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H. W. ARMSTRONG : 1882 - 1883: 18 ORIGINAL HAND DRAWN AND BEAUTIFUL NAUTICAL CHARTS INTENDED TO TEACH THE SCIENCE OF NAVIGATION TO A YOUNG CADET AT THE BRITANNIA ROYAL NAVAL COLLEGE IN DARTMOUTH, ENGLAND

Folio - over 12" - 15" tall. On offer are 18 beautiful and fascinating hand drawn naval charts done on the H.M.S. Britannia in 1882 and 1883. The H.M.S. Britannia was initially called the H.M.S. Prince of Wales and was originally one of six 121-gun screw-propelled first-rate three-decker line-of-battle ships of the Royal Navy. In 1869, she was renamed the H.M.S. Brittania and under that name served at Dartmouth as a cadet training ship until 1905. As Britannia, she was a hulk, and only had her foremast. The drawings were done by a man named H.W. Armstrong. Research shows that he had only recently graduated out of Stubbington House School, a boys' preparatory school, known as “the cradle of the Navy". He became a Cadet with the Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC), commonly known as Dartmouth, and it was here that he joined the ‘Brittania’ and drew these charts. The charts are all similar in a few respects. Each one contains an area near the top of the page with information on latitude, longitude, and scale (and later the ‘compass bearing of ship’, and the ‘true bearing of Rock’). Below this is an expertly drawn rectangle with latitudes, longitudes and occasionally geographic depictions of lands and islands in which the boat’s location is tracked on the chart. Always in this rectangle is an unlabelled compass rose. The charts look seemingly like they were drawn as answers to questions being asked in training. The first 6 charts, from August 16 to December 7th, 1882, shows only a dead center compass rose. Seemingly Armstrong was supposed to put the location of the boat in between two latitudes and longitudes, and according to a scale of “1.2 inches to a deg. of Long.” For all the charts after December 7th, it looks as if there is an external source giving him a question to which his answers are written down and drawn in the chart. For example, in ‘Chart O’ the text box reads: “Ansr I. Latitude 54° 28’ S. Longitude 140° 18’ W. Ansr II. Comp: bear’g on Ship S85°30’W. Dist: 78 miles. Ansr III. True bearing of Rock S66°56’15’’E” On the chart are drawn various lines between various points, including Dead Reckoning, the rock in question, a port, an island and more, all that correspond to the answers given. As the dates go on, it seems the questions get more difficult, as the answers given and the chart drawn start incorporating things such as currents, drift, and obstacles, and the lines drawn in the charts begin to increase and look increasingly complex. The last chart is done on November 6th, 1883. No two charts are the same, so there are 18 unique and fascinating hand drawn items in this fantastic collection. The naval charts are in very good condition. They are unbound. Many have small imperfections such as a small smudges and some dirt residues, but there aren’t any that could be considered in less than very good condition. This is a very interesting and visually pleasing collection, a look at a fascinating aspect of what was needed in order to become an officer in the British Royal Navy. (Background HMS Prince of Wales was one of six 121-gun screw-propelled first-rate three-decker line-of-battle ships of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 25 January 1860. In 1869 she was renamed HMS Britannia and under that name served at Dartmouth as a cadet training ship until 1905. In 1867, the Prince of Wales's engines were removed so they could be installed in the ironclad Repulse. In 1869 she was renamed Britannia and began service as a cadet training ship at Dartmouth, replacing the previous Britannia in that role. As Britannia, she was a hulk, and only had her foremast. Among those starting their naval careers on her were, in 1877, the future Admiral and First Sea Lord Rosslyn Wemyss, Prince Albert Victor, and his younger brother, the future King George V. A shore-based college at Dartmouth was opened in September 1905 and this was named Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. The Britannia training establishment was closed at the same time.) OVERALL: VG.. Manuscript. Book Condition: Very Good

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