vessels are registered in Liberia which at this writing has an uncontrolled rebellion; 35 % of these "controlled" ships are registered in Panama, a country whose ships President Bush has threatened in the past to forbid entry to any US port. Most all are crewed, stored and repaired outside of the US. The loss in US dollars, labor, wages , industry and balance of payments is enormous. Let us hope the tall ship Liberty and attention it will attract moves the average citizen and his Congressional representative to realize that each US built and operating ship nurtures benefit to each of our 50 states. Un less this and future administrations take some positive productive action , our grand and great-grandchildren wi ll have only a rusty skeleton hulk from which to chip any historical maritime commerce heritage. JOH
S. STEPH EN BLANK, 3RD
Hercules, California
"Through the Alley-0" As a native Mancunian, I was interested to read Ralph Freeman's article on the Manchester Ship Canal in Sea History 53. During my ch ildhood in the 1920s and 1930s there was a chant current among children that commemorated the open ing: The great big ship sai led thro' the alley-o, Thro ' the alley-o, Thro' the alley-o, The great big ship sai led thro ' the alley-o, On the last day of December. This chant was used to accompany a street game played by the girl s. Being a mere boy, I never understood the rules of the game, which no doubt had some deep symbolism . The sense of wonder at an ocean-going ship sai ling through the houses that the words imply is genuine. It never ceased to impress. Two points in the otherwise excellent article need correction. The StocktonDarlington Railway was never extended to Liverpool and Manchester. Its technology was only suited to low-speed goods traffic. The Manchester-Liverpool Railway, opened in 1830, was the first hi gh-speed line for both passengers and freight, and was a quantum leap in technology. Further lines to London, Birmingham , Leeds and Sheffield were opened by 1840, using the same track system and improved rolling stock, but there was no connection to the north-east until much later, and it was via a differSEA HISTORY 55, AUTUMN 1990
ent network. Mr Freeman is quite right to draw attention to the strain that existed between Manchester and Liverpool over freight costs, but is wrong to suggest that this caused Manchester to decline. In fact Manchester's prosperity peaked during the later half of the 19th century. Humphrey de Trafford decided to employ his fami ly lands (adjacent to the docks) to set up the largest industry park in the world, and to invite international capital into the development. This diversified Manchester into what would now be called the "sunri se" industries, and the docks primari Iy served these. George Westinghouse was the most prominent American involved, although there were many others. This was Manchester's salvation when the cotton industry began to decline, and cou ld never have happened without the cana l, as many of the enterprises relied on bulk maritime transport. Trafford Park is now well into decli ne itself, but it and the canal did their job in a timely manner. Both canals now seem ass ured of continued existence as leisure facilities and a new maritime museum has been opened on the Ship Canal at Ellesmere. But the sight of one of Manchester Liners ships gliding by while the road traffic waited at the swing bridge has gone forever. Traffic snarl-ups wi ll never have the same aesthetic value. PAUL QUINN
Stafford, England The Manchester Ship Canal stirred others to write of their experiences with this English Midlands ditch. -ED.
Insert Here! The Donald Demers insert. What a delight, a bonus " Marine Art" artic le. Should have written of my same reaction to the Tom Hoyne insert. "Marine Art" is exceptional-it not only depicts sea history, it is of itself sea history. I hope that the super majority of my Sea History colleagues concur. G. S. CUSHMAN Industry, California
Arms I contin ue to enjoy your magazine and particularly the current Co lumbus emphasis. However, I feel that Mr. Braynard's personal opinions as to our government's arms policy have no place in or real relevance to hi s otherwise excellent article on Juan Sebastian de Elcano (S H
54, p 14 ). He is entitled to these views, of course, and I would probably enjoy argu ing with him on the subject (if he ever permits such a thing), but I feel they are inappropriate in this context. Moreover, it demonstrates a certain smallness of mind-albeit admirable singleness of purpose. WARREN H. SIMMONS, JR. Princeton, New Jersey ERRATA
On page 33 of Sea History 54 we said: "The CCR 812 was one of the privately owned vessels conscripted during World War II as coastal patrol boats." Actually CGR 8 12 was the Boston Pilot's Association schooner Roseway, points out Michael R. Flannery of Syracuse NY. She was kept in the Pilot service during the war, run by pilots who held reserve USCG commiss ions. Roseway still sai ls as one of the Camden ME windjammers, and Mr. Flannery sailed in her in 1988. She was built in 1925 in Essex, MA. "Even if we Swedes very much would like it to be true," writes Claes Tillaeus of Larbro, Sweden, the Pommern is not homeported in Sweden as noted by Sea History 52 on p3. She is in fact in Mariehamn, Aland , Finland. The Trincomalee Restoration article appearing on page 37 of Sea History 54 speaks of the vessel as "Built by the Royal Navy ... to the Leda class, a heavy class designed to match the American Constitution class ... " but William M. P. Dunne of the Department of History at SUNY, Stony Brook, New York, has pointed out: 'The Macedonian, Java, and Shannon were Leda class frigates. The Surveyor of the Admiralty, Sir William Rule designed the Leda class 38-gun frigates in 1799, well before the War of 18 12, and, by builder' s measurement, they were more than 400 tons smaller then the three American 44-gun frigates, and nearly 200 tons smaller than our 38-gun frigates, the Constellation and Congress." The erroneous statement that the Leda class were heavy frigates designed to beat the American heavies was made by our editor on faulty information. We are gratefu l for Mr. Dunne's well-founded correction. D
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