I know that some of us here are nautically inclined. What historically interests you about the history of Navies, merchants, or any other maritime history?
For me it's the policy of Prize money that the Royal Navy had. At the time it could gain a small fortune for a crew.
Ship design and construction has always interested me. The different philosophies that different navies have used and how it affected their ship design.
I've always found the competition between the Royal Navy and the French Navy interesting, especially the ideologies surrounding the firing on the upward versus downward roll.
The Chinese were the first to use oars (first depicted in 6000 BC), stern mounted rudders for navigation and propulsion (first described in the 6th dynasty 2350–2200 BC), leeboards to prevent leeward drift from the wind (first depicted in 300 BC[/i]), compasses for navigation(first described during the Han dynasty 202 BC-220 AD), center stayed masts with movable saids (first described in 200 AD), the fishing reel (first described in the 4th Century AD), build ships with bulkheads (first described in the 5th Century AD[/i]), as well as the first sea mines (first described in 1311 AD).
China also had the first canals and locks (first documented in the 6th Century AD).
I love reading about sailing in the Age(s) of Exploration. Captain Cook. The Bounty. Magellan. The Portuguese exploration of the Indonesian archipelago in the early 1500s.
I also enjoy reading about castaways. I recently read a number of articles about the General Grant which shipwrecked on the Auckland Islands of the south coast of New Zealand in 1866.
Longitude (about the discovery of the first method allowing the accurate determination of longitude) was an interesting read, but most of it isn't on a boat.
(08-25-2014 12:00 PM)jh Wrote: Longitude (about the discovery of the first method allowing the accurate determination of longitude) was an interesting read, but most of it isn't on a boat.
There's a movie on this (I think BBC made).
I've always been fascinated with ships and their construction, especially battleships and battlecruisers, and in particular WWI and WWII German, Italian and Japanese ships.
(This post was last modified: 08-25-2014 01:53 PM by 49RFootballNow.)
(08-25-2014 12:00 PM)jh Wrote: Longitude (about the discovery of the first method allowing the accurate determination of longitude) was an interesting read, but most of it isn't on a boat.
There's a movie on this (I think BBC made).
I've always been fascinated with ships and their construction, especially battleships and battlecruisers, and in particular WWI and WWII German, Italian and Japanese ships.
The movie starred Jeremy Irons as a present day person bent on restoring the original chronometer.
I'm interested in ancient sailing traditions that predate the historic 'Age of Sail.' For instance, did the Chinese circumnavigate the globe and if so, what map did they use? Or those SE Asian Island cultures that decided to brave the Pacific on what were little more than rafts to reach Hawaii and the Americas.
There is some evidence that shows that the Chinese may have sailed to America before Columbus, which includes a Chinese map from 1417 showing both American continents. Sailing north from China, a sailor could stay close to land the entire way.
Manmade canals have always interested me, why they were built, what did they change economically, and now what are the environmental implications of them (Asian Carp into the Great Lakes for example)
My great-grandfather was a fisherman in Norway. One day he went out and never came back. I always wondered where he was, the type of boat he had, what went wrong, etc.
For those interested in American history and sailing, there's the Mystic Seaport museum in Connecticut. I haven't been there in 20+ years, but I believe it's set up as an 1830's New England fishing village, complete with two or three ships from that era.
A person that I find very interesting is Captain James Cook. My first active duty assignment was a ship deployed to the Indian Ocean. It seemed that everywhere we went, the navigation charts were all based on original surveys by Captain James Cook. I found the body of his work to be amazing, particularly when you add in the Pacific.
(10-26-2014 12:44 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote: A person that I find very interesting is Captain James Cook. My first active duty assignment was a ship deployed to the Indian Ocean. It seemed that everywhere we went, the navigation charts were all based on original surveys by Captain James Cook. I found the body of his work to be amazing, particularly when you add in the Pacific.
He was by far my favorite explorer back in elementary school.
I've always been interested in the involvement of seafaring entities (pirates, privateers, navies, and otherwise) in the historical geopolitics of the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. The Lafitte Brothers saga has always been of particular interest.
Has anyone ever read, In the Heart of the Sea? It's the true story of a whaling ship out of Nantucket that inspired the story of Moby Dick.
Great read. I read it several years ago, but was reminded of it a couple months ago as I sailed in the very waters the true story occurred in, the East Pacific Ocean.
(01-10-2015 11:00 PM)CoastGuardHawk06 Wrote: Has anyone ever read, In the Heart of the Sea? It's the true story of a whaling ship out of Nantucket that inspired the story of Moby Dick.
Great read. I read it several years ago, but was reminded of it a couple months ago as I sailed in the very waters the true story occurred in, the East Pacific Ocean.
I remember reading that text a few years ago. Kinda reminded me why they call it the Abyssal Plain 3000m down. A vengeful sperm whale is the sanest of worries. There's still stuff down there that we have little information about. The unknown is scary.
Edward Teach and Stede Bonnett always..always interested me. Real characters at one time on this earth until Gov. Spottswood of Virginia dealt with Teach!!
(01-27-2015 10:17 AM)South Carolina Duke Wrote: Edward Teach and Stede Bonnett always..always interested me. Real characters at one time on this earth until Gov. Spottswood of Virginia dealt with Teach!!
I watched the cutscenes from the recent Assassin's Creed: Black Flag video game, and I found the portrayals of Stede Bonnett and Edward Teach/Thatch/Blackbeard to be particularly entertaining.
If you like pirates, may just want to watch it all. Other famous names (and some fictional ones) are included.