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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Navy Board in-letters and orders, consisting of I ,582 volumes of letters and orders to the Navy Board from the Admiralty, 1689 to 1815. 1,559 volumes contain those specifically for the Board's attention and relating to the construction and equipment of ships, dockyard affairs, appointments, the settlement of accounts and naval finance, 1689 to 1692, 1692 to 1695, 1695, 1696 to 1732, 1732 to 1737, 1737 to 1815 (class mark, ADM/A); seventeen volumes and one box contain letters to the Navy Board relating to the hire, employment and management of transports, 1741 to 1742, 1747 to 1748, 1749 to 1750, 1757 to 1759, 1763 to 1773, 1775 to 1776, 1778 to 1781, 1793 to 1797 (ADM/N, ADM/RP); four volumes contain matters relating to the work of the Inspector-General of Naval Works, 1795 to 1808 (ADM/Q); and one volume contains letters to the Office for Stores, 1783 to 1788 (ADM/P). There is one exception; one volume contains orders from the Treasury concerning transports, 1783 to 1789 (ADM/OT).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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 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 of Lt Col Robert Malcolm Parker, 1945-1946, relating to his career in the Royal Engineers, comprising account of the operations of 8 Corps in North West Europe, Mar-May 1945, entitled 'The River Rhine to the Baltic Sea: a narrative account of the pursuit and final defeat of the German Armed Forces, March-May 1945', with a foreword by Lt Gen Evelyn Hugh Barker, as Commanding Officer, 8 Corps; account of the Finkenwärder U Boat pen, Hamburg, Germany, with site plan, and description of the intended method of demolition, by 224 Field Coy, Royal Engineers, and 8 Corps Troops, Royal Engineers, [1945]; papers relating to Exercise SWANSONG, Germany, Mar 1946, including Royal Engineer commands and staff planning for the assault crossing of wide rivers, accounts of exercise operations, situation reports, printed maps and sketch maps; uncaptioned official Army photograph of the construction of a large bridge, [Germany, 1945]; telegram announcing German surrender, 4 May 1945 and chart of Allied formation badges, in colour, 8 May 1945.

General Records: This group contains a large vellum-bound volume of Spanish diplomatic papers, mainly dating between 1603 and 1672, but with a section dealing with the Armada, 1587 to 1588; two English documents relating to the expedition to Cadiz, 1596; an enquiry into the loss of ships in the convoy guarded by Sir George Rooke (1650-1709) and the Streights Squadron, 1693; a gathering of Italian papers relating to the capitulation of Malta, 1799 to 1807. There are also a number of items relating to Lord Nelson and his family, 1805 to 1845. (PHB/: PHB/P: 2 vols: 3 items) Merchant Shipping Records: relating to merchant shipping, including the journal of the Blackham on a voyage to Constantinople, 1696 to 1698; the log of H.E.I.C.S. Ceres, 1743 to 1745; of H.E.I.C.S. Wager, 1745 to 1746; and an account in verse of H.E.I.C.S. Ceres, 1812 to 1814, on a voyage to China. There is also a memorial of 1774 by a Harwich pilot to the Treasury, seeking to establish an excise cutter there. Among the documents are Bills of Sale, 1651, 1695, 1775; Letters of Marque, 1780, 1799. (PHB/: PLA/P: 4 vols: 12 items) Royal Navy: Administration: This group consists of nineteen volumes and four documents relating to the administration of the Navy. It includes the naval accounts from 1422 to 1427 of William Soper (fl.1410-1459), Clerk of the King¹s ships; a list of ships' stores 'wasted' in the Prymrose after the Rochelle expedition, 1573; a volume of the records collected by Sir Robert Cotton (1571-1631), the antiquarian and collector, containing summaries of papers on naval matters and defence from the time of Henry III to Elizabeth I; a copy, dated 1638, of the first 'Discourse of the Navy of England' by John Hollond (fl 1624-1659); regulations for the Ordnance Office, 1683; an account, written by a clerk, of the dispute between Samuel Pepys and Colonel Middleton (d 1672) about the importation of cottons and kerseys, 1667 to 1668; two lists of official documents transferred by Pepys to his successor on leaving the Admiralty, 1689; two volumes of Navy Board orders to Deptford and Woolwich dockyards, 1644 to 1722; and eleven volumes of papers, bound by Phillipps in no particular order, relating to general administrative matters, including sea-men's pay, 1711 to 1790; however, among these papers are three letters from Vice-Admiral Benbow (1653-1702) written from Jamaica, 1699. Finally, there are a number of lists; of Admiralty Commissioners, 1673 to 1782; of ships, 1625 to 1636, 1705, 1706 to 1745, and of foreign navies, 1755 to 1778 (PLA/: PLA/P: 2 1/2ft: 76cm) Royal Navy: Law and Prize Money: This group consists of a volume, 1658 to 1673, containing a collection of sentences and decrees made at the Court of Admiralty; a volume of 1685 chiefly concerning the powers and rights of the Lord High Admiral, with an abstract of the judgements of Oleron, translated from the French; a further seventeenth-century volume concerning maritime customs and law from the time of Henry III; a French treatise of maritime law, 1690; a volume containing bound letters from senior naval officers expressing their opinion on the prize money dispute between Lord Nelson (q.v.) and Lord St Vincent (q.v.), 1801 to 1802; vindication of the conduct of Surgeon D.T. McCarthy, court-martialled 2 lines 1 field in 1804.

