Books

Signals intelligence played a vital role in the Allied defeat of the U-boats during the Battle of the Atlantic. This book presents documents which show the role of signals intelligence during the Battle of the Atlantic. Focusing on the collection, analysis, and employment of signals intelligence materials by the Royal and United States navies during… Read Abstract »

John Knox Laughton created modern naval history to harmonise the adacemic standards of the new English historical profession with the strategic and doctrinal needs of the contemporary Royal Navy. His correspondents included major figures in both the historical and the naval professions: Alfred T Mahan, Samuel Rawson Gardiner, Julian Corbett, Cyprian Bridge and many others…. Read Abstract »

The year 2001 marked the centenary of the Royal Navy’s submarine service. This volume opens with an examination of the background to the Board of Admiralty’s decision in 1900 to buy submarines, bringing to light documents that go a long way toward dispelling the myth that Britain’s pre-1914 naval leaders were opposed to the development… Read Abstract »

Following America’s entry into World War Two, there was a necessity for the Royal Navy to strengthen co-operation with the United States Navy. Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham’s brief term as head of the British Admiralty Delegation in Washington was to endear him to the Americans so much so that they proposed him as Allied Naval… Read Abstract »

This volume contains the U-boat situations and trends written by the staff of the Admiralty’s Operational Intelligence Centre during the Second World War. Based largely on communications intelligence, the U-boat situations and trends were designed to inform a small number of senior officers and high officials of the latest events and developments in the Allied… Read Abstract »

During the First World War German use of unrestricted submarine warfare, supported by extensive mining and surface raids, very nearly forced Britain out of the war in 1917. The island’s heavy dependence on seaborne supplies was gravely threatened again in 1939, supplemented this time by air attacks on shipping. After the war Commanders Waters and… Read Abstract »

This collection of high policy documents charts Britain’s difficulties in defending the Empire in a time of ‘imperial overstretch’. The 20th century saw the rise of several great maritime and military powers and the relative decline of British strength, which created major defence problems for the British Empire. Various solutions were attempted, such as ententes… Read Abstract »

Sir James Somerville (1882-1949) was one of the great influences on the 20th-century navy, both as a commander of fleets and a pioneer of radio and radar. The Admiral’s extensive correspondence, diaries and reports are deposited in the Churchill Archives Centre at Cambridge. These edited selections reveal much of the background about major naval operations… Read Abstract »

David Beatty joined the Victorian Navy in 1884. His early career therefore occurred at a time of great technological, tactical and strategic challenges to the Royal Navy. In 1910 he was promoted to Rear Admiral, and from 1912 served as Naval Secretary to Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty. This role in turn… Read Abstract »

To celebrate its centenary in 1993, the Society produced a special volume covering seven hundred and fifty years of British naval history, containing 535 documents carefully selected by leading experts. See the contents of British Naval Documents 1204-1960.

The working relationship between the Royal Navy and the US Navy began in a tentative and stuttering fashion in the dark days of 1917 and prior to the American entry into World War One they were largely unacquainted. Relations between the individual members of the two services in distant waters appear to have been cordial… Read Abstract »

David Beatty joined the Victorian Navy in 1884. His early career therefore occurred at a time of great technological, tactical and strategic challenges to the Royal Navy. In 1910 he was promoted to Rear Admiral, and from 1912 served as Naval Secretary to Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty. This role in turn… Read Abstract »

This volume needs to be read in conjunction with NRS Volume 115 Policy and Operations in the Mediterranean, 1912-1914. The Mediterranean was a secondary theatre for the Royal Navy and the ships tended to be ageing and retired from fleet duty. France assumed the major responsibility, along with Italy but the Royal Navy retained a… Read Abstract »

This edition contains documents from the seventeenth century to the Second World War. There is additional material to complement NRS Volume 116 from the Commission of Enquiry in 1608, an account of the Earl of Warwick’s voyage to the Mediterranean in 1627 and documents relating to the management of the Royal Dockyards between 1672 and… Read Abstract »

Arthur Pollen (1866-1937) trained as a barrister but eventually became a successful businessman. In 1900 he became interested in the problem of aiming naval artillery after witnessing a practice firing at sea. From that time he formulated his ideas for a system of firing accurately at long range and in 1906 he persuaded the Admiralty… Read Abstract »

The start of Volume III, 1939-1945, finds Keyes in a frustrating position. Too young for fleet command in the First World War, he was now too old for command in the Second World War. Keyes’s temperament did not allow him to suffer in silence. His criticisms of the Naval Staff, and implicitly of the government… Read Abstract »

Roger John Brownlow Keyes, first Baron Keyes (1872-1945). Keyes was a controversial man during his lifetime and has remained so ever since. His correspondence and papers is a vast collection held at Churchill College, Cambridge, and these volumes are just a selection of them. There has been renewed interest in the period since the publication… Read Abstract »

Roger John Brownlow Keyes, first Baron Keyes (1872-1945). Keyes was a controversial man during his lifetime and has remained so ever since. His correspondence and papers is a vast collection held at Churchill College, Cambridge, and these volumes are just a selection of them. There has been renewed interest in the period since the publication… Read Abstract »

The documents in this focus on the Mediterranean in the years 1912 to 1914 are grouped in four sections, each with an informative Introduction. The first covers the debate on British policy in the Mediterranean which occurred soon after Winston Churchill became First Lord of the Admiralty, as well as the conversations between Britain and… Read Abstract »

The documents in this large volume describes the earliest beginnings of naval aviation when the potential of airpower became apparent to both military and naval men. The documents are largely from the National Archives, with a small minority from personal collections in repositories such as Kings College London and the National Maritime Museum. During the… Read Abstract »

This substantial selection of the professional and private papers of Admiral John Jellicoe, first Earl Jellicoe (1859-1935), extends from 1893 to 1935. Its publication was directly followed in 1969, by Professor Patterson’s succinct biography of the admiral. Since then, a resurgence of interest in the Battle of Jutland and in pre-war naval provision has resulted… Read Abstract »

This substantial selection of the professional and private papers of Admiral John Jellicoe, first Earl Jellicoe (1859-1935), extends from 1893 to 1935. Its publication was directly followed in 1969, by Professor Patterson’s succinct biography of the admiral. Since then, a resurgence of interest in the Battle of Jutland and in pre-war naval provision has resulted… Read Abstract »

This collection of documents is restricted to official papers written by (or at the instigation of) Admiral Sir John Fisher, first Baron Fisher (1841-1920) in his capacity as First Sea Lord 1904-1910. Fisher was convinced of the inevitability of war with Germany. All his volcanic energy was directed to reforming the Royal Navy and preparing… Read Abstract »

This collection of documents is restricted to official papers written by (or at the instigation of) Admiral Sir John Fisher, first Baron Fisher (1841-1920) in his capacity as First Sea Lord 1904-1910. Fisher was convinced of the inevitability of war with Germany. All his volcanic energy was directed to reforming the Royal Navy and preparing… Read Abstract »