The GENERAL SLOCUM ended service as a sinking fireball June 15, 1904, killing over 1,000, most of them women and children. 1,300 were aboard. That made the SLOCUM famous. Her fame was then forgotten and re-remembered by most of the City over the...
Red Sky in the Morning, Sailors Take Warning
Sailors have long looked to the sky for clues to the impending weather. In the morning, when the sun was low in the sky, a red sky was understood to mean that a storm was likely. Just don't tell it to the judge. On November 10, 1939, the seagoing...
Red Hook Flats has Hermit on Mystery Ship, 1931
Month after month a three-mastered schooner was seen anchored off-shore in the Red Hook Flats. On board was just one man who never went ashore. How he got by was a mystery to the few folk who knew of his existence. He was not hiding; he had...
Seaman's Handbook for Shore Leave, 1920
Seaman's handbook for Shore Leave , by United States Merchant Marine’s Social Service Bureau. Custom House, published in 1920 listed sailor’s homes – places were sailors could get a bed and sometimes a meal for a night - from...
"Smallest Ship that Ever Crossed the Atlantic Ocean: Log of the Ship-Rigged Ingersoll Metallic Life-Boat." 1866
In 1866, two men and a dog from Red Hook, set sail in a metal life-boat rigged like a sailing ship. Captain Hudson and Mr. Fitch were out to prove the seaworthiness of the lifeboat , RED WHITE AND BLUE, designed by Brooklyn's Oliver Roland...
Bells are Direction, Jingles are Speed
The MARY A WHALEN is a rare surviving example of a bell boat. On a bell boat, the person steering (the captain or the mate) has no direct control over the speed of the engine, nor whether the ship goes forward or in reverse. The engineer, as the...
Chandra B
The Chandra B is a 79 ft by 23 ft double-hull bunkering tanker and part of American Petroleum Transport's fleet of service vessels that work the New York Harbor. As part of APT's fleet, the Chandra B delivers fuel to many of the vessels in the...
Red Hook Flats Anchorage
The Red Hook Flats Anchorage in New York Harbor was constructed to accommodate ocean going cargo ships and tankers. It provides a spot for ships to anchor off shore. To suit ships of different depths portions of it are 35, 40, and 45 feet deep.
Red Hook Flats Anchorage: Maintenance Dredging, 2013
The Red Hook Flats Anchorage in New York Harbor was constructed to accommodate ocean going cargo ships and tankers. It provides a place for ships to anchor off shore. To suit ships of different depths portions of it are 35, 40, and 45 feet deep....
Growing Maritime activity in Red Hook, 2016
Yachts and party boats docked in the Atlantic Basin, 2016