SS Great Britain Returns to Bristol, 51 Years Ago Today

Posted on by July 5, 2021
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 Fifty-one years ago today, 100,000 people lined the banks of the River Avon in Bristol as the SS Great Britain returned to her birthplace. In the intervening years, the rusting hulk was meticulously restored to her former glory and now rests in the drydock where she was built. As a museum ship, she is visited by between 150,000 and 200,000 visitors annually.  Here is an updated repost from several years ago about the grand old ship, followed by a video about her return to Bristol in 1970.

In the spring of 2016, I visited the museum ship SS Great Britain, in Bristol, UK.  When she was launched in 1843, the iron-hulled luxury passenger steamship SS Great Britain was described as “the greatest experiment since the Creation.”

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Happy 4th of July – A Toast to Madeira, the Wine of the Declaration of Independence and the Liberty Riots

Posted on by July 4, 2021

An updated repost from several years ago, still fitting for the day.

Happy 4th of July!  Those of us in the United States celebrate the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th 1776. Immediately after declaring independence from Great Britain, the representatives in the Continental Congress drank a toast with glasses of Madeira wine.

Why Madiera?  It was virtually the only wine available in the American colonies at the time. Wine carried by sailing ship was often spoiled in transit by the constant jostling of the ship and the wide variations of heat and cold. Wine from the island of Madeira, however, was fortified with a small amount of sugar cane brandy to help it survive the ocean voyage. Not only did the fortified wine survive the voyage but it was found that the heat and motion of the ship actually improved the quality of the wine.

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Fire on the Water — “Eye of Fire” Erupts in Gulf of Mexico

Posted on by July 3, 2021

Early Friday, bright orange flames boiled from the Gulf of Mexico off the Yucatan peninsula caused by a gas leak in an underwater pipeline. Resembling molten lava, the eruption of flames was dubbed an “eye of fire” on social media. The fire, near a Mexican state oil company Pemex drilling platform, burned for five hours before being fully extinguished.

The fire began in an underwater pipeline that connects to a platform at Pemex’s flagship Ku Maloob Zaap oil development, the company’s most important, four sources told Reuters.

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HMS Diamond Rock, the First “Stone Frigate”

Posted on by July 2, 2021

HMS Diamond Rock

As an American reading British Royal Navy history, I will admit to being initially confused, more than once, by “stone frigates“, naval establishments on land named as ships. HMS Collingwood, for example, is a stone frigate (shore establishment) of the Royal Navy, in Fareham, England. It is the lead establishment of the Maritime Warfare School.

Recently, I came across the history of the first “stone frigate,”  HMS Diamond Rock of 1803. Diamond Rock is a 175-meter-high (574 ft) uninhabited basalt island located 3 kilometers from Pointe Diamant on the Caribbean island of Martinique. The rock gets its name from the reflections that its sides cast at certain hours of the day, which evoke images of a precious stone. 

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The Summer of the Shark, Jersey Shore 1916 — the Birth of “Jaws”

Posted on by June 30, 2021

sharknjOne hundred and five years ago today, Americans learned to be afraid of sharks. An updated repost.

On the evening of July 1, 1916, Charles Vansant, 25, of Philadelphia was on vacation with his family at the beach-side resort town of Beach Haven on the New Jersey Shore. He decided to go for a swim before dinner. Shortly after he dove into the surf, he was attacked by a large shark and died of loss of blood.

Worse was yet to come. Five days later and 45 miles to the north in the resort town of Spring Lake, New Jersey, Charles Bruder, 27, a Swiss bell captain at a local hotel, was attacked and killed by a shark while swimming. The shark bit him in the abdomen and severed both his legs.

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Update: Golden Ray Salvors Consider Using Explosives to Cut Steel

Posted on by June 30, 2021

The salvors attempting to cut up the shipwreck of the car-carrier Golden Ray have run into new problems. For the last seven months, the salvors have attempted to cut the ship up using a heavy-lift catamaran VB-10,000, nicknamed the “Golden Arches.”  To make the cuts, the VB-10,000 hauls a heavy chain up through the steel hull. After delays related to equipment failures and most recently a significant fire, progress has again come to a near standstill as the chains have encountered thick structural brackets inside the hull.  

The salvors have come up with a new plan — explosives, specifically, “low hazard flexible linear-shaped charges.”  The Brunswick News quotes U.S. Coast Guardsman Michael Himes saying that the devices pack a certain amount of the explosive RDX inside a foam casing. The resulting charge delivers a precisely aimed blast that makes precise cuts through steel obstacles.

