Wreck of Steamer Robert J. Walker, Sunk in 1860, Identified Off New Jersey Coast

Posted on by August 28, 2013

In 1970, fisherman discovered a shipwreck in about 85 feet of water, ten miles off the Absecon Inlet on the New Jersey coast.   For more than 40 years, divers have visited the unidentified wreck.  Now the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has positively identified the wreck as the iron-hulled side-wheel steamer, Robert J. Walker, a  U.S. Coast Survey vessel that sank in 1860 after a violent collision with a 250-ton schooner. Twenty sailors aboard the Walker died, making it the worst accident in the history of the U.S. Coast Survey or its successor, NOAA.

NOAA says shipwreck off southern NJ coast is steamer that sank in 1860, killing 20 sailors

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Louisa Jo Killen, British Folk Song and Shanty Singer, Dies at 79

Posted on by June 15, 2015

I was saddened to learn that the singer that I knew as Lou Killen died early this month after a six year battle with cancer.  Killen was an influential voice in the British folk song revival of the 50s and 60s and a wonderful singer of sea songs and shanties.  He was featured in a dozen albums and contributed to over sixty and for several years was a member of the Irish folk group the Clancy Brothers.  He helped popularize classics including Leaving of Liverpool, Pleasant and Delightful and The Wild Rover. 

In 2010, at the age of 76, Killen surprised friends and fans alike when he began living openly as a woman, performing in women’s clothing and a wig. In 2012, he underwent a sex-change operation.  As noted in the New York Times: Adopting the name Louisa Jo Killen, she continued to perform for almost two years, by most accounts winning over most of Louis Killen’s fans and all of his friends.

Here is Lou Killen singing Ewan MacColl’s Shoals of Herring

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“We Have Met the Enemy and They Are Ours” – Commemorating the Battle of Lake Erie 2013

Posted on by August 26, 2013

Oliver Hazard Perry‘s message to his superiors was brief: “We have met the enemy and they are ours; two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop.”  Perry’s victory at the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813, was one of the most strategically important naval battles of the War of 1812.   Starting on Thursday, a thirteen day commemoration of his victory will be held at site of the battle at Put-In Bay, Ohio. Click here to learn more.  A short video of featuring the Brig Niagara.

Battle of Lake Erie

Composite Clipper City of Adelaide Soon on her Way to Australia, or Not

Posted on by August 25, 2013

cityadelaidewebpicThe two headlines in the BBC are from the same day and posted only an hour apart. The first reads “World’s oldest clipper ship transported to Australia.” The second – “City of Adelaide clipper ship export ban sought.”   Both articles are about the clipper ship, City of Adelaide, the world’s oldest surviving composite clipper ship and the only surviving sailing ship built to give regular passenger and cargo service between Europe and Australia.  She is five years older than the composite clipper, Cutty Sark.   

After numerous delays, the Australian consortium intends to move the old ship by barge to Adelaide, Australia in just less than two months. Meanwhile, the group which wants to keep the ship in Scotland, has asked the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest, to intervene to stop the move.

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Strange Carcass Washes up on Villaricos Beach – Spanish “Sea Monster” a Giant Oar Fish?

Posted on by October 17, 2013

spanishseamonster1It is around 13 feet long, appears to have horns and stinks to high heaven.  A carcass washed ashore on Luis Siret Beach in Villaricos, Spain which is being widely referred to a “sea monster.”  Perhaps a bit small to be truly monstrous, the stench, nevertheless, was reported to be sufficiently foul to justify burying the beast.  On further examination, what were reported to be horns appear to be dislocated bones.  Samples are being taken to local laboratories to try to get a better idea what he creature may have been.

Some experts suggest that the carcass is that of a thresher shark.  Another likely possibility could be a Regalecus glesne, a giant oar fish, the world’s longest bony fish, which can grow to 35 feet in length, though there have been unconfirmed sighting of oar fish reaching 56 feet long.   Giant oarfish swim in most oceans of the world, primarily in the mesopelagic layer, ranging as deeply as 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) up to 20 metres (66 ft).  Many sighting of “sea serpents” may have been rare surface sightings of giant oar fish.  Oddly, the giant oar fish is also called the “king of herrings.”  While the oar fish may qualify as a sea monster based on appearance and length, it has no teeth and eats mostly krill.

