In the early sixteenth century, the first exploratory ships arrived on the Pacific Coast of North America. These rovers were seeking gold and silver, fur pelts, a safe passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and above all, adventure. Though many of the voyagers didn't survive the dangerous sea crossings or the perils that awaited them on land, their stories live on in "Pioneers of the Pacific Coast." Agnes C. Laut chronicles long-forgotten true stories packed with hazards and surprise. In the 1500s, "The Golden Hind" breaks into the Pacific Ocean, despite harsh warnings from the Spaniards that it was a "closed sea." Years later, the Russian explorer Vitus Bering and his crew are stranded on an island when their ship is caught in a storm. In the 17th century, British Captain Vancouver meets with Spanish Captain Quadra at Nootka Sound to decide who owns the Pacific Coast. All these explorers risked their lives to find out whether this perilous land was worthy of settlement.

A reassessment of the Anglo-Dutch wars of the second half of the seventeenth century, demonstrating that the conflict was primarily about trade. This book re-examines the history of Anglo-Dutch conflict during the seventeenth century, of which the three wars of 1652-4, 1665-7 and 1672-4 were the most obvious manifestation. Low-intensity conflict spanned a longer period. From 1618-19 hostilities in Asia between the Dutch and English East India Companies added new elements of tension beyond earlier disputes over the North Sea fisheries, merchant shipping and the cloth trade. The emerging multilateral trades of the Atlantic world added new challenges. This book integrates the European, Asian, American and African dimensions of the Anglo-Dutch Wars in an authentically global view. The role of the state receives special attention during a period in which both countries are best understood as 'fiscal-naval states'. The significance of sea power is reflected in the public history of the Anglo-Dutch wars, acknowledged in the concluding chapters. The book includes important new research findings and imaginative new thinking by leading historians of the subject.

This book offers a comprehensive history of the Czechoslovak Ocean Shipping Company (C. O. S.) from its beginning in the late 1940s until the fall of communism. Owned by the Czechoslovak state, C. O. S.'s activities were shaped by Soviet standards. This unique study is structured according to the different phases of the Cold War and highlights the political aspects that determined C. O. S.'s fate.Lenka Kratka focuses on two contradictory economic dimensions that C. O. S. had to engage with. Being part of the planned economy of a socialist state, it also dealt with companies in the capitalist West. Another paradoxical aspect of C. O. S. emerges from the memories of former Czechoslovak seamen, who experienced relative freedom when being aboard and strict communist regime control while at home with their families. Kratka's book offers fascinating insights into a neglected topic, using thus far untapped sources and building on primary research in oral history and personal memory.

"As my sense of the turpitude and guilt of sin was weakened, the vices of the natives appeared less odious and criminal. After a time, I was induced to yield to their allurements, to imitate their manners, and to join them in their sins . . . and it was not long ere I disencumbered myself of my European garment, and contented myself with the native dress. . . ."--from "Narrative of the late George Vason, of Nottingham"
As George Vason's anguished narrative shows, European encounters with Pacific peoples often proved as wrenching to the Europeans as to the natives. This anthology gathers some of the most vivid accounts of these cultural exchanges for the first time, placing the works of well-known figures such as Captain James Cook and Robert Louis Stevenson alongside the writings of lesser-known explorers, missionaries, beachcombers, and literary travelers who roamed the South Seas from the late seventeenth through the late nineteenth centuries.
Here we discover the stories of the British buccaneers and privateers who were lured to the Pacific by stories of fabulous wealth; of the scientists, cartographers, and natural historians who tried to fit the missing bits of terra incognita into a universal scheme of knowledge; and of the varied settlers who established a permanent European presence in Polynesia and Australia. Through their detailed commentary on each piece and their choice of selections, the editors--all respected scholars of the literature and cultures of the Pacific--emphasize the mutuality of impact of these colonial encounters and the continuity of Pacific cultures that still have the power to transform visitors today.

