Gallery of Ships

A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying goods or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished from boats, based on size, shape, load capacity, and tradition.


tanker ship drawing
Typical 1930s oil tanker

A tanker is a cargo ship designed to carry liquid cargoes, usually but not always fuel oils.


schooner barge
A beached schooner barge. Compare the hull form with a square barge.

The schooner barge was the final development of the working sailing ship. The design originally evolved in the 1870s on the Great Lakes, where it was found that sailing ships could be more profitably towed from place to place than sailed. No longer subject to the vagaries of the wind, such trips could be made on a scheduled basis, and with reduced labor costs. The idea spread into general use, resulting in the conversion of many sailing ships into barges. Ironically, most of the vessels that were converted to schooner barges were not actually schooners, but square-rigged ships. Square-riggers, with their large and expensive crews of skilled sailors, became uneconomical to operate in the face of ever-improving steam power, while more efficient schooners managed to compete for a few years longer.


A number of small warships are sunk in New Jersey and New York waters.

subchaser (model)

A subchaser was a small coastal patrol vessel of World War I or II. Subchasers were lightly armed and even more lightly constructed, mostly out of plywood, powered by two diesel (WWII) or three gasoline (WWI) engines. Roughly the same design was used in both wars - 110 ft long, about 100 tons. Almost a thousand were built over both World Wars, and several are lost in the waters around this area. Many private yachts and some larger fishing trawlers were converted to perform this function also, like the Tarantula and the Moonstone. Conversely, some subchasers were converted to other duties after the war, such as the Bronx Queen, pictured below in military trim. Real subchasers were designated SC-, while converted yachts were designated SP-, PY- ( patrol yacht ) or PYc ( patrol yacht - coastal. )


SS Mohawk postcard
A postcard of the Mohawk, a typical 1930s passenger liner

A liner is a vessel designed primarily to carry passengers on a set schedule. There was a time when ocean liners were more than the mere pleasure cruisers of today. Before the advent of modern air travel, ships were the primary means of transport for those needing to cross the oceans. Untold numbers of immigrants came to this country in passenger liners, most in steerage class, a far cry from the modern floating pleasure palaces.


small commercial fishing vessel
A small commercial fishing vessel of unknown type, although the bushels on deck would imply that she was after some kind of shellfish.

There are three basic types of commercial fishing vessels found in the Mid-Atlantic region: trawlers, seiners/gill-netters, and long-liners. A trawler or "dragger" operates by towing its fishing gear across the bottom. Weighted nets take bottom fishes, while cage-like steel dredges take clams and scallops. A seiner uses a floating net to encircle schools of surface-swimming fishes such as herring and tuna. A long-liner sets out miles of buoyed line with baited hooks to catch sharks, tuna, and swordfish. One could also add lobster boats and charter fishing or "head" boats to this list. And of course, dive boats.


barge beached
Notice the blocky shape and structure of this stranded but otherwise typical old wooden barge. Barges usually have minimal crews, to tend the lines.

A barge is a vessel that does not have its own means of propulsion ( usually. ) Barges are towed or pushed from place to place by tugboats, or anchored in place to serve as temporary work platforms, floating docks, or storage. Some barges are self-propelled, in a limited way. These are known as scows, and their limited propulsive power restricts them to protected waters without the assistance of a tugboat.


Homarus americanus

Size: to 36" and 45 lbs. (record)

Habitat: subtidal to the edge of the continental shelf, in any sheltered spot

Notes:

Lobsters differ from shrimps in having three pairs of clawed legs, the first with very large claws. Southern "Spiny Lobsters" are only distantly related; freshwater crayfish are closer. Lobsters, or "Bugs", are mainly nocturnal, and feed primarily on living or freshly killed food rather than scavenging on carrion, as was once thought. Although they are predominantly solitary creatures, lobsters do have a sort of social life amongst themselves. Males are more aggressive than females and will form pecking orders among individuals in an area. Female lobsters apparently seek the protection of a male when molting, then mate afterward. Lobsters shed their shells once or twice a year, depending mainly on the temperature.