Tomorrow, two events will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 boatlift, in which an estimated 500,00 people were rescued from Lower Manhattan following the attacks of 9/11. We recently posted about the Flotilla and Blessing of the Fleet hosted … Continue reading
Category Archives: History
From the Royal Navy News: The last surviving World War 2 bomb disposal diver was honoured during a visit to the Diving Museum in Gosport. John Payne, now 96, was on the first ‘P’ Party 1571 group – a select team … Continue reading
In honor of 9/11 and in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of Great Boatlift, the largest water evacuation in history, a Flotilla and Blessing of the Fleet is being organized on Friday, September 10. Passage aboard the Classic Harbor Line … Continue reading
Götheborg of Sweden, a full-sized replica of a Swedish East Indiaman, sailed home today from Stockholm to her homeport in preparation for a voyage to Asia in April of next year. The nearly 60-meter (197-feet) long East Indiaman is billed … Continue reading
Arthur John Priest was born on this day in 1887. He earned the nickname “the unsinkable stoker” after surviving the sinking of four ships, including the Titanic and its sister ship Britannic, as well as living through two ship collisions. … Continue reading
The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is nearing the completion of the construction of a new Maryland Dove, a reproduction of the 17th-century trading ship that accompanied the first settlers to what is now Maryland in 1634. Maryland Dove is owned … Continue reading
A repost from several years ago. Sailors have long considered Friday to be an unlucky day and Friday the 13th, particularly so. On this Friday the 13th, it seems appropriate to remember the unlikely tale of HMS Friday. Sometime in the … Continue reading
We had a lovely stay in the old seaport village of Stonington, CT on our recent cruise. In honor of our visit, here is a repost from a few years ago about the Battle of Stonington that was fought two … Continue reading
The Howard Steamboat Museum recently posted a video “A River, a Family, and a Shipyard: The History of the Howard Family of Steamboat Builders” that tells the story of James Howard and the Howard Family, who were the most successful … Continue reading
Bruce Kirby died recently at the age of 92. He was a Canadian-born, self-taught yacht designer known for a range of projects from one-designs to America’s Cup yachts. He also was a three-time Olympian sailor. Kirby began his career as … Continue reading
The Hawaii Department of Transportation’s Harbors Division put out a second request for proposals (RFP) for the “removal of the derelict sailing vessel Falls of Clyde from Honolulu Harbor.” A previous RFP issued in late April was later canceled after a … Continue reading
The Sea Venture was the flagship of the Third Supply mission to the Jamestown Colony that was wrecked in Bermuda in 1609. A 300-ton ship commissioned by the London Company, she was one of the first single timbered merchantmen built … Continue reading
Last September, we posted about the wreck of the steam collier SS Ayrfield, abandoned in Homebush Bay, near Sydney, Australia, before it could be scrapped, that has now been taken over by a mangrove forest. A reader pointed out a similar … Continue reading
Fifty-one years ago today, 100,000 people lined the banks of the River Avon in Bristol as the SS Great Britain returned to her birthplace. In the intervening years, the rusting hulk was meticulously restored to her former glory and now … Continue reading
An updated repost from several years ago, still fitting for the day. Happy 4th of July! Those of us in the United States celebrate the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th 1776. Immediately after declaring independence from Great Britain, the representatives in the … Continue reading
As an American reading British Royal Navy history, I will admit to being initially confused, more than once, by “stone frigates“, naval establishments on land named as ships. HMS Collingwood, for example, is a stone frigate (shore establishment) of the … Continue reading
One hundred and five years ago today, Americans learned to be afraid of sharks. An updated repost. On the evening of July 1, 1916, Charles Vansant, 25, of Philadelphia was on vacation with his family at the beach-side resort town … Continue reading
The Corinth Canal that connects the Gulf of Corinth in the Ionian Sea with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea, was closed by a landslide in January. It was recently announced that the canal will remain closed to marine … Continue reading
Commodore David Hughes, believed to be the Royal Navy’s oldest veteran, has died, just shy of his 107th birthday. An excerpt from the obituary on the Royal Navy website: The New Zealand-born officer was one of the last survivors of … Continue reading
Following the Armistice of November 11, 1918, which ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I, the German High Seas Fleet of 74 ships was interned at Scapa Flow, in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. While the … Continue reading