Compelling true-life stories about mariners' dreadful experiences at sea during the heyday of deep-sea commercial sail. Recounted mainly as original narratives compiled from the Casualties columns and pages of Lloyd's List. A wealth of fascinating topics including strandings, mutiny, murder, messages in a bottle and seaquakes.

A selection of true-life dramas that chronicle the perils and misfortunes faced by deep-sea sailing ships of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It relates the dangers faced and the battles waged, and all too often lost, against the hazards of the sea. Shipboard work was hard and often routinely dangerous for crews who bore the extraordinary hardships as their duty to obey their captains and drive their ships to a safe port to discharge or take on cargoes. From remarkable voyages, mutinies, hoaxes, curiosities and disease, to messages in a bottle, this book has a fund of amazing tales and will engross the reader - maritime historian, sailor (whether retired, current or armchair), or anyone with an interest in the sea and tales of adventure.