Ned's Navy


Printed:	1998	Author:	Frank Urban
Publisher:	Airlife Publishing Ltd.	ISBN:	1853109045
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Publisher's blurb
The private letters of Admiral Sir Edward Charlton KCB, KCM
Eight large folio volumes left by Admiral Edward 'Ned' Charlton, record his life in the Royal Navy from 25 January 1878, when at the age of twelve years and ten months he joined the training ship HMS Britannia, and then on through his career until retirement in 1924. The volumes contain letters sent home to his parents, his wife and family, letters full of historic events, people and places - his descriptive writing abounding with wit and sensitivity. Although photography was still in its infancy, each era of his life has been captured on many amazing pictures of people, ships and places, taken as he travelled around the world in the mightiest navy afloat.
This book contains the gems of Charlton's lifelong collection and is woven together by his grandson, Frank Urban, who has created this fascinating insight into naval and political life at the height of Britain's imperial and naval power. From those first steps aboard that 2,600 ton wooden-sided ship in Dartmouth in 1878, we see life as a midshipman on our earliest steam-driven battleships, we follow the developments that led to the mighty dreadnoughts of the First World War, we join Ned as he commands a fleet of early minesweepers, scouring the North Sea for German mines, in fact we follow the Royal Navy during its transition from the age of sail and cannon into the age of steam and mighty firepower.
Personal remarks:
This is a splendid book, a great read, highly entertaining and delights with its with terrific photography