Sea History 042 - Winter 1986-1987

HELP US CELEBRATE AN IMPORTANT 75th BIRTHDAY! Yes, that's how old US Naval aviation is this year-75. The gallant few who took their flimsy canvas-and-wood contraptions aloft in 1911 knew they were doing something important-but could they ever have dreamed how important?

Today the US Navy's ships with wings are the nation's first line of defense.

Join us as a member of the Navy League! You ' ll be helping celebrate an important birthday the way it should be celebrated-with an eye to the future. New York Council members of the Navy League are invited to monthly briefing luncheons; they visit ships ... and they help keep 'em flying .

Sign on today! Send $25 to:

NAVY LEAGUE of the UNITED STATES 1 East 60th Street New York, New York 10022

ISSN 0146-93 12

No. 42

SEA HISTORY

OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE WORLD SHIP TRUST

SEA HISTORY is publi shed quarterly by the National Maritime Hi storical Society, 132 Maple Street , Croton-on-Hudson , NY 10520. Application to mail at Second Class rates is pending at Croton-on-Hudson, NY. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Sea History , 132 Mapl e St. , Croton, NY 10520.

COPYRIGHT © 1986 by the National Maritime Historical Soc iety. Tel. 914 271-2177 .

MEMBERSHIP is invited: Plankowner $10,000; Benefactor $5 ,000; Sponsor $1 ,000; Donor $500; Sustaining Patron $250; Patron $ 100; Contributor $50; Family $35; Regular $25; Student or Retired $ 12.50. All members outside the USA please add $5 for postage. SEA HISTORY is sent to all members. Indi vidua l copies cost $2.75.

OFFICERS & TRUSTEES are Chairman: James P. McAllister; Vice Chairmen: Alan G. Choate, James Ean ; Presidenr and Treasurer: Peter Stanford ; Vice Presidem: Nonna Stanford; Secretary: John H. Reilly , Jr. ; Trustees: Henry H. Anderson, Jr., Alan G. Choate, Thomas Hale , Karl Kortum , J . Kevin Lally, Richardo Lopes, Robert J. Lowen, James P. McAllister, Nancy Pouch , John H. Reilly, Jr. , Spencer Smith , Peter Stanford; Chairman Emeritus: Karl Kortum ; Preside111 Emeritus: Alan D. Hutchi son.

OVERSEERS: Chairman: Townsend Hornor; Harris L. Kempner, Clifford D. Mallory , Schuyler M. Meyer, Jr. , John G . Rogers, John Stobart.

ADV ISORS: Co-chairmen: Frank 0. Braynard, David Brink; Raymond Aker , George Bass , Francis E. Bowker, Oswald L. Brett , George Campbe ll , Frank G. G. Carr , William Main Doerflinger, Harry Dring , John Ewald , Joseph L. Farr , Timothy G. Foote, Richard Goold-Adams , Mel Hardin , Robert G. Herbert , R. C. Jefferson, Irving M. John son , John Kemb le , Charles Lundgren, Conrad Milster, William G. Muller, George Nichol s, Capt. David E. Perkin s USCG (ret.) , Richard Rath , Nancy Richardson, George Salley, Melbourne Smith , Ralph L. Snow, Albert Swanson, Shannon Wall , Robert A. We instein , Thomas Well s, A ICH . Charles Witthol z. American Ship Trust, Secretary: Eric J . Berryman .

WORLD SHIP TRUST: Chairman: Frank G . G .

Carr; Vice Presidents: Henry H. Anderson , Jr. , Viscount Ca ldecote , Sir Rex Hunt , Hammond Innes , Rt. Hon . Lord Lewin , Sir Peter Scott, Rt. Hon. Lord Shackleton ; Hon. Secretary: J. A .

Forsythe; Hon. Treasurer: Richard Lee; Men sun Bound , Dr. Neil Cossons , Maldwin Drummond , Alan McGowan, Arthur Prothero, Peter Stanford. Membership: £ 12 payabl e WST , c/o Hon. Sec ., I29a North Street , Burwell , Cambs. CBS OBB , England. Reg . Charity No . 27775 1.

SEA HISTORY STAFF: Editor: Peter Stanford; Mana ging Editor: Norma Stanford; Associate Editor: Lincoln P. Paine; Assistant to the President: Barbara Ladtl; Accounting: Alfred J .

Schwab; Advertising: Joseph Stanford ; Membership Secretary: Heidi Quas; Membership Assistant: Patricia Anstett ; Corresponding Secretary: Marie Lore.

WINTER 1986-87

CONTENTS 3 7 8

12 15 16 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 35 38 44

LETTERS , EDITOR ' S LOG , QUERIES ISLANDS IN THE STREAM OF HISTORY , Peter Stanford THE GOSNOLD VOYAGE OF 1602: INTRODUCTION, Lincoln Paine CAPTAINE GOSNOLS VOYAGE [EXTRACT], Gabriel Archer SCHOONER LIFE, Charles F. Sayle, Sr. SAILING SHENANDOAH, Robert Douglas NANTUCKET AND PITCAIRN , Edouard A. Stackpole MODELMAKER ' S CORNER: THE CHARLES W. MORGAN, Lloyd McCaffery RIGGING A SIXTEENTH-CENTURY SHIP , Nick Benton MARINE ART: BERT WRIGHT , John Stobart MARINE ART NEWS SAIL TRAINING: OPERATION SAIL 1986 , Peter Stanford A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE , Capt. Daniel Robatto ADMIRAL SIR ISAAC COFFIN, Lincol n Paine ASTA NEWS SHIP NOTES: THE SOCIETY FOR SEAMEN ' S CHILDREN , Mary L. Greene SHIP TRUST ACTIVITIES REPORT , Frank G . Carr, Eric Berryman REVIEWS WINTER ALONGSIDE , Frank F . Farrar

COYER : An independe nt a nd cheerfu l spirit is caug ht in the s tance of man and boy as they gather seaweed on the Nantucket shore in this turn -of-the-century painting by E li zabeth R . Coffin . Beyond them are the masts of the ubiquitous schooners that bind them to a wider world . Courtesy the Nantucket Historical Association.

The National Maritime Historical Society is saving America's seafaring heritage. Join us.

We bring to life America' s seafa ring past throug h research , a rc haeo log ical ex pedi tion s and s hip preservation efforts. We wo rk with museums, histori a ns a nd sa il trai ning gro ups and report on these acti vities in ou r quarterl y journal Sea History.

We are also the Ame ri ca n a rm of the World Ship Trust, a n internati o na l gro up working worldwide to he lp save ; hips of histo ri c importance .

Won ' t you join us to keep a li ve o ur na ti o n 's seafaring legacy?

Membership in the Society costs only $25 a year. You' ll receive Sea History, a fascin ating magaz ine filled wi th arti cles of sea faring and hi stori ca l lore . Yo u ' ll a lso be e li g ible for di sco unt s o n books , prints and o th er it e ms. He lp save our seafa rin g he ritage . Join th e National Maritime Historical Society today '

TO: National Maritime Historical Society, 132 Maple St., Croton-on-Hudson , NY 10520

YES

I want to help . I under>land that my cont ribution goe, 10 fo rwa rd the work of the Society ' and that 1"11 be kept informed by receivi ng SEA HISTORY quanerl) . Encl<»ed is:

0 $1,000 Sponsor0 $500 Donor0 $100 Patron 0 $50 Contributor NAME

35 Fam il y 0 $25 Regu larO $12.50 Studenl/Retired

------------~-~ (please print)

ADDRESS _ _ _ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ZIP Co nlributi o ns to NM HS are lu deduclible .

NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY

42

OSMUNDSEN

LIBERTY'S RAINBOW Bas-relief medallion cast in Bronze, by the lost wax process. Wm. Barth Osmundsen's tribute to the " Parade of Sail" which honored the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Statue of Liberty.

Featuring the first three tall ships of the line; USCG EAG LE, DANMARK and Norway's CHRISTIAN RADICH. T his sculptured relief captures the spirit of this stirrin g event. " Liberty" is a sensitive depiction o f Auguste Bartholdi's "Liberty Englightening the World" and like the monument is fini shed in th e familiar green patina. The torch and crown are well articulated in a fu ll 3-Dimension. The individually signed and numbered 14 inch bronze medallion is carefully finished at every stage of the castin g process. Th e three color, polychrome patina is applied under heat with chemicals which naturally react to the bronze. Ships are patinaed white; the rainbow & lettering a dark bronze. Hard wood framing is available in teak, white oak and mahogany. The sculpture is packed in a presentation crate and will be shipped free in the continenli!I United States. Please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery. Introductory pricing thru Dec. 3 1, 1986: $750.

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SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1986-87

LETTERS Catch that Gaffe!

In SH40, I was fascinated to read the account of the Bequian whaler, but I must take exception to the description of the rig of Why Ask and Dart. Unless this is another victim of the dreaded " single language " which divides the UK from the USA , the description of the rig as "gaff-rigged mainsail and genoa " is erroneo us and certainly improper on this side of the Atlantic.

T he mainsail is clearly shown in the photographs to be sprit rigged- a modern edition of probably the earliest type of North European fore-and-aft sail dating back several hundred years to origins in Scandinavia, Germany and the Netherlands and commonly found in the Thames Barges over the past two hundred years .

It really is not a gaff.

H. F. MORIN SCOTI Bognor Regis, England Our blushes . We couldn't believe we' d called a sprit a gaff, but we looked andwe had. We apologize to the alert and knowledgeable Captain Scott, and we thank our Advisor, Bob Herbert f or his elucidation and further correction, below-with which we agree.-ED.

Sl'lllTS.UL

Advisor R. G. Herbert, Jr. , shows us a sprit and comments, "I wou ld go a step further than Captain Scott to say that the jibs those boats are flying are NOT genoas. They are cut too full for a jenny , and more to the point that ' s what those craft have been carrying ever since they started-long before those Swedish Six Meter Internationals with that new kind of jib for windward work. "

Don't Give Up the Ships!

During the last year I have had to retire for medical reasons and am enquiring if the reduced rate for membership is ava ilable to overseas members. fi' it is available, could you let me know and amend your records for future years' subscriptions .

I have had to cancel sonie of my subscriptions because of the overall cost and the bad rate of exchange for the Australian SEA HI STORY , WINTER 1986-87

dollar. But NO WAY am I going to give up my subscription to SEA HISTORY; it's the best of its kind in the world.

EDWARD A . MITCHENER Kingston Beach Tasmania , Australia Reduced membership rates f or students and retirees (or others on restricted income) are available to all members of the Society, no matter where they live.- Eo.

Once Again and All Together: Wavertree!

Captain Melbourne Smith cites the Oxford English Dictionary " traditional " pronunciation of the British ship Wa vertree' s name as " Wawtry " (see SH40 , Letters). I was born and bred a few miles from Wavertree, a ward or district of Liverpool, and never heard it pronounced any other way than as it looks phonetically. I have confirmed this with a Liverpudlian whose fami ly have lived in Wavertree for many generations .

In Anglo-Saxon times , Wavertree was written as Woetreo , which means a stand of trees. Toxteth , another ward of Liverpool whose name was given to a Leyland ship, was written as Stoctstaethe or Stochestede, which means a construction of logs on a wooden station- a stockade, perhaps.

I never met up with any Anglo-Saxons.

Perhaps there may be a few still lurking in the woods, muttering weird and wonderful pronunciations of fami liar words.

But as " Dickey Sam" (a native of o ld Liverpool) or " Mary Ellen " (his wi.fe) would say in their scouse or wacker language , " Wayvertree it is! " G EORGE CAMPBELL Brighton , England George Campbell, architect of the restoration of the clipper Cutty Sark in London , served also as architect of the restoration of the Leyland ship Wavertree at South Street Seaport Museum , New York , and continues today as architectural advisor to the Society on this project.-ED.

Black Holes of Ignorance and Indifference Some months back , the editor of a boating magazine wrote that al though SEA HISTORY and the NMHS may be less than perfect, they ' re what we have , and they deserve support from everyone interested in America's maritime history. I hope that Dr. Name Withheld (see SH40 , "Letters") wi ll reconsider her rather curt and snooty dismissal of the Society 's unprofessional ism and submit a professional-quality analysis of the shortcom-

ings she perceived and how they might be corrected .

What the maritime history establishment doesn ' t do and doesn ' t recognize needs urgent attention. Peter Spectre of WoodenBoat suggested that I should prepare a timeline survey of American maritime history , identifying the ships and eras that now absorb a disproportionate share of avail able resources and outlining the black holes of ignorance and indifference towards our maritime heritage which are more extensive than the well polished highlights.

I set the project aside when I reali zed that reducing the hi storical complexity to understandable , graphic terms was beyond my sk ill . The multitudinous threads of our maritime history are all of different weights and colors. Each hi storical thread must be val ue-judged, as a simple weighting based on tonnage , dollars or numbers doesn ' t work .

Can SEA HISTORY provide a forum-in addition to the valuable functions it already perforn1s-for "serious" and "professional " people to state their opinions about needed studies and activities in researching or promoting America's maritime history? In my opinion about three-fourths of the subject has been missed so far.

I suspect that the saving of old ships and the objective study of sea history are incompatible endeavors, and that a useful first step would be to separate these activities , financially and editorially. I would like to know what Dr. Withheld thinks!

BILL DUR HAM Seattle, Washington SEA HISTORY , with WoodenBoat and other journals, has provided a foru m for this kind of issue- we welcome the challenge to drive on further into these wide seas! We do not think that ' 'history'' should be separated from historic ship saving and keeping , however; we think service to the ship is endlessly instructive in historiography as it has been in history itself (which is, after all, a multidimensional, solid thing), and that some of the learning involved goes to poetry, meaning and attitudes as well as to information gathering.- Eo.

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3

EDITOR'S LOG ' 'Each with her special memory ' s special grace," John Masefield wrote of the ships he had known in his youth. Nonnan Brouwer at South Street Seaport Museum found the line for me, in that splendid collection Salt-Water Poems and Ballads. 1 had mis-remembered the line as "each with her story to tell,'' the title we finally gave our retrospective view of New York's Operation Sail, appearing on pages 28-29.

"I touch my country's mind," continued the sailor-poet, "I come to grips with half her purpose , thinking of these ships." And when Masefield lived in New York, he came down to the South Street waterfront to be refreshed just by the sight of the masts and yards against the sky, as indeed did the late Buckminster Fuller, who wrote us shortly before he died that the rigging of the ships in the East River inspired people to ''think in more economically , poetically noble ways which brought them closer to the great designer of them all."

And in this SEA HISTORY how good it is to meet Admiral Coffin , an islander who launched the American sail training movement in a brig named Clio , for the muse of history, and person who served both his native and his adopted country, but above all , who served young people who then as now hold all our futures.

* * * * *

Our concluding letter in this SEA HISTORY records Mobil Oil 's sponsorship of an important segment of the Society's work with high school students. This includes talks with the oil company ' s marine managers, and a visit to Port Mobil- the kind of direct-involvement , close-in work that opens the way to success in New York's most important product, its young people .

We hope next year to move on into work on ships with young people- work that embraces the sea experience, restoration and interpretation to the public .

This would be set up as a model in New York but designed for export to seaport, river and lakefront towns around the country , and-who knows?-abroad.

With your help-and on ly with your help-such things will come to pass next year. May your New Year be a good one!

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4

A Beautiful Tribute

Operation Education Merits Success!

The beautiful tribute to Sterling Hayden (SH4 l , Ship Notes) reminds me of the powerful TV interview with thi s legend

by Tom Snyder , sometime in the l 970s-probably around the time Voyage was published ( 1976) .

The late-night hour cast a spell a nd Snyder had the intelligence to just let the old sailor ramble on for an hour or more.

In fact, I remember that Snyder was awed and mesmerized-as I was.

What a great video cassette that interview would have made!

REGINA K . PARKS Valley Forge , Pennsylvania

" The Harbor Experience " project of Operation Education is a carefull y planned program, exposing area high school students to the varied opportunities in the maritime community. It is worthy of widespread support from the industry .

Mobil Marine Transportation will host a half-day program at our worldwide headquarters and a weekend visit to our terminal , in addition to helping defray part of the cost of thi s worthwhile ende_a vor.

All of us are eager to work with your Vice Chairman Jim Ean and Cami lle Freas to ensure that "The Harbor Experie nce " enjoys the success it merits .

STEPHEN R. COONEY Mobil Oil Corporation New York , New York

The Society welcomes anecdotes, letters or memorabilia about Sterling Hayden from anyone who may have ¡ known him. -ED. See " Editor's Log," at left. - ED.

HISTORIC SHIPWRECKS Before members blindly support the sowrecks, yet fee l justified under the guise called " Abandoned Shipwreck Act" now of public interest to lay claim to said before Congress, I urge that serious wrecks once they ' ve been located . A more thought be given the consequences of its equitable and sensible approach is needed.

It may be possible to require that finders passage. The Society, although well intentioned in soliciting support for this legislagive the government right of first refusal in buying (at a fair price) any recovered tion , seems to be overlooking some obvious problems with the proposed bill. items thought to be of historical signifiAs an interested diver, law student and cance. Unless a fair system of compensation is devised , any attempt to legislate a me mber of the NMHS I wholeheartedly ownership of abandoned wrecks will fail agree that historic shipwrecks are of great value to society and should be protected terribly and lead to disregard for the law .

The proposed bill would ostensibly allow and studi ed for the benefit of all. However, I am also a realist. This piece of legislation the government to arbitrarily assert title to a shipwreck and all its contents. This is wou ld not only fail to prevent looting of historical sites, it would also increase black in total disregard for long established legal market activity for shipwreck artifacts. principles of salvage law.

Under the proposed bill , a diverortreasIn addition to the aforementioned ure hunter who discovered a wreck site shortcomings, there would be major enforcement problems. Is the government would face a serious dilemma. He cou ld report the find and chance receiving no prepared to foot the huge expense of patrolling vast expanses of ocean? reward for his efforts or he could violate the " Act," recover as much as possible If passed , this loosely worded legislain the fastest manner, and dispose of the tion could easily lead to results diametrically opposed to the interests of the Navaluables on the black market. I believe tional Maritime Historical Society , arfar too many finders wou ld opt for the latter choice. chaeologists, divers , and most important, The proposed leg islation makes no the public . provision for compensation . There must DoNALDM. McGETRICK be clear incentive for finders to report Gainesville, Florida The National Society is dedicated to seetheir discoveries. Many states currently ing these historic wrecks not in terms of allow an individual to app ly for a salvage their material value to either governpermit and retain a share of recovered ments or individuals, but as cultural asvaluables. The finder is protected and arch aeo logical surveys are regularly carsets-things that belong to the community of mankind. As a society, we feel it ried out along with the salvage operais our mission to educate the public to tions. The proposed bill will encourage engage in thoughtful and deliberate ac''hit and run ' ' salvage operations where tion towards the preservation ofour comhistorical artifacts would be of no priority mon heritage . To this end, we invite and either lost or destroyed .

The Federal and State governments are others to come forward with their own unwilling to finance the long and incredideas about how best to protect submerged historic wrecks .-ED. ibly expensive searches for historical shipSEA HISTORY , WINTER 1986-87

QUERIES If there is enough interest and material , I hope to write a book about the yachts Olga and Elizabeth Mary. Olga is the last intact, sailing Bistol Channel Pilot Cutter of the Seeker type, built by J. Bowden of Porthleven , Cornwall , in 1909. EM, as she was known, was built by R . Pearce of Looe, Cornwall, in 1908, and worked extensively as a Polperro- Hooker. For substantial parts of their li ves they were owned

by Lieutenant-Colonel Patrick O ' Hara Phibbs , OBE, Royal Marines.

These two yachts were sai led exclusively by ' Colonel Pat ' (my godfather) from (in the case of EM) the early 1920s until hi s death in 1975. During these years hundreds of young men (and , occas ion a lly , young women) were introduced to a stand ard of seam anship that relied on self-suffi ciency at sea far removed from shore support and the modem throw-away att itude towards maintenance . It was a hard and exacting school but no one that passed wou ld have had it any other way ; trawling under sail , twohanded , was just one of the many tests!

May I ask your readers for any photographs , anecdotes, stories (good and bad) , plus track charts that ex-crews may wish to have included . I would, of course, like to hear from subseque nt and past owners and promise that all material, whether used or not, will be safeguarded and returned.

Naturally there will be appropriate acknow ledgements in the book to the sources of infom1ation .

Not everyone enj oyed li fe in Olga' s foe's ' ! crossing the Bay of Biscay or transitting the Straights of Messina but there are some fi ne examples of seamanship a nd many amusing tales to be related in convey ing the atmosphere of e lderl y working boats converted with the minimum of sophistication .

Olga is mentioned on page I 12 of Norman Brouwer' s International Register of Historic Ships and I a m ce rta in that amongst her crews over the years there must be a number of NMHS or World Ship Trust me mbers; I do hope they can he lp to en li ven the account of her busy and eventful life .

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My interests also extend to maritime houseflags and funnels , so I would also be gratefu l to know of any books , etc. , covering this subject particularly with reference to American companies . l ANJ.

F.

SCOTT

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I have heard that it used to be the custom to inscribe compasses (or binnacles) with the legend, "THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE . , _ I wonder if this really is a historical fact, and when and where it may have originated. It sounds to me as if this may have been done by Christian seafarers, rath er than Phoenician or Greek , although l have seen a Greek version of it in connection with a biblical matter.

I wou ld be gratefu l for any lead to an appropri ate so urce for an answer.

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The islanders in Elizabeth Coffin' s painting of nearly JOO years ago are a hardy breed ready to go scalloping or seaweed gathering, as here, or to ship out in one of the schooners in the background- like their successors today. Courtesy Na ntucket Historical Association.

ISLANDS IN THE STREAM OF HISTORY

by Peter Stanford class of merchant aristocrats th rough the whale fi shery, using Dipping and nodding to the rising chop, the big schooner burst their natural harbors and experienced people to good advaninto sight between rainsqualls, a curl of white water rolling away tage. At first people in the New World caught whales off the ir from her kni fe-sharp bows. Aboard the ferry from Woods Hole, beaches . With the invention of the fl oatin g tryworks in the people looked up from their crossword puzzles and detecti ve novels- " There's the Shenandoah!" And so it was, of course, late eighteenth century the whalers could go furth er afi e ld , reduc ing the ir catch to whale o il in barre ls. After decades o f her yards braced sharp against the topmast backstays, her wet, growth , in the mid-nineteenth century the commerc ial g lory stretched canvas gleaming dull y against the grey-green island passed from the islands. Ships grew bi gger, that was part of worl d of Nantucket Sound , off the south shore of Cape Cod. the problem , but only part. Ships could be, and were, ho icked Shenandoah! A name to conj ure with in sailing ship history, across the sandbars by camels which reduced their draft. No, and a vessel new-born in our own century, maki ng hi story in the main thing was the mainl and railroad , which New Bedfo rd her own right , as her owner-skipper ex plains a few pages on had , and the islands, of course, did not. in this SEA HISTORY. While the whaling ga me was on, Nantucket and Edgartown ***** ships and men coursed the world ' s oceans, and the islanders The first people on the scene get to name things, but few would developed a notable intern ationalism. It was as thou gh they begrudge Bartholemew Gosnold his naming Cape Cod , Martha's were aloof enough from the land masses to reject ideas of Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands in his visit in the early summer territori al dominance , and enough part of the ocean world to of 1602. Many Native American place names survi ve, and indeed fee l the world 's wideness . predominate in the islands, from Nantucket itself to Menemsha Pond on Martha's Vineyard , Naushon and Nashawena in the Eli With their sea empire lost, Nantucket and the Vineyard zabeths and dozens more. Gosnold himself strikes one as hav ing tow ns became centers of vi sitation by people seeking brac ing a happy touch with things. He regarded the Indians with real resea air, and seeking renewal in the arti stic and reli g ious enspect, and he seems to have led his own people with something campments that grew up in the cosmopolitan culture that had quite other than the hectoring, blustery style adopted by too many taken root. And all the time the life of the ordinary islanders, Europeans let loose in the Americas.

