This page brings together free online books, topic searches, audiobooks, and Open Access resources related to related to ships, boats, seamanship, navigation, maritime travel, naval history, and the practice of working at sea. The materials range from older public domain works to modern scholarly studies.
The Topics section below helps readers find books and documents within the huge Internet Archive collection, which includes periodicals and other materials, from older historical works to recent publications. Each topic link generates an Internet Archive search focused on that subject. Browsing the topics and selecting those of interest is usually easier and more effective than searching Internet Archive directly.
Sections below Topics provide links to related vintage books, audiobooks, and modern Open Access books. See those sections for more information.
Topics – Nautical Books – Ships, Boats, Seamanship, Seafarers
The topic links below lead to Internet Archive search results related to ships, boats, and seamanship. Each link opens a books-and-documents search focused on a particular topic.
Search results generally include fully readable books, periodicals, and other documents. For some subjects, Internet Archive also contains other media, such as images, audio, or video files. These can be selected from the media options above the search results. Filters on the left side of Internet Archive pages can help narrow search results by year, language, or related subjects.
Vintage Naval Books – Old Nautical Books
The selected free online books below provide an alternative to searching Internet Archive through the Topics section above. These individual titles were chosen as especially useful or representative works related to subjects on this page.
Vintage books were nearly always published before 1930. They can be read online or downloaded.
VINTAGE NAVAL BOOKS – Old Nautical Books
American Merchant Ships and Sailors
Abbot, Willis J.
Dodd 1908
American shipping from colonial days to present, including coastwise, oversea, river, lake and fishing craft. Accurate. -A.L.A.Catalog 1904. Naval history book.
Knots, A Study of Marlinespike Seamanship Which Embraces Bends, Hitches, Ties, Fastenings and Splices and their Practical Application
Aldridge, Arthur F.
Rudder 1918
Also with chapters on cordage, matting, hammock making and wire steel work. Best seamanship book. Old seafarer book.
Boat-building and Boating
Beard, Daniel Carter
Scribner 1911
“Practical work, describing boatmaking from a primitive raft to a motor-boat, with directions for tying knots, making sails, etc. Excellent illustrations.”
– – A.L.A.Catalog 1904 – 1911. Boat building book. Best seamanship book.
The Small Yacht; its Management and Handling for Racing and Sailing, with Chapters on Construction
Boardman, Edwin Augustus
Little 1909
“Design and construction of a racing yacht and its handling during a race are discussed in very practical chapters, written from the experience of a successful amateur yachtsman.” – A.L.A.Catalog 1904 – 1911. Boat-building book. Best seamanship book.
Ocean Steamships; a Popular Account of their Construction, Development, Management and Appliances
Chadwick, F.E. and others
Scribner’s Sons 1891
Shipbuilding book. Ship operation book.
Romance of the Ship: The Story of Her Origin and Evolution
Chatterton, Edward Keble
Lippincott 1911
“Covers in one volume the field of the author’s Sailing Ships and their Story and Steamships and their Story. Suffers somewhat from condensation and omissions, but is on the whole very informing and interesting.” -A.L.A.Catalog 1904-11. Naval history book.
Ships & Ways of Other Days
Chatterton, Edward Keble
Sidgwick & Jackson 1913
“”A fascinating book for the reader interested in sea-faring matters and old voyages, telling how men managed to build, launch, equip, and fit out different craft in all ages, how ships behaved, and how mariners have lived on shipboard. Well illustrated with reproductions, of old prints and with line drawings.” – Standard Catalog for Public Libraries: Science and Useful Arts (1931). Old Seafaring book. Old Seamanship book.
The Seaman’s Friend, Containing a Treatise on Practical Seamanship…
with plates; a dictionary of sea terms; customs and usages of the merchant service; laws relating to the practical duties of master and mariners. 13th edition.
Dana, Richard Henry Jr.
Thomas Groom 1873
Dana gained fame as the author of the memoir, “Two Years before the Mast”. Best seafarer book. Old seamanship book.
Motor Boats
Durand, William Frederick
International Marine Engine 1907
“Brief, practical and thoroughly scientific manual, including boats, propellers and engines.
– – A.L.A.Catalog 1904 – 1911. Old boat maintenance book.
Ocean Steamship Traffic Management
Huebner, Grover G., PhD
Appleton 1920
The first volume of a projected “Shipping series.” Presents the facts, forms; functions and principles of most importance in the shipping business; analyzes the divisions of freight and passenger service, the duties of each position and the possible lines of advancement. Well organized; written with clearness and precision. Part one is on “The traffic organization of ocean shipping,” part two “Ocean shipping documents” and part three “Ocean rates and regulations.” – A. L. A. Catalog (1926). Old marine transportation book.
The Young Sea Officer’s Sheet Anchor; or, A Key to the Leading of Rigging, and to Practical Seamanship
Lever, Darcy
G.W. Blunt 1843
Topics: Navigation, Masts and rigging. Old seamanship book.
Ports and Terminal Facilities
MacElwee, Roy S., PhD
McGraw-Hill 1918
“A valuable work on the economic importance of ports, proper equipment and methods of handling traffic.”
– Standard Catalog for Public Libraries: Science and Useful Arts (1931). Old marine engineering book.
Selected Articles on the American Merchant Marine
Phelps, Edith M., comp.
H. W. Wilson 1916
In the first decades of the 20th century publisher H.W. Wilson produced many volumes in its Debaters’ Handbook Series on social and political issues that were under discussion at the time. Each book contains the full text of selected articles and documents representing opposing views on the issue, along with a substantial bibliography of books and articles. Old American merchant marine book.
Most of the books mentioned in these guides are likely to be freely available online. Search by title; first at the Internet Archive (archive.org), then at HathiTrust.org. Referenced magazine articles may also be available online at the same sites, with HathiTrust the preferred site for magazines.
Every Boy’s Book of Railways and Steamships
Protheroe, Ernest
London: Religious Tract Society 1911
Vintage book of ships, illustrated book about ships.
Motor Boats, Hydroplanes, Hydroaeroplanes …
Construction and Operation with Practical Notes on Propeller Calculation and Design
Russell, Thomas H.
Thompson 1917
“An illustrated manual of self-instruction for owners and operators of marine gasoline engines and amateur boat-builders.”- A.L.A.Catalog 1904 – 1911. Old boat-building and boat maintenance book.
Naval and Marine Audiobooks Free in the Public Domain
These audiobook links lead to public domain recordings from LibriVox at Internet Archive. The books recorded by Librivox volunteers were nearly all published before 1930. Recordings include works on boating, canoeing, exploration, ocean travel, ports, sailors, shipwrecks, steamboats, submarines, and voyages.
All Librivox audiobooks are free and can be streamed online or downloaded for offline listening.
Open Access Naval Ships and Maritime Books PDF Free Download
The Open Access books and other materials below are modern works made freely available online by universities, academic publishers, the Library of Congress, and other organizations. Many reflect current scholarship and research.
Some works may only be read online, but many can also be downloaded as PDF or EPUB files.
Related Pages on Century Past
See our Century Past directories for hundreds of webpages of Books; Magazines; Articles, maps, & photos; and Newspapers. You’ll find the same directories on the top Menu. Here are a few suggested pages: