Saildrone Joins the Navy!

Posted on by October 5, 2022

We recently posted video footage shot by a Saildrone uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) from inside Hurricane Fiona, a Category 4 hurricane, barreling across the Atlantic Ocean.  For the second year, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Saildrone have sailed through hurricanes with uncrewed wind-powered vehicles. The sailing drones have also crisscrossed the North Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Bering Sea on a variety of oceanographic missions. 

Now, Saildrone is providing its latest and largest sailing drones to the US Navy. Continue reading →

Red Hook Open Studios Concert: Shepup & Friends on Historical Tanker Mary A. Whalen

Posted on by October 5, 2022

If you are in the vicinity of New York harbor on this Sunday, October 9th, you may wish to check out the Red Hook Open Studios (RHOS) concert featuring Shepup & friends on Portside NewYork‘s historic tanker Mary A. Whalen. The concert will be held from 5:30 PM to 11:00 PM on the ship at Pier 11, Atlantic Basin, Clinton Wharf Brooklyn, NY 11231.

From Portside NewYork’s press release:

Maritime and marinelife costumes encouraged during a night of music ranging from indie folk to Funk/hip hop aboard our historic oil tanker MARY A. WHALEN. The line-up is Sheila Flaherty (Shepup) and musicians Bloodman Steve, Annie Nirschel, and The Loosies curated by Shepup, a female marine engineer performing original songs written from her perspective as a mariner and human being.  Shepup will talk about how her experiences at sea influence her song writing and her work on the water. She invited the other musicians, reflecting the music community she developed from busking and open mics after moving to NYC to work on sewage tankers of the NYC Department of Environmental Protection.

Supercarrier USS Gerald R. Ford — From $13B Berthing Barge to Maiden Deployment

Posted on by October 3, 2022

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the first of the US Navy’s newest generation of aircraft carriers and the largest and most expensive warship ever built, is ready to begin her maiden deployment after years of delay and cost overruns.

The Ford’s keel was laid in 2009 and was estimated to cost $10.49 billion. It ultimately cost $13.316 billion.

The ship was delivered to the Navy in 2017, despite several critical ship’s systems not being operational. As of 2020, only five of eleven of the Advanced Weapons Elevators that lift munitions to the flight deck actually worked. 

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The Hurricane That Destroyed the Spanish Treasure Fleet of 1715

Posted on by October 2, 2022

The scope and scale of the property damage and loss of life resulting from Hurricane Ian to Florida and the Carolinas are still being assessed. The hurricane is likely to rank among the most destructive storms to strike to state in recent history.   

Hurricanes, of course, are nothing new to the region. On July 31, 1715, a hurricane struck the east coast of Florida, sinking 10 Spanish treasure ships and killing nearly 1,000 people. All of the gold and silver onboard at the time would not be recovered until 250 years later.

As recounted by History.com, on July 24, 10 Spanish ships and one French ship left Havana, Cuba, on their way to Europe, carrying tons of gold and silver coins, about 14 million pesos worth. The Spanish ships stayed very close to the Florida coast, as was the custom, while the French ship, the Grifon, ventured further out from the shore. A week later, as the ships were between Cape Canaveral and Fort Pierce, in modern-day Florida, the winds picked up dramatically.

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Update: Arson Charges on USS Bonhomme Richard Up in Smoke, Seaman Mays Not Guilty

Posted on by September 30, 2022

Yesterday, we posted Bonhomme Richard Arson Trial — Will the Case Go Up in Smoke? that discussed the end of the trial phase of the court martial of 21-year-old Seaman Ryan Mays, who was charged with deliberately setting the fire on the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard. We asked whether the conviction of Seaman Mays would be an act of justice or simply scapegoating? We noted that that was now up to Judge Capt. Butler to decide. No timeline was provided as to how long Butler will take to deliberate on the case.

It didn’t take Judge Butler long to make his determination. Only a day after the end of the trial, CBS8.com reports that Captain Derek Butler found Mays to be not guilty. Butler ruled that prosecutors failed to present enough hard evidence that tied Mays to the arson and instead relied on a circumstantial case, buoyed by the strength of just a single eyewitness.

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Bonhomme Richard Arson Trial — Will the Case Go Up in Smoke?

Posted on by September 29, 2022

The verdict in the court-martial of 21-year-old Seaman Ryan Mays, accused of deliberately setting the fire that torched the billion-plus dollar amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard, is in the hands of a military judge. If convicted of arson and willful hazarding a vessel, Mays could face a sentence of life in prison.

Now that the trial has concluded, it is hard not to wonder whether the Navy’s case will go up in smoke. The nine-day trial featured a Navy case that was largely circumstantial and relied heavily on a single witness, whose story changed over time. The Navy also admitted to identifying and interviewing another suspect but being forced to stop looking into the sailor because he was discharged from the service.

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Wreckage of SS Mesaba Located — Ship That Radioed Warning to Titanic

Posted on by September 29, 2022

Graphic: Bangor University

In April of 1912, the cargo-passenger liner SS Mesaba radioed an ice warning to RMS Titanic. The message was received but never made it to the bridge. 

The supposedly unsinkable Titanic then hit an iceberg and sank on her maiden voyage, with the loss of 1,500 lives. Mesaba herself was sunk, by a torpedo in World War I in 1918.

Now, the BBC reports that Bangor University researchers, using state-of-the art multibeam sonar, have been able to identify the Mesaba‘s wreck and pinpoint her final resting place.