Copies of papers relating to his naval career, 1886, 1890 and 1916, some dated 1930, principally comprising an undated account of the role of HMS WARSPITE in the Battle of Jutland, 31 May-1 Jun 1916, written by Cdr Humphrey Walwyn.

Papers relating to Piggott's service in World War Two, 1939-1945, notably the sinking of HMS VAN MEERLANT, 4 Jun 1941, including typescript list of the ship's company, annotated to show survivors of the sinking, with manuscript notes by an unknown survivor relating to Piggott's exemplary conduct during the sinking, Jun 1941; manuscript letter to Piggott from Hugh G Collins, HMS WILDFIRE, relating to Piggott's injuries, the loss of HMS VAN MEERLANT, and to the writing of sympathy letters to the crew's next of kin, Jul 1941; letter to Piggott from Cdr Humphry Gilbert Boys-Smith, Royal Naval Reserve, relating to accomodation for Naval officers, Mar 1945; typescript notes on Piggott's career [1996].

Papers of Rear-Admiral Edwin John Pollard, including accounts, memoranda and sailing orders for 1858 to 1861, 1863 to 1865 and 1878; a notebook recording the ships in which Pollard served as a junior officer; a watch bill, 1860 to 1861; a book of technical details on the RUPERT and the DEFENCE and newspaper cuttings, 1858 to 1878.

Papers of Rear-Admiral Edwin John Pollard, including accounts, memoranda and sailing orders for 1858 to 1861, 1863 to 1865 and 1878; a notebook recording the ships in which Pollard served as a junior officer; a watch bill, 1860 to 1861; a book of technical details on the RUPERT and the DEFENCE and newspaper cuttings. 1858 to 1878.

Papers of Sir James Hawkins Whitshed. They include a letterbook of the ROSE, 1784 to 1785; sailing directions and orders of battle, 1800 to 1801, and three letters concerning the possibility of mutiny in the Channel Fleet, 1800.

Papers relating to his career with the Royal Naval Reserve, 1926-1950, dated 1926-1950, 1985-1986, 1989, 1994 and 1995, notably including commands, reports, correspondence and notes concerning his service on HMS GLOXINIA, North Atlantic and Mediterranean, 1940-1942, on the staff of Flag Officer, Liverpool, HMS EAGLET, 1942-1943, on HMS DELHI, Mediterranean, 1943-1945, and on the staff of Cdr in Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, 1945-1946. Text on Gen Sir Bernard Law Montgomery's role in the North Africa campaign, 1942-1943, by Peter Solly-Flood, 1986.

Papers of Portsmouth Dockyard. They consist of 566 volumes of the correspondence between yard officials, the Navy Board and the Admiralty, 1675 to 1899. There are also 147 plans for the yard, 1715 to 1884. The volumes are divided into four groups: those relating to the Resident Commissioner, the Admiral Superintendent, the yard officers and a miscellaneous group. Resident Commissioner's records. These consist of: letters from the Admiralty and Navy Board, 1773 to 1821, 1822 to 1827 (5 vols); abstracts of Admiralty and Navy Board letters and warrants, 1806 to 1823 (7 vols); letters to the Admiralty, 1707 to 1750, 1756 to 1763, 1769 to 1821 (19 vols); reports to the Navy Board, 1705 to 1722, 1732 to 1780, 1782 to 1815, 1817 to 1832 (41 vols); one volume of orders given by the Commissioner as a Flag Officer, 1712 to 1730, 1741; three volumes of letters to other yards and naval officers (including some by the Superintendent), 1809 to 1834. Admiral Superintendent's records. These consist of: 333 volumes of letters from the Admiralty, 1839 to 1840, 1840 to 1843, 1843, 1844 to 1845, 1845 to 1847, 1847 to 1848, 1848 to 1849, 1849 to 1851, 1852, 1855, 1855 to 1856, 1860, 1861, 1863, 1865, 1866, 1867 to 1871, 1871 to 1873, 1874, 1874 to 1875, 1875 to 1878, 1878 to 1879, 1880, 1883, 1895, 1898, 1899; and five volumes of letters to the Admiralty, 1832 to 1838. Dockyard Officers' records.

