LETTERS
DECK LOG Three hundred years after Columbus reached the Americas in 1492, ships of three nations converged on the Pacific Northwest to complete the opening of North America to the world, in 1792. So we commemorate the opening of the Pacific Northwest in the same year we observe the 500th anniversary of the first lasting contact between Europe and the Americas. What, one might ask, are we commemorating? The new nations of North and South America have developed only imperfect solutions to the quandaries of the human condition. And we have much to learn from the native peoples whose way of life was grievous ly hurt in the encounter of two worlds. But, as Walter Cronkite observed at the Society's Annual Dinner last fal l, "the encounter of diverse peoples is a signpost in the Age of Discovery." It is that diversity that we celebrate in this Pacifi c Northwest issue of Sea History. Mr. Cronkite concluded; "It's going to be a great celebration, because this time we' re going to get the story strai ght. " That is our endeavor in Sea History. With the help of dedicated people working in the field to this high purpose, we aim to get the story straight, and we mean to move on from this year's commemoration into a full revival of history, as proposed by Mr. Cronkite on page seven.
To Sea, To Sea! Two cruises NMHS members are making together thi s summer deserve mention here. The first is a day cruise aboard the ferry John F. Kennedy to observe Operation Sail 1992 in New York Harboron the Fourth ofJ ul y. Details for this unforgettable day afloat are given on the "Contents" page. The second is in more distant waters, a two-week Mediterranean cruise from Nice touching at Italian and Greek ports, ending at Venice, 13-23 August. These are the seaport towns that bred up the Western seafaring tradition, leading to the ultimate breakout into the ocean world and Columbus's voyage of 500 years ago. A cruise through these waters we sponsored in April was sold out before everyone who wanted to go could be accommodated, so we suggest early reservations. (See page 31.) P ETER STANFORD
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4
MacArthur's Small Ships
Blame Enough For Everyone
"Petrol for the Navy PTs" in the Autumn 1991 issue made exciting reading and I tried to find out more about the little ships involved. But it was not easy. Jane Morehead, built in 1860 by convict labour in Tasmania and " probably the oldest American-flag ship in World War II," turns out to be Jane Moorhead built in 1885 in New South Wales; and carved into her main beam was not 1860, but her British official number 89388. Hildanoring (a good aboriginal name) was more difficult, because she was built in 1940 on the lines of those lovely Tasmanian ketches, and lost, as described in the article, before finding her way into the Mercantile Navy list; but her real name was Hilda Norling. She was built by Peter Locke in Victoria. The last fully rigged ketch for the B ass Strait crayfishery, planked with jarrah, she looked like a yacht.
It was good to see the artic le on Columbus 's Caribbean cruise and other material dealing with the Quincentenary in Sea History 59. But I must take issue with the implication of one remark in the Columbus artic le, where on page 14 you refer to " the ex ile, conversion or killing of all Spain's Jewi sh population" The real choice given to the Jews of Spain in 1492 was to convert to Christianity or to leave. The same choice that England and France had given to their Jewish populations over a century earlier. Although the Spanish monarchs said that unconverted Jews who remained would face death, that was not something the crown expected, or wanted, to happen .
JoHN
v. BARTLETT
London, England I too served a six-month period in "MacArthur's Navy," first aboard the Mongua, then Volunteer S93, before transferring to Corrimal and leaving New Guinea in December 1943. Mr. Denni s refers to a vessel called Hildanoring. I take it that he means Hilda Norling. Before being requisitioned for the US Small Ships, Hilda Norling had at one period been used on the wheat run in Spencers Gulf, South Australia. To illustrate further the hazards facing the small ships, afew months before Mr. Dennis ' s accou nt of the Hilda Norling, she had been involved in a very unfortunate incident-she had been blown off course in bad weather and the extra di stance travelled meant they didn ' t know the daily code. When challenged by an Allied plane and asked for the code, the skipper naturally didn ' t have it. The plane then roared in and strafed them. The cook had an arm blown off and died later. The engineer was hit between the eyes. FREDERICK B. FI NCH Kyogle, NSW, Australia SAIL THE MAINE COAST The Classic Windjammer Vacation SCHOONER MARY DAY Outstanding Sailing
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Professor of History Un iversity of Minnesota
Press on, Regardless Jim Delgado ("Taking the Initiative," Sea History 60) is obv iously an enthusiastic and capab le member of the maritime preservation community. He is fortunate in now being in the marvellous maritime area of Vancouver BC and connected with a fine museum. I must take issue, however, with his basic premise, that "the past six years have seen a tremendous gain in the cause of maritime preservation." Would that were so! But, unfortunately, maritime preservation is swimming against the tide and, at best, barely holding its own. Most museums, such as South Street, Norwalk, and others, have almost overwhelming financial problems-in some cases barely able to meet the payroll, in spite of drastic staff and expense reductions. The toll on restoration programs is immense. The National Trust for Historic Preservation (Maritime Division) has, to put it bluntly, not succeeded. It began with funding from the proceeds of OpSail '76. The Trust tried to sustain the momentum but was ultimately unable to do so. A principal factor was the Reagan adm ini stration' s elimination of almost all Federal funding for these purposes (with which I agreed). The Trust tried in vain to replace this support with state/city-orga-
Official "Spain 92" Cohunbus 500-Year commemorative mode1s of the Santa Maria , Nifia & Pima. Plankon-frame in maho&,any & pine; also ships in bottles. Conta<t J.G. sanford In.fl 32 Overlook Rd, Mountain Lakes NJ 07046 Tel: 201263-0070 Fax: 201-263-4063
SEA HISTORY 61 , SPRING 1992