The Mariner's Mirror Podcast

Bombay, now Mumbai, was a major shipbuilding centre for the Royal Navy in the first half of the nineteenth century. The ships were magnificent, built from the famous Malabar teak and by the hands of a highly skilled Indian workforce. This episode explores that fascinating history through one particular aspect of a sailing warship’s construction: the figurehead. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Clare Hunt, a Senior Curator for the National Museum of the Royal Navy based at their site in Hartlepool. Clare has been charged with the care and management of HMS Trincomalee since 2016, a frigate built just after the end of the Napoleonic wars in Bombay dockyard. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we explore the fascinating history of Europeans working in the complex maritime world of China in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In particular we find out about ship surveyors working for the classification society Lloyd’s Register, and how those employees influenced the global perception of maritime safety and risk management. This group has never previously been studied so everything you hear in this episode is 'new' history that helps us understand not only the functioning of ship surveyors in China at that time but more broadly the encounter and connections between Imperial Britain and China, a meeting that was rapidly intensifying, socially, culturally and economically. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Corey Watson, from the Centre for Port Cities and Maritime Cultures at the University of Portsmouth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stan Hugill was known in his lifetime as the ‘Last Working Shantyman’ and became a guardian of the tradition of maritime music. Stan had a colourful and eventful life. He spent 23 years at sea including a stint as the official shantyman on board the steel four-masted barque Garthpool, the last British commercial sailing ship. In the Second World War he worked as the helmsman on the ss Automedon which was sunk by a German auxiliary cruiser and led to Stan being held as a prisoner of war for four years. In later life he taught sailing skills in Wales and aboard the sail-training vessel Pamir. In these years Stan began to write down the shanties he had learned, authoring several books, recording several albums and regularly performing in public. He became something of a star in the British folk scene anchoring a BBC show Dance and Skylark in the 1960s ‘featuring The Spinners with Bosun Stan Hugill who welcomes friends and visitors aboard his old Sailing Barque.’ To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Mollie Carlyle, a historian of maritime music with an encyclopaedic knowledge of her own and an expert on Stan’s life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we hear all about the rich and long maritime history of the English port of Hull. Dr Sam Willis spoke with Sam Wright, a tour guide of historic Hull as well as a researcher working on a PhD relating to the historical activities of the marine classification society Lloyd's Register in Hull. The port has more than 800 years of maritime history to explore with a fantastic amount of surviving artefacts, building and infrastructure from the nationally significant historic ship Arctic Corsair to the North End Shipyard and Spurn Lightship and the magnificent merchant’s home Blaydes House. Sam has been charting the relationship between Lloyd's Register and Hull, looking in particular at their interactions with the Wilson Line, one of Hull’s major maritime firms and its work on distant-water trawlers, one of Hull’s key maritime industries. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During the Cold War years the Royal Navy faced some of its greatest challenges, both at sea confronting the increasingly capable and impressive Soviet Navy, and on shore when it faced policy crises that threatened the survival of much of the fleet. During this period the Navy had rarely been so focused on a single theatre of war - the Eastern Atlantic - but also rarely so politically vulnerable. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoked with Ed Hampshire, author of the fabulous new book – The Royal Navy in the Cold War Years, 1966-1990: Retreat and Revival. They discuss operations and confrontations at sea with Soviet ships and submarines; the Navy's role in the enormous NATO and Warsaw Pact naval exercises that acted out potential war scenarios; the development of advanced naval technologies to counter Soviet capabilities; policy-making controversies as the three British armed services fought for resources, including the controversial 1981 Nott Defense Review; and what life was like in the Cold War navy for ratings and officers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The ability to navigate in icy seas is one of the most important themes in the historical and contemporary story of human interaction with the sea. Over centuries of development ships are now able to operate safely in and amongst giant ice-islands or semi-submerged floes as deadly as any reef. Specialist vessels have been designed with strengthened hulls, unique bow designs and innovative propellers and rudders.To find our more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Zach Schieferstein from Lloyd's Register Foundation's Heritage and Education Centre. Lloyd's Register has been classifying ships by originating and regulating rules regarding their design and construction since 1768. They have classed all types of vessels, from the largest bulk carriers to yachts and more specialist vessels such as high-speed ferries and - of course - icebreakers. Their vast archive is a goldmine for studying this type of craft. Sam and Zach discuss the historical development of icebreaker design and propulsion, the significance of the arctic and antarctic in geopolitics and the crucial role of Lloyd's Register in the evolution of icebreaker design and construction. