Now in its 5th edition, Shiphandling for the Mariner is the classic and definitive text on the art of practical shiphandling skills for large, modern commercial vessels. Written by a father and son team of pilots, along with contributions from other expert pilots and shipmasters, this compendium follows a nontechnical format that stresses maneuvers used routinely in the field. The text covers essential maneuvers used in docking, undocking, and shiphandling, plus uncommon maneuvers such as docking at single-point and multiple-buoy moorings, use of anchors in shiphandling, offshore lightering, and transiting of locks and canals. Bridge practices in pilot waters and training techniques, including simulator training are also discussed. Updated for the 5th edition: squat and under keel clearance, current practices for bridge resource management, and the use of laptop navigation systems and ECDIS in pilotage waters. Shiphandling for the Mariner is ideal for those with a foundation of practical knowledge looking to advance and master shiphandling skills that are essential to the marine profession.

Offers essential guidance on how to become a better ship handler.

A fascinating personal memoir of underwater combat in World War II, told by a man who played a major role in those dangerous operations. Frank and beautifully written, Submarine Commander's breezy style and irrepressible humor place it in a class by itself. This book will be of lasting value as a submarine history by an expert and as an enduring military and political analysis. In early 1943 the submarine USS Scorpion, with Paul R. Schratz as torpedo officer, slipped into the shallow waters east of Tokyo, laid a minefield, and made successful torpedo attacks on merchant shipping. Schratz participated in many more patrols in heavily mined Japanese waters as executive officer of the Sterlet and the Atule. At war's end he participated in the Japanese surrender, aided the release of American POWs, and had a key role in the disarming of enemy suicide submarines. He then took command of the revolutionary new Japanese submarine I-203 and returned it to Pearl Harbor. But this was far from the end of Schratz's submarine career. In 1949 he commissioned the ultramodern USS Pickerel, the most deadly submarine then afloat, and set a world's record in a 21-day, 5,200-mile submerged passage from Hong Kong to Honolulu. With the outbreak of the Korean War, the Pickerel was immediately sent to Korea to participate in secret intelligence operations only recently declassified and never before revealed in print. Schratz's broad military experience makes this a far from ordinary memoir.