Enormous gantry cranes in the yards of Harland & Wolff, Belfast 2018. Image Credit: August Schwerdfeger via Wikimedia Commons
Harland & Wolff is in serious trouble as previously noted here on this blog. They cannot get a government backed security for a loan, lost the Port Stanley harbor bid, had to drop a ferry service they were running, and possibly could lose a UK Royal Navy contract. Now comes an interesting twist to this tale: Clive Palmer. The tycoon offered up a substantial sum of money ($200 million Australian) to the company though it is unclear whether it was a loan or something else. And he also wants them to build Titanic II.
Photo:Benjamin J MacDonald
Clive Palmer has been trying to build an updated version of the classic ship since that famous movie came out. He hosted some major media events, contracted with various firms to the basic groundwork and planning, and set up a company to oversee it (Blue Star Line). Prior to the Pandemic, he hoped to build it in China. But he got into a spat with the Chinese government, and nothing got done. And with everything shut down for a while, nothing was being built anywhere. Clive Palmer though has never given up the dream and sees an opportunity with Harland & Wolff. Alas Harland & Wolff does not seem that interested, at least for now. He tried meeting with the new president, Russell Downs, but it never materialized. Although he owns some stock in the company (and has amassed a great fortune), the company appears uninterested.
Now I have been very critical of Clive Palmer in the past. He has made many audacious claims about his Titanic II and to date it has not materialized. He did hire marine consultants to draft actual plans and consulted other experts as well, so in that part he is certainly genuine. Building the actual ship though has proven a Herculean challenge. Hercules had to clean out the Augean stables by diverting a river. Palmer has loads of money but so far no one is building his dream. That is until something unexpected happened with Harland & Wolff experiencing serious financial problems, so he offered serious cash and wanting them to build his Titanic II. Now I am not a shareholder in Harland & Wolff, but one has to wonder why they would not want to meet to at least discuss terms of him assisting the beleaguered shipbuilder. And I have to think others might be of the same mind as well.
After all, this is a tycoon with lots of money to spend. And consider all the great publicity it would be if-just saying if-a Titanic II is built there in Belfast. The city, already embracing the original Titanic, would now be seeing a modern-day replica being built right there. Now I have no idea if that would happen, but it is certain to get a lot of people thinking about it. Then again Palmer does have a reputation and perhaps that scares of people like Downs. Yet, considering the financial peril they are in, the old saying “Beggars cannot be choosers” comes to mind. The company needs serious money to keep going and Palmer is offering them a lifeline. They might want to reconsider since Palmer is serious about his offer. And they simply do not have many options left. Otherwise, a once venerated shipbuilder will likely fold, go under the hammer for asset sale, be bought out by a foreign company, or its property sold for development (think hotel and commercial building going up). I suspect others may put pressure on the company and Clive Palmer may very well get his ship built in the very place where the first one was built.
Palm Trees & Beach Photo:Petr Kratochvil(publicdomainpictures.net)
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[Note: This was updated from 2023 for grammar, punctuation, and better source identification. Also revised the dates used to include the old date and new date after implementation of Gregorian calendar.]
Defeat of the Spanish Armada (Philip James de Loutherbourg, 1796) Public Domain
On 8 Aug 1588 (29 July 1588) * naval forces of England and Spain engaged in an 8-hour furious battle off the coast of France that determined the fate of both countries control of the seas. Spain had created the armada to not only gain control of the English Channel but also to land an invasion force in England. England since the early 1580s had been conducting raids against Spanish commerce and had supported Dutch rebels in Spanish Netherlands. The other reason was to restore Catholicism that had been outlawed since the reign of King Henry VIII.
The invasion fleet was authorized by King Philip II and was completed in 1587 but delayed by a raid by Sir Francis Drake on the Armada’s supplies. It did not depart until 29 May 1588 (May 19, 1588) The fleet consisted of 130 ships under the command of the Duke of Medina-Sidonia. It had 2,500 guns, 8,000 seamen, and 20,000 soldiers. The Spanish ships though were slower than their English counterparts and lighter armed as well despite their guns. Their tactic was to force boarding when their ships were close enough. They believed with the superior numbers of Spanish infantry they could overwhelm the English ships.
