Best Nautical Books for the Merchant Mariner

[john]

Ok, I just finished linking every book to the corresponding page on Amazon. Many are on sale for less than a dollar so you have no excuse not to pick a few of them up.

I agree with most of the suggestions and don't want to repeat so here are a few that seem to be missing:

• Two Tankers Down: The Greatest Small-Boat Rescue in U.S. Coast Guard History
• Salvage Books - A List
• Tankers Full of Trouble: The Perilous Journey of Alaskan Crude by Eric Nalder
• American Merchant Seaman's Manual, for Seamen by Seamen
• Bowditch: The American Practical Navigator
• And my favorite:Typhoon
  

[albertpachino]

Originally Posted by john

Ok, I just finished linking every book to the corresponding page on Amazon.

Thanks John but I like to keep the reading light with classic novels like: When a Loose Cannon Flogs a Dead Horse There's the Devil to Pay: Seafaring Words in Everyday Speech
and Moby Dick (Classics Comics Edition)

[Dredgemate]

I notice no one mentioned 'Don't Stop the Carnival' by Herman Wouk. I know it's not strictly a maritime book, but I always found it a useful manual if I needed a second career.

[weski]

Hope gCaptain gets a nickel or more for each link purchase!

[EbbTide]

Thanks DredgeMate
I've ordered, Don't Stop the Carnival. I remember when Wouk and Buffett were collaborating on the Broadway show, same title. Too bad it didn't have a long run. Boat jobs and Broadway jobs, both tough on long term employment.

This is a great forum topic, keep the titles coming.

[cttief]

Bottoms Up!: Toasts, Tales & Traditions Of Drinking's Long History As A Nautical Pastime-By Robert McKenna

[captobie]

Captain Richard Cahill's two excellent volumes, Collisions and Their Causes and Strandings and Their Causes, both available from the Nautical Institute.

One of my all time favorite novels, The Caine Mutiny.

I hate to stick with the Navy theme, but Away All Boats by Kenneth Dodson is excellent. If it helps, Dodson was a master who volunteered for the Navy during World War II, and merchant seamen serving in the Navy are prominent in the book.

You can see the nautical books in my library here.

[john]

Originally Posted by weski

Hope gCaptain gets a nickel or more for each link purchase!

It ranges from 4-6%, which isn't much on books but, if you click on a book then order something else (like a new plasma tv ) we get the same % on everything in your shopping cart. Not bad, eh?

[Capt. Fran]

Thanks for all the links, John!

[Dredgemate]

Originally Posted by EbbTide

Thanks DredgeMate
I've ordered, Don't Stop the Carnival. I remember when Wouk and Buffett were collaborating on the Broadway show, same title. Too bad it didn't have a long run. Boat jobs and Broadway jobs, both tough on long term employment.

This is a great forum topic, keep the titles coming.

Agreed! This is a great topic. Once I'm done slogging through an Alexander Hamilton Biography, I'm going to start ticking this off (and buying them through amazon.com of course )

[drkblram]

From the list of salvage books on that link that g.captain posted, I will give a nod to "The Grey Seas Under: The Perilous Rescue Mission of a N.A. Salvage Tug
" Great book.

[intheweeds]

Love the lists and have read most of them. I am starting to wonder if we are spending too much time reading these forums and not enough time reading these great tales! I want to add "The Arctic Grail" and "Where the Sea Breaks Its Back".

[pushboat]

FIRST POST ... Been watching from Twitter for a few days, And I am surprised I haven't seen anybody mention Clive Cussler. I enjoy reading his maritime adventure yarns. I've lost many an hour of precious off watch time reading the adventures of his characters Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino.

[NH MATE]

Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before. By Tony Horwitz
Pretty good book, the author writes about Captain Cooks experiences in foreign lands during his explorations. Horwitz then travels there and writes about their current status. Fair amount of humor and insightful information.

1421: The Year China Discovered America by Gaven Menzies
I found it entertaining but I caution you to read with skepticism. Author brings up some good points but I think his findings may be attributed to a lot of "bad science". After I read the book I was all about passing the word about the Chinese explorers but....after some internet browsing I don't thing the author has all his facts straight. Additionally I was disappointed when I saw a special on NatGeo about the topic. I feel the author "jumped the shark" and lost all credibility with me when he is trying to locate an ancient Chinese ship wreck with some special "magic sticks". All that being said it will eat up a couple weeks of your trip the next time you ship out.




I read voraciously while I'm at sea and am always looking for a good book. Considering the last thing I want to do after the mid-watch on the bridge is to read about ships, I think we should probably add some non-maritime must reads to this list too.

A Walk in the Woods: Bill Bryson (Laugh out Loud Funny)

A short History of Nearly Everyhting: Bill Bryson (as a matter of fact just pick up any title by him you will not be disapointed)

Guns Germs and Steel: Jared Daimond (or anything he writes)

Under the Banner of Heaven: Krakauer (or anyhting he writes)

Confederates in the Attic: Tony Horwitz, same type format as Blue Latitudes but centered on the Civil War

Manhunt: (Not sure of the author) About the Lincoln Assination and the manhunt for Booth, fast paced and reads like a novel.

