Fire on the Dinner/Cruise Ship Spirit of Norfolk, 108 Safely Evacuated Including 89 Kindergarteners

Posted on by June 8, 2022

A fire broke out on the dinner cruise ship Spirit of Norfolk on the Elizabeth River in Virginia on Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of 108, including 89 elementary school students celebrating their kindergarten graduation. Fortunately, all passengers were accounted for and there were no reported injuries. All passengers were evacuated to the excursion boat Victory Rover which ferried them to shore.

Two crew members remained on the Spirit of Norfolk to assist the firefighters and shortly afterward the vessel was towed to Pier 4 at the naval base.

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Video on UN World Oceans Day — “Oceans Give, Oceans Take”: Their Role in Climate Change

Posted on by June 8, 2022

On the United Nations World Oceans Day, here is a very well-done, short video on the role of the oceans in climate change. 

As greenhouse gases warm the Earth, our oceans play a significant role in absorbing heat that helps regulate rising temperatures. But as writer and narrator Robert Krulwich explains, there is a huge price to pay for heating the oceans. He explains why in this first of a series of “CBS Sunday Morning” video essays, based on the work of Aatish Bhatia. Animation directed and designed by Nate Milton. Music by Buck St. Thomas.

“Oceans Give, Oceans Take”: Their role in climate change

Captain Bill Pinkney To Be Honored as “Hero of the Game” by White Sox

Posted on by June 7, 2022

In July of last year, we posted about Captain Bill Pinkney‘s induction into the National Sailing Hall of Fame with a Lifetime Achievement Award as an “Enthusiastic Trend Setter.” Captain Pinkney was the first African American to solo-circumnavigate the world via Cape Horn. Born on September 15, 1935, in Chicago, he attended public schools in Chicago and joined the U.S. Navy after graduating from high school in 1954.

Now, on the 30th anniversary of returning to the U.S. from his historic 22-month solo sail around the world, Captain Pinkney will be honored as “Hero of the Game” at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago on Thursday, June 9.

The White Sox honor a member of the military at each home game. At a designated half-inning break, Captain Bill will be honored on the field and featured live on the centerfield videoboard as the public address announcer salutes both his service to our country and his solo voyage.

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Pinnace Virginia, Maine’s First Ship, Launched in Kennebec River

Posted on by June 6, 2022

Images: Bob McKane

Twenty-seven years ago, a plan was conceived to reconstruct Maine’s first ship, Virginia, built by in 1607 by settlers of the Popham Colony at the mouth of the Kennebec River. The original 51′ pinnace was the first English ocean-going ship built in the Americas. After considerable research, the keel of the reconstruction was laid in 2011.

On Saturday, June 4th, after over a decade of fabrication by more than 200 volunteers, the new incarnation of Virginia was christened and gently lowered into the waters of the Kennebec River by twin cranes, as hundreds joined in a day-long celebration along the shore in Bath, Maine.

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Remembering the Battle of Midway, 80 Years Ago This Week

Posted on by June 5, 2022

The Battle of Midway, fought from June 4 — 7, 1942, eighty years ago this week, was a major American victory in the Pacific theater in World War II. Military historian John Keegan called it “the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare”, while naval historian Craig Symonds called it “one of the most consequential naval engagements in world history, ranking alongside Salamis, Trafalgar, and Tsushima Strait, as both tactically decisive and strategically influential”.

Only six months after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Midway was a turning point in the naval war in the Pacific. Key to the victory was the American breaking of the Japanese naval code. Thanks to the code breakers, what had been intended to be another Japanese surprise attack became a well-laid trap by the US Navy. Here is a 15-minute tactical overview of the battle. Well worth watching.

Battle of Midway Tactical Overview – World War II | History

Clonal Neptune Grass — the Oldest Living Thing on Earth

Posted on by June 3, 2022

Yesterday, we posted about Poseidon’s ribbon weed, Posidonia australis, a clonal seagrass. Researchers recently discovered large meadows of the self-cloning sea grass growing in Shark Bay, off the westernmost tip of Australia. DNA testing of the seagrass, covering over 180km, an area three times the size of Manhattan, established that the meadows were made up of a single plant, making the self-cloning seagrass the largest single plant in the world.

The post brought to mind a similar story about clonal sea grass from a decade ago involving a related species, Posidonia oceanica, known as Neptune grass, that is believed to be the oldest living thing on the planet.

