BilgeRacc 🏳️‍⚧️

@bilgeracc.bsky.social

Sentient mariner raccoon that got her hands on internet access. For a cookie or two I'll leave the bilges to talk about ships or nautical history.

I apologize for my absence, my dear shipmates. Life has been busy, but when isn't it. I have news: 1. Boats! I got more to talk about. I want to post them. I WILL post them. Mostly river boats because ofc. 2. Life update: trasgerdner.... Anyway that's all for now!

www.bbc.com/news/article... Interesting piece of maritime news, though one I'd say I'm not fond of. DOD plans to build a new class of warships, specifically ones they call battleships, to bolster the US' lagging naval fleet and to compete with China. Trump-class, they're called. Continued below.

Donald Trump unveils new class of battleships named after himself - BBC News

The US president has vowed to revive American shipbuilding after lagging behind China in naval capacity.

bbc.com

I'd be a poor maritime account if I did not acknowledge the significance of today. It's the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald. I'm currently on a hitch so I can't drink, but if you can, toast one to the 29 men that didn't make it home that night. Here's to you, gents.

BildBild

Close enough, welcome back Age of Sail. 😭 Jokes aside the Neoliner Origin seems a really cool vessel, even if it's a ro-ro. I dunno if it will be effective but it's nice to see an attempt to be environmentally conscious. Plus she looks pretty. Not paying $7000 for a passenger ticket tho.

A colour photo of the new "Neoliner Origin" by Neoline, a roll on-roll off style of cargo vessel propelled mostly by sails to reduce emissions and environmental impact. She has two large masts with two large sails on each, with a total of 3,000 square meters of sail area. Photo credit: Neoline official website.

Man why doesn't this site save drafts??😭 Had a whole thing typed up about the other vessel I saw, clicked out of the app for one second to double check a piece of information, opened the app again and everything I typed was deleted. Dome straight bullshit, man. I guess I'll try again in a bit augh.

Ahoy shipmates! I come bearing more mildly interesting maritime history for you! Recently I was in St. Louis and had the opportunity to see two neat wrecks, one Naval and the other civilian. We'll focus on the Navy's first since it's more interesting, then do the other another day.

Been awhile! Decided to show off a boat I saw swinging by the levee. Here's the scuttlebutt on her. The *American Heritage*, originally named the *Queen of the Mississippi* is a paddlewheel river cruise boat that entered service in 2015, so she's pretty new.

Bild

More news. Also somber. Work has begun on breaking down the SS United States for sinking. As of yesterday, they have started to remove her funnels, one of which will be preserved in a museum for the ship situated in Florida. Hurts to see her go. To really see it.

A colour photo of crews removing the funnels of the SS United States in preparation for her to be sunk as a coral reef. (Credit: Okaloosa Board of County Commissioners, 08/05/2025)

The amount of folks I've seen in the naval/maritime history sphere that have a name that starts with "B" is almost beyond coincidence. Are we like...compelled to do it because our names start with the same letter as "boat"? It's a nautical conspiracy I tell ya.

I'm supposed to be sleeping but I recently started a new book ("The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder" by David Grann) and in my reading I was led to musing about marine chronometers. Like look at the jump from the first major iteration by John Harrison to his last (1735 to 1772).

An image of a recreation of John Harrison's first marine chronometer, a design finished and trialed in 1735. A large and almost unruly contraption of brass crossbeams and gears, with a large clock face on the front. This design was first tested on HMS Centurion and HMS Orford in 1736, and performed well enough to impress the captains and Britain's Board of Longitude. An image of John Harrison's last marine chronometer, known as H5. Its design is not unlike that of a pocket watch, though considerably upsized. This last iteration was incredibly accurate, specifically to "within one third of one second per day" according to King George III, of whom had personally tested it following some political quagmire regarding Parliament not granting Harrison owed reward money for developing a working method of calculating longitude.

It would be Harrison's last chronometer, as he would pass 3 ish years later in early 1775.

Been a minute since I've been on deck, but that's nothing new. Decided to share the Kickstarter for a game I'm really interested in: Ahoy! I kicked em a few doubloons so if this interests any of you, why toss them a few yourself! Cheers! @kickstarter.com www.kickstarter.com/projects/cap...

Ahoy - First-person multicrew Age of Sail game!

A multiplayer voyage to the 1780s - Cooperate with friends to explore the vibrant history of the West Indies.

kickstarter.com

Hey shipmates, long time no see. I show back up again for some news. Specifically, maritime news! Unfortunately, it is sad news. The legendary ocean liner MS Stockholm has been officially sold for scrap in Gent, at about €200,000 to a single bidder. www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/20...

Legendary cruise ship Astoria to be scrapped in Ghent | VRT NWS: news

The cruise ship Astoria, one of the oldest passenger ships in the world, will soon be scrapped and recycled in the port of Ghent. The ship became world famous after a fatal collision in 1956.

vrt.be

About a day late but such is the way for my work! Morning rises and passes on the 11th, with Titanic pulling into Cork Harbour, Queenstown, close to noon. Much like Cherbourg, they can't dock the large ship and resort to tenders. Here 123 passengers would board, and 7 would depart.

A black and white photo of RMS Titanic arriving to Queenstown, Cork Harbour on April 11th, 1912. This was the vessel's last port-of-call along her voyage until New York, a destination she'd never reach.

Around noon today, BST, on April 10th the RMS Titanic would leave her port in Southampton to begin what would be her very first, and last, voyage. With 699 crew and 920 passengers, she would cast her moorings to sail off on a windy day, unaware of the grim fate that would soon befall her.

A black and white photo of RMS Titanic at port in Southampton, England circa April 10th, 1912. Here she sits at an acute angle of the dock, her stern swung out starboard, ready to cast off towards the English Channel.

Sorry for the delays the three of you that look at my boat posts. Been busy with actual progress in my maritime career and other life shit so my autistic special interest has had to take a backseat. I do have something for tomorrow (practically today) so hopefully that's enough. Fair winds, mates!

Sorry I've been inactive for awhile. Been busy, had my birthday to celebrate, and a host of other shit. I promise I haven't forgotten my dear shipmates. In fact, I come with a gift: boat history! For Black History Month, we're going to go through some pivotal naval history. Let's begin!

As of two days ago, the SS United States has been towed from her port in PA to begin her journey of being taken to Mobile, Alabama where she will be sunk in the Florida Gulf to become an artificial reef. The United States was at one point the fastest liner in the world. Sad to see this be her fate

A colour photograph of the SS United States being towed from port, underway to Mobile Alabama. (Rachel Wisniewski, The New York Times, Feb 19, 2025).