All articles in Maritime
26th February, 2016 in Archaeology, Maritime
Q&A with Simon Mills, owner of the HMHS Britannic wreck
In August 1996, the wreck of HMHS Britannic was bought by renowned maritime historian, Simon Mills. Simon is a long-standing camera technician in the UK film industry. During his career he has also researched numerous documentaries on historical and maritime subjec…
14th January, 2016 in Maritime
Titanic 101
An infographic history of Titanic Boilers & furnaces Titanic had 29 huge boilers that comprised 159 furnaces. These furnaces had a heating surface of approximately 144,142 sq.ft. There were 24 double-ended boilers and 5 single-ended boilers. Sheer size When completed, T…
17th December, 2015 in Maritime
Sea devils: Pioneer submariners
The British Admiralty was initially snooty about submarines. Its battleships had ruled the world’s oceans for centuries, each in its pomp and glory the personification of empire. Submarines were seen as small, scruffy and silly. Admiralty grandees wanted them swatted as an irrita…
15th December, 2015 in Maritime
The romance of the high seas
Of course it was the Boat Deck. Ever since ship designers invented the derrick which raised the lifeboat above the deck, they inadvertently or perhaps deliberately, increased the shadow line which pervaded the Deck, particularly at night in the half light of illumination. The sce…
15th December, 2015 in Maritime, Military
The sinking of the RMS Lusitania
‘MURDER BY SAVAGES DRUNK WITH BLOOD’ – A British newspaper headline ‘WITH JOYFUL PRIDE WE CONTEMPLATE THIS LATEST DEED OF OUR NAVY’ – A German Newspaper after the sinking Saturday, 1 May 1915. Scheduled to sail at 10 a.m., Lusitania’s departure from New York was delayed beca…
15th December, 2015 in History, Maritime
Titanic and Terra Nova
On 18 April 2015 two apparently unrelated stands of history came together in an auction in Wiltshire. Amongst the lots in an auction of items related to Titanic is a lot consisting of fifty-two negatives taken by Henry ‘Birdie’ Bowers during the last months of Captain Scott’…
15th December, 2015 in Maritime
Titanic and empire
Hundreds upon hundreds of ocean liners have plied the maritime highways of the world and it has fallen to a few of these to achieve a lasting fame. This small book is about one of the most famous of these ships ever to have sailed the seas and is aimed at those wishing to know a…
15th December, 2015 in Biography & Memoir, Maritime
Titanic’s captain
Shortly after 5 a.m., on Wednesday 10 April 1912, dawn broke over Southampton with the promise of calm weather. At the docks, the Titanic, securely warped into White Star’s berth number 44, showed a little more activity aboard her than there had been over the last six days. The s…
15th December, 2015 in Maritime, Transport & Industry
Down amongst Titanic’s ‘Black Gang’
Much has been written and documented about the Titanic disaster, but here we seek to concentrate on the actual world and workplace of the Titanic’s ‘Black Gang’. In doing so there will be an opportunity to take a journey and have a detailed look at some of the major elements of m…
15th December, 2015 in Biography & Memoir, Maritime
The story of Wallace Hartley, Titanic bandmaster
One of the most lingering images of the sinking of the Titanic is that of the band playing, regardless of their own safety, while all the lifeboats sailed away. All eight band members perished that night. Their leader was Wallace Hartley, who had not been famous, but had lived a…
15th December, 2015 in Maritime, True Crime, Women in History
The disappearance of Agnes Tufverson
On 22 December 1933, Olympic left New York. Among her 104 tourist class passengers, occupying stateroom C86, was thirty-four year old Ivan Poderjay. He spent virtually the entire voyage in his stateroom, surrounded by a large amount of luggage, according to a steward’s…
15th December, 2015 in Maritime
RMS Olympic postcard collection
RMS Olympic was created during a period of intense competition between the north Atlantic shipping lines. The lead ship from the White Star Line, sister to the ill-fated Titanic and Britannic, Olympic encompassed all the qualities the line was striving for in size, opulence and l…