A Royal Navy 28 gun frigate c1794

Maritime history

The White Ship disaster

The White Ship disaster"The most disastrous moment in British maritime history". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Oseberg ship from around AD 820 is one of the most well- preserved Viking ships ever excavated (Photo by Noe Falk Nielsen/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Viking ships: 5 lesser-known facts

Professor Jan Bill on the HistoryExtra podcast.

At sea with the Vikings. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A painting by Louis Philippe Crepin depicting the battle of Trafalgar, 1805. (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

The battle of Trafalgar, hour by hour: what happened and why did Britain win?

The ‘Pilgrims’ stride onto American soil in 1620 after crossing the Atlantic on the Mayflower, as shown in a 20th-century painting. The colony that they established was – initially, at least – a genuinely enlightened place, writes James Evans. (Photo by Harold M. Lambert/Kean Collection/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Myth of the Mayflower: the voyage that made America?

The Mayflower. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Pilgrim Fathers boarding the Mayflower

5 facts about the Mayflower

Charles SpencerThe White Ship. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A late 18th-century painting of British and French sailors going head-to-head at war

The uncommon lives of common sailors. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Pilgrim fathers arrive at Plymouth, Massachusetts on board the Mayflower. (Photo by Harold M. Lambert/Kean Collection/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

"They decided that God must be leading them to North America": the Puritans journey to the Mayflower. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Mural of the battle of Actium from 1600

Actium, 31 BC: the beginning of the end for Mark Antony and Cleopatra

The arrival of Sir Walter Raleigh in Virginia

What happened to the lost colony of Roanoke Island?

The Suez canal

How significant was the Suez Crisis?

Wolfson Prize winner 2020 David Abulafia. (Photo by Fran Monks)

Exclusive podcastDavid Abulafia on The Boundless Sea. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Tom Hanks in 'Greyhound' (2020)

Second World War

The real history that inspired WW2 film Greyhound

Lemuel F Abbott's famous 1797 portrait of Horatio Nelson. In 1805, the British naval hero promised to speak publicly against the abolition of slavery, but was denied the opportunity by his death at Trafalgar later that year. (Picture by Alamy)

Lord Nelson and slavery: Nelson’s dark side

Henry Avery: the legendary 17th-century pirate. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The US cutter Spencer attacks U-boat U-175

The Battle of the Atlantic: why Britain almost lost to Hitler's U-boats. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Charles Cundall’s painting ‘The Withdrawal From Dunkirk, June 1940’

Second World War

9 things you (probably) didn’t know about Dunkirk

The Battle of the Atlantic: the "desperate" WW2 campaign featured in Tom Hanks film Greyhound

Painting of Bligh and those loyal to him being cast adrift from the Bounty in a small boat

Mutiny on the Bounty: the incredible tale of how castaway captain William Bligh made it back to England

Illustration of Elizabeth I in a cage

What if...The Spanish Armada had landed?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Battle of Lepanto between Holy League soldiers and Ottoman troops

The battle of Lepanto: when Ottoman forces clashed with Christians

Puritans and the Mayflower. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

German submarine on mission in the Atlantic ocean, 1942/1943 (Photo by ullstein bild via Getty Images)

World War Two’s secret heroes. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Cunard liner Lusitania

How did Britain react to the sinking of the Lusitania?

Midway: the Pacific War on screen. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

'Yorktown' sustains a hit during the battle of Midway. The US aircraft carrier sank three days later but, by then, the Japanese had accepted that their attempt to land a war-winning blow had failed. (Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

How miraculous was the battle of Midway?

Simon the cat

10 top cats in history

Illustration of pirate John Ward

Pirate John Ward: the real Captain Jack Sparrow