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we discover the remarkable story of how a handful of intrepid scientific navigators underpinned British naval dominance in the conflict with Napoleon. During the Napoleonic Wars, more than twice as many British warships were lost to shipwreck than in battle. The Royal Navy’s fleets had to operate in unfamiliar seas and dangerous coastal waters, where navigational ignorance was as great a threat as enemy guns. If Britain was to win the war, improved intelligence was vital. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Michael Barritt about how they secured that intelligence. It is a story of how a cadre of specialist pathfinders led by Captain Thomas Hurd enabled Britain’s Hydrographic Office to meet this need. Sounding amongst hazards on the front line of conflict, alert for breaks in weather or onset of swell, these daring sailors gathered vital strategic data that would eventually secure the upper hand against Britain’s adversaries. And they did this around Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, honing a skill that revolutionised the British way of war at sea, ultimately securing a lasting naval dominance.Michael Barritt is the former Hydrographer of the Navy, head of the Royal Navy’s hydrographic profession, and a successor to Captain Thomas Hurd. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Throughout the eighteenth century the Royal Navy was the largest employer of free black labour in a period when Britain was - at the same time - the largest trader in human lives across the Atlantic. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Steve Martin, expert on black British history and literature, and who works with museums, archives and the education sector to bring diverse histories to wider audiences. They discuss the origins of black mariners who ended up in the Royal Navy, their status, skillsets, and career trajectories, their settlement patterns and Black radical culture. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We may think of globalism as a recent development but its origins date back to the fifteenth century and beyond, when seafarers pioneered routes across the oceans with the objectives of exploration, trade and proft. And what did they seek? Exotic spices: cloves, pepper, cinnamon, ginger. These spices brought together the European ports of Lisbon, London, Amsterdam and Venice, with Goa, Bombay, Malacca and Jakarta - and through those ports the Arab world and China.To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Nicholas Nugent. Nicholas spent his career as a journalist with the BBC World Service and his spare time collecting a valuable archive of original maps, developing a passion for how the growth of the spice ports helped spread the exchange of global culture between east and west. His magnificent book, The Spice Ports: Mapping the Origins of the Global Sea Trade published by the British Library is out now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The SHE-SEES exhibition, hosted in partnership with the Lloyds Register Foundation, Portsmouth Historic Quarter and the University of Portsmouth, taps into archive materials from across the UK and Ireland to uncover the extensive history of trailblazing female voices in the maritime industry and aims to change the tide on diversity. Dr Sam Willis speaks with Hannah Prowse CEO of Portsmouth Historic Quarter as well as numerous people involved in the project including boatbuilder Betzy Shell, boatkeeper assistant Emily Ball and the historians George Ackers and Mel Bassett who worked on the background research bringing the historical voices to life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This year we are launching a new strand of the podcast on eyewitness testimony, in which we bring you the most extraordinary primary sources – history as told and written by the people who were actually there.Today we start with one of the most atmospheric of all maritime sources, one that transports you directly back to the creaky decks of the age of sail – you can smell the tar in the rigging – you can almost taste the rum.This excerpt on Captain Avery comes from  A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates, which was published in 1724, exactly 300 years ago. It was a fascinating time in the publishing industry: a market in criminal biography already existed and the author of this book, Charles Johnson, hopped on board to bring to the world for the first time the adventures and crimes of pirates.Fascinatingly, we don't have any idea who Johnson actually was. Many thousands of words have been written and suggestions made including that he was actually Daniel Defoe. What is certain is that whoever wrote the book knew his – or her – stuff. The account is brimming with detail and accuracy. The author undoubtedly spoke with people who had sailed with these pirates and knew their world intimately. And the year 1724, when this was published was the very peak of what became known as the 'Golden Age of Piracy'.The book became hugely famous and public interest in pirates can be traced in a direct line right up to the twentieth century classics we know so well, such as Treasure Island, Peter Pan and Pirates of the Caribbean.This particular chapter introduces Captain Avery, one of the worst of the worst. Born in the summer of 1659 he mysteriously disappeared in 1696 after an extraordinary life for which he was known by his contemporaries as 'The King of the Pirates.' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It is a little known and extraordinary fact that over 300 years ago the Inuit made crossings from Greenland to the Orkney Isles and northern Scotland. The journey across the hostile North Atlantic is over 1200 miles. Their traditional craft were made of nothing more than skin, bone and driftwood. The literature of Scotland, particularly in relation to the Orkneys, describes individuals in small boats appearing around the coast between 1684 and 1701. The name given to these people by the chroniclers was 'Finmen'. