The Mariner's Mirror Podcast

By The Society for Nautical Research and the Lloyds Register FoundationSociety & Culture Education History

The Mariner's Mirror Podcast episodes

May 26, 2021 The Evacuation of Dunkirk, 1940
On this day in 1940, the British Expeditionary Force and other Allied troops were evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk, to save them from the rapidly approaching German forces who had just launched their lightning invasion of northern Europe. It was one of the most challenging and significant amphibious operations and evacuations in history. The planners of Operation Dynamo first estimated that 45,000 men might be rescued; but between 26 May and 4 June 338,226 men were returned to England by a vast armada of disparate vessels including destroyers, minesweepers, fishing vessels and the famous fleet of 'Little Ships' - all privately owned and requisitioned for the rescue. Today Dr Sam Willis speaks with Dr Philip Weir, author of Dunkirk and the Little Ships. Philip Weir is a historian who specialises in the Royal Navy in the early twentieth century. He has written for the Navy Records Society, History Today and Time and has contributed to television and radio programmes, including the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are. Philip is also a Titan in the world of maritime and naval history on Social Media and can be followed on Twitter @navalhistorian
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1 hr
May 24, 2021 Iconic Ships 3: HMS Hood
A very special episode in our new Iconic Ships series, published on the anniversary of the loss of HMS Hood in 1941. HMS Hood is without doubt one of the Royal Navy’s most famous ships. A battle-cruiser, laid down in 1916 and launched in 1918, she was the largest battle cruiser ever built and the largest warship of any type in the world for twenty years. She enjoyed a correspondingly high profile which rendered her loss, with all but three of her crew, particularly potent. On this day in May 1941, whilst hunting the mighty German battleship Bismark, Hood was struck by several German shells, exploded, and sank in just three minutes.

This week is special not only for the subject but also for the historian who makes the case for Hood being an Iconic Ship - it is a contribution made by the late Eric Grove who so sadly was recently lost to us.

Eric was one of the UK's most important naval historians; a magnificent personality, a brilliant teacher and a formidable scholar. His works include Vanguard to Trident: British Naval Policy Since 1945 (1987), The Future of Sea Power (1990), The Price of Disobedience (2000) and The Royal Navy Since 1815 (2005). He also edited a new edition of Julian Corbett's Some Principles of Maritime Strategy in 1988. He made contributions to many television programmes including BBC2's Timewatch series, Deep Wreck Mysteries, Channel 4's Hunt for the Hood and the Bismarck and the series The Battleships and the Airships.
Grove was a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a Member of Council of the Navy Records Society and most importantly of course, he was a Vice President of the Society for Nautical Research which publishes this podcast.

This recording was made just the day before his death and was the last piece of work he prepared for publication. HMS Hood was the subject that Eric was most passionate about and in this episode you can hear him explain why she was so important, in his own words, and in his own voice.
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17 min
May 21, 2021 Amphibious Operations
This week Dr Sam Willis speaks with Timothy Heck, the Deputy Directing Editor at the Modern War Institute at the United States Military Academy in West Point. They discuss the changing nature of amphibious operations in history and its relevance to the present day. What can the US Marine Corps today learn from amphibious operations in the past? Like DDay in WW2 or Gallipoli in WW1? How are other lesser-known operations relevant and important? From a night attack on the shores of Tuscany in 1555 to a Turkish amphibious assault in response to a coup in Cyprus in 1974? How do amphibious operations relate to key turning points in history? Why does the history of maritime amphibious operations matter?
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34 min
May 13, 2021 The Wonderful World of Ships' Cats, Dogs and Birds: The Museum of Maritime Pets
This week Dr Sam Willis explores the heart-warming story of maritime pets by speaking with Pat Sullivan from the excellent Museum of Maritime Pets. There is a centuries-old tradition of animals living on or near water, and collaborating with man (and woman) in both peace and war. Pat has spent a great deal of time documenting these animals' contributions and promoting the safe and humane treatment of animals who live or work on or near waterways in our modern world. From live-saving and courageous Newfoundlands swimming to the rescue, to chatty parrots, and cats that can catch fish, you will never think the same way about pets and the maritime world ever again.
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39 min
May 06, 2021 The Nanggala Submarine Disaster and the K-Class Submarines of the First World War
This episode has been inspired by the tragedy of the Nanggala, a submarine of the Indonesian navy that disappeared earlier this month with 53 crew members on board and only 72 hours of oxygen to keep them alive. After 5 days of searching Nangala was found at a depth of more than 800 meters, split into three sections. This has led to a great deal of discussion in the press about submarine design. In this episode Dr Sam Willis talks with Andrew Choong Han Lin, curator of ships plans and technical records at the National Maritime Museum in London. They discuss the fascinating history of the British K-class submarines of the First World War that became infamous for their poor design. To go alongside this podcast episode we have animated the fabulous ship plans for the K-Class submarines that are held in the collections of the Caird Library at the National Maritime Museum. Check it out on the Mariner's Mirror Podcast YouTube page.
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39 min
April 30, 2021 Ghost Ships of the Dart: The Wreck of the Fever Ship Mayfly
Estuaries and creeks around the coast of England are littered with the remains of watercraft which have been deliberately abandoned when they are no longer deemed useful. The extent of this is astonishing. In 2013 a survey identified at least 199 assemblages of hulked vessels all around the English coastline and this is by no means the complete record. In recent years many have been identified and they have fascinating histories. This week Dr Sam Willis meets Grant Bettinson a maritime archaeologist and Discovery Programme Officer for South Devon Rivers, for 'Citizan' - The Coastal and Intertidal Zone Archaeological Network. Exploring the banks of Old Mill Creek on the Dart they discover the hulk of the Mayfly, once a fever ship during outbreaks of yellow fever and smallpox in the early years of the twentieth century. The interview was filmed and has been posted on our YouTube and includes stunning drone footage of the hulks on the Dart.
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27 min
April 26, 2021 Freed from the Ice: The Last Entry of the Logbook of the Whaler Swan
Regular listeners will know that over the past few months we have been reading extracts from the logbook of the whaler Swan of Hull at the start of each episode (with the exception of the Iconic Ships and Great Sea Fights special series). The Swan became trapped in the ice off the west coast of Greenland in the autumn of 1836.

