Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island (OHPRI), the non-profit organization behind Rhode Island’s Official Tall Ship SSVOliver Hazard Perry, has announced a pause in operations to rethink its strategy for the ship’s financial sustainability. The 200-foot three-masted sailing school vessel, which was seven … Continue reading
Category Archives: Ships
Happy Labor Day! While many nations celebrate workers on May 1st or May Day, US and Canada both celebrate workers rights in early September. It seems a good time to look at the nautical origin of the word “strike,” referring … Continue reading
The aircraft carrier USS Midway is about a 1,000′ long, 130′ wide and around 55′ high. It has been a stationary museum ship since 2004. Put plainly, Midway is really, really big and doesn’t move. It should be a fairly easy object to avoid, and yet … Continue reading
A quick two-question quiz — First question: What do US aircraft carriers have that the newest British carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, lacks? The answer is aircraft. The UK’s new aircraft carrier will be conducting flight trials with two borrowed US planes. Its own … Continue reading
In July we posted about the discovery of the wreck of the Russian armored cruiser, Dmitrii Donskoi, off South Korea. The salvors claimed that the ship may contain 200 tons of gold, which would they said may be worth around $133.4 billion (£102bn) in … Continue reading
The HMS Queen Elizabeth set sail yesterday from Portsmouth Naval Base bound for the United States. The 65,000-tonne carrier, the largest warship ever built for the Royal Navy, will embark two US F-35B test aircraft to begin the first flight trials. The BBC reports … Continue reading
On Aug. 18, 1943, the destroyer USS Abner Read was on anti-submarine patrol near Kiska Island, in Alaska’s Aleutian chain. The Japanese had just recently evacuated the island but had left behind a minefield. At 1:50 a.m., the destroyer struck … Continue reading
Sometime between last Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, vandals broke into the USS Ling, a World War II-era Balao-class submarine, which has been a museum ship in the Hackensack River since 1973. The vandals stole four bronze plaques, dedicated to the sailors lost … Continue reading
We were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Bert Rogers, the long-time Executive Director of Tall Ships America, who died of a heart attack. Our condolences to his family and all those who cared for him. Bert’s seafaring … Continue reading
There is a serious crisis at our border. No, not the Southern border, where crossings are at close to a 50 year low. I am referring to our Northern border, the Arctic Sea, where the US has only one heavy icebreaker, … Continue reading
Happy 228th Birthday to the United States Coast Guard! The Coast Guard is the oldest maritime service in the US government and somehow always succeeds in doing the most with the very least. The United States Coast Guard was established as the … Continue reading
In 1565, Captain Jean Ribault sailed from France with ships and 800 settlers to resupply and reinforce the French colony of Fort Caroline in what is now the state of Florida. The French colony was being threatened by the Spanish … Continue reading
Spain’s S-80 Plus submarine is an advanced design featuring Air Independent Propulsion (AIP), which is reported to have cost around € 1 billion. The original design came in overweight, so it necessary to lengthen the submarine by 10 meters. Now, it appears that the newly … Continue reading
We are a few days late in celebrating AMVER‘s 60th birthday. Originally called the Atlantic Merchant Vessel Emergency Reporting System, AMVER became operational on July 18, 1958. When it expanded beyond the Atlantic, the name was changed to the Automated … Continue reading
We have been posting about the ongoing East Coast tour by the Viking longship Draken Harald Hårfagre. Here is a lovely drone video by Ryan Smith of the longship as she departs Plymouth, MA bound for Rockland, ME. The 115 … Continue reading
The schooner Amistad is coming to PortSide NewYork, at Pier 11 in the Atlantic Basin, in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Amistad will tie up alongside the historic tanker, Mary A. Whalen, and will be available for free public tours on Tuesday, … Continue reading
At least 11 people died on Thursday when an amphibious duck boat capsized in Table Rock Lake near Branson, Mo. Six people are still missing. The boat capsized in a thunderstorm in winds reported to be 70 or 80 mph. … Continue reading
Salvors have announced the discovery of the wreck of the Russian armored cruiser, Dmitrii Donskoi, which was scuttled in 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War following the Battle of Tsushima. The wreck was found in 1,400 feet of water about one … Continue reading
Oops. Last Wednesday, the graving dock at the General Dynamics NASSCO yard in San Diego, CA flooded after the dock gate at least partially collapsed. The ship under construction in the graving dock, the USNS Miguel Keith, floated off the docking … Continue reading
The Draken Harald Hårfagre, the largest Viking longship built in modern times, has begun its summer tour of the East Coast of the United States. After departing from Mystic Seaport on July 9th, it is now bound for Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Only the … Continue reading