Historic Sea Forts

Maunsell’s army sea forts were specifically designed to repel smaller aircraft flying in to attack Great Britain. Each fort consists of a cluster of smaller units arrayed in a group. Each group had one spotlight tower and the rest of the units had guns mounted all around to give maximum range. Each fort was connected by bridges to the others in the cluster but was also structurally autonomous – presumably in case one were to be successfully targeted and destroyed. Since being decommissioned in the 1950′s, a number of these forts have been used for pirate radio broadcasting stations while others been converted into a luxury resorts.

Historic Navy Sea Forts

Converted Sea Fortress

Horse Sands, Spitbank, St. Helens and No Man’s Land Forts were created in the mid-1800s as defensive sea forts around Portsmouth. Some are now abandoned or under private ownership but No Man’s Land Fort has actually been converted into a luxury resort and Spitbank has been transformed into a museum, hotel and events space. St. Helen’s fort can actually be reached on foot during low tides at certain times of year. At one point, a failed businessman barricaded himself in No Man’s Land Fort to escape his creditors.

Military Guard Tower and Lighthouse

The Nab Tower, now a lighthouse, was created in 1918 near Southampton in order to protect merchant vessels from attacks by German submarines. At 40 feet wide, 90 feet tall and a cost of over a million dollars a piece eight such towers were to be created and linked with steel nets to keep out U-boats. In the end, only this tower was constructed and installed – one other was scrapped after being partly built. The tower was built on a concrete based towed out to sea then filled with water so it would sink to the bottom. However, in the sinking process the structure tilted slightly and remains at a 3 degree angle. In 1999, the commercial (Dole) ship shown above allided with the tower.

via Dark Roasted Blend and also found WebUrbanist.

Click here to view the embedded video.

We went to London to tell the story of pirate radio secret urban studios that transmit music from concrete tower blocks to the city, and met with DJs, and station managers, rappers and MCs. We met with DJ Scratcha from RINSE FM, MC Flirt from old school KOOL FM, J2k, Jammer, and Logan Sama. We uncovered how they stay underground and away from the authorities, while still setting the new music standard across London. We sailed to the source, where it all started massive concrete and steel forts that sit at the mouth of the Thames River. We met the people who pioneered the spirit of pirate, and played the music that London wanted to hear. They set the standard, and when the authorities shut them down, pirate sounds went into the urban underground.
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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.

Dockwise Yacht Transport has been in the boat delivery business for 21 years. Their semi-submersible vessels operate world wide.

Launched in April of 2008, the China Built heavy lift ship Yacht Express is the world’s largest float-on float-off yacht carrier (Video). This amazing ship has opened a regular round-trip service between Florida and the Mediterranean. 18 yachts worth in total some £78 million are being carried aboard the 209m long vessel on its inaugural voyage. Here is information from the owners:

Yacht Express

As the leaders in yacht transport since the 1980s, Dockwise Yacht Transport is taking yacht delivery to an even higher level by introducing the world’s first specifically-built yacht carrier, Yacht Express. The carrier provides the fastest transatlantic service ever from Florida and the Mediterranean each month. This new yacht transport vessel features amenities designed for worldwide yacht transport, including: conference room, media room, an atrium with a swimming pool, fitness room, complimentary cabins for ride-aboard crew and other facilities to make the voyage as productive and pleasant as possible. This yacht transport vessel is the largest vessel of its kind in the world.

Design Features
This specially designed yacht carrier is semi-submersible in order to maintain the unique float-on/float-off loading method. The yacht delivery carrier will have a length of 209 meter (685.7 ft) and a beam of 32.2 meter (106 ft). The yachts can be safely accommodated between the spray covers in the dock bay, which measures a deck space of 165 meter (541 ft) in length and 31 meter (102 ft) in width. With a deck space of 5,115 square meters (55,060 ft) DYT is able to transport more yachts in one voyage.

