Scotland’s Great Ships

 

The idea that my co-author, Ronnie Armstrong and I had when writing this book, was that there were some Scottish ships which were so important in Scottish history or in the imagination of Scots that they had taken on iconic status. So we have chapters on the Cutty Sark and the Queen Mary, on the mighty Hood pride of the Royal Navy between the Wars and the humble puffer as well as a number of other ships which for one reason or another seemed to us to fall into this category – one of these was the ill-fated Lusitania [pictured above].

Perhaps not all the ships we discuss will be quite so familiar but all have interesting stories to tell – such as the first Cunard liner, the paddle steamer Britannia – seen below in ice at Boston Harbour.

Click on the image below to go to the amazon.co.uk website where this book can be purchased at a discounted price.

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The Ingenious Mr Bell

Henry Bell was the man who first made a success of steam navigation in Europe – sadly his work did not bring him financial success but his claim to fame as the man behind the paddle steamer Comet [pictured below] is secure.

When my biography of Bell was first published in 1995 it was the first life of Bell since the 1840s and critics made kind comments on it like “scholarly and readable” (Ships Monthly) and “not only an authoritative biography…but a major contribution to the early history of steam navigation” (Lloyd’s List). This paperback edition appeared in 2001 priced at £9.99 – however readers of this blog can buy copies direct from me at only £5.00 post free – email me for details  –brian@bdosborne.fsnet.co.uk

Click here to read my article on Bell’s Highland steamship venture

Carmania

I have an article in this month’s Scots Magazine [April 2008] on the Cunard liner Carmania. She was Cunard’s first turbine-powered liner and was built at John Brown’s shipyard at Clydebank. Apart from her regular career as a luxury trans-Atlantic liner the Carmania had a second life during the 1st World War as an armed merchant cruiser and fought a classic single ship action against the German merchant cruiser Cap Trafalgar.