15 October 2023 # 17
HISTORY
A brief overview of the Peloponnesian War evidences the incredible need for naval warfare and the brilliance of naval tactics of the 5th century BC. The Athenians, obviously one of the centers of culture, ingenuity, and economics, built the versatile trireme, a rowboat with three rising banks of 170 oarsmen under a deck where “Marines” awaited boarding and hand-to-hand combat.
The vessels featured a below the waterline ram and surfaced with metal for smashing into the sides of enemy ships. The Athenians were especially good at angle attacks coming from astern and slamming to create the longest possible hole. The triremes could cruise at 6 knots with easy rowing but they could attain 10 knots or greater for sudden acceleration. The boats were not only speedy but highly maneuverable.
A second tactic was the use of archers and soldiers atop the boat for combat when they used grappling hooks and boarded the enemy. Typically, triremes had four to six archers and 10 soldiers for boarding. Many captains were prone to boarding versus ramming which required explicit orders and timing.
The third tactic was like ramming except the attacking ship would generate great speed, and pull in their oars on one side while side-swiping the opposition breaking off their oars and rendering them incapable of propulsion.
The use of triremes and shipping vessels created a tremendous economic boost to the Athenian fiscal accounts. They could provide protection to their allies, they could market wares and trade with cities from Athens around the Levant to Egypt, and they created a regional support system akin to an empire. The boatbuilding industry provided employment and proffered the spread of wealth to all its citizens.
The Athenian concept of naval supremacy and trade created the model used by virtually all empires up through the British of the 17th century. Santana’s old missive that those who do not know their history are bound to relive it seems incredibly relevant today. I think the trireme of 2,500 years ago was a better bet for the era than the LCS ships for the 21st century.
ALLISIONS AND COLLISIONS
KARYA BUDI TERANG VI and Sjumber Jaya 01 were driven ashore during a strong storm and violent currents near the Betang Harau River in Sumatra.
IRMAO, an 89-ft. motor yacht caught fire in the Mediterranean Sea, and the crew and passengers were saved, but the boat was towed into deeper water and allowed to sink.
“The best-laid plans of mice and men often go astray” or so it was with China whose own submarine 093-417 was trapped in its own anti-submarine trap in the Yellow Sea. Divers were sent to free the submarine but when they entered the boat, they discovered 55 crew dead of oxygen sulfide poisoning.
ANITA DJ II, a fishing boat, capsized about 7 nautical miles from Cape Santiago, Luzon, Philippines. The crew were rescued.
Russia sank 7 ferries to block the passage of other ships near a bridge in the Crimean Sea.
Russia’s Navy, almost as inept as their army, suffered an embarrassing failure on September 13 (who says 13 isn’t an unlucky number). MINSK, a ROPUCHA-CLASS Landing Ship was destroyed at dry dock by Ukrainian drones, meanwhile, ROSTOV ON DON, a KILO-class submarine was severely damaged, and a Patrol Boat was sunk during the attack.
ROSTOV ON DON
LEONIE, a Finnish coaster, ran aground on one of the myriad islets of the Aland Islands between Sweden and Finland. Her hull was holed. She was hauling a shipment of oats but originally, she was built as Finland’s last sand barge. Her captain fell asleep just as the ship was leaving the Aland Islands and was almost free of possible problems but LEONIE suddenly veered North and hit the bottom. She carried a crew of three.
LEONIE
An unnamed Nigerian boat sank on the Niger River. 30 were killed, 30 were rescued but many others were missing.
SEA FIGURES
Arguably the most famous person studying the oceans and waterways, Robert Ballard, discoverer of the HMS TITANIC, is consistently featured in documentaries and news shows. This writer briefly met the scientist and author before a lecture at Coe College. In writing one of his books on the Battle of Midway and the USS YORKTOWN, Ballard had used my book, In Bitter Tempest: The Biography of Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher.
He was born to an engineer in 1942, and as a boy, thoroughly loved the movie 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea which he states was the turning point in his life. Studying Chemistry and Geology at the University of California Santa Barbara, Ballard participated in ROTC and became an Army Intelligence Officer. He earned a Master’s degree in geophysics at the University of Hawaii, and received a PhD in Marine Geology; however, his active-duty status in the Army was not where he wanted to be, and received a transfer to the Navy which he retired in 1995 as a Commander.
Dr. Robert Ballard
Much like Jacques Cousteau, Ballard used highly interesting documentaries and his fame to fund his more focused research. His discoveries of the HMS TITANIC, USS YORKTOWN, PT-109 (John Kennedy’s boat), the BISMARCK, and LUISITANIA caught the attention of many people. His dives on the LUSITANIA showed that she was torpedoed but sank because of a secondary explosion that was probably coal dust ignition.
But he always claimed that his most important discovery was hydrothermal vents. On his first expedition looking for black smoke that others had seen, he discovered that this was incredibly hot water boiling out from beneath the sea floor. His thermometer melted. Subsequently, he used different technology that showed that the water was at 662 degrees F. More importantly, he unexpectedly detected animal and plant life living rather nicely in the heat due to chemosynthesis. This alone blew big holes in the biology texts of the time.
When not working with Woods Hole Institute or Scripts Institute, he is a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island. He continues to work on research and writing when not receiving sundry awards.
Aft aircraft crane USS YORKTOWN
INLAND WATERWAYS
Facing daunting supply chain problems, rising costs, and time constraints, tow owner Three Rivers Marine opted not to build a new tow but to re-hull the existing mv LADY LOUISE. They simply decided to take the functional innards of the boat and build a new exterior or as one executive said, “Essentially we are rebuilding the boat around the propellers and internal structure.”
Named for Three Rivers president J.D. Shearer’s paternal grandmother, the tow is 48.8’ by 20’ and powered by twin Cat-C 18 engines building 970hp. This building around the skeleton should add 25- 30 years to the boat.
mv LADY LOUISE