These consist of: Navy Board warrants, 1695 to 1780 and 1781 to 1822 (70 vols); the Commissioner's and Superintendent's warrants, 1694 to 1715, 1719 to 1780 and 1789 to 1848 (31 vols); an index to the Navy Board's and Commissioner's letters, 1675 to 1679, 1688 to 1690, 1694 to 1737 (3 vols); reports to the Navy Board, 1699 to 1713, 1714 to 1735, 1740 to 1780, 1782 to 1793, 1796 to 1822 (33 vols); Navy Board and Commissioner's correspondence with the Master Attendant, 1690 to 1692 and 1710 to 1713 (2 vols) and with the Ropeyard officers, 1751 to 1795 and 1796 to 1822 (2 vols); the first of these volumes also contains Navy Board orders to the Woolwich Ropeyard officers, 1746 to 1751. Miscellaneous records. These comprise: weekly reports of the progress on works, 1740 to 1744, 1778 to 1781 (2 vols); arrivals and sailings of ships, 1821 to 1848 (1 vol); arrivals and sailings of transports, 1829 to 1894 (1 vol); charts received and issued, 1809 to 1855 (2 vols); books received and issued, 1825 to 1843 (1 vol); one register of workmen entered and discharged, 1793 to 1801; reports of yard employees' trials, 1824 to 1855 (1 vol); one volume of the instructions to the Commissioner and officers, 1805, with manuscript additions, 1821 to 1822; one volume of orders to the yard Surgeon, 1823 to 1849. Plans. These include forty-four general plans of the yard and surrounding area, 1723 to 1884; forty plans connected with docks, wharves and slips, 1725 to 1854; and fifty-nine plans of buildings, 1715 to 1857.

This series comprises accounts of British packet services and overseas posts, including records of agents and postmasters, packet stations, and packet boats. The accounts cover income, expenditure, salaries, allowances and disbursements.

Papers of Prince Line Ltd. They include Director's Minutes, 1891 1956, and shareholder's Minutes 1884-1967; Annual Reports and accounts, 1885- 1975; registers of shareholders, 1884-1959; records of ship's movement and freight, 1893-1980 and papers relating to the work of the Israel - UK Citrus Conference (Prince Line Ltd as secretaries), 1965-1971. There are also some papers of the Rio Cape Line Ltd., 1917-1956.

In addition to the present collection, papers of the Prince line Ltd and Rio Cape Line Ltd may be found in the main Furness Withy collection (see FWS/A and FWS/B). These include ship files from the Naval Architect's and Superintendent's Departments, charter parties, vessel building agreements and contracts, accounts and records of board and general meetings.

Tyne and Wear Archives, Newcastle, hold a ledger, 1896-97 and correspondence, 1898-99 of Prince Line (1895) Ltd.

Manuscript volume containing a notarial instrument, 16 Sep 1655, by Frederick Ixem of London, public notary, with attestations by Bright and Daniell, also public notaries, recording the appointment by the Treasurers and Collectors of Prize Goods (John Sparrow, Richard Blackwall and Humphrey Blake) of Captain Dean of Cork as attorney to receive sums owed by William Hovell of Kinsale, County Cork, and Humberson Hurst. Also includes a printed copy of an Act of Parliament of 17 Apr 1649, An Act for appointing Commissioners for sale of prize-goods.

Papers relating to service in HMS GLOUCESTER, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, World War Two, including photocopy of diary, 1939-1940, naval messages, 1940-1943, and photographs; official service records, 1941-1958; and papers relating to naval career, 1949-1964, including article dated 1965, 'A Perspective View of Naval Engineering', on the Electrical Branch of the Royal Navy.

Volume containing two copies of a printed register relating to Netherlands herring fisheries, 1749, entitled Naamlyst der boekhouders, schepen, en stuurluiden van de haring-shepen, in't Yaar 1749, van Enchisen en de Ryp, ter haring-shepen uitgevaren (Jan von Guissen, Enkhuisen, 1749), giving details of the ships, owners and captains of the fleets of Enkhuisen and De Rijp. Added in manuscript are details of the total catch for 1749, and the catch for individual ships on various voyages.

