John Gilmore 
Storm Warriors [PDF ebook] 
Or, Life-Boat Work on the Goodwin Sands

For centuries, a 10-mile-long sandbank off the coast of Kent, England posed a perilous and often fatal threat to sailors, causing thousands of shipwrecks and untold numbers of fatalities. In the early 1800s, however, a number of forward-thinking inventors began to dabble with the idea of a "lifeboat" — an unsinkable rescue vessel designed to save the survivors of shipwrecks. This fascinating volume of maritime history recounts early rescue efforts in the region of the Goodwin Sands.