Dr Sam Willis
@DrSamWillis
Followers
24,305
Following
999
Media
2,576
Statuses
13,521
Historian & Broadcaster | BBC + Nat Geo | #UnexpectedPodcast @UnexpectedPod | Mariner’s Mirror podcast @nauticalhistory | Insta @DrSamWillis
UK
Joined September 2010
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
Mother's Day
• 1111241 Tweets
Arsenal
• 280318 Tweets
Moms
• 202893 Tweets
Mães
• 187271 Tweets
Mães
• 187271 Tweets
#ใจพิสุทธิ์ep1
• 172163 Tweets
Madres
• 152021 Tweets
#鬼滅の刃
• 143565 Tweets
Manchester United
• 78087 Tweets
#PVL2024
• 65028 Tweets
NAYEON
• 55534 Tweets
Man United
• 43429 Tweets
#MUNARS
• 33480 Tweets
ヒロアカ
• 28828 Tweets
Old Trafford
• 27372 Tweets
Djokovic
• 19634 Tweets
Arapça
• 16034 Tweets
No Bruno
• 16016 Tweets
Tabilo
• 15286 Tweets
CRカップ
• 15279 Tweets
キヨ結婚
• 15111 Tweets
Pinned Tweet
One of the most innovative of Queen Victoria's battleships: A ship model of HMS Vengeance (1899) from the amazing ship model collection at Barrow
@dockmuseum
filmed with the very latest camera tech
@LRFHEC
@BAESystemsplc
#Twitterstorians
#History
19
132
1K
In Kyiv archive staff are working round the clock to scan documents and to move digitised material on to servers abroad to save their history.
6
873
2K
#OnThisDay
1854 the ss Great Eastern was laid down ⚓️ The only ship ever to be moved by propeller, paddle wheel, and sail. Full audio and vid from
@NauticalHistory
and
@LRFHEC
🎧🎥
18
251
2K
Amazing stuff from
@NauticalHistory
animating an unusual propeller design from 1876 found in archives
@LRFHEC
Full audio and videos with the Mariner’s Mirror Pod. 👏👏🎧⚓️👇
32
212
2K
A German Junkers88 106 metres down on the sea bed off Malta.
#WW2
All explained in the Mariner’s Mirror podcast 🎧 🗣 with
@NauticalHistory
and the team at Underwater Malta.
14
233
2K
Delighted with this - I've been working with the brilliant
@wessexarch
to bring alive the 3D model they made of a
#WW2
midget submarine so you can see the original craft overlaid on the remains of the hull in Aberlady Bay. Full audio and vid 📺🎧👏👏
22
208
1K
#OnThisDay
1860 HMS Warrior was nearing completion, a warship that would change seapower. Mariner's Mirror pod 🎧💥 and full animation of Warrior's ship plan made with the help of
@RMGreenwich
@NatMuseumRN
. And visit Warrior in Portsmouth!
@HMSWarrior1860
25
228
1K
💥Torpedo Strike!!💥
#WW2
X-lighter sunk by a German torpedo. Amazing condition off the coast of Malta. 🎧Mariner’s Mirror podcast🎧
#scubadiving
#maritime
#History
#twitterstorians
16
140
1K
Exciting times! The book on the left was given to me when I was about 7. The one on the right I wrote and it was published yesterday. 👏👏👏👏⚓️💥
41
73
1K
The finest 18thC ship model ever made? Ultimate Ship Models: Part 1 HMS Royal George with
@NauticalHistory
from collections
@RMGreenwich
🎧🎥
7
130
1K
On the left is my drawing of a Viking ship, aged 6. On the right is a book on the Vikings, that I wrote, aged 42.
39
81
918
The medieval combat manual that's difficult to pronounce.
We decided to animate it!
#BritainsArmedHistory
20
406
613
Ultimate Ship Models Part 1 HMS Royal George. One of the finest ship models ever made filmed with the very latest camera tech. Astonishing. Made for
@NauticalHistory
with help from the brilliant
@RMGreenwich
team. 👉Get watching and listening:
#History
8
96
557
Maritime Innovation In Miniature...The ships may no longer survive, but models of them do….A fab new project with
@LRFHEC
@LR_Foundation
. Ship models represent a unique collection that can change the way that we think about the past.
#twitterstorians
9
53
574
Why
#Titanic
sank Part 2: outstanding from
@NauticalHistory
and the Mariner’s Mirror Pod. 👇 pod 🎧 available
#onthisday
11
72
549
The best artefact I saw in three months of filming
#BritainsArmedHistory
One of Henry VIII's armoured helmets.
32
237
448
I’ve been working with
@NauticalHistory
@LRFHEC
and
@RMGreenwich
@NMMGreenwich
to make complicated ship plans come alive! Here’s a K-Class steam powered submarine from
#WW1
. More to come soon including
@HMSWarrior1860
Please share!
#twitterstorians
5
129
347
It’s coming. Into your house. Onto your phone. And there’s nothing you can do. TUESDAY
@BBC
Four - Invasion!