American yeomen , went on-growing crops, building boats, The delectable islands he stumbled on were settled late. fis hing the seas and shallows , connected to the wider world Captain John Underhill , writing a generation later, in 1638, by the ubiquitous ¡schooners that thro nged their waters. observed: " Nahanticot, Martins Vineyard , Pequeet, Narragan* * * * * sett Bay, Eli zabeth Ilands, all these places are uninhabited . . . . '' (You ' II note " Martin " for " Martha ," a confusion that perTwenty years ago, Norma Stanford and I came to Nantucket sisted for some time-but the names of the people who moved aboard the schooner we then had , Athena. We had come to there tended to stick, as witness the Mayhews of the Vineseek Ed Stackpole's help in a great undertaking in New York . yard-the ori ginal settlers-and the Coffin s of Nantucket, still Ed was rowed out to Athena by Charlie Sayle, schoonerman very much around.) But settled they ultimately were, and a par excellence. What a meeting we had aboard , that .glori ous mighty world wide trade eventuall y came to center on the isAugust afternoon ! Its consquences still continue, as does Ed 's lands-the deep-sea whaling trade. and Charlie ' s interest in the work of history. You ' II meet these Na ntucket and the Vineyard became fa mous and bred up a islanders furth er on in thi s SEA HISTORY. J, SEA HI STORY , WINT ER 1986-87

7

The Gosnold Voyage of 1602: An Introduction

by Lincoln P. Paine Bartholomew Gosnold was , so far as we know, the first European to come to the islands south of Cape Cod. His three-week stay on what he named Elizabeth 's Island , between Vineyard Sound and Buzzard 's Bay , heralded the beginning of sustained efforts to establish English-speaking people in North America.

Two accounts of this voyage of 1602 were published , as well as a fragment of a letter from Gosnold to his father. The first to appear was John Brereton's A Briefe and True Relation of the Discoverie of the North Part of Virginia, published in 1602 with a dedication to Sir Walter Raleigh . The dedication and the final shape and tone of Brereton's narrative were motivated by complex political considerations. In 1583 , Raleigh had been granted a charter for overseas exploration under which he had sent out his Roanoke colonists . But because there was no definitive proof as to their fate . Raleigh's charter, which should have expired in 1591 , had taken a life of its own, and it seemed that the Gosnold voyage could have been in violation of his monopoly rights.

When Gosnold returned to England with a load of sassafras, Raleigh attempted to have the cargo confiscated. The dedication of Brereton's narrative to him was part of an effort by Gosnold's backers , notably Bartholomew Gilbert who was also on the voyage, to avo id these legal difficulties . Raleigh's editorial influence is even more significant. In common with similar documents of the time, the aim of the Relation was to foster and encourage interest in overseas colonization in which , regardless of the particulars, Raleigh had a proven and vested interest. To this end, it was convenient to avoid any mention of hardships-such as the attack on Archer's men or the length of the voyage-which might discourage North American settlement.

Another promotional aspect of the Relation was Brereton 's use , for the first time, of the phrase "the North Part of Virginia" to describe what had previously been referred to by the obscure " Norumbega," a legendary Indian city of riches on the banks of a great river. (It was not until 1616 that John Smith hit on the brilliant choice of New England to describe the region.)

Nonetheless , the area was pleasant and fertile , and Archer and Brereton were surely in agreement with Gosnold 's sentiment that " it is as healthfull a Climate as any can be."

Gabriel Archer' s account did not appear until 1625, when it was published in Samuel Purchas 's Hakluytus Posthumus: or, Purchas his Pilgrimes. It is a far less literary work than Brereton ' s, but it is lively , direct and certainly more frank in its appraisal of events.

As Archer relates in the opening of his account, one of the specific aims of the Gosnold expedition was to establish an inhabited outpost as a trading center. Information about who

financed the voyage or what prompted it is scant, but incidental evidence for the latter seems to have been the knowledge of French establishments at Tadoussac , north of present-day Quebec , between 1600 and 1601 , and at Sable Island , 200 miles east of Halifax, which was begun in 1598 and lasted until 1603. There also seems to have been a surge of interest in exploration generally, occasioned by the re-release, in three volumes , of Richard Hakluyt 's Principall Navigations , Voiages , Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation between 1598 and 1600.

Europeans were not unfamiliar with the northeast coast of America , and there is strong evidence that fishermen from Bristol and the Basque country had been fishing the Newfoundland banks as early as the fifteenth century. In 1524, Giovanni da Verrazzano had made a broad sweep of the coast between North Carolina and Maine , and poked into numerous bays and rivers. A letter describing his coastwise voyaging was published posthumously in 1556. We know from Gosnold's letter to his father that he was influenced by this letter , particularly with respect to Verrazzano 's mention of what is thought to be Narragansett Bay. Both Archer and Brereton record meeting Indians who had been in contact with the French Newfoundland or Cape Breton fisheries , as you will read , and what is remarkable in both their accounts is their lack of surprise at the Indians ' European accoutrements and language .

Not a lot is known about Gosnold himself, other than that he came from a family of means and that he was engaged in privateering with his own ship as early as 1599 . As his North Virginia voyage proves , he was an accomplished navigator, and he seems to have been equally a practical man and sensible leader. He went on to have an active role in the founding of Jamestown in 1607 , which was the first English colony to take root in North America . Unfortunately, he did not live to see this achievement unfold , for he died of malaria that year, having protested the location of the settlement for its insalubrity.

*****

The text of Gabriel Archer' s account published here, as well as extracts from the works of Brereton and Gosnold , are taken from the texts printed in The English New England Voyages 1602-1608, edited by David B. Quinn and Alison M . Quinn (Hakluyt Society , London , 1983) . Abridgments are marked by ellipses . The only other change to the original is that " u" and " v" have been made to confonn with modem usage, for example " delivered" for " deliuered " and " upon " for " vpon. " Captain Paul Pinkham' s chart of Nantucket Sound, printed in 1791 , roughly halfway between Bartholomew Gosnold' s time and our own.

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Captaine Gosnols Voyage to the North part of Virginia begunne the sixe and twentieth of March, Anno 42. 1 Elizabethae Reginae 1602. and delivered by Gabriel Archer, a Gentleman of the said Voyage .

The said Captaine did set sayle from Falmouth, the day and yeere above written accompanied with thirtie two persons, whereof eight Mariners and Saylers, twelve purposing upon the Discovery to returne with the ship for England, the rest remayne there for population . . . .

2 The one and twentieth, . . â&#x20AC;˘ we saw a disinhabited Il and which so afterwards appeared unto us: we bore w ith it , and 3 named it Marthaes Vineyard, from Shole-hope it is e ight leagues in circuit, the Iland is five m iles, and hath 41. degrees and one quarter of lat itude: the place most pleasant ; for the two and twentieth, we went ashoare , and found it fu ll of Wood , Vines, Gooseberie bushes, Hurtberies , Raspices , Eglentine, &c. Heere we had Cranes , Hearnes , Shovlers Geese , and divers other Birds which there at that time upon the C liffes being sandie with some Rockie stones, did breed and had young. In thi s place we saw Deere, heere we rode in eight fathome neere the shoare, where wee tooke great store of Cod, as before at Cape Cod, but much better.

The three and twentieth wee weyed, and towards night came to Anchor at the Northwest part of thi s !land , where the next morning offered unto us fast runnin g thirteene Savages appare lled as aforesa id , and armed with Bowes and Arrowes without any feare. They brought Tobacco, Deere skins and some sodden fish. These offered themselves unto us in grea t fam iliaritie , who seemed to be we ll conditioned.They came more rich in 4 Copper then any before. This !land is so und , and hath no danger abo ut it.

The fo ure and twentieth, we set sai le and doubled the Capt; of another lland next unto it, wh ich wee cal led Dover Cliffe, , and th en came into a faire Sound , 6 where wee roade all night, the next morning wee sent off our Boate to discover another Cape, th at lay betweene us and the Mayne, from which were a ledge of Rockes a mile into the Sea ,7 but all above water, and without danger , we went about them, and came to Anchor in e ight fadome , a quarter of a m ile from the shoare in one 8 of the state liest Sounds that ever I was in . This called wee Gosnolls Hope; the North banke whereof is the Mayne , which stretcheth East and West. This Iland Captaine Gosnoll called Elizabeths Ile, where we determined our abode: the distance betweene every of th ese II ands is, viz. from Marthaes Vineyard to Dover Cliffe, halfe a league over the Sound, thence to Eli zabeths Ile one league distant. From Eli zabeths Ile unto the Mayne is foure leagues . On the North side neere ad ioyning unto th e !land Elizabeth , is an Ilet in csmpasse halfe a rnyle full of Cedars, by me call ed Hills Hap, to the Northward of wh ich in the mouth of an open ing of the Mayne appeareth 10 another the like , that l called Haps Hill , for that I hope much hap may be ex pected from it ..

The eight and twentieth we entred counsell about our abode ' Eli zabeth I ascended the throne in 1558; and 1602 , therefore , is year 44, not 42, of her reign. She died in 1603. ' The Concord passed the Azores 14 Apri l and next sigh ted land one month later , off either Cape Eli zabeth or Cape Neddick. While at anchor here, the ship was approached by eight Micmac Indi ans in a Biscay shallop. Their leader was dressed " in a Wastecoate of blacke worke, a paire of Breeches, cloth Stockings, Shooes, Hat , and Bande." The Indians , " with a piece of Chalke described the Coast thereabouts , and cou ld name Placentia of the New-found-land, they spake di vers Christian words and seemed to understand much more than we, for want of Language cou ld comprehend. " From here Concord sailed south to a place they initially called Shole- hope, "where we tooke great store of Cod-fish, for which we altered the name, and ca ll ed it Cape Cod. " Neither Archer' s nor Brereton ' s account is very helpful in showing us exactly the way of the ship between Cape Cod Bay and the Elizabeth Islands.

SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1986-87

William Avery Baker's rendering of Gosnold' s ship, Concord.

Courtesy New Bedford Whaling Museum.

and plantation , which was concluded to be in the West part 11 of Eli zabeths I land. The North-east thereof running from o ut our ken . The South and North standeth in an eq uall Parallel.

This !land in the Westerside adm itteth some Increekes, or sand ie Coves, so girded, as the water in some places of each side meeteth, to which the Indians from the Mayne doe oftentimes resort for fishing of Crabs . There is eight fadome very neere the shoare, and the latitude here is 41. degrees 10. minutes, the breadth from Sound to Sound in the Wester part is not pass ing a mile at most , altogether unpeopled and disinhabited. It is over-growne w ith Wood and Rubbi sh , viz. Okes , Ashes, Beech, Wal-n ut, Weech-hasle, Sassafrage, and Cedars, with divers other of un knowne names. The Rubbi sh is wild Peaze, yo ung Sassafrage, Cherie trees, Vines, Eglentine, Gooseberie bushes, Hawthorne , Honi suckl es, w ith others of

In this island is a Pond offresh water. â&#x20AC;˘. in the Centre whereof is a Rockie Islet . . . on which wee beganne our Fort and place of abode. . . like qualitie. The herbs and Roots are Strawberies, Raspis, Ground Nuts , Alexander , S urrin , Tansie, &c . without count.

Touching the ferti litie of the soyle by our owne experience made , we found it to be excellent for sowing some Engl ish pul se it sprowted out in one fortnight almost halfe a foot. In this Il an d is a stage or Pond of fresh water, in circuit two miles, on the one side not distant from th e Sea thirtie yards , in the Centre whereof is a Rock ie Islet, contay ning neere an Acre of grou nd fu ll of wood, on which wee beganne our Fort and place of abode, di sposing it selfe so fit fo r the same . These Indians call Gold Wassador, which arg ueth there is therof in the Countrey . . . .

The one and thirt ieth , Captaine Gosnoll desiro us to see the Maine , because of the distance , hee set say le over; where comming to anchor, went as hoare with certaine of his companie, and immediately there presented unto him men women and children, who with all curteous k indnesse entertayned him , ' Martha's Vineyard is thought to have been named forei therGosnold 's daughter or hi s mother- in -law Martha Golding. ' Gosnold ' s men encountered Indians with copper ornaments throughout their stay in this area. The copper probably originated with French fishermen based around Cape Breton who poss ibly employed local Indi ans to help them. Copper, in the form of kettles and pots, was probably acquired through trade or force, and distributed along the coast through further inter-Indian coasta l trade. ' Dover C li ffe is the penninsula of Gay Head. ' Vineyard Sound. 1 Sow and Pigs Reef. ' Buzzards Bay . ' Penikese Island .

0 ' Haps Hill is probably West Island , near the mouth of the Acushnet River. " Eli zabeth ' s Island-probably named for Gosnold 's sister, if not his Queen- at this time comprised the present day islands of Cuttyhunk and Nashawena, separated by Canapitsit Channel at a later date.

9

... they sate with us and did eate of our Bacaleure and Mustard, dranke of our Beere, but the Mustard nipping them in their noses they could not indure. . . giving him certaine skinnes of wilde beasts , which may be rich Furres , Tobacco, Turtles, Hempe, artificiall Strings coloured, Chaines, and such like things as at the instant they had about them. These are a fa ire conditioned people .. .. This Maine is the goodliest Continent that ever we saw, promising more by farre then we any way did expect: for it is replenished with faire fields, and in them fragrant Flowers, also Medowes, and hedged in with stately Groves, being furnished also with pleasant Brookes , and beautified with two maim~ Rivers that (as wee iudge) may haply become good Harbours , and conduct us to the hopes men so greedily doe thirst after. . .. Thus with this taste of Discovery , we now contented our selves, and the same day made returne unto our Fort , time not permitting more sparing delay . . . .

The fifth , wee continued our labour, when there came unto us as hoare from the Mayne fiftie Savages , stout and lustie men with their Bowes and Arrowes , amongst them there seemed to be one of authoritie , because the rest made an inclining respect unto him. The ship was at their comming a league off, and Captaine Gosnoll aboord, and so likewise Captaine Gilbert, who almost never went ashoare, the company with me on ly eight persons. These Indians in hastie manner came towards us, so as we thought fit to make a stand at an angle betweene the Sea and a fresh water, I mooved my selfe towards him seven or eight steps, and clapt my hands first on the sides of mine head , then on my breast, and after presented my Musket with a threatning countenance, thereby to signifie unto them, either a choice of Peace or Warre, whereupon hee using me with mine owne signes of Peace, r stept forth and imbraced him , his company then all sate downe in manner like Grey-hounds upon their heeles with whom my company fe ll a bartering. By this time Captaine Gosnoll was come with twe lve men more from aboord , and to shew the Savage Seignior that he was our Captaine , we received him in a guard, which he passing thorow, saluted the Seignior with ceremonies of our salutations , whereat he nothing mooved or altered himselfe.

Our Captaine gave him a straw Hat and a paire of Knives, the Hat awhiles hee wore, but the Knives he beheld with great marvelling, being very bright and sharpe , this our courtesie made them all in love with us . . .. The seventh , the Seignior came againe with all his troupe as before , and continued with us the most part of the day, we going to dinner abo ut noone, they sate with us and did eate of our Bacaleure [sun-dried cod] and Mustard, dranke of our Beere, but the Mustard nipping them in the ir noses they could not indure: it was a sport to behold their faces made being bitten therewith.

In time of Dinner the Savages had stolne a Target wherewith acquainting the Seignior, with feare and great trembling they restored it againe, thinking perhaps we would have beene revenged for it, but seeing our familiaritie to continue, they fell a fresh to roasting of Crabs, Red Herrings, which were exceeding great, grou nd Nuts, &c. as before. Our Dinner ended, the Seignior first tooke leave and departed , next all the rest saving foure that 12 stayed and went into the Wood to helpe us digge Sassafrage, whom we desired to goe aboord us, which they refused and so departed .

The eighth wee divided the victuals , viz. the ships store for England, and that of the Planters, which by Captaine Gilberts allowance could be but sixe weekes for sixe moneths, whereby

there fell out a countroversie , the rather, for that some seemed secretly to understand of a purpose Captaine Gilbert had not to returne with supplie of the issue , those goods should make by him to be carried home. Besides, there wanted not ambitious conceits in the mindes of some wrangling and ill disposed persons that overthrew the stay there at that time , which upon consultation thereof had, about five dayes after was fully resol13 ved all for England againe . The tenth , Captaine Gosnoll fell downe with the ship to the little Tiet of Cedars, called Hills happe, to take in Cedar wood, leaving mee and nine more in the Fort, onely with three meales meate, upon promise to returne the next day.

The e leventh, he came not, neither sent , whereupon I commanded foure of my companie to seeke out for Crabbes, Lobsters, Turtles &c. for sustayning us till the ships returne , which was gone cleane out of sight, and had the winde chopt up at South-west, with much difficulty would shee have beene able in short time to have made returne. These foure Purveyers , whom I counselled to keepe together for their better safety divided themselves , two going one wayes and two another, in search as aforesaid . One of these petie companies was assaulted by foure Indians , who with Arrowes did shoot and hurt one of the two in his side, the other a lusty and nimble fellow, leapt in and cut their Bow-strings whereupon they fled. Being late in the evening, they were driven to lie all night in the Woods, not knowing the way home thorow the thicke rubbish , as also the weatlier somewhat stormie. The want of these sorrowed us much, as not able to coniecture any thing of them unlesse very evil!.

The twelfth, those two came unto us againe, whereat our ioy was encreased, yet the want of our Captaine, that promised to returne , as aforesaid, strooke us in a <lumpish terrour, for that hee performed not the same in the space of almost three dayes. Jn .the meane wee sustayned our selves with Alexander and Sorrell pottage , Ground-nuts and Tobacco, which gave nature a reasonable content. Wee heard at last, our Captaine to lewre unto us , which made such musike as sweeter never came unto poore men.

The thirteenth , beganne some of our co mpanie that before vowed to stay, to make revolt: whereupon the planters diminishing , all was given over. The fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth wee spent in getting Sasafrage and fire-wood of Cedar, leaving House and little Fort by ten men in nineteen days sufficient made to harbour twenty persons at least with their necessary provision.

The seventeenth, we set say le , doubling the Rockes of Elizabeths Iland, and passing by Dover Cliffe, came to anchor at Marthaes Vineyard being five leagues distant from our Fort, where we went ashoare, and had young Cranes, Herneshowes, and Geese, which now were growne to pretie bignesse.

The eighteenth, we set say le and bore for England, cutting off our Shalop, that was well able to land five and twenty men , or more , a Boate very necessary for the like occasions.

The winds doe raigne most commonly upon this coast in the Summer time Westerly. In our homeward courses wee observed the foresaid fleeting weeds to continue till we came withi n two hundred leagues of Europe.

The three and twentieth of luly we came to anchor before Exmouth. J,

" Gosnold's company collected sassafras for sa le in Eng land. To hi s father Gosnold wrote, ''The Sassafras which we brought we had upon the !lands: where though we had littl e disturbance , and reasonable plenty: yet for that the greatest part of our people were emp loyed about the fittin g of our hou se, and such like affaires, and a few (and those but easie labourers) undertooke this worke , the rather because

we were informed before our goi ng forth, that a tunn e was sufficient to cloy England . . . . " That is , to fl ood the market.

10

'-' Gosnold reported to his father that "when we came to anker before Portsmouth, which was some four days after we made the land , we had not one Cake of Bread, nor any drinke, but a little Vinegar left. "

SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1986-87

A sweet Maine lobster skiff faithfully reproduced in fiberglass.

Her easily-driven hull g ives good performance and soft ride with a 30 HP outboard. She and her little sister, the Tashmoo 15, are stable, seaworthy boats ideal for fishing the rips.

Traditional service since 1947.

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Yankee Clipper's Wavertree Room The Yankee Clipper, one of South Street Seaport's fine st restaurants , recently dedicated an opulently refurbished room to honor the historic Wavertree , a tall ship now berthed just outside the restaurant's multipaned windows.

The dedication of the Wavertree Room goes beyond its physical proximity to its namesake, however, for the room actually once served as the office of Baker, Carver & Morrell , general agents who represented the Wavertree in the

1800s.

Seen left in the photo right is the President of the National Maritime Historic Society, Peter Stanford, presenting a commemorative print of the Wavertree which will serve as a focal point of the restaurant to Patrick Cooney, owner of the Yankee Clipper. Mr. Cooney, also a devotee of historic vessels , acquired the building as a gutted shell in 1982. Its interior has been entirely hand-fitted with solid oak panels , brass, leaded glass, antique fixtures and nautical embellishments throughout.

The building was saved due to the National Maritime Historic Society's campaign to have it granted landmark status in 1972, as the only full -granite building of its genre remaining in lower Manhattan. Mr. Stanford indicated, " We regard it as a museum of its own." The room , according to Mr. Cooney, is intended not only to honor the Wavertree, but the scores of volunteers working tirelessly year-round to restore the ship and its many counterparts at the South Street Seaport .

- VIA PORT OF NY-NJ, March 1986

SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1986-87

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11

Schooner Life

by Charles F. Sayle, Sr. a heavy engine and tanks . Some of them, like the American Charlie Sayle is one of the last of those who knew the coasts of New England in working sail. He started in this as a Eagle which sails out of Maine in charter, did go dory fishing in rough times when money was tight and fuel scarce. It was young man and worked hard to stay in sail. He is recognized cheaper to put out a dory than keep up an engine, and there by veterans of that trade and younger people alike as somewas a time in World War II when there were no engines thing of a tribal storyteller. Lucky enough to have fallen in available for fishing boats. The sails were mostly used for with the last of the great schoonermen, Zeb Tilton, and his celebrated Alice S. Wentworth, today Sayle keeps the culture steadying on the draggers , though they could handle under sail after a fashion if the engine broke down . The fishing was typical alive modelling, scrimshanding and collecting materials about the last days of the coasting schooners. of the trade, hand-lining, mackerel seining , gill-netting and so My first job on a ship was as a coal passer on an ore boat in the Great Lakes in 1923-1 was fourteen. The following year I shipped out of Baltimore in the Hog Islander Artigas , under charter to Oriole Lines from the US Shipping Board . I sailed in her for about six months to England, Wales and Ireland , and returned home to Cleveland in time for Christmas.

The next year I was back on the Lakes in the Henry Steinbrenner, which was owned by the Kinsman Transit Company of Cleveland. The Steinbrenner family owned the company and Henry was the great-grandfather of George Steinbrenner, who owns the New York Yankees. He still has an interest in the company , which is now the S & E Shipping Company.

When I was seventeen, I moved to Gloucester-that was February of 1926-and shipped in a dory trawling schooner.

As recently as ten years ago there were still seven of the Gloucestermen afloat-Effie M. Morrissey , American, L.A. Dunton, Lettie G. Howard, Adventure, the Welles (ex-Seaconnet) and Buccaneer (ex-Virginia)-now gone-the last two down in Florida. The rest we don ' t count as true Gloucestermen as even though they may have been schooner-rigged at one time , they were built as draggers with full after ends to carry

on , but after four years I quit that and moved to Nantucket.

