Beyond The Breakers is a podcast about shipwrecks, loss, and lessons learned from maritime disasters.
Mama never told you there'd be deals like this! Every month you can get even more Beyond the Breakers by joining us on Patreon at the $3 or $5 tier! $3 a month (Able Seaperson) gets you one bonus episode, $5 (2nd Mate) gets you two (or more??) per month. It sounds a little something like this... Support the show
Here we have the epic finale of this three-part series - Famagusta will fall, and for the last time two fleets composed primarily of galleys will meet in a major engagement. Sources: Anievas, Alexander and Kerem Nişancioğlu. “The Ottoman-Habsburg Rivalry over the Long Sixteenth Century.” How the West Came to Rule: The Geopolitical Origins of Capitalism. Pluto Press. Bicheno, Hugh. Crescent and Cross: The Battle of Lepanto 1571 . Phoenix, 2004. Brummett, Palmira. “Foreign Policy, Naval Strategy, ...
This is Part 2 of our (now) three part series leading up to the Battle of Lepanto. Sources: Anievas, Alexander and Kerem Nişancioğlu. “The Ottoman-Habsburg Rivalry over the Long Sixteenth Century.” How the West Came to Rule: The Geopolitical Origins of Capitalism. Pluto Press. Brummett, Palmira. “Foreign Policy, Naval Strategy, and the Defence of the Ottoman Empire in the Early Sixteenth Century.” The International History Review , vol. 11, no. 4, Nov 1989, pp. 613 - 627. Crowley, Roger. Empires...
This is part 1 of 2 in our discussion of the naval battle at Lepanto in 1571. Before we can get to Lepanto itself, there's a good bit of background to set up first. Sources: Anievas, Alexander and Kerem Nişancioğlu. “The Ottoman-Habsburg Rivalry over the Long Sixteenth Century.” How the West Came to Rule: The Geopolitical Origins of Capitalism. Pluto Press. Bicheno, Hugh. Crescent and Cross: The Battle of Lepanto 1571 . Phoenix, 2004. Brummett, Palmira. “Foreign Policy, Naval Strategy, and the D...
This episode was released as a Patreon-exclusive bonus episode in May 2023 as the conclusion to our Spanish Armada series - now it's been unlocked for everyone in anticipation of our next main episode when we'll be returning to the 16th century and maybe even revisiting some old friends. Sources for Part V: Brown, Meaghan J. “‘The Heart of All Sorts of People Were Enflamed’: Manipulating Readers of Spanish Armada News.” Book History , vol. 17, 2014, pp. 94 - 116. Esler, Anthony. “Robert Greene a...
[notes to come] Support the show
This is a teaser containing the first few minutes of our March 2024 Bonus Episode released for patrons at the $5 (2nd Mate) Tier Patrons at the $3 tier can access one additional episode each month, and patrons at the $5 tier can access two additional episodes each month. Support the show
Many people are familiar with the RMS Carpathia as the vessel that picked up hundreds of Titanic survivors in the early morning of April 15th 1912. In this episode we discuss that monumental event in the Carpathia 's history, in addition to what came before and after. Sources: "Arthur Henry Rostron: Captain of the RMS Carpathia." Encyclopedia Titanica. https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/carpathia-crew/arthur-henry-rostron.html "Carpathia 1903." Tyne Built Ships, https://www.tynebuiltships.co....
Something different this week as we look into maritime folklore related to predicting (and maybe even altering) the weather. **we get into the lore at about 11:20** (for fans of the Loremen - yes, it's Christ-In-A-Hole!) Sources: Beck, Horace. Folklore and the Sea . Mystic Seaport, 1996. Hole, Christina. "Superstitions and Beliefs of the Sea." Folklore , vol. 78, no. 3, Autumn 1967, pp. 184 - 189. Minard, Antone. "'Like a Dying Duck in a Thunderstorm': Complex Weather Systems through the Lens of...
In this episode we go back to the early days of RORO ferries for the tale of the MV Princess Victoria , lost on a crossing of the Irish Sea's North Channel in January 1953. Sources: Bibby, Miriam. "The Loss of the Princess Victoria." Historic UK . https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Loss-Of-Princess-Victoria-Ferry/ Cameron, Stephen. Death in the North Channel: The Loss of the Princess Victoria, January 1953 . Jackson, John. “The Loss of MV Princess Victoria .” North Irish Root...
Though recorded in July it's technically supposed to be our June 2023 bonus episode - a discussion of an alternate route to freedom for those enslaved in the coastal regions of the American South. And our much-anticipated dive into John C. Calhoun's global race-war fantasy. **this episode was originally published in July 2023. We made some minor edits and clean-ups for release on the main feed** Sources: Bolster, W. Jeffrey. Black Jacks: African-American Seamen in the Age of Sail . Harvard Unive...
