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.

When Titanic set sail in 1912, she was the largest, most luxurious and most technologically advanced man-made moving object in the world. Built by the great industrial communities that made Britain the pre-eminent superpower of the age, the famous ocean liner signalled the high-water mark of our nation's manufacturing industry. A must-read for any Titanic enthusiast, this fascinating book tells the untold stories of the men and women who made the 'ship of dreams' a reality: the fearless riveters who risked deafness from hammering millions of rivets that held together the fortress-like steel hull the engineers charged with the Herculean task of fitting engines to power the massive ship across the Atlantic at a speed of 23 knots the electricians who installed state-of-the-art communications systems and enormous steam-driven generators, each capable of powering the equivalent of 400 modern homes the highly skilled carpenters, cabinet-makers and artists who laboured over every last detail of the opulent staterooms. Titanic, of course, was destined to sink on her maiden voyage, but the achievement of the thousands of people who built and fitted out this astonishing ship lives on.

It was an age of evolution, when size and speed were almost the ultimate considerations. Bigger was said to be better, and ship owners were not exempted from the prevailing mood, while the German four-stackers of 1897-06 and then Cunard's brilliant "Mauretania" & "Lusitania" of 1907 led the way to larger and grander liners. White Star Line countered by 1911 with the "Olympic," her sister "Titanic," and a near-sister, the "Britannic." The French added the "France" while Cunard took delivery of the beloved" Aquitania." But the Germans won out--they produced the 52,000-ton "Imperator" and a near-sister, the "Vaterland," the last word in shipbuilding and engineering prior to World War I. They and their sister, the "Bismarck," remained the biggest ships in the world until 1935. But other passenger ships appear in this decade--other Atlantic liners, but also ships serving on more diverse routes: Union Castle to Africa, P&O to India and beyond, the Empress liners on the trans-Pacific run. We look at a grand age of maritime creation, ocean-going superlative, but also sad destruction in the dark days of the First War. It was, in all ways, a fascinating period.

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.

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.

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 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.

To celebrate 60 years of sailing Scottish waters, the author single-handedly sailed Halcyon, a 32' wooden yawl, from Fairlie on the Clyde, round the Mull of Kintyre by way of numerous inner islands to Barra in the Outer Hebrides and to the Atlantic side of the islands, not often visited by cruising yachts. Bad weather forced a diversion to explore the sea lochs of the west coast of Harris and Lewis, the islands of Taransay (of the BBC's Castaway series) and Scarp, famed for its ingenious 'Rocket Post' experiment. While visiting these numerous islands, he met local people and experienced the sometimes violent extremes of weather such as when he was storm-bound in Stornoway for several days. There are stories galore about the island people, snippets of interesting history, legends and folklore, tales of the sea and island life, the Hebridean fishermen and lighthouses - thus uncovering another dimension of island life. Bob recounts his travels and tales, some previously unpublished, in a relaxed and highly-readable style. As well as being a unique travel book, it is an insight into the rapidly-changing ways of island life and a useful sailing guide to the Western Isles and anchorages in the Hebrides. It would be of immeasurable help to sailors keen to venture into some of the lesser-known sailing areas of Western Scotland. This vivid and entertaining story of adventurous sailing among Scotland's beautiful but challenging Western Isles will be enjoyed by keen sailors and armchair travellers alike - a truly memorable journey of over 1000 miles!

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.