From the time of the Restoration of Charles II, when he returned to England from Breda and was presented with the yacht Mary by the burgomaster of Amsterdam, Royal yachts began to be defined as such in England and built with that special purpose in mind. They were built luxuriously and used for royal visits to the fleet, for diplomacy and for racing and cruising for pleasure. Charles II took more of an interest in the sea than any other English monarch. He built a fleet of royal yachts, fine examples of ship design and decorative art, and he can be said to have been the father of yachting and of royal yachts. His successors were less keen on the sea but travelled to Europe on missions of peace and war; and royal yachts took part in regime change several times. In 1689 Queen Mary was bought over to join her husband William of Orange and complete the Glorious Revolution'. In 1714 George I arrived from Hanover to establish a new dynasty. And in 1814, in a reverse process, King Louis XVIII was taken back to France to restore the monarchy after the defeat of Napoleon. This important new book is the first to describe the building and decoration of the yachts in such detail, using many newly discovered sources; and it is the first to describe their uses and exploits, often taking their royal passengers into controversy or danger. Besides the yachts themselves, it reveals much about the character of the kings, queens and princes involved - the impetuousness of the future William IV for example, or his brother George IV's surprising love of sailing. It describes the design, accommodation, and sailing of the yachts, as well as their captains and crews. Sailing yachts came to an end when Queen Victoria discovered that steam power was more efficient as well as more comfortable, but they revived in the form of her son Edward's cutter Britannia, and the Duke of Edinburgh's Bloodhound and Coweslip. Their legacy can be seen in the widespread sport of yachting today, and in the lavish superyachts of billionaires. This beautifully illustrated book, full of anecdote and containing detailed descriptions of dozens of royal yachts, will fascinate naval historians, ship modellers and, indeed, anyone who sets foot aboard the deck of a modern yacht.

Compelling evidence that the Chinese were the first great maritime explorers -- not the Europeans. Rewrite the history books!

In 1421, the largest fleet the world had ever seen sailed from its base in China. The ships, huge junks nearly 500 feet long and built from the finest teak, were under the command of Emperor Zhu Di’s loyal eunuch admirals. Their mission was to proceed all the way to the end of the earth to collect tribute from the barbarians beyond the seas and unite the whole world in Confucian harmony. Their journey would last over two years and circle the globe.

When they returned, Zhu Di had lost power and China was beginning its long, self-imposed isolation from the world. The great ships rotted and the records of their journeys were destroyed. Lost was the knowledge that Chinese ships had reached America 70 years before Columbus and circumnavigated the globe a century before Magellan. They had also discovered Antarctica, reached Australia 350 years before Cook, and solved the problem of longitude 300 years before the Europeans.

In this fascinating historical detective story, Gavin Menzies shares the remarkable account of his discoveries and the incontrovertible evidence supporting them.

The sea realm has ever been mysterious: strange happenings upon it, an unfathomable abyss of 'The Great Unknown' below. Before the scrutiny of scientific Enlightenment and Age of Reason, in the eighteenth century, ghost ships and oceanic monsters were the stuff of superstition, myth and legend to explain the inexplicable, to enthral the imagination - and enliven the unimaginable. Narratives of phantom ships manned by ghostly (sometimes skeletal) crews, or damned like the Flying Dutchman to roam the seas forever; of sinister, sinuous sea serpents; and the lore of the terrible multi-tentacled kraken. Accounts inspired spirited controversy amongst believers and sceptics, in the awestruck thrill of such frightful enigmas.

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.

In contrast to the voluminous literature on trench warfare, few scholarly works have been written on how the First World War was experienced at sea. The conditions of war challenged the Royal Navy's position within British national identity and its own service ethos. This challenge took the form of a dialogue, fuelled by fear of civil unrest, between the discourses of paternalism from above and democratism from below. Laura Rowe explores issues of morale and discipline, using the contemporary language of discipline to shed light on key questions of how the service was able to absorb indiscipline with marked success through a subtle web of loyalties, history, ethos, traditions and customs, which were rooted in older notions of service but moulded by the new conditions of total war. In so doing, she provides not only a new methodological framework for understanding morale, but also military discipline and leadership.

