We recently posted about “Women At Sea: Screening, Conversation, Reception,” which was held last Wednesday in Manhattan. The program included a fascinating documentary Shipping Out, the Story of America’s Seafaring Women and a panel discussion with a number of women … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Astrodene’s Historic Naval Fiction Log Book, a monthly newsletter on naval and nautical fiction and non-fiction is out for April. Books due for release this month are the novels, The Mountain of Gold by J. D. Davies, and Honor Bound by Robert … Continue reading
Times have been tough for Horizon Lines, the US Jones Act container shipping company that was spun off from Sealand in 2003. In addition to suffering decreased revenues in the general economic downturn, in late February Horizon agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge … Continue reading
Does the wind seem to blowing harder and the waves growing ever higher? Perhaps they are after all. A new study finds that wind speeds and wave heights have been rising significantly over the last two decades. Study finds oceanic … Continue reading
Last summer we posted about a breaching Southern Right whale that landed on a sailboat off South Africa. This week, boaters off the Florida Keys and in the Gulf of Mexico off Texas got surprise visitors. Off the Florida Keys a 200 … Continue reading
On February 16, 1941 the S.S. Gairsoppa was bound from India to Britain, when she was torpedoed by a German submarine and sank 300 miles southwest of Galway Bay. In addition to pig iron and tea, she carried silver bullion … Continue reading
Recently we posted about joint-operations by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard which since last Novemeber have succeeded in capturing 120 pirates in the Indian Ocean as well as taking several pirate “mother ships” and freeing the hostage held aboard. On reader commented: Good on … Continue reading
None of them knew the color of the sky. Their eyes glanced level, and were fastened upon the waves that swept toward them. These waves were of the hue of slate, save for the tops, which were of foaming white, … Continue reading
Last week, while searching near the the wreck of Nuestra Senora de Atocha, Bill Burt, a diver for Mel Fisher’s Treasures, found a 17th century gold chain worth $250,000. Deep sea treasure: 17th century gold chain worth $250,000 plucked from … Continue reading
Last Sunday, we posted about the authorization for the construction of the first six frigates for the US Navy in 1794. The folks at Maritime Great Britain were kind enough to pass along two related stories. … Continue reading
On Sunday the MV Maersk Kensington reported an attempted boarding by pirates while underway off the southern coast of India. The Indian navy ship Suvarna and Coast Guard ship Sangram responded, intercepting the Iranian fishing trawler Morteza which had been hijacked and was … Continue reading
Mystic Seaport is featuring a traveling exhibit from Philadelphia’s Independence Seaport Museum – Skin & Bones, Tattoos in the Life of an American Sailor. The exhibition runs through September 5, 2011. Skin and Bones – Tattoos in the Life of the American … Continue reading
New facial reconstruction technology applied to the skull of one of the members of the ill-fated Franklin expedition may rewrite accepted history. The skeleton long believed to be that of Henry Le Vesconte, a lieutenant aboard HMS Erebus, is now believed to be that of Harry … Continue reading
The 86m fast catamaran ferry, Condor Vitesse, collided with a fishing vessel this morning, seriously injuring a French fisherman. UPDATE: The fisherman injured in the crash subsequently died. French fisherman seriously injured in ferry crash The Condor Vitesse, travelling between St Malo in … Continue reading
The fourth leg of the Velux Five Oceans Singlehanded Round the World Race is underway as the four competitors set off from Punta del Este, Uruguay bound for Charleston, South Carolina. The racers are currently sailing at north at around ten knots … Continue reading