Amid peaceful countryside, past historic towns and through the heart of London, the River Thames flows in an easterly direction for some 346 kilometres from its source in Gloucestershire until entering the North Sea. Over many centuries civilisations have traversed the ancient river by way of fords and early ferries, stone-built bridges, by locks, tunnels and railway lines and, most recently, by motorway crossings. Building methods and designs have changed dramatically over time yet, even now, bridges dating from medieval times still span the river, virtually unaltered since when they were built. Within London, bridges and tunnels, old and new, convey the capital's rail systems, road traffic and pedestrians across the Thames. The Thames and its crossings are ever changing and Geoff Lunn, as he travels downriver from source to sea, navigates the reader through their history and right up to the present day.

We have been cruising and exploring polar waters since the nineteenth century, but very little has been written about them. Drawing on expert research, Of Penguins and Polar Bears seeks to rectify this, and looks at activity in both the Antarctic and Arctic waters - the homes of the penguins and the polar bears - to provide insight into how the passenger trades developed in these regions. With over a hundred stunning pictures, this is a must-have gazetteer for anyone thinking about cruising the Earth's 'last frontier'. From William Bradford's cruise to Greenland in a seal-hunting boat in 1869 to the newest builds of the twenty-first century, let Arctic expert Christopher Wright take you on a journey through lands less travelled.

Lost Sounds visits a number of lighthouses at different times over the last 130 years to reveal the philanthropic, scientific and romantic story of the fog signal - how it came about, how the machinery worked and, for the mariner and the keeper, what it sounded like! The development of fog signals complemented the expansion of lighthouse construction worldwide from the last quarter of the 19th century and represented the attempt to provide a vital navigation aid to mariners when the beam of light from the lighthouses lens was obscured by fog. Lost Sounds reveals the practical development of sound signals from the early percussion instruments to the later succession of compressed-air sirens and diaphones through to the last remaining electric emitters. However, it is much more than that - it is a record of another part of maritime history.

Lusitania was an engineering marvel, at one time the largest, fastest and most opulent vessel in the world. When she was sunk by a German submarine on 7 May 1915, with the loss of about 1,200 lives, it sent shockwaves around the world. The iconic passenger liner immediately became a weapon in the Allied propaganda war, helping to shift American public opinion against Germany and influencing the USA's eventual entry into the First World War. Her many achievements and successes were largely forgotten. This volume tells Lusitania's story from construction to the aftermath of her sinking in remarkable contemporary postcards.

In the post-war era, TS Bremen was one of the most popular liners operating across the Atlantic - but she had a remarkable wartime history. Built for the French as the SS Pasteur, in 1940 she made a dramatic escape in the face of invasion, carrying 200 tons of French gold bullion reserves to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Requisitioned by the British, she became a hospital troopship and played a major support role in the Battle of El Alamein. Indeed, Charles de Gaulle claimed that Pasteur's contribution 'significantly helped bring . . . Hitler to his ultimate end'. Her sale in 1956 to North German Lloyd Line as their final flagship - refitted and renamed Bremen - sparked protest in France, but Bremen sailed on unperturbed, now the pride of the German nation. Though she had been celebrated as one of the safest liners ever built, Filipinas Saudi 1, as she was then known, sank in 1980 in the Indian Ocean. It was a sad ending to a life filled with glamour, excitement and danger. Here Andrew Britton tells the story of this distinguished and much-loved vessel in intimate and colourful detail.

When Titanic began sending out distress calls, one of the first to reply was the Cunard liner Carpathia. As it turned out, Carpathia was the only vessel to reach the scene in time to save the lives of any of Titanic’s passengers, and, after she arrived in New York, reporters crowded the pier and vied with each other to obtain interviews with the survivors of the disaster. In their zeal to interview survivors, though, the reporters brushed past other people who could have provided their own eyewitness accounts – namely, Carpathia’s own passengers, largely left to their own devices as to how and when they discussed their participation in events. A few wrote letters to relatives, others wrote accounts intended for publication. The author’s collection of these rare written accounts and interviews sheds new light on the tragic way the lives of so many were impacted by the loss of the largest passenger liner in the world.

