The USS Fitzgerald Is At Fault. This Is Why — Commentary by gCaptain’s John Konrad

gCaptain’s Captain John Konrad has a excellent post today that describes in detail why he believes that the destroyerUSS Fitzgerald was at fault in its recent collision with the container ship ACX Crystal.  He suggests a simple rule for avoiding collisions with … Continue reading

Conspiracy Theories Spring Up Around the USS Fitzgerald — ACX Crystal Collision

The one thing we can say for certain is that we do not have all the facts surrounding the collision between the guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald  and the Philippine container ship ACX Crystal . The collision nearly sank the destroyer, killed seven … Continue reading

Destroyer USS Fitzgerald Nearly Sank Following Collision — Seven Sailors Died Below Deck

We now know that the USS Fitzgerald came perilously close to sinking  following its collision with the Philippine-flagged container ship ACX Crystal, early Saturday morning off the Japaneses coast near Tokyo.   “Heroic efforts prevented the flooding from catastrophically spreading, which could have … Continue reading

Destroyer USS Fitzgerald Collides with Container Ship — Seven Missing

Seven crew members are reported to be missing after the US guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald collided with a Philippine flag container ship, ACX Crystal, early Saturday morning. Three others aboard were injured, including the commanding officer, Cmdr. Bryce Benson, and were evacuated from … Continue reading

Sailor Believed Lost Overboard from USS Shiloh Found Hiding in the Engine Room

Better a court martial than a funeral.  On June 8th, Gas Turbine Systems Technician (Mechanical) 3rd Class Peter Mims was reported missing on the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Shiloh, and presumed to have fallen overboard.  His disappearance triggered a a massive, 50-hour … Continue reading

Wreck of USRC/USCGC McCulloch Found — Sank 100 Years Ago Today

Researchers are holding a news conference today to announce the discovery of the wreck of the USRC/USCGC McCulloch, a cutter of the United States Revenue Cutter Service and later the US Coast Guard.  Delivered in 1897,  just before the start of the … Continue reading

OSTAR & TwoSTAR Races Battered by Storm — Dismasting, Sinking and Mid-Atlantic Rescues

Sailors competing in the Royal Western Yacht Club’s Original Singlehanded Transatlantic Race (OSTAR) and the Twohanded Transatlantic Race (TwoSTAR) were battered by a North Atlantic storm with 60 knot winds and 45′ seas, 900 miles miles east of Newfoundland. One … Continue reading

Onrust Returns to the Connecticut River

In 1614, the Onrust, captained by Dutch merchant explorer Adriaen Block, was the first European vessel to explore the Connecticut River. This summer, a replica of Block’s ship is returning to the river in a collaboration between the Connecticut River Museum in Essex, … Continue reading

World Oceans Day on the Lilac — Answering the Ocean’s Call: Stewardship of Our Ocean, Our Future

If you are around New York harbor on Thursday, June 8th, from 6 — 7:45 PM, stop by the historic USCG Cutter Lilac at Pier 25 on the Hudson River to celebrate World Oceans Day. The Lilac Preservation Project is hosting … Continue reading

The Log of the Record Run — Frederick William Wallace’s Ballad of the Effie M. Morrissey (Mary L. McKay)

One last post (at least for the immediate future) on the historic schooner Ernestina-Morrissey, which is now being restored in Boothbay, Maine.  Launched in February, 1894, she had a very successful almost thirty year fishing career, before becoming an Arctic exploration ship and then … Continue reading

Bob Bartlett and His “Little Morrisey” — Voyage to Greenland

Yesterday, we posted about the restoration of the historic schooner Ernestina, ex-Effie M. Morrissey.  Here is a documentary, narrated by the polar explorer, Captain Bob Bartlett, describing a voyage to Greenland in the schooner he refers to as his “Little Morrisey.” … Continue reading

Restoration of the Ernestina-Morrissey Continues

The restoration of the historic schooner Ernestina-Morrissey is a quiet success story. The schooner, launched in 1894, is being rebuilt in the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard. Arriving at the yard in April 2014, she is expected to be redelivered in 2019. The schooner, the official … Continue reading