Posted Missing: The Story of Ships Lost Without Trace in Recent Years

by Alan Villiers

sea stories

Genres: Nonfiction, Nautical

310 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1956

About the author

Mr. Alan Villiers was an Australian who had won considerable fame for himself as a result of his voyages in sailing-ships. Mr. Villiers preferred the excitement and the danger of small sailing-ships to the comfort and the safety of the modern ship.

Reviews

[Veeral · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is certainly one of a kind of book. People who like reading about ships would certainly enjoy this. I want more books like this one.

[Tuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

supposedly a 1974 update to his 1954 book relating about 100 ships that disappeared between about 1909 to 1970's. about 100 ships disappeared without a trace per year, up till into the 1970's. i looked for some more recent stats, but all i could find was that lloyds of london had assets of 30,000 million pounds, oh yeah.
villiers takes all his stories from lloyds records in which they have 3 steps for late ships, 1. declare them late 2. declare them suspectedly in trouble 3. then after about a year missing, POST MISSING. then after about a month after this published declaration, they have to pay off the insurance. why a month and a year you ask? scots run it is why, and their fists are as tight as ever.
villiers RECREATES these sinkings because of course these ships disappeared off the face of the sea without a trace, no beer cans, no life preservers, no bits of spar or net, gone. most were most probably weather related. fair reading but the chapter on norway sealers in 1951 (7 ships disappeared due to hurricane blowing them into and amongst ice) was both stupid and gross. you would not believe how sick those sealers were, ie had to club the babies before tehy were 3 days old as the "fur" turned to rough hair by then (the other species of fur seals had already been extincted by hunters. book has nice maps and photos.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ein spannendes Buch über verschollene Schiffe aus dem Zeitraum 1902-1955, wobei die Kriegsjahre ausgelassen worden sind. Das Buch selbst ist in Deutsch 1976 erschienen, sodass jüngere verschollene Schiffe natürlich nicht behandelt werden.
An einigen Stellen ist das Buch besonders reißerisch (und somit wirklich sehr spannend) geschrieben, wobei selbst der Autor erwähnt, dass sich diese Momente nur vermutlich so zugetragen haben könnten. Es werden allerdings extrem viele Fachbegriffe aus der Seefahrt und auch der Segelschifffahrt benutzt, bei denen man als Laie deutlich Probleme haben wird, die Geschehnisse verfolgen zu können. Ich musste selber hier und da mal nachschlagen.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alan Villiers was a sailor, a sea captain, and a recognized authority on sailing ships. Like Joseph Conrad, he knew ships and he knew the sea.

Posted Missing documents several shipwrecks, mostly during the 1950's, with ships that disappeared without a trace. He was very careful to stay with the facts, yet he told the stories from the point of view of someone who would have been there.

Dwight Boyer wrote several books about shipping on the Great Lakes, and Posted Missing follows a similar format. Excellent book for anyone who likes sea stories.

[Kylar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an enthralling read! The tragedy of the Kobenhavn and the Admiral Karpfanger is clearly potrayed and all the ships are not left without a theory of their demise. What a book! Alan Villers is my nautical authority, and I hope to meet him one day!