The Hunt For Hms De Braak

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"The true story of the HMS De Braak might have been borrowed from the pages of a Robert Louis Stevenson novel, for it is a classic account of shipwrecks, treasure maps, Weather Witches and mystics, hunters and mountebanks. Author Donald Shomette recounts an amazing tale of intrepid deep-sea adventure and the all-consuming lust for gold. The Hunt for HMS De Braak: Legend and Legacy uncovers the facts surrounding the famous vessel and the many legends she spawned." "The history of De Braak, told so ably by Donald Shomette, is really two stories - first, the story of the ship's brief and rather undistinguished military career in the Dutch and British Navies; and second, the tale of her shipwreck and alleged treasure." "The author weaves the two facets of De Braak's history into a readable and scholarly whole. The second part of the book is a startling record of legend, misinformation, outright lies, bungling, and greed." "Sailors, watermen, adventurers, criminals, salvors, bureaucrats, and even politicians walk in and out of the pages of De Braak's history with astonishing frequency." "Few shipwrecks in American waters have generated the interest that followed in De Braak's wake. "Interest" is probably the wrong term; "seduction" perhaps better describes the effect that De Braak's legend exerted on individuals who continually searched Delaware Bay for her resting place." "In the end, De Braak was found. Her mythical treasure was not. Shomette has sought to present, for the first time, a detailed account of the De Braak legend. He does not, however, merely retell the tale of a small man-of-war's life and death. He goes beyond that to give us an account of her legacy. This legacy is a modern one, born out of her dramatic and ill-conceived salvage."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Product Details :

Genre : History
Author : Donald G. Shomette
Publisher :
Release : 1993
File : 474 Pages
ISBN-13 : UVA:35007002190977


Shipwrecks Sea Raiders And Maritime Disasters Along The Delmarva Coast 1632 2004

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Featuring the accounts of twenty-five ill-starred vessels -- some notorious and some forgotten until now -- this anthology provides a fascinating history of a local maritime culture and charts how the catastrophic events along the Delmarva coast significantly affected U.S. merchant shipping as a whole.

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Genre : History
Author : Donald G. Shomette
Publisher : JHU Press
Release : 2007-12-17
File : 460 Pages
ISBN-13 : 0801886708


Shipwrecks Of The Delaware Coast

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Discover the thrilling, mysterious history of the shipwrecks found beneath the waves of Rehoboth Beach. Under the hot summer sun, vacationers stroll the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk, chewing saltwater taffy and listening to the gulls' raucous cackle. Few realize that under the sparkling water rests a graveyard. Horrific nor'easters, treacherous shoals and simple human error caused the demise of countless ships, giving birth to legends of treasure and terror. There is De Braak, rumored to hold millions of dollars in gold; the Mohawk, which burned like a torch in the Delaware Bay; and the vessels that fell victim to the Great White Hurricane, which froze dead men to the mast. Journey with local author Pam George as she deftly picks her way through the history of Delaware's most intriguing and mysterious shipwrecks.

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Genre : Transportation
Author : Pam George
Publisher : Arcadia Publishing
Release : 2010-04-02
File : 117 Pages
ISBN-13 : 9781614231622


Pirates Patriots Tales Of The Delaware Coast

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Libraries, archives, and museums reveal clues to the colorful characters lining the history of Delaware, from its earliest colonial days to the invention of the "beach resort" and the founding of the nation's "Summer Capital" to World War II and the present. Author Michael Morgan brings together this kaleidoscopic view of the men of the sea and the beachfront tycoons who shaped Delaware and its role in the development of America, in war, politics, and business, from the Europeans' arrival at Cape Henlopen until modern times. While the intrepid patriot Henry Fisher and the infamous serial killer Patty Cannon are not known beyond the boundaries of southern Delaware, others such as William Penn, Captain Kidd and the DuPonts enjoy more widespread reputations. Here, tales of shipwrecks and rumrunners combine with the politics of slavery and suffrage to illuminate the history of one corner of the United States, a microcosm that synthesizes light on various facets of the development of the United States in a broader context. * Michael Morgan pens a weekly column, "Delaware Diary," in the Delaware Coast Press and has authored many stories for The Baltimore Sun, Maryland Magazine, Civil War Times Illustrated, America's Civil War and other periodicals for the past 15 years. He is a frequent guest speaker at historical societies in Lewes, Georgetown, and other towns along the Delaware coast.

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Genre : Atlantic Coast (Del.)
Author : Michael Morgan
Publisher : Algora Publishing
Release : 2005
File : 242 Pages
ISBN-13 : 9780875863382


Out Of The Depths

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A highly illustrated voyage through shipwrecks ancient and contemporary. Out of the Depths explores all aspects of shipwrecks across four thousand years, examining their historical context and significance, showing how shipwrecks can be time capsules, and shedding new light on long-departed societies and civilizations. Alan G. Jamieson not only informs readers of the technological developments over the last sixty years that have made the true appreciation of shipwrecks possible, but he also covers shipwrecks in culture and maritime archaeology, their appeal to treasure hunters, and their environmental impacts. Although shipwrecks have become less common in recent decades, their implications have become more wide-ranging: since the 1960s, foundering supertankers have caused massive environmental disasters, and in 2021, the blocking of the Suez Canal by the giant container ship Ever Given had a serious effect on global trade.

