CRUISE BY F~EIGHTER ~Travlt1Psi!::
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J. P. URANKER WOODCARVER
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AUTHENTIC MARITIME
*SEA CHESTS* HANDCARVED
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DOVETAILED
1-508-693-5871 1393 County Road, Martha's Vineyard, MA 02557
WWW.JPUWOODCARVER.COM
MAINE WINDJAMMER CRUISES 3, 4 & 5 Day Cruises May-October
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Grace Bailey 1882, Mercantile 1916, Mistress 1960 www.MaineWindjamme rCruises.com
888-MWC-SAIL
CLASSIFIED ADS
SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT AND MUSEUM NEWS ports such as Port Adelaide and Victoria during the 1940s and competed in races back to Europe. • . . Cutty Sark, the world's last remaining tea clipper, has been awarded funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to support the conservation of the ship. The ship is in need of considerable conservation work, particularly to stop the deterioration of her ironwork. Launched in 1869, Cutty Sark was one of approximately 80 ships built in Great Britain between 1850 and 1872 specifically for the tea trade. The ship was built with composite construction with a keel plate, box keelson, side keelsons, frames and reverse frames, floors, bilge plate, diagonal and longitudinal Architects tie plates, bulwarks, sheer strake and deck stringers of iron. Below the keel plate is a wooden keel of American Rock Elm, and below that a false keel of soft-
wood. HLF will cover half of the estimated ÂŁ25 million needed to conserve and regenerate the ship as an exhibit. One aspect of the plan calls for suspending the restored
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impression of Cutty Sark in her "glass sea. "
ship in a high-tech Kevlar web which will support the hull and allow visitors to walk underneath the ship. The Cutty Sark Trust
Belated "1hank You" to the Merchant Mariners of World Ular II by Roger Tilton
BACK ISSUES. Sea History, Steamboat Bill plus other marine titles and used books. $1.75 stamped LSAE for list. Railpub, 161 Gilmore Rd., Wrentham, MA 02093. www.railpub .com. FREIGHTERCRUISES.COM. Mail ships, containerships, trampers .... Find the ship and voyage that's perfect for you. 1-800-99-Maris. 1812 Privateer FAME of Salem, MA Sails Daily May - October. Ph. 978-729-7600; www.SchoonerFame.com.
Model Restoration/Construction, Captain Norman Smith, Great Island Model Shipyard, 106 Lombos Hole Road, Harpswell, ME 04079, 207-833-6670, E-mail: dysmith@gwi.ner. Art Prints. NYC Fireboats 16x20," $18 each. Also available for commissioned work. Call Steve White: Phone: 718-317-5025; E-mail: fdnyartist@aol.com. To place your classified ad at $1.60 per word, mail your complete message along with payment, to Sea History, Advertising Desk, PO Box 68, Peekskill NY 10566. SEA HISTORY 111 , SUMMER 2005
Calling for "justice and equity" for World War II veterans of the US Merchant Marine, Representative Bob Filner (D) San Diego, California, has reintroduced H. R. 23, "Belated Thanks to the Merchant Mariners of World War II Act of 2005." The Act would not only grant these veterans overdue recognition, but it would also restore lost benefits. Though relatively fewer in numbers, merchant mariners suffered a far higher mortality rate than members of the military services. Between 1941 and 1944 alone, enemy action sank over 800 merchant ships carrying much-needed supplies to troops fighting in every theater of the war. Following the war, from 1945 onward, all who served in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard were granted status and financial benefits as veterans. No effort was made by Congress to recognize the service and sacrifice made by merchant seamen who also bore arms against the enemy for over forty years. W hile a "watered down" version of the G . I. Bill was finally granted to them in the Seamen Acts of 1988, they continue to be denied veteran status for purposes of calculating their Social Security income, resulting in lower payments during their retirement. While it is impossible to make up for over forty years of unpaid benefits, H. R. 23 proposes to acknowledge the service of this diminishing gro up of veterans (whose average age is 81 years) and to offer them compensation for their years of lost benefits and income. Under the bill, each eligible veteran, or the surviving spouse, will receive a monthly payment of $1000 and be granted the status of "veteran" under the Social Security Act. For more information, visit www.usmm.org or Congressman Filner's web site at www.house.gov/filn er/. Supporters should contact their elected representatives in the US Congress. 35