Resk Maritime Resources, Inc.

Historic Ships

On May 18, 2015, the worlds oldest commissioned military ship afloat, the United States Navy’s USS CONSTITUTION (Old Ironsides) entered drydock at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Massachusetts for a 2.5 to 3 -year restoration with most of the work to be on the ship’s bow and on her hull below the waterline.

On July 23, 2017 at 2315 hours, USS CONSTITUTION was again afloat in Boston Harbor after 26 months in drydock for repairs to her hull and rigging. She was at a layberth for final repairs and reopened to the public in September of 2017.

In October this year, CONSTITUTION will celebrate her 222nd birthday.

August 16, 1940

World War II – on this date, off the coast of Scotland between the Outer Hebrides and Bloody Foreland, four German submarines plied their deadly trade: U-30 sank the British steamer, CLAN MACPHEE; U-46 torpedoed and set afire the Dutch M/V ALCINOUS; U-48 sank the Swedish steamer, HEDRUN and U-100 sank the British M/V EMPIRE MERCHANT. All told, about 6,900 tons of general cargo and mail plus more than 3,000 tons of coal were lost. 81 men and the wife of the master of HEDRUN were lost but 111 men survived and were rescued.

The four U-boats were particularly devastating to Allied shipping during the War: between the four, they accounted for 118 ships sunk and 13 damaged – all totaling about 745,000 GRT.