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Norman Rogers, a keen kayaker and author of 'Searching for the Finmen' which explores in detail this remarkable event. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We find out about an exciting project run by the Imperial War Museum which explores how conflict has driven innovation in science and technology. Sponsored by Lloyd’s Register Foundation, the project aims to discover how conflict has accelerated innovation, and how this has impacted on the world we live in today. Science and technology are the key factors in influencing the course of modern conflict. On land, at sea and in the air, innovation in technology has played a key role in the course of conflict during the twentieth Century. Warfare accelerates technological innovation as part of the wider war effort, and this in turn has a significant impact on civilian society. As the Imperial War Museum is a world-renowned authority on conflict history, the project gives audiences the opportunity to change their understanding about war. With over one million items in the IWM collection, this project will offer a range of a wide range of intellectual and emotional experiences.To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Rob Rumble, lead curator of the project. They examine and discuss a number of artefacts in the collection, including the Cavity Magnetron, which became the preferred source of very high frequency radio waves in various radars and communication devices and led to a massive growth in microwave radar technology; public safety posters which educated and encouraged the public use of antiseptic to prevent infections, as well as for the use of safety harnesses whilst working from height; an example of the 'Davis' Submarine escape apparatus, an early type of oxygen rebreather invented in 1910; a lifejacket for a child; lifeboat navigation maps; a buoyant light; plastic armour; and a type of valve employed in early airborne interception and air to surface vessel radar equipment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Billy Waters was born into enslavement in 1770s New York, before becoming a sailor in the royal navy. After losing his leg in a fall from the rigging, the talented Waters became London’s most famous street performer, celebrated on stage and in print. Towards the end of his life he was elected 'King of the Beggars' by his peers. Waters died destitute in 1823 but his legend lived on for decades. To find out more about life as a black man in the Royal Navy and on the streets of Regency London, Dr Sam Willis spoke with Mary Shannon, author of the excellent new book Billy Waters Is Dancing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we hear from Douglas Robertson. In 1971 Douglas’s father, Dougal, a retired merchant navy sailor turned Staffordshire dairy farmer, sold his farm and bought a yacht. He planned to sail around the world with his wife, daughter and three sons. Douglas was then sixteen and today casts his mind back to that fateful voyage. He recalls in great detail the purchase and preparations of the yacht Lucette, their trans-Atlantic voyage and continuing journey to the Pacific. It was there, hundreds of miles from anywhere, that their yacht was sunk by killer whales and the Robertson family were cast adrift. The story of their survival is astonishing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We hear about an exciting project to save and record accounts of shipwreck survivors. The project's goal is to raise awareness and understanding of the experiences of those who have been unfortunate enough to experience shipwreck. This is crucially important at a time when familiarity with life at sea is diminishing and there is a noticeable absence of empathy for seafarers in distress - and yet, as a maritime nation, seafaring remains a huge part of our history and shipping is a growing industry that brings us ever more of our worldly needs. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Daniel Jamieson who is running the research project at the University of Plymouth. They discuss the long and fascinating history of shipwreck survivors' accounts before discussing the many interviewees who have already contributed to the project, providing eyewitness insights into a variety of contemporary and well known maritime disasters as well as far more personal stories of maritime disaster. The stories include Helen Cawley, who survived the sinking of the liner Lakonia in 1963 as a 14-year old; Sheelagh Lowes, stranded on Suwarrow of the Cook Islands in the South Pacific 1996 for 6 months, her yacht Short Time having been thrown on a reef; a number of survivors of the sinking of the liner Andrea Doria in 1956; Sara Hedrenius, who survived the sinking of the ferry Estonia in 1994 in the Baltic; and Ben “Skippy” Cummings whose vessel capsized andsank on a reef off Antigua, four miles from the finish of his trans-Atlantic race. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An entire episode dedicated to historical accounts of sea monsters! In the last episode we learned how sailors' encounters with sea monsters inform us of a changing world and link themes of religion and science with exploration of the natural world and safety at sea. In this episode we hear what they actually had to say, in their own voices. We hear about 'The Great Sea-Serpent' spotted from the decks of HMS Daedalus in 1848; the 'Anchertroll Horror' off West Africa of April 1871; a snake with a white mane seen in 1746 off Norway and a 'Devil-Fish' that swallowed a schooner east of Sri Lanka in 1874. The episode was put together with the help of Graham Faiella, maritime historian and author of 'Mysteries and Sea Monsters.' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we hear about the extraordinary and long history of sailors coming across monsters from the deep. It’s a complex and fascinating topic intimately linked with the human experience of sea, but for historians it exists as a strand of knowledge and experience which runs alongside developing ideas of faith and developing understanding of science. It’s a topic that links superstition, myth and legend with the imagination – the imaginable and the unimaginable – and all experienced within the context of the age of reason and the scientific enlightenment. It’s a topic that will bring out the believer or the sceptic in you and in so doing will inspire you to learn a little more about the particular monster that inspires you because of what it tells us about the past. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In December 1941 HG-76 sailed from Gibraltar to Britain and was specially targeted by a wolfpack of U-boats whilst, in a rare example of German inter-service cooperation, the Luftwaffe pounced from French airfields. In Gibraltar and Spain, German intelligence agents had known every detail of HG-76 before it had even sailed.Nonetheless, the convoy fought its way through. Improved radar and sonar gave the convoy's escorts an edge over their opponents, and the escort group was led by Commander Walker, an anti-submarine expert who had developed new, aggressive U-boat hunting tactics. The convoy was also accompanied by HMS Audacity, the Royal Navy's first escort carrier – a new type of warship purpose-built to defend convoys from enemy aircraft and U-boats.Through seven days and nights of relentless attack, the convoy reached the safety of a British port for the loss of only two merchant ships. Its arrival was seen as the first real convoy victory of the war.To find out more about this, one of the most dramatic maritime stories of the Second World War, Dr Sam Willis spoke with Angus Konstam, author of a new book 'The Convoy HG-76: Taking the Fight to Hitler's U-boats' that brings the story to life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recent conflict in the Red Sea caused by Houthi attacks on commercial shipping has brought the subject of maritime crime and security into focus. In this episode Dr Sam Willis speaks with Christian Bueger, Professor of International Relations at the University of Copenhagen, Director of the SafeSeas Network for Maritime Security and author of the important new book Understanding Maritime Security. They discuss historical perspectives on maritime crime including smuggling, pirate attacks and terrorism and highlight just how significant maritime crime and security is to the modern world with over 80% of contemporary global trade transported by sea. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Dreadnought Hoax is one of the most fantastical events of all naval and maritime history. In 1910 four white English people – three men and one woman – pretended to be members of the Abyssinian royal family, complete with black face make up, false beards and magnificent robes, and were given a tour of HMS Dreadnought, the most powerful battleship ever built, the pride of the Royal Navy and the pride of the British Empire. The hoax worked like a dream. No-one suspected a thing. Even more remarkable, one of those people was none other than the young Virgina Woolf, yet to be married and take the name of Woolf and yet to amaze with world with her intellect and literary skill. It is a story that touches on questions of race, gender and empire; on credulity, outrage and humour; on cultural norms and expectations; and all wrapped in ideas about seapower. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Danell Jones, author of the excellent new book The Girl Prince: Virginia Woolf, Race and the Dreadnought Hoax. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we visit Vrak - The Museum of Wrecks in Stockholm. Nowhere else in the world are there as many well-preserved wooden wrecks as there are in the Baltic Sea. People have lived on the shores of the Baltic ever since the end of the Ice Age, where they have travelled, sailed, hunted and waged war, for millennia. The Baltic has special water conditions: it is cold and brackish and has low oxygen levels, which means there is no shipworm to destroy sunken timber. As a result, at the bottom of the Baltic is an exceptional collection of timber heritage sites, from the Stone Age to the Vikings and beyond. Vrak - The Museum of Wrecks is a contemporary museum designed to explore and share this heritage in innovative ways. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we explore the extraordinary life of Frerik Henrik Af Chapman, the man considered the grandfather of naval architecture. Born in Gothenburg in 1721 to immigrant English parents, his father served in the Swedish navy before becoming the manager of a shipyard in Gothenburg. His mother was the daughter of a London shipwright. Frerderik was therefore born into a life of ship design and construction and he was just ten when he designed his first vessel. By 23 he ran his own shipyard maintaining and repairing Swedish East Indiamen. This was a period when the science of shipbuilding reached new heights and Chapman, uniquely a mathematician and a shipwright, led the way. Mathematicians who studied shipbuilding lacked the practical skill to implement their own ideas; while shipwrights lacked the mathematical understanding. Frederik was the first person who combined those two skills. He made it possible to predetermine and assess mathematically different attributes of vessels such as stability and sailing qualities. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Jonas Hedberg, curator at Sweden’s National Maritime Museum in Stockholm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The third episode in our mini series on Maritime Sweden is a tour of Sweden's National Maritime Museum in Stockholm: Sjöhistoriska Museet. Listen in as Dr Sam Willis is guided around the museum by its curator, Jonas Hedberg. We hear about the founding of the purpose-built maritime museum in the 1930s; explore the extraordinary collection of ship models; artefacts including a magnificent figurehead from mid 1750s; stories of migrants to Sweden after the Second World War; a rail ferry that once transported Lenin across the Baltic; and a Swedish Royal Yacht from the eighteenth century. