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Category Archives: History
Georgian-Era British Sailors Lived on Ample Meat and Beer, Study Shows
In the last days of the age of sail, British sailing ships, limejuicers, as they were known, had reputation as “hungry ships,” of offering poor quality provisions and not much of those. Whether that reputation was or was not wholly justified at the end … Continue reading
Arthur John Priest & Violet Jessop, Titanic’s Unsinkable Survivors
Arthur John Priest was a stoker, or fireman, on the RMS Titanic. His job was to shovel coal into the ship’s boilers. He survived the Titanic’s sinking of 1912. He also was aboard the RMS Olympic, the sistership to the Titanic, when she collided with HMS … Continue reading
Saving the Titanic – A Documentary View from the Floor Plates
A very well done documentary from PBS, Saving the Titanic. Watch Full Program on PBS. See more from Saving the Titanic.
Bob Ballard Discusses Titanic on the Colbert Report
Robert Ballard, the oceanographer who lead the expedition which discovered the wreck of the Titanic in 1985, was interviewed by Stephen Colbert on the Colbert Report last night. He discusses how the search for the Titanic was a cover for … Continue reading
Posted in Current, History, Lore of the Sea, Ships
Tagged Colbert Report, Robert Ballard, Stephen Colbert, Titanic
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Reliving the Titanic’s Last Days in Real Time on Twitter or iPad App
The truly Titanic obsessed do not have to wait for the centennial of the tragic sinking of the so-called “unsinkable” passenger liner. They now can follow the Titanic via either a Twitter feed or an iPad app which mark down the events of leading up to … Continue reading
Posted in Current, History, Lore of the Sea, Ships
Tagged iPad app, real-time, Titanic, Twitter feed
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Happy 50th Birthday Schooner Mary Day !
Roughly a year ago we posted about the 75th anniversary of Captain Frank Swift buying laid up schooners which had previously carried stone, lumber, hay and all manner of goods, and began carrying vacationers to cruise in the Maine summers. Many … Continue reading
Posted in Current, History, Lore of the Sea
Tagged Maine windjammer fleet, Mary Day, schooner
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PT 728, World War II Patrol Torpedo Boat, for Sale in Hammacher Schlemmer Catalog
Hammacher Schlemmer’s catalog is subtitled: “Offering the Best, the Only and the Unexpected for 164 years.” One item for sale certainly qualifies as “unique.” They currently list for sale the World War II PT-728, the only PT boat in existence licensed … Continue reading
Posted in Current, History, Lore of the Sea, Ships
Tagged Hammacher Schlemmer, PT boat, PT-728, world war II
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Tall Ships: The Privateer Lynx – Documentary On-line for a Limited Time
Through an agreement with Snag Films, TheSailingChannel is showing the documentary, Tall Ships: The Privateer Lynx, in HD, free of charge, for a limited time. Thanks to Tom Russell on the Linked-in Traditional Sail Professionals group for pointing out the … Continue reading
Posted in Current, History, Lore of the Sea, Ships
Tagged Snag Films, The Privateer Lynx, TheSailingChannel
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Captain Robert Falcon Scott – Heroic Leader or Tragic Bungler?
