BilgeRacc

A colourized photo of the Queen Mary 2 (left) with her namesake Queen Mary (right), taken in Long Beach, California on February 2nd, 2026. Credit to KTLA News for the image.

Queen Mary 2 just visited her sister and namesake, the original Queen Mary, for the first time in 20 years during a long cruise she's going on. She also did her first passing of the Panama Canal. Really cool to see these two together for probably the last time.

#maritime #maritimenews #ship #boat

This is kind of where I stood in the election in 2024. I told people, go vote, this matters, this might be the last shot you have at exercising that will, but all I got back was "Harris would be worse".

I don't think she'd have launched a war on Greenland.

I have a longer piece I did on Bark Marques. Should I post it here? It'll cover a lot especially with text limitations here but it was fun to do even with what little info was available.

Report to Congress on BBG(X) Battleship Program - USNI News The following is the Dec. 30, 2025, Congressional Research Service report, Navy Guided Missile Battleship (BBG[X]) Program: Background and Issues for Congress From the report On December 22, 2025, the...

news.usni.org/2026/01/01/r...

Seems like the Trump-class is being pushed up to Congress for review. The report is brief, 3 pages, and covers potential issues for Congress to consider. Give it a read, mateys.

#news #maritime #navy #USNavy #naval #military #maritimenews

Also have they solved the issue of the barrel for the railguns just straight up melting after like 2 shots yet or are they just hoping they'll figure it out by the time they start building them?

One of these is gonna be swarmed by destroyers and aircraft like a modern fucking Yamato.

Okay so apparently these are official release specs.

Completely ignoring the fact battleships as a platform are just obsolete to begin with, I genuinely don't know how they plan to power this and get 30+ kts out of it with a gas powered engine. Bro what.

#naval #navy #maritime #battleship #news

I plan to touch more on this as further details are released, and I guess we'll see if they actually will be made. My instincts say they'll end up like the Constellations, but I guess time will tell.

#naval #maritime #USNavy #ships #history #news #maritimenews #navy

I'm not a defense analyst or naval architect, just a dear humble mariner, so I cannot offer a solution to what I see to be just another appeal to an egomaniacal oligarch's ego. Maybe we should just stick to "good enough" and build a lot of what we know already works and competes. All n all, above me

Those ships, not nearly as seemingly grandiose, had a slew of issues and could not stick to their budgets or timelines. This, I fear, will go a similar route, leaving the US still far behind in the naval arms race and the country more in debt. Once the US were naval pioneers. No more, it seems.

While the orange bellend naming a whole class of ships after himself and christening the fleet they'll belong to as the "Golden Fleet" is not shocking given his vanity, the decision to build these is. Recent attempts of fleet building, including the Constellation-class, have been dismal failures.

Donald Trump unveils new class of battleships named after himself - BBC News The US president has vowed to revive American shipbuilding after lagging behind China in naval capacity.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Interesting piece of maritime news, though one I'd say I'm not fond of.

DOD plans to build a new class of warships, specifically ones they call battleships, to bolster the US' lagging naval fleet and to compete with China. Trump-class, they're called.

Continued below.

repost if trans people should have dr pepper

As I do not cover maritime disasters on this blog of mine, if any of you want to know more I cannot recommend "Maritime Horrors" or "Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs Podcast" enough. They cover the events masterfully. Go to YouTube n' give em a look.

#maritime #ships #GreatLakes #freighter #EdmundFitzgerald

I'd be a poor maritime account if I did not acknowledge the significance of today.

It's the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald.

I'm currently on a hitch so I can't drink, but if you can, toast one to the 29 men that didn't make it home that night.

Here's to you, gents.

I'll likely do a specific post on this vessel once there's more info. The official website has specs, but she just went out on her first voyage and I'd like to report how she fares after the fact.

#maritime #sailing #sailboat #boat #ship #maritimenews

I had a similar fit last year for Halloween. It's a fun costume. :D

A colour photo of the new "Neoliner Origin" by Neoline, a roll on-roll off style of cargo vessel propelled mostly by sails to reduce emissions and environmental impact. She has two large masts with two large sails on each, with a total of 3,000 square meters of sail area. Photo credit: Neoline official website.

