has not been bowdlerised, as it represents the usage of the time.
Henry VIII (1509-47)
- Edited by Gerald Bray
-
- Book:
- Records of Convocation XIV
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 05 March 2024, pp 153-260
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
The archbishop Js mandate and the royal writ
[77 v] Iohannes Withers artiummagister, canonicus in ecclesiis cathedralibus Sancti Pauli Londoniensis et Sarum ac reverendissimi in Christo patris et domini Domini Christopheri, miseratione divina tituli Sanctae Praxedis sacrosanctae Romanae ecclesiae presbyteri cardinalis Eboracensis archiepiscopi, Angliae primatis et apostolicae sedis legati in remotis agentis vicarius in spiritualibus generalis ac custos spiritualitatis archiepiscopatus Eboracensis, reverendo in Christo patri et domino Domino Thomae, Deo gratia Dunelmensi episcopo, dicti reverendissimi patris suffraganeo aut eius vicario in spiritualibus generali salutem in Domino sempiternam. Breve regium nobis directum cum ea qua decuit reverentia nuper recepimus in haec verba:
Henricus, Dei gratia rex Angliae et Franciae et dominus Hiberniae, custodi spiritualitatis archiepiscopatus Eboracensis, ipso archiepiscopo in remotis agente, salutem. Quibusdam arduis et urgentibus negotiis nos, securitatem et defensionem Ecclesiae Anglicanae ac pacem, tranquillitatem, bonum publicum et defensionem regni nostri et subditorum nostrorum eiusdem concernentibus, vobis in fide et dilectione quibus nobis tenemini rogando mandamus quatenus, praemissis debito intuitu attentis et ponderatis, universos et singulos episcopos vestrae provinciae ac decanos et priores ecclesiarum cathedralium, abbates, priores et alios electivos, exemptos et non exemptos, necnon archidiaconos, capitula, conventus et collegia totumque clerum cuiuslibet dioecesis eiusdem provinciae ad comparendum coram vobis in ecclesia cathedrali Beati Petri Eboracensis vel alibi prout melius expedire [78r] videritis, cum omni celeritate accommoda more debito convocari faciatis, ad tractandum, consentiendum et concludendum super praemissis et aliis quae sibi clarius exponentur tune ibidem ex parte nostra; et hoc, sicut nos et statum regni nostri ac honorem et utilitatem ecclesiae praedictae diligitis, nullatenus omittatis. Teste meipso, apud Westmonasterium, vicesimo octavo die mensis Novembris anno regni nostri tertio [28 November 1511].
Quocirca, reverende pater, auctoritate dicti reverendissimi patris nobis in hac parte specialiter commissa, tenore praesentium peremptorie vos citamus ac priorem ecclesiae vestrae cathedralis Dunelmensis et capitulum eiusdem universosque et singulos abbates, priores, alios etiam electivos, exemptos et non exemptos, archidiaconos, decanos et capitula, conventus et collegia, totumque clerum vestrarum civitatis et dioecesis per vos citari auctoritate praedicta mandamus quod vos, reverende pater, dictique abbates et priores, archidiaconi et decani personaliter, conventus vero, capitula et collegia huiusmodi per procuratores suos singulos, clerusque cuiuslibet archidiaconatus et iurisdictionis per duos sufficientes procuratores ab ipsis conventibus, capitulis, collegiis et clero sufficienter et legitime deputatos in ecclesia metropolitica Eboracensi die Lunae,
Index
- Edited by Michael Simpson
-
- Book:
- Anglo-American-Canadian Naval Relations, 1943-1945
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 05 March 2024, pp 481-491
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
Miscellaneous Endmatter
- Edited by Paul G. Halpern
-
- Book:
- The Royal Navy and the Mediterranean, 1919-1929
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 05 March 2024, pp 613-620
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
III - The Journal of the Voyage of the Marigold to Iceland, 1654
- Edited by Susan Rose
-
- Book:
- The Naval Miscellany
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 05 March 2024, pp 97-128
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
On 21 April 1654 the day that Oliver Cromwell signed the articles of peace ending the First Dutch War, the Commonwealth Navy ship Marigold was ordered to convoy the English fishing fleet to Iceland. The Marigold's captain, Humphrey Felstead, was further instructed to keep a journal of his voyage and send it to the Admiralty Commission on his return. This was duly done, so that his journal now survives among the State Papers of the Commonwealth. The journal is significant both for being an early survival of its type and for being one of the best contemporary sources available on the activities of the English in Iceland during the early modern period.
