Amid the turmoil of the dying days of the Second World War, a series of ships were sunk in the Baltic. These terrible disasters add up to be the greatest loss of life ever recorded at sea, but the stories of these ships have been lost from view. While everyone recognises the name Titanic, the names Cap Arcona, Goya, General von Steuben andThielbek draw little more than blank stares.

This book looks at British and north Continental European ships which were serving international trade until the end of the 1970s.

Stories in verse about merchant seamen, their ships and the sea, with some observations of a lifetime.

Nautilus Telegraph's Book of the Month for April 2021

A guide to the china of British shipping companies of the 19th and 20th centuries

Explore the history of ocean liners through the objects that bring them to life.