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Michael Barritt

The Admiral’s Eyes

The Admiral’s Eyes

The front-line Hydrographic Pathfinders of the Royal Navy were a vital unit.

The Admiral’s Eyes The little pocket notebook is easily missed amongst the Nelson manuscripts in the British Library. In it the admiral noted every alteration of course, with the depth-sounding taken as the Victory came onto a fresh tack, leading the Mediterranean...

Nelson’s Pathfinders, by Michael Barritt

Nelson’s Pathfinders, by Michael Barritt

Barritt’s research is meticulous and observations are revealing.

Nelson’s Pathfinders is essential reading for Naval Historians. It is prescient that it is being published a year after the Admiralty announced it will be withdrawing paper charts and notices to mariners from 2026. For anyone unfamiliar with an Admiralty Chart it is a...

Episode 175

Michael Barritt

The naval historian discusses history, his influences and the books that have inspired him.

Michael Barritt, what first attracted you to naval history? My tutor at Oxford was Piers Mackesy, who was working on seminal books on the period 1793-1815, and this focussed my own interest. My subsequent career as a hydrographic specialist in the Royal Navy broadened...

Episode 175

Michael Barritt

Captain Michael Barritt Royal Navy is a first generation Scot who grew up near the banks of the River Clyde and acquired an early love for ships and the sea. At Glasgow Academy he was prepared for study of Modern History at Pembroke College, Oxford. His tutor there was Piers Mackesy who inspired a deep interest in the period of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He is the author of Nelson's Pathfinders.
Michael Barritt

Books Click on any of the books covers below to either buy or get more information on Amazon Articles Click on the links below to read the full article [dpdfg_filtergrid custom_query="advanced" use_taxonomy_terms="on" multiple_taxonomies="name_of_author"...

Captain Edward Columbine and the West Africa Squadron

Captain Edward Columbine and the West Africa Squadron

The West Africa Squadron provided Captain Columbine the opportunity to fight slavery

Captain Edward Columbine and the West Africa Squadron Perhaps as a result of his Caribbean experiences, Captain Edward Columbine became convinced of the need to abolish the slave trade, and in 1809 he accepted an Admiralty nomination to join a commission for the...