The Joys and Lessons of Painting the Fast-Sailing Ships of the Early By Roy Cross Royal Society of Marine Artists As a new member o f th e Na ti o na l Ma ritim e Histo rical Society, I was immensely interested to read in the Fall 1978 SEA H ISTORY Wm . Gi lkerso n's fin e a rticle a bo ut th e ships o f John Pa ul Jon es a nd a lso th e arti cle " Providence Sails Agai n" . Bo th recall th e very enj oyable ex peri ence l had during 1975 a nd 1976 a nd since, in visiting th e United Sta tes to resea rch in museums a nd at locales fo r a se ri es o f pa intings o f historic A merican fi ghting ships, to be ex hibited durin g the Bicent ena ry year a t th e Ma rin e A rts Ga llery in Salem , Massac husetts. Lik e Wm . Gilkerso n a nd o th er researchers, I found that precise a nd a uthenti c deta ils o f th e famo us wa rships of th e Co ntinenta l Navy were patchy a nd based la rgely o n th e expert dra ught s, prepared by th e British Adm ira lt y of specific vessels ca ptured during th e W ar of Indepe nd ence, a nd now prese rved a t th e Nati o na l Ma ritime Museum a t Gree nwich, Lo ndon . There are also a very few o ld drawings, sketches, paintings a nd print s a nd a number of fi ne model reco nstructi o ns held in several well kn own A merican ma ritim e museum collec tions. On the Euro pean co ntinent a nd in Brita in where th e va ri o us nav ies had a lo ng tradition of fighting in innum erabl e co n-
nicts, the pract ice had grown up of reco rd ing in pain t the grea t ba ttles a nd perso na lities o f over two hundred a nd fifty years o f a lmost co ntinu al warfare. Royalt y, nava l officers, wea lthy patrio ts a nd somet imes even th e naval minist ri es employed a n int ern a ti o na l ba nd o f specia list ma rin e a rti sts to reco rd a nd immortalize the epics o f nat io na l mari tim e histo ry for posterity . As well as th ese th ere was th e vast sto re of nava l doc um ents a nd administra ti ve reco rd s, dockya rd a nd ot her models a nd so o n, upo n which future histo ria ns co uld d raw. No such tra diti o n existed in th e No rth Ameri ca n Colo ni es, na tura ll y, a nd when th e new Con tinent a l Navy of th e Un it ed Sta tes was created in 1775 sca nt th o ught could be spa red even fo r th e crea ti o n of such a necessit y as th e na ti o na l nava l nag, Jet a lo ne co mp rehensive reco rds which th e modern researcher wo uld find so useful. Thus a fa r bett er reco rd exists o f the Am erica n mercha nt ships o f th e peri od 1765 to 18 14, as fa r as co nt empo ra ry a nd acc ura te colo u r represe nta ti o ns o f act ual na med ships a re concern ed , tha n o f th e fa mo us vesse ls which co nt ributed so much to th e success o f the A meri ca n Revo lutio n and sowed the seed s of naval traditions as pro ud as th ose of a ny o f the
o ld Eu ro pea n ma ritim e powers. Ma ny fin e mercha nt ship po rtra its were pa inted b y local artists in a ll th e major trading po rt s fro m E urope a nd the A mericas to the Far East, specificall y for th e ca pt a ins , crew members and o wners, whi ch no w form so me o f th e mos t importa nt co nstru ction a l a nd colouring source mate ri a l, fin ely deta iled a nd acc urat e, reposing in o ur na ti o na l a nd regiona l maritim e museums. But in man y cases we have little but the na mes a nd th e haziest acco unts of th e deeds o f th e ea rliest A merica n wa rships. We a re dri ven, th erefo re, to pla usible reco nstructi o n based o n th e info rma ti on avai la ble a nd th e co nstru cti o na l usages o f the tim e. H ere th ere is firm er ground beca use th e a rt s a nd crafts o f ship co nstru cti o n were a t fa irl y co nstant level a ll over Europe a nd in No rth Am erica, even th ough indi ge no us designs had beg un to evolve be fo re th e Revolutio n-a process accelera ted by th e wa r itself and lat er co mpetiti o n fo r th e ocea n trad es so vital to th e yo ung Republic. Even as la te as th e Wa r of 18 12, which produced m any mo re pa int ings a nd popul a r print s of impo rta nt na va l acti o ns th a n d id the Revoluti o n, illustra tions fro m vari o us ha nds of th e sa me ac tio n