OCEANS
HEAVY RAINS UNCOVER 19THC
SHIPWRECKS
USS Enterprise
Three vessels dating from the 1860���s have been uncovered in
Wales when heavy rains eroded a riverbank near Aberystwyth.
The three vessels were most likely slate transporters carrying
slate from the Corris and Aberllefenni quarries.
The wrecks are detailed on an Admiralty chart of 1892.
After the arrival of rail transportation in 1868 the ships
became redundant and were used as navigational markers in
the River Leri.
Marine archaeologists from the Royal Commission on the
Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, and Aberystwyth
University are currently investigating the wrecks and with the
aid of laser-scanning.
The resulting 3D
image will help them
draw up plans to
help understand the
vessels more fully.
Heavy rains and
high tides have
brought the relics to
light again but experts
say that increased
erosion of the riverbank and exposure of the wrecks highlight
the urgent need to accurately record the ships to provide both
benchmark data for any future investigations and to ensure a
record of these vessels should the site change again.
���THE BIG E��� RETIRES
The world���s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier the USS
Enterprise, or the ���Big E��� as she became affectionately known,
will see her decommissioning and inactivation ceremony on
December 1, 2012 after 51 years in the fleet.
Enterprise was the first nuclear-powered ship to enter
service in the US surface fleet in 1961. Measuring 1123ft
(342.3m) and with a 94,000 tonne displacement, she will be
the biggest, longest and fastest ship in the fleet right until
the day of her withdrawal from service. During her years in
service she formed part of the blockade during the Cuban
Missile Crisis, first saw combat in 1965 in Vietnam, and after
September 11, 2001 she established a US naval presence in
the North Arabian Sea.
The ship completed her final overseas deployment, on
November 4, when she docked in her homeport of Norfolk,
Virginia.
During that final deployment she had steamed over 80,000
miles and her aircraft-wing completed more than 8000 sorties
during the 238 days at sea. Echoing the words of the Secretary
of the US Navy John Connally during her commissioning,
she has proven to be the largest and fastest ship of the fleet,
had the greatest striking capability and the highest operational
flexibility.
Following her decommissioning, she will be stripped down at
Newport News then towed via Cape Horn (she is too big to pass
through the Panama Canal) to Puget Sound, Washington to have
her eight nuclear reactors removed.
CORAL PRINCESS CRUISES FINED
Cairns-based Coral Princess Cruises have been fined a total
of $180,000 following the 2009 death of an Australian crew
member aboard it���s boutique cruise ship Oceanic Discoverer.
The man was crushed when an electrically operated watertight
door in the engine room closed on him during a practice drill.
Oceanic Discover arriving
Auckland, 2009
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