CLASSIC DIVE BOOKS
World Shipwrecks Please note: The books are listed for interest only, and not offered for sale. See also:
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See also specific ships listed on home
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See also World Shipwrecks -Diving For current books in print on shipwrecks link to:
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ABANDON
SHIP!
Hal Butler. Henry Regnery Company, Chicago. 1974. ISBN 0 8092 9024 3 Hardcover, dutjacket, 235 pages, no prints, no index. The inexplicable, mystic relationship between men and the sea has long fascinated landsmen and seamen alike, and in this classic tradition Abandon Ship! focuses on man's struggle with the sea for survival, offering exciting, true accounts of heroism and bravery, self-sacrifice and endurance to exemplify this relationship. Daniel Foss, the lone survivor of the Negociator, who lived for five years on a small, barren island in mid-ocean without shelter and with very little food, became the living counterpart of his fictional hero, Robinson Crusoe. Captain Kurt Carlsen became the object of an international vigil when he chose to remain on the sinking Flying Enterprise rather than abandon his doomed ship. The Birkenhead tragedy became the classic example of discipline at sea and set the rescue trapition of "women and children first." Stories like these, of amazing cou rage and startling excitement, emphasize the mystery of the sea and the indomitable spirit of man. But maritime history has not been with- out its villains, and Abandon Ship! also includes tales of negligence, incom- petence, murder, and cannibalism. |
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DEEP-SEA
DETECTIVES
Maritime Mysteries and Forensic Science. Peter R.Limburg. ECW Press, Toronto, Canada. 2004. Hardcover, laminated boards, 274 pages, mono plates. When ships go down, there is a reason and that reason must be known. But the evidence is under the sea, sopmetimes 20,000 ft down, so there are difficulties. Forestic science however knows no such boundary, and with technology, and time, mush of the reqquired evidence can be raised from even the most daunting depths. Here we have chapters on many mysteries, many of which were resolved - the loss of the Derbyshire, Gaul, Flare, Lucona; the famous Edmund Fitzgerald, the Arctic Rose and the huge Lusitania. And more recently the submarine Kursk, and other subs before it. There is also a chapter on air and space disasters where evidence had dropped into the sea. A very interesting read. [pjs] |
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LAKONIA
Geoffrey Bond. OldbourneBook Co.Ltd., London, 1966. Harcdocer, dustjacket, 198 pages, a few mono prints. During the evening of 19 December, 1963 the twin-screw Motor Ship Lakonia slid through the grey waters of the Solent, bound for sunshine and warmer seas.Six-hundred and-fIfty-one passengers were aboard the liner on her Christmas cruise.For some it was their first-ever cruise For others it was to be their last. The Lakonia began to burn on Sunday, 22 December. Four days later she was a pitiful, smoke-grimed wreck, wallowing at the mercy of the waves. On Sunday, 29 December, just a week after the initial disaster, she slid beneath the waters of the North Atlantic to her last resting-place. The story of the tragedy of the Lakonia is not that of the great cataclysm, striking unexpectedly and quickly dealing the final death blow. Rather is it the story of unfortunte originally minor circumstances, slowly building up until they finally overwhelmed the ship, her crew and passengers. But the pattern of crew and passenger heroism is at least as great as that of any perhaps more dramatic disaster. Reluctant to leave the ship, the crew and many passengers tried desperately to overcome events and save her.The Lakonia book brings new and previously unpublished facts to bear on a tragic, but strange disaster. Above all, it is a graphic account of the strength and bravery of ordinary persons under threat of death. It is an open, objective and factual reconstruction of what happened. [ps] |
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LOST
AT SEA
The truth behind eight of history's most mysteriou ship disasters. A.A.Hoeling. Originally published by Stackpole Books, Pennsylvania, 1984. Rutedge Hill Press, Nashville, Tennessee, USA, 1999. (Image) [ps] Softcover, mono images, 223 pages, no index. Covers: Mary Celeste, S.S.Waratah, RMS Lusitania, HMS Hampshire, Cyclops, liner Morro Castle, SSN Scopion, SS Poet. |
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MYSTERIES
OF THE SEA
J.G.Lockhart. (A companion volume to Peril of the Sea by J.G.Lockhart. Hardcover, 8vo., eight illustrations. Chapter content: Who Discovered America; the Finding of Madeira; The Phantom Ship; The Hanging of Captain Green; Jenkin's Ear; The Lost Ships of La Perouse; The Sea Monster; The Sea Serpent; The Mystery of the Mary Celeste; The Sinking of H.M.S. Victoria; the Disappearance of the Waratah; and Lord Kitchener's Last journey. Of particular interest would would be the loss of the Waraatah off the South African coast; she has left Melbourne on 1 July 1909 and disappeared off Durban. |
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PACIFIC
ORDEAL.
