Part Two of our series on the whaleship Essex brings us from Nantucket all the way around Cape Horn to the Pacific whaling grounds, and the climactic showdown with 'the largest and most terrible of all created animals.' Sources: Dolin, Eric Jay. Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America . W.W Norton & Company, 2008. Ellis, Richard. The Great Sperm Whale: A Natural History of the Ocean's Most Magnificent and Mysterious Creature . University Press of Kansas, 2011. Heffernan, Thomas Farel. S...
Sep 14, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Season 3Ep. 37
This week begins our multi-part episode on the whaleship Essex , famously 'stove by a whale' in 1820, leading to an epic tale of survival, determination, and just a bit of cannibalism. Part I focuses on the history of whaling industry in (first) Britain's American colonies and (then) the young United States, with special attention to the island of Nantucket. Sources: Bouk, Dan and D. Graham Burnett. "Knowledge of Leviathan: Charles W. Morgan Anatomizes His Whale." Journal of the Early Republic ,...
Sep 07, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Season 3Ep. 36
Kaylee (@kayleefabulous) is back this week to share a story from Duluth - the sinking of the whaleback Thomas Wilson after a collision with the George Hadley. Kaylee's Duluth dive bar write-up: https://racketmn.com/best-dive-bars-duluth-mn Sources: Duluth Evening Herald , 29 Nov 1905. Duluth Evening Herald, 7 Jun 1902. Engman, Elmer. In the Belly of a Whale. Innerspace, 1988. Stonehouse, Frederick. Haunted Lakes . Lake Superior Port Cities Inc., 1997. Miller, Al. Tin Stackers: The History of the...
Aug 31, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 3Ep. 35
**this episode does contain some instances of language that would normally be edited out in the main feed, but has been kept in the episode to preserve the direct quotes reported in Casey's article** In the first of our "current events" episodes, we discuss Susan Casey's Vanity Fair article on the Oceangate submersible incident from earlier this year. Source: Casey, Susan. "The Titan Submersible Disaster Was Years in the Making, New Details Reveal." Vanity Fair , 17 Aug 2023. https://www.vanityf...
Aug 24, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 3Ep. 35
This week we tell Part 1 of the tale of the Manila galleon Santo Cristo de Burgos - alternatively referred to as 'The Beeswax Wreck' for reasons that will be made apparent. This episode sets the background and historical context for Part Two, which will feature an interview with a special guest involved with the story of the wreck. 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...
Aug 18, 2023•53 min•Season 3Ep. 34
No new story this week, so this is a chat about how the podcast has developed and where we plan to take it in the future. We're back next week with your standard programming. Outro music is "Pique la baleine" as sung by the Dreadnoughts - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTLqKV4q2n8 Support the show
Aug 11, 2023•38 min•Season 3Ep. 33
For this week's episode we are back close to home for the tale of the steamer Phoenix, which burned off of Sheboygan WI in 1847, in what remains one of the worst tragedies on Lake Michigan. The music at the end of the episode is 'Nader, mijn God, bij U' (Nearer, My God, To Thee) as performed by the Martin Mans Formation. Sources: Hilty, Maya. “Remains of the Phoenix , one of the Lake Michigan’s deadliest shipwrecks, discovered 175 years after sinking off Sheboygan’s shore.” Sheboygan Press , 21 ...
Aug 05, 2023•52 min•Season 3Ep. 32
**a small correction to the episode - the French painter Édouard Manet did not observe the battle off Cherbourg personally, but used eyewitness and press accounts to reconstruct the events for his painting The Battle of the Kearsarge and the Alabama . This week it's the story of the Confederate commerce raider Alabama , the terror of the US merchant fleet until she was turned into a marine archaeological site by the USS Kearsarge off of Cherbourg, France Sources: Ameur, Farid. "La guerre de Séce...
Jul 28, 2023•46 min•Season 3Ep. 31
We're back in the Galveston area to discuss a very recent incident involving the fishing vessel Pappy's Pride and the chemical tanker Bow Fortune Sources: NTSB Report - Collision Between Tanker Bow Fortune and Fishing Vessel Pappy’s Pride Heath, Keri. "Pappy's Pride salvage continues, families file claims." The Daily News, 30 Jan 2020. https://www.galvnews.com/news/article_66b30e27-1479-514b-8d59-1f294ef303f4.html "Incident with Bow Fortune in Galveston, Texas." Odfjell , 2 Feb 2020. https://www...
Jul 21, 2023•44 min•Season 3Ep. 30
In this, one of our absolute favorite bonus episodes (originally released for patrons in September 2022), we discuss the brief but eventful life of the Pensacola lumber schooner Richard A. Bingham . Sources: Heier, Jan Richard. "The Development of American Ship-Accounting Practices to 1900: A Comparative Study of Three Vessels." The Accounting Historians Journal , vol. 26, no. 1, June 1999, pp. 27 - 52. Heier, Jan Richard. "The Short Life of the Richard A. Bingham : A Pensacola Lumber Schooner."...