The English were commanded by Charles Howard, 2nd Baron Howard of Effingham. Like his counterpart, he was an admiral with not much sea experience but proved to be the better leader. His second in command was Sir Francis Drake. The English fleet was at its height 200 ships but in the actual combat was at most 100. Only 40 were warships and the rest smaller, but they were armed with heavy artillery that were able to fire at longer ranges without having to get close to the enemy to be effective. The English strategy was to bombard their enemy from a distance and not give them the opportunity to get close and possibly board their ships (which had smaller number of soldiers aboard than the Spanish had).
As the Spanish Armada made its way, it would be harassed by English ships that bombarded them at a distance negating Spanish attempts to board. The Armada anchored near Calais, France on 27 July (16 July). The Spanish forces on land were in Flanders and would take time to get Calais. However, since there was no safe port and enemy Dutch and English ships patrolled the coastal shallows, it meant those troops had no safe way to get to the Armada.
Around midnight on 7- 8Aug 1588 ( 28-29 July), the English sent 8 fire ships into the anchored Spanish fleet. The Spanish were forced to quickly scatter to avoid the fire ships. This meant the Armada formation was now broken making them easier targets for the English to attack. They closed to effective range and attacked. Surprising to the English, the return fire was mostly small arms. It turns out most of the heavy cannons had not been mounted. And those that were did not have properly trained crews on how to reload. Three Spanish ships were sunk or driven ashore. Other ships were battered and moved away. The English also were low on ammunition, so they had to drop back and follow the Spanish fleet.
Destrucción de la Armada Invencible by José Gartner (1866–1918) 1892 Original located at Museo de Málaga, Spain Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
The Spanish fleet had to flee north and around Scotland and from there head back to Spain. The English fleet turned back for resupply. It was a long road back to Spain for the Armada. Autumn had arrived and gales in the North Atlantic made passage tough. Ships were lost to bad weather, navigational errors, foundered near Ireland, and possibly battle damage as well. Only 60 of the 130 survived with an estimated loss of 15,000 men. The English losses were much smaller with fewer men wounded or killed in battle. It appears most of the deaths that came later were due to disease (possibly scurvy). Damages to the English ships were negligible.
Significance
With the defeat of the Spanish Armada, England was made safe from invasion. The Dutch rebels the English backed in Spanish Netherlands were saved as well. Spain up to that point had been the greatest European power, so it was a major blow to their prestige that would have ramifications down the road for them. Also, it heralded a major change for naval battles. This was the first major naval gun battle where the combatants fought at a distance rather than closing and boarding. Warships that could move quickly and had artillery that fire at long range would become the norm on the seas from that point on. England would now become a major world power. Spain still was in the game for several decades (the English were not successful either in trying their own invasion) and was still a major colonial power. England and Spain formally ended their conflict in 1604. Spain, however, would eventually go into decline as England and other European powers would successfully expand into Asia and establish their own colonies and trade routes.
*England was still under the old Julian calendar in 1588, so the original date is shown in parentheses. England adopted it in 1752 and had to skip ahead 11 days accounting for the difference. Wherever possible, the original and new date are shown.
Fernández-Armesto, F. (1989). The Spanish Armada: The Experience of War in 1588. Oxford University Press, USA. This is written from the Spanish point of view. Some have criticized it as glorifying the Spanish Armada, which failed all its strategic and tactical aims. Worth reading though to see it viewed outside of the normal British view on the event.
History, C. (2020). History of Spain: A Captivating Guide to Spanish History, Starting from Roman Hispania Through the Visigoths, the Spanish Empire, the Bourbons, and the War of Spanish Independence to the Present.
Martin, C., & Parker, G. (1999). The Spanish Armada: Revised Edition. Manchester University Press. This is an update to an earlier book by the same authors. The prior book was well researched and considered the standard for this subject. This revised edition has updated information both from Spanish Armada shipwrecks that have been found and more archival data found. If you really want to know the full details as to what led up to the battle, the battle itself, and its aftermath, this would be the book to read.
