Shipwreck: A History of Disasters at Sea

by Sam Willis

Maritime expert and acclaimed historian Sam Willis recounts the astonishing tales of ships that have met with disastrous ends. Bringing the events of the time to life, he describes the acts of courage, moments of sacrifice, and episodes of villainy that occurred as the sea threatened. From the engineers of the Titanic, who continued to run the generators in the bowels of the sinking ship; to the terrible plight of the USS Indianapolis's crew, who fell prey to sharks in the Pacific; from the sinking of the Lusitania; to a sperm whale's attack on the Essex so extraordinary that Herman Melville immortalized the event in Moby Dick; these stories have intrigued us for centuries, capturing the imagination of artists and writers. Sam Willis’ enthralling narrative also sheds light on the causes and consequences of each sinking and how the discovery of each wreck has revealed remarkable stories of heroism and tragedy.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, World History, Survival, Maritime, World War I

346 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Dr Sam Willis is a maritime historian and archaeologist and is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

He is the author of the best-selling Hearts of Oak Trilogy and the Fighting Ships Series. He has consulted on maritime history for many clients including the BBC, Channel 4, NBC America and Christie's.

Sam's work is coloured by his knowledge and experience of seamanship. Sam's unique approach to maritime history and his vivid style of writing has led to him being described as 'A Nautical Tour de Force'.

Reviews

[Luka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it at the seaside. Never coming back.

[Ari Plant · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is the first time in a long time I have read a book for fun and the first time in a long time, I have read a non-fiction book. As much as I have loved stress-reading journal articles about infanticide in Old Scandinavia, it is a lot more fun to read for fun. 


I think that after reading so many journal articles that are incredibly and too in-depth about their topic, reading a casual non-fiction book felt a lot slimmer and a lot less minute and exhaustive and that was refreshing. It was nice to read a few pages about the Kursk and the Titanic and all those little bits. Will I remember this knowledge past a few weeks or a few months? Probably not, I won't remember exact details but I think that just having a nice break. Just having a break from exhaustive and minutely-detailed journal articles about the smallest bare-bones thing where there are twenty footnotes in a sentence was nice.  


It reminded me a bit of childhood where you just have a vague knowledge about your special topic. You didn't know everything and you couldn't tell anyone where it came from but you know this much and that was fine. I now know, for some reason, we have had submarines since the US Civil War and the inventor and namesake of said confederate submarine killed himself in his own invention by accident. That's fascinating! They built a submarine out of a water boiler from a train (or somewhere else) and made it blow up a ship. I now have that tiny tidbit rattling around my brain and it is fascinating. 


It is amazing how, continuing from ancient history to modern day, the reasons for the shipwreck changes. Although ocean erosion may have destroyed earlier shipwrecks and we may not know exactly all the reasons, the reasons going from piracy to just accident and human error - the fact that it’s less pirates and natural disasters in modern times but instead simple human error and accidents feels so stupidly modern. It feels a lot easier to say "oh, pirates have struck the ship and sunk it"; it is a third party that you are able to blame for what happened to you but human error? Someone jammed a 45 year old torpedo into a submarine and, of course, the old torpedo detonated? Why? Sheer ignorance and a near-half-century old killed a hundred men. 


It was a fascinating little selection to read from. A nice break from studying so much that my brain felt like it was melting.

[Edel Waugh Salisbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of all the most famous shipwrecks in history. Shipwrecks from years passed have always interested me and so this book was perfect. There was a huge amount of history and pictures packed between these covers as well as descriptions of the boats, how much they weighed ,how many crew were on board and the circumstances of their demise. Very interesting and a must read for anyone who enjoys maritime history like me.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very engaging look at some of the most important, and representative, shipwrecks in world history. Willis starts with prehistoric shipping before taking the reader on a maritime journey through time, before bringing us right up to the twenty-first century. Although many of the wrecks are British, he attempts to include others from around the world, including the Far East, as well as wrecks covering the different aspects of life at sea - war, conquest, trade, leisure, exploration, even pirates. As one might expect, there are some paragraphs that make for grim reading, but these are tempered by discussions on their political, social, and economic context, and their technical issues and advances. Throughout, Willis's excitement is palpable and infectious, his style both accessible and descriptive. Although each chapter is only a brief account of the wreck under discussion, he leaves the reader with a thirst to find out more, as well as with a driving passion to preserve our marine archaeology.

[Ethan S · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of histories of some of the most famous shipwrecks from earliest recorded history until the late 20th century with room for some diversions into lighthouses, lifeboats and other technology related to naval disasters. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Sam Willis and this book is no different.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a thorough coverage of the history of sea navigation but , very little devoted to actual shipwreck stories.
It’s a good book , just not what I thought it would be. I would have like more shipwreck stories but it was very informative.

[Classic · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating account of the history of ships through the study of various shipwrecks

[Frederik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolument superbe déscription de tous les naufrages les plus importants du monde, de la Médusée en 1816 (le symbole de la déroute d´une nation assoiffée par sa propre gloire) jusqu´á Kursk en 2000 et la encroyable manque de compétence des autorités russes. Une incompétence qui s´avere á coûter la vie de plus de 100 marins russes. Mais, non, non. C´est pas la faute du systeme (voir Putin). Car le systeme ne fait pas des erreurs. Tout est lá. Et tout est tres, tres bien décrit. Un vrai régal pour ceux qui s´intéressent pour l´histoire maritime.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of brief, but well written vignettes about ships lost at sea, from 300 B.C. to 2000 AD. In between the narrations of the shipwreck, the author gives a brief description of the historical background. He covers about 20 wrecks, and although many entire books have been written about most of them, the author does a very good job of capturing the essence of each event in a few pages. An enjoyable read if you are interested in marine history.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating book from the introduction. Lots of information about ships from ancient times to the present. Sailing boats has been going on for thousands of years but it seems as if it is only very recently have historians accepted this fact. With modern techniques more and more information is being discovered from the wrecks of the past and this book makes very interesting reading.

[Maurice Leahy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is no in depth history lesson.
Which is why i got it to be honest.
There was quite a lot of info that i was already aware of in regard to one or two lost vessels but it was the general broader picture that caught me.
Well worth a read for anybody with a passing interest in the sea and sail/steam generally.
Better it also gives you a taster for reading dedicated books on individual ships.

[Fernando · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great work on shipwrecks, encompassing all ages of mankind, toughtfull, informative and always with a human perspective on the shipwrecks and the social and tehcnological enviroment in which they occured.

[Emrecan Dogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredible stories and lots of learning on more than 10 cases of shipwrecks. The only thing that doesn't feel 100% right is that the author takes a position to promote everything British and somewhat demote Americans, French, Russians, Japanese, and others thru the stories.

[Oliver Aughton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book. Enjoyed every page