| Sea Stories (146) Sea Monsters (8) |
Stories about the sea, sailing, exploring and adventure. |
Sea Stories
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Spanish Bloodhounds And English Mastiffs
When the sun leaped up the next morning, and the tropic light flashed
suddenly into the tropic day, Amyas was pacing the deck, w...
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The Club-hauling Of The Diomede
We continued our cruise along the coast, until we had run down into the
Bay of Arcason, where we captured two or three vessels, ...
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The Cruise Of The Torch
Heligoland light--north and by west--so many leagues--wind
baffling--weather hazy--Lady Passengers on deck for the first time.
...
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The Merchantman And The Pirate
North Latitude 23 1/2, Longitude East 113; the time March of this same
year; the wind southerly; the port Whampoa in the Canton ...
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Dark!"
"Tempest? It is blowing half a gale of wind; that is all."
"Half a gale! Ah, that is the way you always talk to us ladies. Oh,
p...
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"strange Sail! Right Ahead!"
The strange sail was reported to Captain Dodd, then dressing in his
cabin. He came soon after on deck and hailed the lookout: "Whic...
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Narrative Of The Mutiny Of The _bounty_
About the year 1786, the merchants and planters interested in the West
India Islands became anxious to introduce an exceedingly ...
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Fate Of The Castaways
My first determination was to seek a supply of breadfruit and water at
Tofoa, and afterwards to sail for Tongataboo, and there risk a
...
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Fate Of The Mutineers--colony Of Pitcairn's Island
The intelligence of the mutiny, and the sufferings of Bligh and his
companions, naturally excited a great sensation in England. Bligh...
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The Wreck Of The _royal Caroline_
Our watchful adventurer captain was not blind to these sinister omens.
No sooner did the peculiar atmosphere by which the myster...
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The Capture Of The Great White Whale
That night, in the mid-watch, when the old man--as his wont at
intervals--stepped forth from the scuttle in which he leaned, and...
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Second Day
At day-break, the three mast-heads were punctually manned afresh.
"D'ye see him?" cried Ahab, after allowing a little space for the ...
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Third Day
The morning of the third day dawned fair and fresh, and once more the
solitary night-man at the fore-masthead was relieved by crowds o...
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The Corvette _claymore_
The corvette, instead of sailing south, in the direction of St.
Catherine, headed to the north, then, veering towards the west, ...
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The Merchants' Cup
I
"Fatty" Reid burst into the half-deck with a whoop of exultation.
"Come out, boys," he yelled. "Come out and see what luck...
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A Storm And A Rescue
All that night it blew terribly hard, and raised as wild and raging a
sea as ever I remember hearing or seeing described. Durin...
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The Sailor's Wife
The Icelanders were all returning now. Two ships came in the second
day, four the next, and twelve during the following week. ...
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In Memory Of
...
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Gaos Yvon
Lost at Sea
...
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Near The Norden-fjord
Like a great shudder, a gust of wind rose from the sea, and at the same
time something fell like rain upon the roof above. It was o...
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Near The Norden-fjord
In the storm of the 4th and 5th of August, 1880
She read mechanically under the arch of the doorway; her eyes sought to
pierce the ...
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Near The Norden-fjord
In the storm of the 4th and 5th of August, 1880
at the age of 23 years
_Requiescat in pace_!
Then Iceland loomed up be...
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The Salving Of The Yan-shan
I
The _Heart of Ireland_ was spreading her wings to the north-west
trades, making a good seven knots, with the coast of Calif...
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The Terrible Solomons
There is no gainsaying that the Solomons are a hard-bitten bunch of
islands. On the other hand, there are worse places in the w...
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El Dorado
The night had fallen over the harbour before the winch began to rattle.
The stars came out, calm and golden, shaking little trac...
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Treats Of Ships In General
There is, perhaps, no contrivance in the wide world more wonderful than a ship—a full-rigged, well-manned, gigantic ship!
...
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The Earliest Days Of Water-travelling
Once upon a time there were no ships. Men did not know the meaning of the word; they did not want them; and, for many, many centuri...
