SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS SPUN YARN The varied career of the Regi.na Maris came to an end in Glen Cove, Long Island, New York. The wooden barkentine, built as a schooner in 1908, served as a cargo ship in the Baltic and North Atlantic, a G rand Banks fishing vessel, a yacht and a research vessel. Rebuilt as a barkentine in the 1960s, she had been the subj ect of preservation efforts in Long Island since 1991 , but extensive decay and rwo groundings left her unsalvageable; her mas ts and other items were removed for display on the wa terfront. . .. T he six-compartm ent captain's cabin ofUSS Constellation, in Baltimore, Maryland, has been resrored to its Civil War-era appearance. Plans call for the rescoration of the ship to be complete by 2004, the l 50th anniversary of her lau nch. (USS Constellation, Pier 1, 301 East Pratt Street, Baltimore MD 21202-3134; 4 10 539- 1797; web site: www.constellatio n.org) ... The Long Island Maritime M useum is restoring the oyster sloop Priscilla of 1888 to her 1920s appearance. They hope to lau nch her in August of2003. (LIMM, PO Box 184, 86WestAvenue, WestSayville NY 11 796-0184; 631 HISTORY; e-mail: LIMaritimemuseum@aol. com; web site: www.limaritime.org) ... The four-masted hark Pommern, built by J. Reid & Co. of Greenock, Scotland, and last sailed in the
Remarkable Medieval Ship Found in Wales High drama reigned in Newport, Wales, this summer as residents banded together to save a medieval ship unearthed during the excavation for a theater and arts center. The timbers of the ship, described as a cross berween a caravel and a Viking longship, are in remarkable condition, as are its contents. Found on the site were Portuguese pottery, a stone cannonball, textiles including the hem of a medieval robe, oak barrels, and rarely found original rigging, sail and upper deck.Tree-ring dating has placed the vessel's construction in the winter of 1465-66. It is theorized that the 25-meter ocean-goi ng vessel, returning from the Iberian peninsula, put in at Newport, possibly for repairs, and never left. Construction on the arts center was halted while archaeologists evaluated the find, but the demolition was scheduled to resume on 27 August. All involved were astonish ed at Construction excavation the public response when the city opened the reveals a medieval ship in Wales. site for public viewing on rwo days in August, when an estimated ten tho usand visitors lined up to see the ship. In eleventh-hour nego tiations on 23 August, the Welsh Assembly pledged ÂŁ3 million-ÂŁ 1 million this year, and the remainder disbursed over the next three years-to cover enough of the costs of raising the ship to let the conservation project go forward . It will eventually be displayed in an interpretation gallery to be added underneath the groundfloor gallery and main foyer of the arts center. (F riends of the Newport Ship, 3-4 North Street, Newport, South Wales, NP21 lJZ, UK; we b sites: www.saveo urship.org. uk, www. britarch.ac.uk/sosnewport; e-mai l: sos@ chepstow.org.uk) -SHELLEY REID
National Trust Recognizes Plight of Skipjacks
Pommern grain trade before World War II by G ustaf Erikson, is celebrating her centennial next year in Aland. (Museum Ship Pommern , Pb 5, AX-22 100 Mariehamn, Aland; 011 358 (18 ) 53 1 42 1; e- mail : pommern @mariehamn. aland .fi; we b site: www .pommern. aland .fi) . .. O ver the past year the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia received $800,000 in grants to help preserve and restore USS Olympia. The moneys are being used to prepare the ship fo r her eventual drydocking. (ISM, Penn's Landing at 211 South Columbus (Con tinued on page 38)
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To raise awareness of the plight of the las t commercial sailing fl eet in the United States, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the C hesapeake Bay Skipjack Fleet to its 2002 list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. A dozen skipj acks remain in commercial use today, the remains of an oyster-dredging fleet that once numbered nearly 1000 vessels. Built berween 1886 and 1956, the skipjacks spent the autumn months dredging oysters in Chesapeake Bay. Today, the dozen wooden vessels left are at extreme risk. In 1999, a task force was appointed by Maryland's governo r to address some of the issues threatening the fleet: the need for funding to maintai n the vessels, affordable insurance, land use measures that support the maritime industry, and alternative but compatible uses for the commercial vessels, including educational programs to teach traditional Bay-craft trades and linking skip jacks to state tourism. The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum actively supports the remaining skip jacks and works to bring their cause to local and national attention. Last year, with the assistance of local and state funding, they established the Skipjack Restoration Project, training ap prentices to resco re the dwindling fleet. (NTHP , 1785 MassachusettsAve., NW, Washington D C 20036; 1 800 315-NTHP; web site: www. national trust. org/ 11 most; CBMM, Mill Street, PO Box 636, Sr. Michaels MD 21663; 4 10 745-2916; web site: www.cb mm .org)
SEA HISTORY l 02, AUTUMN 2002