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In a time of great need for Britain, a small coterie of influential businessmen gained access to secret information on industrial mobilisation as advisers to the Principal Supply Officers Committee. They provided the state with priceless advice, but, as “insiders” utilised their access to information to build a business empire at a fraction of the normal costs. Outsiders, in contrast, lacked influence and were forced together into a defensive “ring” – or cartel – which effectively fixed prices for British warships. By the 1930s, the cartel grew into one of the most sophisticated profiteering groups of its day. This book examines the relationship between the private naval armaments industry, businessmen, and the British government defence planners between the wars. It reassesses the concept of the military-industrial complex through the impact of disarmament upon private industry, the role of leading industrialists in supply and procurement policy, and the successes and failings of government organisation. It blends together political, naval, and business history in new ways, and, by situating the business activities of industrialists alongside their work as government advisors, sheds new light on the operation of the British state. This is the story of how these men profited while effectively saving the National Government from itself.

This book is a collection of sixty interviews with key figures in British shipbuilding, ship repair, and marine engine-building industries across the United Kingdom, plus government and civil service members in the sector from the 1960s to the 1980s. The aim of the project is to understand the economic, social, and political environment of the shipping industry from the perspective of those who worked in it. The interviews place the twentieth century decline of British shipbuilding into a firm context. The topics covered include international competition (a recurring, pertinent theme); labour difficulties; industry modernisation; the attitude of shipowners; the strong belief in traditional methods which kept many of those in the industry from recognising the cheaper, faster, and better quality work taking place overseas and leaving Britain behind; ship production and production control; the postwar boom; shipyard overcrowding; the decline of the domestic industry in favour of the international; marketing weaknesses; trade disputes and trade unions; and nationalisation and privatisation concerns. Opinions and viewpoints often conflict, particularly between the perspectives of those working within the industry and the civil servants working outside of it, but the interviews are presented as a unit, and the reader is encouraged to draw their own conclusion. The result is a unique historical archive that offers a multitude of firsthand perspectives on the British shipping decline, open to interpretation by historians and future researchers. It includes a preface, introduction, and select bibliography. The interviews are grouped together by location and role.

The final journal in the Research in Maritime History series offers a selection of papers by Olaf U. Janzen concerning the maritime history of eighteenth-century Newfoundland, reprinted from various publications and assembled here in chronological order. It explores themes of imperial dominance expressed by both the British and French empires in the struggle for sovereignty that ensconced the two nations. The Newfoundland fishery in the wake of the Treaty of Utrecht was also source of tension between British and French fishermen due to the fishery’s lucrative status. In attempt to integrate Newfoundland’s maritime history into the wider context of the North Atlantic world it examines the struggles of France as their maritime trade went into decline; the dominance of the British Royal Navy on the Atlantic Ocean; the struggle of indigenous Canadians to migrate to Newfoundland; and the efforts of America during the War of Independence to target the fishery when vulnerable. It consists of an introduction, twelve chapters exploring pertinent themes, and an appendix containing reprinted oil paintings of British artist Francis Holman depicting a naval engagement of 7-8 July 1777 involving numerous vessels.

This book approaches the well-documented study of European mass migration to the United States of America from the viewpoint of mass migration as a business venture. The overall purpose is to demonstrate that maritime and migration histories are interlinked and dependent on a deeper understanding of the social, economic, and political factors at work in the nineteenth century Atlantic community. It centres on both the evolution of the port of Rotterdam as a migration gateway, and the crucial role of the Holland-America line as a regulator of the North American passenger trade. The first part of the book explores the simultaneous rise of transatlantic mass migration and long-distance steamshipping between 1830 to 1870. The second part, divided into five chapters, explores how mass migration became a big business between 1870 and 1914, and scrutinises how steamship companies organised and provided initiatives for transoceanic migration, plus the role of shipping agents and agent-networks, and how passenger services were constructed within transatlantic networks. Over the course of the text it becomes increasingly clear that by approaching mass migration as a trade issue, the role of steamship companies in the facilitation of transatlantic migration is rendered both intrinsic and pivotal. It consists of an introduction containing contextual information, two sections providing historical overviews, five chapters exploring different aspects of the shipping industry’s response to mass migration, conclusion, bibliography, and six appendices of passenger, destination, agent, and advertising statistics.

This book is an in-depth case study of the Furness Withy and Co Shipping Group, which operated both tramp and liner services and was one of the five major British shipping groups of the early twentieth century. It demonstrates how British shipowners of this period generated success by exploring Christopher Furness’ career in relation to the social, political, and cultural currents during a time of tremendous shipping growth in Britain and the establishment of some of the largest shipping firms in the world. It approaches the study from three angles. The first analyses how the Furness Group expanded its shipping activities and became involved with the industrial sector. The second illustrates the organisational and financial structure of the enterprise. Finally, the Group’s leadership and entrepreneurship is scrutinised and placed within the wider context of twentieth century British business. The case study begins in 1870, with an introduction explaining how Christopher Furness came to join the family company, Thomas Furness and Co. in order develop services, expand, and instigate the changes and mergers that brought the Furness Group into existence. There are thirteen chronologically presented chapters, a bibliography, and seven appendices of data including an ownership timeline, tonnage statistics, acquisitions, a list of maritime associates, and a timeline of Christopher Furness’ life. The book concludes in 1919 with the de-merging of the Furness Group’s shipping and industrial holdings, the resignation of the Furness family from the company’s board, the sale of their shares, and the move into managing the firm’s industrial interests.

