$40 Million Dollar Trove from SS Central America Displayed (& Tommy Thompson Is Still In Jail)

Posted on by February 26, 2018

Last weekend, gold ingots and coins valued at $40 million salvaged from the wreck of the SS Central America went on display for the first time at the 2018 Long Beach Coin, Currency, Stamp & Sports Collectible Expo. (The gold is for sale if you have the cash at your disposal.)

SS Central America was a 280-foot paddlewheel steamer operating between New York and Aspinwall during the California Gold Rush. The ship sank in a hurricane off South Carolina in 1857, killing 425 passengers and crew and sending 30,000 pounds of California gold coins, ingots and gold dust to the sea floor. The lost gold was valued at $2 million or roughly $300-400 million in current dollars. News of the loss shook the US financial markets and contributed to the Panic of 1857. 

Continue reading →

Captain Lindsey’s Daughter Dido Elizabeth Belle, Lord Mansfield and British Slavery

Posted on by February 25, 2018

Around 1779, a portrait of two young women was commissioned by William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield. The women were Elizabeth Murray and her cousin Dido Elizabeth Belle. For its day, the painting was controversial, even shocking.

Dido Elizabeth Belle was a dark-skinned mixed-race woman while her cousin was a fair skinned English woman, and yet in the painting, they were represented as having equal status. Both are dressed in fine gowns. Typically in a painting of the period, servants or others of a lesser class would be painting lower in the composition. Belle and Murray are painted as equals, as indeed they were, at least in William Murray’s household.

Continue reading →

Remembering Robert Smalls – Slave, Captain of the Planter, First Black Captain in the US Navy & Congressman

Posted on by February 24, 2018

Here is a story well worth retelling. An updated repost from 2012. 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, led eight fellow slaves in an audacious flight to freedom. They seized the CSS Planter, steamed it out past the batteries and forts of Charleston harbor and turned it over to the Union naval blockade.  Smalls would go on to become the first black captain of a U.S. Navy vessel, a South Carolina State Legislator, a Major General in the South Carolina Militia, a five-term U.S. Congressman and a U.S. Collector of Customs.  

Harper’s Weekly of June 14, 1862 recounts the escape:
Continue reading →

The Giant Shipworm Revealed — Not a Worm or an Eater of Ships, but Definitely a Giant

Posted on by February 23, 2018

For years, naturalists have found the shells of giant shipworms, but have not located the giant shipworm itself. Last spring, that changed. Giant shipworms were discovered buried in the mud in a Philippine mangrove swamp. 

Two important facts about the giant shipworm, whose scientific name is Kuphus polythalamia. They are not worms at all, but a variety of bivalve mollusk. Also, they do not eat the wood from ships. They are related to other shipworms, which have indeed been the bane of sailors for all of history, but these giants do not eat wood. 

Continue reading →

Remembering Captain William A. Martin — Black Whaling Ship Captain From Martha’s Vineyard

Posted on by February 22, 2018

Photo: Jeanna Shepard

As Black History Month winds to a close it seems worthwhile to recall Captain William A. Martin, the best remembered black whaling ship captain from Martha’s Vineyard. He is often referred to as the only black whaling captain from the island. Nevertheless, historian Skip Finley suggests that at least five black whaling captains had ties to Martha’s Vineyard. Of the roughly 2,500 masters of American whaling ships under sail, at least 63 were men of color.

William Martin was born in Edgartown in 1830, just one generation away from slavery. Educated in a local school which taught young boys how to read, write and navigate, Martin made his way into the whaling trade because of his skill as a writer. Rather than ship as a seaman, Martin signed on the Edgartown ship Europa as the first mate and ship’s log-keeper in 1853. In 1857, after his voyage on the Europa, he married a Native American woman named Sarah Brown.

Continue reading →

Was Homo Erectus the First Sailor? Did Ancient Sailors Tell Sea Stories?

