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Documents: This group contains single maps, plans and track charts. Examples include a map showing stands of timber in the Penobscot area of New England, c 1770; plans of the battle of Trafalgar, 1805; of Portsmouth harbour, 1807; a group of plans relating to Sir John Rennie (1761-1821) concerning the proposed Northfleet dockyard, 1806, the West India docks and the Isle of Dogs, 1802 to 1820; a plan and estimate of 1815 of a proposed breakwater to be built at Deal by Graeme Spence (fl 1758-1815); a plan of Lowestoft harbour, 1830; and of Sunderland and the river Wear, 1867. Plans of dockyards are included in the description of Public Records (Section Two, above), while the main collection of charts in the Museum is held by the Department of Navigation.

This catagory contain single ephemeral items, printed or manuscript documents or cards, and photographs; they have usually been annoted or signed. It includes a copy of the order of ceremony of the funeral procession of Lord Nelson (q.v.) and tickets of admission to the funeral, 1806; a certificate of authenticity relating to a stone shot recovered from the MARY ROSE and presented in 1840 to Admiral Sir Edward Codrington (q.v.), Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, signed by John Deane (b.1810) and William Edwards, the salvagers; a menu autographed by the signatories of the Atlantic Charter, 1941; the instrument of Japanese surrender at Hong Kong, 1945; and an order of ceremonial for unveiling the memorial to Admirals of the Fleet Earl Jellicoe (1859-1935) and Earl Beatty (q.v.) in Trafalgar Square, 1948.

This catagory is composed of small collections of documents relating to specific events. It includes sketches of operations for raising the wreck of the ROYAL GEORGE and coloured illustrations with notes of items salvaged by Colonel Sir Charles Pasley (1780-1861) from the ROYAL GEORGE and the EDGAR, 1839 to 1840; press cuttings and correspondence relating to the Benin Expedition, 1897; and press cuttings and watercolours of the Zeebrugge Raid, 1918, with a chart used on the occasion by Sub-Lieutenant (later Captain) Nevil Pritchard (fl 1900-1979) of the WHIRLWIND.

Comprises atlases, maps and plans; ephemera; general records and descriptions; merchant shipping: historical records; narratives; and Royal Navy order books and orders.

This category includes single documents concerned with particular events relating to merchant shipping. Among the six items are an account by a passenger of an eventful voyage in 1829 in the ISAAC HICKS from Liverpool to New York; and a small diary of a voyage in a deep-sea trawler, the BELGAUM of Grimsby, in 1964.

The earliest item in this category is an account of the capture of Cadiz, 1596, with a list of ships taken and burnt. There are four documents relating to the seventeenth century, including a short report to the King of the Four Days Battle, June 1666, signed by Prince Rupert (1619-1682) and the Duke of Albemarle (1608-1670). Among the seventeen eighteenth-century documents are an extract from the journal of Sir Charles Wager (1666-1743), May to July 1708, relating to the battle of Cartagena and the subsequent courts martial of two of his subordinates; a report of the battle of Minorca, 1756, criticising the conduct of Admiral John Byng; an account of the battle of Quiberon Bay, 1759, with a list of the French fleet; an account of the proceedings of the MONMOUTH, May 1759 to June 1760, during the blockade of Brest; and a journal of the mutiny at the Nore, 1797, probably kept by an aide-de-camp to Sir Charles Grey (1729-1807). The fourteen nineteenth-century documents include a description of the events of the war between Denmark and England, 1801; an account of an attack on and destruction of a French convoy off Toulon and in the Bay of Rosas, 1809, written by an unnamed officer of the LEVIATHAN; and the last record of the expedition in search of the North-West Passage led by Sir John Franklin in the EREBUS and TERROR. It was deposited by Lieutenant Graham M Gore (d [1847]) on King William Island, 28 May 1847, and added to by Captain Francis R M Crozier ([1796]-1848) and Captain James Fitzjames (1813-1848) after abandoning their ships, 26 April 1848, recording the death of Franklin and other members of the expedition. In April 1859 it was found by Lieutenant William Hobson (1831-1880) of the FOX. Among the six items relating to the twentieth century are a typescript report, in English, of the actions between the Russians and Japanese at Chemulpo and Port Arthur, February 1904; and an account of the battle of Jutland, 1916.

The earliest items in this category are five documents signed by Philip II of Spain (1527-1598); two relate to the supplying of galleys in the Mediterranean, 1585 and 1586, and three to the provisioning of the Armada, 1588. There are two seventeenth-century documents, one of which is sailing and fighting instructions issued in 1687 by Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Grafton (1663-1690) The twelve eighteenth-century items include sailing orders signed by Peter the Great (1682-1725), 1719; refitting and sailing orders from the Admiralty to Captain Edward Legge (1710-1747) of the SEVERN or, in his absence, Captain George Murray (later Admiral Lord Elibank) (1706-1785) of the PEARL at Rio following the separation from the CENTURIAN, 1741; and a document showing the disposition of the fleet in order of battle sent by Admiral Lord Hood to Captain (later Vice-Admiral) Horatio Nelson (q.v.) of the AGAMEMNON, 1793. Among the thirteen nineteenth-century documents are draft instructions for troops Admiral Lord Keith's landings in Egypt, by Captain (later Admiral Sir) Alexander Cochrane (1758-1832), 1801; and a series of five orders to William Yates, commander of the revenue cutter ROSE, operating in the English Channel, 1804. There are two twentieth-century documents; an Admiralty order to Vice-Admiral Sir John (Later Lord) Jellicoe (1859-1935) to supersede Admiral Sir George Callaghan (1852-1920) as Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet, 31 July 1914; and a cyclostyled copy of Jellicoe's memorandum issued to the Grand Fleet after the battle of Jutland, 1916.