Clipper Ships and the Golden Age of Sail: Races and Rivalries on the Nineteenth Century High Seas by Sam Jefferson

$60.00 NZD

Category: Nautical

In the era of commercial sail, clipper ships were the ultimate expression of speed and grace. Racing out to the gold fields of America and Australia, and breaking speed records carrying tea back from China, the ships combined beauty with breathtaking performance. With over 200 gorgeous paintings and ill ustrations, and thrilling descriptions of the adventures and races on the water, this beautiful book brings the era vividly to life. Chapters include: The origins of the clippers - from the gold rush to the tea trade A hell ship voyage with 'Bully' Waterman, one of the most successful and notorious captains of the era Marco Polo, the fastest ship in the world - her rise to prominence and subsequent decline Mary Patten's battle with Cape Horn - a lady captain takes charge in a very male world Mutiny aboard the 'wild boat of the Atlantic' The great China tea race of 1866 - an amazingly close race across the world, only decided in the final few miles The Sir Lancelot defies the odds - her eccentric captains and rivalry with the legendary Thermopylae The Cutty Sark's longest voyage First-hand accounts, newspaper reports and log entries add fascinating eyewitness detail, whilst the stunning images show how the designs of these thoroughbreds developed over the years. A wonderful read and worthy celebration of these racehorses of the sea. ...Show more

USS Enterprise CVA(N) / CVN-65: The World's First Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier by Dr. David Mckay

$125.00 NZD

Category: Military History | Reading Level: Near Fine

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65) - Big E - was an icon of her time. During her 51 years of service in the United States Navy she lived up to her name and achieved many "first" and "only" accolades. "Big" described not only her physical size but also alluded to her spirit and stature in the eyes of the navy, US citizens, and countless admirers from around the globe. This ship, like no other, had a soul that defined her as special to her many crew and to her nation. This book comprehensively describes the spirit, structure, function, and roles of Enterprise and of her sailors and airmen, those special men and women who sparked life into the cold iron. Big E sailed the seven seas for over half a century, completing 25 major deployments and serving in every US fleet. She represented the United States in almost every major naval operation from 1961, starting with the Cuban missile crisis and ending with Operation Enduring Freedom. She was first on station in the Arabian Sea following the September 11 attack on the United States in 2001. Big E sailed through five decades of major world geo-political and societal changes and technological growth, participating in the Cold War, Vietnam, and lastly the war on terror, and ushering in the integration of women into navy crew, and computers and satellite communications into daily routine. She led the way of a new navy, even towards the end of her service life, always demonstrating incredible adaptability. With a focus on the design, construction, and early technologies that made Big E unique, this book also highlights the personalities behind the ship, including the enigmatic father of the nuclear navy, Adm. Hyman G. Rickover, and the skippers who, under his close eye, were entrusted to operate the most complex nuclear plant in existence. Full disclosure of the layout of Enterprise, the organization of the crew, the complexity of electronic combat systems, the air wings she hosted, and the manner in which she operated is discussed in an evolutionary sense. Enterprise in 2012 was a very different platform to when she was first operational in the early 1960s. Every deployment is described in detail, with many narratives inter-woven, and over 400 photographs illustrate the ship's proud history. There is a comprehensive summary and tabling of each deployment, air wing attachment, combat system architecture, maintenance overhaul period, and of significant mishaps and losses. Every detail of this magnificent ship has been covered, creating a deserving memorial to Big E, and to those who served on her. ...Show more

Cutty Sark - The Last of the Tea Clippers (150th Anniversary Edition) by Eric Kentley

$42.99 NZD

Category: Nautical

An updated and expanded edition to celebrate the 150th anniversary of this iconic ship. The narrative spans her construction at Dumbarton in 1869; her famous tea voyages as well as those with other cargoes; her career under a Portuguese flag; her subsequent return to the Thames, Greenwich; and the drama tic fire, painstaking restoration and glorious reopening in April 2012.The book has been developed from the outset with the Cutty Sark Trust and takes the form of a chronological career narrative but also presents detailed features on crew accounts, log entries, pieces on seamanship, ports and cargoes and broader tall ship culture as well as an opportunity to focus on artifacts and the fittings of the ship.This unique opportunity allows the first publication of specially commissioned photography created as part of, and subsequent to, the clipper's restoration as well as the findings of resulting research. ...Show more

Elizabeth's Sea Dogs - How England's Mariners Became the Scourge of the Seas by Hugh Bicheno

