Celebrating Frederick Douglass on Valentine’s Day — “I Will Take to the Water”

Happy Valentine’s Day! In honor of both the day and Black History Month, here is an updated repost about Frederick Douglass. But what does Valentine’s Day have to do with Frederick Douglass?  As a slave, Douglass never knew the date … Continue reading

Update: Ship’s Bell Recovered from Wreck of USS Jacob Jones, First US Destroyer Lost in Combat

In August 2022, we posted that British divers had located the wreck of the USS Jacob Jones in over 100 meters of water, 40 miles off the Isles of Scilly. The ship, a Tucker Class destroyer, was sunk during World … Continue reading

On Lincoln’s Birthday — Lincoln’s Improved Camel Patent

Today is the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday on February 20th, 1809.  He is know for rising from poverty, working as a rail splitter, and as a self-taught country lawyer before being elected as a congressman and ultimately as president. … Continue reading

Remembering Jesse L. Brown, First African-American Naval Pilot

In honor of Black History Month, an updated repost about the first African-American pilot in the US Navy, Jesse L. Brown. The story goes that when young Jesse Leroy Brown worked in the cotton fields of Mississippi beside his sharecropper … Continue reading

Has Amelia Earhart’s Long-Lost Plane Been Found in the Pacific?

In 1937, Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan set off on a quest to circumnavigate the globe. Having completed most of their journey, Earhart’s plane disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean near Howland Island. In the intervening 87 years, … Continue reading

Black History Month Repost — William Tillman and the Privateer Jefferson Davis

An updated repost in honor of Black History Month.  William Tillman was one of the first black heroes of the American Civil War. He was not a soldier but rather a 27-year-old  cook-steward on the schooner S.J. Waring.  On July … Continue reading

Black History Month — John Henry Turpin : Pioneer, Survivor, and Overlooked Hero

An updated repost in honor of Black History Month.  John Henry Turpin was one of the first Black Chief Petty Officers to serve in the United States Navy. He was also a survivor of two naval disasters — the catastrophic … Continue reading

Black History Month Repost — Harriet Tubman & the Great Combahee Ferry Raid

Born a slave, Harriet Tubman escaped from enslavement and became a leading “conductor” on the “Underground Railroad” which helped slaves escape from bondage in the South to freedom in the North and in Canada, prior to the Civil War.   … Continue reading

Mysterious 19th Century Shipwreck Washes up on Newfoundland Beach

Gordon Blackmore was out hunting seabirds early in the morning on Cape Ray beach on the southwestern tip of Newfoundland, Canada when he saw the capsized wreck of a large wooden ship that had washed ashore in shallow water. Neil … Continue reading

On Holocaust Remembrance Day — MS St. Louis and the “Voyage of the Damned”

On Holocaust Remembrance Day, an updated repost, remembering the tragic voyage of the German passenger liner St. Louis in 1939. The ship carried 908 Jewish refugees fleeing from Nazi Germany. The ship and its passengers departed from Hamburg but were … Continue reading

Clipper Ship City of Adelaide Director Peter Christopher Awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia

Congratulations to Clipper Ship City of Adelaide Director Peter Christopher, on being awarded the  Medal of the Order of Australia for his services to Maritime History. Peter Christopher convened the first meeting of Adelaide volunteers to save the City of … Continue reading

Herlaugshagen, Scandinavia’s Oldest Ship Burial Mound and the Missing Ship

A new analysis has concluded that a large, grassy hill in Norway known as the Herlaugshagen burial mound was likely the site of a pre-Viking ship burial. What is fascinating is that the site was excavated three times during the … Continue reading

“New Nessie” on New Brighton Beach — Basking Shark or Plesiosaur?

On January 5th, Stephen Davies was out on his daily run at New Brighton Beach near Liverpool, UK when he came across what appeared to be the carcass of a sea monster that had washed ashore.   He said: “I was … Continue reading

The End for the Falls of Clyde? Hawaii Seeking New Contractor to Remove Ship From Honolulu Harbor

The State of Hawaii is moving closer to removing the historic four-masted iron-hulled ship Falls of Clyde from Honolulu harbor, where it has languished since 2008.  Though owned by the nonprofit Friends of the Falls of Clyde, the state government … Continue reading

New Year’s Repost: Watching the Ball Drop — the Nautical Origins of a New Year’s Tradition

Tonight, millions will watch in person, online, or on television, as a jeweled ball drops in Times Square in New York City at exactly midnight to mark the arrival of the New Year, 2024. After several years in which the … Continue reading

Admiral Yi Sun-sin, Korea’s Greatest Military Hero

Admiral Yi Sun-sin died 425 years ago today, in his final victory against the Japanese on behalf of the Joseon dynasty. He died of a gunshot wound at the Battle of Noryang on December 16, 1598, the closing battle of … Continue reading

Radio Broadcasts Reporting Attack on Pearl Harbor 82 Years Ago Today

An interrupted broadcast of a football game, a newsbreak during a performance by the New York Philharmonic, a weather report followed by an announcement from President Roosevelt that Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor. Reports of attacks on the Philippines. Here … Continue reading

Sally Snowman, the Last Lighthouse Keeper in the US, Set to Retire

For the last twenty years, Sally Snowman has worked as the keeper of the Boston Light on Little Brewster Island. She was the first woman to serve as lighthouse keeper at the lighthouse in Boston Harbor, the oldest continually used … Continue reading

Filmmakers Discover 128 Year Old Wreck of Steamer Africa in Lake Huron

Documentary filmmakers Yvonne Drebert and Zach Melnick were looking for invasive mussels on the bottom of Lake Huron in Canada when they came across the 150-foot-long shipwreck of the Africa. On the morning of 4 October 1895, the Africa departed … Continue reading