On August 15th, 1653, the Dutch East India Company ship, Sperwer (Sparrow Hawk), was shipwrecked on Jeju Island off the southern coast of Korea. Thirty six of the sixty four crew survived. One of the survivors was the ship’s book keeper, Hendrick … Continue reading
Category Archives: History
This is an interesting story for several reasons. First, archaeologists believe that they may have discovered the wreckage of a 17th century ship lost off the coast of Panama in 1671, from the famed Captain Henry Morgan‘s fleet. Second, a … Continue reading
At a time when many maritime museums in the United States are struggling to just maintain their ships and indeed several are attempting to get rid of them, the Maritime Museum of San Diego is building a new historic replica, the San Salvador, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo‘s flagship. In the … Continue reading
Last July, workers excavating at the new World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan uncovered the remains of an 18th century wooden merchant ship 20 feet below street level. See our previous posts – here and here. Now researchers have been able to identify where … Continue reading
In July 1945, the Dutch submarine O-19 ran hard aground on Ladd Reef in the South China Sea deep in enemy waters. The Gato class submarine USS Cod was sent to rescue the Dutch sub. After two days of attempting to … Continue reading
Sony and Intel have partnered to sponsor “Project Shiphunt.” The project sponsored a group of Michigan high school students to discover an historic sunken ship in The Great Lakes using Sony VAIO laptops. So far they have assisted in the … Continue reading
William Tillman was the first black hero of the American Civil War. He was not a soldier but rather a 27-year-old cook/steward on the schooner S.J. Waring. One hundred and fifty years ago last Thursday, the schooner was captured by … Continue reading
Happy 4th of July to all. On July 4th, Americans celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain in 1776. Joseph Hewes was one of the lesser known signatories to the Declaration. He was born in New Jersey, prospered as … Continue reading
The US Coast Guard Barque Eagle stopped on her way home from her cruise of European ports to honor the memory of the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Alexander Hamilton, sunk by German submarine U-132 off Iceland in 1942. On Friday, the … Continue reading
Divers have found a huge “haul” of Ming Dynasty pottery on a ship that sank off the coast of Indonesia in 1580. What I find amazing about the discovery are the photos of the pottery on the bottom, still in … Continue reading
Today in 1775 in Marblehead, Massachusetts, Thomas Boyle was born. Going to sea at age 10, he would become one of the most successful and most famous privateering captains in the War of 1812. After several successful cruises as captain of the sharp-built “Baltimore clipper” Comet, Boyle … Continue reading
Last week, divers from Mel Fisher’s Treasures found an emerald ring, valued at $500 thousand dollars, believed to be from the wreck of the 1662 wreck of the Spanish treasure ship, Nuestra Señora de Atocha, which sank in 1662. If anyone thinks of … Continue reading
The clipper ship City of Adelaide (later HMS Carrick), the oldest surviving composite clipper ship in the world, was at serious risk of being broken up until a deal was struck last August to move the ship from the Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine, Scotland, back to its namesake … Continue reading
The wreck of the pirate Blackbeard‘s Queen Anne’s Revenge, which sank in 1718, was believed to be discovered in 1996. After 15 years of excavation, the State of North Carolina and the North Carolina Maritime Museum announced today that they had confirmed that … Continue reading
Photographer Scott Haefner and a few of his friends snuck aboard ships in the Suisan Bay Reserve Fleet near San Francisco, CA and photographed and documented the rusting fleet. Fascinating images. The Mail Online ran an article today about his work. For more images, see Haefner’s site: … Continue reading
Archeologists cannot say for sure what the lead pipe which penetrates the hull of a nearly 2,000 years old wreck of a Roman ship off the town of Grado in Italy was used for. Some think that it was a supply … Continue reading
Last July we posted about divers finding intact bottles of champagne, believed to date from between 1782 and 1788, in the hold of a shipwreck on the Baltic seabed. In November, a bottle of the “world’s oldest champagne” was opened and tasted by … Continue reading
On June 1, 1813, one hundred and ninety eight years ago today, the British frigate HMS Shannon defeated and captured the USS Chesapeake in single ship combat. Captain James Lawrence on the Chesapeake was mortally wounded during the battle. His … Continue reading
On May 31, 1911, the RMS Titanic was launched at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland. After continued outfitting, the ship was delivered to White Star Line on March 30, 1912. She set sail for New York City … Continue reading
We have recently posted about attempts to find a home for the USS Olympia, the oldest steel-hulled American warship afloat and Commodore George Dewey’s flagship during the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898. On Memorial Day it seems worthwhile … Continue reading