When I first got here I made a living any way I could-scallop dredging, quahog tonging , farming , boatbuilding , building houses and ship models-whatever work there was. I had a l 5ft power dory which I converted into a centerboard sloop and later into a two-masted schooner. Dories are always measured on the bottom and she was I 9ft 6in over all. The smallest dories were l 3ft, used for single dory hand-lining; the l 4ft were for single dory trawling. The l 5ft were two-man double dories, and the I 6ft were the heavier built halibut dories which could handle the heaviest fishing gear.

The fishing fleet has always been important to Nantucket , even in whaling days. The trade dates back to the eighteenth century with salt cod and mackerel , which were island staples.

In the 1860s and '70s, there were two island firms that owned thirteen or fourteen fishing schooners. Mackerel jigging was big business until about the 1850s and the advent of seining .

On an average set of the seine you could net about 5 ,000 to 20 ,000 pounds of mackerel-as much as 100,000 pounds if you had an especially good day. Many days nothing was caught.

The coasting schooners were the mainstay , though , performing the same sort of function that trucks do today . When the

It's winter 1934, and the Alice S. Wentworth has brought building materials to Coskata , Nantucket , f or the new Life Station there. Th e Alice has drawn up close to the beach and the lillle Doris assists, acting as a landing stage. Courtesy South Street Seaport Museum.

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The schooner Coral unloading paving oil for paving co111rac1or John Ring, at Old South Wha1f, Na111ucke1. Courtesy the awhor.

railroads and trucks came, they took over the coastal trade , steam and sail , and destroyed one of the finest transportati on systems in the wo rld . Coasters are different from packets in that the packets tried to keep to a regular schedul e. Before the railroads came there were regular packets operating out of Nantucket to ports all along the east coast and as far away as New Orleans. As late as 1901-1902, there were still Nantucket packets to New Bedford and Boston , but in the end they carri ed mostly cargo and not many passengers . The coasters, on the oth er hand , almost always carried cargo, freighting what they co uld where they could between Maine and the Chesapeake.

In th e years just before World War II , it was still all hard work and all hand work. But it was a good life in the coasting trades. We always sailed with a short crew and would do all the loading and unloading ourselves , hiring local help if we had to. It all depended on what was ava il able. Coal tubs cou ld hold about a quarter ton , filled by hand with shove ls. In those days on Nantucket a store clerk might make $ 15 to $ 18 a week working at a counter, whereas you might make $5 a day shovelling coa l, wh ich made it worthwhile. Four foot sti cks of cordwood you would put in slings and ho ist directl y into trucks; or if the trucks happened not to be there, you ' d just pile it on the pier.

One of the last well known coasting schooners of this area was the Alice S. Wentworth, under Zeb Tilton. The Alice could load 100 tons of coal, 64 cords of wood , 55,000 bricks-all on deck--0r 400 barrels of gas or paving oil. The coal you would load on deck with about eight tons in the after hold to trim the vessel. The wood was loaded in the hold and then on deck about five feet high . But the coasting schooners carried anything they could find . Steam boiler tanks were put on deck between the fore and mainmasts , as were large trucks, which you would drive over planks laid to the rai l cap down to the deck.

The Alice didn ' t have an engine, but she had a I 6ft yawlboat with a I 6hp, 2-cylinder Lathrop gas eng ine. If yo u knew how to trice her up to the stern just ri ght , it was just like having an engine . She could push the Alice along at about 3 1/2 or 4 miles an hour. The big three- and fo ur-masters had tugboats often to help them in port , but the smaller boats depended on the little one- and two-lun ge r engines in th eir yaw l boats .

There were all manner of coasters. The lime schooners sailed down around Rockland and Rockport, Maine for lime used in SEA HISTORY, WINTER 1986-87

Captain Zeb Tilton (left) and crew filling the tub with the Alice's deck load of soft coal for the Na ntucket schools, circa 1937 . Below another view of the Alice at Old South Wharf with a deck load of coal. Photos courtesy South Street Seaport Museum.

13

Charlie Sayle , unloading coal from the hold, waits in the hatchway for the empty coal tub.

Photo courtesy the author.

plaster and mortar. The lime schooners had a tendency to catch fire. T hey wou ld be leaky older boats and when they took water, the lime wo uld swell and combust. Stone schooners from Maine went to all the major cities along the coast with building stone. Small schooners carried cobb les for road paving. It 's commonly thought that the cobbles were the ballast from whaleships, but they weren't. On Nashawena and Pasque in the Elizabeth Islands as well as Cape Ann down toward Rockport there were cobbles thrown up by the sea. There is a story abo ut Captain Josiah Cleveland of the schooner Eliza Jane who was over there one time with a young fellow in hi s crew loading cobbles. Around late afternoon the young fellow turned to him and said, "Captain C leveland, don ' t you realize the sun 's going down ?" " Yes , yes," said Cleveland . " Keep right on working, there will be another one up before long.'' It was also said of Cleveland that he liked it when it was really cold because the cobbles would stick together and you could load them two or three at a time. The Eliza Ja ne, built at New Bedford and sailed out of the Vineyard, was the first schooner Zeb Tilton shipped in, when he was fifteen.

Coasting kept the schooners busy all year round , except during freeze- ups in the winter, when they couldn 't sai l at all , and a week or ten days usually at the end of July when business got pretty slack. When we ran out of frei ght for the Alice, Zeb would hang a sign out for passengers-$2 a head for a 10-5 sail. Those were damn good times , and it was certainly something different, with an accordian player aboard and everybody having a good time enjoying themselves. The Alice wasn't the only ship doing that , of course. This was in the days before the Coast Guard regulations were strict or strictly enforced. Captain Charlie Blount told me that the big 40ft catboat Lillian once took I 05 people aboard out for the day to Wauwinet and back .

In the last century, candles, whalebone, whale oil and farm produce were prime commod ities from Nantucket. In the middle of the century there were more than I 00 farms on the island , and about 15-20,000 sheep. And of course, while the whaling industry was here, there were a lot of businesses assoc iated with it: ropewalks, brass fou ndry, sai l lofts, rigging lofts, cooper shops, blacksm iths, and a marine railway at Brant Point. But when whaling fe ll off, everythin g else fo llowed, and after a time, Nantucket didn't produce anything for markets off-island . Schooners sti ll came to the island with freight , but there was increasingly less fo r them to carry away on a regular basis. In the late '20s, there were on ly about thirty farms left , and I remember the Alice spent two or three years freighting the scrap metal off of the abandoned farms as well as old cars.

The last time I sailed in the Alice was 1942. I never was in her steady. I on ly made twelve or thirteen trips a year, maybe three or fo ur days at a time. I would go down to the wharf when she came in and maybe spend a day or two while they 14

unloaded, shovelling coal or taking off cordwood, and then I'd sai l. She was like a second home to me; but my time was my own and I sailed in her when I wanted. Charlie Marthinusen was Zeb's mate. His sons sailed in her at times, and his son-inlaw . Sometimes his daughters sai led, too, and Charlie ' s wife; they would do the cooking. But that was in summer mostly.

Zeb also had hi s grandchi ldren with him sometimes . It was a real fami ly boat. Zeb retired in 1942; he was in his late seventies and had cataracts . He died in 1948 in his eighties. A small group of us owned shares in the Alice, and in 1943 we sold her to Parker Hall for $600. He was eighty-two at the time .

When she went, most of the people in the Vineyard (where she was registered) didn't know about her. Nantucketers knew more about her, but over there you had three or four big towns, and here there is only the one. But there was little interest in maritime things . People might see her coming into the dock under sail , but they wouldn't go down to the water for the purpose. If they drove down to the wharf to get gas they would see her and there we ' d be working in her, but the sea had gotten away from them.

In 1943, I was working in New Jersey building wind tunnel test models of the airplanes to come, and I came up with my fami ly and some friends for a week 's vacation at the end of July . My son was just six weeks old , and one day I looked out the window to see the Alice rounding Brant Point with Parker Hall and Zeb, who was along for the ride. He had told me he was going to come see my son. That night, we were all down at the Stetson House with Zeb , and I started dragging stories out of him about the coasting days. At some point he started saying he didn 't understand how the hell Parker Hall could sail so long knowing so little about coasting schooners.

The next day I ran into Parker Hall outside the Pacific C lub just up from the Wharf, and he started saying the same thing about Zeb. It just shows that everybody had a different style of doing things.

Today there 's more sai ling and more people have boats.

But that's because they want to see something different , and sailing gives them a bit of the o ld way. The roads are much too crowded and they ' re doing the same thing to the water.

There's no pleasure anymore in sai ling around the harbor, not with all the motorboats running around.

But people say there 's no more wooden boats and that people don't know how to handle the tool s. That's a lot of hogwash.

There's some crackerjack young builders out there, restoring o lder boats and turning out new ones all the time at boatshops and apprenticeshops and the like. And there's some damn good sailors that can do any thing. We lost a lot of good seamanship skill s, but there wi ll always be men who'll go to sea and learn them. People can adapt to any condition and learn to do anything needed.

It was an interesting life- it was something to be out there alone in a dory in the fog with the wind and the sea- and there are people who wi ll never know what I knew. But a lot of young people do care; they read everything they can, they ask for old photographs. I was-Jucky to come to the coast in time to see the last of sai l. Therewere still three- , four-, and five-masted schooners then, and some square-riggers . It was something , starting out on the Lakes when they still had the lumber hookers, schooners and 600ft ore boats, to watch the last days of the transition from wood to steel and from sail to steam.

I wou ldn't trade those years for anything. My onl y regret is that I didn't quit school when I was twe lve. I would have enjoyed two extra years of the older days while the old vessels were sti II around. Ji SEA HISTORY , W INTER 1986-87

Sailing Shenandoah

by Robert Douglas

The traditional cargo schooner had all but disappeared after World War II , the few schooners that remained in New England carrying not fi rewood and apples, but passengers. Then , in 1964, an imaginative citizen of Martha ' s Vineyard, Bob Douglas, built the 108ft square-topsail schooner Shenandoah , patterned on the revenue cutter Joe Lane.for carrying passengers.

Here he reflects on twenty years in the trade-which has grown to include such vessels as Eben Whit comb's Harvey Gamage and Joe Davis's Bill of Ri ghts.

The question is asked often, and is of course a most valuable topic , Why have I spent most of my time and all of each and every summer for the past twenty-three years ministeri ng to the needs of a I08ft square-topsai l schooner? The answer is simple: Because I'd rat her do thi s than anything else. But there are peripheral reasons.

There is certainly some vicarious satisfaction in providing a training ship for my crew of eight. There was no such vessel operating in Massachusetts when I was sixteen years old. One of my greatest satisfactions lies in seeing young men sign aboard in the most humble crew positions-and climb through the ranks , the vessel training the crew ; and seeing them perform as mate , my most important position ; and seeing them go on and wring more water out of their socks than I have sailed on .

But a profess ional product is of course not what a crew job aboard Shenandoah is all abo ut.

The obli gation and responsibilities of the crew to one another and to the vessel produce a li fe-sty le that one has to experience to understand. Slocum and Villiers both speak e loquently of the magic done aboard a real sailing vessel to those in volved with its welfare and operation. Those who have experienced it know it is there.

The next best reason for operating Shenandoah is to provide her ex periences to groups of youths. Whether or not they ever set foot aboard a sailing vessel again , a six-day experience out of earshot of radio and te levision, being involved with wind direction, velocity , visibility and tidal flow-joining in together to get large sail s aloft, and a big anchor broken out , I have found , may well be a significant moment in their experience.

For here, for six days, is a real life style, real demands by the weather and the tides and real reasons for washing dishes , and keeping the vessel and your cabi n neat and c lean.

Perhaps a first time one-to-one assoc iation with the weather gods opens one's eyes in a way never before possible. Visibility down to the end of the jibboom , or a 40 knot wind howli ng in the ri gg ing wi ll put sailing on hold fo r a day . Perfect conditions become all the more magnificent when contrasted with a day of rain and heavy fog that holds the vessel on her anchor.

The coast that Shenandoah operates upon is bounded by Nantucket on the east and Greenport, Long Island , on the west. Tidal conditions, velocities of up to 5 knots, wind direction and velocity, and visibility- all contribute to produce conditions that are hardly ever the same .

The fact that a large vessel can contain all the support systems for a group for the period of a week g ives the vessel-any vessel, for that matter- its most important characteristic: that it is a world of its own, that it can provide everything needed cut off from the rest of the world , relying on its own stores and provisions and upon the wind fo r propulsion.

Although Shenandoah relies upon the income provided by passengers to operate , this doesn' t rule out the reality that sharing one's world with the weekly passenger can be a challenging and satisfying endeavor.

A group of passengers, a crosscut of the country, are usuall y a bit of a challenge at first. Where-are-we-going-today ? and SEA HI STORY , WINTER 1986-87

Photo by Norman Fortier.

Photo by T.E . Heidenreich, Jr .

when- wi ll -we-get-there? questions indicate the basic problem .

But almost everyone gets an education and learns the whys and wherefores , because a sailing vessel without auxiliary power operates in a way never imagined by these people before.

And there is one adage I have found to be true. The bigger the sa iling vessel , the more fun it is to sail. Proportion and ri g are contributing factors to the exc itement a big vessel can produce: 7000 sq uare fee t of canvas straining overhead , the roar and thunder of the lee bow wave, the view from aloft on the crosstrees 70ft above the decks , the slow determined respon se of a 170 ton hull to two or three spokes of the wheel , the intricacies of square rig , sharply braced yards and tapering topmasts outlined agai nst a star-fi lled sky.

Thi s whole sailing ship ethos is powerful and many faceted., but undeniable, and once involved with it , one is never quite the same again. .i..

15

Nantucket and Pitcairn: An Islander Unravels an Island Mystery Half a World Away

by Edouard A. Stackpole, Historian , Nantucket Historical Society In the National Maritime Museum, in Greenwich, a suburb of London, is a remarkable timepiece, an early ship's chronometer made in 1771 by Larcum Kendall for Captain James Cook.

Chronometers were essential to the most workable ways of determining longitude, the position of a ship east or west of Greenwich . Rare and valuable, these very accurate timepieces were not likely to be thrown away.

But this one survived by rather unusual means. After Captain Cook's death it was given to another outstanding navigator, Captain William Bligh, captain of HMS Bounty when the famous mutiny occurred. The mutineers did not let Captain Bligh sail away in his longboat with this instrument-they kept it for themselves. And eighteen years Later, Alexander Smith, the Last survivor of the Bounty mutineers, gave it to a voyager from an island on the other side of the world, Nantucket. Here is how that exchange took place .

Probabl y no other true story of the South Pacific has commanded the continued interest of readers more than that of HMS Bounty and the mutineers who settled on Pitcairn in the year 1790. Hav ing seized the ship, and set Captain Bligh and eightee n of the fai th fu l hands adrift in a launch, Fletcher Christian and his band of mutineers returned to Tahiti . They then sailed into those areas of the Pacific less frequented by ships and eventuall y reached lonely Pitcairn Island , where they landed and destroyed the ship by fire . It was not until February in 1808, nearly two decades later, that the story of what had happened to the Bounty came to light , and this was the completely accidental result of a vis it to Pitcairn by Captain Mayhew Folger of Nantucket, master of the ship Topaz, a sealing vessel from Boston. Captain Folger, reaching Valparaiso a few weeks later, reported his finding the descendants of the mutineers (and one surviving mutineer) on Pitcairn. The news reached the British Admiralty by a fri gate which returned to England some months later.

Whe n Captain Fol ger lowered hi s boat from the side of th e Topaz o n Februa ry 6 , 1808, and began his trip to the shores of Pitcairn Island , he had no th o ug ht of th e Bounty and the mutin y . The isla nd had been di scovered many years before

by Capta in Carteret of HM S Swallow , and named for the yo ung midshipman who had first sighted it. Be ing far removed from th e travelled lanes of me rc ha nt ships, uninhabited and difficult of approach for a landin g, it had been mo re 16

that after putting Captain Bligh in the long boat and sending her adrift their commander-Christi an- proceeded to Otaheite , where all the mutineers chose to stop, except Christian himself and seven others. They all took wives at Otaheite and six men as servants, and proceeded to Pitcairn Island , where they landed all their goods and Chattels, ran the Bounty o n shore , and broke her up , whi ch took place as near as he could recollect in 1790 .

Captain Mayhew Folger. Photo courtesy the Na111ucket Historical Society.

or less ignored by the few vessels who saw it. The Bounty, under Chri sti an , had sailed from Tahiti with eight mutineers , six Tahitian me n and twe lve Tahitian women , a nd upon reach ing Pitca irn the ship was drive n as hore and burned, leaving the people on sho re to whatever the fates decreed .

Captai n May hew Fo lger's discovery of the colo ny on Pitcairn is recorded in hi s own words in the log of the Topa z: Sat. Feb 6 , 1808-First part lig ht airs at East. Steering S 1/2S by compass. At 1/2 past 1 p.m . saw land bearing SW

by W 1/2 W. Steered fo r the la nd with a light breeze at East. the said land being Pitcairn Island , di scovered in 1767 by Captain Carte ret. At 2 a. m ., the Isle bore South 2 leag ues di stant; lay off and looked for seals. On approaching the shore saw a smoke on the land , at whi ch I was very much surpri sed, it being represented by Captain Carteret as be ing destitute of inhab itants. On approaching sti ll nearer the land , I discovered a boat paddling near me wi th 3 me n in he r. On approachin g he r, they hailed in the E ngli sh lang uage, asked who was Captain o f th e ship , and offered me a couple of cocoanuts which th ey had brought off as a present, and requested I would land , the re be ing as they said a white man on shore. I went o n shore a nd found the re an E ng lishman by the name of Alexa nder S mith , the only pe rson out of nine th at escaped on board of the ship Bounty, Captain Bligh , under the command of that arch mutineer, Christian. Smith informed me

T he aftermath of th e arrival o f the gro up on Pitcairn was reco unted to Captain Fo lger by S mith- the six native servants attac kin g the abusive and do mineering mutineer band and killing all but S mith , who was bad ly wounded. The nat ive women later joined with Smith and put all th e nati ve men to death , leaving Smi th the o nl y survivin g man. Smith became the Commander-in-Chief of Pitca irn . He became a teacher as we ll , instructin g the c hildre n of the mutineers in the Engli sh lang uage and customs .

The visit of Captain Folger to Pitca irn had an inte restin g sequel. While on the Island he was presented by Smith with th e Bounty's chronometer and compass.

Captain Folger cleaned the chron ometer and had it o nce aga in in working order, but whe n the Topaz put in at Juan Fernandez Island to refresh th e crew , the Spani sh garri son on the shore seized the American vessel, and among other thin gs stole the chrono me ter. Several months later, th e Bounty' s timepiece was purchased at Concepc ion , Chi le, by an o ld Spaniard named Casti llo , who kept it until hi s death . In May 1840, it was placed in the hands of a watchmaker in Valpara iso by Captain Herbert of HMS Calliope, who had somehow acq uired it.

Upon examination he found on the bac k frame the inscripti o n: " Larcum Kend all , Londo n , 177 1. " It was later identified as the chronometer made originall y for Captain Cook, and then presented to Captain Bligh for hi s voyage o n th e Bounty. Today, the chronometer is in the collecti o n of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich .

Upon hi s arriva l at Valparai so, Captain Fo lger gave hi s acco unt of hi s visit to Pitca irn a nd re peated the information give n him by Alexander Smith to th e commande r o f th e Briti sh fri gate in th at harbor. Thi s information was carri ed back to th e Ad mi ra lty in London . Captain Folger brought the Bounty's compass back w ith him to Nantucket. Severa l years later , despite the recent outbreak o f the War of 18 12, he gave the compass SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1986-87

2

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The chronometer belonging to Captains Cook and Bligh . Photo courtesy the National Maritim e Museum , Greenwich.

to Admiral Hotham, commander of the British fleet at Gardiner's Bay, Long Island , which was blockadi ng southern New England. The compass was returned to Eng land , but its current whereabouts are unknown.

It was Captain Folger who persuaded Alexander Smith to take the name of John Adams , when Smith confessed his fear of being captured by the Royal Navy and being taken back to London. Sm ith retained that name thereafter. T he war of 18 12 convinced Captain Folger that his seafaring days were over and late in that year he led a migration of whaling masters to Ohio where he settled and spent hi s remaining years as an honored c itizen of that state.

The first ship to visit Pitcairn after the Topaz was the HMS Briton, Captain Staines , in 18 14. Three years later, the Nantucket whaleship G eorge stopped at Pitcairn , and in 1818 the British merchant vessel Hercules dropped her anchor and brought letters to John Adams from his brothers in England. The first census ever taken of Pitcairn was arranged by Captain Frederick Arthur of Nantucket, who stopped at the island in the ship Russell of New Bedford, in March of 1822. Captain Arthur reported meeting the ''venerable John Adams " and commented on the " regularity and neatness of the houses of the inhabitants." The census totalled fiftyone residents of Pitcairn: nineteen Christians, seven McCoys, six Youngs , twelve Quintals , six Adamses, and one Williams.

The lesser known , but all important, role of not one, but several Nantucket islanders in the rediscovery of the Bounty mutineers is remarkable , not simply because they came across the settlement at Pitcairn Island , but because they did not do so by utter chance. They were actively engaged in their seafaring livelihood .

And there is a sense of wonder to be felt , as I have felt , when one looks at Captain Cook 's chronometer in the National Maritime Museum and thinks of all the remarkable nav igators through whose hands it has passed to find its way there. '1>

SEA HI STORY , WINTER 1986-87

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19

MODELMAKER'S CORNER:

The Whaleship Charles W. Morgan in

by Lloyd Mccaffery

How important it is to let the ship speak for itself, and not let one's assumptions get in the way of the truth.

In the late 1970s, Mystic Seaport Museum began preparations fo r restoration of the ir whaleship , Charles W. Morgan , built in 1841 at New Bedfo rd . The staff undertook an enormous research project to understand traditional shipbuilding techniques and materials, and the work started in earnest in 1978 . I first saw the Morgan in 198 1 while she was hauled out on the lift dock at the DuPo nt preservation shipyard. ¡ I moved to the Mystic area that year and continued my visits to the ship . As I watched the progress , I reali zed that I had access to info rm ation most modelmakers could onl y dream about: Here was the real thing, a ship being pain stakingly taken apart and restored to her ori ginal configuration.

As part of the preservation effort , the staff devoted considerable effort to documenting the ship and the work done on her. Robert Allyn , nava l architect at Mystic, made dozens of measured drawings showing details of the planking, the dispos ition of the frames and the construction of the many joints in her timbers . Kathy Bray kept a dail y log of every change made on the ship and also completed 100 perspecti ve drawings of critical parts of the hull. This beautiful series detail s how the various joints are fitted , and how the timbers relate to one another.

With solid documentation ava ilable to me , as well as the poss ibi lity of watching the work in progress , I started construction of a miniature model of the Mo rgan , to a scale of l 6ft I in . The fini shed hull is about 73/sin long, and the whole mode l is about 103/sin . I chose this scale because it results in a jewel-like mini ature and because it is a real challenge to reproduce every detail on the original construction .

My style of modelmaking usually involves completing the starboard side o f the model as she would appear when pl anked , painted and coppered . The port side is left partl y in fram e to reveal all interi or details such as deck beams and knees, the stowage of oil casks in the hold and the bulkhead di visions.

