SS Europa (1928) in a storm. Photographed from her sister ship SS Bremen
Europa, later SS Liberté, was a German ocean liner built for the Norddeutsche Lloyd line (NDL) to work the transatlantic sea route. She and her sister ship, Bremen, were the two most advanced, high-speed steam turbine ocean vessels in their day, with both earning the Blue Riband. more
USS Europa in Bremerhaven, May 1945 – Europa was inactive for most of World War II. There were plans to use her as a transport in Operation Sea Lion, the intended invasion of Great Britain, and later conversion to an aircraft carrier. None of these plans came to pass The United States claimed the ship as a war prize on 8 May 1945 and gave the vessel to the US Navy for use as a troopship, sailing as the USS Europa (AP-177).Ghost Ship Harbor, Quincy, Massachusetts
Leave it to Boston to create a hair-raising haunted house that’s not actually in a house, but on a ship docked in the harbor.
The premise is this: A plague has ravaged the human race, and hopping on the USS Salem is civilization’s last chance at survival. Before boarding, people are subjected to eye scans to ensure they’re virus-free. Once on the boat, though, visitors quickly realize the virus isn’t actually contained. Creepy happenings and gory mayhem ensues. keep reading
guns and bridge on WWII Cruiser USS Salem, at Fore River Ship Yard; Tom Herde/Boston Globe Staff
The aptly named USS Salem (CA-139) is one of 3 heavy cruisers completed for the United States Navy shortly after World War II and commissioned in 1949. She was the world’s last heavy cruiser to enter service and the only one still in existence. She is currently open to the public as a museum ship in Quincy, Massachusetts. more
On this day (October 28) in 1919, Congress passed the National Prohibition Enforcement Act, which authorized the enforcement of the 18th Amendment, ratified on January 29, 1919. The Act authorized the Coast Guard to prevent the maritime importation of illegal alcohol. This led to the largest increase in the size and responsibilities of the service to date. USCG Northeast HistoryAir Stories v08 n03 [1939-03] coverclick/tap image to see full size
In the spring of 1768, Thom Larkin, a 17-year-old sailor newly arrived in Boston, is caught by a Royal Navy press gang and dragged off to HMS Romney, where he runs afoul of the cruel and corrupt Lieutenant Dudingston. Years later, after escaping the Romney, Thom again crosses paths with his old foe, now in command HMS Gaspee, cruising in Narragansett Bay. Thom Larkin must face the guns of the Royal Navy, with only his wits, an unarmed packet boat, and a sandbar.
Arthur Scherbius, a German engineer, developed his ‘Enigma’ machine, capable of transcribing coded information, in the hope of interesting commercial companies in secure communications. In 1923 he set up his Chiffriermaschinen Aktiengesellschaft (Cipher Machines Corporation) in Berlin to manufacture his product. Within three years the German navy was producing its own version. More About Enigma on BBC History
The top-secret breaking of the German Enigma code by Alan Turing, and the codebreakers working with him at Bletchley Park, was one of the greatest British coups of the second world war. It helped ships delivering vital supplies to the UK during the darkest days of the war to evade the packs of German U-boats.
Fabulous Code-Breaking Babes at Bletchley Park. Photograph: Bletchley Park Trust
In an updated extract from the bestselling Enigma history, we revisit the daring engagement in which two men gave their lives to make a breakthrough possible.
Now well into their 90s, staff who helped uncover secret Nazi communications gather at British WW2 code-breaking HQ Bletchley Park – morePriority Goals: Lake Boats No Longer With Us
“Thursday marks the 100th anniversary of what is known as the ‘Black Friday Storm’” – shown: Lumber Hooker Marshall F. Butters; a casualty. Storm sank 4 ships on Lake Erie in 1916
HMS Niobe (1897) was a protected cruiser in the Royal Navy; serving in the Boer War and later given to Canada as the second ship of the newly created Naval Service of Canada, named HMCS Niobe.
During the First World War, Niobe patrolled the approaches to the St. Lawrence River and then joined the Royal Navy’s 4th Cruiser Squadron to patrol off New York City. She then returned to Halifax, Nova Scotia on 17 July 1915 and never put to sea again. keep reading
I could carry, paddle, walk and sing with any man I ever saw. I have been twenty-four years a canoe man, and forty-one years in service; no portage was ever too long for me, fifty songs could I sing. I have saved the lives of ten voyageurs, have had twelve wives and six running dogs. I spent all of my money in pleasure. Were I young again, I would spend my life the same way over. There is no life so happy as a voyageur’s life!
In French-settled Canada of the 18th and early 19th centuries, the most challenging task of the fur trading business was done by canoe, and the Voyageurs were legendary.
Despite the fame surrounding the voyageur, their life was one of toil and not nearly as glorious as folk tales make it out to be. Life of a Voyageur
Tasse à canot de voyageurs – Voyageurs canoe cup: During the fur trade era French-Canadian voyageurs and Native American hunters traveling by canoe often carried wooden canoe cups (sometimes called belt cups), a practical accessory that allowed them to dip drinking water from a lake or stream while paddling a canoe. Canoe cups were typically made from a tree burl, often maple or birch, that was hollowed out and shaped with crooked knife. Attached to the cup was usually a piece of deer or moose hide cordage, and a twig or carved toggle, which allowed the cup to hang from the sash or belt.Shooting The Rapids, Ca. 1879, Source: Library And Archives Canada/Crédit: Frances Anne Hopkins – Big Canoes Coming to Merrickville on the North Greenville Times
Friends of Miss Monkey’s dressed as Voyageurs for Halloween
Special Thanks this week (and always) to Simon Egleton
I could carry, paddle, walk and sing with any man I ever saw. I have been twenty-four years a canoe man, and forty-one years in service; no portage was ever too long for me, fifty songs could I sing. I have saved the lives of ten voyageurs, have had twelve wives and six running dogs. I spent all of my money in pleasure. Were I young again, I would spend my life the same way over. There is no life so happy as a voyageur’s life!
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