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Old Salt Blog by Email — Change in Service

Posted on by June 29, 2021

There will be some changes for anyone subscribing to the Old Salt Blog by email.  We have been using Google’s Feedburner email feed, which, over the years, has worked more or less. Google, however, is discontinuing the Feedburner email feed in July, so we have switched to a new service, follow.it. 

We are still figuring out the details and features of the new feed, so we beg for your indulgence and patience while we get things set up. Thanks.

Don & Alex Peacock, Father and Son Captains, at Boothbay Windjammer Days

Posted on by June 28, 2021

This weekend four tall ships participated in the Tall Ships Festival that this year is a part of the Boothbay Harbor Windjammer Days which continues through July 2.  Two of the tall ships, the privateer schooner Lynx and the schooner Spirit of Bermuda are commanded by captains named Peacock. The two captains happen to be father and son. Don Peacock is captain of the Lynx, while Captain Alex Peacock is at the helm of the Spirit of Bermuda. Alex represents the fifth generation of traditional ship sailors in the family. The two schooners and their father and son captains sailed in company from Nantucket to join in the festival. 

Here is a short video about the father and son and the schooners they sail.

Father & son duo help bring the tall ships to Maine together

Greece’s Corinth Canal Blocked Since January, Closed for Summer

Posted on by June 27, 2021

The Corinth Canal that connects the Gulf of Corinth in the Ionian Sea with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea, was closed by a landslide in January. It was recently announced that the canal will remain closed to marine traffic until the end of the summer 2021 season with a probable extension. 

With the four-mile-long sea-level canal through the Isthmus of Corinth closed, vessels that would otherwise use the canal must travel 185 nautical miles around the Peloponnese. 

The canal is too small for most modern cargo vessels with a maximum allowed beam of 58 feet and a maximum draft of 24 feet. 

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Mayflower Autonomous Ship Towed Back to Port, Readying For Next Transatlantic Attempt

Posted on by June 25, 2021

In September 2020, we posted about the unveiling of an autonomous craft named Mayflower, after the Pilgrim’s ship of 1620. The post title posed the question, Autonomous Mayflower, Technological Breakthrough or Hazard to Navigation?

Now that the 49-foot long trimaran has been towed back into port after completing only 10% of a planned transatlantic voyage, the question remains unanswered.

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Commodore David Hughes, Royal Navy’s Oldest Veteran, Dies at 106

Posted on by June 25, 2021

Commodore David Hughes, believed to be the Royal Navy’s oldest veteran, has died, just shy of his 107th birthday. An excerpt from the obituary on the Royal Navy website:

The New Zealand-born officer was one of the last survivors of the Yalta Conference – where Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin drew up plans for post-war Europe – one of many remarkable moments in a 32-year naval career.

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Brinkmanship in the Black Sea: Russian Ships & Jets Shadow British Warship

Posted on by June 24, 2021

Yesterday, more than 20 Russian aircraft and two coastguard ships shadowed the Royal Navy destroyer, HMS Defender, sailing near Crimea. Moscow’s defence ministry said a patrol ship fired warning shots and a jet dropped bombs in the path of HMS Defender as it sailed some 12 miles (19km) off Crimea’s coast. The UK government rejected Russia’s account of the incident and denied that any warning shots had been fired.

The BBC reports that HMS Defender was sailing from Odessa in southern Ukraine to Georgia. To get there, it passed south of the Crimea peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 in a move that has not been recognized internationally.

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Virginia Class Subs Swapping Parts Wearing Out Prematurely

Posted on by June 23, 2021

The US Navy is having a problem with its Virginia-class fast attack submarines. Secretary of the Navy Thomas Harker told the Senate Armed Services Committee that some parts are wearing out far faster than expected. The Navy has had to cannibalize hundreds of subs for working replacement parts.

“There are parts on the Virginia class that we thought were going to be life-of-the-submarine parts, and they are failing more quickly than we originally envisioned,” Harker said, adding that the service’s sub crews and parts support are having to go back in and find replacement parts.

Bloomberg reports that the U.S. Navy has swapped more than 1,600 parts among its new Virginia-class submarines since 2013 to ease maintenance bottlenecks as components that are supposed to last 33 years wear out decades sooner.

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The Mighty Dhow Obaid & Memories of the World’s Longest Schooner Wyoming

Posted on by October 13, 2022

Dhow Obaid

Last October, the mightly dhow Obaid set sail from the Majid Obaid Bin Majid Al Falasi & Sons shipyard on Dubai Creek. The Guinness Book of World Records has confirmed Obaid as the largest wooden Arabic dhow in the world. It is also one of the largest wooden ships ever built.

The Obaid of 2020 brings to mind the schooner Wyoming of 1909, often referred to as the largest wooden ship ever built. Although the two vessels are separated in time by 111 years, they have much in common. Both were built primarily of wood with steel and iron for additional strength and both push the limits of how large a wooden ship can be practically built.