$32.99 NZD

Category: Nautical

Elizabeth's Sea Dogs investigates the rise and fall of a unique group of adventurers - men like Francis Drake, John Hawkins, Martin Frobisher and Walter Raleigh. Seen by the English as heroes but by the Spanish as pirates, they were expert seafarers and controversial characters. This riveting new accoun t reveals them for what they were- extremely tough men in extremely hard times. They sailed, fought, looted and whored their way across the globe; in the process, they established a lasting British presence in the Americas, defeated the Spanish Armada, and made Queen Elizabeth I very wealthy, if seldom grateful. Author Hugh Bicheno sets the Sea Dogs in historical context and reveals their lives and exploits through diligent historical research incorporating contemporary testimony. With additional appendices, colour plates, the author's own maps and technical drawings, Elizabeth's Sea Dogs tells their vivid, extraordinary story as it was lived, in the author's trademark engaging style. ...Show more

Saltwater Highways: The Story of Ports and Shipping in New Zealand by Gordon McLauchlan

$44.99 NZD

Category: Nautical | Reading Level: Very Good

New Zealand, a country ‘rinsed by the sea’, has a shipping story to tell as long and convoluted as its coastline. Thoroughly researched, with an eye for a good yarn but also with an acute sense of the shifting social and political changes over the years, McLauchlan tells an informative and e ngaging tale. Divided into five parts, the book covers the early colonial days; the developing (and still functioning) ports, working on the wharves, port reform and the move, in later years, to containers. The narrative is always lively, picking out the most salient and fascinating elements of what might otherwise be a rambling history of little relevance to today’s   reader.Features:The controversial and very fraught times of union agitation on the wharves in the 1930’s and 40’s.The subsequent age of reform an shipping and workplace practices.The shift to the container age and related advantages, issues and controversies.Detailed histories of the development of all the still-functioning ports around the country – Auckland, wellington, Nelson, Whanganui, New Plymouth, Bluff, Dunedin/Port Chalmers, Lyttelton, Westland, Timaru, Napier, Gisborne, Whangarei  and Tauranga. ...Show more

The Voyages of Captain Cook : 101 Questions and Answers about the Explorer and his Three Great Scientific Expeditions by Anthony Cornish

$22.99 NZD

Category: Nautical

DoP September 2008 Captain James Cook is probably the most famous explorer of all time, and not without good reason. The three Pacific voyages of discovery he made between 1768 and 1779 set new standards in navigation, surveying and shipboard health; he discovered and charted numerous lands; and due to the interest and influence of the Royal Society, a group of scientists and artists accompanied each expedition to record the people and places that they encountered. Their paintings and drawings not only advanced the botanical and natural sciences, but left us with a vivid visual reminder of those voyages. Many books have been written on the subject, but this is the first to approach it from the point of view of the visitor to the Endeavour replica, or the reader with a healthy curiosity rather than a scholarly interest, by pulling out the key questions and providing the essential information to each one. The 101 Questions and Answers structure is an ideal one in which to deal with such diverse questions as: How many ships took part in the voyages? What were their names? What is a collier? What were Cook's secret instructions? Did Cook discover Antarctica? Who said 'Ne plus ultra'? Where did Cook learn his surveying techniques? What was the transit of Venus? How did they measure longitude? Which voyage did the artist William Hodges accompany? What is breadfruit? ...Show more

Wanganella and the Australian Trans-Tasman Liners by Peter Plowman

$45.00 NZD

Category: Nautical

THIS BOOK tells the story of the trans-Tasman shipping service from the days of the earliest steam ship service to the liner Wanganella's last voyage to New Zealand in 1963. The only Australian company to maintain a service across the Tasman Sea was Huddart Parker, who survived numerous attempts by the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand to drive them off the route in the early days. Eventually the two agreed to share the route in several co-operative agreements. Towards the end of 1892, James Huddart, one of the founders of Huddart, Parker, & Company Limited, established a separate company, the New Zealand & Australasian Steamship Company, to operate a trans-Tasman service. The Union Line retaliated by placing their best ships in direct competition with the newcomers, and also started a rate war that forced the Australian company to withdraw in March 1893. Despite this, Huddart Parker re-entered the Tasman Sea trade in November 1893. The first trans-Tasman departure for Huddart Parker was taken by Tasmania, on 29 November 1893. The Union Line tried to stifle the competition, but was up against a strong opponent able to ride out the fare wars, and instead of buckling under the pressure, Huddart Parker added more vessels to the trade over the next seven years. The first decade of the twentieth century would see both Huddart Parker and the Union Line introduced new liners of increasing size on the Tasman trade. Although the two companies were not engaged in fare wars any more, and operated their ships on a joint schedule, there was still considerable competition to attract passengers. In January 1908 the brand new Ulimaroa was placed on the Tasman trade by Huddart Parker, and would remain the mainstay of their Tasman operation for the next twenty years. In 1932 Huddart Parker was actively seeking a new ship for the Tasman route, and purchased a brand-new vessel, Achimota, which was renamed Wanganella. In World War II Wanganella served as a hospital ship, and it was not until January 1947 that the liner left Sydney for New Zealand again. The voyage almost ended in tragedy, when Wanganella ran aground on Barrett Reef at the entrance to Wellington Harbour, and remained there for seventeen days. After being salvaged, the work of repairing the damage lasted almost two years, and it was not until December 1948 that Wanganella returned to service. In 1961 Huddart Parker Limited ended their interest in the Tasman trade when the company was sold, but Wanganella continued to operate to New Zealand for McIlwraith, McEacharn Limited. In 1962, Wanganella was sold to Hang Fung Shipping, of Hong Kong, but in July 1963 was sold again, and became a worker's™ hostel at Doubtful Sound, in the South Island of New Zealand. Wanganella was sold again at the end of 1969, and on 5 June 1970 arrived at a shipbreaking yard in Taiwan. 188 pages in A4 format, 128 black and white photos, 24 in colour with 7 maps and deck plans. Softcover ...Show more

