SHIPNOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS Philadelphia Maritime Museum to Move to Water' s Edge Penn's Landing, a wate1front promenade on the Delaware River in Philadelphia, will become the new home of the Philadelphia Maritime Museum . A move to the waterfront from its home in a renovated bank building in the heart of Olde City has been widely advocated for many years. The museum will occupy the building now known as the Port of Hi story Museum. Improvements to the site will begin in 1994. The first construction phase is expected to take 12- 18 months and cost between $6.5 and $ 12 million. The Maritime Museum has raised nearly $4 million for the project. (PMM, 321 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia PA 19106) Museum of Yachting to Sell J-boat Shamrock V The Museum of Yachting 's recent decision to sell the J-boat Shamrock V has
chusetts-most to serve in the fisheries. Now, with the purchase of the property with $600,000 in funds appropriated by Congress and the help of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Trust for Public Land, in Boston, the shop will enter its third century of operation. Lowell's Boat Shop Trust plans to set up an educational program, an on-site museum and a boat shop self-sustained through the building and sale of a limited number of boats. (Trust for Public Land, 67 Batterymarch , Boston MA 02110) OpSail Looks Ahead Operation Sail has over the last thirty years brought tall ships to New York for parades of sail, first in 1964, then again in 1976, 1986 and 1992. In each instance, the volunteer organization came together after a period of dormancy to undertake the mammoth task. OpSail is planning a more on-going presence for the future. New activities include establishing the OpSail Tall Ships Information Bureau in Greenwich , Connecticut, coordinating cultural exchanges among cadets, conducting seminars, and assisting youth education and scholarship programs. An annual Cadet of the Year
Scholarship Award begins in January 1994 with two scholarships awarded to an American and a foreign cadet or crewmember. (Operation Sail, Inc., 2 Greenwich Plaza, Suite 100, Greenwich CT 06830; 203 629-4600) Odyssey: Seattle's New Maritime Museum You may ask: another maritime museum in Seattle-why? But the new Odyssey Contemporary Maritime Museum, planned for the Seattle waterfront, will be different. First, the new facility is on the waterfront and not on Lake Union, the location of the Northwest Seaport, Center for Wooden Boats and Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society. It also bills itself as having a "contemporary outlook" different from maritime museums involved in vessel preservation and heritage activities. Rather than examine the past, Odyssey visitors will explore the maritime world of the present and look to the future of Seattle and the US in a global network of maritime trading nations. An opening is planned for 1995. (OCMM, 318 First Avenue South, Suite 305, Seattle WA 981042546)
Battle of the Atlantic Remembered 1930 America's Cup contender Shamrock V.
raised considerable discussion. The decision coincides with the museum's acquisition of property on Thames Pier on the Newport waterfront, where it plans to build a new facility. Themuseum'spresent site across the harbor at Fort Adams has been deemed too inaccessible. At question is whether the museum is selling the yacht to raise money for the new building, or to dispose of an artifact that is no longer appropriate to the museum's mission. The towering 120-ft America' s Cup challenger from the 1930s, is one of only three remaining J-class boats and the first of an evolving class, which was eventually displaced by the 12-meter in 1958. The vessel was donated to the museum several years ago by the Lipton Tea company. (Museum of Yachting, PO Box 129, Newport RI 02840) The Yard that Launched 100,000 Craft Established in 1793 and known as the birthplace of the dory, more than 100,000 wooden small craft have been built at Lowell's Boatshop in Amesbury, Massa36
In the last week of May 1944, Hitler's U-boats began to withdraw from the North Atlantic where they had been harrassing allied convoys since the beginning of the war. On both sides of the Atlantic, 50th anniversary commemorations marking this turning point of the Battle of the Atlantic will be held. In the UK, festivities begin with a Royal Navy Fleet review at Moelfe off Anglesey. Review vessels will then join foreign and Commonwealth vessels from sixteen nations and sail to anchorages in the Mersey. Events at Merseyside will continue through June 1 and include a Royal opening of new facilities at Mersey*1. side Maritime Museum, a Liverpool city parade and The Intrepid Museum in New York will host Battle of the flypast, and a conference Atlantic commemorations. co-sponsored by the Royal Navy and the Society for Nautical Research. At the same time in New York harbor, the Intrepid Museum will hold commemorative events in conjunction with the US Navy and Coast Guard. The activities begin with a parade of ships into the harbor on May 26. The Navy and Coast Guard will send 10-12 vessels, and naval vessels from England, France, Poland, Russia, Canada and Norway have been invited. Events include a mayoral welcome and opening of the Intrepid Museum 's new Battle of the Atlantic exhibit. Ships will be docked beside the Intrepid and at the Staten Island port and will be open to the public. For details contact the museum at 212 245-0072. SEA HISTORY 65, SPRING 1993