Whale Ships And Whaling

Presents the story of the Austrian child-bride who, in the "safety" of a royal marriage, was swept up in the political furies of her time and paid with her life for the luxurious excesses associated with her court.

Over 200 vintage engravings, drawings, and photographs of barks, brigs, cutters, and other vessels. Also harpoons, lances, whaling guns, many other artifacts. Comprehensive text by foremost authority. 207 black-and-white illustrations.

Four Years Aboard the Whaleship is a first-hand account of a voyage to the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans in search of the sperm and right whales. The account is by William B. Whitecar, Jr., a Philadelphian who signed on as a common sailor on the New Bedford whaler Barque Pacific. It is based on a detailed journal, which the author kept, as he explains in his preface, "at sea, on a sailor's chest, amongst seamen, by night and by day, amid storm and calm...." The book offers a vivid picture of life at sea, as well as observations on locations on land that the ship passed or stopped at, including the Azores, Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, and numerous islands in the Pacific. Written just a few years after Herman Melville's literary classic of 1851, Moby-Dick: or The Whale, the book touches upon many of the same topics and themes that Melville covers in his great work of fiction: the long hours at sea, the diversity of the whaling crews and the international character of the whaling industry, "gammoning" with other whaleships at sea, the dangers of the hunt, and the death of fellow crewmen at sea. In his concluding chapter, under the heading "Advice to Landsmen," the author concludes, perhaps somewhat tongue in cheek, by "advising all young men who can gain a livelihood ashore, to stay at home." As arguments against whaling, he cites the low pay (which he calculates at about a dollar a month, after expenses are deducted and the gains from the sale of the barrels of oil apportioned among the crew and ship's owners), and the drudgery of much of the work.

The modern whaling industry dates from 1881. That year factory ships began working with purpose-built whale catchers equipped with modern harpoon guns. This revolution, together with the increasing demand for whale products, created a boom in whaling. By 1914 there were more than 35 whale factory ships working world-wide. This new book chronicles in depth the development of factory ship whaling, and provides full technical and career details and where possible illustrations of every factory ship to have operated anywhere in the world. The first section tells the story of how factory ship whaling becoming a major global industry. Thanks to technical innovations and entrepreneurship, with a willingness to pursue whales in even the most inhospitable regions, the industry made fortunes for some. However, the late twentieth century saw the demise of the industry, following a catastrophic decline in whale populations due to over-fishing, which had seen a total of three million whales taken. Today there is but one working factory ship, working under the guise of research in the North Pacific. A second section provides full histories of 184 factory ships which are known to have worked in the trade, including both conversions and purpose-built vessels. Appendices also cover supply ships and whale catchers.Flags and funnels in full colour on end papers.

Discusses everyday life, duties, ports of call, foods, meals, cooking methods, and holidays of whaling ship crews in the early-to-mid 1800's. Includes recipes.

After more than a century of silence, the true story of one of history's most notorious mutinies is revealed in Joan Druett's riveting "nautical murder mystery" (USA Today). On May 25, 1841, the Massachusetts whaleship Sharon set out for the whaling ground of the northwestern Pacific. A year later, while most of the crew was out hunting, Captain Howes Norris was brutally murdered. When the men in the whaleboats returned, they found four crew members on board, three of whom were covered in blood, the other screaming from atop the mast. Single-handedly, the third officer launched a surprise attack to recapture the Sharon, killing two of the attackers and subduing the other. An American investigation into the murder was never conducted--even when the Sharon returned home three years later, with only four of the original twenty-nine crew on board. Joan Druett, a historian who's been called a female Patrick O'Brian by the Wall Street Journal, dramatically re-creates the mystery of the ill-fated whaleship and reveals a voyage filled with savagery under the command of one of the most ruthless captains to sail the high seas.