Sentiment vs Strategy: British Naval Policy,Imperial Defence,and the Development of Dominion Navies, 1911–14

This article examines British naval policy towards imperial defence and the development of autonomous Dominion navies in 1911–14. It shows that the Admiralty's main goal under the leadership of Winston Churchill was to concentrate British and Dominion warships in European waters, and ideally in the North Sea, to meet the German threat. Churchill's approach to naval developments in the Dominions was also shaped by his desire to fulfil the Cabinet's policy of remaining strong in the Mediterranean Sea. He made some concessions to sentiment in the Dominions, but his attempts to create a coherent imperial policy for the naval defence of Britain and its empire were ultimately unsuccessful. By 1914 it was clear that the Dominions would not provide the additional warships Britain required for the Mediterranean, and on the eve of war the Admiralty was beginning to prepare an imperial naval strategy that more accurately reflected the Empire's capabilities.     

Rowing Ancient Warships: Evidence from a Newly-Published Ship-Model

A clay model of the 6th or 5th century BC may be evidence for the nature of ancient Mediterranean warships in general.
© 2007 The Author     

A 13th-Century Shipyard at Alanya (Alaiyye), on the Mediterranean Coast of Turkey

Anatolian Seljuks, a territorially-powerful medieval government, held their fleet at bases on the Black Sea and Mediterranean coasts, and constructed permanent stone buildings to protect their navy. Although most of these buildings have disappeared, 13th-century defended shipyard buildings have survived at Alanya, on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. These buildings are not only important architecturally, but can give clues to the types of warships used by the Anatolian Seljuk navy, of which little is known. The dimensions of the shipsheds help us to analyse the construction of these naval vessels.
© 2009 The Author     

The Kelly naval mission to Greece,May 1919–October 1921

Abstract

This article focuses on the activities of the Kelly naval mission to Greece between 1919 and 1921, the period when the geographic importance of Greece from the naval perspective and the potential of her navy attracted the interest of Britain. Notwithstanding the fact that plans to institute a pivotal Anglo–Greek naval partnership in the Eastern Mediterranean were frustrated because of the Asia Minor catastrophe, the Kelly naval mission to Greece was largely successful in developing the Greek Navy. During its term in Greece, work was expedited at the Ministry of the Marine, the recruiting law was revised and a significant number of Greek naval officers were admitted to British naval schools. Moreover, the syllabus of Greek naval colleges was updated and the Greek Naval Air Service developed on solid foundations. Financial difficulties and political complications hindered the realization of the more ambitious projects of the mission, i.e. the establishment of a new arsenal at Skaramanga and the procurement of sorely needed naval units. However, maintaining the many old Greek warships in working condition would have been impossible had it not been for the success of the mission in developing the organization and infrastructure of the Salamis arsenal.     

A preliminary report on ophthalmoi from the Tektas Burnu shipwreck

Ophthalmoi , or ship's eyes, were a common decoration adorning the bows of ancient Greek ships. Athenian naval records and archaeological finds from Piraeus attest to ophthalmoi taking the form of marble appliqués on Greek warships of the Classical Period. Evidence for the use of marble ophthalmoi on Classical merchantmen has only recently come to light. The Institute of Nautical Archaeology's 1999 and 2000 excavation campaigns at Tektag Burnu yielded two marble discs decorated to resemble eyes. These are the actual ophthalmoi of a Classical Period merchantman: the first known from an ancient shipwreck and the earliest archaeological examples of this decorative element.     

Race and Identity: The Culture of Combat in the Pacific War

This article addresses how the Royal Navy intended to defend the British Isles from invasion before the First World War. Revisionist historians have recently suggested that during his first tenure as First Sea Lord, 1904–10, Sir John Fisher conceived and implemented a radical new home-defence strategy. Fisher's ‘flotilla defence’ system assigned a hitherto unprecedented importance to flotilla craft. This was apparently a marked departure from previous practice, which had been to rely upon armoured warships to deter invasion. These claims are not supported by the evidence and have failed to appreciate that flotilla craft had historically formed the foundation of the naval defence of the British Isles. War Plans drafted in early 1909 confirm that before leaving office Fisher remained committed to the blockade of enemy naval forces and that he identified blockade as key to the security of the British Isles.     

