"The Men on Deck: Master, Mates and Crew, Their Duties and Responsibilities" by Felix Riesenberg is a comprehensive exploration of the roles and responsibilities of maritime personnel. This book delves into the intricate hierarchy aboard a ship, detailing the essential functions of the master, mates, and crew members. Riesenberg's insights provide a clear understanding of the teamwork and coordination required to ensure the safe and efficient operation of a vessel. The text serves as both ...

In "Under Sail," Felix Riesenberg crafts a vivid maritime narrative that masterfully captures the essence of early 20th-century sailing life. This semi-autobiographical work is imbued with rich, lyrical prose, offering readers an immersive experience of the trials and joys faced by sailors on the open seas. Riesenberg combines personal anecdotes with fictional elements to explore themes of adventure, camaraderie, and the harsh realities of life aboard a ship, all while reflecting a growing...

Felix Riesenberg history of sea travel around Cape Horn. Begining with Magellan's magnificent discovery of the strait through to the Pacific at the tip of South America. It is difficult for us to comprehend the feat this was until we note that several other explorers attempted it, but few were able to conquer the incredible hardships, nor manage their men well enough to quell the mutinies. The story of the Cape Horn region, from the days of the first discoverers through the glorious age of...

For thousands of years, we have set out sailing for all kinds of reasons-for battle, for infinite wealth, for the excitement of exploring the unknown, and for escape from the mundane. We have always had a primal relationship with the sea-even those who have never been to sea remain fascinated by the seafaring life and tales of salty adventure. Now in a brand-new series collection, The Best Sailing Stories Ever Told brings together such diverse authors as Charles Dickens, Jack Lond...

On August 1, 1914, on the eve of World War I, Sir Ernest Shackleton and his hand-picked crew embarked in HMS Endurance from London's West India Dock, for an expedition to the Antarctic. It was to turn into one of the most breathtaking survival stories of all time. Even as they coasted down the channel, Shackleton wired back to London to offer his ship to the war effort. The reply came from the First Lord of the Admiralty, one Winston Churchill: "Proceed." And proceed they did. When the End...

The frozen splendour of the Arctic Ocean and the absorbing drama of a nineteenth-century whale hunt unfold in The Corvette.Rewarded by promotion for his services at the Battle of Copenhagen, Commander Drinkwater is dispatched in haste to replace the captain of the Melusine, who has been shot in a duel. The ship sails as an escort to a whaling fleet on its annual expedition to the Greenland Sea.During the whale hunt the loss of one of the vessels sets off a...

Captain Benjamin Rundel suffers through the frustration of convoy duty. Then he runs into a nest of ship wreckers and he and his men manage to capture the lot and bring them to justice. On his next assignment, he manages to capture a Spanish ship a day after a peace treaty was signed by the English and Spanish.Ben is clearly in trouble when the Spanish Captain challenges him to a duel. Dueling is forbidden in the British Navy. Ben insists on naming the weapon. He decides on a drink...

Though best known for The Red Badge of Courage, his classic novel of men at war, in his tragically brief life and career Stephen Crane produced a wealth of stories—among them "The Monster," "The Upturned Face," "The Open Boat," and the title story—that stand among the most acclaimed and enduring in the history of American fiction.This superb volume collects stories of unique power and variety in which impressionistic, hallucinatory, and realistic situations alike are brill...

There are more famous names than Tom Crean's from the "heroic age" of Antarctic exploration, but there are few stories as compelling as his. The Antarctic is a harsh place of bitter cold and darkness, where only the strong and resourceful can hope to survive. Crean was such a man. Had he weakened and failed somewhere along the way of his adventurous life, the lives of all might well have been lost, and their stories remained untold.He left no diary or book; his few letters speak mo...

Classic short story. According to Wikipedia: "Joseph Conrad (1857 – 1924) was a Polish-born English novelist. Many critics regard him as one of the greatest novelists in the English language—a fact that is remarkable, as he did not learn to speak English fluently until he was in his twenties (and always with a strong Polish accent). He became a naturalized British subject in 1886. Conrad is recognized as a master prose stylist. Some of his works have a strain of romanticism, but more impor...

There are few books that describe accurately life on board sailing ships in the last days of sail, from the 1860s to the First World War; the romantic image conjured up by many who wrote from a safe distance belies the harsh realities which were a sailorman's lot. Domville-Fife, in collecting together the personal stories of seamen while they were still alive, was able to present a truer picture of the tough last days of sail. Long voyages on board nineteenth-century sailing ships were mar...

Charles Marlow embarks on his first seafaring journey to the East as a young man on board the Judea, a barque headed towards Bangkok under the command of Captain John Beard. The Judea sets sail on a journey that is meant to take about 150 days, but bad luck and danger follow the vessel wherever she goes.“Youth” is a semi-autobiographical short story based on author Joseph Conrad’s own experiences aboard the ship the Palestine in 1882. Much of the plot and some of ...