One hundred and eleven years ago today the US Navy accepted its first successful submarine, the USS Holland. The previous November, in New York harbor, the Holland passed the Navy’s tests. She ran for one mile underwater, surfaced, fired a torpedo then dove again and returned underwater to her starting point. Chief Engineer John Lowe, U. S. N. who observed the trials, wrote: “I report my belief, after full examination, that the Holland is a successful and veritable submarine torpedo-boat, capable of making a veritable attack upon the enemy unseen and undetectable, and that, therefore, she is an engine of warfare of terrible potency which the government must necessarily adopt into its service.”
Great footage of the Lynx from TheSailingChannel.TV
Hundreds of dead dolphins and sea turtles are washing ashore on the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico. No one knows exactly what is killing them though many point to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill of a year ago. In the mean time, BP is spending roughly $100 million in advertising to “clean up” its image.
Dolphin Deaths Designated An ‘Unusual Mortality Event’
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Reports now indicate that Ryan Donovan, 22, a sailor on HMS Astute, burst into the submarine control room and opened fire with an SA80 assault rifle yesterday, killing the ship’s weapons engineering officer, Lt. Cmdr. Ian Molyneux, 36, and wounding a second officer, Lieutenant Commander Chris Hodge. The shooting took place during a tour of the submarine by the Southhampton City Council. The leader of the Southampton Council, Royston Smith, reportedly wrestled the rifle away from the shooter. Southhampton Mayor, Carol Cunio, said she helped stanch blood flowing from Lieutenant Commander Hodge, who had been shot below the ribs on his right side. Lieutenant Commander Hodge is reported to be stable condition.
Senior officer killed in UK nuclear sub shooting
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After dabbling with space ships, Richard Branson has turned to the deep oceans. The Virgin Oceanic team will be diving to the deepest ocean depths in a one man submarine designed by Graham Hawkes. The submarine has an operating depth of 37,000ft (7 miles) and is capable of operating for 24hrs unaided. Its top speed is around 3 knots.
The Life Aquatic with Richard Branson
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Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing the article along.
Photo: Kyoto News
For all the damage that the Japanese tsunami of March 11th left behind on shore, it also carried considerable wreckage out to sea. this week the Japanese Coast Guard warned ships to look out for and avoid the floating debris and wreckage.
Japan warns ships to avoid floating houses, debris
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HMS Astute
The BBC is reporting that one sailor has been killed and another seriously injured on the Royal Navy nuclear submarine HMS Astute. A member of the crew is reported to have shot two of his fellow sailors before being overpowered. HMS Astute, the Navy’s newest and most advanced submarine, is docked at Southampton’s Eastern Docks on a five-day official visit to the city. The UK Press Association is also reporting that Southampton City Council’s mayor, leader and chief executive were aboard the submarine at the time of the shooting but were uninjured.
Last October we posted about HMS Astute running aground off Skye during a training mission.
Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing the news along.
Photo: Will van Dorp
Fire Island is a thirty mile long barrier island on the south shore of Long Island, east of the entrance of New York harbor. Last week, Le Papillon, a 50′ steel pinky schooner, went ashore on the beach on Fire Island near the village of SaltAire. The 19 year old captain and the two 20 year old passengers were rescued without injury. Will van Dorp of the Tugster blog captured dramatic photos of the grounded schooner in the Fire Island surf. What will become of Le Papillon? That is difficult to say, but by Tuesday of this week, an ad appeared in Craigslist offering the schooner for sale for $15,000, with the important requirement: “Needs immediate removal.” Le Papillon is neither the first nor likely to be the last vessel to run aground on the Fire Island shoals.
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After 66 days at sea, Anthony Smith and a crew of three friends arrived in St. Maarten on a voyage from the Canary Islands on the raft “An-Tiki“. Smith celebrated his 85th birthday during the voyage. The crew of the An-Tiki included John Russell, David Hildred, and Andrew Bainbridge.
Sailor, 85, crosses Atlantic on raft with friends
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My wife and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary in a week by having dinner at Le Bernardin. I had proposed in the Le Bernardin, when the restaurant was still in Paris, so it has always seemed a great place to celebrate anniversaries. What does this have to do with radiation? The New York Times recently reported:
“Eric Ripert, the chef of Le Bernardin, the high temple of seafood in Manhattan, bought a new kitchen gadget a few days ago: a radiation detector.
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The Tall Ship Elissa was built was built in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1877 by Alexander Hall and Co. She has been fully restored and is currently sailing out of Galveston, Texas. She recently successfully completed drydocking and inspection. A small piece of the ship will be involved in another docking, this time in space. US astronaut Catherine Coleman, a friend of the Galveston Historical Foundation, agreed to take a piece of deck planking from the Elissa on her current mission to the International Space Station. When the astronaut returns in May of this year, she will leave the Elissa‘s plank aboard the station.
