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It consists of correspondence, articles, notes, drawings, photographs and ephemera concerning paddle steamers run by various compnaies, including the Caledonian Steam Packet Co Ltd; Cosens Co/Red Funnel Steamers; the General Steam Navigation Co (Eagle Steamers, Eagle and Queen Line and Queen Line); P & A Campbell Ltd/White Funnel Fleet; and Royal Mail Steam Packet Co Ltd/Red Funnel Steamers. There is also material re British Rail (Southern Region); services on the Clyde; Thames steamer launches; and pleasure sailings on the Danube, Lake Lucerne and the Rhine.

Papers of Orient Steam Navigation Co Ltd .Most of them are post-Second World War; the majority of the earlier records were destroyed when the company's city offices were bombed in the early part of the war. For Anderson, Green and Company Limited, surviving material includes the minutes of the Directors' meetings, 1941 to 1969; the Reports of the Directors to the Annual General Meetings of the Shareholders, 1941 to 1969; the Register of Directors and Secretaries, 1919 to 1969; files containing items for Secretary's Agenda, 1960, and miscellaneous correspondence, 1960 to 1965. Among the Orient Steam Navigation Company papers are minutes of a committee of the Directors, 1946 to 1948; minutes of the Directors' meetings, 1948 to 1964; Annual Reports from the Directors to the Shareholders, 1945 to 1960, together with balance sheets, profit and loss accounts and newspaper cuttings. The company Seal Register, 1959 to 1965, is also present and there are copies of the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the company, with amendments, 1900 to 1965. The shareholders' records include lists of dividends paid to shareholders, 1954 to 1964. There is also a file containing some correspondence and other documents on the offer made by the P&O Company to Orient Line ordinary shareholders, 1960, together with acceptance forms for the sale of shares, and similar for preference shareholders, 1965. Few book-keeping records have survived, but there are some working papers on cash accumulations and analysis of receipts and payments, 1937 to 1940 and 1949 to 1953; private ledgers, 1933 to 1948, 1955 to 1959; journal, 1953 to 1966; analysis of passenger embarkations and passage earnings, 1959; and steamers' ledgers, 1947, and 1958 to 1959, together with a cash book analysis ledger, 1960; investment ledgers, 1924 to 1959. There are several files containing display advertising samples, 1931 to 1940, 1949 to 1953, and a number of copies of the Orient Line Guide, which went through several editions, 1888 to 1901 Records of ships include a selection of ship files, 1936 to 1954, including voyage reports, ship sinkings in the Second World War, newspaper cuttings, etc; some material on schedules, 1956 to 1958; passenger earnings, 1956; and a box of papers on migration, 1947 to 1956. Books of Instructions, to commanders on the carrying of mails, 1911; pursers, 1931; surgeons, 1947; and officers, 1960, have also been retained, together with a copy of Uniform Regulations, 1958. Staff records include a volume containing Reports on Character, Stewards' Department, ca.1913 to ca.1925. Finally, there are several copies of the Articles of Association of P&O/ Orient Lines Passenger Services Limited. (Section 3: OSN/: 45ft: 1,372cm) Ships' Plans: these were deposited on loan in 1963, 1969 and 1970. This collection comprises prints and linen tracings of six typical Orient liners, 1917 to 1937. Lines, general arrangements and hydrostatics are included as are 'as fitted' drawings and specifications.

Papers relating to the 1937 Central London Omnibus Strike, notably proceedings of the Court of Inquiry into the Central London Omnibus Dispute, 1937; documentary evidence submitted to the Court of Inquiry by the London Passenger Transport Board, 1926-1937, including details of rates of pay and conditions of service, correspondence of Ernest Bevin to Frank Pick and Theodore Thomas of the LPTB, statistics relating to driver illness, and details of London traffic and bus speed; left-wing material regarding the strike, 1936-1937, notably pamphlets issued by the London Busmen's Rank-and-File Movement, the Transport and General Workers' Union and the Communist Party of Great Britain, as well as copies of The Daily Worker; miscellaneous material, including a memorandum of agreement between the TGWU and the LPTB as to rates of pay and conditions of service for conductors and drivers.

Papers realting to Sir Erasmus Ommanney's career in the Royal Navy, to his part in the administration of poor relief in Ireland from 1847-1849, and the Franklin search expedition of 1850-1851, including documents concerning his appointment as a midshipman; an order book and letters and reports from and to Ommanney on board HMS VERSUVIUS in the Mediterranean 1842-1844; official letters from the HMS MIRANDA and HMS BRISK in the Baltic fleet; a rough report and letter book of 1858; a personal letter book of 1851-1887 and other correspondence (with the Admiralty, Hyde Parker, William Walpole, Captain Hamilton and Sir James Graham); a folder of sketches, mainly of Arctic subjects, by George Morant, W H Church, and Ommanney; papers concerned with the Franklin search expedition of 1850-1851 when Ommanney was Captain of HMS ASSISTANCE, including a log book; order book; official reports; Admiralty communications; reports and correspondence exchanged among ships; personal letters (Dr. J Richardson, Captain John Ross, John Barrow, H Austin, Lady Franklin and others); and a scrap book of papers about the ASSISTANCE, RESOLUTE, PIONEER and sledge parties, copies of the Franklin reward poster, posters and programmes printed on board ship, sketches and notes.

