I like Ships too

I've thought about buying a boat in Maine and doing the NW passage.



Matt Rutherford
Solo, non-stop circumnavigation of the Americas
2011-2012
http://reddotontheocean.com/


Croaker Bay, NW Passage
http://reddotontheocean.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Killer-Iceberg.jpg


Devin Island, NW Passage
http://reddotontheocean.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Labrador-coast.jpg


I've seen his boat.

I'll pass. Gimme those tropical seas, tradewind breezes and visual navigation.





 
It seems that the Healy is heading back north at the same time that the Crystal Serenity is leaving out of Seward for NYC via the NWP.

Coincidence?
 
The Crystal Serenity is out of Seward and is currently about 10 miles east of Kodiak. She's slowed down to 15 kts.
 
17 Aug1974 - USS Parche (SSN 683) is commissioned

USS Parche (SSN-683), a Sturgeon-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the parche /ˌpɑːrˈtʃeɪ/, a small, coral reef butterfly fish. Parche was launched on 13 January 1973, sponsored by Mrs. Philip A. Beshany, and commissioned on 17 August 1974 with Commander Richard N. Charles in command.

Attributed as being a key resource of the National Underwater Reconnaissance Office, Parche is said to be "the most highly decorated vessel in U.S. history."
In the book Blind Man's Bluff, it is claimed that Parche successfully tapped into Soviet underwater military communication cables in the Sea of Okhotsk in 1979 as part of Operation Ivy Bells

On 19 October 2004, a decommissioning ceremony took place at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, Washington; she was officially decommissioned on 18 July 2005 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register the same day. The wardroom of the oldest submarine in the fleet carries Richard O'Kane's personal cribbage board, and upon the Parche's decommissioning the board was transferred to the next oldest boat: USS Los Angeles (SSN-688).[5] Her scrapping at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard via the Ship and Submarine Recycling Program was completed on 30 November 2006.

Parche's research and development duties will be assumed by Jimmy Carter, a Seawolf-class submarine whose construction period was extended to include modifications that will allow her to carry out the same types of research and development.[3] According to Robert Karniol, Jimmy Carter in succeeding Parche, has become "Washington's premier spy submarine."

Military awards
As of 2007, Parche was said to be "the most highly decorated vessel in U.S. history", receiving a total of nine Presidential Unit Citations and ten Navy Unit Commendations. The submarine also received thirteen Navy Expeditionary Medals during her thirty years of service.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Parche_(SSN-683)
Photos: http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08683.htm


http://www.hazegray.org/worldnav/usa/images/ssn683.jpg

http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get2/I00003tWGcsdOzI0/fit=1000x750/USS-Parche-SSN-683-sail-EdBook6300.jpg
 
The Parche's sail is located a few feet from the car holding area at the Bremerton Ferry loading ramp and finding parking in that part of town isn't easy. Behind the photographer, is the 'new' Puget Sound Naval Museum and beyond it, is the Bremerton Naval Shipyard. The Museum is run by retired Navy volunteers and open on strange hours but it is 'politically correct' and has very little emphasis on warfare, more on ship building and repair. It has displays of uniforms, a nice hat collection and an entire room dedicated to Negro Shipyard workers during WW2 that was very interesting. There are comparatively few 'hard' ship items on display but they have lots of pictures on the walls. The gift Shop has some pedestrian items like hats for many Boats and Ships, a few plastic model kits and a few books. The last time I was there was about ten years ago and I wasn't impressed.

It replaced a small Naval Undersea Museum that was packed with 'hard' Submarine items like control panels, gauges, a periscope and a captured Japanese torpedo that was 'opened' for internal viewing and many assembled plastic and wood model submarines. Its gift shop had hats, many Submarine model kits and a terrific selection of Submarine books. That was a COOL Museum.

The 'new' Naval Undersea Museum is in Keyport, WA a few miles away. I haven't had a chance to visit it but I have been told it is fantastic. http://www.navalunderseamuseum.org/
 
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I was saddened to find out the ship, the RMS Empress of England, that brought us to Canada had gone to the breakers. Seems an ignominious end to end up on some third world beach being cut apart by native workers scratching out a dangerous and unhealthy living.
 

