80 Years Ago Today, Wavy Navy Pilots Flying Stringbags Cripple the Mighty Bismarck

Posted on by May 26, 2021

Bismarck

On the evening of May 26, 1941, eighty years ago today, a squadron of obsolete biplanes flown by volunteer pilots succeeded in crippling the Bismarck, the mightiest battleship in the German Kriegsmarine. A revised repost.

The Bismarck was about to escape to the safety of Brest in occupied France. Two days before, in the Battle of Denmark Strait, the German battleship sank the British battle cruiser HMS Hood in six minutes. Then, after a chase of several days, pursued by a large British flotilla, the Bismarck was about to get away.  

On the stormy evening of May 26, in heavy seas and only an hour’s worth of daylight left to stop the German ship, a squadron of fifteen Fairey Swordfish biplanes was launched from the carrier HMS Ark Royal.  The pilots of the Swordfish biplanes were all members of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, a corps of civilian volunteers who served alongside Royal Navy and Royal Navy Reserve personnel. The wavy stripes on RNVR officers’ sleeves differentiated them from RN/RNR officers, and gave the group the nickname, the “Wavy Navy.”  

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Update: Tall Ship Zebu Declared a Wreck

Posted on by May 25, 2021

Attempts to salvage the historic tall ship Zebu have failed. Last week, the 100′ long brigantine, built in Sweden in 1938, broke from its moorings and drifted onto the Holyhead New Harbour breakwater in Wales, where she became hard aground. Attempts to save the ship were thwarted by a storm that hit Holyhead on Friday, with winds of up to 70 miles per hour, subjecting the already damaged ship to a horrendous pounding by both wind and sea. Zebu suffered further devastating damage in the storm. The captain then had to make the difficult decision to declare Zebu a wreck. Nature had now had the final say.

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From a Sea of Troubles, Navy Charts New Course Ahead

Posted on by May 24, 2021

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday aboard the littoral combat ship USS Detroit

In January of this year, while speaking before the annual Surface Navy Association symposium, US Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday was blunt. He said, “I don’t mean to be dramatic, but I feel like if the Navy loses its head, if we go off course and we take our eyes off those things we need to focus on, I think we may not be able to recover in this century.”

Now, as the Biden administration readies a Navy budget proposal this week to send to lawmakers. Adm. Gilday insists that the Navy is on a “positive trajectory” but that it will have to rebuild confidence under congressional scrutiny as it prepares a new strategic plan that’ll include another long-term investment: unmanned vehicles.

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Hope Reef, Start of the World’s Largest Coral Reef Restoration Program

Posted on by May 23, 2021

What does cat food have to do with coral reefs? Mars Petcare catfood brand SHEBA®  has partnered with The Nature Conservancy to develop what it claims is the world’s largest coral restoration program, expected to cover more than 185,000 square meters around the world by the end of 2029.

Earlier this month, the partner organizations unveiled the first images and videos of ‘Sheba Hope Reef’, the starting location for the global initiative. Work to restore the reef, off the coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia, began two years ago and, in that time, coral cover has increased from, 5% to 55%. The reef, which can be seen on Google Earth, has been built to spell the word H-O-P-E and is intended as a symbol to show the world how positive change can happen within our lifetime.

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Ocean Revival Adventures – the World’s Most Dangerous Row

Posted on by May 22, 2021

While getting our boat ready to move to her summer mooring, I had the good fortune to meet Ian Clinton and Simon Chalk, members of the Ocean Revival Adventures crew, waiting with their ocean rowing boats at Liberty Landing in New York harbor for a suitable weather window to set off on what has been dubbed the “world’s most dangerous row.”

From their website:  Ocean Revival 2020 is a team of serving and former serving Royal Marine Commandos, who have fought alongside each other in 45 Commando. They have now teamed up to take the fight against plastic by rowing across the North Atlantic Ocean, rowing a route that has never been completed before and one that is statistically the most dangerous and arduous ocean row to attempt.

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Update: Golden Ray Salvage Delayed by Fire

Posted on by May 21, 2021

The salvage job to remove the car carrier Golden Ray that rolled on its side as it departed the Port of Brunswick, GA, in September 2019 while carrying about 4,200 vehicles, was originally planned to take around eight weeks and to be finished by last Christmas. Now, months behind schedule, the project continues to face new challenges. Salvors using cutting torches sparked a significant fire last Friday that wasn’t extinguished until Monday. There were no reported injuries to the salvors or firefighters.

