Iranian mock-up, top, USS Nimitz bottom, approx. to scale. Photos: NYTimes
Iran appears to be be building a non-functioning mock-up of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. The mock-up appears to be more of a barge, is not nuclear powered, doesn’t really look all that much like the Nimitz and is only about 2/3 the size of the aircraft carrier. There are reports that the vessel does have Nimitz’s number 68 painted in white near the bow and that mock aircraft can be seen on the flight deck.
Iranian Ship, in Plain View but Shrouded in Mystery, Looks Very Familiar to U.S.
The interesting question is, why? Continue reading
The 
We recently 
According to the historic coating specialists, Michael Crick-Smith and Ian Crick-Smith, the current black and orange-yellow color scheme of Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory is “an early 20th century invention of what an 18th century warship looked like.” Based on their study of hundreds of fragments of the original paint surfaces, they have concluded that the original ochre was a much paler yellow instead of what they refer to as “that hideous orange.” Many interior spaces were also said to be less elaborately and brightly colored than they are now on the famous ship.
I recently booked a berth on the 
This morning, the press was abuzz with reports that last Monday, in the Mediterranean off Cyprus, US Navy SEALS boarded and took control of an oil tanker, Morning Glory, which had recently loaded a cargo of Libyan oil in the port of Sidra. The SEALs conducted the operation from the guided missile destroyer 
Last Sunday was the second of two weekends of the 
Some call today 
I am very much looking forward to Alaric Bond’s latest, 
It is remarkably difficult to grasp how large ships can be. I remember, many years ago, being amazed how a full sized city bus, which looked so large on the pier, seemed to shrink dramatically as it was hoisted and lowered into the hold of a ship. The ship was not particularly large by today’s standards, yet the bus seem so small as it disappeared into the hold. This memory was triggered by the recent 
Stepping away for a moment from the unfolding current events in the Ukraine and Russia, it might be worthwhile to look at the history of the region, which was shaped by the arrival of merchant adventurers rowing long ships. As with so much of European history, it began with the Vikings. The Norse Vikings, from the region that we now call Sweden, rowed their long ships deep into the rivers of Central and Eastern Europe; pushing up the Volga, the Dnieper, the Volkhov and the Neva rivers, among others. Using rivers and lakes connected to the