You can’t understand what happened 250 years ago, without understanding what happened here first.
The events and ideas that took root here in Plymouth, Massachusetts carved a path to the American Revolution.
The Mayflower Compact was signed on November 11, 1620. This historic moment was the beginning of a groundbreaking experiment in civil government.
Start Your Revolutionary Journey Here!
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Immerse yourself in the sights, sounds, and tastes of New England. From quaint island villages to the scenic beauty of the coastline, summer in New England is a delightful experience. Enjoy a local Lobsterbake, indulge in the area’s rich maritime history, and witness magnificent mansions of the Gilded Age. Be welcomed back to the comfort of your sanctuary aboard the ship and delight in the warm camaraderie of fellow guests and crew.
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All Aboard! NMHS Steams Ahead with In-Person Events
When I started studying maritime history and nautical archaeology as a graduate student, I relished the idea of spending my days in quiet library stacks and the unfrequented storage rooms of a maritime museum. While independent research certainly has its charms, perhaps the most valuable thing I gained by entering this eld of study is the community that surrounds it. From my rst conference as a student (North American Society for Oceanic History in 1999 in Lake George, New York), I immediately realized the value of learning, discussing, and networking with other students, colleagues, scholars, and maritime heritage professionals.
ose of us who like to sit down with a good read enjoy receiving Sea History throughout the year to learn about maritime history through stories of historic ships, seafarers, shipwrecks, battles at
members and
gather each year at the
sea, lighthouses, marine art, and more. As we close in on the 200th issue of our agship publication, we will continue to delve into the past to illuminate our world today.
Yet, there is more to the National Maritime Historical Society than our magazine; NMHS creates opportunities for our members to get together in person to hear from scholars, celebrate individual achievement, and explore
A. Whidden, dinner chair and former NMHS Distinguished
and
Moulin, award-winning yachtsman and the event’s master of ceremonies, invite you to a end the National Maritime Historical Society’s Annual Awards Dinner.
The gala is open to the public and is the single largest fundraising event promoting the work of NMHS while celebrating the accomplishments of exceptional leaders in the maritime heritage community, bringing the important message of our seafaring past to the wider world. Seating is limited! To reserve your seat or become a sponsor, contact Wendy Paggio a at 914 -737-7878 ext. 557 or vicepresident@seahistory.org, or visit www.seahistory. org/aad2025. It is our great honor to recognize this year’s Distinguished Service Award recipients.
Thomas
Service Award recipient,
Richard T. du
Leslie Kohler
Capt. Jonathan Bacon Smith
American President Lines, LLC
NMHS
guests
New York Yacht Club for the Society’s Annual Awards gala.
NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PETER ARON PUBLISHER’S CIRCLE: Guy E. C. Maitland, Ronald L. Oswald, William H. White
OFFICERS & TRUSTEES: Chairman , CAPT James A. Noone, USN (Ret.); Vice Chairman , Richardo R. Lopes; President: Catherine M. Green; Vice Presidents: Deirdre E. O’Regan, Wendy Paggiotta; Secretary, Capt. Je $ rey McAllister; Treasurer: Matt Brooks; Trustees: Charles B. Anderson; Walter R. Brown; CAPT Patrick Burns, USN (Ret.); Samuel F. Byers; CAPT Sally McElwreath Callo, USN (Ret.); William S. Dudley; Karen Helmerson; VADM Al Konetzni, USN (Ret.); K. Denise Rucker Krepp; Guy E. C. Maitland; Elizabeth McCarthy; Peter McCracken; Salvatore Mercogliano; Richard P. O’Leary; Brandon Phillips; Kamau Sadiki; Richard Scarano; David Winkler
maritime landscapes and adventures. e NMHS Annual Awards Dinner at the New York Yacht Club celebrates exemplary gures in the maritime community. is year, we would love for you to join us on 23 October to fête our three outstanding 2025 Distinguished Service awardees: American President Lines, Leslie Kohler, and Captain Jonathan Bacon Smith.
We are also piloting a new travel program that pairs top maritime scholars with American Cruise Lines itineraries to o$er exclusive NMHS maritime heritage expeditions to our members. Our rst sailing is in May 2026 in Puget Sound and around the San Juan Islands. It’s a great way to meet new friends with a passion for maritime history, while enjoying exciting shore excursions and onboard lectures. I hope to meet some of you there.
Finally, as the lead organizer of the Maritime Heritage Conference this September in Bu $ alo, New York, we are presenting an opportunity for you to be a part of a national event where hundreds of maritime professionals and enthusiasts get together in the spirit of collaboration and collegiality. Whether you hope to network, to learn, or to simply enjoy this incredible port city and its maritime heritage, we think you will nd the scholarship and camaraderie will be the perfect complement to your maritime pursuits. Read more about it on pages 10–11.
—Catherine Green, President
Sea History e-mail: seahistory@gmail.com
NMHS e-mail: nmhs@seahistory.org
Website: www.seahistory.org
Phone: 914 737-7878
Sea History is sent to all members of the National Maritime Historical Society.
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CHAIRMEN EMERITI: Walter R. Brown, Alan G. Choate, Guy E. C. Maitland, Ronald L. Oswald; Howard Slotnick (1930–2020)
FOUNDER: Karl Kortum (1917–1996)
PRESIDENTS EMERITI: Burchenal Green, Peter Stanford (1927–2016)
OVERSEERS: Chairman, RADM David C. Brown, USMS (Ret.); RADM Joseph Callo, USN (Ret.); Christopher Culver; Richard du Moulin; David Fowler; Gary Jobson; Sir Robin Knox-Johnston; John Lehman; Capt. James J. McNamara; Ronald L. Oswald; Philip J. Shapiro; H. C. Bowen Smith; Philip J. Webster; Roberta Weisbrod
NMHS ADVISORS: John Ewald, Nathaniel Howe, Steven Hyman, J. Russell Jinishian, Gunnar Lundeberg, Conrad Milster, William Muller, Nancy Richardson, Jamie White
SEA HISTORY EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD: Norman Brouwer, Robert Browning, William Dudley, Lisa Egeli, Daniel Finamore, Kevin Foster, John Jensen, Frederick Leiner, Joseph Meany, Salvatore Mercogliano, Carla Rahn Phillips, Walter Rybka, Quentin Snediker, William H. White
NMHS STAFF: President and Executive Director, Catherine M. Green; Deputy Director, Susan Sirota; Vice President of Operations, Wendy Paggiotta; Senior Sta Writer, Shelley Reid; Business Manager, Andrea Ryan; Manager of Educational Programs, Heather Purvis; Membership Coordinator, Marianne Pagliaro
SEA HISTORY: Editor, Deirdre E. O’Regan; Advertising Director, Wendy Paggiotta
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Cathy Green giving a presentation at the 2019 Council of American Maritime Museums annual conference in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
PHOTO BY DEIRDRE O’REGAN
Steam Yachts: For Play and in War
Steven R. Dunn’s article (“American Steam Yachts at War” in Sea History 190)reminded me that many of the yachts mentioned were part of an informal competition amongst wealthy yacht owners for fastest time between Long Island and New York City that evolved after 1885. at was the year that saw the launch of Nathanae l Greene Herresho ’s Stiletto. e 94foot wooden steam yacht was taken over by the US Navy in 1887 and started the naval evolution from torpedo boat, to torpedo-boat destroyer, to destroyer.
Stiletto’s design and speed considerably upped the game in the development of steam yachts for wealthy folks who lived on Long Island but worked in New York City. It wasn’t quite like winning the Blue Riband, but the august New York Times frequently reported on the results of their races and fast passages. Norwood, built for pub -
lishing magnate Norman Munro, was not a Herresho design but was clearly a derivative of Stiletto. eorized to be the fastest yacht in the world, it did not wind up in the Navy. e 1891 steel Wadena, built for Jeptha Homer Wade II (Western Union money), was bought by the Navy in 1917 and commissioned as SP-158 while retaining her original name. During her wartime service, she escorted submarine chasers and in 1918 successfully rescued the crew of the US Navy tug Mariner, which was taking on water and sank on a passage between Newport and Bermuda. Wadena was decommissioned in 1919 and sold.
Charle( Sea)e( Rockport, Massachusetts
USS Texas Success Story! ank you for featuring the story about USS Texas and her restoration in your previous issue. Despite heroic careers and personal loyalties of other ships
Ba leship Texas in action, pounding defenses ahead of the landings on D-Day. Painting by Peter Rindlisbacher.
USS Stile o firing a torpedo from her bow tube, c. 1890.
rivaling hers, so many of her sisters have ended their existence under the waves or in the breaking yard. As a museum ship, USS Texas stands silent and still, where in the past she was an agent for furious action. As a marine artist, I have enjoyed featuring her in my art. Here is another of my paintings showing her opening re at dawn on D-Day to support the Americans landing on those murderous beaches. e Texas remains a terri cally lucky ship—truly an inspiration, and your national coverage is much appreciated. anks, as well, to Sea History for your generous and ongoing support of contemporary marine artists. We ght our sea battles daily, pitting our ideas, emotions, and tubes of paint against the terror of blank canvases. Your inclusion of so many of our works in your articles is deeply felt by those who create them. You connect what we do to those who love our subjects, and for that we are hugely grateful.
Pete R ,-.l,s0a1her Katy, Texas
From the Editor: Since the last issue of Sea History was published, the Battleship Texas Foundation announced that a permanent berth for the ship has been identi ed at Pier 15 in Galveston, Texas, near the cruise ship terminals. Galveston is also home to the 1877 iron barque Elissa , agship of the Texas Seaport Museum, berthed at Pier 22.
Howard Chapelle and Painting Historic Ships
Kudos to John S. Sledge, the recently appointed maritime historian-in-residence at the National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico and author of the article, “ e Indefatigable Howard I. Chapelle” (Sea History 190, Spring 2025), which brought back all sorts of memories. Decades ago, when I was a banker and nascent artist, I began collecting Chapelle’s many books to use in composing subject matter for my
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historical marine art. I called him at the Smithsonian to ask about the colors that the ships in his books would have been painted, since the books were published with only black-and-white drawings and plans. is led to an ongoing conversation about the economy and chemistry of paint making for ships and boats of the 18th and 19th centuries.
He was very helpful, but above all, I remember his enthusiasm, which is very evident in that photograph of “Chap enjoying a rare moment of relaxation” found on page 15 in the article. My thanks to you and historian Sledge for memorializing this legendary gure. I should note that in terms of articulate and informed—and entertaining—history, one would be hard pressed to top Sledge’s video documentary A Maritime History of the Gulf of Mexico, found on YouTube.
I was also impressed by Hunter Miertschin’s photo of the battleship Texas (BB-35) in dry dock on the cover of that same issue. e photo and its use on the front cover could not be more dramatically composed—a real asset for the Battleship Texas Foundation’s e orts to relaunch the ship in her new educational role.
We can thank fellow artist and member of the American Society of Marine Artists (ASMA), Peter Rindlisbacher, for suggesting USS Texas as a topic to cover in Sea History and for providing the dramatic painting of the ship that accompanied the article. For those who might be interested in Peter’s historical paintings (most of his art and writings deal with 19th-century subject matter), you can see a lot of his artwork in the video documentary series, e Naval War of 1812 Illustrated, found on YouTube and in the book e Naval War of 1812–1815: Foundation of America’s Maritime Might.
Charles R as230 R30,-s3Fellow, ASMA Washington, Connecticut
Discover The
Along THE GREAT LAKES
In the comfort of our well-appointed fleet, enjoy the most personalized exploration of the Great Lakes region on a 7 to 15-night journey. Led by our engaging local guides, immerse yourself in the rich history and vibrant culture of charming harbor towns and admire the wonders of nature up close.
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Mackinac Island
Sault Sainte Marie
Join Us at the 12th Maritime Heritage Conference
24–27 September 2025 • Bu alo, New York
Seafarers throughout the ages have always known the value of a concerted e ort: When everyone pulls together, a small crew can take on big tasks, such as heaving up an anchor or hoisting a massive yard aloft. is concept holds up ashore as well. We know that working together and combining our e orts can produce outcomes that are stronger and more e ective. Since 1988, the Maritime Heritage Conference has brought together all elements of the maritime heritage community to tackle topics of common interest and challenges that we all face.
The conference is the product of the National Maritime Alliance, an umbrella organization formed in 1988 to advocate for federal funding for maritime heritage preservation and programming. Attendees bene t from the opportunity to network with hundreds of like-minded people with whom they can collaborate to achieve their goals and build community, groups like the Council of American Maritime Museums, the Historic Naval Ships Association, Tall Ships America, the American Lighthouse Council, the US Lighthouse Society, the National Lighthouse Foundation, the Steamship Historical Society of America, the National Association of Black Scuba Divers, NOAA, the US Coast Guard, the Naval History and Heritage Command, the North American Society for Oceanic History, the Nautical Research Guild, Diving with a Purpose, the Association for Great Lakes Maritime History, scholars and students of maritime and naval history, and, of course, the National Maritime Historical Society, along with many others. e Maritime Heritage Conference has long served as an incubator, creating many collaborations, programs, and initiatives that continue to serve us today.
the shared goals of those who make up the National Maritime Alliance. Tim recognized the power of unity and worked to bring people and organizations together. His tireless work to secure funding and advocate for maritime heritage groups is unparalleled, and while Tim is no longer with us, his legacy endures. e mission of the National Maritime Alliance remains vital, and NMHS has taken up the mantle to organize the Maritime Heritage Conference this fall, and in the years ahead.
Considering the hurricanelike forces building around us all—environmental threats, unprecedented economic uncertainty, shifting sands of governmental support—this is clearly the time for some bridge management to explore how we can best support one another. e course ahead is no longer straight nor clear, and it is in times like these that we need to lean on the experience and examples of others who have faced similar challenging circumstances, and also time to put our heads together to come up with new strategies that will help navigate our organizations through turbulent waters. e importance of having numerous and diverse voices contributing to this dialogue cannot be overstated.
is year, as we were embarking on the plan to revive the conference after a long gap surrounding the COVID pandemic, we lost Dr. Tim Runyan, who has served as the driving force in organizing this conference and furthering
National dialogues are the start of national e orts, and they carry a weight that could not be matched by any of us acting individually. e Maritime Heritage Conference enhances our opportunity to be heard by the collective and gain from others’ experiences. To ensure the issues that a ect your individual communities are addressed, it is important to have a seat at this table and be a part of the conversation. Please join us in these important discussions at the Maritime Heritage Conference this September. Your expertise and experience will help strengthen the maritime eld and move it forward.
We look forward to seeing you in Bu alo this fall. See the opposite page for details or visit www.seahistory.org/ maritime-heritage-conference
PHOTO BY ROBERT SCHWEMMER
Tim Runyan (center) and colleagues from the maritime heritage community reviewing artifacts and research for the famous USRC Bear during the NOAA Whaling Heritage Symposium, held at Mystic Seaport in 2008.
Title Sponsor
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Maritime Communities Celebrating Milestones
24-27 September 2025 • Bu alo, NY
EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION Deadline: 1 August 2025
Are you passionate about maritime history and eager to learn from the nation’s leading authorities? Don’t miss this unparalleled opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of our maritime heritage and spend three days with people who share your passion.
Why A!end?
• Education and Preservation: Explore innovative and proven approaches to preserving our maritime legacy from outstanding museum professionals.
• Historic Vessel Restoration: Gain insights into meticulous arts and best practices.
• Maritime Art and Literature: Discover the rich tapestry of maritime-themed art and contemporary literature with leading authors and artists.
• Naval History: Hear from eminent scholars about the fascinating stories of naval history.
• Underwater Archaeology: Take a deep dive with expert-led sessions uncovering the latest digital imagery and underwater projects.
This conference is designed for networking and o ers a wide range of session topics and themes to cater to your interests. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or a passionate enthusiast, there’s something for everyone.
Register now to secure your spot and be part of this leading maritime heritage event. Connect, learn, and be inspired by the best in the field.
Art of the Sea
Paint ings from The American Society of Marine Artis ts
An online exhibition and sale
Patrick O’Brien Guardian of the Empire (detail) oil on canvas, 24 x 30 inches • $14,000
e National Maritime Historical Society has partnered with the American Society of Marine Artists (ASMA) to bring you an online exhibition and sale of ne America maritime paintings. More than 300 works were submitted for consideration, and a jury comprising o cers of both NMHS and ASMA selected 44 paintings for the exhibition, with six singled out for awards and featured here.
We o er these ne artworks to our members for purchase. 25% of all sales will bene t NMHS and is tax-deductible to the buyer. Prices include shipping. A small sampling of the artwork is displayed on the following pages, but you can go to the show’s website to see the entire exhibition of ne paintings from ASMA’s modern marine masters.
To view the full exhibition, go to www.seahistory.org/arto hesea2025.
IN SHOW
Tim Kelly Gimme Shelter
oil, 14 x 18 inches • $2,200 This oil painting was created en-plein-air (outdoors from life) in Oxford, Maryland.
SECOND PLACE
Stewart White Ship Shapes
watercolor, 28 x 20 inches • $3,600
White’s sensitive watercolor finds poetry in the shapes and colors of a typical scene at the Navy Yard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
THIRD PLACE
Debbie Daniels Time A er Time
oil, 36 x 48 inches • $8,650
Daniels’s detailed oil painting captures the movement of waves, freezing them for a moment in time, to inspire people to see beauty in the details of the world.
Donald J. Curran Outlaw
oil, 20 x 30 inches • $4,000
This vibrant oil painting depicts colorful boats in a harbor in the late a ernoon.
Neal Hughes White Boat at Burnhams
oil, 20 x 24 inches • $5,400
This scene was painted on location at Burnham Boatbuilding in Essex, Massachuse s, during the Cape Ann Plein Air Festival.
oil, 8 x 10 inches • $970
Painted from life on a quiet summer a ernoon, this scene captures the so light and peaceful rhythm of the shore. It feels like a memory—familiar, warm, and fleeting—held on canvas through color, air, and sunlight.
Anzhei Trubitski Pier
MERIT AWARD
MERIT AWARD
MERIT AWARD
Steve Anderson
Birds of a Di erent Feather II
oil, 14 x 18 inches • $1,750
North Sea patrol, summer of 1918. Hansa-Brandenburg W-12 Kaiserliche Marine fighters make a low pass on a two-masted fishing schooner. The schooner, with her vertical canvas airfoils, was an endangered species at this time.
Poppy Balser Catching the Light
oil, 12 x 16 inches • $1,400
This painting captures the glow of backlit sails as the sunlight filters through them. It was painted in the studio from plein-air observations and sketches.
Jim Gri iths New Mexico at Sunset
watercolor, 12.5 x 19 inches • $5,800
This painting depicts the US Navy ba leship USS New Mexico in 1919. The ship was fi ed with a spo er plane, located on the No. 2 turret.
All works in the exhibition are for sale. You can view the full collection and purchase individual paintings online at www.seahistory.org/arto hesea2025.
Sail with the National Maritime Historical Society on the 2026 Puget Sound & San Juan Island Cruise!
Embark on a Voyage Through History!
