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Ships: The Ships, Their Settings and the Ascendancy That They Sustained for 80 Years (SH 57) you seem to consider that HMS Warrior "only" needed her sails for "sufficient cruising range with her early, inefficient engines." The captains of the USS Monitor and CSS Virginia (ex-USS Merrimack) would have probably have committed murder for a power plant of anywhere near her standard (she did 14.3 kn on one full load trial). As your Civil War showed, close blockade was still practical in the 1860s, and it proved vital at both strategic and operational levels (to use modem terminology), just as it had in the Napoleonic Wars. This meant that range and endurance were critical, as vessels could be expected to remain on station for weeks at a time, and would need to conserve coal for any tactical action, which would obviously be conducted under power. Not until the USN developed underway replenishment for the Pacific war (the RN being very backward in this respect), was a steam fleet able to recover the endurance enjoyed by the sailing navies. Furthermore, the post-1945 revolution in naval technology (computers, SATCOMS, data links, missiles, electronic warfare, etc.) has made 1990s sailors more sensitive towards our Victorian ancestors and their problems in coping with the introduction of steam, shell, and armour, etc. They may not have been supermen, but their memoirs and diaries show that many of them were very sharp indeed. The biggest problem was, in many cases, not the conservative dinosaur, but the instant expert. The loss of HMS Captain (6 Sept. 1870), with some 500 men, should have been the ultimate monument to the dangers of amateur meddling by politicians and press, however, TV has given such pundits an even larger, and more credulous, audience. FRANK SCOTI, LT. CDR. (RN)
Bognor Regis, Sussex, England
Mickey Mouse watch. However, using the generally accepted definition, this thing is not a chronometer. JAMES P. CONNOR J.P. Connor and Company Marine Chronometers Devon, Pennsylvania
We hope our members understand that the Franklin Mint replicas of navigational instruments are intended for display, not for functional use. We'll spell this out better in thefuture.-ED.
When is a Brig Hermaphrodite? This seems the perfect opportunity to get a question answered that I have wondered about for a long time. What is the difference between an hermaphrodite brig and a brigantine? In your Sea History 62, in the article "Op Sail '92 by way of Cape Hom," S¢renla.rsen is described as the former and Eye of the Wind as the latter. There's a picture of both of them on page 20. I would have called Eye of the Wind a brig. Can you enlighten me as to the fine points of these distinctions? C. A. PHILLIPPE VON HEMERT Friendship, Maine
We'll try: A brigantine has a fore-andaft mainsail and does not carry a square main at all, but does have squares on both masts. An hermaphrodite brig is square-rigged on the foremast andforeand-aft on the main. In casual usage, the word brigantine has come to mean squares on theforemast,fore-and-aft on the main, and vessels square-rigged on both masts are called brigs, regardless. Purists say a brig must be completely square-rigged on both masts to be a brig--unless she's a snow, which is completely square-rigged on both masts but also carries a fore-and-aft main (bigger than the usual spanker) on a separate pole mast stepped immediately abaft the mainmast.-ED.
Watch that Clock!
QUERIES
One of my good customers found a brochure from the Franklin Mint in his mail, along with a letter from you extolling the virtues of the "precision crafted chronometer" being offered to members of NMHS. He was offended and sent the whole batch of papers down to me with the comment: "How can they get off calling this thing a chronometer?" From an etymological standpoint, I guess you could do so, since it does measure time, but then again, so does a
Marine artist Perry Stirling and I are collaborating on a book about the exploits of tugboats during the Second World War. The book is intended to be a collection of short stories depicting particular events (rescue, salvage, battle, towing assignment, etc.). I would be grateful if any readers can assist. What is needed are the facts about a particular event or situation: name of boat; people involved; dates; places; etc. Also, any photos of vessels, people, or a particular
SEA HISTORY 63, AUTUMN 1992
place or event would be very helpful. Please write William Henry at 100 E. Union Avenue, Passaic NJ 07055. The Navy Museum is seeking a photograph of the USS Carnation. The ship was a screw tug built in 1863 as the Ajax. The Navy purchased the ship, and it was commissioned 20 October 1863 under the new name of Carnation. Contact Edward M. Furgol, Curator, Naval Historical Center, Washington Navy Yard, Washington DC 20374-0571. NMHS member Clifford Mancey is seeking information on the Garthpool, the last of the square riggers to carry the Red Ensign, wrecked in November 1929 on the Cape Verde Islands. Mr. Mancey's father-in-law was a member of the crew and he would appreciate hearing from anybody who served on the Garthpool. Write to him at 14 Warren Lane, Friston, East Sussex BN200EL, England. ERRATA NMHS member William Mullins brings to our attention an error in "Convoy Catastrophe" (SH62). The caption on page 15 referred to the S/S Pan Kraft as a tanker. The vessel was actually a freighter.
Geoffrey W. Fielding ofBaltimore points out that the Lusitania was torpedoed in May 1915, not in 1917 as stated in the review of The U-boat Wars in SH62. Ray W. de Yarmin of Port Orchard, Washington (and others) point out that the man behind the pseudonym Alec Hudson was Jasper Holmes, not Jasper Ward as we had it. The University of Hawaii's Holmes Hall is named in his honor. He also wrote Undersea Victory, on submarine combat during WWII, and Double-Edge Secrets, depicting naval intelligence operations in the Pacific in WWII. • IJGHTHOUSES of AMERICA Full Color Note Cards &, Framed Lights Plus Htstorlcal Info on each Ugh tho use
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