Close enough, welcome back Age of Sail. 😭

Jokes aside the Neoliner Origin seems a really cool vessel, even if it's a ro-ro. I dunno if it will be effective but it's nice to see an attempt to be environmentally conscious. Plus she looks pretty. Not paying $7000 for a passenger ticket tho.

I approve, mate. 👀

Man why doesn't this site save drafts??😭

Had a whole thing typed up about the other vessel I saw, clicked out of the app for one second to double check a piece of information, opened the app again and everything I typed was deleted. Dome straight bullshit, man. I guess I'll try again in a bit augh.

That's all I have today! The other, the River Queen, I'll do sometime this week, ideally, before I go out on my next hitch. Either way, thank you for stopping by and stay safe, shipmates!

#maritime #history #naval #usnavy #maritimehistory #ships #boats #navalhistory

Some work has been done since the early 2010s on scrapping her, but the turbulent nature of the Mississippi's river stage makes it difficult to do, as Inaugural is only easily reachable when river stages are low and the current slower, allowing us to see this beautiful bygone girl.

A color photo taken by me of the wreck of the Inaugural along the shore, approximately a mile south of the Arch. She lays on her port side, easily visible with the low river stage.

Anotjer color photo taken by me of the wreck of the Inaugural along the shore, approximately a mile south of the Arch. Though much of the superstructure has eroded away or been scrapped, her hull is remarkably well preserved.

Having suffered damage to the hull, she started taking on water and listed over to her port side, then promptly sank. This is what remains of her, after over 30 years of being a victim to water and sun and neglect. Much of her superstructure is gone, but the hull mostly still intact surprisingly.

In 1993 St. Louis (and honestly everyone along the Mississippi River) suffered the Great Flood of 1993, one of 3 major floods in the last century and arguably the worst. During this catastrophe, the Inaugural broke loose at her moorings, drifted south, then grounded ashore.

A black and white photo from 1967 of the USS Inaugural moored at the levee in front of the Arch. She served as a popular maritime attraction from 1968 to 1993.

She was stricken from the record in 1967, being sold to Missouri to be kept as a floating museum from 1968 onwards. Being only one of two remaining wartime vessels of her class, she was a popular attraction, even being designated a Historic Landmark. For 25 years she remained moored by the Arch.

She also swept mines after the battle to clear way for the potential US invasion, which of course never occurred. The war over, she sailed back to the mainland, arriving back home in early February of 1946. After the war, she was transferred to the Naval Reserve Fleet and kinda just...sat around.

She spent most of her war career doing patrols and escorts in the US-controlled Pacific waters and surrounding islands therein. She eventually found her way to Okinawa in May of 1945 and performed, again, patrols but also additionally anti-air duties. A job she was good at with her 4 Bofors 40mm.

A wartime black and white photo from some time in the 1940s of the Inaugural with her dazzle camo, a method of paint that made it more difficult to discern hull shape and direction at distance on the waves.

The USS Inaugural (AM-242) lnaugural was an Admirable-class minesweeper from WW2, the largest class the USN had during the war. She was commissioned in December of 1944, putting her in perfect time to participate in the end of the Pacific theater.

Ahoy shipmates! I come bearing more mildly interesting maritime history for you! Recently I was in St. Louis and had the opportunity to see two neat wrecks, one Naval and the other civilian. We'll focus on the Navy's first since it's more interesting, then do the other another day.

Pretty late to the party on this but the full official MIR (Marine Investigation Report) for the Titan submersible incident by the NTSB is published. Provided is the link to read it: www.ntsb.gov/investigatio....

I'll be looking over it myself and seeing how it differs from the USCG's report.

She's propelled by diesel engines, and her stern paddlewheel is both small and just for show as far as I know according to one of the crew I talked to.

Tickets for a week or so long voyage start at like $4k a guest, so my ass is never going on one lol. Queen Mary 2 is like half that price.