Lieutenant Noel Cashford, who has died aged 88, was among the last of the wartime RNVR bomb and mine disposal officers (BDOs), and helped develop the principles which govern mine clearance today.
Thanks to Alaric Bond passing the obituary along.
Santy Anno sung by The Hard Tackers over a film made by Joe Cook of The Hard Tackers when he sailed aboard the Pride Of Baltimore II as a crew member.
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Thanks to John Locke for passing along the video.
On Monday, the Polar Star struck a rock while at anchor near Detaille Island, a small island off the Northern end of Arrowsmith Peninsula in Antarctica. The grounding damaged the outer hull of the double hulled ship. The ship sailed for the Arctowski Station, a Polish research facility on King George Island in the South Shetland Islands, where divers made a thorough inspection of the damage. The cruise operator decided to evacuate the 80 passengers aboard the ship to Ushuaia on other expedition cruise ships sailing in the region. The Polar Star then will undergo temporary repairs before crossing the Drake’s Passage back to Ushuaia, with only crew on board.
Evacuation planned for passengers on damaged cruise ship
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Jim Turton, from Colchester, Ontario, turned 45 years old today. Because of the efforts of the officers and crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Morro Bay, a 140 foot Bay class icebreaker, he just may have a shot at celebrating his next birthday, (provided he stays off snowmobiles on thin ice in the upcoming year.) Turton was one of four snowmobilers who fell through the ice near Colchester. His three companions made it to shore, but Turton crawled onto an floating ice flow drifting out into Lake Erie.
Coast Guard Cutter rescues man adrift on Lake Erie ice floe on his birthday
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In 1958, the New York Times published a review of Louis de Rochemont’s new movie “Windjammer.” It began:
“Every last moviegoer with a drop of salt water in his blood will want to swing aboard “Windjammer,” which opened at the Roxy last night. For this giant, panoramic color picture of a 17,000-mile ocean cruise in a Norwegian training sailing vessel, shown in the new Cinemiracle process, which is akin to Cinerama, is so full of the thrills and beauties of ocean sailing that it takes the breath away.”
A worn and faded copy of the movie was located in 1997 and over the last decade a team of film professionals from Sweden and the United States has been at work restoring the movie. A new DVD and theatrical version is hoped to be completed some time in 2011.
“Windjammer” – On it’s way to a home screen near you, and maybe the cinema too
FINALLY! The Windjammer Restoration Preview & Restored Trailer
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Photos: John Griffin/ABC News
Now that the SS United States Conservancy has acquired the S.S. United States, the next question is – what they are going to do with her? Her interior was gutted in 1994 to remove considerable quantities of asbestos. Thanks to Alaric Bond for pointing out the photographs.
Today, the SS United States Conservancy purchased the S.S. United States from Norwegian Cruise Line. As we posted last July, the sale was made possible by a reported $5.8 million pledge by Philadelphia philanthropist H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest. The sale was delayed when the Environmental Protection Agency raised questions about toxic PCBs on the ship.
Conservancy purchases SS United States through grant from Lenfest Foundation
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There are an estimated two million protesters in the streets on Cairo today; most rail, trucking and buses are shut down across Egypt, yet the Suez Canal, which can represent up 8 percent of global seaborne trade, remains open and in operation. Military escorts for protection through the pirate-prone Gulf of Aden are unavailable and crew repatriation and purchase of provisions have not been possible for some ships. Troops have been deployed to protect the SuMed pipeline transporting crude alongside the Suez Canal.
MV Nordlake
Mumbai can be tough on container ships. Last August the bulk carrier Khalijia 3 steered into the containership MSC Chitra , sinking her, causing a significant spill and closing the port for five days. Yesterday, the Indian warship, INS Vindhyagiri and Cyprus-flagged container vessel, MV Nordlake, collided head-on in Mumbai Harbor. No casualties or oil spill was reported but this time the warship got the worst of it. It is reported to have capsized after catching fire. An investigation of the collision has been launched by the Directorate General of Shipping. The Jewaharlal Nehru Port Trust blamed the collision on naval personnel.
Last July, we posted about North Carolina’s oldest shipwreck which was moved to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum for preservation. Now the curators at the museum are trying to learn,as quickly as possible, how to preserve the crumbling wreck.
Experts race the clock to preserve N.C. shipwreck
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The New York Daily News reported good news this morning:
Whales return to New York City: Massive mammals appearing again in seas near city; draws sightseers
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Cranes attempting to salvage chemical tank barge Waldhof
An update to a post from last week: A backlog of close to 400 ships is still bottled up on the Rhine River following the capsizing of the 110M chemical tank barge, Waldhof, on January 13th near the Lorelei Rock. The Waldhof is carrying 2,400 tonnes of sulfuric acid.
Hundreds of ships stuck as Rhine still blocked by shipwreck
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Before video games and personal computers, there were gamebooks. They were novels where at critical scenes you as the reader were given a series a choices. “A troll comes out of the cave carrying a large club. You will (a) run away, (b) say hello or (c) barter for gold. ” Depending on which choice you made you would be told to go to page 34 or whatever where your choice would be played out until you reached another branch and another set of choices.
“Choice of Broadsides” is a game book in e-book format available on the Kindle.
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Museums on two coasts have special Valentine’s Days events planned for sailors. The Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport, Maine is offering a sailor’s valentine workshop for adults on Saturday, Feb. 12, just in time for Valentine’s Day. In San Diego’s warmer climes, the Maritime Museum of San Diego is offering sweetheart cruise on the Californian, the state’s official tall ship.
San Diego: Tall ship offers ‘Sweetheart Sail’ for Valentine’s Day
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A wonderful post from John Edwards’ Ocean Liners blog. Captain John asks the question, “what if Hitler made a Titanic movie? ” He then answers it, “he did.” A heavily fictionalized and equally anti-British version of the Titanic tragedy was made in Germany in 1942 and released in Paris in 1943.
What if Hitler Made a Titanic Movie? (He Did)
Captain John writes: Unsurprisingly, it’s a propaganda film. To say the movie doesn’t quite stick to the facts and has its own unique point of view on the disaster is an understatement. But then, of course, what do you expect from Nazis?
The entire film is available for viewing on online. Watching the movie is not unlike sitting in the audience for Springtime for Hitler in that your jaw will likely be dropped open for the film’s entire length.
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