Contributions were coming from the maritime unions, especially the National Maritime Union, the Masters, Mates and Pilots, and even the Cooks and Bakers. Seamen were supporting the Kaiulani! the Kaiulani given to the US, had arranged for the Kaiulani to be berthed at a Philippine naval base on M anila Bay where we would have full use of their facilities at no cost. The job now was to raise enough money to almost completely rebuild the steel hull to Lloyd's specifications so she co uld be towed to Hong Kong where she would be refitted as a bark and made seaworthy for the voyage to the US. I returned to the United States to get serious about raising the necessary funds. The money coming in from US shipping lines was di sappointing. Much larger contributions were coming from the maritime unions, es pecially the National Maritime Union (NMU), the Masters, Mates and Pilots, and even the Cooks and Bakers. Seamen were supporting the Kaiulani! With Kortum's help we put together a "blue chip" board of eminent maritime historians, but it soon became evident that they didn't have a clue about raising hard cash. Jim Sharp, a director, brought in his fri end and associate Belmont VerStandig, probably the most talented public relations and advertising man in Washington. VerSrandig, known as Van, was the voice of experience on the board. Van arranged for a leading professional fund raiser to make a presentation to the board. It was like having a bucket of cold water thrown in our faces . This expert told us Washington was the graveya rd offund raisers. Ir was a transient town and there was no "old money" around. Kortum objected and told of his success in San Francisco. The expert replied: "San Francisco is a fund raiser's dream city"-communityspiritand lots of wealthy old families! Nevertheless, we decided to tty to convert every interested inqui1y into a $10 membership in the National Mari time Historical Society. We had some success, but we were basically meeting operating expenses and very slowly building the restoration fund. Aro und this time I received a call from an aide to the Secretary of the Navy who wanted a report on our progress. I told him about our problems with fund raising and he suggested a meeting at the Pentagon. Jim Kleinschmidt came along to the meeting and told the Secretary that if he co uld just get out to Manila we had enough funds to start on some work-rebuilding the in tern al structure and replacing steel plates. After a great deal of brainstorming, the
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aide, a Navy Captain , suggested retiring Kleinschmidt from the Naval Reserve (he had over 20 years of service) and then recalling him "at the pleasure of the Secretary of the Navy" to serve on active duty as an assistant naval attache at the US embassy in Manila with the mission of overseeing the rebuilding of the Kaiulani. We all jumped at the idea. Jim and Norma Kleinschmidt moved to the Philippines, andJim put together an amazing gro up of Filipino shipyard workers who were capable of doing almost any job, always with a smile. We also had the advice and guidance of]ose ("Joe") Reyes and Bienve nido (" Ben") Lim, two Filipino Kings Point graduates with advanced degrees in naval architecture and marine engineering. The offices of Reyes & Lim became our unofficial h eadquarters. Jim wo uld go out every day and buy "used" steel plates from the Chinese dealers to refit the Kaiulani. We were making progressand then we ran out of money. I went to New York to meet with the treas urer of the National Maritime Union, who had been especially helpful and interes ted in the Kaiulani proj ect. A few days later he called me to say he had arranged a substantial loan from the NMU. T he funds we re to be used exclusively for ship restoration . This was a godsend, but I told him frankly that I did not know when we would be able to repay the loan. H e told me not to worry about it! The NMU money went to Kleinschmidt in Manila and directly into the Kaiulani. But even that substantial sum proved insufficient to complete the job of rebuilding the hull. After a year in Manila, the money was almost go ne and the Kleinschmidts decided, for personal reasons, that it was time to go home. I flew out to Manila to assess the situation. Jim held a farewell party at the Philippine naval base and rears were running down the cheeks of the shipyard wo rkers. It was heartbreaking. Reyes and Lim advised sinking the ship there on the theory that she would weather better under water than aflo at, and it was done. Several months later Mrs. Lady Bird Johnson was visiting the Philippines and wanted to see the Kaiulani. Alex Melchor and Reyes and Lim went to work and, with the help of the Philippine Navy, the ship was pumped out and refloated for Mrs. Johnson's visit, then sunk again after she left.
With the loss of Jim and the lack of substanti al funding, the National Maritime Historical Society was adrift. Board members came up with fund raising ideas from time to time, but nothing really worked. As a Washington lawyer, I tended to think we could solve all of the wo rld's problems if we just passed a law. I remember Karl Kortum telling me about a lunch he had with his great Congressional supporter, Representative Phil Burton of San Francisco, who was consuming ounces of butter during the course of their lunch. Karl asked him if h e wasn't worried abo ut cholesterol. Burton said no, he had passed a law against cholesterol! The plan was to return the bark to the Washington waterfront and convert her into a maritime museum. With the admission fees we co uld repay a loan. T h e only way we could obtain a loan was to have the Federal Government guarantee it. There was a relevant law on the books, the Merchant M arine Act of 1936, under which the Government guaranteed ship mortgages to encourage the building of ships in US yards . I conferred with our fri ends at the Mari time Administration and they told us we would have to get a special amendment to the Act for the Kaiulani. We said OK, we'll get the amendment. The Kaiulani had many friends on Capitol Hill, especially Senator Ed Muskie of Maine (th e Kaiulani was built at the Bath Iron Works in Maine in 1899) , and many individual members of the House Merchant Mari ne and Fisheries Committee. T h e prospects for the am endment looked good. The question was: how much money did we really need ? Kortum recommended callin g a council of leading maritime restoration experts at the San Francisco Maritime Museum to come up with plans and a proposed budget. In the meantime, we had retain ed Charlie W itrholz, a naval architect in Washington DC with a talent for historical restoration. The group convened in San Francisco , and the arguments went on for hours and hours. There were those who wanted 100 percent historical accuracy (Kortum) and others who argued for some modification in favor of lower costs . I sat in for much of the discussion, bur finally I co uldn't stand it any longer and left, asking them to come up with a budget. Finally the group came up with a grand total of $200,000 to complete the restora-
SEA HISTORY 95, WINTER 2000-01