Yesterday, two US Navy Riverine Command Boats (RCBs) with a combined crew of ten sailors were apprehended by Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats. One or both of the RCBs had suffered a mechanical failure and had drifted into Iranian waters. The Iranians released the two boats and the sailors, nine men and one woman, today. The incident raised one question, at least in my mind, “what is a Riverine Command Boat?”
Atlantic Container Lines’ (ACL) Atlantic Star, the newest and world’s largest Container/Roll-on Roll-off ship, has arrived on the North American East Coast, calling at Halifax and on Saturday, in New York. Notwithstanding its name, the ships of Atlantic Container Lines have always featured room for both containers and wheeled vehicles. Atlantic Star, the latest and greatest ConRo, is the first of five of ACL’s new G4 class ships, representing the fourth generation of this hybrid ship type. The new ships will have a container capacity of 3800 TEUs plus 28,900 square meters of ro/ro space, with a car capacity of 1307 vehicles.
Even for the professional sailors on the Volvo Ocean Race, not everything always goes well. A video for a Monday morning.
Ship in a bottle — 1784
A Facebook video by my friend Frank Hanavan showing him inserting a ship in a bottle (after the page break) got me thinking about, well, ships in bottles. When, where and why did sailors start putting ships in bottles? After looking into the history of ships in bottles (or SIBs, as the aficionados refer to them), I don’t claim to have all, or even most, of the answers but I have come across some interesting lore.
The first mention of objects in bottles dates back to 1719. A German artist, musician and magician, Matthias Buchinger, built models, although not necessarily, of ships inside bottles. He was also well known as an illustrator and engraver, all of which was remarkable given that he was born without arms or legs. He was also quite the lady’s man, having married four times and having at least 14 children by eight women.
In 1871, a fleet of 33 American whaling ships became stuck in the ice off the coast of Alaska. Over 1,200 whalers were rescued by the seven ships which managed to avoid being trapped in the ice floes. Remarkably, all aboard the trapped ships survived the ordeal.
On Wednesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that they believe that they have located the wreckage of two of the lost whaling fleet on the bottom of the Chukchi Sea near the Inupiat village of Wainwright.
Big news from the Cousteau Society. They have announced: As 2016 begins, Calypso will be getting a whole new life, 20 years after its accident in Singapore! After having explored the possibility of a future for Captain Cousteau’s iconic ship in Monaco, a different solution has finally been found to save Calypso.
If the announcement turns out to be accurate, this is a major reversal of fortune. Last summer, the headline in the New York Times was “Once a Beloved French Symbol, Cousteau’s Ship Now Rusts In Oblivion.” Our post was no more optimistic — Cousteau’s Calypso — Abandoned and Rotting. After a court judgement over unpaid yard bills, the only likely alternative appeared to be the scrap yard for the venerable old research vessel made famous by Jacques Cousteau.
We can only wish the Cousteau Society good fortune in its efforts to return the Calypso to the sea.
Hinckley Yachts announced that it has acquired Morris Yachts. Both are high-end boat builders and the boatyards are within a quarter mile of each other in Trenton, Maine. Hinckley says it plans to continue the Morris boatbuilding and service operations under the Morris Yachts name.
Both Hinckley and Morris began as family boatbuilding operations. Hinckley was founded in 1928 by Benjamin B. Hinckley and Morris was founded by Tom Morris in 1972. In 1977, Hinckley Yachts was acquired by the private equity firm, Bain Williard Companies. Four years later is was sold again to another private equity firm Monitor Clipper Partners. In 2010, Hinckley was sold again to Scout Partners.
Tom Morris, the founder of Morris Yachts, died in 2008. His death coincided with the major recession of that year. In recent years, the firm has been struggling with slow sales and has hinted that they were interested in speaking to potential investors or partners. The acquisition by Hinckley effectively broadens Scout Partner’s portfolio of high-end yacht builders. In addition to acquiring Hinckley, Scout acquired Hunt Yachts, a builder of luxury powerboats in 2013.
Great video of the replica frigate l’Hermione calling in Brest.