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The frames, deck beams and keel are of carefull y selected pieces of light and dark apple wood juxtaposed at the jo ints.

Thi s way the viewer can readily see not onl y that the vari ous members of the hull are not solid pieces of wood , but built up and joined exactly as on the ship . The keel, for instance, though less than six inches long is composed o f eleven pieces of wood all jo ined with scarphs. Boxwood , a lovely light yellow wood, is used fo r the outside pl anking and interi or ceiling. Thus each component of the hull is color-coded and the primary structural elements of the hull can be easil y distinguished . I du plicated the layout of the planking as shown in Bob All yn's drawings, each plank being scaled to the same length , width and thickness as the original.

It is interestin g that these ships were not built according to the " rules " we are used to reading about. The spacing of the butts of the pl anks , fo r instance , is quite different fro m what model builders are usuall y to ld is acceptable . There is a small tri angular piece o f planking , twelve inches long , that fi nishes the garboard strake as it runs into the stem on the port side . Had anyone told me thi s is how the ship ought to be pl anked , I would have scoffed: I knew the rules of planking. This taught me how important it is to let the ship speak for itself, and not to let one ' s ass umptions get in the way of the truth .

Once the bas ic hull structu re of the model was complete, I began fittin g out the interi or. Because the hull wo uld be too small to work inside once the upper deck beams were in place , I first had to pl ace the ' tween deck beams and knees.

An interesting problem encountered when working on a cutaway model is that even the undersides o f the deck beams, gratings and planking must be fini shed to the same degree as the outside of the model.

All the morti se and tenon joints used on the deck beams, carlings and ledges were cut just as on the ship itself. This is one area where hav ing fi rst-hand knowledge of the work on the actual ship

was especiall y valuable. I could watch the shipwrights at work on the timbers, and then go home and cut the same parts myse lf at 11192 the size of the original.

There were other instances where the method of building a certain part of the ship was also best for making the same fittin g in small scale . On the ship , the davits are of the curved type , made by resawing and bending a thick baulk of timber. I built up my davits out of two layers of wood , and treenailed them to hold the shape that I steamed into them .

These dav its were then fitted with cleats, lead blocks and ho les for boat tackles , and then glued and treenailed to the hull of the model.

For the creation and placement of the crew , I studied o ld photographs to find out what poses the crew would take when perfo rmin g vari ous shipboard duties, their garb and their tools . So the captain is seen taking a sun sight , while some of the crew sharpen harpoons and lances on a grindstone .

All the ri gging on the model is made of wire . Thi s material is absolutely stable and perm anent and can be shaped to duplicate the catenary of the rigging on the real ship . The masts and yards are made of lancewood (also called degame), which is ideall y suited to makin g spars in mini ature because it can be shaped into round , tapered lengths .

The building of the miniature Charles W. Morgan taught me a lot about the construction and preservation of ships, and allowed me to excercise my talents to the full est extent. The model has found a good home with an appreciati ve co llector, and in time it will become a part of the collection of Mystic Seaport Museum .

This little model is dedi cated to those who built and sailed the Charles W. Morgan , and to all the people at Mystic whose effo rts have given the ship a new lease on life.

J,

J,

J,

Originally fro m California , Mr . McCaf fery li ves in Boulder , Colorado. His studio is his kitchen table .

SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1986-87

Miniature

Photo courtesy Mystic Maritiml' Gallery.

Th ese pictures make it clear why Lloyd McCaffery builds f or each of his models a special case with a drawer containing a magnifying glass. You may want to get out your own magnifying glass to examine the belaying pins in the photo at upper right. or the lashings on the whale boat sails in the photo upper left .

21

The Sea Lion:

Rigging a Sixteenth-Century Ship

by Nick Benton

On New York's Lake Chautauqua, a little ship built to the ideas of ship design current four hundred years ago now practices Elizabethan sail drill hundreds of miles from salt water. Her builder Ernie Cowan found a master rigger to rig and sail his Sea Lion. This was Nick Benton, whose Rigging Gang has fitted out many a tall ship.

Nick Benton works to the old patterns, discovering new learning along the way. For example, he showed us once a foresheet he'd just made up of hemp. Being made for its purpose rather than simply cut of a coil of line, the foresheet was quite thick at the working end (where great strain comes upon it, bowsed down to sail hard on the wind) and thinned out progressively where less strain would come upon the slackened sheet as the line was eased out.

One's head spins at the concepts of the abundance of time and the scarcity of materials which would encourage such refinements-but Nick Benton takes such things in stride.

Here he tells us a little what it's like to rig and sail a ship ofthe kind that opened the Atlantic world to human traffic.

Ern ie Cowan built Sea Lion carefu ll y , privately- even secretly , in the true fashion of the Elizabethan shipwrights- fo llowing the construction methods outlined in Mathew Baker' s Fragments of Ancient English Shipwrightry of 1586. Initially, Cowan considered sailing Sea Lion on Lake Erie. But Coast Guard regulations would have imposed severe restrictions on the design, and Cowan decided instead to undertake the project on Lake Chautauqua .

Employing almost exclusively Baker' s three-arc system of design to determine the relative proportions of the draft, length and beam , Cowan shaped the hull relying on little more than a compass and straightedge. Later in the building a profile view of the sai l plan was made , based on a theoretical sail plan in Baker's treatise , and there was a standing rigging draft , wh ich was left very simple , in the style prevalent for many centuries . On the whole, though, plans were not used to the extent they are today .

A mere 40ft on the waterline, 42 tons in displacement and with 1300 square feet of sail , Sea Lion is small by today ' s standards, but practical in 1586 . By Elizabethan measurements she is 48.5 tons burden , 36.4 tons of tonnage, larger in fact than many of the earl y Eng li sh exploration ships.

Cowan followed the methods of earlier sh ipwrights almost to th e letter, even when contemporary views might have led a more ex perienced builder to make " improvements. " In this

sense , he was genuinely lucky that this was hi s first vessel and that he had no prejudices as a modern shipwright. By reason of his professed ignorance, he accepted anything and questioned everything. As a result , Sea Lion is one of the most accurately finished reproductions of a period vessel.

Sea Lion has no eng ine or mechanical anac hronisms. Several compromises were made temporarily, such as the use of modern chainpl ates and channel bolts, wh ich wi ll be replaced with clenchbo lts' this winter. To a ll ow the public access below , the whipstaff '- which should be in the coverage on the level of the main deck-was ra ised to the quarter deck. Cowan made th is concess ion because his desire to share the ship with imperfect ions exceeds that of hav ing a "perfect" ship for the benefit of a knowledgeable few. To accomodate this arrangement , we employed steering pendants of hemp with wire rope inserts .

Th is was to solve e lasticity and length problems which would not norm ally have been encountered. The contemporary practice also dictated th at th e rudder have a trailing edge thicker than the leading edge. The rudder as installed has parallel sides, but we hope to experiment with this to see if the o lder method, attested to in Baker' s work and in The Rigging Treatise of 1625 , is superior.

Sea Lion' s rigging is all made of hemp , with no sisal, manila, syntheti cs or w ire (except in the steerin g pendants). To develop the rigging we researched the rig and detail s for the period lead ing up to 1586. Tudor ri gging in ventories were very useful in unravelling mysteries left unso lved by studies of later seventeenth-century treatises and dictionaries. Of particular use was the rigging in ve ntory for Henry Grace a Dieu. Originally built in 15 14, she underwent a substantial rebuilding in 1545 and the inventory was validated as of that time.

Some of the major differences between Sea Lion's ri gging and that of other reproductions are the result o f Cowan's refusal to rely solely on the historical interpretations of others. An important instance of this is Sea Lion's sw ifter. These have often been portrayed by artists as being hooked to the channels to take the load with the shrouds, which is their proper place when they are ' C lenchbolts are much like rivets , with the head and plain end made of metal rings slipped over the ends of a metal rod , after which the ends are widened by hammerin g to ho ld the rings in place. The head is made up in advance , the plain end is tapered sli ghtly to facilitate driv in g through wood, th e bo lt is driven, the plain end is fitted with a ring and then ham mered to w ide n over the ring and secure the bolt . ' Whipstaff: a vertica l wooden rod attached to the till er so that a ship can be steered from a deck above the one on whi ch the tiller is located .

' 'This archaic way of making an eye splice in a cabled stay is ... stronger than a conventional tucked splice," writes Nick Benton, shown above .

stowed. However, most historians have fai led to recognize their importance for tightening lanyards , which frequent ly had to be done under way. Since this primary function has been misunderstood , swifters are frequently omitted from reproductions altogether. Likewise, the garnet is usually only thought of as a purchase for handling boats and cargo over the main hatch . It is often shown hanging from the mainstay in models, but it is rarely found in reproductions. Yet it is the purchase respons ible for ti ghten ing the mainstay lanyard , and when properly stowed helps to bear with the mainstay.

It is sometimes alleged that the bracing of the yards on these Eli zabethan sh ips is poor and prevents them from sailing to windward. Aian Villiers, for one, claimed thi s to be a problem in Mayflower II. However , in Sea Lion we found that the airfoil efficiency of the sails exceeds the latera l resistance efficie ncy of the hull and that the abi lity of the shi p to point hi g h was limited not by the sai ls but by the configuration of the hull. As Cowan had found in the building, in the rigging and sailing of Sea Lion, I found the o ld methods completely appropriate, if not superior to modern interpretation.

Since the trade secrets of making hemp standing rigging have not been handed down to this generation-in fact it is illegal to even culti vate hemp in this country , and all our rope was imported-we had to undertake a great deal of historical and engineering research. We conducted elasticity tests for a year before the first piece was even made, and data were compi led , graphed and checked until we were completely confident of stretch projections. Jn the end , the rigging was cut in the loft and completely made as if it were wire rope or rod. This experience greatly deepened my respect for hemp as a material fo r standing rigging , and I now feel confident enough to rig even the largest ship with authentic he mp gear.

We began rigging Sea Lion in April 1985. The weather was warn1 and dry, perfect for rigging a ship with natural fiber, although the shortage of rain that spring had lowered the level of the lake so much that the launch was in some question. In addition to rigging Sea Lion, the Rigging Gang had been charged with training the volunteer crew in the ski lls necessary for sailing her. Since virtually no one involved with the project, either crew or staff, had any previous sailing ship experience, there was a lot to cover. In addition to conducting forma l classroom sessions we got the volunteers to help with the rigging. Getting them to help in the actual process of rigging Sea Lion was literall y the best way for them to learn the ropes.

On 22 May, Sea Lion was warped around in the drydock , bridled to two power boats and towed into the channel. We knew that we would have difficulty getting out without grounding, but by creating a stream of water around the ship and rocking her SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1986-87

back and forth, we finally made it. Once safely anchored in deep water, the final ballasting could be done. The remaining stone was secured below and tallied. With her courses bent on, she now sported all her lower yards and sails and was ready to start sai ling .

We intentionally did not bend the topsails before the first sail.

With over ten thousand feet of ri gging, I felt the crew would have enough to learn as it was. The sun was getting low as we sailed toward the main body of the lake. We ran her aground briefly, but with the help of an escorting power boat , we were soon off and proceeding to the pern1anent mooring. It had really happened: after fiftee n years abuilding, she was really sailing.

Hans Holbein the Younger drew a little ship in 1532 showing eighteen people aboard. Our people were disposed about the decks in much the same way. On the beak , a minimum of two people were required to handle the spritsail , the foretacks and bowlines. The main deck has one man forward to handle the foresheet and main tack; aft at least two people were needed to handle the tricing gear fo r the main and main topsail. The quarter and half decks were always crowded , with one person in the mi zzen, one on the helm , and two at the main braces , sheets and topsail halyard. Usuall y I would command from the weather rigging or half deck. Everyone would help with the departure or return duties such as furlin g the sail s, coiling , stowing and so on.

Sea Lion is usually on a mooring, with a running tripping line reeved from a gu nport on o ne quai1er to the buoy and back . A short snotter is used to keep the tripping lines close to the stem while we set the appropriate sail. Release of the snotter allows the ship to fa ll off correctly, and release of the tripping line casts her off, but with the tripping line aboard. Most of the sails were about five hours long, during which time we would tack , boxhaul or wear ship about once every fifteen minutes. There were quite a number of practices required which we do not use in our modem square riggers. The spritsail and lateen mizeen are not what most people are accustomed to , but they serve their purposes as steering sails as well as any modem equivalent. Certainly the commands are not common-" Smite the mizzen ," " Overhaul the martinets," and " Up-end the spritsail."

In the evening when the sails had been furled , the lines coiled and the guns run in , Sea Lion rested, quietly tugging at her mooring buoy. There were always people watching the ship in the twi light , and the eyes of everyone in the shore-bound boat were focused on that singular object of such devoted effort .

J,

J,

J,

For farther information write to Sea Lion Project, RD #1 , Sea Lion Drive, Mayville NY 14757; 716 753 -2403; or Nick Benton, The Rigging Gang , J 134 Wapping Rd. , Middletown RI 02840.

23

"Menemsha Harbor" 2 lx27 inches .

MARINE ART: Impressions of Martha's Viney

The Watercolors of

by John Stobart

John Stobart is an artist who rejoices in good work by others and likes to spread that joy. Last summer, he invited an English watercolorist and his wife to the Vineyard. In one month, Bert Wright did thirty-three paintings-one a daynever looking backwards. These were shown ¡ in a special exhibition at Stobart's Summer Street Galleries in Edgartown , and a sampling is shown on these pages, with Stobart's appreciation of the work.

" Menemsha Inlet" 2l x27 inches.

24

I had the pleasure of first meeting Bert Wright when he was on a vi sit from England in 1981 with a group of artists putting on an ex hibition of marine paintings. He came to see me in Potomac, Maryland , where I then li ved , and showed me several watercolors he had with him which he said had to go to a gallery in Maine . He seemed a decent sort of bloke but I was instantl y aware that thi s was no ordinary watercolori st and was all exc ited upon suddenl y di scovering thi s unusual talent. One of the paintings , of the Thames Ri ver in London, I simply had to own , and I moved in heav il y on Bert to sell it to me there and then, irrespecti ve of whatever other commitments he had made.

Having been an artist all my life, I've come to understand th at paintings are not sold ; they sell themselves. It happens when a viewer is attracted by a spec ific as pect o f the work that has a special appeal. All of us are different in our likes and di slikes, but there was no questi on th at here was top quality craftsmanship , and whenever I glance at the painting I bought th at day I remember how lucky I was to pry it away from Bert. I wouldn ' t part with it at any price today.

I'm always rather awed when I see fin e watercolor technique.

The Briti sh school s o f watercol ori sts te nd to be freer in style and di spl ay more spontaneity th an their Ameri can counterparts, but be ing free with thi s medium in vo lves great diffi culty . As SEA HI STORY , WINTER 1986-87

" Shenandoah at Vineyard Ha ven" 20x25 inches.

urd

Bert Wright, RSMA it is a transparent paint and not opaque like .oi l color, it' s a one-shot deal. What you put down is irreversible. Therefore one has to proceed knowing fully what pitfalls lie ahead and avoid them all. This takes a spec ial mind and careful .and sometimes instant planning. I, for one , couldn ' t do it.

For the past four years I've been trying to get Bert to paint a series of Vineyard scenes and therefore it was with great pride that I was able to start off our new gallery with this fine collection of paintings of the island . All Bert's paintings are completed outdoors on site and many people on the Vineyard enjoyed seeing him at work during the month he and his wife were visiting the island . Working from life always gives a li velier result, and Bert has given us fres h views of many fa mili ar Vineyard subjects.

Bert was born in Nottingham , England (a twin-city with Derby where I came from) in 1930. After graduating from Nottingham College of Art at age twenty he joined the County Arc hitects Department as a vis ua l artist producing architectural renderings. Because of the reputation of thi s department as a front-runner in classic govern me nt architecture , Bert's paintings were regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. In developing hi s talents, Bert drew inspiration from such renowned watercolorists as Bonnington (his favourite) , Turner, Cotman, Sargent and Homer whose work he studied extensively when the opportunity arose, and after twelve years in charge of the sce nery requirements for all BBC te lev ision programming , he took up painting as a full -time career. Bert sold his first painting (of the Sussex Downs) at the age of sixteen and for the past forty years he has been exhibiting regularly at prominent London Galleries. He is a member of the Royal Society of M arine Artists, the prestigious Wapping Group (speciali zing in views of the Thames) and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. .t SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1986-87

"Norton Wharf, Edgartown" 2 1x27 inches.

" Martha ' s Restaurant" 20x25 inches.

25

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50' schooner, design no. 257

By L. Francis Herreschoff

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Julian 0. Davidson (1 853-1 894) was the subject of an ex hibit held thi s fa ll at the Hi sto ri cal Society of Rockl and County (20 Zucker Rd ., New City , NY 10956; 9 14 634-9629). The exhibit included pa intings, drawings, chromolithographs a nd woodcuts gathered by Lynn Beman , w h o went to great lengths in researching the show. The prolific Davidson , many of whose works first appeared in magazines such as The Century and H a rper' s Weekly, had a pass ion fo r nava l warfare . But he also painted scenes of fi shing and yachting, and of sculling o n the Hudson River. Many o f the works are reproduced in Ms. Beman 's handsome and authoritative catalog ue, avail able fo r $20 .

The Ninth Annual Ex hibition of Marine Paintings at the Smith Gallery ( I 045 Mad ison Ave., New York , I 002 1; 2 12 744-6 171 ) will be he ld 17 January th rough 7 March. T he show includes th e work o f more than a doze n nineteenthand twe ntieth-century marine arti sts such as James Bard , Antonio Jacobsen , Charl es Ralei gh and others. A catalog ue is avail able.

The Mystic Maritime Gallery (Mystic , CT 06355 ; 203 536-9685 ) will show the work of contemporary marine arti sts in an exhibit e ntitled " Overseas Empire," which offers di stinctl y American views of fore ig n ports and maritime affairs. A brochure for the ex hibit , which runs th ro ugh 1 February, is available. From February th ro ugh April the ex hibit will present " Selections from the Gallery Inventory." Ca ll or write for detail s.

Wunderlich & Company (41 East 57th St. , New York I 0022; 2 12 838-2555) has two cata log ues available for recent shows .

"Outward Bound: 19th and 20th Century American Marine Paintings and Prints" is a full-color catalogue including the work of Jurgan Huge, Montague Dawson, Samuel Walters and others (32pp, $ 10). A lso available is " Waterways: Historical Marine View and Fine Prints of Maritime Subjects," 59 prints of maritime subjects from 1783 to 1946, by masters including CwTier and Ives, Gordon Grant and Arthur Briscoe (40pp , $5).

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Sl EA HISTORY , WINTER 1986-87

CHARLES ROBERT PATTERSON American Marine Artist

The Passage Makers The Black Hawk image: 2 1 X 25314" image: 2 1 x 28" Investment quality limited edition print series of works by C harl es Robert Pat terson . A lso ava ilab le is the grand Down -Easter "Charles E. Moody" under full sa il. Editions limited to 950 hi ghest qu alit y, full -color prints. Eac h numbered print is now available for $95.00 . Bea utifull y ma tted (ac id-free) in handso me traditional wooden frame (w/o glass ) for $3 25.00 . Order by phone or ma il fo r prompt shipment. S h ipping add $7 .50 (unframed) , $ 15.00 (framed) .

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Call our toll free number for information regarding these series of fine prints. Color catalog $5.00.

"Sp awning a Legacy" by the talented marine artist M alcolm Darling reproduces in exceptional ful l color lithography a scene from early ship building in M errymeeting Bay on Maine's fam ed Kennebec River. T he original painting is part of an important private colleclion. A limiled edition of 850 prints signed and numbered are available at $90 each. Prints are 35 x 23 on museum quality stock warranled for 300 years.

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SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1986-87

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27

Above, Chile's Esmeralda (left) Norway's S¢rlandet (center) and Colombia's Gloria joining the parade of sail off Sandy Hook, New Jersey, in the soft light of morning , July 4, 1986. Photo, Allison Paine.

At left, the lightship which served off Nantucket Island from 1936 to 1975 has been restored by Nantucket Lightship Preservation, Inc. She is now berthed at the Charlestown Navy Yard near Boston, Massa chusetts. Photo, Lincoln Paine.

At right, just north of the George Washington Bridge, the crew aboard Spain's Juan Sebastian de Elcano scramble aloft to furl sail. Photo , Allison Paine.

The parade of ships included a fleet of thirty-six Dutch leeboard sloops. At left, the boats move out to take their place in the parade off Gravesend Bay . This photo was taken from the Breehom , built in 1899. At lower left, their rich ornamentation includes a lion on the rudderhead. Photos by Melissa Sutphen.

From the Elissa 's foredeck (at lower right), Lady Liberty (seen between the bobstays), Venezuela's Simon Bolivar, Philadelphia' s Gazela of Philadelphia and the USS John F. Kennedy (far right) partake in the magical occasion, along with a spectator fleet numbering in the thousands. Photo, Norma Stanford.

SAIL TRAINING: OPERATION SAIL 1986

Each with Her Story to Tell

by Peter Stanford

It is the long-awaited moment. Even among the hard-case television crews gathered on top of the building we are assigned to on Governors Island , you can feel the stir of anticipation and a growing awe-such as the American Indians felt when they saw Francis Drake's tall ships outside San Francisco four centuries ago, and stood "as men ravished in their minds. " Slowly the US Coast Guard bark Eagle comes up the harbor, flanked by the schooners Bowdoin and Spirit of Massachusetts, leading the parade of tall ships in honor of the Statue of Liberty 's one hundredth anniversary year. She is under easy canvas. I cannot help remembering my pride when I first went to sea in her, sailing out of this very harbor. We embarked from South Street, New York's old Street of Ships, which had not seen a square rigger for many years. The Eagle's sailing was in question then , threatened by the knife of "cost effectiveness," which too often measures process (how much it costs to do a thing) rather than product (what is accomplished). Today , there's no question any more: her sailing is assured as the Coast Guard's most visible embodiment of purpose, spreading a message it would take (literally) millions of dollars to buy commercially. And she has been recognized as a uniquely effective training asset; today deckhands and boatswains are being put through courses aboard, as well as the commissioned officers who go to sea in her to learn leadership as well as seamanship.

Beyond Eagle loom the shapes of the other ships, coming north in the gentle, gathering breeze . There comes the handsome Danmark , which was on this side of the ocean when Denmark fell to the Germans in 1940 , and thereupon joined in training American sailors to man the ships that turned the tides of war in the Atlantic and the Pacific. Off on her far side are the stumpy masts of the American

SEA HISTORY, WINTER 1986-87

schooner Ernestina/Morrissey, which we strove for years to bring back from the Cape Verde Islands. Then an impossible dream , she is now a living reality , an embodiment of immigrant pride (she was the last ship to bring immigrants to the US under sail), and of the education only a working sailing ship can convey .

The parade continues with the Christian Radich, which sails from Norway with adventurers of all ages signed on as working passengers. Then stately Libertad, tallest of the tall ships, sailed hard by her apprentice naval crews from her home port of Buenos Aires to ports throughout the Pacific and Atlantic worlds. And then the port-painted small bark Belem. Built in France for the South American trade, she survived as a rather splendid yacht, then as a training ship for the Fondazione Cini in Venice. My wife Norma and I first saw her there in 1970, sadly run down . Even her devoted watchman doubted she'd ever sail again. But in the next decade the growing revival of interest in historic sail in France gave her cause a fair wind, and with the encouragement of the World Ship Trust she was restored to become part of the active sailing scene on the Channel coast-and here, incredibly , I am seeing her again, no longer a ruin but a working ship.