Jul 14, 2023•1 hr 3 min
This week we have a WWI story in the Mediterranean with the sinking of HMT Aragon off of Alexandria, Egypt. Sources: "100 Years Ago." Posted by fredarth09, 01 June 2014. https://fredarth.wordpress.com/tag/hmt-aragon/ "Aragon." The Yard , http://www.theyard.info/ships/ships.asp?entryid=367 "Chaplain recalls torpedoed ship drama." The Luton New , 31 Jan 1918. http://www.worldwar1luton.com/blog-entry/chaplain-recalls-torpedoed-ships-drama "The British Ship HMT Aragon." The University of Newcastle ,...
Jul 06, 2023•49 min•Season 3Ep. 29
This week it's the tale of the stern trawler Gaul , and the mystery of her 1974 sinking in the Barents Sea fishing grounds, leading to a decades-long search for answers. Sources: Dispatches - "Secrets of the Gaul." 1997. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=secrets+of+the+gaul Re-opened Formal Investigation Report 2004 "Sinking of stern trawler Gaul with loss of 36 lives." Marine Accident Investigation Branch , April 1999. https://www.gov.uk/maib-reports/sinking-of-stern-trawler-gaul-in-...
Jun 29, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 3Ep. 28
This week we go back to a place near and dear to us - Scapa Flow - for the story of the Royal Navy battleship HMS Royal Oak. Sources: Gorbahn, Katja. "Perpetrators, victims, heroes – the Second World War and National Socialism in Danish history magazines." Commercialised History: Popular History Magazines in Europe . "Korvettenkapitän Günther Prien." uboat.net . https://uboat.net/men/prien.htm Mason, Geoffrey B. "HMS Royal Oak, British battleship, WW2." Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships i...
Jun 24, 2023•53 min•Season 3Ep. 27
As we're in a new location this week, there's a good deal of background in this episode leading up to the sinking of the ferry Sinar Bangun on Lake Toba (Sumatra, Indonesia) in June 2018. This episode is being released just before the five-year anniversary of the incident. **KM = Kapal Motor (Motor Vessel), equivalent to MV designation in English Sources: Bakkara, Binsar and Niniek Karmini. "Divers search Indonesian lake for 192 missing after sinking." AP News , 20 June 2018. https://apnews.com/...
Jun 17, 2023•50 min•Season 3Ep. 26
This week we travel back to the early days of steamers on the Great Lakes - Walk-In-The-Water. With the power of 73 horses and a little bit of a horned breeze, who knows what adventures we can have? Sources: Carroll, Francis M. "The Search for the Canadian-American Boundary along the Michigan Frontier, 1819-1827: The Boundary Commissions under Articles Six and Seven of the Treaty of Ghent." Michigan Historical Review , vol. 30 no. 2, Fall 2004, pp. 77 - 104. Palmer, Mary A. Witherell. "The Wreck...
Jun 11, 2023•47 min•Season 3Ep. 25
**this was originally released on the bonus feed for Patrons in July 2022; enjoy! And consider supporting the show on Patreon!** This is the second installment in our sporadic Dead Reckoning bonus series. This episode takes us to the haunted coast of Connecticut, where spirits are said to linger at New London Ledge Light and Penfield Reef. Sources: Blake, Kevin. "Lighthouse Symbolism in the American Landscape." FOCUS on Geography , Summer 2007, pp. 9 - 15. Carter, Donald. Connecticut's Seaside G...
Jun 08, 2023•27 min
We make a return to Chile after about two years away to tell the tale of the steamship Cazador (the first such vessel to ever serve in the Chilean Navy). We were previously in Chile for the story of the Angamos wayyyy back in Episode 14; give it another listen if you need a refresher! Sources: "A 163 años del naufragio del barco 'Vapor Cazador': Así fue la peor tragedia naval en Chile". Teletrece , 30 Jan 2019. https://www.t13.cl/noticia/nacional/Flotaban-cadaveres-de-mujeres-sosteniendo-a-sus-h...
Jun 04, 2023•39 min•Season 3Ep. 24
For this month's bonus episode we are discussing the 1984 film The Bounty starring Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson. Apologies for the delay, but we hope you enjoy our burgeoning interest in sound effects. Support the show
Jun 01, 2023•1 hr 3 min
This week Taylor brings us the story of a vessel with a short but fascinating life - Cleopatra's Barge , which would later be renamed Ha'aheo o Hawai'i (Pride of Hawai'i) after being purchased by Kamehameha II for his personal use. **This episode opens with a longer banter session than normal as we shake off the chains of the Spanish Armada series** Sources: Johnson, Paul Forsyth. "Do They Really Pay You To Do That?" Smithsonian Institution , Sept 1996. https://web.archive.org/web/20110604054435...
May 27, 2023•48 min•Season 3Ep. 23
Here we wrap up the main sequence of the Spanish Armada story. As all hope of a rendezvous with Parma has been lost, Medina Sidonia has no choice but to bring his ships north around Scotland and Ireland, and then back on the long journey south back to Spain. We bid farewell to Drake, Recalde, Frobisher, the Valdes cousins, and all of the other friends we've made along the way. Sources: Allingham, Hugh. "The Spanish Armada: A Spanish Captain's Experiences in Ulster in 1588: A Reminiscence (With N...
