A unique and outstanding military and industrial achievement, the Collins class submarine project was also plagued with difficulties and mired in politics. Its story is one of heroes and villains, grand passions, intrigue, lies, spies and backstabbing. It is as well a story of enormous commitment and resolve to achieve what many thought impossible. The building of these submarines was Australia's largest, most expensive and most controversial military project. From initiation in the 1981–2...

In August of 1914 Sir Ernest Shackleton set out with a crew of twenty-eight aboard the ship 'Endurance' in an effort to become the first men to cross the vast Antarctic land mass. Their adventurous tale of exploration soon became a struggle for survival when the ship was enclosed by a sea of ice which slowly crushed it leaving them stranded in a barren icy wilderness. What would follow is one of the most gripping tales of heroism and survival in the face of almost certain death to have eve...

The story of a stranding alone, on an island off the coast of New Zealand, of an English Clergyman. His survival, despair, and joy at rescue.

In early August 1974, despite incredible risks and after six years of secret preparations, the CIA attempted to salvage the sunken Soviet ballistic missile submarine K-129 from the depths of the North Pacific Ocean. The audacious effort was undertaken with the cover of an undersea mining operation sponsored by eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes. “Azorian”—incorrectly identified as Project Jennifer by the press—was the most ambitious ocean engineering endeavor attempted by man. Following t...

France, early summer 1794. The French Revolution has been hijacked by the extreme Jacobins and is in the grip of The Terror. While the guillotine relentlessly takes the heads of innocents, two vast French and British fleets meet in mid-Atlantic after a week of skirmishing.The French, in ships painted blood-red and bearing banners proclaiming 'la République ou la mort!' are escorting an American grain convoy to Brest to feed a starving population. Their ships are manned by a mutinou...

As part of the controversial Earl Grey Scheme, this is the true story of the Kerry girls who were shipped to Australia from the four Kerry workhouses of Dingle, Kenmare, Killarney and Listowel in 1849 and 1850.Leaving behind scenes of destitution and misery, the girls, some of whom spoke only Irish, set off to the other side of the world without any idea of what lay ahead. This book tells of their 'selection' and their transportation to New South Wales and Adelaide...

This landmark publication provides a comprehensive and authoritative account of New Zealands involvement in the Vietnam War, and will remain the standard reference work on the subject for decades. Its publication completes the programme of official war histories that began in 1945.Ian McGibbons primary focus is what New Zealand did in South Vietnam. He traces in detail the operations carried out by New Zealand forces and seeks to illuminate the experience of New Zealand soldiers fighting i...

In "Botany Bay, True Tales of Early Australia," John Lang delivers a meticulous account of the early exploration and settlement of Australia, intertwining a rich tapestry of historical narratives with vivid personal anecdotes. Written in the early 19th century, Lang employs a narrative style that reflects the Romantic sensibilities of his time, emphasizing the interplay of nature and human endeavor. The book serves not only as a chronicle of colonial encounters but also as a critique of Br...

The realities of WWII underwater warfare come to life in this chronicle of a submarine sunk in the Philippines—and the remarkable sailors who survived.The fate of the USS Flier is one of the most astonishing stories of the Second World War. On August 13, 1944, the submarine struck a mine and sank to the bottom of the Sulu Sea in less than one minute, leaving only fourteen of its crew of eighty-six hands alive. After enduring eighteen hours in the water, eig...

The 'Neva' sailed from Cork on 8 January 1835, destined for the prisons of Botany Bay. There were 240 people on board, most of them either female convicts or the wives of already deported convicts, and their children. On 13 May 1835 the ship hit a reef just north of King's Island in Australia and sank with the loss of 224 lives - one of the worst shipwrecks in maritime history. The authors have comprehensively researched sources in Ireland, Australia and the UK to reconstruct in fascinatin...

The complete and authoritative account of the sinking of the HMAS Sydney, and the recent finding of her wreck.On 19 November 1941, the pride of the Australian Navy, the light cruiser Sydney, fought a close-quarters battle with the German armed raider HSK Kormoran off Carnarvon on the West Australian coast. Both ships sank – and not one of the 645 men on board the Sydney survived.Was Sydney’s captain guilty of negligence b...

The unknown story of how a fleet of Australian fishing boats, trawlers and schooners supplied US and Australian forces in the Pacific - and helped turn the course of World War II.Mid-1942: from China to New Guinea, the Pacific belonged to the Japanese. In this desperate situation, a fleet of hundreds of Australian small ships is assembled, sailing under the American flag, and crewed by over 3000 Australians either too young or too old to join the regular armed forc...