Sea History 123 - Summer 2008

/ /

,/

,;;:

/

- ISTORICAL SOCIETY

No. 123

THE ART, LITERAT

/ ,/

/

Order Now!!

Call Toll Free 1-877-765-2489

or visit www.soldiercity.com/sh

All items shown are available in black or navy blue. Please call for additional colors and sizes.

Shipping and Handling:

$5.95 for first item; add $1 for each additional item.

Cotton Pique Preshrunk Polo Shirt

Heavyweight Cotton Preshrunk T-Shirt

Poly/ Cotton Fleece Hooded Pullover

Item # CL3 l 5-SH S-XL: $35 .95

Item # CL305-SH S-XL: $25.95

Item # CL325-SH S-XL: $45.95

XXL: $39.95; 3XL: $43.95

XXL: $28 .95; 3XL: $30.95

XXL: $49.95; 3XL: $53.95

Send your check /money order to:

SoldierCity, Inc. Attn: SH 1001 Lower Landing Rd. #407 Blackwood, NJ 08012 Please indicate name, hull number, and approximate date served.

..::,sS AMEf/1c.,,

-......__ CV-66

Nylon Weatherproof 3 Season Jacket

6 Panel Cotton Polo Cap

5 Panel Wool Blend Cap

Item # CL550-S H S-XL: $69.95

Item # CL2 l 5-SH $24.95 One Size Firs All

Item # CL230-SH $29.95 O ne Size Firs All

XXL: $73.95; 3XL: $77.95

More Custom Items Available Online at

www.soldiercity.com/sh

Two

WONDERFUL CRUISE OFFERINGS

FROM THE NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY

TURNING POINTS OF HISTORY

THE GREAT LAKES

GREECE • LIBYA • MALTA • ITALY

UN ITED STATES • CANA D A

j UNE 4 - 16, 2 009 ABOARD THE 114 - G UEST CORINTHIAN

II

"We make war that we may live in peace," wrote Aristotle. Conflict and war are at the heart of human drama, and to study the history of war is to peer into the human condition.

On this unique voyage we will explore sites and events dating from antiquity to World War II that have shaped the course of Western history and civilization. The stories have come down to us from ancient writers, including Herodotus, Thucydides and Plutarch, as well as from countless modern historians.

They describe events known now by single names, indelibly associated with our history-Marathon, Salerno, Malta, Libya, Monte Casino, Crete, Sicily. Stand on the plain of Marathon and recall the seminal events of the early 5rh century s.c., when democratic Athens and its allies defeated the armies of the mighty Persian Empire; sail into the same harbor of Sicily's Syracuse where the Athenians suffered a terrible defeat some 85 years after Marathon; and relive some of the most important World War II battles that took place in Crete, North Africa, Sicily and the Italian mainland. Our voyage takes place aboard Corinthian II, which accommodates only 114 guests in 57 spacious and elegant suites that face outside, affording panoramic views of the landscape and seascape.

Rates starting at $7,995 (per person, double occupancy)

SEPTEMBER 5 - 12, 2009 ABOARD THE 100-GUEST CL E LIA

II

Close to home is one of the great natural wonders of the world.

Nearly fifteen thousand years ago, the last of the great glaciers retreated, leaving us with the legacy of the Great Lakes. The lakes are unique, for although they are called lakes, they are in reality vast inland seas that comprise one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water. On the shores of Ontario, Erie, Huron, Michigan and Superior, welcoming towns have changed little since the 19'h century-in marked contrast to much of the orth American continent-and warm summer breezes skim through the lush leaves of the woody, rocky coasts. Aboard the 100-guest Clelia II, with its combination of intimacy and elegance, we are pleased to revive the grandeur and pleasure of a classic Great Lakes cruise, embarking in Toronto, Canada, and disembarking in Duluth, Minnesota. On this unique itinerary, which sails between American and Canadian ports, travelers will thrill to the thundering of Niagara Falls, witness Native American culture on Manitoulin Island, enjoy Mackinac Island's bygone Victorian charms and revel in the pristine beauty of the Keweenaw Peninsula, one of North America's most unspoiled regions.

Rates starting at $5,595 (per person, double occupancy)

.t

For reservations or further information, please call Travel Dynamics International toll-free at 800-257-5767 (Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Eastern Time).

SEA HISTORY

No. 123

SUMMER 2008

CONTENTS 14 From Sea Scout to Master Mariner, Arthur Kimberly before his Romance,

by Deirdre O 'Regan with Captain Daniel D. Moreland Capt. Arthur Kimberly sailed his brigantine Romance twice around the world and on many more voyages to the South Pacific and throughout the Caribbean. Carrying on the great traditions ofthe sea, he is personally responsible for training several oftoday's finest sailing ship masters. H ow did he get there? Learn about the path this WOrcester, Massachusetts, boy took ftom Sea Scout to master mariner. Part one ofa series.

18 The Work of Capt. George Comer: Whaling and Anthropology in the Arctic,

14

by Fred Calabretta The business of whaling took him to the Arctic, but Captain George Comer did much more than bring home whalebone and oil, he became a critical link between anthropologists and the Hudson Bay Inuit they so eagerly wanted to study.

23 Maritime History on the Internet, by Peter McCracken 24 Taking the Fight to Sea: Machias and the First Sea Fight of the American Revolution, by James L. Nelson In the din ofthe "shot heard 'round the world," an opportunistic Tory merchant and the Royal Navy thought they could strong-arm the residents ofMachias, Maine, into providing desperately needed firewood to the British troops and citizens ofBoston, cut offftom supplies in the ensuing siege. The Machias Sons of Liberty thought otherwise as they took their resistance to the boats and fought offthe threat ftom the armed schooner sent to enforce their cooperation.

18

28 Travels with John Stobart, by John Stobart, with an introduction by Peter Stanford The estimable marine artist john Stobart recalls his education and inspiration along the waterfront ofSouth Street in New York City.

40 HISTORIC SHIPS ON A L EE SHORE: Holding Out Hope for the Falls of Clyde,

by Joseph W. Lombardi and MacK.innon Simpson The Fal ls of Clyde in Ho nolulu is the only 4-masted fall-rigged ship afloat and the world's only surviving sailing oil tanker. Recently, her owners, the Hawaii Maritime Center, p ut out the word that the ship is available for donation because her deteriorated physical condition is far beyond their ability to rectiJY. The timeline is dangerously short. Should a new owner or fall financing not be realized by junel]uly, they may tow her out to deep water and sink her.

24

Cover: New York, East River Arrival c. 1884, by john Stobart (oil on canvas, 19 x 28- 112 inches) I n June, the National Maritime Historical Society will honor the work ofjohn Stobart with a reception and dinner in New York. (See article on pp. 28-32)

DEPARTMENTS 4

DECK LOG AND LETTERS

I2

NMHS: A CAUSE

34

MARINEARTNEWS

IN MOTION

36 Sea History FOR Klos

44 49

SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS

50 56

REVIEWS

CALENDAR

Sea History and the National Maritime Historical Society Sea History e-mail: editorial@seahistory.org; NMHS e-mail: nmhs@seahistory.org;

Web site: www.seahistory.org. Ph: 914 737-7878; 800 221-NMHS MEMBERSHIP is invited. Afterguard $10,000; Benefactor $5,000; Plankowner $2,500; Sponsor $1,000; Donor $500; Patron $250; Friend$ I 00; Contributor $75; Family $50; Regular $35.

40

PATRO NS

All members outside the USA please add $10 for postage. Sea History is sent to all members.

Individual copies cost $3.75.

SEA HISTORY (issn 0146-9312) is published quarterly by the National Maritime Historical Society, 5 John Walsh Blvd., POB 68, Peekskill NY 10566. Periodicals postage paid at Peekskill NY 10566 and add'! mailing offices.

COPYRIGHTŠ 2008 by the National Maritime Historical Society. Tel: 914-737-7878.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Sea History, PO Box 68, Peekskill NY I 0566.

NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY

DECK LOG "N ever Agam . ,, ... agam .

"Never Again" has been the motto of the World Ship Trust and, unoffi cially, of the National Maritime H istorical Society in our mutual quest to preserve our m aritime h eritage by saving historic ships. N MHS was formed as an effort to save the Kaiu fani, the last Am eri can-built square rigger. From that experi ence, our Society's founders recognized the need to raise awareness of our maritime history and the role seafaring has played in shap ing civilization. Sadly, we are faced with the imm inent threat of yet another important historic ship racing toward a lee shore and an eleventh-hour appeal to save her. Right now, in H onolulu, H awaii, the deteriorated, yet historically important, Falls of Clyde is in great jeopardy, and we hope for a reprieve. The world's last survivin g fo ur-masted, full-rigged ship afloat reminds H awaii's citizens and visitors alike of the Islands' ri ch maritime legacy. No local campaign of citizens co ntributing nickels and dimes and dollar bills can save the old hulk this time, as it did once in the 1960s. The Fa ffs of Clyde is an inspirational ico n of the complexity and richness of the seafaring legacy, and we ask you, if there is any power you have to save her, to hel p now. Find the full story o n pages 40-43.

25 June 2008, A Great Artist is Honored Th e painting on th is cover is one of John Stoba.rt's evocative scenes capturing the early days of So uth Street on New Yo rk's East River. O n Wednesday, June 25 th, the maritime co mmuni ty pays homage to this great artist and he, in turn, asks them to support the work to preserve the 1885 square- rigger Wavertree. We hope you will join us at The Down Town Association at 60 Pin e Street, New York C ity, to honor John Stobart. John Stobart and The Ships of South Street, an elegant booklet of selected paintings, will be presented to all who attend. Read an extract from this volume on pages 28-32.

The 2008 NMHS Annual Awards Winners Announced O n 24 October 2008, the Society is privileged to acknowledge those of particular distinguished service to the maritime community at our gala Annual Awards Dinner at th e New York Yach t C lub. We are pleased to present our Distinguished Service Awa.rd to Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, C BE, for pro moting the heritage of seafaring. The first man to circumnavigate the globe non-stop and single-handed in 1969, he won the Jules Verne Trophy with Sir Peter Blake for the fastest circumnavigation in 1994, was president of the Sail Training Association, served as a trustee of the National Maritime M useum in Greenwich, and has promoted yach ting thro ugh his many popular books.

The NMHS Karl Kortum American Ship Trust Awa.rd will be presented to Captain Arthur Kimberly, his wife Gloria Kimberly (posthumously), and the brigantine Romance for their co ntributions to the fi eld of sail training.

The NMHS David A. O'Neil Sheet Anchor Awa.rd will be presented to Peter A. Aron, founder of Sea H istory's Publisher's C ircle and a long-time generous supporter of the Society. As chairman of South Street Seaport M useum, Mr. Aron was instrumental in advancing restoration wo rk on the Wa vertree.

O ur autumn issue of Sea H istory will highlight our deserving award recipients, but we are giving you a heads-up on the events now. Ir is always a sold-out affair, and if you are interested in joining us for this magnificent occasion, I reco mmend your calling for reservations right away at 800-22 1-6647, ext 0. Visit our web site www.seahistory.org fo r more info rmation on all our events.

-BurchenaL Green, President 4

NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY PU BLISH ER'S C IRC LE: W illiam H . W hi te

Peter

Aro n,

OFFICERS & TRUST EES: Chairman, Ro nal d L. O swald; Vice Chairman, Richardo R. Lopes; President, Burchenal G ree n; Vice Presidents, Deird re O 'Regan, Nancy Schn aa rs; Treasurer, H . C. Bowen Smith; Secretary, Thomas F. Daly; Trustees, Walter R. Brown, D av id S. Fowler, Virginia Steele G rubb, Steven W Jo nes, Robert Kamm, Richard M. Larrabee, G uy E. C. M aitland , Jo hn R. M cD ona.ld Jr., James J. McNamara, Phili p].

Shapi ro,H owardSlo tni ck,Brad fo rd D. Sm ith, Cesare So rio, P hili p J. Webster, W illiam H .

W hi te; Chairmen Emeriti, Walter R. Brown, Al an G. C hoate, G uy E. C. M aitland , C raig A. C. Rey nolds, H oward Slo tni ck; President Emeritus, Peter Stanfo rd FOUN D ER: Ka rl Ko rtum (19 17-1996) O VERSEERS : Chairman, RADM D av id

C. Brown; Walter C ro nkite, C live C ussler, Ri chard du Moulin , Al an D . Hutchiso n, Jakob Isbrand tsen, Jo hn Lehman, Warren Marr, II, Brian A. M cAllister, Jo hn Srobarr, W illiam G . W inrerer N M H S ADVISORS: Chairman, Melbo urne Smi th; D . K. Abbass, G eorge Bass, Francis E. Bowker, O swald L. Bren, RADM Joseph F. C al lo, Francis J . D uffy, John W. Ewa ld, T imothy Foote, W ill ia m G il kerso n, Th o mas G illmer, Walter ]. Handelm an, Steven A. H yman, H ajo Knu rtel , G unnar Lundeberg, Jose ph A. M aggio, C o nrad M ilster, W illiam G . Muller, N ancy H ughes Ri chardso n SEA HIS TORY ED ITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD: Chairman, T imo thy J. Runyan; No rm a n J . Bro u we r, Ro b e r t Brow n ing, W illiam S. Dudley, Da ni el Finamo re, Kevin Foster, Jo hn Odin Jense n, Joseph F. M ea ny, Lisa No rli ng, Carla Rahn Ph illi ps, Walter Rybka, Quem in Snediker, W illiam H .

W hite NM H S STAFF : E x ecu t i ve D i rector, Burchenal G reen; Membership Director, Nancy Schnaars; Ma rketing D irector, Steve Lovass-Nagy; M arketing & Executive Assistant, Juli a C hu rch; A ccounting, Ji ll Romeo; Store Sales & Volun teer Coordinator, Jane Mauri ce SEA HIS TORY: Editor, D eird re O 'Rega n; Advertising Directo r, W end y Pagg io tta; Editor-at-Large, Perer Sra nfo rd ; "Sea Hisrory for Kids" is produced by Deirdre O 'Rega n

SEA HISTORY 123 , SUMM ER 2008

LETTERS Tamaroa Connections Everywh ere I enjoyed the USCGC Tamaroa article in the Spring 2008 issue (Sea Histo ry 122) . A minor error: she was designated a WMEC, not a WHEC, in 1966-a medium endurance cutter not a high endurance cutter.

CAPT. D. G. HOWLAND, USCG (RET).

Bar H arbor, Maine

The article on the Tamaroa omitted an important incident in her career that almost led to her scrapping. In January 1963, she entered a floating dry dock in Brooklyn, NY, for routine maintenance. One night a crewman returned drunk. H e wondered what wo uld happen if he turned some wheels (the valves) on the drydock. He then went aboard and fell asleep. Tamaroa's sea cocks and stern tube packing had already been removed for maintenance. A few hours later, an alert quartermas ter of the watch noticed the drydock listing to

Tamaroa, 1963, capsized in drydock starboard and roused all hands. Not understanding what was causing the problem, all they could do was abandon ship and watch. Tamaroa eventually rolled off her blocks and came to rest at a 45° angle in the dock. A couple of weeks later, she was refloated and towed across the harbor to CG Base St. George on Staten Island, while HQ decided what to do. Word soo n trickled down that repairs wo uld be prohibitive, and she wo uld be decommissioned and returned to the navy for disposal. The crew rallied together and said, if given the chance, they could put her back in shape for little more than her annual running and maintenance costs. HQ, to its credit, gave them the chance, and after a year of back-breaking work, she was ready for sea again. The man responsible for her sinking was identified, court-martialed, and found guilty. H e received a rather light sentence because, by heading below and going to SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

We Welcome Your Letters! E-mail: editorial@seahistory.org or send mail to : Editor, Sea H istory, 7 Timberknoll Rd., Pocasset, MA 02559 sleep, he had demonstrated to the Court's satisfaction that he had been ignorant of the consequences of his actions.

NORBERT ToczKo Addison, Vermont

remember him talking abo ut Capt. Helgesen , whom he sailed with for several years.

The last time I saw my uncle was early 1942, just before his last trip. I believe it was in 1948 that the Porto Rico Line finally gave up shipping. The war, loss of ships, Shipmates Lost at Sea and other changes affecting the maritime In reading his article "Wireless Goes to Sea: industry took their toll on the company.

Marconi's Radio and SS Ponce" (Sea H istory The 7,05 7-ton SS Coamo was built 122), I was interested in Captain H enry in 1925. With Captai n Nels H elgesen in Helgesen's fam ily history and the New York command, the vessel left Gibraltar, headed and Porto Rico Steamship Company for fo r New York, carrying 186 persons (133 which his father, Captain N els Helgesen, m en on the crew, 37 armed guards, and 16 sailed. My uncle, James C. Dilling ] r. , was army person nel), when it disappeared. the chief mate under the senior Captain ] AMES D . WICKWIRE Helgesen in USAT Coamo on that fateful Walpole, New Hampshire last voyage in December 1942.

In his article about the Porto Rico Line Frank Braynard's Far-Reaching Influence in Steamboat Bill (No. 223, Fall 1997), I never met Mr. Braynard and wo uld only Rodney Mills notes, "the stunning loss of remember his name in passing, not ever rethe Coamo, which left Gibraltar in ballast in alizing how his love of the sea would have D ecember 1942 bound for New York, and such a great impact on me throughout the was never heard from again. The loss of 133 years. Living in Jersey C ity, I attended the merchant m arine crew members was the OpSails of 1964, 1976, and 1992. The largest loss on a US-flagged merchant vessel 1964 one was so matter-of-fact. My uncle during WWII." The Porto Rico Fleet List by called me to ask if I wanted join him in William Schell posted that the Coamo was his 19-foot skiff to see some sailing ships. I "probably torpedoed and sunk by Germ an said sure, what the heck. We rowed aro und submarine U-604, Dec. 1942, at abt. 49N the ships waving to the crews and getting -24W." yelled at by th e harbor patrol not to get It was my privilege to go aboard SS too close to the ships. The spectacle of evCoam o at her pier in New York in August erything was breathtaking and, years later, 1939 to visit with my uncle, who was then when word came that there was going to be second mate. H e showed me aro und top- ano ther OpSail in 1976, I couldn't wait. side, including the bridge and chartroomThose events have never left me and it was quite a thrill for a nine-year-old kid. I made a profound impression upon m e.

Join Us for a Voyage into History O ur seafarin g heritage co mes a live in th e pages of Sea H isto1y, fro m th e ancient ma rin er s of G reece to Portuguese nav iga tors openin g up th e ocea n wo rld to the heroic efforts of sa ilor s in modern-d ay conflicts. Each iss ue brings new insights a nd discoveries. If yo u love th e sea, r ive rs, lakes, and

bays-if yo u appreciate the legacy of those who sail in deep wate r and th eir wo r ka day cr aft, th en you belong with us.

J oin Today!

Mail in th e fo rm below, phone 1 800 221-NMHS (6647), or visit us at: www.seahistory.or g (e-mail: nmhs@sea history.org)

Yes, I wanr to join the Society and receive Sea History quarterly. My contribution is encl osed. ($ 17.50 is for Sea History; any am ount above that is tax deductible.) Sign me up as: $35 Regular Member $50 Family Member $100 Friend $250 Patron $500 Donor Mr./ Ms.

123

----------------------~ZIP _____~ Retu rn to: Natio nal Maritime Historical Society, PO Box 68, Peekskill NY 10566

5

LETTERS Taking it for granted when I lived in NJ, I never realized the deep longing I have to be near New York Harbor and the Jersey shore again. I live in North Carolina now, at least 5 hours away from the ocean. Sea History is very important to me, if only to keep my nautical flame burning. I look forward to reading each issue.

MANNY LEKKAS

Winston Salem, North Carolina

The Invasion of Maryland, 1943 As I was reading the last issue of Sea History (122, Spring 2008) and discovered that the NMHS annual meeting will be held at St. Michaels, MD, I decided to send along a little-known "vignette" of WWII regarding this little town on the Chesapeake as told to me by my brother and brother-in-law, who participated in the only invasion of Maryland during WWII. Both were Massachusetts Nautical School engineering cadets at the time.

In March 1943, the whole of the Massachusetts Nautical School (predecessor of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy) was within the school ship Nantucket, docked in Boston. The cadets and crew needed sea time, but, with U-Boats patrolling off the coast, the officers decided they could not risk sending personnel or ships out into the Atlantic. They arranged to borrow a school ship (Keystone State, formerly USCGC Seneca) from the Pennsylvania Nautical School, which was in the Chesapeake Bay at the time. The Bay was big enough to sail around in without having to venture out into the dangerous waters outside.

Having sent their officers and cadets to this borrowed ship, they then decided to conduct a commando-rype shore raid.

Without notifying any local authorities, the cadets were dressed in black, given unloaded rifles, and divided into two groups-defenders and invaders. It was a serene, bright spring day in Maryland, but panic soon ensued as the groups came ashore and began crossing fields, etc., and the local people fled to their houses. Eventually, the sheriff and police got involved and the mission was promptly abandoned. My brother-inlaw had decided early on that this whole fiasco was stupid and had hitched a ride in someone's pick-up truck into town, where he found a local bar and planted himself there for awhile.

6

After graduation, my brother, "Bud" Readdy, sailed on Liberry Ships, primarily the Ethan Allen and George Bancroft, reaching the post of acting chief engineer. Over the years, he worked in the maritime industry as a marine engineer and surveyor and also spent 17 years at the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory (now Draper Laboratory). My brother-in-law, John Mullen, had to wait six months before he was old enough to be commissioned an ensign in the US Navy. He spent most of WWII with USS Wczyne (APA-54) throughout the Pacific and participated in some of the major invasions. He used the G. I. Bill to get an electrical engineering degree and worked for General Electric.

MARJORIE

E. READDY SULLIVAN

Braintree, Massachusetts

''A Culture of Safety" Feedback Rigel Crockett's ''A Culture of Safery for Tall Ships" (Sea History 122) may be well intentioned but suffers severely from a regrettable lapse into unsupported innuendo. His basic point, that it is up to captains to foster safery consciousness in their crew and trainees, is unassailable. Furthermore, no one can view the two fatalities cited (one overboard from the barque Picton Castle, one fall from aloft onboard the schooner Alabama) as other than tragic and preventable. What I find grossly unfair is the unsupported statement, "I believe that [Captain Dan] Moreland felt his reputation would protect him if a serious accident befell his ship." This is not a fact, it is an unsupported opinion imputing a callous arrogance to Moreland. Nor does Crockett mention that Moreland was not onboard Picton Castle at the time of the loss, although Crockett does state that, when he served under Moreland, drills were regular and reckless stunts aloft were not allowed.

Crockett goes on to cite how poorly Moreland fared in the CBC "Fifth Estate" production "Overboard." That highly biased film raised serious questions about vessel safery practices, then proceeded to answer them with innuendo and implied conclusions, much of it gathered from people whose qualifications went unquestioned.

I have been shipmates with Dan Moreland in several vessels and consider him a highly capable mariner. Had he been in command at the time of the accident, I

think lifelines would have been rigged, and/ or crewmembers prohibited from venturing out on deck, and the loss avoided.

I am not writing to give unqualified support to all practices onboard Picton Castle, a vessel I have never sailed in. Dan Moreland and I differ on many points in how we manage our vessels and crew, ask anyone who has sailed with both of us. I am writing in the hope of shifting the safery discussion away from innuendo about personaliry, and towards the complicated issue of safery judgments.

With regards to safery aloft, as sad as each loss is, I submit the overall record is very good when exposure (number of participants times number of sorties aloft) versus accidents is considered. Some are the result of gear failures or slips between clip-in points, or errors in what to clip to.

I am not advocating working aloft without a harness, just recognize that wearing one is no panacea.

The great majoriry of vessels (including Niagara) require harnesses. There the consensus ends. Seat, chest, or full body harness all have pros and cons. Clip in only when in position to work, or constant tether? The latter sounds safer, until you have to get a lot of sail in and need a whole watch aloft promptly. Arguing over the best hardware is a distraction from the more important issue of under what circumstances are crew and trainees sent aloft. What level of training precedes unsupervised climbs? What protocol is in place for handling running rigging on deck while crew are aloft? There will be no one best answer because the rigs, conditions, and rypes of program vary so greatly.

Safery on deck has even more variables.

On small yachts, it obviously makes sense to be tethered to the vessel whenever at sea, while in large vessels with high bulwarks, harnesses and lifelines are only called for in seriously heavy weather. Onboard the smaller ships, such as Picton Castle, Niagara, Westward, and Corwith Cramer, lifelines and harnesses are not required on deck until the going gets rough. "How rough?" is the key question. Is the criterion wind strength of how many knots? Sea state of how many feet? Rolling through how many degrees?

In my experience it has been left to the captain to judge when the time has come to rig for heavy weather. How many vessel operators have written policies and training

SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

eBoston

HARBOR HOPPING 1he New England Islands soay/7NightCruise Forged from the forces of retreating glaciers, the harbors, bays and islands of New England offer discovery and stunning beauty around every bend. Home to puritans and pirates, pilgrims and patriots, New England's history is a tapestry woven rich in significance and fascinating details.

Now it's yo ur turn to exp lore this cornerstone of America while cruising on the

1-800-814-6880 Call for your Free Brochure

newest small cruise ship in the world. Our ships accom modate just 100 guests, a perfect way to arrive at the heart of it all.

You'll experience eight days of smooth water, beauty, culture and history, all w hi le enjoying the cama raderie of fellow passengers and the exemplary personal attention that is the hallmark of American Cruise Lines.

AMERICAN · =~

CRUISE LINES

Small-Ship Cruising Done Perfectly

Martha's Vineyard • Nantucket Island • New Bedford • Block Island • Newport · Providence

LETTERS

~

The Dromedary Ship Modeler's Center We are specialist suppliers for all aspects of the model boating scene.

(Not cars, trains, planes.) We can start you off with basic kits or provide you with plans and materials.

Our range also covers working or static models, and we carry an extensive selection of fittings for all types of ships and boats.

Send for our newest Catalog $6 postpaid

$7 outside the U.S.