The Long Goodbye: British Agency in the Creation of Navies for India and Pakistan

The armed forces of India and Pakistan draw legacies from a common British imperial past. British influence persisted in the navies that emerged from independence and partition on the South Asia subcontinent. Complaints over treatment and other grievances in the colonial Royal Indian Navy underscored a major mutiny in February 1946, prior to division of warships, shore-based establishments and personnel between the two countries. The transformation into truly national navies was long and involved, buttressed by continued reliance on British professional expertise and arms transfers. While the Admiralty offered warships on the basis of association with the commonwealth and defence cooperation in the Indian Ocean, navies in India and Pakistan led by senior British officers pursued distinct agendas and force structures that more and more looked towards potential war against each other. Louis Mountbatten, the last British viceroy, intervened often in naval matters before and after partition, encouraging Indians and Pakistanis to build up naval forces suited to national needs as well as serving British interests and imperial defence commitments during the early Cold War. Continued British presence impaired full nationalisation and the assumption of higher leadership roles by qualified indigenous naval officers in the newly independent commonwealth nations.     

The 19th‐Century Akko 1 Shipwreck,Israel: hull‐construction report

The Akko 1 shipwreck was found in 4 m of water inside the ancient harbour of Akko, Israel, and was fully recorded under water. Several hull‐components were retrieved and documented on land, as well as all the finds. The results of the archaeological research and the study of the historical background suggest that the Akko 1 shipwreck is the remains of an eastern Mediterranean naval auxiliary brig, built at the end of the first quarter of the 19th century, and sailing under the Egyptian flag. The ship was apparently wrecked during the 1840 naval bombardment of Akko. © 2012 The Authors     

The Akko 1 Shipwreck, Israel: the First Two Seasons

The Akko 1 shipwreck was found in 4 m of water inside the ancient harbour of Akko (Acre), 250 m from the ancient wall, with its stern touching a submerged rampart. The dense framing-pattern and relatively thin planking, the extensive use of oak and the origin of the timber, suggest that this is the remains of a small armed ship or auxiliary vessel built in the Eastern Mediterranean. The ship has been provisionally dated to the late-18th or early-19th century, the late Ottoman period. The finds testify to its involvement in one of the naval campaigns at Akko.
© 2008 The Authors     

LATE GALLEYS: The Fredriksvern Naval Shipyard and the coastal defence in Norway 1750–1814

From the early 18th century the Mediterranean galley experienced a new golden age in the Baltic Sea, as it was well adapted to the shallow sea with the islands and skerries found there. In Norway the Fredriksvern naval shipyard was founded in 1750 to build a galley fleet. For various reasons progress was slow, and when the galley fleet finally was built in the 1760s, it was probably the last one in Europe. New and more efficient inshore vessels were soon developed in the neighbouring countries, but they were not put into use in Norway in the 18th century. The explanation for Norway’s poor performance was probably too much peace: when Denmark-Norway became involved in the Napoleonic Wars, naval development was dramatically improved.     

Lucien Basch: Ancient wrecks and the archaeology of ships A comment

The material we have today indicates that shell building was known and practised in the Mediterranean in classical antiquity. Comparative material shows that the‘intermediate stages’between shell and skeleton shipbuilding are in most, or all, cases shell building with some skeleton influence. The date when‘the skeleton idea’first struck a boatbuilder is not established. There are indications that this happened in the Mediterranean. No definite proof of skeleton work is found in the Mediterranean earlier than the Yassi Ada wreck, where a bottom shell may have been equipped with a skeleton on which topsides were built. The shell-skeleton division is a working tool for research on shipbuilding history, and should be used critically. The wrecks from Blackfriars I and New Guy's House indicate a kind of skeleton approach to shipbuilding in northern Europe (Marsden, 1967). If the 'skeleton idea’existed in the Mediterranean in classical antiquity, especially in warships, proof will turn up sooner or later. In the meantime, publishers of shipwrecks should take into consideration that we know very little, and that all details count. Field work on the existing tradition in the Mediterranean should be pursued. The lesson learned in Scandinavia is that the archaeologist may theorize as much as he wants, but the boat-builders will be able to give definite answers, if he takes the trouble to ask them, and watch them at work.     