This volume is a reprint of Ralph Davis’ seminal 1962 book, The Rise of the English Shipping Industry in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. The aim was to examine the economic reasons for the growth of British shipping before the arrival of modern technology, with a particular attention on overseas trade. The study can roughly be divided into two halves. The first is an in-depth exploration the roles within the shipping industry, from shipbuilders and shipowners to seamen and masters, from an economic perspective. The second is a chapter-by-chapter review of British overseas trade with Northern Europe, Southern Europe, the Mediterranean, East India, and America and the West Indies. The final two chapters diverge from the main sections, and focus on the interplay between government, war, and shipping. Davis attaches no extra significance to any particular nation or role, and offers an even-handed approach to maritime history still considered rare in the present day. Costs, profits, voyage estimates, ship-prices, and earnings all come under close and equal scrutiny as Davis seeks to understand the trades and developments in shipping during the period. To conclude, he places the study into a broader historical context and discovers that shipping played a measured but crucial role in the development of industrialisation and English economic development. This edition includes an introduction by the series editor; Davis’ introduction and preface; seventeen analytical chapters; a concluding chapter; two appendices concerning shipping statistics and sources; and a comprehensive index.

This book is a reprint of Jaap R. Bruijn’s 1993 book, The Dutch Navy, which offers an English-language overview of the history of the Dutch Navy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It is divided into three chronological periods: the ‘old’, ‘new’, and ‘second-rate’ navy. Rather than presenting a history of naval conflict, this volume approaches Dutch naval history from the following four angles: operations, administration, officer duties, and sailor duties. It consists of a series foreword, a new introduction detailing recent developments in naval historiography, the original introduction providing a history of Dutch maritime history from the middle ages to the beginning of the seventeenth century, a conclusion, and a bibliography and index. It explores the astounding amount of naval power belonging to such a sparsely populated nation, plus the rapid rates of success and decline. It confirms that the Dutch navy - with its logic, innovation, and missteps alike - provides an excellent case study of both the development of European bureaucracy and armed forces in the Early Modern period.

This book presents an in-depth study of the impact of the steamship on Britain during its first forty years, roughly between 1810 and 1850. It relates the early steamship to several industrial themes including diffusion; construction; modernisation; the role of government - particularly the difficult attempt to align laissez-faire politics with the greater need for public safety measures due to technological advance; business and finance; plus public reaction and tourism. The aim is to establish the significance of the steamship as a conduit of modernisation and societal change. It consists of a foreword, introduction, and fourteen chapters devoted to specific themes, structured to ensure each chapters build on the preceding chapter’s progress. Collectively, they demonstrate that the development of both experience and enterprise with steam power both gained and refined during this period made the mid-century expansion of steamship technology across Britain possible. Ultimately, it establishes that steamship services began to adapt to oceanic routes, steam began to integrate into the world economy, and the age of sail began to draw to a close.

This book is a wide-reaching study of Norwegian maritime history and developments within the discipline. It brings together the research efforts of a University of Oslo project aiming to further understand Norwegian shipping history between 1814 and 2014, and the work of a new generation of maritime historians. Structured into three sections - global integration, political issues, and success and failure - the volume covers a broad range of maritime topics that have influenced both Norwegian economic development and Norwegian cultural identity. Through analysis it discovers that in the last few decades Norwegian shipping has been plagued by multiple troubles, whilst simultaneously becoming less crucial to the Norwegian economy in favour of offshore petroleum production. However, it reiterates the historical importance of shipping to the economic development of Norway, and asserts that historians have begun to treat it as the centre from which other industries grew.

This study aims to provide new insights into the connections between maritime history and global history. It demonstrates the significance of maritime activity as a conduit of global exchange by examining local, national, and international interdependencies and trade networks, and a broad range of time periods, geographical areas, and various sub-divisions of maritime historical research. It is composed of ten essays, with an introductory chapter and concluding chapter. The first five essays discuss the effects globalisation on shipping in the early modern period; the following three discuss maritime transportation and the economics of industrialisation from the nineteenth century to the present day; the next discusses the impact of global entrepreneurialism on maritime history; the penultimate discusses the connections and variables between maritime and global history; and the concluding chapter examines the theoretical assumptions surrounding the two disciplines, using the globalisation of Early Modern Spain as a case study to do so. The study demonstrates that the core strength of maritime history is its essential place in global history, and that the process of globalisation began at sea.