The Dromedary 6324 Belton Drive El Paso, Texas 79912 (915) 584-2445

Anne T. Converse Photography

procedures establishing precise criteria as ro when lifelines are rigged, harnesses worn, crew clipped in? I don't know (Niagara does not, lifelines have been rigged as needed at discretion of the captain). Even if a company does have a policy, implementation is still going to rely on judgment by the officers onboard.

Man-overboard recovery, fire prevention , galley safety, small craft policies, the list of possible safety policies and trainings goes on and on. Well it should, but underlying the whole, and for which no checklist or man ual is a substitute, must be a watchful wariness that is more attitude and experience than any specific instructions. This silent vigilance is rarely given much credit for accident prevention, yet is more important than what is written down. It's not that I don't believe in checklists, having put pages of them in Niagara's manuals, but th ey are secondary to never forgetting that the sea is a hostile environment.

So where am I rambling to? Only that safety at sea is a huge and multi-faceted subject, with a lot of divergent opinion.

Arriving at a consensus on best practices looks simpler than it is. Certainly, keep the discussion ongoing-a good tip often emerges. Recognize that, in the wake of an accident, waiting for the facts may take a long time. Move quickly to implement any obvious safety reminders, bur move slowly in assigning blame. At some point it may be valid to criticize an action or an omission, but leave the assumptions about feelings and thoughts out of it.

CAPTAIN WALTER

Neith, 1996, Cover photograph

WOOD, WIND AND WA TE'R A SroRY oF 1HE OPERA HousE CUP RACE OF N ANIUCKITT

Photographs by Anne T. Converse Text by Carolyn M . Ford Live vicariously through the pictures and tales of Classic Wooden Yacht owners who lovingly restore and race these gems of the sea.

10"x12"

Hardbound limited edition

i32 pages, 85 full page color photographs For more information contact: Anne T. Converse

P: 508-748-0638 F: 508-355-0070 anne@annetconverse.com www.a nn etco nverse.com

8

P.

RYBKA

Erie Maritime Museum Administrator & Senior Captain, US Brig Niagara When Rigel and I sailed together in Picton Castle there was strong encouragement to wear safety harn esses, but I personally don't recall being ordered to do so. We were given the option of using the harnesses with which the ship was equipped. I, as clearly shown in the photograph accompanying the article (photo on page 10, Sea History 122), elected not to for most of the bad weather. Neither did I elect to do so while working aloft under normal circumstances.

At the time I felt comfortable in my own assessment of my abilities to judge when the use of a harness was appropriate. That Capt.

Moreland allowed us these uses of our own

judgments is indicative of a confidence and trust in other people's abilities and should not be lost on anyone. However, the taking of needless risks was forbidden , not only by the captain, but also by the culture of the ship that Rigel explained so well. The ultimate responsibility for one's safety is his own, but those in charge can certainly guide them to the best of their abilities in an effort to make them want to stay safe, and when circumstances dictate, issue orders to that effect. More doodads and policies cannot conquer the sea and its vagaries. To abdicate vigilance at sea is inviting disaster; the false sense of security a gadget or a blanket policy m ay provide is almost guaranteeing it. The sea, as Conrad pointed out, while not always in a hot mood to smash , is always stealthily ready for a drowning.

All that being said, I believe that Capt.

Moreland's reputation is being unfairly besmirched for an accident that took place while he was several hundred miles away serving in the capacity of owner. Until the captain that was in command of the Picton Castle that night comes forward and explains what preceded the accident and what was done in the minutes and hours immediately afterwards, the real tragedy here is that nobody will learn anything that might help prevent more such accidents.

CAPTAJN

ToM

WARD

Appleton, Maine I want yo u to know how much I appreciated reading Rigel Crockett's Op-Ed letter in the latest Sea History. Despite my discomfort in reading about such tragic events, I found it thoughtful and introspective. He has raised a very serious issue that anyone involved in the business of taking people to sea aboard tall ships can not affo rd to dismiss. I remember sailing in the Brig Niagara in the summer of 2004 when we learned of the death of the USS Constitution man who fell from aloft while performing maintenance tasks.

Immediately, everyone wondered if he was one of "our" Constitution sailors who had trained with us aboard Niagara. (Later we discovered that he had, in fact, been wearing a safety harness but was not clipped in).

In 2006, when we heard the news about Laura Gainey, we all wondered, of course, what the circumstances were aboard Picton Castle that night and feared she was the same Laura who sailed with us on Niagara our of SEA HISTORY 123 , SUMMER 2008

Green Bay, Wisconsin, the summer before when the two ships shared crewmembers.

Your position as editor probably brought a lot of wrath from certain quarters down upon you for printing Rigel Crockett's editorial. I, for one, am glad you did, because no one can ignore safety issues, nor be unwilling to maintain an open dialogue on this grave topic. Yes, people have been washed overboard and fallen from aloft since ships first put to sea. That's a part of the traditional seafarer's experience I'd like no part of I have a 19th-century ancestor who fell from the rigging and rook a couple of days to die. They were short-handed and he, one of the mates, was aloft even though he was ill. Thar's the way history tells us it has always been, bur it doesn't need to be that way today. On public vessels, such as the Niagara, safety is always a major concern. On private vessels, such as the Alabama and the Picton Castle, they have more freedom and can take their chances, but eventually a law suit might come their way, especially in today's litigio us atmosphere.

People who don't want to wear safety harnesses can choose not to wear them on certain vessels. That's a decision they can make. On ships that require the use of safety harnesses, the crew has no choice, and, to the best of my knowledge, they haven't lost anyone who was hooked in. 1hat's the bottom line. Safety harness or nor, I certainly hope that people continue to avail themselves of any chance to go to sea on a lofty ship, just as I ferven tly hope they all come home again.

DR.

LAWRENCE BABITS

Greenville, North Carolina When I saw in my recent copy of Sea History that there was an op-ed piece abo ut safety at sea, I looked forward to a rewarding read about a subject central to the minds and souls of all mariners. After all, the author had circumnavigated the wo rld in a square-rigged ship and ought to have some comm ents worth reading. Sadly, my eagerness was misplaced.

Crockett's piece offered no new insights or ideas to add to the oft-discussed issues of the foundations of safety, so fam iliar to all who hold positions of responsibility in vessel operations. Instead, he consumed valuable (to me) Sea History ink with shallow equivocations and pseudo-analysis that add nothing to the discussion.

Mr. Crockett, against all logic and fair-

SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

Commission your own sea history!

A private collector commissioned the Civil War ironclad CSS TENNESSEE BlueJacket will custom build any vessel, as long as reliable information is available. Collected by the US Navy , museums ,and discriminating individ uals world wide , BlueJacket is the standard by which all others are measured.

Surprisingly affordable, we deliver within a guaranteed period of time.Built in the US, by our talented shipcrafters Custom model of CSS TENNESSEE

scale: 1116"=1 '

Bltlllffo4g!{ÂĽsT

Call for a quote or our catalog of wood scale model kits, fittings, tools and books

1-800-448-5567

Fine ship models since 1905

Open year round

160 E. Main St. Sears ort ME 04974

Visit us at: www.bluejacketinc.com

PUSSER'SÂŽ "The single malt of rum and the father ofgrog"

Forbes writes, "Pusser 's is still made in the same way it was at the time of Trafalgar - in wooden pot-stills as opposed to modern industrial column-stills. This results in the most full-flavored rum available anywhere".

The original Navy Rum and the father of grog as the rum of Great Britain's Royal Navy and Roya l Marines for more than two centuries.

Gold Medals, London, 21J01

San Francisco, 21J03 & 21JOS

usser's isn 't for everyone. Some people prefer rums that are almost flavorless when compared to the intensely rich flavor of Pusser's. But if you want a rum that you can enjoy sipping, or still taste through the mix of your favorite cocktail, then Pusser's is for you. Try a Pusser's and Cola sometime and taste the difference.

P

Pusser's is not always easy to find but your local retailer can order it for you. Or take a look at HOW TO FIND IT on our web site at www.pussers.com

~T~ Charles Tobias, Chairman 9

LETTERS ness, attempts to draw connections berween recent tragedies at sea and what he thinks a shipmaster feels abo ut safety. I am amazed that he could expect to be taken seriously.

In my experience, when shipmasters get together to talk abo ut the interplay of self-reliance and seamanship skills ("traditionalism") with external risk-mitigations (safety equipment and its proper use, etc.) as they relate to safety, no one ever takes an absolute position. It is universally acknowledged that safe operations require attentio n to both. 1 his discussion is interesting and productive when we talk about o ur real-life decisions and experiences and how they have informed our own approach to safety.

Shipmasters make critical judgments in this regard every single day of their career. By contrast, Mr. Crockett equivocates, choosing instead to leave us with a false choice berween traditionalism and mitigation that he is unwilling or unable to resolve himself. I hope he will figure out his own position on the subj ect, before he takes up his pen again. I expect he might be forced to clarify his thinking should he ever take command in a deep-water ship.

CAPTAIN BERT ROGERS

Executive Director American Sail Training Association I've never set foot aboard the Alabama, but I sailed with Laura Gainey aboard Picton Castle. Rigel Crockett wrote that she had a tattoo of Picton Castle, and that he "knew the tattoo was a statement of how thoroughly invested she was in the culture that [Captain Dan] Moreland had helped to create." Actually, he was quite wro ng-the tattoo was of a previous ship in Laura's life.

By itself, that mistake would be a small point. But Mr. Crockett uses it to make a larger-and groundless-statement about Laura Gainey. Similarly, he asserts that her loss stems "from a reluctance to adopt some simple safety measures." He has no basis to say this. He was not aboard. No one saw what happened to Laura Gainey.

The words are speculation, dressed up as facts or experr opinion, when he has no basis for either. This is not responsible, and it is emblematic of his piece.

Could the Picton Castle be improved?

10

Should seafarers always be searching for better safety procedures? Of course-almost no one would disagree. The same is true for aviation, trucking, railroading, construction, manufacturing, and almost any other human endeavor. But because you can improve something doesn't mean that doing so earlier would have made any difference in some past event. That's a critical point-one that Mr. Crockett glosses over. There is such a thing as an accident, after all, and he is in no position to say what the loss of Laura Gainey "stems from. " Mr. Crockett also thinks that he knows what all tall ship leaders think about safety, and that it is lacking-he says: "it's time for all tall ship leaders to modernize their views of safety."

This wrongly condemns sailing ship people. As a whole, they are on a lively looko ut for better ways to run safe ships.

That, to me, is an imporrant feature of a "culture of safety"-the recognition of the need for continual improvement. In fact, I've seen a lively professional debate among sailing ship people over things that Mr. Crockett might call "simple safety measures." The existence of such a debate means that there is a need for a weighing of benefits versus disadvantages-there may be a serious downside to any proposal. Mr. Crockett effectively disrespects and dismisses this professional dialog.

Mr. Crockett says that the central challenge of seamanship is "to identify risks and limit them to the minimum." Sorry, but this does not even square with another of his assertions : "Some element of risk aboard sailing ships is ro be expected: in fact, it is to be desired." If you're abo ut minimizing risks above all, then you put students in a simulator ashore, and you make today's fleet into immobile museums. And nobody goes aloft, not even on the Joseph Conrad at the dock.

The objective, instead, is to achieve the highest "experiential" quality-consistent with safety. To manage this balance is challenging-people have been killed and hurt aboard the Coast G uard's own Eagle, after all. This is not some simplistic "clothe-right-thing" process, as Mr. Crockett would have it.

We can see a similar balancing of risk

all around us. Do you produce dangerous firefighters if you don't allow them to train with real fire? If you do use real fire, how do you manage the safety risks? How about the trade-offs in scuba diving or in sending reporters into a war zone?

To be responsible, Crockett's maxim instead should have read: "To identify risks and limit them to the minimum reasonably consistent with the objective of going to sea in the first place." The word "reasonably" makes all the difference. It recognizes that we can't have it both ways.

The sailing ship master is the one who has to make the rough decisions about what is "reasonable." To say to such a person that she needs to "modernize her view of safety" suggests that there was a simple answer all the time that she was too blind to recognize-and that Mr. Crockett has that simple answer. A pretty raw thing for him to say to her.

I say he's got it wrong. He can't identify anything that could have saved Laura Gainey that was at odds even with US or Canadian regulations. Picton Castle has a long, commendable track record. And the sailing ship industry's dedication to safety and seafaring professionalism exceeds the rest of the marine industry. I can make that comparison because I've seen most of it in over 200,000 miles at sea aboard 20plus ships of virtually every sort, including large sailing ships, deep-draft ships, tug & barge combi nations, oil-field boats, cruise ships, and Navy/Coast Guard ships; I maintain an unlimited-tonnage master's license-sail/ steam/ motor.

I offer this letter solely in my personal capacity as a seafarer and concerned citizen. I do not speak for any other person or organization, or at the request of anyone.

I should mention that I h ave done legal work for the company that owns Picton Castle, but also that I put my son aboard to sail Picton Castle when Laura Gainey was aboard, and again after she died.

Vigoro us discussion abo ut safety improvement proposals should clearly continue. Mr. Crockett had an opportunity to contribute to that dialog but missed it.

Running sailing ships surely calls for care and diligence. But so does writing.

MrKE RAuwoRTH Nahant, Massachusetts SEAHISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

Our Ship's Store

Prices include embroidery with our NMHS logo featuring our flagship Kaiulani in five colors.

Burgee/Pennant NEW-Solid Brass Large " Spyglass" Telescope-18"

Shipping inc luded. #Gift 02 $10.00

18" long spyglass, unextended , comes in felt li ned mahogany case.

US PS, includes insu rance. #Gift 27 $79.95 + $16.80 s/h

Adams Baseball Cap Adj ustable leather strap. Co lors ava ilable: Cactu s, Chamois, Charcoa l, Forest Green , Khaki , Denim, Nautical Red. #AD969 $20.00 + $7.95 s/h

NEW- Solid Brass Captain's Clinometer Compass

Solid Copper and Brass Anchor Lamp 15" ta ll. USPS , includ es in surance. #G ift 16 $99.95 + $ 16.80 s/h

So lid brass Clinometer Compass in mahogany box w ith brass in serts. Authentic working compass. Measures 3" wide . USPS , includ es in sura nce. #Gift 26 $35.95 + $9.80 s/h

Youth Gildan 6.1 oz. heavyweight T-shirt Co lors: Forest, indi go, Li ght Blue, Light P ink, Navy, Sand, Sport Gray, Violet. #G200B XS-XL $ 18.00 + $7.95 s/ h

Solid Brass Sextant in Oak Wood Case S ize: 6" . US PS, inc ludes insurance. #Gift 23 $59.95 + $16.80 s/h

Solid Brass Port and Starboard Lamps 12" hi gh. USPS, inc ludes insurance. #G ift 22 $79.95 + $16.80 s/h

Men's Gildan 6.1 oz. heavyweight T-shirt Co lors: Ash, Black, Eggpl ant, Maroon , Navy, Pine, Red, Sand, Stone Blue, Tan. #G200 X-XL $18.00 + $7.95 s/h, XXL add $4.00, XXXL add $8.00

NEW-Nautical Armillary Bookends A set of So li d Brass po li shed and lacquered armill ary set on polished marble stone The armillary is th e symbo l of bookends. navigation in the o ld-world. Size: 7" x IO" .

USPS , inc ludes insurance. #G ift 28 $69.95 + $20.80 s/h

Men's Outerbanks Pique Polo Co lors : Bl ack, Chino, Moss, Navy, Oxford Blue, Pine, Red, White, Wine. #OBll S-XL $40.00 + $7.95 s/ h, XXL add $4.00, XXXL add $8. 00

Satisfaction 100°/o Guaranteed!

Solid Brass Floor Standing Harbor Master Telescope So lid brass harbor master tel escope on mahogany tripod adj ustable to 60" high. Tube length is 38". The magnification is 32x .

USPS, inc ludes in surance. #Gift 13 $259.95 + $44.80 s/h

To order, call 1-800-221-NMHS (6647), ext. 0, e-mail nmhs@seahistory.or2, or visit our web site at www .seahistory.or2. Allow 2 to 3 weeks for delivery.

NMHS:

'

A CAUSE IN MOTION

Representing NMHS at 2008 Events Whaling Heritage Symposium: We are pleased to join Mystic Connecticut Maritime Association Shipping 2008 Seaport, the New Bedford Whaling Museum, The New Bedford Conference and Exhibition: CMA's president Peter G. Drakos, Whaling National Historic Park, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association's Maritime Heritage Program and NOAA's Fisheries Service as a Host Sponsor in a new symposium on the history and archaeology of whaling and new directions in whaling heritage research. Join us on June 16th- 17th in Mystic Seaport and June 18th at the New Bedford Whaling M useum. For reservations and information, visit: http ://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/maritime/whaling. (For details, please refer to the notice on the symposium on page 45, as well as articles on pages 18-22, 36, and 37 for coverage of whaling in American history.)

WoodenBoat Show at Mystic, Connecticut: Join us on June 28th for a behind-the-scenes tour of Mystic Seaport's boatyard; then take the afternoon to explore this incomparable wooden boat show taking place at one of our nation's pre-eminent maritime museums.

USS Constellation

..i

a good friend to the maritime heritage community, invited us to participate in the conference in mid-March in Stamford, Connecticut, where over 2,000 shipping executives from around the world gathered. Many of them discovered NMHS and Sea History for the first time. We were particularly interested in the seminar they held on the role of maritime education in a changing world, moderated by Vice Adm iral John W Craine, USN (Rec.), president of SUNY Maritime College and chair of the Association of Maritime Sch ools. We also met Captain Arthur Sulzer from the Maritime Academy C harter School, who invited us to a "Ship Operations Cooperative Program" (SOCP) Conference in Linthicum, Maryland, to discuss what can be done to motivate primary and high school students to be more interested in pursuing maritime careers. Our trustee, Bob Kamm , represented NMHS at this conference, with support from fellow trustee Steven Jones, who also serves on the board of the New York Harbor School. There are about twenty maritime high schools around the country.

OJ

ASTA: The American Sail Training Association held its East Coast Regional Meeting in Baltimore in February. Our knowledgeable host was Captain Chris Rowsom, executive director of USS Constellation. ASTA is the largest sail training associatio n in the world with more than 150 affiliates and 250 American and international sailing vessels registered as members.

ASTA offers leadership-, character building-, and skill development programs for students 12-18 years old.

This summ er their "Tall Ships Challenge" takes to the Pacific Coast beginning with a parade of sail and races in Victoria, British Columbia, on June 25th, and ending in San Diego on August 24th. ASTA promotes public interest in our seafaring heri cage through their widely-attended festivals . We look forward to working more closely with them to further our mutual goals.

12

note ... : We were quite impressed with the ceremonies we've attended this year to promote valuable maritime programs. The American Merchant Marine Museum Foundation honored Captain Leonard LaRue and SS Ohio at their Hall of Fame luncheon on Jan uary 26th. The Fort Schuyler Maritime Alumni Association honored NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, Blue Angels Flight Leader Kevin Mannix, and Horizon Lines LLC president John Keenan at their awards dinner at Sourh Street Seaport on January 31st. Then on March 27th at the Down Town Association, The Working Harbor The ReverendJean Smith Committee honored Jim Devine, pres ident of the New York Container Terminal, who has an impressive knowledge of the history of the port and offers valuable support in the committee's efforts to educate school children about the Hidden Harbor. NMHS overseer and accomplished yachtsman Richard du Moulin spoke to honor our friend, the Rev. Jean Smith, former executive director of Seamen's Church Instirute, for her support of the educational program and her spiritual leadership. NMHS Chairman Ronald Oswald attended the Mariners' Museum's Annual Battle of Hampton Roads Weekend in March , and recommends we all go to see their USS Monito r display. "You can stand on the deck of the Monitor and envision yourself back in 1862," he said. Mr. Oswald also highly recommends the tugboat exhibit at the Noble Maritime Collection in Staten Island.

-Burchenal Green, President SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

A Bequest to the National Maritime Historical Society

by Thomas F. Daly & Burchenal Green Tax-deductible contributions to the National Maritim e H istorical Society help preserve America's maritime history and ins ure that future generations will learn abo ut o ur natio n's seafarin g heritage. Many of our members wo uld like to make larger charitable gifts to sustain the Society's endeavors o r perhaps fund a specific p roject in thei r name o r the name of a loved one. There are so m any ways one can give to the Society.

We appreciate suppo rt for our appeals . O utright contributions, often consisting of cash or appreciated securities, are the most direct way of assisting the National Maritime H istorical Society. W ith a gift oflong-term appreciated securities, the dono r can deduct the current fair market value as a charitable gift and completely avoid any cap ital gains tax on the app reciatio n.

Many companies will match o r multiply donations made to NMHS by their employees and, in some cases, by employee's spo uses. Contribu to rs are encouraged to contact their personnel office to determine if the employer has a matching gift p rogram. Members may prefer to give a Restricted Gift, choosing to designate the gift for o ne or more of the specific needs of the Society-the library, the seminar program, one of the educational iniciacives, for publication of Sea History, or ro publish a specific book.

D onors who own a life insurance policy rhat, perh aps, their fami lies no longer need fi nd rhar if they do nate ir to NMH S, rhey can get a rax deduction for rhe cash value. A sustaining gift m ay be given ar any level or am ount, and ir will be charged over rime, each month or quarter from a do no r's credit card account directly to NMH S. W irh this issue of Sea H istory, we wo uld like to foc us Shannon and Lucy Wall on rhe importance of a bequest to the Society. Members are requested to please consider including rhe National Mari rime H istorical Society as the benefi ciary of their will, crust, or retirement plan . Yo ur planned giving o r bequest will provide continued income ro o ur o rganization and provide a way to be remembered and honored in perpetui ty. Please do !er rhe Society know rhac you have rem embered NMH S in yo ur will.

Your bequest helps ensure rhar rhe next generation will learn about our seafaring heritage.

In February 2007, we were saddened to hear rhat our long-rime advisor and fri end, Shanno n Wall, died ar the age of 87 (his obituary appeared in Sea H istory 119). Shannon Wall, of Sequim, Washington, was rhe fo rmer president of the National Maritime Union, having held every elected office there d uring his career. A native of Searde, he served in merchant ships and croop carriers d uring Wo rld War II in the South Pacific. In 1988 he helped win the fight to have Wo rld War II m erchant mariners offi cially recognized as veterans by rhe D efense D epartment.

On his own rime, he sailed often wirh his wife Lucy and cheir children aboard their sloop Argo in Puget Sound . Shannon Wall did his part to pass along a part Sailing in Argo in of our mari time heri tage within his own family-all three of his children, Sean , Puget Sound Maureen and Kev in , have pursued m aritime careers as adul ts. Recently, we learned rhat his pass io n fo r maritime pursuits wo uld reach well beyond his family.

What a wo nderful surprise to rhe Society when lase August we heard fro m Shannon's son, Sean Wall, rhar rhe Wall Family Trust had bequeathed to NMH S a donatio n of $20 ,000 . We asked him if we could repo rt this in Sea History and he graciously agreed . Sean admi tted rhat, had the bequest noc been planned long in advance, he mighc no r have known what his father's wishes were with regards to rhe Society. Dealing with the will was a chall enging experience, but rhe rrusrs gave him a solid guideline to fo llow. The Wall fam ily was relieved rhar their fa ther had arranged for his bequests years ago, because as their father aged and his health began to fail, so did his abili ty to handle these affairs. Shannon Wall, passionate about our natio n's m aritime heritage, wanted to suppo rt rhe work of the Society and, by doing so in his will, has provided us with greater fin an cial stabili ty rhat will strengthen our ability to move ahead wirh our mission . NMH S trustees, in recognition of his generous gift, iniciared a trustee-designated endowm ent of bequests to bolster rhe Society's fi nancial security.

Al though do nors will look to rheir own counsel for rhe best info rmation regarding their many and varied circumstances, for more inform ation fro m NMH S, a donor or his or her adviser may contact the Society's President, Burchenal Green, at 9 14 737-7878.

SEA HISTORY 123 , SUMMER 2008

13

From Sea Scout to Master Mariner, Captain Arthur Kimberly Before his Romance

by Deirdre O'Regan wirh Captain D aniel D . Moreland Captain Arthur Kimberly's legacy aboard his brigantine Romance is the stuff of legends, but h e w ould be the las t person to broadcast his remarkable story. In this issue, we m eet Arthur Kimberly as a young man, just starting out in boats, and follow him through the ship s h e served to his fateful m eeting of a young photographer aboard the famous brigantine Yankee. Look for more of the sto ry of his voyages and legacy from the d eck of Romance in upcoming issues of Sea H istory. t began with a pony ride in Boston Garden. As a grammar school student in Worces ter, Massachusetts, "Zeke" Kimberly entered a Cain Manufacturing Company contest and won a pony. After his victory lap in the saddle during the rodeo at the Garden, his pediatrician father had him hand back the reins of the animal and accept a check insread. With the money, they purchased a small catboat.

I

veloped an affection for this ship (as he did for just abour every ship he sailed in), despite the grasses growing in the foc's' le-she was wrecked the day after he signed off. In 1939, he joi ned a club in Boston that gave him many opportunities to crew on so me fine yachts during summer breaks, including the 72-ft. schooner yacht Nordlys with Chester Bowles, making coastal passages between New York, Boston, and Maine. Yachts were fas t and beautiful, but Arthur Kimberly preferred working ships.

During the 1920s and 30s, while he was growing up in M assachusetts, the last of the square-riggers were disappearing from the seas. One of the last to carry cargo under square rig often called at Boston, the Swedish four-mas ted barque, Abraham Rydberg, and Kimberly was there to see her each time she cleared in .

From the pier he memorized every line in her rigging; at home, he learned their names in Swedish. H e tried repeatedly to get a berth aboard and was turned away just as often . But finally, one nigh r in 194 1, just before she was to sail for Brazil, he got word that a

The four-masted barque Abraham Rydberg

•

The pony ride that started it all. A young Arthur Kim berly rides his prize in Boston Garden, led by Hollywood's cowboy, Tom Mix. Like many of his schoolmates, the young Arthur Kimberly had risen through the ranks of the Boy Scouts, but "their idea of scouting in Worcester was nothing but marching." That held little charm, so the lad started sailing his new boat on nearby Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg (not a misprint!) in Webster, MA. By then, obsessed with boats, he fo und a mento r in Webster's Sea Scout master, Dick Wales. Although he was never an offi cial member of Wales's troop, he worked harder and learned fas t. Dick Wales was impressed enough to encourage the yo ung sailor to follow the sea as a career-even though Kimberly's own parents did not.

