Kings Maritime History Seminars 2025

Posted: Friday 17th January 2025

The King’s Seminars are an annual set of lectures organised by the BCMH, which run from September to May. They are open to the public and are normally held at King’s College London (and broadcast live via Zoom). The Kings Seminars are a range of lectures by invited speakers. There are usually two each month during term time.

The series is organised by Dr Alan James, and are supported by the Society for Nautical Research and the ‘Laughton Naval History Unit’ and ‘Sir Michael Howard Centre for the History of War’ at the Department of War Studies, King's College London. 

*Please note there are a few changes to the programme published in September. A new seminar on 10 April, and the proposed seminar on 8 May is no longer happening. 

23 January 2025

Staying afloat – managing mission creep during the Royal Navy’s intervention in the Baltic, 1918-1919

Matthew Heaslip, University of Portsmouth

6 February 2025

The RNLI at Dunkirk and the Little Ships Myth

Helen Doe, University of Exeter and Chair of BCMH

20 February 2025

‘In the name of God’, the Journal of the voyage made to the Levant by three warships under the command of John Acton in the years 1750-51

Bruno Cianci, University of Genoa & Rahmi M Koç Museum (Istanbul)

6 March 2025

‘Failing to prepare for the unexpected’: British defence policy in the late Cold War and the Royal Navy

Edward Hampshire, Naval Historical Branch MOD

10 April 2025

King’s Navy: Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King and the Rise of American Sea Power, 1897-1947

David Kohnen, Captain Tracy Barrett Kittridge Scholar of War Studies and Maritime History, US Naval War College

24 April 2025

Labour, Legend, and Living History: Clyde ‘puffers’, 1857-2024

Roy Fenton, Independent Researcher and Trustee of BCMH

22 May 2025

Reimagining the Bombay Grab: Fighting and trading across the Indian Ocean

Chris Ellmers, Docklands History Group

 

Details of the Series

The King’s Maritime History Seminars for 2024-25 may be attended in person or online. As always, attendance is free and open to all.  To take part, you must register by visiting the KCL School of Security Studies Events page. 

Find out more on our Lectures & Events page