The Yarmouth Castle Disaster: Sixty Years On
November 13, 2025, marks the 60th anniversary of the Yarmouth Castle disaster. The 38-year-old cruise ship caught fire during an overnight voyage to Nassau, killing […]
Ships
The Loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald: Fifty Years On
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald. The ship foundered in a storm on Lake Superior, and—in many ways […]
Edmund Fitzgerald: The Man Behind the Famous Name
In the course of maritime history, certain vessels stand above the rest. Ships like Queen Mary and Normandie are remembered for their splendor. Mauretania and […]
Is the Queen Mary 2 Haunted?
When people talk about haunted ocean liners, the Queen Mary 2 doesn’t usually come up. Her retired predecessors—the legendary Queen Mary in Long Beach and […]
The Terrifying Mystery of the SS Ourang Medan
Maritime lore brims with tales of ghost ships—stories sailors pass along until distance, fear, and time blur them. Some, like the legendary Flying Dutchman, live […]
A Strange Prediction
After the Queen Mary launched on September 26, 1934, a London-based astrologer and psychic named Lady Mable Fortescue-Harrison made an extraordinary prediction. She told reporters: […]
Book Review: Captain’s Dinner by Adam Cohen
Cannibalism occurs in a wide range of species across the natural world, and early humans and Neanderthals were no exception. Several ancient cultures across the […]
The Last of the Liners: SS Keewatin—From the Clyde to the Great Lakes
For the next installment of “The Last of the Liners” series, we turn to a smaller—but no less historic—vessel: the Canadian Pacific pocket liner SS […]
Captain Smith’s “Uneventful” Career—and the Words That Echoed After Titanic Sank
When the Titanic set sail on her maiden voyage in April 1912, White Star Line put her in the hands of a man widely regarded […]
Q&A: Nicole Strickland—Author and Queen Mary Historian
Today’s Q&A features a conversation with author and Queen Mary historian Nicole Strickland. I first encountered her work years ago while working as a tour […]