Lost Maine Coastal Schooners


Book Description

Dramatic true stories of New England maritime history, with photos. Large, wooden-hulled schooners graced the seas of coastal Maine for more than a century as vessels of trade and commerce. With the advent of steam-powered craft, however, these elegant four-, five-, or six-masted wooden ships became obsolete and vanished from the harbors and horizons. The Edward Lawrence, the last of the six-masters, became her own funeral pyre in Portland Harbor, burning to ash before everyone’s eyes. The Carroll A. Deering washed ashore with no trace of her crew, empty as a ghost ship except for three cats and a pot of pea soup still cooking on the stove. In this testament to the beauty of the Maine coastal region, maritime history enthusiast Ingrid Grenon tells the story of these magnificent relics of the bygone Age of Sail and celebrates the people who devoted their lives to the sea.




A Shipyard in Maine


Book Description

Toward the end of the nineteenth century, a new firm was established in Bath, Maine, at a time when established yards in the City of Ships were turning to steel construction. Percy & Small would set unrivaled records for wooden shipbuilding and ship management, launching 22 giant five-- and six--masted schooners (along with 16 four--masters) in two decades. Not just builders, Percy & Small also demonstrated an unusual knack for making money as managing owners of a large fleet of schooners, and the stories of their ships are told in these pages in wonderful detail. Doug Lee's meticulously researched construction drawings add immeasurably to the technical information presented in this book. Maritime enthusiasts and modelmakers will find a wealth of information here.




Down East Schooners and Shipmasters


Book Description

Nothing is more iconic of Maine than the image of a majestic vessel, masts raised, gliding through the fog on the dark North Atlantic. From the early days of the search for a Northwest Passage to the quest for the mysterious and illusive Norumbega, the history of Mount Desert Island, Hancock, Bar Harbor and the rest of the Down East area has always traveled on schooners. Now, in the twenty-first century, these ships and their heritage are being preserved, and Mainers are sailing aboard them once again. In this collection, author Ingrid Grenon presents the most important and incredible stories from the decks of Down East's schooners, revealing how these remarkable vessels and Down East Maine are tied together.




U-Boats off Bermuda


Book Description

The untold story of 142 German and one Italian submarines, which patrolled the waters around BermudaThe Axis powers sank eighty Allied ships, one of them naval, for the loss of two submarines1,224 Allied sailors and passengers were landed in Bermuda during the warMore than steel on steel: this book tells of their survival voyages, rescue and reception For the first time, a book exposes an obscure theatre of the Second World War in great detail and comprehensively, not just in terms of geography, but also from the perspectives of both Allied and Axis participants. U-Boats off Bermuda provides details of specific U-Boat patrols and their commanders, as well as a general overview of the situation in the theatre of war around Bermuda. It is a detailed analysis of individual casualties, broken down by a) background of ship, b) background of U-Boat, c) attack method (surface and/or submersed), d) details of survivors and their plight at sea and e) their rescue, recuperation and repatriation. Detailed maps and illustrations provide a human face to what were often tragic attacks with fatal consequences. Did you know that half a dozen German submarines came close enough to the US Naval Operating Base in Bermuda to see Gibbs Hill? Or that hardy Canadians from a sunken trading schooner rowed and sailed their way to the remote island on their own? Allied pilots based in Bermuda sank two German U-Boats, rescued dozens in daring water landings and several crashed.




Haunted Maine Lighthouses


Book Description

What is it about lighthouses that make them bastions of spiritual activity? Built for strength and permanence, they are nonetheless vulnerable, protecting lives yet isolated and remote. Unforgiving of human frailty, these outposts inevitably become the settings for tragedy—and for the spirits that linger on at the site of their ruined hopes, their sufferings, their obsessions. With its incessant fogs and infamously craggy coast, Maine has the second highest number of lighthouses in the country. Many of these 64 beacons are shrouded in wisps of rumor and mystery. There are ongoing strange and eerie events and occurrences that recall past violence or sadness—stranded crews who resorted to cannibalism, keepers driven to madness by unending days of blinding fog, children drowned in shipwrecks. Author Taryn Plumb explores the ghostly tales and mysteries surrounding Maine lighthouses. Some hauntings can be directly tied to a known historical event, while others seem to have no origin, yet all will enthrall you with their spookiness.
















House documents


Book Description