Tales from the Quarterdeck

Sixty bite-sized stories from Australia’s maritime past

I have just launched a new book titled Tales from the Quarterdeck: Sixty bite-sized stories from Australia’s maritime past. Sixty of the most popular posts have been reedited. In some cases, I’ve rewritten a couple and updated a few where new information has come to light since first writing them.

For those who would value ready access to the stories in their bookcase, Tales from the Quarterdeck is available in Kindle ebook and paperback formats through Amazon.

The stories are organised in chronological order, starting with the Tryall shipwreck off the Western Australian coast in 1622, and finishing with the Second World War exploits of the Krait. See below for a full list of the stories covered in the book.

1622 – The Tryall: Australia’s earliest shipwreck

1629 – The Batavia Tragedy

1688 – William Dampier: Navigator, naturalist, writer, pirate

1770  – The Endeavour’s Crappy Repair

1788 – Loss of La Astrolabe and La Boussole, a 40-Year Mystery                        

1789 – Bligh’s Epic Voyage to Timor

1789 – HMS Guardian: All Hands to the Pumps

1790 – The Loss of HMS Sirius

1790 – Sydney’s First Desperate Escape

1791 – HMS Pandora: Queensland’s earliest recorded Shipwreck

1791 – William Bryant’s Great Escape

1797 – The Loss of the Sydney Cove

1803 – Loss of HMS Porpoise

1808 – Robert Stewart and the Seizure of the Harrington

1814 – Wreck of the Morning Star

1816 – The Life and Loss of HMSC Mermaid

1824 – The Brig Amity’s Amazing Career

1829 – The Cyprus mutiny 

1831 – The Caledonia’s perilous last voyage

1833 – The Badger’s Textbook Escape

1835 – The Loss of the Convict Ship Neva

1835 – The Post Office in the middle of nowhere

1835 – The Tragic Loss of George III

1845 – The Cataraqui: Australia’s worst shipwreck

1846 – The Peruvian’s Lone Survivor

1847 – The Foundering of the Sovereign

1850 – The Loss of the Enchantress: A first-hand account

1851 – The Countess of Minto’s brush with Disaster

1852 – The Bourneuf’s Tragic Last Voyage

1852 – The Nelson Gold Heist

1854 – Bato to the Rescue 

1854 – HMS Torch and the rescue of the Ningpo

1856 – The Loss of the Duroc and the Rise of La Deliverance

1858 – The Loss of the Saint Paul and its Horrific Aftermath

1858 – Narcisse Pelletier, An Extraordinary Tale of Survival

1859 – The Indian Queen’s Icy Encounter

1859 – The Sapphire and Marina

1863 – The loss of the Grafton: Marooned for twenty months

1864 – The Invercauld shipwreck

1865 – The CSS Shenandoah: Victoria’s link to the American Civil War

1866 – The Loss of the SS Cawarra: Bad luck or an avoidable tragedy?

1868 – The Bogus Count and Hamlet’s Ghost

1871 – The Mystery of the Peri

1872 – The Loss of the Maria, A Cautionary Tale

1875 – The Tragedy behind the Gothenburg Medals

1876 – The Catalpa rescue

1876 – The Banshee’s Terrible Loss

1878 – The Loch Ard Tragedy

1884 – The Macabre case of the Mignonette

1885 – The Douro and its Piratical Captain

1889 – The Windjammer Grace Harwar

1891 – The Spanish Silver of Torres Strait

1893 – The Foundering of the SS Alert

1895 – The Norna and the Conman Commodore

1899 – Cyclone Mahina

1911 – The Loss of the Mandalay

1918 – The Orete’s Robinson Crusoe-like Castaway

1935 – The Life and Loss of  the SS Maheno

1943 – Surviving the Centaur Sinking

1943 – The Amazing Krait