The Battleship USS New Jersey has survived a lot. Commissioned in 1943, she fought in World War II, the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam War and supported U.S. operations during the Lebanese Civil War in 1983. Despite her success in combat, recent … Continue reading
Category Archives: Ships
Sail Training International, in partnership with the Sultanate of Oman, will be providing funding for up to 100 tall ship sail trainees yearly. The focus will be on young people who are who are financially disadvantaged or with a physical disability. … Continue reading
Two articles within two days are making me wonder if re-purposed historic vessels might be becoming trendy in design circles around New York City. Curbed, a New York real estate blog featured the 1907 Yankee Ferry in “Hudson River’s Coolest, Oldest Floating Home” – “Taking … Continue reading
I am trying to decide whether this story is more funny or scary. As there were no serious injuries, I am leaning toward funny. Thanks to Dirk Bal for passing it along. Finnish ferry ran aground while the captain was stuck in the … Continue reading
The National Park Service has decided to dismantle the 96-year-old steam lumber schooner, Wapama, a National Historic Landmark. The ship is the last of of some 225 steam schooners that served the lumber trade and other coastal services along the Pacific Coast. … Continue reading
Last July, a Parks Canada expedition discovered the wreck of HMS Investigator, a ship which sank in 1853 after becoming trapped in the ice while searching for Sir John Franklin’s lost expedition in the Canadian Arctic. Exploration of the wreck … Continue reading
In June we posted that the 31-meter Turanor PlanetSolar, a catamaran yacht fitted with 536 square meters of photovoltaic panels, had successfully sailed halfway around the world, from Monaco to Brisbane, Australia, powered solely by the sun. The yacht recently arrived in … Continue reading
The Manchester Ship Canal, from Liverpool to Manchester, was built in 1894 and was once large enough to serve any ocean-going ship. Now a new container barge service is operating on the canal, saving on costs and cutting carbon emissions. … Continue reading
In 1914, the opening of the Panama Canal shortened the distance by sea between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by almost 7,000 miles, eliminating the need to round treacherous Cape Horn. One hundred years later, in 2014, a new third set of locks … Continue reading
I am glad that I am of the age to have seen ships constructed the old fashioned way. Not all that long ago, shipyards still built ships from the bottom up. The shipyard first fabricated the double bottom sub-assemblies and then … Continue reading
The most interesting question about the recently revealed cheating scandal on personnel training exams on the nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, USS Memphis, is whether the cheating was an isolated case or whether the practice is more widespread. The Navy says the … Continue reading
Having recently visited the USCG Cutter Barque Eagle, I can wholeheartedly agree with the title of Tido Holtkamp’s book, A Perfect Lady: A Pictorial History of the Coast Guard Barque Eagle, which has recently gone into its second printing. The ship is indeed a … Continue reading
On August 15th, 1653, the Dutch East India Company ship, Sperwer (Sparrow Hawk), was shipwrecked on Jeju Island off the southern coast of Korea. Thirty six of the sixty four crew survived. One of the survivors was the ship’s book keeper, Hendrick … Continue reading
In May, we posted about the death of Claude Choules at 110. Choules was the last surviving veteran of World War I. Yesterday, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that the ex-Royal Navy Largs Bay, a Bay class landing ship dock, would be commissioned as … Continue reading
We recently posted about the Chinese conversion of the Russian aircraft carrier Varyag. China is not the only country looking to surplus Russian aircraft carriers to expand their naval power. India purchased the surplus carrier, Admiral Gorshkov, from the Russians … Continue reading