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the most fascinating aspects of Viking history is their voyages east, to Arab lands. Vikings from the geographical area that would become Sweden played an important role in the creation of the political entity known as Rus, and some Scandinavians travelled by river to Arab lands, where they traded slaves for dirhams, and to Constantinople, where they served as mercenaries. Many others who did not actually visit Arab lands met Arabs in Khazaria and Volga-Bulgaria, which were major trading hubs north of the Black Sea. Numerous fascinating sources survive from both the Greek and Arab world depicting far-traveling Swedes, some of which shed valuable light on their customs. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Viking historian Tore Skeie, author of The Wolf Age: The Vikings, the Anglo-Saxons and the Battle for the North Sea Empire. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode starts a new mini-series on the maritime history of Sweden, and we begin by exploring Sweden’s fascinating naval history over the last 500 years, and how Sweden’s modern defence thinking has been shaped by its past. Founded in 1522, the Swedish navy is one of the oldest continuous serving navies in the world and its complex history reflects the numerous geo-political changes that have affected the countries around the Baltic ever since. With a shifting map of allies, threats and foes, the Swedish navy has been a constant presence and a hotbed of maritime innovation; not least introducing the line of battle as a naval tactic in 1563 under Erik XIV, half a century before its widespread adoption by other European navies. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Fred Hocker, Director of Research at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A special episode which explores the young 16 year-old midshipman Horatio Nelson's exploits on the Phipps' expedition in search of a Northeast Passage in 1773, in which he fought off a walrus. The episode is linked to an ongoing project run by St Paul's Cathedral and the University of York '50 Monuments in 50 Voices' which showcases thought-provoking, individual responses to 50 unique monuments at St Paul’s Cathedral from artists, writers, musicians, theologians and academics. Of all of those monuments, Nelson's tomb is the most significant. This episode presents an original piece of prose written by Dr Sam Willis inspired by Nelson's tomb and his exploits fighting off a walrus when he was a teenager. 'I Survived the Walrus' is written in Nelson's voice. It explores the myths that grew up around Nelson's life; the curious mixture of inner strength and physical frailty that characterised his life and exploits; and his ability to inspire and comfort. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode looks at the fascinating history of sea charts, a subject crucial to the making of the modern world. The world took shape in our minds through the development of the sea chart, which in turn led to colonization, globalisation - a great mixing of the populations of the world that has created our diverse nations and complex history of today. It is often assumed that ships alone were the tools by which the sea became arteries of trade transport and conquest, but that is to overlook the sea chart as the indispensable instrument that made this happen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode starts a new mini-series on maritime innovations, and we start with one of the most important: the stockless anchor. A Victorian innovation, the stockless anchor transformed seafaring, making it safer and simpler.The stockless anchor was a simple but clever design which presented many advantages over traditional anchors. Previous anchors were fitted with a stock: a rod set at an angle to the flukes which dug into the seabed. That rod helped the flukes find the right orientation to bite. This feature however, caused the anchor to be an awkward shape, requiring davits suspended over the bows to raise or lower them and prevent damage to the hull. The ship also needed an ‘anchor bed platform’ for storing the anchor when not in use. The stockless anchor didn’t have that rod and the flukes simply pivoted against the main shank. This pivoting action helped the flukes bite and the lack of the stock meant that the anchor was easier to manoeuvre when raising or lowering and could be drawn up into the hawsehole for safe storage. Due to the simple geometrical design of the stockless anchor, it was also capable of free falling through water much faster when it was required. As with all of the best technological inventions it was simple, manifestly a better design, and required someone with a touch of genius to think it up. That man was William Wastenys Smith. To find out more about this brilliant maritime innovation Dr Sam Willis spoke with William Wastenys Smith’s great-granddaughter, Trish Strachan. This episode includes a number of reports and thank-you letters from leading seamen in the 1880s, sent to Wastenys Smith commenting on the remarkable quality of his new invention. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode explores ss Bessemer (1874), known as the 'Swinging Saloon Ship.' An experimental cross-channel steamship, Bessemer was designed with a central saloon that moved on gymbals, to counteract the motion of the ship. It was designed to eliminate seasickness. The man behind the idea was the lifelong seasickness-sufferer Sir Henry Bessemer, an avid and successful inventor. He was already well known for transforming the way that steel was made, making it stronger and cheaper, advantages that transformed structural engineering. To find out how he fared when his great mind turned to the maritime world Dr Sam Willis spoke with Zach Schieferstein from the Lloyd's Register Heritage & Education Centre. