The wreckage of the USS Lexington, sunk in the Battle of the Coral Sea during World War II, has been located by the expedition crew of research vessel (R/V) Petrel, owned by billionaire-explorer Paul Allen. The ship was found roughly 500 … Continue reading
Category Archives: Ships
Norwegian Billionaire Kjell Inge Røkke has pledged to give away a substantial portion of his US$ 3.8 billion fortune to fund efforts to help save the world’s oceans. Last May, he announced the construction of a 596′ long state-of-the-art ice-strengthened oceanographic … Continue reading
In a speech yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened the United States with a new generation of nuclear weapons. Putin showed video animations of nuclear warheads raining down on Florida from a new design of an intercontinental cruise missile that he described … Continue reading
Alexander V. Ezhkov, the owner of the ill-fated Polina Star III, has a story to tell about his experience with the yacht builder Oyster Marine. Ezhkov has put up a website to detail what took place from when in 2012, he ordered … Continue reading
Next Wednesday, March 7th, at 6PM, Neil and Ariel Weisbrod‘s new documentary, “Secrets of a Frozen Ocean“, will have its world premiere at the New York City International Film Festival at the Producer’s Club 358 W 44th Street, NY, NY … Continue reading
Last weekend, gold ingots and coins valued at $40 million salvaged from the wreck of the SS Central America went on display for the first time at the 2018 Long Beach Coin, Currency, Stamp & Sports Collectible Expo. (The gold … Continue reading
Here is a story well worth retelling. An updated repost from 2012. The remarkable story of Robert Smalls. On May 13, 1862, Robert Smalls, a 23-year-old slave, who served as the pilot of the Confederate armed transport, CSS Planter, led eight fellow slaves … Continue reading
As Black History Month winds to a close it seems worthwhile to recall Captain William A. Martin, the best remembered black whaling ship captain from Martha’s Vineyard. He is often referred to as the only black whaling captain from the island. … Continue reading
The timeline for when humans first took to the seas keeps getting moved back. A few years ago, stone tools were found on the island of Crete which were dated to 130,000 years ago. Likewise, stone implements on the island of Flores … Continue reading
When the barque Picton Castle embarks on its seventh circumnavigation this April, it will have a special cargo of four barrels of rum from Lunenburg’s Ironworks Distillery stored in the hold. If all goes well when the ship returns to Lunenburg in … Continue reading
Joseph Conrad once wrote about a conversation with an old sailor who had just signed off a ship. The sailor said something to the effect that “the ship was alright. The problem was the people on it.” The comment seems to … Continue reading
In October of last year, we posted about the rescue of two sailors and their dogs from the yacht, Sea Nymph. The two women were picked up by the dock landing ship USS Ashland roughly 900 miles southeast of Japan. … Continue reading
I sometimes wonder if the world is going a bit mad. Take, for example, the case of icebreakers with cruise missiles and destroyers with guns but no ammunition. Despite the increased strategic importance of Arctic, the US has only one … Continue reading
Last July, we posted about Christeen, the oldest oyster sloop in the US, built in 1883, which is still sailing on Oyster Bay, NY. Oyster Bay is on the North shore of Long Island. Not far away on the South … Continue reading
The Whydah Pirate Museum announced this week, that last year human bones were found near the wreck of the pirate ship Whydah on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The bones were located in an area close to where a pistol, which possibly belonged to … Continue reading
In 2016, we posted about a public-private partnership between the State of Maryland and the replica Baltimore clipper, Pride of Baltimore II. It appears likely that the partnership may not be renewed, leaving a $500,000 shortfall in funding which may … Continue reading
Red Sails is a documentary by Michael Maloney about the remarkable Thames sailing barges, which continued to ply their trade well into the 20th century before being replaced by diesel trucks. The documentary interviews bargemen about their lives aboard the … Continue reading
As the problem of trash and plastic in our waters gets worse, new (and a few older technologies) are being used to respond. They range from small and functional, like the Seabin, a sort of high tech floating bucket designed … Continue reading
The Maritime Administration identifies Captain Hugh Mulzac as The First African-American Shipmaster. Mulzac was the captain of the Liberty ship Booker T. Washington in 1942. Without intending any disrespect to the memory of Captain Mulzac, he was not the first African American shipmaster, … Continue reading
The South Street Seaport Museum‘s historic Georges Banks fishing schooner Lettie G. Howard will be spending the next two summers in Lake Erie at the Erie Maritime Museum in a collaboration with the Flagship Niagara League. The schooner will be partnering with … Continue reading