My Nautical literature

[Grey_Wolf]

About sailing ships and sailing boats:

The Last of the Windjammers Volumes One and Two.
(by Basil Lubbock. A complete guide to all things about sailors and sailingships. Numerous drawings, pictures and blue-prints)

The History of the American Sailing Navy
(by Howard Chapelle. Well-defined with numerous drawings, pictures and blue-prints)

American Sailing ships
(by Howard Chapelle. Well-defined with numerous drawings, pictures and blue-prints)

Sailing boats Around the World: the classic 1906 treatise
(by Henry Coleman Folkard. A well-defined book with sections about ancient vessels and onwards about early 20th century sailing boats)

Sailing boats of the World: All the classes.

About the Royal Navy:

Wooden Fighting ships of the Royal Navy
(by E H H Archibald. Tells the story of wooden vessels from ancient history to the late 19th century)

Metal Fighting ships of the Royal Navy
(by E H H Archibald. Tells the story of metalled and metal vessels from mid-19th century to the present)

Task Force: the inside story of the ships and heroes of the Royal Navy
(by John Parker)

The Royal Navy Handbook
(A guide to the modern Royal Navy)

About the German Navy of WWII:

The German Navy Handbook: 1939 - 1945
(by Jak P Mallman-Showell. Tells the complete history of the German Navy from the time before the First World War until the Second World War.)

Menace: The Life and death of the Tirpitz
(by Ludovic Kennedy. A fascinating expose of shipboard life and the Atlantic Campaign.)

Pursuit: The Sinking of the Bismark
(by Ludovic Kennedy. Tells the story of the break-out of the German Navy's fastest battleship and the Royal Navy's vengeful chase of it after the sinking of the Hood.)

[Nautipus]

Some of these are actually on my list.

[Grey_Wolf]

Nice - Nauti(cal)pus.

[Nautipus]

I love the history of naval technologies and strategies. Esspecially the Tall ships.

[Grey_Wolf]

nice - i love tall ships too!

[Nurvingiel]

I also love tall ships. The design and materials are so tactile and beautiful I really think they are the most beautiful vehicles in history (this is from someone who is deeply enamoured with all things Lotus too). Tall ships also have such powerful connotations of adventure which make them appealing (though historically, sailing was probably 90% dead boring routine and 10% extreme adventure).

There is one book, an anthology of sea stories, that I've been trying to find since I was sixteen. Since I have such a pathetic store of information on the book, it's no wonder I can't find it, but here you go:

The best clue I have is my favourite story in the book, the only one I can remember:

One of the stories was about an black, Irish sailor named John. The premise of the story is the perception (held by the mate in charge of Port watch) that black guys are great sailors, and Irish guys are terrible sailors.

Since he assumes John is your "typical" lazy Irish sailor (John also has an Irish last name that I forget), he doesn't want him in his watch. He puts John, along with anyone else he thinks might be a lousy sailor, in Starboard watch; the good sailors he puts in his own watch.

John turns out to be the best sailor on the whole boat, and his skill and good humour inspire the rest of his watch to be a really awesome watch, and they beat Port watch in everything. This really ticks off the Port watch mate, who is naturally the villain of the tale.

However, all this happens in the first two pages. The story is really all about the adventures that befall this ship, which I'm pretty sure is a merchant ship. I forget what kind of tall ship it is, but it's really, really big.

There's one scene where the captain's daughter, a precocious child of five or so, falls over board. John is at the wheel. He sees this happens so he leaves his post, but the villainous Port watch mate orders him back to the wheel.

"Damn de wheel, save de baby!" he says, and dives in after her. Well, the ship is so massive it takes about an hour to turn her around and get back to where the child went over board (though obviously a smaller boat was launched in the meantime).

John's actions saved the child, but he gets in trouble for leaving his post anyway. John doesn't get mad, but his watch (who are very loyal) is really angry about his punishment.

That's all I remember, sadly.

Other:
- It was a decent sized anthology, maybe 2cm thick
- I think the cover was blue
- Either the book was written about 60 years ago or just my favourite story was. The writing style was like Enid Blyton or like Tom Brown's School Days without the smarm.


That's a very sad description, I know, but the anthology was so wonderful that it's worth putting it out there. I associate this with my own tall ship days (even if I was in Port watch ).

EDIT:

Also, here's an article about my favourite naval battle, Trafalgar. I wouldn't mind reading a book about Admiral Nelson.

This reminds me of naval books I have actually read which is basically one: Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Harvey Dana Jr. It's a true story about his adventures aboard a merchant ship that sailed from Boston to California. I love it so very, very much.

I have also read about half of the first book (Master and Commander) of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin series. (The first book is the one that was made into a movie with Russel Crowe as Jack Aubrey.)

[Grey_Wolf]

Very nice, Nurv! Glad u share my Nautica interest!

[cee2lee2]

I've read several of the Aubry/Maturin series and find them fascinating. Picked up three at a remainder sale (Blue at the Mizzen, The Hundred Days and The Fortune of War and borrowed others from the library. Because I liked the books so much, I convinced my husband to go see Master and Commander when it was released. He enjoyed it too, but isn't much of a fiction reader. And as far as nonfiction, he's more into planes than ships.

[Grey_Wolf]

very nice Cee!