We would love to hear any comments or feedback you may have on the newsletter. Please contact us at books@ms-sc.org

We are open for business and regularly dispatch orders.
 

The RRS Sir David Attenborough is heading to the Antarctic for its first season, with our library on board. If you want to see the ship before it goes and meet the team, they will be in Greenwich for a 3-day Ice Words festival.

We can recommend some interesting reads to mark the occasion if you want to join them in spirit.

Polar Mariner: Beyond the Limits in Antarctica, June 2016, Whittles Publishing

Captain Woodfield made 20 seasonal voyages to the Antarctic on three research ships between 1955 and 1974. Starting as a Junior Deck Officer, he worked for The Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, which in 1964 became the British Antarctic Survey. He played a paramount role in the gradual change from using under-powered and poorly-equipped ships to the professionally managed and sophisticated vessels of his last command.

Shackleton: A Biography, September 2021, Penguin Books

In 1915, Sir Ernest Shackleton's attempt to traverse the Antarctic was cut short when his ship, Endurance, became trapped in ice.

What followed became legend. Throughout the long, dark Antarctic winter, Shackleton fights for his life and the lives of his men - enduring freezing temperatures, a perilous lifeboat journey through the ice-strewn sea, and a punishing march across the South Georgia glaciers to seek the one slim chance they have of rescue. Their survival would become history's most enthralling adventure.

Herbert Ponting: Scott's Antarctic Photographer and Pioneer Filmmaker, March 2021, The History Press

Herbert Ponting (1870-1935) was a young bank clerk when he bought an early Kodak compact camera. By the early 1900s, he was living in California, working as a professional photographer, known for stereoview and enlarged images of America, Japan and the Russo-Japanese war. In 1909, back in Britain, Ponting was recruited by Captain Robert Scott as photographer and filmmaker for his second Antarctic expedition.
 

IB116E Maritime Security ISPS Code, 2021 Edition, available October/November 2021, IMO

This second edition of the Guide incorporates guidance approved by the Maritime Safety Committee on the development of maritime security legislation as well as maritime cyber risk management and includes updated sources for further information to support the implementation of the ISPS Code.

This Guide has been developed to consolidate existing IMO maritime security-related material into an easily read companion guide to SOLAS chapter XI-2 and the ISPS Code.

Maritime Team Dynamics: Lessons from the Flight Deck, September 2021, UK P&I Club, Witherby’s

This publication contains 12 aviation incidents that cross-refer to the maritime sector, highlighting important and transferable ‘lessons from the flight deck’. A discussion of these lessons follows each case study, emphasising important teamwork practices such as clear communication, situational awareness and the need for a shared mental model between all members of the bridge team.

CG 515 - Foreign Vessel Rules, 2021-22 Edition - 2 Volumes, July 2021, U.S. Coast Guard

Pub. 515 - U.S. Coast Guard 515 Rules & Regulations for Foreign Vessels Operating in US Waters. Rules and Regulations for Foreign Vessels Operating in the Navigable Waters of United States (A compilation of Applicable CFR 33 & 46 Regulations).

Dynamic Positioning – CPD, September 2021, Witherby’s

Dynamic Positioning - Continuous Professional Development - To Assist DPOs, Tech DP Personnel and DP Companies to Implement CPD

This book provides CPD exercises, level, frequency and methodology to deliver supervised, structured onboard CPD training. The CPD covers familiarisation with the vessel and the vessel-specific DP system, DP operation, DP maintenance and emergency drills. Written by an industry expert with two decades of experience on board dive vessels and teaching Dynamic Positioning, this comprehensive guide outlines how to develop and sustain competence.



 

First Aid Manual, July 2021, Dorling Kindersley

The UK's only fully authorised first aid guide, this book is used as the official training manual for the UK's leading first aid organisations' courses. This updated manual covers all aspects of first aid at work, home, and in the field. Using clear, up-to-date information, step-by-step photography, and simplified diagrams, anyone can be prepared for any medical emergency.

Tides: A Primer for Deck Officers and Officer of the Watch Exams, 2nd Edition, July 2021, Routledge

Tides: A Primer for Deck Officers and Officer of the Watch Exams prepares the reader for the Officer of the Watch and Master/Mate certificates required by all officers on commercial seagoing vessels. From the formation of tides and tidal stream data, right through to practice questions with answers and even mock exam papers, this book will provide you with all the reference material you need in order to pass your exams.



 

INTERTANKO - A Guide for Correct Entries in the Oil Record Book

Part I - Machinery Space Operations, 4^th Edition, April 2021, INTERTANKO, Witherby’s

Part II – Cargo/Ballast Operations, 4^th Edition, April 2021, INTERTANKO, Witherby’s

These guides provide guidance on proper and consistent completion of the Oil Record Book part I and II to ensure compliance with IMO requirements. It provides instruction on correct record-keeping, listing the types of operation that must be recorded and highlighting common failures and errors.

The Shetland Bus: Transporting Secret Agents Across the North Sea in WW2, April 2021, Pen & Sword

The Shetland Bus was not a bus, but the nickname of a special operations group that set up a route across the North Sea between Norway and the Shetland Islands, northeast of mainland Scotland. The first voyage was made by Norwegian sailors to help their compatriots in occupied Norway, but soon the Secret Intelligence Service and the Special Operations Executive asked if they would be prepared to carry cargoes of British agents and equipment, as well. Fourteen boats of different sizes were originally used, and Flemington House in Shetland was commandeered as the operation's HQ.




Breaking Seas Broken Ships: People, Shipwrecks and Britain, 1854-2007, March 2021, Pen & Sword
Following Britain and the Ocean Road, Ian Friel expertly navigates the history of Britain and the sea from the Middle Ages to modern times. With Breaking Seas, Broken Ships, we follow the story of Britain's maritime history through some of its most dramatic shipwrecks. From the country's imperial zenith to the very different world of the early twenty-first century, we encounter an extraordinary range of people, ships and events. With people at the heart of every chapter, it explores major environmental themes alongside the traditional concerns of maritime history, such as trade, social issues and naval warfare. Their experiences tell us the story of Britain's maritime past, one that is remarkable, moving and at times horrifying.



 

Surviving the Arctic Convoys: The Wartime Memoirs of Leading Seaman Charlie Erswell, June 2021, Pen & Sword

Leading Seaman Charlie Erswell saw much more than his fair share of action during the Second World War. He was present at the 1942 landing in North Africa (Operation TORCH), D-Day, and the liberation of Norway. But his main area of operations was that of the Arctic Convoys, escorting merchant ships taking essential war supplies to the Russian ports of Murmansk and Archangel.

In addition to contending with relentless U-boat and Luftwaffe attacks, crews endured the extreme sea conditions and appalling weather. This involved clearing ice and snow in temperatures as low as minus thirty degrees Celsius.




Rosy Wemyss Admiral of the Fleet, the Man Who Created Armistice Day, June 2021, Pen & Sword
Rosslyn Wemyss' life and career were both fascinating and brilliant. A most distinguished admiral who is very little known. As the Allied Naval Representative at the Armistice negotiations on 11th November 1918, he left an indelible mark on the life of this country when he was responsible, with Marshal Foch, for the creation of Armistice Day. The negotiations took place in a railway carriage at Compiegne in France when the decision was made at 5.30 am to cease hostilities on land, in the air and sea at 11 am on that day.