The sinking of the White Ship shaped not just a country but in some ways the world but due to its distant setting and the repercussions it caused, it’s largely unknown amongst the general public. Surprisingly though, we know quite a lot about what happened back on the 25th November 1120. We know from contemporaneous… Continue reading The Sinking of the White Ship a 12th century disaster of Titanic proportions.
Tag: Royal Navy
The monument to Admiral Collingwood
Everyone knows of the famous Battle of Trafalgar and the great old HMS Victory which you can visit with Ye Olde England Tours when life gets back to normal. I think it is perhaps the best day out! Trafalgar Square is of course known around the world along with Nelsons Column which I take so many… Continue reading The monument to Admiral Collingwood
The story of how a Tyneside ship ended up as the Resolute desk of the President of the United States Part Two
Following on from last weeks post on HMS Resolute, we pick up the account in this second blog post. On 10 September 1855, the abandoned HMS Resolute was found adrift by the American whaler George Henry, captained by James Budington of Groton, Connecticut in an ice floe off Cape Walsingham of Baffin Island, 1,200 miles… Continue reading The story of how a Tyneside ship ended up as the Resolute desk of the President of the United States Part Two
The story of how a Tyneside ship ended up as the Resolute desk of the President of the United States Part One
It’s hard to say much about the desk of the Prime Minister outside the Corona virus, it is almost unheard of him or her to address the nation or indeed The Queen outside her customary Christmas message of goodwill and even then she has more desks than I had hot dinners in 2020 so whilst… Continue reading The story of how a Tyneside ship ended up as the Resolute desk of the President of the United States Part One
Original hand-drawn battle plans by Admiral Lord Nelson for the Battle of Trafalgar are discovered.
Incredible a hand-drawn sketch by Admiral Lord Nelson himself showing his plan for victory at Trafalgar has been discovered tucked inside the pages of a scrapbook after nearly 200 years. They were discovered by historian Martyn Downer in a scrap book book from the 1830s which was recently sold at auction. It shows his plan… Continue reading Original hand-drawn battle plans by Admiral Lord Nelson for the Battle of Trafalgar are discovered.
HMT Bedfordshire – The Royal Navy ship sank defending the United States.
I’ve written several posts about American servicemen who died in Britain in WW2, most recently on the The Endcliffe Park Memorial in Sheffield & the incredible devotion of Tony Foulds. A few weeks ago I came across a fascinating sad little bit of history from WW2 regarding some British servicemen who died in American waters, securing… Continue reading HMT Bedfordshire – The Royal Navy ship sank defending the United States.
Sailing away with Flags of Convenience
What have Liberia, Panama and the Marshall Islands have in common? This might sound like the start of a bad joke but it is a legitimate question. The answer is that these nations are the leading Flag States in the world for shipping. Every merchant ship must register with a country, known as a flagged… Continue reading Sailing away with Flags of Convenience
What would have happened if the Soviet Union had nuked London?
It is hard to imagine anything worse than a nuclear war and recently a normally well-hidden document in the National Archives in Kew (West London) has come out of hiding to be the star attraction in a new exhibition. It’s seems almost a world a way but I can very easily remember as a boy… Continue reading What would have happened if the Soviet Union had nuked London?
Up Close and Personal with the Greenwich Painted Hall Ceiling
Two weeks ago you may have seen my post on the Painted Hall in Greenwich which is often referred to as the Sistine Chapel of England. The artwork is 300 years old however and due to age, wear and tear and earlier attempts at preservation, the imagery had become very dark and rather indistinguishable from… Continue reading Up Close and Personal with the Greenwich Painted Hall Ceiling
The Painted Hall of Greenwich – Englands Sistine Chapel
Said by many to be the English equivalent of the Sistine Chapel, The Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich is one of the most spectacular and important baroque interiors in Europe. You might get some idea what awaits when you first arrive at the Cutty Sark station or as I prefer to… Continue reading The Painted Hall of Greenwich – Englands Sistine Chapel
Stephen Liddell 