Joseph Chipperfield was a prolific Irish writer of juvenile fiction during the 1950's, '60s & '70's. Most of the books he wrote were animal related, there were several about dogs, but with others about horses, eagles, even deer. During the 1960's he lived in Bray, Co., Wicklow, Ireland.

A lot of his books are available used on the usual out-of-print internet sites, but his Titanic book is one of his scarcest. As a matter of fact, The Story of a Great Ship made my list as one of the top ten hardest Titanic books to acquire.

The book itself is about the building of the Titanic as seen through the eyes of a young Harland and Wolff apprentice carpenter. The young man then sails on the maiden voyage and has to cope with events as the tragedy strikes and the ship founders. The story is a pretty straight forward narrative, but I felt it lacked any real punch.

With thanks to David Sewell for some of the details about this version.

Chipperfield, Joseph E. The Story of a Great Ship: The Birth and Death of the Steamship Titanic. reprint edition. London: The Beaver Club. 1957. hardcover. illustrated by Charles King. children’s book. isbn: none. scarcity: very scarce. With thanks to Dennis Donnan for details about this edition, and for the cover illustration as well..

Chipperfield, Joseph E. The Story of a Great Ship: The Birth and Death of the Steamship Titanic. 1st American printing. New York: Roy Publishers. 1959. hardcover. illustrated by Charles King. children’s book. isbn: none. scarcity: very scarce.