Spilsbury’s Album: Photographs and Reminiscences of the BC Coast

Superb well-researched guide to every major shipwreck in the western hemisphere, from time of Columbus to ca. 1825. Expert advice on locating, surveying, excavating, identifying, and preserving artifacts from sunken vessels. Also detailed catalog of wrecks arranged by year and locality --- over 300 pages and 4,000 listings. 73 illustrations

The sea is an unforgiving arena where the slightest error can spell certain disaster. Over the last century, hundreds of ships have met their watery graves as the result of human error, mechanical Failure, acts of aggression, or the awesome power of the sea itself. Each of the 50 disasters chronicled and illustrated in this fascinating book is vividly related. From the sinking of the USS Maine off of Cuba in 1898, the tragedy of the Titanic in 1912, the grounding of the tanker Exxon Valdez in 1989, and the Acille Lauro fire of 1994, derailed explanations, along with photographs and artwork, outline the causes and human dramas behind each disaster.