Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
January 27, 1909 Garlandstone, a ketch (two-masted sailboat), was launched in southwestern England. In a 1996 edition of the London-based Guardian, author Virginia Spiers highlighted Garlandstone in the daily column A Country Diary. “This handsome merchant vessel was built on the [River Tamar], built by James Goss in his yard on the Devon bank opposite... Continue Reading →
January 21, 1945 In the final year of World War II, a U.S. Navy transport ship was launched in a Sunday ceremony at a Kaiser Shipbuilding yard in Richmond, California. This ship was named after Andre Walker Brewster (1862-1942), a U.S. Army major general and Medal of Honor recipient. Walker’s noteworthy assignments during his long... Continue Reading →
January 9, 1916 SS Duilio was launched at the Ansaldo Shipyard in the city of Genoa in northwestern Italy. This ship was the first Italian super ocean liner and ultimately became one of that country’s largest vessels. The Duilio was built for use by the Italian shipping company Navigazione Generale Italiana (NGI). The vessel’s name was... Continue Reading →
December 23, 1944 A little over three years after the United States entered World War II on the side of the Allies, the U.S. Navy rescue and salvage ship USS Bolster (ARS-38) was launched at a shipyard of the Basalt Rock Company. This company, which was located just south of the San Francisco Bay Area’s... Continue Reading →
December 17, 2012 In the Scottish town of Port Glasgow, the ferry MV Hallaig was launched at the yard of Ferguson Shipbuilders – now known as Ferguson Marine Engineering – on the Firth of Clyde (the estuary of the River Clyde). Nicola Sturgeon (born in 1970), who was serving as deputy first minister of Scotland... Continue Reading →
December 5, 1931 The luxury ocean liner SS Manhattan, which had been built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, was launched in Camden, New Jersey. Former First Lady Edith Roosevelt (1861-1948), widow of President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), christened the ship with a bottle containing water taken from various streams throughout the country. This United States Lines... Continue Reading →
November 20, 1942 Nearly a year after the United States’ entry into World War II on the side of the Allies, a vessel constructed by Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation (now part of Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. [HII]) for military use was launched. This Friday ceremony was held at the company’s shipyard in the city of Pascagoula,... Continue Reading →
October 30, 1982 USNS Zeus (T-ARC-7), the first cable ship specifically built for the U.S. Navy, was launched at the shipyard of the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company in San Diego. (USNS stands for "United States Navy Ship"; this prefix is used for non-commissioned vessels that are owned by the Navy but operated by a... Continue Reading →
In the Canadian province of British Columbia, the paddle steamer sternwheeler Moyie was launched at Kootenay Lake in the city of Nelson. This vessel, which was built in prefabricated sections in Toronto, became the newest steamship acquired by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). The launch of Moyie was described by the Vancouver-based Daily News Advertiser... Continue Reading →
October 16, 1888 CGS (Canadian Government Ship) Stanley, which is widely considered to be Canada’s first fully functional icebreaker, was launched at the shipyard of Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Limited (Fairfields) in the burgh of Govan (now part of Glasgow) in Scotland. This steamship was named after Frederick Arthur Stanley (1841-1908), 16h Earl of Derby,... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 