Famous Sea Fights: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Famous Sea Fights, credited to John R. Hale, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of Famous Sea Fights, by John R. Hale. I propose to tell in non-technical and popular language the story of some of the most remarkable episodes in the history of sea power. I shall begin with the first sea-fight of which we have a detailed history—the Battle of Salamis (B.C. 480), the victory by which Themistocles the Athenian proved the soundness of his maxim that "he who commands the sea commands all." I shall end with the last and greatest of naval engagements, the Battle of Tsu-shima, an event that reversed the long experience of victory won by West over East, which began with Salamis more than two thousand years ago. I shall have to tell of British triumphs on the sea from Sluys to Trafalgar; but I shall take instances from the history of other countries also, for it is well that we should remember that the skill, enterprise, and courage of admirals and seamen is no exclusive possession of our own people. I shall incidentally describe the gradual evolution of the warship from the wooden, oar-driven galleys that fought in the Straits of Salamis to the steel-built, steam-propelled giants that met in battle in the Straits of Tsu-shima. I shall have something to say of old seafaring ways, and much to tell of the brave deeds done by men of many nations. These true stories of the sea will, I trust, have not only the interest that belongs to all records of courage, danger, and adventure, but also some practical lessons of their own. (From the Introduction of the Book)

Recording facts

• Recording title: Famous Sea Fights
• Author credits: John R. Hale
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 25
• Listed recording duration: 11:54:11

Catalogue topics

• sea fights
• history
• naval history

Opening tracks: first 24 of 25

1. 00 - Introduction — 3:37
2. 01-02 - Ch. I. Salamis, B.C. 480 — 48:08
3. 03 - Ch. II. Actium — 28:43
4. 04 - Ch. III. Svold Island — 30:11
5. 05 - Ch. IV. Sluys — 23:38
6. 06 - Ch. V. Lepanto, Part 1 — 26:31
7. 07 - Ch. V. Lepanto, Part 2 — 23:18
8. 08 - Ch. V. Lepanto, Part 3 — 28:47
9. 09 - Ch. VI. The Armada Part 1 — 26:09
10. 10 - Ch. VI. The Armada Part 2 — 21:28
11. 11 - Ch. VI. The Armada Part 3 — 29:16
12. 12 - Ch. VII. Off the Gunfleet — 33:14
13. 13 - Ch. VIII. The Saints' Passage — 30:43
14. 14 - Ch. IX. Trafalgar Part 1 — 19:32
15. 15 - Ch. IX, Trafalgar Part 2 — 27:08
16. 16 - Ch. IX Trafalgar Part 3 — 23:54
17. 17 - Ch. X. Hampton Roads Part 1 — 33:57
18. 18 - Ch. X. Hampton Roads part 2 — 28:09
19. 19 - Ch XI. Lissa — 41:14
20. 20 - Ch. XII. The Yalu Part 1 — 25:09
21. 21 - Ch. XII. The Yalu Part 2 — 23:02
22. 22 - Ch. XIII. Santiago — 44:40
23. 23 - Ch. XIV. Tsu-shima Part 1 — 28:42
24. 24 - Ch. XIV. Tsu-shima Part 2 — 30:47

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.