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1Mar
‘Crosses of the Fallen’ Image, Courtesy of Fionbarr Moore, National Monuments Services. Facebook 2017. In the 16th century, the Spanish monarchy, part of the Habsburg Empire, largely Catholic, with its spiritual leader in Rome, assembled the largest naval and military invasion force ever seen in Europe at the time. Its purpose was to […]
12Nov
In chronological order, this shipwreck story has its genesis in Norway, when a timber built steamer slid down the ways in the chocolate box town, Tvedestrand, 1920, as, DS Bjornvik. Her name was changed the same year to Hill, and she operated in Scandinavian waters and the North Sea until 1940. Cutting a lot […]
5Sep
Even though the young student had little need to describe the lost ship no more than a ‘total wreck’, there’s always a ‘story’. Commonly addressed by her last Christian name, Stella, Susan was actually the young woman’s first name; her second was Caroline after her mother. 1963, Spring arrived and Stella had only to pop […]
26Nov
A reader might expect that the familiar image of the celebrated diver and adventurer, Jacque Cousteau, depicted in his red woolly hat says it all. The red divers’ hat, already emblematic, quickly became a fashion statement, but, without any explanation as to why a diver’s head covering should be red. The association of a red […]
30Jul
Flowing through the heart of Dublin city, the south side of the river Anna Liffey between Merrion Square and Ringsend was largely undeveloped in 1792. This large area was swamp marshy ground but had been already divided into ‘Lots’ and earmarked for the expansion of the city. Previously esturinal, great walls were being built either […]
6Apr
A treasure, presently of inestimable value, was recovered from a shipwreck at the Greek island, Antikythera, NW of the island, Crete, in 1901. This small island is strategically located across the route from the Aegean Sea into the Western Mediterranean and known to have been the haunt of pirates for centuries. This remarkable find takes […]
20Dec
Author’s Note – The greater part of the following story was included in an earlier work, primarily concerned with the operations of German submarines in Irish waters during WWI. The subject matter herein was not considered ‘relevant’ to the main body of work and was deleted from the remainder of my book, U-boat Alley, published […]
9Nov
‘Render Unto Caesar…’ The Christian Bible is clear – citizens must pay their taxes, just or unjust. Dogma is one thing, in practice, evading punitive taxes has been with us since the earliest success of both. Free-trading, free of taxes, comes in many guises today and is constantly responding to market […]
18Oct
By any comparison, Victorian hay-day of sail or today’s modern giants of the seas, the sailing barque, Bay of Bengal, three-masted, 260 feet long, built of ‘Government standard, best, best best iron’, to beyond Lloyd’s highest specification, was a large ship. Launched from the Fairfield Yard at Govan on the Clyde by the respected shipbuilder, […]
26Apr
All Measures Necessary – Where They a Success? There has been few events in history that one can point to and say, ‘they changed the world’. ‘Change’ in this case, meaning profound or even philosophical. There were many, after which the world did change, but over a very long period, like the onset of […]
