Happy Labor Day! While many nations celebrate workers on May 1st or May Day, US and Canada both celebrate workers rights in early September. It seems a good time to look at the nautical origin of the word “strike,” referring … Continue reading
Category Archives: History
On Aug. 18, 1943, the destroyer USS Abner Read was on anti-submarine patrol near Kiska Island, in Alaska’s Aleutian chain. The Japanese had just recently evacuated the island but had left behind a minefield. At 1:50 a.m., the destroyer struck … Continue reading
Two hundred and four years ago this week, in a three day battle, the militia at Stonington, CT drove off a four ship Royal Navy flotilla during the War of 1812. Here is lightly edited repost about the battle from July … Continue reading
In 1565, Captain Jean Ribault sailed from France with ships and 800 settlers to resupply and reinforce the French colony of Fort Caroline in what is now the state of Florida. The French colony was being threatened by the Spanish … Continue reading
The schooner Amistad is coming to PortSide NewYork, at Pier 11 in the Atlantic Basin, in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Amistad will tie up alongside the historic tanker, Mary A. Whalen, and will be available for free public tours on Tuesday, … Continue reading
Salvors have announced the discovery of the wreck of the Russian armored cruiser, Dmitrii Donskoi, which was scuttled in 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War following the Battle of Tsushima. The wreck was found in 1,400 feet of water about one … Continue reading
In June, three Spanish divers located the wreck of the German World War II submarine U-966 near the coast of Galicia in north-west Spain. The BBC reports that the submarine’s wreckage is spread widely in a very rocky area where rough weather often makes diving … Continue reading
I recently learned the slungshot, not to be confused with a slingshot. The slungshot is a monkey’s fist’s nasty cousin. As most are probably aware, a monkey’s fist is a knot, shaped like a ball (or a fist), used to provide weight … Continue reading
Forty-eight years ago today, 100,000 people who 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 has been meticulously restored to her former glory and … Continue reading
Most of us think of Alexander Graham Bell as the inventor of the telephone, as indeed he was. He was also an early pioneer in hydrofoil boats. His hydrofoil, Hydrodome #4, better known as the HD-4, set a world marine speed record … Continue reading
Last year we posted about warships from World War II that had vanished after illegal scrappers literally cut them up and hauled the steel away. Here is a news item on theft on a different scale and with a better outcome. … Continue reading
For several years, we have been following the attempts to raise Arctic explorer Roald Amundsen‘s research ship Maud from where it has been sitting in ice and mud for close to 90 years. To say that the conditions in Cambridge Bay off the Nunavut … Continue reading
A group of “urban explorers” ventured out to climb aboard an abandoned Soviet submarine tied up in the Maritime Quarter, the former NDSM shipyard in Amsterdam North, in the Netherlands. The submarine was built in 1956 or 1957. It was designated … Continue reading
I recently saw two stories in the press that happen to overlap. Captain Reinhard Hardegen The first story was the report of the death of Reinhard Hardegen at 105 years old. Hardegen was believed to have been the last surviving German U-boat commander from … Continue reading
Three years ago, the BBC published an article with the clickbait title of “Why is the US still using a Nazi tall ship?” The article was about the USCG Cutter Eagle and was OK as far as it went. The title … Continue reading
I am aware of only one man who was praised by both Eisenhower and Hitler. A repost on the anniversary of D-Day. General Dwight David Eisenhower said that “Andrew Higgins … is the man who won the war for us. … Continue reading
Today is National Donut Day. I was not aware that such a day existed until I bought a cup of coffee at Dunkin Donuts this morning and was offered a free donut in honor of the day. (I did not … Continue reading
Last week, the Navy marked the 50th anniversary of the loss of the Skipjack-class nuclear submarine USS Scorpion (SSN 589) in a private observance at the Scorpion Memorial on Norfolk Naval Station. 99 officers and crew died when the submarine sank on May 22, … Continue reading
A post from several years ago that is well worth reposting. What was the most dangerous service in World War II? The Army, the Navy, the Marines? In fact, it was the Merchant Marine. 1 in 26 mariners serving aboard merchant ships … Continue reading
Last February, we posted about human bone fragments found near the wreck of the pirate ship Whydah Gally on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The bones were located close to where a pistol, which possibly belonged to the ship’ captain, “Black Sam” Bellamy, had been recovered. Forensic … Continue reading