Both the decision of the Admiralty to send a convoy to Iceland and the timing of its decision can be explained. While few today are even aware that the English fished off Iceland at this time, it was regarded by contemporaries as one of England's most important fisheries. Indeed, in the 1630s the cod and ling fisheries off Iceland had been described as the ‘greatest fishing of the kingdom’ which, ‘exceedeth the Newfoundland & herring fishing’. And while this might have been a slight exaggeration, it was not much of one; for the Iceland fishing fleet, which came mostly from Norfolk and Suffolk, could contain as many as 160 ships of between 50 and 150 tons burden. The early seventeenth century proved, however, to be the high-water mark of this industry. The Iceland venture was hit hard by the maritime lawlessness of the Civil War and interregnum, so that when the Marigold began her convoy on 16 May 1654, she was accompanied by just 19 vessels. The Admiralty Commission might therefore have felt, with some justification, that if the remnants of the fishing fleet was not protected, an industry would be extinguished that had played a vital role in training men to sea. Moreover, if those in London ever forgot about the fishery, they were regularly reminded of its significance by Major William Burton of Great Yarmouth, who, besides being an alderman of the town on which the Iceland fishery was centred, was also an important Naval administrator for the Protectorate.
Edward VI
- Edited by Gerald Bray
-
- Book:
- Records of Convocation XIV
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 05 March 2024, pp 261-272
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
The archbishop’s mandate for the convocation
Robertas, permissione divina Eboracensis archiepiscopus, Angliae primas et metropolitanus, auctoritate illustrissmi in Christo principis et domini nostri Domini Edwardi sexti, Dei gratia Angliae, Franciae et Hiberniae regis, fidei defensoris et in terra Ecclesiae Anglicanae et Hibernicae supremi capitis legitime fulcitus, reverendo in Christo patri confratri nostro Domino Roberto, eadem gratia Carliolensi episcopo eiusve vicario in spiritualibus generali salutem, et fraternam in Domino caritatem. Breve domini nostri regis supradicti nobis directum cum ea qua decuit reverentia nuper recepimus in haec verba:
Edwardus, Dei gratia Angliae, Franciae et Hiberniae rex, fidei defensor et in terris Ecclesiae Anglicanae et Hibernicae supremum caput, reverendissimo in Christo patri Roberto, eadem gratia Eboracensi archiepiscopo, Angliae primati et metropolitano, salutem. Quibusdam arduis et urgentibus negotiis nos, securitatem et defensionem Ecclesiae Anglicanae ac pacem, tranquillitatem, bonum publicum et defensionem regni nostri et subditorum nostrorum eiusdem concernentibus, vobis in fide et dilectione quibus nobis tenemini rogando mandamus quatenus, praemissis debito intuitu attentis et ponderatis, universos et singulos episcopos vestrae provinciae ac decanos ecclesiarum cathedralium, necnon archidiaconos, capitula, collegia totumque clerum cuiuslibet dioecesis eiusdem provinciae ad comparendum coram vobis in ecclesia Sancti Petri Eboracensis quinto die Novembris proximo futuro [5 November 1547] modo debito convocari faciatis, ad tractandum, consentiendum et concludendum super praemissis et aliis quae sibi clarius exponentur tune ibidem ex parte nostra; et hoc, sicut nos et statum regni nostri ac honorem et utilitatem ecclesiae praedictae diligitis, nullatenus omittatis. Teste meipso, apud Westmonasterium, vicesimo nono die Augusti anno regni nostri primo [29 August 1547].
