The Lost Fleet A Yankee Whaler's Struggle Against the Confederate Navy and Arctic Disaster

by Songini, Marc

• ISBN13: 9780312380953
• ISBN10: 031238095X
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-07-22
• Publisher: Griffin

Summary

It's the mid-ninteenth century and the American whaling fleet is struck by one hammer blow after the other. Yankee whalersare contendingwith icebergs, storms, rogue whales, sharks, hostile natives, and disease. Many whalers give up the life'”but some carry on the vocation. One such man is a captain from Connecticut, Thomas William Williams. Not only does he go out on voyage after voyage, he even takes on board with him his tiny wife, Eliza, and his infant son and daughter. The Lost Fleet 's thrilling narrative recounts Williams' remarkable career, including a daringescape from the Confederate cruiser Alabama anda daring rescue and salvage of lost ships off Alaska's coast. Songini has crafted a historical masterpiece in recordinga family saga, a true narrative of adventure and death on the high seas, and a detailed and well-researched look at the demise of Yankee whaling.

Author Biography

MARC SONGINI is a Boston-area journalist whose work has appeared in the Boston Book Review, the Boston Herald, and the Boston Globe.

Table of Contents

Map	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Prelude	p. 1
Brave Men and Braver Women
Lonely but Not Alone	p. 11
A Lighthouse Keeper	p. 74
In Wild and Distant Seas	p. 78
Journey's End	p. 87
The First Iron
The Daring Fishermen of New England	p. 99
Old Rodney	p. 113
An Indifferent Screw Steamer	p. 125
A Pirate Deed	p. 134
Like Pursuing a Coy Maiden	p. 152
The Other Alabama	p. 189
Come on My Deck and Fight Me	p. 217
Terrible Havoc	p. 256
The Lance Strikes
Idle Wharves and Dismasted Ships	p. 267
Death Stared Us in the Face	p. 274
In the Topmost Frost-Killed End of Creation	p. 287
How Many Will See the Last Day of Next August?	p. 308
The Most Crushing Blow	p. 324
Rolling Out on The Fin
Enough to Fill a Book	p. 345
Appreciable Deterioration	p. 356
Looking for a Modern Joshu	p. 373
A Dreary and Uncertain March	p. 381
Epilogue: The Clear-eyed Men of the Sea	p. 398
Bibliography	p. 405
Index	p. 415
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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