Beyond the Breakers

This week we begin the story of the SS Torrey Canyon, the first major oil tanker spill in history. This part of the episode has us looking into the background of the vessel itself and her captain, Pastrengo Rugiati.

Register for Terror Camp here!!! (virtual, December 6 - 8); this will include keynote speakers including author Julian Sancton (Madhouse at the End of the Earth) and Jared Harris (Francis Crozier on The Terror among many many other roles)  
 
Check out the Save Me! Podcast here

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Sources:

Green, Anna and Timothy Cooper. “Community and Exclusion: The Torrey Canyon Disaster of 1967.” The Journal of Social History, vol. 48, no. 4, 2015, pp. 892 - 909. 

Hassler, Bjorn. “Accidental Versus Operational Oil Spills from Shipping in the Baltic Sea: Risk Governance and Management Strategies.” Ambio, vol. 40, 2011, pp. 170 - 178. 

Petrow, Richard. In the Wake of Torrey Canyon: The Great Oil Disaster - Its Causes, Consequences, and Lessons for the Future. David McKay Company, 1968.

• Published in Britain as The Black Tide

Sheail, John. “Torrey Canyon: The Political Dimension.” The Journal of Contemporary History, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 485 - 504. 

Uekotter, Frank. The Vortex. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2023. 

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This is an old bonus episode that we are unlocking to hopefully poach some listens off of a certain very popular podcast about engineering disasters (with slides), which just released an episode about the true story of the Pendleton and the Fort Mercer

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Kaylee is back with us for Breakerween 2024 - this year we've got spooky tales of a haunted U-boat, fishing for Oldsmobiles, and a veritable fleet of ultrabuoyant American-made caskets. 

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This week we have another U-boat episode, but this time we're down in the Gulf of Mexico to talk about the SS Robert E. Lee (booooo)

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Sources:

"The Panic of 1907 and the Maine Man Who Caused It." New England Historical Society. https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/the-panic-of-1907-and-the-maine-man-who-caused-it/

"Robert E. Lee." Uboat.net. https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1981.html

"Screening Level Risk Assessment Package: Robert E. Lee". Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.

Sidle, Jeffrey. "The search for the USS Honesdale." River Reporter, 27 Sept 2023. https://riverreporter.com/stories/the-search-for-the-uss-honesdale,118041

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This week we have wrangled a real live Canadian to discuss the October 1804 sinking of His Majesty's Armed Vessel Speedy and the impact of her loss on the province of Upper Canada.

**one of our upcoming bonus episodes will look at the search for the Speedy's wrecksite**

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Sources:

Baillod, Brendon. “The Enduring Mystery of the HMS Speedy.” Shipwreck World, 3 December 2019. https://www.shipwreckworld.com/articles/the-enduring-mystery-of-the-hms-speedy-1.

Bojarzin, David. “HMS Speedy: Murder and a Mystery.” Friends of Presqu’ile Park. 

Buchanan, Dan. The Wreck of HMS Speedy. Milner & Associates, 2020. 

Climo, Percy L. “The mysterious sinking of The Speedy.” Saturday Morning Post, 9 June 1990.

Girard, Philip. "Rearguard or Vanguard? A New Look at Canada's Constitutional Act of 1791." The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, vol. 50, no. 1, 2022, pp. 1-24. 

Lee-Shanok, Philip. “Search is on for HMS Speedy - the ship that changed history.” CBC News, 2 Nov 2018. 

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/constitutional-act-1791

To hear more from Kelly and Born Under Punchs: 

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They were rescued by the Coast Guard, it counts.

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Sources:

Civil Aeronautics Board - Accident Investigation Report. https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/33563

"The Ditching." Time, 29 Oct 1956. https://web.archive.org/web/20070428134921/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,867172,00.html

Stannard, Matthew B. "Danville pilot has historical predecessor." SFGate, 24 Jan 2009. https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/danville-pilot-has-historical-predecessor-3175278.php

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This week we have a steamboat tale to tell, specifically the story of the Ohio River steamer Scioto and her deadly collision with the John Lomas in 1882.

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Sources:

Bailey, Kenneth R. "The 'Scioto' Disaster." West Virginia HIstory, vol. 6, no. 1, Spring 2012, pp. 49 - 72.

"A Pall of Egyptian Gloom: The Sinking of the 'Scioto'". East Liverpool Historical Society, http://www.eastliverpoolhistoricalsociety.org/scioto1.htm

Various excerpts from 1881 - 1882 editions of the Wheeling Daily Intelligencer and Daily Register

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This week we are in the city of Baltimore to discuss the 2004 sinking of the water taxi Lady D. 

A big thanks to our listener Josh for suggesting this as a topic for the show!

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Sources:

"Baltimore Sea Cadets Cited For Rescue Efforts After Water Taxi Capsizes." Sea Power, July 2004.

"Capsizing of U.S. Small Passenger Vessel Lady D, Northwest Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland, March 6, 2004." National Transportation Safety Board.

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Here is Episode 138 on the US Navy escort carrier Liscome Bay, sunk off of Makin Atoll by Japanese submarine I-175 during Operation Galvanic in November 1943.

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Sources:

"Liscome Bay (CVE-56) - Naval History and Heritage Command."

"The Only Mission of USS Liscome Bay." 22 Feb 2019, https://pearlharbor.org/blog/the-only-mission-of-uss-liscome-bay/

Toll, Ian W. The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942 - 1944. W. W. Norton & Company, 2015.

"USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56)." NavSource Online. 5 March 2024. 

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This bonus episode was recorded for July 2023. After a year marinating in the patrons-only vault, we think it's time you hear it on the main feed!

In this episode we discuss the publicity tours of the German cruiser Karlsruhe during the Interwar years, where the vessel found some cities quite welcoming and others decidedly less so

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Santiago Ramos, Simone. "Gone to Texas - Twice! The Visits of the German War Cruiser Karlsruhe." The East Texas Historical Journal, vol. 53, no. 1, Spring 2015, pp. 24 - 45. 

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