These readings come from a transcription of the logbook held in the archives of the Caird Library In the National Maritime Museum in London. – the transcription has been made especially for this podcast – you are the first people ever to hear these words read aloud. This podcast episode is, itself, a little piece of maritime history.

The episode presents the final entries in her log, in April 1837. Little is known about what happened next but it is clear from the log that they had very little time left. She was discovered by a fleet of whaleships. Ten sailors were put on board her to navigate her home, along with fresh provisions. From her original complement of between fifty and sixty men—including some men of a wrecked ship whom she had taken onboard in the previous summer—only seventeen men were alive when she reached Lerwick. She finally made it back to hull in July 1837, long after she had been given up for lost.
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11 min
April 22, 2021 Iconic Ships 2: The Mayflower
Dr Sam Willis presents episode 2 of our new Iconic Ships series, looking today at the history of the Mayflower. This new Iconic Ships series has been conceived as an opportunity for curators of famous historic vessels to make a case for their surviving vessel and also for historians to make a case for a historic vessel that no longer survives. In this episode we hear from Kathryn Gray from the University of Plymouth who makes the case for the Mayflower, the vessel that set sail from Plymouth in 1620, bound for America, with a group of families on board who became known as The Pilgrims. Later in the year a public vote will be held on which vessel YOU think deserves to win our Iconic Ships series.
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19 min
April 15, 2021 Iconic Ships 1: The Mary Rose
This is the first of a new sub-series of podcast episodes: ‘Iconic Ships’. The series has been conceived as an opportunity for curators of famous historic vessels to make a case as to why their ship is iconic, but it is also open to historians to make a case for a historic vessel that no longer survives. Once we have sufficient entries we will open this up to the public and run a poll.

We start with the Mary Rose – a Tudor warship that served in Henry VIII’s navy for 34 years before sinking in battle with the French in 1545. She was then raised in 1982 and her hull, and tens of thousands or artefacts raised with her, are now on display in the National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth. The Mary Rose is, without doubt, one of the most important historical artefacts in the world, let alone one of history’s most iconic ships.

The case for the Mary Rose is made by Chris Dobbs, head of interpretation at the Mary Rose museum and one of the Archaeological Supervisors in charge of excavating the contents of the shipwreck.
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40 min
April 12, 2021 The Terror
Inspired by the recent BBC series 'The Terror', a chilling tale based on one of polar exploration’s deepest mysteries, Dr Sam Willis explores the history HMS Terror. The TV series is set on the Terror’s last and fateful voyage when, in 1845, under the command of Sir John Franklin and alongside another ship, HMS Erebus, Terror sailed into the ice off the west coast of Greenland in search of the Northwest passage. Both ships were beset by ice but the crew stayed with the ships, only abandoning them in April 1848. By then Franklin and more than 24 sailors had died. The survivors attempted to walk to the Canadian mainland and were never seen again.

The TV series is a fictional and fantastical account of what might have happened to the men; the truth is that we know very little indeed about their plight and it remains one of the biggest mysteries of maritime history. The Terror and Erebus were last sighted by Europeans on 25 July 1845, two years and nine months before the final and failed attempt to reach land.

In this episode Sam Willis speaks with Ed Williams-Hawkes, an expert navigator of powerboats, historian, and resident of Topsham in Devon where the Terror was built, and they discuss the fascinating history of HMS Terror, which had enjoyed a long and extraordinary career before she entered the ice with Franklin.
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44 min

About The Mariner's Mirror Podcast

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The world's No.1 podcast dedicated to all of maritime and naval history. With one foot in the present and one in the past we bring you the most exciting and interesting current maritime projects…