Looking Back Over 25 Years — Remembering the Great New York Boatlift

Posted on by September 11, 2026
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The attacks of 9/11 do not seem to be 25 years in the past. Everything remains too vivid to be that long ago, and yet the evidence of the time slipping by is all around me. My sons are now 34 and 30.. They were 9 and 5 when I picked them up from their school, directly across the water from where the towers had stood that morning, but by noon were a billowing maelstrom of flame, ash, and smoke.

It was a day of horror and disbelief, yet also, in the words of the old Paul Simon song, it was a day of “miracle and wonder.”  Great New York Boatlift was part of the “miracle and wonder.” The wholly unplanned boatlift was a spontaneous maritime evacuation of an estimated 500,000 people trapped in Lower Manhattan in under 10 hours. The boatlift has been under-reported by the media, which is all the more reason to remember the mariners of New York who stepped up to perform what has been called the largest sea rescue in history.

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Happy Juneteenth — When Emancipation Arrived by Steamship Over 160 Years Ago

Posted on by June 19, 2026

USS Cornubia, ex Lady Davis

Happy Juneteenth! Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Juneteenth is also the newest Federal holiday, signed into law in 2020. The holiday commemorates the arrival of emancipation in Galveston, Texas, by steamship, 161 years ago today.

While the end of slavery is a landmark well worthy of celebration in a nation notionally founded on the truth that all men are created equal, the current administration has attempted to deny black history in part by slashing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and taking other actions as well that inflict disproportionate economic harm on African Americans.

President Joe Biden signed legislation in 2021 establishing Juneteenth National Independence Day as a federal holiday, after the measure received the Senate’s unanimous consent and passed the House on a 415–14 vote.

When President Trump was reelected, he was not happy with the new federal holiday. Without Congressional approval, he couldn’t abolish Juneteenth as a holiday, so instead, he got petty and cut free admission days in honor of Juneteenth and Martin Luther King Jr. Day at more than 100 national parks across America.

Instead, he substituted his own birthday, June 14, as a free admission day.  As Robert Reich noted, “there you have it: the venal combination of Trump’s white supremacy and his malignant narcissism Continue reading →

Happy Cinco (or Sinko) De Mayo

Posted on by May 5, 2026

Happy Cinco De Mayo (Spanish for ‘Fifth of May’)!  Cinco de Mayo, which isn’t widely celebrated in Mexico, commemorates an underdog victory over France in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. The victory was galvanizing for the Mexican forces — and for those supporting them from afar — but it was short-lived, as France later occupied Mexico for a few years. Still, Cinco de Mayo continued to be celebrated in Puebla and, perhaps more significantly, by Mexican-Americans north of the border.

Hegseth’s Pentagon Spends Over $22 M on Lobster, Crab, and Steak, As Warship Sailors Go Hungry

Posted on by April 22, 2026

In Trump’s ongoing war of choice against Iran, the US Navy’s buildup involves two aircraft carrier strike groups, over a dozen warships, and tens of thousands of troops in the region. The US armada represents the largest naval deployment to the Middle East since 2023.

Unfortunately, the crews aboard many of these ships have already suffered through extended deployments, exceeding six months. These deployments have significantly degraded morale, increased stress, and damaged retention rates.

Recently, there have been multiple reports that sailors and Marines aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli and the supercarrier USS Abraham Lincoln have faced significant food shortages and poor-quality food near the Strait of Hormuz.

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USS Gerald R. Ford Retreats From Red Sea, Beaten By Broken Toilets, Laundry Room Fire and Exhausted Crew

Posted on by April 14, 2026

The bloody chaos of Trump’s war of choice in Iran continues to muddle forward. Most recently, Trump has announced that the US intends to blockage the Strait of Hormuz in order to break the blockade of the strait triggered by his own needless war. Trump has still not provided a coherent rationale for starting the war, nor has he had an overall plan to win the conflict. He also lacked an exit strategy. Trump is now claiming that the war is over, despite the obvious battles that nevertheless continue.

Trump did, however, assemble an armada of at least 16 ships led by the carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln strike groups. At more than 16 ships, it was the largest naval deployment in and around the Middle East since 2023. Leading the armada was the USS Gerald R. Ford, the largest, most powerful, and most expensive aircraft carrier the world had ever seen.

Only days after Trump started his illegal war, the USS Ford was withdrawn from the Red Sea combat zone and sent to repair facilities in Split, Croatia. Oddly, the Ford was defeated, not in battle, but by broken toilets, laundry room lint, extended deployments, an exhausted crew, and failures in other major ship systems.