28 March — 4 April 2026 • Seattle, Washington
Join NMHS leadership & fellow members on an unforgettable 8-day / 7-night cruise aboard the luxurious American Constitution, round-trip from Seattle.
www.seahistory.org/cruise2026
Discover & Experience
This once-in-a-lifetime experience includes exclusive outings exploring the rich maritime heritage of Puget Sound. We’ll delve deep into themes that capture the region’s storied past with nightly lectures and daily excursions exploring topics such as native watercraft, European and American exploration, timber, ships and mercantile trade, and the “Mosquito Fleet.” Go behind the scenes with unique tours of museums, artisan workshops, and off-the-trail adventures.
Your guide is Robert Steelquist, author, photographer, and retired NOAA education and maritime heritage staff at Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.
Reserve Your Cabin Today
To secure your place on this remarkable journey, contact Izzy Pearson, Group Manager, at izzy.pearson@americancruiselines.com or call 888-458-6027. When making your reservations please use the code NMHS A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Society.
A pre-pruise Package including an evening at the Four Seasons Hotel, full breakfast on the morning of your cruise, followed by a city exploration tour and transportation to the ship is available at an additional cost.
Passing the Torch— NS Savannah Ready for Her Next Chapter
by Erhard W. Koehler
Ten years after the famous ocean liner SS United States swept the North Atlantic to reclaim the Blue Riband, a new kind of passenger-cargo commercial ship embarked on her maiden voyage, designed to show the world the potential of operating a nuclear-powered commercial ship. Nuclear Ship (NS) Savannah, gleaming white with a multicolored atom symbol emblazoned on her side, was touted as a revolution in marine propulsion and a transformative way to preserve steam power against the
onslaught of the direct-drive diesel engine. As it turned out, that revolution was delayed and is only now on a path to fruition as the international maritime community wrestles with the thorny issue of marine emissions.
Collectively, ships contribute three percent of global air emissions annually—a signi !cant amount. In 2023, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) established an aggressive and ambitious goal to make vessels “reach net-zero GHG emissions from international shipping” by 2050.1 With a scant
25 years to meet that goal and considering the average 20-year lifespan of commercial ships, the !rst near-or-zeroemissions ships need to be launched by around 2030. Some forms of nuclear technology for propulsion will be required to meet that goal, and there are many companies engaged in that e ort today.
How fortunate we are that Savannah is still here, still gleaming inside and out and ready to chart the course for her successors. Why she is still here is a long and complicated story that is
entirely wrapped up in her Nuclear Regulatory Commission license, and the funding needed to decommission her nuclear power plant to terminate that license. We’ll touch on that later.
In the meantime, the fate of SS United States is now known; as of press time, she is being stripped of any remaining hazardous materials in preparation to sink her o the Florida Panhandle as the world’s largest arti !cial reef. She joins a recent spate of historic ships lost, or about to be, among them the sailing oil tanker Falls of Clyde and the Balao -class submarine Clamagore, both former National Historic
Landmarks. #e fate of Falls of Clyde is recounted in heartbreaking detail by James Delgado in the summer 2024 issue of Sea History (#187), and highlights some of the challenges associated with landmarks and other properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It may be worth exploring what the law provides in terms of protection for these properties, and how Savannah, which still retains her landmark status, may have a leg up as she moves into disposition in the coming year.
In a guidance document, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation states that:
Owners of private property listed in the National Register have no obligation to open their properties to the public, to restore them, or even to maintain them. Owners can do anything they wish with their property provided no federal license, permit, or funding is involved
#e emphasis here is my own. #e National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) provides no direct protection for historic properties, including designated historic landmarks, but when those pesky federal licenses, permits, or funding are involved, it does provide a robust process 2 by which historic properties are o ered an opportunity for preservation. Tax credits and incentives are among the federal and state programs that may assist owners of designated properties and provide compelling support for their preservation and continued use. Because Falls of Clyde was privately owned without direct federal involvement in the form of licensing, permitting, or funding, the NHPA could not protect her. Ultimately, the same is true for SS United States, which has been listed in the National Register since 1999.
By contrast, NS Savannah is owned by the federal government and always has been. Furthermore, she’s one of the many ships that Delgado did not list by name in his article that he surveyed and recommended for designation as a landmark under the National Maritime Initiative. # is occurred during the period when Savannah was chartered to the State of South Carolina for use as a museum and maritime memorial at the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum, serving alongside Clamagore, Ingham, La ey and Yorktown
2 Section 106 of the NHPA
NS Savannah under construction at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation in Camden, New Jersey. This photo depicts the ship about 6 ½ months before launching. The containment vessel has not yet been erected.
a quintet of landmarks, and quite the eclectic collection.
All federal agencies, regardless of their mission, are required to have a preservation program under Section 110 of the NHPA. Federal agencies are charged by law to protect the historic properties that they own and to use them to the maximum extent feasible. With respect to landmarks, Section 110 (f) of the NHPA reads in part:
Prior to the approval of any Federal undertaking which may directly and adversely affect any National Historic Landmark , the head of the responsible Federal agency shall, to the maximum extent possible, undertake such planning and actions as may be necessary to minimize harm to such landmark.
Again, the emphasis is my own. What do we make of this requirement when the landmark is owned by the agency itself? In brie! ngs for senior management, I have distilled this requirement to the following: that no federal agency should destroy a landmark when there is any reasonable alternative to destruction. Will this ensure that Savannah is preserved? In short, no. But should she be preserved? I believe the answer is a resounding “yes.” Perhaps a better question might be, can she be preserved? Is it feasible? Here again, the answer to both questions is a resounding “yes!”
#e case for Savannah is strong. She was conceived in the immediate wake of the world’s ! rst nuclear-powered ship, USS Nautilus (SSN-571). A few months prior to Nautilus’ s launch, President Eisenhower addressed the United Nations in a speech later popularized as “Atoms for Peace.” He warned of the existential threat posed by nuclear weapons and sought to redirect
humanity’s e orts towards the bene!cial promise of nuclear technology “to better humankind.” #ere was no small irony that the United States was then engaged in a nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union, and each nation looked to capitalize on the warm response to the Atoms for Peace proposals. #e Soviet Union eventually produced
Lenin, the !rst nuclear-powered surface ship and ! rst nuclear civilian ship, which entered service at the end of 1959. Today she lies preserved in her home port of Murmansk, Russia.
In 1954, First Lady Mamie Eisenhower traveled to Groton to christen Nautilus. We like to believe the inspiration for Savannah came when Mamie
First Lady Mamie Eisenhower christening Savannah at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation and the ship’s subsequent launch on 21 July 1959.
NS Savannah arriving in Sea&le, Washington, in 1962, a er traveling through the Panama Canal. She was berthed in Sea&le for three weeks and served as an a&raction at the Sea&le World’s Fair.
returned to the White House and the president asked about her day. While this may be wishful thinking, records tell us that the National Security Council was tasked to investigate a nuclear merchant ship at about the same time. Savannah was thus conceived at the onset of the Cold War and charged with a very public mission to help defuse tensions, bridge gaps, and demonstrate tangibly to the people of the world the potential and promise of peaceful nuclear technology. She served this mission quite well in her years in service and continues to do so today. She can continue to do so if preserved in her current, updated condition.
Congress received the president’s proposal for a nuclear “peace” ship with some skepticism. Numerous members preferred a prototype to solve the challenges surrounding the application of nuclear technology to international trade. #e debate ran for !fteen months before reaching consensus around a “practical merchant ship of combined passenger and cargo design,” which could ful ! ll both missions. #e project was assigned jointly to the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and Maritime Administration (MARAD), with the AEC responsible for the nuclear power plant and MARAD responsible for the ship and its operation. Eisen-
hower’s in uence did not end there. He was well acquainted with the merchant marine and understood that NS Savannah would be serving as a seagoing ambassador, like United States. It was important to him that Savannah have an aesthetically pleasing design, and he personally approved the ! nal look of the ship. He was equally adamant that MARAD and AEC should not consider economic return as a factor for this prototype vessel. Eisenhower knew that if the government attempted to demonstrate economic viability with this project, that would become its only benchmark for success. As it stands today, the cost to operate Savannah, which is often falsely equated to subsidy, is pronounced as the reason the ship “failed.”
Naval architect George Sharp was given free rein to explore the dramatic possibilities of a commercial ship unencumbered by a pro!t motive, and the result was magni !cent. Sharp transformed the “sow’s ear” of the basic Mariner -class3 hull into a “silk purse” that featured sweeping curves, deep bulwarks, exaggerated sheer, and dramatic swept-back cargo gear that accentuated Savannah ’s lines because there was only half as much tophamper as a normal breakbulk would carry. While this made Savannah an ine %cient cargo ship, it had no negative e ect whatsoever on the technical aspects of the nuclear power plant, the ship’s seagoing characteristics, or the administrative and legal functions required to operate a domestically licensed nuclear facility in foreign waters and ports. Ultimately, the design proved to be everything the president
3 Mar iner-class cargo vessels were the final ships designed by the US Maritime Commission, but they did not go into production until a er the federal government had reorganized the agency as the Maritime Administration (MARAD) under the Department of Commerce (MARAD was subsequently transferred to the Department of Transportation in 1981). Mariner-class ships were 564 feet long, had a capacity of 14,000 deadweight tons, and an operational speed of 20 knots, making them some of the largest and fastest vessels in the world when they debuted. Between 1952 and 1955, MARAD built 29 Mariners for six of the larger US shipping companies. (www.maritime.dot. gov/multimedia/mariner-class-cargo-vessel)
(right) NS Savannah in drydock at Todd Shipyards, New Orleans, in early November 1970. This drydocking was the ship’s last while she was still in service. From here the ship sailed to its servicing facility in Galveston, Texas, where “finished with engines” was rung. On 8 November 1970, the ship’s reactor was shut down for the final time at 5:50 PM. The ship has not sailed under her own power since that day.
(middle) A scene inside Savannah’s control room on her final voyage, New Orleans to Galveston, 6–8 November 1970. Savannah’s central console is located in a climate-controlled space at the a er end of the engine room. Savannah was not automated; the controls allowed for remote manipulation and start/stop of equipment such as valves, pumps, etc. From le to right, the panels control individual control rod positions, reactor auxiliary systems, reactor primary systems, main steam and propulsion, electrical distribution, and nuclear instrumentation. The Control Room is now visible from the Engine Room gallery.
(bo&om right) NS Savannah under tow in the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, 10 September 2019, en route to Philadelphia Ship Repair for drydocking. This day marked the ship’s first return to the Delaware River since 1970.
asked for—arguably among the most beautiful merchant ships ever built, perfectly suited to performing a delicate public relations mission, yet fully capable of carrying out the mission as outlined by Congress to develop the international infrastructure in which
nuclear merchant ships could be operated.
Savannah entered service in 1962 with a theatrical debut in her homeport of Savannah, Georgia, which had also been the homeport of her namesake, the pioneering oceangoing steamship
(above) Savannah’s reactor being removed, 8 November 2022.
(below) NS Savannah downbound in the Delaware River, passing the nowclosed New York Shipbuilding Corporation. The “O” ways where Savannah was built are just out of the frame to the right.
Savannah of 1819. Like her namesake, NS Savannah would prove a technological success. While she did have signi !cant labor issues that disrupted the program throughout 1963 and resulted in switching operators from States Marine Lines to American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines, for the balance of her career, she operated smoothly, reliably, and without incident. Like SS United States, she was prematurely retired, although unlike Big U, that act was neither sudden nor without warning. Ultimately, Savannah should be considered an extremely successful program—one which exceeded its goals and objectives.
# roughout all of this, the one thing that made Savannah stand apart—her nuclear power plant, designed and manufactured by Babcock & Wilcox of Lynchburg, Virginia—was hidden from view. By its nature, a nuclear reactor is not something that can be visited like a regular ship’s engine room. Although her technical information was disseminated widely and freely—even to the Soviets—most people were unaware of the conservative engineering and design features that made the plant robust, that protected the crew, passengers, public, and environment from any potential negative consequences of a reactor incident, and perhaps most importantly, protected the ship and plant from the hazards of the seas in which they operated.
Savannah was authorized one week after Stockholm met Andrea Doria o Nantucket, and that episode weighed heavily on MARAD and AEC. Savannah was designed to withstand that sort of collision against 95% of world shipping at the time, such that only a battleship, aircraft carrier, or perhaps United States could defeat her protective systems. Only once did the system come close to being tested. On a long nighttime run across the Paci !c late in the ship’s career, the “full astern” bell
suddenly rang out in the control room. When the danger had passed and the engineers in the control room were able to call the bridge, they learned that they had experienced a near miss with one of the “!ve percent!”
Although government-owned, Savannah is commercially licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), successor to the AEC. #e Atomic Energy Act reserves to the United States all use of nuclear material and technology and distributes rights to that material and technology through licenses. Only the Departments of Energy and Defense have their own regulatory controls under the Act, and even some of their activities require an NRC license. Licensing is a lifecycle, and Savannah is now completing the end of her lifecycle. NRC decommissioning is a controlled process in which a nuclear power plant is permanently shut down, has its fuel removed (which is eventually transferred to dry storage), and is then dismantled under exacting controls, with the resultant radiological waste disposed in licensed repositories.
When a licensee demonstrates it has met the radiological release criteria, the license may be terminated. MARAD has accomplished all of this except the license termination, but not all at once. Savannah was permanently shut down in December 1971 after the removal of her core. #e ship was subsequently mothballed and rendered permanently inoperable in the mid-1970s. Afterward, she languished for many decades before finally receiving decommissioning funds in 2017. Dismantlement commenced in 2021.
How do we reconcile the obvious harm caused by removing a characterde! ning feature from a historic landmark, especially a federally owned landmark whose agency is charged with minimizing harm? For MARAD, that began in 2003 by establishing a preferred preservation outcome after license
termination. From that sprang four preservation-conscious principles to guide the project design and execution. Formal NHPA consultation started in 2018 and resulted in a 2023 Programmatic Agreement that stipulates a deliberative disposition process requiring an a %rmative e ort to preserve the ship.
Commercial decommissioning did not exist in 1971 when NS Savannah retired from service, but today it is a mature segment of the nuclear industry. Contractors mobilize to power plant sites and use their available land and infrastructure to support the work. With no nuclear-capable commercial shipyard in the United States, MARAD adapted the commercial model, by using the ship’s interior spaces to provide the necessary working areas and infrastructure. Consequently, Savannah is now fully out !tted and equipped for static use, with all the occupational safety features, climate controls, of!ces, workshops, galleries, and public spaces needed for a successful preservation operation. In short, she is the fully restored and realized museum ship that she never became during her time at Patriots Point.
On top of all this, MARAD was able to preserve signature components of the nuclear plant in situ, with provisions for walk-in public access and interpretation—think of a battleship barbette as an analog. # is doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world, and it makes Savannah more capable today than at any time in her past. Short of sailing around the world, Savannah is ready to continue her mission to promote the peaceful uses of nuclear technology, while simultaneously showcasing the art of American naval architecture at the high-water mark of classic shipping, just before the container revolution.
In a way, we have Jim Delgado to thank. In 1991 when the National Park Service informed MARAD that it in-
tended to designate Savannah as a landmark, US Maritime Administrator Warren Leback asked if such a designation would prevent MARAD from being able to scrap the ship in the future. Discounting the complexities in the NHPA, Jim sent back a simple response—“No.” I discovered this correspondence back around 2003 but only met Jim a few months ago. I was happy to learn of his role in that answer and was glad to thank him in person. Let’s not let Savannah join SS United States and the ranks of ships that could have been saved—but weren’t. She deserves better, and so do we.
To learn more about Savannah ’s history and her disposition, please visit the Maritime Administration website at www.maritime.dot.gov/nssavannah. You may also contact MARAD via email at MARAD.History@dot.gov. NS Savannah is berthed in Baltimore, Maryland. Her Containment Vessel, with its retained original components and interpretive mockups, was opened to public access on 18 May 2025.
Erhard W. Koehler is a naval architect and marine surveyor. He joined the Maritime Administration in 1991 and began working with NS Savannah in 1993, and since 2004 he has served as the agency’s licensee for the ship’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission facility license. He is the project manager and steward of Savannah, in which capacity he oversees the ship’s radiological decommissioning and upcoming license termination, and its custodial care, historic preservation and eventual disposition. He has also served as the agency’s deputy federal preservation o icer for some twenty years. This article reflects his personal views and experience, not those of the US Department of Transportation or Maritime Administration.
A Final Ocean Voyage for SS United States
by Bill Bleyer
After a 12-day 1,800-mile tow from its longtime berth in Philadelphia, SS United States arrived on 3 March 2025 at a shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, where preparations are underway to ready the famous vessel to become the world’s largest articial reef. “ e SS United States remediation is moving along at full steam— pun intended,” said Nick Tomecek, spokesperson for Florida’s Okaloosa County, which purchased the liner for $1 million last fall. “Crews have removed some paint from the upper decks and have made a lot of progress on cleaning all 121 fuel tanks. Work is also progressing on removing wiring and all other non-metal items aboard the ship. e stacks will be removed in the coming weeks. At least one stack will be preserved for the SS United States Conservancy’s land-based museum.”
While the remediation work is ongoing, not everyone has accepted that the future for “America’s Flagship” is underwater o the Florida Panhandle. Even though no city on the East or Gulf Coasts was interested in becoming the home of the record-holding vessel, two groups have formed to make a lastditch e ort to save the ship. e SS United States Preservation Foundation was formed in June 2024 to preserve the ship a $oat as a national monument under government ownership.
e New York Coalition to Save the Steamship United States was created in October 2024, after the ship was being prepared to depart Philadelphia, and began a petition drive and led a lawsuit in an attempt to block the ree ng, while it attempted to get President Trump interested in saving the vessel. One of the three directors of the Coalition is John Quadrozzi,
who had hoped to make his Brooklyn pier the United States’ s permanent berth. But that location would have required extensive dredging, and there were other issues that the ship’s owner at the time, the SS United States Conservancy, deemed unresolvable.
e Coalition’s lawsuit was led 2 March 2025—the day before the liner arrived in Mobile—in the United States District Court Northern District of Florida Pensacola Division. Okaloosa County has led a motion for dismissal. e case was ongoing as this issue of the magazine went to press.
While the Coalition was planning to le an amended lawsuit, the original documentation stated that “the sole purpose of this action is to provide the Executive Branch of the United States reasonable time to decide whether SSUS should be taken for public use, with just compensation paid to the County, rather than allowing the ship, which is due to arrive shortly in a shipyard in Alabama, to be irrevocably cut apart, dismembered, and sunk as an arti cial reef in the waters of the Gulf.”
In early February, the Coalition wrote a letter to the president urging that the ship be acquired for public use, but there has been no response from the White House. e Coalition’s spokesperson, Jason Wade, said, “Our vision is to have her in New York as a static $oating attraction that will be an incubator for small business. It’ll be an educational hub.” Wade said the group had already gathered 7,500 signatures and had created a website and Facebook group.
A!er nearly 30 years tied up in Philadelphia, SS United States was cast o for the long tow to Mobile, Alabama, on 19 February 2025.
SS United States on the open ocean during the tow south, as viewed from the
tugboat Vinik No. 6.
Photo courtesy of Captain Mike Vinik.
