The publication of Britain’s Greatest Warship HMS Ark Royal IV marked Richard’s debut as a historian in 1999. His subsequent books include The Royal Yacht Britannia – The Official History and Hunter’s Fleet. In 2008, Richard was employed by SBM Offshore to work alongside the Editor of its Official History and is a co-author of the Boat Repair Bible. His latest books include HMS Belfast Cruiser 1939, HMS Cavalier Destroyer 1944 and HMS Illustrious (V) 1982 – 2014.
Richard Johnstone-Bryden is the sole author of the following books:
Britain’s Greatest Warship HMS Ark Royal IV
Publisher:
Sutton Publishing
1st Edition Hard Back released 1999 ISBN-10 0-7509-1798-9 RRP £20
2nd Edition Soft Back released 2000 ISBN-10 1-7509-2504-3 262pp RRP £14.99
Description:
Historical account of the Royal Navy’s last conventional fixed wing carrier drawing from official records and an extensive series of interviews with those directly involved in her story.
Remarks:
Since going out of print in 2003 these books have become highly collectable with copies of both editions selling for up to £250.
The Royal Yacht Britannia The Official History
Publisher:
Conway Maritime Press
1st Edition Hard Back released 2003 ISBN-10 0-85177-937-9 310pp RRP £25
Signed Limited Edition Hard Back released 2003 ISBN-10 0-85177-965-4 310pp RRP £50
Description:
This official history of HM Yacht Britannia was written with the unprecedented support of HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. Drawing on official records and an extensive series of interviews with those directly involved in her story this book presents the first comprehensive account of the Royal Yacht from her authorisation to her preservation in Leith.
Remarks:
Out of print since 2009.
Hunter’s Fleet
Publisher:
Nighthawk Publishing
1st Edition Soft Back released 2004 ISBN-10 1-84280-073-6 176pp RRP £9.99
Signed Limited Edition Hard Back released 2004 ISBN-10 1-84280-0 176pp RRP £16
Description:
Profiles the story of the last hire fleet of traditional sailing craft to operate on the Norfolk Broads in their original condition. Founded in 1931 the Fleet was bought by Norfolk Country Council in 1968 to teach sailing to young people. When the Council sold the Fleet in 1996 it was purchased by the Norfolk Heritage Fleet Trust which continues to care for these unique boats. Richard also took the contemporary images for this book.
Remarks:
Still in print
Norfolk Wherries
Publisher:
Nighthawk Publishing
1st Edition eBook released 2002 ISBN 1-84280-054-X 93pp RRP £30
1st Edition CD eBook released 2002 ISBN 1-84280-057-4 93pp RRP £30
Description:
Profiles the sole surviving Norfolk Keel along with the Norfolk Wherries, Albion, Maud, Hathor, Solace, Olive, Norada and White Moth. Richard also took all of the supporting images for this book.
Remarks:
Currently unavailable.
Boats To Build
Publisher:
Nexus Special Interests
1st Edition Soft Back due to have appeared in December 2000 ISBN-10 1-85486-211-1 184pp
Description:
A fully illustrated guide to the various techniques required to build 12 different boats including an 8ft pram dinghy, a 20ft sectional rowing skiff, a 17ft canoe and an 18ft electric launch. Richard also took all of the supporting images.
Remarks:
Despite appearing as a published book on various websites, including Amazon, this book has yet to be released. The original publisher was purchased by another company shortly before Boats To Build was due to be printed. The new owners suspended the book’s publication and many of the chapters were subsequently adapted for magazine features. Boats To Build will be released in due course as an eBook.
HMS Belfast
Publisher:
Seaforth Publishing
1st Edition Soft Back Released 30 June 2013 ISBN 978-1-84832-155-7 128pp RRP £14.99
Description:
The 4th volume in Seaforth Publishing’s Historic Ships series profiles Britain’s biggest preserved ship. Her action packed naval career included the capture of the German liner Cap Norte, the Battle of North Cape, the D-Day Landings, the Yangtse Incident, and the Korean War. Richard has also taken all of the contemporary photography for this book.
