Author: ejbircha5f291b02f

Recent Article – Hospital ships of the Royal Navy in World War One 

Published on by ejbircha5f291b02f

Check out one of our latest Research Articles titled Hospital ships of the Royal Navy in World War One: From pre-war planning to the aftermath of Jutland by Edward J. Wawrzynczak and Jane V.S. Wickenden

Article Abstract:

In World War One, naval hospital ships played an essential role, which has been generally underappreciated, in the medical care of seamen. The Admiralty had made plans to convert merchant vessels into hospital ships and carriers to provide immediate support to the Grand Fleet, especially at its Scottish bases: Scapa Flow, Cromarty Firth and Rosyth. The prolongation of the war required continuity of medical care to be developed, crucially so given the aftermath of the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Naval hospital ships were vital to the repatriation of sick and wounded seamen from the Mediterranean. Moreover, in late 1914 and at Gallipoli in 1915, naval hospital ships contributed significantly to the military medical effort. This article describes the principal naval hospital ships and the specific, unique and varied activities they undertook throughout the war, as well as the medical, naval, military and mercantile factors that influenced their organisation and deployment.

Read the article here

Volume 37, Issue 4 – Out Now

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Front cover of IJMH Volume 37 Issue 4

The final issue of the International Journal of Maritime History‘s thirty-seventh vintage contains nine original articles and 21 book reviews

We continue to define maritime history in the broadest possible terms, retaining all that is good about the field and combining it with an increasing variety of global perspectives.

We continue to welcome all types of submissions, for original research articles as well as for shorter, more practical research notes. –

Issue Contents:

Articles:

Unsafe harbours: Typhoons and local shipping in the late Spanish Philippines by Greg Bankoff

A critical review of Alexander von Humboldt’s argument on the Chinese origin of the compass by S. June Kim

Ideals of seamanship during the Danish transition from sail to steam by Nils Valdersdorf Jensen

Developing maritime trade in the Sea of Azov: The case of port Mariupol and the role of Austrian merchants by Svitlana Arabadzhy

The penetration and spread of bottom trawling in the Greek seas and the establishment of territorial waters in the nineteenth century by Nikos E. Alevyzakis

Hospital ships of the Royal Navy in World War One: From pre-war planning to the aftermath of Jutland by Edward J. Wawrzynczak 

The contributions of Sultan Sulaiman Badrul Alam Syah (1920–1941) to the fisheries economy in Terengganu by Ruhaizan Sulaiman

‘A rose by any other name’: The political origins of the Nigerian Navy (1955–1965) by Akali Omeni

Biographical contentions: Barry Unsworth’s Losing Nelson by Michael Titlestad

Book Reviews: 21 in Total including:

Book Review: The Corporeal Life of Seafaring by Laleh Khalili Reviewed By Nick Bailey

Book Review: Naval Seamen’s Women in Nineteenth-Century Britain by Melanie Holihead reviewed by Margarette Lincoln

Book Review: BP Shipping Pictorial: The Golden Years 1945–1975 by Ray Solly Reviewed by Helen Devereux 

View the articles and book reviews online here – https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/IJH/current

Fancy receiving physical copies of the International Journal in 2026 and unlimited online access to every issue of the International Journal of Maritime History, dating back to 1989?

2026 membership is now live: https://shop.hull.ac.uk/product-catalogue/faculty-of-arts-cultures-education/department-of-history/imha-2026

Recent Article – A critical review of Alexander von Humboldt’s argument on the Chinese origin of the compass by S. June Kim and Minhyeok Heo

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Abstract

It was Alexander von Humboldt who formally articulated that the compass, invented by the Chinese, had been introduced to Europe via the Arab world. Humboldt argued that the compass was introduced to Europe from the East after its use had become general throughout the Indian Seas and the coasts of Persia and Arabia in Book II of Cosmos in 1847. Before Humboldt’s time in Europe, there were various claims regarding the origin of the compass — some asserting that it came from China, others from Germany, and still others that the European mariner’s compass had been transmitted to China. However, owing to Humboldt’s reputation and academic influence, the claim that the Chinese compass had been transmitted to Europe via the Arabs became widespread. Considering the fact that the floating needle, a kind of compass, was used for sailing around 1100 in China, 1187 in Europe and 1242 in the Arab world, respectively, and many mistakes were implied in Humboldt’s claim, the view that the Chinese-invented compass was introduced to Europe through Arabic people is not supported by historical facts. By critically reviewing the validity of Humboldt’s opinion, this article proposes an alternative synthesis: the development of direction-finding devices appears not to follow a unilinear chain of diffusion but to reflect cross-civilizational references and partial independence.

Read the Article via the following link https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/08438714251391503

More articles and book reviews can be found via the follow link https://journals.sagepub.com/home/IJH

Figure 1. A Zhinan (Sinan).

Source. Zhenduo Wang, ‘The Invention of Magnetic Needle and Compass in Ancient China’, Wenwu (文物), 3 (1978), 54. as used in A critical review of Alexander von Humboldt’s argument on the Chinese origin of the compass by S. June Kim and Minhyeok Heo (2025)