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Oliver Hazard Perry, “Hero of Lake Erie” – Born and Died on August 23rd

Posted on by August 23, 2013

Captain_Oliver_Hazard_PerryOliver Hazard Perry was born near Newport, Rhode Island on August 23,1785. He died of yellow fever on his 34th birthday in 1819.  Perry went sea as a midshipman at the age of 13.  He was given his first command, of the schooner USS Nautilus, at the age of 20 in the Battle of Derma in the First Barbary War.

Eight years later, in 1813, Perry would command nine US Navy vessels at Put-In-Bay, Ohio in Lake Erie, where he decisively defeated a British squadron.   The Battle of Lake Erie, as it would become known, turned the tide of the War of 1812 in he west, giving control of Lake Erie to the American and denying the British their supply lines. It was one of the two strategically important American naval victories in the war.  Ironically, both victories were in fresh water hundreds of miles from the occasion.

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Celebrity Millennium Out for Rest of Season – More Pod Propulsion Problems

Posted on by February 12, 2016

Millennium-7Is pod propulsion the best or worse thing to ever happen to cruise ships? Celebrity Cruise Line just cancelled the cruises for the rest of season in Alaska on the Celebrity Millennium due to failures in its pods. It had already cancelled two previous cruises due to the malfunctions.

The Rolls Royce “mermaid pods” installed on the Celebrity Millenium class ships are a rotating pod propulsion system which serves as rudders and thrusters as well as propulsion. In theory, they are highly efficient and provide the sort of maneuverability that large cruise ships operating mostly without tug support need to get in and out of port. The only problem is making them work.

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The Ecology and Economics of Lobster – Will The Maine Lobster Boom End in a Bust?

Posted on by August 22, 2013

lobsterMaine has been experiencing a lobster boom. After catching an average of 20 million pounds of lobster per year for decades, Maine’s 5,500 lobster-men landed a record 125 million pounds of lobsters last year.  Will this boom, however, end in a bust?  Some experts think so. The question is important because the other ground fisheries in the Gulf of Maine; cod, haddock, pollock and hake; have been effectively fished out. Lobster accounts for 80% of the total value of the Maine fisheries. If lobster yields drop dramatically, the economic impact on the coast could be dire.

Why could the boom end in a bust?  Climate change – specifically warmer waters.  The lobster fishery in Long Island Sound collapsed in 1999 after a shell disease wiped out lobster stocks in Connecticut and Rhode Island.   The disease coincided with a rise in water temperature.  The region’s lobster fisheries have never recovered.

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USS Iowa & the Howell Torpedo No 24

Posted on by August 21, 2013
Battleship Iowa

Battleship Iowa

In May, we posted about the discovery of a rare Howell torpedo by Navy dolphins in the Pacific off San Diego. The Howell torpedo was the first self-propelled torpedo in United States Navy service. Only fifty were built and, until the recent discovery, only one was known to have survived. The newly discovered torpedo was marked, “U.S.N. No. 24.”  But which ship fired the torpedo?

Mikala Pyrch, a George Washington University intern with Naval History and Heritage Command’s Underwater Archeology Branch, successfully matched the ship to the torpedo.

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Americas Cup Demolition Derby Continues – Three Races, Three Breakdowns; Investigation on Oracle Cheating

Posted on by August 20, 2013
Kiwiemirates2

Photo: Guilain Grenier/FFV

In each of the first three races of the the Louis Vuitton finals to determine which challenger will compete for the America’s Cup, the race has been decided by mechanical failure.  The series now stands with Emirates Team New Zealand, 2 and the Italian team, Luna Rossa, 1. In Race 1, the Italians’ daggerboard failed.  The Kiwi boat was also damaged but crossed the finish line.  In Race 2, the Kiwis lost their electrical system and hydraulics and had to pull out of the race, while a broken wing control scuppered the Italians in Race 3.  Emirates Team New Zealand Captain Dean Barker is quoted as saying, “It’d be nice if we can get one race where both boats race all the way till the end.”  Wouldn’t it though.

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400 Year Old Swash Channel Wreck Still a Mystery

Posted on by August 20, 2013
swash-wreck

Wooden carving found on the wreck.

