On May 9, 1941, seventy years ago today, the German submarines U110 and U201 were attacking a British convoy in the Atlantic south of Iceland. U110 was forced to surface after being depth changed and was abandoned by her crew who … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Two recent articles about alien invasive species: The New York Times reports on efforts to stop the smuggling of the Chinese snakehead fish. The fish is considered to be a delicacy in New York’s Chinatown, but is a voracious predator that can wipe … Continue reading
This is not specifically a Mother’s Day post, but somehow, it feels right to post today. Women of the Banks Islands, a group of islands in northern Vanuatu, in the Pacific stand waist deep in the ocean and literally play the water … Continue reading
Navy SEAL Lt. Michael Murphy would have been 35 years old today, had he not died in combat behind enemy lines in Afghanistan in 2005. Lt. Murphy was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the United States military’s highest decoration, for … Continue reading
El Hierro is the easternmost of Spain’s Canary Islands, 750 miles from the Spanish mainland. The island itself has no energy resources beyond wind and water. There is now a plan to make the island wholly energy independent by linking wind and hydro-power … Continue reading
I remember when America’s Cup racing was fairly tame – beautiful 12M yachts gliding in light air in the waters of Rhode Island Sound. Times have indeed changed. The new AC45 wing-sailed catamarans recently underwent two weeks of testing in Auckland, New Zealand. … Continue reading
The Glenlee, a three-masted baldheaded steel-hulled barque, launched on December 3, 1896, has moved to a new home on the River Clyde in Glasgow at the new Riverside Museum. Tall ship Glenlee moves to new home on the Clyde … Continue reading
The Russian barque Sedov, the world’s largest sailing ship, is celebrating her 90th birthday in 2011. Barque Sedov under sail again … Continue reading
A nuclear leak on the Russian icebreaker Taimyr forced it to attempt to return to the port of Murmansk. Nuclear leak in Russian icebreaker RUSSIA launched an urgent rescue mission overnight after one of its atomic-powered icebreakers developed a nuclear leak … Continue reading
In March we posted about the birthday of Claude Choules, the last combat veteran of World War I. He has now died in Perth, Australia at age 110. Last WWI combat veteran Claude Choules dies aged 110 The world’s last … Continue reading
Linda Collison’s new book Surgeon’s Mate, the second book in the her Patricia MacPherson nautical series, was recently been released. Astrodene’s Historic Naval Fiction interviewed Linda Collison about her new book, which we are reposting with permission. We reviewed Collison’s … Continue reading
My first thought was if that is a remora there must be quite a shark out there someplace. Obviously a different type of remora. The Remora 6000 is a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) that can operate at depths up to 6,000 meters. … Continue reading
Last week the Navy relieved the commanding officers – Commander Jay Wylie of the guided missle destroyer, USS Momsen; Commander Etta Jones of the amphibious transport dock ship, USS Ponce; and Captain Donald Hornbeck in command of Destroyer Squadron 1. … Continue reading
The notorious pirate Captain William Kidd was executed three hundred and ten years ago this month, yet is far from forgotten. A new exhibit is opening on May 20th at the Museum of London Dockyards – Pirates: The Captain Kidd Story. … Continue reading
A well done video providing an interesting perspective on sail training. Coast Guard Tall Ship “Eagle” [iframe: width=”480″ height=”390″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/gA84Z2kFYdc?rel=0″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen] … Continue reading