We are all familiar with Melville’s novel, Moby Dick, inspired, at least in part, by the ramming and sinking of the whaleship Essex by a rogue sperm whale in the Pacific in 1820. Less well-known is the sinking by a … Continue reading
Category Archives: History
An updated repost on National Maritime Day. In 1933, the US Congress created National Maritime Day to recognize the maritime industry in the United States. The date chosen to celebrate the new holiday was May 22, in honor of the … Continue reading
The BBC is reporting that the first full-sized digital scan of the Titanic, 3,800m (12,500ft) down in the Atlantic, has been completed using deep-sea mapping, providing a unique 3D view of the entire ship. “There are still questions, basic questions, … Continue reading
Harry Belafonte, the multi-talented American singer, actor, and activist, died last week at the age of 96. Born in Harlem to Jamaican immigrants, he shattered racial boundaries in the 1950s. During his career, Belafonte popularized calypso music with audiences around … Continue reading
On July 1, 1942, the submarine USS Sturgeon was on its fifth war patrol in the South China Sea off the northwest coast of the Philippines’ Luzon Island, when it sighted a Japanese troop transport, SS Montevideo Maru. The submarine … Continue reading
Connecticut divers have discovered the wreckage of an experimental submarine built in 1907 and later scuttled in Long Island Sound. The Defender was found Sunday by a team led by Richard Simon, a commercial diver from Coventry, Connecticut. The submarine … Continue reading
Shad, often referred to as the “poor man’s Salmon,” once returned yearly to spawn in the Hudson River estuary from New York Harbor north to Fort Edward. Overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution contributed to a series of population collapses, and … Continue reading
On April Fool’s Day, a repost about not an April Fool’s Day prank but a hoax and a swindle. In October of 1897, at the height of the Alaskan Gold Rush, two men, Prescott Ford Jernegan, a Baptist minister, and … Continue reading
March is Women’s History Month, so it seems appropriate to remember the life and accomplishments of Susan Ahn Cuddy, a Korean American who would serve as the first female Asian-American officer in the US Navy and would also become the … Continue reading
In honor of Women’s History Month, it is worthwhile remembering Eleanor Creesy, the navigator of the clipper ship Flying Cloud, who with her husband, Captain Josiah Creesy, set world sailing records for the fastest passage between New York and San … Continue reading
During Women’s History Month, it seems a good time to remember Mary Ann Brown Patten, the first woman to command an American merchant ship. An updated repost. The year was 1856. The ship was the clipper ship Neptune’s Car, bound … Continue reading
HMS Birkenhead was one of the first iron-hulled ships built for the Royal Navy. She was designed as a steam frigate, but was converted to a troopship before being commissioned in 1851. While transporting troops and a few civilians to … Continue reading
In honor of both Women’s History Month and Black History Month, an updated repost about Gladys West. From maps to apps to chartplotters, we all rely on GPS these days, sometimes whether we realize it or not. Ethan Siegel wrote … Continue reading
We recently posted about Kate Walker, the lighthouse keeper of the Robbins Reef Light in New York harbor for close to 35 years. Kate took over as keeper when her husband died of pneumonia in 1886. Oddly enough, in the … Continue reading
In honor of both March’s Women’s History Month & February’s Black History Month, an updated repost about the barrier-shattering naval engineer Raye Montague, who died at the age of 83 in 2018. At the age of 7, she was inspired … Continue reading