There is the potential for mystery in every moment as a ship crosses the lonely stretches of the great oceans of the world. Nothing is more intriguing than the story of a ship which has vanished with all hands. Within these pages, maritime author David Grover has captured missing ships from both World Wars, the Sino-Japanese War, and the peacetime between. The ships were chosen for their diversity, and for the interesting circumstances of their disappearances.

DARK PASSAGES
VANISHING SHIPS OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN

By David H. Grover.

• Soft cover, 224 pp., 24+ photos, biblio., index.
• ISBN: 978-1-889901-52-7
• Price: $17.95

For over a decade during the “Roaring Twenties,” a great white ocean liner would sail from berth 156 in Los Angeles every Saturday. The pier was packed with waving and cheering people looking up at the happy passengers crowding the railings. The vessel’s band on deck played jazz tunes and popular favorites. The captain stood forward on the bridge wing watching the lowering of the gangway amid a hail of colored streamers and confetti. The liner’s whistle would blow at noon, raising the cheering to a higher pitch as the band played “Aloha Oe.” Slowly the great mass of the liner inched away from the dock.

These magnificent ocean liners provided not only a regular connection between the mainland and the islands, but were a high-profile means of proclaiming that Los Angeles was becoming a world class harbor, financial center and artistic metropolis. And the Los Angeles Steamship Company, “LASSCO,” became known across the country.

HOLLYWOOD TO HONOLULU,The Story of the Los Angeles Steamship Company

by Gordon Ghareeb and Martin Cox.

• 280 pages, 8½ x 11,
• ISBN 978-1-889901-44-2
• Price: $35.00

During World War I, American shipping men and German diplomats came together in San Francisco to aid the German war effort by taking advantage of American neutrality laws.

THE SAN FRANCISCO SHIPPING CONSPIRACIES OF WORLD WAR ONE

by David H. Grover.

• Soft cover, 180pp., photos.
• ISBN 0-9623935-3-3
• Price: $15.95