Ballasting and deballasting is carried out with four main ballast pumps, each with a capacity of 1,200 cu.m/h at 30 m head. Other pump systems include two fi-fi/general service pumps, each with a capacity of 100 cu.m/h at 80 m head or 210 cu.m/h at 30 m head; an emergency fire pump of 72 cu.m/h at 70 m head; and a 200 cu.m/h ejector pump. Cargo handling is facilitated by a 2 x 10 t crane with an outreach of 15 m.

Propulsion Plant

Propulsion and maneuvering plant consists of two 8,700 kW Wärtsilä 12V38 B common rail diesel generator sets, each driving two Lips azimuth pulling thrusters featuring cp-propellers via two electric motors of 5,100 kW each. Maneuvering is enhanced by a single 1,640 kW bow thruster with cp-propeller.

Auxiliary power is derived from two Wärtsilä 6L20 common rail diesel generator sets of 1,020 kW. Emergency power is supplied by a Volvo Penta D34A MS generator of 610 kW, 440 V, 60 Hz.

The spacious bridge features an integrated bridge system consisting of a UniMACS 3000 with two radar systems with ARPA and two ECDIS, one conning and platform management system, incorporating an advanced DPT 3500 autopilot/joystick system.

Sophisticated

“More important is that this sophisticated yacht carrier is designed to have a service speed of 18 knots”, said Clemens van der Werf, President of DYT, “meaning that a trans-Atlantic voyage from the Mediterranean to Florida/Caribbean with this ultra modern yacht carrier will be reduced by nearly 50% from 15 to 8 days! Owners can enjoy the advantage of extra riders on board to accompany the yacht during the voyage and they can enjoy our state-of-the-art facilities on board. The addition of this new yacht carrier to our fleet implies an important step forward for DYT to improve the quality of services to clients that is based on safety, regularity and reliability.”

Launch completed

The launch of the Yacht Express was a major milestone in the development of the yacht transport industry. On January 15th, 2007 the Yacht Express was skidded from its construction berth ashore, where it was built since September 2005, onto four connected floating submersible barges. The skidding process was completed within 6 hours.

On January 19th, 2007 the barges were submersed and the Yacht Express floated off at high tide and moored alongside the construction berth for further outfitting and commissioning. Dockwise Yacht Transport took delivery of the vessel in October, 2007.

…And for anyone that’s curious: yes it is built to sink.

Photos of Dockwise in action can be found HERE.

Principal Characteristics

Length o.a.:
209.00 m / 685.7 ft

Width o.a.:
32.20 m / 105.64 ft

Depth:
8.50 m / 27.89 ft

Draft:
5.80 m / 19.03 ft

Max. draft submerged:
14.00 m / 46 ft

Deck length:
165.00 m / 541.34 ft

Deck width:
31.00 m / 101.71 ft

Deadweight:
11,000 t

Service speed:
18 knots

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This post was written by gCaptain staff and Richard Rodriguez who can also be found at the Bitterend of the internet.

The history of Aircraft Carriers dates back to 1806 when the British Frigate HMS Pallas was used as platform to launch kites that dropped leaflets over France.

During the (American) Civil War, Union Forces converted the coal barge George Washington Parke Custis to launch hot air ballons to conduct reconnaissance. The barges never worked off shore.

The Union Army balloon Washington aboard the George Washington Parke Custis, towed by the tug Coeur de Lion.

During World War I, a number of countries used Balloon Tenders.

Swedish captive balloon carrier in 1907.

Merchant aircraft carriers (MAC) were minimal aircraft carriers used during WW II by Britain and the Netherlands as an emergency measure until United States-built escort carriers became available in useful numbers.

They were bulk grain carriers or tankers built with flight decks and small islands, but no catapult or other aircraft support facilities. The nature of the cargoes removed the need for the type of deck mounted cargo-handling gear needed by general freighters. They operated with civilian crews, under merchant colors, and carried their regular cargo while serving as aircraft carriers. Their Fairey Swordfish aircraft carried out anti-submarine patrols around the convoy.

Merchant Carrier MV Empire Mac Cabe

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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.

University of Michigan researchers are investigating a radical new design for cargo ships that would eliminate ballast tanks, the water-filled compartments that enable non-native creatures to sneak into the Great Lakes from overseas.

