A Treacherous Coast

A Treacherous Coast PDF Author: Chris Ison
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780645348415
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Our fascination with shipwrecks comes not from the loss of the vessel itself but the dramatic struggle for survival that follows. A Treacherous Coast tells the stories left by survivors of ten maritime disasters from Australia's tropical north-eastern waters. Not all ended with the loss of the ship. But all pitted the survivors against harsh and unforgiving elements and inhospitable lands far removed from what was familiar. It draws on firsthand accounts recorded in ships logs, journals, personal correspondence, and contemporary newspaper reports. The book opens with the Endeavour which ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef during Cook's historic voyage up Australia's east coast in 1770. It then moves on to the seizure of the small schooner Caledonia in Moreton Bay by escaped convicts in 1831. Then it unteases the conflicting stories surrounding the Aborigines' treatment of the Stirling Castle survivors on K'gari (Fraser Island) in 1836. A Treacherous Coast recounts the tragic struggle for survival by the crew and passengers of the Peruvian in 1846. Only one man survived to tell their story after living among the Aborigines for 17 years. In 1851 two intrepid sailors saved the Countess of Minto from being lost in a ferocious tropical storm while their shipmates were stranded on a small coral island.After running aground on the Great Barrier Reef in 1859 the crew of the Sapphire spent an agonising five months battling starvation, thirst, hostile Torres Strait Islanders and contrary winds to return to port. The Maria's calamitous voyage in 1872 is a testament to what can go wrong when you go to sea ill prepared.The loss of the Gothenburg in 1875 and the Quetta in 1890 are two of the worst maritime disasters to have taken place in Queensland waters. Those fortunate enough to live left harrowing accounts of their struggle for survival. The book concludes with the loss of the small coastal trading schooner Orete in 1918. A sole survivor was washed ashore on an uninhabited island where he spent three weeks effecting his escape.

A Treacherous Coast

A Treacherous Coast PDF Author: Chris Ison
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780645348415
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book Here

Book Description
Our fascination with shipwrecks comes not from the loss of the vessel itself but the dramatic struggle for survival that follows. A Treacherous Coast tells the stories left by survivors of ten maritime disasters from Australia's tropical north-eastern waters. Not all ended with the loss of the ship. But all pitted the survivors against harsh and unforgiving elements and inhospitable lands far removed from what was familiar. It draws on firsthand accounts recorded in ships logs, journals, personal correspondence, and contemporary newspaper reports. The book opens with the Endeavour which ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef during Cook's historic voyage up Australia's east coast in 1770. It then moves on to the seizure of the small schooner Caledonia in Moreton Bay by escaped convicts in 1831. Then it unteases the conflicting stories surrounding the Aborigines' treatment of the Stirling Castle survivors on K'gari (Fraser Island) in 1836. A Treacherous Coast recounts the tragic struggle for survival by the crew and passengers of the Peruvian in 1846. Only one man survived to tell their story after living among the Aborigines for 17 years. In 1851 two intrepid sailors saved the Countess of Minto from being lost in a ferocious tropical storm while their shipmates were stranded on a small coral island.After running aground on the Great Barrier Reef in 1859 the crew of the Sapphire spent an agonising five months battling starvation, thirst, hostile Torres Strait Islanders and contrary winds to return to port. The Maria's calamitous voyage in 1872 is a testament to what can go wrong when you go to sea ill prepared.The loss of the Gothenburg in 1875 and the Quetta in 1890 are two of the worst maritime disasters to have taken place in Queensland waters. Those fortunate enough to live left harrowing accounts of their struggle for survival. The book concludes with the loss of the small coastal trading schooner Orete in 1918. A sole survivor was washed ashore on an uninhabited island where he spent three weeks effecting his escape.

Graveyard of the Atlantic

Graveyard of the Atlantic PDF Author: David Stick
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 0807867098
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
This is a factual account, written in the pace of fiction, of hundreds of dramatic losses, heroic rescues, and violent adventures at the stormy meeting place of northern and southern winds and waters -- the Graveyard of the Atlantic off the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

New Jersey Shipwrecks

New Jersey Shipwrecks PDF Author: Margaret Thomas Buchholz
Publisher: Cormorant Books
ISBN: 9781593220501
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Winner of the Foundation for Coast Guard History¿s award for ¿a brilliantly researched chronicle of shipwrecks along the New Jersey Shore from 1642 to the present day.¿ New Jersey Shipwrecks takes us on a gripping voyage through the ¿Graveyard of the Atlantic,¿ a name bestowed upon the state¿s treacherous shoals and inlets. Before this coastline became a summer playground of second homes and resort beaches, it was a wild frontier of uninhabited and shifting sandbars. From the days of sail to steam and oil, ships (and submarines) have been drawn to this coast. And, for thousands of vessels, it became their final resting-place. Early rescuers braved the seas in small boats, using simple buoys and rope to help victims. Others invented new technologies to assist in rescues. Quoting from original letters and reports, Shipwrecks reveals the sense of duty and honor which prevailed in these brave rescuers. Many devoted their lives ¿ literally ¿ to help save others whose lives were turned upside down in stormy Atlantic waters. From the early wrecks of the 18th century to the present day, the life-and-death drama of maritime disasters is captured in Shipwrecks, along with the history of the U. S. Lifesaving Service (later to become the Coast Guard), lighthouses, legends, and true accounts of heroism. 142 historic photographs and illustrations are displayed in this quality, large-format softcover, which also includes a listing of the hundreds of wrecks along the New Jersey Shore, as well as an index and bibliography.

A Coast for All Seasons

A Coast for All Seasons PDF Author: Miles O. Hayes
Publisher: Pandion Books
ISBN: 0981661807
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
Illustrations, photographs and satellite imagery enhance a narrative that presents hard science and makes it accessible and very human. This is a book that investigates the changing face of the coastline through erosion, hurricanes and climate change. This is a book that matters.

