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Nautical History Books
Showing 1-50 of 270
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex (Paperback)
by (shelved 10 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.17 — 119,367 ratings — published 2000
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder (Hardcover)
by (shelved 9 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.17 — 212,158 ratings — published 2023
Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe (Paperback)
by (shelved 6 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.19 — 19,130 ratings — published 2003
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania (Hardcover)
by (shelved 6 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.13 — 162,370 ratings — published 2015
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage (Hardcover)
by (shelved 6 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.46 — 167,192 ratings — published 1959
The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty (Paperback)
by (shelved 4 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 3.95 — 5,385 ratings — published 2003
In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette (Hardcover)
by (shelved 4 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.30 — 25,961 ratings — published 2014
Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U. S. Navy (Hardcover)
by (shelved 4 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.38 — 7,707 ratings — published 2006
Batavia's Graveyard: The True Story of the Mad Heretic Who Led History's Bloodiest Mutiny (Paperback)
by (shelved 4 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.17 — 4,446 ratings — published 2002
Sea of Glory: America's Voyage of Discovery, the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 (Library Binding)
by (shelved 4 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.04 — 6,989 ratings — published 2001
Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates (Paperback)
by (shelved 4 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 3.67 — 10,364 ratings — published 1995
The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook (Hardcover)
by (shelved 3 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.47 — 21,156 ratings — published 2024
The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea (Paperback)
by (shelved 3 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.12 — 119,240 ratings — published 1997
In Search of a Kingdom: Francis Drake, Elizabeth I, and the Perilous Birth of the British Empire (Hardcover)
by (shelved 3 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 3.93 — 1,833 ratings — published 2021
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time (Hardcover)
by (shelved 3 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 3.99 — 76,546 ratings — published 1995
The Armada: A Definitive and Acclaimed History of the 1588 Naval Campaign That Shaped Europe (Paperback)
by (shelved 3 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.13 — 934 ratings — published 1959
To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World (Paperback)
by (shelved 3 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.20 — 1,634 ratings — published 2004
Sailing Alone around the World (Paperback)
by (shelved 3 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.15 — 11,228 ratings — published 1899
The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd (Paperback)
by (shelved 3 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 3.84 — 2,693 ratings — published 2002
Two Years Before the Mast: A Sailor's Life at Sea (Paperback)
by (shelved 3 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.03 — 14,636 ratings — published 1840
Broadsides: The Age of Fighting Sail, 1775-1815 (Paperback)
by (shelved 3 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.07 — 288 ratings — published 2000
Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America (Hardcover)
by (shelved 2 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.06 — 1,629 ratings — published 2007
John Paul Jones: A Sailor's Biography (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.07 — 276 ratings — published 1959
The Terrible Hours: The Greatest Submarine Rescue in History (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.09 — 2,897 ratings — published 1999
Columbus: The Four Voyages (Hardcover)
by (shelved 2 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 3.88 — 2,021 ratings — published 2011
The Billy Ruffian: The Bellerophon and the Downfall of Napoleon (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.11 — 287 ratings — published 2003
Unsinkable: Five Men and the Indomitable Run of the USS Plunkett (Hardcover)
by (shelved 2 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 3.98 — 742 ratings — published
Into the Raging Sea: Thirty-Three Mariners, One Megastorm, and the Sinking of El Faro (ebook)
by (shelved 2 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.22 — 5,099 ratings — published 2018
Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 3.70 — 2,420 ratings — published 2017
A Night to Remember (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.10 — 29,265 ratings — published 1955
Erebus: The Story of a Ship (Hardcover)
by (shelved 2 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.28 — 11,648 ratings — published 2018
Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms & a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories (Hardcover)
by (shelved 2 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 3.76 — 5,276 ratings — published 2010
The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down (Hardcover)
by (shelved 2 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 3.89 — 12,316 ratings — published 2007
A Voyage for Madmen (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.34 — 6,460 ratings — published 1997
Nelson: A Dream of Glory, 1758-1797 (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.38 — 315 ratings — published 2004
Fatal Journey: The Final Expedition of Henry Hudson (Hardcover)
by (shelved 2 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 3.30 — 401 ratings — published 2009
The Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter that Saved Greece—and Western Civilization (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.09 — 1,139 ratings — published 2004