Kenneth Ainslie. Rupert Hard-Davis, London, 1956. Hardcover, dustjacket, 251 pages, a few mono plates. Soon after the war Captain Ainslie (the author) was asked to tow four mine-sweepers almost 10,000 miles across the Pacific, from Panama to Manila, with very inadequate towing gear. All went well for the first 1,500 miles. Then 2,500 miles from the next port the tows began to break adrift. Days were wasted picking them up in the heavy oc,ean swell,' and the tug dared not move at more than a crawl. Gradually it became clear that she would exhaust all her fuel before she reached land. But Captain Ainslie pressed on, rigging bizarre makeshift sails from tarpaulins and blankets and chopping up spare timber to fire the engines. Finally he was forced to abandon his charges in mid-ocean with a crew of volunteers until he could refuel and return. But before he could do so the entire crew was poisoned by. eating tropical fish, and whIle Captam Ainslie treid to nurse his stricken men - he had to carry the almost unconscious engineer down a narrow ladder to shit off steam before the boilers burst - the U.S.Navy took over the search. At last after several days, the missing men were found, having narrowly escaped death when two of the minesweepers collided and sank, Captain Ainslie's story is a straight-forward record of almost incredible toughness, obstinacy and technical skill by a man no less able to quell a mutiny than to save a fireman's life by ampu tating his septic thumb with a hacksaw blade. [ps] |
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PERIL
OF THE SEA
A Book of Shipwrecks and Escapes J.G.Lockhart Philip Allan & Co., London, 1934. Hardcover, no dustjacket my copy, 294 pages, eight mono plates, 18 chapters, covering shipwreck from 1120 (the White Ship), to the loss of the Titanic in 1912. Within these dates are the losses of: Wager 1740; Phoenix 1780; Royal George 1882; La Tribune 1797; the Medusa 1816; Kent 1825; Rothsay Castle 1830; and Birkenhead 1852. Other chpaters : The Strange Voyage of Piertro Quirini 1431; the Last Voyage of Sir Humfrey Gilbert 1583; the Casting away of the Tobie 1593; the Wreck and Redemption of Sir Thomas Gates 1609; the Story of Occum Chamnam 1686, the Shipwreckk and Slavery of Saugnier 1783. [ps] |
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PHANTOMS
OF THE HIGH SEAS
Philip MacDougall. Reed Books Pty Ltd, NSW. 1991. ISBN 0 7301 0313 7. Hardcover, dustjacket, 192 pages, mono prints, index. From the fly: Vast, deep and ever-changing, the seas and oceans of the world gu'!rd their secrets well. Here, at last, is a book which makes an objective attempt to uncover the real truth behind a myriad of maritime mysteries and curious supernatural events. The author, Philip MacDougall, is well- known for his researches into maritime history. Here, he has accepted only facts proved beyond reasonable doubt: some of the more famous hauntings and tales of cursed ships have therefore had to be rejected since, on closer examination, they appear to be based on little more than long-held superstition or malicious rumour. And yet, other stories of seafaring ghosts cannot be so easily dismissed. Take the case of the small paddle steamer Asp: for years she was subjected to strange, unexplained happenings, and the recurring appearance of a wandering female passenger. . . Such tales have, of course, been associated with innumerable other ships, but in this case the independent evidence for these events is overwhelming and there seems no. alternative but to accept that the Asp was, indeed, haunted. With a full complement of famous ships such as Brunei's Great Eastern, the supposedly unsinkable Titanic and the infamous Flying Dutchman, plus a fleet of less renowned craft, this fascinating book plunges the reader deep into the mysterious waters of maritime history. [ps] |
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PIRATES,
SHIPWRECKS AND HISTORICAL CHRONICLES
Edward Rowe Snow Dodd, Mead & Company, New York, 1981. Hardcover, dustjacket, 229 pages, mono plates, index. Predominantly a local history of the New England, USA, region but with a title like that, this is as good a place to list it. This is, according to the blurb, the authors ninety-seventh book - I wonder of he made the ton. Obviously of the same ilk as our Jack Loney although I am sure Mr Snow wrote many more words. The chapter on shipwrecks covers fifty pages so it is a worthy inclusion. [ps] |
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POSTED
MISSING - The Drama of Ships Lost Without Trace in Recent Years.
