swizz Posted 12 April , 2007 Share Posted 12 April , 2007 Morning all This is a rather broad question I'm afraid but I am more or less a total novice in this area. Are there any particular books I could read to find out about the war in the seas around the British Isles? I'm particularly interested in minefields around Ireland but not sure where to begin. Yours hopefully Swizz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dycer Posted 12 April , 2007 Share Posted 12 April , 2007 Swizz, Although it is a broad brush, a good starting point. The Imperial War Museum-Book of the War at Sea 1914-1918 by Julian Thompson. Paperback Edition is printed by Pan Books ISBN-13:978-0-330-49172-3 or ISBN-10:0-330-49171-5. I picked my copy up in Gatwick Airport for £9.99 if that's any help George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseph Posted 12 April , 2007 Share Posted 12 April , 2007 Swizz, E. Keble Chatterton. Danger Zone. The Story of the Queenstown Command with 40 plates and 3 maps. The Auxilliary Patrol. Contemporary accounts a good read and informative. Regards Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swizz Posted 12 April , 2007 Author Share Posted 12 April , 2007 Thanks George and Charles to you both. I will try and get hold of both of these. Up til now I have basically been looking at the infantry and I'd forgotten how hard it is starting a new subject from scratch! Swizz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
per ardua per mare per terram Posted 12 April , 2007 Share Posted 12 April , 2007 Here's some more: "TAFFRAIL" (Taprell DORLING) 'Endless story: being an account of the work of the destroyers, flotilla-leaders, torpedo-boats and patrol boats in the Great War.' Avoid the 6th abridged edition! Plenty of choice in libraries or on Abebooks of better editions. Roy Humphreys, ‘The Dover Patrol, 1914-18’ ISBN: 0750919671 Publisher: Sutton Publishing Admiral Sir Reginald Bacon, ‘The Dover Patrol 1915 -1917.’ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiegeGunner Posted 12 April , 2007 Share Posted 12 April , 2007 Admiral Sir Reginald Bacon, ‘The Dover Patrol 1915 -1917.’ If you go for this one, look out for the 'Concise Story of the Dover Patrol', which is a one-volume condensation of the 2-volume edition. Although a couple of highly technical chapters are omitted, the content is otherwise the same, with some revisions and additions of new material. Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swizz Posted 13 April , 2007 Author Share Posted 13 April , 2007 these are both great - thanks 'per ardua' and mick. More to add to my list! Swizz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
per ardua per mare per terram Posted 13 April , 2007 Share Posted 13 April , 2007 Not forgetting The Official History: Naval Operations Vols 1-3 by Sir JS Corbett and vols 4-5 by H Newbolt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swizz Posted 14 April , 2007 Author Share Posted 14 April , 2007 Thanks - I'll look out for that one too. (Pity Christmas is so far away!!) Swizz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clio Posted 17 April , 2007 Share Posted 17 April , 2007 The vade mecum of great war minefields is the Leith Lockhart history. There may be volumes at Kew or Greenwich but the one I have used in my researches is at the Royal Naval Historical Branch Library at Portsmouth Dockyard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffo Posted 17 April , 2007 Share Posted 17 April , 2007 swizz, though it's not relevant to Ireland, take a look here, gives an insight into bombardments by Battlecruisers on the North East Coast. http://www.northeasthistory.co.uk/the_nort...ents/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swizz Posted 19 April , 2007 Author Share Posted 19 April , 2007 Sorry - I only just noticed these replies. Clio - that sounds very useful indeed and I will look into where I might be able to access a copy. Could you give me an idea of what sort of information is in that book? For example, are there maps? Toffo - that website is a great resource. The article about the German shelling reminded me that I have read something about it before. I think it was in this book if you are interested: http://www.amazon.co.uk/All-Quiet-Home-Fro...6929&sr=8-1 thanks again to all! Swizz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historydavid Posted 20 April , 2007 Share Posted 20 April , 2007 Swizz, The main sea war around the UK was fought against the German submarines. An excellent account is given in the OH "The German Submarine War" by R H Gibson and Maurice Prendergast. Best wishes David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toffo Posted 20 April , 2007 Share Posted 20 April , 2007 Sorry - I only just noticed these replies. Toffo - that website is a great resource. The article about the German shelling reminded me that I have read something about it before. I think it was in this book if you are interested: http://www.amazon.co.uk/All-Quiet-Home-Fro...6929&sr=8-1 thanks again to all! Swizz Swizz, thanks for that, copy on order...toffo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Carruthers Posted 21 April , 2007 Share Posted 21 April , 2007 A very detailed account of the 10th Cruiser Squadron can be found in "The Maritime Blockade of Germany in the Great War:The Northern Patrol 1914-1918"; edited by John Grainger; published by the Navy Records Society Vol 145 Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clio Posted 22 April , 2007 Share Posted 22 April , 2007 The Leith Lockhart History gives the precise positions of all minefields laid 1914-1918. I have only consulted it with regard to the British Isles but it gives details of why it was thought necessary to lay a field in a given area, who took the decision, when the fields were laid, the name of the vessels laying them, where the vessels sailed from. It also gives the full co-ordinates of the individual fields as you would expect plus a history of any submarines known to have been destroyed in them. The book is accompanied by a series of chart cut-outs showing the locations of the fields. Unfortunately only the negatives have survived and they require a special reader machine to make sense of them. Best thing you can do is drop a line to Kate Tildesley at the Royal Naval Historical Branch library in Portsmouth. Incidentally the book by Gibson and Prendergast is very good (the original research material now resides in the Submarine Museum. One caveat is that it is frequently at variance with German records and as I have learned to my cost, you have to cross reference anything in British records with KDM archives to make any sort of sense in this game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swizz Posted 23 April , 2007 Author Share Posted 23 April , 2007 Thanks Clio - that sounds ideal. And Ken - that is the very squadron I am interested in! Will definitely try and get hold of that. Swizz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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