Maritime Historian and Archaeologist
Dr Sam Willis is a maritime historian and archaeologist. His writing is infused with his own experience and knowledge of seafaring. Before becoming a full time author he spent eighteen months at sea on square-rigged sailing ships which included work on the Hornblower TV series and on Channel 4’s award winning film Shackleton. The Shackleton project involved building a replica of Shackleton’s ship the Endurance and sailing her into an arctic ice pack.
On his return from the arctic Sam worked in the curatorial department of the historic ship, I.K. Brunel’s ss Great Britain, as the final stages of her innovative conservation plan were implemented. To arrest the rusting of the iron hull, a glass ‘sea’ was constructed that sealed the hull from the elements. Read more...
On his return from the arctic Sam worked in the curatorial department of the historic ship, I.K. Brunel’s ss Great Britain, as the final stages of her innovative conservation plan were implemented. To arrest the rusting of the iron hull, a glass ‘sea’ was constructed that sealed the hull from the elements. Read more...
Latest Blog:
Chatham Dockyard, The Fighting Temeraire and HMS Achilles.
Geoffrey Winter has kindly got in touch from Australia because he was particularly interested in the construction of the Temeraire at Chatham Dockyard. His great great great grandfather, John Weekes, was the Assistant Master Shipwright at Chatham until his retirement in 1830. His work between 1815 and 1830 would therfore have perfectly straddled the period [...]
