Last July we posted about divers finding intact bottles of champagne, believed to date from between 1782 and 1788, in the hold of a shipwreck on the Baltic seabed. In November, a bottle of the “world’s oldest champagne” was opened and tasted by … Continue reading
Category Archives: Ships
If a group of birds are a flock, a group of whales is a pod, and fish gather in schools, what would one call a group of Noah’s arks? A fleet would be the easy answer, but that somehow doesn’t … Continue reading
On June 1, 1813, one hundred and ninety eight years ago today, the British frigate HMS Shannon defeated and captured the USS Chesapeake in single ship combat. Captain James Lawrence on the Chesapeake was mortally wounded during the battle. His … Continue reading
The good news is that the events were more like the Carnival Splendor than the Titanic. No one died. No ships were lost to icebergs. Nevertheless, there was high drama, bordering on the operatic, on the cruise ship MSC Opera on its … Continue reading
An explosion in a fuel tank on the cruise ship docks in Gibraltar today injured several on the dock and over twelve passengers on the 3,634-passenger Royal Caribbean cruise ship, Independence of the Seas. The injuries to passengers were all reported to be minor. … Continue reading
On May 31, 1911, the RMS Titanic was launched at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland. After continued outfitting, the ship was delivered to White Star Line on March 30, 1912. She set sail for New York City … Continue reading
We have recently posted about attempts to find a home for the USS Olympia, the oldest steel-hulled American warship afloat and Commodore George Dewey’s flagship during the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898. On Memorial Day it seems worthwhile … Continue reading
In April of 2007, the cruise ship Sea Diamond struck a reef off the island of Santorini and sank. Nearly 1,600 passengers where rescued and two passengers drowned. Now four years later the Greek government has says that it cannot afford to remove … Continue reading
For seventy years, battleships were the unchallenged masters of the oceans, until technology swept them aside. Now the aircraft carrier reigns supreme. The US currently has five times more aircraft carrier capacity based on flight deck acreage than the the … Continue reading
The Half Moon, a replica of Henry Hudson’s ship, will be open for dockside tours at the Hudson River Maritime Museum through June 16th. Replica of Henry Hudson’s ship open for tours until June 16 The ship, a replica of the … Continue reading
Back in February of last year, the Independence Seaport Museum announced that it could no longer afford to care for USS Olympia, the flagship of Commodore George Dewey at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War in 1898. There was … Continue reading
On June 12,1943 in 600 feet of water, the submarine USS R12 sank in 15 seconds in 600 feet of water, taking 42 of her crew with her to the bottom. Recently, a team led by Tim Taylor on the “RV … Continue reading
Fleet Week in New York Harbor kicked off today with a parade of ships. A short video we shot and edited of the parade: Fleet Week New York 2011, Parade of Ships, 5/25/11 [iframe: width=”480″ height=”300″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/OfXk0ASrwKY” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen] The … Continue reading
Congratulations to PortSide New York and the tanker Mary Whalen, which has been deemed eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places! The Mary Whalen is a 172’ long coastal tanker built by the John H. Mathis Company, of … Continue reading
Tomorrow the USS New York returns to the Hudson River to help kick off Fleet Week New York. The USS New York (LPD-21) is the fifth San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship and is the seventh ship of the United States … Continue reading
Over the weekend, HMS Bounty, on the first stop of her four month European tour, was boarded by buccaneers on the Barbican in Plymouth. Plymouth’s “Pirate Days” coincided with the release of the latest Disney ‘Pirates of the Caribbean” movie, “On Stranger … Continue reading
I was out of town so I could not attend the Save our Ships Rally at the South Street Seaport yesterday. Fortunately foo those of us who couldn’t make it, there are some great photos at Will van Dorp’s Tugster blog, the Save … Continue reading
Shell is on its way to building the largest floating offshore facility in the world for its Prelude Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) Project in Australia. The FLNG facility will be 488 meters long and will weigh around 600,000 tonnes – … Continue reading
In the US, National Maritime Day is May 22nd. The day was chosen to commemorate the departure from Savannah, Georgia of the American steamship, SS Savannah, first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean, on May 24, 1819. To celebrate National Maritime Day, the Baltimore Port … Continue reading
A recent NOAA survey of the Caribbean off the southern coasts of the U.S. Virgin Islands of St. John and St. Thomas and off eastern Puerto Rico discovered six previously unknown shipwrecks. 6 Uncharted Shipwrecks Discovered in Caribbean … Continue reading