SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS PETER THROCKMORTON
(1929-1990)
Sailor, scholar, archaeologist and shipsaver, NMHS Advisor Peter Throckmorton died unexpectantly at his Maine saltwater farm on June 5. For the celebration of his life, his colleague, Dr. George Bass, sent a message from Texas: "From the Mediterranean to the Falkland Islands , Peter's vision led to the first true underwater archaeology ." Throckmorton was a citizen of the world 's oceans. With his Greek schooner Stormie Seas as a base , he brought the precision of terrestrial archaeology underwater with the exploration of Mediterranean wrecks from 1300 BC and 2500 B<;:. He rescued a 40-ft section of the "downeaster" St . Mary from a Falkland beach for the Maine State Museum. He looked for John PaulJones's Bonhomme Richard in the North Sea, and the bark Elissa sails proudly out of Galveston because he began her salvation by dickering for her in Greek, one of his seven languages. He was a teacher and author of several books , his last The Sea Remembers, published in England as History from the Sea. He was the author of much original work in Sea History. A book on the Stormie Seas , undertaken at the urging of his friend Peter Stanford, was unfinished at his death, but it is hoped that this remarkable work may be completed from his notes and letters . Throckmorton ' s legacy is not just his own successful projects but the many of us whom he generously encouraged , adv ised, taught, and occasionally cussed out, as we embarked on our own . NICOLAS DEA N
Edgecomb, Maine SCOTT NICOLL
(1902-1990)
Scott Nicoll , engineer and raconteur extraordinaire, slipped his moorings for the last time on September 8. Born of Scottish parents in Hamakoapokai on Maui, Hawaii, he learned to play guitar and to work the donkey engines on sugar plantations. He later graduated from MIT with a Masters degree in engineering. He served as Chief Engineer in the restoration of the steam side paddlewheel tug Epple/on Hall and was with her on the initial segment of her voyage from England to San Francisco, 1969-1970 (see SH 8). Until recently Scotty could be seen bounding about the Bay in his 16-ft steam boatMikhala. An avid tinkerer, he saw to the overhau I of the donkey engine at Hyde Street Pier and he found joy in SEA HISTORY 55, AUTUMN 1990
serving as docent for the black gang a board the Liberty ship J eremiah O' Brien. WILLIAM E. BURG ESS, JR. San Francisco
CLASSIC YACHT
Cunard's 150 Years
SHIP MOOE LS
At an 1885 luncheon celebrating Etruria's launch , Cunard Line's 14th ship, Stevenson Blackwood, secretary of the General Post Office, proudly announced that between 1840 and 1884, "the Cunard Line has carried 17 ,000,000 letters without the loss of a single bag." An impressive record for Samuel Cunard ' s " tin kettles." Thinking about the Cunard Line is thinking about the biggest name in Atlantic steamer history. Images of the majestic and immortal liners Lusitania , Mauritania, Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeths embarking or disembarking their thousands of passengers follow on . But the marvel that began it al l is that a provincial , Nova Scotia native, withstanding stiff competition from Britain's own , could in 1840 walk off with the most prized Admiralty mail contract-for the transatlantic service. The British government, for national defense reasons, held out the subsidized mail contracts as incentives to foster the growth of steamship service. The first awarded for the Liverpool to Dublin service, the second for the Southampton to Portugal service and the third for Cunard ' s, and the world ' s, first transceanic service. In this way the Admiralty gave a measure of financial security to the pioneer steamship companies-a hedge against the obvious hazards of early steamer transit. It also gave Britain the most immediate access to the Empire and the rest of the world. The incentive was the same for other steamship companies, like the Pacific and Orient Line, that would later reach further into the colonies. It is a testimony to Samuel Cunard's temerity and political acumen that he outmaneuvred his competition in 1840 and substantial! y outperformed them through diligence and determination in the years to come. Today , 150 years after RMS Britannia took that first mail , the evergreen Queen Elizabeth 2 is the last North Atlantic liner-what Cunard started, Cunard will finish . KH
Perry Luck Still With Niagara Commodore Oliver Perry ' s brig Niagara, fully restored by the Pennyslvannia Historical and Museum Commission ,
and
*MUSEUM QUALI TY * HA LF - HULLS, REPAIR & RE STORATION
Charles R. Slocum 2718 lolani Pukalani Hi. ZIP 96 76 8 (808)572-1888
U-BOA TS
Dive into History:
@)-- c a: '
,
$29.95 pod.
By H. Keais & G. Farr
Hislory of all six U-boa rs sunb in U.S. wa1ers reachabre by
sc uba. 200 pholos. 183 pp
Send for list.
C Willis Publications
80 Wampum Rd â&#x20AC;˘MAINF
..aa_.
*
Narro, Rf 02882 \\'INDIAMMERS* 1-800-648-4544
*
AMERICAN EAGLE .~ ISAAC H. EVANS LEWIS R. FRENCH HERITAGE
Weekly Crui.les â&#x20AC;˘ $265 - S515
* For Brochures write: *
Schoo ner Captains, Box 482T. Rockland , Me . 0484 1 1-800-648-4544 or 207 -594-8007
*
.------Commission----.
Your Favorite Ship In Straw Collage Straw art is an ancient art form developed centuries ago, when people didn't know how to make dyes or colors. The artist uses the different shades of the straw (dried leaf of rice plant) to create a collageofunsurpassed beauty. No color, dye or paint is added to the natural color of the straw. This unique art form is in the list of endangered art and only a handful of people in the whole world know this beautiful art. For a sample straw collage. of Tallship Elissa (1877), entirely handcrafted, send $12.00 to:
Heirloom Arts 1214 Church, Galveston, Texas 77550 call (409) 762-5621 Visa and MC accepted
For information about Commissioning Your Favorite Ship (Sail or Steam, New or Old) in staw collage, call or write above address. COUECT ALL THE TAll.SlIIPS OF TIIE WORill
33