Boats are expensive and they are complicated - unless you are going to pay a professional to carry out a survey (at yet more expense) it is invaluable to be able to: - quickly assess a potential purchase for signs of trouble without paying for lengthy reports - carry out a detailed check on your own boat the end of the season - identify problems and get them dealt with before they get serious - get to know your boat in a lot more detail, so if a problem develops at sea you will be more able to cope Organised into chapters covering: Tools of the trade (basic tools, moisture meters, fingers and feel, smell, mirrors, sources of information); Checking the hull (including wood construction and rot, GRP laminates, osmosis, metal construction, keels, anodes); RIBs and inflatables; Engine and systems; Stern gear; Plumbing; Mast and rigging; Electrical systems; Interiors; Safety equipment. At the end of the book there's a handy guide to carrying out a five minute survey - invaluable when making a quick assessment of a potential purchase. Highly illustrated, with anecdotes and hands-on advice throughout, this practical book gives readers the tools to do much of the work on their own, and know when to call in the experts.

About 15,000 people live permanently afloat on canals, rivers and coasts in Great Britain alone, but thousands more enjoy holidaying on boats or own them as weekend retreats in the UK and abroad. This book will feature not only static residential boats and floating dwellings but also those used as holiday homes and funky modern businesses - houseboats can range from canal boats, riverboats, narrow and wide beam boats, barges, Dutch barges, static houseboats and even seaworthy cruisers moored in marina. The book will cover stylish boats from the UK, North America, Europe and Australia. The houseboats engage the reader through their history and owners' stories, which are told in lively text and colourful images. People fall in love with boats and own them for a variety of reasons: out of affordability and necessity; a love of the water; closeness to nature and the environment; or just because they yearn for a different and more relaxed style of living/working space. This book shows how houseboats can offer an attractive, practical and alternative solution, as well as amazing and often idiosyncratic solutions to living successfully in a small space. My cool houseboat covers the following themes: stylish architectural, from San Francisco to Prague; thrifty and eclectic, as an affordable solution to conventional city dwelling; businesses, using houseboats as unusual workspaces, from a book barge to an allotment; modernist, from a Finnish floating office to an Amsterdam watervilla; recycled, ranging from an Ellis Island ferry houseboat to a converted minesweeper; and soulful, covering alternative ways of life, relaxation and recreation, from a New York City houseboat to a stylish Paris home. Word count: 25,000

The 'ShipCraft' series provides in-depth information about building and modifying model kits of famous warship types. Lavishly illustrated, each book takes the modeller through a brief history of the subject class, highlighting differences between sister-ships and changes in their appearance over their careers. This includes paint schemes and camouflage, featuring colour profiles and highly-detailed line drawings and scale plans. The modelling section reviews the strengths and weaknesses of available kits, lists commercial accessory sets for super-detailing of the ships, and provides hints on modifying and improving the basic kit. This is followed by an extensive photographic gallery of selected high-quality models in a variety of scales, and the book concludes with a section on research references - books, monographs, large-scale plans and relevant websites.This is the first volume in the series not devoted to a naval vessel, but the most famous liner of all time is a suitable subject as one of the most popular of all ship modelling subjects. Apart from Titanic herself, this volume also covers her sister ships Olympic and Britannic which enjoyed longer and more varied careers, including wartime service as troopship and hospital ship.

The spectacular French flagship France, the longest liner ever built, was the latest transatlantic supership when completed in the 1960s, and - according to most early reports - the most luxurious liner then afloat. The last of the great French Line passenger ships, on the celebrated run to and from New York she was not only the national flagship, but went on to have a most fortunate life with two noted careers and two highly recognisable names. She was one of the greatest of all twentieth-century liners. Maiden voyage passengers goggled at the luxuries aboard the $80 million floating masterpiece with her fantastic interiors, superb service and most exquisite food, yet despite her success she eventually lost out to the unsurpassable speed of jet aircraft. Laid-up, she lingered for five years before being bought by the Norwegians in 1979 and was dramatically transformed from the indoor, transatlantic France into the outdoor, tropical Norway. By May 1980, she began sailing in Caribbean waters and, for years afterward, ranked as the largest cruise ship in the world: an innovator and a great prelude to today's mega-liners. A tribute to one of the grandest and most beloved of all twentieth-century ocean liners, in this richly illustrated book by acknowledged liner expert William Miller we salute the France/Norway!