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The World’s Largest Plant, Poseidon’s Ribbon Weed, Discovered Off Australia

Posted on by June 3, 2022

Australian researchers were performing a genetic survey of Poseidon’s ribbon weed (Posidonia australis), a species of seagrass growing widely in Shark Bay, off the westernmost tip of Australia. Researchers collected shoots from across the bay and examined 18,000 genetic markers to create a “fingerprint” from each sample. They had aimed to discover how many plants made up the meadow. When the DNA results came in, they made a remarkable discovery. 

The seagrass, covering over 180km, an area three times the size of Manhattan, is, in fact, a single plant, having grown from a single seed over at least 4,500 years.  The self-cloning plant is also the largest single plant in the world.

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Congratulations to Admiral Linda Fagan, First Woman Coast Guard Commandant

Posted on by June 1, 2022

Congratulations to Admiral Linda Fagan, who today assumed command as the 27th commandant of the US Coast Guard. Breaking a major glass ceiling, (or perhaps a glass overhead), she also becomes the first woman to lead the service, as well as the first female service chief in American history.

Sworn in by President Biden at a change-of-command ceremony at US Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, he commented that “There’s no one more qualified to lead the proud women and men of the Coast Guard…”

Fagan, 58, succeeds Adm. Karl L. Schultz, who is retiring.

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On Memorial Day : Last Mission of the USS Olympia — Carrying the Unknown Soldier Home

Posted on by May 30, 2022

On Memorial Day, an updated repost about the last mission of the USS Olympia in 1921, when she carried an American unknown soldier killed during World War I  from a cemetery in France back to Washington to be entombed at Arlington National Cemetery.  The Olympia was decommissioned the following year. 

USS Olympia is the oldest steel-hulled American warship afloat and Commodore George Dewey’s flagship during the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898.  The ship is now a museum ship at Philadelphia’s Independence Seaport Museum.

Memorial Day: Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery

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Mark Sinclair Finishes 2018 Golden Globe Race

Posted on by May 29, 2022

On May 27, 2022, Australian solo sailor Mark Sinclair, 63, finished the 2018-2019 Golden Globe Race. He finished last and took four years to complete the race, but he finished, which is an accomplishment in its own right. 

Sinclair had made it halfway around the world before pulling out of the race in Australia in December 2018. He calculated that he had taken too long to reach the halfway point in the race and at his current average speed would arrive too late in the season at Cape Horn. Earlier in the race, Sinclair had run perilously low on freshwater.

He restarted the race on December 5, 2021 from his home port of Adelaide and took 174 days to sail from Australia to Les Sables d’Olonne in France, arriving on 27 May.

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What Did the Navy Pilots See? UFOs, UAPs, or Drones?

Posted on by May 27, 2022

The first Congressional hearing addressing UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) in more than fifty years, yielded very few answers. The main takeaway from the hearings was that, while most sightings could be identified, a number of events have defied all attempts at explanation.

Unlike the last Congressional public hearings into the issue in 1966, when the Air Force dismissed the sightings as “swamp gas,” the government now acknowledged that the more recent observations involved unknown objects that were observed on video, radar, and other sensors.

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Fleet Week Returns to New York Harbor After 2 Year COVID Break

Posted on by May 26, 2022

Fleet Week has returned to New York harbor after a two-year pandemic pause, bringing 3,000 sailors, marines, and coastguardsmen to the city. The week-long celebration will include public ship visitations, a variety of military demonstrations, and a mix of new events. Click here to learn more.

Here is a time-lapse of the Fleet Week Parade of Ships.

New York City Fleet Week – Parade of Ships Time-Lapse (2022)

Russian Naval Blockade of Ukraine Called Attack on Global Food Supply

Posted on by May 26, 2022

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine grinds to a bloody stalemate, the Russian navy is effectively blockading the northern Black Sea, cutting off maritime trade at Ukrainian ports, in what world leaders call a deliberate attack on the global food supply chain. 

Foreign Policy is reporting that Western governments are scrambling to find ways to break the blockade and ease the strains on the global commodities and agricultural markets rocked by the war. Ukraine, referred to as the “breadbasket of Europe,” feeds some 400 million people around the world and is a top grain supplier to dozens of developing countries, including politically unstable Middle Eastern and African countries that have seen food prices skyrocket since Russia first launched its invasion of Ukraine in late February. 

