Thanks to David Hayes of Astrodene’s Historical Naval Fiction for passing along this clip of Navy Days in 1937. HMS Victory, marching bands, period costumes and open air calisthenics. Click on the image to view the video.
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Two news stories, days apart demonstrate, at least to me, why the current efforts to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia are doomed to fail. We posted previously how the tanker MV Moscow University was recaptured from pirates by Russian special forces involving the close cooperation of the ship’s crew and military personnel. Continue reading
A few days ago, we posted about Ric Burns’ new documentary, Into the Deep: America, Whaling & the World, which will be broadcast tomorrow, May 10, at 9PM on most PBS channel in the United States. I had the opportunity to watch the documentary – a review:
Into the Deep: America, Whaling & the World, is a sweeping and visually stunning examination of American whaling from the colonial era though its demise in the early twentieth century. It reminds us that before we acquired our addiction to petroleum, our primary source of oil was from the sea, by the hunting of the great whales. The whaling ships didn’t just hunt whales, they were also self contained oil refineries and factories at sea. They processed and prepared the the oil, baleen and whale bone and packaged it for sale. The whalers, constantly searching the seas for new whaling grounds, were also the discoverers of then unknown lands and islands in every ocean. Before America became a world power, American whalers carried the nation’s name and vision to every corner of the watery globe.
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37 Injured in Staten Island Ferry Crash
Dozens of people were hurt when a Staten Island Ferry crashed into a dock at the St. George terminal on Staten Island about 9:30 a.m. Saturday, the authorities said. The ferry was the Andrew J. Barberi, the same one involved in a 2003 crash that killed 11 people.
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Belgian treasure-hunter Luc Heymans holds a rare large vase from the Liao Dynasty
Ancient treasures set for auction in Indonesia
An ancient treasure trove salvaged from a 1,000-year-old shipwreck found by Indonesian fishermen is set to go under the hammer in Jakarta Wednesday with a minimum price of 80 million dollars. Belgian treasure-hunter Luc Heymans said the haul was one of the biggest found in Asia and was comparable to the most valuable shipwreck ever found anywhere, that of the Atocha, a Spanish vessel which sank off Florida in 1622.
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Close cooperation between the ship’s personnel and the Russian military allowed Russian special forces to storm the captured tanker Moscow University without unduly jeopardizing the safety of the crew.
This Monday, May 10th, PBS’s American Experience series will broadcast Ric Burns’ new documentary, Into the Deep: America, Whaling & the World. It looks fascinating.
The history of the American whaling industry from its 17th-century origins in drift and shore whaling off the coast of New England and Cape Cod, through the golden age of deep ocean whaling, and on to its demise in the decades following the American Civil War.
The US Naval War College has published a collection of essays on Piracy and Maritime Crime: Historical and Modern Case Studies, edited by Bruce A. Elleman, Andrew Forbes, and David Rosenberg. The essays look at piracy around the world and throughout history ranging from Thomas Jefferson and the Barbary pirates in the 18th Century to the ongoing conflicts with pirates off Somalia. The thirteen essays are available free on line at the Naval War College Press.
When Jessica Watson arrives back in Australia in a few weeks, she may be the youngest person to have circumnavigated the world non-stop, but she will not necessarily be granted the record for doing so. According to the rules laid down by the World Sailing Speed Record Council a circumnavigation is defined as follows :
To sail around the World, a vessel must start from and return to the same point, must cross all meridians of longitude and must cross the Equator. It may cross some but not all meridians more than once (i.e. two roundings of Antarctica do not count). The shortest orthodromic track of the vessel must be at least 21,600 nautical miles in length calculated based on a ‘perfect sphere’.
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Fans of naval fiction either know or should know of Astrodene’s Historical Naval Fiction web site and forum. A wonderful resource, lots of great information on books both old and new, as well as very nice folks in the forum. They are now launching a naval fiction newsletter, “‘Log Book.” delivered by e-mail (with archival copies available on line.) Go to the site to sign up.
Based on the first newsletter they are off to a great start. A brief summary of the current issue:
Last month I was privileged to get an interview with Julian Stockwin ahead of the launch of his new novel in the Kydd series ‘Victory’ and with Alaric Bond who’s new novel ‘True Colours’ is out this month.
There are 3 brand new naval fiction titles out this month together with some paperback edition releases.
An intriguing item from Jim Klein on the Marine History List. They are now filming the search for the cannons from the Beeswax wreck. From the Beeswax Wreck Project site:
One of the most popular mysteries of the Oregon Coast has been the identification of the “Beeswax Wreck” at Nehalem Beach, in Tillamook County. Identified over time by various researchers as either a Chinese or Japanese junk, a Spanish galleon, a Portuguese trader, or a lost English or Dutch pirate vessel, we have been able to determine that the ship was in fact a Spanish Galleon of the Manila Trade. Nehalem Indian oral histories and the journals of the earliest traders in the area indicate that the galleon wrecked prior to European settlement and indeed most European exploration of the Pacific Northwest.