Posted on by February 21, 2018

The timeline for when humans first took to the seas keeps getting moved back.  A few years ago, stone tools were found on the island of Crete which were dated to 130,000 years ago. Likewise, stone implements on the island of Flores in Indonesia have been dated back to 700,000 to 800,000. Both Crete and Flores could only have been reached by some sort of boat or raft. Likewise, human remains and stone tools found in Spain dating to over a million years ago may indicate that some ancient hominin navigated the hazardous Straits of Gibraltar from Morocco.

Recently, a researcher has offered a new theory, suggesting that Homo erectus, a hominid predecessor to modern Homo sapiens, could have been a sailor and might have been the first to develop language in order to communicate while underway on a boat.   

Continue reading →

The Old Man of the Lake — Crater Lake’s Ancient Wanderer

Posted on by February 20, 2018

A 30′ long stump of what is probably a hemlock tree has been floating vertically, bobbing up and down, in Crater Lake, in south-central Oregon in the western United States, for more than 120 years. How much longer it has been floating, no one knows. Carbon dating suggests that the log is around 450 years old. The floating stump has been given the name the Old Man of the Lake. 

Joseph S. Diller, the first geologist to study crater lake near the turn of the 20th century, described the floating tree stump in a report dated 1896. About 30′ long overall and two feet in diameter at the waterline, the stump floats about four feet above the water.  It is buoyant enough to support a person’s weight. Why has the log floated vertically for so long? No one really knows.

Continue reading →

Ocean-Aged Rum and the Democratic Party Ticket of 1896

Posted on by February 20, 2018

Yesterday, we posted about four barrels of rum from Lunenburg’s Ironworks Distillery which are being carried around the globe by the barque Picton Castle on its seventh circumnavigation.  The sea voyage is expected to nicely age the rum.  Of course, distilled spirits being sent to sea to mellow and age is nothing new. William Bunting reminded me of a passage from his excellent book, Live Yankees, the Sewalls and their Ships  involving rum and politics.

Arthur Sewall, in addition to being a shipbuilder and ship owner, was also a bank president, director of a railroad, and the Democratic Party vice presidential candidate in 1896 on William Jennings Bryan’s first run for president. There is a story about how Arthur managed to acquire the seat on the presidential ticket and it involves ocean-aged rum. From Live Yankees: 

Continue reading →

‘Round the World Rum on the Picton Castle

Posted on by February 18, 2018

When the barque Picton Castle embarks on its seventh circumnavigation this April, it will have a special cargo of four barrels of rum from Lunenburg’s Ironworks Distillery stored in the hold. If all goes well when the ship returns to Lunenburg in May of 2019, she will be carrying the same four barrels, and the rum will be better for it. 

Why carry four barrels, 900 liters, of rum around the world? In the age of sail, wine would often spoil on long voyages. Distilled liquors, however, were often improved by the motion of the ship, as well as changes in atmospheric pressure and temperature. With luck the Ironworks’ ‘Round the World Rum will be nicely aged by the voyage. 

Continue reading →

Wild Brawl on Carnival Legend Interrupts 10-Day South Pacific Cruise

Posted on by February 17, 2018

Joseph Conrad once wrote about a conversation with an old sailor who had just signed off a ship. The sailor said something to the effect that “the ship was alright. The problem was the people on it.” The comment seems to apply to a recent 10-day South Pacific cruise on the Carnival Legend.  

According to published accounts, there was a three-day running brawl on the cruise ship involving 23 members of an unruly family group, resulting in what some passengers are describing as a “bloodbath” and “the cruise from hell.”   Exactly how it started and what happened is unclear but cell phone video of the fights in various parts of the ship are disturbing. 

Continue reading →

Abandoned Yacht Sea Nymph Sighted by Volvo Ocean Racer

Posted on by February 16, 2018

In October of last year, we posted about the rescue of two sailors and their dogs from the yacht, Sea Nymph. The two women were picked up by the dock landing ship USS Ashland roughly 900 miles southeast of Japan. They had set off from Hawaii bound for Tahiti almost 5 months before and had gotten lost and suffered damage to their engine and rig.

