My newest project takes place on a luxury trans-Atlantic steamship in the 1890's. I'm trying to learn more about such things, so I would love to hear any bits of information - or simply to chat about steamships!

Awesome post idea, Cadenza!

I recently read a really great book by Clive Cussler called The Thief. You can read about the plot here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thief_(Clive_Cussler), but the dealbreaker is the ship action. Much of the book takes place on the RMS Mauretania, which was a sister ship to the RMS Lusitania, which was the ship sunk in 1915 during World War One. In addition, Captain Turner commanded the RMS Mauretania during the events in this book, and during the sinking of the Lusitania. I'd highly recommend the book, it's a great read and offers some thought-provoking insights into the coal ships. Clive Cussler seems quite accurate most of the time, and this appears to be no different.


I guess I'll talk some more. One of my favorite scenes in the book show the coal tenders feeding the massive furnace. We see how intense the job is - the searing heat, coal dust, shoveling all day, etc. Anyone who can work in those conditions must be a hulk. The Captain tells Isaac that when the tenders fight, they lock the doors and the ship grinds to a halt until it's over. Wow.

That looks like a fascinating book! Perhaps it should figure in my research... Is it clean?

And about the coal shovelers - that's really interesting. They were really willing to compromise the ship's timing to fight?

Clive Cussler does include some swear words in his books, at least the other two I read. I don't recall any negative stuff in this book, but there may well have been some "light" swearing that I don't recall. There is some violent material, but this was fairly tame in that direction.

The book made it sound like breaking up a fight with coal shovelers is a suicidal idea - sort of like breaking up a fight between pro football players. I guess the captain didn't have much choice.

Okay, thanks!



That makes sense. Like you said, they wouldn't exactly be shrimps.

My HF focuses on the mystery of the ship Naronic, so I'd be interested in hearing more about them also. The Naronic was a cargo ship, not a luxury cruiser, but there should still be some things in common. Is the ship your story take place on an actual ship?