The Award is made to the author of the work of literature published in English during the qualifying period that, in the opinion of the Awards Committee, has contributed most significantly to public engagement with maritime issues.
Eligible work must focus on the maritime dimension and the category includes academic or popular non-fiction on technical, scientific, environmental, economic, industrial, legal, administrative, social or defence-related themes, as well as works of biography, history, fiction and poetry. Books that link the past, present and future of the maritime dimension are especially encouraged.
Recent winners
2021: British Naval Intelligence through the Twentieth Century
Dr Andrew Boyd
2022: The Black Joke: The True Story of One British Ship’s Battle Against the Slave Trade
Alysha Rooks
2024: The Royal Navy and Fishery Protection: From the Fourteenth Century to the Present
Jon Wise
2025: Sea-Time: An Ethnographic Adventure
Helen Sampson
The winner receives an engraved silver salver.
The award has been presented annually since 2001.