One summer between high school semesters, he shipped aboard an old Maine coasting schooner, the George Gress. H e de-

14

SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

berth was available. The next morning's tide carried the 2,345-to n ship to sea, this time with a nineteen-year old Ar thur Kimberly scampering aloft to loose the topsails. Shipping aboard this holdout fro m another age wo uld be a defining moment in his life .

The Abraham Rydberg sailed to Brazil and back, interrupted

Kimberly at the helm ofhis first square rigger, Abraham Rydberg.

by the news that war was declared with Germany. Heavy weather, a run-in with a raiding parry (British, thankfully!), and some luck guided the engineless sailing ship safely back to Baltimore, maki ng port on 30 January 1942, where Kimberly signed off.

The merchant marine was losing thousands of tons-and men-in the spring of 1942 to German U-boars and was desperately in need of ships' officers. Experienced mariners could apply fo r the accelerated program at rhe US Merchant Marine Academy.

At Kings Point, he trained under a Swedish mas ter rigger, wo rking on the barquentine-rigged gunboat Nantucket. Kimberly received his com mission with rhe first graduating class at Kings Point. H e spent the war as an officer on oil rankers-one of the most hazardous jobs in the already dangerous wartime merchant marine.

As soon as the war ended, Kimberly we nt back to sailing vessels. He fo und his fi rs t berth as chief mate in the three-mas ted schooner Guinevere. She had been used in anti-sub patrol service during the war bur was put back into service as a trading vessel, sailing to the Mediterranean carrying sugar and a little contraband (mostly cigarettes). Arthur Kimberly, as usual, was very fo nd of the ship. But he had no stomach for smuggling. He signed off in the M editerranean. O ver the next several years, he shipped aboard T-2 rankers as an officer and sailed all over the globe.

In 195 6, seeking to learn everything he could about ships

When the United States entered World wtlr II in D ecember 1941, the US Merchant Marine Academy responded by channeling all its efforts toward meeting the need to train merchant marine officers. They created an accelerated program at Kings Point, condensing the traditional four-year curriculum into 18 months. Arthur Kimberly graduatedfrom this program as part ofKings Point's first graduating class in 1942.

Schooner Guinevere

..

!S; N

.:;.

i "'G u ~

> ~

Kimberly served as 2 nd mate aboard SS Mobil G as, a Socony- Vaccum tanker, in 1956

i: 0

~8 ~

ffi

~ ~

2 ~

u

ยง ~

~

SEA HISTORY l 23, SUMMER 2008

15

and the business of shipping, he took a year off from sailing to learn about the boatbuilding business and spent another year wo rking in Ted H ood 's sail loft in Marblehead, Massachusetts-back when Ted Hood wo rked in the lofr himself.

N ow a mas ter mariner, licensed to ship as mas ter in both steam and sail , Kimberly embarked on a voyage that would take him to sea, sailing what he considered the perfect rig, a brigantine. In January 1960, he signed as m ate aboard the brigantine Yankee, m ade famous by Irving and Exy Johnso n, under its new owner Reed Whitney. This ship would have las ting ramifications in Arthur Kimberly's life. The concept of the wo rld voyage with paying crew o r trainees would prove a useful m odel when he eventually got a ship of his own . The sail configuration for this sort of The crew aboard Yankee welcomed back their captain-groom and his bride with the "Wedding Stuns'!" in Tahiti in 1961.

passage-making was ideal. A brigantine wo uld allow a relatively small crew the o pportunity to cruise under square rig, just righ t fo r fo llowing the trade winds and for mas tering the seamansh ip required to maintain and operate them .

W hile cruising in the Bahamas as m ate in Yankee in March of 1960, a halyard winch got away from him as he was loweri ng the to psail and fractured his skull. A radio call for help took the thir ty-seven-year-old m ate to an Iberian freighter to a h elicopter lift to Corrientes Bay, where Fidel Cas tro gave clearance to a US Coas t G uard plane to fly at low altitude in C uban airspace to race the injured seam an to Miami. The incident relieved him of an eye, but Kimberly returned to his ship. When Captain Whitney passed away, Kimberly took command.

It was aboard Yankee in M ay of 196 1, during one of her bread-and-butter Caribbean cruises, that her new m as ter met his soul mate and soon-to-be permanent shipmate, G lo ria C loutier. A photographer from D etroit, M s. C loutier took a short vacati on sailing aboard Yankee. N ot long afterwards, she was back aboard fo r a round-the-world voyage. By Tahiti, they were m arried.

The Kimberlys (known to those who sailed with them as "Skipper" and "Mrs. K"), stayed at sea aboard sailing vessels fo r the next three decades. In time, they acquired their own ship, the brigantine Romance-a ship with its own interesting history. Movie studio M GM had hired Alan Villiers to purchase, re- rig, and sail the little ship fro m D enmark to H awaii to use in the epic movie "H awaii." After the film wrapped, the producers had no mo re use for it and were looking to unload it "cheap ." The Kimberlys too k it off their hands.

This seafarin g couple's legacy from their years in Romance reaches far and wide. They lived the traditions of the sea thro ugh many voyages across the Caribbean Sea, the South Pacific, and rwo circumnavigations. In rwenty- three years aboard their own ship, hundreds of young men and wom en experienced the rare o pportunity to share in this life at sea under a true master of square rig. "The Kimberlys did this witho ut presumpti on and without apology," reflects Captain Bert Rogers, executive director of the Ameri can Sail Training Association, who sailed in Romance fo r nearly three years in the late 1970s. "To sail in Romance was to drink deep of the traditions and values of seamanship. The inherent worth of these things was rarely discussed. Ir simply was the absolute and fund amental fact of life on board, sustained by the will and m as tery of Skipper, the loyal support of M rs. K, and the demands of the ship herself."

Captain Arthur Kimberly is retired and lives in New Smyrna Beach, FL; his bride and chief mate, Gloria, passed away in 2006. In O ctober, N MHS will bestow the Karl Kortum American Ship Trust award on the Kimberlys and Romance for their las ting contribution to our m aritime heritage.

1.

Capt. D aniel Mo reland served in Romance from 1973-77 and is the captain ofthe worldvoyaging Picton Castle.

16

SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

Tired of nautica l reproductions?

Martifacts has on ly authentic marine co llectibles rescued from scrapped ships: navigation lamps, sextants, clocks, bells, barometers, charts, fl ags, binnac les, telegraphs, portho les, U.S. Navy din nerware and flatware, and more. Cuffent brochure - $1.00

MARTIFACTS, INC. P.O. BOX 350190 JACKSONVILLE, FL 32235-0190 PHONE/FAX: (904) 645-0150 ww,v.martifacts.com e-mail: martifacts@aol.com

PLANNJNGAatlJISE? •Small S hips • Sa iling Vesse l s •Expe dition s • Freighters .

•Educati o na l o r Trad1t1o nal Cru ises

I Save with

I

TravLlips Rates

~TravLtiPS~

www.travltips.com

. ;~~;

e·mail: info@travlti s.com

FIDDLERS GREEN MODEL SHIPS & YACHTS SHIP MODEL BROKER

Dinner and Silent Auction on board the

I will he lp yo u Bu y, Sell , Repa ir o r Co mmission a mod e l

www.Fi ddl ersGreenMo d e lS hip s.com 201-342-1220

SS Meteor

Fidd lers Green Model Ships

245 Pros ect Avenue, Suite 198. Hac ken sac k, ' J 07601

Barker's Island Superior Wisconsin save the date

Saturday, September 13 5-9 PM Join the McDougall 's Dream ma iling list for invitation and updates Send your name and address to info@superiorpublicmuseums .org or ca ll (7 15) 394-5712 www.superiorpublicmuseums .org for more information

*

J. P. URANKER WOODCARVER AUTHENTIC MARITIME

.

. ..

*SEA CHESTS* HANDCARVED

*

DOVETAILED

1-508-693-5871 1393 County Road, Martha's Vmeyard, MA 02557

WWW.JPUWOODCARVER.COM

SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

17

The Work of Captain George Comer-Whaling and Anthropology in the Arctic

by Fred Calabretta aririme commerce, naval activity, exploration, and a spirit of adventure have driven American ships around the globe, often carrying them to distant and isolated regions. American mariners often interacted with the native people of these regions, experiencing unique opportunities to observe or document cultures and peoples little known to the rest of the world.

Few Americans have taken greater advantage of such opportunities than Captain George Comer (1858-1937) of East Haddam, Connecticut. His whaling voyages to Hudson Bay provided extended periods of interaction with the Inuit, the native people of the Canadian Arctic.

Comer embraced this opportunity, making comprehensive and multifaceted studies of the Inuit. His work elevated him to a position of high regard among the world's leading anthropologists and museum curators. A sailor with only a limited education, he captured an extraordinary record of a people who ranked among the least-documented groups in North America.

In sharp contrast to the extensive records documenting his working life, derails of Comer's early years remain elusive. According to his own statements, he was born in Quebec in 1858 to an English seafaring father and an Irish mother, both immigrants. Within a year or two of his birth, his father disappeared or died at sea. Full derails of his mother's subsequent activities are unclear, bur at some point she made her way to New England. She seems to have moved frequently with George in row, sometimes earning a meager living as a was herwoman. By the early 1860s, her name appears occasionally in city directories, census records, and almshouse records in several locales throughout Connecticur and Massachusetts. Most telling among these are records indicating George and his mother Johanna were occasional residents of the stare-operated Tewksbury Almshouse in Massachusetts. In the early to mid- l 860s, such institutions housed, nor only the poor, bur also the insane, individuals suffering from serious illness, and Civil War veterans with debilitating wounds. Ir had to have been a very disturbing environment for a yo ung boy.

In 1865, the seven-year-old George

M

18

Captain George Comer

was permanently separated from his mother and placed in an orphanage in Hartford.

Four years later he was sent to live with a foster family in East Haddam, Connecticut. He appears to have been comfortable there and, perhaps, finally found a sense of security with his foster family. Then, in 1875, he left farm life behind and headed to New London, where he shipped our on a whaler.

He signed on the barque Nile with Captain John 0. Spicer, bound for Cumberland Sound and Hudson Straits. Spicer was a rugged veteran of the Arctic, who relied on his fists to enforce discipline aboard his ship. He knew Arctic waters well and had established an excellent working relarionshi p with the Inuit of Hudson Bay, who were commonly known among whalers as Eskimos or simply "natives." This voyage profoundly influenced Comer's life.

Ir established him in his career as a m ariner and introduced him to the far North and its native people. Ir would be fourteen years, however, before Comer returned to the North. Later he would make thirteen more voyages to the Arctic bur, in the meantime, he first had work to do on the opposite end of the globe.

Following completion of the Nile's voyage, Comer stayed closer to home for a few years, sailing on coasting vessels. In 1879, he joined the schooner Mary E. Higgins on a sealing voyage to the region near Cape Horn . For the next ten years, Comer participated in the New London and Sron-

ingron-based sealing industry. In addition to the Cape Horn region, his voyages took him to Heard and Desolation Islands in the Southern Indian Ocean and Gough's Island in the South Atlantic. These destinations shared several attributes-they were home to seals, sea lions, and brutal weather.

The sealing industry in the second half of the nineteenth century returned good profits to shipowners, but it was rough on the men, who endured arduous living conditions and hazardous work.

Their quarry included seals, taken for their furs, and elephant seals, hunted for oil.

They killed the massive elephant seals wiLh rifles and lances and used clubs to kill the seals. It was rough business and bites and other injuries were common.

Much of the work was conducted ashore following dicey boat landings. On one such occasion, Comer fell overboard and nearly drowned. The crews often erected temporary shelters and stayed ashore for several days, taking as many seals or sea lions as they could. Beaches were rocky, weather was often miserable, and the men endured dampness and cold in their makeshift quarters. Comer fared well despite the challenges and, by the time of his last sealing voyage, he was serving as second mate. The hardships of the sealing industry were good training for what was to come.

In 1889, Comer returned to the North, reuniting with Captain Spicer and making three consecutive annual voyages to Hudson Bay and Cumberland Sound.

All three voyages were made in the Era, a 91-foot topsail schooner originally built as a packet in 1847. She had long exceeded her life expectancy and was now earning a living dodging Arctic ice. The Era became very important to Comer, serving him not just as a whaleship, but also as a ship of discovery. Together, Comer and the Era would establish an important presence in Hudson Bay. Comer returned there in 1893, this rime sailing from New Bedford as second mate on the barque Canton. This was Comer's first wintering voyage. The ship spent the winter intentionally frozen into the Hudson Bay ice-a practice which allowed crews to get a head start on the summer whaling season. As the pack ice in Hudson Bay began to break up in

SEA HISTORY 123 , SUMMER 2008

the spring, the men could haul whaleboats to open water and begin their search for whales, even though the vessel was still frozen within the harbor.

The winter aboard Canton introduced Comer to an important process in wintering in the Arctic-the construction of a deck house over the aft deck, built with lumber brought north specifically for that purpose. It increased the vessel's habitable space during the long winter. Comer eventually would use the deck house as a workshop for his anthropological studies.

and other information. The captain on one of these voyages, Joseph J. Fuller, possessed a keen interest in the study of flora and fauna and shared the data he collected with several scientists upon his return.

His work undoubtedly had an influence on Comer. By the 1880s, Comer too began collecting birds specimens, including skeletons, skins, and eggs. He established relationships with several scientists at Yale University, although full details of these arrangements are not clear. Comer's collections included bird species that previously

American anthropology. During his long associations with the Museum and with Columbia University, he produced a tremendous body of work pertaining to the indigenous peoples of North America. He had a special interest in the people of the Arctic and had spent a year observing them on Baffin Island from 1883-84. This fieldwork culminated in the publication of a book entitled The Central Eskimo, which to this day remains a classic in Arctic anthropology. In 1897 Boas was seeking information about th e Inuit of Hudson Bay, and in Comer he had found an enthusiastic and highly capable associate.

Their relationship began with Comer selling a smal l group oflnuit objects to Boas for the American Museum of Natural History. It escalated a couple of months later,

In this photo ofthe Inuit and crew near the whale ship Era, a close look reveals the whaleboats covered over and, importantly, the deck house built over the ship's quarterdeck, which often served as a workshop for George Comer's anthropological work during the winter months.

The pattern of wintering presented Comer with lots of time on his hands.

With no whaling activity during the long winter months, he used the time to pursue his growing interest in anthropology. This work would earn him recognition among scientists and museum curators.

Comer had always been interested in the natural world. During his earlier sealing voyages, he had collected bird specimens Era locked in ice during winter

SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

had been little known and his journal notes contained detailed observations. Together, these resources provided the basis for several scientific publications before 1900.

When Comer resumed Arctic voyaging, he was a seasoned mariner. With him came his natural curiosity, and his journals include a number of references to Inuit comb made from walrus ivory his collecting activity as he gathered minerals, plants, and other specimens. Mystic in April of 1897, as Comer was preparing Seaport's collections include a group of for his next whaling voyage to Hudson Bay. dried flowers from Hudson Bay, collected Boas sent Comer a copy of his book, along with a detailed list of desired specimens

by Comer in 1893-94.

In 1897, noted anthropologist Franz and information. The importance of this Boas of the American Museum of Natu- exchange cannot be overlooked. Comer ral History in New York City contacted was receiving detailed guidance in anthroCaptain Spicer seeking information about pological fieldwork from a man whose the Eskimos of Hudson Bay. Spicer, now students stand as a "who's who" of 20th retired, referred him to George Comer. century anthropologists, including Alfred This was a defining moment in Comer's Kroeber and Margaret Mead. life-one which had an enormous impact As Comer sailed north in Era in June on his future and particularly his scientific 1897, he was embarking on something work. Boas ranks as the founding father of much more than a whaling voyage. He

l9

Inuit group inside igloo. "Harry, " their Comer's personalfriend, ~ ¡ would capture a permanent written, visual, and physical record of the life ways of the Inuit of western Hudson Bay, bringing details of their exis tence to the rest of the world for the first time.

Despite his increasing commitment to anthropological work, certainly Comer was first and foremost a whaler. The business of whaling carried him to Hudson Bay, although the industry was barely clinging to life by the late nineteenth century. New London had renewed whaling hunts in the Eastern Arctic in 1846 for the first time since scattered voyages before 1800. Eastern Arctic whaling had largely sustained New London's whaling industry for nearly half a century, but its inevitable end was near. Comer participated in Eastern Arctic whaling during its final days. The poor state of the industry impacted his voyages on several levels. By this time, over-hunting had made whales scarce, and those that were taken brought in less profit than in years past. The only whale product of significant value was baleen. Oil was taken if convenient, but it had diminished in value to the point that blubber from killed whales was often left for the Inui t. With profits from actual whaling activity limited, ship owners and captains sought other sources of income to make these voyages pay. Trade wi th the Inuit for furs and ivory provided a valuable supplement to the traditional whaling cargo. The most desirable furs were those of the fox, wolf, polar bear, musk ox, and wolverine. Ivory became a valuable commodity and was obtained from narwhal and walrus tusks.

By this time, the Era was sold to New Bedford owner Thomas Luce and, with Comer now the captain , m ade five more voyages to Hudson Bay-the last resulting in shipwreck in 1906. Between 1907191 2, Comer made two lengthy voyages to Hudson Bay in the schooner A. T Gifford, owned by F. N. Monjo, a New York fur company. By 1900 George Comer could be accurately labeled as a fur trader as well as a whaler. His good relations with the Inuit contributed significantly to his success as a trader. The long wintering period during his many voyages placed him in close proximity to them, and they always established their winter camps near his vessel.

The people of the Inuit group known as Aivilingmiut became Comer's 20

good friends and associates. He respected them and enjoyed their company. They lived, worked, laughed, and even danced together. A man named Tasseok, known by the whalers as "Harry," was the leader of his people and Comer's closest male friend. There was another close relationship in Comer's Arctic wo rld-a woman known as Nivis inaaq was his companion for many years.

Extensive interaction between the American whalemen and the Inuit char-

acterized whaling in Comer's time. The relationship existed on multiple levels and was generally beneficial to both groups .

In addition to a trading relationship, the Americans employed the Inuit, who received goods in exchange for work such as sewing, hunting, guide service, and whaling.

Sewing by the Inuit women was an important activity to the visiting Americans. The caribou skin suits they provided proved key to their winter survival.

Thisfamily in heavy winter gear shows the type ofgarments crucial to surviving an Arctic winter. Inuit women sewed suits like these for the American whalemen, providing a valuable service, which improved their ability to survive the winter in high latitudes.

SEA HISTORY 123 , SUMMER 2008

Hunting also ranked high in significance.

Fresh meat and fish provided a valuable dierary supplem ent for Comer's crew, helping to ward off scurvy, which was always a threat and did claim several lives on Comer's voyages over the years. The Inuit men also actively joined in the whale hunt, manning several of the whaleboats alongside the Americans. They often possessed more whaling ski lls and experience than most of Co mer's crewmembers.

While rhe Inuir contributed greatl y to the survival of the Americans, they also provided companionship and friendship.

1hey joined together for sports on rhe ice, dances, and holiday entertainment in the deck house. Intinure relations between the Americans and the Inuit women were commonplace. These re lationships were culturally acceptable among rhe Inuir of the rime and strengthened the bond between themselves and rhe Americans.

Comer effectively and co nsisten tly mer his responsibiliries as a whaler and a trader, earning profits for the owners of his vessel. By rhis point in his career, however, his anthropology work was becoming increasingly significant. When he sailed north in 1897, he carried derailed collecting instructions from Boas. Twenty-seven months larer he returned, bringing a profitable cargo of oil, baleen, and furs for the Era's owners and a secondary cargo for Boas and rhe American Museum of Natural History.

The significance of rhar other cargo is besr described by Boas himself in a lerrer he sent to Frederick W Putnam, C urato r of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History: About two weeks ago rhe captain informed me of his return , and on Ocr. 13 and 14 I went to Easr Haddam, Conn. to examine his collections. I found he has made a very full collection from rhe wesr coast of Hudson Bay, an excellent collection from Southampto n Island, and rhar he also had a few scarrered specimens from Fury and Hecla Strait and from some orher points. According to our previous arrangement, rhe price to be paid for rhis collection will be $500.00.

I beg to say rhar this is probably the mosr imporranr Eskimo collection which has been obtained since SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

dimensions and becoming more comprehensive. In 1903 Boas asked him to take along plaster of paris and taught him how to make life masks of rhe Inuit. This activity was related to a now-controversial aspect of anthropology known as anthropometry, a careful evaluatio n of skull form and size as an indicator of intelligence and behavioral tendencies among gro ups of people.

Anthropometry eventually fell o ur of favor because it produced results that were often inconclusive or of minimal val ue. The practice is also regarded with disdain today as a sort of racial profiling, but in its time it was considered cutting-edge anthropology.

Comer created several hundred Inuit life masks over a period of nine years. Despite their original purpose, today the masks provide a stunning three-dimensional look at the faces of people who lived 100 years An Inuit shaman. Comer obtained this coat ago. A number of the individuals representand delivered it to the American Museum of ed are identified and well documented in Natural History in New York.

Comer's written records and photographs.

In 1903, again under the direction of Hayes firsr visited Smith Sound [in Boas, Comer brought along a graphophone, 1860]. The Southampton Island Esan early sound recording and playback dekimo proved to be absolutely unconvice. Using the technology of rhe day that taminated. I think they are probably incorporated wax cylinders, Co mer caprhe very lasr tribe in North America tured dozens of Inuit songs and stories. which can be found in such condiThese recordings, now preserved at the Artion, and rhe collection obtained by chives ofTradirional Music ar Indiana Srare Capr. Comer is absolurely unique University, are rhe earliest sound recordings in character. The sledges, harpoons, ever made among the Inuir of Canada. bows and arrows, knives, etc., of this Comer utilized one additional form tribe are more primitive than any of documentation in 1903 and on other rhing I have ever seen . . . The Repulse voyages-a cam era. More rhan 300 of his Bay collection is also of very great photographs, raken between 1897 and interest. While not so primitive, iris 191 2, have survived. The photographs, much more extens ive, and I believe taken usi ng glass plare negatives, provide rhe specimens obtained by Capr. a remarkable visual record of a people in Comer are rhe very first of their kind transition. They depict a full range oflnuit ever brought to American or to Euroactivity, including extraordinary indoor pean museums. The collection must portraits and views of shamanistic rituals . be considered an exceptionally valuMany of rhe photos were raken outdoors; able acquisition.

Boas was clearly impressed. 1he poorly ed- dozens of others were raken inside, in the ucated whaler had dazzled the great man of deck house Comer built on his ship every science, and one of the world's great muse- winrer.

Indoors or out, the challenges of sucums had established a relationship with an extraordinary collector and anthropologi- cessfully taking and processing ph otographs in rhe Arctic environmenr are difficult to cal fieldworker.

Comer continued his Hudson Bay comprehend. Temperatures could drop whaling voyages and also expanded his an- ro -5 0 degrees and winds could be fierce. thropological work. He returned to Hud- The lack of light in winter compounded son Bay in 1900 and again in 1903, each the difficulties. There were weeks when the voyage lasting twenty-seven months. His Arctic sun only made a brief appearance. studies of the Inuit were taking on new Despite these challenges, Comer created an

21

Captain George Comer in the rig, 1907

as a place that provided everything they needed . Tradi tionally, it provided them with fo od, shelter, and life itself. They m et the challenges of the environment with determination and ingenui ty and with survival skills sharpened over many generations.

Most American whalers and o ther visitors to the Arctic viewed it in a less favorable light. They saw the Arctic as a barren, mysterious, and dangero us place. To them it was a place of hardship, with an unforgiving environment that could take life away quickly.

George C omer came to view the icy shores and waters of Hudson Bay through the eyes of the Inuit. As a result of his hard work and comprehensive documentation of their culture, he came to understand the place and, more importantly, its people. To the Inuit, he was not so much an outsider. He was a person who took the time to know them. H e was a sympathetic friend.

Among the most important aspects of C omer's legacy are his surviving collections, which include approximately 30 journals and notebooks, 300 photographs, 60 sound recordings, 300 plaster life masks, and 4,000 objects. This impressive body of resource material transports us to a time and place in the pas t, providing a close-up view and better understanding of Captain George Comer and his Inuit fri ends. J,

,.

outstanding photographic record of the Inuit as they struggled to remain connected to th eir traditional life ways, in the fa ce of the increasing presence of the Canadian government, traders, missionaries, explorers, and whalers.

During the period 1893- 191 2, Comer spent the equivalent of about 14 years away from home in Hudson Bay. Although his chosen life bro ught m any personal hardships, the extended separations from his wife and children must have been extremely difficult for them as well. Communication by letter was spo radic and depended on the few ships passing in and out of the Hudson Bay during the years of Comer's presence there. His family had many reasons to be concerned for his welfare.

Al though the whal ers could create a relatively comfortable ro utine during their winters in Hudson Bay, the enviro nm ent and remo teness of the region frequently created hardships and, occasion-

22

ally, life-threatening danger. Co mer once fell thro ugh the ice while out hunting four miles from his ship. W ith the temperature about thir ty degrees below zero, an Inuit companio n pull ed him to safety, got him on a dogsled, and raced him to his ship, saving his life. The event clearly illustrates the real danger that was always present during Comer's years in the north.

In his letters hom e, Com er occasionally expressed fr ustration with limited whaling success but generally seemed to express a positive state of mind . H e becam e as comfo rtable in the Arc tic as he was in Connecticut, and possibly more so.

Despite the difficul t environmental conditions, he carried out his wo rk-whaling, trading, and Inuit studies-with determinatio n and energy. His journal entries ofren describe conditions as pleasant and comfo rtable, even during the coldest days of the winter.

The In uit viewed their Arctic wo rld

This article is based primarily on two major collections of Comer journals and papers.

