Marine Books - Page 4

Confederate Shipbuilding (Studies in Maritime History)

William N. Still Jr.

Amazon Price: $24.95 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: University of South Carolina Press Amazon Marketplace: 40 new & used starting at $9.49

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

A brief study of Confederate shipbuilding 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

William N. Still, Jr.'s "Confederate Shipbuilding" is a short, older (1969 for the 1st edition, 1987 2nd edition) study of the Confederacy's wartime shipbuilding program. Brevity can be a virtue, but in such a narrow subject appealing to fewer readers, it fails to satiate the reader's appetite. This quick read is divided into just five chapters: The Program, Facilities, Materials, Labor, and Conclusions.

The author uses a simple narrative format for his 81 pages of text. Eleven pages of notes, nine pages of bibliography, and an index follow. There are a few lined drawings of ships and ordnance as well as some sketches. Notably absent are any tables to provide the reader with a better statistical understanding or summary. There are no maps to illustrate the various centers of shipbuilding, ordnance, etc.

Still's discussion and conclusions appear well supported and I find little fault with them. He points to problems such as the government's laissez-faire approach to war industry and Davis' reluctance to intercede using central authority even in squabbles between departments. He downplays the lack of production facilities for the most part and instead focuses on the more critical lack of transport, raw materials, and labor.

The South lacked sufficient rail transport to move raw materials and fuel to production facilities as well as moving the armor plate to the shipyards to be fitted. The resultant delays were catastrophic to the CS Navy's efforts. By necessity, the naval building program had to be distributed, but that also meant it required prompt transportation--something the South's lagging infrastructure could not accommodate.

Material like iron and coal were also not available in sufficient quantities at the foundries to keep them fully operational. Some of this was due to transport limitations, some to the misfortunes of losing territory, and some to insufficient available labor.

The labor shortage is one that appears to have been mostly due to the Davis' administration's mismanagement. Skilled artisans and mechanics were too often retained by the army or conscripted. Davis and the Secretaries of War failed to appreciate the negative impact this had on war effort of key industries. For want of a few men, the whole war effort suffered. Slaves were increasingly used for skilled positions to attempt to fill the void.

The building program itself perhaps suffered most from trying to build too many vessels at once. Many vessels were never completed or were burned to prevent capture--a waste of effort the South could ill afford.

This is more of a summary work than a definitive analysis. The reader can find most of the same information in larger works about the Confederate Navy and supply.

Editorial Review:

This work covers the real grounds for the Confederacy's failure to build a successful navy. The South's major problems with shipbuilding concerned facilities, materials, and labour. Each of these subjects is discussed, and the text concludes by joining these problems to the issues of the Civil War.

Marine Engine Room Blue Book

William D. Eglinton

List Price: $25.00 By: Cornell Maritime Press Amazon Marketplace: 1 new & used starting at $74.97

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Astonishing 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

hello readers this book is worth buying ,because it has all the lessons that a marine engineer would need to trouble shoot the problems they face on board the vessel.This book is very useful for the seagoing personnel as well as the students who are studying the marine engineering or marine related course.It makes everything clear from the operators standpoint.I suggest all you mariners(engineers&technicians)to buy this book .

Tugboats (Enthusiast Color Series)

William Burt

List Price: $14.95 By: MBI Amazon Marketplace: 14 new & used starting at $4.07

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Tugboats are the hardest working vessels in the shipping business, safely guiding freighters several times their weight and size to dock and back out to sea. This all-color salute to everyone's favorite little ship examines "tugs" today at ports around the world. In addition to depicting tugboats at work, the book explains the various tasks with which the boats are charged, the work of their crews, and the engines and designs that allow these relatively small vessels to tow incredible tonnage. The author also explains how older tugboats are overhauled for continued service and how manufacturers are finding new markets by revamping decommissioned tugboats-and even building brand new ones-for use as private cruisers. In addition to being a NASCAR journalist and the author of three previous MBI books on the subject-Behind the Scenes of NASCAR Racing, Stock Car Race Fan's Reference Guide and NASCAR Transporters-Bill Burt is a longtime tugboat fan just now getting the opportunity to indulge his passion in book form.

