John Knox Laughton

John Knox Laughton (* 1830 in Liverpool, † 1915) was a British naval historian.

Laughton was the son of a captain. He studied at Cambridge University ( Gonville and Caius College), where he was Wrangler in Tripos examinations in mathematics. He then joined the Royal Navy, served in the Crimean War and the Opium War and was from 1866 at the Royal Naval College in Portsmouth. He wrote textbooks on meteorology and nautical and in 1873 Head of Meteorology at the Royal Naval College in Greenwich ( London). From 1876 he also taught naval history. In 1885 he became Professor of Modern History at King's College London.

He was a founder of the Navy Records Society with his friend Admiral Cyprian Bridge (1839-1924) and until 1912 its secretary.

Knox wrote over 900 entries in the Dictionary of National Biography, including nearly all those who were connected to the naval history.

In 1907 he was knighted. In 1910 he was awarded the Chesney Gold Medal at the Royal United Services Institute.

His daughter Vera Laughton Matthews (1888-1959) was from 1939 to 1947 director of the Woman's Royal Naval Service.

Writings

  • Essay on Naval Tactics, 1873
  • The Scientific Study of Naval History, 1874
  • Publisher: State Papers Relating to the defeat of the Spanish Armada, Navy Records Society, No. 1, 2, 1894
  • Publisher: Letters and Papers of Charles, Lord Barham, 1758-1813, Navy Records Society, No. 32, 38, 39
  • Editor with R. Vesey Hamilton: The Recollections of Commander James Anthony Gardner, 1775-1814, Navy Records Society, No. 31
  • Nelson and his companions in arms, London: Allen and Unwin 1941
  • Nelson, Macmillan 1904
  • Frustration of the plan for the escape of Napoleon Bonaparte from Bordeaux, London 1912
  • Defeat of the Spanish Armada anno 1588, 2 volumes, New York 1971
  • Publisher: Seizure of Heligoland 1807 1907
  • Studies in naval history: Biographies, London: Longmans, Green 1887, Conway Maritime Press 1970
  • Sea fight and adventures, London, G. Allen in 1901
  • Publisher: Memoirs of the life and correspondence of Henry Reeve, 2 volumes, Longmans, Green 1898
  • Publisher: From Howard to Nelson: twelve sailors, London 1899
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