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode looks at Llloyd’s Register Foundation’s new project Maritime Innovation in Miniature which is one of the most exciting maritime heritage projects of recent years and a leader in terms of innovation in the maritime heritage field. The aim of the project is to film the world’s best ship models. They are removed from their protective glass cases and filmed in studio conditions with the very latest camera equipment. In particular, the ships are filmed using a macro probe lens, which offers a unique perspective and extreme close up shots. It allows the viewer to get up close and personal with the subject, whilst maintaining a bug-eyed wide angle image. This makes the models appear enormous - simply put, it's a way of bringing the ships themselves back to life.Ship models are a hugely under-appreciated, under-valued and under-exploited resource for engaging large numbers of people with maritime history. The majority of museum-quality ship models exist in storage; those that are on display have little interpretation; few have any significant online presence at all; none have been preserved on film using modern techniques. These are exquisitely made 3D recreations of the world’s most technologically significant vessels, each with significant messages about changing maritime technology and the safety of seafarers.The ships may no longer survive…but models of them do. This project acknowledges and celebrates that fact by bringing them to life with modern technology, in a way that respects and honours the art of the original model makers and the millions of hours of labour expended to create this unparalleled historical resource.This episode looks in particular at the extraordinary models that were filmed in 2022 at the Swedish National Maritime Museum in Stockholm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The 1660s were a time of great turmoil in England. In 1666 the great fire of London had destroyed much of the country’s capital and just a year earlier the great plague had killed a fifth of the city’s population. In amongst this chaos the new King, Charles II, recently restored to the throne after the English Civil War, began to build an extraordinary navy. From the mid-seventeenth century onwards the capabilities of seapower dramatically and exponentially increased. European powers began to take up permanent positions in foreign countries laying the foundations for the subsequent colonialism that shaped the modern world. Whilst they vied for control of the new global trade that linked east with west, that rivalry led to some of the largest-scale fleet battles ever fought. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Richard Endsor, a world-renowned historian who has has dedicated his life to studying the structures and building processes of seventeenth century ships. Richard has written several award winning books including The Master Shipwright’s Secrets for which he was awarded the prestigious Anderson Medal for the best maritime book published in 2020. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode looks at the extraordinary maritime history of Scarborough, a port town on the UK's northeastern coast. Famed for its medieval herring fair that features in Simon and Garfunkel's 1960s version of the traditional English ballad 'Scarborough Fair' it has a lesser known but significant maritime history. Once one of the largest shipbuilding ports in the country, Scarborough had no fewer than twelve yards on its seafront, with supporting rope and sailmaking businesses in the town. Scarborough-built ships have travelled the world encountering pirates and transporting convicts. The fame of the town attracted huge numbers of people from a variety of backgrounds: Scottish 'Herring Lasses' travelled down from the north to work in the booming North Sea herring industry, whilst rich gentleman travelled up from the south to catch enormous tuna and the town became Britain's first seaside resort. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Mark Veysey from the Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this the final episode of our dramatisation of witness testimony from the British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry, we hear from Annie Robinson. Annie was a First Class Stewardess and one of only three women interviewed at the inquiry. She was asleep when Titanic collided with the iceberg - and this was the second time she had been on a vessel that had collided with an iceberg. Annie led her charges to safety and escaped herself but was troubled for the rest of her life by her experience and ultimately committed suicide by jumping overboard another vessel just two years later. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We continue our dramatisation of witness testimony given at the British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry into the Titanic disaster. Today we hear from Charles Lightoller, Titanic's second officer and the most senior officer to survive the disaster. Lightoller is a fascinating character. By the age of 21 he had survived a shipwreck, a cyclone and a shipboard fire. Lightoller was a major focus for both the British and American inquiries. During the Wreck Commissioner’s Enquiry, Lightoller was called to the stand three times over the same number of days and was asked 2951 questions. His testimony is greatly detailed and provides numerous fascinating glimpses into the disaster and its aftermath. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944 was the largest naval encounter in history and the most decisive naval battle of the Pacific War. By its end the Japanese navy had been eliminated as an effective fighting force and resorted to using suicide attacks.The battle was a huge, sprawling affair - not one battle but in fact four separate naval battles - each with its own distinctive characteristics. To understand how it all fitted together requires a birds-eye view.To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke to Mark Stille, retired Commander in the United States Navy and naval historian. Mark is the author of the new book Leyte Gulf: A New History of the World's Largest Sea Battle. