Wreck of the USS Macon — Flying Aircraft Carrier

In Marvel comics and movies, the mobile headquarters of the fictional intelligence/defense agency S.H.I.E.L.D. is a flying aircraft carrier, referred to as a “Helicarrier.”  In the comic books, the flying aircraft carrier first appeared in 1965, which raises the obvious question — … Continue reading

Swedish Singing Sailor to Russian Subs — ‘This Way if You Are Gay’

In the general category of “you can’t make this stuff up,” the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society (SPAS), a group dedicated to the study and promotion of peace, released details of their “Singing Sailor Campaign.” Last October, we posted about a … Continue reading

USS Donald Church Buzzed by Russian Fighter — What Really Happened?

At 1 p.m. on Friday, the breaking news on the New York Post and the United Press Twitter feeds was that the Chinese had attacked US naval ships with missiles and that the “US Navy was engaged in active combat … Continue reading

Vestas Wind, Andrea Doria, USS Guardian, Royal Majesty and GPS Assisted Grounding

At least Sir Cloudesley Shovell had an excuse, not that he really needed one. He drowned with the other 1,400 sailors in the Scilly naval disaster of 1707.  The navigators on the four warships that hit the Scilly’s Western Rocks lacked the tools … Continue reading

John Broadwater’s USS Monitor – A Historic Ship Completes Its Final Voyage, a Review

On December 31, 1862 while under tow in a gale off Cape Hatteras, USS Monitor sank. The Monitor had been in service for only ten months and yet in that brief time had revolutionized naval warfare. The wreck of the … Continue reading

Russian Barque Kruzenshtern Withdraws from Race After Sinking Tug

The Russian four-masted barque Kruzenshtern has been forced to withdraw from the Falmouth Tall Ships Regatta, after it was involved in the sinking of a tug in the Danish port of Esbjerg last week. The Kruzenshtern, ex-Padua, was built in 1926 and is … Continue reading

Pararescuers & USS Vandergriff Rescue Sick One Year Old on Yacht Rebel Heart

Update: As reported by CBS — The Coast Guard says the baby, along with her parents and 3-year-old sister, boarded the USS Vandegrift at 8 a.m. Sunday. The baby girl was in stable condition and was heading to San Diego … Continue reading

USS “Forest Fire” on Her Way to the Flames of the Cutting Torches

The USS Forrestal left Phildelphia yesterday, under tow on her way to a scrap yard in Beaumont, Texas.  The USS Forrestal (CV-59) was the first US “supercarrier” and the first American aircraft carrier to be built with an angled flight deck, steam … Continue reading

Russia to Charge Greenpeace Activists with Piracy

For thirty years, Greenpeace has used “non-violent direct action” in their environmental protests.  In recent years, Greenpeace activists have boarded drilling platforms to disrupt operations. In most cases, the protesters involved were arrested, made to pay fines for trespass and were … Continue reading

Repost: Searching for the USS Thresher and USS Scorpion with the Titanic as Cover

On this the fiftieth anniversary of the sinking of the USS Thresher, we are reposting an article from three years regarding the link between the discovery of the wreck of the Titanic and the US Navy’s secret search for the lost submarines, USS Thresher and the USS Scorpion. … Continue reading

Sailing Ships at Work – Then and Now, Working Harbor Committee Presentation April 10th

I am very pleased and excited to be speaking with Norman Brouwer and Captain Margaret Flanagan at the Working Harbor Committee of New York and New Jersey program “Sailing Ships at Work – Then and Now.”   The presentation is on April … Continue reading

Russian Ghost Cruise Ship MV Lyubov Orlova Spotted Off The Coast Of Ireland

For almost a month, the small cruise ship MV Lyubov Orlova has been adrift in the Atlantic Ocean, a “ghost ship” without power, lights or passengers, except for the rats left aboard.  The 295′ ice strengthened cruise ship, built in Yugoslavia in 1976, has been abandoned twice – once … Continue reading