Black diamonds : coal, the Royal Navy, and British imperial coaling stations, circa 1870-1914
This thesis examines how the expansion of a steam-powered Royal Navy from the second half of the nineteenth century had wider ramifications across the British Empire. In particular, it considers how steam propulsion made vessels utterly dependent on a particular resource â coal â and its distribution around the world. In doing so, it shows that the âcoal questionâ, almost totally ignored in previous histories, was central to questions of imperial and trade defence, required the creation of infrastructures that spanned the globe, and connected British sailors with a plethora of different imperial, maritime, and foreign peoples. Although a limited number of studies have highlighted the importance of coal to imperial defence, this thesis considers the wider context of the period 1870â1914 in order to understand the significant place of coal in these discussions. In doing so, it shows coalâs place within wider changes to political ideologies, imperial defence schemes, popular imperialism and navalism, knowledge collection, and the growth of the state apparatus. A robust coaling infrastructure was required to ensure quality naval coal was available globally on a huge geographical scale. This involved
Gray, Steven
DA Great Britain
Black diamonds : coal, the Royal Navy, and British imperial coaling stations, circa 1870-1914. This thesis examines how the expansion of a steam-powered Royal Navy from the second half of the nineteenth century had wider ramifications across the British Empire. In particular, it considers how steam propulsion made vessels utterly dependent on a particular resource â coal â and its distribution around the world. In doing so, it shows that the âcoal questionâ, almost totally ignored in previous histories, was central to questions of imperial and trade defence, required the creation of infrastructures that spanned the globe, and connected British sailors with a plethora of different imperial, maritime, and foreign peoples. Although a limited number of studies have highlighted the importance of coal to imperial defence, this thesis considers the wider context of the period 1870â1914 in order to understand the significant place of coal in these discussions. In doing so, it shows coalâs place within wider changes to political ideologies, imperial defence schemes, popular imperialism and navalism, knowledge collection, and the growth of the state apparatus. A robust coaling infrastructure was required to ensure quality naval coal was available globally on a huge geographical scale. This involved
black diamond coal royal_navy british_imperial station circa examines expansion steam royal_navy wider ramification across british_empire particular considers steam make vessel dependent particular resource coal distribution around_world show coal question almost totally ignored previous history central_question imperial trade defence require creation infrastructure span globe connect british sailor plethora different imperial maritime foreign people although limited_number study_highlight importance coal imperial_defence considers wider_context period order significant place coal discussion show coal place_within wider change political_ideology imperial_defence scheme popular imperialism knowledge collection growth state_apparatus robust coal infrastructure require ensure quality naval coal available globally huge geographical scale involve