These are: the "George Comer C ollection," Collection 102, at Mys tic Seaport's G .W Blunt White Library; and the "Papers of George Com er," American Museum of Natural History, Division of Anthropology Archives. Readers m ay also be interested in a m ajo r exh ibition at Mys tic Seaport, "Frozen In: Captain George Comer and the Hudson Bay Inuit," scheduled to open on 24 May. For the first time ever, C omer's sound recordings, photographs, Inuit objects, and writings will be bro ught together from a number of institutions and private collections to provide an unprecedented view of Cap tain Com er and his Inuit fri ends. (Mystic Seaport, 75 G reenmanville Ave., M ys ti c, CT 06355; www.mysticseaport.org)

Fred Calabretta is Curator of Collections and Oral Historian at Mystic Seaport.

SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

MARITIME HISTORY ON THE INTERNET

Finding Information About Individuals Online y goal this issue is not to present ways of finding out your neighbo rs' credit score; I want to describe ways of locating information about historical individuals . D epending o n the importance of the individual being researched , there are lo ts of paths to rake. If your subjects are not well-known, then the best way to go is probably to pretend that you're related to them (which might be rhe case!) and approach it as a piece of genealogy. Genealogy must be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the internet: it has become so easy to find and share obscure informati o n that is relevant to just a few people around the world. There are m any different genealogy web sires that can help you find info rmation about ancestors, whether they are related to yo u or nor. Examples include: www.genealogy.com, www.familysearch.org, www. ancestry.com, and www.worldvitalrecords.com. .,,~o"-"' Several sites post immigrant passenger lists, st-"' ''' though it's hard to identify which have the most complete data and which duplicate others. The Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild (www.immigrantships.net) has many ship lists available o nline; their databases are also available through www.worldvitalrecords.com.

The Ships List (http://www.theshipslist.com) also offers free passenger lists.

Most of the major genealogy sites are subscription-based, though fees are very reasonable. Every day, more and more data is add ed to these sites . It's a fantas tic way of making otherwise-inaccessible information , such as census data, widely available. Free sires of note include rhe Mormon Church 's www.familysearch. org, plus the Social Security Death Index, which is available at multiple locations, including http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/.

This index provides useful informati o n abo ut Americans who have passed away since the creation of the Social Securi ty system .

Several of the paid services are also available rhrough public libraries. The most norable are HeritageQuest Online and Ancestry Library Edition. (Disclaimer- both are sold to libraries by my employer, ProQuest.) These databases are sometimes accessible to library card holders from home or may only be accessible inside th e

M

SHIP MODELS

SEARCHING FOR A PIECE OF OUR MARITIME PAST?

Ship's Lamps Compasses • Wheels

Balls • lnchars Curiosities of the 7 seas

:F'ID S, SPIKES & PALl\IS FOR THE l\IA RIN JJ:R <:?

Buy • Sell • Trade • Salvage """"'

CHINA SEA

Offering an extensive selection of documented, one-of-a-kind ship models by internationally acclaimed marine model artists.

CUSTOM MODELS (YACHT & HISTORIC) APPRAISALS RESTORATIONS

MARINE TRADING Co.

DISPLAYS UNITS

324 Fore St. Portland ME 04101 chinasea@chinaseatrading.com

Illus. catalog $10.

207- 773-0081

library. Either way, they're excellent places to start a search and may preclude the need to open individual subscriptions to the other sires mentioned above.

For people who might be somewhat berrer known-say, might have appeared in a Whos Who-type publication (and there are volumes for dozens of subj ects and regions; not just Whos Who in America)-a resource called Biography Master Index, available at m any libraries, tells yo u who is listed in over 4,5 00 biographical dictionaries. Ir includes about 4 million people. Research libraries m ay have K. G. Saur's World Biographical Index Online, which is similar to, but about twice the size of, Biography Master Index and has a broader geographical focus.

Finally, for individuals who m ay have had their papers collected and stored in a library or museum, the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (also called "NUCMC," pronounced "nuk- muk") at http://www.loc.gov/coll/nucmc provides limited access to information about these collections. It can be di fficult to search and even m ore difficult to determine where a give n set of papers is actually located, bur if you're looking for primary documents surrounding a specific individual or family, it's a useful place to look. Once you find an interesting collection, try using WorldCat (http://www.worldcat.org) to learn more: search in WorldCat for the N UCM C "control number" at the bottom of rh e N UCM C record (bur igno re the "ocm" before the number).

The impact of the internet on genealogical research cannot be underestimated and it will continue to expand. Using genealogical research tools can be a great way for findin g information about specific individuals in American history, whether they are related to you or not.

Suggestions for other sites wo rth mentioning are welcome at shipindex@yahoo.com. See http://www.shipindex.org for a co mpilation of over 100,000 ship nam es from indexes to dozens of books and journals. 1, -Peter M cCracken

($15. overseas) or free brochure

AMERI CAN MARINE MODEL GALLERY 12SH-OER BY SQUARE

SALEM, MA 01970

978-745-5777 wall@shipmodel.com

fakit1g the Fight to Sea: Machias at1d the First Sea Fight of the A~ericat1 Revolutiot1

r

by Jam es L. N elson

h e day after the fighting erupted at suffering from a fo od shortage brought on Lexington and C oncord, the Siege of by drought.

At that time, a wealthy Machias m erBoston began.

In less than twenty-four hours, the chant and Tory named Icabod Jones was five thousand or so British troops and living in Boston . Jones had already done camp followers in Boston, as well as the a good business, "Supplying this [British] civili an population , found themselves cut G arrison wi th W ood Lumber &c fo r his off from the rest of M assachusetts and the Majesty's use." Jones now approached Gage bounty of supplies that the colony had w ith a proposal to acqui re and sell firewood hitherto provided. "Very great Pains have to the British. H e either kn ew o r suspected been taken to starve the Troops and the that the people of M achias were dangerousFriends of Government in Boston," wrote ly short on supplies and believed that their General Thomas Gage, who was both the pred icam ent would make them mo re flexBritish commanding officer and the chief ible in their choice of tradin g partners. 1 h e civil authori ty. The real fight for the next resulting transaction could be benefi cial to year would be a fight, not fo r gro und, but all, particularly, of course, to Icabod Jones.

After meeting with Jo nes, Gage wro te for supp lies and materiel. It was a war that would be fou ght largely at sea, and the to Admiral Samuel G raves, commander of opening salvo was about to take place in the British fleet in Boston, explaining that the m erchant "has my permission to carry the remote wilderness of eastern M aine.

Of the many shortages in Boston, one Twen ty Barrels Pork, and Twen ty Barrels of the most severe was a lack of firewood, Flour," to Machias in exchange fo r muchnecessary to boil salted meat, the staple needed wood.

Jo nes understood that, hungry or not, food of the besieged ci ty. As it happened, Boston was not the only place on the sea- the people of M achias might make tro uble. board starving for supplies. In the far-off, H e concluded that "an Arm ed Vessel's betiny settlem ent of M achias, M aine-which ing sent there .. .m ay have good effect." The had lots of firewood- the population was recent actio n at Lexingto n and Concord

had apparentl y taught hi m nothing abou t the advisabili ty of trying to stron g-arm his fellow Americans.

The armed vessel G raves chose to accompany Jones's sloops was the schooner Margaretta, commanded by a midshipman named James Moo re. Though m anned with twenty sailors chosen from the flagship Preston, she carried only swivel guns, mounted on the rails, and muskets, pistols and cutlasses fo r the crew. M argaretta was no t much by Royal Navy standards, bur Graves figured she was enough to overawe som e backwoods colo nials. And it all might have gone off sm oothly if Icabod Jones had no t m anaged to m iscalculate and blunder at every step.

Machias Sot1s of Liberty O n 2 June the little convoy consisting of Jones's sloops Unity and Polly, acco mpanied by the Margaretta, arrived at M achias . Word of the fi ghting at Lexington and Concord had recently reached the far-off town and, like most Americans, the people there were in no mood to trade with any fri end of the British army. Nevertheless, they were also desperate fo r provisions,

GRAND BANKS

ATLANTI C

O CEAN

s 0 50 I OOkm '-'-'-'-' 50

24

100 mi

SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

and in their desperation they wo uld have put their feelin gs aside and made a deal, as they had before, if Jones had handled the situation with any sensitivity.

Bur he did nor. N o doubt em boldened by the armed schooner riding at anchor within easy gunshot of rhe town , Jones circulated an agreem ent that "required the signers to indulge Capt Jones in carrying Lumber to Boston, & to protect him and his property.... " Only those who signed would be allowed to trade for th e salt pork and Bour.

The people of M achias were understandably furi ous at these coercive tactics, so much so that Jones felt compelled to have M oore move the Margaretta fa rther upriver to a place where "her G uns would reach the H ouses." 1he people of Machias considered themselves "nearly as prisoners of war," trapped between their loathing of Jones and the British government he worked for on the one hand, and the very real possibility of starving on the other. They held meetings at the public house in M ach ias, Burnham Tavern, and discussed rhe m atter. After a few days they grudgingly voted to cooperate with Jones.

Jones could not leave well enough alo ne. Once rhe provisio ns were landed from his sloops, he announced that he wo uld distribute them only to those people who had supported him. Furious, rhe m en who had been slighted "determined to rake Capt Jones, if poss ible, & put a final stop to his supplying the Ki ng's troops with any thing." Foremost am ong the rebel leaders were Benjamin Foster, a lieutenant in the local militia and business partner of

In June of 1775, the citizens ofMachias gathered at job Burnham's tavern as they grappled with the difficult decisions before them with regards to lcabod ]ones's threats. Burnham Tavern (above) has been preserved as a museum and is open to the public in the summer.

SEA HISTORY 123 , SUMMER 2008

'Machias, Maine, 1896." On 12 June 1775, as the British were being chased down the river, their only chance of escape was to reach the op en ocean, still several miles away. M argaretta's captain, James Moore, would have to navigate the winding river and then Machias Bay before the Atlantic would come into view. An uncontrolled jibe crippled the schooner, denying her crew the time they needed to reach the relative safety of open water. They would not make it.

Icabod Jones, and thirty-on e-year-old Jeremiah O 'Brien.

Word was sent to rhe nearby settlements, and soon m en fro m all aro und had gathered in the woods near rhe O ' Brien homestead to plo t their move. June 11 was a Sunday, and the men correctly guessed rhar Moore and Jones would be at Sunday services, where they might be easily nabbed.

In the early afternoon, "thirty M en in Arm s and many m o re went to the M eeting House there to rake up Icabod Jones and Captain Moore," according to a witness .

Seared in rhe pew with Jones and Moore were rhe Margaretta's first officer, a young midshipman named SrillinsBeer, and Jones's nephew, Stephen Jones. The fo ur men were apparently unaware of rhe hostili ty they had engendered, or ar least were convinced that the colonists would not molest them fo r fear of the M argaretta's guns or of losing the provisions that Jones brought.

Suddenly, over rhe sound of the preacher's voice, came the din of an approaching m ob, and the men realized at last how wrong they were. Jones "looked out of the Window & saw a N umber of People Arm ed making toward the H ouse." The doors to the meeting house burst open and O 'Brien, Foster, and the angry m en of Machias can1e charging down the aisle. Moore, SrillinsBeet, and the Joneses leap t to their feet and, "alarmed that they were pursued by Armed Men, jumped our of rhe W indow and escaped."

The midshipmen, res plendent in their long blue coats and white waistcoat and breeches, raced to rhe waterfront, rhe sho uting m ob close behind them . They managed to get aboard Margaretta "before their pursuers (who were very numerous) came up with them ." Icabod Jones ran in rhe other direction and d isappeared into the thick fores t

rhar crowded around rhe settlement. Of the fo ur, only Stephen Jones was apprehended.

O nce back aboard the Margaretta, Moore sent a message ashore telling the people rhar "he was determined to do his duty whilst he had life; & that, if rhe people presumed to stop Capt Jones's vessels, he wo uld burn the town ." Ir was a bold threat from a midshipman with only twen ty m en and a schooner armed with swivel guns, and the men of M achias were not impressed .

They ordered Moore to "strike to rhe sons of Liberty and come on shore," bur Moore declined.

One of]ones's sloops, likely rhe Unity, lay at anchor down stream. A band of m en rowed o ur to rhar vessel, boarded her, and bro ught her up river where they anchored her close to the town wharf, downstream of rhe Margaretta. For a few hours, a tense and uneasy truce fell o n rhe town, as each side waited for the o ther to make a move. Midshipman M oore was rhe first to act. Around 8:30 in th e evening, he quietly weighed ancho r and let the Margaretta drop downriver toward the Unity, bur the Americans, who had gone ashore, took to their boars and reached her fi rst. They swarmed over Unity's low sides and let go the anchor cable.

The sloop was swept up in the current and ran aground in the soft mud near rhe shore.

Margaretta cam e to anchor no mo re than fi ftee n yards from the grounded sloop.

Arm ed men swarmed to the shoreline, while others climbed into boars and canoes and pulled for a spot near where tl1e British schooner swung at her anchor.

Som eone hailed M idshipman M oore, "desiring him ro strike to rh e So ns of Liberty, th reatening him with death if he resisted."

Moore refused to surrender, and rhe shoo ting began .

25

~::::.~.--

The Americans fired first, a blast of musket shot. Lead balls whipped over the heads of the sailors manning the M argaretta's deck and thudded into the schooner's sides. M oore immediately ordered his men to rerurn fire. All along the gunwale British muskets fired back, and the swivels blasted away at point blank range.

The two sides continued this "smart engagement" for some time, the flash from their m uzzles bright in the growing darkness. Finally, Moo re had had enough. Eager to break off the fight, he ordered the schooner's cable cut. The M argaretta dropped downriver about half a mile and came to anchor again, not far from an anchored sloop fro m Cape Cod loaded with lumber and commanded by a man named Samuel Tobey.

Even after that intense exchange, the Americans still had som e fight left in them .

O nce again armed men loaded into their boats and canoes and, with night full on, pulled downriver to where the Margaretta lay. They closed with the schooner, intent on boarding her, but "were beat off from a brisk fire from the Swivels & obliged to quit their Boats, fo ur of which in the Morning were left upon the Flats full of holes .. .."

O ne man was injured on board the British vessel.

M oore knew the Americans were not done with him, and he likewise realized how inadequate a man-of-war his converted m erchant schooner made. W ith the lumber co nfiscated from Tobey's sloop, the navy bluejacke ts "m ade a Barricadoe fo re & Aft to defend ourselves from Sm all Arms."

M argaretta spent the rest of the night rafted alongside Tobey's sloop, her men no do ub t keeping eyes and ears trained intently into the dark.

fhe First Sea Fight of the War At som e point in the night, M idshipman Jam es M oore realized that his mission was over and that he could do no thing fu rther for Icabod Jones, who was still cowering somewhere in the fo rest. At fi rs t ligh t the midshipman ordered sails set, and the M argaretta stood downriver toward the sea. Samuel To bey, "being well acquainted with the River," was taken against his will to serve as pilot. From shore, local patriots peppered the schoo ner with musket fire as she passed .

26

lhe British naval schooner Margaretta is captured by the Machias Sons ofLiberty.

The Machias Sons of Liberty, meanwhile, were preparing fo r battle. Forty men under the command of Jeremiah O 'Brien, armed with "guns, swords, axes & pick fo rks" m anned the Unity. At fi rs t light they too got underway, m aneuvering downriver in pursuit of the Margaretta.

O 'Brien's m en may not have had fo rmidable weapons, but Benjamin Foster lacked even a ship. TI1e Polly had been stripped of sails and rigging, and there was no tim e to put her back together. There was, however, a sm all schooner called the Falmouth Packet at M achias at the time.

Foster, with twen ty men, commandeered the schooner from her reluctant captain and fo llowed in O 'Brien's wake. Like the m en in Margaretta, Foster and O 'Brien's men built "breast works of pine boards, and any thing they co uld fi nd in the Vessels, that wo uld screen them fro m the enemy's fi re."

W ith Samuel Tobey as pilot, the Margaretta nego tiated the Machias River and stood fo r open wa ter. The breeze was building and Moore had nearly reached the sea when he accidentally jibed the schoo ner, shattering her mainsail's boom and gaff. Just a few m iles short of escape, the Margaretta was crippled.

Moore once again came to anchor as his men cleared away the wreckage. From his position , he could see ano ther vessel at anchor, about three miles distant. Moore sent a party of armed sailors off in the Margaretta's boat to take possession of her. They boarded the vessel and "bro ught her alongside, took her Boom and Gaff & fixed them

in the Schoo ner."

The crew of the Margaretta was just finishing their wo rk when they spotted the Unity and the Falmouth Packet charging toward them. Moore "immediately weighed An chor & stood o ut fo r the Sea." Even undamaged, Margaretta was "a very dull sailor," and soon the Ame ri cans were overhauling them. " [T] hey coming up with us very fast," wro te Nathaniel Godfrey, "we began to fi re o ur Stern Swivels, & sm all Arms as soon as within reach ."

For nearly an hour the Ame ricans plunged on thro ugh the rain of musket balls. Soon they cam e within hailing distance, and once again they called fo r Moore to strike to the Sons of Liberty, promising the English good treatment if they did and death if they did no t.

Moore could not escape, ye t he was not abo ut to strike h is colo rs, so he rurned to fight. He luffed the Margaretta up and poured swivel shot and sm all arms fi re in to the Unity and the Falmouth Packet, bu t the Americans stood on, knowing their advantage lay in numbers and could only be realized with hand-to-hand combat. Unity ran up agains t the Margaretta's starboard quarter, her bowsprit running right th ro ugh the m ain sh ro uds and ripping thro ugh the m ainsail. The Falmouth Packet ran against the Margaretta's larboard bow.

Men from the Unity climbed up onto the schooner's quarterdeck, swinging discharged muskets like clubs and d riving the British sailors fo rward. Muskets and pistols banged out on all sides, and sho uting

SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

Americans plunged into the crowd of British sai lors with axes and pitchforks.

Midshipman James Moore was shot down in the initial rush , a musket ball in his chest, another in his belly. H e collapsed, bleeding, to the deck. Yo ung midshipman Stillinsfleet was wo unded in the side and Bed in terror to his cabin, where he was later found. The figh ting surged along the deck as more and more of the Americans clambered over the rails. Crude as they were, axes and pitchforks proved very effective for hand-tohand fighting, and the Americans enjoyed a three-to-one advantage. The battle on the M argaretta's deck was over quickly.

The British lost one man killed and fi ve wo unded. The Americans had one killed and six wounded, though one of those later died. The mortally wounded Moore was carried down to his cabin and laid on his bunk. Accordin g to Nathaniel Godfrey, when asked why he d id not strike his colors, Moore told them "he preferred Death befo re yielding to such a sett of Villains." H e go t his preference. Later, Moore was carried to the emp ty home of Icabod Jones, where he died the fo llowing day.

The jubilant Americans squared the three vessels away, secured the M argaretta's

crew, and "carried her up to Mechais, in great triumph, wi th their Colours flying." A day or so later, Icabod Jones came staggering out of the woods. H e was arrested and sent to Cambridge for trial.

Soon after, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress resolved to express their th anks to "Captain Jeremiah Obrian and Captain Benjamin Foster, and the other brave men under their command." They decreed that Unity, Polly, and Margaretta should rem ain in the possession of the people of Machias.

W ith Margaretta being such a poor sailor, Polly was fitted out with her guns, including the three- pounders which had been lying uselessly in her hold. Renamed M achias Liberty, she was given to Jeremiah O 'Brien to command.

Thus the first ship-to-ship naval action of the American Revolution ended as an American victory. For Admiral Samuel Graves, the loss of twenty prime seamen was a much greater calami ty than the loss of an insignificant schooner. For the troops and civilians in Boston, the worst of the loss was the promised two shiploads of firewood. In wri ting about the event to John Adams, James Warren noted, "this is doing great Service. they are reduced to great

straits for wood as well as fresh provisions in Boston. it is said it wo uld fetch three Gueneas a Cord. they have already Burnt all the fences &c."

Three weeks after the capture of the Margaretta, Geo rge Washington arrived in Cambridge to take command of the Continental Army. Over the next few months he wo uld come to understand that the two armies were in stalemate and that the only fight in New England was a seaborne fight for supplies and materiel. He would realize the need for an American naval force, and with no authorization to do so, he wo uld assemble a navy of his own. The naval war, begun in far-off Machias, wo uld be taken up

by George Washington's secret navy. .t

James L. Nelson, a former professional sailor, is an award-winning author of historical fiction and non-fiction. H is writing covers a wide range of our maritime heritage, from piracy in colonial Virginia to the naval action of the Civil Wtir. This article is based on a chapter from his new book, George Washington's Secret Navy, released this month by M cGraw-Hill. More information on the author and his books can be found on his web site: www.jameslnelson.com.

SS JEREMIAH O'BRIEN

The National Liberty Ship Memorial, S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien, is one of the finest surviving fully functional World War II Liberty Ships.

Moored at Pier 45 in the heart of San Francisco's internationally-renowned Fisherman's Wharf the O'Brien is within walking distance or a short cab ride from many leading San Francisco hotels, restaurants and attractions.

Besides her regularly-scheduled Bay cruises, the O'Brien is the perfect special-event venue for lovers of the ships and sea. She's available for lease for themed-cruises for up to 800 passengers, as well as dock-side events for up to 1,200 attendees. Interior areas can host sit-down dinners, standing receptions, and dance events for 200 to 300 guests.

To book the O'Brien contact news@d.avidperry.com I 416.693.0683 SEA HISTORY 123 , SUMMER 2008

65th Anniversary Year 1943 - 2008

www.ssjeremiahobrien.org

,. ÂŁ 1'16?b..

NATIONAL LIB ERTY SHIP M EMORIAL

27

John Stobart traveled some distance to join in what was going on at South Street Seaport in New York forty years ago-but this turned out to be only the beginning of another journey, one that has proved immensely rewarding to the American heritage in seafaring. Joining us in our voyage of exploration into the seafaring past, John painted a portrait of the ship Wtzvertree and donated the proceeds from the print he made to help raise funds to bring her here from South America, where she had ended her career after being dismasted off Cape Horn. He went on to become the leading artist of the historic seaports of America, giving us a lively appreciation of the whole heritage of American seafaring.

How we would crowd into my small office in South Street to see his latest painting unwrapped amid dog-eared books and toppling piles of paper! As he revealed his latest effort, we'd be transported to an elder world-smelling salt air and entranced by small boats dancing on the harbor swell, tugs busy about their multifarious tasks, and the great ships that towered over the shops of sailmakers, block makers, chandlers and counting houses.

When John asked recently what he might do for the cause, my wife Norma and I stumbled over each other (as is our wont) to answer-give us a flock of your best paintings that bring the seafaring story home to New Yorkers-oh, and do add the story of how you came to paint them. A tall order! What follows is part of his response, the whole of which is soon to be published by the National Maritime Historical Society in a small volume, which embraces an oceanic outreach. John's work is full of the call of the wind, in a world wider and more wild than the one we know today, a world alive with the splendor of sunlight playing on broken water and the appeal of a tall ship outward bound toward far horizons.

-Peter Stanford, President Emeritus, National Maritime Historical Society

0

A Fair~&~ S~tred

ne thing an artist needs above all else is luck, and oh boy, have I had luck! Ir was sometimes hard to discern the lineaments of good fortune when it came, since a lucky break may come in heavy disguise, as though ro avoid detection . But sometimes fortune's tide turns fair, as it did at my first exhibition at New York's Kennedy Galleries, where I met Peter Stanford and, at his urging, came to Lower Manhattan to explore the fledgling South Street Seaport Museum. There, I walked into a world where the fair tide was running strong and clear- a surge of adrenaline in my veins.

It was a pretty long and winding road to discover that world. One early stroke of luck was my decision to come west to Canada in 1957. I was feeling cramped and restless in my career as a painter of steamship portraits for calendars commissioned by shipping companies, and I saw no doors of opportunity opening before me.

It seemed my colloquial Derby accent was holding me back in getting attention from the exclusive London art galleries of the day; they could not be bothered with an unknown artist from the sticks. Even seven years at London's Royal Academy Schools, a superb training ground for artists, could not obscure my provincial origins, which in any case I had no wis h to hide! I was inspired early by ships and the sea; the steamer paintings I had begun to paint in my later student days turned out to be a magic 28

by John Srobarr

)\

San Francisco: The Flying Cloud Entering Port card of introduction in Canada-for the shipping company calendars headed with my paintings carried those images worldwide. I was amazed to find that my reputation for painting ships had preceded me.

The calendars had quietly served as free advertising!

I rook to making trips ro Canada, finding new patrons in an age when shipping magnates still rook pride in each new ship they launched. This was a pride I shared ever since my childhood visits to my grandparents' home in Liverpool, where I longingly watched the great ships steam out of sight, bound for far horizons. Years later, when I was doing well enough ro

take a sabbatical, I headed to Canada with my fami ly for a six-month stay in Toronto. There, with the help of the dedicated museum curator Alan Howard at the Toronto Maritime Museum, I threw myself into a study of the merchant sailing ships that had haunted my imagination since I'd first seen their successor ships steam out to sea. Alan advised me to take the results of my studies and seek representation, not in Canada, with its population of some 10 million, but across the border where the market was then upwards of 200 million.

So boldly, I headed for New York by train, taking with me four paintings of sailing ships underway wrestling with tumultuous

SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

The Packet Ship New World Leaving Liverpool

Outward boundfor New York, the handsome packet N ew World Looks Like the ship of dreams she was, departing Liverpool in the morning mist to carry people to new ventures and, for many, new Lives in A merica. A big ship of J,400 tons, she was Launched in 1846 by Donald M cKay of East Boston. She sailedfor the Swallow Tail Line, dovetailing her crossings with her Black Ball rivals to provide weekly service. She is fast, andfor cabin passengers gazing out of those elegant stern cabin windows, Luxurious as a first-class hotel- though prone to Lean over in heavy weather! seas. I felt these bo re o ut bo th the drama and the workaday realities of seafaring better than the fantasies of clipper shi ps roaring along under mo untains of sail, which characterized so many gallery paintings. In truth, far better works h ad been do ne by Montague D awson , the British painter, and such Am erican painters as C harles Ro bert Patterson, from whom I sough t ro learn as m asters of the genre, while developing my own vision of rhese ships. This I did by imm ersing myself in everything I could learn about the ships and rhe p eople who sailed them . M y sources, naturally, were m ainly literary-but something new was about to be added .

