There have been many shipwreck anthologies published over the years. The advantages to such books are that you learn the basics about a wide number of maritime disasters. The downsides to these books is that there seems to be some sort of unfortunate trade off of quality for quantity. It has been my experience that a lot of these anthologies seem to contain an unusually large number of factual errors.

So it is always a pleasure to read a work that combines a wide range of events with reliable, accurate information. William Flayhart’s Perils of the Atlantic is a sterling example. No book ever published is completely error free, but I caught very few flubs in this work.

The other possible downside to disaster anthologies is that they tend to focus on the same events over and over again, usually the ones with the largest losses of life. Flayhart’s book breaks from this mold as well, as the author has included quite a number of incidents that you very likely have not heard about before. He also covers some amazing stories of near catastrophe, where disaster was avoided by the heroic actions of the crew and passengers.

This blend of mishaps and close shaves makes for a great read, and a refreshing change of pace from the typical shipwreck anthology. Sure the big events are covered. The wreck of the Arctic is recounted, as is the wreck of the Atlantic, the Republic, Titanic, Empress of Ireland, Lusitania, Morro Castle, and the Andrea Doria.

Each incident gets its own chapter, and follows a similar pattern. There is an introduction which describes the circumstances leading up to the accident. The bulk of the chapter describes the event in detail, explaining what happened and why. Following is a brief overview of the aftermath, and each chapter ends with the lessons that were learned.

Besides the big name wrecks noted above, you will read about a wide assortment of other accidents, some ending in tragedy, others in triumph. One of the lesser known tragedies was the loss of the Ville du Havre in 1873, a French liner that was the second largest vessel in the world at the time. She was rammed by another vessel and sank in minutes with a massive loss of life.

Yet there was the incredible escape of the American Steamship Company’s liner Pennsylvania in 1874. That ship lost its bridge crew, and indeed the entire bridge when it was swept away during a hurricane. The ship was returned safely to port only because one of the passengers was able to take command.

There was the loss of the Cunard Line’s Oregon in 1884 due, once again, to ramming by another ship. It is one of the few times that a Cunarder was lost during peacetime, yet, incredibly, not a single life was lost during that sinking.

Another astonishing story is the explosion in the engine room of the City of Paris in 1890, which resulted in a virtual self-destruction of the engine room. Yet due to the heroic effort of her engineers, the ship was saved and lived to be refitted and returned to service.

Then there is the story of the City of Chicago, which rammed itself at full steam, right into the Old Head of Kinsale in 1892. The ship was virtually jammed into the huge rock promontory which had a lighthouse at its top. Imagine the astonishment of the lighthouse workers upon seeing distress rockets being fired from practically directly beneath their feet! Again, although the ship was lost, everyone aboard was saved.

And so it goes. In all there are 21 maritime mishaps covered in this book. The range of incidents covered is chronological and wider in scope than most similar anthologies. The author begins with the wreck of the steamship Arctic in 1854 and finishes with the loss of the cruise ship Seabreeze I in December of 2000.

The book is not heavily illustrated, but there is at least one or two drawings or photographs in most of the chapters. The text is backed up with an extensive 20 pages of footnotes. The book also includes an excellent 12 page bibliography for further reading.

Flayhart is a respected naval historian, and this book richly highlights the depth of his knowledge and experience in the subject.