Our first press release hit the wire this morning. You can see it here, at PRWeb, and also on Library Technology Guides. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to find all the places it appears, so if you see it somewhere, please do let us know.
This Day in History, 1939 – First British Ship Sunk by Germans
On September 3, 1939, the British passenger liner SS Athenia was sunk by the German sub U-30. This was the first British ship sunk in World War II, and because it was a passenger vessel, rather than a cargo ship, it was a violation of existing treaties between Germany and England. In fact, the Germans did not admit to sinking Athenia until well after the end of the war. Many didn’t believe that the Germans would have sunk a passenger liner, as there was much to lose, and little to gain, by doing so.
118 people lost their lives, from more than 1100 on board, and much that loss occurred during the rescue. Because the seas were calm, many vessels were able to assist Athenia, and most did so successfully. A Norwegian vessel, Knute Nelson, caused about 50 deaths when it suddenly steamed full speed ahead, sucking a full lifeboat that was aside it into its propeller.
New Search Behavior – What do you think?
This Day in History – 2009, I deployed some new search behavior.
The goal was to make the search behavior smoother when there’s an exact match on the search term you’ve put in, or if there’s only a single match. I’d like to know if this feature is helpful or confusing. Personally I think it’s pretty nifty, but then again I made it, so I’m biased.
You can see it in action by searching for “Seattle“, “Lusitania” or “fonseau“. (Those links are actually searches, they just redirect. Feel free to try a search from the side bar.)
How is that? Thumbs up? Thumbs down? Suggestions?
On a side note, I changed the destination of the search form a little bit because as it was, it was obscuring the vessel named “Search”. I apologize for the inconvenience but if you have linked to a search rather than a specific ship page, your links will need to be updated.
New functionality added: “Find in a library” links
Yesterday and today, we’ve added “Find in a library” links to every single resource currently in the database. This is useful for tracking down the specific title that mentions your vessel. Say, for instance, you’ve done a search for the ship Smart. You find two mentions of the vessel, in two books about Maine ships. When you click on either title — A Maritime History of Bath, Maine, or Fairburn’s Merchant Sail — you’ll see the linked words “Find in a library”. When you click that link, it’ll take you to WorldCat, a global directory of libraries’ holdings.
WorldCat will show its record for that book, and will even do its best to find the copy nearest you. You can put in a location to be even more exact, if you like. (The location can be a ZIP code, a postal code, a city, or a country.)
In nearly every case for items in this database, you’re only looking for a small part of the book or resource in question. You can almost certainly use the library nearest you, even if you don’t have a borrower’s card from that library. All you really need is the book and a photocopier, or the book and a pen and paper, and you’ll get the data that’s available there.
This is a big step forward in being able to track down the resources, once you’ve identified that they mention the vessel you’re seeking.
We’ll be adding more ways to locate specific resources over the next few weeks, so keep an eye on the resources pages. If you have thoughts about features you’d like us to add, or more ways to find the specific resources, please let us know.
Enjoy!
This Day in History, 1925 – and ships that aren’t in the water
On September 2, 1925, the USS Shenandoah (ZR-1), a rigid airship, was destroyed during a squall in Ohio. Fourteen of 53 people on board died in the crash. This was the 57th flight for the airship, so it certainly wasn’t a problem with the newness of the ship. Instead, weather was the problem.
It’s worth noting that there are a few non-maritime “ships” in the database, such as Shenandoah. Of course, looking at the link for Shenandoah, one sees a range of vessels — a Confederate cruiser/raider, a post-Civil War steamship, a schooner, a post-World War II tender, and, of course, the airship in question today. While they’re not as extensively listed, you will find these other vessels (and even a few imaginary ones) in the database, so check it out — even if your “ship” doesn’t float.
This Day in History, 1601 – Dutch complete circumnavigation of the world
On this day in 1601, Olivier van Noort arrived back in Rotterdam, becoming the first Dutchman to circumnavigate the globe. He left in July 1598, with four ships, but arrived back home just over three years later with only one vessel – Mauritius. He also returned with just 45 of the 248 who left with him.
While he was the first Dutchman to circumnavigate the globe, a fair number of other explorers already had. Ferdinand Magellan’s voyage of 1519 to 1522, of course, was the first — though Magellan himself didn’t survive the voyage. Magellan sailed with five ships – Trinidad, San Antonio, Concepción, Victoria, and Santiago – and only Victoria survived, under the leadership of Juan Sebastian Elcano.
Between 1580 and 1589, Martín Ignacio de Loyola circumnavigated the globe in both directions, becoming the first person to do that.
This Day in History, 1768 – Capt. Cook sets sail
On this day in 1768, Capt James Cook set sail from England aboard Endeavor, bound for the Pacific Ocean, with plans to explore and map portions of the Pacific. Cook had been hired by the Royal Society in 1766 to map the Transit of Venus. On this voyage, his first of three, he became the first European to provide descriptions of native Australians.
Another (nearly) LI maritime festival this weekend
Wow. Just found another maritime festival near Long Island this weekend. It’s on Staten Island, at the Noble Maritime Collection, and is called the Atlantic Salt Maritime Festival. I can’t go to this festival, but I do want to go to the Noble Collection next time I’m near.
I understand that the reconstruction of Henry Hudson’s Half Moon (also known as Halve Maen) will be there, as this is the quadricentennial of Hudson’s exploration of his eponymous river.
LIMM Seafood, Craft, and Music Festival this weekend
The Long Island Maritime Museum‘s Seafood, Craft, and Music Festival (also some info here) takes place this coming weekend in West Sayville, NY. Check it out if you’re in the neighborhood. My wife and I, and her family, went in 2003, and enjoyed it lots. There was good food and good music.
I know it was 2003 because we brought along a bump in her belly, and we all went to the festival just after we’d told her family. One of her sisters bought a onesie there for the bump, and that was the first gift anyone got for him. So I remember the festival fondly.
Letters from Battle of Trafalgar, via Caird Library, National Maritime Museum
The Caird Library Blog, from the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England, has a nice entry from earlier this month about the letters of young George Perceval, whose first action as an 11-year-old sailor was in the Battle of Trafalgar, on board HMS Orion. Later, as the blog author writes, “The next letter in the collection is written on Christmas Day, and George was 
obviously greatly enjoying his wait for the new ship – the letter starts out in a fair hand, but the section in which he writes that he has ‘drunk all your healths’ shows that he certainly has – and it would appear that the affects are showing in 12 year old George’s handwriting!”
Images of several letters are included, and they’re very high quality. It’s a neat presentation of fascinating manuscript content.