Dan Snow wins broadcast award for BBC2 series Empire of the Seas
Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope stresses importance of Royal Navy’s role protecting Britain’s sea trade
DAN SNOW has won the Donald Gosling Broadcast Award at this year’s Maritime Foundation dinner for his four-part BBC2 series Empire of the Seas.
The TV historian said: “This award is a great honour for everyone who worked so hard on the series.”
Over 200 celebrities, journalists, business figures and senior naval officers attended this year’s Maritime Media Awards, held at the Institute of Directors in London yesterday (October 28). Foundation president Countess Mountbatten of Burma presented prizes to winners of the six categories:
- The Desmond Wettern Media Award for the best journalistic contribution – freelance writer and broadcaster Tom MacSweeney for exemplary coverage of maritime matters
- The Donald Gosling Award for best television, film or radio contribution – Dan Snow, Empire of the Seas
- The Desmond Wettern Fleet award for best media contribution from HM Ship, submarine, Royal Navy Air Squadron or Royal Marine unit – HMS Kent
- The Mountbatten Maritime Award for best literary contribution – Richard Guilliatt and Peter Hohnen, The Wolf
- The Maritime Fellowship Award for an outstanding lifetime contribution in a particular maritime field – Undersea explorer David Mearns
- The Society for Nautical Research Anderson Medal for best contribution to maritime history – Nicholas Black, Head of History, Dulwich College for his book, British Naval Staff in the First World War
Judge Rob White said: “Empire of the Seas is a completely compelling, brilliantly executed series which took a bold thesis – that the Royal Navy was instrumental in transforming not just Britain, not just trade and finance, but the whole world economy – and ran vigorously with it. The series travelled far and wide to tell its story to stunning visual effect, with its presenter Dan Snow both figuratively and literally at the helm and in the rigging of the kind of ships that made Britain great.”
Judge Rob White said of David Mearns: “From proving a huge insurance fraud in the case of the MV Lucona to his discovery of the vanished bulk carrier Derbyshire, and his finding of the wreck of HMS Hood, David has shown qualities of forensic analysis, technical excellence and sheer determination that make him a leader in an elite of undersea searchers. His fellowship recognises a lifetime of achievement, which continues to this day.”
First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, who has just played a central role in the government’s Strategic Defence and Security Review, briefly addressed diners.
He said: “The Government’s recent Strategic Defence and Security Review white paper has reinforced the importance of securing our trade and energy supply routes. It has been one of the Royal Navy’s duties over the past five hundred years to protect these sea lanes and I expect this role to endure into the future, recognising in particular the vital importance of our merchant navy to the prosperity of the UK .”
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Editors’ Notes
- Desmond Wettern wrote on maritime matters for over 30 years but is probably best known for his role as The Daily Telegraph’s naval correspondent. He was so respected within the service he wrote about that the Royal Navy sent a signal to every ship and naval establishment to inform them of his death in 1991.
- The Maritime Media Awards were established in 1995 with a single journalism prize presented in his memory. Over the years the event has steadily grown to become the largest and most prestigious within the maritime sector.
- The Maritime Foundation was set up in the early 1980s to promote Britain’s interests across the entire maritime sector. Its purpose is to inform and raise public and parliamentary awareness of the importance of our maritime industries, commerce and defence.
- For further information, please call Ali Kefford on 07775 737062.
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Gallery
A selection of photos from the Maritime Media Awards 2010. More photos are available from the Maritime Foundation’s Flickr Photostream.
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Downloads
[button size=”normal” type=”gray” link=”/wp-content/uploads/MMA2010-Nominations.pdf” target=”_blank” align=”fullwidth”]MMA 2010 Nominations List[/button]
[button size=”normal” type=”gray” link=”/wp-content/uploads/MMA2010_Awards_Leaflet.pdf” target=”_blank” align=”fullwidth”]MMA 2010 Awards Leaflet[/button]