Bearings, “A Geographer’s Blog” from Berkley, has a new series on Radio’s Rise During World War I. The series includes the history of undersea cables and the ships that pioneered the development of Marconi’s invention. All those history buffs out their should check out the rest of the site as well.

Also check out;

• Spark’s Museum’s collection of restored Marconi radios: LINK
• Radio Officer Nostalgia
• Radio Officer Photo Gallery

Today is National Maritime Day here in the states, an observance that “Honors the contributions of the American merchant marine, civilians who have defended the freedom of the United States since 1775, and who executed the largest sealift the world has ever known during World War II. The observance of National Maritime Day also honors the maritime industry and the benefits it brings Americans in terms of transportation, jobs, goods, and recreational opportunities.”

National Maritime Day was first declared so by Congress in 1933. The date was chosen as the anniversary of the day which the American steamship SS Savannah set sail on the world’s first transoceanic voyage under steam power.

The highlight of Maritime Day is the annual Proclamation set forth by the US President. Here are the words of President Barack Obama: [Continue Reading →]

On April 16, 1947, the Liberty ship, S.S. Grandcamp exploded dockside in the port at Texas City, Texas.  The blast and the fires that followed killed about 600 people and injure 3,500 more. It remains the deadliest explosion and worst industrial disaster in U.S. history.

The following is a summary from the Texas City Disaster Report that was put out on April 29, 1947.

A fire discovered by stevedores preparing to resume loading of ammonium nitrate aboard the S. S. GRANDCAMP at Warehouse (Pier) “O”, about 8 A. M., April 16, 1947, resulted in the first of two disastrous explosions at 9:12 A. M., April 16, 1947 which destroyed the entire dock area, numerous oil tanks, the Monsanto Chemical Company, numerous dwellings and business buildings. The second explosion resulted from a fire in ammonium nitrate aboard the S. S. HIGH FLYER which occurred some sixteen hours later at 1:10 A. M., April 17, 1947.

Damage to property outside the dock area was widespread. Approximately 1000 residences and business buildings suffered either major structural damage or were totally destroyed. Practically every window exposed to the blast in the corporate limits was broken. Several plate glass windows as far away as Galveston (10 miles) were shattered. Flying steel fragments and portions of the cargo were found 13,000 feet distant. A great number of balls of sisal twine, many afire, were blown over the area like torches. Numerous oil tanks were penetrated by flying steel or were crushed by the blast wave which followed the explosions. Drill stems 30 feet long, 6 3/8 inches in diameter, weight 2700 pounds, part of the cargo of the S. S. GRANDCAMP were found buried 6 feet in the clay soil a distance of 13,000 feet from the point of the explosion. [Continue Reading →]

Hot on the heels of our featured stories “5 Most Ambitious Bridge Designs of Today” and “Windoc Incident - Story Behind YouTube’s Most Chilling Video” our digg friend msaleem points us to this post titled. “Most Horrific Bridge Collapses of Past 100 Years”

The article contains many pictures and can be found HERE.

This article, is just one of thousands of interesting posts found in our maritime archives. Click HERE to browse the archive of articles gCaptain has  published in the last three years.

Ever wonder how your voyage plan would look to Gerardus Mercator, John Speed or even Captain Cook? Laying out voyage plans has gotten easier in the past decade. From excel spreadsheets to nautical calculators and ECDIS programs, every Second Mate has a tool that assists him in laying out the best route to get his vessel from point A to point B. For a recent project here at gCaptain I laid out a voyage from Singapore to Europe with the exclusive use of Google Earth. This was, of course, not for navigational use but I was able to identify hazards I might not have caught on a paper chart or even an ECDIS. This got me thinking… how different would my voyage look 100 years ago using the charts and tools of the day.

Today’s find comes from the Google Latitude Blog and the David Rumsey Map Collection… historic chart overlays for google maps!

The above image shows small scale chart from 1790 depicting discoveries in the Pacific as well as the routes of three of Captain James Cook’s voyages. Using the overlay tool we are able to lay it over a self created google map and compare the results. While I’m still not sure the practical use for this technology it sure get’s the mind thinking.

Click Here to try it out.

Most of us have fond memories of flipping through editions of Popular Mechanics magazine, dreaming of the future. Well a new blog called Modern Mechanics lets you relive those memories.

Be sure to check out these gems from the site’s Nautica section;

• Transoceanic Hydroglider
• The Barrel Ship (photo above)
• Lifeboat Casket
• Floating Airports
• Ice Islands
• Turbo Wheel Liners
• Air Bubbles For Rescues At Sea
• An the time appropriate Fighting Chinese Pirates

We guarantee it will bring a smile to the faces of all gCaptain readers… even the ones thougroly disapointed that it’s almost 2009 and Buck Rogers is no where in sight.

Maunsell’s army sea forts were more specifically designed to repel smaller aircraft flying in to attack rather than to lay mines at site. 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, a number of these forts have been used for pirate radio broadcasting stations. [Continue Reading →]

When we think of early Aircraft Carriers, most defer to the US Navy converting Jupiter (Collier # 3) in 1920 to CVI Langley. Commissioned in March 1922, Langley was the U.S. Navy’s first conventional aircraft carrier. In October-November 1922, she launched, recovered and catapulted her first aircraft during initial operations in the Atlantic and Caribbean areas.

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. [Continue Reading →]

The List Universe brings us: Top 10 Unsolved Mysteries

Mystery number 2, the harrowing tail of the sailing ship: Mary Celeste
Mary Celeste was launched in Nova Scotia in 1860. Her original name was “Amazon”. She was 103 ft overall displacing 280 tons and listed as a half-brig. Over the next 10 years she was involved in several accidents at sea and passed through a number of owners. Eventually she turned up at a New York salvage auction where she was purchased for $3,000. After extensive repairs she was put under American registry and renamed “Mary Celeste”.

The new captain of Mary Celeste was Benjamin Briggs, 37, a master with three previous commands. On November 7, 1872 the ship departed New York with Captain Briggs, his wife, young daughter and a crew of eight. The ship was loaded with 1700 barrels of raw American alcohol bound for Genoa, Italy. The captain, his family and crew were never seen again. The ship was found floating in the middle of the Strait of Gibraltar. There were no signs of struggle on board and all documents except the captain’s log were missing.

In early 1873, it was reported that two lifeboats grounded in Spain, one with a body and an American flag, the other containing five bodies. It has been alleged that these could have been the remains of the crew of the Mary Celeste. However, the bodies were apparently never identified.

The famed paddle-wheeled steamboat, the Delta Queen, may be close to making its final commercial voyage come the end of the month. The 82-year-old Delta Queen has been operating on a presidential exemption from an amendment of the Safety of Life at Sea Act, prohibiting the operation of overnight passenger vessels with mostly wooden structures. The National Register of Historic Places tells us:

The Safety at Sea Law of 1966 threatened the continued operation of Delta Queen because one clause of the law forbade operations of vessels with wooden superstructures in overnight passenger service. The first of a series of legal maneuverings fueled by a tremendous public outcry, allowed a special Congressional exemption from the law for Delta Queen in 1970. Several subseguent extensions of this exemption have focussed tremendous national attention on this problem. Many modifications for safety have been made, though short of the complete rebuildina sought by the Coast Guard. [Continue Reading →]