Remarks:
1st Edition Published 30 June 2013
HMS Cavalier
Publisher:
Seaforth Publishing
1st Edition Soft Back Released 2015 ISBN 978-1-84832-226-4 128pp RRP £14.99
Description:
The 6th volume in Seaforth Publishing’s Historic Ships series profiles Britain’s sole remaining wartime destroyer. Preserved in The Historic Dockyard, Chatham, she acts as a permanent memorial to more than 11,000 men who lost their lives in the 142 Royal Navy destroyers that were sunk during WWII. One of 96 Emergency Programme destroyers that were ordered between 1940 and 1942, Cavalier was built by J Samuel White & Co on the Isle of Wight. Her action packed naval career included the perilous Arctic Convoys of WWII, bombarding dissident Indonesian nationalists, quelling a mutiny in the Royal Indian Navy, supporting the hydrogen bomb tests on Christmas Island and becoming the fastest warship in the fleet. Richard has also taken all of the contemporary photography for this book.
Remarks:
1st Edition Published July 2015
HMS Illustrious (V) 1982 – 2014
Publisher:
Royal Navy Decommissioning/Commissioning Books
1st Edition Hard Back released 2015 ISBN-978-0-9932984-0-0 pp312 RRP £25
Description:
Drawing on official records and interviews with a cross section of those who served in Illustrious, including all of the former Commanding Officers, this book is the first comprehensive account of the Royal Navy’s longest serving aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious from her origins in the early 1960s to her final paying off in 2014. Commissioned as a lasting record of the aircraft carrier’s rich heritage for members of the final Ship’s Company, this book has been made available to the public via National Museum of the Royal Navy.
Remarks:
1st Edition Published 2015
HMS Bulwark (VII) 2005-2017
Publisher:
Royal Navy Decommissioning/Commissioning Books
1st Edition Hard Back released 2018 ISBN 978-0-9932984-2-4 pp280 RRP £25
Description:
Drawing on official records and interviews with a cross section of those who have served in Bulwark, including all of the former Commanding Officers, this book is the first comprehensive account of the Royal Navy’s, amphibious assault ship HMS Bulwark from her origins in the wake of the Falklands War of 1982 to when she entered extended readiness in 2017.
Remarks:
In print.
HMS Ocean (VI) 1998-2018
Publisher:
Royal Navy Decommissioning/Commissioning Books
1st Edition Hard Back released 2018 ISBN 978 0 9932984-1-7 pp304 RRP £25
Description:
Drawing on official records and interviews with a representative cross section of those involved in the Ship’s rich heritage from junior sailors, Royal Marines and members of the embarked squadrons, to nearly all of the former Commanding Officers, as well as, those involved in the events leading up to her construction, the development of her design and completion by VSEL’s Barrow-in-Furness shipyard. This book is the first account of the Royal Navy’s only purpose built helicopter assault carrier HMS Ocean, from her origins in the early 1950s to her paying off ceremony in 2018.
Remarks:
Out of print since 2018.
HMS Prince of Wales (VI) 2019
Publisher:
Royal Navy Decommissioning/Commissioning Books
1st Edition Hard Back released 2019 ISBN 978-0-9932984-3-1 pp270 RRP £25
Description:
This book charts the story of the Royal Navy’s latest aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales from the first MOD concept studies in the early 1990s to her initial sea trials in the autumn of 2019. This edition was primarily prepared for her first Ship’s Company to coincide with her Commissioning Ceremony. This historic event was held in HMNB Portsmouth in the presence of the Ship’s Lady Sponsor HRH The Duchess of Cornwall on 10 December 2019. The research included an extensive series of interviews with a broad cross section of those directly involved in her story so far from former First Sea Lords to junior sailors as well as those involved in her design and construction.
Remarks:
Out of print since 2020.
Richard Johnstone-Bryden is the sole author of the following booklets:
St Joan
Publisher:
Nighthawk Publishing
1st Edition eBook released 2002 ISBN-10 1-84280-005-1 16pp RRP £9.99
1st Edition CD eBook released 2002 ISBN 1-84280-006-X 16pp RRP £18.99
Description:
A profile of the 52ft twin screw motor yacht St Joan. She was built by J.W. Brooke & Co of Lowestoft in 1929 and restored by South River Marine in the 1990s. Richard also took all of the supporting images for this booklet.
