5 DECEMBER 1940 VANISHING COLLIERS The steam engine revolutionized naval architecture by freeing sea travel from slavery to the wind. But steam engines require a source of heat to make steam, and for decades around the turn of the 20th century Read More
22 NOVEMBER 1941 HMS DEVONSHIRE vs. ATLANTIS One of the Royal Navy’s early successes in WWII was the effort against German surface raiders. Indeed, KMS ATLANTIS had accumulated some impressive statistics by November 1941. Converted from the freighter SS Goldenfels, she Read More
7 APRIL 1966 LOST H-BOMB Considering the pace of Cold War activities in the 1960s, accidents were bound to happen. Such was the case on 17 January 1966 when an Air Force B-52 collided with a KC-135 tanker during an aerial Read More
7 MARCH 1960 NAVY ICEBREAKERS The 1950s was a decade of scientific endeavor in such far reaching environments as outer space, the deep ocean, and Antarctica. With respect to the latter, the US Navy cooperated with the International Geophysical Year 1955 Read More
11 JANUARY 1863 TROUBLE AT LOCKWOOD FOLLY INLET Lockwood Folly Inlet is a two-mile-wide break in the North Carolina coast south of Cape Fear. It provides access to the Intercoastal Waterway and the Lockwood Folly River. Its sand bars shift, making Read More
21-30 SEPTEMBER 1942 CONVOY RB-1 In the decades before practical automobile transportation, Americans traveling between cities of the eastern United States often did so by way of intercoastal steamer. Numerous private steamship companies offered passenger service on 200-400-foot, shallow draft screw Read More
30 DECEMBER 1944 USS PORCUPINE AND THE IX-TANKERS The Allied island-hopping drive across the Pacific in WWII created logistical problems for our Navy. Not the least was the need to fuel our massive naval and air fleets. Rather than build fixed Read More