Famous Ships in Books: From the Pequod and the Nautilus to the Hispaniola
Moby-Dick, Treasure Island, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, Paul et Virginie, Lord Jim, the Aubrey and Maturin novels and the myths of the Argo and the Ark. The ships of literature were built in the imagination first. Marea can build them for real.
This chapter of Ships on Screen holds 281 ships and boats. For each one you will find the film or the book, the year, who was in it, what the ship does in the story, and the scene we would bring to life. See all 1,404 ships on one page.
Marea can build every one of these ships as a scale model, with the maximum detail the scale permits, finished to be inspected. But we don’t stop at the ship. We bring the scene with it: a few hand painted figurines on deck, caught in the one moment you remember. It isn’t a diorama. It’s the ship, with its story on board.
This database was put together by Ai Refloat™, Marea’s own artificial intelligence. Ai Refloat is still young & like any teenager, it can be a little volatile and unpredictable at times, but above all, it is learning fast. So this list may well contain mistakes and we welcome the input of everyone who knows these films, books and ships better than we do: listening, correcting and learning is one of the many ways we work towards perfection in this craft.
Have you spotted a mistake? Tell us which film, series, book, cartoon or boat, and we will amend it accordingly. Tell us here
The ships
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
The shipwrecked ship of the Robinsons Fictional
Der Schweizerische Robinson (The Swiss Family Robinson) (1812)
Written by Johann David Wyss
Screen adaptations Film 1940 (Thomas Mitchell); Film 1960 Disney (John Mills, Dorothy McGuire); TV 1975 (Martin Milner)
The ship carrying a Swiss pastor and his family to the colonies, abandoned by her crew in a storm. The family salvages animals and supplies from the wreck and builds a new life on the island.
The Marea scene The family floating ashore in a raft of tubs with the animals, the wreck behind them.
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Arrow Fictional
The Coral Island (1858)
Written by R. M. Ballantyne
The ship in which Ralph, Jack and Peterkin sail for the South Seas. She is wrecked and the three boys are cast away on a Pacific coral island.
The Marea scene The three boys clinging to an oar as the Arrow founders on the reef.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
The sieve Fictional
The Jumblies (1871)
Written by Edward Lear
The Jumblies go to sea in a sieve in spite of all their friends, with a pea green veil for a sail, and return twenty years later. Their heads are green and their hands are blue.
The Marea scene The Jumblies in the sieve, veil sail billowing, on the moonlit sea.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
The pea green boat Fictional
The Owl and the Pussy-cat (1871)
Written by Edward Lear
The boat in which the Owl and the Pussy-cat go to sea with honey and money. They sail for a year and a day to the land where the Bong-tree grows.
The Marea scene The Owl with his guitar serenading the Pussy-cat in the pea green boat under the moon.
Photo: Edward Lear, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Tom Sawyer's raft Fictional
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)
Written by Mark Twain
Screen adaptations Film 1938 (Tommy Kelly); film 1973 (Johnny Whitaker)
Tom, Huck and Joe Harper steal a raft and become pirates on Jackson's Island, while the town believes they have drowned. They return in time for their own funeral.
The Marea scene The three boy pirates poling the raft to Jackson's Island by night.
Photo: True Williams, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Hispaniola Fictional
Treasure Island (1883)
Written by Robert Louis Stevenson
Screen adaptations Film 1934 (Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper); Film 1950 Disney (Robert Newton, Bobby Driscoll); Film 1990 (Charlton Heston, Christian Bale); Muppet Treasure Island 1996
The schooner bought by Squire Trelawney to seek Captain Flint's treasure, crewed largely by Long John Silver's pirates. Jim Hawkins overhears their plot from the apple barrel, and later single handedly retakes the ship from Israel Hands.
The Marea scene Jim Hawkins hidden in the apple barrel on deck, listening to Long John Silver.
The real ship The 1950 Disney film used the Baltic trader Ryelands and the 1990 film used the 1960 Bounty replica.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Walrus Fictional
Treasure Island (1883)
Written by Robert Louis Stevenson
Captain Flint's pirate ship, never seen in the story, in which the treasure was brought to the island. Her former crew, including Long John Silver, drive the plot.
The Marea scene Flint's men burying the treasure on Skeleton Island with the Walrus at anchor.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
The raft Fictional
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)
Written by Mark Twain
Screen adaptations Film 1939 (Mickey Rooney); Film 1960 (Eddie Hodges); Film 1993 (Elijah Wood)
The raft on which Huck and the escaped slave Jim drift down the Mississippi. It is their home and refuge from the world on shore.
The Marea scene Huck and Jim on the raft at night with a lantern, the Mississippi wide around them.
Photo: E. W. Kemble, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Covenant Fictional
Kidnapped (1886)
Written by Robert Louis Stevenson
Screen adaptations Film 1938 (Warner Baxter, Freddie Bartholomew); Film 1960 Disney (Peter Finch, James MacArthur); Film 1971 (Michael Caine); TV 2005 (Iain Glen)
The brig of Captain Hoseason, aboard which David Balfour is shanghaied at the orders of his uncle Ebenezer. The ship runs down a boat carrying the Jacobite Alan Breck, and the two defend the roundhouse against the crew before the brig is wrecked off Mull.
The Marea scene David and Alan Breck defending the roundhouse against the Covenant's crew, swords and pistols drawn.
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Aurora Fictional
The Sign of the Four (1890)
Written by Arthur Conan Doyle
Screen adaptations Film 1983 (Ian Richardson); TV 1987 (Jeremy Brett); TV 2001 (Matt Frewer)
The fast steam launch hired by Jonathan Small and Tonga to escape down the Thames with the Agra treasure. Holmes and Watson pursue her in a police launch.
The Marea scene Holmes and Watson in the police launch closing on the Aurora as Tonga raises his blowpipe.
Photo: Lippincott's, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Flying Scud Fictional
The Wrecker (1892)
Written by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne
A wrecked brig on Midway Island whose salvage rights are bought at auction in San Francisco for a suspiciously huge sum. The narrator Loudon Dodd sails to the wreck to discover the mystery behind her.
The Marea scene Dodd searching the abandoned Flying Scud stranded on the reef.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Why Not Fictional
Moonfleet (1898)
Written by J. Meade Falkner
Screen adaptations Film 1955 (Stewart Granger, dir. Fritz Lang); TV 2013 (Ray Winstone)
The lugger of the smuggler Elzevir Block, used to run contraband on the Dorset coast. John Trenchard and Elzevir sail in her before the final wreck in Moonfleet Bay.
The Marea scene Elzevir and John struggling in the surf as the brig breaks up on the Moonfleet beach.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
HMS Thunder Child Fictional
The War of the Worlds (1898)
Written by H. G. Wells
Screen adaptations TV 2019 BBC (Eleanor Tomlinson, Rafe Spall)
A Royal Navy torpedo ram that charges the Martian fighting machines in the Thames estuary, covering the escape of refugee ships. She destroys two tripods before being blown up by the heat ray.
The Marea scene Thunder Child steaming full ahead at three Martian tripods wading in the estuary.
Photo: H. G. Wells, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Dulcibella Fictional
The Riddle of the Sands (1903)
Written by Erskine Childers
Screen adaptations Film 1979 (Michael York, Simon MacCorkindale, Jenny Agutter)
The small yacht in which Davies and Carruthers explore the Frisian sands. Their cruise uncovers German preparations for an invasion of England.
The Marea scene Davies and Carruthers aground on the sands in Dulcibella at low tide.
The real ship Based on Childers's own yacht Vixen.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Ratty's boat Fictional
The Wind in the Willows (1908)
Written by Kenneth Grahame
Screen adaptations Film 1996 (Terry Jones, Steve Coogan); animated 1983 (Cosgrove Hall)
The Water Rat's little blue and white boat, in which he first takes Mole on the river. Ratty tells him there is nothing half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.
The Marea scene Ratty rowing and Mole upsetting the boat as he grabs the sculls.
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Jolly Roger Fictional
Peter and Wendy (Peter Pan) (1911)
Written by J. M. Barrie
Screen adaptations Film 1924 (Betty Bronson); Film 1953 Disney animation; Film 1991 Hook (Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams); Film 2003 (Jason Isaacs)
Captain Hook's pirate ship, anchored in Kidd's Creek in Neverland. The Lost Boys and Wendy are taken aboard to walk the plank before Peter Pan defeats Hook, who is taken by the crocodile.
The Marea scene Hook facing Peter Pan on the Jolly Roger's deck as the ticking crocodile waits below.
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Fuwalda Fictional
Tarzan of the Apes (1912)
Written by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The ship on which Lord and Lady Greystoke sail for Africa. Her crew mutiny and maroon the couple on the West African coast, where their son is later raised by apes.
The Marea scene The Greystokes set ashore on a jungle beach as the Fuwalda sails away.
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Curlew Fictional
The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle (1922)
Written by Hugh Lofting
Screen adaptations Film 1967 Doctor Dolittle (Rex Harrison)
Doctor Dolittle, Tommy Stubbins and Polynesia sail the Curlew to find the naturalist Long Arrow on floating Spider Monkey Island. The Curlew is wrecked, and they return home inside the Great Glass Sea Snail.
The Marea scene The Doctor waving from the Curlew's deck as porpoises push the wreck toward the island.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Floating Bear and The Brain of Pooh Fictional
Winnie-the-Pooh (1926)
Written by A. A. Milne
Screen adaptations Disney Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968)
When Piglet is surrounded by flood water, Pooh floats on an empty honey jar he calls the Floating Bear. Christopher Robin then sails with Pooh in his upturned umbrella, named The Brain of Pooh.
The Marea scene Pooh and Christopher Robin afloat in the upturned umbrella on the way to rescue Piglet.
Photo: E. H. Shepard, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Swallow Fictional
Swallows and Amazons (1930)
Written by Arthur Ransome
Screen adaptations Film 1974 (Virginia McKenna, Ronald Fraser); Film 2016 (Kelly Macdonald, Rafe Spall)
The small dinghy sailed by the Walker children, the Swallows, who camp on a lake island in the Lake District. They wage a mock war with the Amazons and capture their boat.
The Marea scene The four Walker children beaching Swallow on Wild Cat Island.
The real ship Based on a dinghy Ransome owned.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Amazon Fictional
Swallows and Amazons (1930)
Written by Arthur Ransome
Screen adaptations Film 1974 (Virginia McKenna); Film 2016 (Kelly Macdonald)
The dinghy of Nancy and Peggy Blackett, the Amazon pirates, flying a skull and crossbones. The Swallows capture her in a night raid.
The Marea scene Nancy Blackett at Amazon's tiller under the pirate flag.
The real ship Based on Ransome's dinghy Mavis, preserved at the Ruskin Museum, Coniston.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Pound of Candles Fictional
The Tale of Little Pig Robinson (1930)
Written by Beatrix Potter
Little Pig Robinson is lured aboard the ship by the cook, who plans to eat him. The ship's cat helps him escape in the ship's boat to the land where the Bong tree grows.
The Marea scene Pig Robinson rowing away from the Pound of Candles in the little boat.
Photo: Public domain (US)
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Wild Cat Fictional
Peter Duck (1932)
Written by Arthur Ransome
The Swallows and Amazons sail the schooner Wild Cat to the Caribbean with Captain Flint and the old sailor Peter Duck, hunting buried treasure. The pirate Black Jake chases them in the Viper.
The Marea scene Peter Duck at the wheel of the Wild Cat as the Viper closes astern.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
The wise eyed boat Fictional
The Story About Ping (1933)
Written by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese
The duckling Ping lives with his large family on a boat with two eyes painted on the bow. Afraid of being last aboard and punished, he stays out overnight on the Yangtze.
The Marea scene The ducks marching over the gangplank to the boat at sunset.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Teasel and Titmouse Fictional
Coot Club (1934)
Written by Arthur Ransome
Screen adaptations BBC TV 1984 Coot Club
On the Norfolk Broads, Dorothea and Dick learn to sail aboard the cruiser Teasel, while Tom Dudgeon hides in the little dinghy Titmouse after setting adrift a hire cruiser full of rowdy Hullabaloos.
The Marea scene Tom in the Titmouse under the reeds as the Hullabaloos' motor cruiser roars past.
Photo: wwoods, CC BY-SA 3.0
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Goblin Fictional
We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea (1937)
Written by Arthur Ransome
A small cruising yacht on which the Walker children are accidentally carried out of Harwich harbour in fog and must sail her across the North Sea to Holland.
The Marea scene John at Goblin's tiller in the fog as the lightship slides past.
The real ship Based on Ransome's yacht Nancy Blackett, preserved by the Nancy Blackett Trust.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Paddle-to-the-Sea Fictional
Paddle-to-the-Sea (1941)
Written by Holling C. Holling
Screen adaptations Short film 1966 (National Film Board of Canada)
A small carved figure in a canoe, set in the snow near Lake Nipigon by an Indigenous boy. It travels through the Great Lakes and the St Lawrence to the Atlantic.
The Marea scene The carved canoe going over Niagara Falls.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Wasp Fictional
Stuart Little (1945)
Written by E. B. White
Screen adaptations Film 1999 (Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie, Michael J. Fox)
A toy schooner that Stuart, a mouse, skippers in a race on the Central Park boat pond against the Lillian B. Womrath. He wins despite a collision and a stray paper bag.
The Marea scene Stuart at the Wasp's wheel racing across the Central Park pond.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Scuffy the Tugboat Fictional
Scuffy the Tugboat (1946)
Written by Gertrude Crampton, illustrated by Tibor Gergely
A toy tugboat wants to do bigger things than float in the bathtub and sails away down a brook to the river and the sea. A Little Golden Book classic.
The Marea scene Scuffy bobbing among the great ships of the harbour.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Hoppetossa (Hoptoad) Fictional
Pippi in the South Seas (1948)
Written by Astrid Lindgren
Screen adaptations Film 1970 Pippi in the South Seas (Inger Nilsson)
The ship of Pippi's father, Captain Efraim Longstocking, king of an island in the South Seas. Pippi, Tommy and Annika sail in her to visit his island.
The Marea scene Pippi lifting her father over her head on the Hoppetossa's deck.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Dawn Treader Fictional
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
Written by C. S. Lewis
Screen adaptations TV 1989 BBC; Film 2010 (Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Will Poulter)
King Caspian's ship, which sails east from Narnia to find seven lost lords and the end of the world. Lucy, Edmund and their cousin Eustace are drawn aboard through a painting.
The Marea scene The children tumbling out of the painting into the sea beside the Dawn Treader.
The real ship Full scale ship set built for the 2010 film.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Emma Fictional
Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer (Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver) (1960)
Written by Michael Ende
Screen adaptations Augsburger Puppenkiste 1961 and 1976; film 2018 (Solomon Gordon, Henning Baum)
When the island of Lummerland is too small for her, Luke's tank engine Emma is caulked and sails across the sea with Jim and Luke. She later becomes a steamship again to reach China.
The Marea scene Emma floating on the waves with a sail rigged on her cab and Jim at the lookout.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Max's private boat Fictional
Where the Wild Things Are (1963)
Written by Maurice Sendak
Screen adaptations Film 2009 (Max Records, dir. Spike Jonze)
The boat that carries Max, in his wolf suit, to the island where the wild things are. He sails back in and out of weeks and almost over a year to his room.
The Marea scene Max in his wolf suit sailing away with the wild things waving from the shore.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Mr Gumpy's boat Fictional
Mr Gumpy's Outing (1970)
Written by John Burningham
Screen adaptations Animated short
Mr Gumpy takes his boat on the river and lets the children and animals aboard, each promising to behave. They all squabble and the boat tips over.
The Marea scene The punt tipping over with goat, calf, children and Mr Gumpy all going into the river.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Seahawk Fictional
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (1990)
Written by Avi
In 1832 thirteen year old Charlotte sails from Liverpool to Rhode Island aboard the Seahawk and finds herself between a tyrannical captain and a mutinous crew. She ends up as a sailor.
The Marea scene Charlotte climbing the Seahawk's rigging in her skirt to the royal yard.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Peggy Sue Fictional
Kensuke's Kingdom (1999)
Written by Michael Morpurgo
Screen adaptations Animated film 2023 (Cillian Murphy, Sally Hawkins, Ken Watanabe)
Michael's family sail round the world in the Peggy Sue until he and his dog are swept overboard in the Pacific and washed up on an island ruled by the old Japanese man Kensuke.