Two years ago we posted about the efforts by a Bournemouth University marine archaeology team to save the a mysterious ship known only as the Swash Channel Wreck, after its location off the Dorset coast.   The team is now raising the ship’s 27ft, 2.4 tonne rudder, complete with Baroque carved face, to the surface for further study.

Despite the years of study and the recovery of over 1,000 artifacts, the identity of the 400 year old 130ft ship remains a mystery.   More than 40 per cent of the ship survives, including parts of the ship’s forecastle, complete with galley and gunports.

The riddle of the 400-year-old shipwreck

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The 2013 America’s Cup – an Expensive & Dangerous Farce?

Posted on by August 19, 2013
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Photo: Eric Risberg

In the first two races of the Louis Vuitton finals to determine which challenger will compete against the Team Oracle for the America’s Cup, both races were determined by which boat didn’t break before crossing the finish line. In race one, Emirates Team New Zealand won after Luna Rossa, the Italian boat, broke a daggerboard.   Emirates Team New Zealand did suffer a nose-dive as the boat dropped off it foils, but managed to finish the race, albeit with damage and a somewhat smaller crew.  Two Kiwi sailors fell off in the crash and were picked up safely from the water by a support boat. In the second race, Emirates Team New Zealand suffered an electrical failure which shut down the boat’s hydraulics, effectively knocking it out of the race. Sail Magazine is referring to the Americas Cup as a “demolition derby.”

At this point, the current America’s Cup looks like an expensive and dangerous farce.  Even the event sponsors have admitted that the AC72 catamarans being raced are too expensive and that the cost has limited the number of boats racing.

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The Shackleton or Leonard Hussey’s Banjo Reborn

Posted on by August 18, 2013
Photo: www.nmmc.co.uk

Photo: www.nmmc.co.uk

When the 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition‘s three-masted barquentine,  Endurance, was crushed in the Antarctic ice,  expedition leader, Sir Ernest Shackleton, allowed each man to take off only two pounds of possessions, including their boots. The only exception Shackleton made was Leonard Hussey’s banjo, which weighed 12 pounds. Hussey was the meteorologist on board the Endurance and was an accomplished banjo player who had entertained the crew with weekly performances on his five string zither banjo Shackleton insisted that Hussey should take the banjo along for the sake of maintaining the crew’s morale. Shackleton told Hussey: “It’s vital mental medicine, and we shall need it.”  While waiting for rescue, Hussey played popular tunes to entertain the crew every night during their ordeal.  Leonard Hussey returned to England with the banjo and donated it to the National Maritime Museum.

The banjo has been the subject of several documentaries and at least one lawsuit.  It is now also the inspiration for a new project to build “The Shackleton,” the first affordable British-made banjo in 60 years. The Great British Banjo Company has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise £30,000 to fund the only low-cost banjo genuinely manufactured in Britain, and the first production banjo to be manufactured in Britain for decades.

Ship Happens! Visualizing the Oliver Hazard Perry and the OHP Photo Blog

Posted on by August 17, 2013

OHP2Captain Richard Bailey recently posted a sketch by Scott Kennedy of what the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry will look like under sail.  Click here or on the thumbnail to go to the blog post.  “Scott has made paintings and drawings of the sea and ships since the mid sixties and many times has been hailed as the “Mariners Artist”. Known by many for his numerous illustrations in books and magazines, his work captures both modern-day and historic maritime subjects on East and West Coasts of the United States and around the globe.”  Click here to see more of Scott Kennedy’s work.

Captain Bailey also recently posted on how one one can view the progress of the ship as she is completed in Narraganset Bay Shipyard.  Click here to see the photo blog of the steady progress on Rhode Island’s Tall Ship. When completed in 2014, the 196’ three-masted, square-rigged tall ship SSV Oliver Hazard Perry will be the largest civilian training vessel in North America and the first ocean-going, full-rigged ship built in the United States in more than 100 years.

Shipworms, Whale Bones and Shackleton’s Endurance

Posted on by August 16, 2013
Endurance3

Shackleton’s Endurance

The press recently has been full of headlines about Ernest Shackleton‘s ill-fated ship, Endurance.  The Christian Science Monitor asks, “What happened to Shackleton’s sunken ship?”  Radio New Zealand answers the question with “Shackleton’s ship could still be in good condition.”  The Raw Story takes a slightly different tack with “Scientists investigate the fate of ‘Endurance’ – explorer Ernest Shackleton’s sunken ship.”  If you read the articles, however, it quickly becomes clear that they have relatively little to do with Shackleton or the Endurance, the explorer’s ship crushed by Antarctic ice, and everything with do with shipworms.  Apparently the writers were concerned that readers might not care about ship worms, so they all lead with Shackleton.

