Herman Melville
Today is the birthday of Herman Melville, one of the greatest American writers. He was born in 1819 on Pearl Street in downtown Manhattan, almost directly across the Hudson from where I am now writing this post. He will always be remembered for his masterpiece Moby Dick. Ironically, Moby Dick, published in 1851, was not a critical or commercial success and ruined Melville’s reputation, and indeed his career, as a writer. Melville’s books were out of print for decades before his death. He spent his last 19 years as a customs inspector in Manhattan.
Also, on August 1, 1833, Sailor’s Snug Harbor opened on Staten Island and the first 37 old and indigent mariners moved into the retirement community built for them with money left by Captain Robert Randall. Over 40,000 sailors would ultimately retire to Sailor’s Snug Harbor. Captain Thomas Melville, a retired sea captain and Herman Melville’s brother, would serve as governor of Snug Harbor from 1867 to 1884. See the video about Snug Harbor after the page break.
And finally on this day in 1798, Nelson ruined Napoleon’s plans in Egypt by destroying much of the French fleet in the Battle of the Nile, which was not actually fought in the Nile but in Aboukir Bay.
In 1730, the third year of the reign of King George II, two brothers, Ralph and Robert Clarke, bought shares in a 300-ton sailing vessel. Their enterprise would become 
Earlier this month, 
Last April 
The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum’s 5th Annual Chesapeake Folk Festival, this Saturday, July 28th, in St. Michaels, MD, celebrates the Bay’s people, arts, work, and bounty offers a full stage of live music all day long, regional foods, hands-on activities with regional craftspeople, small-craft paddling around the harbor, and more.
Two recent reports look at the actions and inaction of BP and its contractor Transocean before the Deepwater Horizon explosion and the consequences of the resulting spill on the environment. The explosion on the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon killed 11 and injured 17 and resulted in the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history. A report issued Tuesday by the Chemical Safety Board faulted BP and Transocean for failing to focus on the larger issues of safety and serious accident prevention. The report found that many of the the same failures in safety analysis and planning which lead to a 2005 explosion at a BP Texas City oil refinery, killing 15 employees, contributed to the Deepwater Horzion catastrophe.
The fire on the containership 
Drivers on the 
At the end of May, we posted about the “