I would like to discuss this topic. Hopefully, this will be of interest to some of us.
It is generally acknowledged that Britain was a great maritime nation. I do not know which comes first, whether it was because Britain had a strong navy that allowed it to venture overseas, or whether it was because of the desire of Britain to create a global empire that provided the impetus for Britain to build a strong navy.
Regardless of the sequence of events, Britain did went on the conquer many parts of the world. In fact, many of its original trading posts have gone on to be come major ports and economies of the world, notably Singapore and Hong Kong. As Britain also provided the earlier expertise for the design and construction of ports, the British Standards for ports and harbours have also become the main references for the design construction references.
The same goes with shipbuilding. The major ship-building centre was in Newcastle. Accordingly, the discipline of naval architecture was started there. Some years down the road, this legacy is still felt in Singapore. Although Singapore is also a big ship building country, it does not have a naval architecture course on its own. Recently, Singapore has started a naval architecture programme at the Singapore Institute of Technology, and this is done through collaborations with the University of Newcastle.
Will be pleased to hear some sharing on this subject. Thank you.
