Maritime historian and nautical archaeologist Nat Howe wrote the foreword to The Fyddeye Guide to America’s Veteran Warships. … More Historian Nat Howe writes foreword to Veteran Warships book
Earlier this year, I was contacted by Kari Berger of the Seattle Metals Guild, a non-profit arts group with a focus on metalworking. The group was working on an exhibit of jewelry and sculpture made from wood salvaged from the historic schooner Wawona. I published a history of the ship in 2006, three years before … More Repurposing Wawona: Pieces at new exhibit made from ship’s salvaged wood
Northwest Seaport Maritime Heritage Center in Seattle is in the midst of building a new and historically accurate upper deck on the lightship Swiftsure, which is a National Historic Landmark. Nautical archaeologists have generate blueprints by documenting existing structures on the lightship’s upper deck. They have spent hours removing artifacts, such as the ship’s wheel, … More Restoration Work on Lightship Swiftsure
An association of maritime history enthusiasts and heritage organizations has called on historical societies and museums in Washington State to endorse the creation of a new national maritime heritage area. The executive committee of the Pacific Northwest Maritime Heritage Council emailed members and supporters last month asking them to submit a draft letter to non-profit … More Maritime Heritage Council Asks Support
What’s in a name? A ton of historical information, especially if all you have is a place name. That’s what Bellevue, Wash., researcher and author Richard W. Blumenthal discovered and documented in his new reference book, Maritime Place Names: Inland Washington Waters, which covers the waters of Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands, the Straits … More New Place Names Book
Gather the Shadowmen: The Lords of the Ocean, Mark M. McMillin. Hephaestus Publishing, 298 pages softcover: $14.95, ebook: $4.99. Benjamin Franklin may have single-handedly saved the U.S. from destruction in the Revolutionary War by persuading France to join America in an alliance against the British. But in the years leading up to his triumph, he … More Gather the Shadowmen
Betrayal, by Julian Stockwin. U.S. release date: October 2012. Published in the U.S. by McBooks Press, 320 pages, hardcover, $24.00. Most authors of nautical fiction from the Napoleonic Era place their characters somewhere in the Northern Hemisphere, usually the Atlantic or the Mediterranean. That’s where most of the historical action was, of course. By contrast, … More 13th Book in Kydd Series
Seafarers have called the Columbia River Bar, located at the mouth of Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest, “the world’s most dangerous passage” for more than 200 years. Today, the city of Astoria, Ore., is the home of an elite group of bar pilots. Author Michael E. Haglund and illustrator Eric Baker have combined stories … More Columbia River Danger Detailed
Deck Hand: Life on Freighters of the Great Lakes, by Nelson “Mickey” Haydamacker, with Alan D. Millar. University of Michigan Press, 118 pages, color and black and white photos, softcover, $22.95. So much of maritime history is the stories of great captains, visionary leaders, or risk-taking entrepreneurs. Of course, most of the actual work was … More Great Lakes Ore Freighters
Breaking Ice for Arctic Oil: The Epic Voyage of the SS Manhattan through the Northwest Passage. Ross Coen, University of Alaska Press, Fairbanks, 215 pages with color and black and white photos, soft cover, $24.95. Christopher Columbus sailed west in 1492 hoping to find a new way to the riches of the Orient, but an … More Breaking Ice for Arctic Oil
Sealab: America’s Forgotten Quest to Live and Work on the Ocean Floor, by Ben Hellwarth. Simon & Schuster, 400 pages, hardcover, $28.00. The names of astronaut Neil Armstrong and rocket engineer Werner von Braun are etched forever on the popular mind as pioneers of outer space exploration. But they have eclipsed equally daring and dangerous … More Hidden History of Sealab
The First Leathernecks: A Combat History of the U.S. Marines From Inception to the Halls of Montezuma (1775-1848), by Don Burzynski. Warrior Publishing Group,117 pages. Soft cover: $24.95. Ebook: $9.95. The modern image of the U.S. Marine Corps comes from World War II: young men in green camouflage fatigues storming the beaches of tiny islands … More History of U.S. Marine Corps
America’s Privateer: Lynx and the War of 1812, J. Dennis Robinson. Lynx Educational Foundation, 184 pages, with 190 color photos, paintings and maps, oversize hardcover, $34.95. One of the great things about tall ships is that you can’t go wrong with a good picture. Virtually all large sailing vessels are photogenic to a fault, particularly … More Tall Ship Book Worshipful
Tordenskjold: Boat of the Century, presented by Eat on the Wild Side, produced by John Sabella and Associates. Not rated, but suitable for all ages. Most people think of 100-year-old fishing boats as museum pieces, tied up forever at a dock after a career at sea. But documentary filmmaker John Sabella has discovered a fleet … More Halibut Documentary
J.G. Follansbee 