Jean Lafitte was a French pirate and privateer who operated in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He and his older brother Pierre spelled their last name Laffite, but English language documents of the time used "Lafitte". This has become the common spelling in the United States, including places named after him.
Charles Perrault was a French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales, published in his 1697 book Histoires ou contes du temps passé. The best known of his tales include Le Petit Chaperon Rouge, Cendrillon ("Cinderella"), Le Maître chat ou le Chat botté, La Belle au bois dormant, and Barbe Bleue ("Bluebeard").
Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass-produced on an unprecedented scale, the Liberty ship came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output.
Sir John Hawkins was an English naval commander, naval administrator, privateer and slave trader.
The Chanur novels are a series of five science fiction novels, forming three separate stories, written by American author C. J. Cherryh and published by DAW Books between 1981 and 1992. The first novel in the series is The Pride of Chanur (1981), which was nominated for both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1983. The Pride of Chanur, originally a stand-alone story, was followed by the Chanur's Venture trilogy, Chanur's Venture (1984), which was shortlisted for a Locus Award in 1985; The Kif Strike Back (1985) and Chanur's Homecoming (1986). These were followed by a later sequel, Chanur's Legacy (1992). The five novels were also published in two omnibus editions: the first three in The Chanur Saga in 2000 and the next two in Chanur's Endgame in 2007.
A cabin boy or ship's boy is a boy who waits on the officers and passengers of a ship, especially running errands for the captain. The modern merchant navy successor to the cabin boy is the steward's assistant.
USS Hawkins (DD-873) was a Gearing-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. Following the war, the ship saw service in the Korean War and in the 1970s, was transferred to the Republic of China Navy as Tze Yang. She remained in service until the 1990s. The ship was then scrapped with the exception of her superstructure, which became part of a display and training ground at the Zuoying Naval Academy.
Lake freighters, or lakers, are bulk carrier vessels that operate on the Great Lakes of North America. These vessels are traditionally called boats, although classified as ships.
Edward Fenton was an English navigator, son of Henry Fenton and Cicely Beaumont and brother of Sir Geoffrey Fenton. He was also a publisher of diaries and journals.
Richard Chancellor was an English explorer and navigator; the first to penetrate to the White Sea and establish relations with the Tsardom of Russia.
Downbelow Station is a science fiction novel by American writer C. J. Cherryh, published in 1981 by DAW Books. It won the Hugo Award in 1982, was shortlisted for a Locus Award that same year, and was named by Locus magazine as one of the top 50 science fiction novels of all time in 1987.
The Alliance–Union universe is a fictional universe created by American writer C. J. Cherryh. It is the setting for a future history series extending from the 21st century into the far future.
The Merchanter novels are several loosely connected novels by science fiction and fantasy author C. J. Cherryh set in her Alliance-Union universe. These science fiction novels explore her merchanter subculture: the extended families that own and operate the ships that supply goods, transportation, news and trade to the various worlds and space stations in the human Earth, Alliance and Union space. The novels are related by a common setting and theme – a misfit who finds his or her proper home – rather than plot and character; none of the books is a direct sequel of another in the conventional sense.
Rimrunners is a science fiction novel by American writer C. J. Cherryh, set in her Alliance-Union universe, in which humanity has split into three major power blocs: Union, the Merchanter's Alliance and Earth. Chronologically, the book follows immediately after the author's Downbelow Station and is one of Cherryh's series of "Merchanter" novels.
Merchanter's Luck is a science fiction novel by American writer C. J. Cherryh. It is set in the author's Alliance-Union universe, in which humanity has split into three major power blocs: Union, the Merchanter's Alliance and Earth. In the context of the Alliance-Union universe, the book is one of Cherryh's Merchanter novels.
Finity's End is a science fiction novel by American writer C. J. Cherryh. It is part of the Merchanter novels series, set in her Alliance-Union universe, in which humanity has split into three major power blocs: Union, the Merchanter's Alliance and Earth. Finity's End was shortlisted for a Locus Award in 1998. It constitutes a loose sequel to Downbelow Station.
Several themes recur throughout the works of American science fiction and fantasy author C. J. Cherryh.
Lykes Bros. Steamship Co., also called Lykes Lines, was a cargo shipping company acting from the beginning of the 20th century to 2005 having its main business in the trade to and from the United States.
The Type L6 ship is a United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) designation for World War II as a Great Lakes dry break bulk cargo ship. The L-Type Great Lakes Dry Bulk Cargo Ships were built in 1943 to carry much-needed iron ore from the upper Great Lakes to the steel and iron production facilities on Lakes Erie and Ontario in support of the war effort. The ships have a 15,675 tonne deadweight tonnage. The L6 ships were built by two companies: American Ship Building Company, in the case of the type L6-S-A1 models, of which 6 were built; and Great Lakes Engineering Works, Ashtabula, Ohio/ Great Lakes Engineering Works, River Rouge, Ohio, in the case of the type L6-S-B1, which produced 10 ships. Steel supply needed for World War was great. To supply iron ore from Lake Superior to steel foundries, the United States Commission had a series of L6 Lakers ship built. The Maritime Commission ordered ten Great Lakes Bulk Carriers of the L6-S-B1 type. The L6-S-B1 was design with a 3-cylinder triple expansion steam engines. The L6-S-A1 used a lentz 4-cylinder compound engine. All L6 ships were coal burning and delivered between May and November 1943. L6-S-B1 was built for the US Maritime Commission under USMC contract MCc-1834 in 1943 at the River Rouge yard. Each L6 ship cost $2.265 million. The first L6-S-B1 was the SS Adirondack/Richard J. Reiss, hull 290, keel was laid on March 9, 1942 and launched on September 19, 1942. The ships are often called the Class Lake Bulk Freighter now.
Alliance Rising: The Hinder Stars I is a 2019 science fiction novel by American writers C. J. Cherryh and Jane S. Fancher. It is one of Cherryh's Merchanter novels and is set in the author's Alliance–Union universe. It is the first new novel in this universe to be published in 10 years, the previous being Regenesis in 2009, and the first Merchanter novel in 22 years, the previous being Finity's End in 1997. Alliance Rising is the first book in The Hinder Stars series, and is the first science fiction collaboration between Cherryh and her partner, Fancher. The second book, Alliance Unbound, is due to be published in January 2024. Alliance Rising takes place in the early Alliance–Union timeline, before the events in Downbelow Station (1981) and the founding of the Merchanter's Alliance.
