The last image of HMS Bounty was brutal – sinking off Cape Hatteras with broken spars, most of the crew in lifeboats and the captain and one crew member missing. Here are a few photos from another time, way back in 1996, on a repositioning leg between New York and Newport Rhode, Island. The wind was light from the southwest and the sea was calm. All photos by Rick Spilman. Click on the thumbnails for a larger image.
Bessie A. White – 1922 & Today
Last Wednesday, we posted about the wreck of a wooden ship uncovered by Superstorm Sandy beneath the dunes of Fire Island, east of Davis Park. The remains are thought to be the Bessie A. White, more than 90 years old, said Paula Valentine, public affairs specialist for the park. The Bessie A. White was a four masted Canadian schooner carrying a cargo of coal. This apparently is not the first time that the wreck of the schooner has made an appearance from beneath the sands. The schooner was also exposed by the late October nor’easter which brought the North American blizzard of 2005. Previously the schooner had been uncovered by another nor-easter in the mid 1980s.
Photo: Sam Davies / SAVEOL
After only a week into the Vendée Globe non-stop round-the-world single-handed yacht race, four of the twenty original sailors have dropped out due to casualties or gear failure. The latest include Louis Burton, who was in a collision with a fishing boat off Portugal, and Samantha Davies whose boat suffered a dismasting last night. Previously, Kito de Pavant also withdrew from the race following a collision with another fishing boat. Marc Guillemot was forced to withdraw after the keel on his boat Safran broke on the first day of the race.
Vendee Globe 2012-2013: Sam Davies crashes out after Saveol dismast as casualties mount
Update 2: Current reports say that eleven were injured, four critically. Two workers are still missing.
An oil and gas rig in the Gulf of Mexico, about 20 nautical miles southeast of Grand Isle, La., was hit by an explosion and fire this morning, injuring four and leaving two missing. The US Coast Guard is now searching for the missing crew members. The injured crew have been airlifted to a hospital for treatment. The production platform is owned by Black Elk Energy.
The explosion comes only a day after BP agreed to pay $4.5 billion dollars and plead guilty to 14 criminal charges related to the fire and explosion on the Deepwater Horizon in 2010, which killed 14 and caused the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. Thanks to Phil Leon for contributing to the post.
Yesterday, we posted about the Moby Dick Marathon NYC, which begins tonight. It is not as one reader suggested a porn event but rather the first-ever marathon-style reading in New York City of Herman Melville’s classic American novel, Moby-Dick. Fittingly enough in the news today there are reports of the sighting of a white whale off the coast of Norway near Spitsbergen. It is not a ship-killing sperm whale like Moby Dick, but a white humpback which has been nicknamed Willow.
Extremely Rare White Whale Spotted Off The Coast Of Spitsbergen
The New York Marathon was cancelled after Superstorm Sandy swept through New York two weeks ago. The New York Moby Dick Marathon is on, however.
What is a Moby Dick Marathon, you might ask? It is ” the first-ever marathon-style reading in New York City of Herman Melville’s American classic, Moby-Dick, Or, the Whale. Celebrating the anniversary of the novel’s publication in the United States on November 14, 1851, the inaugural NYC marathon will span three days, three bookstores, and two boroughs, featuring over 100 readers.”
The Marathon kicks off at 5PM on Friday, November 16 and runs through 4PM Sunday, November 18. Click here to learn more – Moby Dick Marathon NYC.
The Moby Dick Marathon NYC should not be confused with the Moby Dick Big Read, in which actors and writers have been reading a chapter a day from Moby Dick and posting the chapters on-line as pod casts.
On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 platform workers and resulting in the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. Today BP, the well owner, plead guilty to 14 criminal charges of which 11 were felonies. They also agreed to pay $4.5 billion in fines and other payments to the government. Two BP officials, Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine, were also charged with manslaughter realted to the 11 deaths, alleging that they were negligent in supervising tests before the well blowout and explosion that destroyed the rig. Prosecutors also charged David Rainey, BP’s former vice president for exploration in the Gulf of Mexico, with obstruction of Congress and making false statements about the rate at which oil was spilling from the well.
BP to Admit Crimes and Pay $4.5 Billion in Gulf Settlement
These fines and payments may be only the beginning, however. BP also may be liable under the Clean Water Act for the oil spilled with potentials fine between $1,100 to $4,300 per barrel spilled. These fines could total as much as $21 billion. Other civil lawsuits are also pending. Thanks to Phil Leon for contributing to this post.
Space Shuttle Enterprise Pavilion on SS Intrepid Before and After Sandy
When we posted yesterday about the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island being closed by superstorm Sandy, Liam Hegarty pointed out in a comment that the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum is also closed until December due to storm damage.
The museum’s newest exhibit, the Space Shuttle Enterprise was damaged by Sandy. It had been housed in a temporary inflatable enclosure on the stern of the aircraft carrier Intrepid. When the storm struck, it flooded Pier 86 and knocked out the stand-by generators causing the enclosure to collapse. Reportedly the Enterprise’s tail was slightly damaged. The Enterprise has not had an easy time since it arrived in New York, flying in on the back of its own 747. When in transit by barge from JFK airport to the museum on the Hudson River, one wing was damaged when it struck a railway bridge. Such are the dangers of parking in New York City.
Intrepid Out of Commission from Sandy, Shuttle Sustains “Minor Damage”
Despite the best efforts of Superstorm Sandy, the monthly Sea Shanty Session at the Noble Maritime Collection at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center is carrying on and will be held this Sunday November 18, 2012 from 2 until 5 PM. Admission is by donation, and refreshments will be available for sale. Everyone is welcome to come join in the singing or just sit and enjoy. If you are anywhere near New York harbor, it well worth stopping by.
