<div>At the beginning of the last century it was possible to sail from London to Glasgow via the south coast ports and Belfast, returning along the east coast from either Dundee or Leith for as little as five pounds. Those were the days when 300 passengers were landed twice weekly at Grangemouth or Dundee from the London boat, and the coastal passenger and cargo liner was in its heyday, catering both for the first class tourist as well as offering keenly priced second class fares for the like of football fans following away matches. Sadly, these wonderful steamer services are now largely forgotten but this new book will stir fond memories of the ships and their coastal voyages. The Depression of the 1930s, coupled with competition from both railway and the motor coach, were to spell the end for many of the coastal liners, while heavy losses incurred in World War II left only a few ships each offering just a handful of passenger berths. The story of their one hundred years of service is accompanied by numerous fascinating anecdotes, and the book focuses as much on the social need for coastal passenger services, the men and women who provided the services and the passengers who used them, as it does on the nuts and bolts of the ships themselves. This beautifully presented book will delight both ship enthusiasts and all those who enjoy the maritime and social history of the British Isles.</div>

Coastal Passenger Liners of the British Isles

<div>In both World Wars there arose a pressing need for merchant tonnage both to supplement existing ships but, more importantly, to replace ships that had been sunk by enemy action, and the key to the Allied strategy in both wars was a massive programme of merchant shipbuilding. This need gave rise to a series of standard designs with increasing emphasis on prefabrication and a progression towards welded hulls.This new book tells the remarkable story of the design and construction of the many types that not only contributed to their countrys war efforts, but were also responsible for a cultural change in world shipbuilding that would lay the foundations for the post-war industry. The story begins in the First World War with the National type cargo ships which were the first examples of prefabricated construction. The best known of all types of wartime standard ships, of course, were the Liberty ships and their successor, the better equipped Victory ships, both built in the United States. Some 2,700 Liberty ships were built and this incredible achievement undoubtedly saved the Allies from losing the War. In Canada, the Ocean and Park ships made a further major contribution. Germany and Japan also introduced standard merchant shipbuilding programmes during the Second World War and these are covered in detail. The many different types and designs are all reviewed and their roles explained, while the design criteria, innovative building techniques and the human element of their successful operation is covered.Some of the story has been told piecemeal in a range of diverse books and articles, a few with extensive fleet lists. However, the complete history of the twentieth century wartime-built standard merchant ship has not previously been written, so this new volume recording that history within its appropriate technical, political and military background will be hugely welcomed.</div>

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Wartime Standard Ships

<div>Scotland's maritime heritage is a highly significant one, embracing as it does a quite outstanding contribution to Britain's development both as an empire and as the world's leading maritime power in the nineteenth century.Scottish engineering, ship-owning and operating, as well as business and entrepreneurial skills, played a major part in the success of the Merchant Navy, while Scottish emigrants took skills to every corner of the world, creating trade and wealth both abroad and at home. In terms of engineering, 'Clyde-built' was the Kitemark for the shipbuilding industry the world over. Scottish shipowners included household names such as Allan, Anchor, Donaldson and Henderson, while Scotsmen were instrumental in founding and, for much of the time, managing Cunard, British India, P &amp; O, Orient, Glen and many other 'English' companies.The author tells an exhilarating story of energy and inventiveness, describing the remarkable navigational skills of the highlanders and the technological and business skills of the lowlanders, and relates the early development of the steamship, the impact of emigration, the involvement with exploration and the development of trade routes, and the final flowering of the world's last great iron sailing ships. And the evidence is still here, in the Cutty Sark, the Denny test tank at Dumbarton, and the Burrell Collection at Pollock, all reminders of a remarkable story.As seen in Scottish Memories Magazine.</div>

Scotland and the Sea

<div>From War to Peace tells the story of the adaptation from White Ensign to Red Ensign, and to flags of other nations, of the numerous classes of naval ships mainly built during the two world wars and surplus to requirements with the advent of peace. It also describes ships sourced from the United States Navy and elsewhere that were converted for commercial use.  The most successful classes to transfer to the merchant service were the Hunt-class minesweepers of the Great War, Landing Craft, Tank, the salvage tugs of World War Two, and the wooden-hulled Fairmile launches which became familiar at seaside resorts in the 1950s and ‘60s; and, of course, the MFV classes that helped the fishing industry in the postwar years. The story includes the successful commercial conversions of many of the Flower and Castle Class corvettes and River Class frigates, notably the 1954 conversion of HMCS Stormont to a luxury yacht for the Greek shipping magnate Onassis. It describes why HMS Charybdis became a passenger liner in the Great War, and how HMS Albatross nearly became a luxury liner after World War Two, but in fact was transformed into a very unpopular emigrant ship and ended her days as a floating casino based at Cape Town.  The author reveals the military antecedents of numerous commercial vessels that many would have thought were built especially for the service that they later maintained, and it illustrates just how many Royal Navy vessels ended up in private ownership. And the question is asked: if the military had not built so many ships that were eminently suitable for commercial adaptation, would the technical development of merchant shipping have progressed at a faster rate than it did? The answer is a definite ‘no’, and is illustrated in several ways. It was former naval vessels that promoted the early development of the Ro-Ro ferry; former naval ships introduced numerous design innovations, for example, the raised foredeck common for so many years on salvage tugs, and, above all, stripped of their military hardware, ex naval ships provided opportunities for modest investment where otherwise there would have been none.  Copiously illustrated throughout, the book tells a fascinating story of invention and ingenious ship conversion, and of pragmatic adaptation in the financially stringent years after two world wars.</div>

Nick Robins
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Books By Nick Robins (4 Books)

Coastal Passenger Liners of the British Isles

Wartime Standard Ships

Scotland and the Sea

From War to Peace

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Nick RobinsFollow this author

Books By Nick Robins (4 Books)

Coastal Passenger Liners of the British Isles

Wartime Standard Ships

Scotland and the Sea

From War to Peace

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© 2024 OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA

Nick Robins
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