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Weird Beasties in Loch Ness, But No, Not Nessie

Posted on by September 27, 2022

On a recent trip to Scotland, we visited the beautiful Loch Ness. While we were there, we heard of a sighting of a weird beastie in the loch. But no, not Nessie, the famous monster, or even a loch kelpie. The beast, or more properly, beasties were a small herd of alpacas, that had escaped their enclosure and decided to go for a swim.

What are alpacas doing swimming in Loch Ness? Loch Ness Alpacas explains on their website:

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Flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth Arrives in New York to Host Atlantic Future Forum

Posted on by September 26, 2022

The Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has arrived in New York harbor, dropping anchor within sight of the Statue of Liberty. The carrier is accompanied by her frigate escort, HMS Richmond, which sailed up the Hudson River for a berth on Manhattan Island. 

The 65,000-tonne carrier will serve as the floating conference center for the 5th Atlantic Future Forum – an event that brings together the brightest minds and most influential thinkers from defense and beyond to strengthen UK and US bonds.

The carrier was welcomed into New York by the United Kingdom’s Ambassador to the United States, Dame Karen Pierce. Continue reading →

The Guns of the USS Texas

Posted on by September 25, 2022

We recently posted videos of the 110-year-old battleship USS Texas currently being repaired and refurbished in drydock at the Gulf Copper Shipyard in Galveston.  The Texas is the oldest remaining dreadnought battleship and only one of six surviving ships to have served in both World War I and World War II.

I still have vivid memories of visiting the battleship Texas as an elementary school kid. Playing on an anti-aircraft gun was particularly fun, as I recall.  Here is a History Guy video about the guns of the venerable battleship.

Guns of USS Texas

Why Did Sailors Pull the Gun Carriage Bearing the Queen’s Coffin?

Posted on by September 24, 2022

The BBC recently reported on a young Royal Navy sailor, Able Seaman Hollie Randle, one of 142 sailors who pulled the gun carriage bearing Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin in the state funeral procession. Seaman Randle said that she was “overwhelmed” by the honor and that, “if someone had told me a year ago I’d be taking the Queen’s coffin to her funeral, I wouldn’t have believed them.”

For those of us on the other side of the pond, this raises the question, “Why use Royal Navy sailors, rather than horses, to draw the gun carriage carrying the coffin?” Apparently, the tradition originated with Queen Victoria’s funeral on February 2, 1901.

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Saildrone Sails Through 50′ Waves Inside Cat 4 Hurricane Fiona

Posted on by September 23, 2022

Saildrone, Inc. and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have released video footage gathered by a Saildrone uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) from inside Hurricane Fiona, a Category 4 hurricane, barreling across the Atlantic Ocean.

For the second year, NOAA and Saildrone are hurricane chasing with uncrewed wind-powered vehicles. Last year, the Saildrone Explorer SD 1045 was directed into the midst of Hurricane Sam where it battled 50-foot waves and winds of over 120 mph to collect critical scientific data.

This year, the Saildrone Explorer SD 1078 was sent into Hurricane Fiona, which is currently on a path northward in the Atlantic Ocean. The storm drenched Bermuda with heavy rain and is expected to hit the Canadian province of Nova Scotia on Friday. Hurricane Fiona is the first Category 4 storm of the 2022 season. SD 1078 is also battling 50-foot waves and winds measured over 100 mph.

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Update: “Fat Leonard” Detained in Venezuela, Trying to Flee to Russia

Posted on by September 22, 2022

In early September, just weeks before his sentencing in a decade-long Navy bribery and corruption scandal, Leonard Glenn Francis, known as “Fat Leonard,” escaped from house arrest in his San Diego home and fled the country. The Malaysian businessman is the center of the largest bribery scandal in US Navy history.

Now, USNI News reports that authorities in Venezuela arrested “Fat Leonard” Francis as he attempted to board a plane to Russia, officials said late Wednesday.

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Mass Stranding: 230 Pilot Whales Stranded on Tasmanian Beach

Posted on by September 21, 2022

More than 200 whales have been found stranded on a remote beach at the entrance to Macquarie Harbour on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia. Half of the pod, thought to be pilot whales, are believed to be still alive.

Experts were planning a rescue of the 230 whales discovered on Wednesday but the operation would be “complex” due to the location, Tasmania’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment said in a statement.

The stranding comes exactly two years after Australia’s worst whale stranding on record, which occurred in the same location. On 21 September 2020, 470 long-finned pilot whales were found beached on sandbars. A week-long rescue effort saved 111 whales, but authorities had to dispose of more than 350 carcasses.

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Researcher Solves Mystery of Ancient Mediterranean Trade Routes Sailing Replica Ship

Posted on by September 20, 2022

Photo: David Gal

Ancient trade routes in the Mediterranean have long been a mystery. How was it that sailing ships of antiquity, that could not sail well to weather, succeeded in carrying grain and other cargoes from the east to Rome against the prevailing westerly winds? 

Israeli researcher David Gal, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Haifa, studied wind patterns and ancient texts about the weather to find the answer. And then, he and his team sailed a replica of a 5th century BCE ship across part of the Mediterranean to test his theories. The results of his analysis were published this summer in the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory.

The Washington Post quotes Gal, “We started with a trivial question: How did Roman ships visiting the Levant return to Rome? One would simply say, ‘Oh, they turned them around and sailed the other direction.’ However, a windward journey was not practical in the kind of ships they used. So how did they accomplish these voyages?” 

Continue reading →