Showing titles in Ships & Shipbuilding

For three decades the Windrush was the maritime Zelig of the 20th century, playing different roles in the most turbulent years in modern times. Designed in 1930 in the Hamburg boatyard of a Jewish shipbuilder to ferry Germans to a new life in South America, it wasn't long before Goebbels requisitioned her as one of his ‘Strength Through Joy’ vessels. However, her duties soon darkened: she became a Nazi troop carrier, a support vessel for the pocket battleship Tirpitz and a prison ship transporting Jews to Auschwitz.

African Star is the author’s memoir of his first voyage as a teenaged cadet on the ship of that name in 1961. It relates his experiences among grizzled seamen aboard ship and ashore in the ports of South and East Africa. It is a humorous re-telling of his coming of age, but it also relates his experiences with and reactions to the injustice of the apartheid system then in full force in South Africa. It is also the story of a bygone era when thousands of American men went to sea in American merchant ships that plied the oceans far and wide. Sadly, that is no longer the reality in 2021, and...

The SS Portland was a solid and luxurious ship, and its loss in 1898 in a violent storm with some 200 people aboard was later remembered as “New England’s Titanic.” The Portland was one of New England's largest and most luxurious paddle steamers, and after nine years' solid performance, she had earned a reputation as a safe and dependable vessel. In November 1898, a perfect storm formed off the New England coast. Conditions would produce a blizzard with 100 miles per hour winds and 60-foot waves that pummeled the coast.

On Monday, August 30, 1920, the S-Five, the newest member of the U.S. Navy's fleet of submarines, departs Boston on her first cruise. Two days later, as part of a routine test of the submarine's ability to crash dive, her crew's failure to close a faulty valve sends 75 tons of seawater blasting in. Before the valve can be jury-rigged shut, the S-Five sits precariously on the ocean floor under 180 feet of water. They have little air, no water, and only the dimmest of light by which to plan their escape.

In this fantastic audiobook, John Harnish talks us through over 100 amazing facts about ships and boats, covering categories such as famous ships, seafaring terminology, naval ship classes and much more. So if you want to know which ship is the world's fastest or who made the deepest solo dive in a submarine, this is the perfect book for you!

A Brief History of the Titanic brings to life the captivating narrative of the world's most famous ship. This book isn't just about a tragedy; it's about the people, the dreams, and the innovations that defined an era. You'll be transported back in time to experience the grandeur and the sorrow of the Titanic.

The Great Lakes create a vast transportation network that supports a massive shipping industry. In this volume, seamanship, cargo, competition, cooperation, technology, engineering, business, unions, government decisions, and international agreements all come together to create a story of unrivaled interest about the Great Lakes ships and the crews that sailed them in the 20th century.

In May 1940 British and Allied troops on mainland Europe were in a perilous situation: cut off and surrounded, at the conclusion of the bloody Battle of France they faced complete annihilation. It would be a devastating blow, handing Europe to the Nazis. But over a few frantic days, the greatest evacuation in history managed to salvage hope, saving the total destruction of the army and hundreds of thousands of soldiers lives. It was a pivotal and defining moment in the war, one Churchill described as a "miracle" in his "we shall fight them on the beaches" speech.

RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912, after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, more than 1,500 died, making it the deadliest sinking of a single ship up to that time. It remains the deadliest peacetime sinking of an ocean liner or cruise ship. Frank Prentice, an assistant purser on the Titanic, offers his account of how he survived the sinking of the ship.

On a cold, cloudy day in early February 1985, Shelley Wachsmann, then resident nautical archaeologist for the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums, drove to Kibbutz Ginosar, an agricultural settlement near the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Two brothers, avid amateur archaeologists, had found a boat buried in the lake, its outlines revealed by receding lake waters. The boat was "possibly ancient," according to the handwritten note placed on Wachsmann's desk a day or two before.