Papers of Algernon Hardy Oliver. They comprise a series of logs, some watch, station and quarter bills, a sights book, 1872 to 1876, three diaries, 1879 to 1881, and a notebook, 1888.

Papers of Adml Richard Aldworth Oliver. They consist of a notebook kept in the QUEEN; a general order and memoranda book, 1840 to 1850; a letterbook, 1847 to 1851, and a diary, 1848 to 1850, kept in the FLY, describing Oliver's time in New Zealand and a voyage to the New Hebrides.

Papers of Robert Dudley Oliver. There are three standing order books, one for Plymouth and Spithead, 1798 to 1799, probably when Oliver was Captain of the NEMESIS, and two for the MARS, 1804, 1805 to 1806. There are also two letters written by Nelson to Oliver's father-in-law, Sir Charles Saxton.

Papers of Cpt Richard Oliver-Bellasis. They consist of standing orders and routines for some of the ships in which he served. There are also papers for a course at the Royal Naval College in 1936 and for a damage control course in 1943.

Brochure advertising cart lamps which accord with bye-laws, 1897-1898.

Papers of Frederick North. The collection consists of his diaries in the ALERT, 1878 to 1882. There are also photograph albums relating to North in the Department of Pictures.

Records of North Metropolitan Tramways, comprising minutes of Board meetings, minutes of General meetings and minutes of Shareholder meetings.

Records of Mark Noble, pump and fire engine manufacturer, comprising a diary and the donor's transcript and notes. The diary is unsigned, but the donor has identified the author from a patent mentioned in the text and from records at The National Archives relating to the activities described. The entries are mostly accounts of travel and meetings in London, Kent and Berkshire to arrange finance, materials and trials of a pump, with little technical or personal content.

Papers relating to his service on HMAS SHROPSHIRE in the Pacific Ocean, 1944-1945, dated [1984-1985], principally comprising ''Shropshire' in the Philippines', a pamphlet on the service of HMAS SHROPSHIRE in the Philippines, 1944-1945, including the Battle of Leyte, Oct 1944, and the landings at Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, Jan 1945, written by Frank Hoolahan and published for New South Wales Branch of the Canberra-Shropshire Association, [1984-1985]; Shropshire Times, 25 Oct 1984, special edition commemorating the service of the HMAS SHROPSHIRE in the Philippines, 1944-1945; printed texts of lectures by John C Date to the Naval Historical Society of Australia, 1984-1985, notably on the Battle of Savo Island, Solomon Islands, 9 Aug 1942, and the Battle of Leyte, Philippines, 22-26 Oct 1944.

This class contains six bound manuscript copies of ships' newspapers. They are generally of a humerous nature and include short stories, verse, riddles and jokes, and ship's news and gossip; nearly all are illustrated. There are two examples from the Royal Navy; 'The Young Idea', the weekly papers of the CHESAPEAKE, 1857 to 1859; and 'The Rocket', 1868 to 1869, newspaper of the MINOTAUR. The 'Sierra Cordova Magpie' is an example of a ship's paper, with colour illustrations, from the square-rigged sailing ship SIERRA CORDOVA, 1901 to 1902. The remaining three volumes are of papers edited by passengers; 'The Nautical Magazine', the EQUESTRIAN, England to Bombay, 1849; the 'Matilda Athenaeum', paper of the MATILDA WATTENBACH, 1859 to 1860, on a voyage to Calcutta; and the 'Loch Garry Magazine', covering a voyage of the LOCH GARRY from Melbourne to Glasgow, 1877.

This class consists of single copies of newspapers and newssheets, including a copy of the 'Challenger Gazette', 1828; two issues of 'The Great Eastern Telegraph', 1866, when the GREAT EASTERN was engaged on laying the Atlantic cable; and a copy of the 'Wei-Hai-Wei Gazette', 1902. It also contains playbills, including one advertising a performance on board the prison ship CROWN in 1807 of a play by a French prisoner of war and another announcing the performance of a comedy, Speed the Plough on the MINDEN, 1817.

Papers of Colonel Sir Stuart (Richard) Newman, 1916-1994, including call up and telegram, Aug 1939; letters home, [1940-1945]; two portrait photographs, [1940] and [1944]; photograph album, 1941-1942; letter to Newman, Mar 1948, from three former Luxembourg cadets, requesting confirmation of their Officer Cadet Training Unit training under Newman, 1945-1946; White Paper, 'Re-organisation of the army reserves' (HMSO, Dec 1965), and related press statement, Dec 1965, by the Council of Territorial and Auxiliary Forces Associations; correspondence, Mar 1993 - Mar 1994, relating to the future of the Territorial Army; photograph album of Newman's father, Capt Thomas Pacey Newman, 1916-[1924], and photocopy letter from Mrs Newman (wife of Thomas, mother of Stuart), to her son Roland, 9 Jun 1944, with eye witness description of planes and gliders leaving for France, evening of 6 Jun, with transcript.

