Iain Ballantyne – The Maritime Fellowship Award 2017

Nov 8, 2017

Iain Ballantyne has been saluted with a Maritime Fellowship at the UK’s Maritime Media Awards 2017, which were held at the Institute of Directors in Pall Mall, London.

One of the UK maritime community’s headline awards, Iain received it for his ‘immense contribution to the maritime cause’ since 1990, as a journalist, author of naval history books and Editor of WARSHIPS International Fleet Reviewmagazine from 1998 to the present.

The Maritime Fellowship citation highlighted Iain’s varied endeavours across his career, including covering aspects of the fall of the Soviet Union as a newspaper reporter, along with other assignments including the 1990/91 Gulf War and peace talks aboard a frigate off the Balkans

The citation paid tribute to his ‘authoritative and well-received books’ and added: ‘Few of today’s maritime writers have his breadth of experience, his instinct for a story, or his ability to undertake a tenacious, critical and careful search for the truth.’

More than 200 prominent members of the international maritime community and media gathered to take part in the established annual event, now in its 22nd year, and established by the Maritime Foundation to honour the memory of legendary Fleet Street naval correspondent Desmond Wettern.

This year the awards were presented by the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Philip Jones, who said: “I’d like to congratulate our prize winners, together with all those nominated. We are truly fortunate to have so many diverse, creative and persuasive communicators to spread this message of maritime opportunity far and wide.”

In accepting his award, Iain thanked the Maritime Foundation, organizers of the Maritime Media Awards, and First Sea Lord for making the presentation.

He also saluted the fantastic men and women of today’s world’s navies and Royal Navy in particular, for their work around the Globe to preserve maritime security, and thanked the veterans of wars past who have made his books a success.

Iain expressed his gratitude to everyone whom he has worked with across his career in newspapers, magazines and the publishers of his books, including Orion Publishing, for whom Iain wrote ‘Hunter Killers’ (2013). https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hunter-Killers-Dramatic-Untold-Service/dp/1409139018/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

His next book ‘The Deadly Trade: The Complete History of Submarine Warfare from Archimedes to the Present’ is to be published in March 2018 by W&N.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deadly-Trade-Complete-Submarine-Archimedes/dp/1409158519/ref=la_B001K84KFC_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1510319194&sr=1-6

Lastly, Iain paid tribute to the late Desmond Wettern as an inspiration, whom he hoped “was smiling down from heaven on the thriving pursuit of naval writing in the UK today, which may not quite be the old school variety of days gone by – when newspapers were king – but has evolved to match the times and new technology.”

For more on the awards: https://www.bmcf.org.uk/category/news/