"Just for Ceremony?" " There are so many of them , it' s wonderful ," says the television announcer I am sitting with , to the innocent millions of people who are watching us through the camera's beady eye. "And to think , they're just for ceremony!"

I am glad that the people aboard the ships, taking the President's salute and hearing their own country's anthems played by the American Wind Symphony aboard their giant barge, are not hearing that evaluation of their role. For each ship is of course a working ship, crossing oceans the hard way, and helping to instill in her people those most difficult

and valuable lessons of seafaring: leadership, comradeship, cooperation and a heads-up cheerfulness expressed for all time by that great American sailorman Irving Johnson when he said of his own experience at sea in square rig: "That taught me to lean forward into life! " What more valuable work is there on the face of the earth than teaching such things? What product could we think to deliver more important than young people who have mastered these deep and vital lessons?

The last of the great ships comes up.

She is followed by a colorful rout of small craft of all sorts and varieties, from galliot to catamaran, so that she seems not so much to be ending one parade as beginning another. She is the gallant bark Elissa from Galveston-and before that, from Piraeus, Greece , where members of our Society found her and set to work to bring her back to life as a sailing ship more than twenty years ago . Another impossible dream! And one come particularly true for me, for on her foreyard as she sails by is Norma, fanned by a pleasant downdraft from the fore lower topsail , while I sit dazed on the baking rooftop ashore, stunned like an ox hit with a sledgehammer that the thought could be held by anyone that these ships sail ''just for ceremony. '' Slowly I recover my equilibrium and resume talking to the imperturbable camera about the ships, what they were built for, how they survived, what they are doing today ... each with herown story to tell.

It seeps through my mind that I have heard this " ceremony" thing before , in meetings with high officials in Washington and in the upper stories of tall buildings in New York. We, the tellers of tales , dreamers of dreams , keepers of records, the seekers out of the truth of the seafaring experience-we have a very big job to do in getting the ships ' true story across .

www

29

SAIL TRAINING

Admiral Sir

by Lincoln Paine

The Capitan Miranda lying alongside the Baltimore Aquarium , 26 June 1986.

The first schoolship program undertaken in the United States was that promoted and established by the British philanCaptain Daniel Robatto, on the bridge of the thropist and seaman Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin, in 1829, at Nantucket. Two years Capitan Miranda, 4 July 1986. before, Sir Isaac had endowed the Coffin School on Nantucket "for the purpose of promoting decency, good order, and Daniel Robatto morality and of giving a good English education to the youth who are descenWe had a lot of good luck in sailing dants of the late Tristram Coffin." to New York, especially with the weaThe circumstances which gave rise to ther. Our ship is very small for ninetyan English baronet and loyalist's extreme two people , and it is important for us to generosity in the early tumultuous years be able to use the decks. Of course no of Anglo-American diplomacy are not , on voyage of such duration , nor any coming examination , all that obscure. Coffin had together of so many ships, is completely strong ties to America, in which his family without difficulties. But I am very proud had first settled in 1642 . Tris tram Coffin, of my crew because we had no problems who in the nineteenth century was reamong ourselves during the passagegarded as the "ancestor of all the persons and by my crew I mean my officers , my bearing the name in the United States," cadets and my permanent crew. had emigrated from Devonshire to Of course the parade of Operation Sail Haverhill , Massachusetts , and thence, in¡ 1986 was a magnificent occasion. When 1659, to Nantucket, of which colony he we started out I was very anxious: during was the founder and first chief magistrate. these events you have the responsibility In the eighteenth century, his great not only for the safety of your own ship grandson John moved to Boston where but of all the ships around you. You must he served as Cashier of Customs and enattend to the wind and an unfamiliar hargaged in other mercantile pursuits . Marbor. In all of this I was helped by my rying Elizabeth Barnes, daughter of officers--especially Lieutenant Comanother Boston merchant, he raised a mander Luis Ledesma-who looked family of four sons and three daughters , after not only the navigation, but also of whom Isaac was the youngest son. ensured that at the proper time everyone During the American Revolution the was in formation and that our honored Boston Coffins were confirmed loyalists guests were looked after. and both Isaac and his brother John The highlight of the parade was when served in the British navy and army, rewe had passed the Statue of Liberty and spectively, with distinction. were off the end of Manhattan. At that Isaac Coffin ' s career as a seaman point, the Floating Wind Symphony began with his assignment to the Gaspe began playing our National Anthem. We as midshipman at the age of fourteen. were all standing at attention and all of Appointed lieutenant in 1778, he served us hoped that we were doing the best we ably in a variety of ships during the Revcould for our country. l could hardly sing olution , and he was signal officer aboard then-the most beautiful anthem is always your own, especially when you are HMS Royal Oak during the decisive engagement with the French fleet at Cape far from home .

Henry which hastened the end of hosThe whole gathering of ships was very tilities in 1781. Having been promoted moving, though , and it was wonderful to commander, he sailed with Admiral to be a part of a celebration that included Hood in the Battle of the Saints during people from so many parts of the worldBritain's ongoing campaign against the not only our friends from Argentina and French in the West Indies.

Chile and the rest of Latin America, but Coffin's return to England was clouded ships from Europe , the Middle East and Asia, all coming together for the same by a court martial brought against him for signing a false muster. At the time, it was purpose. It has been a great experience customary for Americans to seek positions for all of us-and especially me and my for their children aboard British warships crew-to celebrate the Statue of Liberty even before the children were old enough and what she symbolizes for the free world. to go to sea. The practice was common throughout the Royal Navy, and " though there was probably not one captain on the Capt. Robauo served in a Uruguayan court who had not himself been guilty of frigate before taking command of the tlhe same offense, and though the charges unquestionably arose out of personal Capitan Miranda last year.

A View from the Bridge

by Captain Our sail-training schooner, Capitan Miranda, was built in 1930 as a hydrographic research vessel. Originally a twomasted auxiliary schooner, when she was decommissioned in 1977, our government decided to rerig her as a three-masted marconi schooner to be sailed by students from the Naval Academy.

Normally the students sail as cadets in the Capitan Miranda for one month before they receive their commissions.

Our trip to Operation Sail 1986 will take seven months including our return ; and so our " trainees " are all graduates of the academy. There are no classes aboard, but the sail training lets them practice what they have learned in the classroom over the past five years. For example, if they have taken sunsights from a building , now they are making calculations for real, from a ship underway-which is of course very different.

As a sail-training ship, the Capitan Miranda has circumnavigated the whole of South America, and called in West African and European ports . Her voyage this summer to Operation Sail is the longest voyage she has made. But it was important for us to be here representing our people for the centennial of the Statue of Liberty. And in terms of sail training especially this voyage is valuable, giving our enlisted men much practical knowledge of seamanship , and enabling them to share their national experience and goodwill with people from many other countries and cultures .

A voyage of such length entails not only detailed logistical preparations and extensive work on the ship herself, but also a large financial commitment, which for a country of less than three million people is not easy to bear. One thing that made our coming easier was the United States Information Agency's arrangement to treat forty of our cadets as " voluntary visitors" participating in a cultural exchange program . Most of all, though , the Uruguayan people made the voyage happen because they believed the voyage would allow our country to share in the great goodwill coming from this salute to the Statue of Liberty. For us , as a nation of industrious people, she represents our belief in liberty , reason and faith.

30

SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1986-87

Isaac Coffin, Loyalist and Patriot Photos courtesy Nantucket Historical Associarion.

Sir Isaac Coffin. The vigor and selfesteem of this American who went to sea in the Royal Navy at age 14.fought against his countrymen in the American Revolution, fought My Lords of the Admiralty on various pettifogging points, and became full admiral at age 55 , shines forth in this portrait by Sir William Beechey, which hangs today in the Coffin School , which he founded in Nanrucket.

The brig Autumn, shown here off Palermo, Italy , in 1827, was of the same vintage and, presumably, general style as the brig Clio,

malice , the court was compelled, by the plain letter of the law , to find Coffin gu ilty .

The law directed the person so offending to be cashiered."' Despite Lord Howe's personal intervention on his behalf, Coffin petitioned the crown who ordered the case to be heard by the judges who, in tum, found the sentence illegal. Coffin was reinstated and appointed to the 28-gun frigate , HMS Alligator.

While his ship was lying in the Nore, one of Coffin's men fell overboard in a gale and Coffin plunged after him. Although he saved the sailor's life , he ruptured himself, an accident that was to afflict him for the rest of his life . After tours of duty in the Baltic and Mediterranean, during which he was created a Baronet, he was appointed superintendent at Portsmouth and retired from active duty in 1808 with the rank of vicead miral , being made Admiral in 18 14 .

Coffin subsequently married and sat for llchester in Parliament, and though he maintained an active involvement in the debates on Britain's navy , he began increasingly to turn his attention to his native land. His greatest single contribution to the welfare of the new nation was the establishment and endowment of the Coffin School, and a schoolship program.

As had been the case in the time of his own co urt martial in 1778, there remained an urge nt need to train Amer, The Dictionary of National Biography, ed.

Sir Leslie Stephen and Sir Sidney Lee, Oxford University Press, 1917.

SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1986-87

outfitted in Nantucket by Admiral Coffin as a training ship in 1829.

The Clio was built in Barnstable in 1822; the Autumn hailed from nearby Plymouth. Fittingly enough, the American Sail Training Association was founded in meetings aboard another small brig , the Black Pearl, a century-and-a-half later.

The Coffin School, founded in 1827 by Sir Isaac , began in a building on Fair Street . Th e brick building, erected in 1852 on Winter Street, 110w serves the community as the Nantucket Leaming and Resource Center.

icans for command of naval and merchant ships well into the nineteenth century. Although there were attempts to enco urage the founding of a national naval academy early on, " it was only the country's business and not that of anybody's district," and the matter was repeatedly avoided by a parochial Congress . Coffin 's schoolship, though short lived , was the first maritime academy in the United States.

Initially, Coffin's plan was forthe establishment of three schools, in Boston, Newburyport and Nantucket. As it happened, the programs sought for the former two cities never came to fruition . But when Coffin arrived at Nantucket in 1826, there were no public schools on the island. His original program , written out in a will , described in minute detail the attainments necessary for a professional mariner.

These included not on ly instruction in seamanship and navigation, but in carpentry, blacksmithing, cooking, gunnery and seamen's arts. Ultimately, his avowed purpose was to educate a "set of men who may prove useful to my native country. " He may have considered this as being a step too far for a potential adversary of England, for he later cancelled his will.

Nonetheless , he did endow the Coffin School, which a year after its founding was incorporated into the new public school system on the island.

In 1829, Coffin returned to Nantucket and outfitted the brig Clio as a schoolship. The first sai l training ship in Amer-

ican waters was 179 tons, 87ft long and had been built in Barnstable in 1822.

Under the command of Lieutenant Alexander B. Pinkham, on leave from the United States Navy , Clio sailed for Quebec with a complement of twentyone students between the ages of twelve and sixteen , together with a " small freight carried with a view to meet the expenses of the voyage.''

She undertook a voyage to Brazil in 1830, but the following year Clio was sold out of the school, which brought to an end the United States' first schoolship program . It was not until shortly before the Civil War that another active shipboard training program was initiated in this country.

Isaac Coffin was indeed a man of great achievement and vision , and there is perhaps no greater testament to his generous spirit than hi s being entered in both the Engli sh Dictionary of National Biography and Appleton ' s Cyclopedia of American Biography. In the latter, he is remembered as one who "never forgo t that he was an American by birth , and was untiring in his efforts to promote the interests of his native land. Racers sent over by him to improve our breed, maps and new inventions for merchant and naval marine , nautical schools, and the Coffin academy at Nantucket were but a few of his benefactions. He was a man of the world , of elegant manners and .. . a brilliant instance of the traditional commodores of the British Navy.'' J, 31

The Educational Uses of Sail Training Vessels Conference

by Lincoln Paine

If there was ever any doubt about what impact the new Sailing School Vessels Act will have on sail-training programs in the United States , that doubt has been dispelled. More than eighty participants at a conference on the educational uses of sail training vessels held this September have shown that the Act is of great significance.

Sponsored by the Ocean Schools Foundation in Durham, New Hampshire, in conjunction with the American Sail Training Association and the Sailing Schools Vessel Council , the conference attracted not only many fami liar faces fro m the sail training community, but a surprising number of high-school and college educators eager to explore the potential use of sailing vessels as classrooms.

While many of the presentations examined how existing programs are implemented and how (and what) new programs should be developed, debate throughout the two-day meeting foc ussed on the problems inherent in adapting traditional classroom education to a shipboard environment. Common to all such programs are the physical limitations imposed by the ship itself. These range from the amount of space available for classes, the amount of time available to students who are also engaged in the running of the ship , the dual regimen of being at once student and

" Montauk" Oil on canvas

crew-as well as the separate authorities of the captain and the teacher-and the high cost of such programs.

To date, the overwhelming majority of successful accredited shipboard education programs have been those with an oceanographic or scientific foc us. This is largely due to the acceptability of such programs in the eyes of the traditional , landbased , education community for whom the benefits of such programs are selfevident. For proponents of non-scienti fic instruction aboard sail-training vessels, a major obstacle to securing course accreditation (and participation) is establishing the feas ibility of using sailing vessels as the milieu for the teaching of other curricula such as both landside and marine archaeology, naval architecture, history and literature. Captain Rafe Parker of SEA's Westward anticipated thi s problem when he remarked that " We are still hanging on to the scientific end until we can break through to the real world of Liberal arts."

Matching educational programs with sai l training vessels and vice versa promises to occupy a large part of the discussions within the sail training community and between sail training instructors and educators fo r some time. But optimism is running high in both communities and

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32

in the first year of the Sailing School Vessels Act a lot has been accompli shed that bodes well for a productive future for sail training and shipboard education.

A brochure listing all ships offering educational programs next summer to the public is now available from ASTA. Six prog ra ms are open to the general public; sixteen programs are being offered in conjunction wi th other educational programs. For a free brochure, contact: Ki rsten L. Mann American Sail Training Association 365 Thames St., Newport, RI 02840 40 1 846- 1775

Editorial We are coming up to the 14th Annual Meeting of the American Sail Training Association as this SEA HISTORY goes to press. Much has changed in the world of sail training and sea experience programs s ince the Association first came togethe r in the snowy winter of 1972-73 .

In a recent letter to members, our Chairman , Harry H. Anderson, Jr., summarized the salient accomplishments in the world of sail training in the past decade-accomplishments on which ASTA will be building successfully in the years ahead: ''First, at the finest sail training facility and program of any, bar none, naval acade my-the US Naval Academy Sailing Squadron--crui se credit is now awarded fo r structured training under sail. Second , the Secretary of the Navy has recognized the value of sail -training by calling fo r the construction of a squ are-rigger to prov ide sea experience fo r officers and enlisted personnel.

Third , sail training and educational programs are tending to coalesce , such as the Californian working with the public school system, the highl y structured Outward Bound marine programs, and the marine biology or oceanographic courses conduc ted under sail. " The Annual Sail Training Confe rence, whic h has become a fixture for all who are interested in the experiential realities of the seafaring heritage, will have been held well before thi s SEA HISTORY is out.

But it is sure that what is reported and decided there will go on answering the challenges of the seafaring experience and ope ning it to more people .

Much that has changed in the world of actu al experience and solid education in the rough and sometimes dangerous pl ay ing fields of the open sea has been achie ved because the American Sail Training Association exists . Let us encourage its ex istence by subscription and contribution.

PETER STAN FORD Trustee, ASTA

SEA HI STORY , WINTER 1986-87

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The Society for Seamen's Childr en

by Mar y L. G reene Our /oJe trustee and treasurer, A . Timothy Pouch, Jr., who died last winter, was a prime mover in the affairs of the Society for Seamen's Children . His generous interest in their cause reflected his family's long-standing involvement with the Society, and his great-aunt, his mother and his wife, Nancy, have all served as members ofthe board. Tim's commitment to the Society was manifold and ranged from putting himself at its service in times of emergency to leading the business tenants of his family's converted warehouse to donate toys and other gifts for a f estive celebration of the childrens' Christmas at Pouch Terminal each year. And Tim believed that this was a direction that the NMHS should take, to which we agree.

Here, Mary Greene, another long-time board member and Staten Island historian presents a view ofthe Society's 140 years.

In the spring of 1846, New York' s East Ri ver waterfront was thick with the spars of myri ad ships in from distant ports .

T rade was brisk and far-reaching , and many a sailor, leaving wife and chi ldren behind , departed for a long voyage to face hardship and danger. Some never returned , and the ir fami lies were left des titute.

A few people took note of these unfortunate ones, however, and some " benevolent ladies ," meeting on 2 Apri l 1846 in the Brick Church on Beekman Street, determined to form a society ' ' to afford relief and protection to the destitute children of seamen , by providing an asy lum for them , with proper arrangements for their health , comfort, and education."

Staten Island was selected as the location for the ho me fo r the chi ldren, because of its " salubrity of air, convenience of access and re move from the te mptation and expense incident to a city residence." The first home was established for twenty-four children in a rented house in Port Richmond.

Within six years , the ladies had raised enough money to build a home large enough for one hundred children on five acres of land rented fro m Sailors Snug Harbor.

For most of the Society ' s first century , money for the support of the chi ldren came largely from private subscription of individuals and shipping interests. After the tum of the century , and unti l the demise of the great ocean liner fleets, the Society benefitted from collections taken at concerts and entertainments held aboard ships of the great passenger lines.

From the beginning , the Society' s directors looked upon institutional care as a poor substitute for family li ving , and efforts were made to " board out " chi ldren with people who could give them a home and teach them a trade . From 1858 on, with the

help of the C hildren's Aid Society, many of the older c hildren were given the opportunity to live on farms in the Midwest.

Over the years , the Society has adapted its program in other ways, and as social welfare progra ms came into being , the needy childre n of seamen no longer requ ired the excl usive " relief and protection" of the Society . Graduall y , the Society has broadened its scope to provide for children of non-seamen a nd whose care is requested and paid for by the City of New York .

Today, over 250 childre n are in the care of the Society fo r Seamen ' s C hi ld ren . All fos ter c hi ldren live in private homes and inc reasing numbe rs of the m are be ing ado pted by their fo ste r pare nts .

Atte mpts are m ade to return chi ldre n to the ir ow n p are nts , but when thi s is no t possible , th e S ociety seeks to prov ide them with a p e rm anent home in the sho rtest ti me possible.

A new emphas is in the Society ' s work with children a nd fa milies is to prevent foster care in the firs t place , and to thi s end we have established a Famil y Day Care program and a Teen Ad vocacy program whic h provides c ri sis ass istance , emergenc y shelter and co unseli ng to runaway a nd ho meless youths and to pregnant or pare nt teenagers. It also provides young people with an advocate in their community, to help the m cope during stressful times in their lives , to stay with thei r fa mil ies or to get a good start o n their ow n .

T he Society ' s cost fo r proy iding services to childre n and fa milies has grown to over $2 million per year. The preventi ve program s , in partic ular, are very much unde rfun ded and the Society must depend on its fri ends fo r the support needed to continue these vital programs.

J,

J,

J,

We encourage the support of the Society f or Seamen's Children and readers may contribute to this good cause by writing the Society directly at 26 Bay Street, Staten Island, N Y 10305.

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SHIP NOTES

Ship Trust Activities Report for 1986

by Frank G . G. Carr, C hairman , World Ship Trust and Eric

The World Ship Trust is pleased to report the election of additional vice presidents, including Henry A. Anderson, Jr., C hairman of the Ameri can Sail Training Association and past Commodore of the New York Yacht Club; the noted author Hammond Innes , who has written the text for the new promotional leafl et; and Viscount Caldecote , for twenty years Chairman of the Ocean Youth Club and now Chairman of the Mary Rose Trust. Dr. Alan M cGowan has joined the board of Trustees. As Head of the Department of Shi ps at the National Mari time Museum , he brings with him his extensive knowledge of the fie ld and provides another close link with the Museum.

The International Register of Historic Ships, by Norman Brouwer (published for the WST by Anthony Nelson) has become an instant success. Its coverage of more than 700 histori c vessels from 43 countries is considered a milestone in historic ship preservation scholarship . The Register includes not only museum ships but vessels of historic significance that have not been acquired by any museum or maritime preservation group. Each ship is described as to where it is lying today , its condition and its importance to the progress of men and nations. There is no comparable reference work and the Register' s value has been applauded by museums and scholars throughout the world . It is prized not only for its acc uracy and detail , but because it is plainly enjoyable reading for anyone with an interest in ships and the sea.

The Trust's next major publication project is Cathedrals of the Sea, by Rick Hogben . This is a glori ously illustrated compilation of some of the most famous ships in maritime history, selected by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and w ith a forward by His Royal Highness.

Organi zation and project identification have begun in support of the " International Maritime Heritage Year: 1990" the principal objecti ves of which are to increase awareness of the need fo r ship preservation and to raise the level of awareness of our maritime he ritage worldwide . An introductory phase leading on to International Maritime Heritage Year: 1990 is planned by the NMHS, as outlined by Peter Stanford in hi s " Ope ning of the Atlantic World " (see SH40).

In a re lated development , Portu gese maritime scholars are organi zi ng a learned confe rence to be he ld in Sagres in October 1987, in which the WST w ill jo in as sponsor.

SEA HI STORY , WI NTER 1986-87

J. Berryman, Hon. Secy. , American Ship Trust

The WST is also a sponsor of the project to restore the Peruvian steamer of 1862, Yavari, which lies in Puno on Lake T iticaca (see SH4 l ). Project coordinator Meriel Larken reports that the restoration wi ll offer to young English shipwrights the opportunity to work on the project in an exchange program involving young Peru vians worki ng in the United Kingdom. Granada Television (UK) has followed the project with interest since its inception.

T he World Shi p T rust has contracted with the Franklin Mi nt to endorse a series of half-hull models of ocean liners, beg inning with the Titanic in commemoration of the seventy-fi fth anni versary of her maiden voyage ( 19 12- 1987). Design and production has been undertaken with the techn ical advice of the NMHS. The WST has been pleased to offer assistance to the Harvard University/Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Snow Squall Project, under the leadership of Dr. Fred Yalouris. This year's objecti ves have thus far been achieved , including the cleaning and packing for shipment of the 36ft section of the starboard hull that had been rescued and brought ashore in 1984. In addition, structural items were retrieved from under the jetty which runs through Snow Squall's midsection, and also from within and around the mud-embedded lower portion of the hull.

A section of the port side (including the main deck timbers) was removed intact.

The fi nal recovery phase is scheduled for late 1986 , and will conclude in early 1987.

In addition, Dr. Yalouris has generously given much time to surveys of the Lady Elizabeth and Jhelum , in whose restoration the Trust has considerable interest.

At the request of the NMHS , WST member and AST Naval Historian, LCDR R .E. Arnold-Shrubb , RN , has agreed to be available to lend Dr. Yalouris's crew ass istance in the Falklands. It may be possible to dovetai l recovery of the Vicar of Bray at the concl usion of the Snow Squall effort, possibly throu gh the purchase or rental of speciali zed equipment that has been brought in for Snow Squall.

