Disasters at sea

Summary: Disaster at sea can strike with the chilling inevitablility of the iceberg which caused the 20th century's most famous shipwreck; it can lie in wait in subtle shifts of tides or current or it can overwhelm a vessel when sumptuously appoint public accomidation provides fuel for a raging fire to burn, buckle and destroy. Then the oceans and the elements can wreck awesome havoc upon even the greatest of ships. Here is a complete record of every disaster resulting in the loss of an ocean-going passenger ship to have occurred this century , including the wreck of the Titanic in 1912 and that of the Mikhail Lermontov in 1986. Collecting data from hundreds of sources and painstakingly reassembling the particulars of each incident, Milton Watson has created a readable work of reference with many unusual anecdotes. It is a unique record of the perils of the sea and welcome, too, for its thoughtful analysis of the causes of disaster and their possible means of prevention. Here the throughness of this work stands out, for by compiling information from every ship disaster, decade by decade, improvements - and lapses- in safety standards can be clearly charted. Excluding only vessels lost whilst on military on duties, this invaluable work chronicles the utimely end met by many famous ships, but of equal fascination are the detailed descriptions of the final moments of nearly 200 other liners, a number of which have recieved scant attention in the past. With the aid of many previously unpublished photographs these pages offer a new insight into the losses of these ocean travellers and the circumstances leading to their destruction. While the death of any ship, great or small, is a sad occasion, there is a greater pathos and, all too frequently, tragedy, associated with those that meet a premature end. This book is a tribute, a record, a memorial and a warning of what can occure when the fates decree disaster.