The story of Pembroke Dock is one of triumph and disaster, of hope and terrible failure. Nearly three hundred ships were built in the yards, including some of the most powerful ships in Queen Victoria’s navy – as well as four famous Royal Yachts. Then in 1926, the dockyard was suddenly closed, leaving the town without reason for existence. What followed was a brutal battle for survival. The history of Pembroke Dock is a fascinating social study, taking a community from its raw beginnings to full and accepted standing in the world. It makes compulsive reading for anyone who has an interest in history. Accent Press was founded in Pembroke Dock in 2003. Our first quayside offices overlooked the Gun Tower in the dock which is known as one of Palmerston’s Follies.

Based on extensive research, The Naval History of Wales tells a compelling story that spans nearly 2,000 years, from the Romans to the present. Many Welsh men and women have served in the Royal Navy and the navies of other countries. Welshmen played major parts in voyages of exploration, in the navy's suppression of the slave trade, and in naval warfare from the Viking era to the Spanish Armada, in the American Civil War, both world wars and the Falklands War. Comprehensive, enlightening, and provocative, The Naval History of Wales also explodes many myths about Welsh history, naval historian J.D. Davies arguing that most Welshmen in the sailing navy were volunteers and that, relative to the size of national populations, proportionately more Welsh seamen than English fought at Trafalgar. Written in vivid detail, this volume is one that no maritime or Welsh historian can do without.

The Royal Dockyard at Pembroke Dock produced over 250 warships for the Royal Navy, including five royal yachts, between its founding in 1814 and its closure after the First World War. Prior to this, no ocean-going ships had ever been built on the south shores of Milford Haven, where the most complex piece of machinery used was the horse-drawn plough. Yet within twenty years Pembrokeshire men were building major British warships and they did so for the next hundred years. This long century, from the Napoleonic Wars until after the First World War, covered all the major changes in warship design and construction, from wood to iron and then steel, and from sail to steam, and paddle wheel to screw propulsion. In this authoritative and splendidly illustrated work, naval historian Lawrie Phillips, who was born and bred just outside the dockyard walls, tells the story of this royal yard, its ships and the Pembroke men who built them.

The fascinating history of Pembroke Dock illustrated through old and modern pictures.