HISTORIC An Account
GEN . WM . LANA GAN , USMC
Reproductions of the British frigate Rose (above) and the American sloop Providence (right) are both based in Newport, , RI. JOHN T. HOPF
teenth-century ketch's reputation for handiness. Sailing experience with large gaffrigged sloops was a thing of the past until the building of the Hudson River sloop Clearwater in 1969. As her name indicates, she is employed to create a public awareness of the polluted Hudson. A reproduction of the Revolutionary War sloop Providence was built of fiberglass in Rhode Island and launched on 2 October 1976. Since completion, she has made a number of special tours and has participated in the re-enactment of several events of the War for Independence. A wooden reproduction of a similar sloop, the Welcome of 1775, built by the British at what is now Mackinaw City, Michigan, has been under construction at the same place for the past four years. She may be sailing in the summer of 1980. The Pride of Baltimore, a clipper schooner built of wood on Baltimore's waterfront, was launched on 27 February 1977. Described as another in a long line of Baltimore clippers, she was inspired particularly by the famous privateer Chausseur. She has sailed extensively in trade promotion for the City of Baltimore. A wooden sailing reproduction of HMS Rose of 1757, built in Nova Scotia in 1970, is now moored on the waterfront of Newport, Rhode Island. Prior to the War for Independence, the original 20gun, 6th rate Rose was a great nuisance to the honest Colonial smugglers. Reproductions for use in motion pictures cannot be overlooked but their quality has varied. Many would not bear close scrutiny from an historical point of view although there has been an improvement in the last few decades. Individual craftsmen beyond count have built and are building reproductions of classic types of small craft which may be defined as the sailing and pulling boats that existed in the commercial and recreation fields at the beginning of the twentieth century before the gasoline engine became common as propelling power. Going back almost three centuries earlier, a 33-foot by 9-foot reproduction of a shallop with only 350 square feet of sail 26
often has discouraged the owners of modern fiberglass flyers in handicap races at Plymouth, Massachusetts. When not under sail she can be moved at a good clip by eight oars. A 29-foot reproduction of a two-mast boat of 1725 sometimes attracted as much attention at Chesapeake Bay boat shows as the new yachts on display. Two 1775 whaleboats have raced occasionally on Long Island Sound since 1977 to commemorate the cross-Sound raiding indulged in during the War for Independence by the patriots in Connecticut and the Tories on Long Island. These last three types were built to my designs, the whaleboats being Bicentennial community projects. A number of reproductions are under construction or are in the planning stages. A builder on Maryland's Eastern Shore is constructing almost single-h')pded a round-sterned bugeye, a type not seen on Chesapeake Bay for many years. A gundalow, the shallow-draft freighting boat peculiar to New Hampshire's Piscataqua River basin, will be under sail in 1981. I have currently in the planning stages a reproduction of a Spanish ship to represent the galleon Los Tres Reyes Magos which brought supplies and troops from Spain to St. Augustine in 1566. Dr. Eugene Lyon of Vero Beach during extensive research in Spanish archives found the galleon's basic dimensions and an inventory of her equipment in 1566. Some maritime historians have questioned the wisdom of building reproductions, arguing that models are sufficient. No model, however, can convey adequately the impression of the mass of an actual vessel, of the sizes of her fittings and equipment, and of the space on board available for living and working. And no model can take you to sea. w
Mr. Baker, an historic naval architect with unique practical experience, is Curator of the Hart Nautical Museum at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This article is excerpted from a paper delivered at the First Florida Maritime Heritage Conference, held at Tampa, March 22, 1980.
By Ted Miles Reproductions of historic ships sail to some purpose today, and are often built for continuing service. Early efforts, ranging from good to very bad, were brought into being for important anniversaries and expositions, which often serve as inspiration for building a reproduction today. There was a Santa Maria at the New York World's Fair in 1964, and La Grande Hermine at Montreal's Expo '67. Although not built for the fair, the Bluenose II was also there and was visited by thousands. The Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago occasioned notable reproductions of Christopher Columbus's three ships. Built in Spain by the Naval Shipyard at Cadiz and launched in June 1892, the Nina and Pinta were towed to the United States by the US Navy. The Santa Maria sailed over on her own bottom. On arrival at the fair in July, they were a very popular part of the celebration. After the fair, the three ships were given to the City of Chicago and they were displayed in a lagoon in Jackson Park. The Nina sank in 1918 and the Pinta was destroyed by fire in 1919. The Santa Maria, rebuilt about 1920, survived until she too succumbed to fire in 1952. The Norwegians asserted their claim to the North American discovery at the Columbia Exposition, with an actual plankby-plank replica of the thousand-year-old Gokstad ship, which had been excavated from a Norse burial ground in 1880. This gallant ship, Viking, was sailed and rowed across from Bergen. After the fair she was displayed at Lincoln Park, where she is undergoing restoration today. The Hudson-Fulton Exposition of 1909 was responsible for two more reproductions: the Half Moon and the North River Steamboat of Clermontpopularly known as the Clermont. Initial efforts to celebrate the IOOth anniversary of the Clearmont's 1807 voyage from New york to Albany, generally reckoned the first successful commercial voyage under steam power, had fallen through, and the celebration was then combined with an observance of the 300th anniversary of Henry Hudson's 1609 voyage up the Hudson in the Half Moon, the first European ship to come that way. A grand harbor parade featuring the two reproductions was held. The Half Moon, reproduction was built in the Navy Yard at Amsterdam, Holland, to designs by C. L. Loder, who had devoted intense study to the project and produced a successful ship. Brought across the Atlantic as deck cargo, she was re-launched at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. SEA HISTORY, SUMMER 1980