Articles tagged as Ships | Smithsonian Magazine

OceanOne is designed to work alongside human divers.

The humanoid diving robot could help researchers explore fragile wrecks from the surface of the sea

May 2, 2016

A 400-year-old dress was recovered from a 17th-century shipwreck off the Dutch coast.

Cool Finds

Dutch Divers Found a 17th-Century Dress Buried Under the Sea

The 400-year-old gown was remarkably well-preserved

April 20, 2016

Photograph of British Kil class patrol gunboat HMS Kildangan painted in dazzle camouflage.

World War I: 100 Years Later

When the British Wanted to Camouflage Their Warships, They Made Them Dazzle

In order to stop the carnage wrought by German U-Boats, the Allied powers went way outside the box

April 7, 2016

A cruise ship in Alaska, similar to the one that will cross the Northwest Passage in August

Crystal Cruises will sail a ship with over 1,000 passengers through the legendary—and deadly—Arctic route

March 23, 2016

Conestoga (AT 54) at San Diego, circa January 1921

With the Discovery of the USS Conestoga, Researchers Have Solved a Mystery That Was Nearly 100 Years Old

Even a century later, the news has brought relief to the families of the sailors who went down with their ship

March 23, 2016

Some of the divers from Blue Water Recoveries excavating artifacts from the wreck of the Esmeralda

A warship from the famous navigator Vasco da Gama’s fleet has been excavated in the waters off Al Hallaniyah island in Oman

March 16, 2016

The suspected Confederate blockade runner found near the mouth of the Cape Fear River

Cool Finds

Civil War Blockade Runner Found in North Carolina Waters

Sonar scan finds possible remains of a Confederate steamship used to outrun the Union Navy

March 8, 2016

A diver sorts through the remains of a ship that sank in 1025 A.D. off the coast of Turkey. Though this site is out of the line of most cyclonic activity, similar sunken ships may contain a trove of information for climate scientists.

New Research

Ancient Shipwrecks Offer Clues Into the History of Hurricanes

Patterns in ancient shipwrecks are helping scientists fill in the gaps of the patchy hurricane records

March 8, 2016

A 19th-century illustration depicts a scene off the coast of Peru, where bird poop, or guano, was harvested as a valuable agricultural fertilizer.

How the Gold Rush Led to Real Riches in Bird Poop

The ships carrying gold miners to California found a way to strike it rich on the way back with their holds full of guano

February 17, 2016

A trumpet recovered from the USS Houston undergoes treatment at the Naval History and Heritage Command's Underwater Archaeology Branch laboratory on the Washington Navy Yard, Dec. 31, 2013.

Cool Finds

A Trumpet Retrieved From a World War II Shipwreck Could Still Hold Its Owner’s DNA

Conservators are trying to identify the sailor who once played it

February 4, 2016

Crews abandon their ships during the Great Whaling Disaster of 1871.

Cool Finds

Remnants of a Whaling Disaster Have Been Discovered off the Coast of Alaska

A catastrophe wiped out an entire whaling fleet 144 years ago, now researchers have found some of the wrecks’ remains

January 8, 2016

A fragment of a scuttled Revolutionary War-era ship discovered at a Virginia construction site.

The scuttled ship could reveal new details about how American colonists built their boats

January 5, 2016

The Times Square New Year's Eve Ball is tested the day before New Year's Eve atop the roof of One Times Square in New York, on Dec. 30, 2015.

New Year’s Eve wasn’t always a riotous party

December 31, 2015

A NOAA archaeologist examines the wreck of Two Brothers in Hawaii.

Cool Finds

NOAA Made a Sequel to ‘In the Heart of the Sea’

Because the story that inspired Moby-Dick is just the beginning

December 11, 2015

When the crew felt they had a good chance of freeing the trapped Endurance from the sea ice of the Weddell Sea, they put the sails up. As we know, this and other attempts failed. Realizing the ship wasn't moving, Hurley went onto the ice to take this photograph. New details of sea ice have been revealed.

Photos taken during Shackleton’s Antarctic expedition have been digitally restored for the first time

December 11, 2015

An illustration of a Spanish galleon at the time when European travelers searched for treasure across the seas.

Cool Finds

Legendary Shipwreck May Have Been Found off the Colombia Coast

The sunken treasure on the Spanish galleon San Jose could be worth up to $17 billion

December 7, 2015

A photo of the Hydrus before the ship sank in November, 1913

Cool Finds

Divers Discover 102-Year-Old Shipwreck in Lake Huron

The Hydrus and her crew were lost during the Great Storm of 1913

November 10, 2015

This small amphora from the Fourni wrecks likely carried luxury goods.

A Shipwreck Graveyard Has Been Found Off This Greek Archipelago

A recent expedition to the Fourni islands uncovered piles of ancient cargo, including types of amphorae never before seen on the seafloor

October 29, 2015

Divers examine ceramic artifacts that may hold clues about ancient medicines, perfumes and food.

Antikythera Shipwreck Yields New Cache of Ancient Treasures

Scientists have recovered more than 50 artifacts from the site, including a bronze armrest that was possibly part of a throne

September 29, 2015

New Research

Here’s How a Crew Survived an 1813 Shipwreck

The Neva’s remaining crew managed to live an entire month in an Alaskan winter with just the wreckage of their ship

September 11, 2015