U.S. Navy Reverses Course– Nevermind, You Are Still a Boatswain’s Mate Third Class

Posted on by December 23, 2016

In the end of September, the U.S. Navy announced that it would be eliminating the rating system that they had used for the past 241 years in the ranks of enlisted sailors.  The old system, which used 91 ratings, would be abolished.  A Fire Controlman 1st Class and a Machinist’s Mate First Class would both be referred to simply as Petty Officers 1st Class.  While the admirals may have thought that this was a good idea, no one else apparently did. Earlier this week, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said essentially, “Nevermind. We’ll stick with the old system for now,” or words to that effect. Specifically, the NAVADMIN message, said, in part:

Since we made the initial rating modernization announcement in September, the SECNAV, MCPON and I, along with other Navy leadership, have had the opportunity to speak with thousands of Sailors during our travels throughout the fleet. The feedback from current and former Sailors has been consistent that there is wide support for the flexibility that the plan offers, but the removal of rating titles detracted from accomplishing our major goals.  Furthermore, there has been a solid body of thoughtful input that pointed out that there is a way to have the benefits of the rating modernization program without removing rating titles. Continue reading →

Repost: Saint Nicholas, Patron Saint of Sailors – “May St. Nicholas Hold the Tiller”

Posted on by December 22, 2016

st-nicholas-patron-saint-of-sailorsIn honor of the holiday season, a repost from 2012.

We recently learned that good Saint Nicholas, long associated with Christmas and gift-giving, is also the patron saint of ships and sailors. The St. Nicholas Center notes: “Many ports, most notably in Greece, have icons of Nicholas, surrounded by ex-votos of small ships made of silver or carved of wood. Sailors returning safely from sea, place these in gratitude to St. Nicholas for protection received. In some places sailors, instead of wishing one another luck, say, “May St. Nicholas hold the tiller.”

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An Icy Lighthouse on the First Day of Winter

Posted on by December 21, 2016

Icy images on the first day of winter — the St. Joseph inner and outer lighthouses sit on a pier at the entrance to the St. Joseph River on Lake Michigan. The two lights were built in 1906 and 1907 and were decommissioned in 2005. The outer light is famous for the coating of ice it acquires in winter storms. Here is a drone video of the two lights.  Thanks to Irwin Bryan for passing the video along. 

Icy Lighthouse December 2016 – St Joseph, MI

The Cluttered Ocean — UFOs and the Vendee Globe

Posted on by December 20, 2016

The seas are growing increasingly cluttered.  In addition to all the other hazards of the sea, floating objects are a serious threat to sailors.  So far, of the  original 29 competitors in the Vendee Globe singlehanded around the world race, 5 have been forced to retire after being damaged by collisions with UFOs, unidentified floating objects. Another boat, Hugo Boss, sailed by Alex Thomson, lost a foil daggerboard to a UFO, but has managed to keep sailing, and is now still in second place.  Three other Vendee Globe racers have retired for reasons not related to collisions — two due to dis-masting and the other from damage to a foil in heavy weather.

A rundown of the collisions with UFOs:
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Deepwater Wind, First US Offshore Wind Farm Goes Live off Block Island

Posted on by December 19, 2016

The great news is that the first US offshore wind farm is now online. Five 6 MW wind turbines installed by Deepwater Wind have begun commercial operation off Block Island, RI. The turbines should generate enough electricity for 17,000 homes. It is an important first step toward developing clean and efficient wind energy off the shores of the United States. Compared to other industrialized regions, however, it is only a baby step. As of the middle of 2016, European offshore wind farms in the North Sea, the Irish Sea and the Baltic had 3,334 grid connected wind turbines with a capacity of 11,538 MW. Projects totaling another 21.7 GW have already been approved.

While the US has been very slow to get started in offshore wind energy, the potential is huge. The U.S. Department of the Interior has awarded 11 commercial leases for offshore wind development that could support a total of 14.6 gigawatts of capacity. The Department of Energy estimates that if a [potential] 86 GW of offshore wind … were installed by 2050, offshore wind would make up 14% of the projected demand for new electricity generation in the coastal and Great Lakes states. That is roughly enough electricity to power 31 million homes.

So, yes, Deepwater Wind’s 30 MW project is a great start, but we are a long way from where we need to be.

