Richard Armstrong (18 June 1903 – 30 May 1986)
was an English writer who wrote for both adults and children. Most of his books were novels set at sea, or
sea stories. For one of those, ''
Sea Change'', he won the 1948
Carnegie Medal from the
Library Association
The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP, pronounced ) is a professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers in the United Kingdom.
It was established in 2002 as a merger of th ...
, recognising the year's best children's book by a
British subject.
[ He is also known for a biography of Grace Darling in which he challenges the conventional story: ''Grace Darling: Maid and Myth'' (1965). He is often described on the cover of his books as "author and mariner".
]
Biography
Ralph Richard Armstrong was born in Walbottle, Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
, Northumberland on 18 June 1903.[ He was a blacksmith's son who left school at thirteen to work in a ]Tyneside
Tyneside is a List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne, England, River Tyne in Northern England. The population of Tyneside as published in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 774,891 ...
steelworks. He spent three years there, starting as an errand boy and progressing to greaser, labourer and crane driver. His book ''Sabotage at the Forge'' (1946), set in a steelworks, is highly regarded for its accurate and effective description of a boy's experience in such an environment. Similarly, ''The Whinstone Drift'' (1951) is convincingly set against a Northumberland coal-mining background.[
After the ]First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
he went to sea in the Merchant Service and for seventeen years sailed in many types of vessel, gaining the experience which he later put to use in his books about seafaring.[ In 1937 he left the Merchant Service and pursued various occupations before concentrating on writing. His first published book was ''The Mystery of Obadiah'' (1943), an adventure novel set in Tynedale and featuring Thias Stringer, a 13-year-old boy. ''Sabotage at the Forge'' was its sequel, featuring Stringer at the steelworks.][ Later he drew on his wide-ranging experiences at sea, writing about, for example, cargo steamers (''Passage Home''), oil tankers (''No Time for Tankers''), and whalers (''The Secret Sea'').
Armstrong had a son, John, to whom he dedicated his book ''Sailor's Luck''. He died in 1986.
]
Selected works
;Adult novels
* ''The Northern Maid'' (1947)
*''Passage Home'' (1952) - Film 1955
*''Sailor's Luck'' (1959)
;Children's novels
* ''The Mystery of Obadiah'' (1943)
* ''Sabotage at the Forge'' (1946)
* '' Sea Change'' (1948)
* ''The Whinstone Drift'' (1951)
*''Danger Rock'' (1955); U.S. title, ''Cold Hazard''
* ''The Lost Ship'' (1956)
*''No Time for Tankers'' (1959)
*''The Lame Duck'' (1961)
* ''Island Odyssey'' (1963)
*''The Secret Sea'' (1966)
*''The Mutineers'' (1968)
* ''The Albatross'' (1970)
;Nonfiction
*''Grace Darling: Maid and Myth'' (1965)
See also
* MV San Demetrio
* Convoy HX 84
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Richard
1903 births
1986 deaths
English children's writers
Carnegie Medal in Literature winners
Maritime writers
Writers from Newcastle upon Tyne
Crane operators
20th-century English novelists
British Merchant Navy personnel