Happy Juneteenth — When Emancipation Arrived by Steamship

Posted on by June 19, 2024

USS Cornubia, ex Lady Davis

Happy Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Juneteenth National Independence Day is also the newest Federal holiday. The legislation was signed into law by President Biden in 2020. The holiday commemorates when emancipation arrived in Galveston, Texas by steamship, 158 years ago today. Here is an updated repost. 

Although the surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia signaled the end of the nation’s Civil War on April 9, 1865, emancipation did not arrive in Texas until two ex-Confederate steamships sailed into Galveston Harbor two months later. 

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Update: Ship Tracking Casts Doubt on Coastguard’s Account of Boat Disaster Off Greece

Posted on by June 18, 2023

We recently posted about an overloaded fishing boat carrying migrants that capsized and sank early on Wednesday morning in deep waters about 50 miles (80 km) from the southern Greek coastal town of Pylos. The BBC reports on evidence casting doubt on the Greek coastguard’s account of the migrant shipwreck in which hundreds are feared to have died.

Analysis of the movement of other ships in the area suggests the overcrowded fishing vessel was not moving for at least seven hours before it capsized.

The coastguard still claims that during these hours the boat was on a course to Italy and not in need of rescue. Greek authorities have not yet responded to the BBC’s findings.

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Roger Payne, Biologist Who Discovered Whale Song, Has Died at 88

Posted on by June 17, 2023

Harrison Smith, writing in the Washington Post, describes Roger Payne as “a biologist who put his ear to the ocean and pioneered the study of whale songs.” His recordings of their hypnotic, intricately patterned vocalizations — haunting wails, birdlike chirps, playful squeals, and mournful moos — suggested that the animals had a far richer inner life than previously imagined and helped to galvanize the anti-whaling movement. 

Roger Payne died of cancer on June 10 at his home in South Woodstock, Vt. He was 88.

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Overloaded Migrant Boat Sinks Near Greece — at Least 78 Dead, Hundreds Feared Drowned

Posted on by June 16, 2023

Reuters reports that rescuers scoured the seas off Greece on Thursday following a shipwreck that killed at least 78 migrants, as hopes of survivors dwindled and fears grew that hundreds more, including children, may have drowned inside the crowded vessel’s hold.

Reports suggested between 400 and 750 people had packed the 20 to 30-meter-long fishing boat that capsized and sank early on Wednesday morning in deep waters about 50 miles (80 km) from the southern coastal town of Pylos. Greek authorities said 104 survivors had been brought ashore.

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At Least 103 Drown After Wedding When Boat Capsizes in Nigeria

Posted on by June 14, 2023

The death toll from an overloaded boat that capsized in a remote part of Nigeria’s north central region has risen to more than 100, police and officials said on Wednesday, in one of the worst such disasters in recent years.

The wooden boat was ferrying people to Kwara state across the Niger River from neighboring Niger state after a wedding party when it capsized on Monday night. Approximately 270 individuals were loaded on the boat, well above its capacity of 100 people.

Kwara state police spokesperson Ajayi Okasanmi told Reuters on Wednesday that 103 people had been confirmed dead.

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Retired Passenger Liner SS United States Threatened by Eviction From Philadelphia Pier

Posted on by June 13, 2023

The SS United States, the largest and fastest transatlantic passenger liner ever built in America, has spent the last 27 years moored at Philadephia’s Pier 82 on the Delaware River. The venerable ship is now threatened with eviction.

 Yahoo reports that during the pandemic in 2021, the vessel’s landlords doubled the dockage fees. Now, according to federal legal filings, pier operators would like the ship gone. 

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Secrets Lurking Beneath the Black Sea — Pristine Ancient Shipwrecks & Underwater Rivers

Posted on by June 12, 2023

A short but fascinating video by the BBC’s Dan John about the ancient secrets lurking beneath the Black Sea.

After Russia delved the depths of the Black Sea in search of the crashed US drone, the video takes a look at what else might be lurking beneath the waves.

See also our previous post, Scientists Find Oldest Intact Shipwreck in Black Sea.

The hidden world beneath the Black Sea – BBC News

Three British Tourists Missing After Fire on Dive Boat in Egyptian Red Sea

Posted on by June 11, 2023

The BBC reports that three British tourists are missing after a fire broke out on board a dive boat on the Egyptian Red Sea.  

Twenty-six other people, including 12 Britons, were rescued from the boat, called Hurricane. Initial reports suggested the fire was caused by an electrical fault. The boat caught fire at about 9 am on Sunday morning in the Elphistone region of the Red Sea, about 25 kilometers north of Marsa Alam.

