During Black History Month, it is worthwhile to remember early African-American shipmasters. Who was the first? That is hard to say. Paul Cuffe is a good candidate. An updated repost. Paul Cuffee was born on Cuttyhunk Island, MA on January … Continue reading
Category Archives: Lore of the Sea
John Henry Turpin was one of the first Black Chief Petty Officers to serve in the United States Navy. He was also a survivor of two naval disasters — the catastrophic explosions of the USS Maine in 1898, and USS Bennington in … Continue reading
The Golden Thirteen, a wonderful bit of history from the Naval History and Heritage Command: In January 1944, there were nearly 100,000 Black Sailors in the United States Navy, but none were officers. That would change when a group of … Continue reading
Reuters is reporting that the fire, which swept through the car carrier Felicity Ace carrying thousands of luxury cars, leaving it adrift off Portugal’s Azores islands has lost its intensity, probably because there is little left to burn, a port … Continue reading
Hugh Mulzak served as the first Black Liberty ship captain in World War II. When offered the command, he refused to sail with a segregated crew. An updated repost in honor of Black History Month. Born in 1886 on Union … Continue reading
This has been a bad week for shipboard fires. The car carrier Felicity Ace caught fire Wednesday in the Atlantic, off the Azores, and is still burning and adrift, awaiting salvage tugs. Fortunately, the 22 person crew was evacuated safely. … Continue reading
A repost in honor of Black History Month. William Tillman was one of the first black heroes of the American Civil War. He was not a soldier but rather a 27-year-old cook-steward on the schooner S.J. Waring. On July 7, … Continue reading
The car carrier Felicity Ace caught fire yesterday in the Atlantic Ocean, 90 miles southwest of the Azores. The Portuguese Navy and four merchant ships in the area responded to the car carrier’s distress call. The crew of 22 were … Continue reading
Britain’s new polar expedition ship, the RRS Sir David Attenborough, encountered particularly difficult sea ice conditions during a resupply mission as part of the research ship’s first polar expedition. It was assisted in its attempt to deliver the supplies to support … Continue reading
Born a slave, Harriet Tubman escaped and would become a leading “conductor” on the “Underground Railroad” which helped slaves escape from bondage in the South to freedom in the North and in Canada, prior to the Civil War. Nicknamed “Moses,” she … Continue reading
Happy Valentine’s Day! In honor of both the day and Black History Month, an updated repost about Frederick Douglass. But what does Valentine’s Day have to do with Frederick Douglass? As a slave, Douglass never knew the date of his … Continue reading
In November we posted about the maxi-trimaran Sails of Change (ex-Spindrift 2) and its crew of 11, waiting to set off from La Trinité-sur-Mer, in southwest Brittany, on their latest attempt to claim the Jules Verne Trophy. To win the trophy, they … Continue reading
German media reports that the 83-meter yacht, Graceful, believed to be owned by Vladimir Putin, has made a hasty departure from Hamburg, Germany, bound for Russia, before finishing repairs and renovations at the Blohm and Voss shipyard. Some speculate that … Continue reading
In honor of Black History Month, an updated repost about the first African-American pilot in the US Navy, Jesse L. Brown. The story goes that when young Jesse Leroy Brown worked in the cotton fields of Mississippi beside his sharecropper … Continue reading
For several years, we have followed the search for and the ultimate discovery of the schooner Clotilda, believed to be the last ship to carry enslaved Africans to the United States. Now, descendants of the survivors are commemorating the discovery … Continue reading
Officials from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) have confirmed that Brig Niagara, Pennsylvania’s Flagship, will sail the Great Lakes again this summer. Erie News Now reports that because of concerns over COVID-19, Niagara hasn’t sailed since 2019 — … Continue reading
In late January, we posted about how the cruise ship Crystal Symphony, which had been bound for Miami, suddenly changed course and diverted to the Bahamas, after a United States federal judge ordered the ship seized over a lawsuit regarding … Continue reading
The government of Iceland has announced an end to commercial whaling by 2024. “There are few justifications to authorize whale hunting beyond 2024,” when current quotas expire, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture Svandís Svavarsdóttir said in an op-ed in Friday’s … Continue reading
The Dutch-owned Margiris supertrawler, the second largest fishing vessel in the world, dumped more than 100,000 dead blue whiting in the Bay of Biscay off France’s Atlantic coast near La Rochelle, last Thursday. The Pelagic Freeze-Trawler Association (PFA) — which … Continue reading
Last Wednesday, it was widely reported that Rotterdam would dismantle the center span of a historic railroad bridge to allow the 417-foot-long, three-masted sailing yacht built for billionaire Jeff Bezos to access the sea. The fully rigged superyacht apparently has … Continue reading