Sea History 114 - Spring 2006

No. 114

NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Spring 2006

SEA HISTORY

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THE ART, LITERATURE, ADVENTURE, LORE & LEARNING OF THE SEA

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NMHS Calendar for 2006 The glory and beauty of ships and the sea have always inspired great works of art. Brilliant images, from full-rigged ships and fishing schooners to grand ocean liners, workaday tugs and small pleasure craft fill this calendar and will brighten your days.

1!2 Price Sale Royalties from the sales of this calendar benefit the National Maritime Historical Society.

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$6.50 + $4.00 s/h Order by calling 1-800-221-NMHS (6647), ext. 0 or mail in your order to NMHS, PO Box 68, Peekskill NY 10566 and enclose your check made out to "NMHS." Allow 2 to 3 weeks for delivery.

SEA HISTORY

No. 11 4

SPRING 2 006

CONTENTS FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE 7 Historic Ships on a Lee Shore: USS Orleck, by Robert Orleck

id" a!

8 The Container Revolution, by Salvatore Mercogliano, PhD In 1956, Malcolm McLean created an innovation in shipp ing cargo that ultimately changed the way the world transports goods across its oceans. Fifty years later, it seems hard to imagine it any other way.

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12 Marine Art: Dauber's Lucky Brother, Charles Robert Patterson,

by Robert Lloyd W ebb At 13, Charles Patterson went to sea as a cabin boy on the 3 00-Joot four-masted barque Kentmere. Though he crossed the equator ten times and doubled Cape H orn before moving ashore, he progressed no farther than an 0. 5. H is career as a mariner may have been unremarkable, but his time at sea gave him a sailor's eye and understanding that allowed him to recreate the scenes and feel of a ship at sea in a way few have mastered.

26 Heroes of the Sailing Navy: James Lawrence, by William H . W hite In his final hours, James Lawrence gave the Navy its most enduring slogan"D on't Give Up the Ship. " H e was deemed a heroic figure in his day, with time his naval career reads somewhat more complicated and controversial.

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3 1 Maritime History on the Internet: Academic Library 'Pathfinders'Art and Art History, by Peter McCracken 32 Peter Strickland, Trader, US Consul in West Africa, by Stephen H . Grant For twenty years at the turn of the 19th century, a New England trader lived and worked in Senegal and simultaneously served as the US Consul. As such, he meticulously recorded data, events, and personal assessments regarding American shipping in West Africa. H is reports reveal a great deal on the final days of merchant trading in that region in the last days ofcommercial sail.

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Cover: "William Dollar" by Charles Robert Patterson, (o il o n can vas, 25 x 35 inch es, 1932. Private Collectio n). Charles Patterson (1878- 1958) preferred to paint for real seamen. H e took special care with the details ofthis painting and reduced his price for his patron, Captain Patrick McD onald, who once commanded the American four-masted barque W illiam Dollar. (see pages 12-16) Note: the image on the cover has been added to above and below the actual dimensions of the painti ng.

The true limits of the pai nting are just below o ur subticle and just below the artist's signature.

DEPARTMENTS 2

D EC K LoG

6

NMH S: A CAUSE IN M OTION

&

LETTERS

Sea H istory FO R Kms 18 MARINE ART NEWS

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36 41 43 48

SHI P NOTES, SEAPORT

&

MUSEUM NEWS

CALENDAR REVIEWS 26

PATRONS

Sea History and the National Maritime Historical Society Sea H istory e-mai l: editorial@seahistory.o rg; NMHS e-mail: nmhs@seahistory. org; W eb site: www.seahistory.org. Ph: 91 4 737-7 87 8; 800 2 2 1-NMHS M EMBERSHIP is invired. Afrerguard $ 10,000; Benefacto r $5,000; Plankowner $2,500; Spo nsor $ 1,000; Dono r $500; Parron $250; Friend $100; Co ntributor $75;

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Family $50; Regular $35. All members outside rhe USA please add $ 10 for posrage. Sea H istory is senr to all members.

Individual copies cosr $3.75.

SEA HISTORY (issn 01 46-93 12) is published quarterly by rhe Narion al Maririm e Historical Sociery, 5 Jo hn Walsh Blvd., PO Box 68, Peekskill N Y 10566. Periodi cals pos tage paid ar Pee kskill N Y 10566 and add '! mailing offices.

C OPYRIG H TŠ 2006 by rhe Narional M aritime Historical Sociery. Tel: 9 14-737-7878.

POST MASTER: Send address changes to Sea H istory, PO Box 68, Peekskill NY 10566.

NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY

DECK LOG Mystic Seaport Museum-Collections and Human Resources in Maritime Heritage Preservation and Education

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n D ece mbe r, Sea H istory's editor, D eirdre O 'R ega n , a nd I spent a d ay tourin g the exte nsive fac iliti es of Mystic Seaport to continue to nurture a cooperative relation ship be tween

Mystic Seaport Museum

o ur two orga ni za tions in our mission to study, prese rve, and promote our m a ritim e heritage.

Our host, Dana C. H ew son, Mystic's C lark Senior C ura tor for W a tercraft a nd th e Vice Presid e nt for W a te rcraft Preservation & Programs, led us on a tour of c urre nt ex hibits and projects and, best yet , sh owed us so m e of the be hind - th e-sce nes d epartmems and co llection s.

W e were particula rly imeres ted in the new Black H ands, Blue Seas exhibit on the contributions a nd stories of African America n mariners a nd m a ritim e a rti sa ns. Exhibit develop e r E lysa E nge lman is workin g with us on a four-pan se ri es for Sea History, w hich wi ll examin e individuals highli ghted in th e exhibit. Look fo r th e firs t installment in this summ e r's iss ue. In upcoming iss ues, we wi ll also cover the res tora ti o n of th e Easrern-Rig dragge r Roann. H er s tory and the decisio ns involved in acquiring a nd pla nnin g thi s major proj ect a re important to study for th ose involved in ship prese rva ti o n. Na turally, w h e n the w halin g ship Charles W Morgan goes up on the ways in the co min g yea r for mainte n a nce a nd res toration of h e r hull , we w ill cover that story and h e r prog ress as we ll.

W e often think of museum s in te rms of their visitor exhibits, but beyo nd those di spl ays, M ysr ic Sea pon h as a d e pth o f ri c h co ll ection s a nd e mploys specialists active in

from Black Hands, Blue Seas

th e hum an elem e nt, he r tra in ed a nd knowl ed gea ble staff, and yo u' ll di scover sh e is a na tion al treas ure.

Ihe Collection s R esea rch Ce nter is a sta re-of-the-arr storage and preservation facili ry w ith hu ge rolling storage cases for th e most efficient use of space. Ope n a drawer, and dozen s upon doze ns of scrimsh aw are safely ho used, awaiting th e researcher or rhe n ext exhibit that mi g ht need them . Likewi se, nea rby cases house hi stori c na uti cal too ls, ship models, fi g urehead s, a nd wardrob es of pe ri od clothing-each docum e nted a nd categorized . In the archi ves a re logbooks, charts, pilot guides, drawings, and more th a n l 00,000 hi stori c ship and boa r plans. Mystic's photog raphy collection holds the la rges t archive of m aritime photog raphs in No rth America, w ith over a million images of Rose nfeld 's photog raphs alone.

Th eir watercraft co llection provides a ph ys ical reco rd of ce nturi es of boar building with ove r 500 small boars, plus outboard m otors and sream a nd di esel e ngin es.

Finally, in rhe H e nry B. duPont

Prese rva tion Shipyard, where th e sch oo ne r Amistad was built, the fi shin g vessel Roann is bein g pa instakingly res tored. ]lie shipya rd , like most of rh eir faci lities, is d es ig n ed for visitors to safely view th e wo rk as it h a ppe ns. Ihere, expert staff train vo luntee rs and teach rhe ski lls in restorin g watercraft- efforts as worthwhil e as th e res toration itself.

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Aron,

OFF ICERS & TRUSTEES: Chairman, Wa lter R. Brown; Vice Chairman, Richar<l o R. Lopes; Executive Vice President, Burchenal G ree n; Treasurer, Ronald L. O swald ; Secretary, Thom as F. D aly; Trustees, Paul F. Balse r, D o nald M . Birney, David S. Fowler, Virgini a Steele Grubb, Rodney N. H o ughton , Steve n W Jo nes, Ri chard M. Larrabee, Warren Leback, Guy E. C. M aitland, Karen Markoe, Mi chael M cKay, James J. McNa mara, H oward Slom ick, Bradford D .

Smith , Philip J . Webster, Wi lliam H. White; Chairmen Emeriti, Alan G . C hoate, G uy E. C. Maitland , raig A. C. Reynolds, Howard Slotnick; President Emeritus, Peter Stanford FOUNDER: Ka rl Kortum (191 7-1996) OVERSEERS: Chairman, RADM D avid

resea rch faci lities alone, the muse um is a n invalu a ble resource. Co mbine the things with

- -B u RCHENAL GREEN,

PUBLISHER'S CIRCLE: Peter Donald McG raw, W illiam H. White

C. Brown; Wa lter C ronkite, C li ve C uss ler,

resto ra tion a nd research . For the value of its irreplaceable a rchives and sta re-o f-the arr-

Eastern-Rig dragger Roa nn being hauled out for restoration at Mystic's duPont Preservation Shipyard.

NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Executive Vice President

Alan D. Hutchi son , Jakob Isbrandtsen, Jo hn Lehm an, Warren M arr, II, Brian A. M cAllister, John Sro bart, W illiam G . Winterer N MHS ADVISORS: Co-Chairmen, Frank 0. Braynard, Melbourne Sm ith; D. K. Abbass, Geo rge F. Bass, Francis E. Bowker, O swald L. Bren, RADM Jose ph F. Call o, Francis J . Duffy, Joh n W. Ewald , T imothy Foote, Wi ll iam G il kerso n, Thomas G illmer, Wa lter J . H and elman, Steven A. Hyman, H ajo Knuttel , G unn ar Lund eberg, Joseph A. Maggio, Co nrad Mi lster, Wi lli am G. Mu ll er, Dav id E. Perkins, Na ncy Hughes Ri chardson , Shan non]. Wa ll

SEA HISTORY EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD: Chairman, Timothy J. Runyan; No rm an J. Bro uwer, Robe rt Brownin g, Willi am S. Dudl ey, D aniel Finamore, Kev in Foster, John 0. Jense n, Jose ph F. Mea ny, Lisa No rlin g, Ca rl a Rahn Phillips, Walter Rybka, Quimen Snediker, W illiam H. W hi te N MHS STAFF: Executive Director, Burchenal G ree n; M embership Director, Na ncy Schnaars; Director of Marketing, Steve LovassNagy; Marketing & Executive Assistant, Janet Mi ll er; Accounting, Jill Romeo; Membership Assistant, Jane Maur ice

SEA HISTORY: Editor, Deirdre E. O 'Rega n; Advertising Representative, Wendy Paggiotta; Sea History far Kids Editor, Myka-Ly nn e Soko loff; Editor-at-large, Peter Sta nford

SEA HISTORY 114, SPRING 2006

LETTERS Barque Hussar IV I Verna I Sea Cloud A letter in the winter issue of Sea History (11 3) mentioned that " Vema, fo rmerly the luxury yacht H ussar, built fo r E.F. Hutto n and M arjorie Meriwea ther Post, still sails today in the Caribbean in the passe nge r trade, renam ed Mandalay." My wife and I recently completed a wo nderful fiftee nday rransAdanti c passage fro m the Canaries to the Caribbean in the barq ue Sea Cloud. During that lengthy passage, we learned quite a bit about the vessel's co lorful history. She was built at the Germania Werft yard in Kiel, Germany in 193 1, for none other than E.F. Hutto n and Marjo rie Meriwea th er Post, and her o ri ginal name was H ussar V She was the fift h vessel of that nam e that Hutto n owned , and she replaced Hussar IV (late r Vema), whi ch had been built in Copenhage n in 1923.

In 1935 the couple d ivorced, and Ma rjorie received, inter alia, the shi p, which she promptly renam ed Sea Cloud. D uring WWII the vessel also served her coun try with the Coast G uard; she was a wea ther ship, designated IX-99 . Today, two of the Hutton/Post's vessels, bo th decades old and each ori ginall y nam ed Hussar, are still sailing in the Caribbea n. Th ar's a real testam ent to shipbuilding, and maintenance, of th e very highest quali ty.

KENT B. LAWRENCE Bos ton , Massachusetts In the 1950s, Sea C loud was purchased by the Dominican Republic's ruthless dictator Rafael Trujillo. H is son, Ramjis, used the ship to host infamous parties with Hollywood's elite before his father's assassination in 1961. -DO'R Samuel Eliot Morison O n 8 Ap ril 1976, I stood with Mr. C harles Francis Ada ms as an escort to Samuel Eliot Mo rison on the entrance steps to the USS Co nstitutio n Museum, as he used an old Navy cutl ass to cut the ri bbo n, fo rmally opening that institutio n. Ir may have been the octagenari an's las t public appearance. After the ceremo ny, a luncheon was held, and I fo und myself seated next to the Admi ral. H e graciously autographed my co py of his Southern Voyages, and we settled down to the meal, the co nversation aro und the table o nl y desultory. Finally, at dessert, I couldn't restrain myself any SEA HTSTORY I I 4, SPRJNG 2006

lo nger and asked hi m why it was that he, o ur preeminent naval historian, had never writte n about "O ld Iro nsides." His blue eyes, which until that mo ment had looked rather tired and wa tery, speared me wi th their intensity as he delive red his res ponse: "Didn't have time." Five weeks later, I was a Navy representati ve at his fun eral.

TY MARTIN, C DR, USN (RET) Tryo n, No rth Carol ina There are so many thin gs in yo ur winter issue which stir my m em ories. Am o ng them-m y wife and I, in the '60s, I think, attended a service at Sr. Paul's School on the 75 th anniversary of the chapel. As I eased in to a pew, I realized I was going to sit nex t to Sam uel E. Moriso n. The tho ught crossed my mi nd-should I tell him I had copies of mos t of the books he'd written? I decided I'd probably be cut dead, so I didn't do it! Incidentally, I didn't see The Maritime H istory of Massachusetts in the list yo u showed . It was published in 192 1 and is a grand book.

Regarding out-of-print books-John Masefield wrote the all-time best sea story I've ever read , in my opinio n, The Bird of Dawning. G reat if there could be a new editio n of that book.

IRVING SHELDON Saunderstown , Rhod e Island Editor's Note: Indeed, the List at the end of Mr. Stanford's article (SH 113, p30) was

most assuredly incomplete-editor's omission.

The complete list is too Long to print here.

Please refer to your Local library or on the web using sites recommended by Peter McCracken in Sea History 110 (Spring 2 005, p l 8, "Maritime H istory on the Internet").

Dangerous Voyage M any thanks fo r Sea H istory's o utstanding winter issue. As a fo rmer merchant seaman in WWII, I particularl y enjoyed Roger Tilton's cover articl e with his superb sketches. In 1942 I was a seaman aboard a 1920s-built Utacarbon o il tanker sailing fro m Sa n Ped ro to Pacifi c coast po rts.

Thanksgiving of 1942, our co nvoy was attacked off Cape Blanco o n the O regon coast. Two o ther tankers a sho rt distance al1ead we re hi t, bur we escaped by headin g o m to sea o n zig-zag co urses, while radi o silence was maintained . Finall y, we headed to the Columbia River to pick up the bar pilot. I stood by the mate, b rin ging up the "old man's" brief case, when he scrambled aboa rd and anno unced that three tankers had been lost-Camden, Larry Doheney, and Utacarbon. O ur mate repli ed, "Please to re port that yo u are now aboa rd the Utacarbon." Soon afterwards we returned to o ur ho me po rt in Sa n Pedro . There, sixty Russian seamen we re waitin g to take over our tanker under terms of Lend-Lease.

Many thanks to yo u and Roger T il to n for reminding me of this adve nture and

Join Us for a Voyage into History Our seafaring heritage comes alive in the pages of Sea History, from the ancient mariners of Greece to Portuguese navigators opening up the ocean world to the heroic efforts of sailors in this century's conflicts. Each issue brings new insights and discoveries. 1f you love the sea, rivers, lakes,

and bays-if you appreciate the legacy of those who sail in deep water and their workaday craft, then you belong with us.

Join Today!

Mail in the form below, phone l 800 221-NMHS (6647), or visit us at: www.seahistory.org (e-mail: nmhs@seahistory.org)

Yes, I want ro jo in the Sociery and receive Sett History quarterl y. My co ntribu tion is enclosed . ($ 17.50 is for Sett History; any amount above chat is cax ded uctible.) Sign me up as: D $3 5 Regular M ember D $5 0 Fami ly Member D $ 100 Friend D $250 Patron D $ 500 Donor Mc./M s.

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Rerurn co: N ational Maritime H iscorical Sociery, PO Box 68 , Peekskill N Y 10566

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LETTERS how I go t home for C hristmas in 1942.

This Sea History was indeed a holiday treat.

THORNTON THOMAS

Bellevue, Washington

H.R. 23 Follow-Up Letters We have received many letters regarding the notice on HR. 23, "Belated Thank You to the Merchant M ariners of WW!l " first posted in Sea History 111, p35, with follow-ip letters printed in the following two issues. Most letters are lengthy, detailed, highly authoritative, and from complete opposite viewpoints. Clearly, this is a complicated issue about which individuals feel very strongly.

Four issues after the original posting, we will not be printing any new letters regarding this topic, though we appreciate the letters which help clarifj many points brought up and the ones that provide personal anecdotes related to the subject of the bill. For more information on HR. 23, please refer to your state's representative in the H ouse, Rep. Bob Filner (Ca lifornia), who reintroduced the bill, or to the web site, www.thomas.loc.gov, to track its status. -DO'R

O ut-of-Print Books I was delighted to see Roger Tilton's wo rk in th e las t issue of Sea H istory. I am the proud owner of two Roger Ti lton watercolors, whi ch he gave me many years ago.

The subj ect of each is the barque Star of India. What a great gentleman he is.

Regarding yo ur "Out-of-Print" column (SH 11 3, p47), yes, there are book quests that give me fits. It was all Karl Konum's fault. H e used to taunt m e with book titles, sending me out to search the pre-Web wo rld to find books that I often doubted ever existed at all . But that was Karl's way- to send yo u on romantic expediti ons where the path , and not the find , made yo u the better perso n.

Once I asked him what the greatest maritime book in the wo rld was. He said there we re two, and that I should find them immediately, read them cover to cover, and cherish them in my collection.

It took m e four years to find them. They are: Ship Modeler's Assistant and ~ys ofthe Sea, both by C harles G. Davis.

