Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Ships

Discussion

Feedback from our readers

The H.L. Hunley, a confederate Civil War era submarine, sits in its water tank at the Hunley Lab in North Charleston, SC.

One Scientist May Have Finally Figured Out the Mystery of Why a Civil War Submarine Sank

A Navy engineer used creative modeling and her knowledge of underwater explosions to tackle the century-old Hunley conundrum

A bell from the doomed ship

Trending Today

After 72 Years, Wreck of USS Indianapolis Found, Closing Chapter on Tragic Tale

After the ship was sunk by a Japanese torpedo, surviving crew members had to battle dehydration, exposure and deadly shark attacks

'Vasa' can be visited today at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, Sweden.

The Bizarre Story of ‘Vasa,’ the Ship That Keeps On Giving

‘Vasa’ sunk in front of horrified onlookers on this day in 1628, claiming 30 lives

The main ship's telegraph from the Lusitania

Cool Finds

Telegraph Recovered from the Wreck of the ‘Lusitania’

After a botched salvage effort last year, the artifact used to communicate with the engine room has now been brought to the surface

This diorama shows a sailor receiving his "daily tot." It was even mixed according to custom: on a "scuttled butt" with an officer overseeing the mixing.

Reasons Why the Royal Navy Bribed Sailors With Booze

The rum ration existed until 1970

The point of the bow from the port side, taken by the remotely operated vehicle Jason Jr.

The Story of the First Manned Expedition to the Sunken Wreck of the ‘Titanic’

The manned exploration in 1986 brought back the first high-quality images of the ship since it sank

The aftermath of the explosion.

A Newly Discovered Diary Tells the Harrowing Story of the Deadly Halifax Explosion

On the eve of the disaster’s centennial, a sailor’s 1917 journal details a rare eyewitness account of the massive harbor blast

John Dee was an accomplished mathematician, but he also said he owned a stone (in his right hand) that was given to him by angels. In Elizabethan England, that wasn't all that odd.

John Dee’s Life Shows Science’s Magical Roots

His life shows a time when science and magic intersected–even for scientists

French privateers and the newly reformed U.S. Navy fought in the Quasi War. "Despite these effective U.S. military operations, however, the French seized some 2,000 U.S. vessels during this conflict," writes historian Nathaniel Conley.

This Unremembered US-France ‘Quasi War’ Shaped Early America’s Foreign Relations

America wasn’t officially at war with France between 1798 and 1800, but tell that to the U.S. Navy

A spiny crab pulled up by the Investigator team

Cool Finds

Australian Expedition Dredges Up Crazy Creatures From the Deep Sea

After a month exploring Australia’s deepest ocean, researchers found over 300 new species of toothy, blobby and glowing animals

The ship's helm on its flying bridge

Cool Finds

A Century After Sinking, This Storied Ship Will Remain Underwater

The McCulloch was the largest cutter of its day and sank in 1917 after colliding with a passenger ship in heavy fog

Today the humble shipping container is everywhere: 10 million of them arrived at U.S. ports in 2016 alone.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

The Now-Ubiquitous Shipping Container Was an Idea Before Its Time

North Carolina trucker Malcom McLean needed to invent not just the container, but the cranes and ships needed to move them

Arctic Cruise Line Baptizes Its Passengers in Ice

MS Fram has just crossed the Arctic Circle, so far north that the sun practically never sets. To celebrate, the crew stage a frosty mock baptism

Elusive Arctic Animals Reveal Themselves to an Expedition

A group of Arctic tourists with an experienced expedition leader run into two unique arctic animals: the hardy muskoxen and a herd of reindeer

Tim Caza assesses the boat.

Cool Finds

Shipwreck Identified as Rare Canal Boat

Durham boats once fueled trade in the Erie Canal

This copy of the first chart of the Gulf Stream was printed in 1786, ten years after Benjamin Franklin first drew it up.

Benjamin Franklin Was the First to Chart the Gulf Stream

Franklin’s cousin, Timothy Folger, knew how the then-unnamed current worked from his days as a whaler

Lifting an Unwieldy 75-Ton Hovercraft Out of the Water

When you’re crane-lifting a giant hovercraft into a ship’s hold, plenty can go wrong

New Research

Why Mother and Baby Humpback Whales Whisper to One Another

The quiet communication helps them avoid killer whales and randy male humpbacks

The Mississippi was in its high season, and the water was fast and cold.

This Civil War Boat Explosion Killed More People Than the ‘Titanic’

The ‘Sultana’ was only legally allowed to carry 376 people. When its boilers exploded, it was carrying 2,300

Page 22 of 28