Scuttling the German High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow, 102 Years Ago Today

Posted on by June 21, 2021

German battle Cruiser Derfflinger Image: Orkney Library and Archive

Following the Armistice of November 11, 1918, which ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I, the German High Seas Fleet of 74 ships was interned at Scapa Flow, in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. While the armistice ended the fighting, it would still take six months of Allied negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty. Part of the haggling over terms of the treaty involved how to divide up the ships of the German fleet amongst the victors.

On the morning of June 21, 1919, German Admiral Erich Raeder, in command of the interned ships, sent out a flag signal, “To all Commanding Officers and the Leader of the Torpedo Boats. Paragraph Eleven of today’s date. Acknowledge. Chief of the Interned Squadron.” The signal was repeated by semaphore and searchlights.

The British had no idea what the message meant, but the German officers understood. It was an order to scuttle the fleet. Continue reading →

The Swedish Ship Götheborg Demonstrates Making Pine Tar

Posted on by June 18, 2021

Before chemical or petroleum-based sealants, tar made from pine trees had a myriad of uses; from protecting hemp ropes, lines, and cable from rot; to waterproofing canvas; for preserving wood; to being used as an antiseptic in chronic skin conditions. It was also known as Stockholm tar because a single company held a royal monopoly on its export out of Stockholm, Sweden.

In the 17th century, the Royal Navy bought most of its tar from Sweden, shifting in the 18th century to importing from its North American colonies, primarily from the Carolinas. British sailors whose hands would become stained by handling tarred lines became known as “tars.” Residents of North Carolina, where tar was produced, became known as “tar heels.”

But how does one make tar from pine? Continue reading →

Happy Juneteenth, Newest National Holiday — When Emancipation Arrived by Steamship

Posted on by June 17, 2021

USS Cornubia, ex lady Davis

Happy Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Juneteenth National Independence Day is also the newest Federal holiday. The legislation, passed by both the House and Senate, was recently signed into law by President Biden. The holiday commemorates when emancipation arrived in Galveston, Texas by steamship, 156 years ago today. Here is an updated repost. 

Although the surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia signaled the end of the nation’s Civil War on April 9, 1865, emancipation did not arrive in Texas until two ex-Confederate steamships sailed into Galveston Harbor two months later. 

Continue reading →

Maine Schooners Stephen Taber & Lewis R. French 150 Years Old & Still Sailing

Posted on by June 18, 2021

Schooners Stephen Taber and Lewis R French in the 2018 Great Schooner Race. (Credit: Richard Ball)

The Maine Windjammer fleet was hit hard by the pandemic last summer. Most of the schooners didn’t sail and those that did offered fewer trips. As things return closer to normal, it is a good time to consider two of the oldest commercial sailing vessels still in service, the schooner Stephen Taber and the Lewis R. French, each celebrating their 150th year.

Continue reading →

James Bartley, Swallowed By A Sperm Whale, & the Nature Of A Good Sea Story

Posted on by June 17, 2021

We recently posted about Michael Packard, a Cape Cod diver, who found himself scooped up inside the mouth of a humpback whale. Most of the media reports used the term “swallowed” by the whale. If the word “swallow” is defined as “cause or allow something to pass down the throat,” the description is impossible. A humpback’s esophagus is only about 4 to 5″ in diameter, far too small to swallow a diver, especially one wearing a SCUBA tank. As one might expect, Mr. Pollard was promptly spat out by the whale, fortunately with minor injuries.

Perhaps ironically, some of the largest whales are filter feeders which feed on krill, plankton, and small fish. They have throats too small to swallow a human. Toothed whales are a different story. Sperm whales, the third-largest whale species, are toothed and prey on giant squid. Some sperm whales have an esophagus several feet in diameter, large enough to swallow a squid or a human whole.

Indeed, there is the story of James Bartley, who in the late nineteenth-century on a whaling expedition off the Falkland Islands, was said to have been swallowed by a sperm whale and was found to be still alive days later in the stomach of the whale.

Continue reading →

Full Scholarships for Picton Castle’s Bosun School

Posted on by June 16, 2021

Exciting news from the crew of the Barque Picton Castle.  Full scholarships are now being offered to those accepted in the highly regarded Picton Castle’s Bosun School. From their announcement: 

Bosun School is going ahead this summer!

We’re thrilled to hold our tenth session of Bosun School this summer from July 14th to September 29th in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada. Bosun School is a land-based marine skills enhancement program designed for aspiring mariners who want to improve their hands-on ship and boat-related abilities.