I fo und them, read them cover to cover, and hated them. I can't remember

more boring reading. It was n't until I was halfway through the second book that I realized Karl wasn't suggesting these as great reading, but as necessary reading for anyone interested in wo rkin g in the m aritime industry. They describe every detail of a sailing ship, and yo u couldn't ask for a better source of ship parts. As a rookie waterfront reporter and even tual maritime museum consultant, I found them to be incredibly useful, even if they did taste like cod liver oil going down.

Books I have N OT been able to find include Errol Flynn's Beam Ends. Why search for thi s book? I really don't know, but I'm a firm believer that every man should have a littl e Karl Kortum and a little Errol Flynn in him . I have searched for this book unsuccessfully, going on four yea rs.

JO SEPH DrTLER

Coronado, California

We welcome your letters!

Write to: Editor, Sea History, 7 Timberknoll Road, Pocasset, MA 02559 ; e- mail : editorial@seahistory.o rg.

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SEA HISTORY 114, SPRING 2006

OP-ED 1he American Neptune: Quo Vadis or R.l.P. ?

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he prestigious American journal of maritime history, The American Neptune, has fallen victim to indecisio n and neglect at an institution that once was a leading maritime museum. In May 2003, members of the No rth American Society for Oceanic History (NASO H ) learned that th e quarterly journal that o nce enli vened the field with stimulating articles and learned book reviews wo uld cease publication, temporarily, while the Peabody Essex Museum of Salem, Massachusetts, determined what co urse to take. The "PEM," as it is called informally, predicted that in six m onths they would notify subscribers of their plan for the Neptune. As of now, the subscribers and others are still waiting.

The officers of NASOH have discussed the situation at three annual meetings with increasing concern. At the last meeting, in Savannah, Georgia, NASOH m embers vo ted to authorize their president, Dr. John Hattendorf, to open discussions with the PEM and to urge that organiza tion to move ahead with their plans, or, alternatively, to work with a coalition of maritime museums and historical societies to find mutual financial support for the Neptune.

TI1ere have been limited discussions among a handful of concerned officers from Mystic Seaport Museum, NASO H , and PEM, but very little information has been forthcoming from PEM as to exactly what its problems are. The merging of the Peabody Museum of Salem and rhe Essex Institute, also of Salem, in the 1990s was an expensive propositio n; in addition , we have learned that PEM leadership has opted to move away from m aritime history and into other fi elds. It looks very much like the demise of the Neptune occurred because of its low priori ty in the minds of PEM leaders and the financial crisis that is still plaguing that institution.

In the minds of those who val ue rhe sixty-year publishing tradition of the Neptune, we have a cul tural vo id that must be filled. The latter years of the Neptune showed the journal struggling to keep up

with a publi cati o n schedul e rhat had fal len over two years in arrears. Its readers wondered aloud what had hap pened internally to create this institutional failure. The costs of Neptune's glossy covers and overall production outweighed the journal's revenue, considering that its subscription list reached no t much m ore than 1,200 readers in the 1990s with little to no marketing.

At this time, the likelih ood of being able to revive the Neptune grows weaker with each passing month. Many subscribers have given up hope of seeing it back in circulation , and advertisers, whose fees paid for much of rhe rhe production costs, m ay have found other o utlets.

For rhar reason , I suggest a third alternati ve-that NASOH, with other maritime institutions and like- minded individuals, found a new maritime history periodical. This publication needs to serve as the leading academic, peerreviewed journal in the United States for rhis branch of scholars hip, participating in rhe full range of global maritime history.

This effort will rake a lot of hard work: forming a coalition to spread rhe fin ancial burden, gaining nam e recognition, and attracting advertisers. Also, it is apparen t that cost controls must be firmly instilled by the leadership. I call upon o thers who valued Neptune to discuss in open forum whether a new journal is justified . Please send m e an e-mail with your viewpoint.

In m y opinion, we need such a jo urnal to stim ulate and propaga te new scholarship, to serve as a resting gro und for new ideas, and to keep readers current with the latest books and trends in the field of maritime history.

W ILLIAM

D U DLEY

H arwood, Maryland wsdudley@earthlink.net

D r. Dudley is the former director of Naval H istory for the US Navy D epartment and of the Naval H istorical Center; he is past president of NASOH, and a current member of Sea Histo ry's Editorial Advisory Board.

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SEA HISTORY 114, SPRING 2006

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NMHS:

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A CAUSE IN MOTION

Join us at the United States Coast Guard Academy April 29th for NMHS's Annual Meeting Saturday, April 29 th , rhe Society wi ll hold its 2006 Annual Meeting ar the United Stares Coast G uard Academy in New London, Co nnecticut. We will meet at the Officer's Club fo r the business meeting and maritime heritage reports; in the afternoo n we' ll rak e tours of rh e beautiful campus on the Thames River and of the Academy Museum. The day sta rts at 9AM with registration, a co ntinental breakfast, and an opportunity to meet other NMHS members, trustees, and staff 1he business meeting will begin promptly at 10AM, and representati ves from the region's maritime museums and institutions (including US Coast G uard, Mystic Seaport, Herreshoff Marine Museum , and the Co nnecticut River Museum) will fo llow, updating us o n their work preserving our seafaring legacy. After lunch , cadets will lead us on tours of their camp us and museum. Cost of the breakfast and luncheon is $5 0.

We have reserved a block of rooms at the Mystic Marriott H otel & Spa (AAA 4-diamond) for the Na tional Mari rime Historical Society for the ni ght of April 28th ar the disco unted rate of $ 139.

Call 1-866-449-7390 to reserve yo ur room, while they las t, until April 7 rh. The horel is in nearby Groto n, offI-95, exit 88.

The US Coast Guard is rhe oldest life-saving service in the wo rld. The Academy had its beginnings as rhe School of Instruction for the Revenue Marine. In 1876, rhe first class of nine cadets

began their training aboard rhe schooner Dobbin, which operated o ut of Fisher Island near New Bedford, Massachusetts. In 1878, Dobbin was replaced by the 106-ft. barque Chase. In 1900 , Chase's homeport was established at Arundel Cove, Maryland, where classroom instruction as hore was added to suppl ement rhe shipboard training program . In 1907, rhe barque was replaced by a cutter, and three years later rhar ship and rh e program's winter quarters were moved to Fort Trumball, an Anny coas tal defense installation in New London, Co nnecticut. The acade my's nam e was changed to rhe Revenue C utter School of Instruction in 1914, and the curter Hamilton was acquired to se rve as their new training ship. Today's Academy was born our of the 1915 merger of rhe Life Saving Service and the Revenue C urter Service. In 1932 it moved to its present location and in 1947 acquired rhe barque Eagle as a war reparatio n from Germany.

We are grateful to Superintendent of th e Academy, Rear Admiral Jam es C. Van Sice, for inviting us to ho ld our annual meeting at this historic location. Please join us to help chan the Society's future. Call N MHS at 800-22 1-NMH S (6647) ext. 0 o r -Burchenal Green e-mail j.miller@seahisrory.org.

We look forward to seeing youT

r-----NMHS Annual Meeting 2006 Registration

,

I I D Please make m e a Patro n of the Annua l Meeting. My $250 contribution includes two places at the luncheo n and a quarter-page listing in the Annual Meeting Program .

(I will use _ l _ 2 _neither of these places.*) I D Please make me a Spo nsor of the An nual Meeting. My $1,000 contributio n in cl ud es two places at the luncheo n and a fu ll -page listing in th e Annual Meeting program . (I will use _ l _2 _ neither of these places.*) I D I wo uld like to help NM H S with this donation: _ _ __ I D My check for$ is enclosed.

D Please charge $_ _ _ _ _ to my NAME D Visa D MasterCard D AmExpress I ADDRESS I CARD #_ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ I SIGNATURE _ __ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ PHONE I EXP. DATE _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ E-MAIL _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ __ I *Please provide the nam es of you r gues ts, so they ca n be in cl ud ed in the attendance li st. T o MAKE A RESERVAT ION, mail or fax t hi s fo rm ro: I D

I/We will attend th e Annu al Meeting, Continental Breakfast, and Luncheo n at the US Coast G uard Academy.

Please reserve _ _ places at $5 0 each*

L ..:::.M~ P~ox~, P,::.s k~Nl~ 5 ~9 1~37:::1 6 (fax). ~ ca~s ~00..:.:1 ~7, ~ o r.:_ma~s a~mi'.'.::@s.=:i s~.o'.!,. .J

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SEA HISTORY 114, SPRING 2006

by Dr. Salvatore R. Mercogliano

'11

he transportation of cargo from man ufacto ries around the world to ports for loading, its move ment across the oceans to points of debarkation, and then its arrival at local loading docks transpires on a routine, seamless basis. The process is so smooth that, only after the terrorist attacks of September 11 , 2001, did th e nation awaken to learn that only a small percentage of the more than 23 million containers that arrive yearly in this country are inspected. Whi le this is clea rly a topic lawmakers are addressing as far as homeland security is concerned, it also points to the fact that the volume of commerce in and out of the nation , along with the rest of the world , has increased exponentially since the end of the Second World War. The reasons for this change are numerous: globalization, better production techniques, mechanization, and improved management styles. Perhaps the most significant factor, and one usually overlooked, is that the capability to move cargo overseas in large quantities and in a way that allows for quicker turn-around in port has only been effected in the last few decades. This style of cargo handling, containerization, has led to a shipping revolution .

The early movement of cargo on and off ships can best be described in one word, manpower. D evices magnified this power, bur the use of humans, or sometimes animals, constant remained a theme throughout most of history. Blocks and tackle mounted on m as ts or on shore provid ed a mechanical advantage for lifting large weights. The The three-masted ship Mary L. breaking strain of wood C ushing, sailing at the turn of the required m assive booms l<Jth century, was a typical cargoand limited the size of the carrying vessel in the age ofsail. cargo that could be stowed onboard. The introduction of iron imo shipbuilding al lowed for smaller and more capable booms. In addition, this style of co nstruction permitted the enlarging of cargo deck hatches .

The co mbination of stea m propulsion with iron, and later steel co nstructio n, mechanicall y- powered winches, electricity, and telegraph cables revolutionized the shipping industry in the late nineteenth century and introduced to the world the standard boo m (o r stick) freighter. Yer, with all these innovations, the movement of cargo by sea had changed li ttle sin ce ancient times.

Cargo has always been moved easier by water than over land . Even today, ninety percent of the wo rld's commerce moves on the sea. TI1roughour histo ry, humans have continually used

8

This illustration printed in H arper's Weekly (v. 2 1, no. 1072, 1877) depicts the hard physical labor it took to load and unload ships in the nineteenth century. Drawing by l.P Pranishnikojf. containers to move their goods. The Egyptians used straw baskets to load on ships, along with am phoras to carry liquid cargo. TI1is style of transportation still exists today in several parts of th e world.

The development of wooden crates for shipping, barrels for liquid products, and bags for grain allowed for increased productivity in cargo operations, bur they were still limited by the power source.

The introduction of m aterial handling equipment accelerated the cargo process . Mororized hand trucks, such as forklifts , dock tractors, crane trucks, and powered co nveyors radically altered cargo operations. When these were added to four-foot by four-foot wooden pallets, workers were able to move cargo in a third of the rim e. In the years after World War II, the standard stick freighter, exemplified by the Liberty, Victory, and C-class cargo ships of rhe US Maritime Co mmi ss ion , was the most common dry cargo ship sailing on th e world's oceans. As the demand for cargo increased,

Only in the last 5 0 years has the burden ofloading cargo with slings been alleviated by the development of the container ship and port facilities.

SEA HISTORY 114, SPRING 2006

large r freighters were built, such as the thirty-five C-4 Ma riner class in rhe early 1950s, bur they were not the soluti on. What was needed was an entirely new way to move ca rgo, not just bigger freigh rers.

In 195 5, a Norrh Carolina trucking entrepreneur, Malcolm McLean, acquired the Pan -American Steamship Company o ut of Mobile, Alabam a, a subsidiary of Waterman Steamship. Using a concept developed by Seatrain Lines in the 1930s, he initi ally favored th e construction of 'rrailerships'-raking trailers fro m large trucks and stowing them in a ship's cargo hold . TI1is method of stowage, referred to as roll-on/ roll-off, was no t adopted because of the large waste in potential cargo space onboard the vessel, known as broken stowage. Instead, he modified his original co ncepr into loading just the containers, not the chassis, onto the ships, hence the designatio n containership, o r "box" ship. In January 1956, he purchased three T-2 tankers and oversaw the construction of wooden shelter decks, known as Mechano decking.

This was a co mmon practice in Wo rld War II for the carriage of oversized cargo, such as aircraft. TI1e first ship with containers, SS Ideal X sailed from Port Newark, New Jersey, for Houston, Texas, on 26 April 1956 and opened a new age in cargo transportation.

Malcolm McLean (1914-2001) In 1955 McLean sold his trucking company and, with the proceeds, purchased the Pan-American Steamship Company. H e renamed the company Sea-Land and started experimenting with better wa)'S to load cargo. In 1956, he sent Sea-Land's SS Ideal X, which he had adapted to handle trailers (n ot just the container but the whole trailer) ftom Port Newark, NJ, down the coast and around to H ouston, the first ''container" shipment ever made.

SS IdealX

forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU = 40' x 8' x 8.5').

A m ajor technological improvement in the transportatio n of com ainers came with the introduction of cellular construction.

The installation of vertical rails in the holds of ships, known as cell guides, in conjunction with high-speed shore cranes, made container handling quicker and more effici ent. Yet, the transition to containerships did nor always proceed smoothly. G race Lines suffered a severe setback in their trade with the west coast of South America by introdu cing containers befo re the market could sustain them. In addition , they in curred the wrath of local Shipping firms were slow to embrace McLean's concept.

Th e conve rsion of existing ships provided the first ge nera- labor when stevedores and lo ngsho remen refused to m ove the tion in containers hips. Many of these vessels, such as the C-3 containers for fear of losing their jobs. M any companies also freighters altered by Marson Lines in the Pacific, m erely added faced the challenge of vessel replacement. As their war-built fleets lashings on deck for th e securing of containers. The existing we re nearing the end of their service lives, many firm s had to booms served as the means to load and unload the boxes. Yer, choose what type of ships to build . Som e companies went with the add ition of co ntainers did not solve the problem of cargo larger freighters, som e went with barge carrying vessels, others throughput. A lack of standardization in contai ner length and with roll-on/ roll-off ships. Even co ntainerships did not prove to be the right choice initially. In 1960, height persisted and fo rced dedicaLoading a container on the deck ofSS Ideal X Am erican President Lines constructed service between trucking firms ted two ships that represented a and shippers, precluding the 'i ntrotran sition point from break-bulk duction of rrue intermodalism-the stick freighters to truecontainerships. seamless movement of cargo from The Seamcers provided for a mix of shore to ship to shore. McLean's co ntainer transport and break-bulk new company, Sea-Land, based on cargo. The two conflicting systems the East Coast, preferred rhirty-fiveof cargo rransporration proved foot long co ntainers, while Marson inefficient and incompatible, but, on the West Coast used twen tynevertheless, symbolic of the crossfo ur-foorers. No t until 1961 did the roads that the shipping industry International Standards Committee faced in terms of technology. set up formal sizes: the twenty-foot It was the Vietnam War that deequivalent unit (TEU = 20' length monstrated the true value of the x 8' width x 8.5 ' height) and the ..-: f

SEA HISTORY 114, SPRING 2006

â&#x20AC;˘

9

containership. To deliver the mountains of supplies needed to support the armed services, the Mi litary Sea Transportatio n Service (today known as the Military Sealifr C ommand) contracted with Malcolm McLean. In April 1966, Sea-Land initiated container service between the east coast of the United States and Bordeaux, France, and Hamburg, Ge rmany. McLean assigned five converted C-2 ships to this route. This ex pedient on ly provided partial relief for his ailing company and, on 29 March 1967, he signed an agreement with MSTS that opened the door for containers into Vietnam . The agreement contained provisions for Sea-Land to transport the containers, not merely to Vietnamese ports, but, once ashore, to inland depots. This unusual provision was the backbon e of true intermodalism. Because Sea-Land was now responsibl e for the ground movem ent, they were able ro track shipments, retain oversight of the containers, and ensure that the empty boxes were returned for furth er use. All to ld, seven containerships, along with four making stops at Okinawa and the Philippines, accounted for ten percent of the entire sustainment cargo shipped during the course of the Vietnam War. By the end of the co nflict in 1973, eighty percent of all cargo shipped to Southeast Asia went by co ntainer. Malcolm McLean had revolutioni zed sealifr, and, whi le the military was slow to realize it, the comm ercial sector took th e lesson to heart.

M any firms began to place orders for the second generation of co ntainerships that were purpose-built to carry containers .

In 1968 UniLed SLaLes Lines introduced the Lancers. They were inn ovative in that they were totally denuded of any cargo gear, relying instead on shore-side cran es. This all owed for every ava ilable space on the vessel to be devoted to the transportation of 1, 178 TEUs. With a service speed of twenty-two knots, the eight ships in this class allowed United States Lin es to replace twentyfour older first-gen eration ships and still be more productive.

Co ntainerships continued to grow in size and capabilities . The th ird-generation vessels all emphasized an increase in the number of containers carried while also reducing fuel consumption and maximizing their size to the very limits of the Panama Canal, referred to as "Panamax." In 1980, Sea-Land introduced the D -9 cl ass, the first in the American merchan t m arine with a slowspeed diesel engin e. The market for such vessels was so demanding that the D -9s underwe nt a jumboization to increase their capacity to 2,472 TEUs. The current ge neration of containerships has pushed the limits of ship design and harbor capabili ties. Similar to the supertankers of the 1970s, containerships are now exceeding original expectations. In the late 1980s, American President Lines began co nstruction of their C- 10 and C-11 classes. The beam of these vessels exceeded the locks of the Panama Canal and introduced the world to post-Panamax containerships. Capable of carrying over 4,000 TEUs, these ships are now being eclipsed by even newer megaships. Las t year, Maersk Lines fielded the new G-class containerships, as demonstrated by the MV Gudrun M aersk, capable of handling 7, 000 TEUs. Plans are in the works for ships capable (photos above) Today, containers carry just about every kind of cargo. of carrying up to 10,000 TEUs. Trucks and trains deliver them to port facilities configured for loading Containerization and imerm odalism have radi cally altered directly onto purpose-built ships, a key featu re in global intermodalism. the movement of cargo. Today's merchant fleet worldwid e consists 10

SEA HJ STORY 114, SPRING 2006

Malcolm McLean passed away on 25 of 3,375 conrainerships with a capacity May 200 1 at the age of 87 with little of 7.2 million TEUs. They are divided fanfa re. The H arvard Business School into fo ur distinct categories: "feeder" has acknowledged him as one of the ships, those that carry less than a tho ugreatest business leaders of the twentiesand T EUs and are designed to shuttle th century. Tho ugh his nam e m ay not co ntainers to and from small ports to larger ports; "handy-size" vessels of one be as well known in the m aritime field as such innovato rs as Robert Fulton , to three tho usand TEUs; "Panam ax" Sam uel C unard, Ismbard Ki ngdo m ships of up to four tho usand T EUs; and finally, "post-Panam ax." Their imBrunel, Do nald McKay, o r H enry J. Kaiser, it is clear th at his co ntribupact on the world's trade is significanr. tion to the industry was extrao rdinary.