The site has been buried for the last 100 years. However, blocks of beeswax are occasionally found by beachcombers in the sand dunes adjacent to the site.
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Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing along two articles about historic maritime clocks. The conservators at the Mariner’s Museum have restored the engine room clock from the USS Monitor which sank in 1862. On the other side of the Atlantic, a pocket watch belonging to the captain of the ill-fated Lusitania has been donated to Merseyside Maritime Museum.
U.S.S. Monitor Engine Room Clock conserved and on display at Mariners’ Museum
A tragedy at the 2010 Sea Cadet Festival.
Sea cadet, 14, dies after falling from ship in Solent
A 14-year-old sea cadet has died after falling overboard in the Solent.
The boy, from Kent, was on the training ship TS Royalist which was anchored at Stokes Bay south of Gosport, Hampshire.
He was climbing the rigging to bring in the sails when he fell 25ft (7.5m) into the sea on Sunday night. The crew retrieved him and sent a Mayday call.
The Solent Coastguard helicopter took him to the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth where he was pronounced dead on arrival. An investigation has begun.
World’s smallest tall ships sail under Tower Bridge… without the bridge deck opening
With the traditional rigging of a tall ship but only a fraction of the size, these two vessels are dwarfed by Tower Bridge.
The world’s smallest tall ships, TS Caroline Allen and TS Bob Allen – measuring just 30-feet in length, took to the River Thames today to train the next generation of seafarers.
They are usually housed at Cowes on the Isle of Wight and do most of their sailing on The Solent. Today they sailed under Tower Bridge without the roadway opening – something no other tall ship could boast.
When the new New York City fireboat 343 arrived in New York harbor yesterday, one of the fleet greeting her was the fireboat John J. Harvey. (Will has some great photos and commentary the tugster blog.) I am struck by the parallels between the two boats.
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I ‘ve got to say that I prefer Neil Young’s and David Crosby’s taste in yachts somewhat better, but Johnny Depp’s Vajoliroja does have a certain idiosyncratic style.
Johnny Depp’s very own pirate ship in the Caribbean
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Two hundred and twenty one years ago yesterday, the crew of HMS Bounty staged a mutiny that remains famous to this day. Four sailors are attempting to recreate Captain Bligh’s epic 3,700 nautical mile voyage in a 23 foot long open boat from Tonga to Kupang in Timor. The expedition is being sponsored by Talisker and is being led by Australian Don McIntyre, a veteran adventurer. His crew is David Wilkinson (United Kingdom), David Pryce (Australia) and Chris Wilde (United Kingdom). In addition to attempting to complete this most challenging of passages, they group is also attempting to to raise over $250,000 for The Sheffield Institute Foundation for Motor Neurone Disease (SIF), which is building the world’s first research Institute for Motor Neurone Disease, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. To learn more go to – Talisker Bounty Boat Expedition.
The first offshore wind farm in the United States has been approved by Washington. The Cape Wind project is a proposed 130 turbine wind farm in Nantucket Sound. It has been opposed for years by home owners in Cape Cod who claim, in essence, that it would ruin their view of the ocean. Recently, the Wampanoag tribe has made, essentially, the same claim. They say that the wind farm would obstruct their view of the sunrise for sacred ceremonies. The tribe, as well as groups in Cape Cod, have promised future lawsuits to block the project.
The US has lagged behind European countries and China in the development of offshore wind energy. There have been concerns that if the Cape Wind project was not approved that the development of US offshore wind power would be seriously setback even further.
I’ve always been a fan of Baltic traders. They were serious working craft. They aren’t necessarily graceful but do possess a certain robust beauty. The schooner W N Ragland, a Baltic trader built in 1913, converted to a yacht, is for sale. For 35 years the schooner was owned by Neil Young, the singer best known as a member of the group Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. She was sold a few years ago and is back on the market again for $695,000. Last year, fellow CSN&Y singer, David Crosby, put his Alden schooner Mayan on the market as well. Hard not to be reminded of the lyric from the Crosby Stills and Nash song, “Wooden Ships.”
Wooden ships on the water, very free and easy…
Wooden ships on the water, regrettably, are never free or even easy. But, damn, they sure are lovely.
Max Hardberger’s Seized, a Sea Captains Adventures – Battling Scoundrels and Pirates while Recovering Stolen Ships in the World’s Most Troubled Waters is a fascinating account of one man’s remarkable career and personal journey. In addition to working professionally as a crop-duster, school teacher, lawyer, and ship’s captain, Max Hardberger developed the rather unusual specialty of returning stolen property, very large stolen property. He steals back ships wrongly seized in foreign ports and returns them to their owners.
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