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar of 1805 we look at a question that is central to the legend that grew up around the events of October 1805. How did a naval officer end up with a state funeral with no precedent for someone who was not a member of the Royal Family? How was death perceived in the Royal Navy of the Age of Sail and why did a heroic death matter so much? To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Dr Dan O'Brien, Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Death and Society, University of Bath. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this, the second of our dramatisations of witness testimony given at the British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry into the Titanic disaster we hear from Fred Barrett, a stoker from Liverpool. Fred had been tasked with extinguishing a fire and was in one of the boiler rooms when the collision happened. If you are interested in what happened in the bowels of the ship during the sinking his testimony is one of the very best. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this, the first of four dramatisations of witness testimony given at the British Titanic Inquiry of May 1912, we hear directly from Lady Duff Gordon. A First Class passenger, and one of only two passengers interviewed at the inquiry (the other being her husband), Lady Duff Gordon was also one of only three women to give testimony. Along with her husband, she was also one of only two witnesses to actually request to be interviewed. Lady Duff Gordon's perspective, therefore, is unusual and significant in many ways and makes for riveting listening, casting an entirely new light on the tragedy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The sinking of the Titanic in 1912 led immediately to two major inquiries: one in America and one in the UK. The testimony in these enquiries provides a fascinating and valuable glimpse into the tragedy from the words of the people themselves who experienced it. And yet only recently have these testimonies become freely accessible online, thanks to a heroic effort by numerous volunteers working for The Titanic Enquiry Project. In four subsequent episodes we are going to bring you dramatisations of a number of witness testimonies given at the UK British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry. To set out the background of the project, in this episode Dr Sam Willis speaks with Robert Ottmers, one of the volunteers working on the project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the archives of the Lloyd's Register Foundation is a stunning hand-illustrated portfolio of the Rules of Composite Ships. These were a set of rules regulating the construction of this new type of vessel born of the industrial revolution. Half iron and half timber, these 'composite' ships transformed maritime capability whilst at the same time challenging existing knowledge of shipbuilding. The illustrated portfolio is the work of Harry Cornish, once Chief Ship Surveyor at Lloyd's Register, a marine classification society. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Max Wilson, archivist of the Lloyd's Register Foundation archives. They explore the Cornish drawings as well as the ship plans of several famous composite ships, including the most famous of them all - Cutty Sark. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is episode six of our special mini-series on the maritime history of China and it looks at the Maritime Silk Road. This fascinating topic is far richer and deeper than the name implies. On the one hand we discover all about the ancient maritime trade route by which silk was transported abroad from China – but as you will discover it is far more complicated than that – and far more interesting as a result. It’s a topic that links Asia and Europe’s deep past with the present day and modern China’s strategic global ambitions. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Tansen Sen, Director of the Center for Global Asia and Professor of History, NYU Shanghai. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this, the third of three dedicated episodes to women in maritime, Cecilia Rose speaks to Dr Nina Baker and Dr Antony Firth about women shipbuilders on the River Clyde and the River Tyne, as part of the ‘Rewriting Women into Maritime History’ project. Dr Nina Baker is an independent researcher who works on the history of women in engineering, focusing on the Clyde in Glasgow, whilst Dr Antony Firth, the head of Marine Strategy at Historic England, is organising an exhibition about women shipbuilders on the River Tyne. We learn more about these related research projects and how we can all get involved! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this, the second of three episodes dedicated to women in the maritime world, we look at the Lloyd's Register Foundation's ‘Rewriting Women into Maritime History’ project through an artistic lens. Cecilia Rose speaks to Erna Janine - a London based textile artist specialising in Japanese Freestyle Weaving, and Emilie Sandy - a photographer and visual artist focusing on portraiture and storytelling. Their new joint venture, ‘SHE_SEES’, combines the mediums of textiles and photography to tell the stories of women involved in maritime industries today. We learn about how these women came to their respective professions and how they can inspire others. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this, the first of three dedicated episodes, we explore a new project designed to change our perceptions of the historical role of women in the maritime industry over the centuries. 