It is generally recognised that the German Battleship Bismarck was one of the most formidable battleships ever built. There was simply nothing to match the Bismarck. Despite the passage of 75-years the remarkable warship and her sister ship Tirpitz still commands awe and respect.
During Christmas Week, 1951, began an incredible sea story involving a WWII era cargo vessel named the Flying Enterprise and her captain, Kurt Carlsen.
It is estimated that deliberate starvation, slavery and the expulsion of the Irish, Scottish and English folk too led to a 50 percent loss of the population. Around 100,000 people fled Ireland for Canada in 1847 alone and around 20,000 of those either died during the voyage or during their time spent in quarantine stations.
Samuel Plimsoll (1824 – 1898) was an English politician and social reformer. He is best remembered for having devised the Plimsoll line. This is a painted watermark on a ship’s hull indicating the ship’s maximum safe draught. If the weight of a loaded cargo pressed the vessel’s hull down beyond the watermark it was forbidden to leave port and would not be insured against its loss.
For over 400 years the great maritime powers of Europe waged sea wars to curb or destroy Britain’s predominance as a maritime nation. All failed and by 1900 Britain without question ruled the waves.
Michael Walsh Stories and Books 
Recent Comments