L’Hermione – Escale à Brest [Drone] from Nautimages on Vimeo.
Hashima Island lies nine miles off the port of Nagasaki, Japan. Between the seawall which encircles the small island and the abandoned apartment blocks rising from it, many think that it looks like a battleship, earning the nickname, Gunkanjima, or “Battleship Island.” The tiny island was once the most densely populated spot on the globe with 5,259 residents living and working on only 16 acres. For the last 40 years, it has been abandoned and uninhabited, a ghost island, its concrete towers slowly crumbling into the sea. In July 2015, after some controversy, the island was formally approved as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Beginning in 1887, when a rich deposit of coal was discovered, the island was turned into a large coal mine. Mineshafts reached deep beneath the sea while the apartment buildings for the miners rose skyward on the island above. Mitsubishi purchased the islands and built nine-story apartment buildings, the first large concrete buildings in Japan.
The news program 60 Minutes broadcast National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) footage of the wreck of El Faro last night. The TOTE Ro/Ro was lost with all 33 aboard in Hurricane Joaquin in October. The footage is striking and grim. El Faro‘s upper two decks were ripped off during the sinking and were found a half mile from the ship itself, which sank in 15,0000 feet of water. The Vessel Data Recorder has not been found. The video and photographs were taken by the US Navy’s CURV (Cable operated Unmanned Recovery Vehicle.) The segment is generally well done, notwithstanding the unfortunate reference to the “Bermuda Triangle” and a few other questionable points. Click here or on the image below to watch the videos.
Anti-terror police in the UK are suddenly concerned that the SS Richard Montgomery, a Liberty ship which sank over seventy years ago loaded with high explosives in the Thames estuary, might be a potential target for terrorists. Reportedly, the government has been on high-alert to defend the wrecked ship.
In 1944, SS Richard Montgomery ran aground and sank off the Nore sandbank, near Sheerness loaded with 1,400 tonnes of high explosives. Initial efforts to unload the ship’s dangerous cargo were partially successful but were abandoned after the ship began to break up. The remaining 1,400 tonnes of cargo was considered too dangerous to attempt to unload, so beyond periodic surveys and the placing of warning buoys and signs, little more has done in the intervening seventy-one years.
Photo: Sean D. Elliot/The Day
The schooner Amistad, the official flagship of the State of Connecticut, has seen difficult times in recent years. Built fifteen years ago at Mystic Seaport, until recently, the ship had been in receivership since 2014, after Amistad America, the non-profit which ran the ship, defaulted on debts and failed to file tax returns. Now, with considerable assistance from the state, a new non-profit, Discovering Amistad, hopes to return the schooner to operation, following necessary repairs being completed at Mystic.
Happy New Year! On New Year’s Day 1995, a sea monster capable of sinking ships and sending sailors to their deaths was documented for the first time. I am not speaking of a mythical serpent or another beasty, (which may or may not yet be discovered.) I am referring to a rogue wave — a wave often three to four times higher than any other wave in a given sea state. Rogue waves have been reported by sailors for thousands of years. Until recently, however, they have also been dismissed by scientists and even by other sailors as wild exaggerations and mere sea stories. All this changed on New Year’s Day in 1995 when a 60′ wave hit the Draupner gas platform in the North Sea.
What was different this time was that the platform was equipped with a downwards-pointing laser sensor which accurately recorded the wave. For the first scientists had an accurate plot of the wave shape and height. It fit exactly the descriptions given by sailors of a very steep and huge, breaking wave. The recording of the wave’s shape resolved once and for all the argument over whether rogue waves were real. The wave has become known as the “Draupner Wave” or the “New Year’s Day Wave.”
As this is Thursday, which is to say “Throwback Thursday“, as well as the anniversary of the sinking of the USS Monitor, which sank off Cape Hatteras 153 years ago tonight, it seems a good time to repost our review of John Broadwater’s excellent book, USS Monitor – A Historic Ship Completes Its Final Voyage.
