Four manuscript charts of British ports, and notes on them, were made in the 1590s by an English Catholic pilot, N. Lambert. They were sent to Don Juan de Idiáquez, Philip II's secretary, through the mediation of an English Jesuit exile, Robert Persons (or Parsons). Lambert also offered to pilot Spanish ships and guide Spanish troops in raids on the coasts of England and Wales, and prepared a list of appropriate targets. Being some of the earliest charts of the ports concerned, and hitherto unpublished, they are here presented with relevant background material.

In his Presidential Address at the 52nd Annual General Meeting of the Institute, held in London on 21 October 1998, Air Commodore Pinky Grocott gave an analysis of the causal factors that resulted in the loss of 913 large sailing ships during the period of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras (1793–1815). Navigation and weather factors predominated, often aggravated by poor and untimely decision-making. Many of the lessons learnt are equally relevant today.

This paper, and the following two papers, were presented at a joint meeting sponsored by the Institute in association with the Honourable Company of Master Mariners and the London Branch of the Nautical Institute. The meeting was held at Trinity House on 20 November 1991. This first paper was read by Captain Houghton.