Papers of New Zealand Shipping Co Ltd. Apart from one missing volume, 1876 to 1879, there are continuous minute books of Directors' meetings in London from 1874 to 1971; copies of the 'Colony' Board minutes, 1890 to 1904, illustrate the changeover from New Zealand to London management. There is also a volume of minutes of General Meetings of shareholders held in London, 1888 to 1971. The Directors' minute books of the Federal Steam Navigation Company cover the period 1892 to 1964. Routine account books are not part of the collection, although there are isolated cash books, journals and ledgers of the affiliated companies: three early cash books of the company, 1873 to 1892; and a series of private ledgers both for the company, 1900 to 1954 and the Federal Line, 1904 to 1936. Files on contracts and agreements exist for the period 1912 to 1943. The company's interest in the New Zealand passenger trade is well documented in the minutes and correspondence; details of the early homeward voyages date from 1883 to 1887 and there is a long series of 'outward' (i.e. London to New Zealand) passenger books, 1894 to 1955. These contain names only and are unindexed. Passengers apart, there are general steamers' movement books from 1906 to 1971. Two books set out the early victualling scales, 1876 and 1879. A good sample of vessels' voyage files survives, 1966 to 1971. Early correspondence is limited to three private letter and telegram books, 1912 to 1936, of C.J. Cowan (d 1944) who was chairman of the company from 1928 until his death. The bulk of the letter files is concerned with exchanges with London, Wellington and Sydney, and with conference letters and circulars, 1960 to 1971. A series of files, 1940 to 1970, relates to subjects like freight negotiations, research and programming. The launching and operations of the three Federal Line tankers, 1958 to 1960, are also on file. The private files of C.A.W. Dawes (1919- ) chairman of the company from 1966 to 1970, deal with the specialized situations which call for the attention of senior management. On the technical side there are Marine Superintendents'reports, 1901 to 1971, together with vessels'plans and handbooks for use on board ship. Records of the affiliated companies mentioned above are as follows: New Zealand and African Steam Shipping Company Ltd, minute books, 1902 to 1911, register of members, 1902 to 1909, Memorandum and Articles of Association; Montreal Australia New Zealand Line, account books 1956 to 1971; American and Australian Steamship Line, account books, 1956 to 1971; Avenue Shipping, minute book, 1954 to 1962; Crusader Line, correspondence and information, 1965 to 1967; Dolphin Line, correspondence and circulars, 1967 to 1970. (Section 3: NZS/: 275ft: 84m) Ships' Plans: there are also plans for ships of the company in the P&O collection of plans.

The collection consists of original and copy documents relating to Viscount Nelson. Although it spans his career from 1780 to his death in 1805, the bulk of the collection centres on 1798 - the year of the battle of Aboukir Bay - and the three years 1803-1805, during which Nelson commanded the Mediterranean Fleet. Included are several hundred official reports and surveys concerned with the manning, ordnance, stores, defects and sick lists of the ships under Nelson's overall command, plus reports on courts martial, prize money, prisoners, sailors' pay, etc. Also present are weekly reports by the chief physicians of the Fleet comparing health on various vessels and giving details of treatments proposed; letters to Nelson on issues such as inventions, requests for places, etc.; and a collection of bills. The papers carry the signatures of most of the senior officers under Nelson and are generally addressed to Nelson himself.

This class contains thirty-two volumes relating to the theory of navigation, mathematics and astronomy, fifteenth to nineteenth centuries. The earliest is Italian, written between 1470 and 1529, entitled 'Ragioni Antique Spettanti all Arte del Mare et Fabriche de Vaselli', which includes entries in many hands on navigational calculations, astronomy, astrology, sailing directions for the Mediterranean and the building and fitting of galleys. Chronologically, the next volume is the 'Regimento de la Declinacion del Sol', a Spanish navigator's manual, c 1500; the next is English, containing mathematical rules for measuring height and length, 1557; then follows 'L'Arte della Navigatione', Italian, with tables and moveable dials, 1567; and the last of the sixteenth century is by a Jesuit, Francisco da Costa (1567-1604). 'Arte de Navegar', written between 1596 and 1598 and illustrated with sketches of the astrolabe and compass. There are three seventeenth-century volumes; a treatise on astronomy by Thomas Willford entitled 'A genuine description and use of the perpetual calendar', 1654, which also contains a description of measures and of 'moveable fairs' around the country; a volume containing navigational exercises, often illustrated, by William Downman, written between 1685 and 1686, with a large amount of other information, including lists of ships, drawings of flags. poems, victualling and measures; and a workbook by Edward Ward, 1698, containing execises in navigation, astronomy and mathematics. The eleven eighteenth-century volumes include a copy of Robert Wright's 'Treatise on finding longitude at sea', 1726; a volume of lecture notes on navigation and astronomy given in Naples, 1755; and a volume in Turkish by Ibrahim Haggi, ca.1800, entitled 'Marifet Nameh' ('Encyclopedia of Knowledge'), on astronomy, architecture and geography. There are twelve nineteenth-century volumes dating between 1804 and 1883, all of which contain navigational and astonomical exercises transcribed by British seamen.