No one is exactly sure when Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his four of his fellow explorers died on their failed Antarctic expedition. Today is observed as the centenary of the deaths because March 19, 1912 was the last entry in Scott’s journal. … Continue reading
Posted in Current, History, Lore of the Sea
Tagged Antarctica, Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen
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Japanese Fishing Trawler, Carried Away by Tsunami, Found Drifting Toward British Columbia
A 150′ foot long fishing trawler carried away last March by the tsunami off the east coast of Japan has been spotted drifting in the Pacific Ocean, 120 miles off Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada. About 5 million tons of debris … Continue reading
Posted in Current, History, Lore of the Sea, Ships
Tagged Aomori prefecture, British Columbia, Canada, Hachinohe, Haida Gwaii, Japanese Fishing Trawler, tsunami
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Re-Living History on the SS American Victory
The waters around Tampa Bay may appear to step back in time tomorrow as the World War II Victory ship SS American Victory leaves the dock for her first cruise in nearly three years. The critically acclaimed “Re-Live History Cruise” will feature reenactors, … Continue reading
Posted in Current, History, Lore of the Sea, Ships
Tagged Re-Live History Cruise, SS American Victory, Tampa
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The Two Frigates Hermione – Part 2 : l’ Hermione, 1780 – Freedom’s Frigate
If HMS Hermione, commissioned in 1783, became a symbol of Royal Navy cruelty and bloody mutiny, the French light frigate l’ Hermione, commissioned in 1779, would become a symbol of American independence. On March 21, 1780, the 23 year old Gilbert du … Continue reading
Posted in Current, History, Lore of the Sea, Ships
Tagged Charente-Maritime, France, French light frigate, Gilbert du Motier, l' Hermoine, Marquis de Lafayette, Rochefort
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The Two Frigates Hermione – Part 1: HMS Hermione, 1797 – Brutality, Murder and Mutiny
There were two frigates, both named Hermione, both launched within a few years of each other. The British HMS Hermione would become a symbol of cruelty and bloody mutiny, whereas the French Hermione would carry the young Gilbert Motier, better known as … Continue reading
Vanishing Sail – A Documentary about West Indian Commercial Sail
Thanks to Dexter Donham for pointing out this trailer for Vanishing Sail, a documentary still under production and expected to be out in 2013. Filmed in the Grenadines, Vanishing Sail looks at the sailing vessels that once were both the lifeblood of Caribbean commerce. From … Continue reading
Posted in Current, History, Lore of the Sea, Ships
Tagged Grenadines, Vanishing Sail, West Indian Commercial Sail
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Record Year for Ship Scrapping & ex-Exxon Valdez Heading for Scrap Yard
The twenty eight year old bulk carrier Oriental Nicety was recently sold for scrap for $16 million. The ship was originally a tanker and has four owners and as many names. She is best known as the Exxon Valdez, the single hull … Continue reading
Posted in Current, History, Lore of the Sea, Ships
Tagged Bligh Reef, BP Deepwater Horizon, Exxon Valdez, Oriental Nicety, Prince William Sound
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Winnie Breegle, WWII WAVE and Code Talker Speaks of Her Service
Earlier this month, 90 year old Winnie Breegle spoke at the 2012 Women’s History Month celebration at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Panama City, FL. She had quite a story to tell. Not only was she a WAVE (Woman Accepted for Volunteer Emergency … Continue reading
Posted in Current, History, Lore of the Sea
Tagged code talkers, Navajo, WAVE, Winnie Breegle, Woman Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, world war II
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CBC’s Land and Sea – Pirates and Privateers, Now Online
We posted previously about “Pirates and Privateers,” a documentary on CBC’s Land and Sea. The 20 minute documentary is now available on-line. It presents a distinctive view of piracy and privateering from the perspective of the Canadian Maritimes, not often seen by those of us … Continue reading
Posted in Current, History, Lore of the Sea
Tagged CBC's Land and Sea, Pirates and Privateers
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The Mystery of the Osberg Viking Ship – Seaworthy or Only Decorative ?
In 1904 and 1905, archaeologists Haakon Shetelig and Gabriel Gustafson excavated a burial mound at the Oseberg farm near Tønsberg in Vestfold county, Norway that contained a well-preserved Viking ship. The Osberg ship was reconstructed and has became Norway’s largest tourist … Continue reading
Posted in Current, History, Lore of the Sea, Ships
Tagged New Oseberg Ship Foundation, Norway, Osberg ship, replica
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Evacuation Near Port of Marseille to Remove 1-ton World War II German Bomb
In November, we posted about how a drought on the Rhine River was exposing unexploded World War II munitions, and then in December about the evacuation of half of the German city of Koblenz, when several large bombs were found buried in … Continue reading
Posted in Current, History, Lore of the Sea
Tagged American bomb, French Mediterranean port. Marseille, German bomb, world war II
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Remembering the SV Concordia
Two years and one month ago today, the SV Concordia, a school ship operated by West Island College International, was knocked down and sank off the coast of Brazil. Fortunately, all 64 passengers and crew aboard were rescued. The final … Continue reading
