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Doomed Ships: Great Ocean Liner Disasters (Dover Maritime Books) |
Author: William H., Jr. Miller
Published: 2006-11-17 |
List price: $12.95
Our price: $10.36
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Usually ships in 24 hours
As of: November 20th, 2008 05:17:30 PM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 An excellent photographic record of the fates of some really great ships.
In a book in which the legendary Titanic gets only a passing mention, this work seeks to explain with a minimum of detail how some of the greatest ever passenger liners were lost. Laid out in date order, we commence with the Lusitania in 1915 and progress almost year by year through some of the worst maritime tragedies of all time.
They really are all here, the Andrea Doria, Rex, Oceanos and Achille Lauro (to name but four). Each is afforded at least one photograph of excellent quality and a brief narrative which takes the reader through the life of the ship, her different names and, of course her fate before concluding with the details of her original build.
Many of the ships in this book have been the subject of my research for some years but many of the photographs used are quite new to me. Such is the quality of the pictures used.
NM
 Doomed yes, Disaster no
I was quite disappointed with this book. Most of the cases used have been historically previously researched and written about. I was expecting to read much more on the deatail of the actual disaster but this was not the case. Maybe its because I am a former merchant marine officer and familiar with the case studies used. Possibly this book would appeal to non-seafarers.
 Too broad a topic
I was expecting a lot from this and was let down. Usually the William Miller books are excellent. Some great photos that I hadn't seem before, like the Leonardo da Vince at sea with her famous roll, and the Hanseatic on fire in NY harbor.
There is just too much information for a small book like this. Lots of info got left out. It may have been more satisfying in a larger format. As an introduction to the topic it would be useful.
 Beyond The "Titanic"
Noted nautical author Bill Miller has written a new and very fascinating book on doomed ocean liners. Quite wisely he elected to skip the "Titanic" tragedy as it has been so well covered in many other books. He elected to start the book with the sinking of the "Lusitania" on May 7, 1915, by a German submarine, the "U-20." It ends with the capsizing of the "Oriana" at her berth in China during a typhoon in March 2004. Between these two bookends, there are many liner tragedies summarized, including the famous like the "Morro Castle," "Normandie," "Bremen," "Rex," and "Andrea Doria" as well as ships virtually unknown except for those personally involved in the accident in question, such as the "Alcoa Corsair," "Viceroy of India," "Empire Windrush," and "Klipfontein."
The book provides a brief operational history of each ship as well as the vital statistics of each vessel. The accidents are examined in varying degrees of detail: after all there are no commonly available accounts of accidents like the fire that ravaged the "Skaubryn" in the Indian Ocean during 1958 (especially given that all passengers and crew were rescued). This points to a great strength of the book: less well-known accidents are presented here alongside famous disasters, and the lessons learned from all are valuable and interesting regardless of your exact motivation for reading the book. As an aside, I didn't keep track, but an inordinate number of losses occurred due to fire (and water from firefighting). This was especially the case among French built liners, an observation not overlooked by the author.
Overall this is an excellent effort. It accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do. It is not encyclopedic, nor does it claim to be, but it is an interesting book on a difficult subject to cover well.
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