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Rafts And Canoes
Rafts, as we have already remarked, must undoubtedly have been the beginning of navigation. But they have not, like many other spec...
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Ancient Ships And Navigators
Everything must have a beginning, and, however right and proper things may appear to those who begin them, they generally wear a s...
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The Mariner’s Compass—portuguese Discoveries
“What is the compass?” every philosophical youth of inquiring disposition will naturally ask. We do not say th...
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Boats Model-boat Making Etcetera
Leaving the subject of ancient ships and navigation, we shall now turn our attention to the more recent doings of man on the ocean,...
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Lifeboats And Lightships
When our noble Lifeboat Institution was in its infancy, a deed was performed by a young woman which at once illustrates the extreme...
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Docks And Shipbuilding
Having in the previous chapters treated of the subjects of ancient navigation and ships, and given some account of the boats of the...
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The Launch Etcetera
Ships begin life with a retrograde movement; they imitate the crabs: in other words, they are launched stern foremost. Whether grea...
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Coasting Vessels
The coasting-trade of the British Islands is replete with danger, yet it is carried on with the utmost vigour; and there are always...
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Vessels Of Large Size
We now come to speak of ships of large size, which spread an imposing cloud of canvas to the breeze, and set sail on voyages which ...
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Wooden And Iron Walls
The birth of the British Navy may be said to have taken place in the reign of King Alfred. That great and good king, whose wisdom a...
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Origins Of Steamships—ocean-steamers Etcetera
As we have been led, in writing about ships of the navy, to refer to steam, we turn aside at this point to treat of that tremendous...
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The “great Eastern”
The Great Eastern steamship deserves to be regarded as the eighth wonder of the world, beyond all question. She is at pres...
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Curious Craft Of Many Lands
“Many men, many minds,” runs the proverb. “Many nations, many ships,” is almost equally true. A nation may ...
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Adventures Of Captain Woodward And Five Seamen In The Island Of Celebes
In the year 1791, Woodward sailed from Boston in the ship Robert
Morris, Captain Hay, for the East Indies. On his arrival there he w...
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An Occurrence At Sea
In June, 1824, I embarked at Liverpool on board the Vibelia transport
with the head-quarters of my regiment, which was proceeding to...
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Account Of The Loss Of His Majesty's Ship Phoenix
The Phoenix of 44 guns, Capt. Sir Hyde Parker was lost in a hurricane,
off Cuba, in the West Indies, in the year 1780. The same hurr...
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An Account Of The Whale Fishery With Anecdotes Of The Dangers Attending It
Historians, in general, have given to the Biscayans the credit of
having first practiced the fishery for the Whale; the English, and...
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Loss Of The Brig Tyrrel
In addition to the many dreadful shipwrecks already narrated, the
following, which is a circumstantial account given by T. Purnell,
...
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The Loss Of The Peggy
On the 28th of September, 1785, the Peggy, commanded by Capt. Knight,
sailed from the harbor of Waterford, Ireland, for the port of ...
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Loss Of His Majesty's Ship Litchfield
The Litchfield, Captain Barton, left Ireland on the 11th of November,
1758, in company with several other men of war and transports,...
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Wreck Of The Rothsay Castle Steamer
The Rothsay Castle was a steam packet which formerly traded on the
Clyde. She belonged to the line of steamers which sailed from
Li...
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Shipwreck Of The French Ship Droits De L'homme
On the 5th of January, 1797, returning home on leave of absence from
the West Indies, in the Cumberland letter of marque, for the re...
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The Loss Of His Majesty's Ship Queen Charlotte
The Queen Charlotte was, perhaps, one of the finest ships in the
British navy. She was launched in 1790, and her first cruise was wi...
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A Scene On The Atlantic Ocean
On the morning of the 5th of August, 1833, during a severe gale in
lat. 46, lon. 31, Capt. Dempsey, of the ship Kingston, discovered...