Records of Rivers Steam Navigation Company Limited, including:

1) Corporate records, Mss 27910-20;
2) Internal accounting and financial records, Mss 27921-39;
3) General correspondence, Mss 27940-5;
4) Papers concerning the operation of transport services and the development of transport generally, and the transport of particular commodities:
i) general-river, rail and road, Mss 27946-53;
ii) river transport, Mss 27954-66;
iii) rail transport, Mss 27967-72;
iv) road transport, Mss 27973-8;
v) passenger services, Mss 27979-82;
vi) tea, Mss 27983-90;
vii) coal, Mss 27991-5;
viii) jute, Mss 27996-9;
ix) miscellaneous (oil, sugar, mail), Mss. 28000-2;
5) Papers concerning post war operations and the reconstruction of the company, Mss 28003-13;
6) Fleet records, i.e. fleet lists, and records of shipbuilding, repair, losses and casualties. (NB see records of subsidiaries for Garden Reach Workshops, R.S.N.'s shipbuilding subsidiary), Mss 28014-37;
7) Records concerning co-operation and competition with Assam Railway and Trading Co, Mss 28038-43;
8) Competition with other companies, Mss 28044-54;
9) Records of terms and conditions of work, pension funds and trade unions, Mss 28055-67;
10) Investment in other companies, Mss 28068-72;
11) Maps, photographs, historical notes, Mss 28073-8;
12) Subsidiary companies:
i) Pakistan River Steamers Ltd, Mss 28079-91;
ii) Rivers Steam Navigation Co (Holdings) Ltd, Mss 28092-5;
iii) Garden Reach Workshops Ltd, Mss 28096-9;
iv) India Rivers Steam Navigation Co Ltd, Ms 28100;
v) Pakistan Rivers Steam Navigation Co Ltd, Ms 28101.

Papers of the Rope family of Blaxhall, Orford and Leiston, relating mainly to the activities of Mingay and Rope in the mid nineteenth century, although there are earlier papers for a Thomas Rope, and later ones when George Rope was trading on his own. They include bills of sale for vessels owned by the firm, receipts and bills incurred during trading, as well as letters from Rope to Mingay, reporting on vessel's movements. There are also letters from vessel's masters reporting on their progress.

The collection consists of diaries, correspondence and other papers from the period in which Ross was medical officer of the coolie ship Hong Bee, travelling between Penang and the China coast via Hong Kong. MS.6117 includes a temporary commission in the Royal Army Medical Corps, 1916.

Papers of Donald Whatley Roy, 1897-1948, and including correspondence, 1898-1948; medical certificates, including one a as a Foundation Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, 1897-1930; articles and speech, 1930-1938; card announcing results of the III MB Pt 1, 1903; testimonials, 1908-1929; passenger lists of ships on which he was surgeon, 1910; applications, 1916-1934.

Papers of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. There are copies of the Royal Charter granted to the Company in 1839 and subsequent renewals: a continuous series of minute books of Directors' meetings, 1839 to 1934 (three volumes); of General Meetings, 1842 to 1933 and a less complete set of Directors' reports, 1850 to 1902. A minute book of the Stores Committee, 1842 to 1843, illustrates the deployment of the very large stocks of coal necessary to maintain the services. The Mail Contracts for the various services are well documented. In- and out-correspondence, 1842 to 1868, with 'Public Departments' (the Admiralty, the Post Office and Board of Trade) is contained in nineteen volumes. A very early letterbook, 1826 to 1828, contains letters from the Post Office to Lieutenant Edward Chappell R.N. (d.1856) who subsequently became Secretary of the Company. A Marine Superintendent's confidential letterbook, 1826 to 1899, casts light on staff selection. General correspondence, 1904 to 1943, both in and out, is largely about the carriage of mail, legal matters and inter-company communications. Four memorandum books (1860 to 1904, 1884 to 1902, 1905 to 1909 and 1915 to 1917) are Directors' 'vade mecum's', containing a valuable cross-section of information about the Company's operations. Route books and 'Details of Service' 1841 to 1920, locate the services geographically. Agency arrangements are dealt with in nine books, 1876 to 1954, containing details of agreements entered into by the Company, including mortgages, leases or purchases of properties, powers of attorney and commissions. The technical part of the collection includes builders' specifications for ships, 1876 to 1954; fleet regulations for officers and engineers, 1850 and 1950; instructions to pursers, 1876; a treatise by Captain Chappell on 'Smith's Patent Screw Propeller', 1840; a Fire and Boat Station Bill for the Avon, 1845; reports on the stranding of the Magdalena, 1949, and a number of early log books, 1842 to 1869. The only account books are two cash books, 1839 to 1849, and some day-to-day cash books from the West End passenger office, 1959 to 1969. There are no service records although there is an album of photographs of captains, 1870, and information about pensions, national health and unemployment insurance. Finally the collection contains a wealth of publicity material of various dates. (Section 3: RMS/: 100ft: 30m) Ships' Plans: consist mainly of linen tracings of general arrangements, profiles and deck plans of nine Royal Mail steamships, 1850 to 1880, and paper prints of cargo spaces on six early twentieth-century vessels.

