In August of 1772, a powerful hurricane devastated much of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean. On the island of St. Croix, the town of Christiansted was virtually leveled. An impoverished 17-year-old clerk, who worked for a local merchant, wrote a letter to … Continue reading
Category Archives: History
On New Year’s Eve 1918, over 200 men crowded the dock at the port of Kyle of Lochalsh waiting to the board the HMY Iolaire, a 190′ long iron-hulled yacht requisitioned by the Admiralty. Most of the men were Royal Navy Reservists. … Continue reading
Here is a wonderful sea story which appears to be more or less true. RMS Warrimoo was an Australian/New Zealand passenger ship, launched in 1892. The ship is best remembered for crossing the intersection of the international dateline and the equator at precisely the turn of … Continue reading
Recently, teams of Navy specialists have successfully removed 230,000 gallons of fuel, or close to 800 tons, still aboard the Prinz Eugen when it sank at Kwajalein, 72 years ago. The bottom of the lagoon at the Kwajalein Atoll is … Continue reading
A report from a few years ago. A story well worth retelling. Today the Christmas Ship is Chicago’s largest all-volunteer charitable support program for inner-city youth and their families at Christmas time. At the turn of the twentieth century, the “Christmas Tree … Continue reading
I will admit to being dependent on GPS. I rely on it for both maps and apps on my phone as well as the chartplotters on several tablets on my boat. Nevertheless, until recently I knew nothing of Gladys West, a … Continue reading
Researchers believe that wreckage found off the coast of Filey in Yorkshire is from the American warship USS Bonhomme Richard. The ship, under the command of John Paul Jones, fought a four-hour battle with HMS Serapis off nearby Flamborough Head in … Continue reading
On National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, the iconic USS Arizona Memorial remains closed to the public. As we posted last June, the memorial close indefinitely after structural cracks in the memorial dock were reported in early May. The National Park Service (NPS) … Continue reading
Regardless of what one may think of the political career of the late President George H.W. Bush , who died recently at the age of 94, it seems worthwhile to remember his service as one of the youngest pilots in the US Navy during … Continue reading
This is a bizarre story which we have been following for, literally, years. It looked for an instant like it might be resolved and then things fells apart once again. Tommy Thompson — engineer, treasure hunter, alleged swindler, and the current … Continue reading
Andrew Fitzgerald, the last of the four-man crew of the Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat CG-36500, which rescued the crew of the SS Pendleton, has died at the age of 87. On February 18, 1952, the 36′ motor lifeboat set out from Station Chatham, Massachusetts, … Continue reading
Happy Thanksgiving! Today has been celebrated as a day of Thanksgiving in the United States on the third Thursday of November since 1863. The holiday is notionally based on a harvest feast in 1621 between Native Americans and Puritans who had arrived on the … Continue reading
Here is a fascinating bit of history from the “History Guy” about when the navies of the Republic of Texas and the Republic of the Yucatan faced off against the most modern warships of their time, the ironclads of the Mexican … Continue reading
In the dark and oxygenless waters of the Black Sea two miles below the surface, a team of maritime archaeologists, scientists and surveyors has discovered what it believes to be the world’s oldest intact shipwreck. Carbon dating suggests that the … Continue reading
In 1899, a hurricane carried 15 ships ashore on Dog Island, a barrier island on the northwestern Florida Gulf coast. Recently, Hurricane Micheal unearthed several of the lost ships. The exposed wooden ships now rest in plain view near the west … 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
I am traveling this week, so it seems like a good time to repost an old blog favorite, the remarkable story of the unsinkable Hugh Williams. There is a video bouncing around the web these days called “The Strangest Coincidence … Continue reading
We are within days of the 250th anniversary of when Captain James Cook set off on an epic circumnavigation, stopping at numerous islands in the Pacific, as well as Australia and New Zealand on the bark HMS Endeavour. Now, the Rhode … Continue reading
Did you know that in the 1960s the US Army converted a World War II Liberty ship to a floating nuclear power plant? Neither did I. And as it is now heading for the scrap yard, will soon be no … Continue reading
This weekend I enjoyed watching the Great North River Tug Race. Now, a few days later, we have arrived again at the anniversary of the attacks of 9/11. As horrible as that Tuesday morning in September indeed was and as … Continue reading