At present , ex pert personnel and equipment to a recovery of the Vicar abounds in the Falklands. Edward Zelinsky and hi s committee of the Museum for the C ity of San Franc isco Project are examining the possibilities .

mouth (NH) Ship Trust is converting the eighty-year-old steel barkentine into a sailtra ining vessel in compliance with the US Coast Guard ' s Sailing School Vessel regul ations. Parker Marean has overall responsibility fo r the vessel' s design and Captain Barner Jesperson is the consul tant fo r rig and ri gging design. The Univers ity of New Hampshi re is expected to be the major user of the Sagamore, and has proposed fo ur undergraduate courses fo r the ship , at an approx imate weekl y cost of $500 per student, all fo und .

Among other services in the fi eld , the AST has provided advice and he lp in personnel recruitment for the HMS Rose Foundation in Bridgeport , Connecticut.

The replica ship , built in 1976, has been brought back fro m a near-hulk condition under the direction of the Foundation' s director Kaye Williams and master ri gger Ray Atkin , and this past summer sailed in Operation Sail 1986/Salute to Liberty-a stirring answer to the question ra ised in these pages some years ago: " HMS Rose, Will She or Won' t She?" The AST and NMHS are currentl y reviewing several consultancy opportunities suggested by municipalities participating in the Waterfront Center's annual conference held in Washington, DC . Discussions at the September conference covered a broad spectrum of concern including maritime museums, youth education and apprenticeships, sea-related cultural resources, training for the disadvantaged , sail training and the most effective use of training ships, budget analysis, new construction , and so forth . Some of the communities were explicit in their opposition to the development of condominiums and restaurants which shut off the waterfront and generate only menial jobs. Most look to an educational center, with hands-on training in marine skills and a working boat of some kind . The NMHS and AST are in the process of shaping up a waterfront team that can help to answer the questions and meet the needs of the municipalities . .t

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SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT After a two-year restoration by the Bridlington (Yorkshire) Harbour Commissioners, the 74-year-old coble Three Brothers has undergone successful trials in Bridlington Bay. One of the last of the fl at-bottomed , carvel-built fishin g boats that used to work the coastal fi shing grounds of Eng land 's northeast coast , the 40ft Three Brothers is now being maintai ned by the Bridlington Sailing Coble Preservation Society . The Society is using the coble to promote the hi story of the region 's coastal fisheries and to provide sea-going experience under sail.

The Harbour Commi ss ioners hope to proceed with the restoration and preservation under sail of other traditional vessels once vital to the working harbor.

HMS Cavalier (Brouwer, p75) a CA Class destroyer currently owned by the HMS Cavalier Trust, is in danger of being so ld for scrap unless funds are secured for her maintenance. Built by J. S. White & Company of Cowes between 1943 and 1944, HMS Cavalier represents the last stage in technical development of traditional destroyer design that spans almost I 00 years . She served in the North Atlantic during World War II , spent two years in Ceylon and India, was in Brunei during the turbule nt beginnings of the State of Malaysia in 1962 , patrolled in the Bahamas durin g the Cuba Mi ssile Crisis and took part in the Beira patrol preventing ships from supplying the Rhodesian government in 1966 . The HMS Cavalier Trust was formed in 1977 , under the Patronage of the late Lord Louis Mountbatten , to save the last British destroyer of World War II vintage . The Trust is hoping to raise ÂŁ 120 ,000 to ensure that HMS Cavalier is preserved as a monument to the destroyer's role in the Royal Navy , as well as to the many men of the destroyer service who served in these ships in defense of their country. (HMS Cavalier Trust, Brighton Marina , Brighton, Eng., BN2 5UF; 0273-699-919 .)

Nick Benton, whose article on rigging the Sea Lion appears on pages 22-23 , has proposed a Council of Colonization Period Vessels for the purpose of pool ing information-specifica ll y technical data on ri gging, engineering and operation-about European vessels whose designs date from between the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries . Immediate goals of the Council are to define more preci sely the era in question, to contact all existing replicas or reproduction vessels and to publi sh a newsletter about the Council and its work . Those interested 36

in learning more about the Councilwhose work the Society supportsshould contact Nick Benton, Council of Colonization Period Vessels , 11 34 Wapping Rd ., Middletown, RI 02840; 401 846-0102.

An exhibit to mark the twenty-s ixth challenge for the America's Cup is on view at Mystic Seaport Museum throu gh March 1987. A major part of the exhibit is a comprehensive history of the yacht America for whom the Cup is named , while the rest is a photo hi story of the great races from the 1890s throu gh 1983.

Much of the show is cull ed from the collection of the New York Yacht C lu b and is on public view for the first time.

In addition to illu strations and documents , there are several art ifacts from the America herself, including her carved and gilded eagle stern ornament and navigational instnlments.

Meanwhile , shipwrights at Mystic are looking for the deck house of the Charles W. Morgan which they believe was removed from the whaleship sixty-one years ago when she was on ex hibit in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Approximately 6ft by 6ft , the deckhouse has a crowned roof and sliding door aft, and was added to the ship (built in 184 1) in the 1870s. (Mystic Seaport Museum , PO Box 6000 , Mystic , CT 06355-0990; 203 572-0711 .)

Philip Thomeycroft Teuscher, a documentary filmmaker who has prev iously reported on traditional Caribbean working sail in SEA HISTORY , is now at work on a project to record the work of Connecticut's natural growth oystermen . The sloops that sailed in the trade were said to " drift " over the oyster grounds when they dredged under sail , and the project has been titled " The Last Drift. " The project will consist of a series of lectures , discussions and oral hi stories and upon completion, tapes and transcripts will be ava il ab le to the public for research and educational purposes. For further information about the project , wh ich is made poss ible in part by a grant from the Connecticut Humanities Counci l, and abo ut the ava il ab ility of tapes or transcripts , write to the Society , Attention: " The Last Ori ft. " In an effort to ens ure that hi storic vessels and other maritime sites receive greater recognition within the preservation community as a whole , the National Park Service has issued draft criteria for nominating hi storic vessels and shipwrecks to the National Register of His-

toric Places. National Register Bulletin Number 20 suggests nominating guidelines for floating and dry-berthed vessels , hulks , replicas, reproductions and shipwrecks , a nd it defines the criteria which these mu st meet for inclusion in the National Register.

The gu ide lines (and an initial survey) are a partial fulfillment of a Congressional mandate contained in the NPS ' s 1985 appropriations bill. For further information, contact the Department of Maritime Preservation, Nationa l Trust for Hi storic Preservation , 1785 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036; 202 673-4 127 .

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is accepting proposals from museums to provide services for the Monitor Collection of Artifacts and Papers, a collection of over I 00 artifacts and other materials re lating to the research component of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary. The selected repository will have a responsibility for the long-term curatorship , conservation, interpretation and management of the collection. The selected repository will also establish and maintain a research library , project archives and conservation faci lity.

To provide an open and objecti ve selection process, based upon professional criteria, NOAA is basing its guidelines for the su bmi ss ion of proposals on criteria recommended by the Counci l of American Maritime Museums.

Museums that are interested should submit proposals to NOAA. (Dr. Nancy Foster , Marine and Estuarine Management Division , NOAA , 1825 Connecticut A venue , NW , Washington, DC 20235.)

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission has appropriated $ I million for the restoration of Commodore O liver Hazard Perry 's brig Niagara. Melbourne Smith 's International Historic Watercraft Society has been chosen to undertake the restoration. The comm ission ' s goal is to have Niagara afloat in time for the I 75th anniversary of the Battle of Lake Erie ( 18 13- 1988).

A symposium on a re lated subject , "Canada and the US in the War of 1812," will be he ld 23 -24 January at Monroe Community College. (Contact Ron Gou let, 155 S . Raisinville Rd. , Monroe , Ml 48161 ; 3 13 242-7300.) The North American Society of Oceanic History (NASOH) will hold its annua l meetirug in Kin gston , Ontario , 2 1-23 May 1987 , in conjunction with the SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1986-87

& MUSEUM NEWS Canadian Nautical Research Society.

The theme of the meeting will be the maritime and naval hi story of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Abstracts of papers and curricu la vitae will be welcome before I January 1987.

(Prof. Barry M. Gough, Hi story Department, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ont. , N2L 3C5, Canada.)

Between December 1986 and February 1987, volunteers from the non-profit research group Eai1hwatch will help survey the East lndiaman Edwin Fox (Brouwer, ppl52-3) currently aground near Picton , New Zealand. Emhwatch, which has been invited to support this project by Paul Hundley of the Western Australia Maritime Museum , has previously recru ited volunteers for preservation projects in the Falkland Islands.

Built by native shipwrights in Sukeali , Bengal , the 800-ton Edwin Fox is probably the last surviving vessel built for the British East India Company anywhere in the world. Constructed in 1853, she served first as a British troopship in the Crimea and India , and later as an emigrant sh ip to Australia and New Zealand. On one voyage, she carried con-

victs being deported to the Antipodes from Eng land . In later years she was outfitted as a floating freezer plant in New Zealand , and finally as a coal barge. Volunteers wi ll survey the ship ' s deck plans and make a detai led record of the shi p's planking and framing. (Dr. Pau l S. Hundley , Western Australia Maritime Museum , C liff St. , Freman tie, W. Aus. 6 160, Australia; 09 335 -82 11. )

The Mediterranean section of the French Commission of Maritime History at Toulon is holding a conference entitled "War and Commerce in the Mediterranean," 2 1-23 May 1987. Those interested in submitting a paper or attending the conference should add ress correspondence to Commissaire general de la Marine (CR) de Saint Steban, 729 Avenue General Wegand , 83220 Le Pradet, France .

Last winter , two members of Kibbutz Gi nnosar on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee came across the remains of a vessel which dates from the time of Chri st. Initial investigation of the des ign and constru cti on techniques indicated that the beamy 25ft vessel is about 2,000 years o ld , and this has been confirmed by carbon dating. The first vessel of such antiq uity to be discovered on any inland sea, the Galilee Boat, as it is known, is being conserved at a site only 400m from where it was origi nall y fo und. Work is being directed by Shelley Wachsmann, Inspector of Underwater Antiqu ities at the Department of Antiquities. (M ini stry of Education and C ulture , Shivtei Israel 34, Jerusalem, Israel.)

The Mary Rose exhibition currentl y touring the United States (see SH37) will be at the Museum of Florida History (R. A. Gray Building, Tall ahassee, FL 3230 1; 904 488- 1484) until 25 January 1987. It will open again at the Vancouver Maritime Museum ( 1095 Ogden Ave., Vancouver, BC V6J IA3; 604 736-443 1) 15 February and be on view there through 1 May. " Magnificent Voyagers: The US Exploring Expedition , 1838-1842" (see SH38) wi ll be on exhi bit at the Indiana State Museum from 7 February to 3 May (202 North Alabama St., Indianapolis, IN 46204; 3 17 232- 1637).

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BOOKS Schooners and Schooner Barges, Paul C. Morris (Lower Cape Publishing, Orleans, MA , 1984 , 149pp, illu s, $25) .

Marine artist and scrimshander Paul Morri s quit the hustle and jostle of an advertising career in New York to practice hi s art in Nantucket almost thirty years ago. After he had settled into his new , sandy habitat for a decade , he began to produce a series of books on the heritage of the coasting trade which played so vital a role in the economic and social life of Nantucket and the neighboring islands. In 1973 his American Sailing Coasters of the North Atlantic appeared, fo llowed in 1975 by FourMasted Schooners of the East Coast. In 1977 , with Joseph F. Morin , he brought out The Island Steamers .

From this background he has now rewarded us all with a well informed , li vely account of the curious breed of bi g sailassisted barges that from the 1890s into the 1920s formed up in strings behind seagoing tugs to take (primarily) coal .

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from the Norfolk railhead to New York , Providence and Boston . Initiall y the barges were simply reclaimed sailing ships, including such proud beauties as the famo us Down Easter A .G . Ropes, which ended her days setting sooty scraps of canvas on stumpy masts, at the end of a towrope . Later, purpose-built barges came into use , but only for a decade or two until they were knocked out by more efficient modes of transport , as they had knocked out the big coal schooners travelling solely on wind , earlier in the century .

Paul Morris has tracked down fugitive tales of barges stranded in fog or lost in heavy weather (too often going down with all hands in bitter winter seas), and he explores the rough, bottom-of-the-heap existence of the crews, as well as memories of family life aboard, which seems to have had its redeeming moments. There is a listing of the companies involved (led off by Luckenbach , originators of the trade), and an admittedly incomplete listing of the barges. Abundant photographs document this obscure traffic in memorably rich detail. Often beyond the work-worn, dangerously overloaded hulls you see the rising 38

towers of the cities they served, whose citizens hardly knew of their existence. PS Whales, Ice and Men: The History of Whaling in the Western Arctic, John R .

Bockstoce (Uni v. of Washington Press , Seattle and London , in assoc. with New Bedford Whaling Museum , 400pp , illus, $29.95) .

By the mid-nineteenth century , the whaling grounds in the North and South Atlantic had effecti vely been exhausted , and the industry so integral to the New England economy directed its energies to the Pacific. In I 848 , when the bark Superior, Captain Thomas Roys , of Sag Harbor, ventured north of the Bering Strait and discovered the rich Arctic whaling grounds, United States whalers became a permanent fi xture in the region. It was their increased presence that led indirectly to the annexation of Hawai i, the purchase of Alaska and the discovery of the Prudhoe Bay oil fie lds.

In his comprehensive Wlwles, Ice and Men, John R. Bockstoce tells the story of commercial whaling in the Western Arctic. Curator of Ethnology at the Old Dartmouth Historical Society Whaling Museum in Massachusetts, Bockstoce writes that " this book began on the ice of the Chukchi Sea one night in 1971 ,' ' when he participated in his first whale hunt, in an I 8ft sealskin-covered umiak. For the next ten years, Bockstoce studied the area and its archaeological legacy in travels that took him through the Bering, Beaufort and Chukchi seas.

The result of his prodigious labors is a livi ng history whose focus is on the history of the Arctic whalemen themselves, on their day-to-day routines and on the vicissitudes of their industry from 1848 to its eventual collapse in 1908. Bockstoce does an expert job of recreating li fe on board ships whose voyages often lasted more than four years. With painstaking detail , he describes the outfitting of a whaleship, the voyage out , the pursuit and capture of bowheads, the cutting in and processing of blubber and the stripping of whalebone.

All this is set against the rapid growth of the Arctic grounds after Roys ' discovery of 1848 (and the subsequent shudders in the oil and baleen markets) and the extraordinary hardships the whalemen endured through the grueling Arctic weather.

Bockstoce does an efficient job of capturing the period with his unimposing use of whaling term inology , primary sources and , especially, vintage photographs and illustrations. If his prose is sometimes too economical to evoke the high drama of, say , the entire fleet being caught in the pack ice, his passion for his subject is

apparent, and his scholarship is never in doubt.

HAL FESSENDEN Mr. Fessenden is a frequent contributor to SEA HrSTORY and sits on the Publications Committee of the NMHS. The Commodore, Jan de Hartog (Harper & Row , New York, 1986 , 406pp , $ 19 .95).

A " rattling good yarn of the sea" indeed , and a good deal more besides: not onl y mode m towboat technology but ageing, racism, Stone Age people coping with the modem world , and international financial high-jinks at sea and ashore.

The Commodore tell s his tale in the first person , as he did in de Hartog's 1965 best-se ller, The Captain. This time Marti nus H arin xma, now 70, is called out of retirement to " advise" the young and inexperienced captain of the world ' s most powerful , and "fatall y fla wed, " tu gboat, towi ng a giant dry dock from Rotterdam to Ri o . The crew is Chinese , from Taiwan, the runners on the tow are their ene mies from another island , and the European officers have been assigned to the man-ki lling tug for previous derelictions o n other ships owned by the big Dutch to wing and salvage company.

Harinxma gradual ly comes to identify with both the ship and the crew , and is led by that identification to agree to take the tow from Rio th rough the stormbe lts of both Atla ntic and Pacific to its destination in Chile; and then , self-described stubborn o ld bastard that he is, to pick up yet another monster tow and take it to Taiwan. Along the way, he solves the " fata l flaw" of the pig in the literally most ex plosive fas hion imaginable .

This is a real page-turner, tightly plotted, populated by a variety of both engaging and sinister characters, marked by incidents both dramatic and moving. Commodore Harinxma emerges as complex, doubt-torme nted, but resolute in action: a genuine hero of the sea; and, in the end, of the land as well, in his confrontation with the owners and operators of this big and dangerous vessel.

The Commodore is unhesitatingly recommended to all readers of SEA HISTORY. CHARLES G. BOLTE

Mr. Bolte, a resident of Dresden, Maine, is editor of The American Oxonian .

The Oxford Book of Sea Songs , chosen and edited by Roy Parker (Oxford Univers ity Press , New York , I 986 , 343pp , illus , $ 18.95 hb) .

This new anthology in the noted Oxford Book series presents I 59 ballads and songs of the sea , with an introduction and notes SEA HI STORY , WINTER 1986-87

on the songs by Roy Palmer. The songs he has chosen for this anthology are chiefly from England , with some from Scotland, Wales, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Arranged approximatel y in chronological order, they form a panorama of maritime songs and history from the late sixteenth centu ry to the present. They include rousing ballads and songs of naval battles and heroes, life aboard the sailing men-of-war, fights agai nst the hated press gangs, piracy , shipwreck, mutiny , whal ing , smuggling, arctic exploration and the fi shing fleets. There are also many pathetic love songs of e nforced parting as men were tom from their wives and loved ones, or volunteered , to serve their country at sea. In what is probably a new departure for Oxford, there are even one or two songs reporting-through a thin veil of nautical metaphor--on the events and aftermaths of encounters with alluring " fireships" sighted and overhauled on the streets of sailortown .

The reader and singer of sea songs will find in these pages an ample cargo of fine old songs, many of which are rarely seen in print , at least in modem times. Here are such classics as "The Fancy Frigate ," '' Admiral Benbow ,' ' ''The Stately Southerner," " The Flying Cloud," and scores of others . Naval ballads somewhat outnumber the other categories.

Palmer has included the tunes and words of a number of re latively modern songs that have deservedly gained populari ty in recent years. " Deep-Sea Tug " is a song of dangero us ocean towing in heavy weather, "The Kola Run " recalls the perilou s Murmansk convoys of World War II and " Diesel and Shale" conjures up " the pervasive smell of diesel fue l and shale oil, '' in a submarine of the 1950s.

Tunes are given for onl y 11 7 of the songs, though the editor notes that he has included them " wherever they are known." Unfortunately many earlier co llection s of British naval songs and ball ads such as those of Halliwell , Firth and Ashton, on which Palmer has re lied , lacked any tunes at all. A few of the broadside ball ads reprinted in thi s anthology are so long and literary in their wording that it is hard to imagine anyone's actuall y singi ng them , even if the tunes had been provided.

Both the songs themselves and Palmer's well researched notes are of historical interest. The eighteenth- and nineteenth-century songs which were originally collected from the singi ng of folk informants rather than being reprinted from broadsides, tend to be less " literary " and more natural and their meter smoother, with a conseque nt SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1986-87

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BOOKS gain in aesthetic appeal. This reflects in part the influence of oral circulation which often refines the wordi ng of songs whose weaker, less affecting aspects are the soonest forgotten .

There are not many shanties in the book, though some good examples of those protean work songs are included .

In attributing the great increase of shantying in the nineteenth century to the California and Australia gold rushes of the mid-century , Mr. Palmer overlooks the much more important influence of the southern cotton trade and the North Atlantic packet trade . In his introduction , Mr. Palmer argues that " the landsman 's and landswoman's songs of the sea and sailors must surely be admitted " as sea songs, even if it cannot be proved that they were ever sung at sea. It would seem that this can be true onl y in the limited sense that in a nation with a long and active sea-faring history, naval ballads and others with sa ilor protagonists were enjoyed by shore folk _independently of sailors. Only the very best of such songs , however, can approach in beauty and power the real , traditional shanties and focs le songs that convey the genuine fee lings of sai lors.

This collection is rich in history and traditional songs of a seafaring nation that owes so much of its greatness to the loyalty, courage and self-sacrifice of its sailors .

The book comes as a most welcome contribution to sea singing and sea history .

WILLIAM MAIN DOERFLINGER

Mr. Doerflinger, an advisor to the NMHS , is author of Songs of the Sailor a nd Lumberman.

Passage, From Sail to Steam, Captain L. R . W. Beavis , ed . M. S. Kline (Documentary Book Pub!. , Bellevue, WA , 1986 , 2 10pp , illus , $32.95hb).

To the readers and book collectors of that era between the two world wars , when Basil Lubbock was writing hi s numerous books on the last of the windjammers , the name of Capt. L. R. W. Beavis was a familiar one , as he supplied many of the pictures which illustrated numerous Lubbock books.

Captain Beavis was a contemporary and an acquaintance of Capt. H . H . Morrison, another photographer in Puget Sound waters of the sailing ship era, and it is apparent that the two seafaring men exchanged photographs and thereby enhanced the collection of each. Captain Beav is fo llowed that hobby of photographing ships, to the enrichment of the history of the windjammer era at its passing, and he was one of the leading collectors of his day .

40

Were it not for the long-dormant autobiography which he wrote, and then salted away prior to hi s death in 1940 in Portland , Oregon , hi s life's story would have slipped into oblivion , and he would perforce be remembered only as a supplier of photos for others ' writings .

Happily hi s granddaughter saw the value in both the photo collection , still intact, and the attendant autobiography still in her possession. In 1979 the autobiography was submitted to Mary Stiles Kline of Redmond , Washington , who saw its value as something rare , a sort of time capsule , the hi story of a man who commenced a seafaring career in the Victorian years, worked his way to command in sail and made a reluctant change, when he had to, to steam .

Capt. Beavis began his apprenticeship in the Conway at the age of twelve in 1876 and in due course served as a seafaring apprentice in such vessels as the rakish iron clipper Star of France, the full ri ggers Micronesia and Eurasia and the clipper Titania, this latter vessel ri gged down to a bark. Besides service in other auxiliary sailing vessels, and a trip or two in steam , Beavis joined the Mylomene as mate in the 1890s. This was a time when German and French efforts to enlarge sailing ship fleets were dri ving British shipowners more quickl y to steam. Yet Beavis stayed in sai l, and within a short time returned as mate, then master, of the Micronesia, where he remained for a couple of years till she burned out, a total loss in 1897 .

At the age of thirty-two , Capt . Beavis turned to steam , much to hi s dismay.

Yet the ensuing years brought some professional enhancement to hi s career and he settled into the North Atlantic trade in a steamer named Montauk Point. ''The next few years were spent thrashing my way across the North Atlantic winter and summer. Some winters the De laware River would be badly fro zen, filled with ice. Other winters there was hardl y a teacup of ice. It was not a bad life , healthy anyway. My principal hobby was photography , and I had a nice dark room fitted up off my bathroom .''

By 1908 Capt. Beavis was out of a job , and moved to Canada. There followed a variety of jobs offshore, coastwise and ashore through the World War I years.

The age of sail was given a reprieve wi th the war-time demands on shipping, and in 1917 he gained command of a wooden schooner named Janet Carruthers, built in Vancouver, BC. The endless troubles with a leaking vessel , constructed of green planking, insufficiently

caulked , and cursed with unpredictable and uncertain Bolinder diesels added a new chapter to the challenges a shipmaster had to face. At the age of fifty-three Captain Beavis left the Janet Carruthers in Australi a, her maiden voyage not yet completed, and returned to Vancouver as a passenger on a steamship .

The uncertain decade of the 1920s led Capt. Beavis into more steamships , and a spell of seafaring in the Russian Arctic and finally into British Columbia ferries.