A trireme named Isis: the sgraffito from Nymphaion

A large and detailed image of a Hellenistic galley with the name'Isis'inscribed on its bow was found in a cult centre at ancient Nymphaion, near modern-day Kertsch, in 1984. Given the likelihood that warships received written names on their hulls as early as 480 BCE, the vessel is surely named Isis and is of Ptolemaic origin. When compared to evidence from actual Ptolemaic rams (the Athlit and Actian rams), the Isis ram is clearly for a small class of warship, probably a trireme. We must now rethink our understanding of this image.     

The Problem of the Missing Harbour of Evagoras at Salamis,Cyprus: a review of the evidence and pointers to a solution

This article summarises the archaeological evidence for the existence of Evagoras' naval harbour at Salamis in North Cyprus, which ancient texts credit him with building c.410–400 BC. Based on a critical examination of previous surveys and his own on‐site observations, the author concludes there is indicative evidence of a constructed harbour c.800 m long, which was divided into two basins by a stone jetty, separated from the city by a stone wall and with some evidence of ship‐sheds at its north end. © 2012 The Author     

Comparative Study of Perimortem Weapon Trauma in Two Early Medieval Skeletal Populations (AD 400–1200) from Ireland

Violence was a reality of life in early medieval Ireland (AD 400–1200). Its omnipresence is indicated from numerous narratives of regicide, mortal conflicts, battles and warfare that survive in ancient myths, legends and annalistic accounts. The archaeological evidence of violence and conflict is mainly identified in the osteoarchaeological record, and approximately 13% of all skeletal populations from excavated early medieval cemeteries in Ireland have shown evidence of weapon trauma. This study considers the osteological representation of violent deaths in two contemporaneous Irish skeletal populations dating to this period: Mount Gamble in County Dublin and Owenbristy in County Galway. This analysis involves assessing the different anatomical regions of the body for evidence of lesions that can be attributed to weapon trauma. The results indicate that these populations are likely to have been exposed to violence under differing circumstances; the evidence suggests that the individuals from Mount Gamble may have been well equipped or skilled at interpersonal battle, in contrast to the majority of individuals from Owenbristy who may have been unprotected and unprepared. The presence of two adolescents and two adult females amongst the victims from the latter population gives insight into a wider social dimension of weapon trauma in early medieval Ireland. There is also evidence of postmortem mutilations and decapitations, which reflect ritualistic aspects of violence. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Identifying wine and oil production: analysis of residues from Roman and Late Antique plastered vats

The production of oil and wine was an important aspect of the ancient Mediterranean economy. Among the material remains related to the production of these substances, installations used for their production provide evidence that is still unexploited. Although archaeological studies have been carried out on these installations, problems can arise in the identification of their function, as wine and oil production structures can be similar and the archaeological traces insufficient to establish which substance was produced.     

Naval Battlefield Archaeology of the Lost Kublai Khan Fleets

From AD 1274 Chinese emperor Kublai Khan dispatched fleets of ships in a series of attempts to expand the empire's hegemony and extend his rule into East Asia (Japan) and Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Champa and Java). Archaeological remains associated with the fleets and battles have been found at Takashima Island, Japan and on the B?ch Ð?ng River, Vietnam. This paper develops a thematic approach to these sites within a framework of naval battlefield archaeology. It compares the similarities and differences in environmental conditions and archaeological contexts of the two sites in Japan and Vietnam. It also outlines recent archaeological research conducted between 2008 and 2010 on the physical remains at the B?ch Ð?ng River battlefield site.     