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Beginning near midnight on August 8 and in the early morning of August 9 1969, Sharon Tate, the wife of movie director Roman Polanski, was killed along with four others in their Beverly Hills home. The murders made national headlines and two days later a second series of murders would occur. The savage murders were done by followers of Charles Manson and the murders would make him a criminal icon.
Sharon Tate, 1967 Author Unknown Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
Charles Manson was born in 1934 to an unwed 16-year-old mother; he would never know his father. After his mother was imprisoned for armed robbery, he went to live with an aunt and uncle in West Virginia. He would spend much of his youth getting into trouble and being put into prison in his early adult years. He moved to California in 1967 after being released from jail. In San Francisco he used his charm and other things to attract a small group of followers from the youth rebelling the standards of the day. By 1968, he had become the head of a group who called themselves his “Family.”
Manson’s beliefs were an odd mix of religion, fringe psychology, and even science fiction. He believed in a coming apocalyptic race war that would devastate the country. Blacks would rise up to kill whites but would still need a leader after it was done. Manson would become that leader and his Family would be the nucleus of a new order. He would adopt the term “Helter Skelter,” taken from the Beatles’ record White Album, to refer to this order.
Charles Manson, April 1968 mugshot Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
While he was not present when the murders occurred, he certainly planned and directed it. Roman Polanski was not the target on 8 August, and he was out of town during that period of time. His intended target was Terry Melcher, a music producer that had been introduced to him through a chance encounter with Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. Manson was a singer-songwriter and one of his songs had been performed by them (though uncredited for it). Melcher considered and then decided to not produce a record by him. Melcher had leased the home that Polanski and his pregnant wife Sharon Tate now occupied.
Sharon Tate was a fledging actress who had come to fame in Valley of the Dolls (1967) and also in the British horror-comedy The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967). While her husband Roman was off in Europe shooting a movie, Tate, now eight months pregnant, was living in the home with his friend Wojciech Frykowski and his girlfriend Abilgail Frykowski (coffee heiress). On 8 August Manson ordered Charles “Tex” Watson and several other members of the family to go there and kill everyone as gruesome as possible. They would arrive near midnight or just a little after and encounter Steve Parent, an 18 year old boy visiting the caretaker, in his car and kill him. Then Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Linda Kasabian entered the main house. There were four people in the home-Tate, Frykowski, Folger and celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring. They were assembled in the living room.
Sebring was both shot and stabbed to death. Frykowski and Folger managed to escape but were tracked down and killed by Krenwinkel and Watson. Sharon Tate was stabbed to death after being hung from a ceiling beam. The rope was found wrapped around her neck and there were no post-mortem injuries found. Her blood was used to write the word “PIG” on the front door. The following night Manson ordered that grocery store executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary be murdered. Manson was involved in this action as he and Watson tied up and robbed. He then left with three others of his Family leaving Watson, Leslie van Houten, and Patricia Krenwinkel in the home. They stabbed the couple to death and left words written in blood on the walls.
The murders shocked Los Angeles considering that Frykowski had been stabbed fifty times as well as shot. The police were baffled as to the motives and who the assailants were. The two crimes were not connected at first. There was a belief that a drug transaction gone bad may have led to the gruesome deaths at the Polanski home. What broke the case and connected both murders were the arrests of Manson’s family at the Spahn Ranch in Death Valley for vehicle theft and burning equipment. One of those arrested would implicate Susan Atkins in a murder. Atkins apparently boasted of the Tate murders to cellmates. All of the killers would be arrested including Charles Manson. Although he did not personally commit the murders, he ordered his Family to do them. All were brought to trial in June 1970. Linda Kasabian was given full immunity and was the main prosecution witness. All were convicted of murder and given the death penalty. However, those sentences were changed to life imprisonment when capital punishment was abolished in 1972. Although eligible for parole at various times, none of their requests were granted. Charles Manson would die in prison in 2017 at age 83.