May 20, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 3Ep. 22
In Part III of our Series on the Spanish Armada, it's showtime! We cover the engagements at Portland Bill, the Isle of Wight, and Gravelines. We discuss flyboats, fireships, and timebombs. We finally criticize our boy Medina Sidonia. This episode really has it all. Sources: Hanson, Neil. The Confident Hope of a Miracle . Knopf, 2003. Howarth, David. The Voyage of the Armada . Penguin, 1982. Martin, Colin and Geoffrey Parker. The Spanish Armada . Norton, 1988. Mattingly, Garrett. The Armada. Houg...
May 13, 2023•53 min•Season 3Ep. 21
**this was originally released in April of 2022 as a bonus episode; now it's yours to enjoy on the main feed!** In this bonus episode for the month of April 2022 we are delving back into some maritime mysteries and folklore with a talk about the Carroll A. Deering and the tall tales of Alfred Bulltop Stormalong. Support the show
May 10, 2023•45 min
Join us this week for Part Two of the Spanish Armada of 1588; the Armada sets sail, takes a break, sets sail again, and encounters the English fleet for the first time in the campaign. Hanson, Neil. The Confident Hope of a Miracle . Knopf, 2003. Howarth, David. The Voyage of the Armada . Penguin, 1982. Mackie, J.D. "Scotland and the Spanish Armada." The Scottish Historical Review , vol. 12, no. 45, Oct 1914. Martin, Colin and Geoffrey Parker. The Spanish Armada . Norton, 1988. Parker, Geoffrey. ...
May 06, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 3Ep. 20
We embark on our next multi-part episode with Part 1, covering the background and planning phases of the Spanish Armada of 1588. This episode has everything! Politics! Logistics! Mutiny! Singed beards!... Typhus! Sources: Drelichman, Mauricio and Hans-Joachim Voth. “Lending to the Borrower from Hell: Debt and Default in the Age of Philip II.” The Economic Journal , vol. 121, no. 557, December 2011, pp. 1205 - 1227. Hanson, Neil. The Confident Hope of a Miracle . Knopf, 2003. Howarth, David. The ...
Apr 29, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 3Ep. 19
This week it's back to just the lads again with the story of the sidewheeler Alaskan, sunk in May 1889 off of Cape Blanco. Sources: "The Alaskan Founders." New York Times , 17 May 1889. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1889/05/17/100961000.pdf Anderson, Matthew. "SS Columbia - The Lost Ship Who Lit the World." Shipwreck World , 23 Oct 2016. https://www.shipwreckworld.com/articles/ss-columbia-the-first-electric-ship "The Olympian and the Alaskan." The West Shore , 1 May 1884. https:/...
Apr 22, 2023•48 min•Season 3Ep. 18
Alexia (@TitanicTalkline) is with us today to talk about White Star's previous worst disaster - the sinking of the SS Atlantic near Halifax in 1873. Follow Alexia on Twitter! - @TitanicTalkline Hear more Alexia, every week! - Titanic Talkline on Acast Sources: Baber, Mark. "Capt Digby Murray." Encyclopedia Titanica , 1 Nov 2007. https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/community/threads/capt-digby-murray.25551/ "Captain's Statement." SS Atlantic History. www.ssatlantic.com/ssatlantic/history/?c=13 ...
Apr 16, 2023•54 min•Season 3Ep. 17
**We know there are audio issues with this episode (Tanner recorded with the wrong mic, among other things) but it has been cleaned up to the best of our abilities; we hope it doesn't distract too much from the excellent discussion we got to have!** This week it's Jaylan Salah (@jaylansalman) on the guest mic to discuss one of the most famous maritime incidents in US history - the 1989 grounding of the tanker Exxon Valdez and the subsequent oil spill that saw portions of the Alaskan coastline de...
Apr 09, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 3Ep. 16
This week we're joined by Scott (@DuluthBoatKing) for the story of the SS Western Reserve , one of the early steel-hulled freighters on the Great Lakes, lost with only a single survivor in August 1892 Support the show
Apr 02, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 3Ep. 15
[April Fool's Episode 2023] - for new listeners, the media check-in is also part of this , do not yell at us for our media check-ins if you don't like our media check-ins on this episode pls thx] This week we are in Chicago to discuss one of the greatest calamities to ever strike the Second City. It's the story of a bus, a band, a boat, and a bad decision. We dedicate this episode to the victims affected that day. Special thanks to our sponsors and their dedicated spokespersons: - Radway's Ready...
Mar 31, 2023•48 min•Season 3Ep. 14
Our friend Paul returns to the pod to share the story of one of the world's most grueling yacht competitions - The Sydney To Hobart Race - and the deadly 1998 edition that claimed the lives of six competitors. Paul is one of the hosts of the Emergency Traffic Podcast (@PodcastTraffic), which examines firefighter and paramedic line-of-duty deaths. Sources: Dugard, Martin. Knockdown: The Harrowing Account of a Yacht Race Turned Deadly . Pocket Books, 1999. Mundle, Rob. Fatal Storm: The Inside Stor...
Mar 24, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 3Ep. 13
