The Old Merchant Marine: A Chronicle of American Ships and SailorsPaine, Ralph Delahaye
History
The Old Merchant Marine: A Chronicle of American Ships and Sailors
Paine, Ralph Delahaye
Merchant marine -- United States -- History
Ralph D. Paine, "The Ships and Sailors of Old Salem: The Record of a
Brilliant Era of American Achievement" (1912). A history of the most
famous seaport of the Atlantic coast, drawn from log-books and other
manuscript collections. "The Book of Buried Treasure: Being a True
History of the Gold, Jewels, and Plate of Pirates, Galleons, etc."
(1911). Several chapters have to do with certain picturesque pirates and
seamen of the colonies.
Edgar S. Maclay, "A History of American Privateers" (1899). The only
book of its kind, and indispensable to those who wish to learn the story
of Yankee ships and sailors.
J. R. Hutchinson, "The Press Gang Afloat and Ashore" (1914). This recent
volume, written from an English point of view, illuminates the system of
conscription which caused the War of 1812.
Nothing can take the place, however, of the narratives of those master
mariners who made the old merchant marine famous:
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., "Two Years Before the Mast" (1840). The latest
edition, handsomely illustrated, (1915). The classic narrative of
American forecastle life in the sailing-ship era.
Captain Richard Cleveland, "Narrative of Voyages and Commercial
Enterprises" (1842). This is one of the fascinating autobiographies of
the old school of shipmasters who had the gift of writing.
Captain Amasa Delano, "Narrative of Voyages and Travels" (1817).
Another of the rare human documents of blue water. It describes the most
adventurous period of activity, a century ago.
Captain Arthur H. Clark, "The Clipper Ship Era" (1910). A thrilling,
spray-swept, true story. Far and away the best account of the clipper,
by a man who was an officer of one in his youth.
Robert Bennet Forbes, "Notes on Ships of the Past" (1888). Random facts
and memories of a famous Boston ship-owner. It is valuable for its
records of noteworthy passages.
Captain John D. Whidden, "Ocean Life in the Old Sailing Ship Days"
(1908). The entertaining reminiscences of a veteran shipmaster.
Captain A. W. Nelson, "Yankee Swanson: Chapters from a Life at Sea"
(1913). Another of the true romances, recommended for a lively sense of
humor and a faithful portrayal of life aboard a windjammer.
There are many other personal narratives, some of them privately printed
and very old, which may be found in the libraries. Typical of them is
"A Journal of the Travels and Sufferings of Daniel Saunders" (1794), in
which a young sailor relates his adventures after shipwreck on the coast
of Arabia.
Among general works the following are valuable:
J. Grey Jewell, "Among Our Sailors" (1874). A plea for more humane
treatment of American seamen, with many instances on shocking
brutalities as reported to the author, who was a United States Consul.
E. Keble Chatterton, "Sailing Ships: The Story of their Development"
(1909). An elaborate history of the development of the sailing vessel
from the earliest times to the modern steel clipper.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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