In his Presidential Address at the 52nd Annual General Meeting of the Institute, held in
London on 21 October 1998, Air Commodore Pinky Grocott gave an analysis of the causal
factors that resulted in the loss of 913 large sailing ships during the period of the
Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras (1793–1815). Navigation and weather factors predominated,
often aggravated by poor and untimely decision-making. Many of the lessons
learnt are equally relevant today.