SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT EUROPE
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The 70ft former saili ng trawler Wilma Rudolf, built in 1877 as Fear Not, whi ch fished from British ports until 189 1, sank last summer in the Odense Canal in Denmark. Her owners have now raised her, our correspondent Ol e Mortenso n informs us, and offers to donate her hulk to any outfit prepared to restore her to her "original ,../
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MARINE CHRONOMETERS Bought , Sold and Serviced Restoration and Appraisals
good looks." Denmark has good facilities fo r the restoration , Mortenson remind s us, and he and others will do all they can to help. Owners: Lene Henriksen, Bredstedgade 7, st. th. 500 Odense C, Denmark. The U-boat Wilhelm Bauer, at th e Maritime Mu seum of Bremerhaven , built in January 1945 as U-2540 Type XX! by Blohm & Voss at Hamburg, was sunk in May 1945 at Flensburg, and was raised 10 years later to cont inue 1956-83 as a training ship. In addition to the Bau er. notes our co rrespondent Hans-Joach im Gersdorf, the U-505 is preserved at Chicago, and the U-995 Type VIIC bui lt in 1941 by Blohm & Voss, is a museum ship at Laboe, near Kiel. Gersdorf also notes that last yea r marked th e 794th birthday of the free port of Hamburg, not 784th as we said in SH29. Th e birth of the city itself goes back toadocumentof811 Ao, 1,173 years ago, if ou r arithmeti c is right (thi s time). Hamburg was a great center for emigration to the US , and offers a research service to find records of emigrant departures, $30 if year is known , $10 for each additi onal yea r that must be sea rched. Hi storic Emigration, Museum fiir Hamburg isc he Geschichte, Holstenwall 24, 2000 Hamburg 36, Germany. Migration wi ll be the topic of a major conference nex t yea r in Germany, "Maritime Aspects of Migration," sponso red by the International Commission fo r Maritime Hi sto ry, August 25-September I, 1985 in Stuttgart , with the German Na tion a l Commi ss ion as host . Wilcomb E. Washburn , Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC 20560.
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Erik Abranson, engaged in rounding up sai ling ships for Quebec 1534-1984 and attendant events (see SH31:51 and this issue, pp. 30-31) reports that this may be " the si ngle biggest project of its kind si nce the requisitioning of merchantmen during the Napoleonic Wars." He notes also:'The popularity of'tall ships' is increasing, more and mo re are being built or restored and more gat her in gs are planned and mooted . ... Sponsors and other business people are becoming aware of the pub I ic relations value of these ships, and money is about to move in , in significant amounts." We surely welcome this! NMHS and i\S Ship Trust have long campaigned for more money from shoreside events to support the sa iling of the "tall ships" that bring their magic to seapo rt cities in their visits.
The North American Society for Oceanic History has ex panded coverage in its informati ve newsletter a nd does invaluable work cultivating our somewhat neglected and weed-grown fie ld . Membership is a modest $15, payable NASOH and sent w Secretary, NASOH , Dept. of History, US Nava l Academy, Annapolis MD 21402. The new ly built 65ft topsail schooner Dayspringjoins the vesse ls sa il ing on week ly cru ises o ut of Camden, Maine, thi s summer. She's built in tradi tional fashion , oak planked on sawn oak frames. Her maiden voyage takes he r in th e "Tall Ships" Race from Portsmou th , New Hampshire to Halifax, Nova Scotia, sta rting June 7, sponsored by the American Sai l -----..:....-~~===:;::;:;;~~== Training Association. She' ll ~ do wi nter cruising from Char- ~ lotte Amalie, St. Thomas. -<>--=-- ~ Dayspring, PO 6 11 , Camden ME 04843. Launch of the 65 ft wooden coasting schooner Janet May took place in April in the Narraguagus River, another traditional entrant in the Maine schooner trade. We join her well-wishers: " Fair winds , Jan et May!" Kansas Rd. , Cherryfield ME 04662 . Also in Maine, the Grand Banks Schooner Museum has undertaken a major restoration of their 142ft schoo ner Sherman Zwicker, whi ch spent 2 1/2 months on the ways at Samples Shipyard renewing topside planking. She' ll resume her mu seum role dockside in Boothbay thi s spring-though there is some thought she might go to Boston for Operation Sail June 2-8, and poss ibly join the race to Halifax. Museum , 100 Commercial St. , Boothbay Harbor ME 0453 8. The town of Gloucester has awarded its Mariner's Medal to Capt. George B. ichol s th e Gloucester skipper of the 811ft supertanker Ogden Yukon who successfull y maneuvered hi s huge vessel to rescue nine shipwrecked Spanish fishermen on August 2 , 1983 in the stormy At lantic 150 mi les west of Gibraltar. The traditions of this seafaring tow n, which st ill sends brave ships and men to sea, are honored in the Gloucester Fishermen's Museum , Rogers & Porter Streets, G loucester MA 01930. Maritime activity in the Mediterranean that may extend back mo re than 10,000 years- lo ng before written language or such inventions as the wheel-is evinced in marine archaeolog ical artifacts in " Crossroads of the Ancient World: Israel's Archaeological Heritage," on ex hibition May I-July 31 at the Harvard Semitic Museum , 6 Divinity Ave., Rm 102 , Cambridge MA 02138. At Mystic Seaport, the 1841 whaling ship Charles W Morgan , re-launched last fa ll after the most extensive rebuilding of her long career, was opened to the public at Chubb's Wharf this spring. This rebuilding was accompanied by thoroug~hgoing documentation , including many new deuails brought to light in the rebuilding. The SEA HISTORY, SUMMER 1984