On the train to New York, a m an sharing my seat (who just h appened to be editor of an arr magazine!) gave m e a list of New York galleries head ed by Kennedy Galleries, owned by the W underlich family, who'd founded it in 1874. Their field was ''Americana,'' taking in the Hudson Ri ver

SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

School, the American West, the era of the river steamboats and of m erchant sail. To my stunned surprise, the Wunderlichs offered me a one-man show! When rhar show opened in November 1967, Mrs. Wunderlich introduced me to Peter Stanfo rd, whom she had invited to the exhibition. Peter recently had been in the papers, m aking news about a fl edgling outfit down near the Brooklyn Bridge that sought to revitalize the hub of the Port of New York of the sailing days-South Street Seaport!

Luck was about to strike.

Little could I have imagined what lay in sto re for m e on the day, some time lare r, when I ascended a delightfully ramshackle wooden scaircase in a waterfront wareho use, in a corner of New York that the bulldozers reshaping Lower M anhattan had nor yet cleared away. I had the feeling that an unpredictable fortuity was turning in my favor. Everyone I had spoken to or had accos ted fo r assistance on this cross-

bo rder ve nture into the USA had been almost electrically charged with friendliness.

The very thing that had driven me away from England, ir appeared, was now the ace up my sleeve- the colloquial D erby accent.

Instead of doors slamming in my face, they were now swinging open-wide!

Perer Sranfo rd was rhe source of lighr fo r reviving what was still lefr of N ew York's historic South Street area, even as high-rise srrucrures encroached from every direcrion.

H e had several projects afoor, bur he welco med m e warmly and was keenly interested in the few wo rks I had brought to show him. W hen I told him I was seeking help to produce a painting of South Street of old, he offered his assistance and told me of plans to acquire rhe ship TI!avertree for rhe refurbished Seapo rt, adding how wonderful ir wo uld be if I could produce a painting of her. I had to take pains to compose myself as adrenaline was running up and down my neck, my rho ughrs pondering wherher

29

doo rs should be cl osed wirh so much luck pouring rh ro ugh rhe w indows.

The small office Perer headed ar 203 Front Srreer had become rhe gravitatio n point fo r all chose, yo ung and old, who had a passion to see Sourh Su eer live again as a vibran t new center of the ciry's maririme heri tage. That office was a fabulo us source of refere nce material for m e. Ar every tu rn fascinating people would appear ar rhe top of rhe staircase. These wo uld include Alan Villiers, who had sailed rhe ship Joseph Conrad around the wo rld with a crew of yo ung u ainee sailo rs in the 1930s; Archie H orka, who ship ped o ut in rhe bark Callao on a Cape H o rn passage to C hile in 1924; Fred Harvey, who had sailed in whaleships and served as boatswain in rhe famo us D own Eas rer Shenandoah on her fin al trip to New York in 19 10. There were others, of course, led by Karl Kortum, head of rhe San Francisco Maririme M useum, who had sailed in rhe lase Cape H orn voyage of rhe D own Easter Kaiulani in 194 1-42; and shipping magnare Jakob Isbrandrsen, who

bought the ship Wavertree along wirh rhree and the people who sailed them , of distant blocks and some addirional holdings of real ports and lessons learned at sea.

Ar rhe outset of my career portraying estare to save rhe core of the old port area.

I was also immensely privileged to meet the era of m erchant sail-specifically withAusrralian maritime anist Oswald Brett, in the harbors, wh ere architecture was a sigwho over the years has been the source for nificant element attracting my interest- to my detailed kn owledge of rigging and ship be able to sit down wirh rhese venerable old lo re-to the extent that o ur consultations timers and enjoy their input was a privilege at this point wo uld fill a large and fascinat- indeed and empowered my inspiration to ing book. The tugboat company owners record the era before rhe las t of its particiAdmiral Edmond Mo ran and his great rival pants were gone.

One of these m eetings lefr a tangible James P. McAllister were also ever-present supporters of Peter's quest. The great occa- reco rd in the painting I m ade of the Wa versions for us all were when we repaired to tree leaving New York in 1895 . Peter had the Square Rigger Bar at nightfall to raise a asked me to paint the ship setting sail on glass and talk over the wo rk at hand. the blustery M arch day of her departure for The Square Rigger talks were lots India, having brought in a cargo of Chilean of fun , with different kinds of people in- nitrate a few weeks earlier. Knowing that volved- mainly sailors and Seaport visitors. Archie Horka and O s Brett were to m eet But they were also all business, missing not him in the Square Rigger after work, Peter the slightest chance to add momentum of invired m e to join them. By then I had dethe night-and-day drive to save rhe historic veloped a working sketch of the ship setting seaport buildings fro m the bulldozer and sail with rhe ciry behind her. She would be the historic ships from the knackers' yards. under tow by a harbo r tug, of course; these There was an endless flow of tal k of ships big ships needed tugs to see them in and

South Street Pier in the 1880s: The Abner Coburn Leaving Port

30

SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

Wavertree Leaving the Upper Bay

Waverrree leaves New York in 1895, as pursuing seas, driven by a fresh spring northwest wind, yelp and carouse around her. H er greatforesail lifts to drive her forward as though to overrun her tug. Meanwhile, the hands aloft free up the topgallant sails for setting, to urge the great iron ship on her way. She's bound for the Far East with a cargo ofkerosene for the lamps ofIndia. our of port. On a mad M arch day, buffe red by a northwes t wind, she wo uld likely start spreading some canvas to the breeze before she dropped the rug's towline.

Later, in the Square Rigger Bar, there followed one of the liveliest discussions of the intersection of art and seamanship that it has ever been my lot to sit in on. It began with the whole questio n of setting sail in New York harbor. Us ually skippers wo uld be cautious about m aking sail in the big ships with reduced crews in these latter days of sail. The small crews were nor able to do a lot of sail-handling in a hurry, and a large square rigger charging along under full sail could get into trouble fas t in the crowded harbor. The great Captain James Barker of Tusita la h ad taken prid e in making sail as soon as his ship left her New Jersey wharf. The Wavertree, the subj ect of my sketch , would certainly h ave been towed through the narrow Kill van Kull from the oil depots of Bayo nne, while the crew slowly got sail on. Even

SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

after reaching the wind-ruffled waters of the busy harbor, the big full rigger would wait for enough sea room and the right moment before relying on the wind and dro pping the row line.

"No topgallants!" said Captain Archie H orka in his best quarterdeck voice. "This big wagon wo uldn't have set those big upper sails just ye t."

So I crossed out these upper sails, somewhat reluctantly, as the loss gave the ship a bald-headed look with only bare spars against the sky in the upper rig. In the end, I painted in these big sails in the act of being set, adding a glorious burst of life to the leaning spars, with promise of more to come. I had left the mainsail still stowed, but I had shown the foresail set, fo r I knew th at skippers used rhar sail when running before the wind to hold the ship's head off and prevenr her ramping up if she rook the bit in her teeth in a sudden shift of wind. That passed muster, but the way the sail was set did not.

"Yo u want more lift in that fo resail, John," offered Os Brett, cocking a thoughtful eye at the sketch.

"They'd crack the sheets to get some real belly in the sail," said Archie. "Like a pregnant woman in the ninrh month! " So I emphasized rhe lift of this great sail, as it stands in the accompanying sketch. This our sea dogs approved.

And that's how things proceeded in the Square Rigger, a kind of fo rum where anyone could speak, bur rhe senior hands always had the las t word. Talking with these sailormen helped me get rhe feel of seafaring aboard these great ships. This was considerably helpful when I later sailed into So uth Srreer aboard rhe handsome barque Eagle, whose Coast G uard crew we re eager to show how things were done aboard a vessel that was "shipshape and Bristol fas hion."

Peter Stanfo rd, with Archie H orka, O s Brett, Jakob Isbrandtsen- all the ea rly dreamers and srri vers at South Srreer, fro m

31

c1v1c leaders to seafarers, along with an army of vol unteers-came together to achieve a great dream. At their lead, a true revival of the heritage of seafaring grew up in South Street Seaport. Ir was getting caugh t up with the eup ho ria of this mission that set the fo undation for my own future, to record for posterity the wharfs ide scene, wh ich had largely escaped the interest of artists of the day. I still reckon that painting of ~vertree is one of my best, and it is good to know that p rints made from the painting d id som ething to bring the grand old ship back to New Yo rk, 75 years after she had sailed fo r distant waters. ,!, (right) The Ship Tusitala Tus irala's Lengthening wake stretched across wide oceans from her launch in 1882 tiff her last voyage to New York in 1932. Here she is driving atJuLL stretch, under the command ofthe redoubtable Captain James Barker, in the sugar trade from New York to H awaii. Going at over 10 knots on a day like this, when they overtook a tramp steamer doing her routine 7 knots, all hands would be treated to p lum duff-a sweet gooey concoction held in high esteem by hard-worked sailors. An iron ship of 1778 tons, Tusirala was built in Scotland in 1882 as the Inveruglas, later renamed the Sierra Leone, and still later, under Norwegian ownership, as the Sophie. By 1920 she was laid up, with her old captain as shipkeeper. In 1923 Captain Felix Riesenberg visited her, spending the night aboard when a squall made his return to the anchorage by boat unreasonable. Upon awakening next day, he knew this well-kept ship was the one he and his friend the columnist Christopher Morley must save for their "Three Hours for Lunch Club. " With plans to make exotic voyages to the South Seas, they renamed her Tusirala, or "teller oftales" (Robert Louis Stevenson's native name in Samoa where he spent his last days). The club's plans did not pan out, but James Farrell of US Steel bought the ship to run her in the Hawaiian sugar trade. For eight glorious years she sailed as the last square rigger in trade under the US flag, with Farrell quietly meeting her deficits until 1932. After a prolonged layup, the US Coast Guard took her over in World ~r II as a training ship in Florida. Finally, with the war over, her long, useful life ended when she was towed to the scrap yard.

Origina{ .'Antique :M.ays & Sea Charts 'I.LS. & 1Vor{awide

Tide& Ti me Clock

Ca pt. Clock & Barometer

24 Hour Clock

Please view our complete line of Solid Brass Porthole Tide & Time clocks, Ships Bell Clocks, 24 Hour Military Clocks, Ba rometers and much more at www.MooreCiocks.com Mention " Sea History" when checking out and receive Free Shipping! Order Toll Free: 1-877-286-6313

)ffootf'

@' (irace (iatleries, Inc. 20 West Cundy's Poin t Road, Harpswell , ME 04079 Phone (207) 729-1 329 â&#x20AC;˘ Fax (207) 729-0385 E-mail jackie@ gracegalleries.com

61/u¡lf'J

123 Camelot Crescent Yorktown, \A 23693

www.MooreClocks.com 32

www.GraceGalle!ries.com SEA HISTCORY 123, SUMM ER 2008

Maritte Art News T

he American Society of Marine Artists (ASMA) is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a tour along the eastern seaboard. The first venue of their 14th National Exhibition just opened in Wilmington, Delaware, in mid-May. Over the next 16 months, works from more than 100 of the best contemporary American marine artists in oil, watercolor, pastels, scrarchboard, pencil, sculpture, and scrimshaw will be exhibited in five states, ending in New Bedford, MA, in September 2009. In Delaware, visitors can check our the exhibit at the Chase Center on rhe Riverfront through 6 July. Following its appearance in Wilmington, the ASMA exhibition will appear at the following museums: •Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, Sr. Michaels, MD, 25 July-22 September •Noyes Museum of Arr, Oceanville, NJ, 13 November-22 February 2009 •Spartanburg Arr Museum, Spartanburg, SC, March-May 2009 •New Bedford Arr Museum, New Bedford, MA, J une-Seprember 2009 A 107-page, full-color catalog of the exhibition will be offered for sale at each of the venues and on the ASMA web sire. The American Society of Marine Artists is a non-profit organization founded "to recognize and promote marine art and history and to encourage cooperation among artists, historians, marine enthusiasts, and others engaged in acriviAmerica's Cup 1885 bv Russ Kramer , 1 f J ties relating to marine art and maritime history." Ir is the nations argest organization o (study), oil 12x16 inches · · · h h 600 b A · 1 h'b" · · N mem ers. reg10na ex 1 ltlon m ew contemporary manne arnsts, wit more t an England will travel to Cape Cod (May- 15 June); Bristol, RI (28 June- 1 September); and Bath, ME (24 October-5 January). Derails for each of these exhibitions and respective venues can be found at www.americansocietyofmarineartisrs.com or by writing to: ASMA, PO Box 369, Ambler, PA 19002.

Wlnlernalional J

amestown Settlement will exhibit the 16rhcentury watercolor drawings of John White from the British Museum's ''A New World: England's First View of America," 15 July-15 • US Merchant Ships WW2 • Nautical Art/Books October 2008. The drawings are the earliest vis ual record by an Englishman of the flora, • Over 400 titles covering fauna, and people of the New World. White that which is nautical accompanied a number of expeditions sponsored by Sir Walter Raleigh to Virginia in the 1580s and was governor of the short-lived colony at Roanoke Island. He sailed for England in 1587 to obtain more supplies, but war with Spain delayed his return until 1590. By then, the colonists had vanished, and Roanoke became known as the "Los t Colony." Jamestown, America's first permanent English colony, was nor established until 17 years later, about 100 miles away. White's depictions of the Algonquian-speaking people of the region have been an important resource in the development of]amestown Settlement's gallery exhibits and outdoor re-created Powhatan Indian village. Scenes from other parts of the Americas and depictions of peoples of the world also are among the more than 70 drawings in the exhibition . White's work is widely known through adaptations by other artists, especially Theodor de Bry, whose engravings based on White's watercolors illustrate a 1590-edition of Thomas Harriot's "A briefe and true report of the new found land of Virginia."

Mariners

'(01

-<

The Manner of Their Fishing

by John White (watercolor, c. 1585)

A rtisr Patrick O 'Brien lost no time after his last exhibition, The Civil 1Vtir at .r-\sea, in Virginia and is currently working toward a one-man-exhibition of paintings depicting historic New York, from Henry Hudson's voyage and the Dutch period to the British colonial period, the Civil War and up to the end of the Age of Sail. The show will be held at the Union League Club, a private club in New York City, in September. For updates, visit his web site at www. parrickobrienstudio.com. (ULC, 38 East 37th St., New York C ity; www.unionleagueclub.org)

(left) The artist at work. This unfinished painting depicts the Brooklyn Bridge, still under construction in 1882.

34

*J.P. URANKER WOODCARVER*

VINEYARD

(508) 693-5871

* WWW.JPlUWOODCARVER.COM SEA HISTIORY 123 , SUMMER 2008

SEA HISTORY fer

kids

Wiili Do We Need to l<now Abo1At Wh~.lin9? You may have heard a lot about whaling in the news recently. People who want the killing of whales to stop are fighting against the ones who still hunt them for their livelihoods. Whaling is not an activity that was only practiced many years ago in history, it is still legal today. Native peoples are permitted, in many cases, to kill limited numbers of whales each year so that they can preserve their cultural traditions and ski lls surrounding the hunt. It also is legal to hunt some species of whales in specific parts of the world on a larger scale, and this sort of business is what upsets so many people today. Even if you find the idea of killing whales disturbing, whaling was a very important part of our history and one that is linked to the development of cities, commerce, and transportation, as well as many of our cultural traditions.

by Michael P. Dyer, Librarian and Maritime Historian, New Bedford Whaling Museum

People in Asia were hunting whales from boats way back in the Neolithic Age, or "New Stone" Age. We know about this because they carved scenes of the hunt into stone, and these depictions have been found along sites on the Korean coast. In 1558, natural philosopher Conrad Gesner published a woodcut illustration in his book, Historia Animalium, of a bagpipe player serenading a team of Faroe Islanders on ladders, hacking up a whale with axes and stowing the blubber in casks. In 1675 Germany's Friedrich Martens published a book that described in great detail the manner of commercial whaling in the bays of Spitzbergen Island and the east coast of Greenland. Around the same time, an anonymous Japanese artist and author made a sketchbook entitled Nankai Tokugei Zuroku, which means, "Views ofWhaling in the South Sea," showing whaleboats, tools, and various edible species of whale. A century later, the Danish missionary Hans Eggede published an etching of Greenland Eskimo peoples hunting bowhead whales for food from large umiaks (boats made from skins stretched across wooden frames) in his 1763 book, Description of the Natural History of Greenland. People around the world have been hunting whales, both for their own use and as a business, for thousands of years.

7

The Whaleship Chili, Cutting-in a ' Bowhead Whale, ca. 1850s

By 1847 Americans owned more than 700 whaling ships, and they pursued whales for oil in all of the oceans of the globe.

After each successful hunt, the American whaling captain tallied up the number of barrels of oil his crew got from each whale and dutifully recorded them in his logbook. His was a culture of maritime industry, which came from the importance of seafaring in the absence of fertile farmland in the rocky terrain of New England. k soon

36

as other commercial opportunities came about, Americans, being an eminently practical business-oriented people, dropped the expensive and risky practice of whal ing and moved on to other things. On the other hand, the 224-foot-long Kos 55, a diesel-equipped catcher boat, mounting a 90mm harpoon cannon that fires a 200-lb. grenade-tipped projectile, ploughed the

Floatingfactory at full cook, ca. 1950. iceberg-studded seas of the Southern Ocean around Antarctica as late as the 1960s. The Kos was built in Japan in 1964 and was one of a Beet of such boats attached to the Norwegian B.oatingfactory Kosmos V. The Kos 55 and hundreds of vessels like her could capture and process the whale products into foodstuffs, fertilizer, and other bulk commodities that had never been pursued commercially beforehand.

Whalers continued the ancient tradition of whaling into the 20th century. With the use of modern high-tech equipment, however, rhe impact on whale populations was far more drastic than almost any hunt in history. Exceptions were the 19th-century Western European and American whalers who hunted species, like bowhead whales and gray whales, which followed predictab le migratory paths. When the hunters figured out where these paths were, they could concentrate their efforts in smaller areas and take many whales in a short time.

While there is little doubt that technological innovations made whaling more efficient, and thus have resulted in depleting the world's whale populations, whatle hunting itself was and remains a human activity with a vfery long tradition indeed. ,!,

~N\M~\...~ \N 9r.~ s'{

\?t~F\(l9 ~ttJ'r

\-\,s-ro\2y

(fD ~~ o (?({~

n 1834 author Ralph Waldo Emerson was traveling {kl /J through Boston in a carriage. A sailor sitting beside him told an extraordinary story. For many years the people of New Engv ~(!> 5) land knew of a white whale, called "Old Tom," who fought back (:{' against the whalemen who were trying to kill him for his oil.

Emerson wrote that this white whale "crushed the boats to small bur covered in white patches, spots, and scratches. The white chips in his jaws, the men generally escaping by jumping over- whale that Reynolds described, however, might have been an alboard & being picked up." The sailor explained that bino, meaning it was born without the normal pigment the whalemen eventually caught Old Tom in in its skin. Though rare, white or colorless individuals the Pacific Ocean, off Peru. occur in most animals, including birds, chimpanzees, Five years later, Jeremiah elephants, and humans. It seems that Amos Smalley, a Reynolds wrote a magazine arNative American whaler from Martha's Vineyard, killed ticle about a sailor in the Pacific a white sperm whale in the South Atlantic in 1902. A few who said he had killed a white years ago, the author and adventurer, Tim Severin, wrote about a whale. This white whale was not white sperm whale witnessed by Pacific Islanders. At least two difcalled Old Tom but was known as ferent white sperm whales have been photographed in the Pacific, "Mocha Dick," combining the name as have an albino whale shark and, just this winter, a white killer of a local island off Chile, Mocha Iswhale. There is a white humpback whale, called Migaloo, which land, and the nickname for Richard.

The sailor said this white whale was very old, seventy feet long, and had twenty harpoons stuck in his skin from whalemen that had failed to kill him. The whale was as "white as wool" and "white as a snow-drift."

Herman Melville may have gotten part of his idea for his famous novel, Moby-Dick, from Reynolds's magazine article.

Moby-Dick is about a character named Captain Ahab, who convinces his crew to go hunt a white whale. The animal, Moby Dick, eventually defends himself by attacking the whaleship and sinking it, leaving only one man, called Ishmael, to survive and tell the story.

The white killer whale was spotted with its pod about two miles Emerson, Reynolds, and Melville all describe a sperm whale, offAlaska's Aleutian Islands on 23 February 2008. which is the largest species of whales with teeth. Like all whales, they are mammals-meaning they breathe air, are warm-blood- observers off Australia have been watching for years. Then there's ed, and give birth to live young. Biologists think that sperm a completely pink bottlenose dolphin found last year in the inwhales eat mostly squid and Esh, for which they can dive well land waters of Louisiana-but that's a whole other story! over a half-mile beneath the surface without taking a breath of In the next issue you'll read about sea snakes and how they air for over an hour! Many years ago, hunters prized these whales saved the life of the ancient mariner. i, because they have a substance in their long, blunt forehead called 'spermaceti,' which people used to make sps?M V·H -\-AL2 candles. Today, perhaps 300,000 sperm whales ( \'t\YSETt:=~ tv\~c:.~oC€f\-4,0-LiJS.j swim throughout the world's oceans.

The sperm whale's skin is dark grey or brownish.

So, are there really white whales? A couple FL\J f:cS species of much smaller whales, like the beluga, are indeed all white. Melville's fictional sperm whale, Moby Dkk, ~ notcompl~ely~ire 1 -~-------·----------------~-~--~~~~ fv'\h\..-cS Vi' TCl 6 0 r ee.T; l-\\<;\O~ \C. ~\>O~'fS i;;·ve:r-J l.A'.lllE:,61<?

SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

I

l7{Jf/3_...,/J

37

There are two kinds of water in the world, salt water and fresh water. Some areas have combinations of both, called brackish water, where, for example, a river empties into the sea. More than 70% of the surface of the earth is covered with water. Most (97%) of it is salt water, and most of that lies in the five principal oceans: Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic and Southern. By far, the Pacific Ocean contains the most water-in fact, half of all the water on earth. Nearly one quarter of all the fresh water on earth is contained in the Great Lakes along the US- and Canadian border.

Humans have used water for h arvesting their food (fishing) and for hydration (drinking water), trade, recreation, warfare, migration, and exploration. Of course, we use it for bathing and cleaning too.

The waterways of the world have helped people travel with heavy loads across many miles with greater ease than if they had to travel by foot, by cart, or today by truck or train. For example, canals were dug across inland areas in many parts of the world so people could float heavy cargo where they wanted to go instead of dragging it across poorly built roads and pathsif there were roads and paths at all. (left) Barges used the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal to deliver coal from the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania right into downtown Washington, DC, in the early J;JOOs.

While millions of animals live in salt water, humans need fresh water to survive. Salt water is actually bad for you if you drink too much of it. That's why shipwrecked sailors often died from thirst, even if they might be floating in a life raft in the middle of an ocean of water. As Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Ancient Mariner bemoaned in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, "Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink."

Even though we can now travel by airplane to get anywhere we want to in the world, this image ofthe night sky shows us how the coasts are still the most populated and developed parts ofour terrestrial (or land) world It is easy to pick out major cities because of the night-time lights. Cities built up along coasts and rivers so that people could exchange goods cheaply and easily by boat.

SEA HISTORY 123 , SUMMER 2008

D

o you like being on or near the water? Do you like boats and ships? How about marine animals?

There are hundreds of careers today that involve working with and studying our oceans and waterways, ships and boats, and everything having to do with both.

From science to history and literature, from archaeology to geology, architecture to becoming a ship's captain, there are many, many ways to work in this field, have some fun doing it, and make a difference to our environment, our economy, and people's understanding of our long traditions of working at sea.

Many job tides that you'd expect to be solely land-based jobs have some equivalent in the marine field. For example, an architect designs buildings, while a naval architect designs watercraft; there are maritime lawyers, marine artists, marine geologists, nautical archaeologists ... the list goes on and on.

In the next several issues of Sea History, we'll meet some individuals who work in the marine/maritime field and learn about what they do. In this issue, let's meet a marine biologist. "Marine biologist" is a broad title covering many jobs that study the marine ecosystem, which includes all our oceans and other aquatic environments, such as estuaries (wide body of water formed where a large river meets the sea that contains both fresh and salt water). A marine biologist works to preserve ocean life and also to educate people about it.

Henry Milliken is a fisheries biologist who works with the National Marine Fisheries Service (a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Henry's main responsibilities are trying to reduce by-catch (animals caught unintentionally in fishing gear), specifically to protect sea turtles that get caught in commercial fishing nets. Loggerhead and leatherback turtles are two species of sea turtle that are threatened by this problem and are protected by the federal government. The government SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

NOAA Fisheries Biologist Henry Milliken at sea on a commercial fishing boat works with fishermen to reduce by-catch in their nets.

also recognizes that commercial fishing is important too, so it hires people like Henry to help work on a solution.

Henry works with fishermen on new designs for fishing gear to keep turtles from getting caught in the first place, escape from fishing gear if they do get trapped, and avoid getting injured in the process.

Most of the time he works in an office or in a lab, but he spends several weeks a year out on commercial fishing vessels doing field work.

Marine biologists work for all kinds of employers. Henry Milliken's employer (his boss) is the United States Government, but other types of businesses and institutions hire marine biologists as well, such as private environmental consulting companies, universities and schools, research labs, etc. The National Sea Grant Office has a very helpful web site describing many kinds of careers in the marine sciences. Check it out at: www.marinecareers.net. ,!,

This loggerhead turtle has been caught by accident in a fishing net. Ma rine biologists are helping to find a way to keep this from happening to the turtles, while not seriously limiting the fishing industry's abiliry to catch fish.

