Andrew Lambert - Frigate Duels of the War of 1812

Dr. Andrew Lambert joins us to discuss the ship to ship actions on the Atlantic Ocean during the War of 1812 that we are calling the frigate duels! USS Constitution vs. HMS Guerriere USS Constitution vs. HMS Java USS Chesapeake vs. HMS Shannon USS President vs. HMS Endymion Andrew Lambert is Laughton Professor of Naval History in the Department of War Studies at King’s College, London, and Director of the Laughton Naval History Unit. His work focuses on the naval, strategic and cultural history of the British Empire between the Napoleonic Wars and the First World War, the evolution of naval historical writing and the history of technology. He has lectured on aspects of his work around the world, and made several television documentaries. His books include: The Crimean War: British Grand Strategy against Russia 1853-1856. Manchester 1990 & 2011,’The Foundations of Naval History’: Sir John Laughton, the Royal Navy and the Historical Profession. 1997, Nelson: Britannia’s God of War. 2004, Admirals. 2008, Franklin: Tragic Hero of Polar Navigation. 2009, The Challenge: the Naval War of 1812, 2012, winner of Anderson Medal of the Society for Nautical Research, Crusoe’s Island: A rich and curious history of pirates, castaways and madness, 2016, Seapower States: Maritime Culture, Continental Empires and the conflict that has shaped the modern world, Yale 2018 won the Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History, and The British Way of War: Julian Corbett and the battle for national strategy, Yale 2021. He is a Fellow of Kings College London.This episode was recorded on May 18, 2026