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Shipwreck Of The French Frigate Medusa
On the Western Coast of Africa. By MADAME DARD, one of the
Sufferers.
In the year 1816, an expedition was fitted out by the Frenc...
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The Loss Of The Royal George
On the 29th of August, 1782, it was found necessary that the Royal
George, a line-of-battle ship of 108 guns, which had lately arriv...
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Loss Of The Aeneas Transport
The AEneas transport sailed with 347 souls on board, including a party
of men belonging to the 100th regiment of foot, as also some ...
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The Absent Ship
Fair ship, I saw thee bounding o'er the deep,
Thy white wings glancing in the morning ray
And many a sparkling eye in...
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Loss Of The Halsewell
The catastrophe which is now about to be related made a deep
impression on the public mind. The circumstances attending it were too
...
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An Account Of Four Russian Sailors Abandoned On The Island Of East Spitzbergen
In the year 1743, a merchant of Mesen, in Russia, fitted out a vessel
for the Greenland whale-fishery. She carried fourteen men, and...
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Loss Of The Amphitrite Convict Ship
The following particulars of the loss of this vessel are copied from a
letter dated Boulogne-sur-mer, Sept. 1, 1833.
The shocking...
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The Mutineers A Tale Of The Sea
There is scarce any one, we apprehend, who is in any considerable
degree conversant with the shifting scenes of human existence, who...
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Fate Of Seven Sailors Who Were Left On The Island Of St Maurice
The Dutch who frequented the northern regions during the more
favorable season of the year, in pursuit of the whale fishery, became
...
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Seamen Wintering In Spitzbergen
On the 30th of August 1633, the Dutch fleet sailed from North-Bay, in
Spitzbergen, leaving seven men behind, who had agreed to winte...
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A Man Overboard
Sailors are men of rough habits, but their feelings are not by any
means so coarse: if they possess little prudence or worldly
cons...
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An Escape Through The Cabin-windows
In the year 18--, said Capt. M----, I was bound, in a fine stout ship
of about four hundred tons burden, from the port of l'---- to
...
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Tom Cringle's Log
We had refitted, and been four days at sea, on our voyage to Jamaica,
when the gun-room officers gave our mess a blow out.
The ...
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Loss Of The Nautilus Sloop Of War On A Rock In The Archipelago
A misunderstanding having originated between the Court of Great
Britain, and the Ottoman Porte, a powerful squadron was ordered to
...
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Wreck Of A Slave Ship
The following extract of a letter from Philadelphia, dated November
11th, 1762, gives an account of the melancholy disaster that bef...
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The Wrecked Seamen
The annexed thrilling sketch is extracted from the "Life of a Sailor,
by a Captain in the British Navy." It relates to the exposures...
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Adventures Of Philip Ashton Who After Escaping From Pirates Lived Sixteen Months In Solitude On A Desolate Island
On Friday the 15th of June 1722, after being out some time in a
schooner with four men and a boy, off Cape Sable, I stood in for Por...
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Explosion Of His B Majesty's Ship Amphion
The Amphion frigate, Captain Israel Pellow, after having cruised some
time in the North Seas, had at length received an order to joi...
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Loss Of H B M Ship La Tribune Off Halifax Nova Scotia
La Tribune was one of the finest frigates in his Majesty's navy,
mounted 44 guns, and had recently been taken from the French by
Ca...
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Burning Of The Prince A French East Indiaman
On the 19th of February 1752, a French East Indiaman, called the
Prince, sailed from Port L'Orient on a voyage outward bound. But so...
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Wreck Of The Schooner Betsey On A Reef Of Rocks
The Betsey, a small schooner of about 75 tons burden, sailed from
Macao in China, for New South Wales, on the 10th of November, 1805...
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Early American Heroism
During one of the former wars, between France and England, in which
the then Colonies bore an active part, a respectable individual,...
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Fingal's Cave
The most magnificent of all known caverns, is that called Fingal's
Cave, in the Isle of Staffa, on the western coast of Scotland. It...
