SS Great Britain — “The Greatest Experiment Since the Creation”

Posted on by July 5, 2018
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I recently visited the museum ship SS Great Britain, in Bristol, UK.  When she was launched in 1843, the iron-hulled luxury passenger steamship SS Great Britain was described as “the greatest experiment since the Creation.”

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Loch Ness Monster (Movie Prop) Located in the Loch

Posted on by April 23, 2016
Photo: Kongsberg Maritime

Photo: Kongsberg Maritime

At long last, Nessie has been located on the bottom of Loch Ness! The monster is, however, not the legendary beastie, but instead a 30-foot long movie prop which sank in the Loch almost 50 years ago.  The prop was to be used in the filming of “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes,” directed by Billy Wilder. The model featured a neck and two humps. Director Wilder asked that the humps be removed which adversely affected the model’s buoyancy, causing the model to sink to the lake bottom, where it has been since 1969.  A new model, without humps, was built and the scene was shot in a tank rather than the loch.

The model monster was discovered by a robot drone operated by the Norwegian company Kongsberg Maritime, which has been working with VisitScotland and Adrain Shine’s The Loch Ness Project.  The Loch Ness Project is gathering scientific information on the loch’s ecology, as well as keeping an eye out for the legendary monster.

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Sinking of MV Cemfjord with Loss of Eight Entirely Avoidable

Posted on by April 22, 2016

In January of 2015, we posted about the capsize and sinking of the Cyprus-registered cement carrier MV Cemfjord while attempting to navigate the Pentland Firth in extremely rough weather. Eight officers and crew aboard died in the sinking. The UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) issued its report on the casualty stating that the sinking could have been avoided if the captain sought refugee rather than continuing.

In his statement to the media, Steve Clinch, The Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents stated:

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Sailor Grub — CHOW: Creamed Sliced Beef on Toast (S.O.S.)

Posted on by April 18, 2016

chowYesterday, we posted about a project to recreate sailor’s grub from the 17th century. Food for sailors has improved dramatically in the last three hundred years. Or has it?  The Naval Historical Foundation has a new blog titled CHOW which explores the history behind U.S. Navy culinary traditions. A recent blog post looks at creamed sliced beef on toast, a Navy and Army breakfast, served for breakfast and universally known as “S__t on a Shingle” or “S.O.S.”

From their post: The exact origin of S.O.S. is fuzzy. According to Wentworth and Flexner’s 1967 Dictionary of American Slang, no specific origin is known. The dish, which consists of sliced dried beef mixed in a thick creamy gravy, appeared in military cookbooks at the start of the twentieth century. Some cooking sources, such as the online website “Seabee Cook,” claim the dish came from the Army. Steve Karoly, who authored an article on the subject, claims the “Army favorite” has become “the most popular version of SOS.” Some Navy veterans may disagree.

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Recreating 17th Century Sailor’s Grub on the Tall Ship Elissa

Posted on by April 18, 2016

elissagrubWhat we know of the diet of 17th-century sailors comes from written records — log entries, diaries, and journals. Most accounts say that it was pretty bad.  Now, Grace Tsai, a Ph.D. student specializing in nautical archaeology at Texas A&M University, wants to investigate sailor’s grub, by recreating the food as accurately as possible. Ms. Tsai and her team have been working to prepare salt beef, ship’s biscuit, cheese, beer and wine as they were made and stored in the 17th century.  In August, Ms. Tsai and her team will embark with their period rations on a simulated three-month voyage on the tall ship Elissa in Galveston, Texas. The food will be sampled every ten days for nutritional and microbial analysis over a period of three months.

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“Boaty McBoatface” Wins in a Landslide & No, That Won’t be the Ship’s Name

Posted on by April 19, 2016

We previously posted about how the British Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) was asking for suggestions for a name for the new polar research ship, currently under construction at Cammell Laird’s yard in Birkenhead. The suggestion period ended on April 16th and it has been announced that the most popular suggestion by a landslide is “Boaty McBoatface.” The tongue-in-cheek moniker won easily with 124,109 votes.

