bit obscure i know.....
Noah's Arc
My youngest daughter has a school project coming up, she has to tell her class all about a famous ship/boat and she wants me to help her.
I don't want to do the obvious ones like Titanic or Cutty Sark so thinking of doing one her classmates won't already know about.
maybe one of these.
Kontiki
Ra
Endurance
Cyclops
Mary Celeste
Gypsy Moth
Exide Challenge
Anyone got any other good suggestions?
Cheers.
ss great britain
Wasn't the Gypsy Moth a plane?
The only other one I could think of is the one Ellen McArthur used to sail round the world solo (it was something like that she did)
Wasn't that the first steel ship? , by Brunel?, ran aground and was on an Irish beach for a couple of years then re-floated..............
Is it in dry dock at Bristol?
Am I correct ?
How about the less famous RMS Olympic - sister ship to the Titanic.
Some of the interior fittings are now in a hotel near to me....
http://www.classiclodges.co.uk/The_White_Swan_Hotel_Alnwick/Titanic_Connection/
What about Mary Rose its remains are in portsmouth and there is lots of video, pictures etc.
Andy.
HMS Belfast, see her on the Thames
not sure anyone would of heard of this one..
bit obscure i know.....
Noah's Arc
quote:
Originally posted by Ninehigh
Wasn't the Gypsy Moth a plane?
The only other one I could think of is the one Ellen McArthur used to sail round the world solo (it was something like that she did)
yes surrey dave you are ......
one of the first with a propeller too.
the last one he built never really got used either........
HMS warrior, first steel hulled warship. Still on the water in Portsmouth. You still get the fun of sails and cannons, with the added bonus of an
easier hull shape to replicate and some steam funnels from the engine 
HMS Invincible 
as a seperate issue, do we still have any working air craft carriers? one went out on the Clyde today, couldn't tell what one it was, but a bit
surprised to see it
or if her school is a bit 'PC' avoid battleships, and how about something like the PS Waverley?
[Edited on 13/2/12 by blakep82]
HMS Victory - Lord Nelsons flagship
Bismarck Battleship
Phil
[Edited on 13-2-12 by Hellfire]
SS Rohilla. Built at H&W in Belfast then commissioned as a hospital ship, saved lives etc, clattered up the beach in a storm. Loads of lives saved
by various lifeboats that came from miles away to help out. One poor woman had managed to survive the Titanic two years earlier so had to do it all
again!
Tons of good stories to make a school project interesting to everyone.
And I bet not many folks have heard of it............. I have, I own the wreck.
quote:
Originally posted by scotty g
Endurance
quote:
Originally posted by Ninehigh
Wasn't the Gypsy Moth a plane?
The only other one I could think of is the one Ellen McArthur used to sail round the world solo (it was something like that she did)
You own the wreck?
thats cool!
On the Shackleton theme What about the James Caird http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Caird_%28boat%29
Heres another good one, the first steam turbine ship. Good story about how it attracted attention to itself...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbinia
Parsons' ship turned up unannounced[2] at the Navy Review for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee at Spithead, on 26 June 1897, in front of the
Prince of Wales, Lords of the Admiralty and foreign dignitaries. As an audacious publicity stunt, the Turbinia, which was much faster than all other
ships of the time, raced between the two lines of large ships and steamed up and down in front of the crowd and princes with impunity, while easily
evading a Navy picket boat that tried to stop her, indeed, almost swamping it with her wake.[3]
Do you need a bit of girl power too?
Not sure if these fit, but Grace Darling had a boat and was a heroine. Her true story here...
Otherwise perhaps, Ellen MacArthur sailed her boat Kingfisher round the world in 2001 - youngest person and fastest woman to do it at the time.
[Edit to add - As in Ninehigh's post above !! ]
After all, most ships are famous because of their human story, aren't they?
[Edited on 13/2/12 by Dave Ashurst]
Concordia?
Too soon?
quote:
Originally posted by Ninehigh
Wasn't the Gypsy Moth a plane?
The only other one I could think of is the one Ellen McArthur used to sail round the world solo (it was something like that she did)
Ahat about thwe royal yacht brittania?
SS Uganda? a grand old lady who delivered me to the falklands, very interesting hostory and loads of info and photos available on google. Added advantage of having served as a schools ship therfore being relevant?
quote:
Originally posted by MK9R
HMS warrior, first steel hulled warship. Still on the water in Portsmouth. You still get the fun of sails and cannons, with the added bonus of an easier hull shape to replicate and some steam funnels from the engine
quote:
Originally posted by snakebelly
SS Uganda? a grand old lady who delivered me to the falklands, very interesting hostory and loads of info and photos available on google. Added advantage of having served as a schools ship therfore being relevant?
quote:
Originally posted by gavin174
not sure anyone would of heard of this one..
bit obscure i know.....
Noah's Arc
What about the Black Pig or it's deadliest enemy The Flying Dustman I went to see the Golden Hind when i was in school!
Sir Francis Drakes flag ship.
Was pretty cool, but i was 8!
www.goldenhind.co.uk
Discovery sitting in Dundee at Discovery point
quote:
Could also maybe go a bit more modern and do something about HMS Illustrious - been plenty of places and seen plenty of action over the years.
As the Falklands are in the news again,.. how about Atlanti Conveyor?