This category contains individual documents containing lists of ships, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Among the items is a list of ships of 1652 to be prepared for the summer guard for the coasts of England, Ireland and Scotland, with the names of commanders, numbers of men and guns. The list was presented to Parliament and approved. Another, of 1804, is an 'abstract of the country craft of various descriptions that have been armed for the defence of the coast from Shoreham in Sussex to Mistley in Essex'.

See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual scope and contents.

Royal Navy ship's logs. The earliest log begins in 1737 and the latest in 1917 but the majority, over three hundred volumes, are from the nineteenth century. Being, on the whole, kept privately, the format and size of the volumes vary widely. Over three-fifths of the volumes, where the rank of the keeper can be ascertained, were kept by midshipman or naval cadets, but there are examples of logs kept by other ranks from master's mate to admiral. Many of the logs are illustrated with sketches, maps, diagrams and photographs. Of particular note in this respect are the log of the QUEEN CHARLOTTE, 1790, kept by Lieutenant (later Captain) John Mason Lewis (fl 1790-1831); four volumes kept by Sub-Lieutenant (later Commander) Francis H Boyer (d 1926) on various ships between 1869 and 1876; two logs kept on several ships, 1870 to 1873, together with a sketchbook by Henry Bridges Molesworth (1855-1954), midshipman; and the log of the RALEIGH, 1874 to 1876, by Charles Molyneux Howard Oakley (1858-1876), also when a midshipman. Of the forty eighteenth-century volumes, the earliest is the log of the WINDSOR, 1737 to 1741, signed by her captain, George Berkeley (1693?-1746), including an account of the attack on Cartagena in 1741.

There are also two logs by Rear-Admiral Charles Watson (1714-1757) as captain of the princess louisa, 1746 to 1747, including a description of the battle of Cape Finisterre, 1747; an unsigned copy of the log of Admiral Sir George Pocock on the NAMUR, 1762 to 1763, during the siege of Havana; a log of the WINCHELSEA, 1787 by John Dykes (fl 1776-1805), Master, with sailing instructions and copies of his correspondence, 1789; A log of the BRUNSWICK, 1793 to 1794, up to but excluding the First of June, kept by Captain John Harvey (1740-1794) together with the ship's muster and pay book 1792 to 1794; and three logs kept by Prince William Henry (1745-1837) as midshipman on various ships between 1779 and 1783.

There is a series of four logs of the LEVIATHAN, 1795 to 1799 and 1802, which was present at the attack on Leogane in 1796 and at the Minorca landings, 1798; these were possibly kept by Lieutenant (later Captain) William Buchanan (fl 1794-1833) and one volume has additions in the hand of Commodore (later Admiral) Sir John Duckworth, while the log for 1802 includes an index to his letterbooks and a register for 1800. Finally there are also three logs kept by Richard Caley (d 1799), Master's Mate and later Lieutenant, in several ships, 1781 to 1798, including the BLENHEIM at the Battle of Cape St Vincent, 1797. Among nineteenth-century logs, numbering over three hundred, are two by Samuel Wise, Master's Mate, on the POLYPHEMUS, 1805 to 1808, which was present at the battle of Trafalgar, 1805; a log by Admiral Sir Augustus William Clifford (1788-1877) as lieutenant in the TIGRE, 1807 to 1809; a log by Lieutenant Thomas Pickering Clarke (fl 1800-1862) on several ships, 1800 to 1807, including a narrative of the Walcheren Expedition, 1809; and a log of Admiral Sir Stephen Lushington (1803-1877) as midshipman on the GANYMEDE, 1818 to 1819. There is also a log of the SPITFIRE, 1835 to 1839, by Robert R Arnott (fl 1834-1839), Assistant Surgeon, together with a rough medical record, 1839; a copy of the log of the VERNON, 1836 to 1837, signed by Captain (later Rear-Admiral) John W M'Kerlie (1774-1848), together with printed sailing reports of the VERNON and a punishment book, 1834 to 1837; and a log of the POLYPHEMUS while engaged in the suppression of the slave trade, 1853 to 1854. Another log of this vessel, 1855 to 1856, kept by Commander (later Captain) Frederic P Warren (d 1891) records her wreck off Jutland on 29 January 1856. Among the volumes relating to the Crimean War there is a log kept by Midshipman (later Captain) Cecil G S Stanley (d 1891), in the ALBION and QUEEN, 1853 and 1855.

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.

