Includes bibliographical references (p. [623]-645) and index.

This comprehensive encyclopedia covers more than one thousand of the world's best-known and most significant vessels of every size and type. Each ship is described in a vivid short essay that captures its personality as well as its physical characteristics, construction, and history, from the drawing board to the scrap yard or museum. Even fictional ships and boats, such as the African Queen, are included. Two hundred illustrations show the grandeur and grace of oceangoing vessels, maps help the reader follow the courses of great seafarers and naval campaigns, and chronologies offer a perspective on underwater archaeological sites, naval warfare, maritime technology, exploration, and disasters at sea.