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.

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).

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.

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

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.

Records of Morrison, Cryder and Company, London-American and general merchants, comprising: correspondence, 1834-55; accounts, 1836-49; shipping papers, 1836-9; legal papers, 1832-1851; insurance papers, 1837-1848; reports, 1846; and dividend lists, 1837-1839.

Records of Morden Station Garage, comprising minutes of Board and General meetings and financial accounts.

Papers of politician and academic Eric Moonman, including: general papers, correpsondence and press cuttings regarding mental health, industry, local constituency issues, the Laker Skytrain and the Middle East, 1975-1979; press cuttings regarding Moonman's local and national political activities, 1968-1972; election ephemera, 1974-1979; papers regarding the energy crisis and oil policy, 1973-1974; constituency correspondence, 1976-1978.

Papers of Commander Alexander Montgomerie. There are account books for the BWSBOROUGH, 1777 to 1781; a letterbook, 1786 to 1788, and a log book of the BOMBAY CASTLE, 1793 to 1794.

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].

Fifty editions of Tee Emm, the Department of the Air Member for Training, Air Ministry, training memoranda monthly magazine, Apr 1941-Mar 1946. In addition to containing RAF training procedures and memoranda relating to RAF administration, navigation techniques, airmanship, crew co-operation requirements, gunnery, and aerial intelligence matters, the magazines included leisure articles and cartoons; fictional accounts of air operations; RAF honours lists; and updates on technological developments in the RAF

Edition of Squadron Histories, RFC, RNAS, and RAF, 1912-1959 by Peter Lewis (Putnam, London, 1959), a history of the Royal Flying Corps, the Royal Naval Air Service, and the Royal Air Force, 1912-1959

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.

Papers of Margaret Stevenson Miller, 1929-1975, comprising:
papers on research into the economy of the Soviet Union, 1929-1941, including pamphlets and cuttings on finance, papers on transport in the Soviet Union, c 1934, papers on transport, agriculture, finance and housing in the Soviet Union c 1939-1952, papers on the clothing industry in the Soviet Union, 1941-1950, papers on the economic regions of the Soviet Union, 1044-1947, papers on trade unions in the Soviet Union, 1945-1946, lecture notes on the economics of the Soviet Union, for lectures given by Miller at George Washington University, c 1946-1947, papers on town population in the Soviet Union, 1961-1964, papers ion agriculture in the Soviet Union, 1961-1964, papers on trade between the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, 1970-1971, papers on economic reform in the Soviet Union, 1945;1961-1975, papers on Conference of representatives of the British and Soviet public, Armenia, 1974, papers on Miller's visit to the Soviet Union, Aug 1968;
papers on School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) Old Students' Association, 1951, 1950-1962,including "Memorandum of evidence: submitted on behalf of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies Old Students' Association - To the Committee of Enquiry into the future policy of the School", Apr 1971

Papers of Frederick William Hugh Migeod, 1902-1928, relating to his work and travels in West Africa, including notes on his itineraries in the Gold Coast, 1902-1914, while he was in charge of the transport department of the Gold Coast, and papers relating to his expeditions in West Africa after his retirement from the department in 1919; notebooks from his trans-Africa journey of 1919-1921 (Libreville to Tanganyika), a journey to Lake Chad 1921-1922, a Cameroon expedition in 1922-1923 and in 1927-1928, and a Sierra Leone expedition in 1924-1925; additional items include material prepared for, but not used in, his publications about these journeys, correspondence with officials, bills, permits and rough notes concerning his journeys, and correspondence with publishers and others about his books, 1919-1928, (150 items); route book, Gabon-Moyen-Congo, 1920; 2 route books Lualaba to Sankuru river, 1921 (No. 89).

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

Papers of Dr Richard Michels, 1889-1969, comprise correspondence and journals of Richard Michels, mostly whilst on board a variety of ships in his capacity as ship's doctor c 1900; some photographs; and typescript accounts of Kempen, Posen by a relative on his wife's side of the family.

Directors Report and Accounts of Mexico Tramways Company, 1909.

Records of the Metropolitan Railway Company, comprising mortgage for premises at Bishopsgate Street and 3-6 Devonshire Street, 1870; lease for premises at Bloomfield Street, 1831, and lease for premises at Moorfields, 1840.

