Reference book on history of ships/boats?

Question

I need to find a good, solid reference book that has pictures and descriptions of ships of the 19th century. I am particularly interested in war ships and fishing boats.

Answer 1

A great deal of info on war ships can be found at

www.hazegray.org

This is a huge site, so take some time and explore it.

Regards,

Dan

Answer 2

There are more books on that than a sailor can swing a cat-nine-tails at, but these will get you started if you can find them:

The Lore of Ships, by Tre Tryckare (no, that's not a typo)

  - chapters are on the hull, spars and rigging, the sail, propulsion, fishing, yachting, gunnery, and navigation and ship handling.  It's a classic book, may be out of print but check your local library, Woodenboat magazine publications and search online.

Building the Wooden Fighting Ship, by James Dodds and James Moore

  - This text is mostly about 18th century, so it would apply to what you ask for only before the advent of steam and ironclads, but has a tremendous amount of detail on wooden ship construction.  I don't really know what you're after on that count.

Ship - 5000 Years of Maritime Adventure, by Brian Lavery

  -  chapters here are the birth of ships, sailors of the seas, european expansion (gunpowder and sail), the age of sail (wars and trade under sail), the age of steam (steam power, maritime trade, naval warfare), the last days of sail (sail in the age of steam, fishing and whaling, to sea for pleasure), the last chapters are more modern vessels.

Men, Ships, and the Sea, by Alan Villers

  - this one is another classic, it may be out of print, but if you can get your hands on it, it's well worth the effort.  Takes you from the earliest days of men floating across rivers on inflated skins to columbus to grand banks schooners to modern nuclear vessels.  Great book.

You don't give any information on specifics or what you want it for, but these should give you a start.

Answer 3

Amazon.com would have it. Thats too specialized for most bookstores to carry on the shelves.