As reported by Sky News: “Second was RRS Poppy-Mai – named after a 16-month-old girl with terminal cancer – with 34,371 votes. RRS Henry Worsley, commemorating an Antarctic explorer who died in January, was the highest placed suggestion that had scientific links, coming third. RRS It’s Bloody Cold Here, and RRS David Attenborough came fourth and fifth.”

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Search Resumes for El Faro Black Box in Very, Very Deep Water

Posted on by April 18, 2016

elfarowreckstern1Last November, we posted that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) had ended its search for the El Faro‘s Voyage Data Recorder (VDR), the so-called “black box,” which might have provided answers to questions about the sinking of the 790-foot long ro/ro-container ship.  El Faro was lost in Hurricane Joaquin with the loss of 33 crew in the beginning of October in 2015.  The wreckage of the ship was located off Crooked Island in the southeastern Bahamas. Now the NTSB has restarted the search using a “sophisticated autonomous underwater vehicle”, AUV Sentry.

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US Sailor Rescued 9 Times Sells Sloop Nora

Posted on by April 17, 2016

Steve Shapiro’s frequently rescued sailboat Nora, has been sold. In January, we posted about a pair of American sailors who had been rescued nine times in sailing from Norwalk to Cornwell in the UK on a 40′ gaff rigged sloop named Nora.  The two sailors, Bob Weise and Steve Shapiro, both 71, had been attempting to sail across the Atlantic from Norway to Maine but had suffered a variety of breakdowns and groundings which resulted in calling for help from rescue teams from Norway, Scotland, Ireland and the UK.

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Civil Blockade Runner Agnes E. Fry Believed Found Off Oak Island, NC

Posted on by April 16, 2016

agnesfryThe Confederate blockade runner Agnes E. Fry is believed to have been located off Oak Island, North Carolina. She is one of three blockade runners lost in the area during the Civil War, but the only ship longer than 200 feet.  The Agnes E. Fry was a 559-ton iron side-wheel steamer built by Caird & Company at Greenock, on the River Clyde in 19864. The blockade runner was 237 feet long by 25 feet in beam, with a depth of hold of 13 feet. She made two successful runs into Wilmington before being lost on her third attempted voyage, two days after Christmas 1864.

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Titanic’s Unsinkable Survivors — Arthur John Priest & Violet Jessop

Posted on by April 15, 2016

In observance of the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912, here is a repost from 2012, about two hardy souls who survived not only the sinking of the RMS Titanic but also the RMS Britannic when she was sunk by a mine and the RMS Olympic when she collided with the HMS Hawke.

Arthur John Priest

Arthur John Priest was a stoker, or fireman, on the RMS Titanic. His job was to shovel coal into the ship’s boilers.  He survived the Titanic’s sinking of 1912. He also was aboard the RMS Olympic, the sistership to the Titanic, when she collided with HMS Hawke in 1911.

Priest was also aboard the Britannic, the third sistership to the Olympic and the Titanic when she hit a mine and sank in 1916. Priest also survived the World War I losses of the Alcantara and Donegal. He once claimed that he was forced to retire from the sea by these disasters because no one wished to sail with him.  Priest died at the age of 50 of pneumonia Southampton.

Violet Jessop

More famous and longer lived than Priest was Violet Jessop, a nurse who was coincidentally also onboard the RMS Olympic during the collision with HMS Hawk and during the sinkings of both the Titanic and the Britannic.  Ms. Jessop died of heart failure at the age of 84.  Characters based on Ms. Jessop have appeared in two movies and a play about the sinking of the Titanic.

US Navy Destroyer Donald Cook Buzzed Again by Russian Fighters in Baltic

Posted on by April 14, 2016

cookbuzzThe Russians do not appear to like the US Navy operating ships in the Baltic Sea.  On Aprill 11, two unarmed Russian SU24 fighter jets made low attitude passes at the US Navy destroyer USS Donald Cook.  Then, on April 12, two Russian KA27 Helix helicopters flew several circles around the Donald Cook, apparently taking photos. Later, two unarmed SU24 jets made approximately a dozen very close, low-level passes of the ship in what the official described as “Simulated Attack Profile.”  When the incidents took place the Donald Cook was roughly 70 nautical miles from the Russain port of Kaliningrad in international waters in the Baltic Sea, having sailed from Gdynia, Poland.

