George H. (George Henry) Read

George H. Read, born in 1843 and died in 1924, was an American writer remembered chiefly for The Last Cruise of the Saginaw, published by Houghton Mifflin in 1912. The book draws on his connection to the voyage and tells the story of the wreck of the USS Saginaw and the struggle that followed.

The title page identifies him as a retired pay inspector in the U.S. Navy, which helps explain the book's practical, eyewitness feel. Rather than writing like a distant historian, he tells the story with the steady detail of someone deeply familiar with naval life and the people involved.

Read does not seem to have left behind a large body of widely known books, but this one has lasted because it combines survival narrative, naval history, and personal memory. For listeners who enjoy true stories at sea, his work offers both adventure and a human record of courage under pressure.