Carroll A. Deering – mystery at sea

 Carroll A. Deering was launched On April 4, 1919 in Bath, Maine.  Designed for cargo service, this five-mast schooner, the last of nearly 100,  was built by the G.G. Deering Co. and named for the owner’s son.  She was described as … Continue reading →

Xebec (Chebec)

The xebec owes much of its design to the earlier galleys of the Mediterranean. The root of the name probably comes from an Arabic word for small ship, and is rendered into English in three forms: xebec, chebec, and zebec, though the … Continue reading →

Kublai Khan meets kamikaze – the 1281 invasion of Japan

The Mongol Emperor of China Kublai Khan‘s first attempt to invade Japan in October 1274, ended prematurely and disastrously. The devastating defeat of an invasion that took over five years to plan would have deterred a less resolute conqueror, but … Continue reading →

KMS Battleship Bismarck

Perhaps no ship struck as much fear into the heart of the British Navy in the spring of 1941 than the massive German dreadnought Bismarck which, at 823 feet and with a top speed of 30 knots, was the largest and fastest … Continue reading →

Valencia, Spain

The Port of Valencia is the largest seaport in Spain and in the Mediterranean Sea basin, with an annual traffic capacity of around 57 million tonnes of cargo (2009) and 4,210,000 TEU (2010).  The port is also an important employer in the area, with more than 15,000 employees who provide services to more … Continue reading →

Leif Eiriksson (Erikson)

Christopher Columbus was not the first European to discover the New World! This commonly held belief is wrong. Columbus didn’t reach the New World until 1492, 500 years after Leif Eiriksson’s arrival in 1001 AD.   In 986 AD, Norwegian-born Eirik … Continue reading →

Caravel

The caravel of the 15th and 16th centuries was a ship with a distinctive shape and admirable qualities. A gently sloping bow and single stern castle were prominent features of this vessel, and it carried a mainmast and a mizzen … Continue reading →

Semaphores – the marine signal language

The word Semaphore derives from the Greek words sema (sign) and foros (bearer).  Semaphore Flags is the system for conveying information at a distance by means of visual signals with hand-held flags, rods, disks, paddles, or occasionally bare or gloved hands. … Continue reading →

SS Sultana

The steamboat Sultana was a Mississippi River paddle wheeler destroyed in an explosion on 27 April 1865. This resulted in the greatest maritime disaster in United States history. An estimated 1,800 of the 2,400 passengers were killed when one of the ship’s … Continue reading →

ARA General Belgrano

The ARA General Belrgano will go down in history as the first ship sunk in anger by a Nuclear-Powered submarine. ARA General Belgrano was a warship that was originally constructed as the USS Phoenix in 1935, and launched in March … Continue reading →