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The Loss Of The Ramillies In The Atlantic Ocean
Admiral (afterwards Lord) Graves having requested leave to return to
England in 1782, was appointed by Lord Rodney to command the co...
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Preservation Of Nine Men In A Small Boat Surrounded By Islands Of Ice
We sailed from Plymouth under convoy of H. B. Majesty's ship St.
Alban's, and two other ships of war, together with a fleet of
merc...
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Captain Ross's Expedition
In the year 1818 the British Government fitted out two expeditions to
the North Pole. Captain Buchan, commanding the Trent and the D...
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Loss Of The Catharine Venus And Piedmont Transports And Three Merchant Ships
The miseries of war are in themselves great and terrible, but the
consequences which arise indirectly from it, though seldom known a...
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Wreck Of The British Ship Sidney On A Reef Of Rocks In The South Sea
The Sidney left Port Jackson, on the coast of New Holland, on the 12th
of April, 1806, bound to Bengal. Intending to proceed through...
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Loss Of The Duke William Transport
The Duke William Transport, commanded by Captain Nicholls, was fitted
out by him with all possible expedition in the year 1758, and ...
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Commodore Barney
No old Triton who has passed his calms under the bows of the long-boat
could say of Joshua Barney that he came into a master's berth...
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Naval Battles Of The United States
The depredations committed on American commerce in the Mediterranean,
by the piratical corsairs of the Barbary powers, induced Congr...
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The Acting Sub
He was a very junior young officer indeed when the powers that be first
gladdened his heart and ruined his clothes by sending him to a...
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The Mother Ship
Sixteen years ago, when the ships of the Royal Navy still disported
themselves in black hulls, with red water-lines, white upper works...
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Our Happy Home
Compared with that of a "27-knotter" of twenty years ago the wardroom
of a modern destroyer is a palatial apartment.
Imagine a room...
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Bloodless Surgery
The climb had been a stiff one. The day was very hot, and, rather
purple about the face and breathing heavily, the sailor relapsed on...
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Bunting
He was a short, thick-set, ruddy-faced, shrewd-eyed little person, who
wore on the left sleeve of his blue jumper two good-conduct bad...
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The Lost Sheep
The glass had gone down with a thump during the afternoon, and all
through the night the destroyer had been steaming home against a
r...
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A Naval Menagerie
Denis was a pig, a very special sort of pig, a pig of German origin,
and perhaps the only animal of his species in whose favour a spec...
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The Muckle Flugga Hussars
She was a member of that gallant and distinguished corps after which
this article is named. You will not find her regiment mentioned ...
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The Pirates
"It is not possible to prevent the occasional appearance of enemy
submarines within the range of our shores, but I can give an assuran...
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The Fog
The _Rapier_ was an old destroyer, one of the 370-ton "thirty-knotters"
completed in about 1901. She burnt coal and was driven by
re...
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The Traders
We were steaming to the westward, towards the spot where the sun,
glowing like a disc of molten copper, was slowly nearing the horizon...
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Potvin Of The Puffin
"Well, I'm damned!" ejaculated the first lieutenant, looking up from
his breakfast as a barefooted signalman held a slate under his no...
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Pirate Life
I served as assistant pilot on board the merchant vessel Dolphin,
bound from Jamaica for London, which had already doubled the south...
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Captivity Among The Japanese
On the fifth of July, A. D., 1811, the Russian sloop of war, Diana,
approached Kumachir, one of the most southerly of the Kurile isl...
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A Sea-fight On The Cuban Coast
By the orders of the British government, I cruised for a season in the
Cuban waters, for the express purpose of aiding in the suppre...
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A Winter In The Frozen Ocean
One stormy winter's evening, in the year 1579, Gerhard de Ver was
sitting in the warm and cheerful parlor of his plain but comfortab...
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The Shipwreck
A few years ago a company of one of the English regiments of infantry,
consisting of eleven officers and two hundred soldiers embark...
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Voyage To The East Indies
Soon after embarking, and wearied by the exertions I had been obliged
to make for the last few days, I betook myself to my cabin and...