Alan Villiers.
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REMARKABLE
SHIPWRECKS
R. Thomas. 1837 (Thomas Captain Dickinson R. N. 1836) A narrative of the operations for the recovery of the public stores and treasure sunk in H.M.S. Thetis, at Cape Frio, on the coast of Brazil, on the 5th December, 1830. To which is prefixed a concise account of the loss of that ship. [lk] |
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SHIPWRECK
- A Saga of Sea Tragedy and Sunken Treasure.
Dave Horner. Sheridan House, New York, USA. 1999. Hardcover, dustjacket, 299 pages, momom plates, charts, index, bibliography, references. A well researched documentation of several Spanish shipwrecks, lost mainly in the Caribean and western Atlantic regions. It centrs on the survival of Padre Diego Rivadeneira who in 1654 sets out for Spain from Peru in an armada led by the galleon La Capitana - which called 10 million pesos in silver coin and bullion. The list is founders on a reef. The good Padre is on another ship and survives but later boards the galleon Maravilla and it goews down in the Bahamas, with the oloss of some 600 men and a further five million peso. He is one of only forty-five survivors. Finally he is near home on another ship when it is attacked by the British;, his ship edplodes and again he finds himself treasing water in the cold Atlantic - he cannot swim, and is rescued by the British and taken prisoner. Through the padre's surviving diaries, the author and collegues salvage part of the valuable cargo of the Capitana. Etugene Lyon, Ph.D., researcher for Mel Fisher's Treasure Salvors, writes (on the back cover blurb): Could there ever have been such a string of maritime miseries, one following close upon another? This story of the linked marine disasters of 1654 (Chanduy, Ecuador), 1656 (Maravilla and Cadiz), the Corda Cay shipwreck and salvage, and the Canary Islands battle is compelling. The total result must have affected the downward spiral of Spain at mid-17th century. Moreover no one has ever put into print the balance sheets on registered cargo, contraband, and the many salvage expeditions on the several shipwrecks described here. [pjs] |
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SHIPWRECKS
Disasters of the Deep Seas Nigel Cawthorne. Selectabook Ltd, UK, 2005. Near A4 size (wider but not as tall), softcover, 144 pages, index, many mono photographs, no colour. One of those æpopular books for a general audience on a fascinating topicÆ, this is an easy book to browse and read during a rainy Sunday afternnon. Chapters include: Wooden Warships, Iron Sinks, Treasure Ships, Lost Liners, Supertankers, Sunken Submarines, Perils of the Sea, Ferry Disasters, Mysteries of the Deep, Famous Wrecks, and Survivors. There is a bit of interest for everyone. Enthusiasts of shipwreck tales will probably learn no more from this book, but it serves it purpose for the general reader. [ps] |
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SHIPWRECKS
IN FLORIDA WATERS - A Billion Dollars Graveyard
Robert F. Marx. The Mickler House, Publishers. Chuluot, Florida. 1985. Softcover, 147 pages, mono photos, extensiv bibliography, no index. Concerns wrecks of the Spanish fleet and others, their history, discovery and salvage. Includes chapter on 'Possible Shipwrecks in Florida Waters'. |
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SOME
SHIP DISASTERS AND THEIR CAUSES