Bugliosi, V., & Gentry, C. (2001). Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders. W. W. Norton & Company. I highly recommend this book as it covers all the details of the case. And a lot of background investigation as well. The author was the actual prosecutor on the case.
Guinn, J. (2014). Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson. Simon and Schuster.
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Enormous gantry cranes in the yards of Harland & Wolff, Belfast 2018. Image Credit: August Schwerdfeger via Wikimedia Commons
Harland & Wolff got bad news the other day according to various news reports. It was a preferred bidder for a Falkland Island contract to redevelop Port Stanley. However the Falkland Islands government announced that after having discussions with the company, they have decided to end the contract. It is a blow to the beleaguered company that was unable to get British government to guarantee a loan. They have received a short term loan but its ability to fulfill a UK Royal Navy contract could be in jeopardy. Additionally the company has stopped a ferry service it was running as well.
Paul-Henri Nargeolet 1946-2023 Image: Harper Collins (®) via Wikimedia Commons
During the recent Titanic expedition, a plaque honoring Paul-Henri Nargeolet was placed at the wreck site. Nargeolet was aboard the submersible Titan that imploded last year taking the lives of everyone aboard. Nargeolet was a well known and respected deep sea explorer and Titanic expert. RMS Titanic issued a statement about the plaque:
At the heart of #TITANICExpedition2024 is our beloved colleague and friend PH Nargeolet. “His memory has been etched into the DNA of this Expedition from the start. PH was intended to be on board, but his life was tragically cut short last summer. “
Rory Golden, who was on the support ship for the Titan submersible, has been giving interviews about that tragic day. He relates their fear and the false hope they would be found alive. They had an image in their minds that they were trapped down there running out of oxygen, but it was a false hope.
“We had this image in our heads of them being down there, running out of oxygen in the freezing cold, getting terribly frightened and scared,” Golden told BBC News
And when the remains were found, they all cried as they had formed a bond with all those who had been aboard that submersible. They had gotten to know them on the ship during the week.
It looks like Dolly Parton, or rather her company, has bought the Titanic properties of John Joslyn, which includes the well known Titanic Pigeon Forge Museum in Tennessee. Apparently the deal was inked a little while back. So now Parton can include Titanic in her entertainment repertoire. No one is commenting on any impending changes to either this one or its sister location in Branson, Missouri. With Dolly now part of it, you can bet she will find time to visit.
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[Editors note: This was updated from last year to correct punctuation, grammar, updated sources, and suggested reading.]
Lizzie Borden took an axe And gave her mother forty whacks; And when she saw what she had done She gave her father forty-one.
The sensational murder trial of Lizzie Borden would galvanize the nation but ended up in her acquittal in 1893.
Lizzie Borden Circa 1889, photographer unknown Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
Lizzie Borden and her older sister Emma were the daughters of a well-to-do businessman Andrew Borden of Fall River, Massachusetts. Their mother died when they were young, and he married Abby Gray who ended up raising them to adulthood. Their father, though wealthy, was not liked by a lot of people in the community. He was seen as both parsimonious (a fancy word meaning excessively frugal) and dour. Both daughters grew to dislike their stepmother believing she was trying to enrich herself over their father’s money. Lizzie was well liked in the community and involved in charitable works. Both daughters helped manager their father’s properties.
The home of Lizzie Borden, 92 Second St, Fall River, MA 1892 Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
On Thursday 4 August 1892, Andrew Borden left home to conduct business. In the home was the maid Bridget Sullivan, his wife Abby, and his daughter Lizzie. Emma was out of the home on business of her own. Andrew would return later than morning and lie down on the couch to take a nap. Lizzie would him dead on the couch around 11:15 am. His head had been repeatedly hit by a sharp object and there was considerable amount of blood. Police were summoned and it was during this time it was discovered the stepmother was found dead face down in the guest room. Her head had been horribly mutilated. Police interviewed Lizzie but she gave conflicting statements. A search of the basement found two hatchets, two axes, and a hatchet-head with a broken handle with the latter the suspected murder weapon. It appeared to have been coated with ash and other things to make it look like it had not been used for a while.