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The Wavy Navy, Stringbags and the Mighty Bismarck

Posted on by December 18, 2016


(From left) Eric Margetts, Bobby Lawson, John Moffat, Buster May and Glen Evans

We recently posted about the death of John “Jock” Moffatt, at 97, the Scottish pilot credited with disabling the German battleship Bismarck with a torpedo fired from his Fairey Swordfish biplane in May 1941. In the post, we included a photo of the pilots in the Swordfish squadron that attacked the ship.

Three blog readers, Seymour Hamilton, Captain D. Peter Boucher, and Philip Brankin, commented on one important detail that I missed entirely. In the photo, the pilots of the Swordfish squadron all wore the uniform of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, a corps of civilian volunteers who served alongside Royal Navy and Royal Navy Reserve personnel. The wavy stripes on RNVR officers’ sleeves differentiated them from RN/RNR officers, and gave the group the nickname, the “Wavy Navy.” 

What is so remarkable is that volunteer pilots flying obsolete biplanes succeeded in crippling the mightiest battleship in the German Kriegsmarine, after it had defeated the best that the Royal Navy could put against her.

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A Bit of Perspective: Slocum Glider, a Small Research Drone, not a “Naval Vessel”

Posted on by December 17, 2016

As we posted yesterday, a Chinese naval vessel seized one of USNS Bowditch’s drone gliders.  Today there are news reports that the Chinese are giving it back.  Unfortunately, in the interim, several news outlets either misinterpreted what transpired, or, at the very least, led with headlines which could be easily misunderstood. 

The BBC headline reads China ‘seizes US vessel’ in S China Sea directly above a photograph of the Bowditch. If you ignore the quotes in the headline, or even if you don’t, one might assume that the Bowditch was the vessel seized. Based solely on the headline and the photo it appeared to be a replay of the the USS Pueblo capture of 1968.  Reading further into the article, it became clear that it was something quite different. 

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Chinese Navy Seizes a USNS Bowditch Drone Glider

Posted on by December 16, 2016

In one of the stranger escalations of tensions between the US and the Chinese, a Chinese naval vessel seized one of USNS Bowditch drone gliders. USNS Bowditch is an oceanographic survey vessel which operates with a mix of civilian and military crew members. The Chinese ship, a Dalang-III class submarine rescue vessel, put a small boat in the water which intercepted the drone and took it back to the Chinese ship, which then left the area. The incident took place about 50 nautical miles northwest of Subic Bay, in international waters in the South China Sea. The US has issued a formal protest and demanded the return of the glider.

The drone glider is an autonomous underwater vehicle, (AUV), typically around 6 feet long, which uses changes in buoyancy and trim to propel itself through the water.  Press reports have described the drone as either a Slocum glider or a Seaglider, which are variants on the same glider type.  These sorts of drones are widely used by oceanographic institutions and commercial operations. See also our post from 2013, Underwater Gliders Gather Data to Help Predict Hurricanes.

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Record Waves in the North Atlantic

Posted on by December 15, 2016

In the last day or two, there have been numerous press reports of a 19 meter (62.3 ft) wave, recorded by an automated buoy in the North Atlantic between Iceland and the UK off the Outer Hebrides. This is a new record for a wave recorded by a buoy.

What does this really mean? Rogue waves are often larger than 19 meters. The first scientifically reported rogue, the Draupner wave, which struck a drilling platform of the same name on New Year’s Day in 1995, was recorded to be 25.6 metres (84 ft) high. So why is a 19 meter wave such a big deal? 

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Royal Navy Pilot Jock Moffat, Torpedo Crippled the Bismarck, Dies at 97

Posted on by December 18, 2016


(From left) Eric Margetts, Bobby Lawson, John Moffat, Buster May and Glan Evans

On May 27, 1941, the German battleship Bismarck had just sunk the pride of the Royal Navy, HMS Hood. As she was close to escaping into safe waters, Bismarck was attacked by a swarm of obsolete Fairey Swordfish biplanes launched from the carrier HMS Ark Royal.   Lt-Cdr  John “Jock” Moffat, one of the Swordfish pilots, died recently at the age of 97. Lt Cdr Moffat was credited with launching the torpedo that crippled the Bismarck in 1941. 

As reported by the BBC:  Mr Moffat and his crew took off in his Swordfish L9726 from the deck of Ark Royal and headed for the Bismarck, fighting against driving rain, low cloud and a gale.