The Marea scene Michael and his dog Stella washed off the Peggy Sue's deck into the night sea.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Queequeg Fictional
The Grim Grotto (A Series of Unfortunate Events) (2004)
Written by Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler)
Screen adaptations Netflix series 2019 (Neil Patrick Harris)
The battered submarine of Captain Widdershins, a member of V.F.D., which carries the Baudelaire orphans in search of the sugar bowl. It is named after Queequeg in Moby-Dick.
The Marea scene The Baudelaires peering out of the Queequeg's porthole at the dark Gorgonian Grotto.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Princess Andromeda Fictional
The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson) (2006)
Written by Rick Riordan
Screen adaptations Film 2013 (Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario)
Luke's ship full of monsters, where the coffin of Kronos is kept. Percy, Annabeth and Tyson are carried aboard it by the hippocampi.
The Marea scene Percy creeping through the gleaming cruise ship's corridors past sleeping monsters.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
CSS Birmingham Fictional
The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson) (2006)
Written by Rick Riordan
Screen adaptations Film 2013 (Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario)
Clarisse's quest ship, an old ironclad given by her father Ares and crewed by undead Confederate soldiers. It is wrecked in the passage between Scylla and Charybdis.
The Marea scene The Birmingham's boilers exploding as Charybdis sucks the ironclad in.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Queen Anne's Revenge Fictional
The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson) (2006)
Written by Rick Riordan
Screen adaptations Film 2013 (Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario)
Percy and Annabeth take Blackbeard's old ship from Circe's island, and Percy's power over the sea makes it sail itself toward the Sea of Monsters.
The Marea scene The Queen Anne's Revenge sailing crewless toward the island of the Cyclops.
The real ship Fictional use of the real pirate ship.
Ships in Famous Books · Adventure and children's books
Argo II Fictional
The Lost Hero and The Heroes of Olympus (2010 to 2014)
Written by Rick Riordan
Leo Valdez builds the flying warship Argo II, with the bronze dragon Festus as figurehead, to carry seven demigods to Rome and Greece. It is the heroes' home through the series.
The Marea scene The Argo II hovering over Camp Jupiter, Festus's head blazing at the prow.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Chinese literature
The bottomless boat Fictional
Xiyou ji (Journey to the West) (1592)
Written by Wu Cheng'en (attributed)
Screen adaptations Many adaptations including TV 1986
At the end of the pilgrimage, the monk Tang Sanzang and his disciples are ferried across a river to the Buddha's mountain in a boat with no bottom. As they cross, Tang sees his own mortal body float away downstream.
The Marea scene Monkey pushing a nervous Tang Sanzang into the bottomless boat while his old corpse drifts past.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
Robinson Crusoe's ship Fictional
Robinson Crusoe (1719)
Written by Daniel Defoe
Screen adaptations Film 1954 (Dan O'Herlihy); Film 1997 (Pierce Brosnan); TV 1964 French series (Robert Hoffmann)
Crusoe sails from Brazil on a slaving voyage to Africa, and the ship is wrecked in a storm off an uninhabited island. He salvages tools, food and weapons from the stranded wreck before it breaks up, which lets him survive 28 years.
The Marea scene Crusoe rafting goods ashore from the wreck lodged on the reef.
The real ship Inspired partly by the real castaway Alexander Selkirk.
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
Antelope and Adventure Fictional
Gulliver's Travels (1726)
Written by Jonathan Swift
Screen adaptations Film 1939 animated (Fleischer); Film 1960 The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (Kerwin Mathews); TV 1996 (Ted Danson); Film 2010 (Jack Black)
Gulliver is wrecked in the Antelope and swims ashore to Lilliput, then sails in the Adventure to reach Brobdingnag. On a later voyage he commands an Adventure himself, whose crew mutiny and maroon him in the land of the Houyhnhnms.
The Marea scene Gulliver wading across the channel towing the Blefuscudian fleet by cables.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
The Mariner's ship Fictional
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798)
Written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The ship driven into the icy south, where the Mariner shoots an albatross and brings a curse on the crew. Becalmed, the crew die, and the ship is sailed home by spirits before sinking in the harbour.
The Marea scene The Mariner with the dead albatross hung round his neck on the becalmed deck.
Photo: Gustave Doré, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
Walton's ship Fictional
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818)
Written by Mary Shelley
Screen adaptations Film 1994 (Kenneth Branagh, Robert De Niro); Film 2025 (Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi)
The ship of the explorer Robert Walton, trapped in Arctic ice, which frames the novel. Walton rescues the exhausted Victor Frankenstein from the ice and hears his story, and the creature later appears aboard beside Victor's body.
The Marea scene Victor Frankenstein's dog sledge found beside the ice bound ship in the polar twilight.
Photo: Mary Shelley, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
Grampus and Jane Guy Fictional
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838)
Written by Edgar Allan Poe
Pym stows away on the whaler Grampus, which suffers mutiny, storm and starvation before he is rescued by the schooner Jane Guy. The Jane Guy carries him deep into the Antarctic towards a mysterious white figure.
The Marea scene Survivors on the dismasted, overturned Grampus drifting under a blazing sun.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
Pilgrim Real ship
Two Years Before the Mast (1840)
Written by Richard Henry Dana Jr.
Screen adaptations Film 1946 (Alan Ladd, Brian Donlevy)
The real brig in which Harvard student Dana sailed as a common seaman from Boston round Cape Horn to California in 1834. His memoir exposed harsh treatment of sailors, including a flogging aboard the Pilgrim; he returned in the ship Alert.
The Marea scene A sailor flogged at the gangway while Dana watches from the rigging.
The real ship Lost by fire at sea in 1856.
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
Hesperus Fictional
The Wreck of the Hesperus (1842)
Written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The schooner in Longfellow's ballad whose proud skipper ignores warnings of a storm and takes his daughter to sea. She is wrecked on the reef of Norman's Woe and the girl is found lashed to a mast.
The Marea scene The skipper lashing his daughter to the mast as the Hesperus drives towards the reef.
Photo: John Gilbert, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
Dolly Fictional
Typee (1846)
Written by Herman Melville
The whaler from which the narrator Tommo deserts at Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas. He and his companion Toby live among the Typee people, fearing they may be cannibals.
The Marea scene Tommo and Toby slipping away from the Dolly's boat into the jungle.
The real ship Based on Melville's real ship, the whaler Acushnet.
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
Julia Fictional
Omoo (1847)
Written by Herman Melville
The ramshackle whaler that picks up the narrator after his escape from Typee. Her crew refuse duty at Tahiti and are held ashore, leading to his wanderings in the islands.
The Marea scene The crew of the Julia lounging in the stocks under Tahitian palm trees.
The real ship Based on the Lucy Ann on which Melville sailed.
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
Highlander Fictional
Redburn (1849)
Written by Herman Melville
The merchant ship on which young Wellingborough Redburn sails as a green hand from New York to Liverpool. He sees poverty in Liverpool and death among emigrants on the voyage home.
The Marea scene Redburn aloft for the first time, clinging to the yard in a heavy sea.
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
Neversink Fictional
White-Jacket (1850)
Written by Herman Melville
A US Navy frigate, modelled on the USS United States in which Melville served, sailing home from the Pacific round Cape Horn. The book depicts life on a man of war and campaigned against flogging.
The Marea scene The narrator in his home made white jacket falling from the yardarm into the sea.
The real ship Based on the frigate USS United States.
Photo: William Brady, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
Pequod Fictional
Moby-Dick (1851)
Written by Herman Melville
Screen adaptations Film 1926 The Sea Beast (John Barrymore); Film 1956 (Gregory Peck); TV 1998 (Patrick Stewart); TV 2011 (William Hurt)
The Quaker owned whaler that carries Ishmael, Queequeg and Captain Ahab on Ahab's obsessive hunt for the white whale. The ship becomes a floating world of many nations and, in the end, is destroyed by Moby Dick, leaving Ishmael as the sole survivor.
The Marea scene Ahab, ivory leg braced on the quarterdeck, nails the gold doubloon to the mainmast before his assembled crew.
The real ship Inspired by the real whaler Essex. For the 1956 film the Baltic trader Ryelands was dressed as the Pequod.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
Rachel Fictional
Moby-Dick (1851)
Written by Herman Melville
Screen adaptations Film 1956 (Gregory Peck); TV 1998 (Patrick Stewart)
A whaler searching the ocean for its captain's lost son, whose plea for help Ahab refuses. After the Pequod sinks, the Rachel finds Ishmael floating on Queequeg's coffin and rescues him.
The Marea scene Ishmael clinging to Queequeg's coffin lifebuoy as the Rachel's sails loom on the horizon.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
We're Here Fictional
Captains Courageous (1897)
Written by Rudyard Kipling
Screen adaptations Film 1937 (Spencer Tracy, Freddie Bartholomew); TV 1977 (Karl Malden)
The Gloucester cod schooner of Captain Disko Troop that picks up Harvey Cheyne, a spoilt rich boy who has fallen from a liner. Over a season on the Grand Banks, Harvey learns the value of work and grows up.
The Marea scene Harvey hauled from the sea into a dory by the Portuguese fisherman Manuel.
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
Demeter Fictional
Dracula (1897)
Written by Bram Stoker
Screen adaptations Film 2023 The Last Voyage of the Demeter (Corey Hawkins, Liam Cunningham)
The schooner from Varna that carries Count Dracula and his boxes of earth to England. Her crew vanish one by one and she runs aground at Whitby with her dead captain lashed to the wheel.
The Marea scene The Demeter driving into Whitby harbour in a storm, the dead captain tied to the wheel.
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
Narcissus Fictional
The Narcissus (published in the United States as The Children of the Sea) (1897)
Written by Joseph Conrad
A merchant sailing ship homeward bound from Bombay to London whose crew is unsettled by a dying West Indian sailor, James Wait. Conrad's short novel, now often republished under its American title The Children of the Sea, follows the ship through a violent storm off the Cape of Good Hope.
The Marea scene The Narcissus knocked flat on her beam ends in the Cape gale, crew clinging to the weather rail.
The real ship Based on the real Narcissus on which Conrad sailed in 1884.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
Judea Fictional
Youth (1898)
Written by Joseph Conrad
An old barque, with the motto Do or Die, bound for Bangkok with a cargo of coal on which the young Marlow sails as second mate. The coal smoulders and explodes, and Marlow commands a small boat to reach the East, a memory of youth he recalls with longing.
The Marea scene The burning Judea blazing at sea at night while her crew pull away in open boats.
The real ship Based on the barque Palestine on which Conrad served.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
Nellie, and the river steamer Fictional
Heart of Darkness (1899)
Written by Joseph Conrad
Screen adaptations Loosely adapted as Apocalypse Now 1979 (Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando); TV film 1993 (Tim Roth, John Malkovich)
Marlow tells his story aboard the yawl Nellie, anchored in the Thames estuary at dusk. In his tale he commands a battered river steamer up the Congo to reach the ivory trader Kurtz.
The Marea scene Marlow at the wheel of the little river steamer as arrows rain from the riverbank.
The real ship Conrad himself commanded the Congo steamer Roi des Belges in 1890.
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
Patna Fictional
Lord Jim (1900)
Written by Joseph Conrad
Screen adaptations Film 1925 (Percy Marmont); Film 1965 (Peter O'Toole)
An old steamer carrying Muslim pilgrims across the Arabian Sea on which young Jim serves as chief mate. When the ship seems about to sink, Jim jumps overboard with the officers, a moment of cowardice that haunts the rest of his life when the Patna is later found afloat.
The Marea scene Jim poised at the rail in the dark as the officers call to him from the lifeboat below the listing steamer.
The real ship Inspired by the real SS Jeddah incident of 1880.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
Nan-Shan Fictional
Typhoon (1902)
Written by Joseph Conrad
The steamer commanded by the stolid, unimaginative Captain MacWhirr, carrying Chinese coolies home. MacWhirr steers straight into a typhoon rather than around it, and the ship survives the storm while chaos erupts in the hold.
The Marea scene Captain MacWhirr and mate Jukes lashed on the storm swept bridge as a wall of water breaks over the bows.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
Silver lighter Fictional
Nostromo (1904)
Written by Joseph Conrad
Screen adaptations TV 1996 BBC (Colin Firth, Claudio Amendola)
The lighter in which Nostromo and Decoud try to smuggle the silver of the San Tomé mine out of Sulaco during a revolution. It is struck by a steamer in the dark gulf and they hide the silver on the Great Isabel island.
The Marea scene Nostromo and Decoud in the dark lighter, the silver crates at their feet.
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
Ghost Fictional
The Sea-Wolf (1904)
Written by Jack London
Screen adaptations Film 1941 (Edward G. Robinson, Ida Lupino, John Garfield); TV 1993 (Charles Bronson); TV 2009 (Sebastian Koch, Tim Roth)
The sealing schooner of the brutal Captain Wolf Larsen, which picks up the literary gentleman Humphrey van Weyden after a ferry wreck in San Francisco Bay. Forced to work as cabin boy, Humphrey hardens under Larsen's rule.
The Marea scene Wolf Larsen on the Ghost's deck, lecturing Humphrey on the philosophy of force.
Photo: W.J.Aylward, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
Elsinore Fictional
The Mutiny of the Elsinore (1914)
Written by Jack London
Screen adaptations Film 1937 (Paul Lukas)
A four-masted barque sailing from Baltimore round Cape Horn to Seattle with a brutal crew. After the officers die, mutiny breaks out and the passenger narrator takes charge.
The Marea scene The Elsinore labouring off Cape Horn, sails in rags, as the crew gather aft.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Classics of the sea
HMS Bellipotent Fictional
Billy Budd, Sailor (1924)
Written by Herman Melville
Screen adaptations Film 1962 (Terence Stamp, Peter Ustinov, Robert Ryan); opera Britten 1951
The warship onto which the innocent Billy Budd is impressed from the merchantman Rights of Man in 1797. Accused by the master at arms Claggart, Billy strikes him dead and Captain Vere has him hanged; published posthumously, earlier editions call the ship Indomitable.
The Marea scene Billy Budd standing on the gratings at dawn beneath the yardarm, the crew mustered below.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · English and American literature
HMS Thrush Fictional
Mansfield Park (1814)
Written by Jane Austen
Screen adaptations Film 1999 (Frances O'Connor); TV 2007 (Billie Piper)
Fanny Price's beloved brother William is promoted lieutenant into the sloop Thrush, and on her visit to Portsmouth the whole family talks of little else. Austen had two brothers in the navy.
The Marea scene Fanny and William on the ramparts at Portsmouth looking out at the Thrush at Spithead.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · English and American literature
Laconia and Asp Fictional
Persuasion (1817)
Written by Jane Austen
Screen adaptations Film 1995 (Amanda Root, Ciarán Hinds); film 2007 (Sally Hawkins, Rupert Penry-Jones); film 2022 (Dakota Johnson)
Captain Frederick Wentworth made his name and fortune in the sloop Asp and then the frigate Laconia during the Napoleonic Wars. His return, rich from prize money, rekindles Anne Elliot's hopes.
The Marea scene Wentworth describing the leaky old Asp to the ladies at Uppercross.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · English and American literature
Ariel Fictional
The Pilot (1824)
Written by James Fenimore Cooper
In the American War of Independence a frigate and the schooner Ariel raid the English coast, guided by a mysterious pilot modelled on John Paul Jones. The Ariel is wrecked in a storm, and the novel is often called the first sea novel.
The Marea scene Long Tom Coffin lashed by the Ariel's wreck with his harpoon as the schooner breaks up.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · English and American literature
Dolphin Fictional
The Red Rover (1827)
Written by James Fenimore Cooper
Screen adaptations Film 1928
The ship of the mysterious pirate Red Rover, which lurks in Newport harbour disguised as a slaver. The young naval officer Wilder joins her crew under cover.
The Marea scene The Dolphin slipping out of Newport harbour at night under a press of sail.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · English and American literature
The ghost ship of MS. Found in a Bottle Fictional
MS. Found in a Bottle (1833)
Written by Edgar Allan Poe
After a wreck in the Indian Ocean the narrator is hurled aboard a gigantic ship crewed by ancient, unseeing old men. It sails south toward a whirlpool at the pole.