'An epic tale of exploration, daring and tragedy told by a fine historian - and a wonderful writer' Peter Frankopan, author of the bestselling The Silk Roads. 'The name of William Barents isn't that familiar to us these days...but this enthralling, elemental and literally spine-chilling epic of courage and endurance should change all that' Roger Alton, Daily Mail A dramatic and compelling account of survival against the odds from the golden Age of Exploration. The human story has always been one of perseverance - often against remarkable odds. The most astonishing survival tale of all might be that of sixteenth-century Dutch explorer William Barents and his crew, who ventured further North than any Europeans before and, on their third polar expedition, lost their ship off the frozen coast of Nova Zembla to unforgiving ice. The men would spend the next year fighting off ravenous polar bears, gnawing hunger and endless winter. In Icebound, Andrea Pitzer masterfully combines a gripping tale of survival with a sweeping history of the great age of Exploration - a time of hope, adventure and seemingly unlimited geographic frontiers.

The doctrine of modern law of the sea is commonly believed to have developed from Renaissance Europe. Often ignored though is the role of Islamic law of the sea and customary practices at that time. In this book, Hassan S. Khalilieh highlights Islamic legal doctrine regarding freedom of the seas and its implementation in practice. He proves that many of the fundamental principles of the pre-modern international law governing the legal status of the high seas and the territorial sea, though originating in the Mediterranean world, are not a necessarily European creation. Beginning with the commonality of the sea in the Qur'an and legal methods employed to insure the safety, security, and freedom of movement of Muslim and aliens by land and sea, Khalilieh then goes on to examine the concepts of the territorial sea and its security premises, as well as issues surrounding piracy and its legal implications as delineated in Islamic law.

The warships of the World War II era German Navy are among the most popular subject in naval history with an almost uncountable number of books devoted to them. However, for a concise but authoritative summary of the design history and careers of the major surface ships it is difficult to beat a series of six volumes written by Gerhard Koop and illustrated by Klaus-Peter Schmolke. Each contains an account of the development of a particular class, a detailed description of the ships, with full technical details, and an outline of their service, heavily illustrated with plans, battle maps and a substantial collection of photographs. These have been out of print for ten years or more and are now much sought after by enthusiasts and collectors, so this new modestly priced reprint of the series will be widely welcomed. The first volume, appropriately, is devoted to the Kriesmarine's largest and most powerful units, the battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz, whose careers stand in stark contrast to each other - one with a glorious but short life, while the other was to spend a hunted existence in Norwegian fjords, all the time posing a threat to Allied sea communications, while attacked by everything from midget submarines to heavy bombers.

Great Britain has for many centuries been one of the world's great sea-faring nations. The Royal Navy has defended her territory and the merchant fleet has been instrumental in creating the nation's wealth. The courage, industry and exploits of many of her sailors and the names of the ships in which they served have become legendary. However, the sea has also provided the backdrop to great crimes and for Murder on the High Seas, the author has selected murders that have been committed in many parts of the globe on board different types of vessels, over a period of more than one hundred years. The motives behind these crimes have included revenge, lust, greed and survival. Nevertheless, they share one common feature as all of those accused of responsibility were brought back to Great Britain to stand trial. Among these fascinating accounts is a description of the trial of the survivors of a shipwreck who killed and fed on a shipmate. Also included is the murder by slavers of several Royal Navy seamen who were part of the West Africa Squadron, formed to put an end to the slave trade of the South Atlantic.

