About Steven Gray

Dr Steven Gray is Senior Lecturer in Imperial and Naval History. His research focuses on British imperial, maritime, transnational, global and transoceanic history. He is particularly interested in the material infrastructures of global networks, and how these facilitated the mobility of goods, people, militaries and empires. Steven’s interest within the Port Towns project relate directly to his research that has looked at how the expansion of a steam-powered Royal Navy in the second half of the nineteenth century had wider ramifications across the British empire. Steam propulsion made vessels less subject to the vagaries of tides, winds and currents, but it also made them utterly dependent on a particular resource – coal – and its distribution around the world. His research assesses how this created geopolitical tensions, required large infrastructures, as well as labour forces, and also engendered cultural connections around the globe. His first book, Steam Power and Sea Power: Coal, the Royal Navy, and the British Empire, c. 1870-1914 was published by Palgrave in 2017. He is a Fellow of both the Royal Historical Society and Royal Geographical Society. He is also responsible for the new MA Naval History programme at the University. Follow Steven @DrStevenGray.

Author Archive | Steven Gray

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The Culture of a Victorian Coaling Station

By Steven Gray on August 19, 2013 in article, notfeature

It is well known that the late-Victorian navy was immensely popular in the public imagination and celebrated as a symbol of Britain’s power and empire. This link between the navy and the Empire very real, and the most obvious manifestation of this link was at overseas naval stations. British seamen would often seek British and […]

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Author Archive | Steven Gray