Download or read book Around Manhattan Island and Other Maritime Tales of New York written by Brian J. Cudahy and published by Fordham Univ Press. This book was released on 1997 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cudahy begins with a history of the Circle Line and its forerunners and erstwhile competitors in the around-Manhattan sightseeing business. Next, he gives us the fascinating story of the fastest ocean linear of all time: the S.S. United States. The noble history of the New York Fire Department's fire boats is next, followed by the story of the Iron Steamboat Company's sidewheelers, which ferried passengers to the magical Coney Island from 1881 to 1932. Then there is the tragic 1932 explosion of the steamboat Observation, with its parallels to an earlier and even more devastating tragedy at nearly the same spot. Finally, Cudahy tells, in fascinating detail, of the New York-to-Bermuda cruises - as they were in yesteryear, and as they are today.