On December 31, 1862, while under tow in a gale off Cape Hatteras, USS Monitor sank. The Monitor had been in service for only ten months and yet in that brief time had revolutionized naval warfare. The wreck of the Monitor was finally located in August of 1973. In his book, USS Monitor – A Historic Ship Completes Its Final Voyage, John Broadwater tells the remarkable story of the ship and of the dedicated teams of archeologists, historians, divers and engineers who worked over the last forty years to preserve the ship and to rescue what could be saved from the wreck.
Broadwater is uniquely qualified to tell the story of the “ship that changed everything.” He was the only person involved in the Monitor from the discovery of the wreck in 1973 through preservation, management and the recovery of the portions of the ship being preserved ashore today. He recently retired from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, where he served as chief archeologist.
It is difficult to overstate the importance of the USS Monitor. Continue reading
Battles at sea usually last a few hours. Battles in court can last far, far longer. In the Battle of Santa Maria on October 5, 1804, when a British squadron attacked a Spanish treasure fleet, the ship Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes blew up within ten minutes of the battle commencing, killing all but 40 of her 240 crew and sending her cargo of gold and silver coins to the bottom. The legal battle over the recovered cargo would go on for over two centuries, finally ending in February of 2012.
Recently the government of Colombia has announced that they have located the galleon San José, which blew up in 1708 in a battle with the British, sinking with a cargo worth an estimated $4 billion to $17 billion. The long lost wreck has often been referred to as the “Holy Grail of Shipwrecks.” Assuming that the claim is accurate, the legal battle, which has already simmered along for 30 years, will come to a full boil. The U.S.-based salvage company Sea Search Armada (SSA) had previously been contracted to find the ship and claims that it succeeded before the Colombian government changed the terms of the deal. SSA will no doubt file a suit, and they are not alone.
Two wonderful drone videos of the Clipper-Brig Morgenster shot last November. Thanks to Joost for passing them along.
Tall Ship Morgenster sailing on the Ocean on her way to the Cape Verdes. Full square rig and stunsails set. With a Jimmy Green under the bowsprit and some fantasy sails.
Comanche: Jim Clark and Kristy Hinze-Clark.
Despite having a damaged rudder, the American super-maxi Comanche was first across the finish line in this year’s Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race, leading the next closest boat, Rambler by roughly 50 miles. This is the first time since 1998 that an American yacht has won line honors in the race.
Last year, the brand new Comanche took second behind eight-time winner Wild Oats XI. This year, Wild Oats XI was forced to retire with a ripped mainsail. The same storm that sent Wild Oats XI back to the dock also seriously damaged one of Comanche‘s rudders.
John Beedon, who describes himself as a “scrawny old Yorkshireman”, has become the first person to row solo across the Pacific. The 53-year-old rower left San Francisco in June and arrived in Cairns, in eastern Australian, after 209 days alone at sea.
British adventurer becomes first to row solo across the Pacific
Photo: Rolex/Stefano Gattini
The American yachts Comanche and Rambler are battling over the lead in the Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race, which has turned into a major boat-breaker. Twenty-nine boats, representing a quarter of the fleet, have retired from the race, most with damage from severe weather. The eight-time race winner and favorite, Wild Oats XI withdrew yesterday with a torn mainsail. If either Rambler or Comanche succeeds in winning the race, it will be the first time that an international yacht has won since 2001 and the first time that an American boat has won since 1998.
Happy Boxing Day and with it a wild beginning to this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Race. The race began with three yachts colliding at the starting line. The Chinese Ark 323, Lupa of London, and Cougar II were forced to retire due to damage. Meanwhile, the eight-time winner super-maxi Wild Oats XI and rival American super-maxi Comanche were hit by an Australian “southerly-buster,” a nasty gale with winds over 40 knots. Wild Oats XI was forced from the race with a ripped mainsail. Commanche was damaged, suffering a broken rudder. Her crew is attempting repairs before deciding whether to continue or retire from the race. Super-maxi Perpetual Loyal also retired from the race with a damaged rudder. Rambler has now taken the lead.
CEX Dolce returned to Sydney with a broken mast. St Jude, Koa also pulled out due to damage in the heavy weather.