The Sea Hunters [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Clive Cussler (Author), Craig Dirgo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1994

A steamboat goes up in flames...and down to the bottom of the sea. A locomotive plunges into a creek...and vanished into mystery. A German U-boat sends an American troop transport, and eight hundred on board, to a watery grave, on Christmas eve.

Clive Cussler and his crack team of NUMA (National Underwater Marine Agency, a nonprofit organization that searches for historic shipwrecks) volunteers have found the remains of these and other tragic wrecks. Here for the first time are the dramatic, true accounts of the twelve most remarkable underwater discoveries made by Cussler and his team. As suspenseful and satisfying as the best of his Dirk Pitt novels, The Sea Hunters is a unique story of true commitment and courage.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bestselling novelist Cussler (Shock Wave) and Dirgo are both members of the National Underwater and Marine Agency, a group financed principally by the income from Cussler's books and dedicated to finding famous marine wrecks. Not treasure hunters, they merely hope to locate the corpses of lost ships and give the artifacts they recover to museums and historical societies. In this absorbing, fast-paced collection, they chronicle searches for such ships as the Lexington, lost in Long Island Sound in 1840; the Zavala, a ship of the Republic of Texas Navy that ran aground in the Galveston Ship Channel in 1842 and is now under a parking lot; several vessels from the Civil War era, including the Hunley, the first submarine to sink a warship, and her victim, the Housatonic; and the Leopoldville, a troop transport torpedoed by a German U-boat in 1944 with the loss of 800 GIs, a disaster the U.S., Britain and Belgium all tried to cover up. The authors begin each chapter with a "slightly dramatized" account of the actual shipwreck. More convincing are Cussler's first-person reminiscences of searches and salvages. The text is supplemented by well-drawn maps. 400,000 first printing.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

YA. Drawing upon research and his own dramatic interpretations, Cussler describes 12 deep-sea wrecks, one of which is actually a steam locomotive. He introduces each incident through a fictionalized account of the tragedy and a map that shows the general geography under discussion. The author then describes the various attempts he and his companions made before actually locating that specific site. Often filled with humorous remarks and barbed comments, this firsthand narrative of the physical and mental challenges they faced also provides insight into the human and bureaucratic factors involved in such explorations. Selected photographs of ships appear in the midsection of the book. Cussler deftly re-creates the terror, courage, and often horrible deaths of the people aboard the wreck, thus enlivening the past. He transfers a sense of driven energy, excitement, and commitment through his accounts. Bound to appeal to adventurous YAs, and a good supplemental curriculum tie-in.?Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 468 pages
• Publisher: Wheeler Publishing (December 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568954077
• ISBN-13: 978-1568954073
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,025,836 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the life story of all the Cussler Characters!, June 25, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The SEA HUNTERS: True Adventures with Famous Shipwrecks (Hardcover)

Before purchasing the above mentioned book I read some of the customer reviews. Most were dissapointed in that they thought this was another Dirk Pitt mystery. Some people never understood what they were reading. I am a Clive Cussler fan, and have been since day one. I have read all thirteen books at least twice, and have been facinated by his tales. My personal favorites are "Vixon-03, and Treasure." I am a writer, not an author, but a writer. I have learned the importance of cliff-hanging your readers. I seldom put a Cussler book down until I have finished it. However, getting back to "The Sea Hunters."
If the reader would only look at what they are reading they will meet every standard character ever written in a Cussler/Pitt novel. They are there in real life, and the adventures of each book are present in what Cussler is accomplishing. It is evident they cannot see past the word on the page. My humble suggestion to them is to please look at the book as one of the best action novels of non-fiction Cussler has penned.
If I am lucky enough to be published someday, I would like to keep the same thought taught to me by Cussler, and repeated by him in the book. "You can never do enough research." (C Cussler)
Read the book and please with an open mind understand: 1 - you first do it because it's there, 2 - It always makes a good story afterward,
3 - you can never do enough research!
Somday I hope these ideals will turn me from a writer into an author.

Thank you for you time.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Subject, August 20, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Sea Hunters : True Adventures with Famous Shipwrecks (Audio Cassette)

When I found this book in the discount bin at Wal-Mart, I knew nothing about Cussler or his other books. I have since read all of his novels. This book is a real(istic) account of Cussler living out his Dirk Pitt fantasies of hunting for lost ships. Each ship is dramatically depicted in its final moments before its tragic demise, followed by Cussler's band of merry men trying to locate the wreck. While the searches aren't nearly as exciting as the ones in his novels, they still held my interest.

Though based on actual events, this book shouldn't be confused with a reference book, its not. The author uses his talents as a fiction writer to breathe life into the unfortunate souls on board the doomed ships. Cussler is also very opinionated and doesn't hesitate to share his slant on a subject. Anybody dumb enough to base a college paper on this book alone, probably didn't have much chance of passing anyway (earlier review).

Its a nice insight into how Cussler comes up with ideas for his Pitt stories, but don't expect beautiful marine biologists being stalked by evil billionaires here.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Wanna Go...I Wanna Go !, February 3, 2001

By 

D. Eichholz "bsnmsn" (Indiana USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The SEA HUNTERS: True Adventures with Famous Shipwrecks (Hardcover)

Not the usual Pitt novel, but a true life telling of Mr. Cusslers' attempts to find historys' lost pages. Several of the tales are engrossing and tense, but the one involving the altercation with the French Navy is a tickle, believe me. I was especially thrilled when Cusslers' name came up on news reports regarding the Hunley ( the search is recounted here ) and he was given the credit due him and his team. I once told my son that the best stories are true and this book proves my point. I'd sell my Mother to an Albanian circus for one NUMA trip !