Maritime Notes and News

A 19th-century shipwreck is filled with Champagne bottles and Sweden won’t allow anyone a sip

A 19th-century shipwreck is filled with Champagne bottles and Sweden won’t allow anyone a sip

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — No one will be allowed to fish out any of the nearly 100 bottles of 19th-century Champagne and mineral water nestled in a shipwreck off southern . . .  Read More »

Louisa Jo Killen Dies 9 August 2013

Louisa Jo Killen (born Louis Killen; 10 January 1934 – 9 August 2013) was an English folk singer from Gateshead, Tyneside, who accompanied himself on the English concertina.

Killen . . .  Read More »

Effingham fights Battle of Gravelines vs. the Spanish Armada (8 Aug 1588)

Five Spanish ships were lost. The galleass San Lorenzo, flagship of Don Hugo de Moncada, ran aground at Calais and was taken by Howard after murderous fighting between the . . .  Read More »

Nelson Wins Battle of the Nile (1 August 1798)

On 1st August 1798, Nelson led his fleet into action against the French fleet anchored at the mouth of the Nile in Aboukir Bay, Egypt. In a fierce action, fought in the . . .  Read More »

Robinson Crusoe Author Spends Final Day in Pillory (31 July 1703)

Robinson Crusoe Author Spends Final Day in Pillory (31 July 1703)

Daniel Defoe of Robinson Crusoe fame spent the last of his three days in the pillory after being convicted of seditious libel. He was surrounded at the pillory by his supporters, . . .  Read More »

England Defeats Spanish Armada (29 July, 1588)

Off the coast of Gravelines, France, Spain’s so-called “Invincible Armada” is defeated by an English naval force under the command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis . . .  Read More »

Hundreds drown in Eastland disaster (24 July 1915)

Hundreds drown in Eastland disaster (24 July 1915)

On July 24, 1915, the steamer Eastland overturns in the Chicago River, drowning between 800 and 850 of its passengers who were heading to a picnic. The disaster was caused . . .  Read More »

Experimental Steam Ship, Pyroscaphe, travels the Saone (15 July 1783)

Experimental Steam Ship, Pyroscaphe, travels the Saone (15 July 1783)

15 July 1783 The Marquis de Jouffroy d’Abbans demonstrated his experimental steamship, the Pyroscaphe, on the river Saone at Lyon. An early form of paddle steamer, the . . .  Read More »

Cook Begins his third voyage (12 July 1776)

Cook Begins his third voyage (12 July 1776)

James Cook’s third and final voyage took the route from Plymouth via Tenerife and Cape Town to New Zealand and the Hawaiian Islands, and along the North American coast to the Bering Strait.

At . . .  Read More »

SS Great Britain returns to Bristol Harbour after 127 years (1970)

SS Great Britain returns to Bristol Harbour after 127 years (1970)

In 1970, after Great Britain had been abandoned for 33 years, Sir Jack Arnold Hayward, OBE (1923–2015) paid for the vessel to be raised and repaired enough to be towed . . .  Read More »

Construction on the Erie Canal begins 4 July 1817

On July 4, 1817, workers break ground on the Erie Canal at Rome, New York. The canal, completed in 1825, links the eastern seaboard with the Midwest and transforms New York . . .  Read More »

Henry Hudson Set Adrift by mutineers (1611)

After spending a winter trapped by ice in present-day Hudson Bay, the starving crew of the Discovery mutinies against its captain, English navigator Henry Hudson, and . . .  Read More »

Drake Claims California for England (1579)

During his circumnavigation of the world, English seaman Francis Drake anchors in a harbor just north of present-day San Francisco, California, and on 17 June, 1579, claims . . .  Read More »

Bounty Mutiny Survivors Reach Timor (14 June,1789)

Bounty Mutiny Survivors Reach Timor (14 June,1789)

On April 28, Fletcher Christian, the master’s mate on the Bounty, led a successful mutiny against Captain Bligh and his supporters. The British naval vessel had been transporting . . .  Read More »

British vessel burned off Rhode Island (9 June,1772)

British vessel burned off Rhode Island (9 June,1772)

In an incident that some regard as the first naval engagement of the American Revolution, colonists board the Gaspee, a British vessel that ran aground off the coast of . . .  Read More »

Spanish galleon San José sinks in battle (8 June, 1708)

Spanish galleon San José sinks in battle (8 June, 1708)

June 8, 1708 the count of Casa Alegre knew a squadron of English warships was lurking in the area, but he thought he could avoid it. As captain of the Spanish galleon San . . .  Read More »

The Great Australian “Shanty Off!”

The Great Australian “Shanty Off!”

The Great Shanty Off! Calling all Sea-Shanty groups!

We are seeking expressions of interest from shanty groups (big or small) located on the Eastern Seaboard of Australia . . .  Read More »

Battle of Boston Harbor (1 June 1813)

Battle of Boston Harbor (1 June 1813)

USS Chesapeake versus HMS Shannon happened on June 1st 1813 in Boston Harbor and is referred to as the Battle of Boston Harbor.

At Boston, Captain James Lawrence took command . . .  Read More »

Battle of Dover, 29 May 1652

Battle of Dover, 29 May 1652

The naval Battle of Dover (also known as the Battle of Goodwin Sands), fought on 29 May 1652 was the first engagement of the First Anglo-Dutch War between the navies of . . .  Read More »

Captain Kidd Dies (23 May 1701)

Captain Kidd Dies (23 May 1701)

On May 23, 1701 the infamous English Pirate, Captain Kidd, dies.

Kidd’s early career is obscure. It is believed he went to sea as a youth. After 1689 he was sailing as . . .  Read More »