20th-century merchant navy records

On 21 October 1805, smoke filled the skies over the seas west of Cape Trafalgar, a headland in the Province of Cádiz in the southwest of Spain, as a fierce battle raged. After nearly five hours of int

We ended last month looking at the soldier’s pocket books of the 19th century. Sadly very few of these documents survive. They are NOT included in any Army papers that have been stored over the years.

When we think of the U-boat campaign during the Second World War, images often arise of silent predators gliding beneath the waves, steely and lethal, striking fear into Allied convoys. The myth of th

On the night of 13 March 1944, the Greekregistered steamship SS Peleus was en route from Freetown to Buenos Aires when she was hit amidships by two torpedoes, launched by a German U-boat, U-852. The t

I remember, many years ago, a potential client making a very specific request. They wanted me to research their family but they were only interested in the direct male line. ‘I don’t want to know abou

“HAUNTED BY THE SPECTRE OF THEIR OWN DESTRUCTION”