HISTORIC SHIPS ON A LEE SHORE

Holding Out Hope for the Falls of Clyde An Appeal by Joseph W Lombardi ince her arrival in Honolulu more than forty-five years ago, the historic four-masted ship Falls ofClyde has been cared for and displayed to the public by the Bishop Museum's Hawaii Maritime Center. Over several periods of overhaul and dry-docking, the vessel was restored to her original glory and has enjoyed much attention by school groups and the visiting public. In February 2007, the ship was closed to the public while the Hawaii Maritime Center (HMC) assessed the condition of the ship, taking the safety of visitors and staff as their first consideration. They determined that the ship's structural condition and rigging require

S

Falls of Clyde takes center stage at the Hawaii Maritime Center.

significant sums of money for rhe restoration and dry-docking now paramount to rhe continued safe display of the ship as a floating museum. The necessary work is far beyond rhe financial capabilities of rhe museum and so they must release ir from rheir collection.

Given rhe sensitivity of rhe long-term relationship between the vessel and Hawaii/Pon of Honolulu, ir is hoped that a "white knighr" will come forward to finance the ship's restoration for ir to remain in Honolulu. The other parh that is being explored is rhe possibility that the ship could be transferred to serve as an icon for either another museum or comm ercial setting. Falls of Clyde is now available for donation to rhe recipient rhar can demonstrate a need and rhe resources to properly tackle such a project and remove rhe vessel from her current berth in Honolulu.

If no one does come forward to assum e the mantle of responsibili ty of ownership, studies are now being completed for rhe eventual sinking of rhe ship in deep water after removal of her historic artifacts and her remarkable inventory of steel yards and orher square-rigged components. This, of course, is rhe least desirable outcome, and ir is hoped rhat individuals or an organization with interest in the Falls of Clyde w ill srep forward smartly, as rhe time line to permanently dispose of the vessel is June/July 2008 .

Fa!Ls of Clyde requires an estimated $32 million in repairs and renovation work to be fully restored. "Our first choice wo uld be to move forward wirh a complete restoration of rhe Fa!Ls of Clyde, and we have looked at several options-and continue to seek options-to make rhis happen. However, at rhis rime, we do nor have the finances or sraff resources to undertake a fundraising campaign of this mon umental magnitude," said Timothy E. Johns, president and CEO of the Bishop Museum.

Expressions of interest with regard to this historic vessel should be addressed to Joseph Lombardi, Marine Surveyor and Consultant, by e-mail ar joe@oceanrechserv.com. The ship is berthed at the Hawaii Maritime Center on Honolulu Harbor.

Joseph Lombardi, a marine surveyor with Ocean Technical Services, was commissioned by the Bishop Museum to assess the Falls of Clyde.

The museum has authorized Mr. Lombardi to broadcast this appealfar help to the maritime community.

At her berth at Pier 7, Hawaii Maritime Center, December 2007

PH O TOS FOR TH IS A RT I CLE COURTESY O F JOSEP H LOMBARDI AND T H E HAWAII MARI TIME CENTER

40

SEA HUSTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

Ship's History by MacKinnon Simpson t is a cold December day in 1878 at the Russell & Company shipyard in Port Glasgow, Scotland, on the banks of the River Clyde. Work stops for a time as a graceful, just-finished fourmasted square rigger slips down greased planks into the river. Precisely a century before, in December of 1778, Captain Cook's two expeditionary ships were slowly cruising the coastline of Hawaii, as Cook laboriously charted the Islands of "Owhyhee" for posteriry.

None of that, of course, was on the minds of the Scottish shipwrights as they watched their new wrought-iron creation splash into the Bonnie Clyde. Yer the new ship would eventually become as integral a part of Hawaiian maritime history as Captain Cook himself.

The Falls of Clyde was the first of nine ships-big, rangy sailing ships flying more than an acre of canvas-intended for the international trade, an industry then dominated by canny Glasgow shipowners. She sailed for Wright, Breakenridge & Co. and was known among sailors as a fast, easy handling ship. At a time when smoky, coal-burning steamers were inexorably raking over the world's shipping routes, Falls of Clyde crisscrossed the oceans between the world's trading centers-Rangoon, Cape Town, Hamburg, Shanghai, Melbourne, Liverpool, Buenos Aires, New York, and Bombay-carrying whatever cargo she could rustle up, including lumber, whiskey, cotton, explosives, jute, cement, and wheat.

She was called a "tramp," with all the vagabond implications of that word. Bob Krauss, a longtime Honolulu Advertiser columnist and one of a small band credited with saving the Falls j in 1963, described her as "a waterfront woman known in the toughest seaports in the world. She is on intimate terms with fights, drunkenness, cockroaches, hurricanes, prostitutes. All her life she has consorted with rude sailors and stevedores and has been Falls of Clyde, pre-1899, ship rigged married to no less than seventeen sea captains.

Many men have fallen in love with her and many still do." In her first two decades of operation, Falls of Clyde made sevenry voyages under the British flag.

Her second career began right around her twentieth birthday, when she was sold to one Arthur M. Brown of Honolulu for $25,000-not a bad return for a ship, which originally cost her owners $18,606. The deal was a bit convoluted, as Brown was acting as an agent for Captain William Matson in order to secure Hawaiian registry for the ship. Some six months prior, President McKinley had signed the order annexing the Islands, so a Hawaiian registry provided a backdoor to American registry. Falls of Clyde arrived at Honolulu on 20 January 1899, flying the Hawaiian flag.

Honolulu Harbor was the economic center of the Islands, almost from the time of its discovery by a British sea captain around 1793. It was the only accessible natural harbor, created when the swift freshwater of Nu'uanu Stream poured into the ocean and prevented coral from growing. The early Hawaiians used the area

I

SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

for fishing and little else. They much preferred Waikiki, with its rich food supply and wide beaches to launch their canoes. Unlike Hawaiian canoes, which could be easily dragged up on a beach, Western ships needed a sheltered anchorage with deep water. As the trading ships visited with greater frequency, the rude huts of a small village sprang up nearby. That village became a town, with ship chandleries and saloons to serve the ships and their occupants and a huge coral fort to imprison the rowdier ones. The town evolved into a ciry, wholly dependent upon its harbor. Ir was into this harbor that the Falls ofClyde sailed, the newest and largest member of the sugar fleet.

Captain Matson would employ her in the Hawaii sugar trade, specifically servicing the plantations of the Big Island, bringing goods and machinery from the West Coast to Hilo and returning with burlap sacks full of raw sugar on its way to the California refineries and then on to the markets of the rest of the country.

The British had sailed her with a crew of about 25, but Matson pulled the yards and square sails down off the jigger mast and replaced them with a fore-and-aft rig, thereby reducing the number of sail handlers needed. With her altered rig, Falls usually sailed with about a dozen crew, an enormous savings in operating costs, even in those days of paltry pay. Marson also had a deckhouse and charthouse built and had her aft quarters modified to carry passengers. From 1899 to 1907, the Falls made over sixry voyages be41

tween these ports, with an average passage taking seventeen days.

Never one to miss an economic opportunity, Captain Matson recognized that Hawaii's coal-fired sugar mills might operate much more efficiently on oil. He invested in a hundred-mile pipeline running from California's inland oil fields to the coast, ending at Gaviota, near Santa Barbara, and he converted several of his ships to sailpowered oil tankers.

A maritime rarity when she was built, the Falls of Clyde became even more a curiosity in 1907 when she was converted to a sailing oil tanker to begin her third career. Her sturdy wrought-iron hull, almost 3/4-inches thick, was fastened together with thousands of hand-hammered 7 /8-inch rivets. Her interior spaces were gutted and ten large tanks were built along both sides and the bottom, giving her a capacity of756,000 gallons of oil. Heavy-duty pumps and a second steam boiler to operate them were also installed.

She was transferred to the Associated Oil Company, in which

Captain Marson had a large interest, and sailed between Gaviota and Honolulu Harbor, where she discharged oil into tanks at Oahu Railway & Land Company's Pier 16. She often sailed back to California with a load of molasses, a few passengers, and small amounts of cargo t'ween-decks. By 1920, her 42nd year, she had become obsolete was sold to G.W. McNear of San Francisco. He sent her on two charter trips carrying oil from Texas to Denmark before selling her to rhe General Petroleum Co., also of San Francisco. Under their ownership, Falls of Clyde was sent on a voyage to Buenos Aires by way ofTampico, Mexico.

In early 1922, Falls of Clyde was rowed through the Panama Canal back to San Pedro, California, where her rig was cut down to her lower masts before being rowed to Ketchikan, Alaska. In Alaska, she served the next thirty-seven years as a floating fuel depot for the offshore fishing fleet. By 1959, General Petroleum Company had built shore facilities in Ketchikan and Falls of Clyde was no longer needed as a fuel depot.

William W Mitchell purchased her and towed her to Seattle, intent upon turning her into a museum ship-not an inexpensive or easy task. For the next five years, she was offered to city after city-Seattle, San Pedro, Long Beach, Philadelphia, and Honolulu.

42

As a bankruptcy court prepared to sell her to a Canadian logging company to be scurried as a breakwater at Vancouver, a few local citizens took action. A newspaper announced the campaign to "Save the Falls of Clyde," and it was rhe people of Hawaii (and some financial support from the Matson Navigation Co.) who responded by raising over $35,000, most of it quite literally nickels, dimes, and dollar bills, just weeks before she was to be sunk. The old hulk was saved!

A Navy tug towed the dismasred, dilapidated Falls from Seattle to her new home back in Honolulu. In time, she would be restored, using the combined skills of shipwrights, riggers, iron workers, welders and, always, volunteers. A gift of four new iron masts

arrived from Scotland, built at the same shipyard from which she was launched, by the grandsons and great-grandsons of the men who had built her eighty-five years before. Yards and rigging were fashioned locally, and her hull, superstructures, and cabins were chipped, painted, and varnished. In 1969, she was opened to the

Despite her appearance, the Falls of Clyde received a warm reception when she arrived in Honolulu in 1963.

SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

Clyde in her new role uc11'tional platform.

member of Captain William Matson's original Beet. She's been on a lee shore before, but, unless help com es fas t and in a big way, she may no t be able to claw off the rocks this time. There is no time to was te. 1,

Historian and author MacKinnon Simpson has authored and desigrted more than twenty books on Hawaiian history. He is the former historian and exhibit desigrter at the Hawaii Maritime Center. public. The shouts of the m ates and men aloft have given way to the shouts of H awaii schoolchildren, learning about the Falls and their islands' history.

The Falls ofClyde is one of the most important museum ships in the world; she was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989 and is the last remaining four-masted, full-rigged ship left afloat, as well as the only sail-powered oil tanker and the only

Yacht Sails

Falls of Clyde is 266 feet in length, 40 feet on the beam, and has a 23-1 !2Joot depth of hold. She is registered at 1,801 gross tons.

Rigging

Maintaining the science and tradition of sailmaking for thirty-one years.

P.O. Box 71, Lincoln St., East Boothbay, Maine 04544 (207) 63~5071

SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

43

OsHIP NOTES, SEAPORT &MUSEUM NEWS The Maritime Museum of San Diego is working with the US Navy ship donation program to acquire the last remaining diesel-electric submarine in the navy, USS Dolphin (AGSS 555). Unique among ships of this navy town, Dolphin spent almost her entire career operating out of San Diego and served as the testing platform for many of the advanced systems now used in the current nuclear submarine fleet. During her career, Dolphin also set many service records, including firing torpedoes from a depth of3,000 feet. MMSD has completed all of the US Navy's stipulations in response to the donation application and is looking forward to soo n being able to exhibit this remarkable and historic submarine to tens of thousands of museum visitors every year.

(MMSD, 1492 North Harbor Dr. , San Diego, CA 92101; Ph. 619 234-9153; www. sdmaritime.com) ... Mystic Seaport recently announced that its president and director, Douglas H. Teeson will be retiring in the coming year and that the museum will begin a nationwide search for a new CEO soon. Teeson has led the museum for the past seven years and will continue in his current role until a successo r is chosen. Under his leadership, the new 500-ton sh iplift facility was completed and is now in full operation. Also, the new Carlton Marine Science Center was completed and opened. It supports the 30-year-old undergraduate Maritime Studies Program jointly operated

by Williams College and Mystic Seaport.

Mystic Seaport has received more than $ 13 million worth of new gifts and bequest fulfillments within the past two years, including a collection of valuable James E. Buttersworth paintings, many of which are now on display in a special exhibit. Before he was selected to succeed longtime museum president J. Revell Carr in 200 1, Teeson, served as superintendent of the Coast G uard Academy in nearby New London, CT, from 1997 to 2001. A retired Rear Admiral, his Coast Guard career began in 1961 as a cadet at the Academy. (75 Greenmanville Ave., POB 6000, Mystic, CT 06355; www. mysricseaport.org) ... Yacht Designer Olin Stephens turned 100 years old on 13 April. Happy Birthday from all of us at the National Maritime Historical Society! ...

Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary opens its new permanent exhibits at the

44

Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in displayed are maritime pieces, including Alpena, Michigan, 15 June 2008. The ex- scrimshaw, ship models, and paintings. (See hibits highlight the maritime history and www.mainefolkarttrail.org for participating museums and dares). . .. A recreation of the record-smashing schooner Atlantic was launched on 15 March 2008 in Hardinxveld-Giessendam, Holland at the shipyard of Van der Graaf Lasonderneming en Scheepsbouw. She is now being rigged for a passage to the south of France, where finishing the vessel will take another year. Her 21st-century specs are: LOA, 227 ft., 29-ft. beam, draft of 16.5 feet. When she gets underway, she'll be sailing under

nautical archaeology of the "Shipwreck Century," including a life-sized replica of a late 19th-century Great Lakes schooner in the process of wrecking and a simulated dive site for visitors to explore. In addition to featuring the incredibly preserved shipwrecks of Thunder Bay, the new exhibits also demonstrate NOAA's scientific research and exploration . The center is free and open year round. (5 00 W Fletcher Street, Alpena, MI 49707; Ph. 989 356-8805; www. rhunderbay.noaa.gov) ... The Newseum in Washington, DC, recently opened, offering visitors a different kind of look at history. Five centuries of news history is presented with up-to-the-second technology and hands-on exhibits. The Newseum features seven levels of galleries, theaters, retail spaces, and visitor services. Visitors get behind the scenes to experience how and why news is made. (555 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20001; Ph. 888 NEWSEUM [888 639-7386]); www. newseum.org) . . . The Library of Congress has added more than 79,000 newly digitized newspaper pages, along with several new site features, to the Chronicling America Web site at www.loc.gov/ chroniclingamerica/. . .. Between now and October, eleven of Maine's Art and History Museums will exhibit their folk art collections as part of the Maine Folk Art Trail. The museums will exhibit these folk collections simultaneously as part of a coordinated statewide exhibition. Visitors will be able to follow the Folk Art Trail from York to Waterville to Searsport to see this vast collection. Many of the artifacts

Schooner Atlantic: (above) her M arch 2008 launch; (below) the original in 1903.

18,500 square ft. of sail and will be available for luxury charters in the Mediterranean. Project manager is the Durch yachtsman, Ed Kasrelein, a descendant of the founders of the Holland-America Line shipping company. The original Atlantic was designed by William Gardner and built at the shipyard of Townsend & Downey at Shooter's Island, New York. She was launched on 28 July 1903 and would later gain enduring fame in 1905 under command of the renowned captain'-Charlie Barr, setting the record for a transArlanric crossing from New York to The Lizard on the south coast of England at 12 days, 4 hours and 1 minute-a mono-hull record that stood for 1OOJ years. (www.schooner-at !antic. com) . . .. 2008 anniversaries Sea (contiinued on page 46) SEA HISTWRY 123 , SUMMER 2008

Whaling Heritage Symposium, 16-18 June 2008 NOAA's National Marine Sanctuaries Maritime Heritage Program and National Marine Fisheries Service, along with the National Maritime Historical Society, is sponsoring a three-day event, hosted by Mystic Seaport, the New Bedford Whaling Museum, and the New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park. The pursuit of whales, which involved ocean exploration, culrural contacts, and even an emerging conservation awareness, is an epic story of global dimensions. The Whaling Heritage Symposium will examine the links between the history and the science of whales and whaling heritage.

Nautical

Research

Guild

Association of modelers and researchers formed to pursue the mutual interest in ships of all eras and types Membership includes the quarterl y Nautical Research Journal with arti cles by knowledgeabl e writers featuring ship model building and research of all periods, merchant , nava l and maritime hi story . Book rev iews, que ri es , replies. and shop notes are other features , includi ng technical drawings and photographs. Other services include the Maritime In stitution Survey, Ship tfodel Repair & Restoration Service and the Technica l Assistance Network.

Yearly .\1embership

-

$ 35.00 USA

~

'i'

$ 40.00 Canada $ 43.00 Overseas

THE

17th ANNUAL

W odenBoat Show

MYS'l lC ~

Sb\l'ORl .. , ......

1he symposium will be organized along selected themes and will feature cultural practitioners, authors, archaeologists, historians, curators, marine resource managers and others-noted specialists associated within each of the selected fields.

The event will offer the public and professional alike the opportunity to examine the broader cultural scope of historic whaling, the significance of specific events and geographic locations in the industry's history, and the ways we can continue to learn from our own whaling heritage. The schedule includes plenary presentations, speaker panel sessions, public talks, tours, dinners and receptions. There will be a registration fee of $175. The event will also offer visitors one of their last chances to go on board the Charles W Morgan before the historic ship, the world's oldest whaling vessel, is placed in dry dock in November. For more information contact Dr. Hans Van Tilburg, maritime heritage coordinator for NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary in the Pacific Islands Region, at hans.vantilburg@noaa.gov, or visit http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/ maritime/ whaling/.

SEA HISTORY 123 , SUMMER 2008

CELEBRATE WOODEN BOATS WITH at Mystic Seaport, Mystic, Connecticut

Us

* Participate in hands* Seeboats,moresailboats, great row on demonstrations motorboats * Step aboard tall ships * Vote for your favorite * Stock up on tools, boat in the Concours books, gear d'Elegance

45

CLASSIFIED ADS

SHIP NOTES,

SEAPORT,

&

(continued from page 44) History readers might find of interest restructuring of priorities for the US include: 400 years since Christopher Naval Academy's midshipmen sailing Newport sailed back w ith the first re-sup- program. Phillips reported that two years The Art of the Sea. Exquisite oil paintings and plying mission to Jamestown, VA, to dis- ago, about 1,000 midshipmen m ade sumreproductions by one of America's premier cover only 38 survivors. He returned with mer passages aboard the Academy's 21 44coastal artists Jack Saylor. Phone: 252 504-7022, 100 new settlers in January and returned foot sloops, getting "small-unit leadership www.jacksaylor.com. to England in April. In July of the same trai ning" at sea and livi ng in close quarters year, Quebec City was founded by Samuel for one to two weeks at a time. This year, Great maritime history books from Washington de Champlain for France. Two hundred they only expect to send approximately State University Press. Shop online at wsupress.

125 "Mids." The Academy will maintain years later in 1808, importation of slaves is wsu.edu or call 800 354-7360. Free Catalog. banned in the United States for the first and continue to develop their intercolleCUSTOM SCRIMSHAW on antique ivory. Made time, in January. The fo llowing month, giate dingy raci ng program, but offshore by hand in the USA by me, Peter Driscoll. www. the ship Topaz, which had sailed from passage-making appears to be the victim scrimscore.com. Free brochure: chipsmay@aol.

Boston in Apri l 1807, arrived in Pitcairn of budget curs and a different approach to com, Phone: 336 998-0459.

Island and discovered the last survivi ng training under the leadership of the new Jonesport Nautical Antiques. We offer world Bounty mutineer, Alexander Smith , who (as of June 2007) superintendent Vice class nautical antiques & nautical gifts (old & was granted amnesty for the mutiny 18 Adm . Jeffrey L. Fowler. . . . In February, new): Phone 1-800-996-5655 or visit us on the web years before. In Jul y 1908 Robert Peary set Adm. Thad Allen, Commandant of the at www.nauticalantiques.com. sail from New Yo rk in Roosevelt for the Coast Guard, announced that he plans North Pole. Also in 1908, Pearl Harbor to send vessels and aircraft to the North Custom Ship Models Half Hulls. Free Catalog.

Spencer, Box 1034, Quakertown, PA 18951.

Navy Yard, later called Pearl Harbor Naval Slope area (as in, the Northwest Passage) Shipyard, was officially established in the to assess the waterway's use for commerBOOKS: It Didn't Happen on My U'latch and Scuttlebutt by George E. Murphy. Memoi rs of Territory of Hawaii as a coaling statio n for cial traffic following the seasonal thaw.

US Navy ships transiting rhe Pacific NOAA will be involved in the deployment forry-rhree yea rs with United States Lines aboard Ocean.

June 19th marks the 65th anniverto help determine bottom co ntours in cargo and passe nger ships. Anecdotes of captains, sary of the launch of the Liberty Ship SS their assessment as to whether the passage chief engineers, crew members and the company between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans is office. Web sire: www.gemurphy.com; e- mail: Jeremiah O'Brien . Fifty years ago this year, gemurphy@carrol l. com.

USS Wisconsin was decommissioned, leav- safe. . .. The Schooner Virginia has aning the US Navy without an active battle- nounced it still has openings available FREIGHTERCRUISES.COM. Mail ships, conship for the first rime since 1896. USS rainerships, trampers ... Find the ship and voyWisconsin was recommissioned on 22 Ocage that's perfect for yo u. Ph. 1-800-99-Maris. tober 1988 in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and Model Restoration I Construction, Captain was assigned to the US Atlantic fleer. AnNorman Smith, Great Island Model Shipyard, other US Navy an niversary this year: in 106 Lombos Hole Rd., Harpswell, ME 04079; 1958 USS Nautilus (SSN-571), a nuclearPh. 207 833-6670; e-mail: dysmith@gwi.ner. powered submarine, became the fi rst ves1812 Privateer FAME of Salem, MA Sails Daily sel to cross the North Pole under water on May - Ocrober. Phone: 978 729-7600; www.

3 August as part of"Operarion Sunshine."

Schooner Fame.com.

Philadelphia's Independence Seaport Museum has announced that Lori EXPERIENCED MODEL BUILDER. Ray Dillard Rech has accepted the position Guinta, PO Box 74, Leonia, New Jersey 07605; of President of the Seaport Museum, efwww.modelshipsbyrayguinra.com. fective 5 September. Ms. Dillard Rech ATOMIC 4 pans, carburerors, Oberdorfer has 16 years of experience as an adminispumps, Featherman Enterprises, Phone: 7 17 trato r and educator in history museums, 432-9203; web sire: www.fearhermanenterprises. most recen tly as executive director of the co m.

Betsy Ross House. She is an avid competi- for "guest crew" this summer for 1 to 4 Ship and boat portraits custom carved by hand. tive sailor and presently serves as Commo- day passages in ports from Virginia to Lou Carreras, woodcarver. Phone 978 466-863 1, dore of the Liberty Sailing C lub. The mu- Massachusetts, including participation e-mail: loucarreras@mac.com. Web: http://web. seum will celebrate its 50th anniversary in in the Gloucester Schooner Race, the mac.com/loucarreras.

20 10. (ISM, Penn's Landing, Philadelphia, Annapolis Boat Show, and the ChesaCLASSIFIED ADVERTISING wirh Sea History: PA; Ph. 215 413-8655; www.phillysea- peake Bay Schooner Race. Contact their To place yo ur classified ad ar $1.60 per word, port.org) . . . On 6 April, The Washing- office for specific dares, ports of call, and mail yo ur complete message along wirh payment, ton Post ran an article, "Shifting Winds derai ls. (S.chooner Virginia, 500 East Main ro: Sea History, Advertising Desk, PO Box 68, Affect the Mids' Sailing Program" by St. , Sre. 6i00, No rfolk, VA 23510; Ph. 757 Peekski ll NY 10566.

Angus Phillips, which examined recent 627-7400); www.schoonervirginia.o rg) â&#x20AC;˘. .

Thousands of century-old ship postcards, ephemera -in San Francisco; Ph. 415 5869386; kprag@planeteria.ner.

46

SEA HUSTORY 123 , SUMMER 2008

MUSEUM NEWS Interested in preserving a historic ship but don't know where to find one? The Wooden Boat R escue Fo undation (WBRF) matches would-be boat owners/restorers with historic vessels in need of their care and service. Check out www. wooden boatrescue.org. No m oney is allowed to be exchanged , but potential owners have to demonstrate their ability to finish and document their projects.

SUNY Maritime College received national recognition in US News & World Report's ranking of US baccalaureate colleges, where it came in 2 1st nationwide. 1he Princeton Review concurredthey named the college one of its "Best Northeastern Colleges in America for 2008." (Maritime College, State University of New York, 6 Pennyfield Ave., Throgs Neck, NY 10465; www.sunymaritime. edu.) .. . To celebrate the opening of the exhibition, Tugboats Night & Day, at the Noble Maritime Collection on Staten Island, a parade of New York Harbor tugboats sailed past the museum on 2 M arch. Tugboat companies that partici-

~HERE IS AWORLD TO EXPLORE iding pwgrams of seaeducation and adventure aboard

esctiooners HARVEY GAMAGE ~IRIT Df MASSACHUSETIS MD WESTWARD.

lighthouses by Eva Pr(J(/u c:ts Com e see w hat we h ave !

• model shi ps • nautical deco r • lighth o use deco r

l' l·IOTO 13Y MICHAEL MCWEENEY, COURT ES Y NOBLE MARITIME COLLECTION

pated incl uded Reinauer, McAllister, Moran, K-Sea, and Thorn ton Brothers, as well as the South Street Seaport M useum's historic tug, W 0. Decker, and the New Yo rk C ity fireboat, Fire Fighter. See listing for the exhibit in Sea H istory's "C alendar" on page 49. ... Divers in the Great Lakes region will want to check out the Wisconsin Maritime Trails Program this summer, which provides locations, maps, contacts, and information on hundreds of shipwrecks in W isconsin waters. The Trails program is carried out in partnership between the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institu te and federal, state, and local governmen ts, private organizations and individuals. The W isconsin Historical Society encourages responsible diver visitation of their sites. (WHS, Ph .

