Covering the period from 1740 to 1917, the author, an experienced diver, catalogues the histories of the ships that have been stranded and wrecked along the north-east coast of England, from Whitby to Berwick-on-Tweed. He discusses the bravery of the lifeboat crews that have risked their lives to rescue the survivors, and assesses the potential of the wrecks as dive-sites.