Tall Ships Down : The Last Voyages of the Pamir, Albatross, Marques,
Pride of Baltimore, and Maria Asumpta
by Daniel S. Parrott

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books

Editorial Reviews

Synopsis

Captain Daniel Parrott, captain of the 170-foot topsail schooner Pride
of Baltimore II, is a professional mariner of 18 years' experience in
tall ships. While earning a master's degree in Marine Affairs from the
University of Rhode Island in 1998, Parrott undertook an in-depth,
critical re-examination of the official inquiries and other records
pertaining to the losses of:

* the 316-foot bark Pamir in 1957;
* the 117-foot brigantine Albatross in 1961;
* the 117-foot bark Marques in 1984;
* the 137-foot schooner Pride of Baltimore in 1986; and
* the 125-foot brig Maria Asumpta in 1995.

Each of these casualties is ingrained in the consciousness of serious
sailors. Each of them involved loss of life - 112 lost crew in total.
Each is a frequent topic of sailors' talk and speculations.

Parrott's 320-page master's thesis aimed primarily to trace the impact
of these tragedies on the development of sail training around the
world. In the end he did more, providing sobering insights into the
circumstances surrounding these losses.

Tall Ships Down is an outgrowth of Parrott's thesis research, framing
his inquiries and conclusions for a broad seagoing audience. This book
will be required reading for all those involved in the growing
sail-training effort around the world, of course, but it is also rich
in interest and significance for all sailors and mariners.

It outlines the history of each ship from its building, showing how
mission changes, structural changes, rig modifications, and ownership
changes can erode a ship's seaworthiness over time.

Then we relive the final voyages, dissecting the circumstances of loss
from forensic evidence and the memories of survivors.

Carefully examined, the evidence shows casualties that have been
considered acts of god probably resulted from an ignorance or neglect
of age-old practices of seamanship.

Cargo loose in holds, hatches unsecured at sea, freeing ports timbered
shut, rig and stability changes carried out with insufficient regard
to their possible impacts on seaworthiness - these and other factors
emerge from Parrott's in-depth analysis as contributing factors.

In the book's concluding section - in what amounts to an unforgettable
seminar on seamanship - Parrott explores the impacts of ship
stability, structural integrity, weather, human error, and standards
of risk on safety at sea.

In the end, Tall Ships Down is about the lore of the sea and the
wisdom of seamanship, and in that regard its lessons are applicable to
small sailboats as well as tall ships.

Students of the sea will read this book for its historical
significance.

Armchair sailors will be drawn to the vivid, tragic stories.

Professional mariners will read it for its seagoing wisdom. And all
sailors will draw from it a deeper understanding of what it takes to
be safe at sea.

From the Back Cover

Five stories of tragic loss for anyone who loves - or fears - the sea

"If you are at all interested in the literature of the sea, you will
find here an extraordinary investigation of some of sailing's most
tragic accidents, with many sobering lessons. If you are a
professional sailor, or aspire to be, Tall Ships Down is required
reading. Period." --Captain G. Andy Chase, Maine Maritime Academy,
author of Auxiliary Sail Vessel Operations.

"An impassioned sailor and scholar unafraid of the hard questions, Dan
Parrott focuses his seaman's eye on the challenges and risks of
voyaging under sail aboard traditional vessels and brings meaning,
understanding, and even hope from these tragic losses. Every sailor,
professional or amateur, will learn much from these stories." --Jon
Wilson, editor in chief, WoodenBoat.

"Captain Parrot examines five of the most infamous tragedies in modern
tall-ship history. Weather, stability, crew actions, blame -- the
debates and questions may now cease. Parrott's case histories are the
ultimate reference work." --Jim Carrier, author of The Ship and the
Storm.

Technologically outmoded and once nearly swept from the seas, tall
ships have experienced a fifty-year renaissance as sail training and
passenger vessels, and we are the richer for it. After all, what sight
has more power to stir the soul than a tall ship under sail with its
acres of canvas and miles of rigging? But that resurgence has had a
tragic side, and professional mariner and maritime scholar Dan Parrott
explores it in Tall Ships Down, a groundbreaking reconstruction of the
losses of the 316-foot barque Pamir in 1957; the 117-foot brigantine
Albatross in 1961; the 117-foot barque Marques in 1984; the 137-foot
Pride of Baltimore in 1986; and the 125-foot brig Maria Asumpta in
1995. Together, these disasters claimed 112 lives.

The heartbreaking stories of these majestic ships have been subject to
mystery and distortion. In some instances even the survivors could not
explain what went wrong, and in others the official inquiries failed
to articulate the most critical lessons hidden in the sudden, terrible
catastrophes - until now.

Parrott traces the history of each ship from its building and early
career through subsequent owners' modifications. His vivid
re-creations of each final voyage dissect the circumstances of loss
from forensic evidence, expert testimony, survivors' memories, and his
own considerable experience. Carefully examined, the evidence shows
that, contrary to some official findings, ignorance of and disregard
for age-old practices of seamanship were at least as responsible for
the tragedies as "acts of God." In some instances the seeds of a
ship's ultimate undoing were planted years before, as ill-considered
structural changes, rig modifications, and "mission creep" eroded its
stability and seaworthiness. Cargo loose in holds, hatches unsecured
at sea, freeing ports timbered shut, failure to preserve proper sea
room--these and other factors emerge from Parrott's analysis as
contributing factors.

Rich with history, lore, and survivors' incredible firsthand accounts,
Tall Ships Down is more than a great read. It's an unforgettable
seminar grounded in the sea's most fundamental truth - that small and
seemingly insignificant lapses can have fatal consequences.

Book Description

Five stories of loss at sea

For all its soul-stirring romance, the tall-ship renaissance has a
tragic side, and professional mariner and maritime scholar Dan Parrott
explores it in this groundbreaking reconstruction of five
controversial sea disasters of the past half century. Working from
official documents, survivor and expert interviews, and his own
considerable tall-ship experience, Parrott re-creates the losses of
five sail-training vessels: the 316-foot Pamir (1957), 117-foot
Albatross (1961), 117-foot Marques (1984), 137-foot Pride of Baltimore
(1986), and 125-foot Maria Asumpta (1995), which together claimed 112
lives. In Tall Ships Down, he reveals that, contrary to official
findings, ignorance of and disregard for age-old practices of
seamanship were at least as responsible for the tragedies as "acts of
God."

He vividly re-creates the final voyage of each and the events
surrounding the disasters. The book's final section, an unforgettable
seminar on seamanship, explores the roles played by ship stability,
structural integrity, weather, human error, and standards of risk in
tragedies at sea.