Minutes and papers of the London District Committee of the National Union of Vehicle Builders.

Records of the National Amateur Rowing Association. The collection comprises records relating to the administration and finances of the association, 1913-1957, minute books of the Thames Amateur Rowing Association, 1938-1955, and correspondence of Charles Tugwell, 1933-1956.

This class is made up of contemporary first-hand narrative accounts, contained in sixteen volumes. Narratives of naval actions include a volume of accounts of the Battle of Beachy Head, 1690, for presentation to the King; and an illustrated pocket-book of Lieutenant Lewis Stephen Davis (fl 1777-1799) containing accounts of various actions including the First of June, 1794, Cape St Vincent, 1797, and the Nile, 1798. There are five volumes relating to wrecks and salvage including an account of the loss of the merchant ship LUXEMBURGH , 1727; of the CENTAUR, 1782, by Captain John Nicholson Inglefield (1748-1828) with the verdict of the court martial, 1783. (A version of this was first published in 1782 in London as Captain Inglefield's narrative concerning the loss of His Majesty's ship the Centaur of seventy-four guns.) There is an account of wrecks and disasters on the north Norfolk Coast, 1880 to 1939, by William John Harman (1854-1944), a local fisherman; and also an account of the wreck of and salvage work carried out on the LUTINE which was sunk in 1799, written in 1898 by the salvage engineer Johan J Fletcher (fl.1893-1900). There are two foreign narratives in this section; one, a French manuscript, is 'Campagne Navale de M de Tourville' (1642-1701), which is an account of the movements of the French fleet in the Mediterranean in 1693, with pen and ink drawings and coloured illustrations of flags, probably written by Captain Longeron of the L'ORGUEILLEUX. There are also four annotated printed works, including the author's copy of the 1790 edition of A History of the late siege of Gibraltar, 1779-1783 by Colonel John Drinkwater (later Bethune, 1762-1844) with annotations and additional illustrations, and the galley sheets of The Submarine Peril, published in 1934 by Earl Jellicoe (1859-1935), with manuscript corrections and additions.

Papers of George Prideaux Brabant Naish. Included are personal and research papers of the Reverend Francis Naish, some relating to his identification of the Burlesdon wreck as the GRACE DIEU. There are also papers which relate to George Naish's command of the Anti-Submarine Fixed Defence Station, Fort Agami, Alexandria, 1945-6. Papers relating to his role as Secretary to the Society for Nautical Research between 1947 and 1977 may be found in the archive of the Society at this Museum.

Papers of Charles Wadsworth Murray, including notebooks dealing with his time at Stornoway and contain information about German submarine warfare. There are lists of ships lost and of those that engaged enemy submarines and accounts of the loss or surrender of submarines. There are also three manuscripts unrelated to the main collection, consisting of an order book of Captain Richard Grindall, 1801 to 1805; a Navy Prize Office register, 1803 to 1820, and a log of the REVENGE, Captain Sir John Gore, Mediterranean, 1812 to 1813.

Copies of detailed narrative diaries and transcripts of Naval signal messages on RN operations, 1939-1945, including service at RN Gunnery School, Chatham, Kent, 1939, on HMS JERVIS in the North Sea, 1940, with the Mediterranean Fleet, 1940-1941, with Combined Operations Command, Dieppe and Normandy, 1942-1944, and the British Pacific Fleet, 1945-1946. Also, typescript copies of operational orders for Operation NEPTUNE, Normandy, 1944.

Group photograph of Taiping Signals Troop, [Singapore], 1957; thirteen photographs of 22 Signals Regt, Royal Corps of Signals, winter warfare training exercise WHITETHRUST, Norway, 1966, with edition of The wire, the Royal Corps of Signals magazine, with article on the exercise by Morrison, Apr-May 1966; edition of The wire, with obituary for Morrison, Oct-Nov 1972.Sixteen photographs relating to the military career of Lt Frank Morrison, Intelligence Corps (father of Lt Col Stanley Paton Morrison), including thirteen photographs of bomb damage in Kiel, Germany, including scuttled German heavy cruiser ADMIRAL HIPPER, and damage to armoured cruiser ('pocket battleship') ADMIRAL SCHEER, Apr 1945. Papers and photographs relating to Lt Robert Harley Nowland, Morrison's brother in law, who served with Gull Force, Australian Imperial Forces, 1941-1942, and was taken prisoner by the Japanese on Ambon, Dutch East Indies, Feb 1942, including copy of letter home by Nowland from HMAS LATROBE, and relating to hisrelease from Amboina prison camp, Ambon, Dutch East Indies, and to his health, Sep 1945; printed article by Nowland, from unknown publication, entitled 'Return to Ambon', relating to the formation of Gull Force, the capture of Ambon by Japanese forces, his time as a POW, and his return to Ambon for an Anzac Day memorial service [1980]; newspaper cuttings from the Brisbane Telegraph relating toreports of Japanese atrocities in POW camps, Sep 1945, and the Anzac Day parade, Brisbane, Australia, Apr 1949; six photographs including artillery exercise and group of Australian officers [1915]; 27 Australian Infantry Bde on parade, Bathurst, Australia, May 1941; Anzac Day parades, Brisbane, Australia, 1936 and 1949.

