Sea stories
White Jacket
This is a tale based on Melville's experiences aboard the USS United States from 1843 to 1844. It comments on the harsh and brutal realities…
The Life, Adventures & Piracies of Captain Singleton
The Life, Adventures & Piracies of Captain Singleton follows the extraordinary journey of a man who rises from humble beginnings to beco…
The Mutiny of the Bounty
In Bligh's own words, we hear about the lead-up to the famous mutiny and what happened afterwards with the mutineers and the castaways. This…
The Loss of the S. S. Titanic
This is a 1st hand account written by a survivor of the Titanic about that fateful night and the events leading up to it as well as the even…
Omoo
Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas is Herman Melville's sequel to Typee, and, as such, was also autobiographical. After leavi…
Typhoon
Typhoon is a short novel by Joseph Conrad, begun in 1899 and published in Pall Mall Magazine in 1902. It is a classic sea yarn that describe…
Redburn
Melville wrote of some of his earliest experiences at sea in the story of Wellingborough Redburn, a wet-behind-the-ears youngster whose head…
Toilers of the Sea
Toilers of the Sea is a powerful tale of love and perseverance set against the backdrop of the unforgiving sea. Victor Hugo weaves a narrati…
The Cruise of the Esmeralda
After his father died, Captain Saint Leger and his family are left destitute. However, the Saint Legers have a family secret: an ancestor is…
The Pirates Own Book
The Pirates Own Book by Charles Ellms offers a fascinating glimpse into the lives of some of history's most notorious sea robbers. This coll…
Eirik the Red's Saga
In this saga, the events that led to Eirik the Red's banishment to Greenland are chronicled, as well as Leif Eirikson's discovery of Vinland…
The New Swiss Family Robinson
The New Swiss Family Robinson is a humorous take on the classic adventure story, crafted by Owen Wister for the Harvard Lampoon. This parody…
The Secret Sharer
A young untested ship captain finds a man named Leggatt clinging to the side of his ship. The Captain makes the unusual decision to hide Leg…
Fast in the Ice
At the age of 16 Ballantyne went to Canada and was six years in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company. His rule in writing, being in every…
A Voyage to the South Sea
A Voyage to the South Sea, undertaken by command of His Majesty, for the purpose of conveying the Bread-fruit tree to the West Indies, in Hi…
Nigger of the Narcissus
This is the story of a voyage of a merchant sailing ship from Bombay to England, set in the very late 19th century. “It was a bad winter off…
The Mystery of the 'Ocean Star'
The Mystery of the 'Ocean Star' invites listeners into a world of intrigue and adventure on the high seas. This collection of short stories …
The Frozen Pirate
Sailing adventure with storms, icebergs, shipwrecks, treasure, and the reawakening of a pirate frozen in suspended animation for nearly fift…
The Life and Adventures of Alexander Selkirk
This work was the true story of Alexander Selkirk (1676 to December 13, 1721), a Scottish sailor who was employed in a number of different t…
Robinson Crusoe
Adaptation of the story of Robinson Crusoe for grammar school children. Tells how the shipwrecked sailor makes a new life for himself on the…