In 1983 the total US foreign oceanBorn in the sm all rural town of M axborne commerce was 694.4 million to n, No rth Carolina, he was a product metric tons; ten years later, this had of the D epression . Yet this truck driincreased to 884.4. Ten years after that, ver reinvented ocean shipping, and his it had magnified to 1,167.9 million m evision of co ntain erizing cargo has tric tons, nearly do ubling in just twenty transformed the world's oceans into a years. Growth of this m agnitude is only true global highway. .t possible through the use of conrainers.

Befor e contain eri za tion , a typical Malcolm Mclean (1914-2001) Salvatore R. Mercogliano is an assistant freighter could handle only 10,000 tons and took nearly two weeks to load/ unload. In 2004 the po rt of professor of history at the United States Military Academy at West Los Angeles/Long Beach alone acco unted fo r 8.6 million con- Point. H e earned a BS in Marine Transportation from SUNY Maritainers, or thirty-six percent of the mo re than twenty-three time College and worked for seven years as a deck officer in the mermillion containers that moved in and out of the United States . chant marine, in the employ of the Military Sealift Command. H e That translates to over 23,000 conrainers per day, with each T EU went on to East Carolina University for an A1A in Marfrime I listory capable of carrying up to twenty tons of cargo-equal to loading/ and Nautical Archeology and earned a PhD in Military and Naval H istory from the University ofAlabama. offioading approximately for ty-fi ve freigh te rs daily.

(background p hoto) ''Panamax" ships are built to the

dimensions of the Panama Canal locks.

SEA HISTORY 114, S PRING 2006

II

Dauber's Lucky Brother: Charles Robert Patterson

by Ro bert Lloyd Webb It's not been done, the sea, not yet been done, From the inside, by one who really knows; I'd give up all ifI could be the one . . . . " -John M asefield, "Dauber" (1912) o hn Masefield's epic poem "D auber" tells of a yo ung man who vemured under sail to paint ships "from the inside." H is goal had little to do with sailorizing. Ins tead, D auber hoped to experience colo rs and shadows all around the world and observe the ship in every situation of wind and weather. His commitmem , less to the ship and m ore to his art, paid off badly when he gave up all, fallin g to his death from a yard aloft.

In 1912, the year M asefield's poem was published, Charles Robert Patterson had survived seven years a~ a m ariner, sufficiem time to show him th ere was no future in mercham sail. H e had just arrived in Philadelphia, the second of three m oves that brought him to the center of the American art world, and he had begun to make oil paintings of sailing ships. Before long, he would be hailed as the artist best able to craft impressionistic, ye t real, views of windships abroad o n deep wa ter.

J

He would become the "Sailor-Painter."

Unlike D auber, Patterson had expected to make seafaring his life's wo rk. W hen he first went to sea at age thirteen, he could not have known that sailing ships wo uld soon become relics. H e o nly understood that shipwrights in his native Britain we re building the m ost advanced designs and that one of those shipwri gh ts was his fa ther.

James Patterso n had o nce m anaged the Whitehaven Shipbuilding Company in C umberland, but late in 1877 a recession drove him to Southamp to n fo r employm ent. His wife, the fo rmer Laura Sarah Boys, was pregnant with their third child, so she too k their child ren to her parents' ho me in H awkesdale, while he go t settled in the so uth . In the bucolic village of Stockdalewath, she gave birth to Charles Robert Patterson on 18 Jul y 1878.

The Patterso ns suffe red fro m the stresses of James's unstable employment and frequent quarrels between the two young parents. As adults, the Patterson children hinted that their fat her may have

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Roanoke, (oil on canvas, 28.5 x 40 inches, circa 1930) In this view ofArthur Sewall's big four-masted barque, Patterson caught the heat and haze on the ship approaching the tropics. Patterson became friends with the Sewall family, particularly Sumner Sewall (later governor ofMaine) who put accommodations and a boat at the artist's disposal when Patterson traveled to Maine. suffered from alcoholism as well. Jam es Patterson left So uthampton about 1883 and shifted his family to Liverpool. The fo llowing year, their eldest son , Edwa rd, di ed of heat stroke. Two years later, shortly after the birth of their daughter, Beatrice, the family dissolved .

O nce more, Laura Patterson returned to her parents' home in H awkesdale with her children in tow. By leaving her husband, she gave up any legal right to child suppo rt, and her parents could not affo rd to edu cate her five children. Instead, they invested in Charlie's younger brother D aniel, who later moved to New Zealand and became an influential architect there.

Charlie had little to do but to find his own way, but with his fa mily's help he secured a berth on his uncl e's ship. In 1892 he shipped out as cabin boy in the 300-foot, four-mas ted ship Kentmere, belonging to James Fisher and Joseph Spro tt, fo rmer cliem s of the W hitehaven Shipbuilding C ompany-Charles Boys, mas ter.

C aptain Boys had charge of his adolescent nephew until the summer of 1895. D uring this time, Kentmere rounded th e Cape of Good Hope from both directions and

subsequently do ubled Cape Horn ca rryin g coal to Santa Rosalia, Mex ico, and bringing home grain from Portland, Oregon .

En ro ute, Boys made a call at San Fran cisco. Sixteen-year-old Charlie never fo rgo t the vision of 100 square- rigged vessels at anchor inside that expansive bay.

Afte r a sho rt visit hom e, Patterso n signed on the old barque Alexandra fo r Po rt Pirie and Newcastle, Australi a.

As ho re at Newcastle, he tumbl ed for another big fo ur-pos ter, Hawaiian Isles, and signed as O rdin ary Seaman on a seventyfive-day passage that took him back to Sa n Francisco. H ad he been presciem , he wo uld have been am azed to know that Hawaiian Isles wo uld live most famously as th e sail-training ship A braham Rydberg and survive until 1957, just a year before his own death.

Patterson m ay no t have been a m odel sailor. H e was never rated AbleBodied Seam an, but rem ained an O .S. He may have shown a diffidence and perhaps even a temper when pressed .

He was the son of a shipbuilder and better educated than m any men with whom he shared the fo recastle. H e signed th e

SEA HISTORY I 14, SPRING 2006

anicles in a secrerarial hand well-suired for scholarship or acco uming, and noriceably unlike his shipmares' heavy scrawls and illirerare "X" marks.

When he disembarked in '" Frisco," he was nor quire eighreen, ye r already a shell back who had crossed rhe equato r ren rimes and doubled Cape Horn. H e said li rrle of rhe years rhar fo llowed, excepr to nore a few coas ring passages and so me tim e crewing yachrs. H e claimed larer rhar he arrended rhe Mark H opkins Insrirure of Arr, and ir is emirely possible rhar o ne of his insrructors was William A. Co ulrer, himself a former mariner who had made a name as Cal ifornia's leading marin e arrisr.

Ar New Westminster, Brirish Columbia, in July of 1899, Parrerson slipped away from rhe American schooner Compeer, reneging on his agreemem to sail to Asian ports and rerurn to San Francisco.

His desertion proved to be a life-changing momenr. He wo rked his passage up rhe Fraser and Thompson Rivers as a house-paimer and a watchm an o n rhe Canadian Pacific Railway. Upon his arri val in As hcrofr, he joined the small firm rhar supplied rhe town's electricity. There, he courted and soon m arried Alice Erhel Lehman, a daughter of a local pioneer.

Tropic Bird, (oil on canvas, 28 x 36 inches, date unknown) In San Francisco at the close ofthe nineteenth century, Patterson paid particular attention to three celebrated vessels that operated on schedule in the Tahiti packet and mail trade.

His paintings of two of them, the brigantine Gali lee and the three-masted barquentine Tropic Bird, were featured on annual promotional calendars issued by the Columbian Rope Company, for whom Patterson painted for more than thirty years.

If Patterson inrend ed to "swallow the anchor" in the Ca nad ian Rockies, his plan fa iled. H e moved his yo ung wife to V ictoria, where he becam e a staff arrisr and marine correspondem for rhe Daily Times newspaper. In January 1906, Al-

ice gave birth to a daughter, whom they named Laura Margarer. Before lo ng, Patterso n bega n to make trips east, apparendy seeki ng employmem as a commercial arrisr. Lare in 1907, he moved to C hicago-alo ne. Like his farher had done in Southampton, he promised to send for his fa mil y o nce he gor serded, bur rhe responsibilities of fat herhood co nAicred with his ca reer goals as an arrisr. Promises were set as ide. When he died, a half-century larer, he and Alice were srill legally married , bur rheir daughrer had grow n up wirhour ever knowing him.

Lirde of his C hi cago work is idemified. H e made a paiming of rhe steam chase r-boat Orion huntin g whales for rhe Pacific W h al ing Company, which became fami liar on promotional postcards. He is supposed to have made rhearrical posters, rhough no ne has come to lighr. H e also (left) All Hands on the Main Sheet, (oil on canvas, size unknown, circa 1924) Though he spent seven years at sea, Patterson rarely depicted shipboard life and work.

This exception properly conveys the struggle of manhandling a great square-rigger with little more than what he and his British shipmates called /:lrmstrong's Patent''-that is, their own muscles.

SEA HISTORY 114, SPRIN G 2006

13

The Freshening Gale, (oil on canvas, 48 x 72 inches, 1913) By 19 13, Patterson had mastered the skills that would characterize most of his paintings, among them attention to detail and accuracy in the sea and on deck, plenty ofsea room, and a second vessel to mark the horizon line. achieved some early success painting cows and other lives tock. H e no doubt studi ed animals on his grandfa ther's fa rm , and his ability to capture their likenesses led to a job as cover artist fo r 7he Country Gentleman, a progress ive agri cultural magazin e published in Phil adelphia by rhe C urtis Publishing Company, owners of 7he Saturday Evening Post.

Patte rso n had m oved to Phil adelphi a late in 1911 o r early 19 12. H e haunted the waterfro nt and soon ea rn ed a co mmissio n fo r a large painting of the fo urmas ted barque Jo hn Ena. Thar paintin g, titl ed 7he Freshening Gale, and ano th er large canvas, Furling the Fore Topsail, see m to be the first full- scale evocatio ns of hi s mature style.

In 7he Freshening Gale, Patterson ado pted a gann et's-eye view, lookin g down as the barque plows into heavy seas. H e wo rked th e composition in rhe pano ramic style he preferred, placin g j ohn Ena off-center to rhe left, emph asizing the lo nely immensity of deep wa ter sailing.

The painting has been cut down, but a ship, hull -down in the distance, ori ginally defin ed the ho ri zo n and reinforced the enormi ty of th e scene.

Patterso n had photographs of th ese paintings and o th ers when he arrived in New Yo rk C ity in 1919. H e took them to show Felix Ri esenberg in his editorial offi ce at 7he National Marine magazine, and Captain Riese nberg was thrilled by what he saw. Like Patterson , he, too, knew deep water. H e was graduated from the New

14

Yo rk N autical School, and later fro m Columbia Uni ve rsity, and had ro unded the Horn as a junior officer in the Downeas ter A.] Fuller in 1898. Their meeti ng wo uld have a profo und effect o n bo th men; Patte rson sough t someo ne to champio n his arr, and Riesenberg wa nted an attractive mo uthpiece thro ugh whom he could promote his goal of reviving the Am eri can merchanr m arine.

Riesenberg soon published the paint, er's autobiographi cal reminiscences. Seri alized in fo ur issues, "Ships" gave Patterso n a fo rum fo r recalling his yo uth at sea and set the fo undation fo r his repu tatio n as the "Sailor-Painter." Riesenberg surely acce pted the manuscript at face-val ue, yet

"Ships" made Patterso n more of a seam an than ever he was by docum enting at least rwo fa bri cated voyages.

Perh aps Pat terso n meant to co nvince readers th at he "kn ew his boo k," but he possessed so mu ch legitimate sea-time that the subterfuge was unneccessary.

Mo re likely, the unsubstantiated passages cloaked yea rs rhat Patterso n no lo nger wished to acco unt fo r; yea rs durin g which he had deserted ship, separated from his family, and perhaps slipped into the country without emigrating. If so, th en he covered his offenses by sending him self back to sea.

None of that wo uld have mattered to rhose who saw his remarkable paintings. Following rwo modest showings in H alifax in 192 1 and important exhibitio ns in M anhattan ar the Seam en's C hurch Insrirure and rhe Natio nal Arts C lub rhe fo llowing year, he moved rapidly to rhe to p of his profession. H e earn ed o ne-m an shows ar Doll & Richards' prestigio us gallery in Boston and o th ers at Arthur H arlow's in N ew Yo rk, where his larges t wo rks commanded a th ousa nd dollars and more.

H e portrayed every type of sailin g vessel: clippers, D owneasters, Atlantic packers, fi shing and coasting schoo ners, sailing wa rships and yachts. His pain tings represented rhem from every vantage-bow-o n views, stern-quarterin g views, o r heeling ro meer Cape H orn seas ro llin g across the deck. His chall enging "to-weather"

(opposite, right) Destroyer Reid, Fleet Maneuvers in Heavy Weather, (oil on canvas, 3 0 x 5 0 inches, circa 1927)

Painting a proper sea was Patterson's ultimate challenge. H is ability to paint deep water is nowhere clearer than in this painting of the four-stacker struggling to keep up with the fleet. H e created it after observing naval maneuvers in the Gulf of Gonave, near Haiti, in 1927. (left) Charles Robert Patterson with a camera [detail ofphotograph], circa 1915.

Patterson seems to have p osed for several publicity shots, probably in Philadelphia.

7his one shows him as the nattily-dressed and eminently confident artist, even though his success lay several years in fron t of him.

SEA HISTORY 114, SPRING 2006

ponraits demanded that every line of rigging be correctly delineated . H e even had the notion to paint ships becalmed, if only to show his skill at painting the sea itself.

After 1922, he was never perso nal ly becalmed. Even as the natio n plunged into econo mic crisis during the winter of 1929-30, demand for his paintings actually increased. In 1932 he could afford to m ove in to a commanding address o n Wes t 54th Street, aro und the co rner fro m the Plaza H otel and the galleries that sold his paintings to the likes of the As tors, Va nderbilts, and Morgans. His top-Aoor windows overlooked Central Park.

As Patrerson grew in stature, he co ntinually struggled to find sea-roo m.

Between 1920 and 1924 he jo ined several fishing sch oo ners, whose skippers roo k him to the offshore banks fo r a wee k o r rwo at a tim e. In 1926, and again in 1927, he joined the battleship New Mexico to sketch Aeet maneuvers in two ocea ns. (above) Ship Henry B. Hyde Rounding Cape Horn, Westward Passage, From those ex peri ences, he made many (oil on canvas, 47 x 53 inches, 1933) powe rful paintings of modern naval wa rIn 1932 Patterson received a commission for four large paintings of the ship H enry B. H yde ships. H e capped his relatio nship with on her 1884-85 maiden voyage. This, the third of the quartet, was one of the most seaman61 the Navy by creating two mural-paintin gs portraits he ever made. H is client was j ohn H olmes Hyde of Bath, Maine, grandson of the of earl y sea-fi ghts, each o ne thir ty- th ree founder ofHyde Windlass Company, which became Bath Iron Works. (The Hydes ofBath were feet wide. They continue to command not related to the ship's namesake, a New York insurance magnate.)

Ship Great Admiral, (oil on canvas, 40 x 5 0 inches, circa 1928). This painting perfectly evokes life in the era of merchant sail.

Patterson saw several clippers in service, including Great Admiral and C urry Sark, and never forgot them.

pride-of-place in Memorial Hall, the most highly-co nsecrated space within the Naval Academy co mpl ex at Annapolis.

Although Patterson made paintings of warships, co nfli ct formed no part of his artistic vocabulary. In the darkest days of World War II , he dod ged th e noti o n of propaganda arr, completing o nl y o ne painting that even suggested combat.

Instead, he remained devoted to the sailing ships of his yo uth . In his later yea rs, his friends watched him grow mo re recl usive,

more vexed by the challenges of life in post-war Ma nhattan. When he died, 9 Nove mber 1958, aged 80, his beloved sailing ships had all bur di sappea red . The "Tall Ship Revival " was yet two decades in th e future.

As the lucky brother of Masefield's Dauber, Patterson left a record of fa bulous ships cross ing deep seas. His devotion to duty as an artist resulted in hundreds of fin e paintings that continu e to inspire and influence to this day. ,!,

Robert Lloyd Webb is an author and historian. H is book-length biography of Patterson, Sailor-Painter: The U ncommon Life of C harles Rob ert Patterson, was published in September by Flat Hammock Press. He has also written On the Northwest: Commercial W haling in the Pacific No rth wes t and Ring the Banj ar!: The Banjo in America from Folklore to Factory. A Californian, he now lives in mid-coast Maine.

Saving Our Ships: The Sea-Paintings of Charles Robert Patterson Since C harles Robert Patterso n's death in 1958, his arr has been celebrated in just three museum exhibitions. 1l1is May, Heritage Museums & Gardens in Sandwich, Massachusetts, wi ll open Saving Our Ships: The Sea-Paintings of Charles Robert Patterson, the first full retrospecti ve of hi s life and artistic output. 1 h e exhibition will feature more than two dozen paintings, as well as drawings, prints, photograp hs, magazine and calendar illustrations and other ephemera. Robert Lloyd Webb, author of Patterson's biography Sailor-Painter: The Uncommon Life of Charles Robert Patterson, is guest curator of the exhibition.

Saving Our Ships opens Saturday, 13 May 2006, and wi ll co ntinue thro ugh late October in the museum's Ruth Lilly Gallery. Among the nauti cal mas terpieces on view will be: Furling the Fore Topsail, perhaps Patterson's first large painting of a sailing ship; his go rgeo us depi ction of the clipper ship Great Admiral at sea (see image above); a to-weather portrait of the Downeasrer Benjamin F Packard; and three of four large paintings that depict moments in the maiden voyage of rhe ship H enry B. Hyde.

(Heritage Museums & Ga rdens, 67 Grove Sr., Sandwich, MA. Ph. 508 888-3300; www. heriragemuseumsandga rdens.org) 16

SEA HISTORY 114, SPRTNG 2006

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17

MARINE ART NEWS

T

he Nacional M aricime Museum and N oningham Trenr Uni versity are sponso rin g a o ne-day conference on Sawrday, 20 M ay 2006, "Shipwreck in che Lo ng 18ch Cencury."

