Questions tagged [ships]
Questions related to the history of seagoing vessels, whether military, commercial or exploratory.
107 questions
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Are there any surviving PHOTOS of James J Kilroy's ship inspection marks? [duplicate]
Three days ago, I asked this question:
Are there any surviving examples of James J Kilroy's ship inspection marks?
Despite a good number of up votes, there have been no responses. Not even ...
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What was the process for booking transatlantic passage in the 1770s?
I'm writing a fictional story that takes place in the 1770s, and I want a character to have her passage across the Atlantic - from America to France - paid for by someone else. How did one purchase/...
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How did the Dutch Republic get sufficient timber to build its navies?
I was recently in the Netherlands and noticed it is remarkably free of forests, which led me to wonder how they got timber for their ships back in the day.
I guess there are two possible answers:
1. ...
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How long was the sea journey for most of the “second wave” of immigrants to New England?
My great x9 grandfather, Rev Ralph Partridge, had an especially long trip from England to New England. One source said he was at sea for 22 weeks and still needed four more weeks before arriving at ...
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How long would it take to get from the port of Riga to London by boat in the 1890s?
My grandfather made a journey as a very young man from Latvia (Kurzeme) to London in the 1890s and I'm trying to figure out how he did it. I think he must have boarded a ship in Riga and I’m wondering ...
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17th/ 18th CE Sailing times to various countries from Argentina
Suppose one had a 17th/ 18th century type sail ship. How long would it take (on average, in appropriate seasons) to sail from/ to Buenos Aires to
Washington DC
Portugal
South Africa
Kerala, India
...
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Are there written historical records of ships possibly affected by underwater volcanic activity?
Underwater volcanic activity, although less impressive than its land counterparts, can still trigger interesting phenomena on the surface, like (temporary) islands popping out of nowhere, ocean ...
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What type of naval ship is this?
What type of naval ship is this? Note gun batteries on stern, Unknown location and date.
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What wrecked ship was found near Lyttelton, New Zealand in 1847?
I am currently reading The Strange Adventures of Captain Quinton. It tells the story of a young man who goes to sea, rising in rank to Captain. Captain Quinton wrote the book in 1912 as a memoir of ...
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In 16th-century commercial deep sea fishing, what depth did European (and colonial) fisherfolk fish to, and what vessels and techniques were used?
I have found reference to the earliest commercial deep-sea fishing being done in the North Sea (Dogger Bank), and Newfoundland (Grand Banks).
According to Wikipedia:HerringBuss, the herring buss type ...
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What was the name of Captain Kidd's ship?
To be precise, what was the name of Captain William Kidd's ship which he commanded in his ill-fated voyage from England to hunt pirates in the Indian Ocean?
The name is given in many modern sources ...
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When were terms for points of sail first used?
Modern sailing uses terms for points of sail such as "broad reach", "beam reach", "close-hauled", etc., to indicate a vessel's travel in relation to the wind direction. ...
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When was the first ship model kit offered to the public?
Following this guy's question [requires login].
According to Wikipedia model ships are dated to ancient Greece, Egypt, and Phoenicia but those, and later models up to sometime in the 1800's, were all ...
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Were ships effective for sieging cities?
When I play Civilization I find that ships can be quite strong for sieging cities, but a lot of cities aren't in range of the water. But in real life I know most major cities are near water sources. I'...
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Why were steering wheels so big, even in 20th century ships?
https://www.quora.com/What-does-a-ship-steering-wheel-look-like/answer/Josiah-Toepfer
Even SS Normandie (1935), RMS Queen Mary (1936), RMS Queen Elizabeth (1946) had bulky steering wheels that were ...
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