Maritime history

Fridtjof Nansen: Explorer, scientist, writer, humanitarian

The first great polar expedition: Fridtjof Nansen’s 1888 traverse of the Greenland Ice Sheet

Tim Maltin answers listener questions about the sinking of RMS Titanic in 1912. (Image by Getty Images)

Titanic: everything you wanted to know

The feared WW2 German battleship 'Bismarck', May 1941. (Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

Quiz How well do you know your warships?

Partnered content World of Warships

An aerial view of Tahiti

Jeanne Baret: the first known woman to circumnavigate the globe

Rebecca Simon responds to your questions on the ‘golden age’ of piracy, when bands of buccaneers menaced the high seas, preying on merchant vessels.

The golden age of piracy: everything you wanted to know

The crew of SMS King in its home port following the battle of the Skagerrak, June 1916. (Photo by A Renard/ullstein image via Getty Images)

First World War

Jutland: the battle that won the First World War

A 19th-century engraving depicts a member of the crew of the 'Mignonette'

Cannibalism at sea: the starving Victorian sailors who ate a cabin boy

The German battleship Bismarck of the German Kriegsmarine during early World War II

Second World War

Bismarck: why was the WW2 German battleship so feared? Plus 9 things you didn’t know about its only mission

Explorer Ferdinand Magellan

Dire straits: the story of Ferdinand Magellan’s fatal voyage of discovery

Mutiny at sea: the forgotten story of murder and brutality aboard HMS Wager

The exact location at which John Cabot came ashore in North America is the subject of debate. (Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

A tale of Tudor travel: John Cabot’s voyage to America

A union flag flown on HMS Queen Charlotte at the battle known as the Glorious First of June, 1794

Q&A When was the Union Jack or Union flag created?

Emma Stonex talks about the strange story of the Flannan Isles Lighthouse keepers, who vanished in December 1900. (Image by Getty Images)

The mystery of the vanishing lighthouse keepers

'Pirate queen' Grace O'Malley. (Illustration by Sue Gent for BBC History Revealed)

Grace O’Malley: the fearless pirate queen of Ireland

A 19th-century depiction of HMS Erebus in the ice, by François Etienne Musin. What exactly happened to the ship and its crew remains a mystery. (Picture by Alamy)

The Franklin Expedition: what happened on the ill-fated Victorian voyage?