The collection of 153 volumes of sailing and fighting instructions include the majority of those listed in Sir Julian Corbett, Signals and instructions (Navy Records Society, 1908). In addition, there are many examples of those issued to smaller squadrons rather than fleets. The earliest is a printed copy of 1673 issued to James Duke of York (1633-1701). There is a copy of 1691 by Admiral Russel (1653-1727), issued in 1702. Subsequent sets show the development which took place up to the Seven Years War. From 1756 onwards additional and supplementary instructions became more numerous. The collection also contains several versions of instructions for ships in convoy, 1708 to 1815. In addition to these single items, there are sets in the personal collections. The most extensive, of thirty-four volumes, is that of Admiral Duncan, 1760 to 1799, including signals and instructions issued during the American War, convoy instructions for 1782 and a number of sets from the 1790s. Other sets of significance include those of Vice-Admiral Duff, 1748 to 1762, including convoy instructions, 1756 and 1758, and printed instructions for disembarking and re-embarking troops, which were issued by Admiral Rodney (1719-1792) for the landings at Marinique, 1762; of Rear-Admiral Clements, 1758 to 1770; and of Captain Lord Longford, 1779 to 1780.

This category contains single items relating to the administration of naval ships. Among the items are a watch bill, c 1810; a certificate of 1813 signed for a petty officer 'to pass through the lines' from the BRUIZER, 1903.

Naval manuscripts collected by the Royal United Services Institution. The manuscripts almost all relate to the Royal Navy. There are in addition eight personal collections of naval officers which are described in Volume I: those of Altham (entry no.3), Beaver (14), Broughton (31), Burt (34), Henderson (132), Holburne (136), Oliver (217) and Riou (247).
List of ships and officers: In all there are twenty lists of the ships in the Navy, c 1685 to 1880, some giving dimensions, armament and other details; one of 1780 lists His Majesty's armed vessels on the Canadian lakes and the St Lawrence; another of 1880 includes ships in European navies. The lists of naval officers consist of accounts of Flag Officers, 1660 to c 1755; captains, 1660 to 1715, 1688; and a list of french naval officers, 1792. In addition there is a list of naval chaplains, 1626 to 1903.
Orders and Regulations: The earliest of the orders are General Instructions to be observed by commanders of His Majest's ships, 1683, and three volumes of orders and letters to the joint Admirals commanding the fleet, 1693, one of the volumes containing orders from the Admiralty and another those from the Queen. Related to these are the proceedings of the Councils of War held by the Admirals, 1693. There is also an index to the General Naval Instructions, 1803. relating to the management of the fleet are Vice-Admiral Byron's (1723-1786) sailing and fighting instructions, 1778 to 1782; St Vincent's orders and memoranda, 1800 to 1802; and orders received on board the VALIANT, 1807 to 1808. Regulations for the management of ships include Captain (later Admiral) Thomas Graves' (1747?-1814) standing orders for the MAGICIENNE, 1782, and the orders of Captain (later Admiral) Richard Goodwin Keats for the SUPERB, 1804. Also of note are the Port Orders issued in 1811 by the Commander-in-Chief of ships in the River Thames, Sir Charles Hamilton (1767-1849). Logs and Journals: The logs record the voyages of nineteen ships, 1755 to 1837. The earliest were kept on board the TERRIBLE, 1755 to 1756, and the MARLBOROUGH, 1756 to 1757; the others include the logs of the MELPOMENE, 1803 to 1805; the VALIANT, 1810 to 1814; and VOLAGE, 1833 to 1837. of the journals, the earliest was kept by Thomas Lawrie (fl.1757-1759) on board the AMAZON while in the West Indies, 1757 to 1759. There is a copy of the account of the mutiny on the BOUNTY, 1789, by John Fryer (1752-1817); an account of 'a voyage from Batavia in the island of Java' to England on board the BENGAL MERCHANT, 1815; and another of a voyage from Sydney to Pitcairn and Norfolk islands on the MORAYSHIRE, 1856, by Lieutenant George Gregorie of the Royal Marines. There are two journals by naval chaplains: the earliest was kept by Henry Sainsbury in the DEFENCE mainly in the Mediterranean, 1795 to 1797, and the later one by an unnamed chaplain in a ship on the South American station, 1897. More varied in content are the memoranda books of Lieutenant William Bryan Wake, 1782 to 1799.
Letterbooks and Letters: The collection includes a small number of letters and letterbooks, some personal and some official. There are six letters by Nelson, 1794 to 1805; two by Collingwood, 1805 and 1809; two by St Vincent 1789 and 1810; and some letters and papers relating to Sir Charles Douglas (d.1789), 1776 to 1830. Letterbooks include two kept by Captain (later Rear-Admiral) John Bythesea (fl.1846-1906), despatches and orders received, 1846 to 1862, and letters sent, 1856 to 1868; and one kept by Colonel and Chief Staff Officer of the Portsmouth Dockyard Volunteers, 1848. Naval
Administration and Law: Relating to various aspects of naval administration are a number of warrants.

