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
Category Archives: History
Back in February of last year, the Independence Seaport Museum announced that it could no longer afford to care for USS Olympia, the flagship of Commodore George Dewey at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War in 1898. There was … Continue reading
On June 12,1943 in 600 feet of water, the submarine USS R12 sank in 15 seconds in 600 feet of water, taking 42 of her crew with her to the bottom. Recently, a team led by Tim Taylor on the “RV … Continue reading
On May 25th, in addition to other items in their collection, the Seaman’s Church Institute is auctioning off a letter written by Joseph Conrad in 1923 to the “owners and ship’s company of the Tusitala, ” in which he sends … Continue reading
An unidentified wreck, believed to be 400 years old, has been described as the “biggest discovery since the Mary Rose.” For centuries, it was covered by sand but is now rotting away so fast that it may effectively disappear within five years. Battle to save … Continue reading
For those in the US, the National Geographic Channel is featuring a a program “Ghost Ships of the Great Lakes” this evening at 10PM. Looks interesting. Ghost Ships of the Great Lakes … Continue reading
On May 9, 1941, seventy years ago today, the German submarines U110 and U201 were attacking a British convoy in the Atlantic south of Iceland. U110 was forced to surface after being depth changed and was abandoned by her crew who … Continue reading
In March we posted about the birthday of Claude Choules, the last combat veteran of World War I. He has now died in Perth, Australia at age 110. Last WWI combat veteran Claude Choules dies aged 110 The world’s last … Continue reading
The notorious pirate Captain William Kidd was executed three hundred and ten years ago this month, yet is far from forgotten. A new exhibit is opening on May 20th at the Museum of London Dockyards – Pirates: The Captain Kidd Story. … Continue reading
On April 28, 1947, a six-man expedition led by Thor Heyerdahl sailed from Callao, Peru aboard a balsa wood raft named the Kon-Tiki on a 101-day journey across the Pacific Ocean to Polynesia. Heyerdahl’s book, Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific by Raft, … Continue reading
I am always amazed by how well darkness, cold and a lack of oxygen can preserve a wooden ship wreck. Thanks to Badewanne, a non-profit group of divers that has been documenting shipwrecks in the Gulf of Finland for more … Continue reading
For hundreds of years, coastal schooners carried cargoes up and down the hundred harbored coast of Maine. By the early part of the last century, the schooners were being replaced by trucks and trains. In 1936 Captain Frank Swift started buying laid up … Continue reading
As the sands of Fire Island are swallowing Le Papillon, Cyclone Yasi has uncovered a mysterious shipwreck on an island off the Queensland coast. Cyclone Winds Unbury Island’s 130-Year-Old Shipwreck The huge cyclone’s intense winds blew away sand on one … Continue reading
If Detroit was and is the “motor city,” then perhaps Bivalve, New Jersey was the Oyster Capital of the World. By the late 1880s, 90 railcars full of oysters were shipped from Bivalve every week. Oysters were once the largest … Continue reading
It is not champagne, but whiskey bottles which are still appearing from the sands where the sailing ship Stuart wrecked 110 years ago on Easter Sunday off the Llyn peninsula of Northern Wales. Whisky bottles still being washed up on … Continue reading