'Rewriting Women into Maritime History' is run by the Lloyd's Register Foundation and brings together leading maritime organisations. One of the key aims of this project is to empower women by reframing the narrative of a predominantly masculine industry, and by promoting opportunities to encourage more women into the sector. To find out more, Cecilia Rose spoke with Helen Doe, a maritime historian and author who has published extensively on maritime subjects, including the role of women in the industry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The British submarine HMS Poseidon sank off the Chinese coast during normal exercises in 1931 having struck a freighter. Just over half of her crew made it out of the hatches as she sank. Twenty-six remained trapped. Eight of those attempted to surface using an early form of diving equipment specifically designed for submarine escapes. Five of those survived and became national heroes. And then, at an unknown time in the subsequent years, the Chinese government secretly raised the wreck. To find out more about this remarkable story which takes us through themes of imperialism, international sea power, the development of submarine and diving technology and medical history, Dr Sam Willis spoke with historian Steen Schwankert. Editor and award-winning reporter with seventeen years of experience in Greater China, Steven is the Asia chapter chair of The Explorers Club, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and founder of SinoScuba, Beijing's first professional scuba-diving operator. Steven uncovered this story and spent many years researching it. He is the author of the book Poseidon: China's Secret Salvage of Britain's Lost Submarine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Of the 2,240 passengers and crew on board RMS Titanic on her fateful last journey, eight were Chinese, all travelling Third Class. Six of those eight survived, an exceptionally high survival rate for any given nationality. Remarkably, four escaped on the same lifeboat as the Titanic’s owner J. Bruce Ismay, while another was the last person rescued alive from the water. Those six men were forgotten by history until, in 2020, the film maker Arthur Jones and historian Steven Schwankert joined forces in a bid to track down those men in the historical records and tell their stories. Not only does the research itself tell a fabulous tale, but so too does the history they uncovered. For these Chinese men, surviving the Titanic disaster was not the end of their troubles – it was just the beginning. They faced deportations, slurs on their characters and racial condemnation. As research for the film progressed it became clear that almost nothing was known about these man in their subsequent years and that some may never even have told their families what they had experienced. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Arthur Jones, Director of The Six. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the stores of the London Science Museum is a highly significant collection of ship models of Chinese junks. They were commissioned by Sir Frederick Maze who worked as the Inspector General of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service from 1929-1943. Maze was a true Sinohpile and was particularly fascinated by Chinese maritime history. He lived in China at a time of rapid modernisation and could plainly see Chinese maritime traditions disappearing in front of his eyes. As a result he commissioned a series of ship models of Chinese junks and sampans, to be built in Hong Kong and Shanghai by expert Chinese shipwrights. They are an extraordinary collection and demonstrate a stunning variety of Chinese shipbuilding traditions and technology and details of daily life - down to the religious beliefs of the sailors. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Donna Brunero at the National University of Singapore, an expert on the maritime realm and port cities of Asia.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode continues our mini series on maritime China with an episode on Chinese shipwrecks found in Southeast Asia and what they tell us about the development of Chinese shipping and trade from the ninth century onwards. The wrecks include the ninth century Belitung wreck, twelfth century Flying Fish, thirteenth century Java Sea, fifteenth century Bakau wreck, and from the seventeenth century the Binh Thuan and Vung Tau Wrecks. Together they provide unmatched insights into world maritime engineering and innovation, industry and manufacturing in China, and a network of trade that linked China to the world beyond its shores. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Mike Flecker, one of the world's leading authorities on the development of Chinese shipbuilding and trade, and who led excavation teams on all of these wrecks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Ming Dynasty court eunuch, a diplomat, an explorer, a mariner, a Muslim…Zeng He lived from the 1370s to around 1433 and achieved what many have since considered to be impossible.Between 1405 and 1433 Zeng He commanded seven expeditionary voyages. He explored the East China Sea, South China Sea, up through the Straits of Malacca to the Bay of Bengal, around India and Sri Lanka to the Arabian sea, the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, and on to the east coast of Africa. He did this with enormous ships in enormous fleets. If you believe the sources some of this ships were almost twice as long as any wooden ship ever recorded. On the first voyage it is believed that there were no fewer than 265 ships in total, 62 of them being of the largest type, the 'Treasure Ships'. Historians believe these largest vessels had five or six masts and were up to 300 feet long - but that is the most conservative of estimates. There is very little physical evidence to prove any of this with the exception of one 36 foot-long rudder, a monstrous piece of timber that does suggest a ship of at least 300 feet in length.Zeng He's seven voyages provide a fascinating foundation for historical debate and narrative. Here is an empire using seapower to reach out beyond its borders in a golden time of exploration which does not last. The scale of the fleets, the distance of the voyages, and the activities of the Chinese are all very much unsettled in the minds of modern historians. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Professor Tim Brook, a historian of China at the University of British Columbia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.