"A wealthy man in Denmark, citizen of the town of Schleswig, built a large ship at great expense. And the king of the country decided to join company and take part in the profits. And after he had made good half of the costs, he owned a corresponding part of the ship ..." The medieval Hanseatic merchants are famous for their maritime trade network, which extended across Northern Europe from the 13th century onward. The rare quote above sheds light on a less known period, beginning in the late Viking Age, when large, elegant cargo ships were built and sailed across the sea by Scandinavian merchants. This volume presents the earliest archaeological evidence for specialised merchant seafaring in Danish waters. The cargo ship-finds of Eltang Vig, Lynaes, Karschau and Haderslev are explored in detail in order to illuminate the technology and style of a dynamic age of maritime enterprise and cultural transformation.

In 2020, the Cunard Line celebrates its 180th anniversary. One of the most famous transatlantic shipping companies, Cunard is beloved on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as around the world. Cunard pioneered many new technologies and launched the largest and fastest liners of their day. During both world wars the Cunarders answered the call of duty and transported thousands of troops to support the Allies. Today, the enduring history of this great shipping line has carried on into the twenty-first century, with the three current Queens celebrating Cunard's heritage, while a new ship is under construction. This new paperback edition is updated to cover events since the line's 175th anniversary. With new and updated stories from people involved with line, Cunard's 180-year history is shared in stunning photographs and engaging text to explore the legacy of the great Cunarders.

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? And was she Japan's first American victim of the Pacific War? Based on years of research, Dawn of Infamy explores both the military and human aspects of the Cynthia Olson story, bringing to life a complex tale of courage, tenacity, hubris, and arrogance in the opening hours of America's war in the Pacific.

The fascinating story of the exceptional maritime explorer, Matthew Flinders - the man who put Australia on the map. Shipwrecks, storms, death and danger - Matthew Flinders encountered it all on his courageous quest to circumnavigate and chart the treacherous Terra Australis coastline. From the drama of epic voyages and devastating shipwrecks; his part in the naming of Australia; his cruel imprisonment by the French on Mauritius for six long and harrowing years; the heartbreaking separation from his beloved wife; and the comfort he got from his loyal cat, Trim; to his tragic death at just forty. This is a gripping adventure biography that details the life of Flinders, a true hero whose name is forever woven into the fabric of Australian history.

Whale oil lit the cities and greased the machines of the Industrial Revolution. In light of its importance, competition between whalers was high. Far from courts and law enforcement, competing crews of American whalers not known for their gentility and armed with harpoons tended to resolve disputes at sea over ownership of whales. Left to settle arguments on their own, whalemen created norms and customs to decide ownership of whales pursued by multiple crews. The Law of the Whale Hunt provides an innovative examination of how property law was created in the absence of formal legal institutions regulating the American whaling industry in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Using depositions, court testimony, logbooks, and other previously unused primary sources, Robert Deal tells an exciting story of American whalers hunting in waters from the North Atlantic to the South Pacific and the Sea of Okhotsk.

How old is Earth? Can we look back in time? How long is a light year? How short is a femtosecond? What is Greenwich Mean Time? How did astronauts tell the time on the Moon? When did time begin? It's high time you knew the answers to these and many more intriguing questions, so why not pass the time reading this lighthearted, illustrated miscellany, packed with hundreds of amazing facts from the time experts at the Royal Observatory. In less than no time, you'll have discovered the myriad of influences that time has on our daily lives.

HMS Victory is probably the best-known historic ship in the world. A symbol of the Royal Navy's achievements during the great age of sail, she is based in Portsmouth and seen by tens of thousands of visitors each year.As is the case for many historic ships, however, there is a surprising shortage of informative and well illustrated guides, for reference during a visit or for research by enthusiasts - ship modellers, naval buffs, historians or students. This new series redresses the gap. Written by experts and containing more than 200 specially commissioned photographs, each title will take the reader on a superbly illustrated tour of the ship, from bow to stern and deck by deck. Significant parts of the vessel - for example, the capstan, steering gear, armament, brody stove, cockpit, stern cabins - are given detailed coverage both in words and pictures, so that the reader has at hand the most complete visual record and explanation of the ship that exists.In addition, the importance of the ship, both in her own time and now as a museum vessel, is explained, while her design and build, her fighting career and her life prior to restoration and exhibition are all described. No other books offer such superb visual impact and detailed information as the Seaforth Historic Ship Series - a truly groundbreaking concept bringing the ships of our past vividly to life.Nominated for the 2011 Mountbatten awards.