Seize the Fire: Heroism, Duty, and Nelson's Battle of Trafalgar (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 3.85 — 474 ratings — published 2005
The Pirate Coast: Thomas Jefferson, the First Marines & the Secret Mission of 1805 (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 3.86 — 2,378 ratings — published 2005
Life in Nelson's Navy (Paperback)
by (shelved 2 times as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.09 — 117 ratings — published 1981
The Sea Captain's Wife (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.20 — 611 ratings — published 2025
The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald (Kindle Edition)
by (shelved 1 time as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.53 — 7,015 ratings — published 2025
Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.27 — 18,492 ratings — published 2021
Who Can Hold the Sea: The U.S. Navy in the Cold War 1945-1960 (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.16 — 714 ratings — published 2022
Enemy of All Mankind: A True Story of Piracy, Power, and History's First Global Manhunt (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as nautical-history)
avg rating 3.89 — 4,622 ratings — published 2020
A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as nautical-history)
avg rating 3.42 — 1,724 ratings — published 2024
Death on the Ice: The Great Newfoundland Sealing Disaster of 1914 (Paperback)
by (shelved 1 time as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.08 — 951 ratings — published 1972
Dead Reckoning: The Untold Story of the Northwest Passage (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as nautical-history)
avg rating 4.22 — 223 ratings — published
Mercator: The Man Who Mapped the Planet (Paperback)
by (shelved 1 time as nautical-history)
avg rating 3.60 — 306 ratings — published 2002
The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 (ebook)
by (shelved 1 time as nautical-history)
avg rating 3.93 — 1,201 ratings — published 1890
“The SS San Pasqual
The SS San Pasqual was launched on June 28, 1920, but less than a year later was severely damaged in a heavy storm. In 1924, the “Old Time Molasses Company of Havana,” a leading Cuban-American molasses company, bought her to be used in Santiago de Cuba, as a floating storage container for raw molasses. Eventually her superstructure was somewhat dismantled and she was towed to Havana, where she remained until 1933. Later, she was once again towed. This time the SS San Pasqual was taken along Cuba’s northern coast and purposely run aground off Cayo Santa María.
During World War II, the SS San Pasqual was outfitted with machine guns and light cannons. Since the ship was hard aground, she was unable to chase Nazi submarines, but she was far enough off the coast to serve as a submarine lookout post. A footbridge was constructed out to her, providing access from the mainland, but time, tides and hurricanes have washed away all signs of the old bridge.”
―
The SS San Pasqual was launched on June 28, 1920, but less than a year later was severely damaged in a heavy storm. In 1924, the “Old Time Molasses Company of Havana,” a leading Cuban-American molasses company, bought her to be used in Santiago de Cuba, as a floating storage container for raw molasses. Eventually her superstructure was somewhat dismantled and she was towed to Havana, where she remained until 1933. Later, she was once again towed. This time the SS San Pasqual was taken along Cuba’s northern coast and purposely run aground off Cayo Santa María.
During World War II, the SS San Pasqual was outfitted with machine guns and light cannons. Since the ship was hard aground, she was unable to chase Nazi submarines, but she was far enough off the coast to serve as a submarine lookout post. A footbridge was constructed out to her, providing access from the mainland, but time, tides and hurricanes have washed away all signs of the old bridge.”
―
“Packet Steamers
Generally Packet Steamers, ships or boats are regularly scheduled vessels carrying mail. Sometime armed these ships carried all types of mail although the name gives the impression that they only carried carried bulk mail. Reliability was most important and the service was first started by the British to carry embassy mail packets to the Empire’s colonies, outposts as well as Consulates and Embassies. Although the name denotes smaller high speed vessels the English designation “packet boat” can denote a large ocean liner.
In wartime these vessels were expected to run regular shipments past the gauntlet of warships and privateers. Some even had to evade marauding pirates. In 1829, pirates captured the packet Topaz and murdered her crew after looting her. In time commercial steam liners began to work regular coastal and international schedules having contracts from governments to carry mail as well as passengers and high-value cargo. Their services retained the name "Packet". The term was frequently used to identify American coastal vessels that carried cargo and passengers on routes from Maine to Cuba and beyond.”
―
Generally Packet Steamers, ships or boats are regularly scheduled vessels carrying mail. Sometime armed these ships carried all types of mail although the name gives the impression that they only carried carried bulk mail. Reliability was most important and the service was first started by the British to carry embassy mail packets to the Empire’s colonies, outposts as well as Consulates and Embassies. Although the name denotes smaller high speed vessels the English designation “packet boat” can denote a large ocean liner.
In wartime these vessels were expected to run regular shipments past the gauntlet of warships and privateers. Some even had to evade marauding pirates. In 1829, pirates captured the packet Topaz and murdered her crew after looting her. In time commercial steam liners began to work regular coastal and international schedules having contracts from governments to carry mail as well as passengers and high-value cargo. Their services retained the name "Packet". The term was frequently used to identify American coastal vessels that carried cargo and passengers on routes from Maine to Cuba and beyond.”
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