Since 1973 the NAA has published a number of books on unique shipping topics, available to subscribers at reduced rates. The books below are currently available. See here for the most recent NAA releases!

*NEW* STRAITSMAN: Lifeline to an Island
By Neil Pollard: Launched in 1972 for a King Island service, the STRAITSMAN worked for just seven weeks before her owners ran into financial problems. Bought by the Tasmanian Transport Commission, STRAITSMAN rolled over and sank in the calm waters of the Yarra River with the loss of two lives. After salvage, she worked for over fifteen years of shipping to King Island.

Despite initial opposition, she played a key role in the success of NZ firm Strait Shipping. STRAITSMAN was then sold to Fiji, renamed the SINU-I-WASA, and is still working nearly 35 years after being launched. This 100-page book traces her history from the planning stages through to her new life in Fiji, and includes 30 black and white maps and photos.   BOOK ORDER FORM

In Coral Seas: the History of the New Guinea Australia Line
Based on the manuscript by Martin Speyer and published in conjunction with John Swire & Sons China Navigation Company. This is the story of the New Guinea Australia Line (Chief Container Service since 1977), one of the largest shipping operations in the South Pacific, with strong links into Asia.

The first twenty-five years are covered by the edited memoirs of the late Martin Speyer, who set up the NGAL. The later history and a collection of sea-going memories are presented by former ship's officers, with an illustrated list of the company's ships.   BOOK ORDER FORM

Howard Smith Shipping: Enterprise and Diversity 1854-2001
By Ian Farquhar: Howard Smith was one of Australia's major shipping companies and industrial enterprises. It was established by Captain William Howard Smith in partnership with his sons, and lasted longer than any other Australian shipping company. Other than a 1954 brochure, no history of Howard Smith has ever been published.

This book presents a chronology of the company, the directors, financial details, and a comprehensive list of all cargo and passenger vessels, hulks, lighters and managed tonnage, with 116 illustrations, many of them published for the first time. It also covers ventures in coal, sugar, steel, cement, tourism, heavy industry, banking, distribution and hardware.   BOOK ORDER FORM

The Currie Line of Melbourne
By Bill Laxon, MBE: In the closing years of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the ships of Archibald Curie & Company made up one of the largest Melbourne-based fleets. It was the only Australian company with a major presence in the trades to India and south-east Asia until 1913, when it was taken over by the large British India Steam Navigation Company Ltd.

The book illustrates all of the Currie steamers, as well as providing a fleet list of their sailing ships and steamers. The author, the late Bill Laxon MBE, was an Auckland lawyer and maritime historian specialising in the ships and history of the P&O group companies.   BOOK ORDER FORM

NAA Books Now Out of Print

Some NAA publications have become classics of maritime scholarship, but are now out of print and available only through second-hand dealers. They include:

• Australian Merchant Ships 2005Compiled by Malcolm Dippy and Tony Starke: a quick reference to the particulars of the merchant ships of Australia as of 2005

• Far Eastern Fleets (1973): The first attempt to catalogue the fleets of some of the major Hong Kong and Shanghai-based shipping companies.

• The Whalers of Tangalooma (1980)

• The Main Line Fleet of Burns Philp (1981): Important record of all ships of pioneering Australian company Burns Philp.

• Beancaker to Boxboat: Steamship Companies in Chinese Waters (1988): Covers every major Hong Kong and Shanghai liner shipping company, and sets a new standard of research.

• Sold East: Traders, Tramps and Tugs of Chinese Waters (1991): Covers the tramp ship owners and towage and salvage operators based in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

From Associates of the NAA

Union Fleet
By Ian Farquhar: The quintessential book on the fleet of the Union Steam Ship Company of NZ (USSCo.) reprinted and updated from earlier editions. Hard cover, 270 pages, published 2001, with a short history and chronology of the USSCo. followed by a photo and history of every ship owned by the USSCo. from 1875 to 2000.

Also includes chartered and managed ships, plus associated and subsidiary companies, sailing vessels and hulks, etc. Extensive B&W photographs: many rare and never published before. Price NZ$62.00 (includes NZ postage) to members. For copies, contact the publishers, New Zealand Ship & Marine Society.

Redbill: From Pearls to Peace
By Kate Lance: Once there were hundreds of Australian pearling luggers like Redbill, but none of them had her amazing gift for survival. She sailed merrily through the great days of Broome then joined the navy in WWII as HMAS Redbill. She hunted crocodiles in Papua and sailed the South Pacific as Redbill of Greenpeace. Over a century she coped with a lot - but then she ran into Rosita, the most powerful tropical cyclone to strike Broome in ninety years...

Redbill won the WA Premier's Book Award for Non-Fiction 2004. See large-format photos and more at lancewood.net. Paperback, 399 pages, published by FACP in 2004. Buy a copy signed by the author for $30.00 plus postage - send email to lance(at)lancewood.net [replace (at) with @ when emailing].

See here for the most recent NAA releases!

Nautical Association of Australia Inc.
ABN 18 382 946 943