Pirates, Privateers, and Rebel Raiders of the Carolina Coast

Pirates, Privateers, and Rebel Raiders of the Carolina Coast PDF Author: Lindley S. Butler
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 1469625989
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
North Carolina possesses one of the longest, most treacherous coastlines in the United States, and the waters off its shores have been the scene of some of the most dramatic episodes of piracy and sea warfare in the nation's history. Now, Lindley Butler brings this fascinating aspect of the state's maritime heritage vividly to life. He offers engaging biographical portraits of some of the most famous pirates, privateers, and naval raiders to ply the Carolina waters. Covering 150 years, from the golden age of piracy in the 1700s to the extraordinary transformation of naval warfare ushered in by the Civil War, Butler sketches the lives of eight intriguing characters: the pirate Blackbeard and his contemporary Stede Bonnet; privateer Otway Burns and naval raider Johnston Blakeley; and Confederate raiders James Cooke, John Maffitt, John Taylor Wood, and James Waddell. Penetrating the myths that have surrounded these legendary figures, he uncovers the compelling true stories of their lives and adventures.

A Long, Dangerous Coastline

A Long, Dangerous Coastline PDF Author: Anthony Dalton
Publisher: Heritage House Publishing Co
ISBN: 1926936116
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 130

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Book Description
On September 8, 1923, seven US Navy destroyers rammed into jagged rocks on the California coast. Twenty-three sailors died that night. Five years earlier, the Canadian Pacific passenger ship Princess Sophia steamed into Vanderbilt Reef in Alaska’s Lynn Canal. When she sank, she took 353 people to their deaths. From San Francisco’s fog-bound Golden Gate to the stormy Inside Passage of British Columbia and Alaska, the magnificent west coast of North America has taken a deadly toll. Here are the dramatic tales of ships that met their ends on this treacherous coastline—including Princess Sophia, Benevolence, Queen of the North and others.

The Wreck of the Medusa

The Wreck of the Medusa PDF Author: Jonathan Miles
Publisher: Open Road + Grove/Atlantic
ISBN: 1555848672
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 434

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Book Description
A “thrilling . . . captivating” account of the most famous shipwreck before the Titanic—a tragedy that inspired an unforgettable masterpiece of Western art (The Boston Globe). In June 1816, the Medusa set sail. Commanded by an incompetent captain, the frigate ran aground off the desolate West African coast. During the chaotic evacuation a privileged few claimed the lifeboats, while 147 men and one woman were herded aboard a makeshift raft that was soon cut loose by the boats that had pledged to tow it to safety. Those on the boats made it ashore and undertook a two-hundred-mile trek through the sweltering Sahara, but conditions were far worse on the drifting raft. Crazed, parched, and starving, the diminishing band fell into mayhem. When rescue arrived thirteen days later, only fifteen were alive. Among the handful of survivors were two men whose bestselling account of the maritime disaster scandalized Europe and inspired promising artist Théodore Géricault, who threw himself into a study of the Medusa tragedy, turning it into a vast canvas in his painting, The Raft of the Medusa. Drawing on contemporaneously published accounts and journals of survivors, The Wreck of the Medusa is “a captivating gem about art’s relation to history” (Booklist) and ultimately “a thrilling read” (The Guardian).

The Caliban Shore

The Caliban Shore PDF Author: Stephen Taylor
Publisher: Faber & Faber
ISBN: 0571295673
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
The 'Grosvenor' was one of the finest East Indiamen of her day, a grand three-masted square-rigger of 741 tons bristling with 26 cannon. When she ran aground on the treacherous coast of south-east Africa, an astonishing number of her crew and passengers, including women and children, reached the shore safely. But the castaways were hundreds of miles from the nearest European outpost - and utterly ignorant of their surroundings and the people among whom they found themselves. Stephen Taylor pieces together this extraordinary saga with tremendous narrative flair. Drawing upon much new research, he sifts the myths that became attached to the 'Grosvenor' from a reality that is no less gripping. Taking the reader to the heart of what is now the Wild Coast of Pondoland, The Caliban Shore reveals the misunderstandings that led to tragedy, tells the story of those who escaped and unravels the mystery of those who stayed.

Treasure Hunter

Treasure Hunter PDF Author: Robert MacKinnon
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101580968
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
For over four decades, world-renowned diver and treasure hunter Captain Robert MacKinnon has reclaimed sunken caches from the dangerous shallow waters along Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia’s Atlantic coast. Known as the Death Coast for its treacherous reefs and violent currents, the rocky bottom is layered with shipwrecks and untold riches. In short, a treasure hunter’s paradise. The shipwrecks in these rough waters can be piled three deep, and some date back to the 1700s. Braving powerful currents, deadly storms, and jagged reefs, Captain MacKinnon and his diving teams strap on their gear and zip up their wet suits to plunge into frigid waters in their search for gold and silver coins, bullion, and historical artifacts. In Treasure Hunter, Robert MacKinnon recounts the risks and challenges—both nautical and legal—in exploring shipwrecks dating back to the War of 1812 and before the Revolutionary War. As he salvages the secrets of the sea, MacKinnon vividly captures the excitement of discovery and conveys his passion for preservation in the still-developing field of underwater archeology. A compelling chronicle of modern-day adventure, Treasure Hunter is a fascinating voyage into an amazing undersea world.

The Seabound Coast

The Seabound Coast PDF Author: William Johnston
Publisher: Dundurn
ISBN: 1554889081
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1065

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Book Description
Based on extensive archival research, it traces the story of the navy, from its beginnings as Lauriers tinpot navy, and includes the interwar years.