Was it the captain's fault, as many said? Or did the company, the Coast Guard, and the American Bureau of Shipping all have a hand on the helm of the SS El Faro as she steered too close to Hurricane Joaquin? This is an examination of a tragedy that has been well-researched and investigated - heroically so at times - by the United States Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board. My main goal here is to show how the SS El Faro fit into a larger system and culture - one that I have been covering off and on as a journalist and author for 38 years.

On December 7, 1941, even as Japanese carrier-launched aircraft flew toward Pearl Harbor, a small American cargo ship chartered by the army reported that it was under attack from a submarine halfway between Seattle and Honolulu. After that one cryptic message, the humble lumber carrier Cynthia Olson and her crew vanished without a trace, sparking one of the most enduring nautical mysteries of the war. What happened to the ill-fated ship? What happened to her crew?

In the tradition of The Perfect Storm and Into Thin Air, Rachel Slade’s Into the Raging Sea is a nail-biting account of the sinking of the container ship El Faro, the crew of 33 who perished onboard, and the destructive forces of globalisation that put the ship in harm’s way.

How to buy a sailboat (Revised 2018 edition) Today only, get this Kindle best seller for only $2.99. Read on your PC, Mac, smart phone, tablet or Kindle device. So you’ve decided to buy your first boat. Congratulations! Two third of the earth’s surface is covered by water, which means you’ll soon be able to visit many more places with your new boat than with your car. You’re about to discover how to successfully buy a sailboat and how to avoid many common, costly mistakes. The biggest reason that many people never become boat owners is not because of the cost involved but, rather, ...

Imagine a world without natural light, where you can barely stand up straight for fear of knocking your head, where you have no idea of where in the world you are or what time of day it is, where you sleep in a coffin-size bunk and sometimes eat a full roast for breakfast. Now imagine sharing that world with 140 other sweaty bodies, crammed into a 430ft x 33ft steel tube, 300ft underwater, for up to 90 days at a time, with no possibility of escape.

Drawing on historical documents and contemporary accounts and on exclusive interviews with Carlsen's family, Delaney opens a window into the world of the merchant marine. With deep affection, and respect, for the weather and all that goes with it, he places us in the heart of the storm, a "biblical tempest" of unimaginable power. He illuminates the bravery and ingenuity of Carlsen and the extraordinary courage that the 37-year-old captain inspired in his stalwart crew.

The best of the Logan Marshall classics have been researched and edited by authors Bruce M. Caplan and Ken Rossignol and presented in this new audiobook. The Titanic's secret fire is explained in great detail. The early days of World War I and the savage sinking of the Lusitania, which caused over 1,000 civilians to die on an unarmed passenger vessel are brought to life. This is the story of the people who survived along with the war efforts that boosted the efforts of the United States, Britain, and France to stand up to German aggression.

Submarine drama, maritime tragedy, innovation, unique circumstances, resilience in adversity, leadership, teamwork, wisdom and personal growth-this book has it all. In May 1921 the submarine R-14 departs Pearl Harbor on an emergency mission to search for the US navy ship Conestoga, lost at sea with 56 souls aboard. But in a harsh twist of fate, the rescuers themselves fall into peril, stranded 140 miles from the nearest port with no fuel. Now young Annapolis grad Alexander "Dean" Douglas, the submarine's Acting CO, must rally his tired and discouraged crew to return safely to port. In a ...

February 5, 1898. Witnesses report a giant orange fireball reflected in the glacial waters of Alaska's Lynn Canal. At the height of Klondike gold fever, the Clara Nevada disappeared into an epic storm - taking passengers and priceless cargo with it. Was the explosion an accident or a robbery gone wrong? Did Captain C.H. Lewis make off with $165,000 ($13.6 million in today's currency) in raw gold? Or was the sinking a case of a sea-weary steamer meeting an untimely end?

Do you know how many miles beneath the surface of the waves the wreck of the Titanic lies? What do scientists and historians now believe led to the iceberg being seen only at the last minute? The flares that were sent up by the crew were supposed to signal ‘distress’ - but what did they actually say? Narrator Kent Harris talks us through over 100 amazing Titanic facts in this fascinating audiobook about the famous ship and her tragic maiden voyage.