This is the story of a ship - the USS Princeton - but it's also the story of Robert F. Stockton and his most precious brainchild - a 12-inch wrought iron naval gun affectionately nicknamed 'Peacemaker' Invite your friends, invite your co-workers, hell invite the President! Sources: Duke, Marvin L. “Robert F. Stockton Early U.S. Naval Activities in Africa.” Naval War College Review , vol. 24, no. 9, May 1972, pp. 86 - 94. O’Connell, J. Harlin. “The U.S.S. Princeton.” The Princeton University Libr...
You've heard of Neo-Confederates, but what about Nepo-Confederates. Here's the story of the USS Underwriter and her loss during a Confederate attempt to re-capture New Bern, NC in February 1864. Sources: Coddington, Ronald S. "Civil War Sailors: From the Collections Of Our Readers." Military Images , vol. 30, no. 3, Nov - Dec 2008, pp. 25 - 37. Duppstadt, Andrew. "USS Underwriter." North Carolina History Project , 2016. https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/uss-underwriter/ Green, John B...
In our third episode of Season Four we tell the story of the Volga River cruise ship Aleksandr Suvorov, and her fatal run-in with the Imperial Bridge at Ulyanovsk in June 1983. **a very small part of conversation was cut when Tanner was talking about The Others of Edenwell by Verity Holloway . The missing portion was something like 'books that are set during WWI but not in the trenches on the Western Front' Sources: Жуковскуй, Иван. "'Сверху сплошным потоком лилась кровь': 40 лет жуткой катастро...
In May 1944, during the buildup to Operation Forager, another shocking disaster rocked Pearl Harbor. Sources: Barger, Mel. "LST Memories: The Second Pearl Harbor Disaster." LST Scuttlebutt: The Official Website of the United States LST Association . https://www.uslst.org/memories/27-articles/17-lst-memories-the-second-pearl-harbor-disaster Oral history of the experience of Paul E. Cooper, “Farm Boy from Oklahoma,” in Saipan: Oral Histories of the Pacific War , compiled and edited by Bruce M. Pet...
To kick off Season Four we are telling the story of the destroyer USS Reuben James , the first US Navy loss of the Second World War. Sources: Benson, Olver. “The Changing Patterns of the War.” Current History, vol. 1, no. 4, Dec 1941, pp. 297 - 302. Blower, Brooke. “From Isolationism to Neutrality.” Diplomatic History , vo. 38, no. 2, Apr 2014, pp. 345 - 376. Guerlac, Henry and Marie Boas. “The Radar War Against the U-Boat.” Military Affairs , vol. 14, no. 2, Summer 1950, pp. 99 - 111. Kaufman, ...
This is Part Two of the tale of the Mavi Marmara and the Gaza Freedom Flotilla of 2010. This part of the episode details the raid itself, the aftermath, and where the flotilla fits in the long story of Palestine. This will also serve as the main feed finale for Season Three of the show. We will be back in the new year with a brand new season of old favorites, new fixations, and everything in between. فلسطين حرة Outro Music: Mohammed Assaf - Dammi Falastini (محمد عساف - دمي فلسطيني) Sources: Bayo...
In this two-part episode we discuss the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla, which was raided by Israeli forces resulting in the deaths of multiple participants. Part One looks at the history and context in which the Freedom Flotillas occurred, and leads into the raid itself. Part Two will deal with the details of the raid in the early morning of May 31st, 2010 and the aftermath of the attack, including the international response and connection to the current Israeli assault on Palestinians in Gaza and t...
**this episode was originally released a Patreon-exclusive bonus episode in December 2022** Here is an extra special Patreon bonus episode wrapping up our discussion of the Lusitania . We talk about the legal aspects of Britain's blockade and the German U-boat campaign, the Lusitania Riots of 1915, and cover a few other bits of miscellanea. Thanks so much for supporting the show, and we look forward to bringing you more next season. Sources: Dedering, Tilman. “‘Avenge the Lusitania’: The Anti-Ge...
In the dying days of the Great War, the French navy commissioned 12 Navarin- class minesweepers, to be constructed in Canada under the direction of Wisconsin's Manitowoc Shipbuilding. Three of these minesweepers - Inkerman, Cerisoles, and Sebastopol departed Fort William, Ontario on Novembers 23, 1918 Only one would be seen again. Sources: Stonehouse, Frederick. "Ils Sont Disparu! They Are Gone: The Baffling Fate of Inkerman & Cerisoles." Lake Superior Magazine , 12 Nov 2018. https://www.lak...