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Home-sickness Of A Siberian
Every Russian officer is permitted to choose their servants from
among the soldiers, the number varying according to the rank; the
...
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Allen Of The Chesapeake
Give a ship an unlucky name, and it will last throughout the whole of
her career. A sailor is proverbially superstitious, and he cli...
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Reuben James Able Seaman
This is a story that has oft been told before. But in history, if a man
becomes famous by one act, and be that act something worth r...
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The Men Behind The Times
Out of the north they came in their grimy, bluff-bowed ships--the men
behind the times! Three years away from home; three years outs...
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The Coward
He said that he had been impressed into the English service from the
brig Susan Butler, of New York. But what grounds the boarding o...
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The Scapegoat
It was a famous dinner party that Captain William Bainbridge, Commander
of the Charlestown Navy Yard, gave on the night of the 31st ...
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The Loss Of The Vixen
On the 22d of October, 1812, at nine A.M., the United States brig
Vixen crossed St. Mary's bar outward bound for a cruise to the
so...
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In The Harbor Of Fayal
On the lake front at Chicago during the World's Fair, close by the
entrance to the long walk that led out to the marvellously constr...
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The Escape Of Symington
Captain Myron Symington was a long-legged Yankee. There was no
mistaking him for anything else but an out-and-out downeaster. As to
...
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The Narragansett
"Twenty of those confounded Yankees give me more trouble than three
decks full of Frenchmen," remarked Captain Brower of the prison-...
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Fighting Stewart
An old sailor sat on the Constitution's forecastle, with his back
against the carriage of one of the forward carronades. He was skil...
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Two Duels
"Oh, Bainbridge, you're going ashore with us, aren't you?"
At these words a young man who was walking up and down the frigate's
q...
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Dartmoor
The word "Dartmoor" means little to the ear of the American of this
generation, for it is the name of a town on the bleak open stret...
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The Rival Life-savers
It was February, the year after the war. The month had been cold and
stormy. Frequent and sudden squalls had kept everybody on the a...
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Random Adventures
The newspapers published during the War of 1812, granted even that they
were vastly prejudiced of course, contained so much of thril...
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Narrative Of The Mutiny Of The Bounty
About the year 1786, the merchants and planters interested in the West
India Islands became anxious to introdu...
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Our First Whale
Simultaneous ideas occurring to several people, or thought transference,
whatever one likes to call the phenomenon, is too frequent ...
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Going To Sea A Hundred Years Ago
In the ordinary course of a commercial education, in New England, boys
are transferred from school to the merchant's desk at the age...
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The Pilot
The hero of Cooper's stirring sea-tale is a mysterious Pilot known as
Mr. Gray, who, during the American Revolution, came aboard the Y...
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The Escape Of The American Frigate Alliance
We cannot detain the narrative, to detail the scenes which busy
wonder, aided by the relation of divers marvellous feats, produced
...
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Among The Ice Floes
"Keep her a good full, Mr. Hazard," said Roswell, as he was leaving
the deck to take the first sleep in which he had indulged for
f...
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A Tornado At Sea
"What was my horror when I saw the quicksilver had sunk so far below
the mark, probably fixed there that morning, as to be almost sh...
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My First Voyage
The fourteenth day of August was the day fixed upon for the sailing of
the brig Pilgrim on her voyage from Boston round Cape Horn to...
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Running Away To Sea
In an ill hour, God knows, on the 1st of September, 1651, I went on
board a ship bound for London. Never any young adventurer's
mis...
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The Tempest
In the evening I started, ... down the road I had traversed under so
many vicissitudes.
"Don't you think that," I asked the coach...
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Toilers Of The Sea
Victor Hugo's "Toilers of the Sea" is a story of the Channel Islands
between England and France. Gilliatt, the hero, was a seaman of
...
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A Struggle With A Devil-fish
When he awakened he was hungry.
The sea was growing calmer. But there was still a heavy swell, which
made his departure, for the ...
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The Man And The Cannon
One of the carronades of the battery, a twenty-four pounder, had
broken loose.
