LETTERS
DECK LOG This year now ending marks the 1 OOth anniversary of the launching of the
Kaiulani into the icy waters of Maine's Kennebec River, on 2 December 1899. The Society's drive to save the Kaiulani from the scrapper's torch led directly to the founding of Sea History. So, the Kaiulani' s birthday embraces past and present concerns-concerns which reach into the future! Kaiulani, whose story we revisit in this issue, lived on to become the last Yankee square rigger to round Cape Horn. When her crew heard the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, the old barky (as her people called her) was off the Horn, just 42 years old. Karl Kortum, a member of Kaiulani's crew, went on to serve in World War II in the wide, dangero us wastes of the Pacific. He returned home to found the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. In 1963 Karl founded the National Maritime Historical Society to save the Kaiulani. When I became president of NMHS in 1970, we found we simply could not raise public interest in saving the ship, even though she h ad been given to the American people as a gift of the Philippine people. She was scrapped in 1974. Today her forefoot is preserved in San Francisco, and her wheel is in our NMHS quarterdeck in Peekskill, New York. Our gang sees Kaiulani as a 3,000mile-longvessel, lying between these two points, headed westward toward Hawaii and Alaska, the two main destinations of her voyaging life.
The Journal of a Cause in Motion The first issue of Sea Histo ry was launched in 1972 to raise the maritime awareness of the American people. So, we felt, future ship proj ects like the Kaiulani might be floated on a rising tide of publi c interest. We call ed the fl edgling magazine "the journal of a cause in motion," and so we think of it today. And Sea History helped NMHS play a vital role in saving historic ships, from the bark Elissa in Galveston to the Liberty ship john W Brown in Baltimore, the schooner Ernestina in New Bedford, and others saved with the help of our advocacy and of the $5-million maritime heritage fund we got through the Congress in 1979. Our chairman Jam es McAllister of McAllister Towing led us into involvement with the merchant marine of today and tomorrow, a subj ect curiously neglected by many maritime museums. Jim's successor, Schuyler M. Meyer, Jr., led in redefining NMHS as an educational The Kaiulani outward bound in the South institution broadly conceived to go Atlantic, 1942. (Photo by Karl Kortum) beyo nd saving historic ships, to advancing maritime history as a vital element in American life. And that is our present course, in which we've moved from study and advocacy to running NMHS programs to reach more Americans with the seafaring message. This effort, presided over by our Overseer Walter Cronkite, draws its ethos and its strength from the participation of an active, committed membership. That membership is the crew of our 3,000-mile Kaiulani carrying the message of the original ship, and of all our heritage in ships, into the future. P ETER STANFORD President
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Archie Horka, One of the Finest It was good to see Archie Horka remembered in "The Cape Hom Road" (SH89). I was a shipmate of Arch ie's when he was the executive officer of the Manhattan. Aside from being an excellent sailor and ship's officer, he was a brilliant man, and one of the finest human beings I ever knew. We were all called up to active duty in November of '39. Archie had a physical problem which did not stop him from commanding merchant ships during the war, but he left active duty at the end of the first year. Still we kept in touch and after the war visits continued even though I left US Lines. On occasion he would drop by my office to talk, and it was always a pleasure to see him. The US Lines people were the finest, and mostly we kept in touch until the end, but none were better than Archie Horka. T he prewar merchant marine was a stew made of every type of man you could think of. The nature of the life was so demanding, rarely was an intelligent man willing to give up so much for so little. Yet some did, as they loved the sea and what it stood for, more than themselves. No matter what profession Archie would have entered, he would have succeeded. Although those who had the privilege of sailing with Archie knew this, he rarely received any recognition, and your article pleased me. ALVIN CHESTER
Miami, Florida
Remembering the "Gallant Ship" The article in Sea H istory 90 about the Danish ship Danmark rekindled many memories of the days and nights I spent on this gallant ship while a midshipman at the US Coast Guard Academy during the early days of World War II. Danmark was a great ship, offering an exciting experience. The Danish skipper, Captain Hansen, and his crew were superb sailors and provided unique learning experiences in seamanship for the eager cadets. GERALD K. BARKER Topeka, Kansas The picture of the Danmark at the dock of the Coast Guard Academy on pagel8 of SH90 brings memories of when I was there in 1943. I was a cadet in the USCGR program. Part of each class of cadets trained for a SEA HISTORY 91 , WINTER 1999-2000