REVIEWS THE GLENCANNON PRESS MARITIME BOOKS NEW! Vol 4 of the Mr. Glencannon stories, Vols 1-3 also avail ., FDR 's yacht Potomac, SS Lane Victory, Jeremiah O'Brien, Battleship USS California, more. FREE CATALOG Box 633, Benicia, CA 94510 Tel: 800-711-8985
Nautical Decor and Antiques SEAFARER, LTD. Route 9, Oceanville, N~ . 08231 j. -::;:, , V1s1t our 3,000 , /; 1 '·' 41 sq . ft. store or ,f7} · : send for 7£ · free brochure 609-652-9491
PC Patrol Craft of World War II A History of the Ships and Their Crews Wm. J. Veigele, PhD, USNR, Ret. 1--~~--~ Inc ludes a li st of every PC. -; , . _.;(.
how they were bui lt, detail s
~~si.•·11.. • :r :: _ of the ir des ign, 150 photos
-,·,2
and drawings . 33 tables on design, constructi on,battles, losses . Read about the ir ex plo its and what happened to them after the war. Hard cover, 400 pages. Send $39.95 + $4.75 s/h . (Adel $1.75 for each adcl ' I book lo same address.) CA orders add $3. 10 1ax. Astral Publishing Co., Dept H, PO Box 3955 , Sant a Barbara CA 93130-3955 "
See: h11 p://membc rs.aol.co m/wvc igcle/pcrafl/pcraft.h tm
G~MBELL & HUNTER SAILMAKERS
Sails
16 Limerock St. Camd en. Maine 04843
!Z07l Z3G -35GI
Mariner's International 4636 Katy Dr. , ew Smyrna Beach FL 32169 USA
Your source for Britis h and US Na utical Books • S hip Posters•Prints (Free Li st on req uest. )
www.bpark.com/marin er e- mai l: m a rin e r@ bp a rk .co m
44
granddaughrer, rhe aurhor of rhis book. She deserves much credir for rhe work she has done here, whi ch involved a !or of research and rwo expediri o ns ro Auckland Island wirh her fa mil y, where rhey visired rhe wreck sire and cracked rhe nail of rhe casraways. The book is illusrrared wirh maps and color phorographs rhar well co nvey rh e desolare landscape and many graphi cs rhar lend period fl avor. The rexr mainly consisrs of long quores from Holding inrerwoven w irh complemenrary paragraphs by rhe aurhor, who has raken a rale of survival o n a desolare island and made ir inro a hearrwarming rribure ro rhe human spirir. ANDREW
J. N ES DALL
Waba n, Massachuserrs South, by Sir Ernesr Shacklero n (Lyo ns Press, New York NY, 1998, 375pp, illus, a pp e n , ind ex , IS B 1-55821-783-5; $ 16.95pb) Shackleton's Boat Journey, by F. A. Worsley(W. W. Norron &Co., New York NY, 1998, 220pp , illus, ISBN 0-393-3 1864-8; $ l 3pb) Together rhese books provide readers wi rh rwo val uab le perspecrives on rhe 191 4 Brirish ex pediri o ns ro Amarcrica, wrirren by rwo of rh e rhree expedirion leaders. Shac klero n led rhe team rhat was ro cross rhe Amarcric ice cap fro m rhe Weddell Sea ro rhe Sourh Po le and o n ro rh e Ross Sea. His acco unr was firsr published in 19 19. Worsley co mmanded rhe vessel Endurance o n rhe voyage ro rhe Weddell Sea. The ex ped irion was o ur of rouch wirh rhe resr of rh e wo rld for almosr 18 mo nrhs. During this rime rheEndurancewas napped in rhe ice and drifred wirh rhe pack for a yea r unril ir was finally crushed and sunk. T he crew rhen spenr five monrhs living o n rhe ice and moving wirh rhe ship's rhree boa rs roward land. Afte r a shorr boar journey from rh e edge of rhe ice pack rhey reached Eleph anr Island and so lid gro und . T he larges r of rhe rhree boars was modified and equipped fo r an 800-mil evoyageacross rhe ope n sea in rhe middle of winrer ro So urh Georgia with a crew of six. T hree of rhe six crossed rhe unknown mo unrain ous inrerior of Sourh Georgia o n foor ro a w haling srario n where rhey received aid in rescuin g rhe resr of rhe members from rhe o pposire side of Sourh Geo rgia and from Elephanr Island. Shackleron goes inro grear dera il abour
rhe plannin g and prepararions rhar wem imo every asp ecr of rhe voyage and rhe consranr revision of rhese plans as circumsrances changed . H e was always chin king of alrernarives to every siruarion . In addirion ro his personal courage and endurance, he always demonsnared grear co nce rn fo r his crew. Worsley was rhe navigaror of rhe ex pedirion , as well as master of the Endurance. From borh books one learns of his difficulries in celesrial n aviga rio n wirh our accurare rimepieces, with ice packs and mounraino us seas for horizo ns and of raking sigh rs fro m a 23-foo r boar in 25-foor seas . D ead recko nin g was no easier, w irh unpredicrable curren rs and winds acring o n rhe moving ice fl ows and bergs. The success of hi s wo rk is demonsrrared by rhe accuracy of his land fa lls, o ne afrer a year of unkn own drifring and rhe orher afrer an 800-mil e voyage in a con vened lifeboar in midwinrer in rhe Anra rcric. T he foresight, professionalism, courage and endurance of rhese rwo explorers ca nnor be measured by rh e success of rhe expediri on , which did no r achieve irs goal of cross in g Ama rcrica, bur rarh er by rhe facr rhar all m embers survi ved and rernrned in spire of a year of grear hardship and danger. This fear places rhe evenrs of rhe expedirion, along wirh rhose of Bligh of rhe Bounty and Melvi lle of rhe Jeanette, as rhe rhree grearesr survival ep ics of rhe maririme wo rld. DAVIDE. P ERKI S Sebring, Flo rida Almost a Hero: The Voyages of John Meares, RN, to China, Hawaii and the Northwest Coast, by J. Richard Nokes (Wash in gron Stare Universiry Press, Pullman WA, 1998, 240pp, illus, nores, bibli o, index , IS B 0- 8 7422- 155-2 ; $35 hc, $19.95pb) T he name of John Meares, RN, does nor ri ng wirh rhe hisro rical rimbre of Vancouver, Bodega y Quadra, or G ray, yer Meares was on rhe Pacific coasr of N o rrh America when rhese maririme heroes were, charrin g rhe sa me rerri rories, enco umering narive peoples and exploring new economic opporruniri es. Today, he is mosr well known as rhe caralysr fo r whar co uld have been a wo rld\Wide co nfli cr berween Bri ra in and Spain oveer Spain 's seizure ofMeares's ships in Nootrka So und.
SEA HUSTOR Y 88, SPRING 1999