Odyssey Searching for the S.S. Gairsoppa and $260 million in Silver

Posted on by March 30, 2011

On February 16, 1941 the S.S. Gairsoppa was bound from India to Britain, when she was torpedoed by a German submarine and sank 300 miles southwest of Galway Bay.  In addition to pig iron and tea, she carried silver bullion currently valued at $260 million.   This week,   Odyssey Marine Exploration , Inc. has been awarded a contract by the British government to locate the ship and to salvage the cargo. If successful Odyssey will be allowed to keep about 80 percent of  the silver bullion.

Odyssey Hunts Nazi-Torpedoed Ship’s $260 Million of Silver
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Arresting versus Disrupting Pirates

Posted on by March 30, 2011

Recently we posted about joint-operations by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard which since last Novemeber have succeeded in capturing 120 pirates in the Indian Ocean as well as taking several pirate “mother ships” and freeing the hostage held aboard.   On reader commented: Good on the Indian Navy. (Would we have done the same?)

In most cases the answer would be “no.”  A recent operation by the US Navy against Somali pirates demonstrates the difference in approach and outcome.
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The Shipwreck Behind Crane’s “The Open Boat”

Posted on by March 30, 2011

None of them knew the color of the sky. Their eyes glanced level, and were fastened upon the waves that swept toward them. These waves were of the hue of slate, save for the tops, which were of foaming white, and all of the men knew the colors of the sea. The horizon narrowed and widened, and dipped and rose, and at all times its edge was jagged with waves that seemed thrust up in points like rocks ……

Thus begins Stephen Crane’s classic short story, ‘The Open Boat.’    The story is almost as much fact as fiction.  While running guns to revolutionaries in Cuba, the SS Commodore sank after hitting a sandbar off Ponce Inlet, Florida.  Crane, part of  the  filibustering  expedition,  found himself in a small open boat with three other men for 36 hours in high seas.
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More Treasure from the Atocha – 17th century gold chain worth $250,000

Posted on by March 29, 2011

Last week, while searching near the the wreck of  Nuestra Senora de Atocha, Bill Burt, a diver for Mel Fisher’s Treasures, found a 17th century gold chain worth $250,000.

Deep sea treasure: 17th century gold chain worth $250,000 plucked from ocean bed near Atocha wreck
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Indian Navy Captures 16 Pirates, Frees 16 Hostages

Posted on by March 28, 2011

Indian Coast Guard ship Sangram

On Sunday the MV Maersk Kensington reported an attempted boarding by pirates while underway off the southern coast of India.  The Indian navy ship Suvarna and Coast Guard ship Sangram responded, intercepting the Iranian fishing trawler Morteza which had been hijacked and was being used as a pirate mother ship.  After a three hour running battle, the Indian forces captured 16 pirates and freed 16 hostages, 12 Iranians and 4 Pakistanis.
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Skin and Bones – Tattoos in the Life of the American Sailor

Posted on by March 28, 2011

Mystic Seaport is featuring a traveling exhibit from Philadelphia’s Independence Seaport Museum – Skin & Bones,  Tattoos in the Life of an American Sailor. The exhibition runs through September 5, 2011.

Skin and Bones – Tattoos in the Life of the American Sailor
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New Identity for Arctic Explorer Emerges 140 Years Later

Posted on by March 28, 2011

New facial reconstruction technology applied to the skull of one of the members of the ill-fated Franklin expedition may rewrite accepted history. The skeleton long believed to be that of Henry Le Vesconte, a lieutenant aboard HMS Erebus, is now believed to be that of  Harry Goodsir, an assistant surgeon and naturalist on the expedition.

New Identity for Arctic Explorer Emerges 140 Years Later
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Ferry Condor Vitesse Collides with Fishing Boat, Fisherman Killed

Posted on by March 28, 2011

Photo: Gordon James

The 86m fast catamaran ferry, Condor Vitesse, collided with a fishing vessel this morning, seriously injuring a French fisherman.

UPDATE: The fisherman injured in the crash subsequently died.

French fisherman seriously injured in ferry crash

The Condor Vitesse, travelling between St Malo in France and St Helier, Jersey, collided with the boat at about 0750 BST on Monday.  There were three French nationals on the fishing boat. Two of them were taken to the Vitesse.  It is thought the fisherman is in a serious condition.
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The Fourth Leg of the Velux Five Oceans Singlehanded Round the World Race Underway

Posted on by March 27, 2011

The fourth leg of the Velux Five Oceans Singlehanded Round the World Race is underway as the four competitors set off from Punta del Este, Uruguay bound for Charleston, South Carolina.  The racers are currently sailing at north at around ten knots all within 3 nautical miles of each other.   Brad Van Liew, the American sailing  Le Pingouin, the winner of the last three legs, is again in the lead, but separated from two of the competitors by only one nautical mile.

