Tipped off by fisherman who caught amphorae in their nets, the wreck of a Roman merchant ship, believed to date from between the 1st century B.C. and the 2nd century, has been located in 230 feet of water near the Italian port city of … Continue reading
Category Archives: History
In 1606, the Duyfken, commanded by Willem Janszoon, became the first European vessel to sail to the continent of Australia. In 1999, in an act of “experimental archaeology,” a replica of of the Dutch ship was built in Freemantle, Australia. The … Continue reading
Two hundred and twenty years ago today on August 4th, 1790, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton established the Revenue Cutter Service, predecessor to the United States Coast Guard. (In 1915, the service merged with the United States Life-Saving Service and adopted its current name.) So … Continue reading
Today is the birthday of Herman Melville, one of the greatest American writers. He was born in 1819 on Pearl Street in downtown Manhattan, almost directly across the Hudson from where I am now writing this post. He will always … Continue reading
Billionaire and philanthropist, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is loaning his 126 metre superyacht Octopus to the British Royal Navy to mount an expedition to locate and raise the bell from the battle cruiser HMS Hood (51) sunk by the German battleship Bismark in the Denmark … Continue reading
Yesterday we posted about the possible discovery of a German WWII submarine sunk in the Churchill River in Labrador, Canada. Now we have learned that the German World War II submarine U-550 has been located in the Atlantic, 70 miles … Continue reading
Searchers using side scanning sonar believe that they may have located a German U-boat from World War II on the bottom in the Churchill River not far from Muskrat Falls in Labrador, Canada, more than 100 kilometres from the ocean. German submarines operated … Continue reading
Last September we posted that Odyssey Marine Exploration had located the wreck of the S.S. Gairsoppa, which was torpedoed in February of 1941 by a German U-boat. When she sank, the ship was loaded with 240 tonnes of silver believed … Continue reading
Yesterday, I went on a field trip with the New York Shiplore and Model Club to Stonington and Mystic, Connecticut. (Thanks to Lee Gruzen, Norman Brouwer and Linda Zatkowski for making the arrangements.) Our first stop was Stonington, Connecticut, a … Continue reading
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 with glasses of Madeira wine. Why Madiera? It … Continue reading
We recently posted about OpSail 2012 and Boston’s weeklong celebration of the USS Constitution and the bicentennial of the War of 1812. The USS Constitution, nicknamed “Old Ironsides” after British round shot bounced off her oak planks, is the world’s … Continue reading
About a year ago, we posted Towing Icebergs – an Idea Whose Time is Still Coming?, where we pointed out that the latest proposal to tow icebergs from the Arctic or Antarctic to supply fresh water, was similar to plans that dated … Continue reading
Thanks to Anne Maclachlan and the Naval History & Heritage Command for pointing out on Facebook, a forgotten bit of history – the ill-fated Greely Expedition, which was rescued at Cape Sable on Ellesmere Island on June 22, 1884. In 1881, First Lieutenant … Continue reading
On April 27, 1915, at the height of the the World War I Gallipoli campaign, Lt-Cdr Edward Courtney Boyle piloted the submarine HMS E14 beneath the minefields, guns and search lights of the the Narrows, the heavily defended entrance to the Dardanelles, the … Continue reading
Happy Kamehameha Day! In the state of Hawaii, June 11th is celebrated as Kamehameha Day, honoring Kamehameha the Great, the king who unified the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi in 1810. The holiday was established in 1871 by King Kamehameha V, Kamehameha’s great grandson. … Continue reading
Starting this Wednesday, June 13th, Baltimore, MD will host its “Star-Spangled Sailabration,” a week long festival with 18 tall ships and 22 naval vessels, marking the start of Maryland’s three year commemoration of the bicentennial of the War of 1812. In addition to the parade … Continue reading
The recent transit of Venus, the passing of the shadow of the planet Venus across the face of the sun, brought to mind the voyage of Captain Cook in HMS Endeavour in 1768-1771. Now, archaeologists in Rhode Island believe they may have … Continue reading
The Liberty ship SS Richard Montgomery, with a cargo of high explosives, was wrecked off the Nore in the Thames Estuary in 1944. Shortly after the wreck, an attempt was made to remove her cargo but the ship broke apart with … Continue reading
The Normandy landings, on June 6, 1944, was the largest amphibious invasion in world history, with over 160,000 troops and 195,700 Allied naval and merchant navy personnel in over 5,000 ships. Normandy Invasion D-Day Landings, 6 June 1944 … Continue reading
On June 5th and 6th, depending on where you are in the world, there will be the last transit of Venus, where the planet Venus visibly passes between the earth and the Sun, until the year 2017. The previous transit of Venus … Continue reading