Antarctica is surrounded by some of the most hazardous seas, Antarctica was first sighted less than three centuries ago. Since then, hundreds of ships have voyaged in Antarctic waters, challenged by poorly-charted waters, storms, pack ice, icebergs, and disease.

This is the story of these ships, the expeditions they supported, and their subsequent history, from the fifteenth-century fleets of the Ming Emperors of China to the tourist ships and powerful icebreakers of today. Using extensive research in archives, museums, libraries and private sources around the world, Rorke Bryan brings the stories of these ships into a single, comprehensive record. Familiar names such as Terra Nova and Endurance feature with unfamiliar but equally important ships.

From the hundreds of tales of heroic seamanship, the extraordinary 1830-1832 circumnavigation by Captain John Biscoe in the tiny Tula is perhaps matched only by Shackleton's voyage in the James Caird. Plans, photos, paintings and maps enhance description of the expeditions and activities of the ships. This authoritative work fills an important gap in Antarctic literature.