Showing titles in Maritime History & Piracy

Born to wealth that the Civil War ravaged, held captive by renegade Comanche, and rejected by family and friends, Mary Elizabeth (“Libby”) Haley ran away from home at the age of 14. Libby learned to navigate the dangerous and volatile Old West and made a name for herself as Squirrel Tooth Alice. Given her moniker because of a gap in her front teeth and her passion for raising ground squirrels as pets, Libby made the best of a difficult situation.

Two Years Before the Mast, written by Richard Henry Dana, provides a vivid account of "the life of a common sailor at sea". Dana sails from Boston, around Cape Horn, stopping in several ports along the California coast including San Diego, San Pedro, Santa Barbara, and San Francisco. On the return trip around Cape Horn in the middle of the Antarctic winter Dana describes terrifying storms and incredible beauty, giving vivid descriptions of icebergs and the scurvy that afflicts members of the crew.

Es difícil conocer íntimamente a los pueblos del mar porque los registros sobre ellos no son muy completos. Pero nos hemos propuesto explorar las muchas preguntas que la gente se hace sobre esta misteriosa civilización. ¿Quiénes eran? ¿De dónde procedían? ¿Hacían algo más que asaltar? ¿Qué impacto tuvieron en la sociedad y el comercio? ¿Le sorprendería saber que este misterioso pueblo era algo más que una banda de piratas?

Given that there’s such little margin for error in a submersible, many submarine losses remain sources of intrigue and mystery, and during World War II, few sinkings were as controversial as the Surcouf, a Free French submarine that disappeared in the Caribbean in 1942. When the Surcouf launched in 1929, it was a technological marvel. This wasn’t a conventional submarine at all, but a 3,300-ton, 300-foot-long submersible light cruiser.

La historia de la edad de oro de la piratería, la que ha dado forma a la concepción moderna de un pirata, es compleja y larga, con mucha información que abarcar. Hasta ahora, no había ningún tomo que cubriera los detalles clave de la edad de oro en un formato comprensible y fácil de escuchar.

Set sail on a thrilling voyage into the mysterious and treacherous world of the notorious pirate, Blackbeard, in this riveting biography that unveils the man behind the legend. In Blackbeard, the high seas come alive as we chart the tumultuous life of Edward Teach, the infamous pirate who struck fear into the hearts of sailors and coastal communities alike.

Die zahme kleine Schwester der Nordsee – das ist für Viele die Ostsee. Ein Vorurteil, wenn man sich anschaut, was es in der Geschichte zu entdecken gibt: Die Wikinger. Die weitverzweigte Hanse. Die großen Kämpfe zwischen den sich konsolidierenden Staaten der frühen Neuzeit. Die Abgründe des 20. Jahrhunderts. Aber auch, angelockt von der Landschaft, die Künstler auf der Suche nach Inspiration. Und die Urlauber auf Erholungssuche. Wasser trennt nicht, es verbindet. Ständig waren Menschen auf diesem Meer unterwegs. Ihre Motive? Satt werden. Reich werden. Mehr Macht bekommen. Neues entdecken. Da musste doch noch was sein, jenseits des Horizonts!

On October 31, 1803, the frigate USS Philadelphia ran aground on a reef a few miles outside the harbor of Tripoli. After hours under fire, the Philadelphia, aground and defenseless, surrendered, and 307 American sailors and marines were captured. The bashaw ordered the crew moved into an old warehouse, and the officers were eventually moved to a dungeon beneath the Bashaw's castle. While the officers were treated as "gentlemen," although imprisoned, the sailors worked as enslaved laborers.

Ensign Stephen Davenport was the most severely under qualified of the Ninety-Day Wonders, the derisive term for commissioned officers in the Naval Reserve with only ninety days of training, all of which were on dry land. For his final navigation exam, he actually plotted a course that landed a fictional destroyer somewhere in the Sierra Mountains. Nevertheless, in in August of 1953, he reported to his first assignment aboard the USS Vermillion. He would be overseeing the First Division for training in amphibious landings.