In 1917 the Periscope Course was started to give submarine commanding officers sufficient practice in attacking. The course succeeded, and a ‘pass’ became the ambition of every submarine executive or warfare officer and a requirement for the unique job of commanding a submarine. This caused a name change to the Commanding Officers’ Qualifying Course (COQC) […]
In April 2011, the newly created Royal Navy Response Force Task Group deployed to the Mediterranean to provide a range of military options in response to the Arab Spring. For the next six months the group planned and prepared for a range of potential operations including non-combatant evacuations from Libya, Yemen and Syria, maritime interdiction […]
Join marine artist John M. Horton who will highlight the history of Canada’s various war art programmes from the First and Second World Wars to the present day. Using images of several other war artists (supplied by the Canadian War Museum), and images of John’s paintings of Canada's historic and present day Navy, John’s presentation […]
Join us onboard Wellington for a unique evening of submariner history Find out more about “The Perisher” and how it prepared our Submarine Commanding Officers for the high-pressure, high-risk situations that they faced in times of combat. Enjoy the lecture and stay onboard for a buffet supper. In 1917 the Periscope Course was started to […]
Join Colonel David Vassallo for an illustrated talk celebrating the 80th anniversary of Operation Pedestal and the safe arrival of the tanker SS Ohio in Grand Harbour, Malta on 15 August 1942. The talk sets the scene with a description of the two-and-a-half-year Siege of Malta by the Axis powers, at the height of which, […]
Join Paris Mangriotis as he presents the technical challenges involved in removing the wreck of the Costa Concordia from its location on the Tuscan island of Giglio over a two year period from 2012 to 2014. The undertaking was the largest of its kind and stretched the abilities of all involved due to the pressures on […]
With so many ships visiting London, it is hardly surprising that there have been thousands of shipwrecks in the Thames. Join Rob Smith as he presents a Virtual Tour telling the story of 12 ships that have sunk in the Thames. From a Roman cargo ship to a mysterious sinking in the Cold War, Rob's […]
An Allied mission in 1942 sending the fishing boat, Arthur, with two x 2 man submersible ‘chariots’ from Shetland, across the North Sea and into Trondheim Fjord, Norway, to sink the heavily defended German battleship, Tirpitz.
Alastair Chapman, Chairman, The Wellington Trust presents a historical and current background to the European and North Atlantic fishing industry, its regulation and enforcement, its political disputes and some vivid film footage from the Icelandic Cod Wars of the 1970s. The lecture also includes the Speaker’s personal recall of his experience as the Navigating Officer […]
Susie studied Art history at the University of East Anglia and was first bitten by the heritage bug whilst working as an architectural researcher and writing reports and histories of some of the most notable and historic government buildings in Westminster. In 1993 she jumped ship joining P&O to catalogue their art collection. That one-year […]
Captain Simon Quail B.Ed MA Master Mariner will present our February lecture. Charting a voyage on a little ship (1599 grt) from North Wales, via the Irish Sea, the Little Minch and the Pentland Firth to Duncansby Head, (on route to Odda in Norway) passed those famous Stevensons Lighthouses as they guided me safely away […]
The National Maritime Museum is widely recognised as the largest maritime museum in the world with a collection of over 2.5 million items. It is one of four main sites of the Royal Museums Greenwich which is located within a UNESCO World Heritage Site located beside the Thames. Amongst these amazing collections is the world […]
Reflecting on the perils of WWII, Churchill said “Battles might be won or lost, enterprises succeed or miscarry, territories might be gained or quitted, but dominating all our power to carry on the war, or even keep ourselves alive, was our mastery of the ocean routes and the free approach and entry to our ports […]
Howard MacKenzie-Wilson presents the Jubilee Sailing Trust’s three-masted barque TENACIOUS – her construction and 21 years of round the world service, including her current deployment on a six-month charter to the Royal Navy. The first square-rigged sail training for the Royal Navy since Jacky Fisher paid off the inshore squadron of brigs in 1903.
