The Last of the Victory Ships

Posted on by April 18, 2010

Pan American Victory

The last four Victory ships owned by the government are on their way toward the scrapyard.    The Maritime Blog recently post somegreat photos of the Pan American Victory, as she transited the Panama Canal not too long ago. She was on her final voyage from San Francisco, CA to Brownsville, TX for scrapping. The Pan American Victory was the first of the last 4 remaining Victory Ships still owned by the U.S. Government to depart the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet. She was shortly followed by the Earlham Victory, Rider Victory, and the Winthrop Victory.

Toward the end of World War II, 535 Victory ships were built in the United States.    Three Victories are still preserved as museum ships – the SS American Victory in Tampa, FL;  the SS Lane Victory in Los Angelos  and the SS Red Oak Victory in Richmond, California.

HMCS Canada/Queen Of Nassau – Mystery Wreck to become National Historic Site

Posted on by April 17, 2010

In 2001, divers located the wreck of a ship off the Florida Keys in 220 feet of water.  She had the distinctive ram bow of an early 20th century war ship but lacked guns or other weaponry.   She has been identified as the Queen of Nassau which was originally the HMCS Canada, the first vessel of the fledgling Canadian Navy.  As Canada prepares to mark the 100th anniversary of the Canadian navy next month, marine archeologists at the US’s NOAA are working to designate the wreck as a historic site due of its significance in the evolution of Canada’s military.

Canada’s first warship to be preserved – near Florida Keys

Video of diving the wreck of the HMCS Canada/Queen Of Nassau after the jump.

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Steam Packet Company Post War Vessel To Be Scrapped

Posted on by April 16, 2010

One of the Steam Packet Company‘s post war vessels is to be scrapped.   The s.s. Manxman, which had her last sailing in the early 80’s, is to be dismantled due to to the extent of damage after years of neglect.  Over £8 Million would be needed restore the boat.

There has been uproar from many people who were passangers travelling to and from the Isle of Man.  In the mid 80’s it was turned into a nightclub in preston docks, before ending up in Sunderland where it is now.

Now the Great Atlantic Garbage Patch

Posted on by April 16, 2010

In the United States there is a chain of supermarkets generally know by the initials – A&P, an abbreviation for “The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company.”    Unfortunately, we can now also talk of the Great Atlantic and Pacific Garbages Patches, as well.   We posted about the Pacific Garbage Patch last August.  Now another huge garbage patch has been located in the Atlantic.

Huge Garbage Patch Found in Atlantic Too

Grounding of the Shen Neng 1 – the Aftermath

Posted on by April 16, 2010

The collier Shen Neng 1 has been refloated and removed from Australia’s Great Barrier Reef where it grounded ten days ago.   In its wake it has left severe damage to the reef.  As reported by the BBC:  The Australian authorities have said a Chinese bulk carrier which ran aground off Queensland has caused widespread damage to the famed Great Barrier Reef. The cleanup is likely to be the biggest operation ever undertaken there. Toxic paint from the ship’s hull is reported to have killed coral in a swath over a kilometer long.  Oil spilled from the ship’s bunker tanks has washed up at a nature sanctuary threatening birds and baby turtles.  The Chinese owner of the ship has apologized while the government of Australia has arrested two of the ship’s senior officers.

HMS Somerset resurfaces off Cape Cod

Posted on by April 17, 2010

In his poem, The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow described HMS Somersett on the night of April 18, 1775:

Just as the moon rose over the bay,
Where swinging wide at her moorings lay
The Somerset, British man-of-war;
A phantom ship, with each mast and spar
Across the moon like a prison bar,
And a huge black hulk, that was magnified
By its own reflection in the tide.

Now HMS Somerset has risen again like a phantom, this time from a beach on Cape Cod, near where she sank on Nov. 2, 1778.

British warship Somerset resurfaces off Cape Cod
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Diving with Sharks – Roatan, Honduras

Posted on by April 18, 2010

My family and I got away to Roatan in the Bay Islands of Honduras for a week of  diving.  Here is a short clip of diving with Caribbean reef sharks. There were only three sharks, but that was enough to hold my attention.  On a related topic, nations meeting at the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species earlier this month  voted down a proposal to protect several species of sharks.   In addition to be being feared and hated, many species of sharks are also now endanged.

Diving with Sharks – Roatan, Honduras

The USNS Mission Santa Ynez, the Last T2 Tanker, Heading for the Scrap Yard

Posted on by April 16, 2010

They were the largest Navy oilers of their day and nearly 500 of them were built between 1940 and 1945.  Now the last T2 tanker, the USNS Mission Santa Ynez, is soon to be on her way from San Fransisco to a scrapyard in Beaumont.  From the Maritime Blog.  Thanks to Dave Shirlaw for pointing it out.

The last T-2 tanker
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New York Public Library Digital Gallery – Ships

Posted on by April 16, 2010

Bark Swallow

If you are like me, relatively busy yet easily distracted and very fond of paintings, drawings and old photos of ships, you should probably skip this post.  The New York Public Library Digital galley has a wonderful collection of  drawings, paintings and photographs of all sorts of ships available on-line.   A search on the word “ship” results in 2,097 images.   A great place to loose an hour or two while browsing.   Consider yourself warned.

New York Public Library Digital Gallery – Ships

Swashbuckle and 70,000 Tons of Metal

Posted on by April 16, 2010

It was announced recently that Swashbuckle would be joining the 40 heavy metal bands on the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise. Swashbuckle, for those who are not aware of the group, is a pirate themed metal band from New Jersey. From their Facebook page, they describe themselves thusly:

Forged upon the seven seas, Swashbuckle hath come to take the metal community by storm. We’ve faced rum-runners of the northern Caribbean to bring you the most brutal in yar face metal upon the Spanish Main. If ye be double crossin’ us, we’ll make ye walk the plank ye scurvy dogs! Yarr! Swab the poop-deck, and set sail for the Pirate Metal experience of your lifetime ye hornswogglers! Cheers!
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The Wahine Disaster in Wellington Harbour

Posted on by April 16, 2010

Forty two years go the Lyttelton–Wellington ferry Wahine sank in Wellington harbor with the loss of 53 lives. It was New Zealand’s worst modern maritime disaster. The Wahine’s sinking coincided with the advent of television news broadcasting in New Zealand bringing images of the sinking into New Zealand homes and to television screens around the world.

The Wahine Disaster

Large Model of H.M.S. Leviathan to be Sold in Maritime Sale

Posted on by April 16, 2010

Large Model of H.M.S. Leviathan to be Sold in Aid of Rotherham Sea Cadet Corps in Maritime Sale

A monumental model of H.M.S. Leviathan will be offered by Charles Miller Ltd on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 in his sale of Maritime Models, Instruments & Art in London (25, Blythe Road, W14).

A dockyard model, this 1st class armored cruiser was built by John Brown & Co. Ltd of Clydebank for the Royal Navy in 1901 and is 1/48th of the original size. Measuring over four metres in length, the ship is estimated at £40,000-60,000. The ship is being sold by the Rotherham Sea Cadets, who have had it for the last 50 years. The money will be used to support the day to day running of the cadets.

Charles Miller Ltd’s sale will comprise almost 250 lots ranging from artifacts relating to the Georgian Navy to Fine Ship Models as well as Scientific and Navigational Instruments and Marine Works of Art.