CELEBRATING THE CHARLES W. MORGAN
The World Ship Trust Celebrates the Charles W. Morgan by Paul Ri dgway
T
he World Ship Trusr gave irs Mari rime Herirage Award to rhe lasr American sailing whaleship , Mystic Seaporr's Charles W Morgan, this pasr September. The Morgan, bui lr in 1841 , is rhe cenrerpiece of M ysric' s stellar collection of historic vessels known rhe world over. The award was presented by Senator Christopher]. Dodd of Connecticur. Wirh his leadership supporr, a special irem for $10 million for rhe maririme herirage is moving through rhe US Congress (seep . 15). An Award of Merit was made larer in rhe year to rhe square rigger BaLcLutha of 1886 in San Francisco, a ship whose preservarion under Karl Korrum 's direcrion was largely inspired by Mystic's saving of rhe Charles W Morgan. The World Ship Trust, founded by Frank Carr in 1979 wirh rhe active parriciparion of NMHS , works ro preserve hisroric ships and arrifacrs for rhe educarion and enjoyment of rhe public. To rhis end rhe Trusr publicizes vessels in need and works ro ra ise public awareness of rhe wo rl d 's heritage in hisroric ships rhrough publicarion of rhe quarterly World Ship Review, sent to irs members, and rhe aurhoritarive International Register ofHistoric
Ships. Each edirion of The World Ship Review carries news and views on rhe many aspecrs of historic ship preservation and maritime museum acriviries from around rhe world, including the eagerly awaited "Sea Pie," a miscellany of reporrs from all quarters. The mosr recent edirion covered ropics from Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Denmark,
Egypr, France, Germ any, Grear Britain , Japan , Myanmar, Norway, Russia, Spain , Sweden and the Un ired Stares. There were fearure articles, roo, on archives, the Ausrralian Register of Historic Ships and rh e restorarion of rhe 1896 Clyde-builr barque GLenLee. A diary of events is carried as we ll as derails of new books. The recently published 3rd edirion of
The International Register of Historic Ships conrains derailed background on approximarely 2000 historic vessels in 72 countries and contains a wealrh of other informarion in irs various appendices, updaring rhe reader on rhe change of vessel starns since rhe publicarion of the 2nd edirion, and providing a list of vessels by rype, a bibliography, and conracrs for vessel owners. The 383-page, large-formar Register is recognized as a valuable research rool and work is in hand in updaring rhe manuscripr for rhe next edirion. The nexr shor in rhe informarion locker of rhe Trusr is i rs web sire ar h rrp:// www.worldshiprrusr.org. This carries definirive secrions on rhe Trusr and its acriviries, including vessels rhar have received irs awards. The Trustees are listed and the reader can appreciare rhe truly inremarional membership of rhe organization wirh rhe Chairman, Jacques Chauveau, from France and Vice Presidenrs and Trusrees from Australia, Great Britain , The Nerherlands, Portugal and rhe United States . .t
The World Ship Trust, 202 Lambeth Road, London, SEJ 7 7JW, UK; phone/fox: 20 7385 4267; e-mail: wshiptrust@aoL. corn
The Art, Tradition and Know-How of Historic Ships O ur Wo rl d Sh ip T rust was first conceived in 1949. In rha t yea r, th e Royal Navy o ffered to rernrn th e Implacable (ex Dugay-Trouin) to France. A F rench shipof-rhe-line b uil r in rh e 18rh cenrury, she was captured after Trafalga r. Srill afl oa r, sh e was splend id , w irh all rh e glo ri o us armame nt of ships of rh ar rim e. Bur she was expensive to maintain and the French Navy had more urgenr and cos tly duties to cope wi rh , so th ey tu rn ed dow n th e offer. She was rowed into the C hann el an d su nk by gunfire fl yin g rhe fl ags o f borh co unt ries . Frank Carr was ri ghtl y horrified and decided th at such an acr o f internatio nal va nda li sm sh o uld occur "never aga in "-o ur m o tto to day. Ever si nce, o ur Trusr has rri~ d e ir irs business to kee p aware of rh~ co ndirio n and fare of every hisroric ship of capital interesr to rh e maririme h eritage of the wo rld. Yo u can no r com e to rh e rescue o f whar you d o no r kn ow, so we keep a reco rd of all histori c ships in rhe world, a record published in our International Reg-
ister of Historic Ships. T he Charles W Morgan is one o f rh e m osr historic of rh ese ships. She does no r need o ur Awa rd to be recognized as such . Sh e is an example o f what an aurh enric ship is and how a proper resrorari on should respect and preserve all th e art, rradirion , and know-how of truly histori c ships. T his is wh at rh e Charles W Mo rgan shows with glo ry, th anks to rh e enthusias m and love for qu ali ry of Mys ri c Seaporr, and rhar's o ne reaso n I've been a m ember of the Seaport for over 25 years. JACQUES CHAUVEAU, C h airm an Wo rl d Sh ip T rusr 23 Seprember 2000
THE SH!!' SAVERS. Front row from Left: Waldo Johnston, former Director of Mystic Seaport; Dana Hewson, Vice President for Watercraft Preservation; Mystic Chairman WiLliarn Cook; Jacques Chauveau, World Ship Trust Chairman; Senator Christopher }. Dodd; Back row from Left: Don Robinson, Mystic Seaport Trustee; Master Shipwright Roger Hambidge;j. ReveLI Carr, then President ofMystic Seaport; Peter Stanford, PresidentofNMHS; andMystic Trustee Maynard Bray (Photo: Mystic Seaport, Inc.) SEA HI STORY 96, SPRING 200 I
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