DECK LOG Years ago, when the Argentine full -ri gger Libertad came into South Street, Museum Chairman Jakob Isbrandtsen was delighted to hear the officers' accounts of weathering a severe summer thunderstorm off Rockaway Beach, coming into New York Port. Wet o il skin s, I remember, still hung in the passageway to the ornate mahogany after cabin and there was that feeling in the air of a hard turn come through in proper styl e. In hi s welcoming remarks Jakob had this to say about the museum ' s miss ion: "Our purpose here is not just getting back to what is old. It is to get back to what isfundamental." Our educational mission is best carried out with historic ships and active seafaring. Through history and hi stori c experiences we can ex tend our hori zons beyond our own lifespan. Thi s abi lity, indeed , is vital. A civilization that forgets where it came from and how it got where it is will one day coll apse like a house built on foundati ons that have crumbled away. History matters. And its messages must reach each corning generation with a sense of fresh challenge, for indeed the challenge is new to each new person arriving on the scene-new, and vitally important. So, just to be clear about what we ' re doing, we' re not looking at "old" things but at things yo ung in their time and criticall y important to what we've built on our predecessors' fo undation. We may only hope to build with the same attention to people coming aftero urtime. NMHS members interested in pursuing this interest in an active way are invited to consider our report on the hi storic ships movement in the "NMHS Mi ss ion" pages 10-1 2, and the Campaign for Sea Hi story whi ch we are considering to strengthen and refresh the hi storic scene, in "NMHS News" on page 8. Co me join us at our An nu al Meeting here in Peekskill on 29 April if yo u can. Those ofour 12,975 members who won' t be abl e to-write us, or let us otherwise know yo ur thoughts and commitment to thi s effort! PETER STANFORD PS : There's no wrapper on thi s copy of yo ur magazine. The wrapper message is now in side our covers. We' d like to know what yo u th i11k of this change. And fo r the gift memberships yo u generous me mbers keep sending us, please see "Sign Up A Friend! " on the last page of thi s magazine-a good parting thought ! 4
LETTERS Building the Choir We are deli ghted with your proposal to enroll our se11ior class as members of the National Maritime Historical Society. I have discussed this with the leaders on campus and they are not onl y de]jghtedthey are enthusiastic about the proposal. As a member of the National Maritime Hi sto1ical Society myself, I applaud your efforts to increase maritime awareness. Certainly, exciti ng our Cadets through Sea History magazine is a positive step. RADM FLOYD H. MILLER President, SUNY Maritime College Fort Schuyler, Bronx, New York Enrolling SUNY Maritime cadets is a major step forward in our campaign to carry the seafaring message to more Americans. We couldn 't ask for better message bearers than these dedicated young people committed to the sea services. See "NMHS News," page 8.-ED
Saint N icholas Among the Fishermen Readers of Sea History 7 1 captivated by the story of the Seame n's C hurc h lnstitute ' s "floatin g chapels" may also be interested in the Ru ss ian version of faith upon the water. In 1910, just as the last of New York' s floating chapels closed down, a floating church was consecrated in Tsarist Russia to meet the needs of Orthodox Christians among the fishermen of the Astrakhan region . Originally the Volga steam tug Pirate, the rebuilt Saint Nicholas the Wonder Worker carried a seven-domed church on its foredeck, big enough to accommodate 100 people standing to worship in Orthodox fashion. Plying the waters of the Volga delta and the north coast of the Caspian Sea, the floating church also carried medical personnel who offered help to all the people of the region, whether or not they were Orthodox, or even Russian. The Saint Nicholas served for several years, until her upkeep proved too expensive in a country faci ng the massive costs of World War I. She was sold in 19 16 and dismantled. Her hulk reportedly still can be seen near a fi shery in Astrakhan . NICHOLAS 0 UJMOVIC Sterling, Virgini a
"Unfortunate Error of Judgment" Anthony Nicolos i' s detailed and thoughtful story, "The Battle off Samar," in Sea History 7 1 was particularl y interesting to me. When I was transfeJTed fro m the Atlantic Fleet Staff I was fo rtunate to be included with Adm. Hustvedt's Battleship Divi sion 7 Staff aboard the new battle-
ship Io wa in February 1943. Nico losi fe lt the divided command structure contributed to Adm. Halsey 's notorious action in leaving San Bernai¡dino Strai t uncovered during hi s das h to the north . Hal sey's orders also seem to havecontributed to the situation . The Third Fleet led by Hal sey was directed by Adm. Nimitz to support Adm. Kinkaid 's Seventh Fleet (which was under General MacArthur), to assist in the seizure and occupation of objectives in the central Philippines, and to destroy enemy naval and air fo rces which might threaten the area. Hal sey's instructions further provided that if opportunity for destruction of a major portion of the enemy fleet offered, or could be created, such destruction would become hi s primary task. Hal sey was fru strated to be sitting around while MacArthur was stealing all the headlines and even waded ashore for the news cameras. The lure of the Japanese carriers was too much for him and he took the mi ghtiest fl eet in all history in hot pursuit without even pausing to ascertain that Adm. Kurita had left the scene. San Bernardino Strait was left unguarded by both Killkaid and Halsey. This was a serious mi stake orrly saved from being a major di saster by Adm . Sprague's light forces which caused Kurita to retreat. Navy Hi storian Adm . Samuel Eliot Morison called Halsey's action a blunder. When Halsey complained, Mori son said that in the future he would refer to it as an unfortunate eITor of judgment. Today we can reflect on the extraord inary bait offered to Halsey to lure him away from Leyte Gulf-nearly all the carriers the Japanese had left. Why would the Japanese deliberately send out these vessels, knowing Halsey would sink them? The reason is that Adm. Spruance's aviators had spl as hed all Japan 's experienced pilots and so they could not use the carriers to give air support to the fl eet. The ships were thus expendable, and they fe lt that if Hal sey's fl eet was lured away from the strait, Kurita would be able to wipe out our landing effort. If Spruance's fl y-boys had not destroyed their air arm, no doubt the Japanese carriers would have been at Leyte Gulf and Halsey wou ld not have made hi s unfortunate error of judgment. JOHN R. NORRIS, Cmdr. USNR (Ret) Pinehurst, North Caro lina
There But for the Grace ... I appreciated reading Mr. N icolosi's fine review of the Battle off Samar. Thi s criti cal epi sode often appears as incident to the SEA HISTORY 72, WINTER 1994- 95