The Marea scene The huge black ship on the crest of a wave above the doomed narrator.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · English and American literature
Mr Peggotty's boat house Fictional
David Copperfield (1850)
Written by Charles Dickens
Screen adaptations Film 1935 (W. C. Fields, Freddie Bartholomew); film 2019 The Personal History of David Copperfield (Dev Patel)
At Yarmouth, young David stays with the Peggottys in an old black barge turned upside down on the beach and made into a snug home. It becomes a symbol of warmth and loss in the novel.
The Marea scene Young David peering in delight at the upturned boat house with its chimney smoking on the sands.
Ships in Famous Books · English and American literature
The prison hulks Fictional
Great Expectations (1861)
Written by Charles Dickens
Screen adaptations Film 1946 (John Mills, Valerie Hobson); film 1998; TV 2011, 2023
The escaped convict Magwitch comes from the prison ships moored in the Thames marshes, which loom like a wicked Noah's ark in Pip's childhood. Magwitch is later recaptured in a boat on the Thames.
The Marea scene The black hulk lying off the misty marshes, lit by the convicts' lanterns.
The real ship Prison hulks were real; the specific hulk is fictional.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · English and American literature
Revenge Real ship
The Revenge: A Ballad of the Fleet (1878)
Written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Tennyson's ballad of Sir Richard Grenville's last fight off the Azores in 1591, when the Revenge fought fifty three Spanish ships alone for a night and a day. The ship sank in a storm soon after her capture.
The Marea scene The battered Revenge ringed by Spanish galleons, Grenville wounded on the deck.
The real ship Lost in 1591.
Photo: Charles Dixon, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · English and American literature
Marie Celeste Real ship
J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement (1884)
Written by Arthur Conan Doyle
Conan Doyle's early story offered a fictional solution to the real Mary Celeste mystery, and his misspelling Marie Celeste has stuck ever since. A passenger tells of a vengeful crewman seizing the ship.
The Marea scene The empty brigantine drifting under partial sail as the boarding party find the table laid.
The real ship Real ship Mary Celeste, fictionalised.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · English and American literature
Farallone Fictional
The Ebb-Tide (1894)
Written by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne
Three beachcombers stranded in Tahiti take over the Farallone, whose crew died of smallpox, and plan to steal her cargo of champagne. They land on a pearl island ruled by the sinister Attwater.
The Marea scene The drunken captain at the helm of the Farallone, discovering the champagne is only water.
Ships in Famous Books · English and American literature
Quinquireme, galleon and coaster Fictional
Cargoes (1903)
Written by John Masefield
Masefield's poem contrasts a quinquireme of Nineveh with ivory and apes, a stately Spanish galleon with gems and gold moidores, and a dirty British coaster butting through the Channel with Tyne coal. It is one of the best known sea poems in English.
The Marea scene The salt caked coaster with its smoke stack punching through a mad March sea.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · English and American literature
The captain's barque (Otago) Fictional
The Shadow-Line (1917)
Written by Joseph Conrad
Screen adaptations Film 1976 Smuga cienia by Andrzej Wajda
A young officer takes his first command, a barque whose crew is struck by fever while becalmed in the Gulf of Siam. The story draws on Conrad's own first command, the Otago.
The Marea scene The new captain alone at the wheel of the becalmed barque while the fever stricken crew lie on deck.
The real ship Based on the real Otago, whose remains lie near Hobart.
Photo: Public domain (US)
Ships in Famous Books · English and American literature
The Ramsays' sailing boat Fictional
To the Lighthouse (1927)
Written by Virginia Woolf
Screen adaptations TV film 1983 (Rosemary Harris, Michael Gough)
Ten years after Mrs Ramsay's death, Mr Ramsay finally makes the long postponed trip to the lighthouse with James and Cam, sailed by the fisherman Macalister. Its arrival closes the novel.
The Marea scene Mr Ramsay leaping ashore at the lighthouse rock from the little boat.
Ships in Famous Books · English and American literature
Narcissus Fictional
Tugboat Annie (1931)
Written by Norman Reilly Raine
Screen adaptations Film 1933 (Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery); TV 1957
The tough widow Annie Brennan skippers the tug Narcissus in Puget Sound in Raine's popular Saturday Evening Post stories. The 1933 film was a big hit.
The Marea scene Annie at the wheel of the Narcissus, bellowing at a liner she is nudging into berth.
Photo: MGM, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · English and American literature
The Snow Goose's sailing boat Fictional
The Snow Goose (1941)
Written by Paul Gallico
Screen adaptations TV film 1971 (Richard Harris, Jenny Agutter)
The lonely painter Philip Rhayader sails his small boat to Dunkirk again and again to ferry soldiers to the waiting ships, watched over by the snow goose. He does not return.
The Marea scene Rhayader's little boat crowded with soldiers off the Dunkirk beach, the white goose circling above.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · English and American literature
Unnamed passenger ship to Australia Fictional
Rites of Passage (To the Ends of the Earth trilogy) (1980)
Written by William Golding
Screen adaptations TV 2005 To the Ends of the Earth (Benedict Cumberbatch, Jared Harris)
An old, decaying warship carries emigrants to Australia around 1812, seen through the journal of the snobbish young Edmund Talbot. Rites of Passage won the Booker Prize.
The Marea scene Talbot writing his journal in his cramped cabin as the old ship labours in the swell.
The real ship The TV series used a replica set.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Fantasy novels
Vivacia Fictional
Ship of Magic (The Liveship Traders) (1998)
Written by Robin Hobb
Built of magical wizardwood, the Vivacia quickens when three generations of the Vestrit family have died aboard. She is taken over by the pirate Kennit.
The Marea scene The Vivacia's figurehead opening her eyes for the first time.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Fantasy novels
Paragon Fictional
The Liveship Traders trilogy (1998 to 2000)
Written by Robin Hobb
The mad liveship Paragon, beached and shunned, whose figurehead's face has been hacked away. He is refloated for a rescue mission and his dark past is revealed.
The Marea scene Paragon lying beached on his side while Althea talks to his blind, scarred figurehead.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Fantasy novels
Dragon Wing Fictional
Eldest (The Inheritance Cycle) (2005)
Written by Christopher Paolini
Roran leads the villagers of Carvahall to the coast and seizes the new ship Dragon Wing at Teirm to carry them to Surda. The ship escapes through the Boar's Eye whirlpool.
The Marea scene The Dragon Wing skirting the edge of the Boar's Eye maelstrom.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Fantasy novels
Poison Orchid Fictional
Red Seas Under Red Skies (2007)
Written by Scott Lynch
The con men Locke and Jean become pirates aboard the Poison Orchid under Captain Zamira Drakasha, while playing a double game with the rulers of Tal Verrar.
The Marea scene Captain Drakasha on the Poison Orchid's deck with her two children as the ship prepares to board a prize.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Fantasy novels
Sweet Judy Fictional
Nation (2008)
Written by Terry Pratchett
Screen adaptations Stage adaptation 2009 at the National Theatre
A tidal wave throws the schooner Sweet Judy into the forest of a Pacific island, where the only survivor, Daphne, meets Mau, the sole survivor of his nation.
The Marea scene The wrecked Sweet Judy lodged high among the trees after the wave.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Fantasy novels
Wind's Pleasure Fictional
The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive) (2010)
Written by Brandon Sanderson
Shallan travels aboard Captain Tozbek's ship from Kharbranth toward the Shattered Plains. The ship is attacked by assassins of the Ghostbloods in Words of Radiance.
The Marea scene Shallan sketching the santhid swimming alongside the Wind's Pleasure.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · German literature
The ghost ship Fictional
Die Geschichte von dem Gespensterschiff (The Tale of the Ghost Ship) (1826)
Written by Wilhelm Hauff
In this tale from Hauff's Die Karawane, a young merchant and his servant board an abandoned ship whose dead crew rise every night to repeat their crime. The captain is nailed to the mast.
The Marea scene The dead captain nailed to the mainmast as the crew rise at midnight.
Photo: J. Behringer, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · German literature
Yorikke Fictional
Das Totenschiff (The Death Ship) (1926)
Written by B. Traven
Screen adaptations Film 1959 (Horst Buchholz, Mario Adorf, Elke Sommer)
An American sailor without papers ends up in the stokehold of the Yorikke, a rusting coffin ship worth more sunk than afloat, crewed by stateless men. Traven's novel is a bitter satire on borders and passports.
The Marea scene Stokers shovelling coal into the glowing furnaces of the filthy Yorikke.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Italian literature
Folgore (Thunder) Fictional
Il Corsaro Nero (The Black Corsair) (1898)
Written by Emilio Salgari
Screen adaptations Film 1937 (Ciro Verratti); film 1976 (Kabir Bedi, Carole André); animated series 1999
The ship of Emilio di Roccanera, the Black Corsair, who hunts Governor Van Guld of Maracaibo to avenge his brothers. The Folgore carries his buccaneers alongside L'Olonnais and Morgan.
The Marea scene The Black Corsair standing on the poop of the Folgore at night, black flag above him.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Italian literature
Sandokan's praus Fictional
Le tigri di Mompracem (The Tigers of Mompracem) (1900)
Written by Emilio Salgari
Screen adaptations TV series 1976 Sandokan (Kabir Bedi, Carole André, Philippe Leroy)
The fast Malay praus of Sandokan, the Tiger of Malaysia, and his friend Yanez, raiding British shipping from the island of Mompracem. They carry the pirates to Labuan and to war against James Brooke.
The Marea scene Sandokan's prau racing through the surf off Labuan under a huge lateen sail.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Italian literature
Daphne Fictional
L'isola del giorno prima (The Island of the Day Before) (1994)
Written by Umberto Eco
After being shipwrecked from the Amaryllis, the young Roberto della Griva finds himself aboard the deserted Daphne, anchored off an island near the date line. He explores its decks full of clocks and birds while unable to swim ashore.
The Marea scene Roberto alone on the empty deck of the Daphne, gazing at the island he cannot reach.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Japanese literature
Hakuai-maru Fictional
Kanikōsen (The Crab Cannery Ship) (1929)
Written by Takiji Kobayashi
Screen adaptations Film 1953 (So Yamamura); film 2009 (Ryuhei Matsuda, Hidetoshi Nishijima)
An old factory ship canning crab in the Sea of Okhotsk, where poor workers are brutally exploited by the foreman Asakawa. The workers finally rise in a strike; the novel became a classic of Japanese proletarian literature.
The Marea scene Exhausted workers boiling crab in the steaming hold while the foreman looks on.
The real ship Based on real 1920s crab factory ships.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Japanese literature
Utajima-maru Fictional
Shiosai (The Sound of Waves) (1954)
Written by Yukio Mishima
Screen adaptations Films 1954, 1964 (Sayuri Yoshinaga), 1975 (Momoe Yamaguchi)
The young fisherman Shinji joins the crew of the freighter and wins his bride's father over by swimming a lifeline to a buoy in a typhoon. The novel is set on the island of Kamishima.
The Marea scene Shinji swimming through the typhoon with the line held in his teeth.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Japanese literature
Rakuyo Fictional
Gogo no eikō (The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea) (1963)
Written by Yukio Mishima
Screen adaptations Film 1976 (Kris Kristofferson, Sarah Miles)
The ship on which the second officer Ryuji serves, and which he gives up for love of a widow in Yokohama. To her son and his gang, he fell from grace when he left the sea.
The Marea scene Ryuji on the deck of the Rakuyo as she docks at Yokohama, the boy watching through binoculars.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Saint-Géran Real ship
Paul et Virginie (1788)
Written by Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre
The ship bringing Virginie home to Île de France (Mauritius) from France. She is wrecked in a hurricane off the island, and Virginie drowns in sight of Paul rather than undress to swim ashore.
The Marea scene Virginie on the wreck's deck in the storm, Paul trying to swim out to her from the shore.
The real ship Wrecked off Île d'Ambre, Mauritius in 1744; relics are held in Mauritius.
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Méduse raft Real ship
Naufrage de la frégate la Méduse (1817)
Written by Jean Baptiste Henri Savigny and Alexandre Corréard
The survivors' account of the French frigate Méduse, wrecked off Mauritania in 1816, and the raft on which about 150 people were set adrift. Only a handful survived, and the book inspired Géricault's painting The Raft of the Medusa.
The Marea scene Survivors on the raft waving a cloth at the distant brig Argus.
The real ship Wrecked on the Bank of Arguin in 1816.
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Pharaon Fictional
Le Comte de Monte-Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo) (1844)
Written by Alexandre Dumas
Screen adaptations Film 1934 (Robert Donat); TV 1998 (Gérard Depardieu); Film 2002 (Jim Caviezel); Film 2024 (Pierre Niney)
The Marseille merchant ship on which young Edmond Dantès is first mate. He brings her home after her captain dies and is about to be made captain when he is betrayed and imprisoned; later, as the Count, he secretly saves her owner Morrel.
The Marea scene The Pharaon entering Marseille harbour with Dantès at the helm.
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Orion Fictional
Les Misérables (1862)
Written by Victor Hugo
Screen adaptations Film 1934 (Harry Baur); Film 1958 (Jean Gabin); Film 1998 (Liam Neeson); Film 2012 (Hugh Jackman)
A warship in the harbour at Toulon where the convict Jean Valjean, working on board, climbs the rigging to save a sailor hanging from a yard. He then drops into the sea and is believed drowned, allowing him to escape.
The Marea scene Valjean swinging from the yardarm to seize the dangling sailor above a watching crowd.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Lidenbrock's raft Fictional
Voyage au centre de la Terre (Journey to the Centre of the Earth) (1864)
Written by Jules Verne
Screen adaptations Film 1959 (James Mason, Pat Boone, Arlene Dahl); film 2008 (Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson)
Hans builds a raft from fossilised wood so that Professor Lidenbrock, his nephew Axel and he can cross the vast underground Lidenbrock Sea. The raft carries them through a battle between prehistoric sea monsters and an electric storm before being thrown up a volcanic chimney.
The Marea scene The little raft pitching on the subterranean sea while an ichthyosaurus and a plesiosaurus fight in the water beside it.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Dolphin Fictional
Les Forceurs de blocus (The Blockade Runners) (1865)
Written by Jules Verne
A fast steamer built in Glasgow by James Playfair to run the Union blockade into Charleston during the American Civil War. The voyage becomes a mission to rescue the imprisoned father of a young woman on board.
The Marea scene The Dolphin racing into Charleston harbour under fire from the blockading squadron.
The real ship Inspired by real Clyde built blockade runners.
Photo: R.G. Skerrett, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Durande Fictional
Les Travailleurs de la mer (The Toilers of the Sea) (1866)
Written by Victor Hugo
Screen adaptations Film 1918 (dir. André Antoine)
The steamer of Mess Lethierry linking Guernsey and Saint-Malo, wrecked on the Douvres rocks by a treacherous captain. The fisherman Gilliatt spends weeks alone on the reef salvaging her engine, fighting a giant octopus, to win Lethierry's niece.
The Marea scene Gilliatt struggling with the octopus in a sea cave below the Durande's wreck on the Douvres.
The real ship Hugo wrote the novel in exile on Guernsey.
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Forward Fictional
Voyages et aventures du capitaine Hatteras (The Adventures of Captain Hatteras) (1866)
Written by Jules Verne
A strengthened brig built in secret for Captain Hatteras's attempt to reach the North Pole. The crew mutiny and burn the ship, but Hatteras presses on to find an open polar sea and a volcano at the Pole.
The Marea scene The Forward locked in Arctic pack ice, her crew hauling sledges across the floes.
Photo: Édouard Riou, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Duncan Fictional
Les Enfants du capitaine Grant (In Search of the Castaways) (1867)
Written by Jules Verne
Screen adaptations Film 1936 Soviet (dir. Vladimir Vainshtok); Film 1962 Disney (Hayley Mills, Maurice Chevalier); TV 1985 Soviet miniseries
Lord Glenarvan's steam yacht, in which he sets off to rescue Captain Grant after a message in a bottle is found inside a shark. The search takes the party along the 37th parallel through South America, Australia and New Zealand.
The Marea scene Glenarvan's party opening the bottle found in the shark's belly on the deck of the Duncan.
