Return of the Coffin Ships: The Derbyshire Enigma

by Bernard Edwards

In September 1980, the British ship Derbyshire sailed into the eye of Typhoon Orchid and on into oblivion, taking all on board with her. The destructive power of a typhoon is awesome, but the Derbyshire was no small and aging tramp, running red rust with a crew of deadbeats culled from the backwaters of the world. She was just four years old; a huge bulk carrier of 169,044 tones deadweight, 970 feet long and 145 feet in the beam, manned entirely by competent British seaman and maintained to the highest standards. How could this great ship have disappeared so quickly and completely?

Genres: Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1998

Reviews

[TideMark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good content spoilt by poor editing and poor production

Interesting book with many tragic examples, although the analysis is light and unconvincing. Indeed the epilogue throws in new information that changes some of the book’s line of thought. Awkward.
But ultimately, the book is spoiled by shockingly bad layout, with words running together, poor image captions, varying justification (changing mid-paragraph sometimes), etc. The layout is a complete shambles and the author’s good work is ruined by it.
Three stars for content; zero stars for production quality. The publishers should be ashamed of themselves for this shambles.

[Patrick Neylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was originally published in 1998, when the fate of the Derbyshire was still a mystery. Since then, the wreck has been found and the causes of the sinking established. Meanwhile, maritime regulations have been strengthened, so the situation in the wider industry as described here no longer exists. But we shouldn't forget that this book played a significant part in changing the industry for the better.