MetaFilter posts tagged with ship

The Fore River Shipyard

rmd1023 — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:17:07 -0800

The Fore River Shipyard was in service between 1886 and 1985, first under the management of the Fore River Ship and Engine Building Company, then Bethlehem Steel, and finally General Dynamics. She helped to close out the age of sail with the construction of the largest sailing vessel in history without any kind of engine. Besides providing a substantial number of liberty ships, surface warships of various classes, and submarines during WWII, it may also be the source of the "Kilroy was here" graffiti. The shipyard was home to a notable feature of the skyline south of Boston: the Goliath crane, which stood from 1975 to 2008. In 2008 it was disassembled (with one fatality) and transported to Romania. The shipyard, and the Fore River Ship and Engine Building Company, were founded by Thomas Watson, who is more generally remembered for one of his previous jobs.

Move over Suez Canal, there's a new route in town

flapjax at midnite — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:40:46 -0800

For hundreds of years, mariners have dreamed of an Arctic shortcut that would allow them to speed trade between Asia and the West. Two German ships are poised to complete that transit for the first time, aided by the retreat of Arctic ice that scientists have linked to global warming. Arctic Shortcut Beckons Shippers as Ice Thaws.

I'll never let go

shakespeherian — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 08:32:05 -0800

Archaeologists find graveyard of sunken Roman ships. Information on how such a shipwreck is discovered available from the Aurora Trust site.

Davy Jones Locker

tellurian — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:17:41 -0800

The NAVIS project is a multilevel international database for ancient ships of Europe. The database has very detailed information and pictures of ships from the 2nd millenium BC to the 12th century AD (found whilst trying to answer this AskMe). See also NAVIS 2 (ship depictions on objects).

found: keys to davy jones' locker

infini — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:39:36 -0800

Is salvaging sunken treasure a form of piracy or the preservation of history? Does commercial for-profit exploration of historical shipwrecks taint the historical legacy of these naval graveyards? Who owns the treasures lost for so many centuries? Marine archeology is testing its legal limits with one man's work. [previous]

"Ships currently have no defense against a ballistic missile attack."

Keter — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:46:47 -0800

The aircraft carrier, a majestic and grand symbol of American naval might... susceptible to swarming small-boat assault and weak against ballistic missiles, nevermind an anti-ship ballistic missile. Is it time to reevaluate the role of the aircraft carrier in a modern naval strategy?

An Gorta Mor - 150 years later

dbmcd — Sun, 10 May 2009 19:05:21 -0800

Today marks the first National Famine Memorial Day in Skibbereen, Co. Cork. Actually the first day in a week of activities (.pdf), Skibbereen was one of many areas in western Ireland hard-hit by the famine (or Great Hunger). Wikipedia does an excellent job explaining the many complexities - it was caused not just by a fungus, but by political will on the part of an oppressive government (as are most modern famines). Many physical memorials have been erected, including the haunting Coffin Ship in Westport, Co. Mayo, and a simple plaque honoring the dead on the Famine Road near Doo Lough, erected in 1994. The main inscription reads: "To commemorate the hungry poor who walked here in 1849 and walk the third world today.", inscribed on the north side is a quote from Mahatma Ghandi: "How can men feel themselves honoured by the humiliation of their fellow beings?", and on the west: "In 1991 we walked AFRI's great famine walk at Doolough and soon afterwards we walked the road to freedom in South Africa" by Desmond Tutu. The always-excellent RTE1 program, Sunday Miscellany featured writing about Skibbereen in its May 10th show - not sure when the podcast will show up.

Floating high on the 17,000 calorie seas

daHIFI — Fri, 08 May 2009 07:31:06 -0800

The Meat Ship Ingredients: ~20 sausages ~48 rashers of bacon 1.2kg of sausage meat 1kg of pork mince 10 franks 1kg of pastry (not 100% meat this time) 1 onion 1 mushroom 2 packets of chipolata sausages various food colourings sage Sequel to the Meat House. Previously.

World's Biggest and Most Expensive Ship

kliuless — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:03:19 -0800

Project Genesis - "It's destined to be the world's largest cruise ship—when launched next year, Royal Caribbean's US$1.24 billion Project Genesis will be 1,180 feet long, and carry 5400 passengers (6,400 at a pinch). It's the most expensive ship in history, and it's longer, wider and taller than the largest ocean liner ever built, (Cunard's QE II), 43 per cent larger in size than the world's largest cruise ship, (Freedom of the Seas [previously]) and remarkably, bigger than any military ship ever built, aircraft carriers included. In a world where choice of amenities count, Project Genesis has yet another trump card—in the the center of the ship is a lush, tropical park which opens to the sky." cf. The Lilypad

They don't make them like they used to.

Lord_Pall — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:48:19 -0800

March 3rd, 1976 - June 19th, 2008. RIP GTS FinnJet. More Info. Some videos. Travel Agency film from 1987

How to destroy 4,700 new cars?

allkindsoftime — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 09:31:32 -0800

Remember the FAIL boat (also prev)? Now Mazda's in the midst of trying to efficiently dispose of approximately $100 million worth of factory-new automobiles.