German armed forces maps, gazetteers, and geographic charts of the United Kingdom, 1939-1944. Includes detailed study produced by the Commander in Chief of the German Air Force concerning the organisation of the RAF, the strengths and locations of British aircraft production facilities, the location of RAF flight schools, airfields and anti-aircraft facilities, the location and strengths of RN facilities in Britain and the North Sea, and British aircraft carrier strengths, 1939; German harbour atlas and gazetteer produced and distributed by the Commander in Chief of the German Air Force, entitled Seehafensatlas Großbritannien, detailing in 1:50,000 maps and aerial photographs, naval harbours and ports in Britain, 1940; German Navy High Command map books of naval ports and harbours in the United Kingdom, their associated agricultural and heavy industries production rates, defence facilities, and geographical locations, 1940; map books issued by the Commander in Chief of the German Air Force, entitled Luftgeographisches Einzelheft Großbritannien, detailing the location of British heavy industry, gas works, water works, aircraft and naval production facilities in Britain, including 1:21,120 maps, 1940; German Army High Command book, entitled Militärgeographie Angaben über Irland, and detailing in photographs the towns, cities and countryside of Ireland and Northern Ireland; German Army Command gazetteer of Ireland and Northern Ireland, entitled Militärgeographie Angaben über Irland, listing county sizes, numbers of inhabitants, population densities, industries, and harbour and port facilities in Ireland and Northern Ireland, 1940; German Army High Command gazetteers of Britain, listing alphabetically towns and cities, their longitude and latitude co-ordinates, their respective counties, numbers of inhabitants, industrial and agricultural production rates, and trains station facilities, 1941; map book distributed by the Commander in Chief of the German Air Force, entitled Britische Flugrüstungsindustrie, detailing the location, size, and production rate of ship-building and aircraft production centres in Great Britain, 1941; map books distributed by the Commander in Chief of the German Air Force including detailed photographs, 1:100,000 and 1:250,000 maps, longitude and latitude co-ordinates, population density statistics, and points of reference notes for town and cities in Britain, 1943-1944

US Strategic Bombing Survey, Civil Defense Division, report entitled Target Report of Civilian Defense Division Field Team No 82, covering air-raid protection facilities and allied subjects in the city of Hamburg, Germany, 1945. The report is in two volumes. The first volume contains the field report of the US Strategic Bombing Survey, Civil Defense Division, and includes information on the organisation and operation of German civil defence, including fire control and incident control precautions; German passive defence installations and precautions, including gas protection and camouflage; information on German evacuation techniques and civil defence training measures. The second volume contains photographic, manuscript, and typescript exhibits for the first volume. Included in the second volume are population figures of Hamburg, 1940-1945; damage statistics for dwellings, cultural buildings, and industrial buildings, 1940-1945; statistics on those killed during the bombing of Hamburg, 1940-1945; organisation of German anti-aircraft divisions; organisational chart of German air raid personnel; photographs of oil refinery and storage fires caused during Allied bombing raids in Jul 1943; photographs of civilians killed during Allied bombing raid in Jul 1943; translation of German instructional regulations on how to handle the dead; report on the activities of German medical and emergency personnel; statistics on the heavy raids on Hamburg, 24 Jul-3 Aug 1943; reports of interviews with German civil servants, police and fire personnel, and air defence personnel.

Edition of US Naval Experience in the North Pacific during World War II: Selected Documents (Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy, Washington, DC, 1987), a collection of reprinted US Navy documents relating to naval operations against the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Bering Sea generally and the Aleutian Islands, the Kurile Islands, and Alaska specifically, 1943-1945

Edition of The British Way and Purpose, 3: The Growth of Empire, the Dominions, India, the Colonial Empire (The Director of Army Education, London, 1943); photocopy of manuscript note from Rt Hon William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook of Beaverbrook, Minister of Aircraft Production, relating to aircraft production and storage, [1943].

Printed programme of the review of the British and Commonwealth naval and merchant fleet by HM Queen Elizabeth II at Spithead, 15 Jun 1953, including map of the review published by the Admiralty, 1953

Publications relating to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and western European defensive strategy, procurement, and technology, 1948-1988, most notably editions of NATO's Fifteen Nations, a journal devoted to NATO alliance politics, force structure, integration, combined training, and procurement, May 1958-Jun 1988; an edition of Laboratory of the Air (HMSO, Ministry of Supply, 1948), detailing the history and function of the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, Hampshire; seven aerial photographs of the Royal Aircraft Establishment; an edition of Facts about NATO (NATO Information Service, Paris, 1959), detailing NATO history, organisation, and force structure; edition of NATO: Facts about the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Bosh: Utrecht, 1962)

Edition of Profile 207: Messerschmitt BF 110 Night Fighters magazine (Profile Publications, Windsor, [1976]) with article by Alfred Price

Official illustrated edition of RAF Middle East: The Official Story of Air Operations in the Middle East, from February 1942 to January 1943 (His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1945); official illustrated edition of Atlantic Bridge: The Official Account of RAF Transport Command's Ocean Ferry (His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1945)

Copy of typescript letter sent by Sir John Gerald Lang, Permanent Secretary of the Admiralty, to V Adm Sir William Gerrard Andrewes, Commander in Chief, America and West Indies Station, regarding the efficiency of the cryptographic staffs of HMS SUPERB and HMS SNIPE during naval operations in the Antarctic, 13 Apr 1953

Edition of History of British Aviation, 1908-1914 by R Dallas Brett (Aviation Book Club, London, 1933), with foreword by Rt Hon Sir Philip Alfred Gustave David Sassoon, 3rd Bt, Under Secretary of State for Air.