In the long l 8ch century, and es pecially in che Romantic period, shipwrecks were all too frequent evems that simulcan eou sly fascinaced, excited and appalled the British population at all levels of society. W ith some 5,000 Britons a year dying at sea, acco rding to o ne escimace in 18 12, chey we re cragedies that touched a greac many families and also impinged significantly on eco no mi c and scracegic well-being of E ngland. This, in wrn, gave shipwrecks, and representations of shipwrecks, co nsiderable ideological significance. If Bri ra nni a ruled ch e waves, as James Thomson proclaim ed in 1740, and if British maricim e prowess was a mark of Providenti al fa vo r, whac did che shipwreck signi fy? H ow were such traum ati c events to be nego ciated culw rall y and ideo logically? lhe Wreck ofthe East lndiaman 'Dutton' at This o ne-day, interdisciplinary co nference will address the Plymouth Sound, 26January 1796 social and perso nal impact of the shipwreck, paying particular atby Thomas Luny (1 82 1, oil o n canvas, 770 x 11 20 mm) tenti o n to che many cultural representations chat such m aricime disasters gave rise to- the vario us wrinen accounts of wrecks, bo ch literary and non-literary; the visual images, in paintings, engravings and ch e like; the dram as and chearrical speccacles. The conference is being held in che Th e Leo pold M ull er Leccure Theatre at the Na tio nal Maritime M useum, G reenwich, Londo n. For more inform aci o n, co ntact the Research Administrator, Ph. 020 83 12 67 16; e-mail : research@nmm.ac. uk; in fo and regiscracion form s ava ilable o nline ac: www. nmm.ac.uk. - NMM, London.

CALL TO ARTISTS: Coos Art Museum in Coos Bay, Oregon, has issued a Call to Artists for their 13th Annual Marine Art Exhibition next summer.

Submiss io n deadline is 6 May 2006 . The exhibicion wi ll be on display from 2 1 Jul y - 23 September 2006. Coinciding with th e exhibition opening will be th e Plein Ai r/Wet Paim evem for marine paimers. This year's featured artist is Sylvia Wacers. (Fo r details on eligibili ty and submi ssio ns, see: www.coosart. org. Coos Art Museum , 23 5 Anderso n Ave nue, Coos Bay, OR 97420; Ph .

54 1 267-3901 ; e-mail: info@coosart. org)

I

n September, So uch Srreec Seapo rt Museum in New Yo rk C ity put o n display a rare wooden fi gurehead represeming che famous Swedish so pra no Jenn y Lind. How che figurehead cam e to be rediscove red is a fasc inacing story in icself. In che 1840s and 50s, Jenny Lind (18 20- 1887) caught the world 's an ention wich her crys tal voice, becoming famous as the "Swedish Nightingale." P T. Barnum organized an Ameri can tour in 18 50 th ac catapulted her into imernational stardom.

In 185 1, shipbui lders in Eliot, Maine, Jenny Lind in laun ched the clipper ship Nightingale, named "La Sonnambula" in Jenny Lind's ho no r. A carved likeness of che singer graced the ship's bow. Ac firsc, Nightingale made reco rd-senin g voyages between England j enny Lind.figurehead and po res in che Far Ease, bur in che lace 1850s, she became in fam ous as a slave ship. Early in the C ivil Wa r, Nightingale was capcured by ch e Unio n navy and served as a bl ockade vessel at sourhern ports. Afcer the war, che ship was so ld several times, finall y to a No rwegian captain who reficted her as a freighter.

Nightingale was eventually lost in the No rth Atlantic in 1893 .

H ow did che figurehead survive the ship's sinking? In 1885, Nightingale's bow was severely damaged when ch e ship scruck a reef near che coast of No rway. The figurehead was apparently removed durin g repairs o n che ship and never reinstalled . In 1994, about 100 yea rs after Nightingale sank, Swedish anciques dealer Ka rl-Eri c Svardskog discove red a beauciful ship's figurehead covered in dust and dirt in che back of a barn .

The Nightingale figurehead will remain on displ ay at South Street Seaport Museum ch ro ugh December 2006. (So uth Street Seaport Museum 12 Fulton Street NewYork NY 10038; Ph . 2 12 748-8600; www.souchstsea port.org) --South Street Seaport Museum

18

SEA HISTORY J 14, SPRING 2006

S~!lnstory

Vessels Within Vessels H ave you ever found a message in a bottle? For centuries , people have transported items on the seas. Messages in bottles are usually sent for fun. Most items that are shipped from one country to another are sent as trade goods.

The way that ships carry these goods today is quite different from the past. Long ago , goods traveled to a port in some sort of container, usually in baskets , crates, sacks, or casks loaded onto wagons . (In ancient times , ceramic containers called amphorae were commonly used .) Then at the port, the goods needed to be unloaded , hauled onto the ship , and stored again .

Past Casks (Sa_y that three times fast!)

S ince Roman times , coopers have had the job of making casks , or barrels. Cooperage was a highly skilled craft. The casks had to fit tightly to carry products such as whale oil and molasses. Flour, dishes, and apples were other products commonly stored in casks . Liquids such as cider were often stored in large casks called hogsheads. Some hogsheads could hold as much as 140 gallons.

Casks are made of staves, which are wooden slats . The cooper bends the trimmed stave using heat and a wet cloth. The bent staves are then held together with hoops. The bulging shape of barrels or casks makes it easy to roll them on their sides and change direction . That's helpful when you have many of them to load and unload by hand onto a ship.

Inside the .5ox It is quite a leap from amphorae of the past to shipping containers used today. Part of the change came about through Malcolm McLean 's brainstorm . Mclean thought there was a lot of wasted effort in unloading cargo from a truck, loading it onto a ship, and then reversing the process at the other end. He came up with the idea of shipping containers that could be loaded directly from a train or truck onto a cargo ship and then unloaded at the other end.

Today most shipping containers come in a standard size . This has led to changes in the design of trucks so that the containers fit well. Even many shipping ports in the United States have been redesigned to make it easy to move the containers from ship to truck or train.

Ro-ro, Row Your 5oat H ave you ever heard of ro-ro? No, it's not the latest skateboarding stunt. Ro-ro is short for roll on-roll off. It describes huge cargo ships that carry wheeled vehicles such as autos and railroad cars. These ocean-going ships are designed with ramps so that vehicles can easily drive on and off.

What in the World .. .is an Amphora?

by Stephanie Allen

00

A n amphora is a familiar object to people who study Mediterranean archaeology. What were they used for? How were they made? What can they tell us about trade and transportation in the ancient world?

The amphora was the barrel of ancient times. Many important trade goods from wine to oil to grain were poured into these unglazed containers.

To make amphorae (the plural word for amphora), clay was generally built up by hand, using the coil method. Most amphorae had pointed bases, although D ~ some were almost completely round.

Though amphorae were mainly used to carry liquids, some have been found on shipwrecks still containing whole olives and dried fruits .

Amphorae were used not only for transportation , but also for storage rn and even as a unit of measurement. V Amphorae from a particular area, made for carrying a particular item , were regular in shape and size. The Roman amphora carried 25 .5 liters of liquid.

Amphorae were also made to carry Spanish wine from the Iberian Peninsula across the Roman Empire.

These , too , were a specific size and shape, but very different from those made to carry olive oil. Although different nations often used differentsized amphorae , the container's use as a unit of measurement shows how common it was.Though amphorae were often created for a specific purpose, the containers were often reused for carrying and storing other goods. Think of these vessels as early recyclables!

To ancient shippers, amphorae had an ideal form. A rope was run through the handles of the containers , allowing them to be tied together. Then the bundle could be carried around the docks and loaded onto a ship. On board the ship, amphorae fit perfectly into specially designed racks. The pointed bottom fit into a hole. Matting was packed around the containers for support.

Once placed in a rack, an amphora would not move from its position , even in the roughest water.

Many makers altered the design of amphorae and placed their mark on the handle. This means that the origin of a specific container can often be identified. Piles of amphorae on the sea floor have often been used in locating and identifying ancient shipwrecks.

The Man_y Lives of Ernestina T he schooner Ernestina is a ship of many lives. She did not start out with that name; she was christened Effie M. Morrissey in 1894.

The Morrissey was built as a fishing schooner, the first of many careers. On her first fishing voyage from Gloucester, MA, to the Grand Banks, the schooner brought back 250,000 pounds of salted cod.

In 1905, the ship began sailing out of Canada. Known for its speed under sail, Effie M. Morrissey was the subject of a ballad and part of a book.

After 20 years, the ship was sold to Captain Robert Bartlett. He had once skippered a boat for Admiral Peary on his search for the North Pole. That experie nce surely paid off, as the ship had no engine and often encountered icebergs under Bartlett's command.

Captain Bob, as he was known , charted a new direction for Effie M. Morrissey. After a diesel engine was added , the vessel was used for exploring the Arctic region for the next 20 years.

One of these early trips was financed

by George Palmer Putnam , husband of the world-famous flier Amelia Earhart.

Other voyages explored the lives of Inuit people, as well as Arctic plants and animals. During World War II , the ship carried supplies to naval bases in the Arctic.

After being sold once again and surviving a fire , Effie M. Morrissey was purchased by Enrique Mendes.

He renamed her Ernestina , after his daughter. The ship began work in the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of

22

Senegal in West Africa. Now working as a packet schooner, Ernestina carried people and supplies around the islands.

The schooner also shuttled to Rhode Island fo r 10 years , bri nging many workers from Cape Verde to work in the cranberry bogs of New England.

Ernestina completed her final voyage as a packet in 1965. For a time , the Cape Verdean government took control of the schooner. She was repaired and given to the US government as a gift of friendship.

After a complete restoration in 1994, Ernestina returned to US waters for use as a sailing school vessel.

SEA HI STO RY 114, SPRING 2006

What's on Deck?

Unscramble the name for each type of container. Write the name on the lettered spaces. Then draw a line to match the label with the picture.

1.

(sheahdog) a

b

d

c

OR (kacs) i

j

k

I

c

d

2. (traec) a

b

). (pamahor) a

b

c

d

c

d

+. (ksateb) a

b

Copy the letters from the correct numbered spaces above to answer questions 5 and 6. )

What's another word for shipped goods?

00000 6 How w o ao 0000 ago?

2a

3c 1a>ped ·g 'o5Je:i

4b

1g

·s ')a)jseq ·p 'eJ04dwe ·£

'a\eJ::>

2b

1i

1c

4d

3e

2e

·z ')jse:i 'pea4s604 · ~

4f

:sJaMsuv

Sea History for Kids is sponsored by the Layout and Design by Domenico Petrillo

SEA HISTORY 114, SPRrNG 2006

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'lferoes

of the Saifing 'lfavy: james Lawrence

by William H. White

¡lhis is the third of a series h>r Sct1 Histo1y in which we are examining the lives of some of the celebrated, as well as a fe" of the lesser-known, men of the American Na\). during the Age of Fighting Sail. 'lhese men defined the US Nav~ b~ setting the bar for generations of officers to follow. Still revered and studied by the current iteration of n<n-al officers, many learned their trade the hard way; they simply went to sea, often under hard commanders, and learned what \\as effecti\¡e and what was not. lhe United States had no Naval Academy then (that would not come until 18,Vi ). and midshipmen were often at sea for more than six years before winning a commission as lieutenant. Some never did and remained p11sscrl midshipmen until they went ashore. In this issue, we look at James Lawrence, a man who had several highly successful experiences in the sailing navy, unwittingly gave the N<ny its most enduring slogan, and who , through his own blunder, lost his ship and crew, as well as his own life, to the British in a lopsided thirteen-minute frigate battle.

"Don't give up the ship, lads. Fight her as long as she swims!"

W

i rh rhese words, rhe mortallywounded Captain James Lawrence enrered rhe history books as a hero, remembered for rhe words rather rhan the blunder rhar insrigared them.

His final order to his crew was shortened and immortalized by Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry when he had rhe words emblazoned on a Aag, which he Aew from his masthead in USS Lawrence on Lake Erie during rhe summer of 181 3. Perry, unlike rhe man who urrered rhe words, wenr on to a glo rious victory against an enrire squadron of British ships; rhe flag and irs message became icons for furure generations of naval officers. The original Aag srill hangs ar the Uni red Srares Naval Academy and reproductions abound.

When James Lawrence was born in Burlington, New Jersey, on 1 October 178 1, rhe American Revolution was winding down. During rhe war, his Tory parenrs had enrertained a Hessian commander in their home and, unlike many of their Tory neighbors, decided to remain in rh e newly-for med Unired Srares ar the war's conclusion. Young James was senr, ar rhe render age of thirteen, to srud y the law.

Sri ll smarting ar rhe political leanings of his parents, his heart was nor in ir, and his instructors labeled him an "un cooperative srudenr." His parenrs finally gave in to his insisrenr pleas to enrer rhe naval service, and in 1798 he wo n his warranr as midshipman .

As such, he served in rhe sh ip Ganges (24) and larer in rhe frigare Adams (28) during rhe Quasi-War wirh France (1798-1801). He won his com mission as lieurenanr in 1802 and was ulrimarely

26

assigned as fi rsr Iieurenanr in rhe schooner Enterprize (12), engaged in rhe conflict wirh rhe Barbary pirates. When his captain, Isaac Hull, swapped commands with Lr. Stephen Decatur (a seniori ty issue),

Lawrence chose to stay wirh his schooner, now under Decarur. He cou ld nor have made a better choice; in February 1804, Decarur and many of his crew, including Lawrence, volunteered to burn rhe US frigate Philadelphia (24) afrer rhe Barbary pirates had captured rhar ship in October 1803. Having proved himself under Decatur, he won command of rhe schooner and , subsequentl y, rhe first lieurenanr's biller in rhe frigate Adams. His actions rhere proved creditable to his service, rhough of li rrle no re.

Lawrence had a habir of inrerprering orders to suit himself, and he tended

to criticize "armchair sailors," po li ticians, and rhe Navy Deparrmenr. Whi le rhis may have won him the favor of his men, ir did lirrle to enhance his career. His refusal to accept rhe "sordid and paltry'' reward of rwo monrhs' pay for his parti cipation in the Philadelphia raid (a "slap in the face," accordin g to his lerrers) precipitated correspo ndence suggesting he might resign his commission in protest.

In an effort to ass uage his anger and rerain the service of this promising yo ung officer, the Navy Deparrmenr ass igned him to command one of the new "Jefferso ni an gunboats" being builr. These open boats were about seventy feet long and drew five feer. Rigged with latee n sai ls on rwo masts, they carried oars and mounred rwo guns, ge nerally long rwenty-four pounders. Design ed fo r coastal and harbor defense, they became the butt of constanr ridicule by a public that recognized (even if the administration did not) the need for an ocean-going navy. Though these boats were nor inrended for offshore passages, Lawrence was ordered to sail his new command, Gunboat #6, across the Arlanric to join the fray off the Barbary Coast-another slap in rhe face for the yo ung officer.

Compounding the ins ul t, he arrived wel l afrer the peace had bee n signed wir h rhe Bashaw of Tripoli, and thus saw no action at all.

His temperame nt came to the fore during an incident thar occurred in transit on his gun boat; off Cad iz, he was sto pped by d1e British rhree-decker, Dreadnaught, in a quesr for escaped British seamen. While rhe British boar lay alongside, a handfu l of ex-B ritish sai lors jumped from rhe

SEA HISTORY 114, SPRING 2006

gunboat into the arms of the surprised Bri tish crew, having had enough of the depredations of the rough open sea o n the fragile boat. Lawrence, in a fit of ange r, frustration , and humiliation, h ad himself rowed to the British ship-of- the-line and demanded from Captain Rotherham, and then Admiral Collingwood, the return of his seamen. The two senior o ffi cers, un amused by Lawrence's Yankee pluck, sem him packing, whereupon Lawre nce tried, in va in , to surrender his command to them. This, of course, would have raised the evem to the level of "imernatio nal incidem ," as Am erica was not at war with England. Wisely, Admiral Collingwood refu sed the gesture. Law rence could do little but vent to the Secretary of the Navy upo n his return. H e would soo n witn ess this event repeated from a different perspecti ve when he was selected to sit o n the court martial boa rd trying Co mmodo re James Barron for his own attempted surrender of the US fri gate Chesapeake (36) ro HMS Leopard (50) in 1807 .

After the trial ended , Lt. Lawrence marri ed a Miss Juli a Mo nta udeverte, the daughter of a French sea captain , and soo n fa thered a daughter. His o utlook imp roved, and he was assigned as first lieutenant in USS Constitution (44), a plum ass ignment for a yo ung lieutenant. For six m onths, he virtually commanded the migh ty fri gate in the absence of a proper capra in. 1 Perhaps his luck had changed! Or maybe no t.

From the lofty perspecti ve o f Constitution's quarterd eck, it must have seemed ye t ano th er "slap in the face" when he was told to transfer his sea chest to th e brig Vixen (12), fo llowed almost at o nce w ith a move to th e ship- ri gged sloop Wasp (18). Befo re he could even learn the nam es of his o ffi cers, he was transferred yet again , this time to the brig Argus (1 6). Never o ne to hold back, he rashly po ured out his frustratio ns to th e Secretary of the Navy in a letter.

In 18 10, while comma ndi ng Argus, Lawrence took part in the tri als of Robert Ful to n's experimental spa r-to rpedo and demo nstrated creative thin king and seamanship in fi guring a way to defend against such a weapon . Whe n F ul to n saw the tarred splinter net Lawrence had hung aro und his ship to deflect the weapon, he halted rhe test and begged the Navy S EA HISTORY 114, SPRING 2006

for more time to prepare. The N avy was the co mfo rrs of the po rt, with no sign of pleased with Law rence's in genuity and leav ing. Fin all y, Lawrence had had eno ugh promoted him to mas ter co mmandant and left his post to sa il north eas t along (equivalent to today's rank of lieutenant the Brazilian coas t. H e saw some success commander). in early February of 18 13, capturing rhe Th e next year, Lawrence was put in merchant bri g Resolution off Pernambuco. command of th e twenty-gun , ship-ri gged Co ntinuing his cruise, Ho rnets lookouts H ornet, a vessel of 460 tons. H e was es pi ed a small English brig and chased her mi ghtily pleased with the assignment, in to the shallows of the D em erara Ri ver findin g his ship "as fin e a sea-boa r as we (British G uiana). Closer to shore, he could have in the service," but his joy was short- see yet ano ther British ship at ancho r off lived. With the start of the War of 18 12, he learned that his fri end and colleague Lr. C harles Mo rris was abo ut to be promo ted to captain over rhe heads of the maste r co mmanda nts; he fired off ye t ano ther letter to rhe Secretary of the N avy threatening to resign. His letter was received with littl e enthusias m by Sec"USS Hornet captures HMS Peacock, February 1813" retary Paul H amilton who wrote back that, Lawrence's exploits along the coast ofSouth America brought him fame and accolades from an American citizenry eager to crown sho uld "you leave the new heroes in the War of 18 12. H is capture of HMS Peacock was service of your counhis most successful engagement as Captain. It would also be his last try, th ere will still resuccess in battle at sea. main heroes and patriots to support the honour of its Flag." the bar and , hauling his wind, made ready Though understandably perturbed by to attack this new target. Before he could this respon se, Lawrence took rhe advice of close sufficiently to initiate the attack, his fri ends who counseled against his resig- a third Briti sh ship, this rim e a wars hip, nation , and he stayed with his command. was spotted headin g for the anchorage. At Onboard Ho rnet, he departed in rhe !are once, Law rence tacked his ship and made fa ll for a cruise south with Commodore for rhe newcomer, realizing his chance fo r Bainbridge sailing in Constitution. This glory was at hand . cruise would provide Master C ommanAs the two vessels closed, bow-to-bow, dant Lawrence w ith the oppo rtunity for Lawrence beat to quarters and , as rhey the recognition and glory he had sought passed within pistol shot of o ne another, fired hi s full broadside into HMS Peahis entire career.