Meanwhile, neighboring Bay County has agreed to o er $3 million towards the ree ng project—$2 million towards the cleanup and sinking, and $1 million in promotion—if Okaloosa County agrees to select a location to sink the ship closest to Bay County’s Panama City. Okaloosa is looking at three di erent sites for the ship’s ultimate resting place.
e SS United States Conservancy and fans of the ship that never surrendered the Blue Riband distinction for speed in crossing the Atlantic were pleased that it arrived in Mobile two days ahead of schedule. While they view ree ng as a better alternative to scrapping the United States, they are still disappointed that no permanent home could be identi ed to keep the ship a $oat as a museum, hotel, and event space.
In preparation for the move last fall, which was delayed by Coast Guard requests for more details on the safety of the tow and the possibility of bad weather, four tugboats nudged the liner from Pier 82 across the slip to the adjacent pier, where the water was deeper. A few days later, the tugs slid it out into the Delaware River, where it was connected to the powerful tug Vinik No. 6 and pulled under the Walt Whitman Bridge just before low tide around 12:30 pm on 19 February to begin its trip southwards. Vehicular tra c on the bridge was halted while the ship passed beneath the roadway, its funnels clearing the bridge by a mere ten feet.
e 141-foot oceangoing tug Vinik No. 6, owned by Mike Vinik of New Jersey-based Vinik Marine, averaged 6.8 knots over the course of the whole the voyage. “ e ship tows like a dream,” Vinik said. “We went faster than even I expected.” Vinik No. 6’ s top speed for the long tow was eight knots, but between Virginia Beach and Cape Hatteras, the speed dropped to
two knots because of high winds, rough seas, and, of course, the counter-current from the Gulf Stream.
During the trip, spectators gathered along the banks of the Delaware River, and once the tow made it to Florida, United States could be seen from shore and was viewed by thousands of additional spectators. One of the most memorable images from the passage south came when the Utopia of the Seas, one of the largest cruise ships in the world, altered course for a rendezvous.
e 236,473-gross-ton cruise ship, which is 1,188 feet long, dwarfed the 53,329-gross-ton ocean liner, creating a striking visual contrast.
SS United States arrived o Mobile Bay early on 3 March and waited for daylight to enter the bay, as required by the Coast Guard. Without incident, the tug and tow got to the shipyard around midday, and the vessel was maneuvered into its nal position alongside a pier with assistance from local tugs. Once the ship was safely secured to the dock, SSUS Conservancy President Susan Gibbs remarked: “In the spirit of her record-breaking history, America’s Flagship concluded her journey from Philadelphia to Mobile faster than anticipated. As she moved through the waves for the rst time in 28 years, countless onlookers and admirers along the country’s eastern seaboard were inspired by her majesty and beauty.” e vessel is undergoing remediation at Modern American Recycling Services in Mobile that is expected to take six months to a year to remove any remaining toxic materials before being sunk o Destin-Fort Walton Beach. “All of the preparations in Mobile are in close collaboration with multiple environmental agencies, including the [Florida] Department of Environmental Protection and the Environmental Protection Agency,” the county said in a statement. “To ensure an e cient, safe, and quality deployment, holes will
be strategically cut around the ship to ensure she lands upright as she is submerged. Passages will also be opened, allowing for marine life to thrive in and around the ship.” Once the United States is safely on the sea $oor, it will be the world’s largest arti cial reef, surpassing the 888-foot aircraft carrier Oriskany, sunk o Pensacola in 2006, which attracts more than 10,000 divers annually.
We are proud to continue the story of this historic vessel as an arti cial reef along with the land-based museum. I look forward to the immense impact she will continue to have on the lives of those who appreciate her history. As an arti cial reef, she will provide much-needed habitat for a variety of marine species like grouper, snapper, mackerel, and tuna.
While enhancing a thriving ecosystem, SSUS will be a worldwide hub for divers of all skill levels. e proposed depth of the wreck site is 180 feet to the sea $oor, with the upper deck rising to about 55 feet, satisfying the diving aspirations of both beginners and technical divers.
e exact location of the deployment has not been determined, but she is expected to be deployed about 20 nautical miles south of Destin-Fort Walton Beach. In addition to becoming a world-renowned diving attraction, SSUS will bene t the local and regional shing industry, which depends on a healthy shery.
Okaloosa County Board Chairman Paul Mixon
(continued on p. 30)
A Man and His Tugboat: Capt. Mike Vinik and Vinik No. 6
Tugboat captains usually provide their vital service to the maritime industry in obscurity. Not Mike Vinik! While leading the United States in arguably history’s most visible and important towing operation, Captain Vinik became something of a celebrity on social media sites and in the national news by posting dramatic photos of the ship at sea under tow and by giving interviews via satellite during the 12-day passage.
Vinik Marine Inc. operates four tugs out of Port Redding, New Jersey. Last fall, Okaloosa County hired him to tow the famous ocean liner from Philadelphia to Mobile. It was the dream project for the SUNY Maritime College graduate, who had studied the ocean liner during his time at Fort Schuyler.
“As far as ships go, SS United States is my absolute favorite,” he said in an interview six years ago. “I would love to explore it, and I can only imagine what that Blue Riband cruise must have been like to have experienced.”
Captain Vinik used a 141-foot tug—Vinik No. 6 —for the job. The tugboat crew hooked up to the ship in the Delaware River a!er it was pulled from the slip it had occupied for 28 years by smaller tugs. The tow o shore and around Florida proved rather straightforward, according to the tug captain.
“With 2,000 miles and a two-week transit, you’re going to encounter some weather,” he said. “When we had a wind over 15 to 20 knots, the ship started to take a mind of its own and sometimes go beam to the wind. O Ha eras, we were in about 40–45 knots of wind and 15 to 16-foot seas. We made very, very poor speed when the Gulf Stream interacted with the south wind, and we just had to hove to for a day and a half. But it wasn’t anything that we didn’t expect or weren’t prepared for. Once we got across the Gulf Stream, everything was fine.”
Even in less harsh conditions, Vinik said, “the ship would tack every couple hours. We would run easy, like a quarter thro le, and just make sure we kept tension on the wire, and the ship would go in the right direction. It was nothing dangerous or extreme.”
Vinik said he had handled only one remotely comparable tow. “We did a 980-foot dry dock a number of years ago, and that was like a block of wood compared to this ship, which is long, streamlined, and narrow, like a rocket ship. That dry
Capt. Mike Vinik
dock was like towing a big cube or a big, big rectangle. But we were only going from Norfolk, Virginia, to Sparrows Point, Maryland; we took it back another six months later.”
Vinik hails from a maritime family. Starting in the 1970s, his father and older brothers worked in the tugboat industry for companies including Great Lakes, Bouchard, Moran, and McAllister. At 12, he taught sailing at a day camp. As a student at the Marine Academy of Science and Technology, a magnet public high school on Sandy Hook, New Jersey, Vinik worked for a sail manufacturer and then a marine supply store. He then a ended SUNY Maritime College, where he earned dual certification as a deck and engineering o icer in 2003. “My first job out of Maritime was captaining fast ferries in New York City for NY Waterways. A!er that, I worked as a deckhand on tugs and also a training mate. In March of 2004, I got my first job steering on a tug.”
Mike Vinik bought his first tug in July 2004, a fixer-upper called Gotham that he renamed the Dorothy Elizabeth in honor of his grandmother. He had it running by the following March. Around the same time, the Sandy Hook Pilots accepted Vinik into their training program. Not long a!er he started his training, he decided his future was in running his own tugboats.
“Towing SS United States,” he said, “was such an honor. I mean, I’ve adored this ship my whole professional career, and I just hoped and hoped and hoped that it would have a future. It’s a li le bit disappointing that the future is going to be as a reef, but at least it can be appreciated, whereas if it were scrapped, it would never be appreciated again.”
Vinik No. 6
e Conservancy, which acquired the ship in 2011, sold it to Okaloosa County under pressure from a federal judge in Philadelphia in August 2024, who refused to grant the nonpro t organization an extension of her September eviction deadline from the Philadelphia pier in a ruling on a lawsuit brought by the pier owner. US District Court Senior Judge Anita Brody did say she would give the nonpro t more time to move the vessel if it had a signed contract for a new home before her 12 September deadline for eviction that she had set in a June court appearance. e decision to reef the ocean liner came after the Conservancy’s ef-
forts to nd a new temporary or permanent home at public and private piers in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Charleston, Miami, Savannah, and other cities along the East Coast proved fruitless. e piers available were either too short or lacked su cient water depth. e Conservancy and the maritime historians it consulted considered keeping the ship intact for divers and marine life preferable to scrapping it.
e Long Island-based real estate rm RXR, in partnership with the SSUS Conservancy since 2018, worked for several years to save the liner by proposing the ship would serve as the centerpiece of a redevelopment project,
ideally at New York’s Pier 76 between 35th and 38th Streets at Hudson River Park near the Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, but state and park ofcials showed no interest. RXR also sought input from port cities across the US, to no avail.
SS United States was built with a radical design by William Francis Gibbs, using more aluminum than any previous ship to make it light and fast. On her maiden round-trip voyages in 1952, the United States, built with numerous technological breakthroughs, including revolutionary propellers, set transAtlantic speed records of about 35 knots that have yet to be broken by a
Despite having to slow down due to poor weather o Cape Ha eras, Vinik No. 6 arrived in Mobile, Alabama, a!er a 12-day transit ahead of schedule. The ocean liner, which had not been to sea in almost 30 years, “towed like a dream.”
passenger ship. During speed trials, the ship traveled at 44 miles per hour, and in regular service it achieved a speed of 41.4 miles per hour.
With design help and funding from the US Navy, the vessel, built by Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Virginia, was designed to be able to be converted into a troop transport that could speed 14,000 troops 10,000 miles to a battle zone without refueling. Between 1952 and 1969, SSUS made 800 transAtlantic crossings and transported more than one million passengers, including a host of celebrities such as Marlon Brando, Gary Cooper, Salvador Dalí, Judy Garland, Cary Grant, Charlton Heston, Bob Hope, Marilyn Monroe, Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, John Wayne, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Four US presidents sailed aboard SS United States: Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Bill Clinton, fresh out of Georgetown University and on his way to study at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.
After 17½ years of service, the ship was retired in 1969 and was subsequently acquired by the federal government. In the late 1970s, she was sold
(right) USS Oriskany (CVA-24) on the seafloor. The sunken aircra! carrier is a popular dive site o the Florida Panhandle. Florida has one of the most active artificial reef programs in the country, with more than 4,442 planned sites o its coast. In 2006, the 888foot carrier was sunk 22 nautical miles southeast of Pensacola Pass at a depth of 212 feet to become the world’s largest artificial reef. At 990 feet, SSUS will claim that title once she is scu led for the same purpose, and Okaloosa County is counting on her a racting divers of all skill levels to visit her once she has se led on the bo om.
as a series of developers examined plans to put her back into service. e ship was acquired by Norwegian Cruise Line in 2003 and then in 2011 by the SSUS Conservancy. In 2016, Crystal Cruises explored rebuilding the United States as a modern cruise ship but abandoned the idea after a $1-million feasibility study determined there were too many problems to overcome.
Bill Bleyer, who was a Newsday reporter for 33 years specializing in history and maritime coverage, is the author of seven Long Island and New York City history books, including The Roosevelts in New York City, due to be published in July. He has taught maritime history at the Webb Institute, the Long Island naval architecture college, and is a frequent speaker on maritime topics.
PHOTO BY KEITH
Abandon Ship in the Gulf of Mexico
Schooner J.W. Clise & Captain Richard Copsey
by John Charles Roach
In the heat of the summer of 1940, the four-masted, 845-ton schooner
J. W. Clise got underway from Tampa, Florida, bound for Freeport, Texas, her hold packed with a full cargo of nished lumber. On deck, every available space, from the foc’s’le to the quarterdeck, was covered by additional cargo, perhaps eight feet high or more, lashed down and ready for sea. She would never reach her destination.
Her cargo originated in Shamrock, a company town in Northern Florida, built by Putnam Lumber Mills, which was also the ship’s owner. e stop in Tampa had become necessary following a return from a delivery to Puerto Rico, during which the helmsman com-
plained that it was becoming increasingly di cult to keep the ship on course. Repairs to the steering gear would be better made in Tampa, as opposed to the vessel’s homeport in Jacksonville on the Atlantic side. ere were no facilities capable of such work in Jacksonville and Tampa would keep the ship closer to her route between Puerto Rico and Texas. is would also be an ideal opportunity for the J. W. Clise to get an overall inspection while she was hauled out and attend to any other problems.
A year before, on a return passage from Maine, the Clise had been driven aground in an onshore wind as she was trying to weather Cape Fear, North
Carolina. After several hours of concerted e ort, the captain and crew managed to work the ship o the shoals without noticeable damage and continued on to Jacksonville. is event is remarkable in itself, for the North Carolina coast is a veritable ships’ graveyard. Rare was the ship that ran aground in these waters and was able to get o safely. If there was any kind of sea running, the strain on its hull planking as it was lifted and then slammed on the sands was usually enough to doom a wooden vessel of any age, and a 36-yearold sailing ship was hardly a new ship. e intervening yard period in Tampa allowed xing the steering gear problem and likely some recaulking.
(opposite) The J. W. Clise Crew Rescue, During the Gulf of Mexico 1940 Hurricane by John Charles Roach
J. W. Clise at Commodore Point, in her homeport of Jacksonville, Florida, 1934. Her four masts are a pointy contrast to the flat tropical growth and ra s of hyacinth surrounding the schooner. She is waiting to be loaded with a cargo of fresh lumber from the nearby yards of the Putnam Lumber Company.
Jamaican-born Richard Copsey came to the United States in 1896, having covered the cost of his trip by working in the galley as a cook onboard. What we know of his life before his employment as master of the J. W. Clise comes from US Census records, where he was listed as a baker, and from his documented seaman’s certi cate. Prior to his becoming a ship’s master, he served aboard the steamship Grand Republic as a baker. He became a US citizen in 1917 when he was 45 years old, the same year he earned his unlimited master’s license in steam and sail. In the 1920 census, he was listed as the representative of a steamship line, with his occupation recorded as a boat captain.
Copsey signed aboard the J. W. Clise as master in 1926, three years after the schooner had been purchased as a lumber hauler. He would log many voyages in the Clise to Central America, the Azores, Puerto Rico, and ports along the Gulf of Mexico. One of the improvements he made to the ship was installing a small gasoline engine for auxiliary power for maneuvering in con ned waters or moving from the anchorage to pierside for loading. is,
he justi ed, would save the company money, not having to pay for a tugboat’s services. It also provided the ship with electrical power for lighting, a marine radio, a small refrigerator, and, importantly, for a powered bilge pump.
e newly installed pump paid for itself during Copsey’s rst passage in his new command. Heading southeast from Maine, the Clise ran into a severe Atlantic storm, and the engine was kept running to power the bilge pump for nearly the entire transit. By the time they pulled into port in Bermuda, its fuel supply was nearly exhausted. Fourteen years later, 68-year-old Richard Copsey was still in command of the J. W. Clise when he maneuvered the old schooner away from the dock in Tampa in fair weather, about to encounter an unforeseen hurricane developing in the Gulf of Mexico.
Built in Ballard, Washington, in 1904, to take advantage of the high demand for cut timber, the J. W. Clise was the last of ve schooners ordered for the Globe Navigation Company of Seattle. She carried the name of her owner, James Williams Clise, a wellconnected real estate nancier and entrepreneur. His namesake ship was
an ordinary lumber schooner—nothing exceptional, just a sturdy workhorse cargo carrier able to sail through adverse weather, travel great distances, be operated by a small crew, and, most importantly, reliably make money for her owner. Designed by naval architect L. H. Coolidge, the ship was built by omas C. Reed, who came from an established shipbuilding family. Having a minimum of adornment, she carried herself well with a nial supported after railing, graceful lines, and a yellow sheer stripe that ran her entire length, ending at the bow with a small, gilded eagle as her gurehead. She had a modest ship-like grace any seaman would appreciate and wish to sail in.
Cargo ships of this period were typically moderate-sized bulk carriers built at the end of an era, when sails and wood were being replaced by steam power and iron and steel. e new ships made of the latter were built with greater capacity and able to maintain a regular predictable schedule. Wooden sailing ships could not compete e ectively for premium shipping rates, so most were relegated to carrying dry bulk cargoes to and from distant places.
A typical route in this era was to head for the growing city of San Francisco rst, then sail to Chile for guano, New Zealand for wool and agricultural products, Australia for coal, the Philippines for logs, and Hawaii for sugar, and then return to Port Blakely, Washington, for more lumber. Most wooden ships did not have long careers. Long transoceanic voyages during which ships sailed through all kinds of climates and weather stressed both their
J. W. Clise, looking forward, 1934. In view on the foc’s’lehead is the exhaust and pressure relief valve of a small steam engine, which was used to winch sails alo and load cargo.
hulls and their crews, while falling cargo rates aggravated by the First World War and economic depression strained the shipping business even further.
Fortunes of shipowners were met equally by good and bad periods of economic circumstances. e Globe Navigation Co. ordered eleven new steamships to meet increased competition in the Paci c and found itself overextended. Around the same time, the loss of one of the company’s other ships resulted in too many commitments it could not a ord to meet, and it was forced to liquidate all its marine holdings.
Around 1911, the J. W. Clise was sold to the Blakely Lumber Company on Bremerton Island, Puget Sound, Washington. She changed hands again in 1916 on a return voyage from Australia during a brief stop in Honolulu when she was purchased by the Norwegian rm of A/S Porsgrund Motor & Seil to help replace losses in the Norwegian merchant eet during the First World War. Facing restrictions of the newly passed Jones Act of 1920, the Norwegians sold the ship back to American owners in 1923. She was transferred to the Gulf of Mexico via the Panama Canal and was held for a year by an intermediary, L. A. Scott of Mobile, Alabama, before her nal transfer to the Putnam Lumber Company, based in Shamrock. She was registered in Jacksonville, the Atlantic homeport for Putnam Lumber.
By the time Richard Copsey took command of the vessel in 1926, the
(top) The Florida Southern Railway office with a lumber schooner at the dock. Unmilled timbers were transported via rail to the shipping docks.
Lumber Company dock, 1929.
(right) Piles of lumber at the Putnam
J. W. Clise had served six owners under eight captains. Captain Copsey would make the ship his home for fourteen years, sailing regular routes from Jacksonville to Puerto Rico, Central America, Maine, Bermuda, and the Azores. Before her ill-fated voyage from Tampa, the ship was sold again to an unnamed shareholder of the Putnam Lumber Company. Copsey was retained by the new owner as captain; such must have been the con dence in his seamanship and good judgment. is would soon be tested to an extreme in the next few days, as the ship sailed towards the Texas coast, in what became known as the Louisiana Hurricane of 1940. e waters of the Gulf can often be misleading. Calm turquoise-blue colors with beautifully suspended billowing cumulus clouds on the horizon can lull many an unsuspecting mariner, even those who have years of experience. As the Clise was tacking westward across the Gulf, there was little indication of a storm brewing that would soon threaten the ship and her crew of seven. In
this era, scienti c weather forecasting using modern technology was still in its infancy. Veteran mariners could anticipate fronts and systems based on their experience observing cloud formations and movement, wind shifts and strength, wave height and direction, and noting changes in barometric pressure, but weather forecasting was still an uncertain art.