Papers relating to his naval career, [1920-1959], dated [1920-1959], 1985, principally comprising photographs, [1919-1933], notably of the evacuation of [White] Russian refugees, Black Sea, 1919-1920, and of HMS NELSON, West Indies and Panama, 1929-1931, and HMS GANGES, 1931-1933.

Photocopies of 13 letters, 1882-1899, from Alexander Russell to his sister, Barbara Russell, recounting trips on missionary and other vessels in the South Pacific, including visits to Sydney (Australia) and Fiji.

Letter from P K Seaman of HMS Wolverine, docked at St Helena, to his father, 1 Jun 1851. '... I have already told you that we have caught 3 slavers ...'.

Autograph, with signature. 4 sketches of vessels captured by the Wolverine are pasted to the second leaf of the letter.

Papers relating to his life and RN career, 1902-1956, dated 1956, [1968-1977], 1983, 1987, 1989 and 1994, principally comprising photographs relating to the mining of the HMS SAUMAREZ, Corfu Channel, 1946; 'Memoires (sic) of a salthorse', an illustrated account of his life and career, 1902-1956, notably covering his service on HMS MASHONA, North Sea, Norway and Atlantic, 1940-1941, and HMS ONSLAUGHT, Russian convoys, 1942-1944, as Chief of Staff, Londonderry, 1944-1945, on HMS SAUMAREZ, Mediterranean, 1946-1947, and in South Africa, 1950-1952, and Greece, 1953-1955, written in 1989 for private circulation.

Presentation photograph album of HMS GLORY's tour of duty in the Mediterranean, 1949-1950.

Papers of Shaw Savill and Albion Co Ltd. The bulk of the correspondence files belong to the period 1947 to 1965, although the earliest paper is dated 1924. They are concerned with the building and trials of new vessels, ships in service, standard freight rates and routine instructions to masters. There are summaries of passage money and numbers of passengers, 1900 to 1946; analyses of passage money, outward, 1946 to 1960, 1970 to 1972; passage money, homeward, 1965 to 1968. the records cover chartered vessels as well as the Company's own ships. (Although there is some information about individual passengers, this is not a complete record of passengers carried: more comprehensive lists can be found in the passenger lists in the Board of Trade records at the Public Record Office.). In 1969 a series of refrigerator and engine logs, 1956 to 1962, were deposited as well as deck logs, 1944 to 1965.

This class consists of sixteen documents relating to shipbuilding, eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. They include a description of the machine which steered the IPSWICH across the Atlantic after the rudder had been carried away, 1746; the agreement for the building of an East India Company ship, the PRESTON, 1798; a patent for improvement in side propellors for ocean and river vessels, 1865; and papers relating to Admiral Sir Percy Scott's (1853-1924) proposed battleship design, 1911.

Signals Collection comprising two East India Company signal books. The first is a printed signal book of 1783 entitle 'A Collection of Signals for the use of the ships in the Service of the United East India Company'; a sheet of coloured flags has been loosely inserted, but the book was not issued. There is also a manuscript volume of signals issued by Captain Alexander Montgomerie to the fleet under his command, St Helena to England, 1794.

153 volumes of sailing and fighting instructions include the majority of those listed in Sir Julian Corbett, Signals and instructions (Navy Records Society, 1908). In addition, there are many examples of those issued to smaller squadrons rather than fleets. The earliest is a printed copy of 1673 issued to James Duke of York (1633-1701). There is a copy of 1691 by Admiral Russel (1653-1727), issued in 1702. Subsequent sets show the development which took place up to the Seven Years War. From 1756 onwards additional and supplementary instructions became more numerous. The collection also contains several versions of instructions for ships in convoy, 1708 to 1815. In addition to these single items, there are sets in the personal collections. The most extensive, of thirty-four volumes, is that of Admiral Duncan (q.v.), 1760 to 1799, including signals and instructions issued during the American War, convoy instructions for 1782 and a number of sets from the 1790s. Other sets of significance include those of Vice-Admiral Duff, 1748 to 1762, including convoy instructions, 1756 and 1758, and printed instructions for disembarking and re-embarking troops, which were issued by Admiral Rodney (1719-1792) for the landings at marinique, 1762; of Rear-Admiral Clements, 1758 to 1770; and of Captain Lord Longford, 1779 to 1780.