Photocopies of typescripts and manuscripts relating to the conversion of the Essex Yeomanry, Territorial Army, to Armoured Car Companies, 1920-1921, including copy of typescript memorandum from the Maj Gen Sir Charles Harington Harington, Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff, to Lt Col Francis Henry Douglas Charlton Whitmore, Military Member, Territorial Army Association, relating to the conversion of all Yeomanry regiments to armoured car companies and the training of personnel in the Territorial Army, 4 Feb 1920

Photocopy of manuscript diary, in Spanish, written by Antonio Jorge Felipe Petane, leader of Argentinean scrap metal expedition to South Georgia Island, south Atlantic, 11 Mar 1982-14 Apr 1982. Passages detail events leading to the outbreak of the Falklands War, 2 Apr-12 Jul 1982, including the sailing of Argentinean expedition merchant ship ARS Bahia to South Georgia, 12 Mar 1982; the early sense of optimism and patriotism experienced by members of the Argentinean expedition; the raising of the Argentinean flag in South Georgia, 2 Apr 1982; impressions of British, French, and German reactions to the Argentinean occupation of South Georgia; reactions to the dispatch of British troops to the Falkland Islands; reactions to Argentinean government support to the expedition and its occupation of South Georgia; the occupation of the Falkland Islands by the Argentinean Fleet, 2 Apr 1982; Argentinean claims to the Falkland Islands, Tierra del Fuego, and the islands of the South Atlantic; crew reaction to the fighting at the Port of Grytviken, during which three Argentinean soldiers were killed, 3 Apr 1982; the author's arrest by members of the Royal Marines from HMS ENDURANCE, 24 Apr 1982. Includes typescript English translation.

Letter to Ian Angus, Librarian of King's College, London concerning Mills' work testing TOG 2 heavy tanks for the Tank Design Dept, Farnborough during the period [1940-1945], written in 1978; newspaper article from The Times concerning Lt Col Albert Stern's involvement with tank design, 1914-1945, written by Philip Howard in 1977.

The Soviet Estimate: US Analysis of the Soviet Union, 1947-1991 is a themed microfilm collection which presents an integrated record of US intelligence estimates and studies relating to Soviet strategic projections, military capabilities, science and technology, economics and internal politics, 1946-1991. The estimates and studies were produced either collectively as national intelligence products or by individual agencies, and include contributions from the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); the Director of Central Intelligence; the US Defense Intelligence Agency; and, the US State Department. The collection includes CIA and British Secret Intelligence Service debriefing transcripts of former Soviet Gavnoye Razvedyvatelnoye Upravleniye (GRU), Chief Intelligence Directorate, Soviet General Staff, operative Oleg V Penkovskii, relating to Soviet military organisation and plans for nuclear war, Soviet nuclear targets and deployments in Europe, missile technology and launch sites, Soviet military personnel, the capture of Capt Francis Gary Powers, US Air Force U-2 High Altitude Reconnaissance Aircraft pilot, 1 May 1960, profiles of Soviet military officers, locations of Soviet nuclear weapons tests, Soviet intelligence organisations and Soviet chemical and biological weapons programs, Soviet development and deployment of Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), positions of Soviet divisions in East Germany, and the Berlin Crisis (1958- 1962), 20 Apr-14 Oct 1961; yearly US estimates of Soviet strategic capabilities, 1947- 1983, including the 'missile gap' National Intelligence Estimates, 1957-1961; detailed estimates of the Soviet space program, including National Intelligence Estimates (NIEs) relating to lunar exploration, manned space flight, reconnaissance satellites, space exploration, space weapons and weapons development, 1962-1967; US Air Force report entitled 'A History of Strategic Arms Competition: Volume 3, A Handbook of Selected Soviet Weapons and Space Systems', including data relating to Soviet air to surface missiles (AS), Tupolev bomber aircraft, M-4 / Mya-4 / 2M Myasishchev ('Bison') aircraft, space weapons, communication satellites, electronic intelligence capabilities, surface to surface (SS) theatre missiles and ICBMs, Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBMs), Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs), Jun 1976; US intelligence community experiment in competitive analysis conducted by the CIA 'B Team' relating to US misperceptions of Soviet strategic objectives and offensive and defensive forces, Dec 1976; report from the US Department of State entitled 'History of the Strategic Arms Competition 1945-1972, parts 1 and 2', including detailed surveys and analyses of Soviet and US decision making on nuclear forces, force deployments, and nuclear strategies, Mar 1981; Special National Intelligence Estimate relating to Soviet support for international terrorism and revolutionary activities, including mention of arms transfers, military training, political violence, and terrorist activities in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, May 1981; reports from the CIA concerning Soviet perspectives on research and development in energy-directed weapons and involvement in space weapons and Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) research, 1985; National Intelligence Estimates relating to General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev's prospects for reforming the Soviet economic and political system, including mention of his economic agenda and its implications for the Soviet military program, the dynamics of Soviet civil-military relations, the impact of reforms on labour production, health, standards of living and technological development, and the rise of civil unrest and nationalism in the Soviet Union, 1985- 1989; CIA report concerning the probabilities of a coup d'etat in the Soviet Union and the growing influence of Chairman of the Russian Republic Supreme Soviet, Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin, May 1991.