On Friday, 2 August, Captain Copsey was plotting a course south by southwest, with the wind freshening to strong throughout the day and shifting from west to northwest. Our knowledge of his experience in the storm comes from a written account he provided to his friend Capt. Maury Cagle, USN (Ret.). Cagle and his father met and befriended Richard Copsey during walks along the ship piers in Mobile, Alabama. e papers were preserved by the Cagles, as were other small pieces of memorabilia.
According to Copsey, the sky was clear enough that he could shoot the sun and stars (with a sextant), but since
the ship’s log was ultimately lost in the storm, there is no surviving record of their exact position when the storm hit. e last estimated position he remembered was 27 ° North by 87 ° West, putting the Clise south and a little east of Mobile by 90 miles, and west of Tampa by 130 miles. Early Saturday morning, the wind became stronger, and the barometer was still falling. Captain Copsey recalled the situation was getting worse as the day progressed, so he put about to a new northwesterly course. As the weather continued to deteriorate, the thickening cloud cover prevented him from taking celestial observations and he was no longer able to get a x on the chart. He had the crew reduce sail: topsails on the four masts, then the fore, main, and spanker in turn, leaving only the fore staysail and jigger on the aft mast, under which the Clise was to weather the night. With daybreak, even as the storm intensi ed with driving rain, he saw no reason for alarm, having received a weather advisory the night before. With the ship managing
Looking a from amidships, the sunken hull of the J. W. Clise as she looked upon her arrival in Mobile Harbor, having been towed in by the US Coast Guard, which sought to remove a navigational hazard.
under shortened sail and still under control, he saw no reason to take more sail o . He recalled hearing a small craft warning covering a portion of the Gulf Coast, but he missed the remainder of the message. It was his belief, then, that the storm was not serious or widespread. His account does not mention having received further weather advisory broadcasts.
Unfortunately, the next page in his written account is missing. e third page begins with all of the bulwarks splintered and unable to support what sail remained. e main deck was now awash; the lashings holding the deck cargo parted, making it dangerous to remain on deck. He recalled that the cabin lled with approximately fourto-six feet of water, which crashed about with each roll of the foundering ship, wrecking cabinets and lockers down below. Waves swept down the length of the ship; taking any action on deck would have been suicide.
e ship was now nothing but a oating log, buoyed only by the wood cargo stowed below deck. Copsey and crew began making preparations to abandon the ship. e captain col-
lected his papers, the ship’s log, and chronometer into his briefcase. He attempted to nd his two sextants, but they had been destroyed or lost amidst the oating debris and dangerous splintered wood that trashed the cabin.
Carefully crawling across the cabin top on the quarterdeck, holding onto any xed structure to prevent getting tossed over the side, the crew prepped to lower the ship’s boat. A long painter was made fast to the lifeboat and four crewmembers and Captain Copsey climbed in, leaving for the moment two men on deck to man the boat falls. As soon as the boat was a oat, it quickly fell astern, leaving the two men to jump into the chaotic seas to swim to the lifeboat, where they were pulled aboard by their shipmates. The long line allowed the ship’s boat to remain in the lee of the derelict schooner, which would be more visible to a passing ship and increase their chances of being rescued.
Unbeknownst to the Clise’ s crew, the lookout on a passing tanker had spotted the wreck even before the boat was launched. e steamer Pan Amoco, bound for Beaumont, Texas, was also
o course because of the storm when it sighted the abandoned schooner and her crew astern in the small boat. e steamer made a careful approach, then circled the Clise twice, laying down an oil slick to calm the waters. It then maneuvered upwind of the schooner so it could drift down slowly, providing wind shade to the lee for the men in the lifeboat. It took about two hours to complete the rescue. In the chaos and excitement of the men scrambling aboard the Pan Amoco, a line was passed down to the lifeboat to hoist Copsey’s briefcase of papers and salvaged instruments, but a faulty knot gave way, and they fell into the sea, sinking almost immediately.
e Pan Amoco crew attempted to take the Clise in tow, but with most of the hull awash, they were unsuccessful and were forced to cut the tow-line, setting her adrift. ey did succeed in getting a radio message out, informing anyone monitoring the radio of the successful rescue of the crew and the current position of the J. W. Clise. e Pan Amoco made it safely to port a few days later at Beaumont, Texas, where they o&oaded the schooner crew.
J. W. Clise on her side in Mobile Harbor before her masts were cut down.
Meanwhile, a Greek freighter heading to New Orleans sighted the vessel, still a oat in the Gulf about 30 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River, and reported it to the Coast Guard. e schooner was located and taken under tow by the Coast Guard to Mobile, Alabama, where she was declared a non-salvageable wreck. A shore crew cut down her masts to lighten the hull so it could be pumped out and re oated before going to a pier to unload what could be salvaged of the cargo.
e story was picked up by local newspapers—the Tampa Tribune and the Dothan [Alabama] Eagle —that were monitoring marine radio signals of the storm. ose reports yield more information about the wreck and the rescue, including the names of the six crew members and the captain of the Pan Amoco, Oscar Christensen.
e sad ending of the J. W. Clise ’s career was not marked with the celebration of a fast clipper ship retiring with accolades and laurels, fascinating adventures on the high seas and foreign ports, or a career of record passages. Instead, her wrecked hull was beached on a mud at in Mobile Harbor, where I remember seeing her as a six-year-old. ere she would remain until 1950, when she was ignominiously removed and sunk in a deep part of the Gulf of Mexico, to the southeast of Mobile, to make room for a housing project.
Following a short period at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, John Charles Roach enlisted in the Navy rather than trust his fate to conscription in the Army. He was assigned to a Seabees ba alion near the DMZ to cover construction work
in Vietnam, while still a ached to Commander 7th Fleet, Pacific. Later, while he was working on completing a master’s degree in fine arts, he reenlisted and was commissioned as a Navy public affairs o icer. He served in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, peacekeeping operations in Bosnia, the US departure from the Panama Canal, and the closure of the naval nase in Subic Bay, the Philippines. Throughout his naval career, Roach served as a historian, feature writer, reporter, ship arrangements specialist, information researcher, intelligence specialist, and a designated combat artist. Much of his artwork is part of the US Navy Art Collection, Washington Navy Yard, in Washington, DC, and is either on public display or printed to support Navy-related history articles in magazines. He is also a long-time Signature Member of the American Society of Marine Artists.
The J. W. Clise was pumped out so she could be partially refloated and her remaining cargo salvaged. Close inspection shows parts of the bulwark torn away by the force of waves crossing the deck.
Bucked in the Yarn e Unique Heritage of Coker Canvas
by Terry Stevens
Nestled in the foothills of southwestern England lie three picturesque villages that appear quaint and unassuming to visitors and residents alike, but which once played an important role on an international stage. Fi een miles inland from the English Channel to the south, and 25 miles from the Bristol Channel to the northwest, the three villages of East, West, and North Coker produced sailcloth that was sought out by the Royal Navy’s great admirals and the wealthy yachtsmen who could a ord the best sailcloth for their vessels.
The infrastructure a ached to this industry has always been there, but most of its modern-day residents have either long forgo en about it, or never knew about it in the first place. This all changed in the last 20 years, when a group of local residents sought to revive this history by restoring the villages’ derelict twineworks and, with it, restore the heritage of Coker Canvas and its role in shaping the history of the region. Part of this e ort included the recent publication of Bucked in the Yarn: The Unique Heritage of Coker Canvas by Terry Stevens, a native son of East Coker.
As a former sailmaker and maritime historian who wrote her master’s thesis on the history of sailmaking in New England, I eagerly claimed the book when it came across my desk last fall for a potential review (see Sea History 189). Mr. Stevens, a tourism consultant, agreed to adapt components of his book for Sea History. The book is part history and part guide to heritage tourism, well worth your time to read if you have an interest in these topics and especially if you have travel plans sometime in the future that might take you to the area. —Deirdre O’Regan, Editor
Igrew up with the saying “Bucked in the yarn rather than the piece” and never knew what it meant. It refers to a unique treatment used in making Coker Canvas, which gave it greater strength and durability—no minor attribute in the Age of Sail, when sails provided oceangoing ships with their only propulsion. Bucking took place in
the bucking house, a single-story building close to running water that contained furnaces and cisterns for boiling the yarn. e yarn was initially steeped in hot water, then bucked in alkaline lye before being dried on grass in bleaching elds or on wooden rails in yarn bartons for two or three weeks. e process was then repeated four or
ve times before the yarn was nally soured with milk for another three weeks to neutralize it. It was this method of sailcloth production that was patented by the villagers of the Cokers. Coker Canvas was unique because the villagers would buck the yarn before it was woven into cloth, as opposed to treating the whole bolt after it was nished, which was the usual practice elsewhere. e treatment helped the cloth repel seawater, which prevented the sails from developing mildew and premature rot.
East Coker, North Coker, and West Coker are three small Somerset villages that achieved global importance for their production of sailcloth of exceptional quality using locally grown ax and hemp. Produced in the region from the Middle Ages onwards and reaching peak production in the latenineteenth century, “Coker Canvas” won an enviable international reputation as the best sailcloth in the world. It was never the cheapest but was demonstrably stronger and more durable than its rivals, thus saving shipowners
money in the long term. Its superiority led to it being adopted throughout the world as the standard by navies and merchant eets, as well as by luxury yachts, including competitors in the America’s Cup for a thirty-one-year stretch before the introduction of synthetic sailcloth.
e history of the three villages includes some major characters in world history, adding to the richness of the local heritage. Let’s begin with the infamous pirate William Dampier. Dampier’s mother was employed in ax production, as were most of the people in the village. Born in East Coker in 1651, young William shipped out at the age of fourteen to embark on a life at sea. He would become known as the pirate with an exquisite mind and led a colorful life as a buccaneer, explorer, hydrographer, and naturalist. Many regarded him as the nest seafarer and navigator of his time. His published books rank as superlative literature of scienti c importance; nevertheless, he ended up penniless and su ered the ignominy of being courtmartialed.
Celebrated in Australia, Dampier was nonetheless viewed by the British establishment as being too wayward and individualistic. In his portrait hanging in the St. Michaels and All Angels parish church in East Coker, his eyes are dark and sad, the callous eyes of a plunderer, whose savagery, racism, and sadism cannot be denied. ere is the undeniable paradox of a genius who
(top le ) The three Coker villages are in southwestern England, about 15 to 20 miles from the coast.
(le ) The 1637 Sovereign of the Seas, flagship of King Charles I (later renamed Royal Sovereign by Charles II), was fi ed with a full complement of sails made from Coker Canvas.
held great respect for the natural world, yet once ordered the public ogging of a black woman taken on as a cook who was “too wanton with her bodily favors” and had no problem purchasing a Philippine islander and her son, Jeoly, as slaves. e son was covered in exotic tattoos, and when Dampier fell on hard times, he turned around and sold Jeoly in London to be put on public display as a curiosity
Buried in the same parish church where Dampier’s portrait hangs are the remains of the Nobel-winning poet laureate T.S.Eliot (1888–1965), whose paternal ancestor, Andrew Eliot, emigrated from East Coker to Massachusetts in the 17th century. American-born T.S.Eliot traveled to his ancestral homeland in 1937 and was so a ected by his visit that he wrote and published a poem named for the village. “East Coker,” the second poem of a series published simply as Four Quartets, sold nearly 12,000 copies in its rst print run. T S.Eliot became a British citizen in 1927, and his ashes are interred under a plaque inscribed with the rst and last lines of the village’s namesake poem: “In my beginning is my end, in my end is my beginning.”
Aside from their connection to historical and cultural icons, the villages’ claim to fame relies on the reputation of their sailcloth manufactory, established and maintained by the local residents, for a good many years run as a cottage industry. e soil and climate in the region proved ideal for growing ax and processing it into twine and cloth. In its heyday, the elds surrounding the villages would be covered at harvest time with ax stems laid out to “ret” (or rot) so that the bers within could be removed. Dew retting
could be done in the elds; a faster process could be achieved by retting the ax in the running water of local streams. When the bers were spun and woven into cloth, the elds again came into play when the canvas was laid out to bleach in the sun.
In time, Coker Canvas became known for its exceptional quality and the Admiralty insisted on it as the Royal Navy standard to supply the eet.
In 1806, Lord Dundonald, a veteran naval hero and a new member of Parliament, endorsed Coker Canvas for the Royal Navy, stating, “I have no fear of [Coker Canvas] surpassing all other canvas…. e best canvas in the world.”
Flax bundles from the Baltic states with lead seals used to supplement locally grown and processed flax.
William Dampier (1651-1715)
Sails made of Coker sailcloth continued to perform well for the eet, and in April 1813, Admiral Hood ordered 1,500 bolts of Coker Canvas for the Royal Navy, adding, “Messrs Bullock and Murley of East Coker and Joseph Rendall of West Coker are esteemed excellent manufacturing…it possesses all the advantages and good qualities belonging to Coker Canvas…well bucked and boiled in alkalis and made of ax.”
e Royal Navy was not the only market for Coker Canvas. Yacht racing was transformed after 1851 when the schooner yacht America sailed to the Isle of Wight to race against the British yachts and won, igniting interest in high-stakes international yacht racing.
e America’s Cup would go on to become one of the world’s most prestigious sporting events. At the turn of the century, the British yachting community was championed by the international
playboy, tycoon, and sports benefactor, Sir omas Lipton (of tea fame), who sponsored ve challengers between 1899 and 1930, all ying sails made of Coker Canvas—and not just Lipton’s vessels employed Coker sails, but the competition’s as well.
At the heart of the Coker story, however, are the many innovative and enterprising local heroes, the tenant farmers who grew the ax and hemp— the pullers, retters, scutchers, bollers, hacklers, spinners, weavers, and ropewalkers. Their success in creating Coker Canvas as a global brand invited industrial espionage at the highest level. In 1806 Viscount Melville, First Lord of the Admiralty, was impeached for fraud (and later acquitted), involving, among other infractions, encouraging factories in his Edinburgh constituency to copy Coker Canvas and supply it to the Royal Navy. In e Review of the Mercantile, Trading, and
Manufacturing State, Interests, and Capabilities of the Port of Plymouth with Miscellaneous Additions by Other Persons and Notes by William Burt (1816), it was noted that:
e temptation, which some cannot resist, to purchase at very low prices, canvas, made in the north of England, of an inferior description compared to the Somersetshire cloths, particularly that made in the village of East Coker, which is deservedly held in great esteem, that much imposition is daily practised by stamping canvas as its produce, manufactured at places remote from it.
roughout my childhood growing up there, no one talked about these extraordinary people or the remarkable history and local culture associated with
Dawe’s Twineworks
America’s Cup, 1899: Columbia and Shamrock. Between 1899 and 1930, all America’s Cup competing vessels flew sails made from Coker Canvas, as per the terms agreed upon by Sir Thomas Lipton, who sponsored five challengers during this period.
making twine, rope, and sailcloth in East, North and West Coker. Yet, throughout, I was surrounded by intriguing place names, buildings with unusual names (the bucking house, the barton, and the ropewalk), imponderable words (retting, bolling, and scutching), and families (the Helyars, Drakes, Rendells, Goulds, Dawes and Maudslays) whose forebearers had been instrumental in shaping this important story in our history. Familiarity does breed invisibility, and it has been my goal to reverse that.
My alma mater, East Coker Primary School, dates from 1851. To the north, its classrooms overlooked the birthplace of William Dampier and,
close by, the home of Edward Taylor, one of the great sailcloth manufacturers in the village. To the south of the school was Taylor’s former sailcloth factory, twine works, and ropewalks, and on the school’s western ank stood a row of canvas weavers’ cottages. To the east owed Coker Water—the eponymous crooked stream that gave the villages their name. My mother worked in the o ce of a local factory that made webbing, and in the 1960s I cleaned the factory’s looms as a parttime job during school holidays. My father, the village carpenter and, hence, by default, the village undertaker, was responsible for the interment of T. S. Eliot’s cremains.
Villagers would re ect that it would be pleasing to record a full compass set of Cokers. ere is an East, West, and North Coker, but no South Coker—at least not today, although there was one time in the region’s long history when a South Coker was mentioned, and that was way back in 1306. Over time, the name Coker has appeared in o cial records as Cochra, Cocre, Couker, Cokr, and Cocker. Etymologists o er varying origins of the place name. In the Anglo-Saxon period, names of local geographical features or Saxon family names (or sometimes both) gave rise to the names of settlements.
e most compelling story is that Coker is derived from the Old English,
“crocian,” or “crooked stream.” Issuing from a spring near the village of Odcombe, what is now more commonly known as the River Od was originally called the Coker Water. Modest in both form and power, the waterway was—and is—hardly worthy of being called a river. It is never in a hurry to get anywhere as it meanders in an unruly fashion through the shallow valley of the Coker villages and is often hidden from view amongst its tree-lined banks as it wends its way through withy beds and moors before joining the River Yeo. Fueled by numerous springs, its waters were diverted in numerous places to drive corn and ax mills and create man-made ponds for retting and bucking ax.
Modest though it may be, it is the consistent thread that weaves these communities together. Be it the soil or the crooked ow of the Coker Water, both have played a key role in the story of Coker Canvas.
e trio of the Coker villages has always shared a deeply entwined history. Whilst intense local rivalry prevailed amongst the village football, cricket, skittles, and darts teams, intense cooperation fueled economic success with regard to the shared local industry that provided them with their livelihoods. Together, the villagers built an enviable reputation, which was nurtured and maintained for more than 300 years, despite numerous attempts by politicians, governments, and other
municipalities trying to usurp their supremacy. In time, new technology and materials, combined with unforeseen twists of fate, brought an end to the Coker dominance in the market for sailcloth.
Set in an ancient landscape once claimed by the Romans, the three pretty and unassuming hamlets are quintessentially English and undoubtedly Somerset. Although much has altered with time, little has changed, and they still have the look and feel of villages with timeless characteristics.
Grand picturesque manor houses, square bell-towered churches of St. Martin of Tours in West Coker and St. Michaels and All Angels in East Coker (today celebrating over 700 years as
The finishing walk at Dawe’s Twineworks following restoration.
a site of continuous worship) and their attendant vicarages, a myriad of small non-conformist chapels, the substantial homes of the yeoman farmers, smallthatched weavers’ cottages, alms houses, and four-story watermills exist cheek-by-jowl. e older structures were built with what many regard as the loveliest stone in England—Ham Stone—a sandy limestone comprising broken seashells quarried from nearby Ham Hill, so beautifully described by an observer “as the colour of biscuit sprinkled with gold and able to trap sunlight in day and release it at dusk.”
A walk through town takes you past picture-postcard cottages with paths lined with delphiniums, hollyhocks, and rambling roses in the front gardens. Most have pragmatic vegetable plots born of centuries of self-suciency and, until the early 1960s, an outhouse, a pigsty, and a chicken. Remnants of ancient apple orchards with wonderfully named species—the Bloody Butchers, the Yellow Horner, and the Coker Seedling—are still evident between the cottages.
