Best Nautical Books for the Merchant Mariner

[marlowe]

my picks all found right now on eBay...get them so they can be packed in your seabag ready to ship out...

The Abandoned Ocean

Last of the Boomships

Sailing on a Friday

Unsung Sailors

The Forgotten Heros

Heros in Dungarees

enjoy

[BSfish Capt]

Lots of my favorites listed here, but I did just spend $100 at amazon on some of the ones I haven't read.
I'll add a fairly good one I haven't seen in the lists- "Until the Sea Shall Free Them: Life, Death, and Survival in the Merchant Marine (Blue Jacket Books)". Robert Frump. The story of the sinking of the Marine Electric in 1983

[cmakin]

All good choices; some I have read, and some I have never heard of. Don't forget any of the Colin Glencannon stories by Guy Kilpatrick. Classic stuff. For ocean tugs, there isn't a better book to read than Farley Mowat's "The Grey Seas Under". I first read it while sailing for Crowley on the Lake Charles to Puerto Rico/Port Au Prince run. Good book when onboard a small boat in a heavy sea.

[captjacksparrow]

knotship mentioned FM's The Grey Seas Under back near the start of this thread, along with its followup The Serpent's Coil. You don't have to read one to enjoy or follow the other, but there's no reason not to. They're both great.

Another great one, which is also very funny, is James Michener's Tales of the South Pacific. For modern workboat fiction set in Alaska try David Masiel's 2182 kHz.

[john]

I just received an email from the author of Defying Empire, looks interesting, has anyone read it?

Defying Empire: Trading with the Enemy in Colonial New York uncovers the story of New York City merchants engaged in a forbidden trade with the enemy before and during the Seven Years' War (also known as the French and Indian War). Ignoring British prohibitions designed to end North America's wartime trade with the French, New York's merchant elite conducted a thriving business in the French West Indies, insisting that their behavior was protected by long practice and British commercial law. But the government in London viewed it as treachery, and its subsequent efforts to discipline North American commerce inflamed the colonists. Through fast-moving events and unforgettable characters, historian Thomas M. Truxes brings eighteenth-century New York and the Atlantic world to life.

[Bob Seville]

I read it - and recommend it. This book has the makings of good movie. A fair amount of the action in "Defying Empire: Trading with the Enemy in Colonial New York" takes place at sea. Here's a link to a review I found on-line,

http://philobiblos.blogspot.com/2008...ng-empire.html

[cmakin]

Joe Jablonski's "Three Star Fix" is pretty good, too. Especially for Academy alumni.

[knot-ship]

I second all of them as being great reads about the history of the USMM especially the WWII years. When I first started sailing there were more than a few convoy vets still at sea and did they have some seastories real hardship and danger. It is hard for us seamen of today to imagine the tension of weeks of being constantly in danger of taking a torpedo with the realization that the odds of surviving it were less than 50/50.

I'd like to recommend a few other about the war:

• Sea War, the Story of the U. S. Merchant Marine in World War II by Felix Riesenberg
• There Go the Ships by Robert Carse
• How to Abandon Ship by Phil Richards and John Banigan
• Liberty: The Ships That Won the War by Peter Elphick
• The Fighting Liberty Ships: A Memoir by A. A. Hoehling

and if you can find a copy somewhere:

• A Careless Word...a Needless Sinking: A History of the Staggering Losses Suffered By the U. S. Merchant Marine, Both in Ships and Personnel, During World War II by Capt. Authur Moore

When you read these you'll see that we have got it so soft nowdays...not one of us should ever complain about a damn thing!

[El Capitan]

This, along with many that I've seen listed here, is one of my favorite reads -

"Iron Coffins: A Personal Account of the German U-Boat Battles of World War II," by Herbert A. Werner"

A personal account of a U-Boat commander during the Second World War. I'm not sure why this one never became a movie, but the "edge of your seat" reading kept me up a lot later than I wanted to on many a night.

I highly recommend it for anyone that's interested in submarines, and World War II.

[Neptune's Car]

Hungry As The Sea, by Wilbur Smith is a great, quick read. But don't miss Voyage: A Novel of 1896, by Sterling Heyden, which is an all-time classic.

[timflan]

I could not get into the Patrick O'brien books.

Patrick O'Brian definitely wrote in his own style! Not only did his characters genuinely seem to inhabit another age; the prose itself feels as if it had been brought forward from the same time period.

It takes a bit of effort to become comfortable in the writing style, but lots of people feel it's worthwhile. Me included! If you can get through 100 pages of Master and Commander, you'll be fine.