Naval chiefs said he flew in at 50ft, nearly skimming the surface of the waves, in a hail of bullets and shells, to get the best possible angle of attack on the ship.  At 21:05 he dropped the torpedo which hit its target, jamming the rudder of Hitler’s flagship.  Speaking to BBC Scotland earlier this year, he said: “The Bismarck turned on its side and all these sailors seemed to be in the water – it lived with me for a long time.”  The battleship was forced to steam in circles until the guns of the Royal Navy’s home fleet arrived the next morning. Continue reading →

A Close to Unsinkable Titanic in China’s Sichuan Province

Posted on by December 13, 2016

Back in 2012, we posted about Australian billionaire Clive Palmer’s grand plans to build a sorta-replica of RMS Titanic. The Titanic II, as it was to be known, was supposed to be built in a Chinese shipyard enter with a target date to service by the end of 2016.  So far, however, no steel has been cut and the status of the project is unclear.

There is, nevertheless, a replica of the Titanic under construction in China. Construction began on November 30th in Suining, Sichuan province, China, 745 miles from the sea. The full-sized replica will be a fixed attraction, rather than ship, as a part of Star Energy Investment Group’s plans for a tourist resort along the Qijiang River in Sichuan’s Daying County.  The Daily Mail reports that the replica plans sparked controversy when it was announced the design would include a simulation of the iceberg crash that sank the original ship in the Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912. Some 1,500 people died in the disaster. Nevertheless, the replica itself should be very close to unsinkable.

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A Video for a Monday — Epic Ship’s Horn Fail on the Oriana

Posted on by December 12, 2016

I am not sure when this actually takes place, but it seems like an appropriate video for a grey cold and rainy Monday.  Here is the P&O Cruises Oriana departing Southampton’s City Cruise Terminal for a refit. As per the Rules of the Road, the captain gives one long blast of the ship’s horn to alert other vessels of the ship’s departure. Unfortunately, it is a considerably longer blast than anticipated. The horn gets stuck and blasts away for over 20 minutes. Here is a seven minute excerpt. Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing the video along.

EPIC HORN FAIL! ORIANA Departs Southampton

Off Arromanches, a Drone over the Mulberry

Posted on by December 11, 2016

Here is a lovely drone video by François Monier of what is left of Mulberry B just offshore near the French village of Arromanches.

One of the reasons that the Germans were skeptical of an Allied invasion of Normandy was the lack of a nearby harbor through which to unload men and supplies. The Allies addressed the problem by building Mulberry harbors, two massive portable harbors which were fabricated in Britain in modules, towed across the Channel and then reassembled off the coast of Normandy shortly after D-Day, in 1944.  Mulberry A was assembled off Omaha Beach, while Mulberry B was installed off Gold Beach near the French village of Arromanches. During the eight months that it operated, the Mulberry off Arromanches was used to disembark two and a half million men, a half million vehicles, and four million tons of supplies.  To learn more, see our post from June 2016, The Mulberries Battle the Storm — June 19, 1944.

Au ras des caissons !

The Water Worlds of Kepler-62

Posted on by December 10, 2016

Kepler-62e

I have always thought that our planet was misnamed. Earth is a synonym for dirt, even though 72% is covered by water. Now, it appears that scientists may have discovered two distant water worlds even wetter than our own misnamed watery planet.

Astronomers have discovered a solar system of five planets orbiting Kepler-62, a red dwarf star about 1,200 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra. Two of the five planets are in what is considered the “habitable zone”— the area at which the planets receive enough light and warmth that liquid water could theoretically exist on their surfaces. Now, researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have concluded that both planets may be water worlds, their surfaces completely covered by a global ocean with no dry land to speak of. 

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Pristine Wrecks in Great Lakes, Baltic & Black Sea While Bacteria Devours the Titanic

Posted on by December 10, 2016

Stern of the Ottoman-era ship showing coils of rope and a tiller with elaborate carvings. Photo: Expedition and Education Foundation/Black Sea MAP

Recently, the New York Times featured an article on 40 recently discovered wooden shipwrecks located deep in the Black Sea off the Bulgarian coast. In age, the wrecks span a millennium, from the ninth to the 19th centuries. What is so amazing about these wrecks is how well they are preserved.  Intricate carving in the wood and even coils of rope have survived for many centuries underwater. The cold, dark, and a lack of oxygen has protected the wrecks from the organisms that would normally eat away at the wood and other natural materials on the ancient ships.