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Endangered Vaquita Porpoises Hanging on, Conservation Efforts May be Working

Posted on by June 10, 2023

Great News. The vaquita porpoise, the world’s rarest marine mammal, swimming right on the edge of extinction, appears to be hanging on. Conservation measures in Mexico to save the endangered porpoise may be working.    

The New York Times reports that an international team of scientists estimated that at least 10 vaquitas remain in the Gulf of California, the waters that separate Baja California from the Mexican mainland. The porpoises are found nowhere else and have been driven to the brink of extinction by drowning in gill nets, a type of fishing gear that drifts like a huge mesh curtain, catching fish by their gills. Dolphins, sea turtles, and vaquitas get stuck, too, dying when they can’t surface to breathe.

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The Mighty Windjammer Preussen — Animation From Mariner’s Mirror Podcast

Posted on by March 21, 2024

Here is an animation from a Mariner’s Mirror podcast about perhaps the greatest windjammer of the early twentieth century, the Preussen. One of the Flying P-Liners, built for the F. Laeisz shipping company in 1902, she was the only five-masted full-rigged steel ship ever built at that time. She remains one of only two five-masted full-rigged ships ever built. The second such ship, the Star Clipper’s  Royal Clipper, launched in 2000, was inspired by the Preussen.

The animation is designed to go alongside an episode of the Mariner’s Mirror Podcast in which Dr Sam Willis speaks with Frank Scott, a retired naval aviator and qualified square rig ship-master, who commanded various square riggers ranging from 80 to 800 gross tonnes. In his long sail training career he served in fourteen square riggers, under seven different national flags.

Hurtigruten to Launch Zero Emissions Electric Cruise Ship With Solar Sails by 2030

Posted on by June 7, 2023

Norwegian ferry and expedition cruise operator Hurtigruten has revealed plans for a zero-emissions electric cruise ship with retractable sails fitted with solar panels, that will sail the Norwegian coast by 2030.

The 500-passenger ship is designed for coastal service with an estimated range of 300 to 350 NM when powered by its 60-megawatt batteries. The line’s Hurtigruten Norwegian Coastal Express stops at 34 ports, which means there are good opportunities for fully electric ships to use future clean energy infrastructure. Renewable energy accounts for 98% of Norway’s electricity supply.

In addition to being powered by batteries, the ship will also feature three 50-meter-high wing sails that can be retracted to pass under bridges. The wing sails will be covered in a total of 1,500 square meters of solar panels that will generate electricity to top up the batteries while sailing.

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On the 79th Anniversary of D-Day, Remembering Andrew Jackson Higgins and the Higgins Boat

Posted on by June 6, 2023

I am aware of only one man who was praised by both Eisenhower and Hitler. A repost on the 79th anniversary of D-Day.

General Dwight David Eisenhower said that “Andrew Higgins … is the man who won the war for us. … If Higgins had not designed and built those LCVPs, we never could have landed over an open beach. The whole strategy of the war would have been different.”  

Adolph Hitler referred to Andrew Higgins as the “new Noah,” though his admiration was more begrudging. On the 79th anniversary of the Normandy landings, better known as D-Day, it seems worthwhile to remember Andrew Higgins and the amazing Higgins boat.

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More Supply Chains Woes — Strikes at West Coast Ports

Posted on by June 5, 2023

Following over a year of negotiations, labor negotiations at US West Coast ports have stalled, resulting in a wave of strikes.

As reported by Splash247.com, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents more than 22,000 dock workers at West Coast ports, said Friday that dockworkers were “staging concerted and disruptive work actions” that had stopped or severely disrupted operations stretching from terminals at southern California’s big container port complex at Los Angeles and Long Beach to Seattle, with Oakland suffering the largest disruptions. 

The industry group representing shippers announced that operations at some marine terminals at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach were “effectively shut down.”

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Navy Selects First Female Master Chief Petty Officer in the Service’s 230-Year History

Posted on by June 4, 2023

Senior Chief Petty Officer Jessica Saunders poses with Capt. Justin Long, commanding officer of Surface Combat Systems Training Command San Diego. (Surface Combat Systems Training Command San Diego/Facebook)

The Navy has selected an active-duty female gunner’s mate for promotion to master chief petty officer for the first time in the service’s 230-year history.

Senior Chief Gunner’s Mate Jessica Saunders, who joined the Navy in 2002, was slated for its highest enlisted rank last week, the service said in a statement Tuesday.

