Victory Chimes A Centennial Celebration by Alix T. Thorne This millennial year is a special one for Bethel, Delawa re. T hey were built solidly the ram schooner Victory Chimes, mark- ofoakand pine and construction wasfast ing 100 years of service. The milestone one ram was built in only 90 days. One was commemorated with a journey from interpretatio n of the name is that with th eir Maine to Chesapeake Bay. Alix Thorne great size and speeds of up to 10 knots, they was a member ofthe crew ofthis historic co uld "ram" through anythin g. T he rams' voyage. She shares with us here some of routes were not intended to take them the history of Victory Chimes and her offshore, although during the summer seasister ram schooners, and the festivities so n they ventured as far south as C harleston, South Carolina, and north to New celebrating her century under sail. York. A few, larger, and with topmasts, t th e end of September 1999, the we re known as "outside rams," and did go three- m asted sc hoo ner Victory as far as C uba, Mexico, and even Europe, Chimes wrapped up her season as but they were not designed for open ocean the largest of the Maine windjammer fleet waters. As ram schooner number 14, the 208carrying passengers in Penobsco t Bay. But instead of being put to bed at her dock in gross-ton Edwin and Maud was fairly typiRockland, Maine, shrink-wrapped against cal in her dimensions-132' on deck ( 170' the howling winter blizzards, her captain, sparred length), with a beam of23 '8" and Richard "Kip " Fil es, made fast a hawser to a draft of7.5'-but with the mass ive (28' the sailing "Tugantine" Norfolk Rebel and x 11 ' x 8") centerboard down, the draft began a sentimental journey under tow in creased to 18'. They were narrow, slabback to Victory Chimes's birthplace in sid ed , flat-botto med vessels with three C hesapeake Bay, where she was launched equal-sized masts about 85' in height, a as the Edwin and Maud in 1900. short bowsprit and no jibboom-neither Berween 1889 and 19 1 l , 30 C hesa- pretty nor graceful, but totally practical. peake Bay ram schooners we re built. J. M. Rams were designed as "bald-headed" C. Moore designed the rams to carry the (gaff- rigged but without topmasts), and largest possibl e amount of cargo, ye t still fit with only rwo jibs. The Edwin and Maud within the four locks (which measured 24 had a donkey engine for hoisting the sails feet wide) in the thirteen-mile canal con- and operating the windlass and a yawl boat necting the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays . for pushing or rowing when needed . It was Hundreds of miles and many days of travel possible to operate her with rwo fewer crew were saved by using this sho rtcut, and the than other schooners of the same size, a great saving to the owner. H er first cap tain locks were not eliminated until 1927. The Edwin and Maud, like many of her was Robert Riggin, who named her after sister rams, was built at the George K. hi s children, and in 1900 she began a long Phillips yard on the Nanticoke River in and profitable career.
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The Edwin and Maud was built for one purpose: to generate income for her owners by carrying cargo under sail. For 100 yea rs she has continued this tradition und er th e wa tchful eye of careful and proud owners. She carried general cargo, mostly lumber and fertilizer, until World War II . At that time only eight ram schooners were still sailing and by the end of the war there were only four. Captain William S. Stevens sailed the Edwin and Maud during the war on mine patrol in the Chesapeake. In 1945 Herman E. Knust bought her and then acquired a sister ship , ram number 3, the Levin]. Marvel (1891). This began a new era in the career of Edwin and M aud. Knust operated th e rwo vessels as "dude schooners" on the C hesapeake during the summers. By 1953, Knust was ready to retire and sold both schooners. The Ma rvel stayed in the Chesapeake and sank in Hurricane Connie in 1955 with the loss of 14 passengers . The Coas t G uard blamed both the poor condition of the vessel and the captain's lack of experience for the disaster. There remained rwo cargo-carrying rams in the C hesapeake: number 18, the Edward R. Baird, J r., built in 1903, and number 12, the Jennie D . Bell, built in 1898. The Baird sank in the bay in 1955 and was eventually dynamited by the Coast Guard. The Bell was the last ram to cany a cargo under sail in the early 1950s, and her captain lived aboard her with his wife and 13 dogs until 1961 , a year before his death. She eventually rotted away on a mud flat, where her remains could be seen for many years.
FRED K. SHECKTOR
The Sole Survivor H erman Knust, owner of Chesapeake Vacation Cruises, I nc., stands at the mainsheet ofthe Edwin & Maud (later renamed Victory C himes) in August 1947. In the background is the ram Levin J. Marvel. (Courtesy Chesapeake Bay .:;.,..;..__..., Maritime Museum)
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In 1954 Edwin and Maud was purchased by a corporation which took her to M aine, re-christened her Victory Chimes and began a thorough reconditioning of the vessel, including a 6,000-gallon water tank, and other amenities for the passenger trade. This was one of only rwo years in which the schooner did not earn an income for her owner, but it gave her a good mid-life upgrade. In 19 59 Capt. Frederick Boyd Guild became sole owner. In the mid-fifti es, the "dude-schooner" business was beco ming firmly established
SEA HISTORY 93, SUMMER 2000