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Scuttling the German High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow, 102 Years Ago Today

Posted on by June 21, 2021

German battle Cruiser Derfflinger Image: Orkney Library and Archive

Following the Armistice of November 11, 1918, which ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I, the German High Seas Fleet of 74 ships was interned at Scapa Flow, in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. While the armistice ended the fighting, it would still take six months of Allied negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty. Part of the haggling over terms of the treaty involved how to divide up the ships of the German fleet amongst the victors.

On the morning of June 21, 1919, German Admiral Erich Raeder, in command of the interned ships, sent out a flag signal, “To all Commanding Officers and the Leader of the Torpedo Boats. Paragraph Eleven of today’s date. Acknowledge. Chief of the Interned Squadron.” The signal was repeated by semaphore and searchlights.

The British had no idea what the message meant, but the German officers understood. It was an order to scuttle the fleet. Continue reading →

The Swedish Ship Götheborg Demonstrates Making Pine Tar

Posted on by June 18, 2021

Before chemical or petroleum-based sealants, tar made from pine trees had a myriad of uses; from protecting hemp ropes, lines, and cable from rot; to waterproofing canvas; for preserving wood; to being used as an antiseptic in chronic skin conditions. It was also known as Stockholm tar because a single company held a royal monopoly on its export out of Stockholm, Sweden.

In the 17th century, the Royal Navy bought most of its tar from Sweden, shifting in the 18th century to importing from its North American colonies, primarily from the Carolinas. British sailors whose hands would become stained by handling tarred lines became known as “tars.” Residents of North Carolina, where tar was produced, became known as “tar heels.”

But how does one make tar from pine? Continue reading →

Happy Juneteenth, Newest National Holiday — When Emancipation Arrived by Steamship

Posted on by June 17, 2021

USS Cornubia, ex lady Davis

Happy Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Juneteenth National Independence Day is also the newest Federal holiday. The legislation, passed by both the House and Senate, was recently signed into law by President Biden. The holiday commemorates when emancipation arrived in Galveston, Texas by steamship, 156 years ago today. Here is an updated repost. 

Although the surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia signaled the end of the nation’s Civil War on April 9, 1865, emancipation did not arrive in Texas until two ex-Confederate steamships sailed into Galveston Harbor two months later. 

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Maine Schooners Stephen Taber & Lewis R. French 150 Years Old & Still Sailing

Posted on by June 18, 2021

Schooners Stephen Taber and Lewis R French in the 2018 Great Schooner Race. (Credit: Richard Ball)

The Maine Windjammer fleet was hit hard by the pandemic last summer. Most of the schooners didn’t sail and those that did offered fewer trips. As things return closer to normal, it is a good time to consider two of the oldest commercial sailing vessels still in service, the schooner Stephen Taber and the Lewis R. French, each celebrating their 150th year.

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James Bartley, Swallowed By A Sperm Whale, & the Nature Of A Good Sea Story

Posted on by June 17, 2021

We recently posted about Michael Packard, a Cape Cod diver, who found himself scooped up inside the mouth of a humpback whale. Most of the media reports used the term “swallowed” by the whale. If the word “swallow” is defined as “cause or allow something to pass down the throat,” the description is impossible. A humpback’s esophagus is only about 4 to 5″ in diameter, far too small to swallow a diver, especially one wearing a SCUBA tank. As one might expect, Mr. Pollard was promptly spat out by the whale, fortunately with minor injuries.

Perhaps ironically, some of the largest whales are filter feeders which feed on krill, plankton, and small fish. They have throats too small to swallow a human. Toothed whales are a different story. Sperm whales, the third-largest whale species, are toothed and prey on giant squid. Some sperm whales have an esophagus several feet in diameter, large enough to swallow a squid or a human whole.

Indeed, there is the story of James Bartley, who in the late nineteenth-century on a whaling expedition off the Falkland Islands, was said to have been swallowed by a sperm whale and was found to be still alive days later in the stomach of the whale.

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Full Scholarships for Picton Castle’s Bosun School

Posted on by June 16, 2021

Exciting news from the crew of the Barque Picton Castle.  Full scholarships are now being offered to those accepted in the highly regarded Picton Castle’s Bosun School. From their announcement: 

Bosun School is going ahead this summer!

We’re thrilled to hold our tenth session of Bosun School this summer from July 14th to September 29th in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada. Bosun School is a land-based marine skills enhancement program designed for aspiring mariners who want to improve their hands-on ship and boat-related abilities.

Thanks to the support of generous funders and benefactors, we’re offering a full scholarship for every Bosun School student. Continue reading →