People are drawn to the harbours and boats of Scotland whether they have a seafaring background or not. Why do boats take on different shapes as you follow the complex shorelines of islands and mainland? And why do the sails they carry appear to be so many shapes and sizes? Then there are rowing craft or power-driven vessels which can also be considered 'classics', whether they were built for work or leisure. As he traces the iconic forms of a selection of the boats of Scotland, Ian Stephen outlines the purposes of craft, past and present, to help gain a true understanding of this vital part of our culture. Sea conditions likely to be met and coastal geography are other factors behind the designs of a wide variety of craft. Stories go with boats. The vessels are not seen as bare artefacts without their own soul but more like living things.

From a chance acquisition of a battered leather-bound notebook, an extensive and extremely well-written narrative was revealed which recounted the life of a midshipman in the East India Company, through to the time when he owned his own vessels and settled in Tasmania. "Chronometer Jack" is an outstanding autobiography by John Miller, an Edinburgh-born Shipmaster and Coastguard officer, an educated man whose working life commenced on board East India Company ships. It provides many insights into the tough but sometimes amusing life under William Younghusband on the Lord Castlereagh, the tyrannical Tommy Larkins on the Marquis Camden and Thomas Balderston on the Asia. Seconded to an opium vessel and the associated risks of trading in opium in the 1820s, Miller experienced the trauma of capture by the Chinese. Returning to Scotland, he married Jessie Adamson, the sister of John and Robert, famed pioneers of photography. Later, Miller set up in business as a master-shipowner in the convict colony of Tasmania, trading mainly with Sydney and Port Phillip. The gripping narrative is full of incident and unforgettable characters and his first-hand observations on society in Van Diemen's Land when still a convict colony make compelling reading. Bankrupted, Miller and his family were forced to return to Britain where circumstances forced him to join the Coastguard, serving in Northumberland, Tynemouth and Lincolnshire. His frustrations with bureaucracy, the higher status accorded former Royal Navy Officers and, in his recruiting capacity, the relatively poor quality of seamen joining the Royal Naval Reserve, constantly surface in the text - a rare insight into the occupation and tribulations experienced by a Coastguard officer in the 1850s and '60s. Although Captain Miller's original manuscript included numerous references to people identified only by an initial letter, most of these were subsequently identified, providing his narrative with a rich and well-attested circumstantial context.

Three hundred years ago, Captain Kidd was hanged for piracy, but before died he claimed to have hidden a vast fortune in the Indies. In the years since, maps to the fabled island have appeared and there have been many attempts to recover that treasure. This book examines Kidd's life against the backdrop of piracy in the Indian Ocean and concludes that there is much to justify his claim, and even more to his story - a life of piracy thrust upon him by noble backers, men who broke their own laws and then let him die for their crimes.

Oceanic was the largest ship in the world when she was launched in 1899. The White Star Line's 'Ship of the Century', she was their last express liner before the Olympic and Titanic and her lavish first-class accommodation became renowned among Atlantic travellers. Serving on the company's express service for fifteen years, she earned a reputation for running like clockwork. Days after the outbreak of war, she was commissioned into the Royal Navy and converted into an armed merchant cruiser. However, her new-found status was not to last - she grounded on the rocks off Foula, in the Shetlands, within weeks and became a total loss. When she was wrecked, she had on board Charles Lightoller, Titanic's senior surviving officer. Oceanic: White Star's 'Ship of the Century' is the first book that looks at the entire career of this one-of-a-kind flagship. With human anecdotes, hitherto unpublished material and rare illustrations, Mark Chirnside's book is a beautiful tribute to a unique ocean liner.