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LETTERS and salvaged the SS Central America in 8,000 feet of water. I hope this will clarify the new era of treasure hunters, who nor only seek rhe treasure but also consider rhe archaeological and scientific aspects presented by these special projects. DoN CABLES
Birmingham, Alabama
From NMHS President, Burchenal Green: The National Maritime Historical Society and Sea History are active members of rhe Council of American Maritime Museums (CAMM), and, as such, follow strict guidelines regarding shipwrecks and artifact retrieval. Developing the policy for CAMM rook hours and days, years really, of discussions. Ir is rough on a museum to rum down artifacts char rhen go into private hands and thus away from public viewing forever. We try to promote char position in the pages of Sea History.
Far Away But Not Forgotten When I received my issue of Sea History (125) and saw on the cover that it included an article on "Hawaii's Whaling Shipwrecks," I said to myself, "Whaling in Hawaii? No! Ler me read the articles." The article started off discussing shipwrecks off Kure Atoll, just to rhe northwest of Midway. From 1966-1967, I was stationed on Kure Island, Hawaii; it was a United Scares Coast Guard Loran Station rhen. I was rhe Electrician's Mare, 2nd Class-length of duty was a full year. The only shipwrecks and/or airplanes we knew about under rhe water were from World War II. Just reading these articles brought back memories. Please thank Deirdre O'Regan, Hans Van Tilburg, and Kelly Gleason.
be the island in question. In December, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston led a BBC crew to Cape Horn to assist in a documentary. One of his personal goals was to get ashore at Cape Horn Island and see for himself if the descriptions left by Drake and, p;micularly, by his chaplain, Francis Fletcher, seem reasonable as a match.
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston: Back from a very enjoyable ten days with Skip Novak aboard Pelagic and have learned that there is a problem with Cape Horn Island as a candidate for Drake's Elizabeth Island. Parson Fletcher talked about landing and gathering wood and water. It is possible to land, there is a small anchorage in the southeast corner where the Chileans land supplies. There is wood-you can find plenty of dry branches in the little fissures where trees grow. But, according to the Chilean Navy perry officer who mans the lighthouse and radio on Cape Horn Island, there are no streams. I saw none while I was there, although I did not explore the whole island-there are minefields, which discourage such exploration anyway! I did find pools of peaty water bur am nor sure that would have been acceptable for filling barrels. So, where does this leave Drake's Elizabeth Island? Henderson Island, which I thought might be a candidate, is our. Ir is only some fifteen miles northeast of the Islas Ildefonso group, which would have been clearly visible. That leaves the Ildefonso group as a candidate, but I am afraid I did not get close enough to chem to establish whether they had vegetation. It would need 2-3 months with an exploration ream to sort this out-not a ten day trip as I had!
THOMAS ToRKELSEN
Woodstock, New York
Where is Drake's Elizabeth Island? A Sailor's Perspective In 1578, Sir Francis Drake dropped anchor in rhe lee of an island he named Elizabeth Island. Drake's coordinates and descriptions, however, don't march up with modern maps-the coordinates place it well to rhe west where there is no land and where the ocean is very deep. Ir has been assumed by many Drake historians and geographers that what we now call Cape Horn Island, the southernmost island in South America, must
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Peter Stanford: I agree that the landing place, the abundance of wood, and the presence of fresh water all match your findings . I am satisfied with the pools of fresh water, chinking char men drinking months-old water from oak casks would find standing water potable-particularly as rhe standing water when I was there was nor stagnant, bur had apparently been refreshed by recent rains. Mind you, my examination was brief and nor methodical, and I am very glad indeed to have your solid testimony on rhe state of affairs there. During my visit to Cape Horn, I confess,
my rime was much taken up simply with picturing Drake's reaction to rhe prospect before him, where he saw that "the Atlantic Ocean and the South Sea meet in a most large and free scope"-a terrific discovery upsetting the accepted geographical conceptions of the day. The Ildefonso Islands remain a possibility, as you point our. One of them rises to 450 feet, and you could stand on that headland and see no land to the south, for sure. But where Cape Horn stands at 55°59' south, and Drake has it at "neare 56 degrees," the southernmost Ildefonso is about 55°50' south. A nine-mile error seems a lot for Drake, and there is nothing to fulfill his observation that the southernmost visible land lay three miles to the north. The other Ildefonsos trail off to the northwest from quire close by. Also, from the Ildefonso group, there seems to be no low-lying islands a two-days' sail westward, a passage Drake recorded in his log. Drake did land on such islands to rake birds and seals. The northern Ildefonso Islands do fit into that narrative, if taking one's departure from Cape Horn. Given all this, I still find Cape Horn Island the last man standing; that is, each alternative proposed seems to present greater difficulties than Cape Horn. I concede this is short of proof positive and that your conclusion that more "on-the-scene" study is needed is indisputably sound. In an earlier conversation on early modern navigation, I had learned from Sir Robin to think better of my idea that the astrolabe was nor suitable for determining longitude at sea. My view was based on Columbus's way-off-rhe-mark findings the one time he tried to use his astrolabe on his first voyage to the Americas in 1492. One look at some examples of these instruments, developed for travel across deserrs, had convinced me that they would be very difficult to use from a rolling ship's deck. Sir Robin told me he had tried an astrolabe at sea and calculated longitudes accurate within one or two miles. This has led me to my conclusion, above, that if Knox-Johnston feels more investigation is needed, I wholeheartedly agree! PETER STANFORD
Editor-at-Large, Sea History Yorktown Heights, New York SEA HISTORY 126, SPRING 2009