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Another old ferry that is now used as a âpartyâ boat and for local cruises in the Hjørundfjord; Slogen, ex Landego, blt. 1959:
In her new home port of SÌbø:
As Landego. Leaving Bodø when trading to the islands on the Helgeland:coast, Northern Norway:
I saw her a few years ago while sailing into Baltimore. She is in drydock and my first thought was âWow someone is building a HUGE motoryachtâ and then I got closer and figured out what I was looking at. The ship really does look more like a yacht than a working cargo vessel.
Someone needs to pony up for some new uranium and start advertising âZero Carbon Cruisesâ 
Not sure what the combination of nuclear power and Covid-19 would do though, walk too close to the reactor and you get mutant Covind-19 - say Covid-19^2 
Speaking of Lines of ships, something popped into my mind that I hadnât thought about since back in High School American History.
We were studying the earlier to mid 1800âs and the discussion regarded American Isolation. Elements that began to pull us out of that isolation. This is at a time when British merchant ships were often called âTubâsâ. Even British Merchants were dissatisfied with them feeling that they were holding Britain back. But then their ship building industry had evolved around this type and they were good at building them.
The merchants would have looked like these men
In this time in America Naval Architects were able to map out new designs to develop their country develop. Size and scale would be possible given the bounty of materials available to them and with that speed on the water. This was the early origins of the Yankee Clippers. British merchants who would watch these ships come into their ports
could only look to their âTubsâ with disappointment and pain.
Beyond the aesthetics of sleek lines I think there is a lesson in history on our horizon now.
With China wanting to surpass the USA as a world power by 2030, building fleets of super freighters like the Bao May could put America in the shoes of those 1800âs British
Merchants looking at the Yankee Clippers.
And there have been a few proposals to build super canals above or below Panama so these ships can get thru themâŚ
The Laeisz Flying âPâ sâŚPamir, Potosi, Preussen, Peking, Padua, Pimmern and all the others; beautiful ships, amazing story behind them all.
Here is Pamir, in better days.095ecbe27e5365e20267df87acdb642e|236x322
There are limits to wood construction.
"Shipbuilders, traditionally conservative in attitude, still considered timber preferable to iron and thus were often reluctant to adopt alternative materials irrespective of the advantage. With regards to personal interests, many officials connected with the government, the navy, and the mercantile trade had private involvement with the timber trade, thus it was in their interest to support their investments. "
The speed advantage the US clippers had over the traditional British ship design featuring the codfish bow entry and wide beam was not due to the material used to build hulls.
The first generation clippers hulls were also built of wood. Their speed advantage came from a hull design which featured sharp bows with fine entries, narrow hulls, taller masts and increased sail area.
Speaking of square riggers, my first ship was this one:
She just returned to Norway after having been held in quarantine at Bermuda for 14 days.
Here is her website:
https://www.sorlandet.org/en
South Point Ohio park. South Point is the most southern town in Ohio.
The area I live in is Huntington,WV. I understand it is the largest inland port (freight tonnage wise) in the USA and 15th largest port in the USA otherwise. It was once a âhardwood capitalâ that attracted ship builders here from all over the world to acquire timber for their ships. The view across the Ohio river in the photo is of old Virginia (now West Virginia) to the left and Kentucky . If you look at the flags and South Point marker between them, across the Ohio river is the confluence of the Big Sandy River. Timber was floated down that river from so much of the woodlands it was harvested from
This timber trade was in a time before coal became the principle resource in the area.
âŚand I didnât mean to infer that the materials made the Clippers faster but rather that the abundance of good wood.was an advantage to their design and of building them.
My response was in reference to Steamerâs post regarding ironâs role in shipbuilding. Clipper ships are a subject dear to my heart. I have many books, some of them very rare, detailing their history and records of their voyages in detail, including Currier and Ives prints from the era.
LOL, sorry my bad.
Iâve been searching for information on early Virginia ship building in the Wheeling, West Virginia area (near Pittsburgh, Pa) In that area I understand they were building some Tall Ships (smaller ones than built on the Atlantic Coast Iâm sure). But as they would build these thru the year they would await the flood season of the Ohio River to launch them so they could make the nearly 1,000 mile trip to the Mississippi River. and from there to New Orleans. ( before entering the Gulf of Mexico for whatever service they would provide on the blue waters )
Thatâs something I wasnât aware of. A heck of long way from open water.
Some 30 years ago the local Art Museum hosted a History of the Ohio River exhibit. It was a one off. All manner of items were borrowed from other museums along the Ohio River. It was like a âmicroâ of the Smithsonian regarding this part of America.
This is when I was first aware of that ship building. Of course that preceded photography and there were only some early sketches. Even capable artist werenât common to those areas where they could record that industry.
Most of what is known is what followed with the âFlat Boatâ industry.
Iâm sure that there were more an more people wanting to move west by that time and these flat boats could be built quickly & profitably and launched year around. When they
arrived at their destination they were either unloaded and sold or broken down to use the lumber to build a cabin. Some traveled on these boats all the way to New Orleans. (buying and trading a they traveled) Glass & ceramic products from (west) Virginia, agricultural products from Ohio, Bourbon Whiskey from Kentucky, and so on.
Rendering of a young Abe Lincoln operating a Flat Boat full of barrels of whiskey
An older tweendecker, the Lyngenfjord, Den Norske Amerikalinje, blt. 1948:
Combined Bulk/Car carrier Hafnia, blt. 1963:
https://www.sjohistorie.no/no/skip/12611/
Modern car carrier:
Amoronto is a nice looking rig. Clean lines
I wouldnât step foot on the modern car carriers with the track record recently.
Another combined bulk/car carrier from the 1960s:
Normal trade was; Japan - USEC with cars. Coal back to Japan.
The Pamir was arrested in Wellington, New Zealand at the start of World War Two. She was put into service during the war by The Union Steamship Company of New Zealand and traded between the West Coast of USA and New Zealand with a New Zealand crew.
It is believed that she was observed by a Japanese submarine but the skipper could not bring himself to torpedo her.
After the war she was returned to her previous owners.
My meager claim to maritime fameâŚ1st ship USCGC Eagle, and I have sailed in a 6th gen drillship, too.
Two vastly different experiences. In between, steam powered self-unloaders on the Lakes, Master of a DP2 z-drive OSV, and finally back to tug/barge work on the LakesâŚquite a ride since the 80s and I wouldnât change a thing!
