Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
January 30, 1999 The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) cutter USCGC Anthony Petit (WLM-558) was officially launched into the Menominee River at the city of Marinette, Wisconsin. This 175-foot (53-meter)-long vessel was built by Marinette Marine Corporation, and the launch ceremony for her took place along one of that company’s docks. USCGC Anthony Petit which is... Continue Reading →
December 6, 1913 The steam ferry Leschi was launched from Rainier Beach on Lake Washington, a large freshwater lake adjacent to Seattle. Chief Leschi (1808-1858), for whom this vessel was named, served as the leader of the Nisqually Indian Tribe in the vicinity of Puget Sound in present-day Washington State. The ferry Leschi had the... Continue Reading →
November 9, 1922 More than three decades after being launched, the Norwegian ship Skomvær was retired from service. This three-masted barque was the first sailing ship in Norway to be built with steel. Measuring 257.4 feet (78.5 meters) in length, Skomvær also long held the record as the largest of all Norwegian vessels. Skomvær was... Continue Reading →
August 23, 1980 U.S. Army Vessel (USAV) Yaquina was launched at the shipyard of the Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation in Norfolk, Virginia. This ship serves the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) as one of its hopper dredges. A hopper dredge, equipped with powerful engines and pumps, is used to keep waterways navigable by... Continue Reading →
July 18, 1931 The Matson Navigation Company ocean liner SS Mariposa was launched at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts. (That facility served as part of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation’s shipbuilding division.) Mariposa was built for service on a Pacific Ocean route between San Francisco, California, and Sydney, Australia. This ship was the largest passenger... Continue Reading →
December 8, 1930 The diesel-powered vessel Aras was launched by her manufacturer Bath Iron Works at the Maine-based company’s location on the Kennebec River. Measuring 243 feet and nine inches (74 meters) in length, this luxury yacht had been built for paper and wood products magnate Hugh J. Chisholm. His wife Sara (“Aras” is her... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 