Product Tankers

$69.99 NZD

Category: Nautical

Ships: Visual Encyclopaedia

$69.99 NZD

Category: Nautical

From the dawn of civilization man has held a fascination with the sea, and over the centuries has built myriad ships and sailing craft for an equally diverse range of purposes. This title provides a at-a-glance guide to more than 1200 of the most important ships from the earliest times onwards.

Fifty Ships that Changed the Course of History by Ian Graham

$34.99 NZD

Category: Nautical

From the Stone Age to the present day, no technology has had a more profound impact on mankind than watercraft. Boats and ships made possible the settlement and conquest of new worlds. They determined the victors of history-changing wars and aided the spread of new philosophies, technologies, and religi ons. Even today, virtually everything we purchase and consume-from petroleum and consumer electronics to the clothes we wear and much of the food we eat-depends upon seaborne trade. Fifty Ships that Changed the Course of History is more than just a delight for lovers of the sea-it's a virtual history of the world told through the boats and ships that influenced how and where people lived, with whom they traded, the ideas they exchanged, and how they won and lost the battles that set the course of later generations and millennia. Fifty Ships that Changed the Course of History contains not only maritime marvels from ages past, but also some of the most iconic Australian and New Zealand watercraft. Included are the likes of Captain Cook's HMS Endeavour and Greenpeace's once flagship Rainbow Warrior. Beautifully illustrated with historic artwork and modern photography, it's also a guide to how men and women went to sea or down the river in every age and place. ...Show more

Fatal Storm (POD) by Rob Mundle

$29.99 NZD

Category: Nautical

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER 'Whatever else Rob Mundle may write, this is likely to be his master work' Mike Power, The Mercury 'ROB MUNDLE IS A MASTER OF THE MARITIME NARRATIVE' Sunday Age Just before 1pm Boxing Day 1998, many thousands of Australians gathered - on and around Sydney Harbour, or in fron t of their televisions - to watch the start of an annual summer sporting tradition: the 628 nautical mile Sydney to Hobart yacht race. It was the 54th staging of one of the world's three classic offshore races, and the harbour was laden with excitement and colour as the 115 competing yachts jostled their way towards the start line while the countdown was in its final seconds. The moment the cannon boomed its signal, the fleet began the short dash towards the heads, before turning south and onto the waters of the Tasman Sea. It was an adrenaline-charged time for all competitors, but little did they know an unpredicted major storm cell was developing offshore and lying directly in their path. The fleet and the storm were destined to intersect. In little more than 24 hours, the majority of yachts were being hammered by hurricane-force winds and gigantic swells, some the height of 10 storey buildings. The Sydney to Hobart had become a race for survival. What ensued was the largest peacetime search and rescue mission Australia has ever known. Six sailors perished, five yachts sank, 55 sailors were winched to safety. Only 44 yachts reached the finish. ...Show more

Salt on Your Tongue: Women and the Sea by Charlotte Runcie

$36.99 NZD

Category: Nautical

Charlotte Runcie has always felt pulled to the sea, lured by its soothing, calming qualities but also enlivened and inspired by its salty wildness. When she loses her beloved grandmother, and becomes pregnant with her first child, she feels its pull even more intensely. In Salt On Your Tongue Charlotte explores what the sea means to us, and particularly what it has meant to women through the ages. This book is a walk on the beach with Turner, with Shakespeare, with the Romantic Poets and shanty-singers. It's an ode to our oceans - to the sailors who brave their treacherous waters, to the women who lost their loved ones to the waves, to the creatures that dwell in their depths, to beach trawlers, swimmers, sea birds and mermaids. In mesmerising prose, Charlotte Runcie explores how the sea has inspired, fascinated and terrified us, and how she herself fell in love with the deep blue. Navigating through ancient Greek myths, poetry, shipwrecks and Scottish folktales, Salt On Your Tongue is about how the wild untameable waves can help us understand what it means to be human. ...Show more