NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY OFFICERS & TRUSTEES: Chairman , Howard Slotnick; Vice Chairmen, Richardo R. Lopes, Edward G. Zelinsky; Vice Presidents, Burchenal Green, Norma Sranford; Treasurer, David B. Vietor; Secretary, Marshall Streiberc; Trustees, Donald M. Birney, Walter R. Brown, Sabato Carucci, Richard T. du Mou lin, David Fowler,] ack Gaffney, Fred C. Hawkins, Rodney N. Houghton, Sreven W. Jones, Richard M. Larrabee II, Warren G. Leback, Guy E. C. Maitland, Karen E. Markoe, Michael R. McKay, James J. McNamara, David A. O'Neil, Ronald L. Oswald , David Planner, Craig A. C. Reynolds, Bradford D. Smirh, Harry E. Vinall, Ill, William H. White, Jean Wore, Alexander E. Zagoreos; Chairmen Emeriti, Alan G. Choate, Guy E. C. Maitland, Craig A. C. Reynolds; President Emeritus, Perer Stanford FOUNDER: Karl Kortum (191 7-1996) OVERSEERS: Chairman, RADM David C. Brown; Walter Cronkite, Alan D. Hurchison, Jakobisbrandrsen,John Lehman, Warren Marr, II, Brian A. McAllister, John Stobarr, William G. Winterer ADVISORS: Co-Chairmen, Frank 0. Braynard, Melbourne Smith; D.K. Abbass, RaymondAker, George F. Bass, Francis E. Bowker, Oswald L. Bren , Norman J. Brouwer, RADM Joseph F. Callo, Francis J. Duffy, John W . Ewald, Joseph L. Farr, Timothy Foore, William Gilkerson , Thomas C. Gillmer, Walter J. Handelman, Charles E. Herdendorf, Steven A. Hyman, Hajo Knunel, Gunnar Lundeberg, Conrad Milster, William G. Mu ller, David E. Perkins, Nancy Hughes Richardson, Timothy J. Runyan, Shannon J. Wall, Thomas Wells NMHS STAFF: ChiefofStaff,Burch enal Green; Director ofEducation, David B. Allen; Development". Andrew Scrivan; Membership Coordinator, Nancy Sch naars; Membership Secretary, Irene Eisenfeld; Membership Assistant, Ann Makelainen; Accounting, Jill Romeo; Secretary to the President, Karen Rirell; SEAHISTORYSTAFF: Editor, Justin e Ahlstrom; Executive Editor, Norma Stanford; Editor at large, Peter Stanford; Advertising, Marin Engler TO GET IN T OUCH WITH US:
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I reefed her down. T he motion was quite violent but it was a beautiful day mindful of the trade winds. It was h ard ro believe we were offN ew York C ity but for a while the rowers of the World Trade Center were fain tly visib le ro the northwest. In the afternoon we jibed near shore and ran down ro the seab uoy offManasquam .... " In reading yo ur article in Sea History I was reminded of that ghos tly vision of the Towers many years ago as Shirl and I were off for a year on the boat. The summer haze hid the base and the shafts were faint, perhaps 25 miles away, but indeed they were v isibl e far at sea to people like this couple embarked on a distant voyage. IRV1NG C. SHELDON Saundersrown, Rhode Island
A Captain Salutes His Helmsman Joe Calla's review (SH98) ofBill Gilbert's Ship ofMiracles, which recounts how Capt. Leonard LaRue, as master of the SS Meredith Victory, evacuated 14,000 refugees from North Korea in December 1950, really stuck with me. So when I came across an obituary for Brother Marinus Leonard LaRuein The Virginia Pilot, reprinted from The New York Times, I read it and learned that Capt. LaRue " received Amer ican and South Korean government citations for his rescue work, and the Meredith Victory was designated a Gallant Ship by Congress. "In 1954, he lefr the sea ro join the Benedictines at St. Paul's Abbey, where he lived until his death [at age 87] . . . . He looked back on the rescue as a turning point in his life. "As h e put it: 'I think often of that voyage. I think of how such a small vessel was able ro hold so many persons and surmount endless perils without harm ro a soul. The clear, unmistakable message comes ro me that on that Christmastide, in the bleak and bitter waters off the shores of Korea, God's own hand was at the helm of my ship. "' What a srory, what a captain! ]IM BOSWELL Niceville, Florida
Views of the Hudson We at the Riverkeeper were intrigued by the Fall 2001 issue of Sea History, which featured Dominic Serres's historical painting on the cover, depicting a skirmish between British ships and American de-
fenders at Forts Washingron and Lee, where roday the George Washington Bridge spans the Hudson River. The caption noted that the artist dramatically narrowed the river in order ro encompass the entire scene. During a routine patrol/ data-collection run on the Hudson River, Capt. John Lipscomb and legal investigaror Basil Seggos of Riverkeeper, an environmental organization founded 35 years ago to confront polluters, shot a series of photos showing the stretch of river featured in the painting. T h e river's actual width here is about 3000'. We enjoyed the article and are pleased to offer these photos. Keep up the good work! ALEX MATTHIESSEN Riverkeeper, Executive Director Garr ison, New York
A Gift, Not an Exchange After reading RADM Calla's article on Bermuda's maritime heritage (SH95) and Capt. Monroe's article on the destroyer USS Fairfax (SH98), I'd like to add a point concerning US base rights in Bermuda. They were, as stated, acqu ired as part of the destroyers-for-bases deal between Churchill and Roosevelt. However, whi le most of the base rights granted by Britain in that agreement were on a 99-year-lease basis, Bermuda and Newfoundland were granred as permanent rights, and Churchill characterized them as "gifts" separate from the "exchange" of other bases for 50 old US destroyers. He made these arrangements without consulting or even notifying the locals in Bermuda or Newfoundland, and thus they were not very popular in those locations. The Bermuda arrangements were converted ro leases after WWII. CAPT. HAROLD]. SUTPHEN, USN (Ret) Kilmarnock, Virginia ,t
SEA HISTORY 100, SPRING 2002