I hope everyone who celebrates the American holiday is having a wonderful Thanksgiving. The holiday is associated with a group of English settlers now known as the Pilgrims who arrived on the Massachusetts coast around 1620 on the ship Mayflower. … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
More teething problems on USS Zumwalt, the US Navy’s newest, most advanced and most expensive destroyer. While transiting the Panama Canal, the ship lost propulsion on its port shaft. Two of the four bearings that connect the ship’s port and … Continue reading
Douglas Reeman needs our help. If you have ever read any of the thirty volumes of the nautical adventures of Richard Bolitho, you probably know the author by his pen name, Alexander Kent. In total, Reeman has written close to … Continue reading
Last week, a humpback whale swam into the Hudson River as far north as the George Washington Bridge. Humpbacks have been returning to the waters around New York in significant numbers in recent years, although a whale swimming in the … Continue reading
In 2002, amateur divers discovered the wrecks of three Dutch warships sunk off Indonesia in World War II. The three ships; the HNLMS De Ruyter, HNLMS Java and HNLMS Kortenaer; were found at 70 meters deep, 60 miles off the … Continue reading
We recently posted, “Which is the Oldest Operating Steamship?” We thought that “the oldest steamer may be the Norwegian PS Skibladner, which began service in August 1856 on Lake Mjøsa. We also asked, “So, which vessels have we missed? Any … Continue reading
Yesterday, we posted about the remarkable recovery of humpback whales after have been hunted to near extinction in the 1980s. Coincidentally, yesterday morning, a humpback whale was spotted swimming in the Hudson River in New York’s inner harbor near the … Continue reading
Humpback whales are back, or, at the very least, there seems to be a good case for cautious optimism. In 1986, at the beginning of the moratorium on commercial whaling, the global population of humpback whales had dropped by 90% … Continue reading
Everyone likes superlatives. The oldest, fastest, newest, largest and so on. Often superlatives need to be very specific to be made to apply. HMS Victory, for example, is the oldest naval ship still in commission, while USS Constitution is the oldest … Continue reading
The National Historic Landmark and ex-presidential yacht Sequoia has fallen on hard times. In a recent ruling, Delaware judge Sam Glasscock describes her current condition. “The Sequoia, an elderly and vulnerable wooden yacht, is sitting on an inadequate cradle on an … Continue reading
The media has been full of stories about tonight’s “supermoon,” which is the largest in 68 years. Supermoon is the popular term for what astronomers call a moon perigee–syzygy. This means that the moon is at its closest point to … Continue reading
The National Lighthouse Museum on Staten Island is having a one-day model ship exhibit on Saturday, November 19th from 11:00 am to 4:00pm, featuring models and demonstrations by members of the Ship Model Society of New Jersey. From the NLM … Continue reading
A video for a Saturday. A wonderful documentary from 1992 about sailing on the tall ship Danmark. World of Discovery – Tall Ships: High Sea Adventure … Continue reading
On Veteran’s Day, a post about a veteran ship, USS Independence, a light aircraft carrier that served in key battles at the Pacific toward the end of World War II. After the war, she was used as a target in … Continue reading
Two years ago, we posted about MV Liemba — the World’s Oldest Passenger/Cargo Steamer at 100. Now 102 years old, MV Liemba continues her passenger and cargo ferry service along the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika. With luck and funding from … Continue reading