The police failed to make a full search of the house at the time. Lizzie went to stay with a friend of her sister. Later she was seen by a police officer detailed to guard the house entering the cellar with this friend and seemed to be hunched over a sink. The police learned that Lizzie had tried to get hydrocyanic acid in a diluted form from a drugstore. There had been a recent mysterious illness in the home that raised the possibility of poisoning. Both bodies were tested and found no poison in them. The illness may have been food poisoning from contaminated meet rather than a deliberate poisoning. However, since Andrew Borden was not well liked, his wife had suspected that perhaps someone in Fall River had poisoned them.
The police focused on Lizzie Borden as the likely suspect due to her contradictory statements, the attempt to purchase a poison, the burning of a dress, and the hatchet-head that was found during a more through search later on. She would be arrested and formally indicted in December 1892. However, her trial would not begin until June 1893. Just before her trial started, another sensational murder done with an axe occurred. It bore striking similarities to the Borden case but a suspect was caught and arrested. It was on the minds of many in the courtroom when the trial started.
Unfortunately for the prosecution, all the evidence they had was circumstantial. There was no direct proof she had handled the axe that killed the Borden parents. Nor was the burning of a dress she said had been covered in paint as well proof she did the murder. While everyone knew she and her sister did not like her stepmother much, proving she had done the murders was hard to do. The police had failed to gather any fingerprints. This had become more common especially in Europe, but the local police didn’t believe in its use. So, they lacked any fingerprint evidence that might have helped in prosecuting Lizzie Borden. And the jury as a result acquitted her on 20 June 1893 since the evidence was not strong enough to convict on.
Aftermath
Lizzie Borden would continue to live in Fall River for the rest of her life, though in a different home with her sister Emma. Both sisters, after all the probate was concluded, received their inheritance from their father’s estate. Lizzie changed her name to Lizbeth A. Borden. The new home they moved into was more modern and they also have live -in servants and a coachman. Fall River mostly ostracized her and apparently had little involvement in the community afterwards. Her sister Emma would move out in 1905 after they argued over a party Lizbeth held for an actress. Emma would never see her sister again. Both sisters remand reclusive until they both died. Lizbeth died of pneumonia on 1 June 1927. Emma died 9 days later at her home in New Hampshire from chronic nephritis as a result of a fall she suffered ironically on the day her sister died. Both are buried in the family plot at the Oak River Cemetery in Fall River.
Speculation over the murders continues to this day with Lizzie the prime suspect. Motivations for the murders, aside from disliking the stepmother are many. Highly speculative theories exist without much or any proof offered. There is an unproven allegation that the maid on her death bed many years later that she had changed her testimony to help Borden. John Morse, Lizzie’s maternal uncle, was sleeping in the house the night before, was also considered a suspect by the police but had an alibi that disproved in their eyes he was the murderer. The maid Bridget Sullivan is considered a suspect as well. It is thought she may have gotten angry with them over tasks they asked her to do and killed them. One author has suggested it was William Borden, Andrew Borden’s illegitimate son who had tried to extort money from his father Emma too is considered a possibility as she secretly snuck into the house, killed her parents, and then quickly returned to Fairhaven to receive the telegram of her parents’ murders.
The Borden House still stands as both a museum and a bed and breakfast. The Fall River Historical Society has pieces of evidence used in the trial at the Fall River Historical Society.
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Rare Agfacolor photo (invention from 1936) dated August 1944 taken in Warsaw, Poland in the Old Town Market Place during Warsaw Uprising in August 1944 Ewa Faryaszewska (1920-1944) Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
On 1 Aug 1944 Poles in Warsaw launched a major uprising against the Nazi occupation. The Soviet Army had advanced to the Vistula River on the eastern suburb of Warsaw prompting the revolt. Polish General Tadeusz Bor-Komorowski, commander of the Home Army (an underground resistance group of around 40,000). The Home Army had ties to the government-in-exile in London, which was anti-communist. The hope was to gain at least partial control of Warsaw before the Soviets arrived.
