Tall Ships Down : The Last Voyages of the Pamir, Albatross, Marques, Pride of Baltimore, and Maria Asumpta

by Daniel S. Parrott

For all its romance, the tall-ship renaissance has a tragic side. Working from official documents, survivor and expert interviews, and his own tall-ship experience, Parrott re-creates the losses of five sail-training vessels: the 316-foot Pamir (1957), 117-foot Albatross (1961), 117-foot Marques (1984), 137-foot Pride of Baltimore (1986), and 125-foot Maria Asumpta (1995). He vividly re-creates each final voyage and then explores the roles played by ship stability, structural integrity, weather, human error, and standards of risk in tragedies at sea.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Nautical

352 pages, Paperback

First published October 18, 2002

Reviews

[Alysia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although a somber subject, there is so much wisdom to be gained for the professional mariner in learning from others' mistakes and misfortunes.

[Mark Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I sailed on the Maria Asumpta (Inca as she was then) as a 15 year old boy on the West coast leg of a 'race' around the UK against the Marques. We all thought it was hugely exciting when things went wrong. Little did we know how wrong they really were

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

My father-in-law gave me this a few years ago, and I loved it. It's a fascinating account of what went wrong in five major tall ships disasters over the course of the last century. (The movie White Squall is loosely based on the Albatross.) After this, my father-in-law and I have been swapping books on nautical history for the last few years: it's good to have a shared interest.

[Susanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Makes me want to learn about the righting arm on the Cramer...