Key to the villages’ proud history as ax producers and sailcloth manufacturers is that they are located in a vale on the Yeovil Sands with tree-lined streams that wander through pastures, meadows, moors, and marshes. Despite being more than 15 miles inland from the nearest coast, there had always been strong, well-established connections with the sea and maritime pursuits. In the northwestern part of the parish of East Coker, within the Naish estate (part of the village that William Dampier would have known and visited) are three elds known locally as the “maritime elds.” O cially, they are Culliver’s Grave, Doggen Sheet, and Guiana. Guiana was the colonial enterprise of Sir Walter Raleigh in the 1590s, assisted by Sir Ralph Horsey of Clifton Maybank. Culliver’s Grave could refer to the wandering spirit of one John
Culliver, who was lost at sea in 1658 in a vessel named Course. A Doggen Sheet may have been a type of canvas or part of a sail, and further along, the elds between East and West Coker were known as South Sea and the Great South Sea.
Bucked in the Yarn is a story about how the villagers interacted with landscape and nature, experimented with new ideas, and embraced industrial innovation. eir progress was determined by national and international politics, global trade, and technical advancements beyond their control. Disreputable business practices, dubious patronage, and industrial espionage attempted to derail the determination of the local enterprising spirit.
Today, the maritime heritage of the Coker villages is alive and well. About 20 years ago, a group of local volunteers organized to save Dawe’s Twineworks in West Coker. is led to the establishment in 2007 of the Coker Rope and Sail Trust, which was supported by several foundations, including the National Heritage Lottery Fund and the Prince’s Trust, to restore the twineworks and open it to the public. Bucked in the
Yarn contributes to the restoration of this history in both the local community and to those interested in maritime heritage across the world. ere is much work left to be done, and the people of East, West, and North Coker are motivated and up to the task to keep the momentum going.
Professor Terry Stevens is a multi-awardwinning international tourism consultant. He has now worked on a wide range of tourism projects in more than 50 countries around the world. In 2019 he received a LUXLife accolade as the best tourism destination expert in the world. He has wri en extensively on all aspects of tourism and is the author of previous books, Landscape Wales, Wish You Were Here and Wish You Were Here: Europe, all published by Gra eg Books. In April, it was announced that Bucked in the Yarn has been recognized with the Alan Ball Award 2024 for Best Local History (hardcopy publication.) The Alan Ball Local History Awards are organized by the Library Services Trust (UK), which recognizes outstanding contributions in local history publishing.
Sample of No. 1 Coker Canvas, 1812.
COKER
GKeeping a Good Light Lighthouse Preservation in the United States
by Mike Vogel
uidance. Steadfast endurance. Hope. Solace. Altruism, and deep concern for life and safety. Lighthouses embody all of these concepts, and more. ey serve as picturesque reminders in stunningly beautiful settings of the rich maritime heritage that built America and united the peoples of the world. ey’re also aging. And sometimes they are neglected. ey are often surprisingly vulnerable and fragile, despite being built of stone and iron. Time is their enemy. So too are the severity of storms and the steady rise of sea levels. Recent years have seen di cult and expensive projects to move several lighthouses—including America’s tallest, at Cape Hatteras—back from the encroaching ocean. e last 40 years have been especially challenging but critical for lighthouses, as a lighthouse preservation community steps up to save as many of our shoreline sentinels as possible.
Lighthouses have kept mariners from getting lost for centuries. America’s lighthouse service dates back to 7 August 1789, and is the ninth act of the First Congress. at act, the nation’s
rst federal public works law, absorbed colonial and pre-federal lighthouses on the Atlantic Coast, authorized the construction of the rst federally built lighthouse (now known as Old Cape Henry Lighthouse in Virginia), and created the United States Lighthouse Establishment.
Another major sea change occurred 211 years later, when the still-growing preservation community won congressional passage of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act (NHLPA) of 2000, an amendment to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. It was crafted with the help of congressional representatives and sta from Michigan, which has the most lighthouses of any state, and built on successful precedents set by Anne Webster-Wallace’s Maine Lighthouse
Program a decade earlier. e NHLPA short-circuited the usual pecking order for disposition of federal property, and tasks the National Park Service with nding the best possible stewards for surplus historic lighthouses. ere is a lot of history in between, but the bottom line is that stewardship of historic lights is now being transferred from federal agencies that don’t have preservation missions or budgets, or the need to maintain aging towers in an era of satellite navigation and simpler solar-powered and automated light structures. Many are going to organizations that can raise restoration money and put thousands of hours of volunteer and expert contractor work into the towers, light stations, and lightships that need preservation and continual maintenance.
During the Colonial period, lighthouses were typically built by local governments or communities. The original Boston Light, completed in 1716, was destroyed by British troops during the Revolutionary War. A new tower was built in 1783 and is still on its original foundation. It was automated in 1998 and is an active navigational aid, continuing to guide ships safely into Boston Harbor.
The Thomas Point Shoal Light Station, south of Annapolis, Maryland, was put into service in 1875 and is the only screw-pile light on the Chesapeake Bay still in its original location.
The Michigan City East Pierhead Lighthouse (Indiana) at the southern end of Lake Michigan was built in 1904 and has an iron walkway atop the long pier leading out to it from shore. This lighthouse replaced an original post light, built in 1837. In view at the base of the light tower in this photo is Fred Dykeman, who served as 2nd assistant lighthouse keeper from 1909 to 1916. Lighthouses on the Great Lakes posed unique challenges to their keepers due to the harsh winters and the buildup of ice and snow.
The Coast Guard decommissioned the lighthouse in 1960. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, it is owned by Michigan City and is open to the public as part of the Michigan City Old Lighthouse Museum complex.
PHOTO BY DAVID SITES
PHOTO BY
More than 150 lighthouses have been listed so far, with more than half of them deeded to stewardship groups free of charge, but with a requirement for public access and education. e rest, often o shore or isolated light stations with major logistical and expense challenges and no real “home” community, have failed to attract applicants and were sold at auction. Some new private owners have proved themselves
to be dedicated and talented preservationists.
It hasn’t always been smooth sailing. One of the rst lights listed as “available” by the General Services Administration was at Currituck Beach on the Outer Banks. A preservation group had poured time, treasure, and talent into an exemplary restoration of a deteriorating tower, but suddenly found itself competing with the local
Moving the 4,800-ton Cape Ha eras Lighthouse in 1999 was a major engineering feat. The 198-foot-tall tower, the tallest lighthouse in the United States, was relocated more than 2,900 feet shoreward to protect it from the encroaching sea.
county government for the land and lighthouse. e American Lighthouse Council, at the time I served as president, weighed in on the side of the non-pro t. e National Park Service awarded the light to the preservationists, setting the tone for future transfers. And there’s the occasional legal hurdle. When the 198½-foot Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was inching toward the end of its 2,900-foot journey away from the sea in 1999, the county sheri asked project manager, Joe Jakubik of ICC-Commonwealth,1 which had been awarded the contract to move the lighthouse, where precisely the brick tower would stop. Jakubik showed him, and when guests arrived the next day to see the lighthouse hit its laser mark, they found a newly installed stop sign on site. e National Park Service lighthouse slowly closed the distance—and then hit the sign and bent it over just a little bit. e sheri , waiting next to Jakubik, calmly reached into his back pocket, pulled out a summons book and wrote him a ticket for running a stop sign.
Fighting time is neither easy, nor cheap. But it’s been a worthwhile ght, so far. America’s lighthouses spread from the Atlantic seaboard to the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, and then the West Coast. Before Congress federalized the program, there were just over a dozen lights, including an early version of Boston Light (the rst North American lighthouse, 1716) and stilloperating Sandy Hook Light on the approach to New York Harbor (1764). Five more soon were added, but by 1800 there still were only 24 lights, all on the Atlantic.
1 International Chimney Corporation (ICC-Commonwealth) specializes in the design, construction, and repair of tall masonry and steel structures, including work on stone towers, steeples, monuments, lighthouses, murals, and other special projects.
By 1823 there were 75 American lights, six of them on the Great Lakes. e rst lighthouses on the lakes were actually British, including a tower on the formerly French “castle” at Old Fort Niagara in 1781. e rst two American lights on the inland seas were built at Bu alo, New York, and Presque Isle (Erie, Pennsylvania) in 1818, with recent research indicating the Bu alo tower may have been lit rst.
With New York State commemorating the bicentennial of the nationbuilding Erie Canal, it’s worth relating the experience of the last keeper of the 1818 Bu alo Lighthouse. William Jones also became the rst keeper of the 1833 lighthouse, which my own Bu alo Lighthouse Association tends today.
ere are only 15 years between those two lighthouses, but in the middle of that span, the Erie Canal opened and an explosion of commerce and immigration required expanding the harbor and building a new light.
Jones saw the rapid increase of shipping past his lights and realized there would be opportunity farther up the lakes. After consulting with John Jacob Astor in New York City but disagreeing on the best location, he made a torturous scouting trip inland by land and lake and eventually decided to pull up stakes and relocate to the shores of Lake Michigan. In doing so, he became the rst person to bring outside venture capital into what became the City of Chicago. Jones is considered a founder, and he became the rst school superintendent in Chicago. His son and assistant keeper, Fernando, would invent the system of real estate abstracts still in use today, and his records would help reconstruct property ownership after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
e Gulf Coast got its rst lighthouse in 1823, on Frank’s Island near the mouth of the Mississippi. In 1854 Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay received the rst West Coast lighthouse. Di erent typography dictated di erent styles of lights, from the tall brick towers of the East Coast to the cottage styles of the West. Skeletal towers proved successful in combating wind
loads in parts of the South, and “screwpile” lights were anchored into o shore reefs and shoals.
In all, the United States built about 1,500 lighthouses. Much depends on how strictly you de ne “lighthouse,” but today only about half of those towers remain. Not all are active aids to navigation. At most, about 850 lighthouses were operational at any given
James “Woody” Woodward, considered the “Dean” of the few remaining lampists, works on a Fourth Order Fresnel lens from the South Bu alo Lighthouse.
The Tennessee Reef Light, o Long Key State Park in the Florida Keys, is a skeleton tower built in 1933.
time. e number peaked around 1910, and more and more lights began going dark when the Coast Guard began an automation program in the 1960s and many formerly manned towers gave way to pole-type light structures.
Lighthouses varied individually in wood, stone, brick, metal, or concrete, each having a distinctive and identifying daymark look and light characteristic, most commonly xed or sequence ashing in white, red, or green. Each also presents its own distinctive set of preservation challenges. Over the past four decades, a new generation of lighthouse engineering and preservation experts has developed the expertise to meet them, but in some areas—particularly the vanishing art of the “lampist,” who cares for optics and the classical Fresnel lighthouse lenses—recruitment remains a need.
Lighthouse preservation is rooted in early movements by communitybased organizations, such as the late Bill Davis’s Rochester, New York-based Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse preservation group in the 1980s or the Junior Service League’s work with preservationist Cullen Chambers to restore the
St. Augustine Lighthouse. In 1972, Ann Caneer began leading an e ort that turned the decaying Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse into a showpiece light station museum. A dozen years later, Charlotte Johnson launched an exemplary e ort to restore the Rose Island Lighthouse o Newport, Rhode Island. Hyper-local e orts by groups all across the country to save “their” local lighthouse have been invaluable. But by the early 1980s, regional and then national groups also started to form. ese organizations, and especially the United States Lighthouse Society (USLHS), founded in 1984 by “Mr. Lighthouse,” Wayne C. Wheeler, have done much to unite the preservation movement and develop preservation standards. e USLHS works closely with the US Coast Guard, the federal agency with the most (but not all) lighthouses, to promote and enable preservation. e USLHS also held a virtual symposium on the National Lighthouse Preservation Act process and is working on symposia on lens conservation and coastal erosion challenges to be included in the 12th Maritime Heritage Conference.
Strong regional groups include the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association, the Florida Lighthouse Association, the New England-based American Lighthouse Foundation, and lighthouse societies on the Chesapeake and Outer Banks. e movement has had two key national publications, the quarterly Keeper’s Log journal of the US Lighthouse Society and, until recently, Lighthouse Digest magazine, started by the late Tim Harrison in Maine.
Regional and national groups continue a long series of lighthouse conferences and workshops for heritage, preservation, and professional development. ere was a seminal meeting of keepers’ families, the Coast Guard, and preservationists at Maine’s Samoset Resort late in 1985 and a reunion of Outer Banks keepers’ families organized by Cheryl Roberts and others, and the small Lighthouse Preservation Society in Massachusetts organized a pioneering national conference in Washington, DC, a year or two later. More extensive conferences and lighthouse festivals followed, including lighthouse presentations organized by the American Lighthouse Council and
Construction of the St. George Reef Light Station is considered one of the greatest challenges in US lighthouse building history. Built on a rock six miles from shore o Crescent City, California, it is one of the most exposed light stations on the Pacific coast. The site was selected a er several maritime accidents occurred in the area, especially a er the 1865 wreck of the paddlesteamer Brother Jonathan took the lives of more than 200 people. The lighthouse took eight years to build and was first illuminated in 1892. The Coast Guard decommissioned it in 1975 and replaced it with a Large Navigational Buoy (LNB). The lighthouse is leased by the St. George Reef Lighthouse Preservation Society; it was relit in 2002 and serves as a private aid to navigation.
the United States Lighthouse Society for the triennial/quadrennial series of large multi-discipline Maritime Heritage Conferences.
ere also are several quality lighthouse-related websites, myriad local lighthouse museums, and at least two national-level museums. e late Ken Black, a retired Coast Guard chief warrant o cer (CWO) and cutter captain, laid the foundation for his Maine Lighthouse Museum in Rockland by gaining Coast Guard permission to collect outdated lighthouse artifacts while he was assigned to the Boston-based district. Around the turn of this century, a steering committee headed by Ralph Eshelman of Maryland explored the idea and located a National Lighthouse Museum, now led by Linda Dianto, at the former US Lighthouse Service national depot in Staten Island.
e largest online presence remains that of the US Lighthouse Society (www.uslhs.org), as USLHS continues to evolve as the research and resource hub for the entire lighthouse community. Its research database, now at about four terabytes and rapidly growing, incorporates National Archives material and keepers’ records from a federal repository in St. Louis, extensive photographs and architectural drawings, and a growing list of private research collections such as that of the late J. Candace Cli ord, a renowned lighthouse author and historian. Its print library is capably conserved and maintained by the Mariners’ Museum in Virginia.
Long based in San Francisco, the Society is now located at Point No Point Lighthouse on Puget Sound. Among its preservation and management projects are the lightship WLV-605 in Oakland (acquired by the USLHS in 1986 and subsequently restored; it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989), the 1875 omas Point Shoal lighthouse near Annapolis, and
the Point Wilson light in the State of Washington. Under executive director Je Gales, work has been done with state and federal agencies on planning the restoration of California’s Alcatraz Lighthouse, although the pandemic stalled that e ort. e 3,200-member Society also o ers domestic and international lighthouse tours, publishes books, manages lighthouse vacation rentals, runs the only national preservation grant program within the lighthouse movement, provides lighthouse lesson outlines prepared by educator and author Elinor DeWire for school use, and has funded research and academic internships.
Current USLHS president Henry Gonzalez, who led the preservation of omas Point Shoal Lighthouse, has established a Lighthouse Managers Advisory Group to promote discussions among preservation practitioners. e Society also hosts historian Jeremy D’Entremont’s podcast Light Hearted (currently at over 300 episodes), to preserve the movement’s developing history and help knit the national and international community together. Retired Coast Guard RADM Dan May, a USLHS board member who played a role in the Maine Lights Program and worked with the late Senator Ted Kennedy to keep a symbolic keeper on duty at Boston Light, is playing a key role in developing new lens preservation policies.
Statistics don’t always tell the story. Preserving America’s lighthouse heritage requires more than the physical work of restoring and maintaining lighthouses. It means preserving the stories of the keepers and their families. e human story in lighthouse heritage is at least as important as the bricks and mortar. e human perspective also prompts the most common question modern preservation lightkeepers are asked: What draws so many people to lighthouses?
I think it’s because they speak to the soul.
In our 40 years as keepers, my wife Stacey and I have talked to visitors from every state and territory and 50 other nations on six continents. ere is a common bond that unites casual visitors and passionate lighthouse tourists alike. It rests in the symbolism of lighthouses, and their embodiment of the human spirit.
If there is magic anywhere on the planet, it exists in water and on the edges of things. Lighthouses stand at the boundaries of land and water, part of both worlds, and they simultaneously bid us to venture outward on voyages of exploration and welcome us home to safe harbor, home, and family. at is our nature, and it is the nature of lighthouses as well.
I think lighthouse visitors feel that, even if it’s not conscious thought. You can see that in the excited wonder of children ready to climb a tall tower, and of seniors accepting that challenge because their own spirit still compels them upward. I’ve had a bride in her wedding gown climb my dusty lighthouse on her special day, and a young woman who told me a tour I gave her family when she was four inspired her to a career in historic preservation. Lightkeeping has its rewards.
Lighthouses send us forth, and draw us together, and, always, they remind us to keep a good light.
Mike Vogel is immediate past president of the US Lighthouse Society and president of the Bu alo Lighthouse Association. He also served on New York State’s Bu alo Harbor redevelopment corporation and on the content development team for the Erie Canal Bicentennial exhibit that will be part of the 12th Maritime Heritage Conference. (US Lighthouse Society: www.uslhs.org)
Mystic Seaport Museum
by Michael P. Dyer
The Curator’s Corner series in Sea History o ers maritime museums the opportunity to feature historical photos from their collections that, while available to researchers upon request, rarely go on public display. Each issue, we ask a museum curator to pick a particularly interesting, revealing, or representative photo from their archives and tell us about it. In this installment, we are invited into the archives of Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut. Enjoy!
Some photographs deliberately document signi cant events. Some are “snapshots” of no apparent importance, apart, perhaps, from the whim or chance of the photographer. Others are purely evocative, beautifully composed works of art that combine elements into a pleasing or dramatic whole. is image, captured by an unidenti ed photographer, showing the United States Lines ocean liner SS America in New York Harbor, may possibly be of the documentary sort, but it is absolutely a work of art. What makes it so? In composition, the photographer has captured all the requisite elements, including the height of the ship with all its derricks, masts, and stacks; the texture and movement of the smoke, steam, and ags in the wind; and the power and teamwork of the waterline tugboats. Even with all that, it still retains the static experience of the onlookers standing high up at the ship’s bow, observing the proceedings and taking in the view. We empathize with them, now and forever, sharing in that moment. It’s a great maritime photo.