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Report: USS Connecticut Seamount Grounding was Preventable

Posted on by May 24, 2022

On Monday, the US Navy released the report of its investigation of the underwater collision of the Seawolf Class submarine, USS Connecticut, with a seamount in the South China Sea. From the report’s Executive Summary:

On 2 October 2021, Connecticut grounded on an uncharted bathymetric feature while operating submerged in a poorly surveyed area in international waters. This mishap was preventable. It resulted from an accumulation of errors and omissions in navigation planning, watchteam execution, and risk management that fell far below U.S. Navy standards. Prudent decision-making and adherence to required procedures in any of these three areas could have prevented the grounding. Continue reading →

Cetacean Morbillivirus : Like Covid For Dolphins

Posted on by May 23, 2022

“Social distancing” during an outbreak of a contagious disease is difficult for dolphins as well as for humans. Researchers are now investigating how dolphin social interactions may help spread the virus that has resulted in significant dolphin strandings and die-offs in recent years. 

Cetacean morbillivirus is a lethal and highly contagious virus that infects marine mammals including dolphins, porpoises, and whales. First discovered in Virginia and Maryland waters in 1987, the virus is related to measles in humans. It can spread rapidly among dolphins, as it did from 2013 to 2015 in populations along the Atlantic Coast. 

Delmarva Now reports that during that outbreak, more than 1,600 dolphins washed ashore on beaches from New York to Florida, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Altogether, an estimated 20,000 dolphins died from the virus, and the region’s population of coastal dolphins shrank by about 50%.

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“Jaws” Child Actor Appointed Police Chief on Martha’s Vineyard, Island Where Movie was Shot

Posted on by May 22, 2022

Jonathan Searle, 1975 & today. Images: screen capture & Jeanna Shepard

In 1975, 9-year-old Jonathan Searle appeared in Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster movie “Jaws.” In the movie, Searle and his real-life brother, Steven, memorably played two pranksters who caused mass panic on the beach after swimming into the ocean with a cardboard fin.

Now, 47 years later, Jonathan Searle has been appointed police chief on Martha’s Vineyard, the island where the iconic movie was filmed. 

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Solo Sailor on Tiny Big C Hopes to Set Record For Smallest Boat to Cross the Atlantic

Posted on by May 20, 2022

Andrew Bedwell hopes to set a new world record for sailing the smallest boat to cross the Atlantic. His vessel, Big C is just over 1m/3.2ft long. If all goes according to plan he will set off in May 2023 from St Johns, Newfoundland, and finish off Lizard Point in Cornwall.

The smallest boat to cross the Atlantic to date was 5ft 4inches long, sailed by American sailor, Hugo Vihlen in 1993.

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US Navy to Name Destroyer For Telesforo Trinidad, Only Filipino Medal of Honor Recipient

Posted on by May 20, 2022

U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro has announced that a future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer will be named the USS Telesforo Trinidad in honor of a Filipino sailor who rescued two crew members when their ship caught fire more than a century ago.

The Washington Post reports that Fireman Telesforo De La Cruz Trinidad is the only Filipino in the US Navy to be awarded the Medal of Honor. He received the honor for his actions on the USS San Diego in 1915 and at a time when it could be awarded for non-combat valor.

“Since being sworn in as Secretary, I have wanted to honor his heroic actions by naming a ship after him,” Del Toro said in a statement released Thursday. “This ship and her future crew will be a critical piece in strengthening our maritime superiority while also emphasizing the rich culture and history of our naval heritage.”

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Update: Good and Bad News From Flooded Museum Ship USS The Sullivans

Posted on by May 17, 2022

The museum ship, the retired United States Navy Fletcher-class destroyer USS The Sullivans,  partially sank after taking on water at its berth in the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park, in mid-April. Now that the historic ship has been refloated, an assessment of the damage from the casualty has been underway. There is both good and bad news.

The good news is that many of the historic artifacts aboard the ship at the time of the flooding were either undamaged or may be salvageable. 5,000 folders of ship blueprints survived untouched while many documents stored in the ship’s office were submerged and all but ruined.  An attempt will be made to freeze many of the papers in an attempt to preserve them.

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Overboat Personal Foiler — Silent Alternative to Jetskis?

Posted on by May 16, 2022

Here is a short demonstration video from Toby Hodges at Yachting World of Neoocean’s Overboat electric personal foiler. Unlike the noisy and generally noxious jetski, the Overboat is practically silent, uses roughly 80% less energy than a comparable outboard motor-driven boat and produces zero emissions on the water. It is capable of running for 2 hours at 12 knots on three lithium batteries, riding on four computer-controlled foils. One downside is that, like most new technology, it is a bit pricey, at around £20,000. With luck, the price will drop as the technology matures and production increases.

Does Overboat’s silent personal foiler spell the end of Jetskis and pedalos?