SHIPNOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS Viking Replica Ships Sink The two Norwegian replica Viking ships, Oseberg and Saga Siglar, were overturned in a sudden squall off the coast of Spain in May. The replicas were making passage from Valencia to the World 's Fair in Seville when they were struck by 50-55 knot winds and 40-ft waves . The crew of the Oseberg were pitched into the sea by a large wave striki ng the vessel from astern and some hours later the Saga Siglar crew were forced to abandon their vessel. All crew were rescued , although the Saga Sig lar crew drifted in life rafts for e leven hours. The rep licas had toured the US Atlantic seaboard during late 1991 as part of the joint Norwegian/Icelandic Vinland Revisited project commemorating the thou sa nd year anniversary of Leif Eriksson 's voyage to the new world. In October they parted with the replica fleet's flagship Gaia , which traveled on to participate in the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro . While the Oseberg was a ninth-century replica not originall y built for open water sailing, the Saga Siglar, a copy of an eleventh-century cargo vessel, had successfu ll y circumnav igated the globe. The Saga Sig far was later salvaged as were the parts of the Oseberg that drifted ashore. The wreckage was taken to the World 's Fair for display before being returned to Norway. (World City Corporation, 330 East 43rd Street, New York NY 10017) The Oseberg, Saga Siglar and Gaia.
Headliners: Quee_n Mary, United Stales The era of the transatlantic passenger liner is long past, but the movements of relics of that age still generate head lines. When the Harbor Commission of the Port of Long Beach, California, offered up the Queen Mary for bidding, after the Walt Di sney Company decided to no longer operate the 800-ft Art Deco liner as a touri st attraction, bids were received 34
Tall Stacks '92 While residents on the East Coast reveled in tall ships' visits this past summer, in the heartland they had their own maritime celebration called Tall Stacks ' 92. Throughout the weekend of October 15-18, the proud wheels churned on the Ohio River at Cincinnati as 17 stemwheelers ran heats of riverboat races, and engaged in tug-ofwar pull s and calliope contests, all to the beat of a jazz and blues festival. The greatest steamboat enthusiast of all , Mark Twain, once wrote: " the most enjoyable of a ll races is a steamboat race, two red-hot steamboats raging along, neck-and-neck , straining every nerve-that is to say, every rivet in the boiler-quak ing and shaking and groaning from stem to stern. " A largeriverfrontcrowdcaughta glimpse Th e crowded Cincinnati wate1front during a of the Twain-era spectacle when the Tall Stacks event. two remaining stem wheel river passenger steamboats, the 1927 Delta Queen and 1914 Belle ofLouisville, paired off against each other in the big event of the weekend. Following up on the success of the first Tall Stacks event in 1988, this year's event attracted riverboats from the Mi ss issippi, Tennessee, Kanawha and Ohio rivers and drew an estimated 1.5 million people to the historic Cincinnati waterfront. (Greater Cincinnati Tall Stacks Commi ss ion, PO Box 1256, Cincinnati OH 45201) from all over the world (see report Sea History 63, p38). The Port Commission said it intended to accept the highest bid-a $20 million offerthat would move the ship to Hong Kong-but relented on September 30 and decided that the World War II veteran liner wi ll remain in Long Beach where she has been berthed since 1967. Intervention of concerned citizens is credited with bringing abo ut the change of heart. Doug Otto, of the Long Beach Heritage Coa lition remarked that "Long Beach's identity has been so intimately connected with the Queen Mary that it's hard to imagine the city as a tourist attraction without it. " The ship will be given to the City of Long Beach at no cost and the Commission wi ll contribute toward its renovation . The ship 's hotel is closed but tours and restaurants aboard remain open. In the meantime, as a result of the publicity surrounding the Queen's future and reduced admission fees, visitation has increased in recent months. The Virginia Pilot Ledger Star reports that the United States, the fastest transatlantic liner of them all, made a slow but safe passage in July undertow from Hampton Roads, Virginia, to Istanbul , Turkey, where she will be refurbished for the cruise trade. Dutch ocean tug operator
Aart W. Brand described the tow as "no problem ," despite some rough weather. "She's so sharp that she sat behind the tug in a straight course," said Brand. Her arrival in Istanbul presented difficulties, however. As no berth was ready, crew struggled to put down an anchor unused for 23 years to make safe anchorage several miles from shore in the Sea of Marmara. While the Queen Mary and the United States are the only two blue riband ocean liners that remain, memories of others live on. A group of historians and enthusiasts, including Frank 0. Braynard and well known writer Walter Lord, are working to establish as a permanent memorial the Ocean Liner Museum. The National Maritime Historical Society is supporting the plan and is currently investigating the possibility of a home for the museum in Snug Harbor, the former seamen 's retirement home on Staten Island, New York. Getting Around the Ships The 220-ft sidew hee l stea mboat Ticonderoga, built in Shelburne Shipyard, Vermont, in 1906 and now an impress iv e on-shore exhibit at the Shelburne Museum, is undergoing restoration, thanks to a recent million dollar gift. The Ticonderoga is one of only two vessels left in America with a walk-
SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-1993