Sailing on Friday : The Perilous Voyage of America's Merchant Marine [Hardcover]

John A. Butler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1997

SAILING ON FRIDAY recounts the colorful history of the U.S. merchant fleet in times of war and peace, from 1776 to the present. Twice in U.S. history, the American maritime fleet grew to become one of the most powerful in the world, only to decline thereafter. This is a tale of operatic dimension, people with patriots, politicians, industrial geniuses, fearless seamen, and gallant swashbucklers. Author John A. Butler includes accounts of little-noted innovations that had long-lasting effects, daring ocean rescues, sea battles, and financial gambles that won or lost fortunes. Growing stress among diverse forces of merchants, shipowners, seafarers, and federal agencies brings this exciting story to an appalling climax.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this narrative history of the American Merchant Marine, professional mariner Butler (Strike Able-Peter: The Stranding & Salvage of the USS Missouri, Naval Inst., 1995) provides a general introduction to an American institution that came into existence during the Colonial era. Interspersing his narrative with both factual information on many aspects of the merchant marine and vignettes of owners, officers, and crew, he guides the reader from the days of sail to the age of steam on the high seas. Comparable in style to John McPhee's Looking for a Ship (LJ 8/90), this is not the definitive history but a popular, one-volume introduction to a complex subject with a 200-year history. Readers looking for how this institution evolved will use this book as a prelude to more serious study. Recommended for public libraries.?Harold N. Boyer, Locust Valley Lib., Florence, S.C.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Direct, forthright, and compelling . . .[a] superb recounting of two centuries of American maritime history . . .This is a must read for both the professional mariner and the American maritime history buff." -- Seapower

"The single best one-volume source available on this neglected aspect of U.S. history." -- Nautical Research Journal --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 287 pages
• Publisher: BRASSEY'S; 1st edition (June 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574881248
• ISBN-13: 978-1574881240
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,980,518 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, informative, hightly readable and entertaining., December 23, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Bedford, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sailing on Friday : The Perilous Voyage of America's Merchant Marine (Hardcover)

John Butler has presented a fascinating, informative, highly readable, and entertaining story of the rise and fall of the American Merchant Marine. While written from the perspective of an insider, the author never talks down to the reader, nor overwhelms the reader with needless detail. He presents the material in a calm and even-handed way, and hold the reader's attention throughout.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's Good, but ..., August 5, 2001

By 

NauticallyObsessed (Bellingham, WA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Sailing on Friday : The Perilous Voyage of America's Merchant Marine (Hardcover)

But watch out for errors.

The problem with writing history books is that there are a lot of facts to check. I, for one, am harder on books where I discover inaccuracies since for each one I catch who knows how many others get past me, or worse, form my opinion of a subject.

One glaring error I found in the book occurred on page 189:

"The California school [the California Maritime Academy], operating on Treasure Island (man-made in San Francisco Bay for the 1939 World's Fair), was enlarged and relocated to San Mateo."

For starters, the California Maritime Academy operated during the opening days of World War II from the Ferry building at the foot of Market Street in San Francisco. In 1943 it moved to Vallejo, it's location ever since. At no time was it ever located in San Mateo. Since the school remains in Vallejo to this day, this would have been an easy fact to verify. So how do we know the more obscure facts are correct?

This may be nit-picking, since the book was well-written and very informative. Despite some inaccuracies, I'd still recommend it to anyone looking for a good, broad overview of maritime history. (And for anyone looking for further history of the California Maritime Academy, I'd highly recommend Walter Jaffee's The Track of the Golden Bear (The Glencannon Press, 1996).)