New insights regarding the Akko 1 shipwreck: a metallurgic and petrographic investigation of the cannonballs

The Akko 1 shipwreck constitutes the remains of a small Mediterranean naval vessel, discovered in Akko harbour, Israel, and excavated over three seasons between 2006 and 2008. Among the finds at the shipwreck site were eleven cannonballs. Two of them, a 9-pdr and a 24-pdr, were retrieved and studied using metallurgical and petrographic methods. The examination of the cast-iron was performed with optical microscopy, SEM–EDS, XRF and microhardness tests. The remains of the casting sand from within the voids in both cannonballs were studied by petrography. Combined with the archaeological evidence and the historical background, the metallurgical and petrographic testing may suggest that Akko 1 was a warship or an auxiliary naval vessel of similar size to, or slightly smaller than, sixth rate, and was in Akko harbour circa 1840.     

Archaeometallurgical study of the brass cases from the Akko 1 shipwreck

The Akko 1 shipwreck is the remains of an eastern Mediterranean brig built in the first quarter of the nineteenth century, discovered in Akko harbour, Israel. During the underwater excavations (2006–2008), 158 brass cases were found, mainly between midships and the aft extremity of the shipwreck. It is suggested that they were used for artillery quills. The aim of this investigation is to determine the composition, microstructure and properties of these brass cases in order to understand their manufacturing process and to propose their possible dating and manufacturing location, and to verify their use. An archaeometallurgical analysis of selected brass cases was performed, including optical microscopy, microhardness tests and SEM including EDS. The results show that the collection was made of brass containing about 30 wt% zinc. The uniform thickness and the microstructure of the cases indicate that all artifacts were basically produced of rolled sheets and the cases were hand-made using simple tools. The metallurgical investigation suggests that they were manufactured during the first half of the nineteenth century. Combined with the archaeological evidence and the historical background, this supports the assumption that Akko 1 was a naval auxiliary vessel which was in Akko harbour circa 1840.     

Trade,Politics and the Navy in Latin America: The British in the Paraná, 1845–46

When military conflict and economic disruption in the river Plate region led to a British naval occupation of the river Paraná in 1845–46, traders from many nations followed the warships upstream hoping to conduct business in the Argentine interior and with Paraguay. Since the 1920s historians have uniformly disparaged this Paraná expedition as a commercial failure, insisting that the foreign intruders found neither trade nor welcome among the local populations. In Argentine historiography, the episode is consistently presented as a successful assertion of national identity in the face of European imperial assault. Research here, however, demonstrates not only the expedition's economic success but, again contrary to established opinion, its military and strategic achievements, before the British government abandoned its policy of armed intervention. The Paraná was eventually opened to foreign navigation by international treaties in 1853.     

Maritime Worlds Collide: Agents of Transference and the Metastasis of Seaborne Threats at the End of the Bronze Age

Primary sources from the end of the Bronze Age have long been read as suggesting a time of chaotic transition, particularly with regard to threats from the sea that the established powers had no means of combatting. While the scale and severity of seaborne attacks seems to have increased in the late 13th century, these were not in themselves new phenomena, as a state of maritime threat seems to have been a constant for coastal polities and mariners in the Late Bronze Age eastern Mediterranean. However, a combination of internal and external factors in the late 13th and early 12th centuries combined to make these attacks more effective than they had been in the past, and polities more vulnerable to them. These included the rapid spread of improvements in maritime technology, particularly from the Aegean and the Levant, via high–intensity ‘zones of transference’, as well as an increase in the scale of ship­–based combat operations, due in part to the displacement of people during the Late Bronze Age collapse. This paper addresses this in two parts, beginning with the ‘background’ evidence for a constant state of maritime threat in the centuries leading up to the end of the Bronze Age, and concluding with the ‘foreground’ evidence for zones of transference and the transmission of groundbreaking elements of naval technology in the years surrounding the Late Bronze–Early Iron Age transition.