A Maritime History of Long Island

A trip into the Long Island history of ships, lighthouses, ports, shipbuilders, shipwrecks and much more.

Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “maritime” as, “on, near or living near the sea”, so you can see that the basic membership requirement to be a part of the story is easily satisfied. Just having an address in either Nassau or Suffolk County pretty much meets the criteria, and then the things that you do with your time can determine how big a role you play in this tale. Own a boat and fish from it? That gives you an even greater claim to being a “nautical” or “maritime” person. Go clamming in the bays, sail in regattas, help clean up a beach, be a member of a yacht club etc.? I think you get the point, and hopefully have by now come to realize that your very existence on Long Island is tied in with the pioneers who taught us how to prosper on this amazing island, and enjoy a lifestyle that is almost unique in the entire United States.

Author Ralph Brady is a retired executive from the transportation industry with a lifelong thirst for travel and adventure. He has traveled throughout Europe and the United States as well as to China and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Checking off items on his bucket list has allowed him to SCUBA dive, skydive, fly gliders and small aircraft and attend a race car driving school. Ralph holds a second degree black belt in Shorin Ryu karate and has completed more than twenty full marathon road races. Ralph is married to his childhood sweetheart, has three married children who have given him seven grandsons. Ralph and his family all live on Long Island in New York.Other works Include : Landmarks & Historical Sites of  Long Island and the Glendale (Images of America), a section of New York City where he spent his childhood. Ralph has also penned the novel Borrowed Time; a story of a boatyard worker living in Long Island that goes back in time to change his grandfather’s unhealthy habits while working on the first U.S. Navy submarines back in 1900.

Keywords – Long Island, Ships, History, Civil War, Captain Kidd, Chirsteen, Coast Guard, Alva, Port Jefferson, Shipyard, Whaling, Uniformed Services