Understanding the scene, in whole or in part, demands a bit of work, not so much on the part of the viewer—it being such a ne photo—but rather on the part of whoever is writing the caption (in this case, me). at’s no surprise. Documenting ships and scenes for public consumption is what we do. Fortunately, we hold a companion photo from the same scrapbook (also anonymous), of the America around the same time, outward bound with a deck full of passengers. Again, the ship has a heavy escort of tugs easily identi ed by name. It’s simply a matter of triangulation and observation. By identifying the tugboats, we can date the image. By observing the bands on the stacks (red with a white band and a blue band), we can con dently identify this period of America’s career as a United States Line steamer. One of the tugboats, the US Shipping Board tug Whistler (188 tons, built in Camden, New Jersey, 1920) served New York, and gives 1920 as an early starting date for that photo.
e America (21,145 tons, built by Harland & Wol , Belfast, Ireland, 1905) had a long and interesting history. Originally named Amerika, it was built for the HamburgAmerica Line and registered in Germany. Seized by the US Shipping Board at the outbreak of World War I, the name was changed to America. It served as a troop carrier during and immediately after the war, including a rescue mission to Vladivostok to help transport 40,000 Czech soldiers out of Russia at the height of the Bolshevik Revolution. SS America rst sailed as a passenger liner for the United States Line (previously known as the United States Mail Steamship Company) in June 1921, serving New York, Plymouth, Cherbourg, and Bremen. As the line began service in 1921, we gain not only an early date, but also, perhaps, the impetus for the photograph: it becomes a documentary of an event after all. ese vessels were the rst to provide such civilian service from New York after the war. Many advertisements appear in the newspapers of the 1920s for the America and SS George Washington (33,000 tons, built in Bremen, Germany, 1908), and other ships of the line. is photo is from that period.
e tugboat in the foreground is the W. F. Dalzell (147 tons, built in Tottenville, New York, 1912). It was still in service when the photo was taken around 1921 and would remain in service for many years. e Dalzell Towing Company, founded in 1883 by Frederick Briggs Dalzell (1861–1916), had become one of the foremost towboat companies in New York by the 1920s. e other two tugs in the photo are also Dalzell Towing Company vessels, either the Dalzellea (173 tons, built in New York, 1920) or, more likely, judging from its size and appearance, the Dalzelline (125 tons, built in Tottenville, New York, 1902). is photo is a ne example of both the art of photography and its documentary value. Now we just need to identify the photographer.
Michael P. Dyer is the Curator of Maritime History at Mystic Seaport Museum.
The Photography Collection at Mystic Seaport Museum is the largest of its kind in the United States and includes the Rosenfeld Collection, depicting the America’s Cup and other yacht races, sail and motor yachts; the Carleton Mitchell Collection, documenting yacht races and Caribbean travel; and historic photographs spanning over 150 years of American commercial and recreational maritime activity, from New England shipbuilding to Arctic exploration. Images include onboard, shipyard, and waterfront scenes, portraits of shipmasters and other mariners, and Inuit life and culture.
Last year, Greg Bailey was hired as the new captain of the brig Niagara, an operational replica of the famous sailing ship that won the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813. Niagara is based out of Erie, Pennsylvania, on Lake Erie. Even though he’s been onboard as captain for less than a year, Greg has known this ship most of his life. He grew up in Erie, and when his father and older brother started volunteering on the tall ship down on the city’s waterfront on summer weekends, Greg tagged along. He was only 12, but soon he was a regular member of the volunteer crew. He loved learning from the professional crew, who he said were great teachers and were happy to pass along the skills of traditional seafaring. He also really loved listening to the stories of their adventures working on di erent ships and sailing all over the world. By the time he was graduating from high school, he had made up his mind and knew that sailing tall ships was something he wanted to do for a career.
Working aboard traditional sailing ships isn’t just a job, it’s a lifestyle. For those who get their experience coming “up through the hawse” vs. going to a maritime academy for formal training, there are many years where you live onboard ships full time, month after month, year after year. It’s not for everyone, but for some, it is precisely the life they want.
Greg’s years volunteering aboard Niagara taught him the way of a ship and the attitude he would need to pursue traditional seafaring as a career. You need to be able to handle working in all kinds of conditions, from high up in the rig in the cold wind and rain to down in the heat and stench of the
engine room. Besides the physical work of running a ship, you have to be good with people. Most of the vessels Greg has worked in run educational programs or do public tours in ports when they visit.
“For the rst several years of my career, I spent the majority of my time living and working in di erent ships, learning seamanship and vessel operations from di erent mates and captains.” is experience wasn’t just limited to sailing ships; he also served aboard powered vessels, such as tugboats and a break-bulk carrier. Greg continued: “I had very little time ashore in those early years, and I would not be in the position I am in today without the diverse experience that I was able to gain by sailing in so many ships with so many people.”
Working aboard a traditional sailing ship isn’t just learning how to operate a vessel, it also involves learning how to take care of it. Most of these ships are run by relatively small crews,
and everyone onboard has to learn how to do everything the ship might need, from carpentry to plumbing, engineering, rigging, sail repair, painting, cooking, and cleaning. Lots and lots of cleaning.
As Greg became more experienced, he got jobs with more responsibility: senior deckhand, mate/o cer, and eventually captain. ose higher-level jobs require a merchant marine license, which is issued by the US Coast Guard. “I currently hold a 1600-ton ocean master’s license, which is more than I need to command Niagara, but it is an indication of a long career with lots of experience.”
Niagara is owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, serving as a sailing ambassador for the state while interpreting the history of the Battle of Lake Erie and operating as a sail training ship for volunteers and crew. As a tourist attraction in Erie, the ship also contributes to the local economy. She is sailed in the spring, summer, and
fall, and downrigged and winterized during the coldest months of the year. Rigging and downrigging the ship is a complicated process, especially because most of the work is done the old-fashioned way, without a lot of modern tools like cranes and hydraulics to do the heavy lifting. “All is accomplished with block and tackles, capstans, and muscle power,” he explains.
As captain, Greg is responsible for the ship itself and all who come aboard. His typical day looks di erent depending on the season. “In the summer months, when the ship is in active service, my day begins with a morning muster [meeting as a group] to discuss the day’s activities. I work closely with the mates, the bosun, and the engineer to determine what work needs to be done to keep the ship sailing safely and how to best divide the work among the crew so that as many people have the chance to learn as much as possible.”
When the ship is underway, the captain is in charge of everything and everyone: navigation, maneuvering, safety drills, lessons on seamanship, and even teaching the history of ghting sail. is is only achievable by delegating tasks to the ship’s o cers and senior crewmembers. “An important aspect of leadership is communicating with your crew and trusting them to
carry out the needs of the ship in the most e cient, safe, and professional way possible.”
In the winter months, Greg spends his time planning for maintenance projects big and small, speaking to local schools and community organizations to teach people about the ship and hopefully get them interested in signing onboard the next summer for a sailing program. is is also the time
to scout out talent and hire people for the next sailing season. “It’s not all swashbuckling excitement,” Greg explains, “there is also a fair amount of boring administrative tasks that keep me in front of a computer, updating documents and paying bills—stu like that.”
is year, Niagara will not be running her usual programs. Instead, Greg and his crew are taking the vessel to a shipyard on the East Coast for extensive restoration work, which will include, among other tasks, new engines and new generators, replacement of damaged and rotten wood in the ship’s hull, and upgrading the electrical and plumbing systems. e goal is to have the ship up and running in all her glory in time to be back in Erie for July 2026 to serve as a centerpiece for the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations.
(www.eriemaritimemuseum.org)
Then-deckhand Greg Bailey in full foul weather gear, stowing a jib on the headrig of the schooner Lewis R. French.
The Niagara coming into port in Lorain, Ohio.
Welcome to the Sea History for Kids “Ocean Classics Top 10 Countdown!”
In the next several issues, we will be sharing our top ten favorite stories set at sea: books wri!en for younger audiences, usually with young people as the main characters.
e’re starting o! the countdown with #10, The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera (published in 1987, and adapted and released as a film in 2002). This is the story of Kahu, the great-granddaughter of a Māori tribal leader from Whangara on the north coast of Aotearoa New Zealand. She is named a#er the tribe’s first ancestor, Kahutia Te Rangi, who was said to have ridden upon a whale to discover Aotearoa some 800 years ago, establishing the tribe’s spiritual connection to marine life, and whales in particular.
Kahu has great mana, meaning she was born with powerful prestige, charisma, and leadership abilities, and she hopes to become chief someday. Even though her greatgrandfather and others insist that only males can become chief, she works hard studying her Māori heritage. As a young girl, Kahu also discovered that she had a gi# for connecting with ocean life.
One night, more than 200 whales stranded on the beach near her home, including a large male—the bull. Along with the others in her village, Kahu struggled to try to save the pod. The narrator, her uncle, explains: “There were no television cameras or radio newsmen to see what occurred in Whangara the following night. Perhaps it was just as well, because even now it all seems like a dream. Perhaps, also, the drama that night was only meant to be seen by the tribe and nobody else.” Kahu saved the day and succeeded in ge ing the whales back out to sea, stunning her community, who then embraces her role and her destiny.
When Witi Ihimaera published The Whale Rider, it was the first novel published in English by a person of Māori descent. The story is set in the 1980s and reflects the rejuvenation of Māori pride and tradition that was taking place at the time. This was also an important period when people around the world were beginning to take whale conservation seriously. In 1985 the International Whaling Commission agreed upon a global ban on commercial whaling, which is still in place today. Ihimaera was living in New York City during this time, working as a diplomat, but he was homesick and missing his daughters. When the local news station reported that a whale was swimming up the Hudson River, he was inspired to write The Whale Rider as a way to embrace his heritage and honor his daughters.
Stay tuned for #9 in the next issue. Feel free to email your favorites to seahistorykids@gmail.com. You just might be able to sway the judges! —Richard J. King
Witi Ihimaera
Kahu approached the giant bull and “without really thinking about it ... began to stroke the whale just behind the fin,” communicating with him in a way that came naturally to her. In the film, Kahu was played by 12-year-old Keisha Castle-Hughes.
ANIMALS IN SEA HISTORY by
Richard J. King
One of the best places to learn how to surf in the United States is o! Cowell’s Beach in Santa Cruz, California. It’s a wide cove just around the bend from the famous break, “Steamer Lane.” By the time the waves curl around the cli!s and under a copse of cypress trees to Cowell’s Beach, they are gentler—rolling in regular, long, clean lines that are ideal for surfing. Local people of all ages ride the waves there, as well as tourists and groups taking lessons. Cormorants, terns, gulls, and pelicans circle overhead and dive into the surf to feast on schools of anchovies.
In the distance, sea lions bark from their haul-out on the wharf. On occasion, you can see a pod of dolphins or a humpback whale breaching in the distance o! shore. Sea o ers o#en hang out in the kelp and have even jumped onto a surfboard a couple of times, making national news. Yet the surfers’ most common animal interaction here is with harbor seals.
A surfer jumps into a wave at Steamer Lane, while a group of sea lions observes from a rocky outcrop just o the beach. A harbor seal is surely in the water, ready to watch the surfer!
The harbor seals at Cowell’s like to pop their heads out of the water and silently watch the scene around them. They observe the action with huge black eyes, which have evolved to see well underwater in low light.
The water is cold at Cowell’s, usually about 55˚ F. The seals manage just fine with their thick layer of blubber. They o#en spend entire weeks at a time in the ocean. Most of the human surfers in the water wear full wetsuits, o#en with neoprene hoods and booties. The surfers in their black wetsuits look more than a li le seal-like, especially since harbor seals and people are about the same length. Many worry that sharks in the area think surfers paddling on a board look just like seals, a favorite prey.
Marine biologists recognize a total of nineteen “true” seals worldwide. True seals, in contrast to the sea lions, fur seals, and walruses, do not have external earflaps and, unlike those just mentioned, their smaller fore flippers can’t rotate forward to enable them to walk on land. The harbor seal, also known as the common seal and by other names, lives around the coasts and islands of the North Pacific, from Japan to Alaska, and down to southern California. Harbor seals also live in the Atlantic Ocean, from the Carolina coast northwards to the Arctic and along the coasts of Greenland, Iceland, Scandinavia, and eastward to the English Channel.
In Central California at Cowell’s Beach, occasionally harbor seals grow bored of watching the surfers and decide to catch a wave themselves. They glide across the water and ride the inside face of the wave as it curls over before crashing and turning into foam. Sometimes seals wait their turn, catching a wave right a#er a person does. At other times, a few may share the same wave.
I once had a seal dart directly underneath my board. I worried that my board’s fin had scraped its back, but the seal was probably well aware of where it was and was just playing around. Local surfer and photographer Terry Way told me a seal once slid up onto his paddleboard. Other seals have nipped and tugged at his ankle leash.
Surfing was first introduced to Californians by three Hawaiian princes—
Surfing as a sport was introduced to Californians in 1885 by three Hawaiian princes who were visiting Santa Cruz. In this photo from 1898, a Hawaiian surfer carries his board into the water, eyeing the waves o Waikiki Beach.
This harbor seal looks ready to paddle in to catch a small wave
nephews of Queen Kapi‘olani—who visited Santa Cruz in 1885. At that time, it’s unlikely that they saw seals in the area. Indigenous people of the various Ohlone tribes, who have lived for more than 10,000 years along this coast, hunted seals and other marine mammals in small numbers. Yet it was Russian, British, and American hunters who inflicted nearly irreparable damage when they sailed to the West Coast to hunt seals, sea lions, and o ers for their pelts and oil. Harbor seals did not provide much oil because of their smaller size, but their spo ed skins were prized for luxury clothing. Meanwhile, fishermen in the late 1800s and much of the 1900s shot seals to protect “their” fish.
Slowly, fashions changed, people switched from animals to petroleum for oils, kelp habitat returned, and general public opinion shi#ed to mostly view these animals as cute. Big-wave legend Richard Schmidt, who started the first surf school in Santa Cruz in 1978, told me that harbor seals are the “mascots of surfers” because they are so much like dogs in the water. Schmidt has observed that, along with so much of the marine life along the California Coast, seal populations have grown healthier since the 1980s.
The Marine Mammal Protection Act (1972) had a huge positive impact, making it illegal to approach these animals. Surfing o! Santa Cruz, I’ve yet to see anyone paddle toward a seal. When they come in close contact, it is because the seal has approached the human surfer. The rookeries for the Cowell’s harbor seals—where they mate, give birth, and molt—are far from the crowds, adding another layer of protection. So, generations of harbor seals have now been swimming over to Cowell’s for decades for the surfing entertainment. Well, okay, probably for the fish, too.
Adult and juvenile harbor seals (Phoca vitulina richardii) hauled out on the beach in Elkhorn Slough, California, across Monterey Bay from Santa Cruz. Marine biologists have identified five subspecies of harbor seal, separated by their geography.
For previous Animals in Sea History, visit www.seahistory.org or check out the book Ocean Bestiary: Meeting Marine Life from Abalone to Orca to Zooplankton, which is a revised collection of 19 years of this column!
MARLINSPIKE NEWS: SAILING SHIPS & SAIL TRAINING
by Captain Michael Rutstein
A Gam with Captain Jan Miles, Pride of Baltimore II
Jan Miles, senior captain of the world-voyaging topsail schooner Pride of Baltimore II, has been involved with Pride of Baltimore, Inc., since 1981. The original Pride of Baltimore was built to serve as an ambassador representing the City of Baltimore, both within local waters and around the world. Between 1977 and 1986, Pride of Baltimore extended the hand of friendship to countless visitors who crossed her decks and even more spectators who admired her from shore or from other vessels. In nine years, she logged more than 150,000 nautical miles, a distance equal to six times around the globe.
Pride of Baltimore came to a tragic end on 14 May 1986. On her return passage from a successful European campaign, the vessel was struck by a microburst squall north of Puerto Rico. Within minutes, the schooner sank. The ship, her captain, and three crew members were lost at sea. A er her tragic end, an outpouring of public support inspired Pride of Baltimore, Inc., to go forward with building a new ship. By late summer that same year, plans for a new vessel were already underway. She would be named Pride of Baltimore II and resume the original Pride’s mission and serve as a sailing memorial to the lost schooner and her crew.
Captain Miles was the first to sail the original Pride to Europe and was at the helm for Pride 2’s maiden voyage in 1988. He has six Atlantic crossings under his belt, as well as three Pacific voyages. In addition to his time aboard both Prides, he has also served as master or mate aboard Lady Maryland, Californian, Bill of Rights, New Way, Alexandria, Brilliant, Clearwater, Elissa, Oliver Hazard Perry, and Tiare Toporo.
Marlinspike: At what point did you realize that this job was the one that you were going to be remembered for?
Capt. Jan Miles: In those early years, I didn’t have the kind of ambition to be thinking about a legacy. My goal was simply a job done properly. Going back to my youth, I had no vision of the future. I was eighteen years old and a lazy student. My father came to me and he said, “I’ve been keeping your sea-going log.” I said, “So?” He said, “Well, you could sit for a license.” I had been doing yacht delivery work as a high schooler. I had been depressed, being a foreign-service kid growing up overseas and had moved back to the States. So, my parents suggested I take a month away from school and sail with this friend of my dad’s. I got on this boat, and I was the
PHOTO BY JEFF KATZ
Pride of Baltimore II
greenest, the youngest… and I was sick as a dog for the ! rst leg down to Nassau. We had quite a bit of weather—it was a December departure. When we arrived, I got on the horn to Dad and he asked, “How’d it go?” I talked for ! fteen minutes non-stop. At the end of the phone call, he asked, “So, when do you want to come home?” I said, “Gee, do I have to?”
Because I had the log, I could sit for a license. I could support myself, and I would be ! ne. I had con !dence in myself, but I didn’t have any ambition.
When did I know I was going to have a legacy? I never thought in those terms! I went from boat to boat as an o cer and as a skipper. en I was chosen for a relief skipper job aboard the ! rst Pride. Armin Elsaesser had already been on the boat for a year, so I took over in May of 1981 and took her to the Great Lakes and back.
Long story short, I went back to Pride a number of times, with stints on other boats in between. When the ! rst Pride was lost, I was here in the o ce in Baltimore. I worked on other boats after the loss because I needed to earn a living, but then I got word that they were going to replace the boat.
A maritime career is an itinerant existence. e Holy Grail is a situation where you have year-round employment, but you’re not at sea all the time. In the tall ship industry, it’s almost impossible to ! nd that. So, when they said they were going to build a boat, I quizzed the company: Is this going to be a two-captain project?
ey’d enjoyed having Armin and me work together, so they said yes. I said, “I want to be the ! rst of the two captains,” and they agreed.
Now I had a year-round job but not a year-round go-to-sea lifestyle. I provided continuity to the ship and its mission because of my experience in the ! rst boat. ere was no other
program under the American ag that I was interested in. What could be better?
Marlinspike: ey say sailing these Baltimore clippers is like galloping bareback on a black mare on a moonless night. Is that justi !ed?
Capt. Miles: Pride 2 is not as tricky as the old boat because Pride 2 has the bene!t of greater size and extra freeboard, which historically would not have been the case. But she’s very representative of the old clippers. Pride 2 is the equivalent of jumping out of a small sports car into a Ferrari. If this is the ! rst time you’ve been in a Ferrari, you’ve got to be careful because of the amount of reserve power.
In friendly conditions, Pride 2 is a powerhouse. When you have an increase of wind from, say, 15 to 20 knots, all of a sudden, it’s “We’ve got to get some sail down!” You have to be
dialed in. She’s an unforgiving vessel if you’re not keeping an eye on the wind. e sail-training world is about inclusion and getting people to enjoy and learn about themselves. It’s about caution and care and teaching, and the masters are all oriented to that. Pride 2 is not a sail-training vessel. Pride 2 is a great professional-development vessel, but it’s not a sail-training vessel.
Marlinspike: You’re headed to the Great Lakes again this summer. What is that like for you—for the crew and for the boat?
Capt. Miles: A lot of drudgery, actually, with moments of great relief. You’re motoring up the St. Lawrence River, having done your best to sail around Nova Scotia and through the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It’s a lot of motoring, a lot of grinding, until you’re in Lake Huron and you get to go sailing again. at can be fun until you’re
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deep into the summer; then you’ve got to keep an eye on the sky.
