Adventures of the Blackgang

nemfrog:

“Burning the ship.” Howard Pyle’s book of pirates. c. 1921. 

thegildedcentury:

Amazing Stories, November, 1947

mudwerks:

(by paul.malon)

1952; detail of an ad for Kaiser Aluminum.

(via mudwerks)

Down'ta Camp;

Union Mills, Maryland USA - Nov. 1, 2011: 10:31 am

How we heat a 3 story farmhouse.

The 19th century English tea clipper Cutty Sark on fire in the early hours of 2007-05-21

West Pier 5 February 5, 2006; by Nick Packham

Brighton & Hove City set

western shore of Sebago Lake - looking towards Raymond-Naples (by Monkeyfist)

Charred Hulk of the SS Normandie

The ship was moored at Manhattan’s Pier 88 for the conversion. On February 9, 1942, sparks from a welding torch ignited a stack of thousands of life vests filled with kapok, a highly flammable material, that had been stored in the first-class dining room. The woodwork had not yet been removed, and the fire spread rapidly. The ship had a very efficient fire protection system but it had been disconnected during the conversion and its internal pumping system was deactivated.[49] The New York City fire department’s hoses also did not fit the ship’s French inlets. All on board fled the vessel.

As firefighters on shore and in fire boats poured water on the blaze, the ship developed a dangerous list to port due to water pumped into the seaward side by fireboats. About 2:45am on February 10, Lafayette capsized, nearly crushing a fire boat.

The ship’s designer Vladimir Yourkevitch arrived at the scene and offered expertise, but he was barred by harbor police. His suggestion was to enter the vessel and open the sea-cocks. This would flood the lower decks and make her settle the few feet to the bottom. With the ship stabilised, water could be pumped into burning areas without the risk of capsize. However, the suggestion was denied by port director Admiral Adolphus Andrews.

The ship was stripped of superstructure and righted in 1943 in the world’s most expensive salvage operation. The cost of restoring her was subsequently determined to be too great. After neither the US Navy nor French Line offered, Yourkevitch proposed to cut the ship down and restore her as a mid-sized liner. This failed to draw backing and the hulk was sold for $161,680 to Lipsett Inc., an American salvage company. She was scrapped on October 1946.

• Normandie, renamed USS Lafayette, lies capsized in the frozen mud of her New York Pier the winter of 1942
• Lafayette (AP-53) afire at New York harbor

(via fuckyeahwrecks)

Cliff House; San Francisco, CA in flames

(via thesteward)