Recently, the Volvo Ocean racer, Turn the Tide on Plastic, competing in Leg 6 of the race from Hong Kong to Auckland, spotted a sailboat with no sails up. The boat turned out to be the abandoned Sea Nymph.  They launched a drone and captured video of the boat and were able to positively identify it as the yacht abandoned last October. 

Continue reading →

Remember the Maine! 120 Years Ago Today

Posted on by February 16, 2018

One hundred and twenty years ago today, on February 15, 1898, a mysterious explosion ripped through the hull of the American battleship USS Maine, at anchor in Havana harbor in Cuba. The ship sank killing 266 of the 350 men aboard. The loss of the USS Maine heightened the tension between the United States and Spain. Cuba was a Spanish colony and the island was gripped in a rebellion against Spain. USS Maine was in Havanna to protect U.S. interests.  

It was widely assumed at the time that the Spanish had placed a mine or launched a torpedo which sank the ship.  The American press whipped up the  American public with the slogan, “Remember the Maine. The Hell with Spain.”  After initially attempting to continue with ongoing diplomacy, the US declared war on Spain on April 25, 1898. By August, Spain had ceded Cuba, along with the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam, to the United States.

While the sinking of the USS Maine helped in the US’s progression towards war with Spain, to this day, no one is entirely sure what caused the explosion. There have been at least six public and private investigations into the sinking which have reached contradictory conclusions. 

Continue reading →

Cruise Missiles on Icebreakers and Destroyers without Ammo

Posted on by February 14, 2018

USS Zumwalt, guns but no ammo

I sometimes wonder if the world is going a bit mad. Take, for example, the case of icebreakers with cruise missiles and destroyers with guns but no ammunition. 

Despite the increased strategic importance of Arctic, the US has only one heavy icebreaker in service and it appears to be held together by baling wire and the skill of its engineering personnel. The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star recently completed a mission to cut a resupply channel through 15 miles of Antarctic ice in the Ross Sea despite suffering a turbine failure and flooding due to a major shaft seal leak. The crew were able to make repairs sufficient to complete the mission. The good news is that the Coast Guard is building a new heavy icebreaker which, if all goes well, will be launched in 2023. 

What is weird about the new icebreaker, however, is that the Coast Guard is making provisions to allow the icebreaker to be outfitted with cruise missiles. That’s right, cruise missiles. Not for breaking ice, but presumably to allow the icebreaker to freelance as a warship, if necessary. I would think that breaking ice would be enough. The ship is called an icebreaker after all. Breaking ice is a big job all by itself. 

Continue reading →

OE Wave Energy Buoy to be Deployed at U.S. Navy’s Wave Energy Test Site in Hawaii

Posted on by February 12, 2018

In fabricating ships’ hulls and building seawalls and docks, the goal is to resist the power of the waves. Recently, however, engineers have been working on techniques to harness rather than resist the immense power of ocean waves. In the fall of this year, the Irish firm, OceanEnergy, will be installing their pioneering OE Bouy, which generates electricity from ocean waves, at the U.S. Navy’s Wave Energy Test Site on the windward coast of the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The 826-ton OE Buoy will be fabricated by Oregon’s Vigor Marine and will measure 125 feet x 59 feet with a draft of 31 feet. The buoy has a rated capacity of up to 1.25 MW in electrical power production.

The OE Buoy has been undergoing testing off the Atlantic Coast of Ireland several years. Ocean Energy is a portfolio company of Enterprise Ireland, the Irish government agency for the advancement of innovation, entrepreneurship and international business by Irish firms.