Photo: Édouard Riou, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Britannia Fictional
Les Enfants du capitaine Grant (In Search of the Castaways) (1867)
Written by Jules Verne
Screen adaptations Film 1962 Disney (Hayley Mills)
Captain Grant's ship, lost two years before the story begins. The damaged message in the bottle about her wreck sets the whole search in motion.
The Marea scene Captain Grant and two sailors casting the bottle into the sea from the wreck.
Photo: Édouard Riou, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Nautilus Fictional
Vingt mille lieues sous les mers (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas) (1870)
Written by Jules Verne
Screen adaptations Film 1916 (Allen Holubar); Film 1954 Disney (Kirk Douglas, James Mason); TV 1997 (Michael Caine)
Captain Nemo's electrically powered submarine, which carries Professor Aronnax, Conseil and the harpooner Ned Land as captives round the world under the sea. It visits the ruins of Atlantis, reaches the South Pole and is finally caught in the Maelstrom; it reappears in The Mysterious Island.
The Marea scene Nemo and the crew fighting off the giant squid on the Nautilus's surfaced deck.
The real ship The 1954 Disney film prop design is famous, and Disney parks displayed Nautilus models.
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Abraham Lincoln Fictional
Vingt mille lieues sous les mers (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas) (1870)
Written by Jules Verne
Screen adaptations Film 1954 Disney (Kirk Douglas, James Mason)
The American frigate under Commander Farragut sent to hunt the sea monster believed to be sinking ships. When she attacks the creature, the Nautilus rams her and Aronnax, Conseil and Ned Land are thrown overboard.
The Marea scene Ned Land poised with his harpoon in the frigate's bows as the glowing monster approaches.
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Great Eastern Real ship
Une ville flottante (A Floating City) (1871)
Written by Jules Verne
Verne's novel is set aboard the real Great Eastern, then the largest ship in the world, on which he crossed the Atlantic in 1867. A love story and a duel unfold among the passengers of this floating city.
The Marea scene Passengers crowding the huge deck beneath the Great Eastern's five funnels and six masts.
The real ship Broken up in 1889 to 1890.
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Henrietta Fictional
Le Tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours (Around the World in Eighty Days) (1872)
Written by Jules Verne
Screen adaptations Film 1956 (David Niven, Cantinflas); TV 1989 (Pierce Brosnan); Film 2004 (Jackie Chan, Steve Coogan); TV 2021 (David Tennant)
The steamer Phileas Fogg charters from New York to cross the Atlantic. When coal runs out, Fogg buys the ship from her captain and burns her wooden upperworks as fuel to keep going.
The Marea scene Crew tearing down the Henrietta's masts and cabins to feed the furnaces.
Photo: Jean Engel, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Tankadere Fictional
Le Tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours (Around the World in Eighty Days) (1872)
Written by Jules Verne
Screen adaptations Film 1956 (David Niven, Cantinflas)
A small pilot boat that Fogg hires in Hong Kong after missing the steamer to Yokohama. She battles a typhoon before meeting the American steamer General Grant off Shanghai.
The Marea scene The tiny Tankadere heeled over in a typhoon, Fogg calm in the cockpit.
Photo: Jean Engel, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Claymore Fictional
Quatrevingt-treize (Ninety-Three) (1874)
Written by Victor Hugo
A royalist corvette carrying the Marquis de Lantenac to Brittany in 1793. A loose cannon rolls across her gun deck in a storm and is captured by a gunner who is then decorated and shot for his negligence.
The Marea scene The gunner wrestling the loose carronade on the storm tossed gun deck.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Nautilus (final voyage) Fictional
L'Île mystérieuse (The Mysterious Island) (1875)
Written by Jules Verne
Screen adaptations Film 1929 (Lionel Barrymore); Film 1961 (Michael Craig, Herbert Lom)
The Nautilus is hidden in a sea cave beneath Lincoln Island, where the dying Captain Nemo has secretly helped the castaways. After his death the island volcano erupts and the submarine becomes his tomb.
The Marea scene The castaways kneeling by the dying Nemo in the grotto where the Nautilus is moored.
Photo: Jules Férat, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Chancellor Fictional
Le Chancellor (The Survivors of the Chancellor) (1875)
Written by Jules Verne
A Liverpool ship whose cargo of cotton catches fire in the Atlantic. The survivors take to a raft and endure starvation and despair, told as a diary.
The Marea scene Survivors huddled on a makeshift raft beside the smoking hulk.
Photo: Édouard Riou, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Dobryna Fictional
Hector Servadac (Off on a Comet) (1877)
Written by Jules Verne
Screen adaptations Film 1970 Na kometě (On the Comet) by Karel Zeman
Count Timascheff's yacht, which Captain Servadac uses to explore the strange new world after a comet carries off part of the Mediterranean. The Dobryna sails the altered sea and becomes an ice yacht when the waters freeze.
The Marea scene The Dobryna fitted with runners and skating across the frozen sea of the comet.
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Pilgrim Fictional
Un capitaine de quinze ans (Dick Sand, A Captain at Fifteen) (1878)
Written by Jules Verne
Screen adaptations Film 1945 Soviet (dir. Vasili Zhuravlyov); Film 1974 (dir. Jesús Franco)
A whaler on which the fifteen year old apprentice Dick Sand takes command after the captain and crew are lost hunting a whale. The villain Negoro tampers with the compass and the Pilgrim is wrecked on the coast of Africa instead of South America.
The Marea scene Dick Sand at the helm of the Pilgrim with the sabotaged compass before him.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
The jangada Fictional
La Jangada (Eight Hundred Leagues on the Amazon) (1881)
Written by Jules Verne
Joam Garral builds an immense raft of felled timber, complete with house, chapel and gardens, to float his family and his fortune down the Amazon from Iquitos to Belém. The voyage is overshadowed by a false accusation of murder from his past.
The Marea scene The whole floating village drifting down the Amazon with the family house and its little chapel on deck.
The real ship The jangada is a traditional Brazilian raft type.
Photo: Léon Benett, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Dream Fictional
L'École des Robinsons (Godfrey Morgan) (1882)
Written by Jules Verne
Screen adaptations Film 1981 Mystery on Monster Island (Terence Stamp, Peter Cushing, Ian Sera)
The steamer that carries the rich young Godfrey Morgan and his dancing master Tartelett on a world tour arranged by his uncle. Its apparent wreck strands them on a Pacific island for a staged test of survival.
The Marea scene Godfrey and Tartelett in the surf as the Dream appears to founder in the night.
Photo: Léon Benett, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Le Bateau ivre (the drunken boat) Fictional
Le Bateau ivre (1883)
Written by Arthur Rimbaud
The narrator of Rimbaud's poem is the boat itself, which loses its haulers and drifts down American rivers into the sea. Its hallucinatory voyage ends with longing for a puddle in Europe.
The Marea scene An abandoned river barge drifting out into a luminous, storm lit ocean.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Savarena Fictional
Mathias Sandorf (1885)
Written by Jules Verne
Screen adaptations TV miniseries 1979
The yacht of the mysterious Doctor Antekirtt, the identity taken by the Hungarian patriot Mathias Sandorf, which carries him around the Mediterranean on his long revenge. Verne modelled it on his own steam yacht bought from the Marquis de Préaulx.
The Marea scene The Savarena lying off the Dalmatian coast at dusk as Antekirtt watches through a telescope.
The real ship Based on Verne's own yacht Saint-Michel III.
Photo: Jean Engel, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Marie and Léopoldine Fictional
Pêcheur d'Islande (An Iceland Fisherman) (1886)
Written by Pierre Loti
Screen adaptations Film 1924 (dir. Jacques de Baroncelli); Film 1959 (dir. Pierre Schoendoerffer)
The Breton schooner Marie, on which the fisherman Yann Gaos spends each season in Icelandic waters. After his marriage to Gaud he sails on the Léopoldine and never returns, taken by the sea.
The Marea scene Gaud standing on the Paimpol cliffs watching the fleet leave for Iceland.
The real ship Based on real Paimpol goélettes.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Sloughi Fictional
Deux ans de vacances (Two Years' Vacation) (1888)
Written by Jules Verne
Screen adaptations Film 1967 Ukradená vzducholoď, loosely (dir. Karel Zeman); TV 1974 French miniseries
A schooner that breaks from her moorings in Auckland with a group of schoolboys aboard and no crew. She is wrecked on an uninhabited island where the boys must organise themselves to survive for two years.
The Marea scene The boys fighting the wheel as the Sloughi drives through breakers towards the island.
Photo: Léon Benett, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Franklin Fictional
Mistress Branican (1891)
Written by Jules Verne
The ship of Captain John Branican, which vanishes in the Pacific. His wife Dolly spends fourteen years searching for him, first by sea and then across the Australian desert.
The Marea scene Dolly Branican on the quay at San Diego watching the Franklin sail out for the last time.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Standard Island Fictional
L'Île à hélice (Propeller Island) (1895)
Written by Jules Verne
An artificial island built by American billionaires, driven by giant propellers across the Pacific and carrying the city of Milliard City. A travelling string quartet is kidnapped to play there, and rivalry between the two halves of the island finally tears it apart.
The Marea scene The huge flat island steaming between Pacific atolls with its city skyline and observatory.
Photo: Léon Benett, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
HMS Sword Fictional
Face au drapeau (Facing the Flag) (1896)
Written by Jules Verne
Screen adaptations Film 1958 Vynález zkázy (The Fabulous World of Jules Verne) by Karel Zeman
A British submarine sent to find the hidden base of the pirate Ker Karraje inside the hollow island of Back Cup, where the inventor Thomas Roch is held with his Fulgurator weapon. The Sword is discovered, attacked and sunk by the pirates.
The Marea scene The little submarine surfacing in the lagoon inside the hollow volcanic island.
Photo: Jean Engel, CC BY-SA 3.0
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Halbrane Fictional
Le Sphinx des glaces (An Antarctic Mystery) (1897)
Written by Jules Verne
Verne's sequel to Poe's Arthur Gordon Pym: Captain Len Guy takes the schooner Halbrane south in search of his brother William, lost with the Jane. The ship breaks through the pack ice, is carried off on an iceberg and ends near the magnetic Ice Sphinx.
The Marea scene The Halbrane perched on the flank of a drifting iceberg in the Antarctic pack.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Gallinetta and Maripare Fictional
Le Superbe Orénoque (The Mighty Orinoco) (1898)
Written by Jules Verne
Two roofed piraguas carry the travellers up the Orinoco in search of the source of the river and of a missing colonel. The boats are poled and sailed through rapids and flooded forest.
The Marea scene The two piraguas, with palm thatched cabins, being poled against the current of the Orinoco.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Maule Fictional
Le Phare du bout du monde (The Lighthouse at the End of the World) (1905)
Written by Jules Verne
Screen adaptations Film 1971 The Light at the Edge of the World (Kirk Douglas, Yul Brynner, Samantha Eggar)
The pirates of Staten Island, led by Kongre, capture the Maule and plan to escape in her, while keeper Vasquez and John Davis, sole survivor of the wrecked Century, try to cripple her with a cannon and an underwater charge. The pirates had put out the lighthouse to wreck passing ships such as the Century.
The Marea scene Vasquez and Davis firing the small cannon at the Maule anchored in the bay below the lighthouse.
Photo: George Roux, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Santa-Fé Fictional
Le Phare du bout du monde (The Lighthouse at the End of the World) (1905)
Written by Jules Verne
Screen adaptations Film 1971 The Light at the Edge of the World (Kirk Douglas, Yul Brynner)
The Argentine naval aviso that builds the lighthouse on Staten Island and leaves three keepers there. Its promised return is the keepers' hope throughout the novel, and it arrives for the final reckoning with the pirates.
The Marea scene The Santa-Fé steaming into the bay as the lighthouse flares back into life.
Photo: George Roux, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Jonathan Fictional
Les Naufragés du Jonathan (The Survivors of the Jonathan) (1909)
Written by Jules Verne (revised by Michel Verne)
An emigrant ship bound for Africa that is wrecked on Hoste Island near Cape Horn. Its castaways try to found a colony, and the story follows the mysterious anarchist Kaw-djer as reluctant leader.
The Marea scene Emigrants dragging stores ashore from the stranded Jonathan on a Fuegian beach.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Altaïr Real ship
Les Secrets de la mer Rouge (Secrets of the Red Sea) (1931)
Written by Henry de Monfreid
Screen adaptations TV series 1968 Les Secrets de la mer Rouge (Pierre Massimi)
The adventurer Henry de Monfreid's own dhow, in which he smuggled, pearled and ran arms around Djibouti and the Red Sea. His memoir novels made the boat famous in France.
The Marea scene The Altaïr running under her lateen sail past the Red Sea islands with Monfreid at the tiller.
The real ship Real boat sailed by Henry de Monfreid in the 1910s and 1920s.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Zeta Fictional
Le Chercheur d'or (The Prospector) (1985)
Written by J. M. G. Le Clézio
The schooner on which Alexis sails from Mauritius to Rodrigues in search of a corsair's treasure. The voyage opens the adventure of Le Clézio's novel of Mauritian childhood and loss.
The Marea scene Alexis on the schooner's deck as Rodrigues rises out of the Indian Ocean.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Jules Verne and French literature
Ava Fictional
La Quarantaine (1995)
Written by J. M. G. Le Clézio
The steamer bringing Léon and his brother to Mauritius in 1891; after smallpox breaks out on board, passengers are quarantined on Flat Island off the Mauritian coast.
The Marea scene Passengers landed on the bare shore of Flat Island, the steamer anchored offshore.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
The skiff Fictional
Three Men in a Boat (1889)
Written by Jerome K. Jerome
Screen adaptations Film 1956 (Jimmy Edwards, Laurence Harvey); TV 1975 (Tim Curry, Michael Palin); TV 2005 (Griff Rhys Jones, Dara Ó Briain, Rory McGrath)
The camping skiff in which J., George and Harris, with the dog Montmorency, row up the Thames from Kingston to Oxford. Their mishaps with tins, tents and towlines made the book a comic classic.
The Marea scene The three friends failing to open a tin of pineapple in the moored skiff.
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Titan Fictional
Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan (1898)
Written by Morgan Robertson
A giant liner called unsinkable, with too few lifeboats, that strikes an iceberg in the North Atlantic in April. Written fourteen years before the Titanic disaster, the novella seemed to predict it.
The Marea scene The Titan ploughing into the iceberg at full speed on a foggy April night.
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Wedding party's boat Fictional
The Wreck (Nouka Dubi) (1906)
Written by Rabindranath Tagore
Screen adaptations Milan (1947) with Dilip Kumar; Nouka Dubi (2011) by Rituparno Ghosh with Raima Sen and Jisshu Sengupta
Two wedding parties are caught in a storm on a river and the boats capsize. The groom of one wedding wakes beside the wrong bride, and the whole plot grows from this mistaken identity.
The Marea scene The wedding boats overturning in the storm with lanterns scattering on the dark river.
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Cotton Blossom Fictional
Show Boat (1926)
Written by Edna Ferber
Screen adaptations Film 1929 (Laura La Plante); Film 1936 (Irene Dunne, Paul Robeson); Film 1951 (Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Ava Gardner)
The floating theatre of Captain Andy Hawks on the Mississippi, where his daughter Magnolia grows up and meets the gambler Gaylord Ravenal. The book became the famous 1927 stage musical.
The Marea scene The Cotton Blossom tied up at a river landing with the cast parading on the gangplank.
The real ship The 1951 film showboat was built at MGM.
Photo: T.B. Harms Co, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Karnak Fictional
Death on the Nile (1937)
Written by Agatha Christie
Screen adaptations Film 1978 (Peter Ustinov, Bette Davis); TV 2004 (David Suchet); Film 2022 (Kenneth Branagh, Gal Gadot)
The Nile cruise steamer on which the heiress Linnet Doyle is murdered on her honeymoon. Hercule Poirot solves the crime among the passengers.
The Marea scene Poirot gathering the passengers in the Karnak's saloon.
The real ship The 1978 film used the paddle steamer SS Sudan, which still cruises the Nile.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Queen Conch Fictional
To Have and Have Not (1937)
Written by Ernest Hemingway
Screen adaptations Film 1944 (Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall); Film 1950 The Breaking Point (John Garfield); Film 1958 The Gun Runners (Audie Murphy)
Harry Morgan's boat, which he uses for fishing charters from Key West and then for smuggling to Cuba in the Depression. His last run carrying bank robbers ends in a fatal gunfight.