My father grew up in Chicago. e ! rst time I told him I was taking Pride up into the Great Lakes, he said, “Well! e Lakes will make a man of you, boy!” e sea state on the Lakes is a di erent frequency. e walls of the seas are more vertical and closer together. Once you accept it, you don’t get surprised. But if you’re ignoring it—trying to go to windward—well, you don’t bury the head rig on Pride. You just don’t.
So, yes, the Great Lakes can be a grind. You do have these free moments between the long days of thousands of people crossing the deck, asking the same questions most of the time. You get some pretty nice sailing, but you’re de! nitely part of a circus, scurrying from place to place.
When you’ve never done it before, it’s fascinating. It’s visually interesting and a very di erent territory for a saltwater boat. But it’s a lot of work. For the new crew and for those who’ve never done it before, it’s an adventure and the chance to be part of a community, too. e crews mingle in port and get to enjoy each other’s company.
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Marlinspike: I assume the organization has a strong ! nancial incentive to do this route as often as they do.
Capt. Miles: Certainly. For most ship programs, to give up their local business and travel a thousand-plus miles in the hopes of improving their income—that’s a tall order. In the case of Pride, we’re not anchored that way. Our mission is to promote Maryland and the City of Baltimore and, at the same time, engage with the local public. Chartering in Baltimore does not generate signi !cant income for us. e boat’s built for international travel, long-distance voyages across open waters and telling a story. But the kind
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of itinerary you get in the Great Lakes cannot be matched elsewhere, because the alignment of ports just doesn’t occur on the Atlantic.
Marlinspike: You have been a professional mariner for over 50 years. In fact, it’s been 12 years since Tall Ships America gave you its Lifetime Achievement award! You’re an inspira tion to all of us. But how long can you keep going?
Capt. Miles: e physical part has been in the back of my mind for at least ten years. Our crew is not large enough for me to stand back and dele gate. I’ve got to bring some energy and some agility. I’m very fortunate with my partner captain, Je Crosby. He’s got the background and the knowledge of maintenance down. He’s gung-ho. He’s energetic— he’s half my age. But there’s another thing. My time with the company means I can help the board understand its responsibilities. “Why do we have to pay for this? And this?” I liken it to the airline business. e cost of maintaining an airplane is no small thing, but you can’t cheapen it or you’re going to wind up killing people. And then there’s this business of the legacy, which you asked about earlier. It’s a legitimate question. You’d better think long and hard about how you manage that. I feel a responsibility to that.
I also have no hobbies. My wife tells me, “You don’t have to retire. You just have to come home and take me sailing.” at’s slowly evolving to, perhaps, taking her driving and going on road trips when I’m home. is is possible because we have two captains, including one who’s really engaged with the maintenance and the training of the crew. I mean, what a relief! (Pride
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Rear Admiral Eric C. Jones, USCG (Ret.), was recently named superintendent of the Cal Poly Maritime Academy. !e appointment comes after a vote last November by the California State University board of trustees to merge the maritime academy and California Polytechnic State University. Jones will serve as the administrative leader and chief academic o cer of the academy, overseeing its merchant
mariner license-track programs and training vessels, the Corps of Cadets, port facilities, and other associated programs. A native of Half Moon, California, RADM Jones joins Cal Poly following more than 35 years of distinguished service in the US Coast Guard. His leadership roles included assistant commandant for human resources and commander of the Seventh District, where he oversaw operations across the Southeastern US and Caribbean and managed workforce systems for over 57,000 members. He also coordinated multi-agency responses during Hurricanes Dorian, Irma, and Maria, as well as the COVID pandemic. Jones is a graduate of the Coast Guard Academy, holds a master’s degree from MIT, and is a Fellow of Harvard’s
National Preparedness Leadership Initiative and MIT’s Seminar XXI on Foreign Policy and International Relations. NMHS knows him well from his service as the 27th commanding o cer of the USCG Barque Eagle and from his involvement in numerous NMHS events. Cal Poly and Cal Maritime will begin operating administratively as one university, Cal Poly, effective 1 July 2025. Academic integration will continue over the following year, with the rst Cal Poly Maritime Academy students enrolling in autumn 2026. (www.calpoly.edu/maritime) …
In March, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS) announced the discovery of the shipwreck site of the steel steamer Western Reserve, about 60 miles northwest of White ! sh Point in Lake Superior. !e site was identi ed last summer using Marine Sonic Technology side-scan sonar and dives using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). !e 301-foot shipwreck lies in two pieces; the bow section rests on top of the stern at a depth of approximately 600 feet. One of the rst all-steel vessels on the Great Lakes, Western Reserve had a reputation for speed in the cargo trade. Her owner, shipping magnate Captain Peter G. Minch, was onboard the ship for a transit to Two Harbors, Minnesota, in August 1892, with a large part
of his family aboard. On the evening of 30 August, the ship was overcome in a gale and broke in two, sinking shortly thereafter. !e Minch family and the crew were able to board and launch the ship’s two lifeboats, but one overturned and the other lifeboat’s occupants were only able to recover two of those men. !e lifeboat made it to within about one mile of the lake’s southeastern shoreline when it overturned in the breakers. Only helmsman Harry W. Stewart of Algonac, Michigan, survived. “Every shipwreck has its own story, but some are just that much more tragic,” re$ected GLSHS Executive Director Bruce Lynn. “It is hard to imagine that Captain Peter G. Minch would have foreseen any trouble when he invited his wife, two young children, and sister-in-law with her daughter
RADM Eric C. Jones, USCG (Ret.)
Great Lakes Steamship Western Reserve
Side-scan sonar image of the Western Reserve wreck site
aboard the Western Reserve for a summer cruise up the lakes. It just reinforces how dangerous the Great Lakes can be…any time of year.” (Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, White sh Point, 18335 N. White sh Point Road, Paradise, MI; www.shipwreckmuseum.com)
… Mystic Seaport Museum recently signed a letter of intent to transfer the ship Joseph Conrad to the Danish organization Red Verdens Aeldste Skoleskib (Save the world’s oldest training ship), pending funding to bring the ship back to Denmark. Built in Copenhagen in 1882 as the Georg Stage, the 111-foot full-rigged ship sailed under three $ ags before coming to Mystic Seaport in 1947. !e purposebuilt training ship was designed to accommodate 80 boys preparing for careers in the Danish merchant service. !e iron-hulled square rigger was one of the rst training vessels to teach youth safety and seamanship. In 1934, she was
purchased by Capt. Alan Villiers, who renamed her the Joseph Conrad. Villiers continued using her as a training platform, sailing 58,000 miles around the world with an amateur crew in 1934–1936. In 1947, the ship came to Mystic Seaport to house students learning to
sail small boats in the Mystic Mariner Program’s Conrad Camp. Mystic Seaport Museum is actively looking for a suitable vessel to house future students in this beloved and impactful program. (MSM, www.mysticseaport.org. RVAS, www.redskoleskib.dk) …
Joseph Conrad
Galvestonians, check your attics! e Galveston Historical Foundation (GHF) is looking for photos of the Port of Galveston, particularly from 1950 to the present, and the 2003 implosion of [grain] Elevator B. !e GalveScan program o ers free professional scanning services for historic photographs, documents, and other Galveston-focused memorabilia, such as postcards and local ephemera. Participants in the program are required to sign a release form a rming that the items aren’t copyrighted or owned by an outside party and grants permission to the GHF to use the images. Once the originals are scanned, they are returned, along with a digital copy of the scans. !e GHF retains the digital records in its archives to add to its collective history of the city. !e program was created after Hurricane Ike hit the city in 2008, claiming the photo legacy of many families, as a means of helping the community preserve treasured photographs via digital backups against the potential of future storms. To date, 38 people have participated in the program, contributing nearly 2,300 photos and other ephemera to the GHF archives. One of the most signi cant donations the GHF has received is a 1926 photo album
Will Ho man, Director of Conservation and Chief Conservator at The Mariners’ Museum, inside USS Monitor’s turret when it was drained temporarily in March.
belonging to a former port director of the Port of Galveston. In 1926, he hired a photographer and chartered an airplane to shoot aerial photographs of the working port and Galveston Island. A non-pro t organization devoted to historic preservation and history in Galveston County, the GHF is also committed to community redevelopment, historic preservation advocacy, maritime preservation, coastal resiliency, and stewardship of historic properties. In 1978, the GHF brought the 1877 iron barque Elissa to Galveston, where she was subsequently restored
and today serves as a fully operational museum ship and the o cial tall ship of Texas. (GHF, 2002 Strand, Galveston, TX; www.galvestonhistory.org. !ose interested in the GalveScan program can email jami.durham@galvestonhistory.org) … In March, e Mariners’ Museum and Park drained the tank that contains the revolving gun turret from the ironclad USS Monitor to assess the progress of its conservation treatment. !e turret has been submerged in 90,000 gallons of alkaline solution to remove corrosioninducing ocean salts; eventually it will be dried out and put on display. ! is was the rst time the tank has been drained since 2019. “Every time we drain the tank, the turret remains as impressive as the rst time I saw it. To be able to see its scale and know the impact that it had on world history makes being part of its conservation and preservation both extremely rewarding and humbling,” said Will Ho man, the museum’s director of
This 1930s-era linen postcard of the Port of Galveston, Texas, was scanned as part of the Galveston Historical Foundation’s GalveScan Program.
conservation. Monitor sank in an 1862 storm o Cape Hatteras, North Carolina; the shipwreck site was identi ed in 1973 and became the nation’s rst National Marine Sanctuary two years later. !e Mariners’ Museum and Park is the designated principal repository for recovered materials related to USS Monitor !e turret was raised in 2002 in a collaborative e ort involving divers, archaeologists, engineers, the US Navy, NOAA, and Mariners’ personnel. (Museum Drive, Newport News, VA; www.marinersmuseum.org) … e Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) hosted a ceremony in March to launch the MIT Maritime
Consortium, which aims to address climate-harming emissions in the shipping industry, while supporting e orts for environmentally friendly operation in compliance with the decarbonization goals set by the International Maritime Organization. !e consortium will be led by !emis Sapsis, the William Koch Professor of Marine Technology at MIT and the director of MIT’s Center for Ocean Engineering, and Ford International Professor of the Social Sciences Fotini Christia, involving collaborators from MIT entities, including the Center for Ocean Engineering, the departments of Nuclear Science and Engineering,
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Civil and Environmental Engineering, and MIT Sea Grant. !e consortium’s other founding members are the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corp., and HD Korea Shipbuilding and O shore Engineering. Innovation members are Foresight-Group, Navios Maritime Partners LP, Singapore Maritime Institute, and Dorian LPG. Internationally, the merchant shipping $eet numbers around 110,000 vessels. !ese ships, and the ports that service them, are signi cant contributors to the local and global economy, but they are also signi cant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. !e consortium seeks to
address designs and methods that improve e ciency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, alternative fuels, hydrodynamics, and cybersecurity. “!e challenges the maritime industry faces are challenges that no individual company or organization can address alone,” says Christia. “ !e solution involves almost every discipline from the School of Engineering, as well as AI and datadriven algorithms, and policy and regulation—it’s a true MIT problem.” (MIT, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA; www.mit.edu) … Come on, Texas! Sea History 190, featuring the battleship USS Texas on the cover, hadn’t even hit the newsstands in March when the Galveston Wharves Board of Trustees announced its decision to approve a permanent berth for the ship at Pier 15. In 2022, the 111-year-old battleship departed from the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site, which had been her home since 1948, to undergo a major multi-year restoration in Galveston’s Copper Shipyard. It had been decided prior to her departure that she would not be returning to the San Jacinto site because she had not been attracting enough foot tra c in that location to pay for her upkeep.
A number of sites on the Galveston waterfront had been proposed but not accepted over concerns about a massive ship blocking the view of the waterfront from a local restaurant and the potential of a nearly 600-foot ship blocking the channel in a hurricane. !e current location was selected after input from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (the State of Texas owns the vessel); the Battleship Texas Foundation, which manages her; the US Coast Guard; the US Army Corps of Engineers; and the Galveston-Texas City Pilots. !e Battleship Texas Foundation hopes to open the ship to visitors later this year. (BTF, One Riverway, Suite 2200, Houston, TX; www.battleshiptexas.org) … Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced in a shipnaming ceremony in January that the T-AGOS 25 (tactical auxiliary general ocean surveillance) ocean surveillance ships ordered by the US Navy would be designated the Explorer class, and that the ! rst two ships of that group, respectively, would be given the names USNS Don Walsh (T-AGOS 25) and Victor
Vescovo (T-AGOS 26). “ !ese ships are essential to maintaining strategic deterrence and operational awareness in the world’s oceans,” said Del Toro. “ !ere is no one better to name for the rst ship than Captain Don Walsh, a man whose life and career embody the very essence of exploration, innovation, and dedication to our Navy and our Nation. In naming the second T-AGOS, no one is more deserving than Commander Victor Vescovo, for his explorations in the air, on land, and under the seas as well as his many scienti c contributions.” T-AGOS vessels are operated by the Military Sealift Command. !ey support US Navy antisubmarine warfare (ASW) operations and gather underwater acoustical data to support the mission of the Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS) by providing a ship platform capable of theater anti-submarine acoustic passive and active surveillance. In 1960 Lt. Don Walsh (USN) (1931–2023) and Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard dove the bathyscaphe Trieste in a historic voyage to the Mariana Trench, the deepest place in the world’s oceans.
Ba leship Texas Steam Yachts at War
Howard I. Chapelle Sailing to Freedom
Lt. Don Walsh, USN, (le ) and scientist Jacques Piccard back on the surface a er their historic dive to the bo om of the Marianas Trench, 23 January 1960.
After a 24-year naval career, Walsh retired from the US Navy and became a professor of ocean engineering at the University of Southern California; he was the founding director of the Institute for Marine and Coastal Studies. He then founded the Oregon-based consulting company, International Maritime Inc., participating in expeditions such as dives to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge near the Azores, to the wreck of RMS Titanic, and to the WWII German battleship Bismarck. Commander Victor Lance Vescovo, USN (Ret.) is a private equity investor, explorer, and retired naval intelligence o cer who currently holds the world record for the deepest dive of a manned vessel to Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench. He was the rst person to reach Earth’s highest and lowest points. Following his dive to Challenger Deep in his custom-built submersible Limiting Factor, Vescovo completed his own “Five Deeps” challenge, descending to the lowest points in the Earth’s oceans. A winter inspection of the sloop Providence at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (CBMM) revealed the need for more than the usual maintenance. Damage from rot was identi ed in several spars, including the lower mast and samson post; a substantial portion of the rig will need to be replaced. In order to be able to continue the ship’s programming in Alexandria, Virginia, in the latter half of this year, Tall Ship Providence Foundation made the decision to conduct the repairs in two stages, but it will require forgoing the ability to operate under sail during the 2025 season. !e rst stage will address the most critical structural problems, and any issues essential to the safety of passengers and crew. Providence is expected to return to Alexandria by the end of July for seasonal programs dockside. !e second stage of repairs will take place when the sloop returns to CBMM in
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AND SHIPYARDS: THE RUSSELLS OF NEW YORK HARBOR, 1844–1962, winner of the Steamship Historical Society’s 2020 C. Bradford Mitchell Award. Hilary Russell recounts the full lives and remarkable accomplishments of the three generations of watermen and the often beautiful, sometimes original, evolving forms of the craft that objecti ed the family’s work. $31—order through AbeBooks, PayPal, or mail a check to: Berkshire Boat Building School, PO Box 578, She eld, MA 01257.
122 YEARS ON THE OLD BAY LINE by Jack Shaum is the winner of the Maryland Center for History and Culture’s 2023 M.V. Brewington Prize for maritime writing about Chesapeake Bay. It is the history of the Baltimore Steam Packet Company, better known as the Old Bay Line, perhaps the most famous steamboat line on Chesapeake Bay. It operated more than fty steamers carrying passengers and freight nightly between Baltimore and Norfolk and was noted for its outstanding service, exquisite cuisine, and ne accommodations. !e book features many outstanding photographs by noted photojournalist Hans Marx, most of which have not been published before. Softback, 160 pages, $25.99. Available from Arcadia Publishing, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and others.
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THE LOST HERO OF CAPE COD by Vincent Miles. !e story of an elite mariner, Captain Asa Eldridge, and the nineteenth-century battle for commercial supremacy on the Atlantic. Reviews, availability, at www.vjmiles.com/losthero and Amazon.com.
THE AUTHORITY TO SAIL by Commodore Robert Stanley Bates. !e fully illustrated authoritative history of US Merchant Marine licenses and documents issued since 1852. Co ee-table size book, 12” x 14.” Order direct: !e Parcel Centre, Ph. 860 739-2492; www.theauthorityto sail.com.
FOR SALE—SIX ORIGINAL STATION BILLS FROM SS UNITED STATES, Signed by Captains L. J. Alexanderson & J. Anderson. Station Bills for every department and crewmember: Fire & Emergency Signal Bells, Man overboard, Abandon Ship, etc. Each document framed in red, matted in white with blue trim, protected by museum conservation glass. Framed size 30.5” x 29”. $12,000 for collection. Ph. 917 287-8339 or email chrysedawn@ gmail.com.
LAST VOYAGE OF THE POINT DEFIANCE, a novel Marty Elder. !e story of three young sailors coming of age during the Second World War—sailors who crewed the engine room—crewed the Black Gang—of an ocean-going tug. War changes people for those fortunate enough to survive it. Many who served in the US Merchant Marine during the war did not. Available on Amazon.
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November. At that time, the topsail yard, ga , and standing rigging will be replaced, and the mast will be repaired. Plans are also being considered to recon gure the rig so it is more historically accurate. Providence is a replica ship inspired by John Paul Jones’s sloopof-war of the same name. She was built in 1974–1976 in Newport, Rhode Island, for the organization Seaport ’76 Foundation to commemorate the nation’s bicentennial. Since 2017, she has been managed by the Tall Ship Providence Foundation. She currently serves as the centerpiece of the Senator John Warner Maritime Heritage Center in Alexandria. (www.tallshipprovidence. org) … In April, National Geographic premiered its new documentary—Titanic: e Digital Resurrection— about the most famous shipwreck in history. The star of the program is a “digital twin” of the ship as it looks today, a 1:1 scale digital model made from 715,000 digitally captured images obtained from underwater scans. !e model is described as “accurate down to the rivet.” In the lm, a team of leading historians, engineers, and forensic experts, including Titanic analyst Parks Stephenson, metallurgist Jennifer Hooper, and master mariner Captain Chris Hearn, come together to reconstruct the ship’s nal moments, scrutinizing the wreckage “up close on a full-scale colossal LED
volume stage, walking around the ship in its nal resting place.” !e team will examine the site for details about how the ship’s hull broke in two and share stories of the incident. !e documentary is available for viewing on the streaming services Disney+ and Hulu.
