The Battle of Cape Santa Maria was one of the most controversial naval engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The attack on a Spanish treasure fleet on October 5, 1804 by a British squadron, without a declaration of war, was considered to be an act of piracy … Continue reading
Category Archives: History
We recently posted about a press release by Sub Sea Research (SSR) claiming to have located the wreck of a British cargo ship sunk in June 1942 by the German submarine U87. Sub Sea Research claims that the ship was carrying 70 tons of platinum … Continue reading
The Portland, ME based, Sub Sea Research (SSR) recently sent out a press release announcing that they had located what they claim to be “the worlds richest shipwreck,” the British freighter, SS Port Nicholson, carrying a secret cargo of 71 tons of platinum, … Continue reading
While on peace time maneuvers off Libya on June 22, 1893, Vice Admiral George Tryon, the commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet, gave a series of orders that resulted in HMS Camperdown ramming his ship, HMS Victoria, which sank with the loss of 358 lives, including … Continue reading
The World War II destroyer, USS Laffey, has returned home to Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum, near Charleston, South Carolina after a two year $9 million dollar shipyard period to repair her hull plating. The USS Laffey was commissioned … Continue reading
The graves of four ship’s captains and merchants dating from the mid-18th century have been found in Suriname, a former Dutch sugar colony on the northern coast of South America. The graves of privateer Capt. Michael Burnham of Middletown, CT; Capt. William Barbut … Continue reading
Here is a wonderful 20 minute film made in 1947 about, as the tile suggests, shipbuilding in Essex, Massachusetts. It has the slightly corny Hollywood production values of its time but does a good job at showing the construction of a … Continue reading
Reuters reports that Italy is enthralled by the tale of the “two captains,” while on CNN another Italian captain, from another ship and another time, is remembered – In Andrea Doria wreck, a captain who shone. … Continue reading
The Confederate Navy submarine H.L. Hunley was unveiled yesterday for the first time since it was recovered from the ocean floor near Charleston more than a decade ago. The vessel, a 42 feet long iron cylinder, is credited as the first “successful” submarine … Continue reading
When I was in high school in Flordia, before I learned the error of my ways and become a sailor, I ran all over Boca Ciega Bay and the around the mouth of Tampa Bay in an outboard motor powered … Continue reading
A very interesting, if ambitious, new project. While we often focus on the Georgian Navy, the Royal Navy during the Restoration is fascinating it own right. The Lenox Project hopes to build a replica of the Lenox, a 17th century warship in the restored dockyard at … Continue reading
What better way to start the new year than to look at a project which uses modern technology to recreate virtually a ship from 1606? Dr. Filipe Castro, of the Nautical Archaeology Program, Texas A&M University, working with the university’s Visualization … Continue reading
On Christmas Day in 1776, George Washington led what was left of his army across the Delaware River in the middle of a blizzard to attack a Hessian outpost in Trenton, NJ. In one bold stroke, he turned almost certain … Continue reading
In western Norway, an ocean going Viking longship is taking shape. Named the Dragon Harald Fairhair, (or in Norwegian Draken Harald Hårfagre) she is the largest Viking longship to have been built in modern times and is due to be … Continue reading
German maritime archaeologists believe that they have to have found a urinal used by Kaiser Wilhelm II in the wreck of the light-cruiser, Udine, lying on the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The Udine was sunk by the British in … Continue reading