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Ports and Harbours Through History
How harbours changed from sheltered beaches to enclosed wet docks and container terminals, as ships grew larger and trade routes lengthened.
Seafaring Life and Navigation
Ports and Harbours
Harbours, dockyards and the people who worked them.
Dock Labour and the Work of the Stevedore
How cargo was stowed and unloaded by hand before cranes and containers, who did the work, and how casual hiring shaped dockers' lives.
Dry Docks and Slipways
How dry docks, slipways and ship sheds let shipbuilders and repairers work on hulls out of the water, from ancient sheds to Victorian graving docks.
Malacca and the Spice Ports of Southeast Asia
How Malacca grew into the strait port linking the Indian Ocean and China, and how it fits among the spice ports of Southeast Asia.
Phoenician Harbours at Tyre and Carthage
What is known about the island harbours of Tyre and the enclosed naval and merchant basins of Carthage, and how historians reconstruct them.
Ship Canals and Locks
How pound locks, mitre gates and large-scale excavation allowed seagoing ships to reach inland cities, from early canals to Manchester and Kiel.
The Hanseatic Trading Ports
How Lubeck, Bergen and other merchant towns formed the Hanseatic network, what they traded, and how their ports and overseas bases worked.
The Port of London and Its Docklands
How London's enclosed wet docks replaced the crowded riverside quays of the Pool of London, and how the docklands later declined.
The Royal Dockyards of Britain
How the naval yards at Deptford, Chatham, Portsmouth and Plymouth were organised, who ran them and what they built and repaired for the Royal Navy.
The Venetian Arsenal and Ship Production
How Venice's state shipyard, the Arsenal, organised the building, fitting out and storage of galleys, and what is known and legendary about its methods.
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More in seafaring life and navigation
Navigation and Instruments The tools and methods that let ships cross open water. Life at Sea Daily life, customs and hardships aboard ship. Shipwrecks and Maritime Disasters Famous losses and the rules and reforms they led to. Ship Archaeology and Preservation Finding, studying and keeping historic vessels.