John Sinclair Morrison

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John (Sinclair) Morrison, or JS Morrison as he was better known as an author, was a British classicist whose work led to the reconstruction of an Athenian Trireme, an ancient oared warship.

Born in 1913, Morrison was professor of Greek and head of the classics department at the University of Durham 1945-50. He was tutor at Trinity College Cambridge 1950-60, and vice-master of Churchill College, 1960-65.

He was an expert in the Greek trireme, the oared warships of the Athenian classical golden age. He is best known for founding in 1982, with John F. Coates (a naval architect) and Frank Welsh (a banker), the Trireme Trust, to test his theories about the Athenian trireme, in a full-size reconstruction. In 1984 the Greek Government promised funding, and in 1987 the Olympias was commissioned. He wrote with R.T. Williams, Greek Oared Ships: 900–322 BC (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1968; 2nd ed with N.B. Rankov as additional contributor, 1986); Long Ships and Round Ships (HMSO, London, 1980); with John Coates, The Athenian Trireme: the History and Reconstruction of an Ancient Greek Warship (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1986); with J.F. Coates, Greek and Roman Oared Warships (Oxbow Books, Oxford, 1996) and other works.

Morrison became the first President of Wolfson College. He died 25 October 2000 at 87.

He was jointly awarded the Caird Medal of National Maritime Museum with John T. Coates in 1991.