Robert (Bob) Thorp is a graduate of Reading University and has had a long and successful career in the international oil and gas industry. His interest in Merseyside's role in the American Civil War stems from ancestral links to Liverpool ship builders and master mariners. He is the great-great-great grandson of William Cowley Miller whose company built the C.S.S. Florida, the seized gunboat Alexandra, and a number of purpose-built blockade runners. He is also the great-great grandson of Miller's son-in-law, Captain James Alexander Duguid, who was the delivery commander of the C.S.S. Florida and captained several blockade runners, not least of which, the Lucy, was one of the most successful runners of the war. Bob has become internationally recognized as an authority on the Mersey built ships employed by the Confederacy and has been invited to present papers on the subject at The American Civil War Museum in Richmond, Virginia (2003) and at the prestigious McMullen Naval History Symposium at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland (2015). His book is the culmination of more than thirty years of research and contains many facts and insights not previously published.
"The author has created an exciting amalgam of American maritime
history and British business and commercial intrigue with a
compendium of appropriate British shipbuilding of the day. These
unlikely components are welded into a fascinating journey through
the American civil war period. Well worth reading for those of
diverse interests."Alex Urquhart
Senior Lecturer Emeritus in Naval Architecture - The Robert Gordon
University, UK"Historical accounts of the American Civil War often
play down the significance of the maritime conflict. The powerful
US naval blockade (1861) of the Confederate coastline was an
economic disaster compared to Union losses, which were rated by
some historians as relatively low. However the support, ingenuity
and bravery of Confederate actions in their economic war to break
through that blockade and attack the enemy, provide a unique and
fascinating story, which this author tells with great effect.The
initial plan of Confederate entrepreneurs and supporters in
Merseyside was to seek ships to run the blockade and do everything
possible to disrupt Union intentions! The design of ships to tackle
the special problems of the Atlantic conflict led to advances that
would eventually transform naval architecture, decades into the
future. These technical aspects are not presented in a dry
structured manner but are fully integrated within the narrative. As
the story evolves the reader's knowledge structure grows; each
element emerging in context, be it engineering, the education and
experience of young sailors, the skill and bravery of captains, and
even family matters. However, an inevitable but critical factor
disrupted almost everything - international diplomacy. British
neutrality to the war necessitated complex procedures for the
construction of merchant vessels which also had military intention.
The gathering and use of intelligence and counter- intelligence
were therefore essential. Indeed the antagonism that grew between
Britain and the US on these matters, almost led to all-out
war.Stimulated by his family links to these major historical
events, the author has provided a richly researched and distinctive
examination of how the people met their trans-Atlantic challenges.
Filled with many individual tales that are real page-turners, this
is a unique treatment of such an important historical event and a
truly wonderful book to read."Dr. Michael Wood OBE,
Sen. Lecturer Emeritus, School of Geosciences, University of
Aberdeen
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