On June 21, 1898, HMS Albion sat on the launching ways at the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company at Blackwall. The launching that would soon end in tragedy was also one of the first disasters to be captured on film. … Continue reading
Category Archives: History
A Facebook video by my friend Frank Hanavan showing him inserting a ship in a bottle (after the page break) got me thinking about, well, ships in bottles. When, where and why did sailors start putting ships in bottles? After … Continue reading
During the “Golden Age of Piracy,” the most successful pirates amassed huge fortunes over short periods and then died bloody deaths in combat, on the gallows, or in shipwrecks. The one notable exception was Captain Henry Every. While his career … Continue reading
On this, the 80th Anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) Day, the Liberation Convoy 2025 of five historic Norwegian veteran vessels, alongside partners from both Norway and the United Kingdom, is commemorating Anglo-Norwegian heroism on the North Sea during the … Continue reading
An updated repost of an odd bit of history. One of the most interesting accounts of a sea serpent is that of the HMS Daedalus in 1848. When sailing in the South Atlantic, some 300 miles from the coast of … Continue reading
Given the economic damage caused by needless trade wars, it is worthwhile to recall the Empress of China, the ship that opened trade with China, the United States’ first trading partner. The new nation had won its independence from Great Britain but had … Continue reading
Eighty years ago on May 3, 1945, the German liner SS Cap Arcona, serving as a prison ship, was sunk by Royal Air Force fighter bombers in the Baltic Sea. Almost 5,000 prisoners from Nazi concentration camps who were being … Continue reading
Thucydides is often said to have first written in his epic history, The Peloponnesian War, “A collision at sea can ruin your entire day, ” While the statement is unquestionably true, Thucydides never wrote it. Fred Shapiro writing in Freakonomics attempts … Continue reading
It is amazing what one can buy online these days. Recently, Dom Robinson, 53, a diver and shipwreck aficionado from Portsmouth, Hampshire, saw an ad on Facebook Marketplace for a World War I shipwreck for sale for just £300. He … Continue reading
There is much that we do not know about William Shakespeare. The exact date of his birth was not recorded, but is most often celebrated worldwide on April 23rd. One of the biggest mysteries about William Shakespeare, however, is the … Continue reading
A team of archaeologists has just recreated a bronze Roman naval ram using ancient fabrication techniques. The ram design was critical in the establishment of Roman naval superiority in the Mediterranean. The primary weapon used on naval galleys in the … Continue reading
Last week, Trump’s Defense Department removed articles about Navajo code talkers from its websites amid an ongoing campaign to rid the military of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. Once again, under Trump, opposition to DEI was used as a … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
John Henry Turpin was among the first Black Chief Petty Officers to serve in the United States Navy. He was also a survivor of two naval disasters — the catastrophic explosions of the USS Maine in 1898, and USS Bennington in 1905. … Continue reading
A repost in honor of Black History Month. On this day, February 21, 1862, 163 years ago, Nathaniel Gordon, captain of the slave ship, Erie, was executed by hanging in New York City. Under the Piracy Law of 1820, slave … Continue reading
Last week, the New York Times reported that Harriet Tubman posters, origami paper cranes and rainbows have been disappearing from the halls of the American schools at NATO headquarters in Belgium, a response to the Trump administration’s rollbacks of diversity, … Continue reading
SS United States, the largest and fastest transatlantic passenger liner ever built in America, was towed this morning from the dock in Philadelphia where it has been moored for nearly three decades, on the first leg of its … Continue reading
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
Forty-two years ago today, on February 12, 1983, the collier SS Marine Electric loaded with 24,800 tons of steam coal, capsized and sank in a storm 30 miles off the coast of Virginia. Thirty-one of the 34 crew members died. While … Continue reading
Here is a story well worth retelling; an updated repost in honor of Black History Month; the remarkable story of Robert Smalls. On May 13, 1862, Robert Smalls, a 23-year-old slave, who served as the pilot of the Confederate armed transport, CSS Planter, … Continue reading