K.C.Barnaby. A.S.Barbes & Co, New Jersey, 1970. SBN 498 07542 7. Hardcover, dustjacket, 272 pages, a few mono prints, index. From the fly: Written for two audiences, Some Ship Disasters and Their Causes will appeal to the professionals concerned with the design, construction, and operation of ships as well as to those interested amateurs who wish to increase their knowledge of the sinking of the Titanic, the collision of the Stockholm and the Andrea Doria, the heroic story of the freighter Flying Enterprise's Captain Karlsen (who for nearly two weeks refused to leave his doomed ship), the mysterious fire aboard the Morro Castle, and the tragic loss of the submarine Thresher. The author divides his book into nine chapters, each one of which deals with a specific aspect of naval tragedy: "Dangerous Ships," "From Sail to Steam," "Warships in Collision," "Merchant Ships in Collision," "Sail Training Ship Disasters," "Accidents and' Dangerous Cargoes or Conditions," "Special Risks of Channel and Excursion Steamers, Car Ferries and Tankers," "Submarines," and "Ships on Fire." A technical appendix and index have also been included. In each of the chapters, stories of individual vessels are arranged in chronological order so that the reader may see how ship design, construction, and op- eration have benefited by the lessons learned from these catastrophes. The separate discussions within each chapter range from a few paragraphs to 20 pages or more. And often, as is the case with the essay dealing with the loss of the H.M.S. Captain, Mr. Barnaby is able to depict skillfully some of the controversies that raged over technological changes caused, for example, by the replacement of sail by steam and wood by iron. In each case the author presents a description of the ship, the principal parties involved, the nature of the disaster, a digest of subsequent inquiries (if any), and his own - often controversial - theories as to the actual cause of the disaster. Included also are a number of paintings and photographs depicting some of the unfortunate ships whose stories are told. The author's systematic research and thorough coverage of his subject have resulted in a detailed analysis of every type of ship disaster. This book will be read both for the drama contained within its pages and for the knowledge it makes available. |
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THE
GOLDEN WRECK
THE TRAGEDY OF THE ROYAL CHARTER Alexander McKee,. Souvenir Press 1961. First Edition. 8vo, 220 mm x 1450 mm. Hardcover, dustjacket, 221pp, 8 pp b/w plates, appendices: list of survivors, list of witnesses. William Morow & Co. New York, 1962. (Image left), very slightly smaller at 212 x 145mm, 224 pages, lacks the list of survivors. The wreck of the Royal Charter, the fastest passenger liner of her day, only a few miles from her home port of Liverpool, shocked the nation when the news hit the headlines in October 1859. With only 40 men saved out of a complement of passengers and crew numbering more than 500, it was one of the greatest peacetime disasters in maritime. Most of the crew and passengers returning to Britain from Australia died when the bullion-carrying fast passenger liner the Royal Charter was wrecked in a ferocious storm a few hours' steaming distance form her home port of Liverpool. [ps] New updated reprint edition
published by Souvenir Press in 1986. Hardcover, dustjacket, 240 x 182 mm,
222 pages, mono and colur prints.
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A
NIGHT OF TERROR - The Story of the Athenia Affair.