The Manchester Ship Canal was a huge engineering achievement. It included seven swing bridges and the aqueduct at Barton, and helped turn the cotton-producing capital of Great Britain into an inland seaport. This was a feat many at the time believed could not be achieved. One of the wonders of the modern industrial world, the Manchester Ship Canal, with its huge locks and ocean-going vessels, was a magnetic draw for enthusiastic Victorians who marvelled at its construction. This book looks at the changes and development of the Manchester Ship Canal through time, from its origins as a thriving economic hub in the late nineteenth century, to an important retail, leisure and media centre in the early twenty-first century and beyond. Join Steven Dickens as he explores the history of this 36-mile-long inland waterway in the north-west of England, which links Manchester to the Mersey Estuary and the Irish Sea.

The first deep-sea fishing boats of Cornwall are regarded as being influenced by the three-masted French luggers that sailed over to cause havoc amongst the locals. However, fishing had been practised by Cornishmen for many generations before that, with mackerel and pilchard fishing being prominent. Inshore, lobster and crab fishing had also been popular for generations. This book looks at the development of Cornish fishing boats, from the lugger to Pilchard seine-net boats, once as prolific as the luggers and usually built locally, as were traditional lobster and crab vessels. These are discussed alongside more unusual boats, such as the St Ives 'jumbo' and the Mevagissey 'tosher'. The book brings the story up to date, including modern photos of existing boats gathering for the bi-annual Looe lugger regatta. After motorisation, the shape of the boat changed forever and the adaptation of old boats to accommodate engines is examined, as are the famous yards and boatbuilders of Cornwall still operational today.

In 1863 there was only one method of travelling from Britain to the other side of the world - by sailing ship, on a journey that could take up to four months, when the vagaries of wind and weather could put travellers in peril during long voyages. The offer of grants of land in New Zealand was a means of enticing emigrants to the fledgling colony, particularly people who had a skill to offer. One such emigrant was David Buchanan, a journalist and editor of several prominent Scottish newspapers, who opted for a new life in the hope that the health and fortunes of his family would improve. He travelled with his surviving son and three daughters, having lost his wife giving birth to their ninth child. Using his journalistic skills, Buchanan maintained a daily journal of the voyage which was published twice-weekly in his former newspaper, the Glasgow Herald. His account blended accurate details of the vessel and its handling with anecdotal tales and experiences providing interesting snapshots of mid-nineteenth century life. His devotion to detail suggests a passenger's keen eye upon the operation and progress of the vessel by the ship's crew. Of especial interest is the description of daily life aboard a mid-19th century sailing ship, and the interaction between passengers and crew. The clear class distinction between cabin and steerage class passengers, as well as the many pitfalls and potential injuries to passengers and crew that are described will make illuminating reading. Upon reaching New Zealand Buchanan and his fellow passengers had stepped into the unrest of the Maori Wars, which were closely reported in British newspapers such as the Glasgow Herald. David Buchanan and his family may have settled and led a prosperous life but whatever befell him, he is due our gratification for providing an interesting and valued account of experiences on a voyage during the dominant era of sailing ships.

Palm oil is the quintessence of West Africa - it is complex, an acquired taste and reckoned to be rather unhealthy. Small chop is the addition of ingredients that make it palatable for European taste. From the unique perspective of working aboard merchant ships trading to the area, the author provides a viewpoint of the first 25 years of West African independence - it is simultaneously the story of the final years of many of the British Merchant Navy's liner trades where fortunes largely depended upon imperial routes. The author served in ships of three very different shipping companies, two British and one Nigerian, and from this unusual breadth of experience, a fascinating story of ships, their crews, their cargoes and the peoples from Senegal to Angola is told. The last of the famous surf ports, the navigation of the twisting waterways of the Niger Delta and the ascent of the great Congo River are vividly described. A colourful picture is painted of the astonishing variety of cargoes and how ships almost literally felt their way across treacherous mudbanks, picked their way through mangrove-bordered creeks with local pilots boarding from canoes. The reader also meets the local inhabitants who include hard-working men from the desert interior, their more wily brethren from the coastal regions, itinerant traders and plausible rogues, the cowed workers of Portuguese Angola and, above all, the famous Kroomen of Freetown who helped work the ships around this intriguing coast of crashing surf and foetid creeks. With the fortunes of the new nations faltering, the Palm Line ships are forced to find work in other trades. The author experiences daily life in Poland under martial law, later finding himself on voyages to Brazil, the Indian sub-continent and Australia aboard ships primarily designed for the West African ports. Told sympathetically, yet with a keen eye for the absurd and downright funny, this is a lively, informative story of ordinary people trying to make a living in a world where events, over which they have no control, change their lives irreversibly.

