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The Mariner's Mirror Podcast

The Titanic Inquiry 3: Fred Barrett

In this, the second of our dramatisations of witness testimony given at the British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry into the Titanic disaster we hear from Fred Barrett, a stoker from Liverpool. Fred had been tasked with extinguishing a fire and was in one of the boiler rooms when the collision happened. If you are interested in what happened in the bowels of the ship during the sinking his testimony is one of the very best.

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  • Nelson's Pathfinders

    37:02|
    Today we discover the remarkable story of how a handful of intrepid scientific navigators underpinned British naval dominance in the conflict with Napoleon. During the Napoleonic Wars, more than twice as many British warships were lost to shipwreck than in battle. The Royal Navy’s fleets had to operate in unfamiliar seas and dangerous coastal waters, where navigational ignorance was as great a threat as enemy guns. If Britain was to win the war, improved intelligence was vital. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Michael Barritt about how they secured that intelligence. It is a story of how a cadre of specialist pathfinders led by Captain Thomas Hurd enabled Britain’s Hydrographic Office to meet this need. Sounding amongst hazards on the front line of conflict, alert for breaks in weather or onset of swell, these daring sailors gathered vital strategic data that would eventually secure the upper hand against Britain’s adversaries. And they did this around Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, honing a skill that revolutionised the British way of war at sea, ultimately securing a lasting naval dominance.Michael Barritt is the former Hydrographer of the Navy, head of the Royal Navy’s hydrographic profession, and a successor to Captain Thomas Hurd.
  • Black Mariners in the Royal Navy

    28:58|
    Throughout the eighteenth century the Royal Navy was the largest employer of free black labour in a period when Britain was - at the same time - the largest trader in human lives across the Atlantic. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Steve Martin, expert on black British history and literature, and who works with museums, archives and the education sector to bring diverse histories to wider audiences. They discuss the origins of black mariners who ended up in the Royal Navy, their status, skillsets, and career trajectories, their settlement patterns and Black radical culture.
  • The Spice Ports: Mapping the Origins of Global Sea Trade

    47:13|
    We may think of globalism as a recent development but its origins date back to the fifteenth century and beyond, when seafarers pioneered routes across the oceans with the objectives of exploration, trade and proft. And what did they seek? Exotic spices: cloves, pepper, cinnamon, ginger. These spices brought together the European ports of Lisbon, London, Amsterdam and Venice, with Goa, Bombay, Malacca and Jakarta - and through those ports the Arab world and China.To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Nicholas Nugent. Nicholas spent his career as a journalist with the BBC World Service and his spare time collecting a valuable archive of original maps, developing a passion for how the growth of the spice ports helped spread the exchange of global culture between east and west. His magnificent book, The Spice Ports: Mapping the Origins of the Global Sea Trade published by the British Library is out now.
  • Portsmouth Historic Quarter and the SHE_SEES Exhibition

    43:12|
    The SHE-SEES exhibition, hosted in partnership with the Lloyds Register Foundation, Portsmouth Historic Quarter and the University of Portsmouth, taps into archive materials from across the UK and Ireland to uncover the extensive history of trailblazing female voices in the maritime industry and aims to change the tide on diversity. Dr Sam Willis speaks with Hannah Prowse CEO of Portsmouth Historic Quarter as well as numerous people involved in the project including boatbuilder Betzy Shell, boatkeeper assistant Emily Ball and the historians George Ackers and Mel Bassett who worked on the background research bringing the historical voices to life.
  • Eyewitness: Captain Avery and the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates

    43:49|
    This year we are launching a new strand of the podcast on eyewitness testimony, in which we bring you the most extraordinary primary sources – history as told and written by the people who were actually there.Today we start with one of the most atmospheric of all maritime sources, one that transports you directly back to the creaky decks of the age of sail – you can smell the tar in the rigging – you can almost taste the rum.This excerpt on Captain Avery comes from  A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates, which was published in 1724, exactly 300 years ago. It was a fascinating time in the publishing industry: a market in criminal biography already existed and the author of this book, Charles Johnson, hopped on board to bring to the world for the first time the adventures and crimes of pirates.Fascinatingly, we don't have any idea who Johnson actually was. Many thousands of words have been written and suggestions made including that he was actually Daniel Defoe. What is certain is that whoever wrote the book knew his – or her – stuff. The account is brimming with detail and accuracy. The author undoubtedly spoke with people who had sailed with these pirates and knew their world intimately. And the year 1724, when this was published was the very peak of what became known as the 'Golden Age of Piracy'.The book became hugely famous and public interest in pirates can be traced in a direct line right up to the twentieth century classics we know so well, such as Treasure Island, Peter Pan and Pirates of the Caribbean.This particular chapter introduces Captain Avery, one of the worst of the worst. Born in the summer of 1659 he mysteriously disappeared in 1696 after an extraordinary life for which he was known by his contemporaries as 'The King of the Pirates.'
  • Finmen: The Inuit Who Paddled 1200 Miles

    32:42|
    It is a little known and extraordinary fact that over 300 years ago the Inuit made crossings from Greenland to the Orkney Isles and northern Scotland. The journey across the hostile North Atlantic is over 1200 miles. Their traditional craft were made of nothing more than skin, bone and driftwood. The literature of Scotland, particularly in relation to the Orkneys, describes individuals in small boats appearing around the coast between 1684 and 1701. The name given to these people by the chroniclers was 'Finmen'. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Norman Rogers, a keen kayaker and author of 'Searching for the Finmen' which explores in detail this remarkable event.
  • Lifesavers: How Conflict Innovation Can Build a Better World

    48:48|
    We find out about an exciting project run by the Imperial War Museum which explores how conflict has driven innovation in science and technology. Sponsored by Lloyd’s Register Foundation, the project aims to discover how conflict has accelerated innovation, and how this has impacted on the world we live in today. Science and technology are the key factors in influencing the course of modern conflict. On land, at sea and in the air, innovation in technology has played a key role in the course of conflict during the twentieth Century. Warfare accelerates technological innovation as part of the wider war effort, and this in turn has a significant impact on civilian society. As the Imperial War Museum is a world-renowned authority on conflict history, the project gives audiences the opportunity to change their understanding about war. With over one million items in the IWM collection, this project will offer a range of a wide range of intellectual and emotional experiences.To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Rob Rumble, lead curator of the project. They examine and discuss a number of artefacts in the collection, including the Cavity Magnetron, which became the preferred source of very high frequency radio waves in various radars and communication devices and led to a massive growth in microwave radar technology; public safety posters which educated and encouraged the public use of antiseptic to prevent infections, as well as for the use of safety harnesses whilst working from height; an example of the 'Davis' Submarine escape apparatus, an early type of oxygen rebreather invented in 1910; a lifejacket for a child; lifeboat navigation maps; a buoyant light; plastic armour; and a type of valve employed in early airborne interception and air to surface vessel radar equipment.
  • King of the Beggars: The Extraordinary Life of Billy Waters

    40:25|
    Billy Waters was born into enslavement in 1770s New York, before becoming a sailor in the royal navy. After losing his leg in a fall from the rigging, the talented Waters became London’s most famous street performer, celebrated on stage and in print. Towards the end of his life he was elected 'King of the Beggars' by his peers. Waters died destitute in 1823 but his legend lived on for decades. To find out more about life as a black man in the Royal Navy and on the streets of Regency London, Dr Sam Willis spoke with Mary Shannon, author of the excellent new book Billy Waters Is Dancing.
  • My Yacht Was Sunk by Killer Whales

    53:20|
    Today we hear from Douglas Robertson. In 1971 Douglas’s father, Dougal, a retired merchant navy sailor turned Staffordshire dairy farmer, sold his farm and bought a yacht. He planned to sail around the world with his wife, daughter and three sons. Douglas was then sixteen and today casts his mind back to that fateful voyage. He recalls in great detail the purchase and preparations of the yacht Lucette, their trans-Atlantic voyage and continuing journey to the Pacific. It was there, hundreds of miles from anywhere, that their yacht was sunk by killer whales and the Robertson family were cast adrift. The story of their survival is astonishing.