Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals

( 2 )

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 turn away.

Included in this striking catalog of catastrophes and Flying Dutchmen are the magnificent excursion liner Eastland, which capsized at her pier in the Chicago River, drowning 835 people within clutching distance of busy downtown streets; the shipwrecked steel freighter ...

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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 turn away.

Included in this striking catalog of catastrophes and Flying Dutchmen are the magnificent excursion liner Eastland, which capsized at her pier in the Chicago River, drowning 835 people within clutching distance of busy downtown streets; the shipwrecked steel freighter Mataafa, which dumped its crew into freezing waters while the snowbound town of Duluth looked on; the dark Sunday in November 1913 when Lake Huron swallowed eight long ships without a man surviving to tell the tale; and the bitter November of 1958 when the Bradley went down in Lake Michigan during one of the greatest killer storms on the freshwater seas. An entire section is dedicated to the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald -- the most famous maritime loss in modern times -- in Lake Superior in 1975.

Chilling watercolor illustrations, photographs, maps, and news clippings accentuate Ratigan's compelling and dramatic storytelling. Sailors, historians, and general readers alike will be swept away by these unforgettable tales of tragedy and heroism.

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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780802870100
  • Publisher: Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
  • Publication date: 1/28/1989
  • Edition description: REV
  • Edition number: 3
  • Pages: 384
  • Sales rank: 282,943
  • Product dimensions: 6.03 (w) x 8.95 (h) x 1.10 (d)

Meet the Author

(1910—1984) Six generations of William Ratigan's family have lived in Michigan, a fact that has inspired his novels and biographies of the Great Lakes region. His father went on the Lakes at age twelve and worked up to steamboat engineer, with fresh- and salt-water licenses. The author himself once acted as dockmaster for a season at his home port of Charlevoix.

Formerly a NBC network news director and supervisor of war correspondents in the PTO, he covered the Bradley shipwreck for the mass media and was consultant to the Smithsonian Institution on technical development of Great Lakes craft. In connection with his NBC network newsroom services, he carried a card as journalism instructor for UCLA. He was proud of having quarterbacked and captained the University of Chattanooga's all-Dixie Conference football team and of being an adopted chief of the Ottawa tribe, with the name of Opwa-nan iia Kanotong, Interpreter of Dreams.

In 1954 William Ratigan founded an internationally known private press, complete with pressmark -- the Dockside. On occasion he had been a university lecturer, and a number of his manuscripts and personal papers reside in the archives of the Michigan Historical Library at the University of Michigan.

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Table of Contents

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 turn away.

Included in this striking catalog of catastrophes and Flying Dutchmen are the magnificent excursion liner Eastland, which capsized at her pier in the Chicago River, drowning 835 people within clutching distance of busy downtown streets; the shipwrecked steel freighter Mataafa, which dumped its crew into freezing waters while the snowbound town of Duluth looked on; the dark Sunday in November 1913 when Lake Huron swallowed eight long ships without a man surviving to tell the tale; and the bitter November of 1958 when the Bradley went down in Lake Michigan during one of the greatest killer storms on the freshwater seas. An entire section is dedicated to the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald—the most famous maritime loss in modern times—in Lake Superior in 1975.

Chilling watercolor illustrations, photographs, maps, and news clippings accentuate Ratigan’s compelling and dramatic storytelling. Sailors, historians, and general readers alike will be swept away by these unforgettable tales of tragedy and heroism.

Read More Show Less

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3.5
( 2 )
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Sort by: Showing all of 2 Customer Reviews
  • Anonymous

    Posted February 20, 2003

    An OK book

    William Ratigan¿s Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals is a good book if you want a record of each large shipwreck on the Great Lakes. Wrecks that occurred on each of the five Great Lakes organize the book. The last thirty pages are dedicated to the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. The book is more of an encolpia of shipwrecks than it is a book. It has some suspenseful points, but in general; it¿s dry and to the point. There are very minimal pictures (at most 5) in the book. The writing is very informative and jammed packed. This would make a good book for someone who has a lot of time on his or her hands and can read very well. This would also make a good book for a person who had a, ¿sheltered¿ life; meaning, no personality, or since of humor. There are some suspenseful points, but aren¿t what you think. They are quick and shot to the point. The book jumps from different ships all throughout the book as a cross-reference. Without any real life pictures of the ships the book refers to it becomes difficult to remember what ship they referred to without looking back. I think there are better books with pictures and that are more user friendly and better organized than this book. My overall view of the book is thick old and dry with no visual aids. But in the books defense, this book does a great job explaining the shipwrecks, if you can stand reading a flood of words that are thicker than the Bible. It would just be that they put some visual aids to give your eyes a break.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 6, 2002

    thrilling, not dry storytelling!

    I enjoyed this title for it is full of history and facts, but told with the human element. Highlighting shipwrecks obscure and famed, this work will keep your pages turning if you have any interest in maritime adventure.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  No   Report this review
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