A short video of one of the shanty sessions last year:
William Main Doerflinger Memorial Shanty Session
When Superstorm Sandy came ashore roughly two weeks ago, she uncovered at least two shipwrecks. On Fire Island, New York, the storm washed away dunes east of Davis Park revealing the remains of a wooden ship believed to be a post-Civil War cargo vessel built before 1880. Experts from the Long Island Maritime Museum are conducting more research to attempt to identify the ship.
In Surf City, NC, Sandy also uncovered a fragment the William H. Sumner, a 489-ton, 165-foot three-masted schooner whose young captain died under suspicious circumstances after running the ship aground in 1919.
In New York harbor, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are closed while storm damage is being assessed. Fortunately the statue itself suffered no damage but the facilities, including docks, offices and even brick walkways were significantly damaged. The Statue of Liberty had been closed for a year for renovations prior to the storm and had only been opened for six hours prior to Sandy sweeping into the harbor. Ellis Island’s invaluable cache of historical documents and records was not harmed by the storm, but there was considerable damage to docks and buildings reported.
Photographer and graphic artist Fred LeBlanc has posted a wonderful montage of his photographs set to the music of Tim Janis. Definitely worth a look.
A collision with a fishing boat has taken Kito de Pavant, sailing for Groupe Bel, out of the Vendée Globe non-stop round-the-world single-handed yacht race, two days into the race and only a day after Marc Guillemot was forced to drop out a keel failure on his boat,Safran. The collision damaged the outrigger, bowsprit, deck and hull of his boat, though fortunately, de Pavant was not injured.
In early October, we posted about the Argentine Navy training ship Libertad, a 300′ three masted full rigged ship, that had been seized in the port of Tema, Ghana as a result of a court order obtained by NML Capital Ltd., a subsidiary of Elliot Capital Management, a vulture fund run by the US billionaire Paul Singer. The conflict intensified last week when the ship’s crew drew guns when the port officials attempted to board and move the ship to another berth. The ship had previously raised its gangway. The officials attempted to board via a crane but stopped when faced by armed crew. The Libertad is currently occupying a central berth in the port and is blocking the unloading of some 20 other vessels.
Would you like to know how to sail a square-rigger? Part 3 of “How to Sail a Full-Rigged Ship,” courtesy of the full-rigged ship Sørlandet. Part 3 looks at wearing ship and anchoring under sail.
Safran with intact titanium keel
Marc Guillemot, sailing Safran, was a favorite to win the Vendée Globe non-stop round-the-world single-handed yacht race, yet only one day into the race, he was forced to turn back due to a broken keel. Fifty miles into the race, he reported hearing a “loud bang.” Guillemot’s Open 60 class boat, Safran, features a hollow titanium fin keel, a fairly radical departure from the solid steel keels first used in the design. Guillemot’s team does not have a spare keel, forcing him to retire from the race.
This is not the first time that Guillemot has faced a keel failure. In the 2009 Vendée Globe, Safran lost her keel 900 miles from the finish of the race, yet Guillemot made it across the finish line and placed third overall.
Would you like to know how to tack a square-rigger? Part 2 of “How to Sail a Full Rigged Ship,” courtesy of the full-rigged ship Sørlandet. Part 2 looks at tacking.
How to sail a Full-Rigged-Ship – The Sørlandet Part 2
So you want to learn to sail a square-rigger? Here is one of the best visual explanations of the basics that I have come across, courtesy of the full-rigged ship Sørlandet. Part 1 looks at the sails & rigging.
Her French competitors refer to her as La Petite Anglaise. Tomorrow, when the twenty boats in Vendée Globe non-stop round-the-world single-handed yacht race set off from Les Sables-d’Olonne, France, Samantha Davies will be the only woman in the race. When she sails tomorrow, she will be waving goodbye to her husband and her Romain, and 14-month-old son, Ruben. Davies is an experienced single handed sailor, placing fourth on corrected time in the 2008-2009 Vendée Globe as well as sailing in numerous other major races.
Samantha Davies: ‘My partner’s Vendée Globe will be harder than mine’
Before and after Sandy
The United States Coast Guard Notice to Mariners reads simply – Old Orchard Shoals Light STRUCT DEST. The Old Orchard Shoals Light was built in 1893 in New York’s outer harbor off Staten Island near Great Kills Beach. The 51-foot tall cast iron spark plug lighthouse stood for 119 years until Superstorm Sandy destroyed it on October 30th.
Staten Island’s Old Orchard Light, a New York Harbor stalwart for 119 years, is swept away
USS Bernadou (DD-153), At sea during the North African invasion operation, November 1942. The ship’s mast had been removed to facilitate her role in the landings at Safi, Morocco on 8 November 1942
A guest post by Stephen Phelps:
Today is the 70th anniversary of the WW II invasion of North Africa, which began with the assault and landing in the port of Safi by USS Bernadou, a WW I-vintage destroyer that had been stripped down for stealth and draft. My father, Stephen E. Phelps, was a torpedoman aboard her that day; his station as the ship drove into the port was as a loader on that forward 4″ gun.
Captain Braddy grounded the ship in order to disembark his 200 Army Rangers. As the Rangers went over the side the ship continued to take small arms fire and the sailors were helping the soldiers over the bows and onto the landing nets with all their gear. As the last Ranger climbed over, with my father helping him, they looked into each other’s eyes. My father said, “Good luck, soldier,” and the Ranger said, “You, too, sailor.”