Great Lakes: Shipwrecks & Survivals  

by William Ratigan

Book Overview

In this breathtaking chronicle of the most spectacular shipwrecks and survivals on the Great Lakes, William Ratigan re-creates vivid scenes of high courage and screaming panic from which no reader can... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802870104
• Release Date: January 1977
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
• Length: 386 Pages
• Weight: 1.17 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.9" x 1.1" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

GreatLakes Shipwrecks & Survivals

The book was awesome and the transaction was great and the seller was so nice and helpful with everything

"Full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew"

"Great Lakes Shipwrecks & Survivals" is probably classified as a book with limited 'regional' interest, which is a shame because it deserves a much wider audience. I think it merits a place on the bestseller list next to "In the Heart of the Sea : The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex" by Nathaniel Philbrick, or "The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea" by Sebastian Junger.William Ratigan, a journalist whose father was a steamboat engineer, has written a romantic, blood-curdling maritime history of the Great Lakes, starting with Champlain's canoe as it ventured out onto Lake Huron, and ending with the thousand-foot bulk freighters that now churn our waters. In his introduction, Ratigan warns the reader that even the biggest freighter is not guaranteed a safe return to port:"These great ships sail Great Lakes that can swallow them in one black moment without a trace. Storms exploding across hundreds of miles of open water pile up mountainous seas that strike swifter, and more often, than the deadliest waves on any ocean. Before the ship has a chance to recover from the last blow, the next is upon her. The Lakes captain has no sea room in which to maneuver; unlike his salt-water counterpart he must stay on course throughout the storm; he must weather the teeth of the gale."Each Lake's storms, shipwrecks, fires, and rescues gets its own section within "Great Lakes Shipwrecks & Survivals." The last section of the book's third edition (which I own) is devoted to the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, the introduction of bulk freighters into the Lakes, and the extension of the shipping season.I'm glad this book was reissued in 2000, as I will soon need a replacement copy. I reread it almost every November, when gray skies close down over the freighters that still steam up and down the Detroit River near our house.Are there captains out there, like the captains of the ill-fated Howard M. Hanna, Jr., the Daniel J. Morrell, the Carl D. Bradley, and the Edmund Fitzgerald, who are trying to squeeze in 'one last run' of the season?As Ratigan says of these captains, "...they often stay out on the Lake beyond the time of regular insurance, beyond the time of navigational prudence. Once in a while, striving to make one last trip before winter locks up the Lakes, they make one last trip indeed---the last trip forever."

Great Reading

This is a very well written collection of stories about shipping disasters on the Great Lakes. The author has a very easy-going writing style that is a joy.

From the shores of Gitche Gumee to the waters of Lake Erie..

William Ratigan is the author of one of the gems of all shipwreck books ever written that concerning the Great Lakes, and this is it! The major disasters (and some minor ones) are chronicled in this book. Each lake has several chapters that have to do with shipwrecks there, and all of it is VERY understandable, even to those unfamiliar to the Great Lakes. From the days of the tiny but proud Griffin to the loss of the Edmund Fitgerald in Lake Superior, this book tells the stories of shipwrecks of times long past and shipwrecks of the recent past. This book truly deserves 5 stars! I highly recommend it, and it is an important part of my Great Lakes library. Enjoy the book!

Great Book , very understandable

I was hesitant to purchase this book. I am really glad I did . I enjoyed this book alot. I am now in the process of trying to find other books written by William Ratigan. He made even the most difficult maritime words and sentences easier for me to understand . I thought his life experiences was very evident in the writing of this book . He was able to give great details about the different shipwrecks and the different causes of each of the wrecks.I can't wait to find another of his books.