608 221-5909; e-mail: underwater@whs. wisc.edu; www.maritimetrails.org)

SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

Visit our webs ite at: www.Ji uhthou ses byeva urod ucts.com (92 0) 279- 1170 Eva Produ cts P. O. Bo x 38 14 Os hkosh, W I 54903

MAIN E WIN DJAMMER CRUISES 3, 4 & 5 Day Cruises May-October

-•

Grace Bailey 1882, Mercamile 1916, Mistress 1960

www.MaineWi ndjammerCruises.com

888-MWC-SAIL

Photo by P. Mathews

Scarano Boat Building, Inc. Designing and Building Tradition Since 1976 Port of Albany, Albany NY • www.ScaranoBoat.com • 518-463 -3401

47

A Marriage of Art and History

W

hen the reconstituted American Ship Trust met last OctoThe choice of New York as the place to launch this effort in ber at the 8th Maritime Heritage Conference in San Diego, encouraging a fresh take on historic ships had much to do with the the gro und rules set by Ray As hley as the new chair were readily city's role as a national media center, with the fact that the 2001 atagreed on: "We're here to advocate and ad~---------------~ racks on the nearby World Trade Center tow-

vance the cause of historic ships, which is ers had badly hurt attendance and contribuvital to the cause of history in general. The tions at South Street Seaport Museum, and, las tly, that the museum's chair, Frank Sciame, ship is the icon of history that spans oceans and the seas of time, and more than icon , backed by a united board, had resolved on she is, at her best, an embodiment of aca rededication to founding purposes in the rive experiential learning. Our mission is to Seaport M useum. "W'tivertree-once a great Cape Horner and pride of the South Street engage more people with that vital heritage of all Americans."

Seaport Museum's historic fleet-is again Surveying the scene in America today, underway,'' said museum director Mary Pelthe committee resolved that the historic zer this spring, "and the National Maritime An Ocean Wanderer: Wavertree Offshore ships of South Street Seaport M useum in Historical Society serves as an essential envoy

by John Stobart New York C ity have an immediate need for in W'tivertree restoration outreach." a new breeze of public support and participation 111 their sails, "Our modest venture in publishing]ohn Stobart and the Ships and that NMHS, the committee's parent body, was ideally placed of South Street will not solve giant problems and produce an imto raise that offshore wind. John Stobart's offer of the use of his mediate Row of funds,'' as NMHS chair Ron O swald has pointed paintings depicting the ships of South Street in the stream of time out, "but the good feeling ge nerated in our work with the Seaport will open the way to reaching potential supporters with a message M useum augurs a hopeful and productive future for this kind of celeb rating these ships that built a city from the sea, centering on effort." -Peter Stanford, Secretary, American Ship Trust Committee; their noble survivor, the Cape Horn sailing ship Wavertree.

President Emeritus, NMHS

Honoring john Stobart Please join the National Maritime Historical Society and the maritime community in honoring marine artist John Stobart, whose splendid paintings capture the history of our maritime past. On 25 June at 5:30PM, we will gather w ith Mr. Stobart at the D own Town Association in N ew York C ity for a reception and dinner. In celebrating his work, attendees will also be supporting th e efforts of South Street Seaport Museum to restore the 1885 full-ri gged ship W'tivertree as a noble survivor of her breed. John Stobart and the Ships ofSouth Street, an elegant booklet of Mr. Stobart's paintings featuring ships that built a city from rhe sea, will be presented to all who attend. Space is limited, so please make your reservations early. Reservations and furth er information can be obtained by contacting N MHS ar: 9 14 737-7878 , ext. 0, or on the web at www.seahistory.org.

CRUISE ABOARD THE WWII LIBERTY SHIP JOHN W. BROWN STARS A D STRIP ES PENNAN TS. A uth e nti c hi sto rical desig n ex qui s ite ly h a nd cra~ed in th e mo st durab le fabri cs 4 ', 6 ', 8' and 12 ' sizes in stock-other sizes and des igns by custom order. Custom des ign and fabr icati on is our spec ia lty. Also in stoc k, a ll si z es U.S ., state, fore ign, hi sto ri ca l, m ar in e a nd decorative flags, banners , pennants , and accesso ri es. 77 f orest St., ew Bedford, MA 02740 508-996-6006.

www.brewerbanner.com

TAKE A SIX HOUR "ViJyageinto History" featuring music of the 4ffs 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-can-eat buffet lunch. Tour th e whole ship, including the engine room, museums, cargo holds, crew's quarters and bridge.

OUR 2008 DAY CRUISES June 14, September 6, October 4 All cruises depart from Baltimore, Maryland

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

Restrictions & penalties apply to cancellations.

Mail ticket orders to P.O . Box 25846, Highland Station, Baltimore, MD 21224-0546.

(Please include name, address and phone number.)

Phone Orders: (410) 558-0164 â&#x20AC;˘Fax Orders (410) 558-1737

www.liberty-ship.com

fAccents [[ghthouses

j

Cross-stitch Design and Histo ~ _,

Rememb~ [J ~ North American Elrghthouses

:~:n~:~ :~~=:t~:::nd

historical resean::h.

.,,

lEl_. .

accents l~hts.ccom Free abloge 8''--a~l.2.'

We acc ept VISA, MasterCard and Di scover. Cruise profits maintain this Liberty Ship Memorial. A portion of your payment may be tax deductibl e. Officers and crew licensed and documented by the U.S. Coast Guard.

48

SEA HISTORY I 23, SUMMER 2008

•National Maritime Historical Society Annual Meeting, 31 May in St. Michaels, MD, and hosted by the C hesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (NMHS, POB 68, Peekskill, NY 10566; Ph. 800-221-NMHS (6647); www.seahistory.org) •2008 Conference on New York State History, 5-7 June at Skidmore College.

Sessions intended fo r teachers will be applicable for in-service credit. (Info: Field Horne, NYS History conference chair, Box 215, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866; e-mail: conference@nyhistory.net) •Great Lakes Regional Lighthouse Conference, 11-13 June in Northport, MI. Covers aspects of owning and preserving historic lighthouses. (For more information: contact Sally Frye, Ph. 231 590-4004; e-mail: lighthsesally@charter.net; www. lighthousefoundation.org) •Needle/Work and the Sea Symposium, 12-15 June at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. (NBWM, 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA 02740; www.whalingmuseum.org) •Music of America and the Sea, 14 June at Mystic Seaport. A symposium with presentations by Glenn Gordinier, Richard King, Dan M ilner, and Bennett Konesni. (75 Greenmanville Ave. Mystic, CT 06355; www.mysticseaport.org) •Steamship Historical Society of America Annual Meeting, 22-24 June in Baltimore, MD (SSHSA, 1029 Waterman Ave., East Providence, MA 02914; Ph. 401 2740805; www.sshsa.org) •IMEHA2008 Fifth International Congress of Maritime History, 23-27 June at the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, UK. (www.imeha2008.com) •Iceland: Cradle of the Arctic Convoys, Histori cal Institute of the University of Iceland, 9-13 July in Reykjavik, Iceland.

(For detai ls, contact: Eliza Reid via e- mail: eliza@elizareid.com or on the web at: www. hugvis.hi .is/ page/Convoys) •The Hudson River Teacherhostel: The Westchester Experience, 21-25 July from Sleepy Hollow to Hastings-on Hudson, a program of the Institute of History, Archaeology, & Education (Ph. 914 933-0440; e-mail: info@ihare.org; www. ihare.org/ programs_teacher2008westchester.html) •The Edward S. Miller Research Fel-

deadline, 1 August 2008. The Naval War College Foundation wi ll award one grant of $1,000 to the researcher with the greatest need and can make best use of the research materials located in the Naval War College's Archives, Naval Hi storical Collection, Naval War College Museum, and Henry E. Eccles Library. (For more information, contact the chair of the selection committee at john.hattendorf@nwc.navy) •Four Centuries of North Atlantic Crossings, Canadian Nautical Research Society annual meeting, 6-9 August in Q uebec, celebrating the quartercentenary of Samuel de Champlain's founding of Q uebec (Inquiries should be directed to: Dr. Richard Gimblett, CNRS 2008 Conference Coordinator, 49 South Park Dr. , Ottawa, Ontario, KlB 3B8; Ph. 613 590-9508; richard.gimblett@rogers.com) •3rd Annual Great Lakes History Conference, 17-18 October in Grand Rapids, MI, (Call for Papers deadline is 15 June), sponsored by Grand Valley State University (all inquires should be sent to: Dr. Craig Benjamin at benjamic@gvsu.edu or Dr. Scott Stabler at Stablers@gvsu.edu) •New Researchers in Maritime History Conference 2009, 13- 14 March 2009 (Call for Papers deadline is 7 November) at the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea, managed by the British Commission for Maritime History and sponsored by the Society for Nautical Research (For more info: contact: Dr. Graeme Milne, School of History, University of Liverpool, 9 Abercromby Square, Liverpool, UK, L69 7WZ; e-mail: g.j.milne@liv.ac.uk)

Mystic Seaport, 27-29 June. Show managed by WoodenBoat Publications (www. thewoodenboatshow.com) •Shake-A-Leg, Newport's 2008 Wall Street Corporate Challenge Cup, 11 -12 July in Newport, RI. Two days of racing the America's Cup 12-meter yachts. (POB 1264, Newport, RI, 02840; Ph. 401 8498898; www.shakealeg.org) •Sunset Champagne Cruise on the Schooner lmagi,ne with NMHS/Charles Point Council, 22 July in New York H arbor (for reservations and details, contact NMHS: Ph. 914 737-7878, ext. O) •American Sail Training Association Tall Ships Challenge, Pacific Coast Series, 25 June - 24 August in West Coast ports, including: Victoria, BC; Tacoma, WA; Port Alberni, BC; San Francisco, CA; Los Angeles, Oxnard, and San Diego, CA. (Check http:/ !tallships.sailtraining.org for specific dates and details) •44th Annual Antique Boat Show, 1-3 August at the Antique Boat Museum (750 Mary Street, Clayto n, NY 13624; Ph. 3 15 686-4104; www.abm.org) •Rabble-In-Arms Living History Weekend, August 16-1 7 at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (4472 Basin Harbor Rd . Vergennes, VT 05491; Ph. 802 4752022; www.lcmm.org) •Port of Toledo Wooden Boat Show, 23-24 August in Toledo, OR. (www.port ofroledo.org) •14th Annual Windjammer Weekend, 29-3 1 August in Camden, Maine (www. windj ammerweekend.com) EXHIBITS

•Moby-Dick: Intaglio Prints by Janet •The Yacht Show at National Harbor, Ball McGlinn at the Nantucket Whaling F'EsTNALS, EvENTS, LECTURES, ETC.

5-8 June, and US Sailboat Show, 10-13 Museum's Research Library at 7 Fair St., October in Annapolis, MD. (United States through 20 June (POB 1016, Nantucket, Yacht Shows, 980 Awald Dr. , Suite 302, MA 02554; www.nha.org) Annapolis, MD 21403; Ph. 410 268-8828; •15th Annual Maritime Exhibit, 19 July - 20 September at the Coos Art Museum. www. usboat.com) •29th Annual Sea Music Festival at Mys- Featured artist and juror, Ned Mueller tic Seaport, 13-15 June. Symposium of- (235 Anderson Ave. , Coos Bay, OR 97420; fered, see listing under "Conferences." (75 Ph. 541 267-390 1; www.coosart.org) Greenmanville Ave. Mystic, CT 06355; •Tugboats Night & Day at the Noble www.mysticseaport.org) Maritime Collection, a new exhibition of •Maritime Heritage Festival at Historic contemporary art-guest curator is George St. Mary's City, 14 June (Historic St. Matteson, through 2009, (1000 Richmond Mary's City, POB 39, St. Mary's City, MD Terrace, Building D , Staten Island, New York 10301; Ph. 7 18 447-6490; www.no20686; www.stmaryscity.org) •17th Annual WoodenBoat Show at

Reviews SHIP'S LOG DECIASSIFIED, THE TRUE JOURNEY CAN HOW BE TOLD.

T

his colorful memoir of a young officer's journey half way around the globe aboard a fighting Coast Guard man-o-war during WWII, includes the USS BISBEE as guide ship at the entrance to Leyte Gulf. Illustrated with archival photographs.watercolors and sketches this book is a "must have" for seafarers and marine historians.

Historic, antique U.S. , .

Coast Survey maps . from the 1800s ; Original lithog raphs, most America n sea ports and shores.

Reprints, too. Unique framed, great gi fts. Catalog, $1 .00.

Specify area.

EXT VOYAGE â&#x20AC;˘

50

Will be Different

The Treasure of the San Jose. Death at Sea chival records do n ot reveal the precise loin the Wtzr of the Spanish Succession by cation of her sinking, but they do enable a Carla Rahn Ph illi ps Qohns Hopki ns Uni- reconstruction of the ship and provide data versity Press, Baltimore, M D , 2007, 258pp, on building practices, while advancing our illus, m aps, appen, biblio, index, ISBN 978- understanding of shipboard life. The Archi0-801 8-8 580-8; $35hc) vo General de Indias in Seville ho uses extenA story of! ost treas ure, shipwreck with sive fin ancial records that the author used to enormous loss oflife, adventure on the high establish condi tio ns of life aboard a Span ish seas, d rama in the law courts, and the dis- galleon . The British Archives hold records entangling of fact from fic tio n await the documenting the sinking of the ship, and reader of The Treasure of the P hillips used material from the British Pub li c Record San Jose. Mariti me histoTl l r-: rian Carla Rahn Phillips has O ffi ce and other archives to TR em ployed her research skills sketch a portrait of the fo ur and determination to proEnglish ships under Comm odore Charles Wager, who vide an account of perhaps ch allenged the sixteen-ship th e most fab led shipwreck '" in the Caribbean, the SpanSpanish fleet at the entrance to Cartagena harbor. The ish galleon San Jose. battle began the evening of In his book Love in the Time of Cholera (1 985), Co8 J une 1708 and las ted until lombian novelist Gabriel the fo llowing mo rni ng. The devastating loss of the San Garcia Marq uez wrote that the San Jose was sunk by an Jose and her nearly 600 men English squad ro n at the enis poignandy expressed in a trance to Cartagena de Indias in 1708 while table listi ng the names and particulars of the carrying a cargo of gold, silver and precious fo urteen survivors . gems valued at half a billion pesos. CuriMeanwhile, the English were not celously, in the English edi tion, this am ount ebrating their victory. Co mmodore Wager was increased to 500 billion th ro ugh a mis- bro ught charges against two of his three translation . For treasure hunters with vi- captains for their lack of zeal in batde and sions of the larger figures dancing in th eir for allowing the treasure-laden San Joaquin dreams, this was perhaps trou bling. But this to escape. There was also disappointment was only the begi nning of the revelations by in English circles that the San Jose had been Phillips concerning the value and signifi- sunk when she was known to be carrying a rich cargo. A court m artial co ncl uded that can ce of the San Jose.

Phillips's revised estimates are certain- bo th captains should be rem oved from their ly unwelcome to those who have so ught to commands.

And the treas ure? The Colombian Sufind and claim the ship. O ne gro up of treasure hunters reported that they spent $ 10- prem e Court has ruled against the salvo rs, 12 million in the 1970s and 80s search - Sea Search A rmada, and perhaps even ing fo r the w reck. More recent initiatives against Spain. The court determined the San have surfaced, th eir efforts complicated Jose to be part of their national patrimony. by claims o n the San Jose fro m the gov- The reporting, h owever, was unreliable, and ernments of Spai n and Colombia. These no evidence was produced to confirm that claims are of interest because of Spain's the wreck had actually been found. This increasing efforts to recover her maritim e decision m akes it unlikely that Colombia heri tage, especially h isto ric shipwrecks will sign the UNESCO agreement on the laden with valuable cargoes. protectio n of underwa ter cultural heritage Maritime archaeologists hunger fo r the because that d ocument suppo rts the right info rmatio n so richly derailed in this study. of a state to claim its sunken property, even If the ship is never fo und nor her treasure within an other state's waters. excava ted, her story has been reclaim ed We have not heard the las t of the San thro ugh Phillips's efforrs. For Phillips, "the Jose. This is an excellent and timely book. men and the ship herself constitute the real T IMOTH Y J. R UNYAN historical treasure of th e San Jose." The arGRÂŁEENVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA SEA HISTfORY 123, SUMMER 2008

17th and 18th Century Ship Models From and perhaps too far-reaching, which one the Kriegstein Collection by Arnold and frequently sees when the author is also the Henry Kriegstein (Pier Books, Inc., Piermont, NY, and Dupont Communications, Florence, OR, 2007, 220pp, illus, notes, biblio, ISBN 978-0-9755772-4-0; $85hc) I was prepared to really dislike this book.

After all, these two intrepid and ravenous collectors have been central players in the dramatic rise in the price of British admiralty board ship models that has occurred over the last fifteen years. Only a small handful of ship model collectors could ever afford these exquisitely detailed and exacting works, primarily created in dockyards by professional modelers and the shipwrights themselves.

The Kriegsteins have avidly competed in this rarefied collecting arena, doggedly conducting provenance research to locate these models in obscure private collections, while bidding the prices for them sky high at public auction. The result is that the well-meaning museum curator is repeatedly outbid when trying to acquire one for a public collection where the average modeler or maritime art enthusiast can enjoy it. The most recent one I am aware of to sell at auction fell just shy of the $ 1 million mark, though not to the Kriegsteins, whose book chronicles their acquisition of twenty fine examples. Do I sound jealous? You bet.

The authors' careful research has brought out myriad interesting elements abo ut their models and admiralty models in general, and the book presents the models as a series of advent ure stories. We learn of the ships they represent and the significance of architectural and technological features , the purposes for which some were built, speculation on their original owners and how each was acquired by the Kriegsteins. The text shifts the reader smoothly back and forth between the 17/18th and 20/2lst centuries, and each chapter is richly illusctrated with excellent detail photography. Alrmost as an afterthought, the book includes ch;apters on intriguing period paintings of shiip models and detailed drawn and painted renderings of the ships of the period by the mas1ter marine artist Willem Van de Velde the Eldler among others. These works are presumably also in the Kriegstein collection, but information about their provenance is not presented in equivalent fashion to the models.

Some of the research on design and comparisons with other models seems ambitious SEA HISTORY 123 , SUMMER 2008

owner of the art being presented. Without a doubt, however, this is the most entertaining book about ship models ever written. well known for his fictional Nathaniel DAN IEL FINAMORE Drinkwater series as well as other novels Salem, Massachusetts of the sea, has produced an in-depth treatise on the WWII convoys, run mostly by Arctic Convoys, 1941-1945 by Richard England, through the Arctic Ocean to the ' Woodman (Pen & Sword Books Ltd., Russian pons of Archangel and Murmansk.

South Yorkshire, England, 2007, 53lpp, His research was exhaustive and, more than illus, notes, biblio, index, ISBN 978-1-844- likely, took him to the naval archives of at 15611-5; $32.99pb) least four countries.

Richard Woodman, a British writer Unfortunately, this incredible detail \

\ Studies in Maritime History William N. Still, Jr., series editor

i=::::~~m I

I

Playships of the World The Naval Diaries of Admiral Dan Gallery, 1920-1924 Edited by Robert Shenk The early exploits around the globe of a yo ung officer who would become a World War II navy hero 336 pp., 67 illus., cloth, $34.95

-

EDITED BY ROBERT SHENK -

Guardian of Savannah Fort McAllister, Georgia, in the Civil War and Beyond Roger S. Durham The exciting story of how an earthen fort defended a Southern city against ironclad monitors 304 pp., 60 illus., 12 maps, cloth, $39.95

N

GUARDIAN OF SAVANNAH Fort McAl lister, Geo rgia, in die C ivil Wa r and Beyond

/

\

~~THE UNIVERSITY OF SQYIH CAROLINA PRESS 800.768.2500 â&#x20AC;˘ www.sc.edu/uscpress

51

REVIEWS M ILITARY ORAL HISTORY BOOKS

By LCDR L. Peter Wren USNR (ret) "We Were Th ere" Read firsthand lhe unto ld stories of the USS Indianapolis tragedy by "rescuers, survivors and others" who speak on these pages.

"World Wa r II Re visited "

A co llect ion of fi rst hand report from "POW's" and "Gl's."

Within these pages the patriots speak on "freedom" won.

"Battle Born "

The unsinkab le USS Nevada , escaped fro m the Pearl Harbor attack to fire the opening shots at Normandy and Southern France . With rep laced main batteries continued to

battle at IWO JlMA and OKJNAWA. Later withstood two Atomic Bomb tests while ships anchored around her sank.

Ora l histories are co-authored by a crew member.

Soft Cover $ 18.95 -

Hard Cover $25.95 for autographed

copies make checks payable to:

\Vrcn Enterprizes, 11 01 Ridgetop Rd., Richmond, VA 23229.

Otherwise order from XL IBR IS.

The Laura B. celebrates her 65th Birthday in 2008!

Experience a historical journey on a former T-57 that serves as Monhegan's year round ferry.

207-372-8848 wvvw.monheganboat.com Port Clyde, ME

causes the book to fall in to the category of a research tool rather man a pleasant read; every ship, most of th e m as ters (both civilian and navy), every convoy, both outbound and in, and every German surface ship and submarine (as well as their mas ters and admirals) that went after the co nvoys are listed, not in the fo rm of an appendix, but in the body of m e text. This level of detail makes the book repetitive, and in m any cases, stupefyingly tedious to read. The similarity of m an y of the convoys causes som e degree of confusion regarding exactl y which convoy is under discussion. The autho r employs passive voice more often than not, which, after only a few pages, makes the reader think of it more as "gove rnment-speak" than an info rmative text on a very impo rtant and m ajor aspect of WWII. Woodman tells two very exciting and important stories: the tragedy of convoy PQ17 chat, th ro ugh a m ajor admiral ty blunder, lost half of its ships and men; and the British victory over the German battleship Scharnhorst off the No rth Cape.

His descriptions of the constant darkness (the convoys ran mostly in the winter to preclude visual spotting by m e Germans), the ever-present sto rms, and th e incredible cold are vivid and thought-provoking. Even these get repetiti ve, however, as the area of the wo rld where these convoys sailed is always like that.

As a reference source for anyo ne seeking this informati on, Arctic Convoys 194 11945 is without parallel. It is not a pleasure read but has all the detail one could possibly desire o n the subject.

W ILLIAM H. WHITE Bellevue, New Jersey

Nikkei Fishermen on the BC Coast: 1heir B iographies and Photographs edited by

MARITIME

BOOKS 1806 Laurel Crest Madi son, Wi sconsin 53 705-1065 (608) 238-SAIL FAX (608) 238- 7249 Emai I: tuttlemaritime@ cha rter.net http ://tuttlernaritime.com Books about the Sea, Ship & Sailor

Catalogue Upon Request 52

M asako Fukawa (H arbour Publishing Company, Ltd. , 2007, ISBN 978-1-5501 7436-6; $3 9.95) Beginning in 1877, thousands of]ap anese immigrated to British Columbia, m any taking up commercial fishing as their livelihood. Generations ofJapanese, or "Nikkei," fisher families created a stro ng culture and industry along the coast, only to be forced into wo rk camps during WWII. They lost their boats, their ho mes, and many families were separated . Their bonds and culture survived the o rdeal, however, and many re-

turned to the coast after the war to rebuild their lives through the o nly livelihood and way of life they had ever known- fishing.

At the close of the last century, comm ercial fi shing in this region was in decline and so was the collective memory of the people and culture fi shing had supported.

A group of fo rward-thinking Ni kkei o rganized a reunion from which th is book was born. The N ikkei Fishermen Reunion Co mmittee took on the huge tas k of collecti ng the nam es, data, and stori es of more than 3,500 fishermen . Nikkei Fishermen on the BC Coast is more a reference book than a biographical story or any kind of narrative. With a listing of 3 ,524 nam es and 750 biographies and photographs, it serves as an invaluable tool for anyone studying the culture and histo ry of the region . It serves as an irreplaceable reco rd of the people and wo rk so impo rtant to the make-up of the history of British Columbia and an impressive model of what people can do to preserve their own stories before the individuals who know them h ave passed on.

DEIRD RE O ' R.EGAN

Cape C od, Massachusetts

Shipwreck Archaeology in Australia edited by Michael Nash (University of Western Australia Press, C rawley, Western Australia, 2007, 224pp, illus, notes, biblio, index, ISBN 978-0-9802964-3-3; $40hc) Australia is a leader in the scientific study of shipw recks and other types of submerged cultural sites and in the protection and m anagement of these sites for the public benefit. In this book, Michael Nash and a dozen eminent archaeologists present the ground-breaking research performed on fourteen Austral ian shipwrecks. The volu me is divided in to fiftee n chapters dedicated to individual sites and is logically arranged by date, ranging from the Dutch East India C ompany ship Batavia, wrecked in 1629, to the steam er Tasman, wrecked in 1883 .

The ending chapter describes the ships' graveyard of Garden Island as an example of the final disposition of abando ned, rather than wrecked, historic vessels. Its introduction explains the development of nautical archaeology in Australia since the 1970s, including the role of legislatio n to protect underwa ter heritage sites and current approaches to research , managem ent, and public involvement. Each chapter presents SEA HISTORY 123 , SUMMER 2008

de tailed information on the featured shipwreck or site, including, for example, vessel history, description of excavation and study, artifacts recovered, research into related sites such as survivor camps, and interpretation strategies.

Shipwreck Archaeology in Australia could be considered a coffee table book, with lavish, full-color ill ustrations on nea rly every page, a surprisingly modest price, and an engaging, easy-to-read sryle which certainly will appeal to the general p ublic and anyone interested in mari time history and the excitement of shipwrecks. The information contained in the book, however, is an important survey of the archaeological research carried out on Australia's maritime heritage sites and provides useful case studies for both students and professionals engaged in maritime history, underwater archaeology, cultural reso urce management, and the public interpretation of maritime sites.

DELLA ScoTT-l RETON , PttD Pensacola, Florida

Full Fathom Five: A Daughter's Search

by Mary L. Fowler (Universiry of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, 2008, 304pp, illus, notes, index, ISBN 0-8173-1611-6; $29.95hc) This book is q uite unlike other recent accounts by children of World War II submariners seeking to resurrect the life stories of lost parents. While th e author has meticulously researched the brief career of the father she never knew, Commander James W Coe, she puts equal focus on the devastating emotional trauma that a loved one's loss can inflict on the fami lies left beh ind.

The story of Coe's demise is hauntingly short: in command of USS Cisco (SS 290) , he left Darwin, Australia, on 19 September 1943 and was never heard from again .