The Six Frigates – Birth of the US Navy

Posted on by March 27, 2011

Two hundred and seventeen years ago today, March 27, 1794,  the United States Congress authorized the construction of six frigates, the first ships of  the United States Navy, the  USS Constitution, the USS Chesapeake , the USS Constellation , the USS President, the USS United States, and the USS Congress.   The ships were designed to be heavy frigates – longer and faster than the conventional frigates of their day, able to stand and fight against any ships their size and fast enough to evade larger ships of the line.   Innovative structural design involving diagonal bracing allowed US shipbuilders to build longer and faster frigates than was previously thought practical.   The ships more than held their own against the Royall Navy.   The six frigates were also significantly over budget and delivered later than anticipated,  a tradition  proudly upheld in military contracting to this day.
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Happy Birthday Nathaniel Bowditch, America’s Practical Navigator

Posted on by September 13, 2017

Every US naval ship and most American merchant ships carry aboard a copy of the American Practical Navigator, which most refer to simply as Bowditch, after Nathaniel Bowditch, the author of the first edition in 1802.   On March 26,  1773,  Nathaniel Bowditch, the fifth of seven children, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, to a seafaring family of limited means.   Apprenticed as a bookkeeper, he was a self taught mathematician with a particular interest in navigation.

Bowditch had the radical notion that navigation could be made simple enough so that everyone aboard the ship, including the cook, could be taught to navigate.
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Harold ‘Dynamite’ Payson – Boatbuilder, Writer, Father of “Instant Boats”

Posted on by March 26, 2011

Harold ‘Dynamite’ Payson died suddenly of an an aneurysm at his home in Maine on March 23rd. He was 82.

His message was simple.  As expressed in his books and on his webpage,” Harold H. Payson … known to associates, friends, and his wife as Dynamite… thinks you can build a boat.   In fact, if you can saw a penciled line, apply glue, drive nails, and bring a modest measure of patience to the task, you can build and launch a smart and able craft in as few as 40 work hours. You need not be driven by lack of tools, materials, skills, or time to abandon in frustration a project you conceived in a spirit of pleasurable anticipation.”
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The Marvelous Mind of an Octopus, yes, an Octopus

Posted on by March 25, 2011

This is an amazing presentation from a website called “everybody loves cephalopods.”  (I know that I do, usually lightly fried.)  I have to admit that after watching this excerpt from a 30 minute presentation by Maggie Koerth-Baker that I am indeed fascinated by octopus brains.  Definitely worth a look.

Octopus Brains

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Like a Robin in Springtime, Shipping Returns to the Great Lakes

Posted on by March 26, 2011

The wonderful thing about the US Great Lakes is that being fresh water, the ships on the lakes don’t rust like they do in the saltier oceans. Of course being fresh water, the lakes do freeze close enough to solid in the wintertime, so shipping comes to a halt.  In recent weeks the ships have started moving on the St. Clair River . Earlier this week the  St. Lawrence Seaway and the Welland Canal opened for business and today the Soo Locks between Lake Superior and the lower lakes are scheduled to ocean.   The Great Lakes are a wonderful if sometimes confusing place.  The water is fresh and there are no tides. The ships, even the 1,000′ bulk carrier,s too large to fit out of the locks, are referred to as “boats” and every travels in miles per hour.

Ships get warm welcome

Seaway Opens 53rd Season, 7% Increase Projected

Thanks to Phil Leon for passing the article along.

Today in Submarine History – the Short, Sorry Saga of the USS Lancefish

Posted on by March 24, 2011

On March 24th, 1945 the USS Lancetfish was decommissioned after less than thousand hours in service.  She never put to sea under her own power and never had a crew.  Delivered from the Cramp Shipbuilding Company of Philadelphia, she was towed to the Boston Navy Yard for additional work. A shipyard worker opened a torpedo tube door and the sub sank in seven fathoms of water.  She was judged too damaged to be worth repairing and was laid up until 1959 when she was finally sold for scrap.

Thanks to Dave Shirlaw on the Marine History List for passing the story along.

Earth Hour Twilight Cruise on the Tall Ship Southern Swan

Posted on by March 24, 2011

Earth Hour is “a global event organized by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature, also known as World Wildlife Fund) and is held on the last Saturday of March annually, asking households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change.”   The observation of Earth Hour began in Sydney, Australia in 2007.  This year, in Sydney harbor, the  Tall Ship Southern Swan is offering an Earth Hour Twilight Cruise, which sure sounds better than sitting at home in the dark.

New Zealand Model Fleets to do Battle

Posted on by March 24, 2011

This Sunday a grand of fleet of miniature ships will sail the lake at East Tamaki, a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand.  The event is being hosted by Task Force 48, a group of radio-controlled model ship enthusiasts.

Model boats battle

The 1:48 scale replicas of the full-size Royal New Zealand Navy ships will carry out fleet manoeuvres on a lake in Highbrook.
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Shipping Out, the Story of America’s Seafaring Women

Posted on by March 24, 2011

For those in New York there is a special program, Women At Sea: Screening, Conversation, Reception, next Wednesday, March 30th, at the Community Church of New York, 40 East 35th Street, New York, NY at 6:00 PM.    The program features a screening of the PBS documentary “Shipping Out—The Story of America’s Seafaring Women” followed by a conversation with seven women mariners who work as captains, mates, engineers and pilots.

Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at through the Working Harbor Committee.