PhysOrg.com is reporting that an alternative to current and proposed tank cleaning methods.

Here’s an excerpt:

“In some ways, it’s more like a submarine than a surface ship,” Parsons said. “We’re opening part of the hull to the sea, creating a very slow flow through the trunks from bow to stern.

“You’re continuously sweeping water through the ship and out,” he said. “So you’re always filled with local sea water, not hauling water from one part of the world to the other.”

The U-M ballast-free ship concept was conceived in 2001 and patented in 2004. It is intended for new-vessel construction only.

The full PhysOrg.com post is here.

(Ed. note: My guess is that this system could be used for cooling as well. A special thanks to BitterEnd reader Cherei in San Antonio for point me to this post.)

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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.

Stunning, dramatic shipwreck photography by Donibane Sanjuan. See more here.

Via Dark Roasted Blend

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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.

This admittedly isn’t the newest military tech on the block, but I just couldn’t help writing it up. Russia makes the world’s largest military hovercraft dubbed the “Zubr.” It displaces 621 tons and can haul twice the payload of similar boats from the US Navy (somewhere around 150 tons). 

With production dating back to 1988, the last Zubr looks to have launched in 2004. Capable of carrying multiple tanks and a nice mix of 140mm rocket pods, 30mm cannons and air defense missiles, the Zubr can cruise for 300 miles before rapidly deploying troops and equipment close to shore. Scratch that. Directly on shore. In other words, it’s just like that R/C vehicle you lusted after in the ’90s, but it’s way bigger and actually good for something. Or, in this case, potentially very, very bad.

via Gizmodo.com

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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.

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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.

I cannot see this as a highpoint of scientific discovery drawn from the distant reaches of our wild oceans

In the era of super science, nothing shows up how little we know of our own planet as finding massive “sea monsters”.

The largest single invertebrate animal ever found was recently captured by longline fishermen in Antarctic seas. Known as a colossal squid, it weighed 450kg (990lb), about twice the weight of the largest squid previously captured.

This event highlights two points; firstly, that our knowledge of the most common habitat on our planet – the deep sea – is still in its infancy, and secondly that such scientific discoveries indicate the scale and reach of global fisheries exploitation.

This squid is a very impressive animal. It has eyes larger than a blue whale’s, a sharp slicing beak as big as a rockmelon and a tongue covered in sharp teeth.

SIZE COMPARISON      Landing of colossal squid

Its eight arms and two longer feeding tentacles are armed with toothed suckers and sharp hooks.

It swims with muscular fins and a big funnel for jet propulsion, and the undersides of its eyes have rows of lights like truck running lights.

You can find the full BBC post here.

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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.

The Old Royal Naval College was designed by artist Sir Christopher Wren and built between 1696 and 1751. It started life as the Greenwich Hospital for Seamen, which provided a home for retired and injured sailors.

It became the Royal Naval College in 1873, until the departure of the Royal Navy in 1998, and the hall was regularly used as a dining room. Artist Sir James Thornhill was commissioned by the hospital to paint the hall in 1708, and he completed it in phases up to 1727. Lord Nelson was laid in State here in 1805.

Java Script 360 pic, here.

More information at the News Shopper, here.

Lots more info in Google, here.

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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.

Gizmodo tells us:  Google Goes Back to 1500, Plans to Map the Oceans

As a natural progression from Google Earth and Google Sky, the Mountain View monolith now plans to create 3D maps of the Earth’s oceans and seas and make it available via Google Ocean. The software will allow users to navigate the aquatic bottom and see the topography that exists down there. Google also plans to include interactive data about various subjects such as weather patterns, coral reefs, shipwrecks, and currents. The goal for Google ocean is to use as much high resolution photography of the underwater terrain as possible, offering more than just a map. But researchers say such a process could take upwards of 100 years. And Google, if you’re going to include an easter egg similar to Google Earth’s flight sim, could we get a guided tour with a virtual Team Zissou? [via Gizmodo and CNet News]

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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.