Thanks to the support of generous funders and benefactors, we’re offering a full scholarship for every Bosun School student. Continue reading →

Remembering the General Slocum Disaster of June 15, 1904

Posted on by June 15, 2021

One hundred and seventeen years ago today, the disaster on General Slocum resulted in the largest loss of life in New York City prior to the attacks of 9/11/01. An updated repost. 

At around 9AM on June 15, 1904, approximately 1,350 passengers, mostly women and children from the German-American community of New York’s Lower East Side, boarded the Knickerbocker Steamship Company paddle steamer, General Slocum, for an annual end-of-school outing to Locust Grove Picnic Ground at Eatons Neck on Long Island.  The trip was sponsored by the St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Instead of a fun-filled day away from the city, the trip shortly turned into a nightmare. Continue reading →

Diver Gulped Up Then Spat Out By Humpback Whale Off Cape Cod

Posted on by June 14, 2021

A diver from Cape Cod, Massachusetts was gulped up and then spat out by a humpback whale feeding off the coast of Provincetown early Friday morning.  The diver, Michael Packard, 56, of Wellfleet, was hunting for lobsters while about 45 feet down. He told WBZ-TV, after he was released from Cape Cod hospital, how “all of a sudden I felt this huge bump, and everything went dark.”

Continue reading →

Sea Snot Fouling Sea of Marmara, Turkey Attempts Clean Up

Posted on by June 12, 2021

A thick, slimy layer of so-called “sea snot” has spread in Turkey’s Sea of Marmara to the south of Istanbul, posing a threat to marine life and the fishing industry. 

Reuters reports that scientists say climate change and pollution have contributed to the proliferation of the organic matter, also known as marine mucilage, which contains a wide variety of microorganisms and can flourish when nutrient-rich sewage flows into seawater.

Continue reading →

Two Test Positive for Covid-19 on 100% Vaccinated Celebrity Millennium

Posted on by June 11, 2021

When the cruise ship Celebrity Millennium departed from St. Maarten on June 5 for a seven-night cruise visiting Aruba, Curacao, and Barbados, each of the 600 passengers (over 12 years old) and 700 crew members had been fully vaccinated and had been recently tested for Covid-19. Nevertheless, yesterday the cruise line announced that two passengers had tested positive for the virus. The two infected passengers had shared a stateroom and are reported to be asymptomatic. They have been isolated and are receiving medical care.

How did the two passengers become infected? While the vaccines are highly effective, they are not 100%. A small number of so-called breakthrough cases have been observed. There were apparently a few unvaccinated children onboard the ship as well.

Are these two cases an indication of failure or success? Continue reading →

Flue Whale: Rare Blue-Fin Whale Hybrid Sighted Off Dana Point, CA

Posted on by June 10, 2021

Photo: Caitlyn Nieblas/Capt. Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Watching Safari

The Orange County Register had an interesting article recently. They reported that last Saturday a whale-watching boat reported seeing what they believe to be a “flue” whale, a hybrid blue-fin whale, swimming off Dana Point, CA. The whale has been spotted on and off in the waters off Southern California since 2004. Blue whales are the largest creatures to have ever existed on earth. Fin whales are the second largest.  

The first hybrid blue-fin whale was recorded in 1984 off the coast of Spain. The roughly 4-year-old whale had coloration and body proportions that were intermediate between those of a fin and a blue whale, although at 19.4 meters was significantly larger than a fin whale of a similar age. DNA analysis revealed that the mother of the hybrid was a blue whale and the father a fin whale.

Continue reading →

Urgent Repairs Needed to Queen Mary, Potential Flooding & Capsize Risk

Posted on by June 9, 2021

The ex-Cunard luxury liner Queen Mary, which had served as a tourist attraction and hotel in Long Beach, CA since 1972, was shut down by the pandemic. Then in January, the manager of the ship on behalf of the City of Long Beach filed for bankruptcy. Now, the Long Beach Post reports that a recent Queen Mary inspection survey reveals that urgent repairs have been neglected over the last five years, leaving the historic ship vulnerable to flooding or possibly even capsizing if critical work isn’t addressed.

The report from a city-hired naval architecture and marine engineering firm Elliott Bay Design Group, which inspected the ship on April 28, says the city would need an additional $23 million in urgent safety repairs to keep the ship “viable” over the next two years.

Continue reading →

New Nannie Dee Figurehead for the Cutty Sark

Posted on by June 8, 2021

In a few days, the composite clipper ship Cutty Sark will be graced with a new carved wooden figurehead carved by one of the last master carvers, Andy Peters. The figurehead, like its two predecessors, represents the witch Nannie Dee, from Robert Burn’s poem, Tam o’ Shanter. She is scantily clad and holds a long tuft of a horse’s tail in her outstretched hand. The figurehead itself tells the story of why the grand old ship is named Cutty Sark.

