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
Category Archives: Ships
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 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
In October of 1898, the wooden steamship L.R. Doty disappeared in Lake Michigan in a storm with seventy mile an hour winds and thirty foot waves. Her crew of 17 and two ship’s cats were lost. A group of … Continue reading
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
An interested court case between a private salvor and the State of New York appears to have been settled in favor of the state. The salvor, Northeast Research, claimed the 19th century schooner, which it claims is the Caledonia. … Continue reading
USS Forrestal arrives in Phila. to await fate The aircraft carrier Forrestal arrived in Philadelphia Friday morning to await its fate. The ship, decommissioned in 1993 in Philadelphia after 38 years in service, had been moored next to the Saratoga … Continue reading
It was a fun family event, in many respects. I showed up at the southwest corner of Manhattan, where I thought Reid Stowe on the schooner Anne would sail by and found a group of Stowe’s family and friends had … Continue reading
On April 21, 2007, Reid Stowe sailed from the Hudson River on the schooner Anne. His goal was to stay at sea for 1,000 days without touching a port or being resupplied. It would be the the longest sea … Continue reading
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
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
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 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
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
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