Sea History

06/30/2025

Yes. I know summer is just starting, but for those making plans for the fall, make sure you check out the upcoming 12th Maritime Heritage Conference, 24–27 September, in Buffalo, NY. This is the first year that NMHS is taking the reins on organizing what used to be a triennial mainstay in the maritime heritage community. The last conference was back in 2018 in New Orleans, but COVID interrupted the schedule and it is only now being brought back. Traditionally an event run by the National Maritime Alliance, the conference gathers leaders, staff, and enthusiasts from the nation's wide-ranging maritime heritage groups under one umbrella for three days of presentations, collaborations, panels, tours, and networking opportunities. Maritime museums, sail training and education at sea programs, naval historians, lighthouse preservationists, university and independent scholars, contemporary marine artists and art historians, merchant marine historians, shipbuilders and maritime artisans and support staff.... you name it. Please join us in Buffalo. We have a lot to talk about.

24-37 September 2025 in Buffalo, NY. The conference brings together organizations and participants that engage in all aspects of maritime heritage. This includes maritime museums, historic lighthouses, tall ships for sail training and youth, small craft, marine art, sailing, naval and maritime schol...

06/26/2025

While we have been suffering through a heat wave here on the East Coast and beyond, a group of marine scientists have been donning insulated foul-weather gear as they cruise across the Bering Sea along the Aleutian Islands Arc, where they are conducting research and collecting data miles below the surface using the famous deep-sea submersible ALVIN. Eleven days ago, RV ATLANTIS and a crew of scientists from several federal agencies (USGS/BOEM/NOAA/ONR) and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) departed Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and set a westerly course across the archipelago to conduct a series of dives in ALVIN. Data and samples they collect will provide critical information on energy resources, underwater earthquakes and other hazards, seafloor habitats, and biological resources, including key fisheries, as well as potential seabed minerals. RV ATLANTIS will visit up to 16 unexplored or poorly explored sites, using the human-occupied vehicle (HOV) ALVIN to dive to the seafloor, carrying 2 scientists and a pilot on each dive. ALVIN was built in the 1960s and marked a turning point in oceanographic research, allowing humans to visit the seafloor at depths to 6,000 feet. The vessel has been modified and rebuilt several times over the years and currently can dive to almost 22,000 feet with three people onboard. Incredible. You can follow the expedition at https://www.whoi.edu/what-we-do/explore/ships/ships-atlantis/.

06/24/2025

The schooner HARVEY GAMAGE is sailing this summer in Maine waters with a new educational program under the command of Captain John Beebe-Center. They need a licensed mate (100-ton auxiliary sail USCG license). For more information and to apply, contact Capt. Dan Moreland at [email protected].

Schooner HARVEY GAMAGE – Mate positions available immediately June 20, 2025

The renowned Maine Schooner HARVEY GAMAGE is sailing this summer along the coast of Maine taking young folks to sea under sail to learn the way of a schooner and experience the beautiful islands, bays, harbors and backwaters of this wonderful treasure of a coast between Boothbay and Portland.

The schooner is seeking watch officer mates for the vessel now under the command of Captain John Beebe-Center, for late June, July and August.

100-ton auxiliary sail USCG license required, as well as previous experience and a positive attitude. An excellent opportunity to advance ones sea-time and increase skill levels, all the while sailing the beautiful coast of Maine in a fine, well found vessel. If you have your ticket and are keen to grow on the job, get in touch straight away!

On behalf of the Schooner HARVEY GAMAGE, please send resumes, and a cover note to: Captain Daniel Moreland at [email protected]

06/20/2025

The summer issue of SEA HISTORY is out! On the cover is a photo of the Nuclear Ship SAVANNAH, the world's first nuclear-powered merchant ship, commissioned in 1959 to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy as part of President Eisenhower’s "Atoms for Peace" program. The ship's reactor pressure vessel was removed in 2022, and the rest of the ship and its systems have been fully restored. Owned by the Maritime Administration (MARAD), NS SAVANNAH awaits her next chapter. You can read about the ship's history and its role in the evolution of ship propulsion in SEA HISTORY 191, coming to your mailbox any day now if you are a member of the National Maritime Historical Society, or available in Barnes & Noble bookstores across the country. Not a member? No problem! You can join right now by going to the NMHS website at www.seahistory.org. Your membership gets you SEA HISTORY 4x per year and supports a variety of initiatives aimed at preserving and promoting our maritime heritage.