High speed, wave-piercing catamaran

QuestionableSwami — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 20:32:53 -0800

The USNS Swift (HSV-2) looks like something a Bond villian would own, but it's actually one of the most advanced ships owned by the US Navy. Highly manueverable and having a top speed of 51mph, it's heavily automated, capable of handling helicopters, carrying cargo, and launching both manned and unmanned vehicles -- all with only 42 people. It's assisted with relief efforts in Indonesia, Lebanon, and after Hurricane Katrina. But the best thing about the ship? It can be remote controlled through a web browser.

Plans for simple plywood boats

LobsterMitten — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 23:19:03 -0800

Hannu's Boatyard is a site by a Finnish guy who offers free plans for two dozen simple plywood boats you can build, along with photos illustrating the build process of each. He also describes basic woodbending technique and some of the design process, in a pleasing writing style that makes me want to get off the internet and make things. My favorites: Portuguese style dinghy; tiny stubby halfpea; round, Welsh-style coracle -- if you click on no other link today, click on the coracle link and scroll down at least to the black and white photo.

What's the maximum dosage for Dramamine?

The Light Fantastic — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 11:25:53 -0800

Nearly 500 passengers, including eight with broken bones, disembarked from the Grand Voyager cruise ship in Sardinia ... a day after it was battered by a storm in the Mediterranean Sea.

Ship in a Bottle

figment of my conation — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 18:07:26 -0800

Got a few hundred hours to kill? (pdf) A Ship in a Bottle is a type of impossible bottle. No, not this Ship in a Bottle. Have you ever wondered how it gets in there? Or thought about building one yourself? Here's some tips and tricks. If you are not mechanically inclined, how about making a PSP version? Or, heck, just go buy one.

The Skies of December Turn Gloomy

fandango_matt — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 00:04:04 -0800

The La Contessa, the Spanish galleon that roamed Lake Lahontan, is gone.

Hot Shoes Pointin' Down The Avenue

fandango_matt — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 14:35:24 -0800

Two time-lapse journeys through the Panama Canal.(YouTube)

Freedom of the Seas

A189Nut — Sat, 29 Apr 2006 03:06:30 -0800

Freedom of the seas World,s largest passenger liner, currently docked in Southampton UK, in prep for voyage to New York. Then a life of cruising the Carib. 15m wider than the QM2 Check out the flash tour.

No not Pyra!

riffola — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 12:29:46 -0800

Built to FLIP!

Liberty takes a bow

breezeway — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 09:36:20 -0800

Liberty ship bow art of Sausalito.

See the United States

fixedgear — Fri, 14 Jan 2005 09:53:54 -0800

Ship shape? Welcome aboard the SS United States. Her maiden voyage was July 7, 1952, where she set a trans-Atlantic record which still stands. Her passenger list included such luminaries as Marlon Brando, Salvador Dali and Harry Truman. Several sites document the effort to save her from being sold for scrap or sunk. Far from her former glory, she now lies at anchor in the Delaware River in Philadelphia, a sad counterpart to her former self.

Mayday, mayday, Estonia, please.

mr.marx — Mon, 27 Sep 2004 11:43:14 -0800

"Mayday, mayday, Estonia, please." 10 years ago tonight, 852 people lost their lives in the cold dark waters of the Baltic Sea. In the middle of the night the ferry M/S Estonia, headed from Tallinn to Stockholm, suddenly capsized and sank. Only 137 people survived Europe's worst maritime disaster since World War II. (more inside)

Terrible affair that General Slocum explosion...

Vidiot — Tue, 15 Jun 2004 18:09:07 -0800

One hundred years ago today, 1,358 members of the Kleindeutschland, the German neighborhood on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, boarded a chartered ferry named the General Slocum for a picnic excursion to Long Island. A fire broke out in the ship's hold while it cruised up the East River, the captain ran the vessel aground on the rocky shores of North Brother Island amid the swift currents of Hell Gate, and when it was all over 1,021 people (mainly women and children) had perished by drowning or from the fire, and it remained the worst single-day New York City disaster until 9/11.

model warship combat

steef — Mon, 10 Feb 2003 16:34:03 -0800

Damn the torpedoes! The Australian Battle Group is a R/C model warship combat club, with emphasis on combat. Great care and devotion is given to design and historical accuracy, and then they shoot holes in each other with working cannon.

mooncrow — Thu, 12 Sep 2002 10:10:56 -0800

Ship searched for nuclear material after it was diverted from New York harbor, reports MS-NBC. Apparently a Department of Energy Nuclear Emergency Search Team (NEST) was involved. Initial report states that elevated gamma and neutron emissions were detected.

Aside from this report--which is unconfirmed--how likely is such an attack? How do we deal with thousands of container ships, each holding hundreds of anonymous containers? This kind of attack scares me much more than airplanes dropping out of the sky.