I’ve just finished reading Julian Stockwin’sInvasion, the tenth of his Kydd series, which features among its cast of characters, Robert Fulton and his Nautilus of 1800. While the Nautilus is often called the first “practical” submarine, it was not the first. It was preceded by Bushnell’s Turtle of 1775 and, perhaps the most remarkable of all, by Cornelis Drebbel‘s submarine of 1620, a wooden craft covered with greased leather and propelled by oars (!)
A replica of Drebbel’s remarkable craft will be on display at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport in the UK, with a special presentation on June 3rd, in which actors from the Portsmouth theatre group, Groundlings, will play Dutch inventor Cornelius Van Drebbel and his assistant in a comical sketch using the actual replica Drebbel submarine.
World’s First Submarine Comes to Life in Half Term
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Not surprising news given the economy but disturbing nevertheless.
Hurricane season officially begins today, though Tropical Storm Agatha blew in from the Pacific a day or two early and
A trivia question – what was the
Keith Jessop, the salvage diver who recovered the gold from the HMS Edinburgh, died on May 22, 2010, aged 77.
What make this story interesting are not the facts but the reaction to them. A sixty year tradition of Naval Academy plebes climbing a greased obelisk at the end of their first year is coming to an end. So far of the emails received by the Navy times on the story, over thirty oppose the ending the obelisk climb while one supports the ban.
A new look at the last battleship battle of World War II and perhaps of all time. A review by Steven Toby, republished with permission from the 
We haven’t posted about the Deepwater Horizon blow-out and spill. The folks over at the 
Five alleged pirates went on trial this week in the Netherlands in what is believed to be the first piracy trial in the European Union. The Netherlands has called for an international tribunal for the prosecution of sea pirates, but thus far no EU action has been forthcoming. In the US a pirate captured in the attack on the Maersk Alabama has pleased guilty and is awaiting sentencing.
After suffering what was described as
New York’s Fleet Week 2010 is underway. “