Philip K. Allan - Author

The Fortune of War by British artist Geoff Hunt

This was the artwork used for the novel of the same title by Patrick O’Brian

#AubreyMaturin #RoyalNavy #Ageofsail

USS Iowa (BB61) passing through the Panama Canal after her return to service in the 1980s.

Iowa class battleships were designed with a beam that would (just) fit through the canal’s locks.

#USNavy #WW2 #Panama #Battleships

The Captain's Wife by 19th century Norwegian artist Carl Sundt-Hansen

#MerchantNavy #Sea #Womenatsea #sailors

HMS Easton in drydock after ramming and sinking U458 in 1943

While effective as a tactic, ramming was discouraged by the Admiralty because the escort ship was then taken out of service for a considerable period.

#RoyalNavy #GermanNavy #WW2

Good point, they do get overlooked. Cutters and topsail schooners (like Pickle) were vital for communications and scouting, thanks to their speed.

220 years ago today – Admiral Collingwood’s despatches with news of victory at Trafalgar and the death of Nelson, arrived in London, brought by HMS Pickle

The picture is HMS Pickle, Bringer of News, by British marine artist Richard Grenville

#RoyalNavy #OnThisDay #Trafalgar

Savannah by British Marine artist John Stobart.

Stobart is best known for his 19th century harbour scenes, many of American ports at night.

#MaritimeArt #Tallships #Ageofsail

220 years ago today the Battle of Trafalgar was fought

Nelson’s final entry in his journal was a prayer

'May God grant to my country a great and glorious victory and may humanity after victory be the predominant feature in the British fleet.'

#RoyalNavy #FrenchNavy #SpanishNavy

Squadron of the Blue by 18th century maritime artist Dominic Serres

Showing Royal Navy officers, including the commanding admiral, returning to their ships from shore.

#MaritimeArt #RoyalNavy #Ageofsail

In 1794, British privateers captured French scientist Joseph Dombey sailing to the US. He was coming at the invitation of Thomas Jefferson with kilogram and meter standards to introduce the newly developed metric system there, but never arrived.

#USA #FrenchNavy #RoyalNavy

HMS King George V on arctic duty in WW2. Churchill called the convoy route to Murmansk in the Soviet arctic the “worst journey on earth,” with good reason. U-boats, air attack, surface raiders and of course the cold.

My novel 'The Wolves in Winter' is set here.

#Arctic #WW2 #RoyalNavy

Photo taken within the wreck of HMS Terror. She was part of Franklin’s doomed last expedition to find the Northwest Passage in the 1840s, and was rediscovered off King William Island by Parks Canada ten years ago.

I have the same plates on my dresser

#Arctic #Canada #RoyalNavy #PolarExploration

Born on this day in 1758, Horatio Nelson

This portrait by Lemuel Francis Abbott was done shortly after he lost his arm – temporary black ribbons can be seen securing the seam of his right sleeve to permit access to the wound.

#Nelson #Ageofsail #RoyalNavy #Trafalgar

Farewell to England - HMS Victory leaving St. Helen's at dawn, 15 September 1805.

A new picture by Geoff Hunt

#Nelson #Ageofsail #RoyalNavy #Trafalgar

Trimming the sails by British marine artist Montague Dawson

Born in 1890, he was a keen sailor who served in the Royal Navy during WW1. His firsthand experience of ships and the sea gives his work a gritty authenticity.

#Tallships #Ageofsail #Sea

Lone Wolf: The Wolves WW2 Series, Book 3 Amazon.com: Lone Wolf: The Wolves WW2 Series, Book 3 (Audible Audio Edition): Philip K. Allan, Symon James Sweet, Philip Allan: Books

Lone Wolf is now out on Audio Book

Read once more by Symon Sweet, the action moves into American waters as the US enters the Battle of the Atlantic

“Naval historical fiction doesn’t get much better than this fantastic book.”

Editor’s Pick by the Historical Novel Society

#WW2 #RoyalNavy #USNavy

Damage to the conning tower of U-37 sustained from a depth charge after being attacked by Royal Navy destroyers HMS Keppel and HMS Watchman in October 1939.

The image has been colourised.

#WW2 #BattleoftheAtlantic #RoyalNavy #GermanNavy

Chittagong in Bangladesh – where ships go to die.

#Ships #Pollution #Sea

Escaping Smuggler by Montague Dawson

‘Brandy for the Parson, 'Baccy for the Clerk.’

High import duty on luxury goods during the 18th century resulted in violent battles between smugglers and the Excise service in British coastal waters.

#Ageofsail #smuggling #sea

Lone Wolf (The Wolves WW2 Series) - Historical Novel Society At the beginning of 1942, the United States is logistically unprepared to participate in another world war. In an example reflecting the themes of Barbara Tuchman’s A Distant Mirror, its industrial an...

Wonderful review for Lone Wolf has just been posted by the Historical Novel Society

“Naval historical fiction doesn’t get much better than this fantastic book.”

You can see it in full below.

#WW2 #RoyalNavy #UBoats

Midshipman Blockhead Finding things not exactly what he expected by George Cruikshank

One of a series of cartoons by Cruikshank showing how some ashore imagined the Regency navy.

#Ageofsail #RoyalNavy #Satire

Cutting out of the Curieux by marine artist Mark Myers

She was a French corvette launched in 1800 and operated as a commerce raider. On a night in 1804, the British 74 HMS Centaur sent in her boats to successfully cut her out from Fort Royal harbour, Martinique.

#Ageofsail #RoyalNavy #FrenchNavy

Two Clippers at night by Montague Dawson

#Ageofsail #MerchantNavy #Tallships

Corner of a hand-stitched sail from the 1800s. Every warship had a sailmaker who played a vital role in making and maintaining the huge number of sails required to power the ship in all weathers.

#Ageofsail #RoyalNavy #Tallships

Last night I was in Newcastle giving a talk to the Collingwood Society. What a splendid gathering, a really good audience of well-informed and hospitable people. The admiral’s memory is in safe hands.

#trafalgar #ageofsail #royalnavy

You're welcome

Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin on the set of The Hunt for Red October

#Coldwar #Submarines #Movies

Musket ball found lodged in the timbers of HMS Victory during her ongoing restoration. Probably fired during the battle of Trafalgar from the French ship Redoubtable.

#Nelson #Trafalgar #RoyalNavy

Summer Quarterdeck 2025 - Globe Pequot In this Summer 2025 edition of Quarterdeck, you’ll enjoy By George about author Richard Bolitho, a piece by Cynthia Barrett, a feature about Midshipman Charles Haring, a feature about Italy... READ MO...

The Summer edition of Quarterdeck Magazine is out – with a nice review of Lone Wolf

“Lone Wolf surges with crisp prose and palpable
page-turning tension.”

#AmReading #AlexanderClay #RoyalNavy

The bark Europa in the Arctic.

Perhaps it’s the heatwave currently engulfing Western Europe that made this appeal to me.

#Arctic #Tallships #Ageofsail