Records of the Metropolitan Railway Company, including minutes of Board meetings; General meetings; Finance Committee meetings; Electric Traction Committee meetings; Law and Lands Committee; Parliamentary, Law and Lands Committee meetings; Stores Committee meetings; Traffic Committee meetings; Officer's Monthly Conferences; reports; agreements; registers of accidents and special occurrences; guard books of circulars; books of diagrams; instructions to signalmen; petitions from users of the line; papers of the General Manager relating to various matters including construction of stations and line improvements, daily operations and personnel management; and publications.

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

Revised rules book owned by A. Curtis.

Records of the Metropolitan District Railway, including minutes of Board Meetings, General Meetings, the Traffic, Way and Works Committee, the Law, Parliamentary and Lands Committee, Stock Holders Meetings, Executive Officers Meetings and Standing Joint Committee; guard books containing copies of agreements with other railway companies and non-railway companies; volumes of statistics; financial ledgers; volumes of monthly reports; notices issued jointly with Piccadilly Line of London Electric Railway, concerning track and signal alterations and the bringing into use of new lines in connection with the extension of Piccadilly Line trains to Hounslow, South Harrow and Enfield West and Shareholders' Association circulars, newspaper cuttings and so on.

Records of the Metropolitan and Metropolitan District Joint Railway, including Joint Working Committee minutes and indexes; minutes of the Joint Committee (City Lines and Extensions), with reports and statements; minutes of the Electric Traction Joint Committee; minutes of the Joint Committee for working the District Railway, minutes of the Joint Consultative Committee; minutes of the City Lines and Extension to East London Railway Joint Committee; notes of meetings of Board of Works, Corporation of London, Commissioners of Sewers; and guard book of plans (44 feet to one inch) of Whitechapel, Cannon Street, Mansion House, King William Street (now Bank) and Trinity Square (now Tower Hill) Stations.

Records of the Metropolitan and Great Central Joint Railways, including minutes of the Joint Committee; minutes of Officers' Conferences; reports and papers of the Oxford and Aylesbury Tramroad Company; plans of the line between Harrow and Verney Junction; and financial records including ledgers, journals and cash books.

Records of the Metropolitan and District Electric Traction Company, comprising minutes of Board Meetings and General Meetings.

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).

Of the twelve volumes in this class, two relate to the society of East India Commanders; one, 1780 to 1833, records wagers between members and promises of gifts to the society upon such eventualities as marriage or leaving the service; the other is an account book, 1825 to 1879. The remaining eight volumes are 'Elements of Navigation' by pupils of Christ's Hospital Mathematical School; the earliest is dated 1723 and the latest is c 1845. All are very carefully executed and the subjects include arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, gunnery and navigation; the majority are illustrated with diagrams, maps, pen and ink sketches or watercolours.

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

This category consists of 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.

Ships' logs from Merchant Shipping. There are some examples of logs kept by commanders, but the majority for which the keeper can be established are by other officers or by midshipmen; there are also five kept by pursers and two by passengers. The format of the logs varies but many from the late-eighteenth century are written on a standard printed form incorporating the arms of the Company. A few are illustrated, notably that of the DUTTON, 1791, kept by Captain James Hamilton, which has daily coloured sketches of the ship showing the set of the sails. Many include lists of the ship's company, passengers and troops. The earliest volume contains copies of logs of several ships between 1659 and 1687 and bears the inscription 'John Ouldham His Book 1697/8'. Another early example is the log of the UPTON GALLEY, 1701 to 1703, to Bengal and back, kept by her commander, John Camell. In some cases a series of logs covers the career of an officer from midshipman to chief officer or commander such as that kept by Henry Wise (fl 1819-1833) in seven volumes on the CASTLE HUNTLEY, from 1819 to 1829, and in the ASTELL, 1830 to 1831, and EDINBURGH, 1832 to 1833, during which time he rose from midshipman to chief officer; and six volumes kept by Searles Wood (fl 1783-1808) between 1783 and 1785 and 1791 and 1802 on various ships, rising from fourth mate to commander.

