A Day with the Chief Engineer
It’s Global Day of the Engineer! One of the highlights from when I worked aboard the Queen Mary was getting to spend a day with […]
Ships
Can “America’s Flagship” Still Be Saved? One Group Thinks So
Ever since the SS United States left Philadelphia on February 19 for Mobile, Alabama, social media has been abuzz with images of the grand ship. […]
A New Vision: Marcus Garvey & the Black Star Line (Part 2)
Marcus Garvey was at the height of his power in the early 1920s. His Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) had between two and four million […]
A New Vision: Marcus Garvey & the Black Star Line (Part 1)
Marcus Garvey, founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), had a dream of uniting all people of African descent. Proclaiming an agenda of Black […]
The SS United States Leaves Philadelphia After Nearly 30 Years
After nearly 30 years, the SS United States has left Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On February 19, 2025, “America’s Flagship” left her longtime berth aided by tugboats. […]
Day of Final Victory: Black Soldiers Aboard the Queen Mary
During World War II, the need to transport large numbers of Allied troops across the globe saw the world’s ocean liners being pressed into military […]
The Captain’s Sixth Sense
Docking a ship requires a tremendous amount of skill, ability and resolve. This is especially the case when the weather is bleak and uncooperative. Then […]
Born of Death: The Sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff
By late January 1945, Nazi Germany was on the verge of losing World War II. On the Western Front, its offensive in the Ardennes failed. […]
The Wrecks of November: Gordon Lightfoot’s Shipwreck Songs
The old ship, tried and true, set sail on a routine voyage. Nothing seemed amiss that November day. But no one could have imagined the […]
Forgotten Hero Ship: The Wreck of La Jenelle
The coast of Oxnard, California was stormy on April 13, 1970. Gale-force winds blew about and rocked the nearly 500-foot cruise ship until her starboard […]