The Marea scene Harry Morgan at the wheel of the Queen Conch crossing the Gulf Stream at night.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Je Reviens Fictional
Rebecca (1938)
Written by Daphne du Maurier
Screen adaptations Film 1940 (Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, dir. Alfred Hitchcock); TV 1979; TV 1997; Film 2020 (Lily James, Armie Hammer)
Rebecca de Winter's sailing boat, whose wreck is found in the bay below Manderley. The discovery of Rebecca's body inside reveals that her death was not an accident.
The Marea scene Divers bringing up the sunken Je Reviens with its cabin holes deliberately opened.
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
SS Van der Wijck Real ship
The Sinking of van der Wijck (Tenggelamnya Kapal Van der Wijck) (1938)
Written by Hamka
Screen adaptations 2013 film by Sunil Soraya with Herjunot Ali, Pevita Pearce and Reza Rahadian
Hamka's romance ends when Hayati sails home aboard the Van der Wijck and the ship sinks, taking her from Zainuddin forever. The real KPM steamer sank off Java in 1936.
The Marea scene The Van der Wijck heeling over in the Java Sea as lifeboats are lowered.
The real ship The 2013 production commissioned a replica model from the Netherlands, where the original was built.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
SS Mont-Blanc Real ship
Barometer Rising (1941)
Written by Hugh MacLennan
Classic Canadian novel set in Halifax in December 1917, whose climax is a carefully researched description of the explosion of the munitions ship Mont-Blanc in the harbour.
The Marea scene The burning Mont-Blanc drifting towards Pier 6 while crowds gather on the waterfront.
The real ship Destroyed in 1917.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
La Mouette Fictional
Frenchman's Creek (1941)
Written by Daphne du Maurier
Screen adaptations Film 1944 (Joan Fontaine, Arturo de Córdova); TV 1998 (Tara Fitzgerald)
The ship of the French pirate Jean-Benoit Aubéry, hidden in a creek on the Helford river in Cornwall. Lady Dona St Columb joins his raids and falls in love with him.
The Marea scene Dona and the pirate captain aboard La Mouette in the moonlit creek.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Red Witch Fictional
Wake of the Red Witch (1946)
Written by Garland Roark
Screen adaptations Film 1948 (John Wayne, Gail Russell)
The ship of Captain Ralls, sunk with a cargo of gold in the East Indies after a feud with her owner. Ralls later dives to recover the gold from her wreck.
The Marea scene Ralls in a diving helmet descending to the sunken Red Witch.
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Kon-Tiki Real ship
The Kon-Tiki Expedition (1948)
Written by Thor Heyerdahl
Screen adaptations Documentary 1950 (Academy Award); Film 2012 (Pål Sverre Hagen)
The balsa raft on which Heyerdahl and five companions drifted from Peru to Polynesia in 1947, to show that South Americans could have settled the Pacific. The book became an international best seller.
The Marea scene The raft riding the Pacific swell with the crew beneath the Kon-Tiki sail face.
The real ship The original raft is in the Kon-Tiki Museum, Oslo.
Photo: Bahnfrend, CC BY-SA 4.0
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Santiago's skiff Fictional
The Old Man and the Sea (1952)
Written by Ernest Hemingway
Screen adaptations Film 1958 (Spencer Tracy); TV 1990 (Anthony Quinn); animated short 1999 (Aleksandr Petrov, Academy Award)
The small skiff in which the old Cuban fisherman Santiago hooks a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. He lashes it alongside, but sharks eat it before he returns to harbour.
The Marea scene Santiago in the skiff with the great marlin lashed alongside, sharks circling.
The real ship Hemingway's own boat Pilar was based at Cojímar, Cuba, where the story is set.
Photo: Scribner, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
RMS Titanic Real ship
A Night to Remember (1955)
Written by Walter Lord
Screen adaptations Film 1958 (Kenneth More, dir. Roy Ward Baker)
Lord's minute by minute account of the sinking of the Titanic on 15 April 1912, based on interviews with survivors. It shaped how the disaster has been told ever since.
The Marea scene The Titanic's stern rising high as the band plays and the lifeboats pull away.
The real ship Wreck on the North Atlantic seabed.
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Mary Deare Fictional
The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1956)
Written by Hammond Innes
Screen adaptations Film 1959 (Gary Cooper, Charlton Heston)
A tramp steamer found drifting in the Channel with only her mate Patch aboard. The salvage man John Sands boards her and uncovers an insurance fraud.
The Marea scene Sands climbing aboard the ghostly Mary Deare in a gale in the Channel.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Exodus Fictional
Exodus (1958)
Written by Leon Uris
Screen adaptations Exodus (1960, Otto Preminger)
The best selling novel opens with the Exodus, a small ship smuggling Jewish children from Cyprus to Palestine; the author based it partly on the voyage of the real Exodus 1947, though his ship is smaller and fictional.
The Marea scene The small ship lying in Famagusta harbour, children on deck, with British destroyers watching offshore.
The real ship Inspired by the real Exodus 1947.
Photo: Fritz Cohen, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Endurance Real ship
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage (1959)
Written by Alfred Lansing
Ernest Shackleton's ship, trapped and crushed by the ice of the Weddell Sea in 1915. Lansing tells how all 28 men survived, including the open boat voyage of the James Caird to South Georgia.
The Marea scene The crew watching the Endurance crushed and sinking in the pack ice.
The real ship The wreck was found in the Weddell Sea in 2022.
Photo: Frank Hurley, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Vera Fictional
Ship of Fools (1962)
Written by Katherine Anne Porter
Screen adaptations Film 1965 (Vivien Leigh, Simone Signoret, Oskar Werner, Lee Marvin)
A German liner sailing from Veracruz to Bremerhaven in 1931, whose passengers represent the tensions of pre war Europe. Porter's allegory takes its title from Sebastian Brant's medieval satire.
The Marea scene Passengers dancing on the Vera's deck while steerage passengers watch from below.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
USS Thresher (SSN-593) Real ship
The Death of the USS Thresher (1964)
Written by Norman Polmar
The first full account of the loss of the nuclear submarine Thresher during deep diving trials east of Cape Cod on 10 April 1963, with all 129 aboard, which led to the SUBSAFE programme.
The Marea scene The submarine rescue ship Skylark on station above the dive area, her crew listening to the underwater telephone.
The real ship Wreck lies 2,500 metres down in the Atlantic.
Photo: J.L. Snell, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
SS Poseidon Fictional
The Poseidon Adventure (1969)
Written by Paul Gallico
Screen adaptations Film 1972 (Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters); TV 2005; Film 2006 Poseidon (Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell)
An old liner on a Christmas cruise capsized by a tidal wave. A small group led by a rebellious clergyman climbs up through the upside down hull to reach the propeller shaft.
The Marea scene Survivors climbing the Christmas tree towards the upturned ballroom floor.
The real ship The 1972 film used the RMS Queen Mary, now at Long Beach, California, for reference and interiors.
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Thomas Hudson's boat Fictional
Islands in the Stream (1970)
Written by Ernest Hemingway
Screen adaptations Film 1977 (George C. Scott)
The boat of the painter Thomas Hudson, used for fishing in Bimini and later for hunting German submarine crews off Cuba in the war. Published after Hemingway's death, the novel draws on his Pilar patrols.
The Marea scene Hudson's son fighting a giant swordfish from the boat's fighting chair.
The real ship Based on Hemingway's boat Pilar, preserved at Finca Vigía, Cuba.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Orca Fictional
Jaws (1974)
Written by Peter Benchley
Screen adaptations Film 1975 (Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, dir. Steven Spielberg)
Quint's shark fishing boat, in which he, police chief Brody and the scientist Hooper hunt the great white shark of Amity. The shark attacks and sinks her.
The Marea scene Brody on the sinking Orca's mast taking aim at the shark as it charges.
The real ship The film boat was a converted fishing boat; replicas are on display at Universal parks.
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Erasmus Fictional
Shōgun (1975)
Written by James Clavell
Screen adaptations TV 1980 (Richard Chamberlain, Toshiro Mifune); TV 2024 (Hiroyuki Sanada, Cosmo Jarvis, Anna Sawai)
The Dutch ship piloted by the Englishman John Blackthorne, wrecked on the coast of Japan in 1600. Blackthorne is drawn into the power struggle of the warlord Toranaga.
The Marea scene The storm battered Erasmus driving onto the Japanese coast.
The real ship Based on the real Liefde of William Adams.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Mekong ferry Fictional
The Lover (L'Amant) (1984)
Written by Marguerite Duras
Screen adaptations 1992 film by Jean-Jacques Annaud with Jane March and Tony Leung Ka-fai
A French schoolgirl in a man's fedora meets a rich Chinese man on the ferry crossing the Mekong at Sa Dec, the start of their affair. The ferry image is the heart of Duras's Prix Goncourt novel.
The Marea scene The girl leaning on the ferry rail in her fedora as the black limousine sits on the deck behind her.
The real ship Real Mekong car ferry used for the 1992 film.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Republic Fictional
Middle Passage (1990)
Written by Charles Johnson
National Book Award winning novel. In 1830 Rutherford Calhoun, a freed man, stows away on the Republic, a slaver bound for Africa, and survives the voyage home, a mutiny and a storm.
The Marea scene The Republic under sail at night, Calhoun hiding among the casks below deck.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Quoyle's boat Fictional
The Shipping News (1993)
Written by Annie Proulx
Screen adaptations Film 2001 (Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, Judi Dench)
Quoyle, a hapless newspaperman, moves to Newfoundland and writes the shipping news for the local paper. He buys a poorly made boat that capsizes, and later learns about boats from the builder Alvin Yark.
The Marea scene Quoyle clinging to his capsized boat in a grey Newfoundland bay.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Zong Real ship
Feeding the Ghosts (1997)
Written by Fred D'Aguiar
Novel based on the Zong, imagining Mintah, a woman thrown overboard who climbs back aboard, and the trial that followed.
The Marea scene The ship becalmed under a heavy sky in the Atlantic, crew at the rail.
The real ship No remains known.
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
HMT Rohna Real ship
Forgotten Tragedy: The Sinking of HMT Rohna (1997)
Written by Carlton Jackson
History of the loss of the Rohna in convoy KMF-26, drawn from survivor accounts and records long kept classified.
The Marea scene The minesweeper USS Pioneer picking up survivors from the water at dusk.
The real ship Wreck off Algeria.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Andrea Gail Real ship
The Perfect Storm (1997)
Written by Sebastian Junger
Screen adaptations Film 2000 (George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, dir. Wolfgang Petersen)
A Gloucester swordfishing boat lost with all six crew in the great North Atlantic storm of October 1991. Junger reconstructs her last voyage and the storm.
The Marea scene The Andrea Gail climbing a giant wave in the darkness of the storm.
The real ship Real boat, lost at sea in 1991; the film used a similar Gloucester boat.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
USS Scorpion (SSN-589) Real ship
Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage (1998)
Written by Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew
Best selling history of Cold War submarine operations, with chapters on the loss of Scorpion in May 1968 with all 99 aboard and the search that found her wreck southwest of the Azores.
The Marea scene The oceanographic ship Mizar towing a camera sled over the search area.
The real ship Wreck lies about 3,000 metres down southwest of the Azores.
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Henrietta Marie Real ship
The Wreck of the Henrietta Marie: An African American's Spiritual Journey (1999)
Written by Michael H. Cottman
A journalist and member of the National Association of Black Scuba Divers dives on the wreck and follows the ship's route between England, West Africa and Jamaica.
The Marea scene The dive boat anchored over New Ground Reef, divers going down to the memorial plaque.
The real ship The real wreck near Key West.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Essex Real ship
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex (2000)
Written by Nathaniel Philbrick
Screen adaptations Film 2015 In the Heart of the Sea, dir. Ron Howard (Chris Hemsworth, Ben Whishaw, Cillian Murphy)
The real whaler rammed and sunk by a sperm whale in the Pacific in November 1820, the event that inspired Moby-Dick. Philbrick's National Book Award winning account follows the crew's ordeal in open whaleboats after the sinking.
The Marea scene The enraged sperm whale striking the Essex's bow as the whaleboats watch helplessly.
The real ship Sunk in the Pacific in 1820; the 2015 film used a full size replica deck built at Warner Bros. Leavesden.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
The lifeboat, and the Tsimtsum Fictional
Life of Pi (2001)
Written by Yann Martel
Screen adaptations Film 2012 (Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, dir. Ang Lee)
When the cargo ship Tsimtsum sinks in the Pacific, the Indian boy Pi survives for 227 days in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger called Richard Parker.
The Marea scene Pi on his raft of oars tethered to the lifeboat, the tiger watching from the bow.
The real ship Filmed in a wave tank in Taiwan.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
SS Mayaguez Real ship
The Last Battle: The Mayaguez Incident and the End of the Vietnam War (2001)
Written by Ralph Wetterhahn
Non fiction account of the May 1975 seizure of the American container ship Mayaguez by Khmer Rouge forces and the US rescue operation at Koh Tang, the last battle of the Vietnam War. The crew were released unharmed.
The Marea scene The container ship lying at anchor off Koh Tang at dawn, a US destroyer escort approaching.
The real ship The real Mayaguez was scrapped in 1979.
Photo: USAF, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
MV Wilhelm Gustloff Real ship
Crabwalk (Im Krebsgang) (2002)
Written by Günter Grass
Novel narrated by a journalist born on the night the Wilhelm Gustloff was torpedoed in January 1945 while evacuating civilians and servicemen from East Prussia, with more than 9,000 deaths. Grass uses the ship to look at how German civilian suffering was remembered.
The Marea scene The liner leaving Gotenhafen on a freezing January afternoon, crowds of refugees along her decks.
The real ship The wreck lies in the Baltic off Poland and is a protected war grave.
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
SS Arctic Real ship
The Sea Shall Embrace Them: The Tragic Story of the Steamship Arctic (2002)
Written by David W. Shaw
History of the Collins Line flagship Arctic, which sank after colliding with the French steamer Vesta off Newfoundland in fog in September 1854; no women or children survived.
The Marea scene The paddle steamer driving through fog on the Grand Banks, her bell ringing and lookouts forward.
The real ship Wreck never located.
Photo: Edwin Weedon, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
PS General Slocum Real ship
Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum (2003)
Written by Edward T. O'Donnell
History of the excursion steamer that caught fire in the East River on 15 June 1904 carrying a Lutheran church outing from Little Germany, with more than 1,000 deaths, and of the community it devastated.
The Marea scene The white excursion steamer leaving the East Third Street pier on a sunny June morning, flags flying and a band playing.
The real ship The hull became the barge Maryland, lost in 1911.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
SS Eastland Real ship
The Sinking of the Eastland: America's Forgotten Tragedy (2004)
Written by Jay Bonansinga
Non fiction account of the Eastland disaster and the rescue work of the Chicago river men, firemen and the crowds on the bank.
The Marea scene Rescuers standing on the exposed hull of the capsized steamer in the Chicago River.
The real ship Scrapped in 1947.
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
RMS Lancastria Real ship
The Sinking of the Lancastria (2005)
Written by Jonathan Fenby
History of the loss of the Lancastria off St Nazaire on 17 June 1940 during the evacuation of British troops and civilians from France, the heaviest single loss of life in British maritime history.
The Marea scene The liner at anchor in the Charpentier Roads off St Nazaire, small boats ferrying troops out from shore.
The real ship The wreck lies off St Nazaire and is protected as a war grave.
Photo: CC BY 2.0
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
RMS Leinster Real ship
Torpedoed! The R.M.S. Leinster Disaster (2005)
Written by Philip Lecane
History of the Kingstown to Holyhead mail boat torpedoed by UB-123 on 10 October 1918 with at least 564 dead, the largest loss of life in the Irish Sea.
The Marea scene The mail boat leaving Kingstown pier on a bright October morning with passengers and postal sorters aboard.
The real ship The wreck lies in the Irish Sea; her anchor is a memorial at Dún Laoghaire.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
K-278 Komsomolets Real ship
Fire at Sea: The Tragedy of the Soviet Submarine Komsomolets (2006)
Written by D. A. Romanov (edited by K. J. Moore)
Written by the submarine's chief designer, the book examines the fire aboard Komsomolets in the Norwegian Sea on 7 April 1989, which cost the lives of 42 of those aboard, and argues that crew training rather than design was at fault.