The US Navy posted videos of the Russian planes buzzing the Cook on Youtube.

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Why are the Big Boats Burning? More Than Just Superyachts at Risk

Posted on by April 13, 2016

yachtfireThe headlines in the UK Daily Mail and Bloomberg ask the same question — “Why Are All These Superyachts Catching on Fire?” This year has seen a string of fires on “superyachts.”  In early January, in the Mediterranean resort town of Marmaris, Turkey, a fire broke out on the 239′ yacht The One before spreading to the 170′ yacht Barbie.  Later in January, the 95′ yacht Queen Anna was destroyed by fire at a marina in Fethiye, Turkey.  In early March, a fire broke out at the Abu Dhabi Marina Yacht Club, destroying eight yachts, three of which were over 90′ long, including the 101′ yacht Asfar. Also in March the 77′ yacht Positive Energy went up in flames at Charlotte Amalie harbor on St Thomas, in the Virgin Islands.

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USS Zumwalt is Too Stealthy — Adding Radar Reflectors

Posted on by April 12, 2016

zumwalt1The Navy’s newest destroyer, the $7.5 billion USS Zumwalt, is designed to be stealthy. The ship is intended to be 50 times harder to detect on radar than current destroyers thanks to its angular shape and other design features. This is turning out to be a problem. The ship is now undergoing sea trial and testing off the often foggy coast of Maine.  She is apparently very difficult for local boats to spot.

Lawrence Pye, a lobsterman, told The Associated Press that on his radar screen the 610-foot ship looked like a 40- to 50-foot fishing boat. He watched as the behemoth came within a half-mile while returning to shipbuilder Bath Iron Works. “It’s pretty mammoth when it’s that close to you,” Pye said.

So, what is to be done? Gizmodo is reporting that the Navy plans to install removable radar reflectors to avoid wreaking havoc on local mariners.

Nauticus Buying Schooner Virginia with $1M State Grant

Posted on by April 11, 2016

svirgina1In the Summer of 2014, the schooner Virginia ended her season early. The Virginia Maritime Heritage Foundation which operated the schooner announced that she would be put up for sale.  Now, Nauticus, a maritime-themed science center and museum located on the downtown waterfront in Norfolk, Virginia, is planning to buy the schooner with funds from a $1 million state grant. $850,000 will go to purchase the schooner, with the remained used for maintenacne and upkeep.

The schooner Virginia is a reproduction of the last all sail pilot vessel built for the Virginia Pilot Association. She is 114′ on deck and sets 6,538 square feet of sail. The original ship sailed for the pilots from 1917-1926, training apprentice pilots in seamanship and navigation. The reproduction was built in Norfolk between 2002-2004.  The Nauticus Foundation plans to use the schooner as part of Sail Nauticus, a program that gives underprivileged children around Hampton Roads access to the water.

Remembering Captain Robert M. Cusick

Posted on by April 11, 2016

captbobcusickCaptain Robert M. Cusick was born today on April 10, 1923, in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the chief mate and one of only three survivors on the SS Marine Electric when she sank on February 12, 1983. His testimony in the investigation which followed helped lead a major reform of US maritime safety standards.

When the Marine Electic sank, Cusick was throw into the 39 degree F Atlantic waters. He found a swamped lifeboat and hauled himself aboard. As the seas broke over him he found himself singing “rise again, rise again” from Stan Rogers’ song, “The Mary Ellen Carter.” Here is Captain Cusick telling the story from the documentary, “One Warm Line.”  Captain Cusick died on Thursday September 12, 2013 at the age of 90.