Bainbridge had ordered Lawrence to cock. Capt. William Peake res po nded in watch and wait for the British ship Bonne kind, bur clearly suffered the wo rst of the Citoyenne to depart the neutral Brazil- exchange. Within fifteen minu tes, Peake ian port of Bahia in which she lay. It was surrendered his vessel. Lawrence sent men reported that she carried a large amount aboard to retrieve the wo unded British of specie and wo uld make a plum prize. sailors; Peacock was so badly damaged rhat Never long on patience, he sailed Ho rnet he feared she would sink. That it did , and off and on the coast of Braz il for eigh- so qui ckl y th at three Americans and thirteen days, while the British ship enjoyed teen of her own went down with her.

27

Peacock had long been in the West assigned. Undaunred, he eagerl y sought With the knowledge that a "target of opIndies and training at the guns had been rhe chance to reprise his successes in Ho r- portunity" lay just offshore, well within his replaced by polishing brass and freshen- net, chis rime on an even grander scale. grasp, Lawre nce co uld nor resist the temping paint. Additionally, the disparity in In his zeal, Caprn in Law rence paid a tation to get underway with his ill-prepared fighting moral e between the British and visit to his former commodore, Wi ll iam and untried co mmand and capture or sink American navies was significant; Law- Bainbridge, and requested the "loan" of this interloper. H e gave a rousing speech to rence's quick victory seemed to emphasize more than a dozen men from Constitution . his reluctanr crew, ending with the exhortachis difference and he reveled in it. Upo n H e established rendezvous to enlist new re- tion "Let's Peacock 'em , boys!" his triumphant return to ew York, the crui rs and cajoled yard worke rs to hasten H e sent o ut a local fishing vessel to American public, still basking in rhe glori - necessary repairs o n his frigate. H e person- scour our the situation, confirm that Teneous victories of rhe three frigate dos had been sent elsewhere, COURTESY NAVAL lll STO RICAL CENTER USS Chesapeake and report back. When the com esrs of rhe preceding four momhs (Chesapeake v Guerriskipper of th e smack reported ere, United States v M acedo nia, that HMS Shannon lay just beyond the Roads, he ordered and Constitution v Java) were again thri ll ed to welcome a new his crew to make sail. Shorthero and crowned Lawrence h anded, untrained, and dispirwith the victor's laurels. In a ited , the crew carried our his order amid rhe co nfusio n and cruise of less than six months, he and his crew had captured chaos on deck created by their one ship, two brigs, a schooner, own inex peri ence, and Chesaand a man-of-war. peake headed to sea to meet 1he srory, told and rerold , her destiny. Crowds gathered elevated Lawrence to rhe status on hillsides, rooftops, and any James Lawrence was pleased to be assigned to USS Chesapeake, of demi-god; with his charm, vantage poim that might offer his first opportunity to command a ftigate. a view of the first frigate condashing good looks, and his fears, he promptly becam e America's ally handled the recalcitrant merchants, test within easy sight of the shore. A fes tive man of the hour, joining the ranks of trading on his lofty status as the former atmosphere imbued the Boston citizenry Bainbridge, Hull, and D ecatur. U nfor tu- commander of the victorious H ornet. Lirde as they thrilled to the prospect of witnessnately, the newly-promoted captai n be- cam e of his efforts. Perhaps, had he more ing another American victory. Small boars lieved his own press. time, he might have enjoyed some success, fo llowed the fri gate our, cheering and ofAssigned to rake command of the US but a mere fo rtnight was clearly insufficient fering encou rage ment to "Cap' n Jim" and frigate Chesapeake (3 6) in May of 1813, rime for such a massive project. his stal wa rts. Captain Broke, seeing the he traveled to Boston and brought with Two British frigates had been sailing American ship heading our, heaved to and him Ho rnet's Lieutenant Geo rge Budd off and on President Roads outside Boston waited for his foe.

The shortage of experienced sailors exand midshipman William Cox. His ac- Harbor while all this was going on. Tenedos complishments at sea had fin ally won him and Shannon were assigned to wa tch Con- tended beyond the confines of the fo'c'sle; command of a frigate, and he sought to stitution and delay or prevent her return to Law rence had no seasoned officers aboard continue to impress his public and th e sea. When it becam e apparent that "Old either. In fac t, he had elevated Chesap eake's Ironsides" wo uld be undergoing repairs for senio r midshipman, Augustus Ludlow, to Navy D epartmem with his derrin g-do.

Chesapeake was a mess when Lawrence some rime, Tenedos was released to cruise acting lieutenant to fill the biller of first stepped aboard: her crew was unpaid , un - elsewhere, and Shannon, under Captain lieutenant. Midshipman Cox and two Philip V Broke, m aintained the watch. trained , short-handed , and undisciplin ed. others were also promoted to acting lieuShannon and Broke had been sailing tenants. In th e scant two weeks that the H er main topmas t had go ne by the boards and th e m izze n head had been sprung the North Adantic Station for nearly two new captain had been aboard, there had while working into Bosto n in a sto rm th e yea rs; the wearherworn ship bore all the been no training at the guns or sails; landsmonth befo re. Supplies and equipment, signs of continuous sea du ty, bur her m en m en (first timers) had !irde idea of their furnished by a reluctant citize nry in Bos- and officers were among the best in th e duries, and, without adequate leadership, ron (they wa nted no part of "M r. Madi- Royal avy. Nored for her gunn ery, Shan- they never wo uld. While surely more exson's War") we re slow in coming aboard . non proudly lived up to her reputatio n as perienced, the transfers from Constitution A more dispirited crew could nor be imag- the "crack" ship in rhe fl eer. Broke had im- had nor been integrated into the frigate's ined, and they we re deserting in numbers. plemented several innovatio ns to his guns, crew. No netheless, on 1 June 181 3, ChesaIt was to this scene that Captain Jam es including iron sights and train markings p eake headed! to sea to challenge Britain's Lawrence, eager to carry out his o rders to on deck; in the Bri tish fl eet, none were crack fri gate on the N orth American "get the ship under weigh forthwith," was better at their craft.

Station. Thme Alnerican ensigns fluttered

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SEA HISTORY 114, SPRING 2006

in the dyin g breeze from different po ints on Chesapeake, and Lawrence fl ew from the fore topgallant truck a flag inscribed with the sloga n th at had becom e the battle cry of the pas t yea r: "Free Trade and Sa ilors' Ri ghts." Th e captain crowded on mo re sail, hoping to engage before d arkness sho uld overtake them . In the American ship, th e offi cers and m en wa tched as Shannon likewise put up more canvas and altered co urse to close.

When Chesapeake fired a w indward gun to announ ce their intention to engage, Shannon immediately answered, then hauled her wind and hove to, awaiting her enemy. Lawrence maneuvered his ship within musket range of the British ship and , upo n hearing a British musket fire, ordered his crew to "fire as yo u bear, lads. We'll Peacock her!" Chesapeake then started to round up under the stern of the British fri gate, opening fire and sending several round sho t into her stern. Lawrence realized he was going faster than he had anticipated and that he would not have tim e to fire his full broadside into th e enemy. Instead of continuing to bear o ff, he ord ered his sails luffed and brought his bow around so as to pass alongs ide Shannon, clearly intending to fire his broadside into her hull. Instead, he received the full broadside of the British ship as he passed, still making way through the water faster th an he wished . The second British

"USS Chesapeake approaches HMS Shannon" by Robert Dodd (1 748-1815) broadsid e des troyed Chesapealee's headsail sheets and shot away her foretops'l chains, allowing the ya rd to drop into the lifts, m aking the sail unm anagea ble. Other ro unds cut th e spanker b ra ils, causing that sail to billow o ut aga inst the rigging.

Lawrence fa iled to m ake it through stays and found his ship wallowing alongside, just slightly ah ead of her enemy-her larboa rd quarter full y exposed to Shannon's devas tating fire.

Onboard Shannon, Captain Broke rook full adva ntage of the blunder and poured several partial broadsides in his now helpless prey. Canister and grapeshot decim ated the crew; round sho t dismounted canno n and holed her sides . The American fri gate, caught in stays (head to wind and

un abl e to fall off on either tack), bega n to drift as tern , ultimately fouling her larboard aft channel and mizzen shrouds in Shannon's starboard anchor. Broke imm ediately sent men forward to secure the two ships so th ey wo uld remain joined.

Wound ed in the shoulder from British grapeshot, Law rence struggled to exhort his crew to action; fire the guns that would bea r, repel boarders- eve n board the Bri tish ship. Then a British marksman perched in Shannon's forerop found Lawrence in his sights. The ball struck Lawrence in the stomach. H e collapsed, mortall y wounded.

Augustus Ludlow ordered Acting Lieutenant Cox to get the comm ander below to the surgeon . As Cox and a seaman lifted

"British Valour and Yankee Boasting, or Shannon versus Chesapeake " by G. Cruikshank.

While more than a Jew dramatic works of art, depicting Lawrence as glorious in combat and heroic in death, were created in the United States after the battle, the British tnnk a different view. H ere, a cartnnn shows a British boarding party routing the crew of the C hesapeake; the American sailors are portrayed as hapless and cowardly.

SEA HISTORY 114, SPRfNG 2006

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HMS Shanno n Leads her prize, USS C hesapeake, into Halifax, 6 June 1813. N ote the Royal Navy's white ensign flying above the US ensign onboard C hesapeake. James Lawrence died en route to Halifax from his wounds and was buried there with fa ll honors. H is body was Later exhumed and reinterred in New York City, along with that of his Acting First Lieutenant, Augustus Ludlow.

Watercolor by j. C. Schetky the bleeding, weakened Law rence to th e hatch, th e captain summ o ned his strength and cried o ut his last command. "Don't give up the ship, lads. Figh t her as long as she swi ms!" It is repo rted that Lawrence, des perately wo unded, continued to cry our the order as hi s strength ebbed.

Ludlow yelled at the crew to fire, bur not a gun on the fr igate wo uld bear, while the fo rward guns on Shannon continued to pour ro und after ro und into the stri cken vessel. The decks and scuppers literally ran red with the blood of the dead and wo unded . H e yelled, cal ling away the boa rders; nor a man moved .

Caprain Broke personally led his own boarding parry imo th e crippled Am erican ship with th e cry, "Follow me who can!"

They fo und American sailo rs dead and dying; the few still able put up a weak resistance, bur th ere was lirrl e to be do ne. Ludlow, now incapabl e of leadin g his beaten crew, co ll apsed o n the quarrerd eck, weak fro m a cu dass stro ke that split hi s head open. H e was carried below and laid on the deck next to his cap tain.

In just thirteen minutes since the first gun was fired, Chesapeake had becom e

30

for brilliant victo ry is achi eved at the risk of disastrous defeat, and those laurels are ever b ri ghter that are gathered in the very track of dange r."

In Naval circles, however, a different sto ry linge red. Might Law rence have raken a different course than the hasty o ne that brought him alongs ide the one ship in the Royal Navy most renowned fo r its gunnery? Did nor anyo ne realize that Lawrence was no t in the same league as Hull , Bainbridge, and D ecatur, each a naval genius in his own right? H e was over-co nfident and consumed with the need for another glo rious victory, bo th to satisfy his own appetite and to prove to the Navy D epanmem that he was wo rthy of th eir respect. Years later, opinio n (in the Navy) held that, had Lawrence survived the disaster, he should have been courtmarri aled and sho t.

Rumo rs that Bro ke had dispatched a letter to Lawrence challenging him to co me o ut and meet him in combat were part ially substantiated . Broke did send the letter, but Lawrence was already underway a nd never received it; it was his own decisio n, in th e face of overwhelmin g advers ity, to m eet Broke and his fr iga te in single-ship combat. Lawrence's need for self-g ratification cos t the lives of 150 of his m en (not to mentio n his own) and a fri gate. In the minds of citizens franti c fo r heroes, however, Lawrence's dreadful error was turned in to an act of des perate heroism , making him a symbol of Am eri can streng th and independence. His final uttera nce becam e a li ving icon of th at sam e des pe rate hero ism. "D o n't give up the ship, lads!"

a British prize; the America n crew was locked below or taken to Shannon, and the ship was repaired and sailed to Halifax.

Both Ludlow and Lawrence died en route and were buried with full ho no rs in that city. Subsequently, George Crowninshield, a Salem , Massachusens, m erchant and privateer, petitio ned the W hite H o use for a "pass" and sailed under a fl ag of truce to H ali fax to retrieve the heroes' bodies. Both Lawrence and Ludlow were re-interred in Salem , only to be moved therea fter to Trinity C hurch at th e foo t of Broadway in New Yo rk City, where they remain today.

Fo r som e time, Lawrence was hailed as 1 Joh n Rod ge rs was Constitution's captain, an "unlucky" hero o n a jinxed ship. There but, as commodo re of a squad ro n and we re scapegoats who took the blam e fo r also in charge of laying up 52 Jeffersonian the disaster, no t Lawrence. Willi am Cox gunboats, he was absent a good part of the was court m anialed and found guil ty of tim e Lawrence served onboard. .t abando ning his post durin g battle (he had carri ed Lawrence below). Survivo rs d rank William H. White is a maritime historian spefor half a century o n their story, bo th in cializing in American naval events during the E ngland and in America. No body men- Age ofFighting Sail. He has written four novtio ned Lawrence's blunder. His image re- els of naval fiction and is a trustee of NMH S, mained un rarnished, at least in the minds USS Constitution Museum, and a consultant of the Am erican populace. Washington to the J 8 12 reproduction p rivateer Lynx. FurIrving wro te what becam e the traditional ther imformation on the author and his books attirnde towa rd the fall en Lawrence, " . .. may bte found at: www.seafiction.net.

S> EAHlSTORY 114, SPRING 2006

MARITIME HISTORY ON T H E INTERNET

Academic Library 'Pathfinders'-Art and Art History

by Peter M cCracken ne of the best ways to fig ure out how to start research in a specific subject is to explore rhe hel p pages on a universiry library web site. In colleges and universities, librarians often create guides, generally called "pathfinders," to help students who are just starting to do research in a particular subj ect area. If yo u are not affiliated with the institu tion, yo u will nor be able to access fro m yo ur home computer many of the databases they offer, bur you can read rhe path fi nders and learn more about what and how to search. Th en, on ca mpus, yo u should be able to use these databases and save rime by kn owing where yo u want to search.

Public libraries may provide access to som e of these databases, bur they rarely offer path fi nders.

D on't hesitate to co ntact th e library that created the path finder; they'll most likely be glad to offer assistance. Similarly, yo u can often use the institution's electro nic resources when you visit in person. Let's rake a look at th ese guides in art and art histo ry as examples, bur yo u will fi nd guides in m any othe r areas, as well.

As an exampl e, at http://lib.washington.edu/subject/, yo u'll find nearly 100 di ffere nt subject-specific research guides. Mos t co lleges and unive rsities offer a similar selection. (See, for example, http://www.library.yale.edu/guides/, http://www.conncoll.edu/ is/info-resources/subject-guides/ , or http://www.lib.unc.edu/ guides/ fo r so me other sites. Subj ect-specific databases provide information that wo uld never be fo und through Google. Hundreds of specialized data bases exist; p athfinders and librarians will help you find the ones yo u need. The library's web sire will like ly indi cate which databases their patrons and visitors can access. In art, examples include Art Full Text, Art Index Retrospective, ARTBibliographies Modern, and Bibliography of the History of Art (and its predecessors, RAA and RILA).

O ne special as pect of art research is searching fo r specifi c images. Several image collections are worth explorin g if yo u're seeking a speci fi c wo rk, or wo rks by a particular artist. ARTstor (at http://www.artstor.org) is a fairly new project that contains nearly

0

a half-million images from collections and museums aro und the wo rld. You need to use the resource from within a subscribing orga ni za tio n, bu t their site lists over 500 current subscribers th ro ughout the US and Canada, organized by state; yo u're bound to fi nd one in yo ur area. Art Museum Image Gallery is another commercial database, containing images from over rwe nry major collectio ns. A nice feature of Art Full Text and Art Index Retrospective is that images in gallery advertisements are indexed, which greatly expands the images that are tracked in these databases.

ArtNet, at http://www.artnet.com, lists galleries, artists, prices, and much mo re. Other general art history reso urces include the Artcyclopedia at http://www.artcyclopedia.com/ and Prof. C hristo ph er Witcombe's comprehensive list of links, organized by subject, at http://witcombe.sbc.edu/ARTHLinks.html. You'll find a collectio n of links to marine art sites and a bibliography of print resources at The Marine Art Information Center at http://www. marineart.com/, created by a marine art gall ery.

The National Gallery of Art in Washingto n, D C, posts a worthy essay at http://www.nga.gov/education/american/marine. shtm, including discussion of specific marine works in its collectio n. As would be expected, the National Maritime Museum in the UK has a truly imp ressive online presence. You can ex pl ore their collection at http://www.nmm.ac.uk/mag/, where they offer artists' biographies, essays, and more. To learn about co ntemporary anists, consider inves tigating one of the marine art societies, such as the American Society of Marine Artists at http://americansocietyofmarineartists.com/, the Canadian Society of Marine Artists at http://www.ultramarine.ca/, or the International Society of Marine Painters at http://www.ismpart.com/.

Suggestio ns for other sites wo rth mentioning are welcome at shipindex@yahoo.com. See http: //www.shipindex.o rg fo r a co mpilation of over 100,000 ship names from indexes to dozens of books and journals. 1,

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by Stephen H. Gram For the next twen ty-three years, Stri ckl and carried o ur co nsular duties for his country and simultaneo usly engaged in the mercantile rrade in Wes t Africa for his Boston patrons. In 1905, at age sixtyeigh r, he retired fro m co nsular service, serried in D orchester, and became a gentleman fa rmer. In his "retirement," he acted as a commissio n age nt fo r rhe Tennesseebased Luckett-Wake Tobacco Company and closely fo llowed African rrade unti l 19 14 . H e died in 192 1 and was buried in

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New London's Cedar G rove Cem etery.