Product Details :

Genre : History
Author : Alan G. Jamieson
Publisher : Reaktion Books
Release : 2022-10-24
File : 343 Pages
ISBN-13 : 9781789146202


Broadkill Beach De Interim Feasibility Study

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Author :
Publisher :
Release : 1996
File : 1134 Pages
ISBN-13 : NWU:35556031002520


Privateers Of The Revolution

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A narrative of the forgotten privateering war on the Jersey coast during the American Revolution Addresses the maritime conflict period 1775-1783 from both Patriot and Loyalist perspectives Reveals the hitherto untold account of the British “Death Ships” on which 11,000 died

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Genre : History
Author : Donald Grady Shomette
Publisher : Schiffer + ORM
Release : 2016-07-28
File : 549 Pages
ISBN-13 : 9781507300312


The Heroic Age Of Diving

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A comprehensive history of the first three decades of underwater exploration in antebellum America. Beginning in 1837, some of the most brilliant engineers of America’s Industrial Revolution turned their attention to undersea technology. Inventors developed practical hard-helmet diving suits, as well as new designs of submarines, diving bells, floating cranes, and undersea explosives. These innovations were used to clear shipping lanes, harvest pearls, mine gold, and wage war. All of these underwater technologies were brought together by entrepreneurs, treasure-hunters, and daring divers in the 1850s to salvage three infamous shipwrecks on Lake Erie, each of which had involved the loss of hundreds of lives, as well as the worldly goods of the passengers. The prospect of treasure, combined with the national notoriety of these disasters, soon attracted the attention of local adventurers and the country’s leading divers and marine engineers. In The Heroic Age of Diving, Jerry Kuntz shares the fascinating stories of the pioneers of underwater invention and the brave divers who employed the new technologies as they raced with—and against—marine engineers to salvage the tragic wrecks of Lake Erie. “Jerry Kuntz has filled in a previously blank page in the story of diving—and done it well. The Heroic Age of Diving tells the story not only of the development of salvage technology but also the human side of this always-dangerous and often-deadly career. This is not a tale for the faint of heart (‘helmet squeeze’ is a gruesome fate), but one well worth reading for those interested in early technology and the men brave (or foolish) enough to gamble their lives using it. This book is a window on an unexplored (and unexpected) world, and the author deserves great credit for bringing it back into the light.” — Chuck Veit, author of Raising Missouri: John Gowen and the Salvage of the U.S. Steam Frigate Missouri, 1843–1852 “The Heroic Age of Diving is both very interesting and very important. Having spent over twenty years researching and publishing general diving history, I am confident that this book will fill an important gap in the nation’s diving history.” — Leslie Leaney, Cofounder, Historical Diving Society

Product Details :

Genre : History
Author : Jerry Kuntz
Publisher : SUNY Press
Release : 2016-02-09
File : 226 Pages
ISBN-13 : 9781438459622


Warships Of The World To 1900

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Lincoln P. Paine's SHIPS OF THE WORLD: AN HISTORICAL HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA was honored as one of the best reference books of the year by the New York Public Library, and Library Journal described it as "clearly the most fascinating book of the year." Now, in two equally fascinating new books, Paine focuses on two of the most interesting areas of maritime history: WARSHIPS OF THE WORLD TO 1900 and SHIPS OF DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION. WARSHIPS OF THE WORLD TO 1900 traces the history of naval warfare through the stories of more than two hundred of the most famous and important fighting ships, from the earliest triremes and Viking longships to the Mary Rose, Wasa, Bonhomme Richard, HMS Victory, USS Constitution, USS Monitor, and Mikasa. Each ship is described in a vivid short essay that captures its personality as well as its physical characteristics, construction, and history, from the drawing board to the scrap yard or museum. Paintings and photographs show the grandeur and grace of these vessels that helped shape world events. An introductory essay, maps, and a chronology offer the reader a global perspective on the course of naval history from antiquity to the present.

Product Details :

Genre : History
Author : Lincoln P. Paine
Publisher : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Release : 2000
File : 292 Pages
ISBN-13 : 0395984149


Hidden Dimensions

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Hidden Dimensions is a collection of essays drawn from papers presented at an international conference in Vancouver, British Columbia in April 1995. Scholars from around the globe examine several aspects of wetland archaeology in North America, Mexico, Europe, eastern Siberia, and New Zealand. Some of the essays in this volume explore environmental and historical contexts of wet-sites as well as past human adaptation to wetland environments. Others concentrate on the contributions of wetland archaeology to reconstructions of cultural history and the interpretation of unique perishable materials. In addition to discussions on the dynamic nature of wetlands and concern about the future of the cultural resources they contain, the authors look at practical issues of land management and object conservation. In Hidden Dimensions the authors seek to raise awareness of the significance of wetland archaeology issues at a time when wetlands around the globe are rapidly shrinking and their cultural contents are at risk of disappearing.

Product Details :

Genre : Social Science
Author : Kathryn Bernick
Publisher : UBC Press
Release : 2011-11-01
File : 385 Pages
ISBN-13 : 9780774842556