120 printed and manuscript signal books and signal logs. 1711 to 1816. The earliest signal book is a manuscript volume compiled between 1710 and 1711. This contains additional signals made by Sir John Norris (c 1670-1749) in the RANELAGH. The format of this volume is very similar to the printed signal book of 1714 by Jonathan Greenwood. There are some manuscript examples produced privately by individual officers usually with a thumb index for quick reference, dating from the mid-eighteenth century. There are also printed signal books for 1790, 1793, 1795, 1798 and The General Signal Book of 1799, 1808 and 1816. During the 1790s the printing of signal books became general practice. There are various examples (which include day and fog signals), night signals, instructions and additional instructions, which were usually issued in sets. For example, the collection has a set issued in 1793 by Admiral Lord Hood to the Mediterranean fleet. There is a similar set issued by Sir John Jervis in 1794 while in the West Indies. Most of the printed books which were issued have additional signals inserted in manuscript. The manuscript signal books are copies kept by officers who were not issued with a printed signal book, and preferred their own copy for easy reference; they are therefore usually pocket size. This practice was forbidden because of the danger of the code falling into enemy hands. However, there are a number of these in the collection and they often contain additional information, such as orders of battle and sailing, keys to both the British and French systems of coastal signals, pendant lists, etc. Many are finely executed and some are illustrated. There is a manuscript signal book used at the battle of the Nile, based on the 1795 edition entitled 'Day and Night Signal Book, Horarry, Fog etc.' by Midshipman (later Commander) Charles Claridge (fl 1798-1823) in the DEFENCE. This has a short diary at the back of the volume describing the battle and an order of battle and an order of battle and sailing. A manuscript copy of Lord Howe's (q.v.) code of 1793 is also included; this contains a list of signals for identifying coasts and headlands, caricatures, a sea song and drawings of naval vessels. The collection contains a group of signal books issued for use in a particular area; they include volumes for Barbados, 1820, Plymouth, 1797 and St Helena, 1817. There are also three signal logs, one of which was kept in the VICTORY, 1804.

Over half the signal books in this category are French; the other nations represented are Spain, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Sweden and Turkey. There are eighteen volumes, 1754 to 1885, the majority of which are printed with manuscript annotations. Of the French volumes, the earliest is a signal book kept in 1754 by the pilot of LA ROSE, in the squadron of Le Comte de Gallissoniere (1693-1756). The volume has a thumb index of coloured flags and is illustrated with watercolours of fleet manoeuvres. There is also an English translation of the signal book issued by the Comte D'Ache (1700-1775) to his fleet while in the East Indies in the ZODIAQUE, 1757 to 1759; a signal book issued by the Comte D'Orvilliers (1708-1792) in 1779; and a printed signal book of 1787 issued by the Marquis de Nieul, in which the names of the vessels in the squadron have been scratched out, but the twenty flags and ten pendants have been coloured. The Revolutionary War period is represented by three signal books issued for the navy of the Republic in 1799 and 1801. Only one has actually been issued and gives a key to the flags. In addition, there is a handbook for a coastal semaphore between Bayonne and Flushing; published in 1807, the system was invented by an artillery officer named Depillon and built ca.1803. The category also includes two signal books for the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies; one was issued in c 1784 by John (later Sir John) Acton (1736-1811), the other in 1816; a Spanish book of signals and instructions printed in Cadiz in 1765 and issued by the Marques de la Victoria; another Spanish volume for 1781 for the fleet of Don Luis de Cordova; and two Swedish volumes, 1795 and 1796. The Turkish signal book is naval, 1885, and the format is similar to a French or an English volume. There is also a Dutch volume of flags rather than signals which was compiled c 1687; it is described on the title page as 'The Flagbook of Captain Paulus van der Dussen' (1658-1707).

Seven volumes concerned with naval signalling, telegraphic and merchant shipping codes, 1787 to 1822. The earliest volume is by Captain (later Admiral) Phillip Patton (1739-1815); in 1787 he published 'A system of signals combining the method commonly used in theBritish Navy...with a numerary method'. As far as is known this was never used, since preference was given to the code invented by Lord Howe. Patton employed two methods: one was the old idea of the meaning of the flag being governed by the position of the hoist and the other gave each flag a fixed numerical value. A new arrangement of Howe's day and night signals and instructions was made in 1792 by John McArthur (1755-1840), while secretary to Lord Hood, and printed in 1793. McArthur also published a comprehensive plan in c 1804, entitled 'Thoughts on several plans combining a system of Universal Signals by day and night', of which there is also a copy. There is a lithographed copy, made in 1822, of 'Practical Rules for making Telegraphic Signals with a description of the two-armed telegraph invented in 1804' by Lieutenant-Colonel Pasley (1780-1861); he put forward a system of sending messages by land using a pole with two moveable arms. A similar manuscript of ca.1820 is by Lieutenant (later Commander) Poynter Crane (1782-1879).