Tales of mishaps, misfortune, and misadventure
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Best selling author John U. Bacon joins me to discuss his new book, Gales of November, and the behind the scenes stories of the crewmembers. We discuss their families, loved ones, and personalities that made up the crew of the famed ship. Gales of November can be purchased at the author's web site, johnubacon.com, Amazon, or wherever books are sold. (No commission is paid to Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs.)
A video version of this episode is also available.
*Disclaimer: A complimentary copy of Gales of November was provided to Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs by the publisher. No other compensation, promotional consideration, or remuneration of any kind was paid or will be paid to Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs or Rich Napolitano for Mr. Bacon's participation in this episode.
**No AI images or voices were used to make this video.
Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. All episodes can be found at https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com.
Original theme music by Sean Sigfried.
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The Mayflower II—the replica of the 1620 ship that brought the Pilgrims to America and launched a nation—is seen by some 2.6 million visitors to Plymouth annually and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. But there is much more to the replica’s story than meets the eye. In fact, the origins of Project Mayflower began in the 1950s not with an American, but with a British World War II veteran named Warwick Charlton who had what seemed an impossible dream: to build a historically accurate replica, sail her across the Atlantic, and present the finished product as a thank-you to his country’s wartime ally.
"Project Mayflower" can be purchased from the Plimoth Patuxet Museum Shop at https://www.plimoth.com/products/project-mayflower-building-and-sailing-a-17th-century-replica, as well as Amazon and wherever books are sold. (No affiliate compensation is paid to Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs.) *Disclaimer: A complimentary copy of "Project Mayflower" was provided to Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs by the author. No other compensation, promotional consideration, or remuneration of any kind was paid or will be paid to Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs or Rich Napolitano for Mr. Stone's participation.
**No AI was used in the production of this podcast.
Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano.
All episodes can be found at https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com.
Original theme music by Sean Sigfried.
Listen AD-FREE by becoming an Officer's Club Member ! Join at https://www.patreon.com/shipwreckspod
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This is the true story of the 1821 whaleship Essex, the doomed Nantucket vessel whose catastrophic encounter with a massive sperm whale helped inspire Moby-Dick. After the Essex was rammed by the massive whale, the Essex was destroyed, leaving its crew stranded thousands of miles from land.
During their harrowing struggle for survival in their open-boat journey. Some of the men would survive, but only by engaging in the "custom of the sea." The story of the whaleship Essex is one of the most haunting tales from maritime history, and was the inspiration behind Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick.
**No AI was used in the production of this podcast.
Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano.
All episodes can be found at https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com.
Original theme music by Sean Sigfried.
Listen AD-FREE by becoming an Officer's Club Member ! Join at https://www.patreon.com/shipwreckspod
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A Shipwreck, an Act of Cannibalism, and a Murder Trial that Changed Legal History. Four men in a lifeboat.
Two weeks without food. One impossible choice that would reshape the boundaries between survival and murder. On May 19, 1884, the yacht Mignonette set sail from England on what should have been an uneventful voyage. When their vessel sank in the Atlantic, Captain Thomas Dudley and his crew found themselves adrift in a tiny lifeboat. As days turned to weeks, they faced an unthinkable choice: starve to death or resort to cannibalism.
My guest for this episode is the author of Captain's Dinner, Adam Cohen. For more about Captain's Dinner please visit the publisher's web site.
*Disclosure: An advance complimentary copy of Captain's Dinner was provided to Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs by the publisher. No other remuneration was given to Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs or Rich Napolitano for Mr. Cohen's participation in this episode. **No AI was used in the production of this podcast. Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. All episodes can be found at https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com. Original theme music by Sean Sigfried. Listen AD-FREE by becoming an Officer's Club Member ! Join at https://www.patreon.com/shipwreckspod
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The total loss of SS Yarmouth Castle in 1965 is the deadliest passenger ship disaster off the American coast since the burning of SS Morro Castle in 1934. Eighty-four passengers and two crew died in the early-morning hours of November 13, 1965, when the cruise liner SS Yarmouth Castle caught fire and sank near Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas. Four others would die later from their injuries. The ship had 552 people aboard on her weekend round trip between Miami and Nassau. Her total loss marks the deadliest passenger ship disaster off the coast of the United States since the burning of the liner SS Morro Castle off New Jersey in 1934. The survival of over 450 people from the inferno was nothing short of a miracle. My guests for this episode are the authors of "Yarmouth Castle Burning", Captain Randall Peffer and Captain Eric Takakjian. "Yarmouth Castle Burning" can be purchased through Schiffer publishing at https://schifferbooks.com/products/yarmouth-castle-burning, on Amazon, or wherever books are sold. *Disclaimer: No compensation, promotional consideration, or remuneration of any kind was paid to Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs or Rich Napolitano for Mr. Peffer's or Mr. Takakjian's involvement in this episode. Links are provided solely for listeners to purchase the book if interested. **No AI was used in the production of this podcast.
Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. All episodes can be found at https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com. Original theme music by Sean Sigfried. Listen AD-FREE by becoming an Officer's Club Member ! Join at https://www.patreon.com/shipwreckspod
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To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the sinking, this is a replay of Episode 33, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in Lake Superior during a terrible storm on November 10, 1975. The ship's crew of 29 men all perished and were never recovered. The Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest ship on North America's Great Lakes when it was launched on June 7, 1958. It remains the largest ship to have sunk in the Great Lakes. The Fitzgerald's tragic demise inspired Gordon Lightfoot's hit song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” (1976), which helped make it the most famous shipwreck in the Great Lakes. The Fitzgerald's wreckage is in two pieces at the bottom of Lake Superior. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point has a bell on display as a memorial to the lost crew.
Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. All episodes can be found at https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com. Original theme music by Sean Sigfried. Listen AD-FREE by becoming an Officer's Club Member ! Join at https://www.patreon.com/shipwreckspod
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The Star of Bengal was a three-masted steel sailing ship that met a tragic end off the coast of Alaska on September 20, 1908. While transporting over 138 cannery workers, mostly Asian immigrants, and a cargo of canned salmon from Wrangell, Alaska to San Francisco, California, the ship was caught in a fierce gale. Two accompanying tugboats were forced to release their towlines, leaving the Star of Bengal to be driven onto the rocky shore near Coronation Island. The vessel broke apart in the storm, and the frigid waters claimed the lives of more than 100 people, making it one of Alaska’s deadliest maritime disasters. My guest for this episode is Ronan Rooney from https://www.wrangellhistoryunlocked.com. (Disclaimer: No monetary compensation, sponsorhip, or promotional consideration was given to Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs for Mr. Rooney's participation in this episode.)
Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. All episodes can be found at https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com. Original theme music by Sean Sigfried. Listen AD-FREE by becoming an Officer's Club Member ! Join at https://www.patreon.com/shipwreckspod
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The SS Andaste was a semi-whaleback, self-unloading freighter built in 1892 by the Cleveland Shipbuilding Company. In 1925, a self-unloading system was added to her deck making her a bit top-heavy and unstable. On September 9, 1929, she was lost in a storm on Lake Michigan, while transporting a load of gravel from Ferrysburg (Grand Haven), Michigan to Chicago. All 25 on board perished. The wreck of the Andaste has never been found, but Great Lakes shipwreck hunters are actively searching for her.
Jennifer Keefer of the Grand Haven Area Convention & Vistor's Bureau joins me as a guest, and provided assistance with some of the research for this episode.
(Disclaimer: No monetary compensation, sponsorhip, or promotional consideration was given to Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs for Ms. Keefer's participation in this episode.)
Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. All episodes can be found at https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com. Original theme music by Sean Sigfried. Listen AD-FREE by becoming an Officer's Club Member ! Join at https://www.patreon.com/shipwreckspod
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You can support the podcast with a donation of any amount at: https://buymeacoffee.com/shipwreckspod
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Anthony Cummins, also known as Captain Tonz, is a retired marine captain, and real-life modern day pirate. I spoke with him in Episode 37, and he told of taking a humber barge across the Bay of Biscay, and his creative escape from Gibraltar.
I had the chance to catch up with Captain Tonz again, and he shares more of his interesting stories including a dicey shipwreck, smuggling camels, and how pirates can, and do, help preserve the health of the world’s oceans.
There is a special acknowledgement and thank you at the conclusion of this episode, to everyone who has supported this show by joining the Officer's Club on Patreon, donated through BuyMaACoffee.com, or by subscrining to Into History.
Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. All episodes can be found at https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com. Original theme music by Sean Sigfried. Listen AD-FREE by becoming an Officer's Club Member ! Join at https://www.patreon.com/shipwreckspod
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Sir Ernest Shackleton (1874–1922) was an Anglo-Irish explorer best known for his daring Antarctic expeditions during the Heroic Age of Polar Exploration. Born in County Kildare, Ireland, and raised in London, Shackleton first ventured south with Robert Falcon Scott on the Discovery Expedition (1901–1904), before leading his own journeys aboard Nimrod (1907–1909) and Endurance (1914–1917). Though he never reached the South Pole, his leadership during the Endurance expedition—when his ship was crushed by ice and he led all 28 men to safety—earned him lasting fame as a model of courage, resilience, and leadership under pressure. Shackleton died of a heart attack in 1922 while preparing for another Antarctic voyage, and was buried on South Georgia Island, where his legacy as one of history’s greatest explorers endures.
Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. All episodes can be found at https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com. Original theme music by Sean Sigfried. Listen AD-FREE by becoming an Officer's Club Member ! Join at https://www.patreon.com/shipwreckspod
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You can support the podcast with a donation of any amount at: https://buymeacoffee.com/shipwreckspod
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