Sail

JOHN PAUL JONES, (1747–1792). I

Biography Piracy Sail 12 Min Read

American naval hero. Scotland. Born in Kirkcudbrightshire, on the Solway Firth, John Paul was the son of the gardener at Arbigland, which was the estate of William Craik (father of Dr. James Craik). After receiving a rudimentary education at the Kirkbean Parish school, young John Paul crossed the Solway in 1761 to become apprentice to a shipowner in Whitehaven. On…

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Ancient Warfare Sail Siege 12 Min Read

The Takedown of Tyre II

Expanding his navy was actually easier for Alexander than might have been expected. Because most of his recent conquests and alliances had involved maritime powers, his new friends were willing to contribute to his fleet-building efforts. According to Arrian, Cyprus sent 120 warships to Alexander, while both Sidon and Rhodes…

British Naval Sail 6 Min Read

The Saxon Fleet Keeps Sailing, 1066

In 1066, Harold of England put the Saxon fleet to sea to deter an assault from Norway or Normandy against England. However, when harvest-time came, the sailors went home to their fields and the way was open for the invasions that doomed Anglo-Saxon England. What if Harold kept the fleet…

British Sail Warship 11 Min Read

The Steam Powered Warships

‘It was at this same (1897 Fleet Review at Spithead) Review that a wonderful little vessel named the “Turbinia” appeared, steaming through the Fleet at 35 knots, a speed never before achieved on water. She was the first ship to be fitted with the turbine machinery invented by her owner,…

Medieval Military and Naval Sail 10 Min Read

AN EXEMPLARY MARITIME REPUBLIC: VENICE AT THE END OF THE MIDDLE AGES Part I

Bernard Doumerc In Venice, ‘the sea was all that mattered’. Truly, this was the founding principle that marked the history of this celebrated city.1 For a very long time historians made the Serenissima a model of success, wealth, and opulence, sometimes asserting that the Venetians ‘had a monopoly of the…

Medieval Military and Naval Ottoman Piracy Sail 17 Min Read

AN EXEMPLARY MARITIME REPUBLIC: VENICE AT THE END OF THE MIDDLE AGES Part II

Venetian Galley Bernard Doumerc In 1302, the Venetian government implemented a revision of ‘the corrections and additions’ to the Arsenal regulations.8 This action was necessary to encourage the full development of the technological revolution that would maximise the Republic’s naval potential. A short time later, between 1304 and 1307, the…

Military and Naval Sail 10 Min Read

AN EXEMPLARY MARITIME REPUBLIC: VENICE AT THE END OF THE MIDDLE AGES Part IV

Venetian carrack Bernard Doumerc By the beginning of the sixteenth century, the reconciliation of economic policy with the constitution as well as with the defence of a colonial empire was no longer appropriate. Then, it was said, ‘the whole navy is devoured by the army’ and numerous voyages of merchant…

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The Sea Peoples

Invasions by the mysterious Sea Peoples in the 12th century BC not only devastated the…

The Steam Powered Warships

‘It was at this same (1897 Fleet Review at Spithead) Review that a wonderful little…

NAVAL WARFARE IN EUROPE, 1500-1600

A painting by Agostino Tassi or Buonamico (1565-1644) shows a ship under construction at the…

Fall Of Constantinople – Ottoman Superguns

Ottoman superguns It is not without some irony that bombards, all but abandoned as obsolete…