The collection presents an integrated record of US decision making during the 1962 nuclear confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. Much of the documentation focuses on the period from Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs McGeorge Bundy's 16 Oct 1962 briefing of President Kennedy on the discovery of Soviet missiles in Cuba to Soviet Prime Minister Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev's 28 Oct 1962 decision to withdraw the weapons. Papers include intelligence reports, diplomatic cables, political analyses, military situation reports, and meeting minutes relating to the immediate backdrop to the crisis, the crisis (16 Oct-28 Oct 1962), and its aftermath. Papers concerning the background to the crisis relate to US attempts to overthrow Cuban Prime Minister Dr Fidel Castro following the Bay of Pigs invasion, Apr 1961; US and Soviet nuclear capabilities and doctrine in the early 1960s; the deployment of US Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBMs) to forward bases in Europe; and the concern over the resurgence of Soviet military aid to Cuba in the summer of 1962. Papers relating to the crisis include US intelligence reports confirming the construction of Soviet missile bases in Cuba; National Security Council minutes relating to a potential invasion of Cuba by US conventional forces, possible US air attacks against Cuba and the resultant Cuban casualties, the possibility of imposing an economic blockade around Cuba, the maintenance of US U-2 High Altitude Reconnaissance Aircraft flights over Cuba, and the possibility of Soviet retaliatory military actions against North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) states in the event of US attacks on Cuba, 16 Oct 1962; Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) daily intelligence reports concerning Soviet missile bases and possible Soviet surface to surface SS-4 ('Sandal') nuclear missiles in Cuba; reports from the UN Security Council and General Assembly from the US Ambassador to the UN Adlai Ewing Stevenson; meetings between Kennedy and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Andreevich Gromyko; US estimates of Cuban ground forces; articles from Soviet news agency TASS denouncing American motives in Cuba; reports from US Secretary of Defense Robert Strange McNamara regarding the possible withdrawal of US missile bases in Italy and Turkey in exchange for Soviet withdrawals from Cuba; discussions of the possible US 'Naval Quarantine' of Cuba; CIA estimates relating to possible Soviet first strike military capability with missiles in Cuba; NSC reports relating to the construction of IRBM and Medium Range Ballistic Missile (MRBM) bases in Guanajay and San Cristóbal, Cuba, 21 Oct 1962; President Kennedy's announcement to world heads of state regarding the US 'Naval Quarantine' of Cuba (24 Oct-20 Nov 1962) to prevent further Soviet arms shipments of offensive weapons and development of further missile bases, 23 Oct 1962; message from Khrushchev to Kennedy stating that the US 'Naval Quarantine' is an act of aggression against both Cuba and the Soviet Union, 23 Oct 1962; statements by US Ambassador Stevenson, Cuban Ambassador Mario Garcia Incháustegui, and Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin in the UN Security Council, 23 Oct 1962; documents relating to the operational readiness of US continental nuclear forces; minutes from UN Security Council meeting, 25 Oct 1962; letter from Khrushchev to Kennedy suggesting that the Soviet Union would withdraw missile bases in return for a US 'non-invasion commitment' towards Cuba, 26 Oct 1962; negotiations over verification of the Soviet missile withdrawal; the US non-invasion 'guarantee' to Cuba and the Soviet Union; and, the question of Soviet Ilyushin IL-28 ('Beagle') bombers and troops remaining in Cuba. The collection also includes retrospective studies of the missile crisis, including the US Department of State internal history of the crisis, US Department of Defense comprehensive reports describing the actions of military commands and units during the missile crisis, and US government records relating to the US-Soviet rapprochement developed in the 1970s and 1980

Records of the Metropolitan Electric Tramway Company, including minutes of Board meetings; minutes of General meetings; minutes of the Directors' Committee; and reports.

Records of Merryweather and Company Limited, fire engine and fire fighting equipment manufacturers, comprising a day book providing details on supplies to customers (1830-1835) with draft letters (1842-1844) and a photograph album of fire equipment annotated with the name of the customer they were supplied to (1920-1921).

Merchant Shipping: Signal Books and Signals including a Vane List c 1810 and a pendant board of the same date.