The Marea scene Survivors on the casing of the surfaced submarine awaiting the fishing vessel Aleksey Khlobystov.
The real ship Wreck lies 1,680 metres down in the Norwegian Sea and is monitored for radiation.
Photo: US Navy, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
HMS Erebus and HMS Terror Real ship
The Terror (2007)
Written by Dan Simmons
Screen adaptations TV 2018 AMC (Jared Harris, Ciarán Hinds, Tobias Menzies)
The two ships of Sir John Franklin's lost 1845 expedition, trapped in ice in the Canadian Arctic. The novel adds a supernatural predator to the historical disaster.
The Marea scene Crozier on the ice beside the trapped Terror, lanterns glowing in the polar night.
The real ship Real ships; wrecks found in 2014 (Erebus) and 2016 (Terror) in Nunavut, Canada.
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
USS Scorpion (SSN-589) Real ship
All Hands Down: The True Story of the Soviet Attack on the USS Scorpion (2008)
Written by Kenneth Sewell and Jerome Preisler
Book presenting a contested theory on the loss of Scorpion in 1968; the official US Navy view remains that the cause is undetermined.
The Marea scene Scorpion surfaced off Rota, Spain, crew on deck in the Atlantic sun before her last voyage.
The real ship Wreck southwest of the Azores.
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Piper Alpha Real ship
Fire in the Night: The Piper Alpha Disaster (2008)
Written by Stephen McGinty
Screen adaptations Documentary: Fire in the Night (2013, Anthony Wonke)
Account of the Piper Alpha disaster built on interviews with survivors and the crews of the vessels that came to help, including the standby ship Silver Pit and the fire fighting vessel Tharos.
The Marea scene The semi submersible Tharos standing off the platform with her fire monitors trained, smaller boats nearby.
The real ship Platform lost; memorial in Aberdeen.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Ibis Fictional
Sea of Poppies (2008)
Written by Amitav Ghosh
A former slave ship carrying indentured labourers and convicts from Calcutta to Mauritius in 1838. The first book of the Ibis trilogy follows a mixed company united by the voyage.
The Marea scene The Ibis leaving the Hooghly with migrants crowded on deck.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
Zong Real ship
Zong! (2008)
Written by M. NourbeSe Philip
Book length poem built entirely from the words of the legal judgment Gregson v Gilbert on the Zong case, giving voice to the Africans killed in 1781.
The Marea scene A memorial of flowers cast on calm Caribbean water.
The real ship No remains known.
Ships in Famous Books · Modern novels and non fiction
SS Patria Real ship
Patria Israel
Written by Rudolf Hirsch
Novel by the German Jewish writer Rudolf Hirsch about the Patria, on which the British were deporting some 1,800 Jewish refugees from Haifa to Mauritius in November 1940 when a Haganah bomb meant to disable her sank the ship, killing 267 people. The survivors of a later group were interned in Mauritius until 1945.
The Marea scene The liner at anchor in Haifa Bay under the slopes of Mount Carmel, refugees along the rails.
The real ship The real Patria sank in Haifa harbour in 1940.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Manu's boat Fictional
Matsya Purana and Shatapatha Brahmana (c. 1st millennium BC)
Written by Traditional Hindu
The god Vishnu, as the fish Matsya, warns Manu of a great flood and tells him to build a boat carrying the seven sages and the seeds of all life. Matsya tows it to safety by a rope tied to his horn.
The Marea scene The great horned fish towing Manu's boat through the flood with the serpent Vasuki as rope.
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Theseus's ship Fictional
Life of Theseus (Parallel Lives) (c. 100 AD)
Written by Plutarch
Theseus sails to Crete to kill the Minotaur and forgets to change the black sail for white on his return, so his father Aegeus throws himself into the sea. The Athenians kept the ship for centuries, giving rise to the paradox of the Ship of Theseus.
The Marea scene Aegeus on the cliff at Sounion seeing the black sail on the horizon.
Photo: Yosemite, CC BY 4.0
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Naglfar Fictional
Prose Edda (c. 1220)
Written by Snorri Sturluson
In Norse myth Naglfar is built from the untrimmed nails of the dead. At Ragnarök it breaks free and carries the giants into the final battle against the gods.
The Marea scene Naglfar breaking loose on the flood with its giant crew at the start of Ragnarök.
Photo: Travpeter, CC BY-SA 3.0
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Skíðblaðnir Fictional
Prose Edda (c. 1220)
Written by Snorri Sturluson
The best of ships, made by the dwarf sons of Ivaldi for the god Freyr. It always has a fair wind and can be folded up and carried in a pouch.
The Marea scene Freyr folding the ship into a pouch like a cloth.
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Hringhorni Fictional
Prose Edda (Gylfaginning) (c. 1220)
Written by Snorri Sturluson
The ship of the god Baldr, the greatest of all ships, which becomes his funeral pyre. It is so heavy that the gods need the giantess Hyrrokkin, riding a wolf, to launch it.
The Marea scene Baldr's pyre blazing on Hringhorni as Thor hallows it with his hammer.
Photo: Emil Doepler, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Ormen Lange (Long Serpent) Real ship
Heimskringla (Saga of Olaf Tryggvason) (c. 1230)
Written by Snorri Sturluson
The largest longship of its age, built for King Olaf Tryggvason of Norway. Snorri describes her last fight at the battle of Svolder in about 1000, when Olaf leapt overboard rather than surrender.
The Marea scene King Olaf in shining mail leaping from the Long Serpent's rail as the enemy swarm aboard.
The real ship Historical ship known only from the sagas.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Solar barque of Ra Fictional
Ancient Egyptian mythology (Book of the Dead, Amduat) (c. 1550 BC onwards)
Written by Traditional
The sun god Ra sails across the sky by day and through the underworld by night in his barque, defended against the serpent Apophis. Real ritual boats were buried to serve kings in the afterlife.
The Marea scene Ra enthroned in the barque as Set spears the serpent Apophis at the prow.
The real ship The real Khufu ship is a buried royal barque.
Photo: Matthäus Wander, CC0
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
The Flying Dutchman Fictional
Flying Dutchman legend (legend, 18th century onwards)
Written by Traditional; Wagner opera Der fliegende Holländer 1843
Screen adaptations Film 1951 Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (James Mason, Ava Gardner)
A legendary ghost ship doomed to sail forever, never able to make port, often sighted off the Cape of Good Hope as an omen of disaster. The legend inspired Wagner, Marryat and many later stories.
The Marea scene The phantom ship with blood red sails glowing in a storm off the Cape.
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Väinämöinen's boat Fictional
Kalevala (1835)
Written by Elias Lönnrot (compiler)
The old sage Väinämöinen sings a boat into being, searching for three missing words of magic, and later sails with Ilmarinen and Lemminkäinen to steal the Sampo from Pohjola. At the end of the epic he leaves Finland in a copper boat.
The Marea scene Väinämöinen playing his kantele in the boat as the fish rise to listen.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
The funeral barge to Avalon Fictional
Morte d'Arthur (Idylls of the King) (1842)
Written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
After the last battle Sir Bedivere carries the dying Arthur to the shore, where a dark barge with three queens takes him to the island valley of Avilion. The scene draws on Malory.
The Marea scene Bedivere on the shore as the barge with the three black clad queens glides away.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Aeneas's fleet (Centaur, Chimaera, Pristis, Scylla) Fictional
Aeneid (19 BC)
Written by Virgil
The Trojan fleet carrying Aeneas from burning Troy to Italy, wrecked by Juno's storm and delayed at Carthage. At the funeral games in Sicily four of the ships race round a rock.
The Marea scene The four galleys rounding the turning rock in the boat race of Book Five.
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Charon's skiff Fictional
Greek mythology (Aeneid Book VI, Dante's Inferno) (19 BC)
Written by Virgil; Dante Alighieri
The ferryman Charon rows the souls of the buried dead across the Styx or Acheron for a coin. Aeneas crosses with the Sibyl, and Dante in Inferno Canto III.
The Marea scene Charon with his pole and glowing eyes loading pale souls into his dark skiff.
Photo: Carole Raddato, CC BY-SA 2.0
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Corsair ships of Umbar Fictional
The Return of the King (1955)
Written by J. R. R. Tolkien
Screen adaptations Film 2003 (Viggo Mortensen, Elijah Wood, dir. Peter Jackson)
The fleet of the Corsairs of Umbar sailing up the Anduin towards Minas Tirith. Aragorn captures them with the Army of the Dead and brings reinforcements to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
The Marea scene Aragorn's standard unfurled on the lead black ship at the Harlond.
The real ship Built as models and sets for the 2003 film.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
The elven ships of the Grey Havens Fictional
The Return of the King (1955)
Written by J. R. R. Tolkien
Screen adaptations Film 2003 (Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett)
The white ships built by Círdan that carry the Elves, and at the end Frodo, Bilbo and Gandalf, over the sea into the West. Frodo's departure closes The Lord of the Rings.
The Marea scene Frodo turning to wave from the grey ship as it leaves the Havens at dusk.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Lookfar Fictional
A Wizard of Earthsea (1968)
Written by Ursula K. Le Guin
Screen adaptations TV 2004 Legend of Earthsea; Film 2006 Tales from Earthsea (Studio Ghibli)
The small boat Ged sails in pursuit of his shadow across the Earthsea archipelago to the edge of the world. It returns in The Farthest Shore.
The Marea scene Ged in Lookfar confronting his shadow on the dark sea at the edge of the world.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Vingilot Fictional
The Silmarillion (1977)
Written by J. R. R. Tolkien
The ship of Eärendil the mariner, who sails to Valinor to plead for help against Morgoth. Set in the sky with a Silmaril on his brow, he becomes the evening star.
The Marea scene Eärendil at the prow of Vingilot with the Silmaril blazing as she rises into the sky.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Brendan Real ship
The Brendan Voyage (1978)
Written by Tim Severin
Severin built a replica of an early Irish leather boat to test the medieval legend of Saint Brendan's voyage to a promised land. In 1976 to 1977 he sailed it from Ireland to Newfoundland via the Faroes and Iceland.
The Marea scene The ox hide currach riding the swell beside an Arctic ice floe.
The real ship The boat Brendan is displayed at Craggaunowen, County Clare, Ireland.
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Durmstrang ship Fictional
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000)
Written by J. K. Rowling
Screen adaptations Film 2005 (Daniel Radcliffe, dir. Mike Newell)
The skeletal looking ship that carries the Durmstrang students, including Viktor Krum, to Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament. It rises from the depths of the lake.
The Marea scene The ship surfacing from the Black Lake in the moonlight before the watching students.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Utnapishtim's boat Fictional
Epic of Gilgamesh (c. 2100 to 1200 BC)
Written by Anonymous (Mesopotamian)
The great boat built by Utnapishtim on the god Ea's advice to survive the flood. He tells Gilgamesh the story as the hero seeks immortality.
The Marea scene Utnapishtim releasing a raven from his boat as the waters subside.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Argo Fictional
Argonautica (3rd century BC)
Written by Apollonius of Rhodes
Screen adaptations Film 1963 Jason and the Argonauts (Todd Armstrong, Ray Harryhausen effects); TV 2000 (Jason London)
The ship built by Argus with Athena's help, carrying Jason and the Argonauts to Colchis for the Golden Fleece. A beam from the oracle of Dodona in her prow could speak.
The Marea scene The Argo rowing hard between the Clashing Rocks as a dove flies ahead.
The real ship Tim Severin sailed a replica Argo in 1984.
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Jonah's ship Fictional
Book of Jonah (c. 5th century BC)
Written by Hebrew Bible
Screen adaptations Film 2002 Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie
Fleeing God's command, Jonah takes ship at Joppa for Tarshish. In the storm the sailors cast lots, throw him overboard and he is swallowed by a great fish.
The Marea scene The sailors heaving Jonah over the side as the great fish rises from the waves.
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Noah's Ark Fictional
Book of Genesis (c. 6th century BC)
Written by Hebrew Bible (traditional authorship)
Screen adaptations Film 1928 Noah's Ark (dir. Michael Curtiz); Film 2014 Noah (Russell Crowe)
The vessel God commands Noah to build to save his family and pairs of every animal from the Flood. It comes to rest on the mountains of Ararat and Noah sends out a dove.
The Marea scene Noah releasing the dove from the ark's window over the flood.
The real ship Full size modern interpretations include the Ark Encounter in Kentucky and Johan's Ark in the Netherlands.
Photo: Edward Hicks, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Scyld Scefing's funeral ship Fictional
Beowulf (c. 700 to 1000)
Written by Anonymous (Old English)
Screen adaptations Film 2007 (Ray Winstone); Seamus Heaney translation 1999
Beowulf opens with the funeral of the Danish king Scyld, laid in his ship heaped with treasure and given back to the sea. The scene recalls real ship burials such as Sutton Hoo.
The Marea scene Scyld's body laid by the mast amid weapons and treasure as the ship drifts out.
The real ship Compare the real Sutton Hoo ship burial.
Photo: Alex Healing, CC BY 2.0
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Odysseus's ship Fictional
The Odyssey (c. 8th century BC)
Written by Homer
Screen adaptations Film 1954 Ulysses (Kirk Douglas); TV 1997 (Armand Assante); Film 2026 The Odyssey (Matt Damon, dir. Christopher Nolan)
The black ship of Odysseus on his ten year voyage home from Troy to Ithaca. His crew are lost one by one, and the ship is destroyed by Zeus after they eat the cattle of the sun god.
The Marea scene Odysseus bound to the mast as his crew row past the Sirens with wax in their ears.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Máel Dúin's currach Fictional
Immram Curaig Maíle Dúin (The Voyage of Máel Dúin) (c. 8th to 10th century)
Written by Traditional Irish
Máel Dúin sets out with his foster brothers to avenge his father and visits a series of marvellous islands in the Atlantic. The tale is one of the great Irish voyage stories alongside Brendan's.
The Marea scene The currach passing beneath the silver column rising from the sea with its silver net.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Prydwen Fictional
Preiddeu Annwfn (The Spoils of Annwn) (c. 900)
Written by Anonymous (Book of Taliesin)
Arthur sails in his ship Prydwen into the otherworld of Annwn to seize a magic cauldron, and only seven return. The ship also appears in the Welsh tale Culhwch and Olwen.
The Marea scene Prydwen sailing into the mist toward the glass fortress of Annwn.
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Sinbad's ships Fictional
One Thousand and One Nights (c. 9th to 14th century)
Written by Anonymous
Screen adaptations Film 1947 Sinbad the Sailor (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.); Film 1958 The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (Kerwin Mathews); Film 1973 The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (John Phillip Law)
The merchant ships on which Sinbad sails from Basra on seven voyages, wrecked in turn by storms, whales mistaken for islands and the giant roc.
The Marea scene Sinbad's crew lighting a fire on an island that turns out to be a waking whale.
The real ship Tim Severin sailed the replica dhow Sohar from Oman to China in 1980 to 1981.
Photo: Milo Winter, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Myths and epics
Takarabune Fictional
Seven Lucky Gods (Japanese folklore) (Edo period tradition)
Written by Traditional
The treasure ship that sails in on New Year's Eve carrying the Seven Lucky Gods and their riches. Pictures of it are placed under pillows to bring a lucky first dream of the year.
The Marea scene The seven gods laughing aboard the ship heaped with treasure, sail marked with the character baku.
Photo: Rama, CC BY-SA 3.0 fr
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
HMS Harpy Fictional
Mr Midshipman Easy (1836)
Written by Frederick Marryat
Screen adaptations Film 1935 (Hughie Green, dir. Carol Reed)
The sloop in which the philosophical young Jack Easy serves as a midshipman, arguing for equality aboard a man of war. His adventures in the Mediterranean cure him of his theories.
The Marea scene Jack Easy debating the rights of man with the boatswain on the Harpy's deck.
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
The Flying Dutchman (Vanderdecken's ship) Fictional
The Phantom Ship (1839)
Written by Frederick Marryat
Marryat's novel follows Philip Vanderdecken, son of the cursed Dutch captain, who sails the world to lift the curse. The ghost ship appears to bring disaster to all who see her.
The Marea scene The spectral ship bearing down with all sails set against the wind.