The story of Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Johnny Trescott. A man as smart, tough, and fearless as they come. But he's about to lose everything-his boat, his freedom, and his identity. Long before Tom Hanks as Captain Phillips fell into the hands of modern-day pirates, Johnny faced the same high-stakes action on the high seas. He's cunning has always outwitted his antagonists, but now the odds have turned and he must pull off the ultimate drug bust. An adversary that has emerged from the deep blue. Johnny has met his match. The Phantom Patrol marked a turning point in L. Ron Hubbard's fiction. In writing this story he recognized the vital importance of research and realism. To that end, Hubbard toured Coast Guard vessels and interviewed officers who were actually involved in chasing down drug smugglers. The resulting authenticity and success of the tale was a sign of things to come. Read The Phantom Patrol and experience the development of a unique voice in storytelling. "Nonstop action and a hero to root for." -Publishers Weekly * An International Book Awards Finalists

Tom Christian is on the trail of revenge and a fortune in gold. As square-jawed and rugged as Clark Gable in his prime, Tom is headed deep into the jungles of the Solomon Islands to find Punjo Charlie-the ruthless criminal who killed his partner. But these jungles are thick with danger . . . as greed, temptation and sudden violence threaten to draw Tom into the heart of darkness. There's a pile of gold. . . . There's a beautiful blonde. . . . And there's a bloodthirsty tribe of headhunters who have fallen under the spell of Punjo Charlie. The trap has been set. The question is: will Tom fall into it? Will he lose his way and lose his head . . . or will he get his revenge, get the gold and get the girl? The answer lies buried in the rain forest . . . and in Tom's heart. And as he's about to discover, there's only one way out of the jungle: all-out war. In 1927, L. Ron Hubbard sailed across the Pacific to Guam to meet his naval officer father. It was the beginning of an adventure that would take him from the Western Hills of China to the South Pacific islands. Along the way he met Cantonese pirates, Chamorro natives, British spies, and headhunters of the South Pacific. He was one of the few Westerners to come away from an encounter with a headhunter tribe not only unscathed, but bearing gifts as well. Those experiences and knowledge proved invaluable in the writing of such stories as The Headhunters.

The Great Western is the least known of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's three ships, being overshadowed by the later careers of the Great Britain and the Great Eastern. However, the Great Westernwas the first great success, confounding the critics in becoming the fastest ship to steam continuously across the Atlantic, and began the era of luxury transatlantic liners. It was a bold venture by Brunel and his colleagues, who were testing the limits of known technology. This book examines the businessmen, the shipbuilding committee and Brunel and looks at life on board for the crew and the passengers using diaries from the United States and England. The ship's first voyage made headline news in New York and London and involved a race with the small steamship Sirius. The Great Western's maiden voyage was a triumph, and this wooden paddle steamer became the wonder of her age. She linked antebellum New York with the London of Charles Dickens and the youthful Queen Victoria. The ship continued to carry the rich and the famous across the Atlantic for eighteen years.

As the Boat Doctor in Boating magazine, Allen Berrien helped two generations of readers keep their boats alive and well. Now his practical know-how and wisdom is collected inPowerboat Care and Repair, the only book that focuses on do-it-yourself maintenance and repair of small powerboats.

Berrien provides tips on how to avoid and solve a host of common problems, such as electrolysis, pitted gelcoat, and battery failures. He also offers step-by-step guidance on spring commissioning and winterizing; inboard, outboard, and stern driveengine troubleshooting; exterior maintenance; emergency preparedness; and much more.