This catagory contains examples of various types of ships' papers and documents relating to the operation of merchant ships. There are examples of Charter Parties, including one of 1322 between Walter Giffard, master of the cog OUR LADY of Lyme and Sir Hugh de Berham for a freight of wine; the remainder are twentieth-century examples. The earliest example of a Bill of Lading is for the TRIPLE CROWN of Bristol, 1689; there are others from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Among the examples of Bills of Sale of ships and shares of ships is one for the Dutch East India Company ship DEHELDWOITEMADE, sold to James Mather, a London merchant, 1782; and also one for the SPECULATOR, a French prize, formerly LE CARME, sold in 1810. Examples of documents relating to insurance include a Statement of General Average for the POLLY AND EMILY made after she had been damaged in a gale in 1895. There are also Muster Rolls and Articles of Agreement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (see also entry no.13); Bills of Health, nineteenth and twentieth centuries; Safe Conducts, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; and various nineteenth-century passenger documents and papers relating to wreck and salvage, including an order issued by Sir Cyril Wyche (1632-1707) and Sir Henry Capel (d 1696), Lord Justices of Ireland, for the arrest of the pilot of the wrecked TALBOT pink, 1695.

Copy of the memorial of Arthur Lemuel Shuldham [of Dunmanway, Co. Cork] to the commissioners of the Excise, asking them to remit the costs of a suit begun by the Commissioners against Shuldham's pleasure yacht, built at Bristol in May 1789 at a cost of £2000. The yacht was condemned by the jury, and orders were given to dispose of it 'and your memorialist thereby lost many things therein not belonging to the said vessel'. The peculiar hardship of the case, and the largeness of Shuldham's family make him hope that the commissioners will remit the costs. The document is neither signed nor dated.

Records, 1848-1984, of the Melanesian Mission, including minute books; correspondence, journals and diaries of pioneer missionaries including R H Codrington and J C Patteson; correspondence of more recent missionaries; logs relating to the Mission vessels including the first 'Southern Cross' log book, 1855. Material relating to the Church of Melanesia includes the proceedings of the Provincial Synod from its inception in 1975, conference reports, and lists of missionaries from the Mission's beginnings to the 1920s. Printed materials include the Southern Cross Log, 1895-1954, 1963-1973, and Annual Reports, 1864-1939 (1917 and 1923 missing). There are also a large number of photographs and manuscript maps of the Diocese of the Melanesian Mission dating from 1875 onwards.

Papers of Sir Francis Leopold McClintock, 1848-1860, including journal while serving as a lieutenant in HMS ENTERPRISE in the first Franklin search expedition, 1848-1849, as abbreviated and rewritten on his return; a photocopy of sledging journal from the same expedition; a photocopy of a record deposited in 1853 on Banks Island; a progress report, etc., deposited in Beechey Island depot in 1858; microfilms of journals and reports written by McClintock and others, 1848-1859 (from originals among the Arctic Reports in the TNA); and a letter to Sir Charles Bright from HMS BULLDOG, 28 Nov, 1860.

Records of Maudslay Sons and Field Ltd, marine and mechanical engineers and boiler makers, 1889-1904, consisting of agendas and draft minutes of directors' meetings and meetings of shareholders, cash books, sales records, production records and wages records.

Poem by John Edward Masefield, 1965. Verses entitled Lines for the 1965 HMS Victory Calendar, produced to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the ship's launch.

Autograph.

Records of the Marine Insurance Company. Although some records date from the 1930s, most relate primarily to the 1950s and 1960s. They include: Head Office Books, 1957 to 1968, containing registers of debits against policies, with some details of ships, cargoes and voyages; hull closings, 1957 to 1964; cargo closings, 1957 to 1964; building and port risks, 1937 to 1960; book and proof sheets, 1957 to 1968, summarizing business and premiums paid; declarations and certificates, 1957 to 1970, containing details of cargoes sent; premiums and policies, 1932 to 1970; treaties relating to reinsurance, 1957 to 1967; reinsurance agreements, 1950 to 1969; reinsurance closures and recoveries, 1958 to 1969; records of client companies, 1945 to 1966; claims records, 1933 to 1969; salvage records, 1952 to 1966. The company records include: correspondence, 1945 to 1966; ledgers and cash books, 1917 to 1969; investment records, 1911 to 1948; and results and accounts, 1923 to 1967.

Records of MacKinnon, MacKenzie and Company, general merchants and agents of Calcutta, India; comprising: partnership deeds and other records concerning the establishment and regulation of the company, 1854-1955 (Ms 27793-6, 27838-41); private journals, 1929-51 (Ms 27797); correspondence, 1852-1955 (Ms 27798-814) operational records, 1847-1940 (Ms 27815-27); photographs, ca. 1905-31 (Ms 27828-8A); historical notes, c 1860-1955 (Ms 27829-34, 27847); and accounts, 1927-51 (Ms 27835-7, Ms 27842-6, 27848).

Macdonald, Hamilton and Company records comprise: partnership deeds, declarations of trust, power of attorney, and correspondence 1907-55 (Ms 27784-6, 38570-6); plans of offices 1919-20 (Ms 27787), and histories 1934-5 (Ms 38577).