Shipwrecks: Disasters of the Deep Seas

by Nigel Cawthorne

Ships have been overwhelmed by huge waves, consumed by fires, broken apart, sunk by storms and driven onto uncharted rocks. They have collided with icebergs or other ships, been sunk by enemy torpedoes or gunfire, or run aground on unlit coastlines at night. Boilers have exploded. Magazines have ignited. Cargoes have shifted with catastrophic consequences and submarines have submerged never to come up again.

Shipwrecks selects the sinkings with the greatest loss of life, the most famous vessels, the richest treasure troves, the most archaeologically significant wreck sites and the most daring rescues. It tells the tales of the fate of the victims, the disastrous mistakes made by ships’ captains and navigators, the impossible conditions faced at sea, the courage of those who survived and the audacious attempts to raise what now lies at the bottom of the sea.

Genres: Historical, Nonfiction, History, Archaeology

228 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2005

About the author

Nigel Cawthorne is an Anglo-American writer of fiction and non-fiction, and an editor. He has written more than 80 books on a wide range of subjects and has contributed to The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph Daily Mail and The New York Times. He has appeared on television and BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Many of Nigel Cawthorne's books are compilations of popular history, without footnotes, references or bibliographies. His own web site refers to a description of his home as a "book-writing factory" and says, "More than half my books were commissioned by publishers and packagers for a flat fee or for a for a reduced royalty".

One of his most notable works was Taking Back My Name, an autobiography of Ike Turner, with whom he spent a number of weeks working with him on, taking up residence in Turner's house. The book caused much controversy, resulting in court cases for three years following its release.

Cawthorne currently lives in Bloomsbury, London with his girlfriend and son, Colin (born 1982).

Reviews

[J.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the whole, this could've been presented better. There were also a few shipwrecks not mentioned that I would consider should have been included (the Pulaski, for one). But a good starting point for people who are interested in this.

[Jerry Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars for: difficulty understanding seafaring language in this book resulted in an unduly amount of effort

i.e. stern, port-side, star-side, galleon, brigadier, ballast, mast, stern, bridge, keel

[Ashlee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected a book about the ocean to be less dry.

This book has a bunch of interesting historical cases, but the author explains them in a rather uninteresting, factual way. The lack of intrigue would have been fine, if the tone of the novel was more academic. However, the book mixes both factual events and folklore without much transition so it feels overall inconsistent.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and descriptive. The day after I finished, I went on a harbor cruise, my head filled simultaneously with disastrous scenarios and gratitude that times and safety protocols have changed! Note: you either gotta know your maritime terms, or be prepared to spend time googling them!

[Peter Stahl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Such bravery in the face of such terror. The sea will take Her due.
Great read, I couldn't put it down.
Thank you.

[Phoebe Holloway · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Good Read But Lacking

Picked this up due to a new ADHD hyperfixation (ironically a few weeks prior to the Titan submersible). It's a good book, with interesting facts and stats, but found it lacking in depth. Feel like it tried to cram too much in and therefore could only spend brief amount of time on each wreck/topic. Otherwise informative and easy to understand 😊

[Scorpianmuse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shipwrecks are a fascination of mine and has been for a great many years. There are so many; well known like Titanic, Lusitania, Empress of Ireland and other less known ones, such as The Peter Iredale.

This book goes into well known wrecks as well as some others, such as the Russian submarine, Kursk. Disasters at Sea isn't just about the wrecks that are ingrained in our collective memories, but also speaks of, for example, the sisters of Titanic, the Brittanic and Olympic (ironically, while the Olympic, the first and only survivor of the three sisters, had her parts in disasters at sea: the ramming with HMS Hawke, running thru the Nantucket light ship, plus heroic deeds during the great war.

My thought would be this would be a great starter book for those who are interested in many different types of ships to get a feel for the different types of shipwrecks and disasters at sea. Fascinating stuff!