Belfast has a long and proud shipbuilding heritage, this industry holding a strong place in Belfast's identity and popular culture. There were three main shipbuilders, Harland & Wolff, Workman Clark and the little-known McIllwain & Co., all of whom had fascinating and often turbulent histories. Despite this, little is known about the vessels they produced, beyond the world-famous story of Titanic. In this impeccably researched book, Dr John Lynch endeavours to change this, revealing the fascinating stories of the many ships to be built and launched from Belfast over 140 years, from the late 1850s to the twenty-first century. Including an alphabetical ship index, building lists, details on vessel name changes and many illustrations of the ships, this book also details the yards themselves and key characters in shaping their journeys from hey-day to decline.

Canals reached their zenith in the eighteenth century during the Industrial Revolution, before the arrival of the railways usurped their position, whereupon a number of them fell into disrepair and disuse. For many years forgotten, canals and waterways have enjoyed an enormous resurgence in popularity as the recent leisure industry has placed them once more at the forefront of a lively community. This fascinating book delves into the murkiest criminal cases to occur or be associated with the canals and waterways of Britain, including many high-profile murders, and considering other crimes such as pick-pocketing, robberies, drunkenness and assaults. Also looking at the use of canal crime in film and literature, this illustrated history offers a chilling glimpse into the criminal past.

The lifeboats of Valentia have been in service since 1946, when the volunteer crew were summoned to action by the firing of maroon flares. Dick Robinson has been associated with the lifeboat station for almost 60 of those years, firstly as a child watching the flares, then as a serving crewmember, and finally as a maritime historian. In this detailed history, he captures the spirit of the station, together with the tragedies and sacrifices that make up its history. "Valentia Lifeboats: A History," has been compiled using the first-hand accounts, original and rare images, and detailed records of the station. It is a fitting tribute to the people who have served here, and will be a record of the station for many years to come.

The Sussex coastline can boast to be one of the most wreck-rich regions in the English Channel. In fact there are over 4,000 recorded wrecks along the coast. Over the years many ships that have sailed along the Sussex coast have run aground owing to the fierce currents and shallow sand banks, as treacherous seas appear from nowhere when the tide or the weather changes. Revealing the events behind many of the shipwrecks that have occurred along the Sussex coastline, this book features a wealth of fascinating stories, from the Indiana's cargo of oranges and lemons that covered the beach and were retrieved by hungry locals to ships torpedoed by acts of war, and the recent wreck of the Ice Prince that spectacularly deposited many tons of timber upon Worthing beach in January 2008. With personal accounts and many old engravings and photographs, this book will fascinate locals and enthusiasts alike.

Dockers' Stories from the Second World War is a collection of several true stories, drawn from Henry Bradford's time as a Registered Docker in the Port of London. Men were often killed and injured during their every-day work on the docks; nonetheless, never was the bravery of these men so tested as during times of war. Henry heard many stories from dockers in his time working the docks but it was their wartime adventures that seemed most vivid. Henry Bradford's lively stories and colourful characters reveal the bravery of ordinary men in World War Two, from Captain Jim Fryer's ship towage work on Calais roads and Dunkirk beaches, and saving lives of survivors from the bombed hospital ship Paris, for which he was awarded the DSC, to Petty Officer Jack Hicks' quieter but equally memorable posting steering a clinker-built boat on a hush-hush job from the Thames to the north-east, his crew consisting only of an inexperienced co-man and an incredibly efficient WREN. This book is sure to appeal to those whose relatives worked as dockers, and to anyone with an interest in London's East End at war.

Fishing the Severn Sea - From Hartland Point to St Ann's Head. The Bristol Channel, once one of the busiest fishing lanes in Great Britain, is a compelling area of the nation's seas to discover, with a unique range of characteristics. In this book, renowned maritime historian Mike Smylie and Simon Cooper, expert in the field, delve into the variety of fishing methods used in the past and present around this coastline. The area from Hartland Point in the south-west of England to St Ann's Head in Wales is examined in detail, via the lower reaches of the River Severn and its estuary, the River Wye and the south coast of Wales. Accompanied by previously unseen photographs and drawings, the authors present a fascinating account of the lives of the 'Severn Sea' fishermen, the boats they used and the way they went about bringing in their catches. Encompassing stories from the herring fishers of Clovelly to long-netting on the Severn and the harvest of oysters off Swansea, this book is a must for fishing enthusiasts and those with an interest in local history.

This book contains a memoir written by Miriam Lawrence describing the extraordinary voyage she made in 1848-50 aged 20. She had accompanied her husband, Captain Alexander Lawrence, on the maiden voyage of the Charlotte Jane, a wooden 3 mast merchant sailing ship. They set sail with their baby daughter, a teenage nursemaid, a surgeon and 264 emigrants for Sydney, Australia. Then they sailed to Hong Kong, Singapore, Bombay, Whampoa (Canton), returning via Cape Town to London. Besides the memoir, there are extracts from her husband's logbook and letters to and from Miriam's parents. There are also maps showing each stage of the voyage, illustrations of the ship from the Canterbury Museum Christchurch, New Zealand, and contemporary pictures of the places visited. They were nearly shipwrecked, faced fearful storms and at one point a near mutiny. Their second child was born in the China Seas. Miriam's writing provides an evocative account of what it had been like for a young woman to take part in such an adventure; one which many British merchant seamen were undertaking at that date: circumnavigating the world.

The North American cruise industry is the largest sector of the trade by a long way. Of the 2007 cruise market, which totalled over 16 million, US cruise vacationers alone represented over 70 per cent of the total. With stunning photographs, many of which are in colour, this general history looks at the companies and ships that are dedicated to this particular market. From the big players, the luxury market and niche cruising, to disasters and predictions, this illustrated book covers the whole industry, past, present and future. Authors, Roger Cartwright and Peter Rushton, consider why the taking of an ocean voyage for the pleasure of the journey itself, and not simply as a means of travelling from A to B, came to be so popular, and what the arrival of the mega-ships means for the new age in cruising, providing the perfect guide to cruising and its history across America.

The main focus of this book is the impact of maritime fraud on contracts for sale and carriage, documentary credits and marine insurance. It covers all varieties of maritime fraud, from the most serious downwards, describing the methods employed and the risks to traders and carriers. At the serious end of the spectrum, pirates capture an entire ship, often murdering the entire crew, in order to sell the cargo (to which of course they have no title), later to use the "innocent" ship to pose as innocent traders. Less serious (but perhaps of greater interest to lawyers) are misdescriptions of cargo in, or backdating of, bills of lading, and other deceptions, usually practised on purchasers and banks.