Tom McCluskie followed his father and was apprenticed into Harland & Wolff's shipyard on Queen's Island, Belfast. Harland and Wolff was a hard working environment, and also dangerous but Tom accepted this as the price to pay for working at such a famous shipyard, the one that had built the Titanic and also the Canberra. Slowly working his way up through determination and hard work, Tom became passionate about the history of the yard and, at a time when no-one in H &W cared, he managed to secure the company's archive and was responsible for having it deposited at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. As an acknowledged Titanic expert, he was also seconded by H & W to help James Cameron make his epic 'Titanic' movie, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Tom traces the history of one of the most famous of all shipbuilding companies, from the arrival of Edward Harland in Belfast in 1854 through the building of the Titanic to the company in its present-day form. In doing so he transports us back to the glamorous 'golden age' of shipping and gives an intriguing new perspective on British industry. A regular speaker at Titanic conventions worldwide, Tom has written numerous books on the Titanic and her two sister ships.

"Stop the presses One hundred thousand dollar reward offered for the return of George Harley Rockham "
That's more than enough to turn Shanghai newspaperman Jimmy Vance's head. Throw in the gorgeous dame who's offering the reward--Rockham's daughter Virginia--and he might lose his head altogether. As fast-talking as Jimmy Stewart in "The Philadelphia Story," Vance jumps at the chance . . . the money . . . and the girl.
But as Jimmy quickly discovers, there are several billion reasons to watch his back. Because that's how much Rockham is worth, and there are some very hard cases out there willing to kill to separate the old man from his money.
Next thing Jimmy knows, Virginia's tied to a chair, and he's got a couple of guns pointed at his head. But it'll take more than a little rope and a couple of firearms to keep this reporter down. The truth is tied to the mysterious fate of a steamship named "Shanung"--and what Jimmy finds could be the biggest story of his life . . . if he lives to tell it.
In the issue of "Smashing Novels" where this story first appeared the editor wrote: ""Loot of the Shanung "is a soul-stirring tale of the China Sea, a story of modern piracy set in the Far East. L. Ron Hubbard wrote it. He knows China. He has been there. He traveled through the country and met the people and observed their customs. "Smashing Novels" will have other stories from him--stories of far-off places and little known people. "He knows of what he writes.""

In the early 1950s it seemed as if Greek shipping companies were springing up everywhere. For a country almost unknown as a passenger ship-owning state, the likes of the Greek Line, Chandris and Epirotiki burst onto the scene, often using second hand tonnage and ships acquired from the Western European fleets that were being updated. The lines soon took advantage of the mass emigration from Europe to Australia and New Zealand as well as cruising, which was then in its infancy. Although many of the Greek lines such as Royal Olympic Cruises are now gone, the likes of Chandris still survives today as Celebrity Cruises. Bill Miller, the noted maritime historian, brings together a collection of images of his favourite Greek liners and tells of the history of the Greek fleets that made the world of cruising so exciting in the last half century.

From its inception, P&A Campbell dominated steamer travel on the Bristol Channel, both for tourism and trade between Bristol and South Wales. The steamers of Campbell's were a regular sight as they were down to the north Devon coast, Lundy Island, and the Somerset piers. This book presents the history of the early P&A Campbell years.

Kirkcaldy Harbour: An Illustrated History traces the story of Kirkcaldy harbour from its sixteenth-century royal connections, through the boom years of commercial shipping, to its recent rescue from dereliction by the international grain ships servicing the huge flour mill. The six fully illustrated chapters cover the early days; the never-ending series of repairs and extensions, including plans for two new harbours which were never completed; the nineteenth century whaling industry; wealthy shipowners and their grand houses (three of which remain); imports and exports; and the present day. Importantly, the book includes extracts from a never-before published local memoir that gives first-hand memories of John Paul Jones' American ships in the Forth in 1778; the Kirkcaldy captain on a trade mission to Russia in 1801 when Tsar Paul I was assassinated; and a whaling captain's description of his ship being frozen up in an Arctic winter.

The Gulf of Mexico: A Maritime History presents the first such narrative of the earth's tenth largest body of water. In this beautifully written and illustrated volume, John S. Sledge explores the people, ships, and cities that have made the Gulf's human history and culture so rich. Many famous figures who sailed the Gulf's viridian waters are highlighted, including Ponce de Leon, Robert Cavelier de La Salle, Francis Drake, Jean Laffite, Tyrone Power, Richard Henry Dana, Libbie Custer, Elizabeth Agassiz, Ernest Hemingway, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, as well as Charles Dwight Sigsbee, at the helm of the doomed Maine. But Sledge also introduces a fascinating and diverse array of people connected to maritime life in the Gulf, including Mesoamerican pyramid builders, Spanish conquistadores, French pirates, Creole women, Cajun fishermen, African American stevedores, British jack-tars, and Greek sponge divers.Gulf events of global historical importance are detailed, such as the only defeat of armed and armored steamships by wooden sailing vessels, the first accurate deep-sea survey and bathymetric map of any ocean basin, the development of shipping containers by a former truck driver frustrated with antiquated loading practices, and the worst environmental disaster in American annals. Occasionally shifting focus ashore, Sledge explains how people representing a gumbo of ethnicities built some of the world's most exotic cities--Havana, way station for conquistadores and treasure-filled galleons; New Orleans, the Big Easy, famous for its beautiful French Quarter, Mardi Gras, and relaxed morals; and oft-besieged Veracruz, Mexico's oldest city, founded in 1519 by Hernan Cortes. Throughout history the residents of these cities and their neighbors along the littoral have struggled with challenges both natural and human-induced--devastating hurricanes, frightening epidemics, catastrophic oil spills, and conflicts ranging from dockside brawls to pirate raids, foreign invasion, civil war, and revolution. In the modern era the Gulf has become critical to energy Production, fisheries, tourism, and international trade, even as it is threatened by pollution and climate change. The Gulf of Mexico: A Maritime History is a work of verve and sweep that illuminates both the risks of life on the water and the riches that come from its bounty.