When Alaric Bond wrote of the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic in his novel, The Torrid Zone, set during the Napoleanic wars, it was one of the most remote islands in the world. A recent rescue of … Continue reading
Category Archives: Ships
How did a crew of highly skilled professionals, sailing the $6 million Team Vestas Wind in the current Volvo Ocean Race, succeed in hitting the Cargados Carajos shoals, in the Indian Ocean off Mauritius at 16 knots on the night … Continue reading
After eight years of searching, a team lead by Microsoft founder and billionaire, Paul Allen, has discovered the wreck of the Japanese battleship Musashi, over 70 years after she was sunk in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The wreck was … Continue reading
Laser scanning has been used to create a 3D map of HMS Victory, Nelson’s flagship in his victory at Trafalgar. Using 850 separate scans, scientists have collected 90 billion measurements on the 230 foot long ship at her drydock in … Continue reading
A recent article in the TribecaTribOnline was titled, “Two Historic Sailing Ships Could Dock at Seaport This Summer.” The story is that Jonathan Boulware, the South Street Seaport Museum’s interim president, is working very hard to arrange dock space for … Continue reading
What’s a Fireboat Whoop-Dee-Do? I am not entirely sure but it sounds like fun. It is a fundraiser for the historic fireboat John J Harvey on Monday, Mar. 16th, 6:00-9:00 at Tribeca 360, 10 Desbrosses Street, just south of Canal Street in Mahnhattan. It … Continue reading
The US and Canadian Coast Guards have been working jointly to free the iconic Great Lakes bulk carrier, SS Arthur M. Anderson, stuck in the ice in Lake Erie near Conneaut Harbor. The laker had been bound for Sturgeon Bay, WI when it … Continue reading
Sometimes the way the media reports a story about nautical history can be almost as interesting as the story itself. Near the end of last month, archaeologists examining artifacts discovered on the wreck of the pirate Blackbeard’s flag ship, the … Continue reading
A recent article in Atlantic Monthly pointed out that Apple, the technology company, not the fruit, is now, in economic terms, the size of a small country. The world’s largest company with a market capitalization of $700 billion, it is … Continue reading
The weather is bitterly cold here on the west bank of the Hudson River, so it seems like as good a time as any to look toward the warmer waters of the Antipodes. A video from the Spirit of Adventure … Continue reading
In 2012, we posted about the collision between the passenger ferry Sea Smooth and the ferry Lamma IV off Hong Kong near Lama Island. The collision killed 39, all passengers on the Lamma IV . The Lamma IV was carrying staff and family members of … Continue reading
Edward Heerema, the president of Swiss-based Allseas Group S.A., had decided to name their newest and largest ship, Pieter Schelte, after his father, Pieter Schelte Heerema, who was an accomplished marine engineer. Unfortunately, that is not the only thing that his … Continue reading
After a 19 month trial, Captain Francesco Schettino has been found guilty of manslaughter associated with the grounding and sinking of the Costa Concordia in 2012 in which 32 passengers and crew died. Another 150 passengers and crew were injured. … Continue reading
I recently saw an ad titled, “Endeavour Yacht for Sale,” from a high-end yacht broker. It caught my attention because I owned, sailed and lived aboard an Endeavour 32 sloop, a few decades ago. It seemed unlikely, however, that the … Continue reading
In January, we posted about winter crew training classes for volunteer crew on the replica ship Kalmar Nyckel. The classes run for nine Saturdays between January and April. At the time we didn’t ask where or how the training would take place. The … Continue reading
Here is a short video by the Harbor School, a public high school located on Governors Island in New York harbor. The school’s mission is to “provide a college-preparatory education built upon New York City’s maritime experience that instills in students … Continue reading
Seventy years ago today, on January 30, 1945, the German passenger liner MV Wilhelm Gustloff sank in the Baltic after being struck by three torpedoes from a Soviet submarine. An estimated 9,400 died in the sinking, making it the largest loss of … Continue reading
Tommy Thompson’s two years on the run has come to an end. He was arrested yesterday in a Palm Beach, Florida hotel. Thompson was arrested along with his longtime companion, Alison Anteiker. In September, we posted about the continued recovery … Continue reading
The sloop Providence, a 1976 built replica of the Continental Navy sloop of the same name, was blown off her jack stands while on shore at Newport Shipyard in Newport, Rhode Island on Tuesday in blizzard conditions. The ship was dis-masted … Continue reading
Peggy, the oldest yacht in the UK and the oldest schooner in the world, is being restored. Sometime between 1786 and 1791, George Quayle of Castletown, on the Isle of Man, had a shallop built, which he named Peggy. A shallop is a … Continue reading