An History of Marine Architecture
Including an Enlarged and Progressive View of the Nautical Regulations and Naval History, Both Civil and Military, of All Nations, Especially of Great Britain

This three-volume work, published 1800–2, stands as the first serious study of British naval architecture, and also covers developments overseas.

John Charnock (Author)

9781108084642, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 28 July 2016

510 pages, 46 b/w illus.
29.8 x 21 x 2.5 cm, 1.34 kg

After completing his studies at Trinity College, Oxford, John Charnock (1756–1807) joined the Royal Navy as a volunteer. Though details of his career at sea are lacking, he is known to have embarked on assiduous research into historical and contemporary naval affairs, and he cultivated contacts with many serving officers. His six-volume Biographia Navalis (1794–8), flawed yet still useful, is also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection. Published in three volumes from 1800 to 1802, the present work stands as the first serious study of naval architecture in Britain in particular, while also noting major developments in Europe and beyond. The volumes are illustrated throughout with numerous designs of vessels. Volume 3 (1802) covers changes across the entire eighteenth century, with some discussion of African and Asian examples. The work concludes with various experimental and practical considerations relating to effective shipbuilding and seafaring.

1. Political account of the different navies of Europe
2. Improvements in marine architecture
3. The British navy at the commencement of the eighteenth century
4. Conditions of the different navies of Europe
5. State of the British marine
6. Effects of war on the Spanish marine
7. The British navy in 1739
8. Alterations to the principles of construction
9. Avidity for maritime pursuits
10. Comparative view of the naval powers in Europe
11. Ships built for the Royal Navy from 1700 to 1800
12. Marine belonging to the different African powers
13. General principles of marine architecture
14. The different formation of the bow
15. Obscurity of the terms used in marine architecture
16. Causes of the imperfections in marine architecture.

Subject Areas: History of engineering & technology [TBX]