How about the Tirpitz - Bismarck's ill fated sister ship. Everyone seemed to have a go at her, we even sent a fleet of mini submarines after
her. Finally put to bed by 611 Squadron (of damnbusters fame) using their earthquake bombs (called tallboys weighing 5 ton each)
Interestingly you can go on google earth and see where the ship sank when it was attacked. The bombs that missed left craters which are still
visable.
quote:Indeed.
Originally posted by scotty gGypsy Moth IV was a 54 foot yawl rigged yacht commisioned by sir Francis Chichester to sail singlehanded round then world, he did loads of crazy daft sailing adventures and his books were amazing to read.
Yara Viking. Biggest tanker ever. Get to do lots of crazy facts like stopping distance and turning circles in miles and how long the fuel can keep a
city going. How much it burns in a day. All cool stuff.
Or to be a bit more technical you could do the uncle John. First commercial semi sub with dp.
Or the Britannic, one of Titianics sister ship, sank some time afterwards as a hospital ship.
Daniel
quote:
Originally posted by T66
Heres another good one, the first steam turbine ship. Good story about how it attracted attention to itself...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbinia
Parsons' ship turned up unannounced[2] at the Navy Review for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee at Spithead, on 26 June 1897, in front of the Prince of Wales, Lords of the Admiralty and foreign dignitaries. As an audacious publicity stunt, the Turbinia, which was much faster than all other ships of the time, raced between the two lines of large ships and steamed up and down in front of the crowd and princes with impunity, while easily evading a Navy picket boat that tried to stop her, indeed, almost swamping it with her wake.[3]
.jpg)
SS Thistlegorm I'll be diving this in June can't wait
Earth race / Ady Gil? Some pretty dramatic stories behind that one and recent as well.
RMS Queen Elizabeth/Seawise University - Sank in Hong Kong Harbour and was used in James Bond (Man with Golden gun) as an MI6 HQ
quote:
Originally posted by Irony
How about the Tirpitz - Bismarck's ill fated sister ship. Everyone seemed to have a go at her, we even sent a fleet of mini submarines after her. Finally put to bed by 611 Squadron (of damnbusters fame) using their earthquake bombs (called tallboys weighing 5 ton each)
Interestingly you can go on google earth and see where the ship sank when it was attacked. The bombs that missed left craters which are still visable.
quote:
Originally posted by Irony
How about the Tirpitz - Bismarck's ill fated sister ship. Everyone seemed to have a go at her, we even sent a fleet of mini submarines after her. Finally put to bed by 611 Squadron (of damnbusters fame) using their earthquake bombs (called tallboys weighing 5 ton each)
Interestingly you can go on google earth and see where the ship sank when it was attacked. The bombs that missed left craters which are still visable.
But nice factoid anyway
quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
quote:
Originally posted by Irony
How about the Tirpitz - Bismarck's ill fated sister ship. Everyone seemed to have a go at her, we even sent a fleet of mini submarines after her. Finally put to bed by 617 Squadron (of damnbusters fame) using their earthquake bombs (called tallboys weighing 5 ton each)
Interestingly you can go on google earth and see where the ship sank when it was attacked. The bombs that missed left craters which are still visable.
oh yeah:
http://g.co/maps/p5xms
quote:
That would be 617 squadron then
How about the Mayflower? (took the pilgrim fathers to America)
Or the Beagle ( Darwin's ship)
or, as said previously, Sir Francis Drake's 'Golden Hind' ?
(sorry, bit of a Plymouth theme going on, here)
The SS Great Britain is indeed dry docked in Bristol, well worth a visit if you're in the area!
She was the middle child, as far as ships go of I.K Brunel, being after the SS Great Western (a wooden hulled paddle steamer built to cross the
atlantic) and before the SS Great Eastern (more on her later). She wasn't the first iron hulled ship, and neither was she the first to use a
screw propellor, however she was the first to combine these items, was the biggest passenger ship in her day and was deemed revolutionary at the time.
An interesting fact is that recent tests have shown that the design Brunel made for her propellor is only 3-5% less efficient than those used today-
chalk one up for old I.K
She was for a while used as a hulk in the Falklands, and some plates from her were even used to patch up HMS Exeter after her run in with the Graf
Spee at the battle of the River Plate. She was rescued and restored in the early '70's, if I remember correctly.
The SS Great Eastern was an absolute monster, one hell of a design. She was the largest passenger ship built for over 40 years, made for the
Australia run. The paddle wheels weren't for propulsion BTW, but for maneuvering. Everyone thinks that she was cursed, and there are plenty of
ghost stories etc. such as finding a skeleton trapped inside the double hulls, but it's not true as far as I know.
The interesting thing about the Great Eastern was that she hit a rock (later named after her) and suffered damage far worse than that which sunk the
Titanic (about 60 times the area I think). The ship listed slightly, made it to port and most passengers didn't even realise anything happened-
another one for old I.K
My final contribution - HMS Warspite. Served in (and survived) two world wars, recieved the most battle honours of any RN warship, nearly sunk by
early anti ship missiles and an all round beast, affectionately known as "The Grand Old Lady".
cant believe no one has mentioned HMS Dreadnought?
Im guessing old warships wont really interest her though. Plenty to think about on this thread though!