In this installment of maritime history events, we look at oil spills, new technology, and Pacific exploration. If you’ve got an event that you think should be included, let us know in a comment below, or in an email to comments@shipindex.org.
March 16: In 1978, the oil tanker Amoco Cadiz (Wikipedia, ShipIndex) ran aground off the coast of Brittany, France, causing the largest spill of its kind up to that point in time. The Amoco Cadiz was built in Spain, in 1973-75, so it was a fairly new ship when it was forced to put the rudder hard to port to avoid another ship during a gale, and the rudder got stuck. Despite attempts to be pulled to safety by a tug, and dropping anchors, Amoco Cadiz eventually ended up on rocks that pierced the hull and caused the release of all oil and fuel on board. Like the Torrey Canyon disaster almost exactly eleven years earlier, the wreck was bombed to sink the ship and limit additional damage.
March 18: In 1967, the SS Torrey Canyon (Wikipedia, ShipIndex), a Suezmax oil tanker built at Newport News Shipyard in 1959 (then enlarged in Japan several years later), ran aground off the coast of Cornwall, England, spilling much of its cargo. The British government decided to attempt to burn off the spilt oil, to minimize its impact, and therefore bombed the spill site with large bombs, jet fuel, rockets, and napalm, with limited success.
March 20: The USS Langley (Wikipedia, ShipIndex) was commissioned in 1922, as America’s first aircraft carrier, just 18 years after Orville and Wilbur Wright’s first flight in North Carolina. Jupiter, a collier, or coal-carrying ship, was launched in 1912, decommissioned in 1920, and then recommissioned as Langley (CV-1) two years later, with a wooden deck for airplane movements. Langley also saw service in World War II, but was attacked by a group of Japanese bombers and was damaged so much that the ship needed to be scuttled.
March 22: The Tonquin (Wikipedia, ShipIndex) arrived at the Columbia River on the US West Coast in 1811. While getting over the treacherous Columbia Bar led to the loss of eight sailors, the crew was able to make it to shore, and soon founded a trading post that would become Astoria, Oregon. Tonquin continued north to trade with native fur trappers. A battle in June 1811, between Tonquin sailors and native Tla-o-qui-aht traders in Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia, led to the deaths of all but four sailors. One of the four, who was badly wounded, remained on board ship while the other three escaped, and then lit a fuse that detonated the ship’s powder magazine, killing as many as 100 natives and destroying the ship. The other three sailors were eventually captured and killed; a native Quinalt man who had served as a translator was the only survivor, and the only one to make it back to Fort Astoria to tell the tale.
For more about these ships, check out ShipIndex.org. And let us know if you have events that you think we should include!