The Mariner's Mirror Podcast

When we think of historic ships, we tend to picture warships, explorers and celebrated voyages. SS Explorer is a different kind of maritime hero: a ship built not to conquer the sea, but to understand it. In this episode, recorded on board the Explorer in Leith, Scotland, we explore how this pioneering 1950s fisheries research vessel became a floating laboratory, measuring fish, plankton, currents...

In 1677 Charles II embarked on one of the most ambitious shipbuilding programmes England had ever attempted: thirty great new warships, built to challenge the naval power of France and the Dutch Republic. Two years later, a young shipwright and draughtsman named Edmund Dummer began travelling between the dockyards, measuring their hulls and recording their shapes. His aim was extraordinary — to ca...

This is episode 5 of our Heritage Harbours short series, celebrating the Heritage Harbour initiative which seeks to protect and revive historic ports, docks, canals and waterfronts that still retain a genuine working maritime character. Most harbours tell their history through what went out: ships, goods, armies and explorers. Ramsgate’s story is shaped by what came back in—ships in trouble, sailo...

This is episode 4 of our Heritage Harbours short series, celebrating the Heritage Harbour initiative which seeks to protect and revive historic ports, docks, canals and waterfronts that still retain a genuine working maritime character. Ipswich holds a remarkable place in maritime history: it can claim links with Anglo-Saxon kings, the Hanseatic trading network, the circumnavigation of the globe,...

This is episode 3 of our Heritage Harbours short series, celebrating the Heritage Harbour initiative which seeks to protect and revive historic ports, docks, canals and waterfronts that still retain a genuine working maritime character. Today we're in Bideford and neighbouring Appledore. For centuries these twin ports have been among the most important maritime communities on England's west coast....

This is episode 2 of our Heritage Harbours short series, celebrating the Heritage Harbour initiative which seeks to protect and revive historic ports, docks, canals and waterfronts that still retain a genuine working maritime character. For this episode we've travelled to Exeter one of Britain's most remarkable maritime cities. It may sit miles from the open sea, but for almost a thousand years it...

For thousands of years, Britain's story has been written around its coastline. Long before there were motorways or railways, the sea connected our towns and cities, bringing trade, people, ideas, conflict and prosperity. Every harbour, from the great commercial ports to the smallest fishing coves, has played its part in that story. Yet many of these places are changing rapidly. Traditional industr...

When Charles Darwin set out on HMS Beagle on a voyage that would change science forever and our understanding of the natural world, at his side was the Royal Naval surgeon Benjamin Bynoe. This episode tells the story of Bynoe's fascinating life. A skilled surgeon, collector, explorer and naturalist, Bynoe treated the sick, gathered scientific specimens from across South America, the Galápagos and...

In this episode of our naval fiction series, we step beyond the age of Nelson and into the turbulent world of the late nineteenth century—a period when sail gave way to steam, wooden warships became ironclads, and naval technology advanced at a pace that left entire generations struggling to keep up. It was an age of empire, innovation and uncertainty, offering one of the richest backdrops imagina...

What begins as the story of a shell collector quickly becomes something far more intriguing… In this episode, we explore the remarkable life of Vernon MacAndrew, a wealthy naturalist, sailor and photographer whose passion for collecting seashells carried him across the maritime highways of the British Empire. Following in the footsteps of his famous naturalist grandfather, MacAndrew transported hi...

In this episode we uncover some fantastic stories of English sailors being caught up in the Spanish Inquisition. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Theresa Tinsley, who explores in detail how, between 1558 and 1604, more than 400 subjects of Elizabethan England found themselves in contact with the Inquisition. Fabulous records survive which detail their experiences and testimonies, and whic...

Today we're exploring one of the most secretive and dangerous arenas of the Cold War, the silent world of submarines. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Paul Brown, whose new book explores the tense underwater cat and mouse game that played out between global superpowers during decades of nuclear brinkmanship, from covert missions beneath arctic ice to near catastrophic encounters hidden fr...

In this episode, we explore the great naval mutinies of 1797. This was during the French Revolutionary Wars, when Britain was fighting France at sea and relying heavily on the Royal Navy to maintain its power, security, trade routes, and global empire. But on British shores at a time when invasion of England seemed highly likely, the fleets mutinied at the great anchorages of Spithead and the Nore...

