Category: Ships
Hidden in the Wake: The Lusitania’s LGBTQ+ History
Last year for Pride Month, I wrote a post about the LGBTQ+ history of RMS Titanic. This year I wanted to focus on RMS Lusitania and her stories. Lusitania was one of the most famous ships in the world when she was torpedoed and sunk by U-20 on May 7, 1915. The ship was a…
Lovely Cruise: Sailing on the Margaritaville at Sea Paradise
Last month, my wife and I set sail aboard one of the most talked-about cruise ships currently operating: Margaritaville at Sea Paradise. Famously known as the oldest active cruise ship in North America—at nearly 35 years old—she earned a colorful reputation that’s evolved since her rebranding in 2022. We booked a two-night cruise to Nassau,…
Silent Night, Deadly Night: The Sinking of SS Léopoldville
On Christmas Eve 1944, the Battle of the Bulge raged in the Ardennes Forest. Adolf Hitler’s war machine launched its last major offensive on December 16, recalling the successful Blitzkrieg tactics used in 1939 and 1940. Over 200,000 German troops and 1,000 tanks advanced along a 75-mile front, pushing about 50 miles into Allied-controlled territory….
Book Review: The Sailing of the Intrepid by Montel Williams and David Fisher
Moored at Pier 86 in New York City—where some of the greatest ocean liners in history have docked—sits a ship with a storied past. The USS Intrepid, an Essex-class aircraft carrier from World War II, saw combat in the Pacific and helped turn the tide of the war. Today it houses the Intrepid Museum and…
Beloved Captain Michele Bartolomei Dies Suddenly Aboard Diamond Princess
Captain Michele Bartolomei, a beloved and respected cruise ship captain commanding Diamond Princess, suddenly passed away in the early morning of May 19, 2025. The cause of death has not been revealed. He was just 52 years old. At approximately 2 am, passengers on Diamond Princess awoke to hear a call for a medical team…
Tall Ship Cuauhtémoc Hits the Brooklyn Bridge
Last night, May 17, 2025, tragedy struck when the Mexican Navy tall ship Cuauhtémoc hit New York’s Brooklyn Bridge just before 8:30 pm. Onlookers captured shocking video of the incident as it unfolded before them. All three masts snapped upon hitting the bridge span, leaving crew members dangling high in the rigging. Mexican Navy officials…
Book Review: Phantom Fleet by Alexander Rose
Deep inside the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois is something rather unexpected: a World War II German U-boat. Thousands of people visit U-505’s cold, claustrophobic interiors annually and step back into the past when it and other submarines like it terrifyingly hunted the world’s oceans. The story of how U-505, built…
Book Review: Inside the Britannic by Simon Mills
Britannic—Titanic’s little sister. The third Olympic-class liner, she suffered the same fate as her older sibling and sank near the Greek island of Kea on November 21, 1916. There was a (highly fictionalized) TV movie in 2000, but Britannic has still been largely overshadowed by Titanic in popular culture. But ship nerds (I use that…
Poem: An Elegy for Lucy on the 110th Anniversary
On the 110th anniversary of the Lusitania’s sinking, I wrote an elegy for the ship and those who died in the disaster.
Book Review: Finding the Titanic by Dalton Rains
Growing up, I was obsessed with the Titanic. I think most ship enthusiasts are. I remember buying books like Exploring the Titanic and 882 1/2 Amazing Answers to Your Questions About the Titanic at the Scholastic Book Fair or ordering from the Scholastic Book Club and pouring over them for hours. There’s certainly something to…