By this time, the German Army had been pushed back considerably from its gains in Russia. And their taking Warsaw seemed likely. Despite this, Adolf Hitler ordered that the uprising be suppressed at all costs. The Nazi SS directed the defense force and engaged in brutal street fighting. The Polish Home Army fought back hard despite having limited supplies and no support from the Soviet Army (which cause friction between Poland and the Soviet Union for years).
The Red Army did capture several bridgeheads across the Vistula River in preparation to take Warsaw but held back doing anything more. Only under intense pressure from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and American President Franklin Roosevelt did Stalin relent and allow Allies to drop supplies to the rebels. But it was too late as by that time, both the rebels and the citizens ran out of food, supplies, and medical supplies. The uprising came to an end on 2 October when the remaining forces surrendered. The revolt had lasted 63 days but the cost for both sides was high. An estimated three-fourths of the Home Army died along with 200,000 civilians. The Germans suffered 10,000 dead, 9,000 wounded, and 7,000 missing. In keeping with their dislike of the Polish people (they were seen as just a notch above the Jews but were slated for either slavery or death by the Nazis) the survivors were deported.
Deploying demolition squads, most of the remaining intact buildings in Warsaw would be destroyed over the next several months. All of Warsaw’s treasures were looted, burned, or destroyed. Meanwhile the Red Army sitting outside Warsaw did nothing to stop the Germans. They would not move until January 1945 when their final offensive was launched. On 17 January 1945, the ruins of Warsaw were liberated by the Soviets who faced little or no opposition. Thus, making it easy for them to establish a Communist state in Poland. After suffering from Nazi occupation, the Polish people would suffer a longer one under the Communists.
Medieval illustration of men harvesting wheat with reaping-hooks Circa 1310 Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
August is the eight month on the Gregorian and Julian calendars. One the old Roman calendar this was the sixth month called Sextilis since that calendar start in March. It is named for the Roman emperor Augustus and this month was chosen as many important battles he won were done during this month. It is the last full month of summer in the Northern Hemisphere but in the southern the equivalent of February. In Europe, it is often the month where many workers take vacations.
The adage about August is “Dry August and warmth doth harvest no harm.” August is when the first harvests begin and when the first harvest festivals begin. Typical produce to find in August are cantaloupe, cucumber, corn, eggplant, tomatoes, bell and jalapeno peppers. The first day of August was called Lammas Day by the Celts to mark the annual harvest of wheat and corn. It was typically celebrated with a festival and feast.
The Perseid Meteor shower which began in July continues to August 24. The best viewing days are between August 9-13th. The August full moon is sometimes called Sturgeon Moon but since harvesting begins in the Northern Hemisphere it has also called Grain Moon, Fruit Moon, and Barley Moon. For the people that live in the town of Ny-Ålesund in Norway, August is very important. As the northernmost town in the world, the summer has been one long day. The sun has been staying above the horizon since April and finally during August Polar Day occurs. That often occurs on August 24 though it can vary year to year. Tourists often visit between May-August. The sun does not rise between late October to mid-February.
August is the last full month of summer. Some schools start reopening during the month, which is why parents are often shopping for school items in late July and early August. Many though, if they can, try to use the last month of summer as a time for vacations. It is usually the high tourist season in Europe where many workers get the time off. All the major cities are packed and getting into museums and historical sites can take a while unless you buy a pass (available to tourists) to bypass the line and enter. Also remember if visiting the Vatican, there is a dress code for entering the museum and Sistine Chapel. Generally, men and women must wear clothing that fully covers their shoulders, not wear dresses or shorts that go above the knee, hats & caps must be removed, no tattoos can be visible, no ripped jeans or ripped t-shirts, and if wearing t-shirts make sure it has nothing offensive on it. Women cannot wear any sleeveless or low-cut tops. Full rules can be viewed here. Also be sure to wear comfortable shoes or sandals. The Vatican Museum is large and requires a lot of walking. Flip-flops are not recommended. Also be sure to store your money securely (a money belt is the safest) and watch out for thieves who try to distract you in front while someone quickly opens your backpack or bag to steal.