Hi s retirement came about 1930 , not with a panoplied testimonial affair at the expe nse of a big steamship company , but rather in a quiet way as he retired to a lone ly , but colorful island about fifty miles from Vancouver. There in his last years he cut firewood and lived in solitude with cats and the remote beauty of British Columbia's inland waterway.

Capt. Beavis laced his life 's story with anecdotes and the tough-crusted mixture of all that he saw around him in other ships and in the parts of the world. Mary Kline's editing preserved much of the original flavor of what must have been a plainly told story of a life in British sail and steam during the transition over the turn of the century. The ever lengthening shadows which embrace the long vanished era of deep-sea square ri ggers flyin g the Red Duster now enfold thi s once dormant , and heretofore obscure account of that by-gone age .

Captain Beavis' story adds a new sw irl of flavor to the shelf of autobiographical books which have been publi shed since the e nd of World War 11. It is not likely that many more original , first person accounts will come into print.

The quality of photographs is generally good, with many reproductions which are well known and have circulated around the g lobe for many years.

The choice of which photos to use was one which the editor made herself, and the captions are , for the most part enhanc ing to the whole story . The use of the well worn and well known photo of the Kobenhavn, in both inside front and¡ back covers is puzzling, since the ship is nowhere mentioned in the text. There are some poor quality pictures which were added, the editor ex pl ains, only because they were in Beavis ' collection.

These are only diversionary drawbacks.

Photo captions are , sad to say, often tinctured with misspelled names , or the wrong names of ships altogether.

Whether thi s is attributable to Beavis himself is not entirely clear, but such errorrs are perpetuated in this book , when they should have been , and could have beem , corrected once and for all. The SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1986-87

manuscript doubtless required some ex pl anatory foot-notes and the edito r struggled valiantly in this effort. But she tripped over simple terminology more than once and came up sorely lacking in the proper explanation of some of Beav is' choice of words and phrases.

Mi sspelled names of places and ships are sprinkled through the pages , which may be attributable to Beavis' script , or that of the editor.

The book is a handsome addition to the sum total of the history of the age of sail , and both Capt. Beav is and editor Kline have done well to preserve it. In the balance , the book shows a health y ration of class. HAROLD H . HUYCKE Captain Huycke, author of To Santa Rosalia , Further and Back , is an advisor to the NMHS.

Great Passenger Ships of the World, Arnold Kludas (Patrick Stephens, Ltd, Wei Ii ngborough , Eng., repr. 1985, 5 vols , $24.95hb/vol).

Arnold Kludas , of the German Ship Museum in Bremerhaven, is one of the world 's most important contemporary maritime historians, best known , perhaps , for his sense of detail. His most outstanding and enduring effort has been the five volumes of Great Passenger Ships of the World. A sixth , updated volume is to be released shortly .

Every passenger ship over I0 ,000 gross tons is included and this staggering list stretches back to the five-funnel, sixmasted Great Eastern of 1858 . The details listed for each entry include port of registry , overall length , service speed and a full chronological history of the vessel, from keel laying to demise . Few reade rs could require additional information .

The ships themselves tend to be grouped first according to period of construction or completion , and then under their owner's name, or as sisterships or fleetmates. The photos , many of them published here for the first time , make a glorious collection .

Some are arranged in a series to portray a vessel' s external changes , and there are any number of two-slackers converted to single-stackers , four-masters reduced to twin-masted ships: those life-extending refits that produced tapered funnel s and raked bows.

The ships themselves represent an extraordinary li sting (and almost superhuman research) and include not only the well reme mbered transatlantic ships, but those that plied more di stant trades suc h as Australia and Latin America, the colonial steamers and migrant carriers, military troopers and even some converted Victory ships.

SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1986-87

The Great Passenger Ships of the World will remain a classic reference for years to come. For anyone even mildly inspired by the sight of an ocean liner, it is well worth the investment .

WILLIAM H. MILLER Mr . Miller, author of numerous books on ocean liners, co-authored with Frank Duffy the recently released The Port of New York Book .

The Golden Wreck-The Tragedy of the Royal Charter, Alexander McKee (So uvenir Press, London, 1986, 222pp , illus, ÂŁ15.95hb).

In October 1859 , Britain was shocked by the news of the loss of the Royal Charter, then probably one of the fastest passenger liners afloat, and known as " the Queen of the Australia run. " The news was made all the more horrific when it was realized that only 40 men had survived out of a complement of more than 500 passengers and crew. Thi s has been described as one of the greatest peacetime di sasters in maritime history , emphasized by the fact that she had sunk within sixty miles of her destination and home port of Liverpool , after a threemonth voyage from Australia. The Royal Charter was an iron full -rigged ship with auxiliary steam power, launched in 1855 , and described in the publicity of the time as a steam clipper of 2 ,710 tons and 200 hp. She had sailed from Melbourne in August 1859 with some 500 people aboard and carrying more than ÂŁ370,000 in gold in her hold . Many of her passengers were miners who had struck it rich in the Australian goldfields and who were returning home to settle in comfort. No one knows how much coin the passengers carried, nor exactly how much gold was on board , when the ship was Jost. It happened when she was caught on a lee shore owing to a sudden violent shift of wind during a Force 12 hurricane , which drove her on to the rocks on the north coast of Anglesey, where she rapidly broke up .

Alexander McKee relates the story of the ill-fated voyage in all its tragedy, pieced together from the recollections of the few survivors and the evidence given at the subsequent Inquest and Board of Trade enquiry. The author has recently done much detailed research into the events which Jed up to the tragedy, and reports the subsequent attempts at salvage which led to much of the treasure being recovered.

McKee writes with the easy sty le and expertise of a profess ional marine historian , and his own underwater diving experience has been crucial to the writing

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My grand fa ther owned a well-known calendar business, H.J. Burrowes or Portland , Maine. He spenl man y hours wiLh his 5x7 view camera photograp hin g the magnificent Schooners and sailing vessels that frequ ented Portland Harbor laden with their trade.

Unfortunately, most or the glass negati ves were destroyed . We saved a small but fin e collection.

Prints from these original antique glass plates are now be ing made available for the first time.

In keeping with their historical value, these prinlS receive the fin est treatment available in curre nt photographic methodology. The latest film d evelo pe r combinations are used to provide the most acc urate tonal quality while maintaining the highest resolution possible. Available in sizes 8x I 0 &: 11 x 14 . Send $1.50 for handsome pictorial Oyer and price list.

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BOOKS of this book. Hav ing di ved on the w reck, he is well able to describe the re ma ins, and the harrowing events which led up to the tragedy over 115 years ago .

J AMES FORSYT HE

Maj. Forsythe is Deputy Chairman of the World Ship Trust and a f requent contributor to SEA HISTOR Y. Ocean Ships, David Horn sby (Ian Allen, Ltd . , Shepperton, Surrey, Eng. , 1986 , 288pp , illus , £9 .95hb).

First published in 1964 , Ocean Ships is a trul y comprehensive guide of the majority of the world 's shipping. It incl udes fleet li sts for the UK and all major northern European owners, as well as the princ ipal national and confe re nce lines operating in Northern Europe . T he author notes that despite little change in many Thi rd World and Eastern Bloc fl eets, less than half the vessels in the 1982 edition are in this new book. Man y of the principal ships in each fl eet are well illustrated with recent photos. A useful addenda is incl uded for new de1iveries and other changes up to the e nd of January 1986. There is a full index. JF American Passenger Ships, Frederick E. Enunons (U niv. of Delaware Press, Newark, DE, 1985, l 84pp, illus, $38.95hb).

The overall hi story of American passenger shipping, particul arl y concerning ships under I 0 ,000 gross tons, has been largely and regrettably ignored . F rederick Emmons has gone a long way toward correcting thi s in his latest book , A merican Passenger Sh ips.

The 392 shi ps in the book are gro uped generall y by areas of trade, and then under the owner' s name. Each is presented with full vital statistics, builder's name and a complete chro no logical history . There are , however , no photos. Instead , each ship or vessel ty pe is de picted by one of the author's line draw ings,

which are useful but not deepl y detailed.

The book also has two pages of color fo r a grouping of fifty-six house fl ags.

Although the great and grand notable such as Leviathan and America are included , the real strength of thi s work is in the smaller ships. These include the likes of America Export 's two Exeters and Farrell Line's Afri can Enterprise.

The ultimate fa te of these ships, whether it be a wartime sinking or scrapping in some foreign port , is a most intriguing and insightful read .

WHM Steady As She Goes, A .E. Fanning (HM Stationary Offi ce Pub!. Ctr., London , 1986, 462pp , illus, £27.50hb).

Steady As She Goes is a history of the Compass Department of the British Admiralty fro m its establishment in 1842 until the present day. Cdr. Fanning writes with detailed knowledge of the department from its earliest days th rough the Victori an age and the ri se of iron and steel hull s, and so on to the development of inertial nav igation systems. Thi s is a trul y absorbing, though somewhat technical, book that contributes much to the hi story of modern navigational aids. JF The Art of Knotting and Splicing, Cyrus Lawrence Day, rev. Ray 0 .

Beard , Jr., and M . Lee Hoffm an, Jr. (Naval Inst. Press, Annapo li s, MD , 4th ed ., 1986 , 255pp , illus , $ 19.95 pb) .

For forty years, beginners and experts alike have been referring to The Art of Knotting and Splicing fo r conc ise, defi niti ve info rmation on the essentials of ropework . The book has survived because with 234 knots it is comprehensive without be ing intimidating , the photographs are clear and beautifull y composed , and the text is charming, thorough and always on the page facing the photograph it describes.

The Art of Knotting and Splicing was

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publi shed in 1947 , before the widespread use of synthetic lines and braided constructions on yacht running ri gging.

Since most knots work as well in braided Dac ron as they do in three-strand manila, Day's book has avoided becoming obsolete. But over the years, the absence of reference to post- 1940s technology has rendered it increasingly inconvenient.

In this new edition, Ray Beard and Lee Hoffman have grafted in information on the characteri stics of various synthetics, including Kev lar , and added a section on splicing double-braided line . The new material is we ll presented , though not quite up to Day's elegant , economical style. But they have not tried to improve on the ori ginal text, and the book is probably good fo r another forty yea rs.

BRION TOSS

Mr . Toss is an accomplished ligaturist and author of The Ri gger's Apprentice.

SCHOONERS AND SCHOONER BARGES (Illustrated) - 9x 12 Hardbound , 160 pp.

By Paul C. Morris Over 150 photographs and artwork by author. A phase of maritime history that has gone unnoticed by nautical historians. Beginning at the turn of the century it was a most important aspect of our maritime economy, competition between coastal sc hooners and schooner barges was keen and filled with many exciting aspects; shipwreck was common . This book contains much valuable reference material with respect to the schooner barges. their builders and the companies who owned them.

$25 including postage iMass. residents add $1 .25 sales tax)

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43

When good news meant heat and light:

Winter Alongside

by Frank F. Farrar

His friend Tim Pouch was diffident in introducing us to the writings of Captain Frank Farrar. Tim, whose good works are remembered elsewhere in this issue, had told us that the Mate of a ship he'd sailed in in World War II had taken up writing about his adventures. " Probably you don't want to be bothered with this," he said. But we said we did. As we parted, Tim thrust a sagging mass of manuscript into our hands. " It was all long ago," he said. " It means something to me, but I don 't guess it would to anyone else."

Well, no, Tim-the writings of Frank Farrar who was your mentor and protector when you were a scapegrace young cadet aboard the Liberty ship Cyrus J .K. Curtis are good news for all of us, we think, and in all seasons. Particularly, perhaps, in the face of hard times such as Captain Farrar remembers here. This is another Frank Farrar, a spunky kid who only years later became the stalwart deck officer Tim Pouch knew in World War II. I' ve mentioned , before , the old rust buckets I sailed on during the great depress ion of the th irties and how bad things were. _ Our ex istence was tolerable because we had grow n up in that era and didn ' t kn ow anything different. There was one time, though, that the d irect effects of the worldwide economic slump came home to roost.

I was an AB on an old shipping board , West Coast-built fre ighter. I think she was the SS West Calumb. She docked in Brookl yn, the cargo was di scharged and the crew paid off.

The Chief Mate announced that due to lack of cargo , she was to be temporaril y laid up. He offered the job of shipkeeper to another AB and me. The Second Mate was to be in charge.

The vessel was shifted to an obscure berth way out in the wilds of Brooklyn . Her boilers were blown down and the black gang paid off. There remained just us two ABs and the Second Mate . It was midwinter--cold and snowy. There was no light or heat, and the deserted focsle was like a black tomb . We tried to make do with one kerosene lantern . The Second Mate brought his new bride aboard. His room was about the size of a small bathroom , but they too made do.

Wi ll y and I were in a hell of a fi x. The lack of heat was the worst. We swiped extra blankets from the empty bunks and pi led them on us. My head got so cold that I took to sleeping with an o ld Navy watch cap .

Our pay had been cut to forty bucks a month , out of which we had to feed ourselves. The Second 's wife had fired up the galley stove , so they were doing good , but she wo uldn ' t let us use the stove , damn herl Then, to add insult to injury , we two were required to work on deck eight to fi ve , six days a week. That damned Second Mate decided that we would chip rust underneath the cargo winches. There we were , on our hands and knees in the frozen snow bang ing away with chipping hammers. Once an hour he ' d leave the warmth of the galley to check on us. After the first fe w days he separated us, one on the forward deck and one on the after deck. When it came to noontime , Will y and I would huddle in the crew ' s messroom , back aft , and eat a couple of cans of sardines and a nine cent loaf of bread . We had no way to wash , so after a few days we were filth y, pl astered with rust and dirt . At knock-off time it was already dark and bitter cold. The pair of us ,would head down the gangway and up to a cheap , crummy cafeteria . I usuall y had bacon and eggs with a double order of rancid fri ed potatoes.

That forty bucks had to stretch for a month .

That lousy Second decided to let us kn ock off at noontime on Saturday , not because of any consideration fo r us. It was

44

so that he and the new bride cou ld head way up to the Bronx to spend the weekend with her fo lks. His last words each Saturday would be , "Now yo u 're not to leave thi s shi p except to eat; and then one at a t ime! " As soon as he was out of sight , we headed fo r Manhatta n , our dirty clothes in a shopping bag. After the fi rst week we were both pretty ripe . People on the bus gave us a wide berth !

We headed for 25 South S treet- the Seamen' s Church Institute, a world-famous place known to seamen fro m all over the world . And it was run by a n equall y fa mous person, Mother Roper. Twenty-five South Street was a large many-storied building that housed a multitude of amenities for seamen . A private room cost thi rty-five cents. Of course , it didn ' t have a window and was the same size as a solitary confi neme nt cell , but, all important , it was warm and clean.

As soon as we checked in , we headed fo r the showers, carrying our fi lthy work clothes. A good half hour under the hot water washed away the grime and eased tired muscles.

Then we scrubbed our dirty clothes. And then to bed. Ah, clean sheets and plenty of heat. Supper was in the cafeteri a, and the food was great. T he cost? Practicall y noHiing. The evening was spent in the library reading roo m . It would do credit to a pu blic li brary , but with the emphasis on things maritime and religion.

Sunday morni ng we wandered up and down South Street gawking at the ships tied at the many piers. Sunday noon featured a big dinner, courtesy of Mother Roper. Late afternoon saw us reluctantl y headin g back to Brookl yn. We had to get back before Mr. Brooks or he' d have a fit . It was some letdow n to craw l into that bl ack, cold fo csle.

Such was our ro utine for several weeks. Spend the evenings

.SEA HISTORY , WI NTER 1986-87

Sunday morning we wandered up and down South Street . ... in the greasy spoon; the weekends with Mother Roper. No drinking and he lling aro und. We cou ldn 't afford to.

About three weeks went by. We were really getting stir crazy. Nobody to talk to except each other. Always broke and always cold and hungry. Then came a small change in the monotony. We were banging away with the chipping hammers one cold morning when the toot-toot of a towboat whistling caused me to look up . Around the sea end of the pier appeared a decrepit, rusty old stem-winder collier, pushed by two towboats. I could just make out her name, almost obscured by the rust caking on her bows- Penobscot.

I went over to the side to see better. The Skipper hollered over and asked if we would receive her lines. He had orders to tie the Penobscot to us. " Sure," I said . The Second Mate took over, shouti ng all kinds of useless orders. Willy and I went forward to take in her lines. As she came alongside, damned if there wasn ' t a man and woman on her focsle head , passing the lines down to us. We tied her up , forward , then went aft to repeat the performance, and there was the same couple , expertl y slinging over the heavi ng lines, then slacking off the big hawsers. They moved like a well trained team.

After she was all tied up , they came over and introduced themselves. He was the master of the Penobscot and she was his wife. The sh ip belonged to the Sprague Co. , big coal operators. Sprague also operated the American Republics Line.

Our ship was an A.R. Line vessel , too. The Penobscot, like us, had been laid up for lack of cargo . She was an ancient tub , but beautifully constructed . Later on , I got to know them better , and they would have me aboard for supper. The Skipper' s quarters were sumptuous. They were just under the wheel house and spanned the enti re breadth of the ship . Beautiful dark paneling and lots of gleami ng brass. Expensive leather SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1986-87

settees added the final touch. It was such a surprise to step from a rust-pitted deck into such opulence. The skipper's wife had installed a small coal-burning stove on which they did all their cooking, and it kept their quarters toasty warm. It was such a treat to be invited over. I'd sink into a deep leather chair, the stove would be rustling quietl y and the soft glow of the brass lamps hanging in gimbals and reflecting from the polished wood paneling created the illusion of being at sea on one of the posh British ships plying between London and India .

The captain had been everywhere . His Master's ticket was completely covered with pilotage endorsements for every port from Maine to Florida , including the Cape Cod Canal , Buzzards Bay , Long Island and the East River. He would reminisce about some of his voyages till late at night when his wife would shoo Willy and me out.

A couple of weeks passed. Each weekend l spent considerable time in the library at 25 South Street studying for my Third Mate's ticket. They had all the books , but it was tough sledding without anyone to guide me . Surprisingly, Mr. Brooks, the Second Mate , offered to help me . He got so interested in teaching me that he unlocked the chart room and really schooled me in chart navigation , dead reckoning, compass error-stuff like that. He even offered to guide me in celestial navigation when and if we ever got to sea again. And he did, too. He could be a coldhearted bastard to work for, but even sci , I've always been grateful for hi s help .

One day the Chief Mate reappeared. He told us that the ship would be going back in serv ice. He had gotten permission from the home office to hire about fifty unemployed seamen who were on the beach . It was his intention to have them chip off the rust in all the holds and ' tween decks, and then red lead and paint them. This was some big job , and the only 45

He had orders to tie the Penobscot to us.

Illustrations for this story are by Oswald L. Breit of Levittown, NY.

reason the Company had ag reed to s uch an expense was they had been receiving some bi g damage claims from the coffee importers. Coffee was our main no rthbound cargo, and even though it was standard practice to use hundreds of straw mats while loading to keep the coffee bags fro m touching any metal, the claims had been mounting. One bag of coffee we ighed one hundred kilos, so if it was condemned , or degraded , the cost to the company was substantia l.

Anyways, this big chipping job was to be done with air hammers, which had recently made the ir appearance on ships.

I hated them . They were identica l to riveting hammers and wo uld sure knock off the rust. But they were hell on the poor sou l operating them . We had air o utlets located all over the ship , and a big steam operated a ir compressor down in the eng ine room . The good news was that the Third Assistant Engineer, a water tender, and o il would be summoned bac k to get steam up on one bo iler. That meant we would have light and heat again .

I woke up one morning sick as a dog. Flu , I guess. All those freezing cold nights plus a badl y infec ted leg had caught up with me. I managed to get thro ug h the day, somehow , but by the next morning I was worse, shi verin g one minute, sweating the next. In desperation I we nt to see the Mate. " If you ' re sick and can' t work, pay off." He was some coldhearted bastard . Pay off I did, and rode a trai n back home to Boston.

Thanks to my mother, I made a fas t recovery . I swall owed my pride and called the Boston office and asked fo r my job bac k. T wo days later I got a post card fro m the Mate. Scrawled on it were two words. "Come bac k." And bac k I went , of course. Jobs were fe w and fa r between. J,

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WHO READS ~PROFESSIODAL mARIDER? PROFESSIONAL MARINER PROFILE: CAPT. NORMAN H. OLSON USN (Ret.) OCCUPATION: President of ANY Ltd. , a security management consulting firm working with government and industry in the avoidance and prevention of maritime terrorism worldwide .

BACKGROUND: U.S. Merchant Marine Academy graduate; second assistant engineer in the merchant marine; retired navy captain with over 30 years commissioned service, mainly in naval special warfare.

ACCOMPLISHMl~NTS :

Has held every leadership and command position in the Navy's Special Opera tions Forces; founded Navy's first Terrorist Action Response Team; first chief of staff of the Defense Department's Counter Terrorist Joint Task Force; director of security for ReaganBush '84 Campaign Committee; decorated by the governments of the United States, South Vietnam and Egypt.

CURRENT PROJECTS: Working with offshore marine services company to protect its executives and assets around the world; consulting with Coast Guard on port _...,.,,.._ security and at-sea surveillance; advising on offshore oil rig security in Southwest Asia and Latin America; establishing special warfare capability for Third World country; training metropolitan police department SWAT teams; working with maritime unions to train shipboard personnel in countering terrorism and piracy at sea.

QUOTE: "The terrorist threat is going to continue to increase and the maritime industry is not going to get away without being touched. As land targets become harder, more difficult to approach, the terrorist will, as he always does, find the soft target - and I think that the whole maritime industry, whether it be a ship, oil rig, cruise ship, port facility, whatever, is vulnerable. They're wide open and would be easy to attack. I say that because I've been an attacker most of my life."

HIS MAGAZINE: The Professional Mariner.

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When you consider that TPM's national audience encompasses over 60 maritime-related professions, that's hardly surprising.

Still, for authoritative coverage of maritime issues and trends from an independent perspective, there's only one magazine for today's unique bran9. of professional.

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SCHUYLER MEYER. JR .

MILFORD BOAT WORKS. I NC. MOBIL O IL CORP. M OORE.MCCORMACK R ESOURCES MR . & MRS . SPENCER L. M URFEY. JR .

NEW YORK COUNCIL. NAVY LEAGUE OF THE UNITED STATES RICHA RD K. PAGE MR S. A. T. POUCH. JR. MR . & MRS. ALBERT PRATT JOHN G. ROGERS B ARBARA SCHLECH A. MACY SMITH JEANS. SMITH SETH SPRAGUE FOUNDATION NORMA & PETER STANFORD EDMUND A. STANLEY. JR. L A URANCE S. R OCKEFELLER JOHN STOBART SHANNON WALL. N.M.U. H ENRY PENN WENGER MR. & MR S. W ILLIAM T . WHITE JOHN WILEY AND SONS. I NC .