Marine Log reports that naval architects and response engineers are assessing the fire’s impact on the structure of the remaining wreck and the custom-fabricated lifting structures welded to its top. Meantime, wreck removal personnel continue to assess, repair, and replace equipment on the VB-10000 heavy lift vessel.

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Last Ditch Appeal to Save the Tall Ship Falls of Clyde from Scrapping or Scuttling

Posted on by May 20, 2021

Supporters in Scotland are mounting a last-ditch effort to save the Falls of Clyde from scrapping or scuttling in Hawaii. The Falls of Clyde, launched in 1878 in Port Glasgow, Scotland, is the only remaining iron-hulled four-masted full-rigged ship and the only surviving sail-driven oil tanker in the world.  

In late April, the Hawaii Department of Transportation’s Harbors Division put out a request for proposals for the “removal of the derelict sailing vessel Falls of Clyde from Honolulu Harbor.”  The bids are due at 10 a.m. Friday.

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Arthur Beale: London Chandlery Closing after 500 Years, Victim of the Pandemic and High Rents

Posted on by May 19, 2021

London’s yacht-chandler Arthur Beale will close its doors on June 24, after being in business for more than 500 years. Located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in what is now London’s West End, the store is shutting down due to high rents and the impact of the pandemic.

Originally founded by rope-maker, John Buckinghams, sometime around 1500, no one knows how old the business is exactly. In 1890, Arthur Beale joined the company as an office boy. The shop was re-named after him in the early 1900s.

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Master Hawaiian Navigator Chad Kalepa Baybayan Dies at 65

Posted on by May 18, 2021

Chad Kālepa Baybayan, a revered Hawaiian navigator and captain of the Polynesian voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa, died on April 8 while visiting family in Seattle. He was 64. His daughter Kala Tanaka said the cause was a heart attack.

Chad Kalepa Baybayan, part of the Hawaiian renaissance of Polynesian voyaging, was one of only five Hawaiians along with 11 Micronesians initiated in 2007 into Pwo, a 2,000-year-old society of deep-sea navigators, by Master Navigator Mau Piailug of Satawal.

Beginning in the late 1970s, Baybayan sailed on Hokule’a for more than 40 years. He also served as captain and navigator on the voyaging canoes Hawaiiloa and Hokualakai. He sailed on major voyages in the South Pacific, the West Coast of North America, Micronesia, and Japan.

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Historic Tall Ship Zebu Aground, Flooded, on Holyhead Breakwater

Posted on by May 17, 2021

This has been a terrible few days for the historic tall ship Zebu.  On Thursday, the 100′ long brigantine, built in Sweden in 1938, encountered unspecified difficulties and had to be towed out of shipping lanes off Wales by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). The ship was towed to an anchorage at Holyhead.

On Saturday, the ship broke from its moorings and drifted onto the Holyhead New Harbour breakwater, where she became hard aground. A rescue mission was launched by HM Coastguards’ Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre – but was ultimately unsuccessful. The ship heeled over as the tide fell, rolling more than 45 degrees and subsequently flooding.

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Dutch Shipyard to Build Canopée, French “Rocket Ship” with Wing Sails

Posted on by May 16, 2021

The Dutch shipyard Neptune Marine has begun construction of the sailing cargo vessel Canopée, which will transport Ariane 6 rockets from Europe to the launch site in Kourou in French Guyana. The ship will feature 1,500 square meter sails to lower fuel consumption and emissions.

The cutting of steel was started just before last Christmas and the first bottom sections are under construction. The outfitting completion will be executed at Neptune Hardinxveld. Delivery of the vessel is scheduled end of 2022 after a series of trials and tests.

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New Study Reveals Multi-Ethnic Crew on the Mary Rose

Posted on by May 15, 2021

The Mary Rose, often described as King Henry VIII’s favorite warship, sank on July 19, 1545 during the Battle of the Solent with the loss of most of its crew of 415. When the ship was raised in 1982, the remains of at least 179 crew members were discovered, together with thousands of objects ranging from weaponry to tools and games. Many of the crew’s skeletal remains were found to be well preserved, allowing scientists to investigate the backgrounds of the crew.

A recent study by researchers from Cardiff University, the Mary Rose Trust, and the British Geological Survey, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, used a technique called multi-isotope analysis on teeth to investigate where eight crew members spent their early years. The results suggest significant ethnic diversity in the Tudor Navy.

