The Man Who Discovered Treasure Island
Exactly 170 years ago, on November 13, 1850, Robert Louis Stevenson was born. The internationally respected author was a favourite with young and old lovers of literature.
Ghostly Encounters
When five prominent British writers revealed their belief in ghosts they based their stories on personal experience. Did they open themselves to ridicule? Apparently not.
Studies show that 48% of Americans believe in ghosts. Given that Britain is more ghost-friendly I would expect the British percentage of believers to be higher.
The Mechanical Galleon, 1585
Sublime Dreams of Living Machines. Part V. Made by Hans Schlottheim in German, in about 1585, the central figure of the galleon is the Holy Roman Emperor, surrounded by seven noblemen. When the clockwork mechanisms were wound, the ship moved forward over the table and they bowed in front of the Emperor. Miniature figures of the trumpeters and drummers on the deck moved in time to music that was generated by an internal organ and drum. The front canon also fired, lighting a fuse which in turn fired the canons on each side of the ship. The display finished in a cloud of smoke and must have been breathtaking to a 16th-century audience.
Spanish Skipper Who Saved an Armada
Never forgotten was the drama as the Palm Line freighter Enugu Palm after finally answering the wheel skimmed by a metre or two a row of ocean-going freighters moored at the port’s quays. A second’s delay on the part of Captain Inés would have led to one of the worst shipping disasters in African history.
When Women Failed at Sea
Consisting of patriotic young ladies following the outbreak of the Great War (1914 – 1918) the initiative was unlikely to provide real assistance to the country in distress. Nevertheless, 35 determined ladies had a different opinion. Dressed in sailor uniforms, they learned the charter, went into the navy’s ranks, followed orders and prepared to die for the Fatherland on the various fronts of the First World War.
The Last of the Leviathans
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.
The Flying Enterprise story of Man vs. the Sea
During Christmas Week, 1951, began an incredible sea story involving a WWII era cargo vessel named the Flying Enterprise and her captain, Kurt Carlsen.
The Saint Who Saved The Sailors
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.
Who Scuttled Britain’s Navies
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 
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