The Ark Royal, the flagship of the Royal Navy has been decommissioned. It will be another decade before a new aircraft carrier takes her place.
Ark Royal: decommissioning marks end of a long and celebrated history
The early retirement of the fifth Ark Royal marks the end of a triumphant career for one of the most famous names in British naval history.
Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing the article along.
Researchers believe that they may have found the location of the lost city of Atlantis in a coastal Spanish marsh. Plato described the legendary island-city in about 360 B.C. as having “in a single day and night … disappeared into the depths of the sea.” The researchers believe that the ancient city was destroyed by tsunami. Whether or not their research holds up, destruction by a tsunami seems highly credible. Their work is the subject of a National Geographic documentary – Finding Atlantis.
Was Lost City of Atlantis Found in Spanish Marsh?
Thanks to Irwin Bryan for passing along the article.
INS Kalpeni
Last Friday, the Indian Navy picked up as distress call from the container ship MV Vancouver Bridge, which was under attack by pirates in the Indian Ocean, about 600 nautical miles off the Indian coast. When spotted by an Indian patrol aircraft, the pirates broke off the attack and retreated to a “mother ship,” the Vega 5, a fishing vessel hijacked on December 28, 2010. On Saturday night, the Indian Navy’s newest fast attack craft, INS Kalpeni, intercepted the Vega and after a brief firefight captured 61 pirates and freed the Vega’s crew of 13 who had been held as hostages since the ship had been hijacked.
Navy apprehends 61 pirates in 2 day operation
Kesennuma Photo:AP
We have previously posted about the destruction of the town of Minamisanriku by the tsunami, where 9,500 people are reported to be missing. Other news reports now suggest that similar or greater numbers may be missing in the towns of Kesennuma and Rikuzentakata.
USS Ronald Reagan
The US 7th fleet has moved away from the Fukushima nuclear power plants after helicopters from the carrier Ronald Reagan were exposed to an airborne radioactive plume. Seventeen Navy personnel are being treated for what is described as “low levels of contamination.” Sensors aboard the carrier Ronald Reagan indicated that the ship had also been exposed to low level contamination. The carrier group had been roughly 100 miles away from the crippled reactors and has now moved so that that it is no longer down-wind of the power plants.
The battle against piracy in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea may be changing. This week Japan announced that it would try four suspected pirates being held by the US Navy after they were captured attempting to hijack the Japanese owned tanker MV Guanabara. Recently pirates have also been charged for their crimes in courts in South Korea, Malaysia, Germany , the Netherlands and the United States.
Happy 100th birthday to Con Thode, New Zealand’s first and only submarine commander in World War Two and long-time sailing master for the Spirit of Adventure Trust.
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The New York Times published an article this morning, The Destructive Power of Water, where it compares the force of a ten meter high tsunami wave to “a hundred tanks coming across you. Even though it’s a fluid, it operates like a solid hammer.” Fortunately, Japan has some of the strictest building codes in the world, specifically intended to save lives during earthquakes. Nothing, however can withstand the force of a tsunami.
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The Hawaiian islands and the West Coast of the United States suffered relatively minor damage in Friday’s tsunami. What would a tsunami created by a major eruption of Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano be like? National Geographic presents a chilling simulation. Thanks to Linda Collison for posting this on Facebook.
Ultimate Tsunami – Honolulu Hawaii
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Explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi No. 1 reactor
Friday’s 8.9 magnitude earthquake and 10-meter high tsunami on the coast of northeast Japan devastated cities and villages, killing as many as 1,300. It also significantly damaged at least five nuclear reactors at two power plants. Yesterday afternoon, a massive explosion rocked the Fukushima Daiichi No. 1 reactor, causing a portion of a building to crumble, and injuring four workers. Radiation is now leaking from the reactor which is at risk of a melt-down.
Explosion rocks Japanese nuclear power plant; 5 reactors in peril
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The Hull Lifesaving Museum near Boston is sponsoring their 32nd Annual “Snow Row” this weekend. Festivities begin with the annual “Snow Ball” this evening at the Clarion Nantasket Beach Resort and Conference Center, followed by Saturday’s race at the Windmill Point Boathouse, Hull.
Photo: Kyodo News, via Associated Press
The largest earthquake in Japanese recorded history, 8.9 on the Richter scale, which struck about 80 miles offshore, has triggered devastating tsunami waves on the coast of northeast Japan. Tsunami warnings have gone up in at least 50 countries and territories, including Hawaii and the US West Coast.
Huge Earthquake Triggers Tsunami Off Japan’s Coast
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The U.S. Geological Survey press release began: “The oldest known U.S. wild bird – a coyly conservative 60 — is a new mother.”
Why the Albatross Is Our Albatross
Last month, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist spotted this Laysan albatross on the world’s most remote coral atoll, smack in the middle of the Pacific near Hawaii. The bird was first tagged by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 1956, when she was estimated to be about five years old. That means today, she’s at least 60 — the oldest known living wild bird in the U.S.
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This week the Maersk Alabama was attacked by pirates for the third time in the last two years. In April of 2009, pirates boarded the Maersk containership and took her captain, Richard Phillips, hostage. He was later rescued when Navy sharpshooters killed the pirates who were holding him. Then in November of 2009, another group of pirates attacked the ship, but were driven off by armed guards aboard the ship. This week, fire from armed personnel on the ship also drove off the pirates.
Piracy in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean can be wildly profitable and is relatively risk free. If a pirate is caught by any of the multinational naval task force, chances are that they will simply let the pirate go free. So I suppose it isn’t surprising that that not only has the scope of piracy expanded to encompass the Indian Oceans and Arabia Sea, but now it also appears that the pool of pirates is also becoming multi-national. In addition to Somalis, Yemenis are also getting into the act.
Red Sea piracy may be going multinational – U.S.
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What’s that smelt? (Sorry.) Actually it was a million dead sardines (or anchovies depending on the news reports) that washed up dead in the King Harbor Marina in Redondo Beach California.
‘One million’ dead sardines clog Redondo Beach marina
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Today is International Women’s Day. Indeed, it is the 100th Anniversary of the first International Women’s Day in 1911. We have followed with interest the women who have progressively stepped up to serve in jobs that not too long ago were reserved solely for men – whether on submarines, the bridge of a cruise ship, from the engine room flat to the bridge of a research vessel, or rowing alone across a mighty ocean. Now in honor of International Women’s Day, here is an interview with US Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Petty Officer Second Class Sara Faulkner. She is one of 300 rescue swimmers in the Coast Guard and one of only four women.
Yesterday the Independence Seaport Museum posted a “NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF TRANSFER APPLICATION PROCESS FOR CRUISER, OLYMPIA” to formally begin the process of seeking a new owner for the historic cruiser launched in 1892. From the notice:
The Olympia, Admiral Dewey’s flagship and once the most celebrated, state-of-the art naval vessel afloat, will be scrapped or scuttled unless a new owner can be found. In terms of historic value, the National Historic Landmark Olympia has been equated to the USS Constitution and the Constellation as one of the most important vessels in U.S. Naval history. The ship straddles the shift between the age of sail and the age of steel, and marks the launch of the modern steel Navy. Deferred maintenance has reached a critical stage and the ship requires $2-5 million of immediate stabilization. A further estimated $10-20 million will be required for dry-dock and restoration.
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Commandos from the USS Bulkeley boarded the Japanese owned tanker MV Guanabara on Sunday after the crew reported that the ship was under attack by pirates. The commandos captured four pirates aboard the ship without firing a shot. The crew had withdrawn to the ship’s “safe room.”
U.S. Commandos Free Ship, Crew From Pirates
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