Max Caulfield. Frederick Muller, London. 1958. Hardcover, dustjackt, 222 pages, mono prints. From the fly: There have been greater sea disasters than the sinking of the Athenia, but none so intriguing. Others have been caused by natural calamities; the Athenia tragedy was due to the manipulations of men and fate. When this unescorted British liner was sunk, within hours of Britain declaring war on Hitler on September 3rd, 1939, the world was outraged. Crowded with Americans, Canadians and Jewish refugees-three- quarters of whom were women and children -the Athenia was the first victim of the war in the west. Of her 1,102 passengers and 315 crew, 112 lost their lives when she was torpedoed by a V-boat. Germany, remembering that Von Tirpitz's unrestricted V-boat campaign in World War 1 had been the main reason for American entry into the war, claimed that German ships had no part in the sinking. The diabolical Goebbels, ever ready to twist a knife in a wound, claimed that Britain her- self had sunk the ship to bring America in again. "Churchill, the Assassin," he screamed over the radio. Only when the V-boat which had committed the deed returned to base at Wilhelmshaven did the German naval chiefs learn that the Athenia had been sunk "in error" by V.30, commanded by Oberleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp. Lemp was rushed to Berlin, where he told his story personally to Hitler, and he and the crew were sworn to secrecy. This book tells the dramatic story of the human beings involved in the tragedy - of the V-boat commander who made "an error "; of the women and children who died by the violent explosion or who were washed away to drown; and of the shady political intrigues that followed. [ps] |
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THE
EVENTFUL HISTORY OF THE MUTINY AND PIRATICAL SEIZURE OF HMS BOUNTY ITS
CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES
Sir John Barrow. Edited with an Introduction by Captain Stephen W. Roskill. The Folio Society, London. 1976. A reprint of the first edition published in 1831 by the House of John Murray. It was later reprinted by Oxford University Press in their ‘World's Classics' series more than a century later. . Hardcover, stylized liightly embossed front board, no dust jacket, 261 pages, fifteen photographs or drawings, no index. The Introduction introduces the reader to the author. Chapters: Otaheite; The Bread-Fruit; The Mutiny; The Open-Boat Navigation; The Pandora; The Court-Martial; The King's Warrant; The Last of the Mutineers; Conclusion. [ps] |
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THE
STRANGE FATE OF THE MORRO CASTLE
Gordin Thomas & Max Morgan-Witts. William Collins & Sons & Co. Ltd., London, 1973. Hardcover, dustjacket, 252 pages, no index, bibliography, many mono photographs. Life can be strange, and coincidences bizarre. From the back cover: ‘In 1884 an editorial in the Daily Spray, a journal circulating in the Asbury Park area of New Jersey, suggested one way for Asbury Park to improve its resort status. We want a first-class shipwreck. Why? To make Asbury Park a famous winter resort. There is a very comfortable berth for a big ship between the fishing pier and the Asbury Avenue Pavilion. She should strike head-on, so that her nose would ram the Baby Parade grandstand, and her tail might hop around even with the end of the pier...... We need a spectacular ship. Fifty years later, almost to the day, the newspaper's demands were fulfilled.' From the fly: In the early morning hours of September 8, 1934, the luxury cruise liner Morro Castle, carrying 316 passengers and 230 officers and crew, caught fire a few hours out of New York harbour on a return voyage from Havana. The fire spread with terrifying swiftness. Why was a proper alarm never given ? Why did the fire-fighting equipment, such as it was, not work? Why were lifeboats in short supply and why were the ones that were used defective ? 90 passengers and 35 crew members died that night. Was it an accident? Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts have written a spell-binding moment by moment account of one of the most spectacular disasters ever to stir the Atlantic Ocean. Interviews with eye-witnesses-survivors, rescuers, investigators-emphasize the human drama of the Morro Castle story, a tale of obvious incompetence, tragedy, heroism, and quite possibly murder.' Bizarre indeed. [ps] |
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THE
PRACTICE OF OCEAN RESCUE
R.E. Sanders. 1968 Hardcover, dustjacket, 269 pages, b&w illustrations. |
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TO
THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA
True Accounts of Major Ship Disasters. John Protasio. Carol Publishing Group, New York. 1990. ISBN 0-8184-0530-9 Hardcover, dustjacket, 214 pages, mono prits, glossary, no index. From the contents list: The Arctic: The Ship "Worthy of Neptune". The Atlantic: "A Thoroughly Good Ship". The Cospatrick: "The Best of Her Type on the. Register". The Maine: "The First Battleship of Importance". The City of Portland: "A Mystery From Start to. Finish". The Norge: ". . . More Appalling Consequences". The Republic: "A Handsome Ship". The Titanic: The Ship "God Himself Could Not. Sink". The Empress of Ireland: "One of the Finest. Steamers". The Lwitania: "Greyhound of the Sea". The Arabic: ", . . Appearance of Sharp Diplomacy". The Britannic: " Wonderfully Constructed. Vessel". The Vestris: "A Change From the Conventional". The Andrea Doria: "A Living Testament to Beauty". The Hans Hedtoft: "A Revolution in Arctic. Navigation". The Lakonia: "Absolute Freedom From Worry and. Responsibility". The Ya17nOUth Castle: "A Faded Beauty". The Edmund Fitzgerald: "Adequate to Weather Any. Storm". The Herald of Free Enterfrrise: "A Mainstay of the. Townsend Thoresen". Appendix: Selected Chronology of Ship Disasters. Acknowledgments and Selected Sources. [ps] |
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TRUE
TALES OF TERRIBLE SHIPWRECKS
Edward Rowe Snow Dodd Mead, New York, 1963 Hardcover, dustjacket; illustrated with copies of old prints, 239pp. |
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SHIPWRECK
The Strange Fate of the Morrow Castle. Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan Witts. Stein and Day Publishers, New York, 1972. Hardcover, dust jacket, 286 pages, a few mono photographs. The loss of the passenger liner off New York, carrying 316 passengers and 230 crew, was a tragedy in many respects. Was it an accident?, the authors ask. 134 people died. (Perhap one more, later). See below for further details on her loss. [ps] |
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THE
BOOK OF SHIPWRECKS
Kenneth Hudson and Ann Nicholls. Macmillan, London, 1979. ISBN 0-333-22092-7 Hardcover, dustjacket, 170 pages, mono prints, index. Sometimes a book that contains a lot may dimish in value because of what it fails to contain, but it is a credit to the authors that they have put so much into so little space. The wrecks are listed in chronological sequenc within geographic region. The Book of Shipwrecks is a selective record of the world's wrecks, from about 2500 BC to today. They have I been chosen for their interest to the; historian of seafaring and ship technology, to maritime explorers and archaeologists and to everyone fascinated by tales of human endurance, of treasure trove and of mystery on the high seas. The ships have come to grief through human weakness and natural hazards: the weather, fire, ignorance, neglect and commercial greed; and they represent a chronicle of ill fortune and human tragedy marked by such famous names as the Vasa, HMSBounty, Lusitania, Titanic and Torrey Canyon. Over 1000 ships from around the world each have an entry, placed in the context of its time by a concise account ofcontemporary seafaring, trade routes and navigation methods, supported by a wealth of illustrations, line drawings and maps. [ps] |
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THE
ESCUMINAC DISASTER
Roy Saunders. Oldbourne Book Co., London. 1960. Hardcover, dustjacket, 120 pages, mono plates, casualty list. On 19 June 1959, fifty-four salmon fishing craft sailed from the port of Escuminac to fish in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. That night a freak storm, of an intensity unknown before, swept violently and disastrously across the path of the fleet. Nearly half the salmon boats were destroyed, thirty-five men and boys were drowned and three quartqs of a million dollars' worth of equip- ment was lost. The author of this book, Roy Saunders, visited the Eastern Provinces of Canada to undertake research for his new book about the Atlantic Salmon. He broke his journey to visit Escuminac harbour, where he talked and sailed with survivors from the freak storm. His book is an astonishing account of courage, endurance and supreme human audacity in the face of unimagin- able terror. It is a tribute to the hardy New Brunswick fishermen, their families, and the contribution they make to the proud tradition of courage at sea. [ps] |
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THE
GREAT IRON SHIP
James Dugan. Hamish Hamilton, London, 1953. Hardcover, dust jacket, 224, mono photographs and drawings. "The story of this monster steamship - the Great Eastern - is a panorama of the geniuses, charlatans, crackpots and celebrities of the last century, from the ill-fated I.K.Brunel, the greatest engineer of his day, to Napoleon III, who incurred havy financial losses due to the erratic vessel". What a remarkable book, about a remarkable ship, a huge 692 ft long paddle steamer, launched in 1858, collided with seven ships (sinking four), laid the trans-Atlantic cable - and ended her days as a floating circus. A wonderful book. [ps] |
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THE
LOSS OF THE TREVESSA
1700 Miles in Open Boats. The Story of the Loss of the S.S.Trevessa in the Indian Ocean, and the Voyage of her Boats to Safety. Cecil Foster. Martin Hopkinson & Co, Ltd. London. 1926 Hardcover, dustjacket, a few mono prints, chart, 176 pages. Strangly - the title on th dust jacket is 'The Loss of the Trevessa', however, the title pag shows '1700 Miles ...... etc1, as above. The Trevessa left Freamntle on 25 May 1924 and was abandoned in a sinking condition after striiking attrocious weather in th southern Indian Ocean. [ps] |
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THE
MORROW CASTLE. Tragedy at Sea.