Continue reading →

Michelin’s Wing Sail Mobility (WISAMO) Project Features Inflatable Wing Sails

Posted on by June 7, 2021

Back in 2017, we posted Inflated Wing Sail — Rig of the Future? The post showed a prototype daysailer with a single inflatable wing sail (IWS) without winches, halyards, shrouds, or complex deck gear. Now French tire manufacturer Michelin has collaborated with the two Swiss developers to scale up the IWS design to provide sail assist on merchant ships. Their Wing Sail Mobility (WISAMO) project design is an automated, telescopic, inflatable wing sail system that is expected to reduce fuel consumption by up to 20%.

Continue reading →

On the 77th Anniversary of D-Day, Remembering Andrew Jackson Higgins and the Higgins Boat

Posted on by June 5, 2021

I am aware of only one man who was praised by both Eisenhower and Hitler. A repost on the 77th anniversary of D-Day.

General Dwight David Eisenhower said that “Andrew Higgins … is the man who won the war for us. … If Higgins had not designed and built those LCVPs, we never could have landed over an open beach. The whole strategy of the war would have been different.”  

Adolph Hitler referred to Andrew Higgins as the “new Noah,” though his admiration was more begrudging. On the 77th anniversary of the Normandy landings, better known as D-Day, it seems worthwhile to remember Andrew Higgins and the amazing Higgins boat.

Continue reading →

Video of Navy Ship Being Swarmed by UFOs/UAPs

Posted on by June 5, 2021

Something very strange took place around the middle of July 2019 off the coast of California, near San Diego. Leaked radar images and video from the USS Omaha show unidentified objects swarming around the ship, visible on several sensor systems.  In common parlance, they would be referred to as UFOs, unidentified flying objects. The military refers to them as UAPs, unidentified aerial phenomena. 

In the same area and over the same period five US Navy destroyers and one cruise ship also reported swarms of unidentified objects.

Continue reading →

Sri Lanka and the Environmental Aftermath of the X-Press Pearl Fire and Sinking

Posted on by June 4, 2021

Pollution from the container ship X-Press Pearl is being described as potentially the worst marine ecological disaster in Sri Lankan history. The ship carried 25 tonnes of nitric acid, along with other chemicals and cosmetics, when it caught fire on May 20. Many of the ship’s 1,486 containers tumbled into the sea before the huge blaze was brought under control earlier this week. The vessel sank on June 2, as it was being towed to deeper waters.

BBC reports that millions of plastic pellets from a damaged container, which are the raw material for shopping bags, have already coated stretches of Sri Lanka’s western coastline. Worst-hit areas include some of the country’s most pristine beaches close to the city of Negombo. Experts say the pellets still in the sea could travel as far as India, Indonesia and Somalia.

There are now concerns that the bunker fuel aboard the ship will further damage the shoreline. Continue reading →

Free Tickets to South Street’s Windjammer Wavertree, Fri-Sun Through October 2021

Posted on by June 3, 2021

The South Street Seaport Museum is offering FREE tickets to tour the 1885-built windjammer Wavertree on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through October 2021, with timed entry, from 11am-5pm at Pier 16 on Manhattan’s East River, (Fulton and South Streets). 

From the Seaport Museum’s website:

Visits will be self-guided along a set route and will include access to the main deck and quarter deck. Learn how people worked and lived aboard a 19th-century cargo sailing vessel, from the captain to the ship’s officers, cooks, and crew. Then visit the cargo hold and stand atop the viewing platform where you can take in the massive main cargo area.

Continue reading →

Iranian Navy’s Largest Ship Catches Fire and Sinks in Gulf of Oman

Posted on by June 2, 2021

Kharg, an Iranian Navy training and logistics ship, caught fire in the Gulf of Oman in the early hours of Wednesday local time. After more than 20 hours of firefighting and rescue operations, the ship subsequently sank near the port of Jask. All 400 crew were rescued, with 33 reported injured. The Tasnim news agency, citing a statement from Iran’s navy, said that the ship had been deployed to international waters to participate in a naval exercise when “one of its systems” caught fire. The fire was reported to have started in the ship’s engine room.

Kharg, the largest ship in the Iranian Navy by tonnage, was a converted fleet oiler and had been in service almost 40 years.

The cause of the fire and sinking is the subject of considerable speculation. Continue reading →