SS United States Saved From Scrappers

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that an agreement has been reached between Norwegian Cruise Line and the SS United States Conservancy, a preservationist group, to save the SS United States from the scrap yard.    The Conservancy is reported to have agreed to pay NCL … Continue reading

Toronto Hosts Tall Ships

The Redpath Toronto Waterfront Festival started yesterday and will run through July 4th.   The festival is hosting fifteen sailing ships and schooners, including HMS Bounty, the brig Niagara, the Bark Europa, the Pride of Baltimore II,  Brig Roald Amundsen, … Continue reading

“A Whale” – World’s Largest Oil Skimmer Waiting on EPA and Coast Guard Approval

Update:  According to her AIS (Automatic Identification System) the A Whale is now off Louisiana.  Thanks to Buck for pointing it out. Click here to see per position on the chart. A Taiwanese-owned, Liberian-flagged tanker,  the A Whale, has been modified … Continue reading

Belated Happy 100th Birthday Wishes to Bill King, World War II Sub Commander and Adventurer

We are five  days late but nevertheless would like to wish Commander William Donald Aelian “Bill” King a most happy 100th birthday.  He is only living submarine commander from World War II.  He initially served on the battleship, HMS Resolution, and later becoming … Continue reading

Happy Birthday to the Lydia Eva – 80 Year Old Steam Herring Drifter

Famous steam drifter celebrates 80th birthday in Yarmouth The world’s last surviving steam drifter, the Lydia Eva, will be celebrating her 80th birthday in Great Yarmouth on Sunday.   As well as celebrating her birthday, the weekend will also mark … Continue reading

Portside New York – Big BlueBQ July 3rd

Portside New York is a maritime hub and cultural space whose centerpiece is the historic coastal tanker Mary Whalen.   Portside is based this summer on pier 11 in the Atlantic Basin, Red Hook, Brooklyn. On Saturday, July 3rd, Portside is hosting  the Big … Continue reading

Chauncy Maples, Africa’s Oldest Ship, Returning as Clinic Ship on Lake Malawi

In 1898, the Chauncy Maples was built at the shipyard of Alley & McLellan in Glasgow.   She was then disassembled into 3,481 parts and shipped out for reassembly at Monkey Bay as a missionary/hospital steamer on Lake Malawi.  Now, one hundred and … Continue reading

Fire in Tampa, Lightning in the Gulf and the Battleship Texas Still Afloat

Busy days in the Gulf of Mexico.  On the surface above the continuing Deepwater Horizon disaster yesterday, a drill  ship attempting to contain the oil was struck by lightning and caught on fire shutting down containment operations.  Reportedly, operations resumed today.   BP: Oil … Continue reading

100th Anniversary of Scott’s Sailing to Antarctica

Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of Captain Scott‘s departure from Cardiff on his ill-fated expedition to reach the South Pole.    The tall ship Stavros S Niarchos sailed across Cardiff Bay, reenacting the departure of Scott’s ship, the Terra Nova.   The Royal Navy’s HMS … Continue reading

Mother Teresa, the Empire State building, and the Aircraft Carrier Intrepid

This August 26th will be the one hundredth anniversary of Mother Teresa‘s birth.  The Empire State Building in New York City changes its lighting for major holidays and special events.  The Catholic League has requested that the building be lit blue and … Continue reading

“Zeb-Schooner Life” Screening by the National Maritime Historical Society

Zeb Tilton was a legendary schooner captain from Martha’s Vineyard.  “Zeb-Schooner Life,” a documentary of his life and times is being screened tonight at 6:30 by the National Maritime Historical Society at the Hendrick Hudson Free Library in Montrose, NY.  Commentary will … Continue reading

Sagres in San Diego and San Diego in Pascagoula

Last week, one of my favorite tall ships, the Portuguese Sail Training Ship Sagres visited San Diego, California. This weekend, on the Gulf Coast in Pascagoula, Mississippi, the US Navy christened the USS San Diego, a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship.    Not to be too critical … Continue reading

Searching for the USS Thresher and USS Scorpion with the Titanic as Cover

Late last month, the secret was revealed – when Bob Ballard discovered the Titanic in 1985,  he was actually on a  secret mission to find two sunken US submarines, the USS Thresher and USS Scorpion, both of which had sunk in the Atlantic in … Continue reading

Yukon Protects the wreck of A.J. Goddard on Lake Labarge

Yukon protects Klondike shipwreck site Just months after a team of archeologists revealed their discovery of a historic Klondike shipwreck in waters north of Whitehorse, the Yukon government has declared the sunken A.J. Goddard sternwheeler a historic site symbolizing the … Continue reading