Quocirca reverende confrater, tenore praesentium peremptorie vos citamus ac decanum ecclesiae cathedralis Carliolensis et capitulum eiusdem, universosque et singulos collegiorum magistros, praepositos et gardianos ac alios electivos, exemptos et non exemptos, qui ab antiquo vocari, citari seu moneri solebant per vos in virtute oboedientiae citari volumus et mandamus quod vos, reverende confrater, dictique decani, archidiaconi, magistri, praepositi, gardiani ac alii electivi personaliter, capitulum vero ecclesiae Carliolensis huiusmodi per procuratorem suum sufficientem, clerusque Carliolensis dioecesis per duos sufficientes procuratores legitime deputatos in ecclesia nostra metropolitica Eboracensi quinto die Novembris proximo futuro post datum praesentium [5 November 1547] inter horas octavam et nonam ante meridiem eiusdem diei, cum continuatione et prorogatione dierum tune sequentium si opus fuerit, et locorum, coram nobis aut nostris locum tenentibus, commissariis sive commissario, pluribus aut uno, in ea parte deputatis aut deputandis, compareatis et compareat quilibet eorundem,
Contents
- Edited by Michael Simpson
-
- Book:
- Anglo-American-Canadian Naval Relations, 1943-1945
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 05 March 2024, pp ix-x
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
Preface
- Edited by Michael Simpson
-
- Book:
- Anglo-American-Canadian Naval Relations, 1943-1945
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 05 March 2024, pp xiii-xiv
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
This is the final volume of a set of five. The first volume, Anglo-American Naval Relations, 1917–1919, was published in 1991, and the second, Anglo-American Naval Relations, 1919–1939, in 2010. Other publications (including three volumes for the Navy Records Society) have precluded the completion of the series. Mr Robin Brodhurst, author of a biography of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound, is editing two volumes corresponding to Pound's time as First Sea Lord (June 1939– October 1943), one covering the years 1939–1941 and the second dealing with the period 1941–1943. The account in this volume begins with Admiral of the Fleet Sir Andrew Cunningham's assumption of the First Sea Lordship on 5 October 1943 and concludes with the formal surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945. This volume is entitled Anglo–American-Canadian Naval Relations, 1943–1945, for the very good reason that, by the end of the war, the Royal Canadian Navy was the third largest in the world, after its two great partners, and Canadian naval and air forces played a major role in anti-submarine warfare in the Atlantic, and rendered important service also in other theatres.
The period covered by this volume was the time in which victory was forged and the three major Allies enjoyed an almost unbroken series of maritime triumphs. In Part I , the relationships of the senior commanders, their services and their countries is discussed. Part II deals with the last stage of the fight against the U-boats, a war which by 1943 had spread to most of the world's seas. Part III deals with the Western Allies’ eventual return to north-west Europe. In Part IV, the final operations in the Mediterranean, including the landings in Southern France and at Anzio in Italy, are covered. Part V recounts the participation of the British Pacific Fleet in the concluding operations against Japan.
I have drawn on the Admiralty, Premiership and Chiefs of Staff Sub-Committee papers at the National Archives, Kew, London. The National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, London, has permitted access to the papers of Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fraser, C-in-C of the British Pacific Fleet. The Churchill Archives Centre at Churchill College, Cam-bridge, has allowed access to the papers of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, the Allied Naval C-in-C for the invasion of north-west Europe.
Preface
- Edited by Michael Simpson
-
- Book:
- Anglo-American Naval Relations, 1919-1939
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 05 March 2024, pp xiii-xiv
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
This is the second volume of a projected set of five. The first volume, Anglo-American Naval Relations, 1917–1919, was published in 1991; since then, other studies have supervened. It is now intended to complete the series, down to 1945. The scheme is for Mr Robin Brodhurst, author of a biography of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound, to edit the two volumes corresponding to Pound's time as First Sea Lord – June 1939 to October 1943. It is intended that I should edit the volume for 1943 to 1945.
The years between 1919 and 1939 were dominated by a series of naval arms limitation and disarmament conferences and the first four Parts of this volume acknowledge this. Part V, ‘The Sailors Meet’, deals with the encounters of serving officers and men of the two navies and their observations on each other's navy. Finally, Part VI, ‘Edging towards an Alliance’, details the hesitant and limited steps towards co-operation between 1937 and 1939 when a second world war looked increasingly likely.
The materials used for the Royal Navy have been drawn from the Admiralty papers at The National Archives, Kew, London; the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London; and the Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge. For the United States Navy, I have drawn on The National Archives, Washington, DC; the Operational Archives, Naval Historical Center, Washington Navy Yard; The Manuscripts Division of The Library of Congress, Washington; and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, Hyde Park, New York. I have avoided using diplomatic or political documents where possible; many of the documents on foreign policy have been published in the series Documents on British Foreign Policy (London: HMSO, various) and Foreign Relations of the United States (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, various).
Punctuation marks have been inserted on occasion to clarify passages or to mark omissions. At times, numbered paragraphs in official communications have been omitted, resulting in breaks in their sequence. Missing words are indicated thus: [——]. If there is some doubt about a word it is expressed thus: [? word]. Place names are contemporaneous. Places and dates of origin, where known or where appropriate, are placed at the head of documents. All Admiralty communications originated from London.