London may not spring to mind when you think of shipbuilding but seagoing vessels were constructed here for hundreds of years. The pride of Henry VIII’s fleet – Henry Grace a Dieu was built in Woolwich, as was the Beagle which carried Charles Darwin. The Blackwall Yard built well armed cargo ships for the East India Company. In 1577 the Revenge, the ship used by Francis Drake to raid Cadiz, was launched from Deptford. Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s mighty Great Eastern was built at Millwall while HMS Warrior, the first iron skinned warship was completed by the Thames Ironworks.

In this 50 minute talk on Zoom, Rob will tell the stories of some of the most famous ships built in London – like the super dreadnought HMS Thunderer and the Sovereign of the Seas – a ship that helped cause the English Civil War. Rob will also talk about where you can see the remains of London’s ship yards and talk about the people who worked in them.