Tag: Ships

Saturday Snippet: USS Archerfish and her sixty thieves

USS Archerfish was a Balao class fleet submarine that served during and after World War II.  This photograph of her was taken in June 1945. She is famous for sinking the largest aircraft carrier ever launched by Japan (and the biggest of any World War II combatant), the Shinano, while the latter was on her… Continue reading Saturday Snippet: USS Archerfish and her sixty thieves

The end of 74 years of maritime history

I was saddened to read that Maersk, the giant Danish shipping company, is to “retire” the Safmarine company name, and merge the latter’s operations with its own.  It’s owned Safmarine since 1999.  I grew up knowing Safmarine quite well.  The company was headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa, and its ships were well-known visitors to… Continue reading The end of 74 years of maritime history

The COVID-19 cloud has a trans-Pacific silver lining

A few weeks ago, I wrote about trans-Pacific shipping and the US economy, noting: It’s hard to make sense of the current state of US trade with the Far East, particularly China … If you put those two reports side-by-side, something’s seriously out of whack.  Imports can’t be lower than ever by one metric, but… Continue reading The COVID-19 cloud has a trans-Pacific silver lining

Trans-Pacific shipping: mixed signals

It’s hard to make sense of the current state of US trade with the Far East, particularly China. On the one hand, we know that the COVID-19 pandemic clobbered container shipping some months ago, as we discussed in these pages on more than one occasion.  We also know that importers who would normally have their… Continue reading Trans-Pacific shipping: mixed signals

Ship construction: an economic canary in the coal mine

Canaries were carried into coal mines by miners for many years.  Being far more susceptible to coal gas than humans, the birds would die quickly if the gas seeped into the workings, thereby alerting the miners to get out before they were overcome themselves.  The expression “a canary in a coal mine” has come to… Continue reading Ship construction: an economic canary in the coal mine

Did the Viking Age begin 2,000 years earlier than we thought?

The BBC has a very interesting in-depth look at new archaeological and other discoveries, suggesting the existence of what it calls a “first Viking Age” starting about 3,000 years ago in Norway. People who lived in Norway 3000 years ago were far less primitive than many have imagined. They were not hunters who still lived… Continue reading Did the Viking Age begin 2,000 years earlier than we thought?

That was a heck of an explosion!

While Wikiwandering the other day, doing research for a forthcoming book, I happened upon the account of SS John Burke, a Liberty ship built during World War II.  Her sister ship, SS John W. Brown, one of only two surviving Liberty ships that are still seaworthy, is shown below to illustrate approximately what she would… Continue reading That was a heck of an explosion!

The man who put the hole in the donut

I was intrigued to learn the history behind the hole in the donut. Captain Gregory, 85, lived at the Sailor’s Snug Harbor in Quincy, Mass. His fame as the inventor of the modern donut had spread, and the Washington Post interviewed him in a story published March 26, 1916. He told the reporter he discovered… Continue reading The man who put the hole in the donut

A monster container ship is collecting . . . empties?

One of the biggest container ships in the world, the MSC Anna, recently visited California.  Here’s a video report about her arrival. What I found most interesting was the comment that she’d come to collect empty containers, and take them back to China.  This is a vitally important part of re-establishing international trade.  With the… Continue reading A monster container ship is collecting . . . empties?