Boatnerd Discussion Forum

A Sailors Logbook by Mark Thompson

Guest wrote:I can recommend any of the books by Skip Gillham (who also wrote articles for Mariners Weather Log in the 1990s to 2016), and Fleet Histories series of books by John Greenwood.

- Brian

I agree with both choices. Skip wrote a lot of great books mainly on fleet histories and included lots of great photos. He is probably the most prolific Great Lakes author ever published.
Greenwood's fleet histories are excellant and highly detailed.
My personal favorites are Dwight Boyer's books with great personal stories on the ships and crews.

I can recommend any of the books by Skip Gillham (who also wrote articles for Mariners Weather Log in the 1990s to 2016), and Fleet Histories series of books by John Greenwood.

- Brian

I always liked "End of an era (The last of the great lakes steam Boats)" by David Plowden

And the series from John O. Greenwood Namesakes of the Lakes, a very valuable research tool for just about all vessels that ever plied the Great Lakes .

Well I’m surprised to see that no one here as suggested or commented and made any recommendations on Know Your Ships! You can’t go wrong there and it would be considered a cardinal sin IMO anyway to not have a copy each year! So, I’m putting in my recommendation then at least for the Know Your Ships book and thanking Roger too for the great job that he does every year on it then!

Steamboating by Ryan Barone

There is a wonderful book by a gentleman named Jon Paul Michaels who wrote a book about the "Collision Under the Bridge" with his brother Brenton. Based in Sarnia about the Sydney Smith Jr and the Parker Evans. Great read. Published in 2008.

Another good source I'd highly recommend would be books written and done by Raymond Bawal Jr. as he's written numerous and excellent publications in the past few years. He's done a fleet history on the Inland Steel fleet along with written about the 1,000 footers as also the ending of an era of Steamships on the Great Lakes. I've gotten all of his works so far and have enjoyed every one of them. Also and I agree with many of the publications that other posters here have suggested and have also recommended as well. I believe I have most all of them in my own book collection as well.

I recommend Mark Thompson's "Queen of the Lakes". It follows the development of lake boats over the decades and paints a good photo of lake boats getting larger and larger in order to be profitable. It is worth your time and effort and the reading is not difficult.

garbear wrote:Lake Superior Shipwrecks (Dr. Julius F. Wolff, Thom Holden) a great book.

I agree. It is fact based and well researched. It also includes lots of photos and has a chart section.

Lake Superior Shipwrecks (Dr. Julius F. Wolff, Thom Holden) a great book.

I would highly recommend to start with:

Dwight Boyer's Ghost Ships of the Great Lakes

Dana Thomas Bowen's Lore of the Lakes and Memories from the Lakes

Mark Thompson's Graveyard of the Lakes

And Vein of Iron, the Pickands Mather story. (Can't recall author at the top of my head)

Skip and Wes have some good stuff out there.
I'd also recommend the 1913 Storm book and the Fitzgerald book by Fred Stonehouse.
Sea Stories by Capt. Metz is great as well.
"End of an Era" is hard to find but also good.

Although he passed away several years ago now, Skip Gillham wrote and published many fine books on Great Lakes ships. He did a few of them on the fleet histories as well. Also, Fred Stonehouse as written quite a few books and titles as well. The Marine Historical Society of Detroit has also published a few books and titles of their own. Hope this information has helped.

I've found Wes Olszewski books are very interesting, and are told more in a narrative style for history, but he does seem to include a number of opinions in his writing.

As for shipwrecks, one of the best authors I've found is Michael Schumacher. Facts are accurate and his writing style is very engaging and interesting.

Here is a link to the old boatnerd "bookshelf", with a number of interesting titles on it for you to explore. https://boatnerd.com/oldsite/books/default.htm

Anything by Wes Oleszewski

Searching for recommendations for favorite books / publications related to Great Lakes Shipping. From ships to wrecks, storms, docks, mines or tales.
What are some of your favorite boat nerd publications?
Bonus points for links.
Thanks in advance.

PS I tried to search maybe there is already a list / post compilation somewhere here.