Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
October 11, 1927 Ruth Elder (1902-1977) and her co-pilot George W. Haldeman (1898-1982) took off from Long Island’s Roosevelt Field in a yellow Stinson Detroiter monoplane named American Girl for what was supposed to be the longest transatlantic flight to date. Elder and Haldeman, both of whom are depicted in the accompanying photo, planned to... Continue Reading →
June 14, 1930 The twin-screw diesel yacht Lotosland was formally delivered by her manufacturer Pusey & Jones, a Delaware-based shipbuilder, to renowned industrialist and electrical engineer Edward A. Deeds. On that date, this newly completed vessel was registered with U.S. Official Number 229875 and signal MHWN. The handover of Lotosland to Deeds took place nearly... Continue Reading →
May 13, 1968 The U.S. Navy survey ship USNS Chauvenet (T-AGS-29) was launched in the Scottish port city of Glasgow. (“USNS” stands for “U.S. Navy Ship”; this designation is used for non-commissioned ships that, while owned by the U.S. Navy, are largely operated and crewed by the Military Sealift Command [MSC] or other civilian-staffed naval... Continue Reading →
Grace Darling earned worldwide acclaim for her heroic efforts to help rescue survivors of a shipwreck off the coast of northeastern England’s ceremonial county of Northumberland in 1838. The seventh of nine children, Darling was born in Northumberland on November 24, 1815. Her father William was a lighthouse keeper. In 1826, William Darling became keeper... Continue Reading →
February 9, 1954 A dock landing ship built for the U.S. Navy was launched along the coast of Pascagoula, Mississippi. (A dock landing ship is an amphibious vessel that serves as both a means of transport and a launchpad for helicopters as well as seagoing watercraft such as boats and barges.) This new military vessel... Continue Reading →
January 5, 1892 A notable milestone for Undine, a sternwheel-driven steamboat operating on rivers in Oregon, took place when she played a pivotal role in rescuing people who had been on board a vessel that sank in the Willamette River. (A major tributary of the Columbia River, the Willamette River is located entirely within the... Continue Reading →
October 17, 1989 In the aftermath of a major earthquake that hit northern California, the fireboat Phoenix – under the command of pilot Arvid Havneras -- proved to be pivotal in combatting a fire that endangered San Francisco’s Marina District neighborhood. The Loma Prieta earthquake, measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale, rumbled through the region... Continue Reading →
September 11, 2001 The terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 individuals in the vicinity of the World Trade Center in the southernmost part of New York City’s borough of Manhattan; the Pentagon in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area; and – where a hijacked... Continue Reading →
April 4, 1985 A vessel named Samuel Risley was officially commissioned as a Canadian Coast Guard ship (CCGS). This vessel, measuring 229.8 feet (69.7 meters) in length, had been built by Vito Steel Boat & Barge Limited and was launched in 1984 at that company’s shipyard in the British Columbia city of Delta. CCGS Samuel... Continue Reading →
On January 15, 2009, New York Waterway ferry captain and U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) reservist Brittany Catanzaro and her crew played a crucial lifesaving role for the passengers of an Airbus A320 after that plane had made an emergency landing on the Hudson River. This landing was made necessary because the aircraft (US Airways Flight... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 