Today we have episode 7 of our Iconic Ships mini-series in which a curator of a historic ship makes a case for their ship being iconic, or a historian takes a ship from history but which sadly no ...

From the Society for Nautical Research in partnership with Lloyd’s Register Foundation, I’m Sam Willis. And this is the Mariners Mirror podcast, the world’s number one podcast dedicated to all of ...

This note explains the theory and practice of using a ‘ship log’ to calculate speed and distance run. The first original English contribution to the mariner’s art, the sand-glass timer, hand-reel and ...

This article is a detailed study of the costs involved in building warships of the period. It is based on Progress Books One, Two and Five. Direct comparisons between the costs of different vessels ...

Wooden ships have three main enemies – fire, dry-rot and worms, and rot was a major problem that affected the operational readiness of the fleet. Although rot must have been a problem for many ...

Raves contests the received wisdom that the Pett family originated in Skipton in Cumberland, but probably Yorkshire, or possibly Kent. His research led him to believe that they did in fact come from ...

An essay on the correspondence between Admiral Norris and his first captain Sir Tancred Robinson while their fleet was in Lisbon from 1735 to 1737. The author’s intention is to show that the letters ...

The earliest map of London that has come down to our time is Wyngaerde’s panorama, dating from between 1543 and 1550. It provides a bird’s-eye view of the whole city, together with Westminster and ...

The use of table decorations in the form of ship models, known as nefs, became a way of demonstrating prestige among the elite merchant class of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. One of the most ...

Piracy and privateering figure very extensively in history, and in current affairs, but much of the discussion is undermined by the common failure to define the terms and understand the legal ...

A detailed and technical article on the development of ships in the Renaissance period. The author gives examples of sail development, build development and types of rigging. Focussing mainly on the ...

The article deals with the particular knowledge of certain parts of the sea acquired by local mariners, usually by tradition or from their own experience. Despite the growing availability of surveys ...