Arebus Identified by "The Bell"

The Erebus Bell has been recovered which astutely proves the ship discovered is the Arebus. In September, the wreck of one of the two ships in Franklin’s lost expedition of 1845 was located near the the Victoria Strait in Canada. As both ships in the expedition were similar sized bomb vessels, modified for exploration, it was initially unclear whether the wreck was from the HMS Terror or HMS Erebus. By early October, the wreckage had been confirmed to be from the HMS Erebus. Now divers have located the ship’s bell.

As reported by CNBC:
The bell is intact and generally in very good condition. Two embossed markings – introduced when the bronze bell was first cast – are evident on the artifact: a Royal Navy “broad arrow” indicating property of the British Government, as well as the date “1845.”


A brass bell from HMS Erebus, one of the two doomed ships from the Franklin expedition that came in search of the Northwest Passage, is now in the hands of scientists in Ottawa.

Sealed in a water-filled glass container, the bell was unveiled Thursday by Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq.

The bell was found in mid-September, shortly after the Erebus was discovered on the Arctic seabed.

The bell would have been struck every half hour both day and night, to mark the passage of time on board the vessel.

Marc-Andre Bernier, chief of Parks Canada's underwater archeology service, said he was on the boat above listening over an intercom to the divers exploring the wreck.

"At one point, all we heard was, 'I found the bell, I found the bell,'" he said.

"The objective was not to recover artifacts, but in this case here, because of the iconic symbol that a bell has … it was decided that this object should be recovered."

In addition to bearing the broad-arrow mark of the Royal Navy, the bell is emblazoned with "1845," the year the Franklin expedition began its ill-fated voyage.

The bell was wrapped underwater and sent to the lab in Ottawa for conservation treatments.

"This is the crowning achievement of an incredible, successful 2014 search campaign that has captivated Canadians and the entire world," said Aglukkaq.

The Erebus, on which it's believed that Sir John Franklin died, was lost some 168 years ago.

Bernier said several other artifacts were found around the site, including pulley blocks, ropes and two brass cannons, but they have been left there until dive teams can resume their inspection of the sunken vessel again next year.

Parks Canada scientists say they need to carefully clean the bell to remove all traces of sea salt from its surface before any other historical clues can be revealed.

The respective crews of the Erebus and its companion, HMS Terror, perished after the ships went missing in the mid-1800s.

Bernier said it's believed the ships became locked in sea ice and eventually sank as their wooden hulls became waterlogged and cracked apart.

With files from The Canadian Press

Custom Building Some Civil Warships

We recently took on a project to create five 1/35th scale models of some Civil Warships for a customer. The research to get plans for these models was pretty tough but we managed to get a list of plans from the national archives. These models will be constructed of wood and be waterline model boats.

These model ships will be built right here in the USA! From what I understand they are going to be used for a type of board game that is pretty exclusive. I will post pictures once they are completed so we all can enjoy. From what I understand this will be a very limited run on models that are only seen in museums till now.

The list is as follows:

• USS Paul Jones
• USS Sonoma
• USS Chillicothe
• USS Mattabesset
• Mystery Ship??

This project won't be done till next year but stay tuned and keep up with our blog there is allot of cool ship stories here: Ship Model Blog

Bob Winfrey

Ship Model Super Store

New Blog Posts on The Website

We recently posted several new posts on our website Ship Model Super Store some new models are in stock and ready to ship.

Check out the blog posts here Ship Model Blog.

Stories about the Monitor a Civil War Ship, Glaucester Schooner festival and the accidental sinking of a tug boat by a Russian Barque.

Have a great holiday!

Concordia Yawls A Very Unique Sailboat

The recent sinking of the Concordia yawl, Winnie of Bourne, brought to mind just how remarkable this class of boats indeed is.  Winnie of Bourne was raised from the bottom near the entrance of Nantucket harbor just two days after she sank, so we hope that she will be salvaged and restored.
The Concordia yawl is the most successful and beloved class of wooden offshore sailboats ever built. The first was built to replace Llewellyn Howland’s family’s Colin Archer designed pilot cutter, which was destroyed by the Great Hurricane of 1938. The first yawl, named Java, was (and is) 39ft 10in long with a 10ft 3in beam, 5ft 8in draught, an 18,000 pound displacement, a 7/8ths fractional rig and a coveline with the iconic star on her bow and a crescent moon on her stern.
Over the next 28 years, over 100 Concordia yawls would be built.   Remarkably, for wooden sailboats, all but one (including, we hope, Winnie of Bourne) still survive today. (Halcyon, Concordia Yawl #3, was lost at sea with its owner Ron Perry in early May, 2011.)  Concordia yawls continue to be cruised and raced successfully all over the globe.
The Concordia hull was designed by C. Raymond Hunt.  Bill Harris drew her rig and Waldo Howland designed the interior. Between 1938 and 1966, a total of 103 Concordia yawls were built.  The first four Concordias were built in Massachussets. Two were built just before World War II and two immediately after.  The remaining 99 Concordia hulls were built by Abeking and Rasmussen shipyard in Lemwerder, Germany. (26 of these were the slightly larger 41' version.)  The hulls were shipped across the Atlantic and finished by Concordia which installed the interiors, pumps, engines and rigs.
Classic Boat Magazine describes how the Concordia yawls were built:  The boats were built upright and launched three at a time. They had 13/8in (35mm) African mahogany planks, often more than 16ft (4.9m) long, and those for the varnished brightwork were bookmatched – double sawn and matched. The topsides were tightly planked with almost no caulking: a tool would crush the grain, a cotton cord and white lead would be laid in, the plank forced down tight, and the rising grain would fill in any gap. Frames are 1¾in (44mm) white oak, steam bent or laminated, on 9in (229mm) centres with 2in x 4in (51mm x 102mm) Sitka spruce stringers. Most Concordias have mahogany decks covered with canvas – much of the canvas has now been replaced – some had teak decks.
The Concordia was never designed to any racing rule.  Nevertheless, over the years, Concordia yawls have won numerous races, including the prestigious Newport Bermuda Race (1954 & 1978), the Annapolis Race (1955), Cowes Week (1955) and the Marblehead-to-Halifax Race (1955 & 1997).
? 1954 Newport Bermuda Race – Malay, Concordia #2, Dan Strohmeier.
? 1955 Annapolis Race – Actaea, Concordia #17, Henry Sears.
? 1955 Cowes Week – Harrier, Concordia #30, Ray Hunt.
? 1955 Marblehead-to-Halifax Race – Malay, Concordia #2, Dan Strohmeier.
? 1978 Newport Bermuda Race – Babe, Concordia #26, Arnold Gay.
? 1997 Marblehead-to-Halifax Race – Crocodile, Concordia #67, Robert Crocker.
The post Concordia Yawls — An Appreciation appeared first on Old Salt Blog.