The latest log is that of the EARL BALCARRES, 1835 to 1837, by the purser, Richard Binks, which includes copies of estimates for rigging, sails, painting and plumbing and stores, together with dimensions and deck plans. In this section there are also five volumes relating to the Bombay Marine and Indian Navy including the log of the SCORPION, a Bombay Marine snow, 1793 to 1794, kept by Captain William Selby which includes a letter and a memorial relating to the capture of the SCORPION by the French in 1794; and two volumes kept by William H Carpendale, midshipman, on various ships of the Indian Navy between 1846 and 1851.

Of the seventy volumes in this class, thirteen date from the eighteenth century. The earliest was kept by John Tregelles, an ordinary seaman, recording voyages in mail packets from the West Country, mainly to the West Indies, between 1703 and 1707. There are the logs of the TRIO, kept by Robert Sanders, the third mate, from London to the West Indies and back in 1788; and the AFRICAN QUEEN, by an unknown keeper, from Bristol to Africa in 1790. Privateering is represented by the log of the GREYHOUND of Bristol commanded by James Neil, operating mainly in the English Channel, 1779 to 1780. The slave trade is the subject of two volumes; one is the log of John Newton (1725-1807), kept while master of the slave vessels the DUKE OF ARGYLE and the AFRICAN on voyages to Africa and the West Indies between 1750 and 1754 (an edited version of this has been published in B Martin and M Spurrell, eds. The Journal of a Slave Trader (John Newton) 1750-1754) (London, 1962); the other is the illustrated log of the SANDOWN by her commander, Samuel Gamble, a slave merchant, from London to West Africa and the West Indies, 1793 to 1794.

There are also three logs kept by the marine artist Nicholas Pocock (1741-1821) while commander of the ships BETSEY and LLOYD of Bristol; they cover six voyages of the LLOYD between Bristol and South Carolina, 1768 to 1769 and one in the BETSEY from Bristol to the Mediterranean and back to London in 1770. Each is illustrated with India-ink wash drawings of the ship showing the set of the sails and weather conditions each day, together with other sketches. There are forty-seven nineteenth-century logs. Among the earliest are those of the MONARCH on a voyage from Liverpool to South America and back, 1824 to 1825, kept by her master Magnus Omand; of the BENJAMIN during two voyages to St Petersburg and back, 1830 to 1832; and the log of the barque ARUNDEL from Liverpool to Odessa and back, 1836 to 1837, kept by the mate, Thomas Somerscales, father of the marine painter of the same name (1842-1927). Later volumes include the log of the brig SANCHO engaged in the East Coast coal trade and also making two voyages to Archangel, 1848 to 1850, kept by the mate, Daniel Tatkin; the log of the KELSO from London to Singapore and Hong Kong, 1849 to 1852, by the second mate, William Locke (b 1825), with an account of a mutiny on board in 1850; and the log of the ALSAGER, 1872 to 1873, with an account of her loss by the mate.

There are two nineteenth-century volumes relating to the packet service; the log of H.M. Packets ST VINCENT, from St Vincent, West Indies, to Liverpool, 1818, and PRINCE ERNEST from Falmouth to Barbados and back, 1821, kept by Captain Coupland, and the log of the Falmouth Packets PRINCESS ELIZABETH and the MARQUESS OF SALISBURY, later H M Brig SWALLOW, 1819 to 1832, kept by John Bull (1771-1851) including voyages to Halifax, the West Indies, Mexico and New York. Logs of Green's Blackwall Frigates include that of the MALABAR kept by A J M D How, midshipman, during two voyages to Bombay and back, 1846 to 1848; an illustrated log of the OWEN GLENDOWER, by John Lawrence Kirby, Second Officer, Bombay and back, 1846 to 1847; and that of the CARLISLE CASTLE, also illustrated, on four voyages from London to Melbourne, 1880 to 1884, by C R Longden, midshipman (fl 1880-1919). Among the logs of nineteenth-century steam vessels are the captain's log of the GREAT WESTERN, from Bristol to New York and back, 1838; the log of the GREAT BRITAIN on her third voyage from Liverpool to Melbourne and back, 1854 to 1855, and two voyages carrying troops to the Crimea, 1855 to 1856; an illustrated log of the CALCUTTA from Plymouth to India and back, 1852 to 1853; and two logs of the GREAT EASTERN, one a medical log, 1869 to 1870, and the other kept by her captain, Robert Halpin, on a voyage to Newfoundland and back, 1873. The earliest of the ten twentieth-century items is the electrical log of the cable ship DACIA.