An Early History of NMHS and the Kaiulani Project: Part 2 by Alan D. Hutchison
W
ith theacquisitionof theKaiuumi in 1964 the activities of the
National Maritime Historical Society took off like a rocket. The story of the Kaiulani and the Society, along with one of Karl Kortum's photos of the bark, appeared in more than fifty newspapers th roughout the United States, accom panied by quotes fro m me saying we intended to refit her in the Far East and sail her home. Thousands of letters poured into our law offices in Washington D C requesting a berth on the bark as a crew member. We joked that if we had a dollar for every crew volunteer we would have been able to complete the restoration. But the actual contributions were a mere trickle. We hired a full-time secretary to handle all of the correspondence, and we realized we needed a project manager. Karl Kortum suggested we go see Captain Jim Kleinschmidt, the directorofmaintenance at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. My wife and I made the trip to Mystic to meet Jim and Norma Kleinschmidt to offer him the position. This meant moving to Manila as soon as we had the funds to com mence restoration work. Kleinschmidt, a graduate of the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York, was a former naval and merchant marine officer who loved maritime history and the actual work of restoring vessels . H e was the top man for the job. My persuasive powers must have been unusually high that weekend since they both accepted the challenge with enthusiasm. I boldly asse rted that funds would be coming from US shipping companies, since we had not only the backing of the President of the United States, but also of the chairman of the House Merchant Marine Committee! The first thing was to get Kleinschmidt to Manila to inspect the hull of the Kaiulani to determine how much work had to be done. T he ship had been rigged down to a hulk in Sydney during World War II and used as a coal barge for the US Army T ransportation Corps in MacArthur's coastal campaign in New G uinea and the ensuing invasion of the Philippines. She ended the war in Manila Bay where the Madrigal Shipping Company used her as a barge to haul Philippine mahogany logs. T he governm ent of the Philippines planned an official hand-over ceremony at
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Alan Hutchison accepts title to the Kaiulani on behalfofthe American people, as President Diosdado Macapagal ofthe Philippines checks the fine print, in Manila, 23 November 1964. Malacanang, the Presidential Palace, in Manila, and, as the president of the National Maritime Historical Society, I was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to represent the American people. It was a great honor and that brief note from the White House was the most powerful tool we had to move ahead with the restoration of the Kaiulani. Jim preceded me to the Philippines to complete as full a survey of the hull as was possible while she was in North Manila Harbor. When I landed at Manila International Airport, Jim was there to greet me and the first thing he said was: "Ifl had had an opportuni ty to survey the hull earlier, I wo uld have recommended against accepting her!" She was almost beyond restoration. This was staggering news but, everrhe resourcefullawyer, I told him we just didn't have a choice in the matter. If we had to completely rebuild her, plate by plate, we had a moral obligation to the people of the Philippines and of the US to complete the proj ect. If Jim had one weakness, perhaps it was his susceptibili ty to my arguments. T he Kaiulani was big news. At the ceremony I said: "This generous gift of the last surviving member of the great American square- rigged merchant fleet, from the people of the Philippines to the people of the U nited States, is the most magnificent gesture since the gift of the Statue of Liberty from the people of F ranee."
Kleinschmidt told me it was imperative we put the Kaiulani into drydock to inspect all of the underwater plates. The waterline was riddled with rust holes, there was no internal structure, and the old hull had been badly beaten up having logs dropped into her hold. W ith my letter from President Johnson I went to see the commander-in-chief of US naval forces in the Philippines to request a US Navy tow from North Manila Harbor to the US naval base at Subic Bay and the use of the drydocking facilities there. The Admiral said it was done. Within days a Navy tug towed the Kaiulani to Subic. Kleinschmidt and I went along for the ride. T he Kaiulani was anchored in the harbor at Subic Bay, which was filled with Navy vessels from Vietnam. T his was October 1964, and the war in Vietnam was heating up . We were turned over to the naval commander in charge of the drydocking facilities. This was a hardworking, no-nonsense, hands-on officer who had a harbor full of fighting ships in need of repairs, and we showed up with this beat-up old barge with orders from the Admiral. The commander was not impressed, but by the time I finished spinning a tale of the President's commitment to the project, he relented and said he would squeeze us in when he co uld. However, he wo uld not be responsible for the security of our ship while it was within the naval base. H e suggested we talk with his chief petty officer about private security arrangements. It turned out that even at the US naval base at Subic vessels occasionally disappeared. T hey were subsequently beached and cut up for scrap metal. The Chief arranged to place a "Negritto" family on board complete wi th bows and arrows and blowguns. These are local hill bushmen and the Philippine pirates respected them. Kleinschmidt, as a reserve naval officer, was put up at the Visiting Officers Quarters awaiting the availability of a drydock. T he Kaiulani was eventually drydocked, and the steel plates of the hull were measured by ultrasonic gauging. The news was not all that bad. She was in reasonable shape below the waterline, and Kleinschmidt was feeling more optimistic. In the mean time, Alejandro Melchor, the naval officer on President Diosdado Macapagal's staff who had been instrumental in getting
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