… e Erie Canal Museum kicked o its partnership in April with local breweries and distilleries along the historic Erie Canal route to commemorate the canal’s 200 th anniversary with the Bicentennial Brew Project. All you need to participate is to stop by the museum to pick up a Bicentennial Brew Passport and have it lled out at a minimum of four participating taprooms to receive a free Erie Canal Museum “koozie.” Another way to earn a koozie is to share a photo from four of the taprooms on social media while tagging the ECM. Not only is this an opportunity to get
to know—or become reacquainted— with local establishments, but it’s a way to support the museum—for every pint sold at Van Hassler Brewing Co., Talking Cursive Brewing Co., Willow Rock Brewing Co., and Erie Canal Brewing Co., one dollar will go to the museum. !e program runs through October 2025. (Erie Canal Museum, 318 Erie Boulevard East, Syracuse, NY; www. eriecanalmuseum.org)
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River Warfare in Vietnam: A Social, Political, and Military History, 1945–1975 by Robin L. Rielly (McFarland & Company, Je erson, NC , 2024, 528pp, ISBN 978-1-47669-1275; $49.95pb)
When studying or reading the history of the con icts in Southeast Asia, one must consider several di erent facets based on who was ghting and whether the ghting was conducted on land, sea, or air. Naval historian Robin L. Rielly began his research by looking at amphibious ships and crafts used in World War II. Many of these vessels were later used by the French while ghting the Viet Minh and subsequently passed to the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) Navy as they began ghting the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (Viet Cong, the army of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam or North Vietnam).
Rielly’s latest book adds to an already rich body of work on the topic, including Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam, and more recently, e Brown Water Navy at Fifty, and War in the Shallows: US Navy Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam 1965–1968. He broadens the topic by incorporating the French Navy’s e orts and extends the coverage through the end of the war in 1975.
Rielly opens with a discussion of the basic principles of river warfare, noting how the United States has engaged in such operations since the Revolutionary War. $e rst two chapters provide the reader with a historical overview of the region, leading up to the French colonization in 1857 and France’s eventual 50-year rule, the World War II Japanese occupation, the British occupation, and the return of the French colonialists. Rielly does not assume that readers are knowledgeable about the region and goes to great lengths to explain the culture, politics,
military, and economy of what then was referred to as Indo-China.
$e author points out that even though France began fighting the forces of Ho Chi Minh with World War II surplus vessels, the French developed their own shallow-draft boats, adopted tactics such as coordinated air and riverine assaults, and trained amphibious combat troops.
As the US began to escalate the war in 1965, the US Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) organized a study group to focus on the waterborne in ltration and smuggling of war materials into South Vietnam. Rielly states that the study was established in response to the appearance of weapons produced in the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China, and Warsaw Pact member countries on the battle elds in South Vietnam. e Vietnam Delta In ltration Study— more commonly referred to as the “Bucklew Report” after its chair, Captain Phillip Bucklew, an early US Navy special operations o cer—set the course for the Navy’s counterin ltration operations during its deployment to South Vietnam. Rielly
discusses how one of the study’s key ndings was the use of ports in China and Cambodia to move war cargo into Vietnam. $e report recommended the creation of “junk patrols” as an inexpensive way to counter the problem. Additionally, Rielly points out how new Navy, Army, and Coast Guard units were deployed to meet what was happening in the coastal waters and rivers of Vietnam, where travel by land was next to impossible.
$e report also recommended the formation and the use of river assault groups, which would target Viet Cong ghters from the Mekong Delta region. $e Navy had few sailors trained in small-boat operations and only two underwater demolition teams trained in special warfare. In 1961, however, President John F. Kennedy commissioned Sea Air Land (SEAL) Teams One and Two, which would carry the ght into the jungles of Vietnam. Additionally, the Navy commissioned Helicopter Light Attack Squadron 3 (HAL 3) Seawolves and Light Attack Squadron 4 (VAL-4) Black Ponies to support the SEALs.
$e book concentrates on the Mekong Delta region but also discusses river operations in other parts of the country. During the French war, operations were concentrated in what would later be North Vietnam and the rivers in the Haiphong area. In discussing the US war, Rielly highlights the tension between MACV and Marine Corps General Lew Walt in I Corps, the northernmost region, when Walt requested river support to I Corps.
River Warfare in Vietnam is the most scholarly work in this area of naval history and warfare that this reviewer has read to date. It is a wellresearched book that provides detailed information on vessel histories, naval o cers, and units. $e ships’ lineage is critical as they passed from the United States, French, and Republic
Transatlantic Train
The Untold Story of the Boston Merchant Who Launched Donald McKay to Fame
by Vincent J. Miles
Donald McKay
“An impressive feat of historical research that illuminates the life of an unjustly neglected historical fgure.” Kirkus
Reviews and more information at vjmiles.com. Available at Amazon.com, etc.
THE FLEET IS IN.
Sit in the wardroom of a mighty battleship, touch a powerful torpedo on a submarine, or walk the deck of an aircraft carrier and stand where naval aviators have flown off into history. It’s all waiting for you when you visit one of the 175 ships of the Historic Naval Ships Association fleet.
For information on all our ships and museums, see the HNSA website or visit us on Facebook.
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Here is a database containing almost 150,000 vessels, with many fields of information. This list is compiled from numerous annuals, Custom House records, books and newspapers. Contains American and foreign, commercial, pleasure, sail, power, warships, unrigged and undocumented vessels. Constantly updating and adding more information. See also the Shipwreck Index with Chronological listing.
of Vietnam Navies. He also conducted extensive research and explained the organization of the navies and command structures, including the o cers assigned to the boats, teams, and squadrons.
Each chapter includes chapter notes, photographs, maps, and other illustrations, which add to the readers’ understanding of the subject. $e book contains an extensive bibliography of primary and secondary sources from the US and France. River Warfare in Vietnam belongs on the shelves of anyone interested in the history of the Vietnam War, river warfare, and special warfare.
D&v() A. M &tt(n,-. Summerville, South Carolina
Know Your Ships 2025: Field Guide to Boats & Boatwatching—Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Seaway (Marine Publishing Co., Ann Arbor, MI, 2025, 200pp, ISBN 978-1-89184-9374; $19.95pb)
$ is season’s eld guide Know Your Ships is the 66th edition; founder Tom Manse (1915–1994), an enthusiastic Great Lakes ship spotter, published his rst guide in 1959. He compiled it in his Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, basement—a mostly black-and-white 44page booklet intended as a reference for “tourists, ship fans and people who lived along the water and wanted basic information about the ships that passed their shores.”
While the book has evolved into a 200-page ad-supported book bursting with color, like its rst ancestor, the 2025 guide is a comprehensive listing of the ships operating on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway and the companies they serve. Other features include a pictorial guide to eet smokestack markings and foreign ags, as well as short looks at common Great Lakes cargoes, the lock system, maritime museums, notes of new vessels
entering service, and older vessels no longer operating, just to name a few. If you’re heading to the locks or another good vantage point to admire the vessels doing the steady work of moving cargo on the northern waterways, and you like a good, printed guide, this book would be a useful companion.
S/0--0. R 0() National Maritime Historical Society
e Mighty A: e Short, Heroic Life of the USS Atlanta (CL-51), America’s First Warship Commissioned After Pearl Harbor by David F. Winkler (Casemate Publishers, Havertown, Pennsylvania, 2025, 254pp, ISBN 9781-63624-502-7; $34.95hc)
e Mighty A is an outgrowth of the author’s 2024 book, Witness to Neptune’s Inferno: e Paci c Diary of Lieutenant Commander Lloyd M. Mustin, USS Atlanta (CL-51) $e original manuscript was too bulky, and it was recommended that it be reconstituted as two volumes. Adding new research utilizing logs, les from the Naval History and Heritage Command, oral histories, and diaries from the National Archives—as well as the diary
of then Lt. Cdr. Lloyd M. Mustin— historian David Winkler devoted this second book to the short but heroic career of USS Atlanta (CL-51), “ $e Mighty A.”
With Atlanta’ s launch on 6 September 1941 and subsequent commissioning on 24 December 1941, a new type of powerful warship entered the US Navy. $e Atlanta was armed as a super destroyer/ otilla leader with a complement of 16 dual-purpose 5-inch guns in eight twin mounts, quadruple torpedo mounts, three each 1.1-inch quad AA mounts, sonar, state-of-the-art AA directors (MK 37 with the rst FD radars), and SC radar. $ is powerful anti-aircraft armament gave the Atlanta class a prime role in supporting aircraft carrier task forces. Her rst commander was CAPT Samuel P. Jenkins, a well-liked and respected leader.
USS Atlanta participated in the Battle of Midway in June 1942 as part of Task Force (TF) 16, protecting the carriers Hornet and Enterprise. To the increasing frustration of her wardroom, Atlanta was then shuttled routinely between various task groups in the South Paci c, escorting convoys, providing anti-aircraft coverage, supporting various Guadalcanal resupply runs, escorting damaged ships to safety, and in the process missing several key battles around Guadalcanal. She just missed the Battle of Santa Cruz in October 1942 when she was transferred out of the Hornet task force just before the battle.
$ ings began to change on 28 October when Rear Adm. Norman Scott was transferred aboard via highline. For the rst time, Atlanta became the agship of Task Group (TG) 64.2 and subsequently red her guns in anger during a bombardment of the Japanese positions on Guadalcanal. After replenishment at Espiritu Santo, with Scott lamenting to Vice Adm. William F. Halsey that the Atlanta- class
light cruisers were not ideally suited for a surface ght, TG 64.2 charted a course back to Guadalcanal to support the largest resupply e ort to date. On the afternoon of 11 November 1942, TG 64.2 rendezvoused with Rear Adm. Daniel Callaghan’s force of cruisers. As the senior o cer, Rear Admiral Callaghan took command of the combined TG 76.4.
$e climax of Atlanta’ s short career occurred during the naval Battle of Guadalcanal on Friday, 13 November 1943. A Japanese bombardment group, which included two battleships, sailed down New Georgia Sound (called the “Slot” by Allied forces) on 12 November to destroy Henderson Field. Task Group 67.4, comprising two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, and eight destroyers in a three-mile-long line-ofbattle, moved to interdict this bombardment group.
$e battle began when Cushing (DD-376), the van destroyer, veered out of line to prevent a collision with one of the Japanese van destroyers. $e Atlanta was suddenly bathed in the light of a Japanese searchlight and became the focus of intense enemy gun and torpedo re. During the ensuing melee, USS Atlanta was hit by two torpedoes. One exploded on the port side at the forward engine room, destroying it and ooding the adjacent boiler room. $e other torpedo implanted in Atlanta’s hull but was a dud and failed to explode. Within twenty minutes, the aft boiler and engine rooms ooded, shorting both service generators and leaving the Atlanta dead in the water. During this shelling, a center magazine caught re, making the ship an easy target for further Japanese gun re; it was quickly put out by the heroic e orts of the damage-control
Shaking Up the World
The shaping of four years at Annapolis molded men who would spend their lives Shaking Up the World, in large ways and small, in uniform and as civilians.
This is a collection of stories by the members of the Naval Academy Class of 1957: As children during World War II—in Shanghai with Japanese soldiers; during the bombing of Pearl Harbor, or herded into pens by Japanese in the Philippines; another boy survived the Nazis in Auschwitz. Brad Parkinson “fathered” GPS, and one man—an astronaut—spent three days on the surface of the moon. Another describes his torture and life in a North Vietnamese prison; another was hijacked by Hezbollah terrorists. Also tales of surviving after being shot down in enemy territory, and survival at sea and on the ground in Vietnam.
The paperback is available on Amazon for $19.99. eBook available on Amazon, Apple, and Barnes & Noble for $9.99
crew. In all, Atlanta received a total of 49 shell hits. Come sunrise on the 13th, Atlanta was essentially a oating hulk, drifting toward the Japanese-held portion of Guadalcanal and requiring the issuance of small arms for defense. $e crew made every e ort to save the ship, but they could not stem the ooding, and Atlanta was scuttled that afternoon.
e Mighty A brings life to a sometimes-forgotten ship by intertwining the stories of the ship, the crew, the chaotic course of early WWII in the South Paci c, and the desperate struggle for Guadalcanal. It is highly recommended for anyone interested in the history of ships, leadership, and the early days of the war. Although comprehensive, e Mighty A might have been improved with more speci c schematics about the ship itself.
Rear Adm. Lloyd M. Mustin was assigned to the Pentagon in 1960 as
director of antisubmarine warfare, working for CNO Admiral Arleigh Burke. It would have been interesting to listen to conversations between the two reminiscing about torpedo tactics during World War II and the independent use of destroyer squadrons in lieu of tying them to the line of battle.
S&120- R. B&3t-0tt, RG, CEG Castle Rock, Colorado
e Mighty Moo: e USS Cowpens and Her Epic World War II Journey from Jinx Ship to the Navy’s First Carrier into Tokyo Bay by Nathan Canestaro (Grand Central Publishing, New York, 2024, 398pp, ISBN 978-15387-4271-6; $35hc)
Nathan Canestaro’s grandfather enlisted in the US Navy in 1942 and served aboard the light aircraft carrier USS Cowpens during World War II. Unable to debrief his grandfather about
his experiences, the grandson undertook the task of uncovering and telling the ship’s story himself. Like his grandfa-
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STEAM SHIP H ISTORICAL SOCIETY OF A MERICA
ther, Canestaro did not abandon the ship—playfully nicknamed the “Mighty Moo” by its crew—and when he could not nd details about his grandfather’s personal experience, he redirected his e orts into hunting down details about what life was like on board for the crew, how the ship was run, and, of course, its legacy. Readers—and historians—can be glad he did.
USS Cowpens took its name from the Battle of Cowpens, a small but pivotal clash in South Carolina during the American Revolution. Much like the battle, the ship had an outsized impact in a much larger con ict. Just as General Daniel Morgan’s militia helped turn the tide toward Yorktown, USS Cowpens played a key role in advancing the Navy’s drive toward Tokyo. Canestaro originally set out to recount the stories of the men who made the Mighty Moo a ghting force. When
I NTER NAT IONAL JOU R NA L OF NAVA L
IS TORY
March 2025: Volume 18, Issue 1
CONTENTS
• From the Quarterdeck
ARTICLES
• Howard J. Fuller, ‘The whole history of this ill-fated vessel’— HMS Captain, the American Civil War, and the Mid-Victorian Struggle for Naval Superiority
• Stephen McLaughlin, Navigating Uncharted Waters: The Russian Naval General Staf, 1906–1914
• Anselm J. van der Peet, Punching above its weight: The Royal Netherlands Navy within Allied Command Atlantic 1952 - mid 1970s
BOOK REVIEWS
• Michael Verney. A Great and Rising Nation: Naval Exploration and Global Empire in the Early US Republic by Chuck Steele
• John Fass Morton. Sea Power and the American Interest: From the Civil War to the Great War by Joseph Moretz
• Nicholas A. Lambert. The Neptune Factor: Alfred Thayer Mahan and the Concept of $ea Power by R. James Orr
• Brian Lavery. Two Navies Divided: The British and United States Navies in the Second World War by Joseph Moretz
• Evan Mawdsley. Supremacy at Sea: Task Force 58 and the Central Pacifc Victory by Corbin Williamson
• Martin Stansfeld. Japanese Carriers and Victory in the Pacifc: The Yamamoto Option by John M. Jennings
For Permanent Sponsorship inquiries contact: IJNH@seahistory.org
the personal details proved elusive, he shifted focus to the ship’s raison d’être—its air wing. His investigation casts much-needed light on those who made the ights possible—not just the pilots, but the crews who launched, fueled, armed, and recovered their aircraft.
Too often, narratives of warfare— like most sports coverage—focus on visible stars and overlook the team behind them. Just as quarterbacks alone don’t win football games, ghter pilots don’t win sea battles on their own either. Canestaro illustrates that aircraft carriers were complex ecosystems operated by thousands of sailors, all essential to mission success. His book o ers a deeper look at this teamwork and a more balanced perspective on life aboard.
Limited by the passage of time and scarcity of records, Canestaro relies heavily on battle documentation, providing vivid depictions of combat while o ering only a partial view of daily life aboard. Much of what we learn is ltered through “o cer country,” leaving the enlisted experience largely untold. We don’t know what meals were like or what it felt like to work in the galley or engine room. We do, however, get a strong sense of what it was like to land a plane on a moving strip of steel in the middle of the ocean. $e conditions were di cult for all, and Canestaro doesn’t pretend otherwise.
Because the Cowpens participated in most of the major Paci c battles during this con ict, e Mighty Moo serves as an excellent entry point for readers new to the Paci c $eater. For the initiated, e Mighty Moo is worth the time to review the war through a di erent lens and o ers valuable perspective on a vital, often overlooked ship and crew.
D&v() O. W/(tt0n, P /D Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina
e Adriatic A air: A Maritime Hit-and-Run O the Coast of Nantucket by Jennifer N. Sellitti (Schi er, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2025, 344pp, ISBN 978-0-7643-6795-3; $34.99hc)
Captain Kidd: A True Story of Treasure and Betrayal by Samuel Marquis (Diversion Books, 2025, New York, 384pp, ISBN 978-1-63576-968-5; $34.99hc)
Freedom Ship: e Uncharted History of Escaping Slavery by Sea by Marcus Rediker (Viking, imprint of Penguin Random House, 2025, 416pp, ISBN 978-0-52555-834-7; $33hc)
From Ironclads to Admiral: John Lorimer Worden and Naval Leadership by John V. Quarstein and Robert L. Worden (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 2025, 296pp, ISBN 978-1-68247-444-0; $34.95hc)
From John Cabot to Henry Hudson: Early European Arrivals in Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic North America by James F. Hancock (McFarland & Company, Jefferson, NC, 2025, 215pp, ISBN 978-1-47669-577-8; $39.95pb)
Intertidal Shipwrecks: Management of a Historic Resource in an Unmanageable Environment ed. by Jennifer
E. Jones, Calvin H. Mires, and Daniel Zwick (University Press of Florida, Gainesville, 2025, 352pp, ISBN 978081307932; $95hc)
Nightmare in the Paci c: e World War II Saga of Artie Shaw and His Navy Band by Michael Doyle (University of North Texas Press, Denton, Texas, 2025, 278pp, ISBN 978-1-57441-946-7; $34.95hc)
Planning for War at Sea: 400 Years of Great Power Competition, edited by Evan Wilson and Paul Kennedy (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 2025, 400pp, ISBN 978-1-61251-725-4; $40hc)
Pursuing the Leviathan: e Heroic Life of New England Whaling Benjamin Clough by Paul Magid (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 2025, 296pp, ISBN 978-1-68247378-8; $34.96hc)
e Resurrected Pirate: e Life, Death, and Subsequent Career of the Notorious George Lowther by Craig S. Chapman (Schi er Publishing, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2025, 240pp, ISBN 978-0-7643-6907-0; $29.99hc)
Rope: How a Bundle of Twisted Fibers Became the Backbone of Civilization by Tim Queeney (St. Martin’s Press, New York, ISBN 978-1-25034-645-2; $27hc)
First ursdays Seminar Series
Setting Sail with NMHS: Exploring the Maritime Heritage of Puget Sound with Robert Steelquist
August 7
e Very Nostrils of Hell: e Erie Canal and the Port of Bu alo with Mike Vogel July 3
September 4 What’s Going on with Shipping? From
NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY
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Sail Aboard the Liberty Ship
John W. Brown
2025 Cruise Dates: September 13
On a cruise you can tour museum spaces, bridge, crew quarters, & much more. Visit the engine room to view the 140-ton tripleexpansion steam engine as it powers the ship though the water.
Reservations: 410-558-0164, or www.ssjohnwbrown.org
Last day to order tickets is 14 days before the cruise; conditions and penalties apply to cancellations.