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Trump Admin Orders “God Squad” To Waive Protection For Endangered Species

Posted on by April 3, 2026

Who would have imagined that the Trump regime would use its current war of choice in Iran to push for the gutting of the Endangered Species Act? A powerful panel of Trump administration officials voted unanimously on Tuesday to exempt oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from measures to protect endangered whales and other imperiled species. The Trump administration is targeting protections for species such as the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, the world’s most endangered sea turtle, along with whales, manatees, Gulf sturgeon, and other marine wildlife.

The NRDC (the Natural Resources Defense Council) is reporting that the Trump administration just used the so-called  “God Squad” – a committee of presidential appointees with the power to condemn endangered species in the Gulf of Mexico to extinction. In less than 20 minutes, they voted to give the oil industry a free pass to endanger wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico. 

The panel, the Endangered Species Committee, a high-level group that is often called the God Squad because it essentially holds the power to decide whether a species lives or dies, adopted the move during a brief, closed-door meeting at the Interior Department.

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Farewell Old Friend — Saying Goodbye to A23a, Former World’s Largest and Still Oldest Iceberg

Posted on by March 17, 2026

As A23a drifted it was eroded by waves in the relatively warmer waters of the Southern Ocean, carving huge arches and caves in the 400-meter-high walls of the iceberg.

It feels a bit odd to have developed an emotional attachment to an iceberg. Then again, we have spent years following the epic and quixotic journey of the iceberg designated as A23a, an enormous mass of ice weighing roughly one trillion tons that was once the world’s largest iceberg. The huge berg was, at about 3,500 square kilometres, more than three times larger than New York City. It also proved to be the world’s oldest iceberg, having calved from West Antarctica’s Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf almost 60 years ago. 

A23a’s career began slowly. In 1986, a massive iceberg calved off the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf and immediately grounded on the floor of the Weddell Sea, where it remained stuck And there it sat for almost four decades. until it broke free in 2023. The iceberg began drifting quickly past the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, aided by strong winds and currents.

 As it drifted, it was being eroded by waves and melting in the relatively warmer waters of the Southern Ocean. The impact of the waves carved huge arches and caves in the 400-meter-high walls of the iceberg.

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Women’s History Month — Celebrating Admiral “Amazing Grace” Hopper

Posted on by March 13, 2026

As the current administration launches a frontal attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion, it is a good time to remember Admiral Grace Hopper. Grace Hopper was a pioneering computer scientist and a United States Navy Rear Admiral. Hopper received a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in mathematics from Yale. She was nicknamed “Amazing Grace” and is often referred to as the “mother of computing.” An updated repost.

Since 1994, The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC) has honored Admiral Hopper hosting a series of conferences designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. It is the world’s largest gathering of women and non-binary technologists. This year the celebration will be held in Chicago.

In October of 2020, the U.S. Naval Academy officially opened Hopper Hall, the academy’s new center for cybersecurity studies, named in her honor.  The cybersecurity facility is the first building named after a woman at the three main service academies.

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If He Only Had a Brain — Scarecrow Trump Says Tanker Operators Lack Guts

Posted on by March 10, 2026

Trump has earned the nickname TACO, (“Trump Always Chickens Out,”) for his cowardice and proclivity for backing out of both threats and promises. Like most cowards, Trump likes to call out cowardice in others to distract from his own.

On Sunday, Trump implied that tankers were not transiting the Strait of Hormuz because they are cowards. Trump is demanding that oil tanker crews “show some guts” and sail through the strait.

Trump told Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade that “These ships should go through the Strait of Hormuz and show some guts, there’s nothing to be afraid of. …They have no Navy, we sunk all their ships.”

I think I am going to start referring to Demented Donnie as the Scarecrow. The one thing that both the Wizard of Oz’s scarecrow and Trump lack is a brain.

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On International Women’s Day, Remembering Eleanor Creesy, Navigator of the Clipper Ship Flying Cloud

Posted on by March 8, 2026


Today, March 8th, is celebrated as International Women’s Day (IWD), commemorating women’s fight for equality and liberation along with the women’s rights movement. International Women’s Day is intended to focus on issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women.

It is a good time to remember a woman who literally charted her own course. Eleanor Creesy, was the navigator of the clipper ship Flying Cloud, who, with her husband, Captain Josiah Creesy, set world sailing records for the fastest passage between New York and San Francisco. 

Creesy was born on September 21, 1814,in Marblehead, Massachusetts, to Joshua III and Eleanor Prentiss. She learned the craft of seafaring from her stepfather and uncle, John Prentiss. John Prentiss married Eleanor’s mother after Joshua Prentiss died at sea in 1817.

John Prentiss, a master mariner, captained the ship Californian. Locals thought it peculiar that his stepdaughter was so eager to learn how to use a chronometer and a sextant and how to make a sight reduction, learning the skilled and specialized craft of celestial navigation at a time when women were rarely educated, let alone in a business wholly dominated by men. Her dream was to marry a Captain and sail with him on his ship and, and though she attracted many suitors as a young woman, she rejected their advances until she found a sailor.