In March 1929, the US Coast Guard cutters Wolcott and Dexter pursued and subsequently sank the bootlegging schooner I'm Alone , touching off an international incident and legal battle that would outlast the Prohibition laws that led to it in the first place. Sources: The American Council on Addiction & Alcohol Problems Hagen, Carrie. "The Coast Guard's Most Potent Weapon During Prohibition? Codebreaker Elizebeth Friedman." Smithsonian Magazine , 28 Jan 2015. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/hi...
This is the first installment of our Beyond the Breakers Book Club episodes. We hope to get one of these in each month. This episode is being released as the main episode this week, and if you like what you hear then subsequent book club episodes will be available on Patreon at the second mate ($5) tier. Outro Music: This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb, 'Jack Johnson' Sources: Berliner, Jonathan. “Jack London’s Socialistic Social Darwinism.” American Literary Realism , vol. 41, no. 1, Fall 2008, pp. 52 - 7...
It is once again Halloween and that means we have a round of spooky ship tales to share with you. We've got: the USS North Carolina Deaths on Hallowe'en at Fort Niagara the spectral sailors of the oil tanker Watertown 'The Phantom of the Forrestal' **As we're sharing this episode with you, the genocide in Palestine continues, with upwards of 8,000 recorded deaths in Gaza and numbers entering the hundreds in the West Bank due to escalating settler violence. We encourage you to use any platform th...
This is a bit of a chimera episode with welcoming Taylor back to the show, discussing some current events (including the St. Lawrence Seaway workers strike), and telling the tale of the MV Material Service . **if you just want pure unfiltered shipwreck action the story itself starts at 19:30** Sources: Kohl, Chris. 100 Best Great Lakes Shipwrecks, Vol. II . Seawolf Communications, 1998. Leathem Smith-Putnam Navigation Co. v. Osby et al. (1935) "MV Material Service." wrecksite.eu Patent US2335199...
This is Part II of what became a two-part series on the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley , with special guest host Nick Williams (@dolorousnick). It was not originally planned as such, so the break between episodes happens pretty abruptly. **Tanner's mic quality is not great in this episode, but it has been cleaned up as much as possible** ***a portion of this month's Patreon payout goes to Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) https://www.map.org.uk/ - if you have the resources we urge you to giv...
Just a quick statement from us on the unfolding genocide in Gaza and what we feel are our responsibilities to speak out in opposition to a crime of historic magnitude. If you are looking for easily accessible information on the history of the Palestine-Israel conflict, the Institute for Middle East Understanding has wonderful resources for doing so: https://imeu.org/ This includes the podcast This Is Palestine , which provides a look into Palestine both through analysis of current events and his...
This is Part I of what became a two-part series on the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley , with special guest host Nick Williams. It was not originally planned as such, so Part I ends somewhat abruptly. **Tanner's mic quality is not great in this episode, but it has been cleaned up as much as possible** ***a portion of this month's Patreon payout goes to Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) https://www.map.org.uk/ - if you have the resources we urge you to give to one of several charities who are ...
This is Part Two of Episode 115 covering the Spanish galleon Santo Cristo de Burgos (or, The Beeswax Wreck) Be sure to check out Craig's YouTube channel! https://www.youtube.com/@CraigAndes1 Sources referred to in Part 1: Sources: Borao Mateo, Jose Eugenio. “The arrival of the Spanish galleons in Manila from the Pacific Ocean and their departure along the Kuroshio stream (16th and 17th centuries).” Journal of Geographic Research , no. 47 La Follette, Cameron, Dennis Griffin, and Douglas Deur. “T...
**This was originally the October 2022 bonus episode, but is being released on main to fill the recording gap from Taylor's wedding/honeymoon. Enjoy!** In this bonus episode we delve into all the juicy drama - the backbiting, the snark, the controversy - that came after the American victory at the Battle of Lake Erie. It's Oliver Perry vs. Jesse Elliott in a climactic battle for fame, glory, sweet medals, and the eternal gratitude of the nation. Who will emerge victorious? Sources: Altoff, Gerry...
In this third and final part of the story, we see the men of the whaleship Essex embark on a journey of thousands of miles in open whaleboats in the hope of reaching the safety of the South American coast. Less than half of them will survive the ordeal, but for some their role in the story will continue even beyond death. Sources: Brantlinger, Patrick. “Missionaries and Cannibals in Nineteenth-century Fiji.” History and Anthropology , vol. 17, no. 1, 2006, pp. 21-38. Heffernan, Thomas Farel. Sto...
