Shipwrecks: Australia's Greatest Maritime Disasters PDF Download

Author: Evan McHugh
Publisher: Penguin Group Australia
ISBN: 1742286925
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
From the first wreck in 1622 off Western Australia to the tragedy of the 1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, Evan McHugh captures all the drama of Australia's maritime history. There are swashbuckling mutineers, violent storms, uncharted reefs, enemy warships, as well as ripping yarns about Dutchmen and lascars, Aborigines and escaped convicts. In producing this remarkable book, McHugh has made extensive use of first-hand accounts and contemporary records. With characteristic flair, he also delves into the mysteries and controversies that still surround so many of the wrecks. Shipwrecks is a white-knuckle voyage through chaos and tragedy which proclaims the courage and strength of the human spirit. It is a powerful reminder that even in the twenty-first century, the sea remains a great, unconquered frontier.

Author: Graeme Henderson
Publisher: National Library of Australia
ISBN: 0642278946
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
Published in Association with the Western Australian Museum 'Swallowed by the Sea' tells the stories of Australia's greatest and most tragic shipwrecks, lost in raging storms, on jagged reefs, under enemy fire, or through human error, treachery or incompetence. It includes wrecks from all corners of Australia, from 1622 to as recently as 2010, from clipper ships to colonial schooners to East Indiamen. Read about the oldest known wreck in Australian waters, the Tryal, driven into a maze of sunken rocks by the inept Captain Brookes, and about the loss of emigrant barque Cataraqui, which struck a reef off King Island in the middle of a stormy night, drowning more than 400 people. The violent wrecking of ships is only part of the story. Maritime archaeologist Graeme Henderson has personally located and dived many of the shipwrecks in this book. Alongside his accounts are colour underwater photographs of the dive sites with specially written recollections by members of the diving crew.

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.

Author: David L Mearns
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 1460710347
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
The gripping account of how Australia's greatest warship was lost and found. 'We just found Sydney. We've got it. It's absolutely crystalclear. She's sitting upright in a small debris field. There's no doubt aboutit.' For sixty-six years it was Australia's greatest maritimemystery: what happened to the 'pride of the fleet' HMAS Sydney - was she beatenin a fair fight with the German cruiser Kormoran, or was there treacheryinvolved? Could the Kormoran survivors' account of the battle and itsaftermath be believed? Why were there no survivors from Sydney? And where wasthe wreck? One of the world's foremost shipwreck hunters, David L. Mearns firstheard the story of the Sydney in 1996. It left an indelible impression on him. Hunting the Sydney ten years later tested all his skills as a detective, engineer,marine scientist and navigator. But find it he did, and with that momentous discovery came answers to the mystery; closure to relatives still grieving the 645 men dead; accountability to the RAN, which had all but given up hopeof ever finding its most iconic ship; and a sad but gripping explanation of the staggering naval disaster, allowing Australians to finallymake sense of the conflicting, conspiratorial and painful event.

Author: Alan G. Jamieson
Publisher: Reaktion Books
ISBN: 1789146208
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 343

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Book Description
A highly illustrated voyage through shipwrecks ancient and contemporary. Out of the Depths explores all aspects of shipwrecks across four thousand years, examining their historical context and significance, showing how shipwrecks can be time capsules, and shedding new light on long-departed societies and civilizations. Alan G. Jamieson not only informs readers of the technological developments over the last sixty years that have made the true appreciation of shipwrecks possible, but he also covers shipwrecks in culture and maritime archaeology, their appeal to treasure hunters, and their environmental impacts. Although shipwrecks have become less common in recent decades, their implications have become more wide-ranging: since the 1960s, foundering supertankers have caused massive environmental disasters, and in 2021, the blocking of the Suez Canal by the giant container ship Ever Given had a serious effect on global trade.

Author: Larry Writer
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1761064916
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
The epic story of one of Australia's greatest maritime disasters, the wreck of the Dunbar. 'gripping, engaging popular history' -Sydney Morning Herald The Dunbar was one of the most advanced and celebrated sailing ships of the mid-19th century. Built to carry passengers in speed and luxury on the long route from Britain to Australia, it was the Titanic of its day. Late at night on 20 August 1857, after an 81-day voyage from Plymouth, the Dunbar was caught by massive waves and storm-force winds near the cliffs of The Gap at Sydney's South Head and smashed to pieces on the rocks. All but one of the 123 passengers and crew perished: drowned, broken on the cliff face or mauled by sharks. The catastrophe was one of the worst in Australia's history, and happened on the doorstep of the young city of Sydney. Bodies and wreckage swept through the Heads and washed up on the harbour's beaches for days. It demonstrated the precariousness of the colony's link to the mother country and devastated the city. Its aftermath saw enormous changes to navigation and maritime safety, including the building of the lighthouse that still stands overlooking the Heads. The Shipwreck is the masterfully told story of the Dunbar. Using the wealth of contemporaneous sources that exist, it follows the personal stories of its crew, the passengers and the sole survivor, James Johnson, to bring to life the world of sail and the tragedy that changed the colony forever. 'A staggering true story that haunts, wonderfully well told.' - Peter FitzSimons 'A brilliant true story from our maritime colonial past. I honestly felt I was on the pitching deck of that doomed vessel. This is what modern history writing should be like. I wish I'd written it myself!' - Michael Veitch, author of Hell Ship 'an evocative account of a definitive Australian maritime tragedy' - Canberra Times 'vividly written and meticulously researched . . . not to be missed' Royal Australian Historical Society

Author: David Ritchie
Publisher: Facts on File
ISBN: 9780816040568
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
From cowardly captains and deadly icebergs to mutinies and nuclear submarine wrecks, this work chronicles the world's most amazing maritime disasters. Wrecks like those of the Titanic and Lusitana are the stuff of legends, but what about the others throughout history?

Author: Robert C. Belyk
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
Fascinating, never-before-documented stories of the worst shipwrecks on the Pacific Coast during the golden age of coastal transportation, 1854 to 1929 In this intriguing chronicle, author Robert Belyk closely examines ten significant maritime disasters that occurred during one of the most turbulent eras in the history of travel. Discover the real-life drama endured by those caught in the terrifying midst of disaster at sea??and the real causes behind the tragedies. Vividly re-created and painstakingly researched, the shipwrecks accounted for here include: 1854: the Yankee Blade runs aground off Point Arguello, California.Twenty-eight passengers lose their lives. 1875: The old side-wheeler Pacific rams another passenger ship off the coast of Cape Flattery, Washington. Two hundred and seventy-seven people perish when her rotting hull gives way. 1906: The Valencia strikes a reef off the Washington coastline. Before dozens of dazed onlookers on the shore, the ship goes down, taking 117 passengers and crew with her.

Author: Graeme Henderson
Publisher: UWA Publishing
ISBN: 9781920694883
Category : Coasts
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description
An invaluable guide for maritime archeologists, recreational divers, historians and others interested in the drama adventure and romance of Western Australia's rich maritime history.

Author: Kit Bonner
Publisher: Motorbooks International
ISBN: 9780760313367
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 143

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Book Description
Great Ship Disasters contains insider information on the most sensational incidents at sea over the past one hundred years. From the wrath of nature creating mayhem aboard, to the mechanical incidents that led to horrific consequences and the unexplained disappearances of numerous seaworthy vessels, inside are the true tales of life-and death-at sea. Organized by type of disaster and covering the evolution of the passenger and cruise ship industry, Great Ship Disasters takes readers onboard for each incident and utilizes more than 150 photos to offer an in-depth perspective of disasters at sea.Pub Date: JUNE 2003