If Lars Marlin had three wishes, two have already been granted: he has escaped from Devil's Island ... and he has come face to face with the man who put him there-Paco Corvino. But the third wish-putting a bullet in Corvino-will have to wait. They're off to sea, and not since Fletcher Christian and Captain Bligh set sail on the Bounty have two more heated enemies been in the same boat. Corvino is a convict, con-man and killer who has schemed his way into a position as chief steward on a luxury yacht sailing out of Rio de Janeiro. And, in a twist as devious as it is diabolical, he's managed to install Lars-his hated rival-as captain of the very same vessel. And there are even darker twists to come.... Lars is determined to find out what Corvino has up his sleeve ... and what killer cargo he's hiding on board. But the yacht owner's daughter proves to be a beautiful-and dangerous-distraction. Will Lars be safe in her arms ... or is she part of Corvino's plot-a deadly trap set with honey? Like several leading writers of the day, L. Ron Hubbard was invited to Hollywood to write scripts, where his superior talent and productivity attracted numerous lucrative offers from the studios. But, as he wrote in a letter to the editor of Argosy magazine in August 1937: "I love to tie a yarn and try to make it blaze in print. The mags will never lose me to the movies. Never, at any salary!" And as Argosy gleefully responded in its pages: "Next to exorcise the Hollywood virus from his veins was L. Ron Hubbard ... he has set to work to give Argosy some more of his rousing yarns. The first, -Cargo of Coffins,' is due to appear in the November 13th issue, and a serial is likely to follow."

This illustrated portfolio is produced upon the 50th anniversary of cessation of hostilities and as a remembrance of the ships of Task Group 96.8. Through extensive research the author has gleaned information about the multi-national taskforce, including numerous photographs. Ships of the Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal New Zealand Navy, Royal Netherlands Navy, Royal Thai Navy, and the Republic of Colombia Navy all served in the West Coast Support Group known as Task Group 96.8 with the authority and resolution of the Security Council of the United Nations. That so many nations rallied to the cause was proof of the worth of that newly-formed organization. Britain and the older nations of the Commonwealth rapidly legislated for their reserves to be mobilized, and so largely from Europe and the West came those who would assist the USA to liberate the Republic of South Korea from the aggression of its northern neighbour. Many ships had fought in World War II with the most recent combatant being HMS "Amethyst", whose ship's company, and also that of HMSs "London" and "Conrad", suffered fatalities and wounds.

Bat Conroy--cut him and he'd bleed ink, he's a born newspaperman. Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, Eric Sevareid--the greatest American journalists of the 20th century all made their names as war correspondents, but none of them would have beat out Bat Conroy to a good story.
Which makes it that much more mystifying--and aggravating--when an unknown writer, filing under the byline Perry Lane, scoops Bat on every story that comes along. Bat's always been the go-to reporter covering the Japanese invasion of China . . . until this Perry Lane person came along to steal his thunder and maybe even his job.
Now, the biggest story of the war is about to hit the fan, and Bat's going to get to the source first if it kills him. But the most shocking news of all is the true identity of the elusive Perry Lane.
As a young man, Hubbard visited Manchuria, where his closest friend headed up British intelligence in northern China. Hubbard gained a unique insight into the intelligence operations and spy-craft in the region as well as the hostile political climate between China and Japan--a knowledge that informs stories like Inky Odds.

Long before Captain Jack Sparrow raised hell with the" Pirates of the Caribbean, "Tom Bristol sailed to hell and back "Under the Black Ensign.""That's" where the "real" adventure begins."
"Bristol's had plenty of bad luck in his life. Press-ganged into serving aboard a British vessel, he's felt the cruel captain's lash on his back. Then, freed from his servitude by pirates, his good fortune immediately takes a bad turn . . . as the pirates accuse him of murder--and leave him to die on a deserted island. Now all he has left are a few drops of water, a gun, and just enough bullets to put himself out of his misery.
But Bristol's luck is about to change. Finding himself in the unexpected company of a fiery woman and a crafty crew, he unsheathes his sword, raises a pirate flag of his own, and sets off to make love and war on the open seas.
In his early twenties, Hubbard led the two-and-a-half-month, five-thousand-mile Caribbean Motion Picture Expedition. He followed that with the West Indies Mineralogical Expedition near San Juan, Puerto Rico, in which he completed the island's first mineralogical survey as an American territory. It was during these two journeys that Hubbard became an expert on the Caribbean's colorful history--an expertise he drew on to write stories like "Under the Black Ensign.""
"" "The ever-present soundtrack is never distracting and . . . lends a richness to the imagined picture." "--AudioFile