incident involved three waylaid ships that ran hard aground in bad weather on the rugged Newfoundland coast, resulting in the loss of 203 sailors and two ships, the four-stack destroyer USS Truxton and the supply ship USS Pollux(the destroyer USS Wiles was refloated). Brown's book goes beyond the court of inquiry and the courts-martial that took place during the war. Much to her credit, she managed to contact 26 of the 185 men who survived the disaster, including some who were not allowed to testify at the time of the inquiry. In addition to many acts of heroism that accompanied the grounding of the ships, both by crewmembers and residents of the nearby town, Brown' s book tells the story of one officer (Lt. Grind ley, navigator on the Pollux) whose career was ruined, yet who appears vindicated with the new material published in the book. MICHAEL GILLEN Navies of the Napoleonic Era by Otto von Pivka (London, David & Charles, New York, Hippocrene Books, 1980, 272 pp., illus., $24.95). The author's hope that "even old sea dogs may glean the odd fact or two of interest from this necessarily compact book" is well born out in highly organized factual presentation of the ships and men, the engagements, and the standing of the national navies of Europe from 1792 to 1815 . Crammed with orders-of-battle, diagrams, and the minutiae of a complex struggle at sea which was grasped in its essentials by only a few inspired leaders (mainly British) at the time, the work also offers forthright conclusions on the efficient development and use of naval force - with every one of which this reviewer happens to agree. It is of interest that the rise of Russia to front-rank standing in naval power dates from this tumultuous era, by the end of which she stood second only to her tutor, Great Britain. PS The American Flying Boat, by Capt. Richard C. Knott, USN (Annapolis MD, Naval Institute Press, 1979, 202 pp., illus., $29.95). Compared to man's five millenia of recorded sea history the development of powered aircraft spans a scant 77 years. Captain Knott's excellent book describes one area of that development: the flying boat. Before World War I very few airports existed and the creation of an airplane capable of operating from the water's surface was a logical development. Ach ievement of this goal did not come easily as planing hull design was a new science, but in 1912 Glenn Curtiss built the first practical flying boat. He was operaSEA HISTORY, FALL 1980
THREE FASCINATING ASPECTS OF SEA HISTORY MARITIME LAW AND TECHNICAL BOOKS FOR THE SHIPPING AND EXPORT INDUSTRY SEND FOR OUR FREE CATALOG
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EDWARD J. LEFKOWICZ Rare Books & Mss. RelatinB to the Sea & its Islands & to Nautical Scie11ce
• 19th-Century Reforms • Yachting History • Early U-Boats OUR SEAMEN· AN APPEAL By Samuel Plimsoll, MP ReprodiLCed from the original edition of 1873. A reprint of one of the most impo rtant maritime books ever pub lished. Plimsoll 's appeal caused a sensation, revealing the sca ndalous practices of shipown ers a nd insurance companies, a nd changed t h e course of maritime histo ry. I !Opp., illustrated, large format, cloth, $ 16.50
AN INTRODUCTION TO YACHTING By L. Francis Herreshoff An illustrated history of yachting from 6000 BC to the era of the great steam yachts. Reissue of the 1963 edition. 189pp., illustrated, large format, cloth, $30.00 P 0 Box 630 Fairhaven · Massachusetts 02719 · USA
Luxury Liner Row by
William Miller 96 pp. • soft cover • $8.95 + 50<!: postg.
Just a few short years ago, New York's piers were hosts to man 's biggest mechani cal creations, the great ocean liners. There were names like Queen Mary and United States, Nieuw Amsterdam and Michelangelo. There were gatherings of 8, 10, even 12 of these ships at one time. There were bon voyage baskets and afternoon teas, mileage pools and midnight sailing. Memories of this grand era are sparked in this new boo k available in October from :
QUADRANT PRESS 19 West 44th Street, Room 707 New York, NY 10036 NY State residents add local tax
THREE BEFORE BREAKFAST A true and dramatic account of how a German U-boat sank three British cruisers m one desperate hour. By Alan Coles A viv id account of one of the fir st U-boat battles at the beginning o f World War I. 192pp., illustrated, cloth, $13.50
-and an American classic SAILING ALONE AROUND THE WORLD By Captain Joshua Slocum With original illustrations by Thomas Fogarty and George Varian. IntrodL!Ction by Walter Magnes Teller. 294pp., illustrated, cloth, $8.50 SHERIDAi.'l' HOUSE INC. Publishers 175 Orawaupum St. White Plains, NY 10606 51