This presentation by Dr Phil Judkins
Catholic Church Hall
7:30pm Friday, 26th September 2025, Light Refresments
Price: £4 (£3 Swanage Museum members)
NEW MAPS OF HELL: the first anti-ship drones and missiles.
The Russian Black Sea fleet almost abandoned its Black Sea bases after the successes of Ukrainian drone motorboats; British warships were sunk in the Falklands by the Exocet missile. But the earliest use of both drones and guided missiles at sea dates back far, far, earlier – to the First World War and before. Using the latest research, Dr Phil Judkins traces in everyday language the century-old history of what we think of as very modern weapons, in a fascinating account of successes and failures, sometimes farcical, sometimes tragic, in this ‘wizard war’ of dark arts and brave mariners, bringing the story right up to the present day – and the all-too-near future of autonomous AI weapons with minds of their own