Bernard Cornwell’s The Fort: A Novel of the Revolutionary War is not strictly speaking nautical fiction but does focus on an ill-fated expedition that ended as the worst American naval defeat prior to Pear Harbor. At first glance, The Fort … Continue reading
Category Archives: History
The Canadian War Museum is marking the 100th anniversary of Canada’s navy with a fascinating new online exhibit – Canada’s Naval History. Canadian War Museum launches online naval history exhibition “Canada’s Naval History explores the wide range of this country’s … Continue reading
On this anniversary of the armistice on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day or the eleventh month that ended the “war to end all wars,” it seems worthwhile to remember the often overlooked role of merchant mariners in national defense. Though it … Continue reading
Thirty five years ago today the ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald, loaded with more 26,000 tons of taconite pellets, sank in a November gale in Lake Superior. All 29 of her officers and crew were lost. The sinking was the greatest … Continue reading
Klondike shipwreck brought to life with 3D scans A Gold Rush-era shipwreck at the bottom of a Yukon lake is coming to life with the help of cutting-edge digital 3D scan images. The images were produced in June by researchers … Continue reading
The new cruise ship terminal at Pier 91 in the Port of Seattle appears to have been built over an old munitions terminal. Live high explosive ammunition dating back to World War II, and possibly earlier, has been found beneath the … Continue reading
This is a great story. Thanks to Irwin Bryan for passing it along. Congratulations to Bonnie Schubert and her 87-year old mother Jo, two highly successful salvage divers. Elderly woman, daughter find incredible ocean treasure After decades of hunting … Continue reading
Fifty five years ago today, on October 29th 1955, the battleship Novorossiysk, flagship of the Soviet Black Sea fleet, moored in Sevastopol Bay, was shattered by a powerful explosion which caused the ship to capsize and sink. Over six hundred sailors lost … Continue reading
Honor Frost had many talents – as artist, ballet designer, scholar, writer and publicist, to name a few – but her consuming passion was the world beneath the oceans. Honor, who has died aged 92, initiated underwater archaeology as a … Continue reading
Robert Bourne, who died on Oct. 13, at the age of 88, was the radioman on the Navy blimp, Airship K-74, on anti-submarine patrol off the southeast coast of Florida on the night of July 18, 1943. The lookout spotted a German submarine … Continue reading
All that remains to mark the site of the final sea battle of the First Punic War between Rome and Carthage, around 241 BC, are the great bronze rams left behind after the rest of the sunken ships have rotten … Continue reading
In August we posted about a joint Chinese-Kenyan expedition to locate the remains of a ship from the fleet of the legandary Chinese navigator, Zheng He. The ship was said to have sunk off Kenya near Lamu. Recently the team discovered … Continue reading
The HMS Belfast, a Royal Navy light cruiser, now a museum ship on the Thames, is the last surviving escort ship from the Arctic convoy run to Russia during World War II. Last week, in a ceremony attended by HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, … Continue reading
We previously posted about a model of the Mayflower crafted from timber believed to used on the original ship that carried the Pilgrims to America. Alaric Bond passed along an article about a model of the HMS Victory by sculptor and … Continue reading
The final essay in Joseph Conrad’s wonderful, if somewhat odd book, The Mirror of the Sea, is entitled “The Heroic Age.” It starts out rather disappointingly as a paean to Nelson. There is nothing wrong with praising Nelson, except that everyone does it, so another bit … Continue reading