Take the Mystery Out of Boat Maintenance

Lawrence A. Diamond

List Price: $22.50 By: W. W. Norton & Company Amazon Marketplace: 27 new & used starting at $1.47

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

take the mystery out of boat maintenance 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Fantastic book on everything you might what know about boat maintenance. Written with a sense of humor, but very well written.... the best book I have read on the subject.

Only 132 pages but full of valuable info on what to use or not to use for interior and exterior work.

Modern Marine Salvage

William I., Jr. Milwee

Amazon Price: $65.00 List Price: $65.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Cornell Maritime Press Amazon Marketplace: 22 new & used starting at $60.00

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent reading for the professional and layman 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Modern Marine Salvage is not just for salvage professionals: anyone who has followed the story of the wreck of the New Carissa in Oregon will find this book interesting and educational. Bill Milwee's knowledge and 30+ years of salvage experience are evident in every page.

Guidance and Control of Ocean Vehicles

Thor I. Fossen

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Expensive but worth it in terms of unique well presented information 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This book is one-of-a-kind, as far as I have been able to determine, in that it is the only book that deals specifically with the guidance and control of marine vehicles. The book deals mainly with the modeling and control of unmanned untethered underwater vehicles (remotely operated vehicles and autonomous underwater vehicles) and high speed craft (surface effect ships and foilborne catamarans). It presents clear concrete mathematical models throughout. It does not drift off into an unreadable "equation jungle" at any point.
The design of modern vehicle guidance and control systems requires knowledge of a broad field of disciplines. Some of these are vectorial kinematics and dynamics, hydrodynamics, navigation systems and control theory. To be able to design a high performance control system it is evident that a good mathematical model of the vehicle is required for simulation and verification of the design. As a result, this book contains a large number of mathematical models intended for this purpose. The book is organized as follows:
The basics of modeling are covered first. Marine vehicle kinematics and dynamics in 6 degrees of freedom are covered in chapter 2 and environmental disturbances in terms of wind, waves, and currents are covered in chapter 3.
Chapter 4 covers the stability and control system design for small unmanned underwater vehicles.
Surface ships are covered in the next two chapters. Ship dynamics, stability, and maneuvering are covered in chapter 5 and ship control system design are covered in chapter 6.
High speed craft are covered in chapter 7 by the study of control system design for surface effect ships (SES) and foilcats.
This book has very good illustrations and block diagrams, a thorough definition of mathematical terminology, and good examples throughout. There are end of chapter exercises that involve both computation and the answering of subjective essay type questions. Unfortunately, no solutions are shown in the book. The computational questions are of such a format and complexity that knowledge of MATLAB would be greatly advantageous for their solution. Although this book is clearly intended for ocean engineering students, from my experience with it any engineer who has had exposure to control theory will probably be able to understand it due to its clear presentation and numerous examples. You should also be acquainted with Lagrangian dynamics since this lends to a cleaner description of ship motion than the Newtonian case and is therefore heavily used by the book. I highly recommend this book to anyone involved in the simulation or control of the behavior of ocean vehicles.

Editorial Review:

A comprehensive and extensive study of the latest research in control systems for marine vehicles. Demonstrates how the implementation of mathematical models and modern control theory can reduce fuel consumption and improve reliability and performance. Coverage includes ocean vehicle modeling, environmental disturbances, the dynamics and stability of ships, sensor and navigation systems. Numerous examples and exercises facilitate understanding.

Tugs Today: Modern Vessels and Towing Techniques

M. J. Gaston

List Price: $38.95 By: Patrick Stephens Amazon Marketplace: 9 new & used starting at $14.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

You don't have to be an enthusiast to enjoy this book 4 out of 5 stars.
6 of 7 people found this review helpful.

This book caught my eye in a Vancouver boat store, and I'm glad that I bought it. Tugs are part of the unseen infrastructure that brings us food and cars--we don't take them for granted so much as ignore them completely. This is unfortunate, because tugboats are a fascinatingly complex subject. They are built-to-order, specialized for open water, harbor and river service. They push, they pull, and they put out fires. This book assumes no knowledge of the subject, making concepts such as towing and thrust propulsion mechanisms accessible and interesting. Well-illustrated, well-written, and engrossing, I recommend this book for those who enjoy boats of any kind, or are merely curious about how things work.

