LETTERS Who Gets to Fly the White Ensign? As one who has put in a certain amount of sea time in no rthern Euro pean, as well as Mediterranean waters, my hat is off to anyo ne who can confine himself to such a smal l vessel for an extended period of time, with no companionship and under what, at times, wo uld be the most frightening of co ndi tions. Sir Robin Kn ox-Johnston's accolades are more than deserved. There is o ne ho nor, however, that confuses me. I couldn't help but notice in o ne of yo ur article's photos (Sea H istory 125, p. 11 ) that Sir Robin's vessel is flying the whi te ensign . I am privileged to have served under that Aag in the Royal Canadian Navy and was under the impression that o nly naval vessels were allowed to fly it. H as that privilege also been extended to him ? D oN MACMI LLAN O akville, Ontario, Canada From Sir Robin Knox-Johnston: Members of the Royal Yacht Squad ron (RYS), based at Cowes, Isle of Wight, are the o nly nonnaval people allowed to fly the Wh ite Ensign under a warrant. There are 400 members of the RYS, plus a few N aval m embers and very few of us hono rary members to whom this right is allowed . Although I am only an honorary mem ber of the RYS, they changed the rules to allow ho norary m embers to fly the White Ensign after I skippered their entry in the Atlantic C hallenge in 1996 or 1997.
The Last Slavers In the las t issue of Sea H istory, readers bro ugh t our artention ro the fac t that the Clothi!de was the las t slave ship to arrive in the US Ouly of 1860), no t the Wanderer, which landed at Jekyll lsland, GA, in November of 1858. The American ship Erie m ay no t have been the last slave ship to arrive in the United States, but its capta in was the first and only one to be h ung fo r the crime of transpo rtin g slaves. Acco rding to Hugh Thom as in his book, The Slave Trade (1997), in August of 1860, the Erie, wi th 900 slaves on board, was take n into custody by USN San Jacinto off th e Congo coast. The Erie was esco rted to Liberia, where the slaves were released, befo re proceeding to New York. The Erie's captain , Nathaniel Go rdon, was co nvicted and sentenced to death by hanging.
SEA HISTORY 126, SPRING 2009
President Abraham Lincoln signed the order and Captain Gordon was h ung at "The Tombs" on 21 February 1862. MONTELLE L. SMALL Portland , M aine
Treasure Hunting and Arch aeology rook the op porm niry to read the lates t Sea H istory (125) fro m cover to cover, at leisure, fo r a pleasant change. Ir now resides, as do previo us volumes, in my waiting room , where it is appreciated by the wide range of visito rs we receive each year. For an organization which exists "ro preserve o ur seafaring heritage"-Burchenal G reen's words, no r mine-I was very disappointed to read the "Sea H istory for Kids" sectio n on treasure hunters. W hile what was written is undo ubtedly true, it is, disappointingly, neither complete nor bala nced. Very few in the treasure hunter field operate to p rese rve o ur seafarin g heritage. Far from it, theirs are predominan tly our-and-our commercial ventures. While an as tute reader co uld have extracted this fro m the sentence, "Treasure Hunters believe that any historic shipwreck they find belongs to them ," a section aimed at kids ought to have been rather m ore direct as to the m essage being co nveyed, which is somewhat co ntrary to the objectives of the Sociery. Al tho ugh it might seem pedantic and nit-picking to criticize one sentence in such a fi ne p ublication, ir is the principle and objective "ro preserve o ur seafaring heritage" that's at issue and which clearly needs to be reinforced. We on this side of the po nd are
fin d ing that, no m atter what legislatio n we have in place and despite our very best effo rts to preserve our heritage, sadly, it co ntinues to be stolen fro m under our waters. So, I would urge yo u to be more forthri ght in your penmanship. CAPT. PETER G ILL Exe, FRIN, M N I H arbour Master, Registrar of British Ships and D epury Receiver of Wreck. St. Peter Port, G uernsey Thanks for the great fo rmat and presentatio ns in Sea H istory m agazine. As I read this issue, I felt I must comment o n part of the articl e o n page 41 o n treasure hunrers. 1here certain ly have been cases where treasure humers have found and plundered shipwrecks. U nfo rtunately, the commem s in the article made ir sound like all treasure ex plo rers/salvagers are like that. There are at least rwo companies that I know of specializing in deep-ocean salvage (greater than 1,5 00 fee t), which try to determine wreck ownership, possibly buy rhe ri ghts to the ship from insurance companies, wo rk with countries of ow nership (s uch as G reat Britain); and they retain professio nal archaeological and scientific co nsultants as part of the search, evaluation and recovery project. O dyssey M arine Exploration, Inc. (OMEX) is one of the companies and is publicly traded. OMEX has successfu ll y recovered treasure from a C ivil War-era wreck nea rl y 1,700 feet deep. The other compan y is the C olumbus America Discove ry Gro up, which successfu lly located
Join Us for a Voyage into History O ur seafarin g heritage comes alive in the pages of Sea HistOJy, fro m the ancient mariners of G reece to Portu guese navigators opening up the ocean world to the heroic efforts of sa ilors in modern-day conflicts. Each issue brings new insights a nd discove ries. If you love the sea, ri vers, lakes, and
bays- if you appreciate the legacy of those who sail in deep wa ter a nd their wo rkaday craft, then yo u belong with us. J oin Today ! Mail in the form below, phone 1 800 221-NMHS (6647), or visit us at: www.seahistory.org (e-mail: nmhs@seahistory.org)
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