Volume 1 of 5 This is a significant work of reference in that it provides the personnel state of the Royal Navy as at the end of the Great War; the list is corrected to 18th December 1918. And not just the personnel are featured, for here are listed HM ships of all types including merchant vessels commissioned as HM Ships. With most of the ships listed type, armament, displacement and propulsion details are given, e.g, LION. Battle Cruiser. 26,350 tons. 70,000 HP. 8-13.5 inch, 16-4 inch, 4-3pdr. This publication begins with the alphabetical list of the officers on the active list of the Royal Navy and the Royal marines showing their rank, seniority and of the retired and emergency officers serving, where serving and this includes retired and emergency officers. If the name is preceded by a number, this identifies the ship or shore station in which he is serving (they are all numbered). This is followed by a list showing officers according to seniority. Other lists are of Royal Marines; ships/shore stations with their identifying number and showing officers serving with them; RNR, RNVR, Dominion naval officers; retired RN, RM and RNR officers; invalided officers and much more. There is a section for Honours and Awards including VC (shown after the Orders of Knighthood, the DSO and Royal Red Cross), DSC, DSM and foreign awards. At the end there is a section on Dress Regulations for officers of the Fleet and even a list of lantern slides available in local libraries. The description given above by no means exhausts the information available.

This is a significant work of reference in that it provides the personnel state of the Royal Navy as at the end of the Great War; the list is corrected to 18th December 1918. And not just the personnel are featured, for here are listed HM ships of all types including merchant vessels commissioned as HM Ships. With most of the ships listed type, armament, displacement and propulsion details are given, e.g, LION. Battle Cruiser. 26,350 tons. 70,000 HP. 8-13.5 inch, 16-4 inch, 4-3pdr, This publication begins with the alphabetical list of the officers on the active list of the Royal Navy and the Royal marines showing their rank, seniority and of the retired and emergency officers serving.where serving and this includes retired and emergency offic If the name is preceded by a number, this identifies the ship or shore station in which he is serving (they are all numbered). This is followed by a list showing officers according to seniority. Other lists are of Royal Marines; ships/shore stations with their identifying number and showing officers serving with them; RNR, RNVR, Dominion naval officers; retired RN, RM and RNR officers; invalided officers and much more. There is a section for Honours and Awards including VC (shown after the Orders of Knighthood, the DSO and Royal Red Cross), DSC, DSM and foreign awards. At the end there is a section on Dress Regulations for officers of the Fleet and even a list of lantern slides available in local libraries. The description given above by no means exhausts the information available.

A definitive history of the Royal Navy’s China Station. In the The Navy List for April 1864 the China Station was first shown as a separate Royal Navy Station . It remained as such until the outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941 which was to signal the end of that era. In addition to a precis of the lives and naval careers of each of the Commanders in Chief of the China Station, this volume also gives relevant information outlining something of the concurrent internal affairs of China and Japan. Both are very different but sad tales, the former in decline towards the end of the Manchu Ch’ing dynasty and then into the chaotic 1920’s and 1930’s, and the latter increasingly adopting a militaristic attitude which was to result in their disaster of the Pacific War of 1941-1945. As a reminder of these days long gone are interwoven brief references to the British Consular Service. This is especially relevant for China, and for a shorter period for Japan during that era of extraterritoriality. Mention is also made of the British Colonial Service with whom, necessarily, the Navy worked very closely. In addition, being one important reason for it all, frequent references are made to a few British shipping and trading interests together with those of some other nations. All of these areas are linked together to give a definitive history of this very important Royal Navy Station.