Not only that, but the goddamn things don't work.

(NPR) Amid Breakdowns Navy Struggles to Make New Ships Work


The Navy continues struggling to get its new class of warships to work right.

When the USS Coronado set sail last week from Pearl Harbor for a planned deployment across the Pacific Ocean, it suffered engine problems and had to turn back. Before that, the Navy acknowledged that a diesel engine on another ship, the USS Freedom, was in such bad shape, it needs to be rebuilt or replaced.

Both of these are littoral combat ships, known as LCS, which are intended for operations taking place close to shore.

Other littoral combat ships have suffered problems as well. The USS Milwaukee lost power in the middle of a trip to Norfolk in December and had to be towed ashore. And before that, the USS Fort Worth sat idle for months in Singapore, crippled by its own machinery problems. Now it's limping home across the Pacific for more repairs.

The Navy acknowledged all the failures this week in a statement after the Coronado turned back to port.

"Some of these were caused by personnel and some were due to design and engineering," said Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson. "These issues are all receiving our full and immediate attention, both individually and in the aggregate."

The most recent string of embarrassments follows years of work by the Navy to get its new class of littoral combat ships to perform as advertised. Richardson's acknowledgement that they've fallen short is further evidence that a lasting solution may still be a long way off...

more...
http://www.npr.org/sections/paralle...akdowns-navy-struggles-to-make-new-ships-work




 
At least that wasn't as embarrassing as the survey ship HMS Dampier which had to improvise sails to get back to the UK.

On 5 October 1967 Dampier finally left Singapore to return to the UK, arriving at Simon's Town, South Africa, on 17 November. A week later, after local exercises, it was discovered that the ship's starboard propeller shaft was broken. The ship was obliged to continue her voyage on only one shaft. At Freetown, Sierra Leone, she found that there was no suitable equipment available to make repairs. With only three weeks remaining to make the 3,000 miles back to England in time for Christmas, the ship took the unusual step of manufacturing and hoisting a set of sails. Three lugsails made from awning canvas were hoisted on 11 December, and four days later a set of square sails. With the assistance of this rig, Dampier arrived at Chatham on 23 December to be greeted by Flag Officer Medway and the Hydrographer of the Navy.

From Wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Dampier_(K611)
 
Dozens of Container Ships Stranded After South Korean Company Goes Bankrupt


http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2016/09/08/gettyimages-599070274-42e22b9c77645f2339707726c2d0046b9e729ab0-s800-c85.jpg


(NPR) Dozens of massive container ships are stranded at sea, looking for a place to dock after one of the world's largest shipping companies went bankrupt. Lars Jensen, the CEO of Sea Intelligence Consulting, which focuses on container shipping, says the container ships are operated by the South Korean-owned Hanjin Shipping company.

"It is some 85 to 90 vessels, and they really are scattered all over the world," he says.

Jensen says the ships anchored in or circling the high seas represent about half of Hanjin's fleet. The company was the seventh-largest shipping line in the world until it declared bankruptcy Aug. 31, leaving an enormous amount of cargo stranded at sea.


more...

http://www.npr.org/sections/paralle...-sea-after-south-korean-company-goes-bankrupt
 
Dozens of Container Ships Stranded After South Korean Company Goes Bankrupt


http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2016/09/08/gettyimages-599070274-42e22b9c77645f2339707726c2d0046b9e729ab0-s800-c85.jpg


(NPR) Dozens of massive container ships are stranded at sea, looking for a place to dock after one of the world's largest shipping companies went bankrupt. Lars Jensen, the CEO of Sea Intelligence Consulting, which focuses on container shipping, says the container ships are operated by the South Korean-owned Hanjin Shipping company.

"It is some 85 to 90 vessels, and they really are scattered all over the world," he says.

Jensen says the ships anchored in or circling the high seas represent about half of Hanjin's fleet. The company was the seventh-largest shipping line in the world until it declared bankruptcy Aug. 31, leaving an enormous amount of cargo stranded at sea.


more...

http://www.npr.org/sections/paralle...-sea-after-south-korean-company-goes-bankrupt

Being #7 in the world wasn't big enough!
 
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