Great British Shipwrecks

For those seriously interested in the wrecks, their history and how they are today, the following books are available from most good bookstores, dive shops, amazon.com or simply complete the order-form and get them direct.  Books ordered on-line will be signed by the author.

In Dive Scotland's Greatest Wrecks Rod Macdonald has carefully selected ten of Scotland's most famous shipwrecks in this practical and authoritative guide. The story of the sinking of each vessel is dramatically recounted and accompanied by a detailed description of the wreck today. Each wreck is brought vividly to life by the specially commissioned illustrations. For those interested in diving the wrecks, they are depicted in the book with charts and underwater photographs, allowing the reader to experience at first hand the sunken treasures beneath Scotland's coastal waters.

This expanded and updated edition of Dive Scotland's Greatest Wrecks features information on additional wrecks; the SS Shuna and Thesis in the Sound of Mull, MS Taurus, North Sea and HMS Hampshire off the Orkney Isles.

Dive Scapa Flow a comprehensive and practical guide to the spectacular and famous Orkney wrecks - the colossal, intact remains of the scuttled German fleet, U-boats, steamers, tugs and Churchhill's extraordinary 'Blockships'. Since this book was first published there have been huge advances in diving technique and, with the new wave of "technical diving", wrecks previously beyond the realm of the air diver can now be reached. This updated and revised edition incorporates these, particularly HMS Hampshire which took Lord Kitchener to his doom in 1916. Rod Macdonald's intimate knowledge of the dives is supplemented by up-to-date information on charterers, travel and accommodation in the area. An essential companion for discovering the secrets and intriguing naval history of Britain's most popular dive site, Dive Scapa Flow comes complete with new illustrations, photographs and charts.

Dive England's Greatest Wrecks is the perfect companion for any diver interested in exploring England's most exciting shipwrecks, preserved as time capsules of an era of sea power and majesty that has now passed into the history books. Among the ten featured here are the Salsette in Weymouth, arguably England's most famous shipwreck; the SS Kyarra in Dorset; the British submarine M2 and the pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Hood, both lying off Portland; the American Liberty ship James Eagan Layne off Plymouth; and the fabulous P&O liner Moldavia.
Along with the history of each vessel and the dramatic account of how it was wrecked, there is essential diver information detailing how the wreck lies today, along with depths, tides and other points of interest. Each of the wrecks is vividly brought to life by specially commissioned stunning paintings showing the vessels as they lie on the seabed today.

Into the Abyss is an enthralling collection of true-life diving tales. It chronicles one man's all-consuming passion, and takes us on a spellbinding journey beneath the waves. Packed full of danger and excitement, this book charts the successes and the near-tragic dramas of Rod Macdonald's astonishing diving career.
Macdonald invites us to experience with him his first, panic-stricken boat dive as a newly qualified novice, and later his expert use of the latest technology to venture deeper than ever before. In vivid prose, he takes us to famous shipwreck sites around the world, from the sunken Japanese Fleet at the bottom of Truk Lagoon and Palau in the South Pacific, to HMS Hampshire, on which Lord Kitchener perished. He describes the ordeal of diving the third largest whirlpool in the world, the Corryvreckan Whirlpool on the West Coast of Scotland, and many other terrifying incidents in which he and his colleagues have come close to death beneath the sea.
To many, the appeal of diving into hostile, powerful waters seeking virgin shipwrecks--often in pitch darkness--is incomprehensible. Macdonald invites us to confront and overcome some of our deepest fears as he takes us deep into the abyss.