Continue reading →

Sailing Oyster Sloop Priscilla at the Long Island Maritime Museum

Posted on by February 11, 2018

Last July, we posted about Christeen, the oldest oyster sloop in the US, built in 1883, which is still sailing on Oyster Bay, NY. Oyster Bay is on the North shore of Long Island. Not far away on the South shore in Great South Bay, an oyster sloop of similar vintage is also still sailing. The oyster sloop Priscilla built in 1888 is owned and operated by the Long Island Maritime Museum of West Sayville, NY.  Priscilla was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006.

Continue reading →

Baltimore’s Mr. Trash Wheel — Water and Solar Powered Harbor Trash Gobbler

Posted on by February 10, 2018

We recently posted about various devices and schemes for cleaning plastic and other flotsam from harbors and waterways.  Roberta Weisbrod was kind enough to point out another great example of such a device — Baltimore’s Inner Harbor Water Wheel, or “Mr. Trash Wheel” as it is known to locals. 

Mr. Trash Wheel is a water-wheel and solar powered conveyor system which lifts drifting trash from the water and drops it into a hopper barge, to be towed away to a disposal center. Since the start of operations in 2014, Mr. Trash Wheel has removed over a million and a half points of trash from the harbor.  This includes 628,192 plastic bottles; 724,625 polystyrene containers; 9,935,220 cigarette butts; 7,919 glass bottles; 519,443 grocery bags; and 718,201 chip bags. 

Mr. Trash Wheel has worked so well that other trash wheels are being installed all around the harbor. Professor Trash Wheel was installed last year in Canton and a third wheel is planned for the Gwynns Falls. This summer, the City of Baltimore announced that they were installing Captain Trash Wheel in Masonville Cove on the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River. 
Continue reading →

The Bones of Black Sam Bellamy — Captain of the Whydah?

Posted on by February 9, 2018

“Black Sam” Bellamy

The Whydah Pirate Museum announced this week, that last year human bones were found near the wreck of the pirate ship Whydah  on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.  The bones were located in an area close to where a pistol, which possibly belonged to the ship’ captain, Samuel Bellamy, had been recovered.  Forensic scientists from the University of New Haven in Connecticut are now comparing the DNA from the bones to a DNA sample given by one of Bellamy’s living descendants in the United Kingdom.

Samuel, “Black Sam” Bellamy had one of the shorter careers as a pirate, lasting roughly one year.  Nevertheless, in that time he and his crew captured at least 53 ships, valued at $137 million in 2017 dollars – making him one of the wealthiest pirate in recorded history.

Continue reading →

Surprise Liquidation of Oyster Marine by Investors

Posted on by February 7, 2018

Until a few days ago, everything seemed promising for the award-winning UK yacht builder Oyster Marine. Oyster had a record year in 2017. Their order-book stood at $70 million and they had gotten a great response to their Oyster 745 on display at the Düsseldorf 2018 boat show in January.  Cruising World magazine honored the model as ‘Best Luxury Cruiser’ in its 2018 Boat of the Year Awards. Then, on Monday, an announcement was made — Oyster Marine is being liquidated. 400 jobs are expected to be lost.

What happened? The simplest answer may be that private equity gives and private equity takes away. The firm’s current owner, the Dutch private equity firm, HTP Investments, is believed to have withdrawn its financial support for the firm. 

Continue reading →

Pride of Baltimore II Funding Shortfall May Threaten Sailing Season

Posted on by February 7, 2018

In 2016, we posted about a public-private partnership between the State of Maryland and the replica Baltimore clipper, Pride of Baltimore II. It appears likely that the partnership may not be renewed, leaving a $500,000 shortfall in funding which may curtail this year’s sailing season unless sufficient money can be raised.

From the Pride of Baltimore II organization press release:

“Pride of Baltimore II remains one of the world’s most revered tall ships, delighting crowds wherever she sails,” said Pride of Baltimore, Inc. board chair Captain Eric Nielsen. “We will use 2018 to reassess the ship’s future, working closely with our partners in the public and private sectors to make sure we don’t witness the end to Pride’s wonderful history.”

Continue reading →