45
71
290
So I’m in the
@britishlibrary
and the man sitting next to me clearly cannot read very well. Rather sweetly he’s reading his book aloud to himself under his breath. Love it. If someone tells him to be quiet I shall tell them to be quiet.
9
18
264
#OnThisDay
1905 at Tsushima the Russians were coming to terms with losing the most decisive naval battle in history. I've been working on a podcast 🎧📺and fantastic animation of eyewitness battle plan with
@NauticalHistory
3
31
248
I am on a train that has just reached Swindon. A child behind me squealed with delight. ‘Sweden! We’re in Sweden’ Perhaps I should get off and experience the Nordic delights.
17
25
225
The total firepower of both armies at Waterloo amounted to 7.3% of the firepower at Trafalgar.
20
70
206
Wow. They’ve just found 8 MILES of prehistoric (12000 years) rock art in Colombia depicting now-extinct animals.
#thursdaymorning
8
22
207
Oh wow. Images of
#TheSilkRoad
before the Russian Revolution, in colour. From
@librarycongress
1
122
200
Vindolanda still keeps giving...Hadrian’s Wall dig reveals oldest Christian graffiti on chalice
2
55
205
Just been shown this. My great grandfather Bill Willis. Joined the
#RoyalNavy
on his 28th birthday in June 1912. He would be 125 this month.
#Genealogy
#familyhistory
11
12
194
Because Henry VIII got fat later in life, a 9 year old child asked me at the weekend if that ‘made him like Elvis’. Genius.
#theking
9
31
184
📺 Part 1 of
#BritainsArmedHistory
🕘 9pm Tonight on
@BBCFOUR
🙌🏻 RT for a chance to WIN a S&W BULLET with your name engraved on it!!
22
235
170
On the left is me, aged 5, wearing my great grandfather’s home guard helmet, c1941. On the right is a book I wrote on
#WW2
published this week.
4
21
177
The latest animation for the Mariner’s Mirror Podcast! The K-Class submarines of
#WW1
and the most beautiful ship plans from
@RMGreenwich
@NMMGreenwich
Full video and 🎧 at
@NauticalHistory
2
37
170
Wow. This is proper exciting. 👏👏Swedish King's 'forgotten' 17th-century warship found in central Stockholm
7
90
171
The 17thc Dutch shipwrecks in Western Australia are a treasure trove. This is the hull of the Batavia. One of the worst of all historical horror stories. So many died…but not in the shipwreck…More to come…
#History
#historylovers
#maritimenews
7
26
169
Tonight
@historyhit
LIVE I will mostly be talking to
@thehistoryguy
about ANIMATING MEDIEVAL FIGHTING MANUALS Because it's COOOOOOL. ⚔️
16
74
154
It’s here! My
@PenguinUKBooks
Ladybird book on the Spanish Armada. The most fun I’ve had as a writer.
10
23
146
Wow. Islamic 12th-century bathhouse uncovered in Seville tapas bar
3
28
144
#OnThisDay
1941 Japan attacked
#PearlHarbour
changing forever the path of
#WW2
Here's a clever sneak peak by the fab
@NauticalHistory
inside one of the Imperial Japanese Navy's aircraft carriers, Shokaku. Full vid and podcast at
4
28
142
Battle of
#Jutland
#Infographic
Names of ships and complements, killed & wounded.
#Jutland100
Please RT.
3
215
137
The betrothal ring Nelson gave to Emma Hamilton just before the Battle of Trafalgar. It looks Tudor to me.
@sixteenthCgirl
@JamesDaybell
@holland_tom
6
21
134
Here is some (SOME!) Of the 4-500 year-old Chinese porcelain I found on a remote Kenyan island yesterday. 🌴 🙌
8
20
136
🇬🇧 Part 1 of
#BritainsArmedHistory
📺 Watch on
@BBCiPlayer
:
🙌🏻 RT for a chance to win a BULLET w/ your name engraved!
21
186
129
WOW. A lovely old chap called Derek has just got in touch. It seems that there is a desk in his retirement village MADE FROM THE OAK OF HMS TEMERAIRE. What! Retweet if you think I should follow this up for The Mariner’s Mirror podcast...👇🌊
10
41
133
HMS Prince (100) of 1670. One of the finest ships ever built are and one of the oldest and finest ship models to survive. Filming
@sciencemuseum
for brilliant project from
@LRFHEC
Maritime Innovation in Miniature
4
14
133
Shackleton's advertisement in the times for the Endurance expedition: 'Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful.' And now they've found their ship 👇
#Endurance22
3
19
133
Actual proper all singing and dancing no holds barred PIRATE FLAG from 1790.
11
52
128
Back in
@britishlibrary
The man sitting next to me who was reading aloud yesterday (he’s not very good and has to read aloud) is now cackling with laughter at his book. The other 200 people are silent as usual. It’s just brilliant. When did we lose the noisy joy of reading?
7
3
129
📺 Part 2 of
#BritainsArmedHistory
🕘 9pm TONIGHT on
@BBCFOUR
🙌🏻 RT for a chance to WIN a BULLET with your name engraved on it!!