Remarks:
In print
Ardea
Publisher:
Wherry Yacht Charter Charitable Trust
1st Edition Soft Back released 2018 ISBN 978-0-9935619-2-4 pp20 RRP £5
Description:
This booklet covers the story of the final Norfolk Wherry to be built. The Pleasure Wherry Ardea was commissioned in 1926 by the philanthropist Howard Hollingsworth to create an opportunity for local boatbuilders to show off their skills. The result was one of the finest Norfolk Wherries to be built. After WWII she spent 50 years cruising the inland waterways of mainland Europe before returning to her native waters for restoration in 2005. She has been operated on behalf of her current owner by the Wherry Yacht Charter Charitable Trust since 2015
Remarks:
In print.
Hathor
Publisher:
Wherry Yacht Charter Charitable Trust
1st Edition Soft Back released 2018 ISBN 978-0-9935619-1-7 pp20 RRP £5
Description:
This booklet covers the story of Edwardian Pleasure Wherry Hathor which was commissioned by Ethel and Helen Colman in memory of their brother who died on an Egyptian dahabeah of the same name. She was fitted with an elaborate Egyptian themed interior designed by the prominent architect Edward Boardman. The Colman and Boardman families enjoyed many sailing holidays in Hathor until she was sold to the founding editor of the Broads guide Hamilton’s Navigations, Claud Hamilton, in 1953. He subsequently sold her in the early 1960s to the Martham Boatbuilding and Development Company which hired her out during the summer months as a static house boat. The yard’s Managing Director continued to sail her at either end of the hire season until his death in 1977. Peter Bower and Barney Mathews of Wherry Yacht Charter became the next owners in November 1985. They hired her out for skippered sailing holidays for many years before she was acquired by the Wherry Yacht Charter Charitable Trust in 2004 which continues to operate her.
Remarks:
In print.
The Wherry Yachts
Publisher:
Wherry Yacht Charter Charitable Trust
1st Edition Soft Back released 2016 ISBN 978-0-9935619-0-0 pp20 RRP £5
Description:
This booklet covers the story of Norfolk’s surviving trio of wherry yachts, Olive, Norada and White Moth. By a curious twist of fate these wherry yachts were all built by the Wroxham based boatbuilder and designer Ernest Collins. They spent over three decades within his hire fleet followed by a period of mixed fortunes in private ownership after the Second World War before they were reunited under the banner of the Wherry Yacht Charter Charitable Trust
Remarks:
In print.
Richard Johnstone-Bryden is a co-author of the following book:
The Boat Repair Bible
Publisher:
Adlard Coles Nautical
1st Edition Hard Back released 2012 ISBN-13 978-1-408133-21-7 304pp RRP £29.99
1st Edition eBook released 2012 ISBN-13 978-1-408159-17-0 304pp RRP £29.99
Description:
A fully illustrated guide to repairing sailing and power boats. This book is co-written by Rupert Holmes, Richard Johnstone-Bryden and Jake Kavanagh. Richard also took the supporting images for the various sections that he wrote for this book.
Remarks:
In print
Richard Johnstone-Bryden is the Editor of the following book:
Concorde Pocket Manual
Publisher:
Osprey Publishing
1st Edition Hard Back released 2018 ISBN 978-1472827784 pp160 RRP £8.99
Description:
This project marked a slight change to my usual work in that I took on the role of editor to assemble a series of key documents that tell the story of the iconic supersonic airliner Concorde. These documents describe how the aircraft was designed and developed as well as ground-breaking moments in the type’s commercial history.
First flown in 1969, Concorde was the first supersonic aircraft to go into commercial service in 1976 and made her final flight in 2003. She was operated primarily by British Airways and Air France. British Airways’ Concordes made just under 50,000 flights and flew more than 2.5m passengers supersonically. A typical London to New York crossing would take a little less than three and a half hours compared to around eight hours for a ‘subsonic flight’. In November 1986 a Concorde flew around the world, covering 28,238 miles in 29 hours, 59 minutes.
Today, the surviving aircraft can be viewed at museums, including the IWM Duxford, Brooklands and the Fleet Air Arm Museum, as well as at Heathrow, Manchester and Paris-Orly airports.
Remarks:
In print.