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
Astrea Fictional
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1880)
Written by Lew Wallace
Screen adaptations Film 1925 (Ramon Novarro); Film 1959 (Charlton Heston)
The Roman galley of the tribune Quintus Arrius, where Judah Ben-Hur is chained as an oarsman. She is rammed by pirates and Ben-Hur saves Arrius, who adopts him.
The Marea scene Ben-Hur rowing in chains below deck as the pirate ram smashes through the hull.
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
Sakr-el-Bahr's galley Fictional
The Sea-Hawk (1915)
Written by Rafael Sabatini
Screen adaptations Film 1924 (Milton Sills); Film 1940 (Errol Flynn, story changed)
Sir Oliver Tressilian, betrayed and sold as a galley slave, becomes the Barbary corsair Sakr-el-Bahr. He raids the Cornish coast in his galley to seize the woman who scorned him.
The Marea scene Sir Oliver chained to a galley oar beside his treacherous brother.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
Arabella Fictional
Captain Blood (1922)
Written by Rafael Sabatini
Screen adaptations Film 1924 (J. Warren Kerrigan); Film 1935 (Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland)
Peter Blood, a doctor sold into slavery in Barbados, seizes the Spanish ship Cinco Llagas and renames her Arabella after the woman he loves. She becomes the flagship of his buccaneer fleet.
The Marea scene Peter Blood leading the escaped slaves up the side of the Spanish ship in Bridgetown harbour.
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
Ziethen Fictional
Brown on Resolution (1929)
Written by C. S. Forester
Screen adaptations Film 1935 (John Mills, Betty Balfour); film 1953 Sailor of the King
A damaged German cruiser hides at the island of Resolution in the Galápagos in 1914 to make repairs. Able Seaman Albert Brown, a prisoner who has escaped, holds up the repairs alone with a rifle until the Royal Navy arrives.
The Marea scene Brown in the rocks above the cove, firing on the Ziethen's working party.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
Bounty Real ship
Mutiny on the Bounty (1932)
Written by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall
Screen adaptations Film 1935 (Clark Gable, Charles Laughton); Film 1962 (Marlon Brando, Trevor Howard); Film 1984 The Bounty (Mel Gibson, Anthony Hopkins)
The ship sent to Tahiti for breadfruit under Lieutenant Bligh, whose crew mutiny under Fletcher Christian in 1789. The trilogy continues with Bligh's open boat voyage in Men Against the Sea and the mutineers on Pitcairn's Island.
The Marea scene Bligh cast adrift in the launch as Christian watches from the Bounty's rail.
The real ship Burnt at Pitcairn in 1790; the 1962 replica sank in Hurricane Sandy in 2012; the 1984 replica later served as a tourist ship.
Photo: Dan Kasberger, CC BY-SA 3.0
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
African Queen Fictional
The African Queen (1935)
Written by C. S. Forester
Screen adaptations Film 1951 (Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, dir. John Huston)
A battered river launch on which the gin drinking engineer Allnutt and the missionary Rose escape down an African river in 1914. They turn her into a torpedo boat to attack a German gunboat on the lake.
The Marea scene Rose and Allnutt hauling the African Queen through reeds and leeches.
The real ship The 1951 film boat was the steam launch Livingstone, built 1912, now restored and operating at Key Largo, Florida.
Photo: Jud McCranie, CC BY-SA 4.0
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
HMS Lydia Fictional
The Happy Return (US: Beat to Quarters) (1937)
Written by C. S. Forester
Screen adaptations Film 1951 Captain Horatio Hornblower (Gregory Peck, Virginia Mayo)
Hornblower's frigate on a secret mission to the Pacific coast of Central America, where she fights the Spanish two decker Natividad. Lady Barbara Wellesley takes passage aboard.
The Marea scene The Lydia raking the dismasted Natividad at close range in the Gulf of Fonseca.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
HMS Sutherland Fictional
A Ship of the Line (Ship of the Line) (1938)
Written by C. S. Forester
Screen adaptations Film 1951 Captain Horatio Hornblower (Gregory Peck)
An ugly Dutch built two decker that Hornblower commands in the Mediterranean. She fights four French ships of the line alone and is forced to strike her colours.
The Marea scene The shattered Sutherland engaging four French ships in the Bay of Rosas.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
USS Delaware Fictional
The Captain from Connecticut (1941)
Written by C. S. Forester
Captain Josiah Peabody breaks the British blockade in the frigate Delaware during the War of 1812 and raids commerce in the Caribbean.
The Marea scene The Delaware slipping out past the British blockade in a snowstorm.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
HMS Artemis Fictional
The Ship (1943)
Written by C. S. Forester
A light cruiser escorting a Malta convoy in the Mediterranean, told through the eyes of her crew over a single afternoon. She drives off a superior Italian fleet.
The Marea scene Artemis charging out of the smoke screen to fire torpedoes at Italian battleships.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
USS Reluctant Fictional
Mister Roberts (1946)
Written by Thomas Heggen
Screen adaptations Film 1955 (Henry Fonda, James Cagney, Jack Lemmon, William Powell)
A supply ship plying the backwaters of the Pacific under a petty tyrant of a captain. Lieutenant Roberts longs for combat, and Ensign Pulver finally throws the captain's palm tree overboard.
The Marea scene Ensign Pulver hurling the captain's potted palm tree over the side.
The real ship The 1955 film used the USS Hewell (AG-145).
Photo: US Navy, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
HMS Indefatigable Real ship
Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (1950)
Written by C. S. Forester
Screen adaptations TV 1998 to 2003 Hornblower (Ioan Gruffudd, Robert Lindsay)
The frigate of Captain Pellew in which young Hornblower serves as a midshipman and learns his trade. She is based on the real ship commanded by Sir Edward Pellew.
The Marea scene Midshipman Hornblower climbing to the maintop in his first action.
The real ship Based on the real HMS Indefatigable (1784); the TV series used the replica frigate Grand Turk, later sold to France as Étoile du Roy (Saint-Malo).
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
USS Caine Fictional
The Caine Mutiny (1951)
Written by Herman Wouk
Screen adaptations Film 1954 (Humphrey Bogart, José Ferrer, Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray); Film 2023 The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (Kiefer Sutherland)
An old destroyer minesweeper in the Pacific commanded by the paranoid Lieutenant Commander Queeg. During a typhoon the executive officer Maryk relieves him of command, leading to a court martial.
The Marea scene Queeg rolling steel balls in his hand on the bridge as the typhoon strikes.
The real ship The 1954 film used the destroyer minesweeper USS Thompson (DMS-38), scrapped.
Photo: US Navy, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
HMS Compass Rose Fictional
The Cruel Sea (1951)
Written by Nicholas Monsarrat
Screen adaptations Film 1953 (Jack Hawkins, Donald Sinden)
A corvette escorting Atlantic convoys under Lieutenant Commander Ericson. She is torpedoed and sunk, and Ericson later commands the frigate Saltash.
The Marea scene Ericson ordering depth charges dropped among men in the water to attack a U-boat.
The real ship The film Compass Rose was played by the Greek Navy corvette Kriezis, formerly HMS Coreopsis.
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
HMS Saltash Fictional
The Cruel Sea (1951)
Written by Nicholas Monsarrat
Screen adaptations Film 1953 (Jack Hawkins)
The frigate Ericson commands after losing Compass Rose. She hunts and sinks a U-boat after a long chase in the last years of the war.
The Marea scene Saltash's crew watching the U-boat surface after the long hunt.
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
USS Belinda Fictional
Away All Boats (1954)
Written by Kenneth M. Dodson
Screen adaptations Film 1956 (Jeff Chandler, George Nader)
An attack transport landing troops across the Pacific campaign. She is hit by a kamikaze off Okinawa and her crew fight to save her.
The Marea scene Landing craft leaving the Belinda for the invasion beach.
The real ship The 1956 film used the attack transport USS Randall.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
HMS Ulysses Fictional
HMS Ulysses (1955)
Written by Alistair MacLean
A worn out cruiser and her exhausted crew escort an Arctic convoy to Murmansk through storms, ice and constant attack. It was MacLean's first novel.
The Marea scene Ulysses iced over in an Arctic gale, her guns frozen, with the convoy astern.
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
USS Walrus and USS Eel Fictional
Run Silent, Run Deep (1955)
Written by Edward L. Beach Jr.
Screen adaptations Film 1958 (Clark Gable, Burt Lancaster)
Commander Richardson's submarines in the Pacific War, hunting a Japanese destroyer that has sunk several American boats. In the film the submarine is named Nerka.
The Marea scene Richardson at the periscope as the destroyer charges down the torpedo tracks.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
USS Scorpion Fictional
On the Beach (1957)
Written by Nevil Shute
Screen adaptations Film 1959 (Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner); TV 2000 (Armand Assante)
After a nuclear war the submarine takes refuge in Melbourne and sails north to investigate a radio signal from Seattle. Her crew face the approaching radioactive cloud; the films rename her Sawfish and Charleston.
The Marea scene A crewman in protective gear ashore in deserted Seattle tracing the radio signal.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
HMS Hotspur Fictional
Hornblower and the Hotspur (1962)
Written by C. S. Forester
Screen adaptations TV 2003 Hornblower: Duty (Ioan Gruffudd)
Hornblower's sloop blockading Brest at the start of the Napoleonic war. Working close inshore, she scouts the French coast and fights French frigates.
The Marea scene Hotspur creeping through the Goulet at night under the guns of Brest.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
SS Campari Fictional
The Golden Rendezvous (1962)
Written by Alistair MacLean
Screen adaptations Film 1977 (Richard Harris, Ann Turkel, David Janssen)
Chief Officer Johnny Carter fights a gang that hijacks the Campari in the Caribbean with a stolen nuclear warhead aboard, to hold a treasure ship to ransom.
The Marea scene Carter creeping along the Campari's dark boat deck with a gun as the hijackers patrol.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
USS San Pablo Fictional
The Sand Pebbles (1962)
Written by Richard McKenna
Screen adaptations Film 1966 (Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, Candice Bergen)
An old gunboat patrolling the Yangtze in 1926 amid Chinese revolution. Engineer Jake Holman, loyal to his engines, is caught up in the crew's conflict with local people.
The Marea scene Holman in the engine room of the San Pablo as she forces the boom on the river.
The real ship A full size working San Pablo was built for the 1966 film.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
USS Dolphin Fictional
Ice Station Zebra (1963)
Written by Alistair MacLean
Screen adaptations Film 1968 (Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, Patrick McGoohan)
The submarine that forces its way under the Arctic ice to rescue the men of a burning weather station. A saboteur aboard nearly sinks her; the film renames her Tigerfish.
The Marea scene The submarine's sail breaking up through the polar ice beside the ruined station.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
China Cloud Fictional
Tai-Pan (1966)
Written by James Clavell
Screen adaptations Film 1986 (Bryan Brown, Joan Chen)
The flagship clipper of Dirk Struan's trading house at the founding of Hong Kong in 1841. The fleets of Struan and his rival Brock fight for mastery of the China trade.
The Marea scene The China Cloud at anchor off Hong Kong island as Struan claims the new colony.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
HMS Phalarope Fictional
To Glory We Steer (1968)
Written by Alexander Kent (Douglas Reeman)
Richard Bolitho takes command of the frigate Phalarope, whose crew is sullen after a mutiny, and wins them over in the West Indies. It was the first Bolitho novel written.
The Marea scene Bolitho on the quarterdeck of the Phalarope as she beats to quarters off the Saintes.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
HMS Sophie Fictional
Master and Commander (1969)
Written by Patrick O'Brian
Jack Aubrey's first command, a small brig sloop based at Port Mahon in 1800. Aubrey meets the surgeon Stephen Maturin and takes a string of prizes, including the much larger Spanish xebec frigate Cacafuego.
The Marea scene Aubrey's boarders swarming over the side of the Cacafuego from the tiny Sophie.
The real ship Based on the real brig HMS Speedy under Lord Cochrane.
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
HMS Surprise Real ship
Post Captain; H.M.S. Surprise; The Far Side of the World (1972)
Written by Patrick O'Brian
Screen adaptations Film 2003 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany)
Aubrey's favourite ship, a fast and weatherly frigate that appears across much of the Aubrey and Maturin series. In the film she chases a powerful French privateer round Cape Horn to the Galápagos.
The Marea scene Aubrey on the Surprise's quarterdeck, Maturin with his cello below, as she rounds the Horn.
The real ship Based on the real HMS Surprise (1796); the film used the replica HMS Rose, now named HMS Surprise at the Maritime Museum of San Diego.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
U-96 Real ship
Das Boot (1973)
Written by Lothar-Günther Buchheim
Screen adaptations Film 1981 (Jürgen Prochnow, dir. Wolfgang Petersen); TV 2018 series
A U-boat on patrol in the Atlantic in 1941, seen through a war correspondent aboard. After convoy attacks she is ordered through the Strait of Gibraltar and sinks to the seabed.
The Marea scene The crew frozen in silence in the control room as depth charges rock the hull.
The real ship Based on the real U-96 on which Buchheim sailed; the film's full size mock ups were at Bavaria Studios, Munich.
Photo: Andrey Belenko, CC BY 2.0
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
HMS Leopard Real ship
Desolation Island (1978)
Written by Patrick O'Brian
An old fourth rate that Aubrey commands carrying convicts to New South Wales. Chased by a Dutch 74 in the Southern Ocean, she strikes an iceberg and limps to the Kerguelen Islands.
The Marea scene The Leopard's crew manning the pumps beside the towering iceberg.
The real ship Based on the real HMS Leopard (1790).
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
Warlock Fictional
Hungry as the Sea (1978)
Written by Wilbur Smith
Nick Berg, ousted from his shipping line, takes his salvage tug Warlock to the rescue of the stricken cruise liner Golden Adventurer in the Antarctic ice.
The Marea scene The Warlock getting a tow line aboard the Golden Adventurer in a Southern Ocean blizzard.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
Red October Fictional
The Hunt for Red October (1984)
Written by Tom Clancy
Screen adaptations Film 1990 (Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, dir. John McTiernan)
A Soviet missile submarine with a silent caterpillar drive whose captain, Marko Ramius, intends to defect to the United States. The CIA analyst Jack Ryan works out his plan while both navies hunt him.
The Marea scene Ramius and Ryan on the Red October's bridge surfacing off the American coast.
The real ship Based on the Typhoon class; the film used USS Houston for the submarine Dallas scenes.
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
CSS Texas Fictional
Sahara (1992)
Written by Clive Cussler
Screen adaptations Film 2005 (Matthew McConaughey, Penélope Cruz, Steve Zahn)
At the end of the Civil War the ironclad Texas broke out down the James River and vanished. Dirk Pitt tracks her to the Sahara, where she lies buried in an ancient river bed.
The Marea scene Pitt standing on the sand scoured casemate of the Texas in the desert.
The real ship Fictional ship (a Confederate ironclad CSS Texas was real but never saw action).
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
Calliope and Pucelle Fictional
Sharpe's Trafalgar (2000)
Written by Bernard Cornwell
Richard Sharpe sails home from India in the East Indiaman Calliope, which is captured by the French ship Pucelle. The ships end up in the Battle of Trafalgar.
The Marea scene Sharpe leading boarders onto the Pucelle's deck amid the smoke of Trafalgar.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Naval fiction
HMS Allegiance Fictional
Throne of Jade (Temeraire) (2006)
Written by Naomi Novik
A huge naval ship built to carry dragons, which takes Temeraire and Captain Laurence to China under Captain Tom Riley. The voyage brings assassination attempts and illness.
The Marea scene Temeraire curled across the Allegiance's vast dragondeck as the ship ploughs through tropical seas.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Portuguese literature
São Gabriel Real ship
Os Lusíadas (The Lusiads) (1572)
Written by Luís Vaz de Camões
Camões's national epic celebrates Vasco da Gama's first voyage to India in 1497 and 1498. The fleet rounds the Cape of Storms, where the giant Adamastor rises from the sea to warn them.
The Marea scene The São Gabriel rounding the Cape as the giant Adamastor looms out of the storm clouds.
The real ship Flagship of da Gama's 1497 fleet.
