Disasters at Sea

by Milton H. Watson

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0850598184
• ISBN13: 9780850598186
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: P. Stephens
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Shipwrecks Great and Small

Milton Watson's exhaustive listing of 20th Century shipwrecks is by no means complete, but it is impressive. You see the sizes of the oceangoing vessels get larger, with greater capacity and more powerful engines, forgoing the need for sail (the photos are exceptional; looking at some of those old ships, you wonder how they got out of harbor!). You're able to examine the specs, the photos for the most part and you can almost find yourself on that ship. While many of these are short, one or two paragraph entries, it shows the huge community of sailing, the varied companies, styles of vessels, their complements and their cargos. Very interesting reading. Watson does not examine wartime sinkings, apart from the Lusitania and very few others, as those would be a box set of books in themselves. So certain sinkings are left out, such as the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff by a Soviet submarine in 1945, in which as many as 10,000 may have perished. There are a good many stories that include reports of the usual kinds; courage and cowardice, incompetence and extreme grace under pressure. Some of the photos are graphic, as you see vessels breaking up before you, and some others as the ships are going down, or in the scrapyard. Watson did his work well, and it's a fine history of shipbuilding, as well as shipwrecking.

I always wondered what happened to that ship.

This is a very interesting book. Commencing with the "Cuvier" which was the first transatlantic passenger ship lost in the 20th Century, this book contains the brief details of all similar vessels which suffered the same fate throughout the world. As I thumbed through the book looking to find one or two specific ships that were known to me, time and again I found myself stopping to read the details of other vessels whenever I recognised a name. Many times I found myself saying " I always wondered what happened to that ship." With a few exceptions (the Andrea Doria, for example, is afforded a full 4 pages), the details of each ship are very brief and comprise; Name, owners, previous names, when and where built, tonnage, dimensions, speed and passenger carrying capabilities followed by a brief account of her loss. Almost every single page shows at least one historic photograph of one or more of the vessels mentioned on that page. In summary, this is an excellent series of brief accounts of what were (if only because they were carrying passengers!) the most important shipping disasters of the 20th Century. It is also an excellent book for those engaged in research simply because it points out the way forward. With something like 370 vessels included, it is enough to make anyone review their plans about taking that winter cruise. NM.