Aberdeen-built tall ship on International Space Station
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A boat overloaded with migrants sailing from Libya capsized south south of the island of Lampedusa , off Sicily, early today. Fifteen are confirmed dead and between 130 and 250 are believed to be missing.
Migrant boat sinks off Italy, up to 250 missing
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A disturbing report from New Zealand on abusive conditions for seamen aboard chartered fishing vessels in New Zealand waters.
Alerted to terrible conditions on foreign fishing vessels after nearly 30 people lost their lives, Michael Field began asking questions.
Secret papers reveal the government has allowed fishermen from poor countries to be exploited in New Zealand waters.
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HMS Bounty is making ready to sail from San Juan, Puerto Rico tomorrow to begin this season’s European voyage. She will be calling at ports in the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Poland, Sweden, Germany and Russia, before returning to the US around October. For her complete schedule click here. She was originally intending to sail today but was delayed awaiting the arrival of parts.
The ship is a replica of the Royal Navy ship on which a famous mutiny occurred in 1789. She was built for the 1962 movie “Mutiny on the Bounty,” starring Marlon Brando.
Recent articles on the power of the tsunami that recently struck Japan say a lot about both the power of the tsunami waves and the challenges of trying to cope with a constant threat from the ocean. Japan’s first line of defense against tsunamis has been its extensive investment in seawalls. As reported by the New York Times: At least 40 percent of Japan’s 22,000-mile coastline is lined with concrete seawalls, breakwaters or other structures meant to protect the country against high waves, typhoons or even tsunamis. They are as much a part of Japan’s coastal scenery as beaches or fishing boats, especially in areas where the government estimates the possibility of a major earthquake occurring in the next three decades at more than 90 percent, like the northern stretch that was devastated by Friday’s earthquake and tsunami.
The headline of the article says all that need be said: Seawalls Offered Little Protection Against Tsunami’s Crushing Waves . A follow-up article touches on the downside of relying on a fixed defense against the power of the sea.
In Japan, Seawall Offered a False Sense of Security
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Photo: BEA, via Reuters
After over two years and three failed searches, an international team, including specialists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, in partnership with French authorities, have located the primary wreckage of Air France Flight 447 which disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean on May 31, 2009 while en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. In addition to wreckage, it is reported that the remains of multiple victims were also sited. The discovery was made using side scan sonars from Remus 6000 drone submarines, deployed by the search vessel, the MV Alucia.
Bodies From 2009 Air France Crash Are Found
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Laura Dekker, the 15 year old Dutch sailor who is sailing rather leisurely alone around the world on her yacht Guppy, has been by all appearances handling the sailing part of her journey without too much difficulty. If she completes here multi-stop circumnavigation prior to turning seventeen on September 20, 2012, she will be the youngest person to sail alone around the world. Recently, she was criticized for not handing the media as well as she has the seafaring. Personally I think the attack is grossly unfair and rather misplaced. She posted a few honest comments on her blog about dealing with the media when she was near exhaustion. And she is all of 15 years old. This silliness does, however, point out that to sail around the world alone these days, it is a good idea to have an advance teams of publicists precede you.
Teen sailor Laura Dekker lashes out against media
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“Sailors and Society in Georgian England : The Home of Lord Nelson, Jane Austen & Jack Aubrey” – It sounds a bit like someone’s history thesis but in fact is a ten day luxury tour organized and escorted by British maritime scholar and author of more than thirty books, Brian Lavery, and Annemarie Victory, the owner of the New York-based specialty tour company that bears her name. The tour sounds perfect for my wife and me. I am a fan of Georgian Naval Fiction while my wife is a Janeite, a rabid fan of Jane Austen. It is, however, a bit beyond my budget at around $10,000 a person, once airfare and incidentals are figured in. Sounds like a wonderful trip all the same. The tour is from September 12 to 22, 2011.
“Sailors and Society in Georgian England : The Home of Lord Nelson, Jane Austen & Jack Aubrey”
Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing the information along.
The fascinating story of the last running World War II motor torpedo boat, the PT 658, an historic relic rescued, rebuilt and restored by a group of gray-haired ex-PT boaters.
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Fewer than 300 people live on the Tristan da Cuhna island chain, the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, 2,816 kilometres from the nearest land. An estimated 200,000 penguins, however, including roughly half of the world’s endangered Northern Rockhopper penguin, call the islands home. When the bulk carrier Olivia grounded and then broke up on March 16 off Nightingale Island, it became a race to save as many penguins as possible from the up to 1,500 metric tons of heavy fuel that spilled when the 75,000 tonne bulker broke up.
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