China has launched a semi-autonomous unmanned research vessel designed to serve as a “mother ship” for more than 50 unmanned aircraft, surface vessels, and submersible drones. The 290-foot Zhu Hai Yun is intended to deploy unmanned devices en masse for … Continue reading
Category Archives: Ships
Sad news. On Friday, the 49.5-meter schooner Eleonora E was struck by a 60′ long search and rescue vessel in Port Tárraco, Tarragona, Spain and subsequently sank. The search and rescue vessel Punta Mayor was maneuvering in the harbor and … Continue reading
The carrier USS Kitty Hawk has arrived at a scrapping yard in Brownsville, Texas after an epic 16,000-mile journey from Washington state. The carrier, too large to fit through the Panama Canal at over 280 feet wide, was towed around … Continue reading
The BBC is reporting that scientists have made the most precise map yet of the mountains, canyons and plains that make up the floor of Antarctica’s encircling Southern Ocean. Covering 48 million sq km (18.5 million sq miles), this chart … Continue reading
The wreck of HMS Gloucester, a 50-gun, third-rate, Royal Navy warship, which sank in 1682 while carrying the future king James Stuart, has been identified off the coast of Norfolk. According to Prof Claire Jowitt, a specialist in maritime history … Continue reading
A fire broke out on the dinner cruise ship Spirit of Norfolk on the Elizabeth River in Virginia on Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of 108, including 89 elementary school students celebrating their kindergarten graduation. Fortunately, all passengers were accounted for … Continue reading
Twenty-seven years ago, a plan was conceived to reconstruct Maine’s first ship, Virginia, built by in 1607 by settlers of the Popham Colony at the mouth of the Kennebec River. The original 51′ pinnace was the first English ocean-going ship … Continue reading
The Battle of Midway, fought from June 4 — 7, 1942, eighty years ago this week, was a major American victory in the Pacific theater in World War II. Military historian John Keegan called it “the most stunning and decisive … Continue reading
On Memorial Day, an updated repost about the last mission of the USS Olympia in 1921, when she carried an American unknown soldier killed during World War I from a cemetery in France back to Washington to be entombed at … Continue reading
The first Congressional hearing addressing UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) in more than fifty years, yielded very few answers. The main takeaway from the hearings was that, while most sightings could be identified, a number of events have defied all attempts … Continue reading
Fleet Week has returned to New York harbor after a two-year pandemic pause, bringing 3,000 sailors, marines, and coastguardsmen to the city. The week-long celebration will include public ship visitations, a variety of military demonstrations, and a mix of new … Continue reading
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine grinds to a bloody stalemate, the Russian navy is effectively blockading the northern Black Sea, cutting off maritime trade at Ukrainian ports, in what world leaders call a deliberate attack on the global food … Continue reading
On Monday, the US Navy released the report of its investigation of the underwater collision of the Seawolf Class submarine, USS Connecticut, with a seamount in the South China Sea. From the report’s Executive Summary: On 2 October 2021, Connecticut … Continue reading
U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro has announced that a future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer will be named the USS Telesforo Trinidad in honor of a Filipino sailor who rescued two crew members when their ship caught fire … Continue reading
The museum ship, the retired United States Navy Fletcher-class destroyer USS The Sullivans, partially sank after taking on water at its berth in the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park, in mid-April. Now that the historic ship has … Continue reading
In January, we posted about the successful test demonstration of the world’s first fully autonomous ship navigation systems on a large car ferry on a 240-km route from Shinmoji (Northern Kyushu) to Iyonada, Japan. Now, Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line), … Continue reading
In early March we posted The Mystery of the Superyacht Scheherazade — Who is the Owner?. The 495′ long superyacht, valued at $700 million, was drydocked undergoing repairs in Marina di Carrara, a small Italian town on the Tuscan coast. … Continue reading
As brutal combat continues in the eastern part of Ukraine, the war in the Black Sea continues to heat up. Three weeks ago, Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles hit and subsequently sank the guided-missile cruiser and the flagship of the … Continue reading
An intriguing account by the BBC of archeological serendipity that began with a trip to the dentist. The Battle of the Aegates was a naval battle fought on 10 March 241 BC between the fleets of Carthage and Rome during … Continue reading
Is the cruise industry ready to get back to business in the “new normal” of the late pandemic or will cruise ships remain the floating Petri dishes that typified some ships in the early part of the COVID-19 outbreak? Unfortunately, … Continue reading