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Lessons from the past help carrier crew understand the present – and possibly shape the future
6 June 2025
Top historians shared their unique insights into key military encounters with Portsmouth-based sailors thanks to one of the country’s leading publishers.
Bloomsbury – the firm famously behind the Harry Potter series of novels – runs a lecture programme for leading authors to talk about their works or key associated issues.
Among its imprints is one of the UK’s main military history publishing houses, Osprey. The firm organised for four authors to talk about their fields of study, using HMS Queen Elizabeth as their ‘lecture theatre’.
Each Wednesday for a month as the carrier undergoes planned maintenance and upgrades in HMNB Portsmouth, the ship’s company and other personnel from across Portsmouth were invited to delve deeper into historical – and current – military subjects for a greater understanding of the world past and present.
“It is a real privilege to bring some of our wonderful authors to speak on such an amazing ship,” said Osprey editorial director Marcus Cowper.
“Through this lecture series we hope to give the personnel an opportunity to engage with some of our expert authors and develop their understanding of naval and military history, which is the absolute cornerstone of our publishing.”
The first lecture was delivered by Professor Mark Galeotti, an expert in contemporary Russian affairs, and was an exploration of Russian political leadership – with a particular focus on the approach being taken by Russia in Ukraine.
Next up was naval historian Angus Konstam who focused on WW2 convoy HG76 in December 1941.
The Gibraltar-bound convoy saw the first use of an escort aircraft carrier (HMS Audacity) in convoy tactics so there was a particular synergy to the lecture being delivered on HMS Queen Elizabeth.
Equally pertinent were lessons of the Falklands War, in particular the loss of major warships by both sides in the South Atlantic in 1982, studied in depth by Dr Paul Brown.
Luftwaffe expert Dr Victoria Taylor, who’s the granddaughter of two RN veterans, brought the curtain down on the lecture series with a fresh look at Battle of Britain – from the perspective of German aviators, which offered much of the audience a new way to look at a well-known historical event.
Lt Rachel Connell, HMS Queen Elizabeth’s education and training officer, said the talks had gone down well – and attracted a wide audience.
“This has been a great opportunity for personnel to take some time out of their day to hear from a variety of experts on interesting, relevant topics. It was particularly pleasing to see such a wide variety of personnel in attendance across the series, both in terms of ranks/rates and different branches.”
Commanding Officer Captain Claire Thompson said her ship had been “very fortunate” to be selected to host the historians.
She continued: “Understanding both historical and contemporary global events is valuable for all military personnel and these lectures from Osprey and Bloomsbury authors provide the opportunity to do just that.”