This is the most dangerous accident that can possi...
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A Ship On Fire At Sea
"What is it?" I exclaimed; "what can it be?"
She pointed with her finger, and as the yacht swung round she said,
"Look there, ma'...
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In The Gulf Stream
The appearance of the first fragments of gulf-weed caused quite a
little excitement, and set an enthusiastic pair of naturalists, a
...
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The Loss Of The Royal George
I am not likely to forget that next morning, the 28th of August,
(17--). It was a fine summer's morning, and there was just a little...
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Sailors Yarns
Within the tropics, on a wondrous evening when the Southern trades
were blowing with their balmiest softness, the corporeal portion ...
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Mr Midshipman Easy
Jack Easy, the hero of Captain Marryat's story, was "no fool, but a
bit of a philosopher." He had been spoiled by an indulgent mother ...
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Equality At Sea
The next morning Jack Easy would have forgotten all about his
engagement with the captain, had it not been for the waiter, who
thou...
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The Club-hauling Of The Diomede
We continued our cruise along the coast, until we had run down into
the Bay of Arcason, where we captured two or three vessels, and
...
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Moby Dick
Melville's exciting sea-tale relates the adventures of the Pequod, a
Nantucket whaler, in pursuit of the great white whale, Moby Dick,...
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The Chase
That night, in the mid-watch, when the old man--as his wont at
intervals--stepped forth from the scuttle in which he leaned, and wen...
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Rounding Cape Horn
Through drizzling fogs and vapors, and under damp, double-topsails,
our wet-decked frigate drew nearer and nearer to the squally Cap...
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The Merchantman And The Pirate
North Latitude 23-1/2, Longitude East 113; the time March of this same
year; the wind southerly; the port Whampoa in the Canton ...
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A Gale Of Wind
At midnight Holdsworth came on deck to relieve the second mate. A man
out of the port watch came to the wheel, and stood yawning, sc...
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The Wreck Of The Grosvenor
The story of the wreck of the Grosvenor is supposed to be told by Mr.
Royle, the second mate of that unlucky ship. She was a small ves...
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Saved
We had never yet had the leisure to inspect the stores with which the
mutineers had furnished the quarter-boat, and we now found, in...
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The Capture Of The Cotton Ship
The northwester still continued, with a clear blue sky, without a
cloud overhead by day, and a bright, cold moon by night. It blew s...
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Treasure Island
Jim Hawkins, the boy hero of Stevenson's tale, had sailed with a party
of adventuresome gentlemen on the ship Hispaniola, to find the ...
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The Cruise Of The Coracle
It was broad day when I awoke, and found myself tossing at the
southwest end of Treasure Island. The sun was up, but was still hid
...
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The Landing On The Island
For many days we had been tempest-tossed. Six times had the darkness
closed over a wild and terrific scene, and returning light as o...
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Sea Monsters
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The Kraken
In the legends and traditions of northern nations, stories of the existence of a marine animal of such enormous size that it more re...
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The Great Sea Serpent
The belief in the existence of sea-serpents of formidable dimensions is of great antiquity. Aristotle, writing about B.C. 340, says:...
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The Mermaid
Next to the pleasure which the earnest zoologist derives from study of the habits and structure of living animals, and his intellige...
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The Lernean Hydra
The mystery of the Kraken, of which I treated in a companion volume to the present, recently published, is not difficult to unravel....
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Scylla And Charybdis
In the description given by Homer, in the twelfth book of the 'Odyssey,' of the unfortunate nymph Scylla, transformed by the arts of...
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The Spouting Of Whales
One of the sea-fallacies still generally believed, and accepted as true, is that whales take in water by the mouth, and eject it fro...
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The Sailing Of The Nautilus
One of the prettiest fables of the sea is that relating to the Paper Nautilus, the constructor and inhabitant of the delicate and be...
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Barnacle Geese—goose Barnacles
The belief that some wild geese, instead of being hatched from eggs, like other birds, grew on trees and rotten wood has never been ...
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