Strickland's original writings are housed in three m ajor repositories in the US. 1 Ar sea, Captain Strickland kepr meti culous ship's logs. As a merchanr, he m aintained derailed business ledgers wirh names of business parm ers, lisrs of expendirures, and invento ries of ships and ca rgoes. N ot only was he a prolific lerrer writer, both with offi cial business and personal lerrers, bur he kept carbon copies of his outgoing lerrers (over 2,000 lerrers wrirren between 1876 and 192 1). In his reriremem, he transcribed his personal di aries into hardbo und al bums (over 2,500 pages) . At eighty-th ree, in true mariner fas hion, he began his journal entry by scrawling rhe temperature and th e baro meter reading of the day, bu r his shakin g hand let the pen fall in mid-sentence.

Today, rhe Na ti o nal Archi ves and Records Adminisrari o n sto res Strickland's official dispatches as US Co nsul. Included in rhe 272 reports are maps, phorographs, postcards, newspaper clippin gs, telegrams, and special repo rts. Th ese reco rds incl ude inventories of American ships which unloaded and loaded cargo in the po rts of G oree and D aka r, Senegal , marine no res of protest lodged by Am erica n sea captains, cases of reli ef to desriwre sailo rs, registers of offi cial letters sent ro and from the consulate, fees and invo ices, and marine insuran ce docum ents.

Additi o nally, Strickland wro re a book, A Voice from the Deep, published in 1873, giving his assess ment of why sailo rs led such low and dissolute lives-rhey lacked the fin ancial m eans ro sta rt a fa mily, a move char mighr have raised them fro m their depths and nur tured them along th e parh roward srro ng religio us belief and high moral principl es.

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rom New Lo ndo n, Co nn ecricur, Peter Strickland wo rked his way up rhe ranks of rh e merchanr marin e fro m cabin boy in 1852 ro master in 1864. Initially dedicated to trade alo ng rhe eastern seaboard and rhe G ulf Coasr, his vessels lacer ventured to rh e Caribbean, South Am eri ca, and Europe. H e made his first voyage ro Wesr Africa in 1864, carrying ro bacco and lumber, and brought back animal hides to make shoes fo r Uni o n soldiers during rhe C ivil Wa r. In rhe early 1870s, Strickland becam e co nvin ced that New Londo n was no lo nger a reli able locatio n fro m which to secure berths o n merchant ships. W irh his wife and two yo ung children, he moved to the Bos ron suburb of D o rchester. There, he gor a job as an age nr for Bos ron shipowner M atthew Barrlerr, who was send ing a Aeer of merchanr ships up and down rhe coasr of West Afri ca. In 1877, Strickland rook up res idence in Africa. A daughter and a son eventu ally acco mpanied him, while his wife remain ed in Dorchester wirh an other daughte r.

In 1883, the Stare D epartm ent was loo kin g to expand irs limited coverage of th e Afri can continent and sought o ur Peter Strickland as the American most famili ar wirh Wesr Afri ca, Am erican shipping, and rransAdantic rrade. Strickland was offered rhe first US consular posr in rhe French co lo ny of Senegal o n rhe wes ternmost rip of Africa. The contract allowed him ro continue pracricing his business and keep any co nsular fees he received, bu r he wo uld receive no official salary from th e federal government. Strickland accepted.

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(left) The only known portrait ofPeter Strickland appeared in the Na tional Cyclopedia of American Biography (New York, 1899).

CONSULAR DUTIES

Co nsuls today stamp visas, issue passports, and rry ro keep Americans in their jurisdiction o ur of tro uble. The co nsular d uties rhar Peter Strickland perfo rm ed were q ui re di fferent. H e had no auth o rity ro issue pass ports o r scam p visas. H e was vi rrual ly the o nly Ameri ca n living full-time in Senegal. His co nsular services dealt solely w ith visits by Ameri ca n vessels and rheir crews to Senegalese ports.

His duties were to record the arri val of Ame ri can ships in port, certi fy to the health of ships' co mpany, listen ro protests fro m capta in s and crew, rake care of sailors in distress, verify th at shi ps' papers we re in order, receive oaths fro m impo rters as to the valu e of their cargo, and authenti cate fo reign documents to be used in Am eri ca n business and courrs. Consular regul ati o n manuals included as many as 160 forms for consuls to fill our. In addition, consular officers were expected to report signi fica nt happenin gs of political, as well as comme rcial, narure.

WEST AFRICA

Today, an Am erican consul receives airline tickers fo r self and famil y, is met at the airpo rt, and is whisked ro a furni shed residence leased by the embassy. The governm enr covers medical care and education allowances fo r children and provides am eni ties th ro ugh the embassy. Consul Peter Strickland, on the other hand, was on his own. From his home outside Bosron, he had to book passage on a vessel and pay fo r it hi mself. H e preferred passage under sail, which las ted abour a m o nth and cosr him $ 100, whereas rhesream ship voyage ro Wes r Afri ca via Liverpool, Hamburg, or Bordeaux cost $300. Once in Senegal, he negotiated a lease wirh a local landlo rd fo r a residence with a separate room to serve as the co nsulate. Perer Strickland was physical ly loca ted in Africa, bur administrati vely he was liv ing in France, for Senegal was then a French possession. For his business and admiraisrrari ve dealings, he wo rked with the Fren ch, not with Africans.

During his first trip to Africa in 1864

SEA HISTORY 114, SPRING 2006

Goree Island, Senegal

in the schooner Indian Queen, Captain Strickland read over old log books and learned the horrific fact that the vessel "seldom made a voyage without losing one or more of her crew by sickn ess, principally what is called Aftican fever. 1his seems to have been caused by her going to differem places in the Rivers along the Coast where malarious influence is present all the time." 2 Strickland took quinine as a p rophylacti c against malaria and visited the local hospitals for vaccinations against yellow fever.

Washington and Boston paid close attention to Strickland's reports on health conditions in the territory-when yellow fever or cholera was detected onboard an arriving ship, word spread amo ng shipowners and captains to avoid the area or prepare to spend time in quarantine. "The Coast" was co nsidered "the sailors' graveyard."

The State Department assigned Captain Strickland to a post known as "Goree-

Dakar." Goree and Dakar constitute two nearby, but distinct, places in Senegal.

Goree is a forty-five-acre island off the coast, approximately two mil es from the city of Dakar on the mainland. In 1883, Goree and Dakar made up o ne municipality, hence the joint name. The island then served as the major port, the reason why Strickland elected to live the re. On Goree, a natural strategic basalt rock fo rt with cannon and ramparts is still visible today. The island had been fought over as a strategic military and eco nomi c outpost by the Portuguese, Dutch, British , and the French from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Senegal remained French until the country's independence in 1960. Dakar is the national ca pital and, sin ce 1900, has possessed the country's largest port.

Goree is well known as a place from which Africans taken into bondage were packed onto slave ships to make the

Atla ntic crossing to the US, the Caribbean, and South America. Great Britain had outlawed the slave trade in 1807 and emancipated all slaves in the British Empire in 1834. France outlawed slavery by 1848. By the time Strickland arrived in Senegal, the slave trade had ceased, but so me domestic slavery sti ll existed there.

The commerce that Strickland engaged in for most of his professional life invo lved several other islands and trading ports on the African mainland-western trad ers ra rely entered the interi or. Bordering Senegal to the south was Portuguese G uin ea with its main city of Bissau an d other tradin g towns of Cacheu and Bo lama. Further south lay the British co lo ny of Sierra Leone. American vessels stopped at several islands forming the Cape Verde archipelago (then a Portuguese colo ny) , three hundred miles west of Dakar. Strickland moved freely from French to British to

Peter Strickland set up the consular office and his residence on the island of Goree, just off the westernmost tip of the continent. This 1865 map ftom the Bouillet Atlas, published by Hachette in Paris, indicates by colors the West Aftican towns administered by five European powers. .\ti

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SEA HI STORY 114, SPRING 2006

33

flt.

Aftri que O coidentale - GOREE -

L e P o vt

quantities and value domina ting the manifest. Other items included a selection of manufactured househ o ld goods and foodstuffs.

On her return trip, the same ship carried mostl y skins and rubber totalling just hal f the value of what she brought in .

An examination of other Strickland reco rds reveals dozens of other rypes of American m erchandise unloaded at Go ree-D akar between 1884 and 1904, amo ng them: whale products, anchors and chains, cordage, pork, beef, and From 1883 to 19 05, Peter Strickland served as the first US consul to Senegal. He both lived and worked in ham, cattle, codfish and the white building to the left on Goree Island, pictured in this vintage postcard. The building still stands and is herring, lobsters, oysters, now painted crimson, a landmark visible to allferry p assengers from D akar who disembark at the Goree pier. oranges and apples, catPortuguese territories within a five hun- and down th e west coas t of Africa (117) sup, sarsaparilla, a sugar mill, a windmill, dred-square- mile area. Africans in th ese and voyages that made the crossin g to and cigars and rum , baby carriages, bicycles, colonies were subjects of their respective from the U nited States (1 15). 3 The ships washstands and cradles, rocking chairs, European powers. The colonization pro- for whi ch Strickland kept reco rds rarely organs and other musical instruments, cess was still taking place. The Berlin Co n- sailed "no n-stop," and ships regul arly clocks and lamps, and ice. Most of these ference organized by Bi smarck to divide called at pons in the Caribbean, So uth products wo uld be sold to the large French up African territories among European America, and th e southeastern US before mercantile ho uses headquartered in Borpowers took place the same year Strick- com pleting th e circuit. deaux and Marseilles, which maintained land opened his consulate, 1883. No one branch commercial outlets or "comptoirs" These ships hai led from just six states: at that time envisaged decolo nization, th e New E ngland states of Massachusetts, along the West African coast. The outlets, much less African independence, which M aine, Rh ode Island, and Connecticut, in turn, wo uld sell wholesale to French would transpire less than a century later. plus New York and Pennsylvan ia. These merchants.

Between 1890 and 1901 twelve cardata reveal the predominance of MassaTHE WEST AFRICAN TRADE: THE SHIPS chusetts in the West African trade. W hile goes of ice from Maine lakes and ponds During his twenry-one full years as of- Strickland noted m erely the raw data re- were unloaded at Goree-D~:ir. The largest ficial consul (1884-1904) , Peter Strickland gardin g stops by American vessels from quanti ry registered at five hundred tons, recorded information on 255 visits by sev- year to year, in the dispatches he sent the transported in the three-mas ted schooenry-eight American ships: two-masted State Department, and in letters and his ner Jose Oliviera in 1887, packed in 300 schooners (43), barques (13), brigs (11 ), jo urn al, the co nsul explain ed the down- bags of sawdust for insulation . In 1901, three-masted schooners (6) , and barquen- ward trend of American shipping, which a brig imported forry-two tons of ice, the tines (5) . Each had been built between he witnessed over two decades. In the first las t time this item was listed on consular 1858 and 1892 in shipyards located in ten years of his tenure, 176 American ves- records.

Maine (45), Massachusetts (30), Connect- sels stopped at Goree-Dakar, in the last The African products shipped aboard icut (1), New Hampshire (1) , and New eleven years, o nl y sevenry-nine. Strickland Jennie Cushman, although not arypical, did York (1 ), with a range in tonnage from attributed the decline to increased compe- not necessarily reflect the primary exports 35 to 790 tons, ave raging 304 tons. The tition from Western Europe and a dimin- from the region. Groundnuts or peanuts, highest tonnage belo nged to the barque ished interest in West African trade from different rypes of fossil resins (gum araWillard Mudgett of Boston and th e low- Am erican merchants and shipowners. bic and gum copal), and palm oil kern els est was the schooner TVC. Hawes from dominated exports to the US. Gum arabic C hatham , Massachusetts. was used for candies and pills, gum copal THE WEST AFRICAN TRADE: CARGO For the most part, one ca n divide the An 1886 cargo list from the barque Jen- was used to malke varnish. itineraries of the 255 arrivals into two nie Cushman reveals a varied, but rypical, The stated value of inbound cargo to equal categories: voyages that moved up cargo with tobacco in disproportionate the port of Goree-Dakar over the yea rs

34

SEA HISTORY 114, SPRING 2006

1884-1904 averaged $11,792; the lowest value was $40 for a single cargo, rhe highest was $53,343 . The outbound cargo during this same time averaged $8,461 , with a low of $40 for one cargo and a high of $34,260 for another. American ships made stops in Cape Verde, Bathurst, Bissau, Sierra Leone, the Rivers, and St. Louis or Rufisque in Senegal.

PETER STRICKLAND'S OBSERVATIONS ON AFRICAN TRADE

As part of his consular duties, Peter Strickland included his assessment of the general co mmercial sirnarion in the region .

In an 1884 dispatch, Strickland estimated the annual amount of American trade in West Africa . H e poimed to the fierce competition with the French. "The amount of American trade cannot be less than one million dollars in value, bur of this only about one fifth part is brought here

by Americans who have been constantly driven off by the competition because the conditions of the trade are against them.

French agems in Boston and New York buy such goods as can b e obtained and ship them directly in foreign vessels." 4 When Strickland established the consulate, he recognized that the US controlled only about rwenty percem of the local import marker- the rest belonged to France. In his reports as consul, he explained th at, when he first arrived in West Afri ca, the large French commercial houses employed agents in the United States to buy goods and transport them in American ships. In the 1860s and 1870s, the French in Senegal employed rhe few American commercial agems working in West Africa (Strickland was one) and placed their orders through them. Two decades later, the French handled each stage of the trade operation them selves .

In an 1887 dispatch, Strickland expanded his list of competitors from "French" to "European." H e co nfirm ed that Ameri can merchants were being bypassed. "Ir is for the interest of all large European concerns to disco urage as much as possible direct trade with America: hence they curtail their d ealing wit h res ident American merchants and import such articles of American production as are absolutely needed in rhe prosecution

SEA HISTORY 114, SPRING 2006

of their business, either through their corres pondents in Europe or if the articles be bulky sometimes direct from America."

In 1891, Strickland Iamen red that the Europea ns were conquering the W est African marker with their large fast steamships while the United States was still sending a few meager sailing vessels. In a letter to a fri end in N ew York City, he wrote in metaphoric terms, "Uncle Sam is taking the sleep of Rip van Winkle wh il e the parasites of Europe are corrupting his blood."

In the 1880s and 1890s the United States exported a long list of products to West Africa; by the turn of the century the inventory had declined substantially.

Strickland wrote to a business colleague in Providence in 1903, "There is nothing American sold here except tobacco, petroleum , and cotton seed oil."

In 1895 , Strickland reported that the stability of American commerce in the region was threatened by a new "discriminating duty of seven percent levied by the Government of this Colony and, I believe, by the Government of nearly all the French colonies on all imported goods that are nor produced in France. This tariff came into existence in just three months after our own McKinl ey tariff began ro rake effect." Ten yea rs later, Strickland left Senegal for good, not only in ill health, but disillusioned with the decreased American commercial presence.

Strickland's first merchant trip to West Africa brought back animal hides ro make shoes for Civil War soldiers. He moved there to set up business because he was awed by the expanse and accessibi li ty of Africa-ten million inhabitants living within his jurisdiction with an immense coastlin e. H e saw rhe promise of vast marketing opportunities for hi s country w ithout losing sight of the risks associated with living and trading in Africa.

Strickland's reco rds reveal many rich derails concerning the historic trade berween the east coast of the US and the west coast of Africa, plus the types of sailing vessels that engaged in this trade and rhe value and precise quantities of their diverse cargoes.

While recognizin g the boon to American industry in a post-Civil War econom y, Strickland noted a steady decline in the

number of v1sns by American vessels.

Competition with European powers and hi gh tariffs ultimately proved too stiff for American commerce to thrive pas t the turn of the century. When he traveled in 1883 from Boston to Goree on his own dime to rake up the job as consul, he sailed as a passenger on a 274-ton barqu e.

Wh en Strickland retired from co nsular service and returned ro New England on his last sea voyage in 1905 , he traveled by stea m . He and his daughter took the 6,379-ton French steamer La Cordillere from Go ree to Bordeaux and transferred ro the White Star Line's RMS Republic in Liverpool to sail to Bosron . Bracketing hi s ca reer abroad was the transition from sail to steam-a shift in the maritime world that was nearly complete upon hi s retirement. J,

RMS Republic ~

Peter Strickland booked passage to Senegal to set up the US Consul's office in 1883 aboard the barque Jenni e C ushman. Twenty years later, he traveled home to Boston on the steamship RMS Republic.

Notes 1 Repositories in Washington, D C, Mys tic, CT, and Newark, DE. 2 Perer Strickland journal, 2 1 April 1864.

University of D elaware, Special Collections, fo lder 3.

3 Not all data were recorded for the 255 arrivals . Averages were calculated for the ships with complete information, in this exa mple 232 ships.

4 Department of State, NARA RG 59, Strickland dispatch no. 8, 10 April 1884.

Stephen Grant, a native of Boston, served as a diplomat in West Africa for twenty years. lhe author of three books on old postcards, he is currently writing a biography of Peter Strickland.

35

AsHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS ff/fl/ SPUN YARN

The Independence Seaport Museum Library in Philadelphia has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation for a one-year project. 1he project is to organize and catalogue two recently acquired primary source document coll ectio ns: the records of Seamen's Church Institute, of Philadelphia, a home away from home for seafarers since the 1840s, and the records ofJohn E. Hand & So ns Co., a m ajor supplier to the US Navy during World War II and a local manufacturer of nautical instruments dating back to 1873. Finding aids will then be created to enable researchers to locate the specific materials they need. The library's holdings include 12,000 vo lumes in the general reference collection, more than 400 rare books, over 9,000 ships plans, abo ut 25,000 items in its image files, and many co llections of letters, diaries, logs and business papers. (21 1 So uth Columbus Blvd. & Walnut St., Phi ladelphia, PA 19106; Ph. 215 4 13-8658; www. phillyseaport. org) . . . A crowd of 2,000 and a fleet of 7 visiting "Tall Ships" witnessed the successful launch of half of the John Smith Shallop in early November in Chestertown, Maryland. Governor Robert Ehrlich separated the two halves of the

boat and launched the stern half (nam ed "Maryland") into the waters of the C hester River. The forward half of rhe shallop (nam ed "Virginia") will be launched in No rfo lk, Virginia, in March of next year in preparation for the 2007 reenactment of Smi rh's voyage that will depart from Historic Jamestowne in May 2007. 1 h e shallop (both halves) is currently o n view in the Maryland State House befo re it embarks on a tour of museums in the C hesapeake. Incidemally, the shallop was built in two halves to replicate the original, which 36

electrical system suftered th e most serious damage.1h e fire was confin ed to a lO 'x lO ' space outside of the CPO mess forward on the starboard side. There was no fire damage on the other side of the bulkhead in the C PO head or in the spaces below. The bottom line is tha t the C PO Passage, CPO Mess, and the m ain deck passageway above will require heavy cleaning, re-insulating, and repainting. The berthing space forward of the mess deck and all the compartments in the superstructure will need thorough cleaning. Basic clean up began immedia tely. There have been initial conversations with their insurance agent, a marin e surveyo r from their underwriter, and Scarano Boatyard to discuss the best m ethod of making repairs. The hull insurance policy has a high deductible, which reportedy was shipped to Virgi ni a in two made it affordable ir1 th e first place. 111ree pieces in the hold of a ship. (Sultana Proj- days afte r the fire, there was a record midects, Inc. , 105 South Cross St. , POB 524, winter turnout of twenty volunteers who Chestertown, MD 21620; Ph . 4 10 778- showed up ready ro work. Based on the 5954; www.johnsmith400.org; e-mail: experience of the fire, they will be impledmcm ullen@schoonersultana.org) m enting several safety improvements.

