Sunken ship

Author: James P. Delgado / Yanxia Li / Ding Lianpu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-11-01
Features: This dramatic journey into naval warfare takes readers through conflicts that have occurred in various eras and around the world. Shipwrecks traces nearly 3,000 years of archaeological history, from ancient battles along the Mediterranean coast and in China's rivers and lakes to the sunken ships and naval warfare of World War II. Time has made some naval engagements legendary, such as the Battle of Actium, the Battle of Lepanto, the Battle of the Spanish Armada, the Battle of Trafalgar, the Battle of Jutland, the Attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Midway, and the Battle of the Atlantic. Yet, the naval battlefield is often a vast, unmarked graveyard. Shipwrecks explores the eerie and desolate, yet grand and rarely visited, underwater museums, vividly depicting the ocean floor and the warships resting there. James P. Delgado brings reconstructed history to life, including legendary tales such as Ramses the Great's crushing defeat of the sea peoples, Mark Antony's desperate naval battle with Cleopatra, and Kublai Khan's invasion of medieval Japan by sea. In describing Viking raids, the sinking of Henry VIII's flagship Mary Rose in battle in 1545, British warships lost in colonial wars, and the simultaneous sinking of the Northern Union's armored ship Merrimac and the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley during the American Civil War, Delgado reveals his fresh insights. He also offers new perspectives on the USS Arizona, which was destroyed in the Pearl Harbor attack, and the aircraft carrier Saratoga, sunk by a nuclear explosion during a 1946 naval test. Shipwrecks is richly illustrated with numerous images, including 69 color photographs, 142 black-and-white reproductions of paintings, photographs, engravings, and artifacts, some of which are newly published. The book is written with clarity and fluency, presenting a comprehensive and detailed study of shipwrecks that will captivate anyone interested in history, war, and the sea.