06/10/2025

Cool opportunity to join the Liberty Ship SS JOHN W BROWN for a daysail on September 13th. You can purchase tickets via their website or try for a free ticket (for two) by simply following their page and sharing their Monday posts on your FB page. Details at https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1FBmTCfzKd/

This is week #1!
For the next 10 weeks, we will be giving away a pair of tickets to our September 13 cruise. All you have to do to enter is Like our page, Follow us and share each Mondays post about the cruise. We will pick a winner on Saturday each week from those who shared Monday’s post.

Event Details:
Date: Saturday, September 13, 2025
Time: Boarding begins at 8:00 a.m., sailing at 10:00 a.m., return to dock at 4:00 p.m.
Departure: Maryland Cruise Terminal, 2001 East McComas Street, Baltimore 21230

For more information on the cruise:
https://www.ssjohnwbrown.org/living-history-cruise

&wilcox

06/10/2025

Cool opportunity to win a spot aboard the Liberty Ship SS JOHN W BROWN for a Sept 13th daysail. Check it out... I am!

This is week #1!
For the next 10 weeks, we will be giving away a pair of tickets to our September 13 cruise. All you have to do to enter is Like our page, Follow us and share each Mondays post about the cruise. We will pick a winner on Saturday each week from those who shared Monday’s post.

Event Details:
Date: Saturday, September 13, 2025
Time: Boarding begins at 8:00 a.m., sailing at 10:00 a.m., return to dock at 4:00 p.m.
Departure: Maryland Cruise Terminal, 2001 East McComas Street, Baltimore 21230

For more information on the cruise:
https://www.ssjohnwbrown.org/living-history-cruise

&wilcox

05/28/2025

The Maritime Heritage Conference is back! And the Call for Papers is still open. Have a project, research, and idea you have been working on? Share it with the broader maritime heritage community in September in Buffalo and get the word out!

It’s that time again—Don’t let procrastination standing between you and a great opportunity. Take your chance now or miss the perfect opportunity to connect with colleagues, share your insights, and shape the future of maritime heritage.

Submit your proposal by MAY 31 and be part of a dynamic gathering that brings together voices from across the maritime world.

🗺️Buffalo, NY
🗓️24-27 September 2025
❗Submission Deadline: 31 May, 2025
📧Send proposals to Dr. David Winkler at [email protected]
🔗Learn more: https://seahistory.org/maritime-heritage-conference/

05/18/2025

The National Maritime Historical Society and SEA HISTORY magazine are following the tragic news of the allision between the Mexican sail training ship CUAUHTÉMOC and the Brooklyn Bridge last night. We would like to express our deep concern and condolences to the crew and those on the scene as they navigate a difficult and complicated situation. As members of the maritime community, we feel this grief personally and profoundly. Please keep the CUAUHTÉMOC crew in your thoughts today and in the days ahead.

NMHS trustee Sal Mercogliano is posting updates as more information becomes available on his YouTube program “What’s Going on With Shipping?”

05/18/2025

For those just hearing the news of the Mexican sail training ship hitting the Brooklyn Bridge this evening, NMHS Trustee Sal Mercogliano is live, right now, on YouTube analyzing the incident in real time. Our thoughts are with the ship and her crew and hoping that those injured are not seriously injured. More to follow as we learn what is going on.

03/03/2025

SS United States is on her final approach to Mobile: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUECuIPxse4
If you haven't been following her transit from Philadelphia to Mobile, there are loads of phenomenal photos you can find online, including via numerous SSUS Facebook groups and groups from Southern Florida coastal cities as the ship passed along the coast, close enough for viewers from shore to see.

S.S. United States expected to dock in Mobile about noon Monday For more Local News from WALA: https://www.fox10tv.com/ For more YouTube Content: https://...

02/19/2025

Livestream for SS UNITED STATES's departure from Philly today.

The SS United States is scheduled to leave Philadelphia on Wednesday after several setbacks and weather delays. Christened in 1952, the SS United States was ...

01/14/2025

For those who knew Tim Runyan, his funeral service will be in Greenville, NC, on Saturday, January 25th at Wilkerson's Funeral Home at 4PM. (Photo aboard the Maritime Museum of San Diego ship SAN SALVADOR. Courtesy Susan Sirota.)