“This is not only a significant milestone for my naval career but for all sailors,” Saunders said in the statement. “The glass ceiling is shattered. From the day I enlisted, I understood that with hard work, motivational leadership, and a warfighter mentality, I could achieve my goals and help better our Navy for future generations.”

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On National Donut Day — Captain Gregory & the Birth of the Modern Donut (& the Donut Hole)

Posted on by June 2, 2023
Captain Hansen Gregory

Captain Hansen Gregory

Today is National Donut Day. Why is there a national day for donuts? The day celebrates an event created by The Salvation Army in Chicago in 1938 to honor those of their members who served doughnuts to soldiers during World War I.

But who invented the modern donut? Many credit  Hansen Crockett Gregory, 1832-1921, a ship’s captain from Rockport, Maine. Here is the “hole story.” 

The first donuts in America did not have holes.  They are believed to have been introduced to the continent by the Dutch who fried dough in oil. Washington Irving was the first to mention doughnuts in “The History of New York” in 1807.  We wrote, “[I]t was always sure to boast of an enormous dish of balls of sweetened dough, fried in hog’s fat, and called dough-nuts, or oly koeks: a delicious kind of cake, at present known scarce to this city, except in genuine Dutch families.”

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Mystery & Tragedy on Italy’s Lake Maggiore — Fatal Boating Accident a Birthday Celebration or a “Spy Party”?

Posted on by June 1, 2023

On Sunday, an overloaded chartered houseboat on Italy’s Lake Maggiore was caught in a sudden, violent storm and capsized, killing four of the 21 passengers and two crew. Sadly, this sort of boating accident, while tragic, is not entirely out of the ordinary.

What made the accident unusual was that all of the 21 passengers aboard the boat were currently or formerly tied to Israeli and Italian defense and intelligence work, which is to say spies or former spies. Of the passengers, 13 were connected to Israel’s intelligence service Mossad, and eight were from Italian intelligence.

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Wind Turbine One, Cargo Ship Zero — Off Course General Cargo Ship Allides With Wind Farm

Posted on by May 31, 2023

Photo: Wasserschutzpolizei

We missed this story the first time around, but it seems worthwhile to mention it, all the same. For what is being referred to as the first time it has occurred, a merchant ship had an allision with a wind turbine. The wind turbine won.

Last month, the 1,685 dwt general cargo ship Petra L departed Szczecin, Poland loaded with 1,500 tons of gain bound for Antwerp. On the morning of April 25, she arrived in Emden, Germany, and port authorities noticed a hole the “size of a barn door” forward on the starboard side of the ship.  

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Malaysia Detains Chinese Barge on Suspicion of Looting WWII British Warship Wrecks

Posted on by May 30, 2023

For more than a decade, warships sunk in World War II have literally been disappearing from the ocean floor.  Illegal scrappers operating grabs from barges have been looting of Australian, American, British, Dutch, and Japanese warships for scrap metal in south-east Asian seas.

 Recently, USNI reports that the Royal Navy has expressed concern over reports of looting of the wrecks of the battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse off the coast of Malaysia. The Chinese barge Chuan Hong 68 is reported to have used a large dredging crane to pluck scrap from the wrecks.

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Update: Trying to Sail 1,900 NM in a One Meter Boat — Forced to Turn Back on First Day, Boat Destroyed

Posted on by May 29, 2023

A year ago, we posted about Andrew Bedwell, who planned on attempting to set a new world record for sailing the smallest boat to cross the Atlantic. His vessel, Big C is just over 1m/3.2ft long.

On Saturday, Bedwell set sail from St Johns, Newfoundland bound for Lizard Point in Cornwall. On the first day of the planned 1,900 nm voyage, however, his boat started to take on water, and he thought it best to turn around. 

When he returned to port, things went from bad to disastrous. The tiny Big C had taken on considerable water and had “basically sunk,” Bedwell said. When they attempted to lift the boat out by its framework, the structure gave way and the craft dropped, which “basically destroyed the boat.” Continue reading →

Royal Navy’s XV Patrick Blacket Tests GPS-Free Quantum Navigation System

Posted on by May 27, 2023

Last year we posted about the christening of the Royal Navy’s research ship XV Patrick Blacket. (The “XV” designation refers to “experimental vessel.”) The 42-meter, 270 tonne modified crew-supply ship is intended to be a platform on which to test new technology without the need to place demands on other navy ships, many of which are deployed permanently away from UK waters.

The Royal Navy is now collaborating with the Imperial College London to test a quantum navigation system onboard the XV Patrick Blacket. The heart of the system is a newly developed quantum accelerometer capable of determining position without the use of GPS. 

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