One more caveat, however: I found it imeasurably beneficial to have my copy of The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea nearby! I used to use a slip of notepaper as a bookmark, and I'd note any nautical term with which I was unfamiliar alongside the page number. Then every few days I could look them all up and figure out what was happening. Otherwise, how would I know what futtocks were?!

These days, you could probably use Wikipedia. Sure enough, they have an article on futtock shrouds.

[fourdegreesc]

Ugh, most of these were in the literature of the sea sylabus, the reason I never took it.

Try some better stuff:

Civil War Adventures of a Blockade Runner, William Watson, A&M Press

In Peril: A Daring Decision, a Captain's Resolve, and the Salvage that Made History, Skip Strong

If you want older material read:

The Loss of the Ship Essex, Sunk by a Whale , Nickerson and Chase (the cabin boy and the first mate). I think the captain wrote an account too.

Lt. Bleigh's account of his longboat voyage is great too. I forget the name though.

Obviously I have a slant toward stuff written by folks who were there, with due respect to Conrad, etc.

Happy reading.

-dennis

[knotship]

Sorry Dennis, but Joseph Conrad was there! Read his bio...he shipped before the mast and wrote all his seafaring stories from personal experience. "The Mirror of the Sea" is his personal memoir of his seagoing years.

regards

[Kingfysh]

I read that in high school and couldn't put it down. That is a great story about a German Naval officer, who was a German first and never really considered himself a Nazi. A great read. Is it still in print?

This, along with many that I've seen listed here, is one of my favorite reads -

"Iron Coffins , by Herbert A. Werner"

A personal account of a U-Boat commander during the Second World War. I'm not sure why this one never became a movie, but the "edge of your seat" reading kept me up a lot later than I wanted to on many a night.

I highly recommend it for anyone that's interested in submarines, and World War II.

[El Capitan]

Originally Posted by El Capitan
This, along with many that I've seen listed here, is one of my favorite reads -

"Iron Coffins: A Personal Account of the German U-Boat Battles of World War II, by Herbert A. Werner"

A personal account of a U-Boat commander during the Second World War. I'm not sure why this one never became a movie, but the "edge of your seat" reading kept me up a lot later than I wanted to on many a night.

I highly recommend it for anyone that's interested in submarines, and World War II.

I read that in high school and couldn't put it down. That is a great story about a German Naval officer, who was a German first and never really considered himself a Nazi. A great read. Is it still in print?

"Iron Coffins"

Kingfysh - Yes, "Iron Coffins" is still available from Perseus Publishing in papaerback, and see the link above for some more info. Also appears available at Amazon.com, and Buy.com. A must have for a great read, and absolutely for the shelf.

[El Capitan]

The Nautical Institute - International Professional Body for Seafarers

I would be very remiss in not endorsing the books, publications, and membership opportunities of The Nautical Institute.

Those of you who are DP Certified, this is where your certificate came from, and where the standards for DP Training originated from.

The Nautical Institute, although headquartered in London, is an International Organization of Professional Seafarers, as well as people with an interest in the the maritime trades.

Here are a few books offered by the Institute -

Safety Management and Maritime Application

Managing Collision Avoidance at Sea

Leadership Throughout

The Naval Handbook for Shipfirefighters

...a few amongst many others. You can take a look at all the offerings here: NI Publications Online

Take a look around the site, look at some of the pubs, and think about joining up with an organization that advances our interests, and causes.

[fourdegreesc]

No no, I know Conrad was there. I worded that wrong....

[drkblram]

Timflan,

I have read all of the O'brien books. I actually found Post Captain the hardest to read. You are very true that his prose wasn't the easiest to read. I spoke with a literature professor who specialized in the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Now, like many of us I'd choked my way through a couple of Hawthorne works in education, found them barely readable. So the Prof. says "Patrick O'brien!? I can't read him, too dry..."

I've read C.S. Forrester's Hornblower Series books, O'briens books and now slowly, as time allows, Alexander Kent's Bolitho Series. Each author has its own style, I can't say which one I like best.

[knotship]

I vote for:

"The Cruel Sea " by Nicholas Monsarrat

A thoroughly realistic and gripping account of the Battle of the Atlantic told from the perspective of the men who manned the escorts. The 1953 movie "The Cruel Sea" with Jack Hawkins as the commander of the corvette is a nautical film classic.

I'll come up with my list of other notable naval fiction and add it to the list soon.

[intheweeds]

John Steinbeck published his first novel and sold 5000 copies, it was called "Cup of Gold" and it was about the life of Capt. Henry Morgan. A must read for pirate novel fans. My favorite modern seagoing book- "Steaming to Bamboola - The World of a Tramp Freighter" by Christopher Buckley.