16
187
125
Ancient scrolls charred by Vesuvius could be read once again
3
24
127
Looking forward to my
@TheHistoryMC
at
@artsStowe
next week on Nelson’s Navy...I’ll be explaining how this worked...
4
26
123
Amazing laser scan of HMS Victory - to hear about her restoration check out my new pod on naval and maritime history The Mariner's Mirror Podcast
#Nelson
#Trafalgarday
#RoyalNavy
3
42
126
My daughter is currently playing an under 13s cricket match for Devon against Cumbria. But the girls misheard and think they are playing Colombia.
@holland_tom
@DevonCricket
@bbctms
@Aggerscricket
#ENGvsIND
5
7
126
I am exploring a 4000 year old Chinese CITY - yes, not camp or fort but walled city - in the Ordos desert.
3
8
121
Vast neolithic circle of deep shafts found near Stonehenge
1
32
122
Stop it. Stop it NOW. Stop removing statues: 'New York mayor considers Christopher Columbus statue removal'
14
44
110
12
20
111
I've been working on a fab project with
@NauticalHistory
to make complex maritime historical documents understandable 📜🙌⚓️: here's some sense made out of a beautiful + incomprehensible boiler plan from The collections of the excellent
@LRFHEC
Full vid:
2
31
112
#OnThisDay
1872 HMS Challenger left Sheerness on one of the most extraordinary maritime expeditions ever mounted. Their job was to do nothing les than map the ocean floor and search for life in the abyss. 😱⚓️ Get listening.🎧💥
@RMGreenwich
#History
2
31
111
Wow. More pics of
#TheSilkRoad
in colour from before the Russian Revolution from
@librarycongress
4
65
107
Let's keep passing this round - because it's AWESOME - a medieval fighting manuscript we animated.
The medieval combat manual that's difficult to pronounce.
We decided to animate it!
#BritainsArmedHistory
20
406
613
5
85
107
I’m in split sitting on the steps of Diocletian’s palace, the best preserved Roman palace in the world. And rather brilliantly the busker is playing ‘Yesterday.’ No shit. Yesterday x1700 is about right.
3
9
108
Out on my morning walk: England can feel medieval when this happens.
4
0
107
Few know that Trafalgar Square has many more naval heroes in it than Nelson. Here are the boys from
#Jutland100
8
82
104
I’m currently working in China. Almost exactly 100 years ago my great grandfather was here. These are his watercolours he sent home to his son (my grandfather).
#History
1
6
104
The small handful of young courtiers who surrounded the young Henry VIII were known as ‘minions’.
7
20
99
WHAT?!!! Tell everyone! Someone (me) needs to make a documentary on this.
7
20
101
The iceberg that sank Titanic was 100ft tall - the size of an 8 story building - and with no moon to reflect it appeared BLACK. Full audio 🎧 and video 📺 with amazing new 3D animation based on her original plans with
@NauticalHistory
3
37
105
Thanks for watching. Please tell all your friends, and tune-in next Thursday for the final part of
#BritainsArmedHistory
.
10
27
97
We brought Nelson back to life for the anniversary of the Battle of Cape St Vincent.
#OnThisDay
#ValentinesDay
Check out the amazing story of when he became famous. 🌊🎧 Special thanks to
@NatMuseumRN
@DirectorGenNMRN
4
18
90
On the left my drawing of a stagecoach aged 6. On the right my book on highwaymen just published by
@britishlibrary
, aged 43.
4
11
97
The total firepower of both armies at Waterloo amounted to just 7.3% of the firepower unleashed at Trafalgar.
7
29
93
TEN of theses 430 year-old maps of the Spanish Armada are in danger of being sold abroad. Please support
@NatMuseumRN
campaign to keep them in the UK. Interview with me and
@DirectorGenNMRN
🎧⚓️ coming soon on Mariner’s Mirror podcast
@NauticalHistory
5
56
96
On the left is my drawing of a fighting ship, 2 days before my sixth birthday. On the right is my book on pirates, aged 43, published by
@britishlibrary
5
5
95
My new series Invasion! Tonight
@bbcfour
9pm. I did a DNA test. 1/2 Roman 1/2 Viking.
#donotmess
14
13
94
Aha. The plus side of storms. 🌪🌊Iron Age skeletal remains discovered on Irish coast after Storm Ophelia
2
27
93
I have a note in my diary to ‘Prepare the Armada’ (for a talk
@CVHISTORYFEST
) which is funny because 431 years ago Phillip II would have had the same note in his diary.
#OTDH
#OnThisDay
3
8
92
Fantastic footage of a Bristol Blenheim on the seabed 42 m down off the coast of Malta.
#WW2
🎧🗣 to the Mariner’s Mirror Podcast
@NauticalHistory
for more.
1
19
93
Collection of letters by codebreaker Alan Turing found in filing cabinet
1
38
95
SO COOL! A 200 year old dead Chinese tree. Covered in maybe 500 small pots attached to the old branches, each with a chilli plant in it = A LIVING CHILLI TREE.
#backfromthedead
3
9
89