BREAKING SEAS AND BROKEN SHIPS

People, Shipwrecks and Britain, 1854-2007. Friel expertly navigates the history of Britain and the sea from the Middle Ages to modern times as we follow the story of Britain's maritime history through some of its most dramatic shipwrecks. Chapters include the passenger liner City of Glasgow, the collier brig Russell of Littlehampton, the mastermind behind the battleship HMS Victoria (1893), the merchant ship SS Terence of Liverpool, heavy cruisers Dorsetshire and HMS Cornwall to the container ship MSC Napoli. We encounter an extraordinary range of people, ships and events, including the crew and passengers of a state-of-the-art Victorian steamship who vanished in the Atlantic; the sailors of a doomed collier brig in the dying days of sail, and the wives and children they left behind; a lowly ex-naval stoker who went into showbiz with his version of a disaster caused by an admiral; a First World War merchant ship captain who fought a running battle with German U-Boats; the courage and compassion shown by British sailors who escaped their dive-bombed ships; the people who confronted the 'black tide' left by the oil tanker Torrey Canyon; how the container ship has helped to make a new world for us all - for better or worse. Plus major environmental themes alongside the traditional concerns of maritime history, such as trade, social issues and naval warfare. Sshortlisted for the Mountbatten Maritime Literary Award, 2021. Illus, maps and photos, 182 pages.