Eleanor married Captain Josiah Creesy in 1841. and served him as a navigator aboard his ship. The couple sailed together on the ship Oneida in the China trade. Josiah was captain of the ship, but Eleanor was the navigator. Continue reading →

Trump’s War on Iraq — Are There Lessons to Be Learned From Millennium Challenge 2002?

Posted on by March 6, 2026

Millennium Challenge 2002

Just over two decades ago, the United States ran a major war game exercise called Millennium Challenge 2002 (MC02). Millennium Challenge was a hybrid exercise that combined live troops, real ships, and aircraft. Massive computer simulations operated across more than two dozen locations. Overall, more than 13,500 service members participated. The cost reached roughly $250 million, making it the most ambitious and expensive war game in U.S. history.

The simulated combatants were the United States, referred to as “Blue”, and a fictitious state in the Persian Gulf, “Red”, often characterized as Iran or Iraq. US Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper played the part of an enemy commander waging a bloody defensive campaign against a much more powerful US force. The Red force possessed a hodgepodge of troops, ships, and planes that was similar in organization and capability to Iran’s actual forces.

When the game began, the mighty Blue fleet steamed up to the Red fleet. The Blue Admiral issued an ultimatum demanding surrender. The enemy commander refused. Instead, Riper attacked and hit the larger Blue fleet hard. Missiles from land-based units, civilian boats, and low-flying planes tore through the Blue fleet. His order to initiate the attack was a coded message sent from the minarets of mosques at the call to prayer.

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Women’s History Month: Remembering Raye Montague, Barrier-Shattering Navy Ship Designer

Posted on by March 2, 2026

In a time when the US Navy seems incapable of designing and building ships that are not significantly over budget and behind schedule, it is good to remember Raye Montague, a pioneering  American naval engineer who helped revolutionize the way the Navy designs ships and submarines. She was also an African American who faced racism and sexism, and became an internationally registered professional engineer who shattered the glass ceiling at the Navy when she became the first female program manager of ships. She earned the civilian equivalent of the rank of captain.

In honor of both Women’s History Month and last month’s  Black History Month, an updated repost about the barrier-shattering naval engineer Raye Montague, who died at the age of 83 in 2018.

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Ducks, Dynasties, and the Deep: The Remarkable Story of the Temasek Wreck

Posted on by February 28, 2026

Around 650 years ago, off the eastern tip of Singapore, a trading vessel slipped beneath the waves and vanished from history. It carried bowls painted with ducks and lotus flowers — porcelain so exquisite that even the Chinese emperor sought them for his own.  This week, the world learned just how extraordinary that sunken cargo really was.

Singapore’s First Ancient Shipwreck

The vessel, now formally identified as the “Temasek Wreck,” is the earliest historic shipwreck ever discovered in Singapore’s waters. It was found near Pedra Branca, a rocky outcrop at the eastern entrance of the Singapore Strait — one of the busiest maritime chokepoints in the world, then as now.

The excavation, led by Dr. Michael Flecker of HeritageSG and the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, was carried out in stages between 2016 and 2019. Working against strong currents and significant depth, the team spent four painstaking years recovering and cataloguing the wreck’s contents. The study detailing their findings was published in the Journal of International Ceramic Studies in June 2025. Continue reading →

Black History Month — First Black Liberty Ship Captain, Hugh Mulzac, Says No To Jim Crow

Posted on by February 22, 2026

Hugh Mulzak served as the first Black Liberty ship captain in World War II. When offered the command, he refused to sail with a segregated crew. An updated repost in honor of Black History Month.

Born in 1886 on Union Island in Saint Vincent Grenadines, he went to sea at 21 and served on British, Norwegian, and American sail and steam-powered ships. After studying at the Swansea Nautical College in South Wales, he earned a mate’s license in 1910. He served as a deck officer on four ships during World War I.

In 1918, he became a naturalized US citizen and in 1920 sat for his Master’s license, earning a perfect score on the test. Despite his experience and qualifications, he was generally only able to find work aboard American ships as a messman or cook. Mulzak has been described as “the most over-qualified ship’s cook in maritime history.”

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In Honor of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion During Black History Month — the Floating Freedom School

Posted on by February 21, 2026

The steamboat Ben Campbell commonly attributed as John Berry Meachum’s Floating Freedom School. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

At a time when programs supporting the American values of diversity, equity, and inclusion are being banned in schools across the nation, it is incumbent on the rest of us to keep alive the history that some are now seeking to suppress. Here is a repost of an account of how far we have come while also being a reminder of how far we still have to go — the story of Missouri’s Floating Freedom School.

The Floating Freedom School was an educational facility for free and enslaved African Americans on a steamboat on the Mississippi River. It was established in 1847 by the Baptist minister John Berry Meachum.

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