Crushed by the loss of her beloved h usband, with two small children to support and pregnant with a third, Rachel Coe rebo unded into a disastrous marriage . In her bitterness she buried the memories of her former life.

As Mary Lee Coe was born after her father disappeared, she grew up knowing only a distant mother and a stepfather who fed her negative views of submariners in general and her biological father in particular.

After fifteen years in this dysfunctional household, at which point her mother filed for divorce, Mary Lee understandably came to feel that there was something vaguely disSEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

Columbia Trading Co.

Tell them you saw their ad in

Nautical Books & Artifacts

Free Mail Order Book Catalog • On-line Shopping • Cape Cod Store Open Year 'Round We Buy Maritime and Naval Book Collections

1022 Main St. (Route 6A), West Barnstable, MA 02668 508-362-1500 • Fax: 508-362-1550 • info@columbiatrading.com

Sea History!

www . columbiotroding . com

B oYDJEJLJL

& B REWER

Nelson-the New Letters O ne of the most acclaim ed N elson book s to mar k the b icentenary of Trafalgar, this collecti on o f previously unpublished letters now makes its pape rback d e but.

Eo1TED

BY

CouN W HITE, 6 00 pp ., PB, 2 1 color, 3 5 b&w illus.,

978 1 8 43 8 3 2 99 7, $27. 95

Seafarers, Merchants and Pirates in the Middle Ages A viv id histo ry of se afarin g in the Mid d le A ges base d on a rc ha eo lo gical evid ence and contempora ry accounts.

DIRK M EIER; TRANS. ANGUS M cGEOCH, 19 2 pp ., 44 color and 28 b&w illus., HB, 978 1 8 4383 23 7 9, $37 .95

The Buccaneer Explorer: William Dampier's Voyages Intelli gent and a bl e, William Dampier sp ent yea rs as a pi rate before sailin g w ith the Royal N avy. Th is is hi s ow n account of his re markabl e voyages and g roundbrea king scientific o b se r vations. W ill/AM DAMPIER; EDITED

BY

GERALD NORRIS; 328 pp., 12 b& w illus.,

PB, 978 1 84383 36 4 2, $29. 9 5

Fighting at Sea in the Eighteenth Century The Art of Sailing Warfare Na val warfa re is viv idl y b roug ht to life, from fir st contact through how b attl es we re won a nd lost, to d a mage re pa ir. SAM W 1ws; 272 pp., 7 b&w, illus., HB,

978 1 84383 367 3, $60

NEW IN APRIL 200 8

The Late Victorian Navy The Pre-Dreadnought Era and the Origins of the First World War A reapp raisa l of the late V icto rian Na vy, show ing how the period was crucia l to the eme rgence o f new tec hno log y d efined by ste e l and e lect ricity. ROGER PARKINSON; 328 pp ., 2 1 b&w illus., HB, 978 1 84 38 3 372 7, $ 145

NEW IN JUNE 200 8

Navies of Rome A ground b reaking new chronol o gical stud y of th e ro le p laye d by the Na vy in th e successful develop ment of the Roman Empire. M ICHAEL PITASSI; 27 2 pp., 20 color and 7 0 b&w illus., HB, 978 1 84 383 40 9 0, $90

NEW IN JUL Y 200 8

Find more titles in maritime history at WWW. BOYDE LLAN D BREWER . COM 668 Mt Hope Ave., Rochester, NY 1462 0 • 585 -275-04 19 (tel) • $0 8090

53

REVIEWS graceful about having a father lost at sea in a submarine. Later, under the in fl uence of the anti-war protest movement, she adopted the view that since wars were evil , so must be those who fo ught in them . If o ne happened to lose his life, it was o nly what he deserved.

Many years later (1997), as she was clean ing our the personal effects of her recently deceased mother, Mary Lee Coe discovered a snapsh ot in a bureau drawer pictu ring a tired-looking Jim Coe in uniform with a small girl and boy at either side.

Then, tucked away in the back of a closet, she fo und a carefully-tended Navy overcoat, and she bega n to understand her mother's lo ng-suppressed mo urning for her lost husband and her own "hole in her heart."

Mary Lee Coe Fowler has do ne an admi rable job of recreating her fa ther's abbreviated life and career from Navy reco rds, scattered famil y mementos, and interviews with as m any of her parents' surviving fri ends and shipmates as she co uld track down. The more she learned, rhe more she recognized how false her early convictio ns had been.

"Red" Coe was one of the most successful submarine skippers in the earliest months of

the war, with a service-wide reputatio n for skill, aggressiveness, and co nsiderati o n for his men . As skipper of an antiquated submarine, he sank rhe big Japanese fleer oiler Erimo in March of 1942. H e was rewarded by being given command of the m ore modern "fleet boat" Skipjack (SS- 182), in which he made three patrols, sank fo ur freighters, an d damaged another big tanker. H is m eticulous repo rts, showing how defective torpedoes had robbed him of other successes, stimulated the initial tests th at ultimately proved our to rpedoes were indeed ru nning deeper than set.

Skipjack returned to Califo rnia fo r an overhaul and Coe was sen t to Po rtsmouth to reunite w ith his famil y and oversee the commissioning of a new "thick skin" boat, the Cisco. From there he sailed again for the Southwes t Pacific and ultimate oblivion.

Japanese records tell a particularly poignant sto ry of the Cisco's loss. In September 1943 th e gunboat Karatsu, escorting the fleet oiler Hayatom o, detected an oil slick and d ropped depth charges on the suspected sub. These were followed up by bombs from pl anes sent fro m nearby Cebu, bringing up a heavy gush of oil. The Karatsu was the fo rmer USS

Luzon, salvaged by rh e Japanese fro m M anila Bay, a ship Coe wo uld have known well fro m his years in the Asiatic Fleet, and the H ayatomo was the tanker Coe had to rpedoed and dam aged in August 1942!

Present-day submariners will find "Red" Coe's story interestin g and instructive and w ill easily fo rgive his d aughter's occasional lapses fro m nautical ja rgon . In resurrecting the story of his li fe and career, Mary Lee Coe Fowler discovered not only her lost father, but her estranged mother, and, m ost impo rtantly, she also fo und herself.

J OHN

D.

ALDEN ,

D elmar, New York

Storm and Conquest: The Clash of Empires in the Eastern Seas, 1809 by Stephen Taylor (W W. Norton, 2008, 362pp, illus, biblio, no tes, maps, ISBN 9780-393-06047-8, $25.9 5hc) Stephen Taylor is a talented author whose latest work covers a period of history rarely rhe focus of m aritime historiography.

After Nelson defeated rhe French in Europe, England's final battleground was its comm ercial link to the Indian subcontinent.

This region provided Brita.i n with saltpe-

Sea Time

Life On Board Supply and Troop Ships During World War II and Its Aftermath

by William F. Haynes, Jr., M.D. Career: Midship man: 1944-45 Deck offi cer: I946, I947 Med ica l o ffi cer: I95 5-57

Memoirs of li fe at US MMA (Kings Point) and adventures at sea chosen from Dr. Bill Haynes¡ 68 ocean cross ings in the Pacific war zone and in the Atlanti c ocean to and from Europe, treating medical illn esses and seasickness of German and Itali an POWs, US troops, and more than 30,000 escapees duri ng the Hungarian Revoluti on.

thrilled to have a resource book so well organized and informative ."

- Joe Porter, Publisher,

Wreck Diving Magazine lllustrated, $35¡95

"The short stories on the displaced persons are most interes ti ng. O ne rea lizes from Dr. H aynes '

book the concern s, fears, anxieties and language

problems facing these imm igra nts. ITo date] li ttle has been written on this gro up of people displaced by World War II seeking a new home. freedom. and a chance to rebui ld their lives. "

--Captain Warren G. Leback (Kings Po int, ' 44) Former administrator, Maritime Admin istration U.S. Depart ment of T ra nspo11a1i on Publ: 2006. 6 x 9 14 inches. glossary and index.

I 38 pages, 43 b&w halftones, one map, plus 28 color photos.

Order from: The Darwin Press, Inc., P.O. Box 2202, Princeton, NJ 08543 books@darw inpress.com Iwww.darwinpress.com

To ll free: 866-772-98 17 or 609-737-1 349 ISB : 978-0-87850- 167-0 I $27.50 includes free shipp ing.

54

LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS - - - - - - - Available in bookstores and 01nline at www. lsu.edu/lsupress

SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

ter, the crucial ingredient in manufacturing gunpowder and, therefore, a strategic comm odity th at largely determined their ability to wage war. Saltpeter was transported on ships called Indiam en under the pro tection of the Royal N avy, but the French used Ilede-France, known today as Mauritius, as a base to harass the British shipping. The Ind ian Ocean proved to be a meteorological nightmare fo r the British m erchant fl eet.

This is the story of political intrigue among military officers, ship captains, East India Company em ployees and civil servants as they battled against the French and an unpredictable ocean in their quest to gain control of these shipping routes.

Englishman Taylor's writing style is reminiscent of naval fiction writer Patrick O 'Brian's. For example, Taylor wro te: "Topm en in the crosstrees looked from horizo n to ho ri zo n o n the disk of a sea so enlarged by their heightened perspective that it came up to meet the sky-a bo undless blue, pale above and deep below, w ith a breeze that cooled them as it filled the canvas beneath their feet with a low con stant exh aling of breath ." A reader would be wise to keep a dictionary close at hand.

Some of O 'Brian's fictional scenes were based on events and sh ips from this period; thus Storm and Conquest at times seems like a deja vu experience for O 'Brian's fa ns.

The book is remarkably fas t paced, contains m any n uggets of info rmation about this time and place in history, and is gripping while containi ng beautifully crafted literary images . Neither the book nor particularly its author sh ould be missed .

Unique Whale Art Cube Now available only from the Whaling Museum: The Richard Ellis w hale art cube created exclusively for the New Bedford Whaling Museum . Visit www.w halingmuseum.org to see more unusual gifts .

Fully access ible. Interactive displays for kids.

Unique Museum st ore. Open daily.

Plan your visit online - www.w halingmuseum.org

NEW BEDFORD WHALING MUSEUM 18 Johnny Cake Hill â&#x20AC;˘ New Bedford, Massachusetts 02740-6398 508 997-0046 â&#x20AC;˘ www.w halingmuseum.org

The New Bedford Whaling Museum is a privat e, non-prof it organization.

Company, which could be called lhe H istory of California, 1848-1925.

Just three weeks before the fi rst pieces of gold were discovered at Sutter's M ill in C alifornia, shipwrights laid the keel fo r the first steamship of what wo uld becom e the Pacific Mail Steam ship Company fo r W illiam H enry Aspinwall, wh o had recently obtained the governme nt m ail contract for the West Coast. That October, this Lours ART HUR NORTON ship, SS California, departed New York for West Simsbury, Connecticu t San Francisco. Who could imagine better timing?

Gold, Silk, Pioneers, & Mail: The Story of The company history that fo llows the Pacific Mail Steamship Company by includes the history of the gold rush and Robert J. C handler and Stephen J. Potash all the peripheral industries it created , the (Friends of the San Francisco Maritime Mu- history of Asian immigration to the Wes t seum Library and The G lencannon Press, Coast, the growth of Califo rnia settlements San Francisco, 2007, 5 1pp, illus, notes, bib- into flourishing cities, shipping and comlio, index, ISBN 978-1 -889901 -4 1- 1; $20pb) merce between Asia and the US, and the D on't be foo led by the loo k of this pub- evolution of ship design from sail to steam . lication-a slim paperback, approximately Po tash and C handler's book includes the the same size as this iss ue of Sea H istory. The history, in detail, plus an examinatio n into sixth volume in G lencannon Press's Pacific the m aterial culture and archaeology of this Maritime H istory Series, Gold, Silk, Pio- story. The book is slight in its appearance neers and Mail, is packed with information but hugely rich in its conten t. and well-reproduced illustrations tracing D EI RDRE O'REGAN the history of the Pacific M ail Steamship Cape Cod, Massachusetts

SEA HISTORY 123, SUMMER 2008

In 1750 , 2 brothers from Os, Norway bui lt bm,ts in " boo t house on t he Os river, hence n<>me 'Oselver' . Sa il ed in N orwegian regattas today. Instruct ions. Ki t is wood pl ank on frame construction . Sca le : 1 : 15 , Lengt h 16 .3 '

-~:;~~~&mill #W90 .. ... i.;.,

$72.99

plus $6 . ship.hand .

ACROSS THE PON D P.O. Box 153 SH, Marb lehead , MA 0 1945, TUse Toll Free for orders : 1-8 00 -469 -3957 across thepond @ comcast.n et www.acrossth epond .net Send $6 .0 0 for web catal og !

H.Lee White Marine Museum 400 year s of Maritime History Open Daily 1-5pm July & Aug 10-5pm West 1st Street Pier, Oswego, NY www.hleewhitemarinemuseum.com 315-342-0480

55

NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY AFTERGUARD

AMERICAN M AR ITIM E OFFI CERS

JAMES A. MACDONALD FO

DATIO

DAV ID M. MILTON TRUST

J. ARON CHAR ITABLE FOUNDAT IO N

MCALLISTER TOWING & TRANSPORTATION, INC.

H E RY L. & GR ACE DOHERTY C HARITABLE FOUNDAT ION

IN MEMORY OF DONALD C. MCGRAW JR.

NEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF PARKS, RECREATION & HI STORIC PR ESERVATION

RICHARD RATH MEMORIAL FUN D

HOWA RD SLOT !CK

MR. & MRS. H. C. BOWEN SM ITH

DONALD C. MCGRAW FOUNDATION

RONALD L. OSWA LD

CAPT. CESARE SORIO

ESTATE OF WALTER J. PETTIT SR.

IN MEMORY OF SHANNON & LUCY WALL

WI LLI AM H. WHITE

BENEFACTORS

PAU L F. BALSER

THOMAS F. DALY

IN MEMORY OF ROD EY N. HOUG HTO G UYE. C . M AITLAND

JOHN R. MCDONALD JR.

CHARLES T ow SE D

DAVID S. FOWLER

THORTON D. & ELIZABETH S. HOOPER FOUN DATION

ROBERT F. KAMM

JAMES MIL LER-WOODEN BOAT PUBLICATIO NS

LIB ERTY MARITIM E COR PORATION

SCARANO BOAT B UIL DING, INC.

I NA SHAPIRO

DAN IEL WHALEN

PLANKOWNERS

D. HARRY W. GARSCHAGEN

STAR CLIPPER CRU ISES

MARTIN TOYE

SPONSO RS

COLIN FERENBAC H

FURTHERMORE: A PROGRAM OF TH E J .M. KAP LAN F UN D

ROBERT T. ABBE

MARSHALL P. CLOYD

I MEMORY OF JO E R. GERSON

PHILIP&. IRMY W EBSTER

LEONARD J. BALABA

LAMMOT COPELA D J R.

RI CHARD T. DU MO ULI N

JOH

P. FOWLER

Ms. PATR ICIA A. JEA

WALTER CRONK ITE

PAUL GAR ETT

TH E RUTH R. HOYT/ A NNE H. JOL LEY FO UNDATIO , INC .

TH E MAC PH ERSON FUN D, INC.

ROBERT & ADRIANA PHIL LJrS

ROBERT M. HEWES Ill

BAR ILE

JAMES CARTER 111

JESSE M. BONTEcou

ALI CE DADOUR IAN

H. SPENCER HART

CAPT. JAM ES E. HEG, USN (RET)

J AKOB ISBRA NDTSEN

HAROL D KAPLA N

RussELL P. CHUBB

J. L. DEBREY

JOHN DEANE

EDWARD A. D ELM AN

HOWARD E & VIRGI NIA M. HI GHT

HON. JOH LEHM A

HAROLD R. LOGA N

DAVID J. & CAROLYN D. MCBRIDE

MR . & MRS. ELLICE MCDONALD JR. ISAAC A. MORR IS WILLIAM G. MULLER NEW YORK YAC HT CLUB TH E BETTY SUE & ART PEABODY FUND MRS. GODWI 1J. PELISSERO PETER D. PRUDDEN DR. & MRS. ARENT H. SCHUYLER JR.

O 'CO NOR & HEWITT FOUNDATION P ETE R H. SH ARP

DANIEL GREE1

WI LLIAM G . WI TERER

A NC. & C. H AMILTON SLOA

Fou DAT IO N

BRADFORD D. & STEPHA IE SM ITH

ALI X T. TH ORNE

PHI LIP E. STOLP

IN MEMORY OF HARR Y E. VI NALL

DONORS

CHARLES R. BEAUDROT JR.

MR. & MRS.

ICHOLAS CARLOZZI THOMAS H. CARRUTHERS

C HARLES H. ERHART JR.

ARTH RA. BIR 'EY

c. BREEDEN

TH E EDGAR & GERALDI E FEDER FOUNDATION, INC.

MR . & MRS. EDWIN H. GRA T JR. FRANK L. HUSSEY JR.

BURCHENAL GREEN

MARI NE SOCIETY OF TH E C ITY OF

EDMUND MOORE

ROBERT E. MORRI S JR.

ROBERTS. REGAN

CRA IG A. C. REYNOLDS

JOHN R. SAMPSO

RI CHARD J. SCHEUER

WILLI AM E. WOOD

JAMES WOODS

JAMES 0. BURRI

CHARLES HAMR ICK

BE JAM IN KATZENSTE IN

EW YORK

HARRY W. MARSHAL L

MR. & MRS. JOH N R. SHERWOOD Ill

CAPT. JOH I SKULD

ROBERT FI SHER

PETER H. GHEE

WILLIAM C. HURTT

EDWARD V. Z. LAl\E

JAM ES P. LATHAM JACQUES MEG ROZ

PHILI P B. PERSINGER

DONA LD W. PET IT

NATHAN IEL PHI LB RI CK DR. TIMOTHY J. RUNYAN

MR. & MRS. CHARLES M. ROYCE

ORTH AMERICA INC.

ANDRES DUARTE

MRS. D. L. FL EISCHMANN

CA PT. JAMES MCNAMARA

WILLI AM L. KITCHE S

w. Roos

EUGENE & VIRGINIA CA FIELD

FRANCES K. DIB ER FUND

IN MEMORY OF VICTOR W. HENN INGSEN J R.

SH ARON MCILNAY

IN MEMORY OF CAPT. DAV ID E. PERKINS, USCG MR. & MRS. WILLI AM P. RICE

DOUGLAS CAMPBELL

DOMINIC A. DELAURENTIS, MD

KRISTEN KELLY FISHER

ROBERT S. HAGGE JR .

MR. & DR. STEVEN W. JONES

EIL E. JO 'ES

CAPT. LLOYD M. LOG AN

PATRO S

RICHARD

TIM COLTON JOl·li C. COUCH

THOMAS L. STARK

DA 'IEL R. S UKIS

DAV ID B. VI ETOR

JEAN WORT

408 FOURTH ST., LLC

MR. A. ACEBEDO

JOHN A. AMORY

JAMES H. BAKER

JOHN D. BARNARD

PETER BARTOK

MR. GEOFFREY C. BEAUMO T

CAPT. PAUL L. BONGE MRS. ELEANOR F. BOOKWALTER GEORGE BOOM ER MR. & MRS. HA S BOSCH CAPT. J. HOLLIS BOWER JR. JAMES H. BRANDI RICHARD M . BRESSLER RA DM DAVID

C.

BRO\

JAMES W. CHEEVERS

MR. & MRS. JAMES G. BROWN CHARLES D. CLARK

SEAN H. CUMMINGS

RICHAR D H. DUMAS

IN MEMORY OF PETER J . Fi NERTY JAMES H. FRA CESCHI CLIFTON S. GUSTAFSO

CA PT. FRED C. HAW KI NS MR S. STEPHEN H. J OHNSO MR. & MRS. T. E. LEO AR D CAPT. H E RY MARX MRS. PAUL MELLON

M ATTHEW W. MONROE

MRS. JoANNE O 'NE IL

HAM ISH S. 0 SBOR E

FRED J. PETERSON Fou DATION, [NC. MR. & MRS. JOH F. RANDALL CAPT. BERT ROGERS

HOWLAND B. JONES JR.

W. PETER LI ND

56

WILLI AM D. DE GRAVELLES, MD

RICHARD ELLI SON

DR. JOH N F INERTY

RICHAR D H. GRAVES JEFF GREGSON DAV ID G. GREEN

LARS HE NING HANSE

HENRY KEE NE

RI CHARD W. KURTZ

JOH

G EORGE T. HATHAWAY

JAMES L. KERR

L. LANG ILL

JAM ES H. HAVASY

ELL IOTT G. J ARD IN CHARLES R. KILBOURNE

MR. & MRS. RICHARD C. LAWRENCE

MARITI ME HERITAGE PRINTS

MR. C. S. LOVELACE

MR S. C HARLES PENROSE J R.

PORT AUTHOR ITY OF NY & NJ

CLAIRE A. RI CHARDSON

STEPH E B. SMITH

GILBERT VER EY FOUNDATION HARRY & ELIZABETH WHITE

S.

NE IL ISBRA DTSEN RI SING

MR. & MRS. LEE H. SANDWEN

FRANK K. TARBOX TAWAN I FOUNDATION HERBERT STOCKHAM TISBURY WHARF COMPA Y WILLI AM R. TOWER JR . JAMES M. TRIER CAPT. HAROLD VANDERPLOEG RAYNER WEIR ROBERT WEXLER

WILLI AM ELLIOTT

HEN RY T. C HAN DLER

CHR ISTIAN E. CRETEUR, MD

INTERNATIO NA L SH IPHOLDI NG CORPORATIO

LOOl\lll S Fou DATION

MR. A. LAURISTO PARKS

JOYCE HUBER SM ITH

MR. & MRS. JOHN DARM IN

LARRY GRAHAM

KE KEELER

MICHAEL J. KRI EGER

MR . C. W. CRAYCROFT

WARREN MARR II

HAROLD G. MCA VEN IA JOHN W. MCINTYRE DANIEL J. MCCARTH Y DR. JOSEPH F. MEANY JR . JEFFERSON D. MEIGHAN THOMAS A MORA 1 ROBERT G. MORR IS CAPT. G.M. MUSICK Ill , USN (RET) ERIC A. OESTERLE HAROLD OL SEN

HUG H M. PIERCE

GEORGE F. RUSSELL JR .

CAPT. PAUL W. S IMPSON

STE VEN A. H YMAN

FR EDER ICK G. KRAFT

DAV ID E. LEOPIN

IAN DANIC JOI-IN W. ELDER

MR. & MRS. WI LLI AM HAMMO D

. H UG HE S

WILLIAM R. MATHEWS JR.

DALY

RADM JOSEPH F. CA LLO

CAPT. WARREN D. CLARK

CAPT. DWIGHT GERTZ BR UCE GODLEY

ROBERT M. JOH STON

MR. & MRS. CHESTER W. KITCH! GS JR.

MORGA

REYNOLDS DU PONT JR.

HERBERT B. HALBERG

J UDGE LYN

CADDELL DRY DOCK & REPAIR Co., INC.

MR. & MRS. JAMES M. CLARK

CAPT. JAMES S. CUN INGHAM, USN (RET.)

DIB NER MAR ITIME ASSOCIATES LLC MARC GRISHAM

JOHN BUSCH

HARR IS CLARK

JAMES G. SARGENT

PAUL B. PRAGER

EDWARD RI TTEN HOUSE JERRY SCHWAB

EDM UND SOMMER

iIJJWmii11ii..

MR. & MRS. FRANKE. PERRELLA

w. PORTER JR

REED ROBERTSON

ROBERT W. SCOTT

Ross E. ROEDER

HOWA RD P. SEA RS RONALD SHEA R

SPIRIT & SANZONE DISTRIBUTO RS, INC. HALL W. THOMPSON JR. ROBERT J. T YO

JAMES S. PERRY

QUESTER GALLERY, LLC

RI CHARD STIEG LITZ

RALPH N. THOMPSON CARL W. TI MPSON JR .

US NAVA L ACADEMY NIMITZ LIBR ARY

DR. & MRS. JOH DI X W AYMA MRS . CAROLL VI NALL ALFRED J. W ILLIAMS JOHNS. WI NGFIELD ROBERTS. YOUNG

SEA HISTORY 11 23, SUMMER 2008

,_'

Q}EEN MARY2

Q}EEN VICTORIJ\~

CUNARD"

CUNARD"

Queen Mary 2®departs New York for transatlantic crossings and special roundtrip holiday sailings to Canada and New England. Queen Victoria®will explore the southern part of the European Continent offering a wider range of fascinating itineraries in the Mediterranean than Cunard has ever done before.

Sail with Queen Mary 2 or Queen Victoria and experience their wonders for yourself.

Transatlantic Crossing 6 Days - May though October 2008 New York to Southampton, England (OR) Southampton, England to New York prices sta rting at $1 ,099

Canada & New England 6 Days - July 2, 2008 Roundtrip NewYork Independence Day Geta way prices starting at $1 , 199

Legends of the Mediterranean 12 Days - August 25 & October 24, 2008 Barcelona to Rome prices starting at $2, 418

Greek Isles & Aegean Shores 12 Days - September 6 & 30, 2008 Rome to Venice prices starting at $2, 703

NEW! Caribbean Adventure 8 Days - November 21, 2008

Ancient Wonders of the Mediterranean 12 Days - November 5 & 17*, 2008

New York to Ft. Laude rdale prices starting at $1 ,298

Rome to Athens *Athens to Rome prices starting at $2,2 61

For a FREE brochure and information about these and other voyages contact Pauline Power:

Pisa Brothers Travel Service 630 Fifth Avenue• New York, New York 10111 (800) 729-7472 • pauline@pisabrothers.com Fares are per person. non-ai r, based on double occupancy, and apply to the fim two passengers in the stateroom. fares do not apply to single, shares and upper·berth passengers. Fares are capacity controlled and based on space availability. Government fees and taxes are additional. Offer may not be combinable with other discounu, promotions or shipboard crediu. Fares are quoted in U.S. dolla~ . See applicable Cunard brochure for terms and defini· tions that apply to your booking. Other restrictions may apply. Ship's registry Great Britain. ©lOOB Cunard.