Hal Burton. The Viking Press, New York, 1973. Hardcover, dustjacket, 182 pages, eight mono plates. The destruction by fire of the huge passenger liner Morrow Castle off New York Harbour in September 1934 must rate as one of the all-time maritime tragedies. The fire itself was one disaster - the rescue another with the usually reliable US Coast Guard coming in for a great dewal of criticism. How many of the 135 lives lost could have ben saved with a more efficient rescue operation. And all with sight, indeed swimming distance albiet a long one, from shore. "... a monumnetal tragedy compounded by smugness, carelessness, inefficiency, and bad luck". A great, but sorrowful, read. [ps] |
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THE
WRECK OF THE TARARUA
Joan Macintosh. A.H. & A.W. Reed. (Australia and New Zealand).1970. Hardcover, dustjacket, 158 pages, mono prints, index. From the fly: The wreck of the Union Steam Ship Company's vessel S.S.Tararua still remains, almost ninety years later, New Zealand's worst sea disaster, involving civilians. When she struck the reef at Waipapa Point, Southland, in the early hours of 29 April 1881, all 151 passengers and crew aboard felt no fears for their safety, for the sea was calm, and the Tararua seemed settled firmly. Coolly and collectedly, Captain Garrard gave his orders. Those on board felt that all they had to do was wait patiently for dawn, for soon after that rescue ships would arrive. There was no hurry, and besides, the shore seemed so comfortably close. But the ships were to come too late, and as the day dragged on the seas came up and the anguished watchers on .the shore saw wave after wave sweep the victims off the vessel's deck, until in the middle of the night, there were the last cries for help. Altogether, 131 people perished in this grim shipwreck. Joan MacIntosh tells the story in simple yet effective style. She has been thorough in her search, lind has refused to introduce any material not based on fact. Her history of the Tararua disaster builds up quietly, but with force, and she relates with arresting detail the dying moments of the vessel's last voyage, the plight of the people on board who could not be rescued, and the heroic efforts of the fey:. who braved the seas to reach the shore. And then there was an aftermath -inquiries, and often unreliable eyewitness accounts. [ps] |
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THETIS - "THE ADMIRALTY
REGRETS"... The Disaster in Liverpool Bay.
C.Warren and J.Benson. First published in the 1940s. Publisher - to be advised. Now available in reprint, 1997, Avid Publications, UK. The accident that led to the upending and eventual sinking of the new submarine on her maiden trails out of the Birkenhead yards was both accident and incompetence - the rescue operation however was plain stupidity and incompetence. With her bow protruding out of the water, there seemed to be a reluctance to cut into the brand-new hull top rescue the men aboard, many of whom were civilian engineers and technicians. With war pending, the sub was worth more than the men. A few escaped using the new Davis escape apparatus - but ninty-nine perished. Personally, this is one of the most exciting books I have ever read. Exceptionally well written ad researched, it is, no doubt in the words of most Engshmen, a 'ripping yarn'. I couldn't put it down. Every stage of her construction, trials, sinking and recovery - every chapter - is reemarkable. A must read for anyone interested in the sea, and the incompetence of officials which must include, in this case, the Royal Navy. Reprint available from Oceans Enterprises. |
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WITHOUT
TRACE - The Last Voyages of Eight Ships.
John Harris First published by Eyre Methuen Ltd, London, 1981. Reprinted 1982, 1983, 1987. Reprinted and reprublished by Guild Opublishing, London, 1988. Softcover edition by Methuen/ Mandarin, London, 1989. Hardcover, dustjacket, 244 pages, index, sources, mono Mono plates. Covers eight famous wrecks including one specific to Australia, the SS Waratah in 1909 (off the South African coast). Also included: HMS Erebus and Terror, the British ships lost in the Arctic; the perenial Mary Celeste, "the greatest mystery of them all", USS Maine, which blew up in Cuba in 1898; the USS Cyclops, an American tragedy, the Teignmouth Electron, in 1969; and closer to home, the Joyita, lost out of Samoa. Many other ships are also mentioned in connection with the chapters just listed. [ps] |
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