Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor reportedly wrote in his diary, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” Whether or not the Admiral … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
An interrupted broadcast of a football game, a newsbreak during a performance by the New York Philharmonic, a weather report followed by an announcement from President Roosevelt that Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor. Reports of attacks on the Philippines. Here … Continue reading
One hundred and seven years ago today, on the morning of December 6, 1917, the French freighter SS Mont-Blanc and the SS Imo, a Norwegian ship chartered to carry relief supplies to Belgium, collided in the Narrows, a strait connecting … Continue reading
In March 2021, we posted about a Laysan albatross nicknamed Wisdom who, at the age of 70, had hatched a new chick. Wisdom is the oldest confirmed wild bird and the oldest banded bird in the world, having been first identified and banded on … Continue reading
Yesterday, the World Cruising Club (WCC) released a statement regarding a Swedish sailor lost overboard in the mid-Atlantic from the Volvo 70 racing yacht Ocean Breeze on Monday while sailing with the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC). “It is with … Continue reading
Here is yet another story to remind us how little we understand about orcas, also known as killer whales. We are still scratching our heads over why Iberian orcas attack sailboats near Gibraltar or why orcas off South Africa attack … Continue reading
Happy Thanksgiving to those on this side of the pond and below the 49th parallel. (The Canadians celebrated the holiday in October.) What do whaling ships, a child’s nursery rhyme, a female magazine editor, and Abraham Lincoln have to do … Continue reading
After the Egyptian liveaboard dive boat, Sea Story, capsized and sank in heavy weather in the Red Sea early Monday morning, 28 of the 44 passengers and crew were rescued. On Tuesday, divers rescued five additional survivors trapped in air … Continue reading
Good news for change. On Sunday, a pod of more than 30 pilot whales became stranded on Ruakākā Beach near Whangārei in northern New Zealand. Hundreds of residents joined forces with conservationists to save the pod. The rescue effort was … Continue reading
The Sea Story, a 44m Egyptian tourist liveaboard dive boat, sank in the Red Sea early this morning. Of the 44 aboard, including 13 crew, 28 were rescued while 16 remain missing. The crew was all Egyptian, while the tourists … Continue reading
The Military Sealift Command (MSC) operates approximately 125 replenishment and military transport ships to support the US Navy. Currently, MSC has more ships than it has civilian mariners to sustainably operate them. MSC’s commander confirmed Thursday that the command will … Continue reading
The Pacific island nation of Tuvalu is facing an existential threat due to rising sea levels, caused by climate change. According to NASA, the sea level in Tuvalu has risen nearly 6 inches in the past 30 years and is expected … Continue reading
We posted yesterday about a telecommunications cable in the Baltic Sea between Finland and Germany that was severed Monday morning, and a 218km internet link between Lithuania and Sweden’s Gotland Island that stopped working on Sunday. Chinese Bulk Carrier Detained … Continue reading
Early Monday morning, a 1,170km (730-mile) telecommunications cable in the Baltic Sea between Finland and Germany was severed, while a 218km internet link between Lithuania and Sweden’s Gotland Island stopped working on Sunday. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has said … Continue reading
An interesting story from the Guardian. When the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg and sank on 15 April 1912, approximately 1,500 died. The RMS Carpathia, under the command of Captain Arthur Rostron, rescued 706 passengers and crew from the Titanic‘s lifeboats. A … Continue reading
In November 1878, the wooden schooner James R. Bentley set sail from Chicago bound for Buffalo loaded with a large shipment of rye. It encountered heavy seas and gale-force winds during the voyage, struck a shoal, and sank near 40 … Continue reading
On the chart, it was marked as a shipwreck in the Pacific Ocean near the Solomon Islands, but when scientists and filmmakers from the National Geographic Society’s Pristine Seas took a closer look, they were shocked to find the world’s … Continue reading
Last Saturday morning at Pier 88 on the Hudson River, the US Navy commissioned its newest destroyer, USS John Basilone. With the New York City skyline as a backdrop, the ceremony took place between the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid and the … Continue reading
In the US, today is Veteran’s Day, when we honor those who have served in the military. It coincides with Armistice Day, the anniversary of the signing of the armistice which ended World War I, on the 11th hour of … Continue reading
In 1964, pop-artist Andy Warhol shocked the art world by making hundreds of replicas of supermarket cartons and presenting them as art. He painted screenprints of soup cans, then sculptures of packaging for Kellogg’s cornflakes and Heinz ketchup. Among the … Continue reading