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New Global Craze — Shipwreck Wine Without the Shipwreck

Posted on by May 14, 2021

Retrieved submerged bottles of Ocean Fathoms wine.
Image: Lara Castaognia

A new craze is spreading across the world of wine. Call it “shipwreck wine” without the shipwreck. Off the shores of California, Croatia, Spain, Britain, France, Argentina, Italy, and China; vintners are aging wines underwater in specially constructed ocean wine cellars. They report that the ocean-aged wines mature faster and, depending on the wine, were brighter and fruitier. The near-constant cool temperature underwater coupled with the total lack of oxygen is credited with the improved quality of the wine when it emerges from the briny deep.

The underwater wine cellars around the globe were inspired by the discovery of a shipwreck in the Baltic in 2010. In the wreck’s hold, divers found 30 bottles of champagne thought to pre-date the French Revolution on the Baltic seabed.  Remarkably, the champagne was still highly drinkable. When the Baltic bubbly sold at auction, a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, believed to date from between 1782 and 1788, went for 30,000 euros or roughly $43,500. 

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Remembering Susan Ahn Cuddy, First Female Asian American Officer, Gunnery Officer in US Navy

Posted on by May 13, 2021

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, so it seems appropriate to remember the life and accomplishments of Susan Ahn Cuddy, a Korean American who would serve as the first female Asian-American officer in the US Navy and would also become the first female Navy gunnery instructor.

After leaving the Navy at the end of World War II, Cuddy also worked as an intelligence analyst and section chief at the National Security Agency and ran a think tank during the Cold War. She worked on top-secret projects for the Defense Department and supervised more than 300 scholars and experts in Russian affairs.

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Fin Whales Found Dead Beneath HMAS Sydney at US Naval Base

Posted on by May 12, 2021

As if anyone needed a reminder of how vulnerable whales are to ship strikes, when HMAS Sydney pulled into Naval Base San Diego over the weekend, it brought with it a grim cargo. The carcasses of two fin whales were dislodged from beneath the hull of the Royal Australian Navy destroyer. One whale was 20m long while the other was about 8m and are suspected to have been a mother and a calf.

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Cruise Line Threatens to Pull Out of Florida — When Politics and Policy Collide

Posted on by May 11, 2021

Florida politics on Covid-19 vaccinations threatens to disrupt the cruise industry restart in Florida. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently announced guidelines for trial cruises with volunteer passengers to test safety measures, which will be required for each ship before resuming regular passenger voyages in US waters. To bypass the trial cruises, the CDC says at least 98% of crew members and 95% of passengers must have been vaccinated.

Almost simultaneously, the Florida legislature passed a law prohibiting businesses from asking whether employees or customers have been vaccinated against Covid-19. In response, Frank Del Rio, the CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. said that the new law could cause the company to suspend Florida departures and move its ships elsewhere.

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Billionaire Jeff Bezos Spending $500 Million on Three Masted Superyacht

Posted on by May 10, 2021

Yacht Eos, reported to be similar but smaller than Bezos’ new yacht.

Bloomberg is reporting that Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos is spending upwards of $500 million to have a 417 feet (127-meter) long three-masted superyacht built at Oceano in the Netherlands.

Few details are available on the newbuilding, but reports are that it will have a second yacht as a tender and that the tender will be large enough to have its own helipad. (It has been suggested that the rigging on the superyacht would interfere with landing a helicopter.)

In terms of size, the new yacht will be roughly twice as long as the clipper ship Cutty Sark, and, in financial terms, will cost twice what Bezos paid when he purchased the Washington Post newspaper in 2013.

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Mysterious Gray Whale Die-Off On West Coast Continues

Posted on by May 8, 2021

In early April, four gray whales were found dead in the San Francisco Bay area in a span of eight days. Last week another three dead gray whales washed ashore in the Bay area. Further north, a dead gray whale was also found on Klipsan Beach, WA, last week.

The deaths are a continuation of elevated gray whale strandings occurring along the west coast of North America from Mexico through Alaska since January 1, 2019. Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have declared the occurrences as an “unusual mortality event,” or UME, defined by the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act as an unexpected and significant die-off of a marine mammal species requiring an immediate response.

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HMS Victory Safely Berthed

Posted on by May 7, 2021

Here is a new video from The National Museum of the Royal Navy describing the 20 year-long project to secure HMS Victory in her dock at Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard.

As we posted back in August 2020, when HMS Victory went into drydock in the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard in 1922, she was supported by 22 steel cradles. In the almost 100 years that she has remained on the dock, the historic ship’s 3,500-tonne hull had been to slowly collapse in on itself. To save the ship, the cradles have been replaced by an innovative system of 134 “props” to distribute the load across the hull.

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