British archeologists have located the wrecks of two German destroyers, V44 and V82, from World War I in an unlikely location — on the tidal mudflats near Whale Island in the eastern part of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite the Brittany Ferries … Continue reading
Category Archives: Ships
The Bermuda Triangle nonsense continues, as does the media’s fondness for dramatic headlines, whether or not there are any facts to support them. The most recent silliness is about late ice age methane explosions. The UK’s Daily Mail headline reads: … Continue reading
Peter Stanford, an icon of maritime historical preservation in the United States, died yesterday at the age of 89. In 1967, Peter and his wife Norma founded the South Street Seaport Museum on New York City’s East River waterfront. Peter Stanford … Continue reading
On March 25th, 1921, the US Navy ocean-going tug, USS Conestoga, with a coal barge in tow, steamed out of Mare Island, California, bound for Tutuila, American Samoa, by way of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The tug, barge and crew disappeared. … Continue reading
The US Navy is currently testing some potentially revolutionary new weapons, including electromagnetic rail guns. This is not the first time that the navy has experimented with new and exotic weapons systems, not all of which have been successful. USS … Continue reading
It is a huge challenge to build, operate, maintain and fund a historic sailing vessel, not to mention providing great educational programming to deck loads of school kids. The Sultana Educational Foundation of Chestertown, MD does a great job on the … Continue reading
The British Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is asking for suggestions for a name for the new polar research ship, currently under construction at Cammell Laird’s yard in Birkenhead. The closing date for entries is 16th April 2016. They have gotten … Continue reading
The wreck of the Esmeralda, a ship from Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama’s second voyage to India in 1502 and 1503, is believed to have been found close to Al Hallaniyah island, near the coast of Oman according to an … Continue reading
Last November, we posted about two balsa rafts which had set out from Lima, Peru, intending to sail to Easter Island and back, on the Kon-Tiki 2 expedition. Yesterday, the Chilean Navy rescued 14 crew members from the two rafts … Continue reading
Farewell Topsails is a short film about the last topsail schooners in the British china clay trade. Remarkably for a film made in 1937, the short is in color, using the Dufaycolor process. The film was made by Humphrey Jennings who … Continue reading
One celebrity at Weymouth during the Weymouth Leviathan was the tall ship Earl of Pembroke. The barque has been featured in seventeen movies of TV shows. Unfortunately, like so many other movie stars, the ship was not accessible, behind locked … Continue reading
The headlines are great. “Iceberg that Sank the Titanic 100,000 years old” and “Titanic iceberg was a 100,000-year-old giant” and “Iceberg that sank the Titanic was 100,000-years-old and of monstrous size” and so and so on. Dozens of headlines and … Continue reading
We recently posted about Scott Kelly, the American astronaut who spent almost a year in space on the international Space Station. Scott Kelly is an alumnus of the State University of New York Maritime College at Fort Schuyler. Before graduating … Continue reading
For the last few years, we have followed the sad saga of the “rebuilding” of the schooner Bluenose II. The latest development involves the replacement of the existing steel rudder and steering system at an estimated additional cost of $1 … Continue reading
Originally posted on gCaptain by Rick Spilman, on March 3, 2016. Reposted with permission. Rogue waves are real sea monsters. Rising many times higher than surrounding waves, they have the power to sink ships and to cripple offshore platforms. Recently, … Continue reading
Last week, the 1895 lumber schooner C.A. Thayer, the last surviving West Coast lumber schooner, returned to her berth at San Francisco Maritime‘s Hyde Street Pier, after having three masts and a bowsprit installed by the Bay Ship and Yacht … Continue reading
Has Royal Caribbean Lines learned its lesson? Just days after a passenger filed a lawsuit against RCL for knowingly sending the cruise ship Anthem of the Seas into a winter storm off Hatteras in early February, the cruise line cut … Continue reading
$9.99 with Dave Evans is a weekly program which explores fun things to do and see in New York City for under ten bucks. Recently, he stopped by the ex-USCG Cutter Lilac at Pier 25 in Manhattan on the Hudson … Continue reading
What has been referred to as the Second Battle of the River Platte, may be coming to an end. In 2010, we posted about a legal battle over the salvaging of the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee which was scuttled … Continue reading
Those of us around New York harbor have been watching a dramatic rescue unfold this morning. Around 2 AM, the 76-foot scallop fishing vessel Carolina Queen III, with 7 aboard, ran aground off Rockaway beach near the East Rockaway Inlet, … Continue reading