Ship Model Superstore Blogs and Boats

Will We Ignore The Warnings?

I found this story very interesting and actually pretty blunt. I was in Detroit Michigan with my wife and read this story after our return. I had to sit back and wonder if we had been in that area because we drove though Ohio and ate in a large city at a Red Lobster late Friday afternoon....................

See the rest of the story here...

New Look and Feel For The Website

Well after spending considerable time and effort working on Changes and upgrades to the web site Ship Model Super Store I think we have a really good looking site that should function well for our customers. We have been so busy around the shop that we are having trouble getting all our old models back in Inventory!

I guess that is a good thing to be busy though. One of our last custom ordered models left last month.The Coast Guard 82 is now in stock and ready to ship. Click the blue text and take a look. This is a very detailed wooden model built plank on frame for accuracy and detailed to the hilt. This model exudes accuracy and beauty at the same time. Painted by hand and trimmed with many magnificent deck details this is one great model to display at your home or office. If you want one you better hurry because we only have one left in stock

A customer special ordered a Coat Guard 82 when it was out of stock and we custom built one for her. She was thrilled with the model and it was well worth the wait. I went a head a little and had two built so that someone else could enjoy one also.

Make sure you check us out on Facebook and Google Plus just click the links below in Blue. I post and re post a lot of great stories about the latest news, discoveries and museum notes I find from all over the world.

Facebook and Google Plus

Ghost Ship on the Ohio River

Imagine Kayaking down the Ohio River and finding an old ship abandoned from more than 30 years ago? Pretty cool to see the over growth and and rusting hulk of the Circle Line V Steam ship, sitting in it’s final resting place.

The ship has quite a history, she saw two world wars, Thomas Edison and countless travelers and sight seers in her life.

She was built in 1902 for a Railroad executive at the time.

From the looks of her now she sure had seen some better days!

The growth and foot of dirt on the deck suggests she has been resting here for quite sometime. 

Click the link below for the complete story and video. 

Video and Slide Show 

What is a Handcrafted Ship Model?

A lot of model ship sellers use the term museum quality when they describe the model ships they have for sale. Some just say handcrafted model ships. What is the difference? Here is an opinion.

Basically a handcrafted ship model for sale on our site is not going to be an assembly line product. Because all of our models are assembled by hand and not by a machine, hence the word "handcrafted". Machines are used to cut the wood however final assembly of all the fine products we have are put together by a human.

Seasoned exotic woods, brass fittings, chrome plated, stainless steel and high quality linen's are used to construct our model boats, model ships and sailboat models. Several coats of finish are applied by hand to ensure a high gloss on the superior model ships we sell. Coatings are applied and sanded to provide the finish you can see on the models for sale on our site.

I just wanted you ship model collectors to know you always get what you pay for. Most museum quality ships sell for thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours are spent constructing them. If they are constructed in the US they usually cost over $3,000 dollars. The wood is usually cut from a larger piece by the builder, they meticulously assemble every piece of planking, the masts and all the other fine details. The whole process can result in thousands of hours being expended in the construction of just one model. I have seen some of the shops they use and I can tell you these guys can make toothpicks with the tools they have. Now we do provide this service on our site if you should so want a special model made. You can see some examples here. Custom Builds  Commissioning a model to be built is an easy process and if you have the patience to wait, it is well worth it.

I have built a lot of models over the years but it would be impossible for my wife and I to keep up with the demand for the models we offer for sale. We have searched the world over to find the finest quality builders. We do our best to control pricing and deliver a quality product to our customers for a reasonable cost.

I sell some great looking model ships that are not made here but they are a high quality, built to scale and a great representation of the original ship! And we really do have some in museums!

Moral of the story.When you see cheap models on the web don't think for a second you are getting a true museum quality ship model for $69.95.

Visit our website here. Ship Model Superstore