On 4 January, a fire broke out onboard With nearly three months to effect repairs USS Slater at her winter berth in Rens- befo re re-opening to the public, hopes are selaer, NY. 111e fi re was started by stray high, but volunteer labor and financial supsparks from a welding project that was port are needed more than ever. Tin Can part of the restoration of the forward Sailors, Inc. and The Albany Port District head. 111is space is immediatel y adjacent Commission already have made major doto the passageway o utside the CPO mess, nations to the recovery effort. Her design forward on the starboard side. A fire-retar- as a wa rship to withstand battle damage, dant canvas, rigged to protect the rest of truly helped minimize the effects of the the ship from the dirt and dust, ignited. fire. She can still take it. (D estroyer Escort The C0 2 fire extinguishers used were inef- Histo rical Museum, USS Slater D E-766, fective against a C lass A fire. The compart- POB 1926, Alban y, NY 12201; Ph. 518 ment filled with smoke and the area was 43 1- 1943 e-mail: shipsde766@aol.com ; evacuated. 111e fire departments located www. ussslater.org) ... SS Lane Victory, the so urce of the fire with a thermal im- at Berth 94, San Pedro, CA, is looking aging camera and extinguished the flames. for volunteers to work in the office. No The canvas had set fire to several old experience necessary. SS Lane Victory is a WWII-era kapok life jackets that were on fully operational WWII cargo ship, veta shelf above the canvas. D espite the fact eran of three wa rs, owned and operated that all the watertight doors were closed, by the US Merchant Marine Veterans of smoke filled the entire superstructure from WWII, non-profir, all volunteer organizathe m ess decks to the pilothouse. The ti on. In other departments, volunteers are needed for gangway watch (greeting visitors), as Tour G uides, on deck (chipping USS Slater and painting), and engine room (steam turbine). (SS Lame Victory, POB 629, San Pedro, CA, 90733-0629 Ph. 3 10 5 199545 ; e-mail: sslanevictory@juno.com; www.lanevictorY'.org) ..â&#x20AC;˘ Bill Thiesen, most recently the curator and assistant

john Smith ShaUop in the Maryland State House

SEA HISTORY 114, SPRING 2006

director at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, has accepted a position with the US Coast Guard. Thiese n will serve as rhe USCG's Arlanric Area Hisro rian, working our of rheir Arlantic Area Co mmand Center in Ports mouth , Virginia. As a result, the Wisconsin M aritime Museum is seeking an experienced curator with expertise in maritime history. WMM is an AAM accredi ted insriturio n and Smi thsonian Affiliate. Q uali fied candidares are enco uraged to ap ply. See details at www. wisconsinmari time.o rg or con tact Executive D irector, No rma Bishop, e-mail: nbis hop@wisconsinmaririm e. org. (WMM, 75 Maritime D rive, Mani towoc, WI 54220; Ph. 920-684-02 18) ... The Baltimore & Chesapeake Steamboat Company has placed an all-new web presentation at:

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SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT AND MUSEUM NEWS Ancient Oak Uprooted by Hurricane Katrina Helps Restore Historic Ship

A

n 800-year-old live oak tree once stood prominently in from of Dr. Charles and Sandra Lobrano's home in Long Beach , Mississippi. Thar was before

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(top) Sandra Lobrano in front ofher 800year-old live oak at her home in Mississippi; (a bove) another downed tree slated for Charles W Morgan, also in Mississippi.

Hurricane Karrina. Nearly ren percel1[ of the live oaks along the Mississippi coast were damaged, including the Lobranos' prized oak, split in half by Karrina. To save ir from rhe ch ipper, rhe Lobranos decided to donare rhe fallen half to a restorarion efforr of whar's beli eved to be rhe world's last wooden whaling ship, Charles W Morgan, pan of Mysric Seaporr Museum's Beer of historic ships.

Mysric's shipwrighrs are using 170 live oak rrees uproored by rhe storm in four Mississippi coasral ciries to restore rhe 164-year-old ship.

The lumber acquired rhere will be used to rebui Id parrs of rhe fram e, keel, and srern- and srernposrs. Live oak is an ideal choice for ship

consrruction because of irs strengrh, density, and resistance to rot. TI1e roots and branches are also valued as compass rimber. According to Mys ri c's shipyard director, Quenrin Snediker, "Live oak was so importal1[ to n arional defense [for naval shipbuilding], ir became rhe firsr species to be prorecred by rhe federal governmel1[."

An estimared 200 of rhe 2,000 live oaks along rhe coast in rhe cities of Biloxi, Pass Christian, Long Beach, and Gulfport were uprooted in the storm. Sandra Lobrano said her family's tree was a cherished, living relic. "There's a lot of stories about the live oaks on the coast," she said. "They' re just special trees." Snediker said he was surp rised when the Lobranos called to donate their tree.

Most of rhe rrees on the couple's 40acre property were destroyed. "It's a very meaningful gift on rheir part," Snediker said.

Ir is nor rhe firsr rime Mys ric has used wood salvaged from areas ravaged by a hurricane. The museum also saved fallen live oak rrees from areas damaged by Hurricanes Hugo and Ivan. The wood from Hugo was used to help build rhe schooner Amistad and repair the steamer Sabino.

Lumber salavaged from Hurricane Ivan's devas tarion has been saved for rh e res toration of rhe Morgan. Approximarely 50 tons of live oak is already ar M ys ric for th e restoration proj ecr, set for spring of 2007. Mysric Seaport wi ll need 200 tons of finished oak for the ship's $3. 5 million restoration proj ect. Work on the whaling ship is expected to take abour rhree years to complete. Snediker is working wirh conrractors and town officials in Mississippi in the pl anning process to remove rh e remaining live oak rrees.

- Mystic Seaport SEA

HlS ~ TORY

114, SPRING 2006

(continuted from page 37) Frank Braynard will be honored July 26th at South Street Seaport. TI1e "Frank 0. Bray nard Commem orative Sail" sailboats will compete in short-co urse Beet racing off the Battery with the Atlantis serving as the spectator boat. The Award Cerem ony follows aboard Peking. One of th e architects of the 1976 Op Sail Tall Ships Bicentennial, Frank Braynard is also credited as the fa ther of th e ''Around Lon g Island Regatta." Frank's so n , D ave Braynard , will score th e music fo r the ceremony and NMHS chairman em erims Howard Slotnick and pres ident em e ritus Peter Stanford, who helped organize the 1976 Op Sail with Frank, will sp eak. The "Around Long Island Regatta" begins the fo llowing afte rnoo n. Fo r more derailed in formation, visit: www.alir.org.

April 26th will mark the SOth anniversary of the first voyage of a containership. (See article, pages 8-11 of this issue).

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T'AKE A SIX HOUR ''Voyagiinto History'" featuring music of the 40's by a live "'Big Band!"' See reenactors demonstrating military equipment and vehicles. Watch an exciting air show with flybys by several WWII aircraft (weather permitting). Enjoy a continental breakfast and a great all·you·c an·eat buffet lunch. Tour the whole ship. in cluding the engine room, museums. cargo holds. crew's quarters and bridge.

OUR2006 DAY CRUlSES June 24, September 2, October 7 All cru ises depart from Baltimore, Maryland

Cost for each guest- $125. Inquire about Group Discounts.

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www.liberty-ship.com We accept VISA, MasterCard and Discover. Cruise profits maintain th is Lib erty Ship Memorial. A portion of your payment may be tax deductible. Officers and crew licensed and documented by the U.S. Coast Gu ard.

SEA HISTORY 114, SPRING 2006

39

SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT AND MUSEUM NEWS In January, the New Bedford Whaling Museum started restoration work on their half-scale fully-rigged model of the whaling ship Lagoda. The barque dominates a large gallery at the museum, with its sails set and whaling gear ri gged . Estimated cost of the repairs will be $2 50,000 and th e museum is seekin g donations m help fund the proj ect. While the sh ip is being resmred , the Bourne Building, which houses the model, is also being repaired and rep ainted. When both projects

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Gunboat Mound City.

A reader submitted the pho m above in hopes that someone mi ght recognize it and be able m shed some light o n mo re of its hismry. Here's what we have been ab le m co me up with so far. Mound City, an armored gunboat, was the first of seven gunboats off the Mound C ity, Illin ois, ways in 1861. The most famou s of that class was USS Cairo-troops called them "Pook Turtles ." After she was fined out, she was assigned to Augustus Kil ty, and it was fro m "U ncle G us" that the phom was inherited by the M acsherry fa mil y of Baltim o re. The Navy ho nored Rear Admiral Kil ty with a destroyer escort named for him , launched aro und 1923. USS Kilty was refi tted fo r WWII and wo n eleve n battle stars in the Pacific theatre.

Mound City ultimately survived rhe Civil War, bur, in 1862 o n th e W hite River, Arkansas, Kil ty had gotten her imo hot action when hidden Co nfererate artill ery on the ri ver banks began bombarding the boat and its crew. A lucky shot blew the boiler, whi ch immediately exploded, and Kil ty lost his left arm. H e somehow managed m get the boa r downriver and out of harm's way, bur the loss of life was considerable (mostly fro m the men who jumped overboard and we re shoe in the wa ter), a m eal of 125 men killed. She was decommissioned when the war was over, was sold in November 1865, and broken up in 1866.

If yo u recognize the phom or any piece of this smry and can share mo re derails, we'd love m hear from you. (E- mai l: ed irorial@seahismry.o rg; Sea H istory edimrial offi ce: 7 T imberknoll Rd. , Pocasset, MA 02559)

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New Bedfo rd Whaling Museum's halfscale model, Lagoda are co mpl eted , Lagoda will be moored underneath a ceili ng paimed m represent the night sky. (NBWM, 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bed fo rd, MA 02740; Ph. 508 9970046; www.w halingmuseum.org) The listserv, H -Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online, has announced the new list, H-Maritime, a listserv specifically for maritime historians. HM aritime is fo r scholars interested in marmme hism ry, archaeology, literature, policy, and sundry other areas of i nves tigatio n m discuss research inrerests, teaching methods, and the state of maritime affairs.

As an inrernati o nal electronic discussion group focused on scholarly mpics, H M aritime is especially interes ted in methods of teachin g m college srndem s in diverse senings . H-Maritime is currently edited by Thomas Goetz and T im othy Lynch. Logs and more information can also be located at: http://www.h-net.org/ ~ maritime . To join H-Maritime, send a m essage from the accoum whe re yo u wish m receive ma il, to : listserv@h-net.msu. edu (with onlly this text: sub H-Maritime firstn ame lastrname, instirution- i.e.: sub H -M aritim e ]Les Jones, Pacifi c State U).

j:, 40

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SEA HISTORY l 14, SPRIN G 2006

FESTNALS, EvENTS, LECTURES, ETC.

CONFERENCES

CALL FOR PAPERS

•Music Through Time Concert, Jonathan Edwards, 3 March ar 8rM ar rhe New Bedford Whaling Museum (18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA 02740; Ph. 508 997-0046; www.whalingmuseum.org) •2006 Chicago Maritime Festival, 11 March in Chicago, Illinois. (Ph. 773 774-7216; rickers avai lable o nline ar www. chicagomaririmefesrival.org) •"CSS Shenandoah and the Final Shot of the Civil War," 11 March ar noon, rhe USS Constellation Museum. Lecrure by William Connery, aurhor of The Washington Times Civil \X0r Page and The Civil War Courier. Also ...

•"African-Americans in the US Navy," 8 April ar 2rM. Lecrure by Regina T. Akers, PhD, Assisranr Branch Head, Operarional Archives Branch of rhe Naval Historical Cenrer (USS Constellation, Pier 1, 30 1 Easr Prarr Srreer Balrimore, MD 21202; Phone. 410 539-1797; www.consrellarion.o rg) •Maine Boatbuilders Show. 17-19 March, Porrland, Maine. (58 Fore Sr., Pordand , ME 04101; info: Pordand Yachr Services, Ph. 207 774- 1067; www. porrlandyachr. com) •Great Florida Gulf Coast Small Craft Festival, 1-2 April in Correz, FL. (Florid a Gulf Coasr Maririme Museum at Correz, POB 100,Correz,FL342 15; Ph.94 17084935; e-mail: RogerAllen@Manareeclerk. com; www.FGCSCF.org) •"The Music of World War II," 1 Ap ril ar 2PM ar rhe Independence Seaporr Museum . Reservarions requested. (21 1 Sourh Columbus Blvd. & Walnur Sr., Philadelphia, PA 19 106; Ph. 215 4 13-8658; www. phillyseaporr.org) •"Soviet Submarines of the Cold War," 10 April ar 7:3 0PM. Lecrure by Gary Weir, PhD ar rhe Maritime M useum of San Diego. (1492 North Harbor Dr., San Diego, CA 9210 1; Ph. 619 234-9153 exr. 10 1; e- mail : info@sdmar irime.org; www.sdmaritime.org) •Cape Cod Maritime Days, 13-21 May all around Cape Cod, MA. (www.capecodmaririmedays.com)

•The Classic Yacht Symposium, Herreshoff Marine Museum and The Sociery of Naval Archi recrs and Marine Engineers, 3 1 March-2 April 2006 (HMM, POB 45 0, One Burnside Sr., Bristo l, RI 02809; Ph. 401 253-5000; www.herreshoff.org) •International Log Boat Symposium, 68 Ap ril 2006 ar rhe Norrh Carolin a Mari rime Museum . (315 Fronr Sr., Beauforr, NC 285 16; Ph. 252 728-73 17; e-mail paul.fonrenoy@ncmail.ner) •North American Society for Oceanic History (NASOH) Annual Meeting, "Charting the Inland Seas: Recent Studies in Great Lakes Research," 1-4 June in Manitowoc, WI. Submi r regisrrarion forms and paymenrs no larer rhan 5 May 2006. (Co-Chairs - Victor Mastone, e-mail: victor.mastone@srare.ma.us; Jeff Gray, e-mail: jeff.gray.noaa.gov. Info: W isconsin Maririme Museum, 75 Maririme Drive, Manitowoc, WI 54220)

Acceprin g proposals for papers in History, Folklore, Lirerarure, Erhnomusicology, or orher appropriare disciplines rhar address any aspecr of music or verse of rhe sea or inland warers from rhe Age of Sail rhrough rhe presenr day. Deadline: 10 March. Audiovis ually illusrrared presenrarions are welcome. Papers selecred musr be submined in final fo rm by 7 May. Speakers will receive an honorarium, lodgi ng and meals, modesr rravel subsidy, and free admission to rhe fes rival weekend. Submir proposals and a brief curriculum vira or res ume to: Dr. Glenn Gordinier, arm: Symposium WilliamsMysric Program (75 Greenmanville Ave., Mysri c, CT 06355; Ph. 860 572-07 11 ; e-mail: glenn. gordinier@mysricseaporr. org; www.mys ricseapon.org)

SEA HISTORY 11 4, SPRING 2006

EXHIBITS

•Life at Sea: The Sailor's View, unril 23 Apri l. Norrh Carolina Maririme M useum. (3 15 Wisconsin Maritime Museum Fronr Sr., Beauforr, NC 285 16; Ph. 252 728-73 17; e-mail: maririme@ncmail. ner) •Launching Liberty: The Connecticut Valley in the American Revo•99th Annual Meeting of the Organi- lution, opens 6 May 2006. Connecricut zation of American Historians and the River Museum ar Sreamboar Dock. Coin28th Annual Meeting of the National cides wirh rhe re-opening of rhe museum Council on Public History will be held afrer renovarions. (67 Main Sr., Essex, joindy in Washington, DC, 19-22 April CT 06426; Ph. 860 767-8269; e-mail: crm@crrivermuseum.org; www.crriver2006 (www.oah.org/meerings/2006/) museum.org) •Maritime History Symposium, 6-8 May ar rhe Maine Maritime M useum •"Boatloads of Ben: Franklin's 'Strong (243 Washington Sr., Barh, ME 04530; Inclination for the Sea'," rhrough 24 Ph. 207 443- 1316; www.mai nemaririme- Seprember ar rhe Independence Seaporr Museum (2 11 Sourh Columbus Blvd. & museum .org) Walnur Sr., Philadelphia, PA 19106; Ph. •10th Annual Cape Cod Maritime His215 4 13-8658; www.p hillyseaporr.org) tory Symposium, 13 May in Hyannis, •The Yachting Photography of Willard MA. (Cape Cod Maririme Research AsB. Jackson, 20 May - 19 Nov. 2006, Peasociarion; Ph. 508 362-3027; www.ecapebody Essex Museum (Easr India Square, chamber.com/MaririmeDays) Salem, MA 01970; Ph. 978 745-95 00 or •International Lighthouse Conference, 866 7451876; ~.pem.org) 1-4 June, Southampton, Ontar io, Canada (Ph. 866 797-5862; www.chanrryis- •Women in the Fisheries: A Contemporary View, rhrough June 2006 ar rhe land.com) •Mystic Seaport Museum's 27th Annual Ma ine Maritime Museum (243 Wash ingSymposium "Music of America and the ton Sr., Bath, ME 045 30; Ph. 207 443Sea," 10 June ar Mysric Seaporr Museum. 13 16; www.mainemaririmemuseum.org) 41

Tugs: The Guiding Force.

The slory of the development of the tugboat inclust1y in one of the busiest seaports in the world is a remarkable one, a nd '.\4attcson delivers it in rich and lively detail. ... The 1>hotographs alone, with extensive captioning, mnke this book worth buying.

-WORKBOAT

A brave and jaunty disquisilion, copiously illustrated . . .. Written with bound less enthusiasm and affection for it subject, and with

more than a little longing for the days when ships of all kinds dominated t he rhythm oflife in and around the city's endless waterways.