Generation Kill: (book HBO series is based on) about US Marine Recon in Iraq (glad these guys are on our side)

I could go on and on but I don't want to hijack this thread anymore than I already have.

[deltasierra]

"Voyage" - Sterling Hayden

[Dublin-Bollix]

Jack London's short story 'Tales of the Fish Patrol', maybe not the 'best' but still a good read.

[deepdraft]

Here would be my choices..
Nothing Can Go Wrong by Captain John Kilpack with John D. McDonald (about the last voyage of the MARIPOSA)
Looking for a Ship by John McPhee
The Seaman’s Friend: A Treatise on Practical Seamanship by Richard Henry Dana
Hard on the Wind by Russ Hofvendahl
The PEKING battles Cape Horn by Captain Irving Johnson
The BOUNTY Trilogy by Nordoff and Hall
It didn’t happen on my watch by George E. Murphy
The Outlaw Sea by William Langewiesche
Liverpool Buttons & Homeward Bound Stitches by Captain Ottmar Friz
Song of the Sirens by Ernest K. Gann
The Abraham Lincoln of the Sea a Biography of Andrew Furuseth by Arnold Berwick
Anything by Joseph Conrad..

[Old Bakelite]

To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World (P.S.); Arthur Herman

[c.captain]

Originally Posted by deepdraft

Here would be my choices..
Nothing Can Go Wrong by Captain John Kilpack with John D. McDonald (about the last voyage of the MARIPOSA)
Looking for a Ship by John McPhee
The Seaman’s Friend: A Treatise on Practical Seamanship by Richard Henry Dana
Hard on the Wind by Russ Hofvendahl
The PEKING battles Cape Horn by Captain Irving Johnson
The BOUNTY Trilogy by Nordoff and Hall
It didn’t happen on my watch by George E. Murphy
The Outlaw Sea by William Langewiesche
Liverpool Buttons & Homeward Bound Stitches by Captain Ottmar Friz
Song of the Sirens by Ernest K. Gann
The Abraham Lincoln of the Sea a Biography of Andrew Furuseth by Arnold Berwick
Anything by Joseph Conrad..

A most excellent list Deepdraft.....

[stevefoster]

Originally Posted by deltasierra

"Voyage" - Sterling Hayden

For those who don't know who Sterling Hayden is........He was the Police Chief that Michael Corleone killed in 'The Godfather'. He was a Merchant Seaman before his acting career and played in a lot of cowboy movies. The book was excellent and should be considered a Classic..........

[Old Bakelite]

Originally Posted by El Capitan

The Nautical Institute - International Professional Body for Seafarers

I would be very remiss in not endorsing the books, publications, and membership opportunities of The Nautical Institute.

Those of you who are DP Certified, this is where your certificate came from, and where the standards for DP Training originated from.

The Nautical Institute, although headquartered in London, is an International Organization of Professional Seafarers, as well as people with an interest in the the maritime trades.

Here are a few books offered by the Institute -

Safety Management and Maritime Application

Managing Collision Avoidance at Sea

Leadership Throughout

The Naval Handbook for Shipfirefighters

...a few amongst many others. You can take a look at all the offerings here: NI Publications Online

Take a look around the site, look at some of the pubs, and think about joining up with an organization that advances our interests, and causes.

At the beginning of July the Nautical Institute [subject to ratification] was elected as a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO)...As the NI says; "It is a clear indication of the desire within the IMO to hear the views of the practising mariner in their debates and we are committed to providing this consistently and effectively".

There is a bit of a caveat here in that this IMO role will incur additional costs, so size of membership needs to increase...

They also say; "There are undoubtedly tens of thousands of potential members around the world..."

So as El Capitan says; "...think about joining up with an organization that advances our interests, and causes".

[cmakin]

Originally Posted by stevefoster

For those who don't know who Sterling Hayden is........He was the Police Chief that Michael Corleone killed in 'The Godfather'. He was a Merchant Seaman before his acting career and played in a lot of cowboy movies. The book was excellent and should be considered a Classic..........

Here is a bio on Hayden. Interesting reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterling_Hayden

I also enjoy the books by Brian Callison. A British point of view, and largely placed during WWII. A SHIP IS DYING is probably the best one of his that I have read, and one not placed in WWII.

[Jeffrox]

Two Years Before the Mast (Signet Classics)
; by Richard Henry Dana, Jr., written after a two-year sea voyage starting in 1834 and published in 1840

[SeaBart]

I hated the movie but finished the book in one go on a flight from S-Korea to Amsterdam: The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger. A worthwhile read and one that I pick up again & again every so many years.

And I do have to plug this one: Rats, Rust & 2 Old Ladies simply because I play a roll in it. The book is about a delivery voyage of 2 ancient American tugs from Bahrain to Trinidad and that voyage was my entry into the world of ship-delivering. Never had a more eventfull trip since and the book is also quit good. The first time I read the book a lot of memories came flooding back!

[intheweeds]

Just reread the "Venturesome Voyages of Capt. Voss
" a great read and the boat can be viewed in the Victoria Maritime Museum in BC.