Month: July 2020

Back in the day, royalty liked to travel in style, and what could be a better means of transport than a handsomely fitted out yacht. The history of royalyachts in Great Britain began with the 1716 conversion of a small 190 ton frigate, Peregrine Galley, into a well appointed yacht, Carolina, named for the Princess…

The Elissa was launched in 1877 from Aberdeen, Scotland when sailing ships were in decline but could still earn a profit in the right trades. As a three-masted, iron-hulled barque, she carries square sails on her fore andmain masts, but only fore- and aft- sails, those parallel to the keel, on her mizzen masts. Her…

During my 10 year affiliation with the museum, I have seen its collection grow in size and quality. Important areas that were not represented ten years ago are in featured exhibits today. Members of the Gulf Coast Ship Modelers Society create and contribute outstanding models to fill collection voids. The workmanship and quality standards of…

LCVP – Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel The LCVP is the World War II landing craft conceived by a Louisiana lumberman, Andrew Higgins. The boat was used extensively by all the Allies, but primarily by the U.S. Forces to quickly put infantry on an enemy shore. In just over twenty years, between 1918 and 1939, the…

Self-elevating Offshore Drilling Rig One of the most striking (and larger) models on display at the Houston Maritime Museum in the Energy Industry exhibit is the self-elevating offshore drilling rig “OFFSHORE MISCHIEF”. Properly referred to in the offshore industry as a mobile offshore drilling unit or “MODU”. This enormous machine is among the largest of…

Vasa is a Swedish warship built over two years (1626-1628). On her maiden voyage out of Stockholm Harbor on August 10th, 1628, the ship foundered and sank after sailing about 1,300 meters. She sat in 30 meters of water for 333 years until she was located again in 1956. She was salvaged with a largely…

In the yearly years of WWII, the loss of ships crossing the Atlantic with supplies for the allies was staggering. German U-boats were responsible for most of this toll. The tide was turned with the development of the convoy system and the construction of a large number of corvettes of the “Flower” class (they were…

This year, the Port of Houston is celebrating one hundred years as a center for trade and industry. Before Houston was officially a leading world port, the area relied on a variety of small watercraft — a far cry from today’s tankers and Triple-E container ships — to navigate the waterways that lead to present-day…