In this episode we explore a part of maritime history that has too often drifted beneath the surface: women who served at sea in the First and Second World Wars, and who died for their service. To find out more, Dr Sam Willis spoke with Nina Baker, author of a fabulous new book exploring the lives of those women. Nina has created the first complete list of all of these women and has written detail...

In this episode of The Mariner’s Mirror Podcast , we continue our naval fiction series with Chris Durbin, author of the excellent Carlisle & Holbrooke Naval Adventures . Set during the global conflict of the Seven Years’ War, the series follows two Royal Navy captains—one a colonial Virginian, the other from Hampshire—as they navigate war, politics, and shifting loyalties in a world on the bri...

In this episode, we continue our deep dive into naval fiction with the prolific and insightful Philip K. Allan. Since 2018, Philip has built an impressive body of work, most notably his Alexander Clay series set during the Age of Sail. Following a Royal Navy officer through the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the series brings to life a global naval career—from home waters to the Mediter...

This episode explores the shipyards, political intrigue, and naval ambitions of 18th-century Spain at a pivotal moment in its emergence as a modern maritime power. Once dominant in the wake of its vast American empire, Spain by the mid-1700s faced a rapidly changing world, as Britain and France competed fiercely for control of the seas. At the centre of this transformation lay the Marquess de la E...

This episode continues our mini series on the history of the Clan Line, one of the most prominent and enduring British shipping companies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in Glasgow in 1878 by Sir Charles Cayzer, the line began with a small fleet of steamships and quickly grew into a major force in maritime commerce. Its ships, all bearing the 'Clan' prefix in their names, b...

In this episode of the Mariner’s Mirror podcast, we explore the extraordinary life of Harold Derber — a British Merchant Navy veteran whose early training as a wireless operator during the Second World War set him on an unexpected and remarkable path. From the dangers of Atlantic convoys to the political turbulence of the Cold War, Derber’s story moves far beyond the bridge of a ship. Derber would...

This episode continues our mini series on the history of the Clan Line, one of the most prominent and enduring British shipping companies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded by Charles Cayzer, the Clan Line became synonymous with reliability, global trade expansion and the professionalisation of British merchant shipping. At its peak, it had one of the largest merchant fleets in the...

In today’s episode, we leave the dockyards and engine rooms behind to step aboard the ocean liner as it appears not at sea, but on the page. From the gilded salons of Edwardian fiction to the psychological depths of modernist prose, ocean liners have long served as floating stages for human drama, capturing the hopes, tensions, and contradictions of the modern age. We explore how writers such as E...

The true story of Mary Ann Patten, a nineteen-year-old woman who, in the summer of 1856, took command of a clipper ship and navigated it around Cape Horn. What drives someone to leave behind security, reputation, and the expectations of society to sail into the unknown? In this episode, we explore To The Edge of the World with author Tilar Mazzeo—a gripping true story of adventure, obsession,...

This episode explores the fascinating history of the Glenlee , a tall ship built in Glasgow 1896 and restored by the Clyde Maritime Trust. Originally a cargo ship, the Glenlee survived fifteen voyages around Cape Horn and later served as a Spanish Navy training vessel during the fascist dictatorial rule of Francisco Franco. After being neglected, she was rescued and restored, showcasing Scotland's...

Dr Sam Willis meets Katie Daysh, author of the acclaimed Nightingale & Courtney series. Her novels—rich with atmosphere, character, and emotional depth—have quickly earned a devoted following, and today we explore the world she’s so vividly created. Katie shares the inspirations behind her central figures, Hiram Nightingale and Arthur Courtney, exploring their powerful bond, the tensions of co...

Hubert Sagnières studies, collects, and publishes works on early explorers and has himself completed numerous explorations: In 2024, he piloted a single-engine plane on a circumnavigation of the globe, honoring the centenary of the first around-the-world flight in 1924 by the Douglas “Chicago” aircraft. He has traveled in the Indonesian archipelago, visiting remote islands and has spent time with...