The Black Sea is not alone in its ability to preserve wooden vessels. In North America, the dark and oxygen free waters of the deeper sections of the Great Lakes has also effectively protected shipwrecks. Recently, Smithsonian described the newly discovered 1884 wreck of J.S. Seaverns, which is said to be perfectly preserved.  Likewise the Baltic is known for its well preserved shipwrecks.

Somewhat bizarrely, while the wooden ships in the Baltic and the Great Lakes have remained relatively pristine, an iconic steel ship, the RMS Titanic is literally being devoured by a recently identified species of rust-eating bacteria. The iron-oxide-munching bacterium, discovered by researchers at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia,  has fittingly been named Halomonas titanicae. Recent estimates predict that by the year 2030 the ship may be completely consumed by the bacteria. 

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The Fateful Collision of USS Arizona and USS Oklahoma, October 22, 1941

Posted on by December 8, 2016

I learned yesterday that USS Arizona was not supposed to be in Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. This is one of those minor facts that invariably seem to pop up to remind us that history is just as often a string of random events as someone’s grand plan. But the old battleship was indeed in Pearl Harbor, where she was hit by Japanese armor-piercing bombs. 1,177 sailors and marines died on the USS Arizona, representing almost half the casualties of the entire attack.

On October 22, 1941, the battleships from Pearl Harbor were on maneuvers. The battleships had been sailing in line, making 90 degree starboard turns in unison. The battleship USS Oklahoma missed a turn and rammed the USS Arizona. Both ships were damaged but the Arizona took the worst of it, ending up with a hole in her side 30 feet wide by 18 to 20 feet wide. The resulting flooding caused the ship to list 10 degrees until counter-flooding on the other side of the ship brought her upright. The Arizona limped back into Pearl Harbor and was put straight into the drydock. The repairs were done quickly but the casualty delayed her departure for the West Coast so that on the fateful Sunday morning in early December 1941, US Arizona was still in Pearl Harbor. And the rest, as the saying goes, is history.

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Pearl Harbor 75th : Remembering Dorie Miller, Messman with a 50 Caliber

Posted on by December 7, 2016

On the 75th anniversary of the Japanese attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, it is a good time to remember Dorie Miller.  Miller was a Navy messman on the battleship USS West Virginia, who showed incredible courage under fire during the attack. He was the first African American to be awarded the Navy Cross, the third highest honor awarded by the U.S. Navy at the time.

Doris “Dorie” Miller was a Mess Attendant Second Class when the Japanese attacked on December 7th, 1941. Under enemy fire, he helped carry wounded shipmates, including the mortally wounded ship’s captain, to shelter. He then took control of an 50 caliber anti-aircraft machine gun and began firing at Japanese planes. Because at the time African Americans were allowed only to serve in the mess, Miller had no combat training and had never fired a machine gun before. Nevertheless, he kept up firing until he ran out of ammunition.

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Captain Radhika Menon, India’s First Female Merchant Captain Wins Bravery Award

Posted on by December 6, 2016

captmenonOur belated congratulations to Captain Radhika Menon, who was awarded the IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea at a ceremony at the end of last month. Captain Menon is both the first Indian female merchant marine captain and the first woman to win the award for bravery, which recognizes those who risk their own lives to save others at sea.

Captain Menon was in command of the product tanker Sampurna Swarajya when she lead the extremely difficult rescue of seven fisherman, who had been adrift in heavy seas for a week in the Bay of Bengal.

IMO reports: Captain Menon was nominated for the award by the Government of India, for her great determination and courage in leading the difficult rescue operation to save all seven fishermen from the fishing boat Durgamma. The boat was adrift following engine failure and loss of anchor in severe weather. Food and water had been washed away and they were surviving on ice from the cold storage. Continue reading →

LCS — the Program that Broke the Navy

Posted on by December 5, 2016

lcs2“The experience of LCS, it broke the Navy,” said Sean Stackley, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition.

The Navy’s ambitious Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program promised low cost, highly flexible, reliable, multi-mission ships. So far they have delivered none of these. Last Thursday, a panel of Navy and government oversight officials told the Senate Armed Services Committee about billions in cost overruns, delayed deliveries, repeated breakdowns, reduced mission capabilities and the questionable survivability of the new LCS.

LCS costs have risen from an estimated $220 million per ship to an average of $478 million. In a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report issued on Thursday which reviewed the $29 billion LCS program, the GAO says that Congress must decide “whether a ship that costs twice as much yet delivers less capability than planned warrants an additional investment.”  Continue reading →