Guest Post by Robin Denny: The Five-Masted Full-Rigged Ship Preussen

We recently posted about the five-masted full-rigged cruise ship Royal Clipper, a modern sailing ship designed as an homage to the great five-masted windjammer Preussen. We are very pleased to have a guest post about the mighty windjammer by Robin Denny:  With the Peking now … Continue reading

Clotilda & Cudjo Lewis — the Last Slave Ship & the Last Survivor

On Tuesday, a reporter in Alabama announced that he believed that he had found the burned wreckage of the schooner Clotilda, the last vessel to carry slaves to the United States. The wreckage was exposed following a winter “bomb cyclone” … Continue reading

What Did Pirates Read? Blackbeard, Captain Cooke, and Woodes Rogers

A lump of paper wadding found in a cannon from the pirate Blackbeard‘s ship Queen Anne’s Revenge has been identified as containing scraps of paper from a book by Captain Edward Cooke written in 1712.  Researchers were able to identify … Continue reading

Ex-Commanders Facing Criminal Charges for Fitzgerald and McCain Collisions

The Navy has announced that five officers involved in two deadly ship collisions are facing a variety of criminal charges including negligent homicide. The officers facing charges include Cmdr. Bryce Benson, former captain of the USS Fitzgerald, and Cmdr. Alfredo J. Sanchez, former captain … Continue reading

Royal Clipper — the Not Always Obvious Technology Behind a Modern Clipper Ship

Here is a look at a modern sailing ship, Star Clipper’s Royal Clipper, a high-tech square-rigger whose technology is not always obvious.  Click here for a photo tour of the Royal Clipper recently featured in USA Today. We recently posted about … Continue reading

USS Shiloh — A Disturbed Sailor in Hiding on USS “Bread & Water”

Back in June, we posted about a 50-hour, 5,500 square-mile man-overboard search across the Philippine Sea on the USS Shiloh.  The search effort also included Japanese Coast Guard and naval forces. The sailor who was thought to have fallen overboard showed … Continue reading

Update: Rebuilding the Schooner Mary E. at Maine Maritime Museum

One year ago, we posted that the schooner Mary E., the oldest surviving fishing schooner built at Bath, Maine would be returning home to the Kennebeck River where she was built in 1906. The Maine Maritime Museum purchased the schooner from her previous owner … Continue reading