Ships in Famous Books · Portuguese literature
The Unknown Island Fictional
O Conto da Ilha Desconhecida (The Tale of the Unknown Island) (1997)
Written by José Saramago
A man asks the king for a boat to find an unknown island and is given an old caravel. With the palace cleaning woman as crew, he renames it The Unknown Island.
The Marea scene The man and the cleaning woman painting the new name on the bow of the caravel.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Russian literature
Pallada Real ship
Fregat Pallada (The Frigate Pallada) (1858)
Written by Ivan Goncharov
The novelist Goncharov sailed as secretary to Admiral Putyatin's mission to Japan from 1852 to 1855. His travel book describes life aboard the frigate and the ports she visited.
The Marea scene The Pallada at anchor off Nagasaki surrounded by Japanese guard boats.
The real ship Real frigate of 1832; scuttled in 1856.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Russian literature
Korshun Fictional
Vokrug sveta na 'Korshune' (Around the World on the Korshun) (1895)
Written by Konstantin Stanyukovich
A young cadet sails round the world aboard the corvette Korshun, learning the sea and seeing the harsh and humane sides of naval life. Stanyukovich drew on his own service in the Russian navy.
The Marea scene The cadet aloft on the Korshun as she crosses the line under full sail.
The real ship Based on Russian navy corvettes of the 1860s.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Russian literature
Oryol Real ship
Tsushima (1932 to 1935)
Written by Alexey Novikov-Priboy
Novikov-Priboy served as a paymaster's steward aboard the battleship Oryol on the Second Pacific Squadron's voyage to defeat at Tsushima in 1905. His documentary novel is the classic Russian account of the battle.
The Marea scene The burning Oryol under Japanese fire at Tsushima.
The real ship Captured by Japan in 1905 and renamed Iwami.
Ships in Famous Books · Russian literature
Beda (ex Pobeda) Fictional
Priklyucheniya kapitana Vrungelya (The Adventures of Captain Vrungel) (1937)
Written by Andrei Nekrasov
Screen adaptations Animated series 1976 to 1979 (Kievnauchfilm); film 1955
Captain Vrungel names his yacht Pobeda (Victory), but two letters fall off and she sails round the world as Beda (Trouble). The comic tall tales became a favourite of Soviet children.
The Marea scene Vrungel on deck as the letters P and O splash from the stern into the sea.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Russian literature
Svyataya Mariya (St Maria) Fictional
Dva kapitana (The Two Captains) (1938 to 1944)
Written by Veniamin Kaverin
Screen adaptations Film 1955 (Aleksandr Mikhaylov); TV 1976 (Boris Tokarev)
Captain Tatarinov's expedition ship, lost in the ice after reaching Severnaya Zemlya. Sanya Grigoriev spends his life clearing the captain's name and finds the remains of the expedition.
The Marea scene The schooner frozen fast in the pack ice as the crew leave on sledges.
The real ship Inspired by real expeditions such as the Svyataya Anna and Svyatoy Foka.
Photo: Detizdat, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Scandinavian literature
The prince's ship Fictional
Den lille Havfrue (The Little Mermaid) (1837)
Written by Hans Christian Andersen
Screen adaptations Disney film 1989 and 2023; Soviet film 1976
On her fifteenth birthday the little mermaid rises to see a ship celebrating a prince's birthday with fireworks. A storm wrecks it and she saves the prince, which begins her tragedy.
The Marea scene The mermaid clinging to the ship's side watching the prince amid the fireworks.
Photo: Edmund Dulac, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Scandinavian literature
The paper boat Fictional
Den standhaftige Tinsoldat (The Steadfast Tin Soldier) (1838)
Written by Hans Christian Andersen
Screen adaptations Disney Fantasia 2000 segment
Two boys put the one legged tin soldier into a paper boat and send him down the gutter into a sewer, where a rat demands his passport. The boat sinks and he is swallowed by a fish.
The Marea scene The tin soldier standing upright in the sinking paper boat in the gutter.
Ships in Famous Books · Scandinavian literature
Oshun Oxtra Fictional
Muminpappans bravader (The Exploits of Moominpappa) (1950)
Written by Tove Jansson
Screen adaptations Moomin animated series (1990, 2019)
In his memoirs Moominpappa tells how, as a young Moomin, he set off with the inventor Hodgkins, Joxter and the Muddler aboard the Oshun Oxtra, whose name was misspelt. The boat takes them to sea and to the Mymble's family.
The Marea scene The young Moominpappa at the bow of the Oshun Oxtra with its crooked name board.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Spanish and Latin American literature
Santísima Trinidad Real ship
Trafalgar (Episodios nacionales) (1873)
Written by Benito Pérez Galdós
Screen adaptations TV series 1970s Episodios nacionales
The young Gabriel Araceli serves aboard the huge Spanish flagship at Trafalgar in the first of Galdós's national episodes. He witnesses her dismasting, surrender and sinking in the storm after the battle.
The Marea scene The dismasted Santísima Trinidad rolling in the storm after the battle as boats take off the wounded.
The real ship Real Spanish four decker, sunk 1805.
Photo: Jacob Hagg, Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Spanish and Latin American literature
Mare Nostrum Fictional
Mare Nostrum (1918)
Written by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez
Screen adaptations Film 1926 by Rex Ingram (Antonio Moreno, Alice Terry)
The ship of Ulises Ferragut, a Spanish captain drawn into German espionage in the Mediterranean in the First World War. When his own son dies after a U-boat attack, he turns his steamer against the submarines.
The Marea scene The Mare Nostrum ploughing through Mediterranean swell as a periscope breaks the surface.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Spanish and Latin American literature
Lehg II Real ship
Los cuarenta bramadores (Alone Through the Roaring Forties) (1944)
Written by Vito Dumas
The Argentine sailor Vito Dumas sailed Lehg II single handed round the world through the Southern Ocean in 1942 and 1943, during the war. His account made the boat a legend of solo sailing.
The Marea scene Lehg II running before a towering Southern Ocean sea off Cape Horn.
The real ship Preserved in Argentina.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Spanish and Latin American literature
Stranded Spanish galleon Fictional
Cien años de soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude) (1967)
Written by Gabriel García Márquez
Screen adaptations Netflix series 2024 (Claudio Cataño, Marco González)
Searching for the sea, José Arcadio Buendía and his men find an old Spanish galleon stranded in the jungle, far from any coast, covered in orchids. It convinces him that Macondo is surrounded by water.
The Marea scene The white galleon rising from ferns and orchids in the jungle clearing.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Spanish and Latin American literature
ARC Caldas Real ship
Relato de un náufrago (The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor) (1970)
Written by Gabriel García Márquez
Sailor Luis Alejandro Velasco was washed overboard from the destroyer Caldas in 1955 and survived ten days on a raft. García Márquez's account revealed that contraband cargo on deck caused the loss, not a storm.
The Marea scene Velasco alone on the small life raft, watching the Caldas disappear.
The real ship Real Colombian destroyer.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Spanish and Latin American literature
Nueva Fidelidad (New Fidelity) Fictional
El amor en los tiempos del cólera (Love in the Time of Cholera) (1985)
Written by Gabriel García Márquez
Screen adaptations Film 2007 (Javier Bardem, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Benjamin Bratt)
After fifty years of waiting, Florentino Ariza takes Fermina Daza up the Magdalena on a riverboat of his company. To stay alone together he hoists the yellow cholera flag and the boat sails up and down the river for ever.
The Marea scene The old couple at the rail of the riverboat under the yellow cholera flag.
Photo: Wikipedia
Ships in Famous Books · Spanish and Latin American literature
Dei Gloria Fictional
La carta esférica (The Nautical Chart) (2000)
Written by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
Screen adaptations Film 2007 (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Carmelo Gómez)
A Jesuit ship sunk by a corsair off the Spanish coast in 1767, supposedly with a secret cargo. The sailor Coy and the enigmatic Tánger Soto hunt for its wreck with an old nautical chart.
The Marea scene Divers finning down to the timbers of the Dei Gloria on the sea bed.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Spanish and Latin American literature
Antilla Fictional
Cabo Trafalgar (Cape Trafalgar) (2004)
Written by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
The novel follows the battle of Trafalgar in 1805 from the gun decks of a single ship of the Combined Fleet, told with sailors' slang and gallows humour.
The Marea scene Gun crews on the smoke filled lower deck as the British line closes.
The real ship Fictional ship in a real battle.
Ships in Famous Books · Voyage narratives
La Boudeuse Real ship
Voyage autour du monde (A Voyage Round the World) (1771)
Written by Louis Antoine de Bougainville
The frigate in which Bougainville made the first French circumnavigation from 1766 to 1769, with the store ship Étoile. His account of Tahiti shaped European ideas of the South Seas.
The Marea scene La Boudeuse anchored off Tahiti, surrounded by outrigger canoes.
The real ship French frigate of the 1760s.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Voyage narratives
HMS Beagle Real ship
The Voyage of the Beagle (1839)
Written by Charles Darwin
Screen adaptations TV 1978 The Voyage of Charles Darwin (Malcolm Stoddard); film Creation 2009
Darwin sailed as naturalist on the Beagle's survey voyage round the world from 1831 to 1836 under Robert FitzRoy. His journal, and the Galápagos, set him on the road to natural selection.
The Marea scene Darwin in the Beagle's crowded poop cabin sorting specimens beside FitzRoy's chart table.
The real ship Broken up in the 1870s, remains believed found in Essex.
Ships in Famous Books · Voyage narratives
Quaker City Real ship
The Innocents Abroad (1869)
Written by Mark Twain
Twain sailed on the Quaker City's 1867 pleasure cruise to Europe and the Holy Land, and his mocking account became his best selling book in his lifetime.
The Marea scene Passengers gathered on the Quaker City's deck as she leaves New York harbour.
The real ship Real paddle steamer.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Voyage narratives
Fram Real ship
Fram over Polhavet (Farthest North) (1897)
Written by Fridtjof Nansen
Nansen designed the round hulled Fram to be squeezed up by the ice and drift across the Arctic. He and Johansen left her to try for the pole on skis while she drifted on.
The Marea scene The Fram frozen in the Arctic ice under the northern lights.
The real ship Preserved in the Fram Museum, Oslo.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Voyage narratives
Spray Real ship
Sailing Alone Around the World (1900)
Written by Joshua Slocum
Slocum rebuilt the old sloop Spray and sailed her alone round the world between 1895 and 1898, the first solo circumnavigation. His book is a classic of sea writing.
The Marea scene Slocum spreading tacks on the Spray's deck against barefoot raiders in the Strait of Magellan.
The real ship Lost with Slocum in 1909.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Voyage narratives
Snark Real ship
The Cruise of the Snark (1911)
Written by Jack London
Jack and Charmian London built the Snark to sail round the world and set out in 1907, reaching Hawaii, the Marquesas and the Solomons. Illness ended the voyage in Australia.
The Marea scene Jack London learning to surf at Waikiki with the Snark at anchor behind.
The real ship Sold after the voyage.
Photo: Public domain
Ships in Famous Books · Voyage narratives
Firecrest Real ship
Seul à travers l'Atlantique (The Fight of the Firecrest) (1924)
Written by Alain Gerbault
The old British racing cutter in which Alain Gerbault made the first solo east to west crossing of the Atlantic in 1923 and then a circumnavigation. His books made him a French national hero.
The Marea scene Gerbault alone at the tiller of Firecrest in heavy Atlantic seas, mainsail torn.
The real ship Later lost.
Ships in Famous Books · Voyage narratives
Western Flyer Real ship
Sea of Cortez (The Log from the Sea of Cortez) (1941)
Written by John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts
Steinbeck and marine biologist Ed Ricketts chartered the sardine boat for a six week collecting trip in the Gulf of California in 1940. The book mixes science and philosophy and made the boat famous.
The Marea scene Steinbeck and Ricketts on the deck of the Western Flyer sorting specimens in buckets.
The real ship Restored and relaunched as a research vessel in 2022.
Photo: Kelly Cabal, CC BY-SA 4.0
Ships in Famous Books · Voyage narratives
L'Hérétique Real ship
Naufragé volontaire (The Voyage of the Heretic) (1953)
Written by Alain Bombard
Alain Bombard crossed the Atlantic in 1952 in this small inflatable with no stores, living on fish and plankton to prove castaways could survive. The book tells of the 65 day drift to Barbados.
The Marea scene Bombard in the tiny inflatable, squeezing fish for water under a small square sail.
Photo: Philippe Roos, CC BY-SA 2.0
Ships in Famous Books · Voyage narratives
Gipsy Moth IV Real ship
Gipsy Moth Circles the World (1967)
Written by Francis Chichester
Chichester sailed round the world alone with one stop in Sydney in 1966 and 1967 and was knighted on his return. The book is his account.
The Marea scene Chichester being knighted by the Queen at Greenwich with Gipsy Moth IV alongside.
The real ship Preserved and sailing, Greenwich.
Ships in Famous Books · Voyage narratives
Suhaili Real ship
A World of My Own (1969)
Written by Robin Knox-Johnston
Screen adaptations Documentary Deep Water (2006)
Knox-Johnston won the 1968 Golden Globe race in Suhaili, becoming the first person to sail single handed and non stop round the world. His book tells the ten month voyage.
The Marea scene Knox-Johnston diving under Suhaili's hull to caulk a leak with sharks nearby.
The real ship Still sailing.
Photo: Thomas Keyser, CC BY-SA 4.0
Ships in Famous Books · Voyage narratives
Joshua Real ship
La Longue Route (The Long Way) (1971)
Written by Bernard Moitessier
Screen adaptations Documentary 2006 Deep Water (about the 1968 Golden Globe race)
Moitessier's red steel ketch, in which he was on course to win the 1968 Golden Globe race but chose to keep sailing on to Tahiti instead, firing a message onto a ship's deck by slingshot. The book tells that voyage of one and a half circumnavigations.
The Marea scene Moitessier firing his message by slingshot onto the deck of a passing tanker off Cape Town.
The real ship Preserved and sailing from the Musée maritime de La Rochelle.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Voyage narratives
Dove Real ship
Dove (1972)
Written by Robin Lee Graham with Derek Gill
Screen adaptations Film 1974 The Dove (Joseph Bottoms, Deborah Raffin)
Robin Lee Graham set out at sixteen in 1965 to sail round the world alone in Dove, meeting his wife on the way. He finished in a larger boat, Return of Dove.
The Marea scene Dove anchored in a Pacific lagoon with Robin and his kittens on deck.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Voyage narratives
Lucette and the dinghy Ednamair Real ship
Survive the Savage Sea (1973)
Written by Dougal Robertson
Screen adaptations TV film 1992 (Robert Urich, Ali MacGraw)
In 1972 killer whales sank the Robertson family's schooner Lucette west of the Galápagos. The six survived 38 days in a raft and the little dinghy Ednamair until rescued by a Japanese trawler.
The Marea scene The family crammed into the tiny Ednamair, sail rigged from an oar.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Voyage narratives
Auralyn Real ship
117 Days Adrift (1974)
Written by Maurice and Maralyn Bailey
A whale holed the Baileys' yacht Auralyn in the Pacific in 1973. The couple survived 117 days on a raft before a Korean fishing boat rescued them.
The Marea scene Maurice and Maralyn on the raft playing cards made from paper.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Voyage narratives
Napoleon Solo Real ship
Adrift: Seventy-Six Days Lost at Sea (1986)
Written by Steven Callahan
Callahan's small sloop sank after striking something at night in the Atlantic in 1982. He survived 76 days on an inflatable raft before reaching Guadeloupe.
The Marea scene Callahan spearfishing dorados from the tiny raft.
Ships in Famous Books · Voyage narratives
Varuna Real ship
Maiden Voyage (1989)
Written by Tania Aebi
When Tania Aebi was eighteen, her father gave her a choice between college and sailing round the world. She sailed Varuna alone from 1985 to 1987 and became the first American woman to circumnavigate solo.
The Marea scene Tania and her cat Tarzoon at Varuna's tiller as New York comes into view.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships in Famous Books · Voyage narratives
Kingfisher Real ship
Taking on the World (2002)
Written by Ellen MacArthur
Ellen MacArthur's autobiography culminates in her second place in the 2000 to 2001 Vendée Globe aboard Kingfisher, at twenty four.
The Marea scene MacArthur up the Kingfisher's mast repairing gear in the Southern Ocean.
Photo: Amplified2010, CC BY 2.0
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