A master seaman, shipbuilder, and maritime historian charts an anecdotal, highly personal course through America's nautical history. Written in an informal, entertaining style, it features nearly 140 photographs, prints, and plans depicting ships from the 18th through 20th centuries: quoddy boats, fishing schooners, clippers, packet ships, frigates, and other vessels.
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This review is from: American Sailing Ships: Their Plans and History (Paperback)
.BACK COVER --------------------------- Master seaman, shipbuilder and nautical chronicler Charles G. Davis here charts an anecdotal, highly personal course through our rich nautical history. Written in a style both entertaining and informal through which bubbles as genuine love of sailing vessels and sea lore, American Sailing Ships evokes the very feel of salt spray and rolling decks. In nearly 140 photographs, prints and plans (most drawn by the author, an accomplished marine architect), you'll find a first-rate cross-section of a wide range of sailing ships from the eighteenth through early twentieth centuries. Here too is knowledgeable discussion of ship size, design, proportion, rigging details and more. Included are: Block Islanders Quoddy boats Chebacco Boats Pinkys Fishing Schooners Clippers Packet Ships Bugeyes Oyster Luggers Frigates ... and others American Sailing Ships offers lively discourse on shipbuilders such as 18th century American designer Joshua Humphreys, whose frigates had no equal among the sailing men-of-war of any other nation; illuminating insights regarding crews, chains of command and life at sea; an account of how the Gloucester-built chebacco boat Fame earned the right to that name as a privateer during the War of 1812, outsailing and capturing vessels ten times its weight; and much more. Davis's classic work is sure to intrigue sailing enthusiasts, historians, Americana buffs and model builders. American Sailing Ships, here in its first popularly priced paperback edition, promises the imaginative reader an unforgettable taste of seafaring excitement. --------------------------------------- Reviewers comments: Charles Davis wrote this book in 1929. He especially loved building models. So much so, that he went to sea and sailed around Cape Horn for the fun of it, and to learn more about these vessels. Davis was a man who knew the sea, knew boats, and loved them both. His knowledge was precious and I'm grateful he passed it on to us. I would liken this book to a modern book about fighter aircraft written today. At the time he wrote the book, the use of sailing craft for merchant purposes was passing away. The time was ripe for a book of this nature. This book is 196 fact filled pages. Have you ever wondered how many men were on a gun crew of a frigate? What their positions and responsibilities were in battle? This book will tell you. I was pleased with the drawings, which were excellent. They had nice detail. I was suprised that I could not find fault with any of them! The photographs of ships in the water, on the hard, and models were excellent and added perspective to the included line drawings. The book includes over 140 drawings and photographs. Davis included useful descriptions of the deck layout, and many rigging details, weight of anchors, and information on the spars. What I liked best were his stories about the various ships like the then famous "Black Ball" Line of packet ships, which were the first ever to sail regularly on the 1st and 16 of every month between New York and Liverpool. His descriptions of life aboard fascinating reading, written by a man knew what he was talking about relating his personal experiences. He brought the times back to life! He also included some fun stuff like sea chanteys. "The words of each line of the song are made up by the chanteyman with no sense whatever, so long as the last word of each couplet harmonizes." says Davis. The Yo-o-o-o-o being drawled out with the "Ho" sharp and crisp. Solo: Oh the cook he's mixing up his bread! Chorus: Yo-o-o-o-o-ho, heave the man down! Solo: An when you it eat it yo'll drop dead! Chorus: Yo-o-o-o-o-ho, heave the man down! Solo: Oh the old man's a going for to shoot the sun. Chorus: Yo-o-o-o-o-ho, heave the man down! Solo: Ay' this here old topsail it must weigh a ton. Chorus: Yo-o-o-o-o-ho, heave the man down! I think anyone would enjoy this book. It has details for the model builder, lots of great pictures, and fun stories for everyone. If you have ever sailed or wanted to sail on a ship rigged vessel. You owe it to yourself to buy this book. It is one of a handfull of books on the subject with really useful information. Smooth Sailing! Bart Senior |
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