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Reviews Tugboats of New York: An Illustrated History by George Matteson (New York

genealogies with a raco nteur's grace that only comes from having been an avid listener-all those hours in the wheelhouse with an empty run home. From here it is an easy segue to the lmottier sto ry of labor relations in New York harbor. 111e compassio nate rendering of the seemingly endless and contentious labor-management wrangling is succinctly summed up as "two bald men arguing over a comb."

This is the heart of the book, for it also tracks the rise and fal l of tugboats in the harbor- there is simply not much work

Universiry Press, October 2005, 272pp, illus, notes, biblio, index, I SBN: 0-81 475708-1; $39.95 hc) The seducti ve promise of the fogdrenched images on the dust jacket of Tugboats of New York is more than fulfilled in the comprehensive contents. George Matteson has written a history of tugboats and the harbor "through the hawse." His twenty-so me years of experience on w gs, from deck to wheelhouse, inform the eloquent text and subtle selection of photographs (which could make a fine art book in themselves).

C~oaG E MATTE SO S Ir is nigh impossible not to open a book like this and peruse at random- the quality of the photographs is topnotch and th e captions provide a derailed history. Rewards are greater, though, when yo u actually read the book from beginning to end. The author is a captain, mind you, used to keeping immense Roaring ton- left for them to do. Condominiums have nages under co ntrol, working with rides, replaced factories along the waterfront; piers currents, weather and rhe vagaries of hu- now host sports complexes instead of ocean m an behavior, to complete the voyage. We liners. The sto ry now begins to reAect the can certainly trust him to keep the narrative elegiac tone of the dust jacket-the sum of under control. the parts give tribute to tl1e "ancient unruly There is th e more or less chronological traditions of the harbor," echoed in the fine history of the development o f towing ves- li ttle epilogue: " ... and his answer made me sels and propulsion, but then he delicately doubt that he wou ld go back on the boats weaves in the social and political currents again." Perhaps, but we will go back time swirling about the industry. Matteson man- and again to the stories.

ARDEN SCOTT ages to keep the flow of information runGreenport, New York ning smoothly between fact, anecdote, surmise, and story. Just when you think you are getting bogged down in C ivil War towTemple to the Wind: The Story of ing finan ces, there is a brilliant exposition America's Greatest Naval Architect and o n the shifting of barges. Who wouldn't His Masterpiece, Reliance by C hristopher read carefully to find out the derails about Pastore (Lyo ns Press, Guilford, CT, 2005 , the "Sing Sing Stampede"?

304 pp, photo , illus, gloss, notes, biblio, The postwar industrial exuberance of ISBN: 1-59228-557-0; $22.95hc) the nineteenth century is refl ected in the Traditional maritime historians and design of tugs-single screw propulsion, historians of yachting sometimes seem richly paneled wheelhouses-and in the poised on either side of a concepwal G rand rise of dynastic towing companies (Mo- Canyo n so broad that understanding, even ran and McAl lister are still fami liar names empathy, is impossible. From the yachting in the port). Matteson eases through the side of the chas m, I hope that my friends

SEA HISTORY 114, SPRlNG 2006

o n the commercial and naval side can open themselves to the notion that pleasure boating is in co ntinui ty with, not a disruption against, the histo ry of human engagement with the sea. The story does not begin or end with d1e yacht America.

For example, the constructi on of the yawl Bolero by rh e H enry B. Nevins Shipyard in 1949 was as co mplex and, in its own milieu, as consequential as that of a clipper ship a century earlier. As confirmed by the late Nicholas D ean in Snow Squall: The Last American Clipper Ship (Maine M aritime Museum, 2001) , each vessel began with a dream, each presenred asto unding technical and economic challenges, and each embodied the labor and hopes of wo rking class co mmunities of C ity Island, New York, and Cape Elizabeth, M aine. Once launched, each vessel went off to a long, successful , and by no means easy career.

This compariso n suggests that one foundation on which to build a span across our unfortunate canyo n is with the stories of vessels and their creators. An excellent starting point is die autobiograp hy of d1e dominant yacht designer from 1930- 1980, Olin Stephens's ALL This and Sailing, Too (Mys tic Seaport, 1999). Next on the list of required reading is the sto ry of d1e greatest of al l single- masted racing yachts and of its designer and builder, Nathanael G reene H erreshoff, in Temple to the Wind by C hristopher Pas tore.

In addition to provid ing a derailed history of one of the most important America's C up matches, Pastore offers rhe best representatio n I have read of the complex wo rld of building and sai ling a vessel at the very highest level. Using the fruits of his resea rch in America and Britain, he has recounted the story of 1903 Cup defender Reliance, one even more remarkable and strange than I ever anricipared. One of the few boats that really deserves the label "icon," at 143'8" from stem to stern, Reliance was, until recently, the largest racing sloop ever built.

Financed by anon ymous millionai res, created by the sometim es-perverse Herreshoff, co mmanded by the ruthless and brilliant

43

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Charlie Barr (another Bully Samuels), and crewed by sixty Scandinavian professional seamen, this was the most high-rech boat of her day. Pastore advances his story by alternating chapters about the rwo key figures-H erreshoff, who had to be persuaded to design the boat in the first place, and Sir 1homas Lipton, the perpetual America's C up challenger and not exactly the jolly character that he portrayed in public.

People who assume that yachting is a genteel pas time will have their eyes opened here. Built using sophisticated composite techniques, which H erreshoff pioneered, Reliance was a yachting version of a warship-a complex tool created to serve the single purpose of her owners and commander. Alrhough photographs emphasize ruthless force, she was pared ro the bone and potentially fragile. After she handily beat Lipton's Shamrock III to win rhe America's C up, Lipton's friends tried to console him wirh accolades abour his boat's beauty. "I don't want a beautiful boat," Lipton snapped back. "W hat I want is a boat to win the cup-a Reliance. G ive me the homeliest boat that was ever designed, if she is like Reliance."

By rakin g rhis remarkable quote and placing it in rhe context of an extraordinary moment in maritime history, Pastore's book will help secure the bridge that spans rhar unfortunate chasm between maritime and yachting historians.

Jo HN Ro usMANIERE New York, New York

Ships' Fastenings: From Sewn Boat to Steamship by M ichael McCarthy (Texas A&M University Press, 200 5, 248 pp, photos, drawings, appen, biblio, index, ISBN: 1-58544-45 1-0; $65 hc) The devices thar hold ships together is a topic rhar most readers mighr find somewhat mundane, yet, from the smallest native craft to the largest ocean-going ships, all vessels needed these small and essential compo nents to keep their hull components together. M ichael M cCarthy, a member of rhe D epartment of Maritime Archaeology at rhe Western Australian Maritime M useum, has provided his readers wirh a tho ughtful, well-researched, and superbly documented treatise on ships' fas tenings on an international scale.

H aving participated in the archaeological excavation of a number of ships for m ore than thir ty years, M cCarthy concluded that d1ere was need fo r some typology for this class of artifac ts. H e determined to separate fastenings broadly into two typological groups-organic and metallic-and furth er divided these objects into smaller subsections and types. This book, however, is far mo re rhan a dry catalogue of fastenings through the ages . M cCarthy offers insight and background into the processes by which artisans secured ship's hulls and discusses copper sheathing and the advances in metallurgy. Interestingly, the author examined underwriting and insurance records because Lloyds and other insurers compiled dara on fastenings. This information guided the underwriting industry to determine the most suitable fo rms and methods for fastening ships.

TI1e evolution of fastenings is a theme M cCarthy weaves throughout the book.

This is a process that was driven by experimentation, innovation, and changing technical processes. Propelling rhe overall development, of course, was the use of different ship building materials and advancing technologies, as well as the increasing size of ships in general.

With over 100 valuable illustrations accompanying the text, this book is a scholarly tool not m eant for the casual reader.

N onetheless, m odel builders, collections managers, conserva tors, archaeologists, amateur boat builders, and maritime historians will all find this book enlightening and useful. For many it will be indispensable.

ROB ERT BROWNING Dumfries, Virginia

lhe Allure of Toy Ships: American & European Nautical Toys from the 19th and 20th Centuries by Richard T. Claus (Antique Collector's C lub, 2005 , illus, photos, biblio, index, ISBN: 1-851 49-5010; $59.50hc) TI1is book does no r pretend to be a definiti ve catalogue of every toy boat ever made or a narrative of the history of toy boars. 1he autho r makes this clear in his forward. What ilt is, however, is a detailed acco unt of his extraordinary collection , which is in itself a comprehensive representation of the world of toy boats.

SEA HfSTORY 114, SPRING 2006

As a collecto r of tin toy boats myself (when I can afford them) , I can say that this book is about as good as it gets. The extensive photography is beautiful, and the range of the collection is phenomenal. From cast metal and wooden Boor boats to wo rking tin submarines, ocean liners and battleships-they're al l here.

In a day and age when most chil dren's toys are plastic and probably co mputeri zed in some way, th is window into the class ic age of toy boats is both refresh ing and a bit gro unding. These were the days when play time was fueled by imagination, som etimes assisted by a clockwork motor or perhaps even a miniatu re steam engine.

In addition to containing nearly every type of toy boat yo u can imagine, the book is also a great reference to the companies that made them, both in the United States and in Europe. Add to this a price index and an extensive list of books about toy boats and yo u come up with a reference every collector should own. Even those who do not collect toy boats will find this book fascinating, and it might even inspire a few non-collectors to start.

With over 200 pages representing 120 manufacturers and more than 45 0 fullcolor photos of over 1,000 boats and ships, The Allure of Toy Ships is a visual feast, an informational treasure trove, and a lot of fun for the child admiral in all of us!

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The Sea Rover's Practice: P irate Tactics and Tech niques, 163 0-1730 by Benerson Little (Potomac Books, Inc., 320pp, illus, maps, appen, notes, biblio, ISBN : 1-57488910-9; $27.5 0hc) The Sea Rover's Practice is a relatively short, yet encyclopedic book, co ncerned with pirate tactics and techniques, largely around the waters of the Americas between 1630 and 1730. Benerson Little approaches the topic from the unique perspective of his experience as a former Navy SEAL officer.

H e describes exactl y who these sea rovers were, their tactics, weaponry, and vessel usage, but he places them in context with the moti vations, atticudes, loyalties, and occasio nal irreverence of the contemporary Special Forces units. What results is a remarkable symmetry of how p eople behave SEA HISTORY 114, SPRING 2006

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REVIEWS in rhe face of danger, rhough rhe exam ples are separared by four cenruries. The aurhor describes histo ri cal evenrs rhar suggesr why piracy grew so widespread durin g rhar period. Mr. Lircle answers many ques tions rhat readers may not have thought to ask: the distinction between a sea dog and a Sal ley rover, a buccaneer and a fi li buster, a corsai r and a caper, a Mani la galleon and a Mani la ship. There is great porenrial for build ing yo ur nautical vocab ulary or esoreric "salty" language in his seven appendixes. One minor shorrcoming is rhe author's occas io nal use of undefi ned fo reign words o r phrases, plus some obscure definirion s of fam iliar words in his writing. Therefore, pans of rhe book require a bir of work racl1er rhan to be read ar o ne's leisure. That said, The Sea Rover's Practice is a scho larly, informarive, rhought-provoking wo rk, a book that wou ld be a welcome additi on to any maritime historian's library. Considering all rhe ri des rhat have been published in cl1e last decade o n piracy, this book is an excellent resource on its true nature.

LOUIS ARTHUR NORTON West Simsbury, Connecricut

The Barbary ~rs: American Independence in the Atlantic World by Frank Lambert (Hi ll and Wang, ew York, 2005 , 228 pp, illus, maps, nores, index, ISBN: 08090-9533-5; $24hc) W irhin rhirreen months of rhe Treaty of Paris, the struggling and penurious U nired Srares of America government realized it had a new problem. Trading wirh cl1e countries of the Medirerranean Basin was crucial to regaining the country's financial healrh; but, now, wirhour rhe prorection of rhe Royal Navy for our merchant sh ips, the traders doing business wirh G reece, Turkey, Italy, and Spain found cl1eir ships being captured by rhe pirates of the Barbary Coast, their crews enslaved, and their cargoes stolen.

Frank Lambert has wrirren a fine volume o n cl1e polirics (bo rh American and European) , the mind-set of rhe pashas of Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco, and rhe ulrimare fighring rhar began a lo ng struggle with cl1e Moslems ofNorcl1 Africa.

Un like many writers who have tackled th is subjecr, Mr. Lambert makes clear that today's probl ems with rhe Moslem wo rld are 46

wuelared to rhose rhis country and others experienced in rhe ninereenrh century and before. Then, it was purely economics; religious ideology had li ttle to do with it.

Thar conAi cr ran rhrough d1e rerms of four presidents, the Q uasi-War wirh France, rhe War of 18 12, and rhe crearion of a fullrime, professional Navy. To the aurhor's

credit, his explanation encompasses rhe Adanric wo rld, nor jusr d1e Medirerranean.

Ships headed for Gibral tar and rhe soud1 of Spain were ripe targets for the Moroccan corsairs before rhey ever go r into the Mediterranean .

My only complaim wid1 Lamben's effort stems from some reliance o n secondary and tertiary sources, some of which gor rhe derails wrong. For the mosr pan, however, he made good use of primary sources and researched his topic thoroughly. His style is clear and engaging; cl1e book is well-documented and illustrated.

I wo uld recommend Mr. Lam ben's book rn anyone with an imerest in the beginnings of the US Navy or in rhe polirical environment and the machinations extant both in Europe and America durin g this time period. Whil e rhe reader will find little to rie rhis lengthy stru ggle wicl1 our current global issues, he o r she will surely discover rhar rhe rulers of cl1e Barbary States had lircle bur disdain for rhe resr of the wo rld and saw norhing but eco no mi c opportunity in rheir conracr wirh other countries.

WILLIAM

H . WHITE

Rumso n, New Jersey

The French Navy and the Seven Years' ~r by Jon a than R. Dull (Uni ve rsity of Neb raska Press, Lincoln , NE, 2005, 445 pp, maps, index, nores, bibli o, ISBN: 0-8032- 173 1-5; $35 hc) In this hi sto ry of the French Navy in rhe Seven Years' War, Jonaclrnn D ull views the war as two conflicts rhat must be studied togerher as a whole. The North American rhearer of operations (1754-1760) and rhe fighring in E urope (1756- 1762) were complex, inte rconnecred, and involved many co mbaranrs. H e regards rradirional histories as deficiem in rh eir fragm ented rrearm em of the conAict and presents his wo rk as rhe mosr complete analysis of rhe French Navy's role in rhe war.

Dull starts with rhe War of the Austrian Successio n in 1748 and traces rhe initial breakdown of Franco-British relations to place rhe French Navy's role in context.

Co ntinuing to 1762, the author interweaves military and poli tical factors that inAuenced borh France in general and their navy in particular. The author deems the conAi ct between G reat Britain and france (i n terms of lin king the wars in North America and Europe) as the most important facto r.

Jo nat ha n D ull arri ves at some interestin g co nclusions- not necessarily the o nes trad itionally es poused by histo ri ans. Louis XV is depicted as the savior of rhe French Navy, particularl y for his ro le in sav ing France's participation in rh e Newfoundla nd fisheries, whi ch became a naval training gro und in decades to come. Addition ally, Dull showed how rhe French Navy performed well againsr rh e much-vaunted Royal Navy. Finally, he views rhe wa r as bloody, expensive, and unn ecessa ry. It desrabilized British North Ame rica, had delererious effects on French Ca nada, and caused rhe loss of Native American auto no my.

In this volume, part of the series France

Overseas: Studies in Empire and Decolonization, Dull has written a magisrerial history of the war and rh e role of rhe French Navy.

Wirh a forty-o ne page bibliography and nearly 100 pages of notes, the author le fr few stones unturned. This history will lo ng stand as rhe definitive wo rk on the French Navy of the pei¡iod.

HAROLD N. BOYER Folsom, Pennsylvania

SEA HI STORY 114, SPRING 2006

New&Noted Beneath the Seven Seas: Adventures with the Institute of Nautical Archaeology edired by George F. Bass (Thames & Hudso n, Lrd ., Lond on, 200 5, ISBN : 0-5 00-05136-4; $39 .95 hc) Command at Sea: Naval Command and Control since the Sixteenth Century by M ichael A. Pal mer (H arva rd Uni ve rsity Press, Cambridge, Massachuserrs, 200 5, ISBN: 0-674-0 168 1-5; $29 .95 hc) Life and Death on the Greenland Patrol, 1942 by Th addeus 0. Novak, ed ired by P.J. Capelorri (U ni versity of Florida Press,

Gainesville, Florida, 2006, ISBN : 0-8 13029 12-0; $5 9. 95 hc) Naval Documents of the American Revolution, Volume II: 1778, edited by M ichael J. C rawfo rd (Naval Hisro rical Center, Washingto n, DC, 2005, ISBN : 0945274-5 1-3; $82hc) Pioneers of the Pacific: Voyages of Exploration, 1787-1810 by Ni gel Rigby, Pierer va n der Merwe, and G lyn Williams (University of Alas ka Press, Fairba nks, Al as ka, 200 5, ISBN: 1-8 89963-763; $26. 95hc)

In Memoriam: Captain Hal Sutphen

Sea History and rh e Narional M aritime H isro ri cal Society lost a fri end and dedicated book reviewer last December 5rh . H al Surph en artended Brow n University on a Navy ROTC scholarship as an undergraduare and earned a docrorate in Political Science and Internati onal Law from Tufrs U ni versity. As a naval offi cer, he pursued a career with rhe Naval Surface Warfare Cenrer and ar sea co mmanded an experimental pau ol crafr, an ocean minesweeper, and a 19,000-ron ammunition ship. Capr. Surphen raughr Naval Science ar rhe N ROTC U nit, H amp ro n Roads, and eventually becam e Oirecro r of Navy Sailing, overseeing the Navy's professional and recrearional sailing programs. Afrer his "rerirement," he ran the dinner cruise ship Spirit ofNorfolk for two yea rs.

For the pasr sixteen years, Capt. Sutphen served as rhe educarional direcror fo r the C ruising Rally Association, which conducts rhe Caribbean 1500 and Passagemaker Seminars. A member of rhe New York C ity Yacht Club and the Rappal1annock River Yacht C lub, h e was also a longtime member of the US Coasr G uard Auxiliary. In his "spare" rime, he was a docenr ar rhe Reedville Fishermen's Museum in Virginia and skippered irs hisroric skipjack.

A long-rime member ofNMHS, H al Surphen was an active co ntriburor ro Sea H istory's book review secrion. In thi s capacity, he was always reliable, knowledgable, a wealrh of information on tangential subj ecrs and ever ready wirh his quick wit and engagin g sense of humor.

Fair Winds Hal.

Sea of Gray: The Around-the- World Odyssey of the Confederate Raider Shenandoah by To m C haffin (Hill and Wa ng, New York, 2006, ISBN: 0-809095 11 -4; $25 hc) FICTION

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