Stan Rogers performs “The Mary Ellen Carter” in One Warm Line documentary

Thanks to Paul Bryant-Smith for contributing to this post. Continue reading →

A Sea Lion Pup Wanders into a Seafood Restuarant

Posted on by April 9, 2016

MarinaSo, a sea lion pup wanders into a seafood restaurant and settles down in a booth ….. It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but last February, a malnourished 8-month old sea lion pup appeared in a booth in The Marine Room, an upscale waterfront restaurant in La Jolla, California. The pup had found its way in from the beach through a door left open by a cleaning crew. Chef Bernard Guillas said that the female pup climbed into a booth “almost like she wanted to have dinner.” And perhaps she did, as the pup was seriously malnourished and dehydrated, weighing only 20 pounds (9 kg), less than half the normal size for its age.

The sea lion pup, which has been given the nickname Marina, wasn’t served at the restaurant but was instead taken to SeaWorld’s Animal Rescue Center. Since then Marina has been nursed back to health. She gained 25 pounds and proved she could find food for herself. Ths week Marina and several other rescued sea lions were returned to the wild.

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The Kings Yacht – HMY Britannia

Posted on by April 9, 2016

hmyBritanniaHMY Britannia was the personal sailing yacht of two British kings. Built in 1893 for Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, who later became King Edward VII, the Britannia would also be sailed by his son, King George V. Designed by the Scottish designer, George Lennox Watson, the yacht won 231 races and took another 129 flags over her long racing career. The Britannia followed King George V to his grave. In accordance with his dying wish, on 10 July 1936, the yacht was stripped of her spars and fittings and her hull towed out to St Catherines Deep near the Isle of Wight where she was scuttled. Britannia‘s burgee and racing flag were presented to the Royal Dorset Yacht Club, where they are still on display.

The Kings Yacht – Britannia’s Story

NYC Hidden Harbor Tour — Forgotten Harbor, Found in Art

Posted on by April 8, 2016

hiddenharborartA sure sign that Spring has finally arrived in New York harbor is the return of the Working Harbor Committee‘s Hidden Harbor Tours. The first, scheduled for May 1st, is Forgotten Harbor, Found in Art.  Here is the description of the two-hour tour:

Join the Working Harbor Committee on a unique Hidden Harbor® Tour of the history of NYC maritime art in our working waterfronts. The tour will take us to places in the harbor where famous scenes of historical art have been captured in public art you can visit in NYC!

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The Many Names for the the Many Masts of the Schooner Thomas W. Lawson

Posted on by April 7, 2016

lawsonsailThe seven-masted iron schooner Thomas W. Lawson, delivered in 1902, is remembered as the largest schooner ever built and the largest pure sailing vessel, in terms of tonnage, to ever sail.  Mostly, however, she is remembered for her rig. She was the only seven-masted schooner in commercial service.  She carried primarily coal and oil in her short career. She was lost off the island of Annet, in the Isles of Scilly, in a storm on December 14, 1907, killing all but two of her crew of eighteen and a harbor pilot. Her cargo of 58,000 barrels of light paraffin oil caused one of the first large marine oil spills.

Each of the masts, as well as each of the 27 sails, had to have names. But how does one name seven masts? Looking into it, I found that according to Lars Bruzelius’ The Maritime History Virtual Archives, at least, eleven different naming schemes were used to keep track of the masts.  That is right, eleven different sets of names for the seven masts.
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Harnesses, Tethers and Sailors Overboard — No Easy Answers

Posted on by April 6, 2016
Photo: Bob Aylott

Photo: Bob Aylott

On April 1, Sarah Young was swept from the cockpit of the yacht IchorCoal sailing in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in the Clipper Round the Word Race. By the time the crew reached her, she had died. She was wearing a life-jacket with an AIS locator device but she had not been tethered to the boat. Many have commented that being tethered might have saved her life.

On the other hand, going overboard without being clipped in is not necessarily a death sentence. In the previous Clipper Race in 2014, Andrew Taylor, 46, from London, a crew member on Derry–Londonderry–Doire yacht fell overboard in the Pacific, untethered, and was rescued safely after ninety minutes in the water.

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