An American Ship in Distress

Last updated
An American Ship in Distress
San Diego, 2016 - 418 (cropped).jpg
Artist Thomas Birch
Year1841 (1841)
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions91.4 cm× 136.5 cm(36.0 in× 53.7 in)
Location Timken Museum of Art, San Diego

An American Ship in Distress is an 1841 oil painting on canvas by Thomas Birch. It depicts an American sailing ship in a tempestuous sea. [1]

Related Research Articles

A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The word is a portmanteau of back and acronym.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flare</span> Pyrotechnic light source

A flare, also sometimes called a fusée, fusee, or bengala, bengalo in several European countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illumination, or defensive countermeasures in civilian and military applications. Flares may be ground pyrotechnics, projectile pyrotechnics, or parachute-suspended to provide maximum illumination time over a large area. Projectile pyrotechnics may be dropped from aircraft, fired from rocket or artillery, or deployed by flare guns or handheld percussive tubes.

<span style="text-decoration:overline;">SOS</span> International Morse code distress signal

SOS is a Morse code distress signal, used internationally, originally established for maritime use. In formal notation SOS is written with an overscore line, to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" are transmitted as an unbroken sequence of three dots / three dashes / three dots, with no spaces between the letters. In International Morse Code three dots form the letter "S" and three dashes make the letter "O", so "S O S" became a common way to remember the order of the dots and dashes.

CQD is one of the first distress signals adopted for radio use. On 7 January 1904 the Marconi International Marine Communication Company issued "Circular 57", which specified that, for the company's installations, beginning 1 February 1904 "the call to be given by ships in distress or in any way requiring assistance shall be 'C Q D' ".

A distress signal, also known as a distress call, is an internationally recognized means for obtaining help. Distress signals are communicated by transmitting radio signals, displaying a visually observable item or illumination, or making a sound audible from a distance.

SS <i>Californian</i> Ship that missed the Titanics distress signals

SS Californian was a British Leyland Line steamship. She is thought to have been the only ship to see the Titanic, or at least her rockets, during the sinking, but despite being the closest ship in the area, the crew took no action to assist. The United States Senate inquiry and British Wreck Commissioner's inquiry into the sinking both concluded that the Californian could have saved many or all of the lives that were lost, had a prompt response been mounted to the Titanic's distress rockets. The U.S. Senate inquiry was particularly critical of the vessel's captain, Stanley Lord, calling his inaction during the disaster "reprehensible".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marine VHF radio</span> Radios operating in the very high frequency maritime mobile band

Marine VHF radio is a worldwide system of two way radio transceivers on ships and watercraft used for bidirectional voice communication from ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore, and in certain circumstances ship-to-aircraft. It uses FM channels in the very high frequency (VHF) radio band in the frequency range between 156 and 174 MHz, inclusive, designated by the International Telecommunication Union as the VHF maritime mobile band. In some countries additional channels are used, such as the L and F channels for leisure and fishing vessels in the Nordic countries. Transmitter power is limited to 25 watts, giving them a range of about 100 kilometres.

The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) is a worldwide system for automated emergency signal communication for ships at sea developed by the United Nations' International Maritime Organization (IMO) as part of the SOLAS Convention.

"The Daemon Lover" – also known as "James Harris", "A Warning for Married Women", "The Distressed Ship Carpenter", "James Herries", "The Carpenter’s Wife", "The Banks of Italy", or "The House-Carpenter" – is a popular ballad dating from the mid-seventeenth century, when the earliest known broadside version of the ballad was entered in the Stationers' Register on 21 February 1657.

From early in the 20th century, the radio frequency of 500 kilohertz (500 kHz) was an international calling and distress frequency for Morse code maritime communication. For much of its early history, this frequency was referred to by its equivalent wavelength, 600 meters, or, using the earlier frequency unit name, 500 kilocycles or 500 kc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines</span> Norwegian-owned company based in the UK

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is a UK-based, Norwegian-owned cruise shipping line with four cruise ships. The company is owned by Bonheur and Ganger Rolf and is headquartered in Ipswich, Suffolk, in the United Kingdom. The company is part of the Fred. Olsen Group.

SS <i>Mount Temple</i> Passenger cargo steamship built in 1901

Mount Temple was a passenger cargo steamship built in 1901 by Armstrong Whitworth & Company of Newcastle for Elder, Dempster & Co Ltd of Liverpool to operate as part of its Beaver Line. The ship was shortly afterwards acquired by the Canadian Pacific Railway. It was one of the first vessels to respond to the distress signals of RMS Titanic in 1912.

RMS <i>Carpathia</i> Ocean liner known for rescuing survivors of RMS Titanic

RMS Carpathia was a Cunard Line transatlantic passenger steamship built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson in their shipyard in Wallsend, England.

Help is a word meaning to give aid or signal distress.

MS <i>Nieuw Amsterdam</i> (2009)

MS Nieuw Amsterdam is a Signature-class cruise ship sailing for Holland America Line. The 81st ship to enter Holland America's fleet, she is the fourth ship to bear the name Nieuw Amsterdam in the line's history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port and starboard</span> Nautical terms for direction

Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft, aircraft and spacecraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front).

Type 926 submarine support ship with NATO reporting name Dalao is a class of submarine rescue and supply ship developed by China for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), and as of mid-2014, a total of three are in service. This ship is capable of both replenishing submarines and rescuing submariners in distress.

<i>Dai Hong Dan</i> incident 2007 attack on North Korean cargo ship by Somali pirates

The Dai Hong Dan incident took place on 29 October 2007, when the North Korean cargo vessel MV Dai Hong Dan was attacked and temporarily seized by Somali pirates off Somalia. The following day, the crew of the vessel overpowered the pirates with the support of a US naval vessel.

An emergency locator beacon is a radio beacon, a portable battery powered radio transmitter, used to locate airplanes, vessels, and persons in distress and in need of immediate rescue. Various types of emergency locator beacons are carried by aircraft, ships, vehicles, hikers and cross-country skiers. In case of an emergency, such as the aircraft crashing, the ship sinking, or a hiker becoming lost, the transmitter is deployed and begins to transmit a continuous radio signal, which is used by search and rescue teams to quickly find the emergency and render aid. The purpose of all emergency locator beacons is to help rescuers find survivors within the so-called "golden day", the first 24 hours following a traumatic event, during which the majority of survivors can usually be saved.

SS Pierce Butler was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Pierce Butler, a South Carolina, rice planter, slaveholder, politician, an officer in the American Revolutionary War, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He served as a state legislator, a member of the Congress of the Confederation, a delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, and a member of the United States Senate.

References

  1. "Collection: An American Ship in Distress". Timken Museum of Art. Archived from the original on September 22, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2020.