SHIPNOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS Somers Has a Past The article in Sea History 75 on the rediscovery of the US Brig Somers brings to mind the question: "Who was this Somers?" George Mahoney of Manhattan Co llege researched that subject for the Somers, New York , bicentennial commemorative publication. Here is some information from that book plus some findings of my own. The English surname "So mers" stems from St.-Omer in Picardy. The name came to England with the Norman Conquest of 1066. Lieutenant Richard Somers was born in September 1778, in what is now Somers Point, New Jersey. He turned to the sea in 1794, became a midshipman on the frigate United States, and died a hero 's death in 1804 in the war with Tripoli. Six naval vessels have been named Somers: 1) a schooner on Lake Erie in the War of 1812; captured by the British in August 1814; 2) a brig of 1842 described in Sea History 75; wrecked 1847; 3) a torpedo boat built in Germany ; shipped to NY aboard the Manhattan in May 1899; scrapped 1920; 4) DD-301 , commissionedinJune 1920; served in the Pacific; scrapped 1930; 5) DD-381 , commissioned, 1937; served in the Atlantic Fleet as part of the neutrality patrol; earned two battle stars; decommissioned August 1945; 6) a destroyer commissioned in 1959, recommissioned as a guided-missi le destroyer (DDG-34) in 1968; five battle stars; decommi ss ioned , 1982; with reserve fleet at Pearl Harbor. Towns in Connecticut, Iowa, Ohio; Montana, New York , Virginia, and Wisconsin are named Somers, and there 's a Somers Point, New Jersey and Somers Lane, Pennsy lvania. The text on the cenotaph at the Somers family 's burial gro und read s: " In memory of Richard Somers . . . He perished in the 25 th yearof hi s life in the ketch Intrepid, in the memorable attempt to destroy the Turkish flotilla in the harbor of Tripoli ... Distinguished for his energy, hi s courage and hi s manly sense of honor. .. ." HON. DO NALD B . DERR Somers, New York Mr . Derr is a Regional Commissioner of the NY Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and Secretary of the NMHS Board of Trustees. 40
INVENI PORT AM Albert A. Swanson (1920-1995) Captain Al Swanson, show n here with hi s pal Karl Kortum of San Francisco aboard the transport Octorara in the South Pacific d urin g World War II , had the good sai lorman's delight in adventure, as well as the dedication to hard work and steady performance under the demanding circumstances one meets at sea. After WWII Al married Shirley Haskell, who was with a USO camp show aboard the Octorara, and settled down to a career fishing out of Gloucester. In the 1960s and 70s he served as Director of Ships & Piers at South Street Seaport Museum in New York, then returned to Boston to become harbor historian Al Swanson (left) and Karl Kortum aboard Octorara for Metropolitan District Commission for 20 years, conserv ing valuable photographs and gathering harbor lore which he loved to pass on to schoolchildren on their outings. He served also as Advisor to NMH_S. Al was buried with hi s Greek fisherman 's cap on, placed there by a grandchild, who said: "How would God know him without that cap?" PS Giles M. S. Tod (1914-1995) Sailor, author, naval hi storian and longtime member and friend of NMHS Giles Tod died 31 August_ in West Sussex, England. His life in ships included a v'oyage to the Grand Banks in th~ Gl_oucester fishing schooner Thomas S. Gorton, a Cape Hor~ pas~age on the Finnish four-masted bark Herzogin Cecilie and WWII se r~ 1ce ~1th the Cu~ard Wh!te Star Line, the US Coast Guard and as a navigation officer in the Italian landings and the Normandy invasion. He shared his ~emories of these experiences through his historic collection of sai ling ships on film and through dozens of_artic les on the subject for magazines and newspaJA pers and served on the advisory board for The American Neptune. John Gardner (1905-1995) For more than a quarter of a century John Gardner kept alive the traditions of small boat building at the Mystic Seaport Museum for thousands of students and visitors. Prior to ~ecomin g assoc iate curator of small craft at Mystic in 1969 (from which he r~tired t_wo months before his death), he had accumulated nearly 65 years of experience in the art: as a boy growi ng up in Maine where his father ~nd grandfather made boats fo r their personal use; as a professional boatbuilder in Massachusetts during and after World War II; and as technical editor of National F!sh~rman magazine (then The Maine Coast Fisherman)-a position he held _until hi s death at age 90 on 18 October. He gladly shared his knowledge of the hi story _a nd _craf~ of small boats and encouraged Mystic to get visitors out JA on the water in h1stonc vessels and replicas. Jack Quinby (1930-1995) Connoisseur of wine, women and song, ,-------,,""""""',.,--..,....-~---~ bon vivantand raconteurextraordinaire Jack was a main stay of the Ship Lore Model Club and of maritime research at the South Street Seaport Musem and the National Maritime Hi storica l Society, to which institution s he left his extenPS sive maritime library.
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Jm ck aboard rheji¡igare Rose, June 1995
SEiA HISTORY 76, WINTER 1995-96