The real news is that scientists have recently discovered that shipworms do not live in waters of the Antarctic.  Wooden ships, including but not limited to Shackleton’s Endurance, may be well preserved, or at least not eaten by worms, on the ocean floor where they sank.  For marine archaeologists, this could be a really big deal.

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Beware the Red-Bellied Pacu? Testicle-Biting Fish Invading Denmark?

Posted on by August 15, 2013

pacu_2643102bThe headline in Live Science sounds like the premise for a bad SyFi channel made-for-cable movie – Testicle-Biting Fish  Invading Denmark.  It turns out that a Danish fisherman caught, what is believed to be, a red-bellied pacu, an omnivorous South American freshwater fish related to the piranha, in the Oresund, the strait between Denmark and Sweden.   The fish have what are described as “uncannily human-looking teeth.”  The fish caught in Denmark was quite small at less than 8 inches (20 cenitmenters) long, but can grow much larger. Some pacu can reach three feet long and weigh as much as 55 pounds.

The fish are also rumoured to bite human testicles, earning it the nickname “ball-cutter.”  Whether there is any truth to this rumor is unclear.   Though widely repeated, at least one expert has dismissed the claim as a myth.  The claim seems to be traceable only as far back as December 2011, when two fisherman in Papua New Guinea are reported to have died from loss of blood after being castrated by something in the water. The report came from Jeremy Wade, a British “extreme” angler, who featured the story on his reality TV show River Monsters, on the Animal Planet cable channel, owned by the Discovery Channel.

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Massive Explosion & Fire Sinks Indian Submarine INS Sindhurakshak at Dock in Mumbai

Posted on by August 14, 2013

INS_Sindhurakshak_(S63)A massive explosion, followed by a fire, has partially sunk the Indian Navy’s diesel electric submarine INS Sindhurakshak early this morning at the Mumbai naval dockyard. Eighteen officers and sailors were reported to be aboard at the time of the explosion and have not been accounted for. Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony has alluded to fatalities, though there is no further word on the fate of the missing sailors. The blast on the Sindhurakshak is also reported to have done minor damage to another submarine docked nearby, the sister vessel, INS Sindhuratna. Both submarines are Russian Kilo class vessels.

The INS Sindhurakshak had only recently returned from Russia following a two and a half year refit, overhaul and upgrade.  The retrofit followed a 2010 fire in which one sailor was killed and two others were injured. Navy officials reported that the fire had been caused by an explosion in the submarine’s battery compartment, which occured due to a faulty battery valve that leaked hydrogen gas.  There are reports that the batteries on the Sindhurakshak were being charged at the time of the explosion.

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Religious Zeal No Substitute for Seamanship – Extremist Family Rescued in the Pacific

Posted on by August 16, 2013
Gastonguay

Photo: Las Últimas Noticias

A family of religious extremists was rescued from their damaged sailboat after becoming lost for many weeks in the Pacific and has been flown back to the United States.

In May, Sean and Hannah Gastonguay, with Sean’s father, Mike, and their 3-year-old and 8-month-old baby daughters, set sail from San Diego bound for the Pacific nation of Kiribati, a group of islands just off the equator and the international date line about halfway between Hawaii and Australia.

Hannah is quoted by the Washington Post, saying that “her family was fed up with government control in the U.S. As Christians they don’t believe in “abortion, homosexuality, in the state-controlled church,” she said….  Among other differences, she said they had a problem with being “forced to pay these taxes that pay for abortions we don’t agree with.”’   Continue reading →

Baja by Erick Higuera – Amazing Award Winning Short

Posted on by August 12, 2013

Erick Higuera’s short film, Baja – the Ocean Geographic Pictures of the Year Winner Howard Hall Award for Outstanding Achievement 2013. An amazing film.

Ocean Geographic Pictures of the Year Winner Howard Hall Award 2013

“Baja” project, finally completed after a year of hard work and dedication, it was made to show and share with you the amazing and beautiful creatures that inhabit its waters.…