A "MUST HAVE" FOR SHIPLOVERS AND THE OCCASIONAL PORT VISITOR 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

A VARY WELL WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BOOK ABOUT THE UNSUNG AND OFTEN FORGOTTEN LINK BETWEEN GENERAL SHIPPING AND THE SHORE INFRASTRUCTURE OF SHIPPING AND TRANSPORTATION. THE PHOTO'S ARE OF GOOD QUALITY AND GIVE THE OUTSIDER AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE WORKHORSES OF THE SHIPPING INDUSTRY. PLENTY OF DRAWINGS AND DIAGRAMS CLARIFY SOME ASPECTS THAT ARE HARDLY NOTICEABLE WHEN WATCHING TUGS AT WORK.

Steamboats Come True: American Inventors in Action

James Flexner

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A must read 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Mr Flexner brings the story of the invention of the steamboat to life. But this book is much more than a story of steam boats though. The book covers a biography of John Fitch, the man who really invented the steam boat (Fulton put a steamboat together decades after Fitch.) Fitch is one of the most interesting charcters in U.S. history. You will not believe the accomplishements of Fitch. I am totally amazed at the story of Fitch every time I listen this book on tape. Flexner ties all of the events of the time together. The inventions of James Watt, Napolean's military efforts, the Revolutionary war, the invention of the submarine. The interaction of Fitch with George Washington and Benjamin Franklin are discussed. This book is best listened to on tape. You will not regret listening to this book. Trust me.

Editorial Review:

In this work, Flexner chronicles the lives of three men, all striginv to invent the first steamboat, and shows the pattern of their interwoven fates. In his introduction, Flexner profiles his first protagonist, John Fitch, as "an archetypal wild man of genius...born to create what would not be accepted, tofight man and God for what he considered justice, and in the end, destroy himself." Fitch's rival and enemy, James Rumsey, was " A backwoods gambler, suave and humorous where Fitch was torrential, Rumsey was also (but how differently!) self-destroyed." Enter Robert Fulton, an inventor born to succeed, with whom the tale of "anguised pioneering" ends. Flexner paints the final hero as an able and cynical opportunist who became "rich, socially elevated, and down through the generations, famous."

A Guide to Small Boat Emergencies

John M. Waters

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Boats: A Manual for Their Documentation

Benjamin A. G. Fuller

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

How to measure a boat so you can model it. 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.

This book was written by folks who are primarily interested in recording the history of small boats. My personal small boat reference library has 180 books in it and I have read all with careful attention to detail. More than half of them would be better reference books if the author had enjoyed the opportunity to study this book on documenting small boats. The scope of this book is such that there is truly something for all, no matter how specific your interest in small boats. I am a scale model builder. I enjoy getting each piece to look & work like the real thing. That means I need to be able to measure the real thing, draw it to scale and then reproduce it. This book defines the basic structure of a boat, gives you a working vocabulary and understanding of each part. I'm referring to parts that are there in plain view that are typically overlooked, but essential. Once you read this book (or the parts that interest you) and see the parts, you'll realize it was more difficult to write about measuring and drafting than it is to actually do it. The graphics in this book are excellent. If you own a boat, for which there are no plans and plan to build a model of it, this book is a "must-have" for the project. If you are a serious student of archaeology, you need this book. The book's index converts a book of great scope into a quick easy to use reference book. Finally, the bibliography alone is worth the price of the book. If I could only keep 5 of my books, this would definitely be on my keep list.

Editorial Review:

Published in association with the Museum Small Craft Association The first complete guide to measuring, recording, and preserving this important part of our cultural heritage, "Boats" provides advice from America's leading boat builders, architects and engineers, cultural historians and folk life specialists on how to care for boats and chronicle their individual histories. Extensively illustrated, bursting with time-saving hints and helpful assistance, and formatted to facilitate use in the field, "Boats" covers the waterfront: from simple pencil and tape measure to sophisticated computer-assisted documentation. For the curator of major maritime collections to the weekend sailor, this book offers step-by-step guidance for understanding and documenting sailing vessels.