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American Whalers in the Western Arctic: the Final Epoch of the Great American Sailing Whaling Fleet, ill . William Gilkerson , intro. & text by John R. Bockstoce (Edward J. Lefkowicz , PO 630, Fairhaven MA 02719, 1983, very large size 14 '/.i in x 19in , viii +48pp, 12 color plates, and also 12 signed prints in separate portfo lio, $1 ,250 ; or, in half leather with original signed sketches, $2 ,000) . An Arctic Whaling Sketchbook, by William Gilkerson (published as above, 15in x 12in, 56pp, $185, or, with original sketch tipped in , $350) . On a foggy day in July 1848, the American whaling bark Superior, Captain Thomas Roys, anchored in Bering Strait , far to the north of the usual Pacific whaling grounds-and began catching bowheads. She went on to Hawaii , the central entrepot of American Pacific whaling, with 1600 barrels of whale oil in her hold . So a new industry was born, with next year 70 ships, and by 1852 , over200 ships maki ng the lonely trek no rthward to search for whales among the ice. It was an industry full of hardship and peril. In 1871 , 32 ships were abandoned , hemmed in by crushing ice with no chance of escape. But men adapted to this incredibly bleak and hostile environment , and with the help of Eskimo allies, even humanized it to some extent. By the 1890s ships were letting themselves freeze in for the winter, with sod plunked down on their decks as insulation , canopies of sails built over that , and with walls of ice blocks built around the hulls to shield them from screaming winter winds at 30 ° below. The winter freeze-in ended with understandable celebrations on July 4, as ships exchanged visits and entertainments prior to setting out whaling again for the eight-week Arctic summer. Ultimately, as the whale catch thinned out and oil prices dropped , and even whalebone began to go out of fashion, the big ships fell out of the trade and it ended up with small schooners making the long trip, trading with the Eskimos and knowing their voyage was made if they could catch a whale. John Bockstoce, who has spent twenty summers in the Arctic sail ing small boats and studyi ng Eskimo ways, brings unique first-hand authority to his lively, authentic history of this industry. His scholarship is buttressed by the resouces of the New Bedford Whaling Museum , which he serves as surely their most peripatetic curator. His partner in this book is the marine artist and skrimshander William Gilkerson, whose contribution to this monumental work is separately reviewed in " Marine Art News" in this issue. Of the ships, only one I believe survi ves, the tug Ma ry D. Hume, now ensconced as a museum ship in the Rogue
River in southern Oregon (SH25:23). Of the men, I had the privilege of knowing briefly Fred Harvey, who sai led fo r the North Pacific whale fisheries in the bark Gay Head, from San Francisco in 1903-a gallant man who survived his ship's sinking and was landed back in the US with only the clothes he stood in , and something like $1 in his pocket for his trouble chasi ng whales. The ships, the men , the hard trade they plied and ennobled by their efforts, are well remembered here. PS
Shiphandling for The Mariner, by Daniel R. MacElrevey, illustrated by Earl R. McMillin (Co rnell Maritime Press, Centrevi lle MD, 1983, 24lpp, illus, $20) . This excellent book constitutes a complete guide for deck Officers and future deck Officers and masters of all nations, not only the United States. It covers its subject in comprehensive detail starting with arrival in port , vessel maneuvering in rivers and channel s and in close quarters, proper use of tugs (made up alo ngside, head o r stern up, etc.), docking or undocking with or witho ut tugs in various types of vessel, various sizes of vessel with different type propellers, etc. Passage through the Panama Canal is well presented , as are the various types of emergency drills , such as the Williamson turn and the Helicopter operation , pick up and land ing, and the replenishment at sea exercise. These drills are of value of course in rescue action, but are also of value in learning the many idiosyncrasies of one's vessel in various maneuvers. A chapter on training reviews facilities available to deck Officers such as CAO RF (Computer Aided Operation Research Facility) , Marine Safety International at LaGuardia, New York and the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies at Linthicum Heights, Maryland . I fo und that hav ing attended all the above centers, it is better to make mistakes in the classroom and correct your errors under the close supervision of competent instructors than to try it out on the bridge of your vessel! This work should be a text book at all Maritime Schools and training centers, and should be on board vessels for easy reference. The only objection I found to it , in fact, is that it was published forty years late. I could have used it instead of doing it the hard way. Shiphandlingfor the Mariner is a plus for the marine industry and its future. CONRAD P. NI LSEN Captain Nilsen , President ofthe Council of American Master Mariners, is also coChairman ofthe National Society's Project Liberty.
SEA HIS10RY, SPRING 1984