'Underhand and damned un-English' was the view of submarines in Edwardian Britain. Yet by the 1960s the new nuclear powered submarines were seen by the Royal Navy as being the 'hallmark of a first class navy'. In this book Duncan Redford, a retired Royal Navy submarine officer, explores how - and why - attitudes to the submarine changed in Britain between 1900 and 1977. Using a wide array of previously unpublished sources, Redford sheds light on what the British thought about submarines, both their own and those that were used against them. Rather than providing an operational history of Britain's submarines, this book looks at naval and civilian conceptions of what submarine warfare was imagined to be like in the context of unrestricted submarine warfare, the world wars and the development of nuclear weaponry. With chapters on the coronation and jubilee reviews at Spithead, the submarine in novels and films, as well as coverage of the Royal Navy's and civilian views of submarines and submarine warfare this book gives a comprehensive view of the British regard - or lack of it - for the submarine. Through the examination of the British relationship with submarines since 1900 it is possible to see changing patterns in acceptance and tensions between different sub-cultures, both civil and maritime. Since 1900 the meaning constructed around submarines has changed as the submarine has progressed along a road from perdition as the weapon of the weaker power (and morally weaker power too) to a form of redemption as a major capital unit. This book will be essential for naval historians, students and those interested in aspects of submarine development and use.

The Power and the Glory tells the story of royal fleet reviews from the fifteenth century to the 2005 International Fleet Review, commemorating the 200th anniversary of Trafalgar, which was the final exhibition of that pomp and ceremony that had been an essential if irregular expression of naval strength for more than 500 years. Whether to impress or deter a foreign power, often when mobilizing for war, provide reassurance for domestic consumption or celebrate a sovereign’s accession, royal naval reviews were an integral part of political positioning and national pride. At these reviews, particularly during the eras of British naval dominance, potential allies or enemies were invited to marvel at British prowess, while the British public could revel in the country’s naval superiority; advances in technology and ship design were showcased, often for commercial benefit, and homage paid to kings and queens at the head of their fleets. Starting with an examination of the reasons for Britain’s need for and close association with a navy, the author goes on to explain the historical, political and technological context for British fleet reviews from the time of Edward III onwards. The Royal Navy reached its apogee in the extended nineteenth century, and The Power and the Glory examines this period, in particular the aims and ambitions of the nineteen reviews during the reigns of Queen Victoria and King Edward VII, and the subsequent twelve under George V, Edward VIII and George VI. After the Second World War and the Coronation Review of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, the Royal Navy entered a long period of almost terminal decline which has been reflected in the lack of royal reviews since 2005. The book examines the reasons for this loss of what had been for centuries the main pillar of British power. Finally, the book looks at the history of the royal yachts, used for conveying monarchs around their shores and fleets, and how they reflected the character of the times. Political manoeuvring, technological change and the personal stories of many of the naval characters involved are all told with pace and verve, as are the histories of many of the ships involved. The Power and the Glory is a celebration of the Royal Navy and its role in our history, and in particular of its essential importance to the pomp and glory of Britain’s maritime heyday in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

This "work is organized by subject. Materials are grouped under twelve main sections in the body of the work, with appropriate subdivisions and subtopics within each main subject. Each section is assigned a two-letter designation, and entries are numbered consecutively within each section. This subject code system was designed to facilitate referals from the Index to the main body of the text, and to allow for cross-referencing between sections."--Introduction.