WOODENBOAT Y ACHTING YANKEE CLIPPER

DONORS

W . H . BAUER CAPT. R OBERT G. BRAUN CHARLES A. BENORE p_ S. D EB EAUMONT MRS. JOHN W . DIXON JAMES P. F ARLEY HARR Y F. GREINER JACKSON HOLE PRESERVE LEONARD C. JAQUES LoBSTER I NN. I NC. C . N . MILLER DAVID M. MILTON TRUST H ARRY L. NELSON ROB ERT A. N ICHOLS MAR Y PEABODY E. A. POSUN IAK QU ICK & REILLY H AVEN C. ROOSEVELT H OWARD SLOTNICK Swiss AMERICAN SECURITIES EDM UND B . THORNTON SKIP & ROGER TOLLEFSEN JOHN YOLK EDWARD ZELINSKY

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W . J. H ENTSCHEL PETER R OBINSON

SUSTAINING PATRONS DAVID M . B AKER RONALD BANCROFf BENJAMIN B AXTER ALICE 0 ADOURIAN WILLIAM H . 0ARTNELL PAUL D EMPSTER HI RAM DEXTER . JR. DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORP. H ENRY FAIRLEY R OLAND GRIMM CAPT. WIU..IAM H . H AMILTON THOMAS H ENRY H OWARD HIGHT T OWNSEND H ORNOR R uss K NEELAND AARON LEVINE T. L AWRENCE L UCAS CLYTIE MEAD EDWARD M UHU-C:LD RA y M USTAFA 0oNALD W. PETIT THEODORE PRATT PETER ROBINSON MELBOURNE SMITH MR. & MRS . GEORGE T OLLEFSEN ) AC K B. SPRINGER ) AMES 0. TURNER J. 0 . YAN !TALLIE THOMAS WATSON ELDREDGE WELTON JOHN F . WING THOMAS J . WI G

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PATRONS WILLIAM K. ABELES · E. DoUGLAS ADAMS RAYMOND AKER THOMAS AK IN )IM ALDERMAN P. M . ALDR ICH R OBERT & RHODA AMON H ENRY H . ANDERSON. JR .

MR. & MRS . W ALTER ANDERSON E. P . ANDREWS RICHARD ANGLES PETER ANSOFF ANDRE M . ARMBRUSTER LAUR ENCE H . ARMOUR . JR . ) ACK ARON PETER ARON ROBERT H . ATHEARN BILL AUBRY JOHN l. AVIGNDNE ) AMES A. BABSON ARTHUR B . B AER HARRY K . B A ILEY ) AMES S. B A ILEY JOHN B. B ALCH ASSOCIATION DF MARYLAND PILOTS B. A. B ALDW I . JR .

H ERB BALL ROBERT BALY NORMAN BARKER PETER B ARTOK J . H . BASCOM RA YMOND B AZURTO EDWARD L. B EACH JOHN BECKER E. MARK BECKM AN G. A. B ECNEL JEROME B ELSON MR. & MRS . ALAN BENDELIUS MR. AND MRS. )AMES A. B ERGONZI ) AN BJORN- H ANSEN CARROLL N. BJ URNSON ARTHUR B LACKETT PAUL M . BLOOM )ACK BOYD ERNEST S. BR EED MR. & MRS . MAURICE J. BRETZFIELD FREDERICK BREWSTER LAWRENCE BREWSTER LUTHER N BRIDGMAN K . L. BRIEL DR . CHARLES M . BRIGGS PETER L. BROSNAN J AMES H . BROUSSAND DAVID F. BROWN RAYMOND G. BROWN R AY BROWN MD THOMAS 0 . BROWN FREDERICK BR UENNER JOHNS. BULL PETER A. BURCKMYER DR . GEORGE C. B UZBY. JR. 0oNN BYR NE JOHN H . BYR NE THOMAS P . BYRN ES ) AMES R . CADY ROBERT J. B URKE CRA IG B URT. JR . JAY G. B URWELL PETER A. B US HRE STEVEN B UTTERWORTH BOYD W. CAFFEY MR . & MRS. STEELE C. CAMERON ERIK CANABOU MR. & MRS. PETER CAROOZA D AV ID CARNAHAN MR . & MRS. R. E. CASS ID Y DR . H UGO H . CASTELLO CENTRAL GULF L INES JON H . CHAFE A. C HAPIN JAMES E. C HAPMAN ROBERT CHAPMAN TERRY CHAPMAN CHARLESTON NEURDSURGICAL Assoc.

RI CHARD D . CHASTA IN JOHN CHICHESTER ALAN G. CHOATE ERBERT CICENIA ROBERT R. CICHON ALBERT CIZAUSKAS. JR .

MR . & MRS. C.THOS . CLAGETT. JR. JAC K A. CLARK ROBERT B. CLe>RKE H ERBERT A. CLASS G EORGEF. CLEMENTS J .E. COBERLY l OHNCOEN ) QHN L. COLE EDWARDCOLLINS FREDCOLLINS l OHN l . COLLINS CHARLESE. COLLOPY J . FERRELLCOLTON COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS CDR . & MRS . R . E. CONRADY TREVOR CONSTABLE DONALD G . COOK JAMES COOK LCDR . MI CHAEL CORDASCO RICHARD CORRELL CHUCK COSTA H AROLD R. COTTLE MD D ANIEL COWAN DR . R AY W. COYE WILLIAM P. Cozza J. W. CRAWFORD R . MYRON CRESSY W ALTER CRONKITE CHESTER & ANN CROSBY B OWDOIN B. CROWNINSH IELD S. H. CUMM INGS BRIGGS CUNNI GHAM ALTON F. CURRY ALBERT L. CUSICK Curry SARK SCOTS WHI SKY H . D AV ID DA LQU IST M ORGAN D ALY PETER T. D AMON WILLAM H . DARTNELL STAN DASHEW )AMES K . DAVIDSON JOAN DAVIDSON F. K ELSO DAV IS KRI S H. C. D AVIS WILLIAM R. DAVIS JOHN N. DA YTON DENNIS D EAN DOUGLAS H . DEA N JOHN P . DEBONIS R OBB DEGNON ANNE DEIKE DEBORAH DEMPSEY JOSEPH DE PAUL & SONS CAPT. l DHN F. DERR BRENT 01BNER MALCOLM DI CK MICHAEL DI CK ) AMES DICKMAN ANTHONY DIMAGGIO MR S. JOHN W. DIXON W. R. DOAK D AVID L . DODG E JOHN H . DOEDE WILLIAM MAIN DOERFLINGER DOLPHIN BOOK CLUB N. DONALDSON OR . ) AMES M . DONLEY D ANIEL PAUL DIXON WI LLIAM D ONNELLY BILL DoUGHERTY JOSEPH DOYLE R . L. DoXSEE CAPT. ROBERT DREW JEREM IA H T . DRISCOLL JOHN DUSENBURY WILLIAM A. OYER. JR . )AMES EAN DAV ID B. EATON FRANK EBERHART H OWARD H . EDDY DoNNA EDGEMAN EDSON CORP. ALBERT J . EGAN MR. & MRS . FLETCHER EGGERT. JR. MR . & MRS . ALBERT E HINGER STUART EHRENREICH RAY E ISENBERG CARL EKLOF PA UL EKLOF GEORGE F. EMERY FRED EMMERICH D AMON L. ENGLE MR . & MRS. R. S. ER SK INE. JR. CDR . L. F. EsTES WILLIAM EVERDELL JERRY EVERMAN CARL G. EVERS JOHN H ENRY FALK DR . & MRS . H UGH FARRIOR GEORGE FEIWELL GERALD FELDM AN L YNN S. FELPS MR . & MRS . STEPHEN M . FENTON Ill H AROLD B. FESSEN DEN JOHN & CAROL EWALD 0oUGLAS FIFE JOHNS. FISCHER M ORGAN FITCH JOHN E. FLANNIGAN ELLEN FLETCHER ARLINE FLOOD MR. & MRS. BENJAMIN FOGLER ) AMES FOLEY ) AMES 0 . FEURTADO DR . & MRS . BRENT FOLL WEILER TIMOTHY FOOTE ALANSON FORD F. S. FORD. JR . DoNALD D. FOULDS CAPTAIN R OBERT I. Fox W . W.FRAZIER CAPT. WILLIAM FRANK DR . & MRS. Lou is FREEMAN CHARLES M. FREY J. E . FRICKER NORMAN FRIEDLANDER DR . H ARRY FRIEDMAN DA VID FULLER R EG INALD H . FULLERTON. JR .

GLENN GAECKLE RICHARD GALLANT FRED FREEMA JOSE GARCIA -RAMI S ROBERT GATES BERNARD M . GEIGER EDWARD GELTSTHORPE GEORGE E GINE COMPANY WILLI AM GILKERSON LCDR . B. A. GILMORE RICHARD GLEASON H ENRY GLICK THOMAS GOCHBERG DAVID GOLDBERG ) AMES E. G OLDEN PRODUCTIONS DAVID GOOCH HENRY GORN EY PETER J. GOULANDRIS PHILIP GRAF ) AMES GRAFT ARTHURS. GRA HAM MR . & MRS. T ERRY W . GRANIER M AYOR & MRS. ROBERT H . GRASMERE JIM GRAY PETER L. GRAY C. WILLIAM GREEN II ROBERT H . GREGORY HENRY F . GREINER • PETER GUARD INO CHARLES G ULDEN R . H . GULLAGE OR . ) AMES GUTHRIE M AJOR C. P . GUY H ADLEY EXH IBITS. I NC. M R. & MRS. F. H AGGETT MORTIMER H ALL GEORGE B . H AMI LTON JOHN R . H AM ILTON BR UCE E. F . H ANSON ROBERT 0. H ARR INGTON. JR. FRED H ARTMANN CLIFFORD H ASLAM ARVID H AVNERAS FR EDER ICK W . H AYES M ARS HALL D E L . H AYWOOD ROB ERT K . H ANSEN CAPT. )AMES E. HEG PAUL l . H ENEGAN H AROLD H ERBER W . R. HERVEY )AM ES 0 . H ER WARD H ERBERT H EW ITT ROB ERT J. H EWITT CARL W . H EXAMER DR . ALBERT E. HICKEY CHARLES HILL ETHAN A. HITCHCOCK GEORGE H OFFMAN K ARENINA M ONTHEIX H OFFMAN WALTER W . HOFFMAN ROBERT W. H OFFMANN HELENE. H OLCOMB LARRY H OLCOMB. I NC. PETER H OLLE BECK EDWARD P . H OLLIS CDR . ALFRED E. HORKA Aux T. H ORNBLOWER CAPT. M. F . H ORVATH B. J . H OWARD GODFREY G. H OWARD THOMAS H OYNE Ill R OBERT H UBNER PER H UFFELDT WILLIAM J . H URLEY CAPT. FRANCIS H URSKA L EROY H UTT R OBERT H UTTON ) AMES M . H UTTON Ill H YLAND GRANBY ANTIQUES JOHN I AC IOFANO ) AMES B . IGLEHEART SEYMOUR I NGRA HAM ALBERT L. I NGRAM I NTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF M ASTERS. MATES & PILOTS BRAD )YES G EORGE f VEY R ICHARD JACOBS J . S. JACOX T OBY JAFFE CAPT. GEORGE W . JAHN PETER E. JAQU ITH COL. GEORGE M . JAMES PAU L )AMI SON R OBERT P . ) ERRED BOYD JEWETT ARNOLD ) ONASSE JON JOHNSON D OUGLAS JOHNSTON ALAN JONES CHARLES M . ) ONES CLIFFORD JORDAN D ENN IS JORDAN W . J. JOVAN W. H ADOON JUDSON BEAN K A HN NORMAN KAMERMANN EDWARD H. KAMM ERER ARNET K ASER NEIL K EATING CAROL l . K ELLY l. K ELLY CAPT. JOHN M. K ENNADAY PATRICK KENNEDY JOHN K ENNEY BR EENE M . K ERR KIDDER. PEABODY & Co. DAV ID KILLARY ROB ERT J . K IMTIS GERALD KING JOHN KI NNEY RICHARD W. KI XMILLER NORMAN KJELDSEN ELIOT K NOWLES ELLIOTT l. K NOWLTON H ARRY KNOX LESTER A. K OCHER KARL K ORTUM RI CHARD W . KOSTER MR . & MRS. FRANK KOTTMEIER WWILLIAM H . KRAMER C. )AMES KR AUS ANDREW KR AV IC K JELL K RISTIANSEN K ENNETH K ROEHLER GEORGE P. KROH FREDERICK N. LANG R OBERT LARSEN CAPTAIN R OBERT E . LARSON W. D. LAURIE EDWARD C . LEE CHARLES LEHMAN RICHARD & M ARY LEIGH PHILIP LEONARD H OWARD LICHTERMAN SALLY LI NDSAY ARTH URS. LISS L. 0. LLOYD CAPT. L. M. LOGAN MR . & MRS. WORTH LooMIS RICHARDO LoPES CALEB LORI NG JEA N LUCY C HARLES LU NDGREN JOHN J . L YNCH. JR .

GEORGE P. LI VANOS KEN ETH LYNCH & SONS RADM . H ARVEY LYON MICHAEL J . MACARIO MR . & MRS. R . M ACCRA'fE GEORGE M ACDoNOUG H Ross MACD UFFIE CAPT. WILLI AM H . MACFADEN M . D . M ACPHERSON MANALAPA YACHT CLUB PETER MANIGAULT JOSEPH A. M ANLEY / l AMES PEARSON MARENKOS FRANK J. M ARSDEN RAY MARTI N OR . & MRS. RICHARD MARTI N JOSEPH B. MADISON RICHARD W. M ARTIN THOMAS F. MASON WILLIAM M ATHERS STANLEY MATTHEWS WILLIAM ~ATHEWS. JR. PHILIP MATTI NGLY PETER M AX JOHN M AY BRI AN M CALLISTER G. P . M CCARTHY H AROLD J. M cCORMICK LEw1 s E. McCuRE CAPT. E. C . M cDoNALD JEROME M cGLYNI!, PA UL M CGON IGLE How ARD M cGREGOR. JR .

JAMES M CNA MARA · JOHN L. MCSHANE MR. & MRS. JOHN M CS HERRY ) AMES M EADE PETER S. M ERR ILL H ON . J . W . MIDDENDOR P JOHN MILLER STUART M ILLER MICHAEL M ILLS R . K ENT MITCHELL CHESTER M IZE CAPT. L OUIS M OCK RICHARD M ONSEES MD C. S. MORGAN MR. & MRS. DANIEL MORG ENSTERN D ANIEL MORONEY R OBERT E. MORRIS. JR .

SAMUEL W . M ORRIS ) . R . MORRISSEY ANGUS C. MORRISON BETTY ANN M ORSE MR . & MRS. EMIL M OSBACHER. JR .

WILLIAM M UCHNIC JAM ES W . M ULLEN II JOHN C. MURDOCK MI CHAEL M URRO CAPT. G. M . M US ICK CAPT. W ALTER K . NADOLNY. JR .

M . J. NAGY NANTUCKET SHIPYARD. I NC. H ARRY L. NELSON. JR .

SCOTT NEWHALL M ORR IS W . NEWMAN REV . EARLE NEWM AN NEWSDAY W . R . NIBLOCK WILLI AM L. NICHOLAS R OBERT NICHOLS JEREM IAH N IXON R OBERT J. NOLAN MILTON G. NOTTINGHAM MACEY NOYES 0cEANIC NAVIGATION R ESEARCH SOCIETY CLIFFORD B . O ' H ARA T . MORGAN O'HORA CDR . & MRS. J. D . O ' K ANE B . J. O'NEILL D AVID OESTREICH JAM ES F. O LSEN CHARLES J. OWEN R OBERT B. OWEN R OBERTS OWEN P AC IFIC-GULF MARI NE. I NC. LI NCOLN & ALLISON P AINE EDWARD B ANNON PALMER L AIRD PARK. JR .

S. T . PARKS WILLI AM H . PARKS RICHA RD H . PARSON R OBERT S. PASKULOVICH G IULIO C. PATI ES JAMES A. PATTEN M ARY PEABODY JOHN N. PEARSON ) AMES W. ECK EARL PEDERSEN MRS. G. L. PELISSERO A. A. PENDLETON PAUL C. PENNINGTON. JR .

JOHN J . P A'rrERSON . JR. WILLI AM E. PERRELL TIMOTHY L. PERRY. JR. WILLIAM R. PETERS DA VID . PETERSON PETERSON B UILDERS. I NC DoNALD PETTIT WI L LI AM PETITT HENRY PETRONIS MR. & MRS . NICHOLAS PHILLIPS F. N. PI ASECK I A A-L EE PITTENGER MR. & MRS. W ILLIAM T. POPE PORT ANN APOLI S M AR INA JOHN 0. PRATT STEPHEN PFOUTS DR . R . L. PREHN I RV ING PRESTON FRANK C. PRINDLE ALBERT QUI NTRALL ARV I E R ATY W ILLIAM RAY COL. ALFRED J. REESE JOHN R EILLY RAY REM ICK FREDER ICK REMINGTON A. E. RENNER P. R. l. R EYNOLDS MR & MRS. F. B. RICE PETER PEIRCE RICE W. M ARK R IGG LE EDWARD RITTENHOUSE CAPT. JOSE RI VERA E. 0. ROBBINS. MD REED R OBERTSON ) AMES L. R OBERTSON CHARLES R . ROBI NSON RICHARD L. R OB INSON K . KEITH ROE ORGE J . R OEWE. JR .

H UG H D. R OLF D AVID R OSEN LESTER ROSENBLATT PETER Ross PHI LI P R oss JAMES W. R OYLE . JR .

M . R UST D AVID R. R YAN M . J. RYAN WILLIAM R. R YAN W ALTER P. RYBK A R. D . RYDER CHARLES IR A SACHS JOHN F . SA LI SBURY JAMES M. SALTER Ill SANDIEGOYACHTCLUB A. HERBERTSA DWEN ARTHURJ. SANTRY E.W. SASYBOL &CO .. I NC H . R . SAUNDERS .J R. JOSEPH SAWTELLE W . B . H . SAWYER CARL H . SC HAEFFER H . K . SCHAEFFER JOHN 0 . SCHATVEL DAVID & BARBARA SCHELL RICHARD J. Sc UER STEPHEN SCHOFF ROBERT C. SEAMANS. JR. R OBERT SELLE C HARLES W . SHAMBAUGH MICHAEL T. SHEEHAN ROBERT P . SHEEHY R OBERT Y. SHEEN. JR .

K ENNETH W . SH EETS. JR. LEE W . SH INABARGER SH IPS OF THE SEA M USEUM L T. ERIC SH UTLER H UGI< R . SHARP Q. ANTHONY SIEMER SIGNAL COMPANIES I NC. FRA K SIMPSON GEORGE SIMPSON FRA NCIS D . SKELLEY EASTON SKINNER STEPHEN SLOAN MR . & MRS. EDGAR F. SMITH ER IC PARKMAN SMITH H OWARD SMITH MR . & MRS. LARRY 0. SMITH LYMAN H . SM IT THOMAS SM ITH MR . E. P . SNYDER MAX SOLMSSEN JOSEPH SONNABEND CONWAY 8. SONNE OR . JUDSON SPEER WILLI AM SPEERS PHILIP STENGER SUS IE STEN H · USE R ODER ICK STEPHENS FITZ H . STEVENS. JR. CDR. V ICTOR B . STEVENS. JR .

WILLIAM STEWART J. T . STILLMAN H OUSTON H . STOKES GEORG~ R . STONE D ANIEL R . SUKIS WALTER J . SULLI VAN CAPT. JOHN 0. SVENSSON RICHARD SWAN W . T. STEVENS LCDR . THOMAS L. SWIFT EUGENE SYDNOR J. C. SYNNOTT H ENRY TALBERT ALEX F .. T AYLOR D AVIS TAYLOR C. PETER THEUT B AR: RY 0. THOM AS JOHN W. THOMAS CLARK THOMPSON JOHN THURMAN GERALD A. TIBBETS R OBERT TICE MR . & MRS. ALLEN W . L. TOPPING NOAH T OTTEN ANTHONY TRALLA ALFRED TYLER II A NDREW H . UNDERHILL JOHN B. THOMSON. JR .

UNIVERSAL M ARITIME SERVICES CORPORATION KENNETH F. URBAN JOSEPH URBANSKI R ENAUD VALENTIN CAPT. R OBERT 0. VALENTINE MARION WALPEY TED VALPEY PETER V ANADIA EDSEL A. VENUS DALE R. YONDERAU B LA IR VEDDER. JR. FRANZ YON ZIEGESAR JOHN VREELAND BRIAN 0 . WAKE ALEXANDER J. W ALLACE R AYMONID E. W ALLACE THOMAS H . WALSH T ERRY WALTON BRUCE E. WARE ALEXANDER WATSON JACKSON WEAVER EDWARD R. WEBER MR . & MRS . TIMOTHY F. WEBER K ENNETH WEEKS R AYNER WEIR WILLIAM WEIR H OWARD A. W EISS T HOMAS WELLS RANDY W ESTON CRAIG W . WHITE SIR GORDON WHITE KBE JOHN ROBERT WHITE RAYMOND 0. WHITE G EORGE WH'ITESIDE G. G. WHITNEY. JR. FR . ) AMES WHITTEMORE WILLIAM A. A. WICHERT J . S. WILRlRD L AURENCE WILLARD STEPHEN J. WILLIG PERCIVAL WILSON R OBERT WILSON H . PAUL W INALSKI JOHN F. WING L AURENCE WHITTEMORE WILLI AM F. WISEMAN W ALTER G. W OHLEK ING WOMEN'S PROPELLER CLUB. PORT OF BOSTON WOMEN 'S PROPELLER CLUB. PORT OF NEW YORK RICK WOOD F. R. W. WORTH ) OE B . WISE 0oRAN R . WRIGHT T . H . WRIGHT, JR .

GLENN WYATT WILLIAM C. WYGA NT ) AMES H . YOCUM JOHN YOUELL H EN RY A. Y OUMANS KI RK Y OUNGMAN W. J. YUENG LI NG 0oNALD ZUBROD

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MODEL SUCCESS STORY' "The Maritime Prepositioning Ship program is a model success story, and I couldn't be more pleased . MPS is on schedule and proving to be an extremely valuable strategic asset." · - General PX. Kelley Commandant U.S. Marine Corps

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DISTRICT 2 MARINE ENGINEERS BENEFICIAL ASSOCIATION -ASSOCIATED MARITIME OFFICERS AFFILIATED WITH THE AFL-CIO MARITIME TRADES DEPARTMENT 650 FOURTH AVENUE BROOKLYN, N.Y. 11232 (718) 965-6700

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RAYMOND T. McKAY PRESIDENT

JOHN F. BRADY EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

This Is MM&P Country We salute the AMERICAN NEW YORK on her maiden voyage leaving Hong Kong, with additional Ports Of Call at Pusan Korea; Kaohsiung Taiwan; Kobe and Yokohama Japan; Savannah and New York, U.S.A. The AMERICAN NEW YORK, is the first of twelve United States Lines Econo Liners manned with MM&P Officers.

The AMERICAN NEW YORK carries 224140-foot containers, with a cruising range of 30,000 nautical miles at 18 knots. The AMERICAN NEW YORK is 950 feet long and 106 feet wide.

The successful operation of this ship has been entrusted to MM&P deck officers, whose skills are regularly sharpened by the Maritime Advancement, Training, Education, and Safety (MATES) program. MM&P ship officers make a practice of returning to the Maritime Institute Of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) at Linthicum Heights, MD, to sharpen their skills and learn new ones with the aid of the most modern teaching equipment available.

ROBERT J. LOWEN

LLOYD M. MARTIN

International President

International Secretary-Treasurer

International Organization of

Masters, Mates & Pilots 700 Maritime Boulevard, Linthicum Heights, MD 21090 • Tel: (301) 850-8700 • Cable : BRIDGEDECK, Washington, DC • Telex: 750831