Robert L. Allen, who definitively told the story of 50 Black sailors who were convicted of conspiracy to commit mutiny for refusing to continue to load munitions onto cargo ships after explosions had blown apart two ships at a California … Continue reading
Category Archives: History
The Hawai‘i Department of Transportation (HDOT) has issued a request for proposals (RFP) to permanently remove the historic ship Falls of Clyde from Honolulu Harbor, where it has languished since 2008. Bids must be submitted by September 25, 2024. The … Continue reading
The wreckage of the MV Noongah, dubbed “one of the nation’s worst post-war maritime disasters” has been discovered off the coast of Australia’s New South Wales 55 years after it sank in heavy weather with the loss of 21 of … Continue reading
RRS Discovery is a barque-rigged auxiliary steamship built for Antarctic research. She was the last traditional wooden three-masted ship to be built in the United Kingdom. Her first mission was the British National Antarctic Expedition, carrying Robert Falcon Scott and … Continue reading
Fifty-four 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 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 Continental Congress drank a toast … Continue reading
Last July, a routine oil and gas survey discovered hundreds of intact amphorae – ancient storage jars – believed to be 3,300 years old, in a shipwreck located 90km (56 miles) off the northern coast of Israel on the sea … Continue reading
Eighty years ago this week, during the early days of the Allied invasion of Europe, the sea would prove to be as formidable an enemy as the Germans. A storm, the worst in 80 years, came close to wiping out … Continue reading
Happy Juneteenth! Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Juneteenth is also the newest Federal holiday. The legislation was signed into law by President Biden in 2020. The holiday commemorates when emancipation … Continue reading
Sometimes the final miles can take the longest to travel. A full decade after being carried by heavy-lift ship over 10,000 nautical miles from Scotland to her namesake port city, City of Adelaide, the oldest surviving composite clipper ship in … Continue reading
A striking painting of the Falklands War has prompted a search to find the artist behind it. Recently, Jon Rickman-Dawson, facilities manager for HMS Raleigh, a training establishment for new recruits to the Royal Navy, discovered an unusual mural hidden … Continue reading
The wreck of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s “last ship” Quest has been discovered on the seafloor off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. When I first read the news, I did a double-take. Just over two years ago, the wreck of Shackleton’s … Continue reading
I am aware of only one man who was praised by both Eisenhower and Hitler. A repost on the 80th anniversary of D-Day. General Dwight David Eisenhower said “Andrew Higgins … is the man who won the war for us. … Continue reading
BBC reports that after decades of legal wrangling, the Colombian government has started exploring the wreck of the 18th-century Spanish galleon San José, dubbed the “holy grail of shipwrecks.” The South American nation has also declared a protected archaeological area around … Continue reading
The USS Harder, said to be the US Navy submarine that sank the most Japanese warships during World War Two, has been found in the South China Sea, some 80 years after it was sunk. The Harder, a Gato class … Continue reading
A short video of the Iowa-class battleship USS New Jersey on the blocks in drydock at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. As noted by the New York Times, no other U.S. battleship served in more military campaigns. Christened on the first … Continue reading
An updated repost. Melville’s masterpiece, Moby-Dick, was inspired, at least in part, by the sinking of the whaleship Essex by a sperm whale in 1820. The fate of the Essex unquestionably supplied Melville with ending to his novel. Nevertheless, the core … Continue reading
Remember King Harald “Blåtand” Gormsson? No? The king of Denmark and later Norway in the late 10th century. The name still doesn’t ring a bell? His rune mark is embedded in your phone and possibly your earbuds and speakers. His … Continue reading
One of the great things about writing historical fiction is discovering odd sets of facts, often buried in the archives, that capture both the desperation and the madness of a given time. Often, as the cliche goes, you just can’t … Continue reading
Here is another old favorite, a companion repost to yesterday’s repost of “The Unsinkable Hugh Williams – Truth Behind the Legend?” We recently posted in response to a video, “The Strangest Coincidence Ever Recorded?.” It recounted how three men named Hugh … Continue reading