Sea History 130 - Spring 2010

No. 130

NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY

SPRING 20 10

SEA HIST0&Â¥

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

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SEA HISTORY

No. 130

SPRING 2010

CONTENTS 12 Philip Haemo de Thorneycroft Teuscher and His Hopes for NMHS

by Walter R. Brown, Thomas F. Daly, and Burchenal Green Meet Philip Teuscher-sailor, adventurer, producer and avid NMHS supporter. Recently, Mr. Teuscher let us know that he has left a large gift to the Society in his will, and he explains what inspired him to do so.

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14 The Wreck of the Gold Rush Steamship Winfield Scott by Willard Thompson In 1853, the paddlewheeler Winfield Scott wrecked as it was trying to navigate the Santa

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Barbara Channel in thick fog. Today, the shipwreck is still visible to divers and interpreting the site gives us a look into its role as a vital part ofthe Panama Isthmus route gold seekers traveled during the California Gold Rush.

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20 Sailing for All: Joe Lee and America's First Public Community Sailing Program

by Mari Anne Snow, Gary C. du Moulin, and Charles Zechel Dinghy sailing on the Charles River in Boston has become an iconic image ofthe city itself The organization behind public sailing had a checkered beginning, but it survived through the determined and cunning efforts ofits founder, Joe Lee Jr.

26 SS Coamo and SS Borinquen, Twin Sisters of the New York and Porto Rico Steamship Company by Captain Henry N. Helgesen, US Coast Guard, (Rer.) Caribbean cruises did not always have the attraction they do today. When the Porto Rico Line introduced two new liners to the New York-Caribbean run, passenger service to the West Indies forever changed from bare-bones transportation to comfortable and enjoyable cruises.

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30 Man and Machine: LTJG Charles Eliot Winslow and His Heroic Rescues in Command of the Coast Guard Cutter Argo by William H . Thiesen, PhD By answering the call to sea duty in wartime, some people discover an affinity for the sea and a talent as mariners that they might never have known otherwise. So it went for Charles Eliot Winslow, whose service in the Coast Guard in World \,%r II introduced him to an occupation in which he discovered a natural talent, and by which he rescued dozens of mariners from the sea after their ships had gone down.

Cover: Voiliers au Port

aBainet

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by Patricia Brintle acrylic on wood, 4 x 5 inches, 2009 H aitians have long had a rich connection with the sea, as is often depicted in their vibrant art. Learn more about this genre of marine art and how you can purchase works to support the 2010 earthquake relief (See page 38)

DEPARTMENTS 4

DEcKLOG

41

Smr NOTES, SEAPORT & MusEUM NEws

5

LETTERS

40 49 50 56

MARITIME HISTORY ON THE INTERNET

8 NMHS: A CAUSE IN MOTION 34 Sea History FOR Kms 38

MARINE Alu NEws

CALENDAR REVIEWS

Sea History and the National Maritime Historical Society Sea History e-mail: edirorial@seahisrory.org; NMHS e- mail: nmhs@seahisrory.o rg;

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NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY

DECK LOG Bequests, Memorials, Appeals

T

his winter I have been focused on finances and mortality to a far greater degree than usual. In November chairman emeritus Walter Brown, trustee Tom Daly, and I ventured to Westport, Connecticut, to interview long-time NMHS member, professional sailor, film director, and writer Philip Teuscher, who has left a generous legacy to the Society in his will. Because trust gifts are so important to us, we wanted to get to know more about those who will be including a bequest to NMHS in their wills and learn why they have chosen to take that step. Teuscher and his mission are included on pages 12-13.

NMHS is fortunate to have many of its members, the heart and soul of the organization, with us for decades. But as time creeps up on us, we find that too many of our members have departed for Fiddler's Green. In 2009 we lost the leadership and support of NMHS Overseer Walter Cronkite and Advisor Walter Handelman. It has been a sad time for us. In December, we lost two beloved fixtures at headquarters, longtime volunteers Tommy Thompson, a retired professor of navigation at the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, and WWII Coast Guard hero Seymour Wittek. Both men had received the NMHS Volunteer of the Year Award, and they will be remembered for their knowledge, hard work, enthusiasm, wonderful stories, and their great contribution to the Society. During Seymour Wittek's funeral services, his family requested that contributions in his memory be sent to NMHS, an organization he respected and that had meant so much to him .

(See page 10 for their tributes.)

In 1998, when the Society organized the only 20th-century parade of tall ships on the Hudson River, USCG Captain Daniel Croce was one of the USCG Captain Daniel Croce salutes the casket of two Coast G uard representatives on Seymour Wittek during military honors at Wittek's the event committee. Since that time, burial in Queens, New York, 31December200'9. he has stayed a good friend to us. Through NMHS, he and Seymour became friends, and he asked to be a part of the Coast Guard Honor Guard at Seymour's burial. Our shared interests draw us together and remind us that the maritime community is a close family.

Finally, our year-end appeal was a testament to how each member's contribution, no matter what the size, strengthens the cause and rejuvenates our sense of purpose.

NMHS president emeritus Peter Stanford recently sent us his year-end gift with the following note: I am following in the wake of Jeremiah Timothy Driscoll, skipper of the harbor tanker Sterling, who set us all a wonderful example in our "something extra" campaign for year-end gifts. He simply cleared out his cashbox as the year ended, and sent us a check for the balance. It gave us some odd numbers, I remember $314.92 one year, but it sure helped out, and the bit of blarney that may have been involved went down well, too.

Steady as she goes, Peter

â&#x20AC;˘

NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY

PUBLISHER'S CIRCLE: Pete r Aron, William H. White OFFICERS & TRUSTEES: Chairman, Ronald L. O swald; Vice Chairman, Richardo R. Lopes; President, Burchenal Green; Vice Presidents, Deirdre O 'Regan , Nancy Schn aars; Treasurer, H. C. Bowen Smith; Secretary, Thomas F. Daly; Trustees, Charles B. Anderson, Walter R. Brown, James Carter, David S. Fowler, Virginia Steele Grubb, Karen Helmerson, Steven W. Jon es, Robert Kamm , Richard M. Larrabee, Guy E. C. Mai tl and, John R. McDonald J r., James J. McNamara, William Pinkney, Richard Scarano, Philip J. Shapiro, Peter H. Sharp, Howard Slotnick, Bradford D. Smith, Cesare Sorio, Philip J. Webster, Daniel W Whalen, W illiam H. Wh ite; Chairmen Emeriti, Walter R. Brown, Alan G. Choate, Guy E. C. Maitland, Craig A. C. Reynolds, Howard Slotni ck; President Emeritus, Peter Stanford FOUNDER: Karl Kortum (1917- 1996) OVERSEERS: Chairman, RADM David C. Brown; Clive C ussler, Richard du Moulin, Alan D. Hutchison, Jakob Isbrandtsen, Gary Jobson, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, John Lehman, Warren Marr II, Brian A. McAllister, John Stobart, W illiam G. Winterer NMHS ADV1SORS: Chairman, Melbourne Sm ith; D . K. Abbass, George Bass, Oswald L. Bren, RADM Joseph F. Callo, Francis ].

Duffy, John W. Ewald, T imothy Foore, William G ilkerson, Thomas Gillmer, Steven A. Hyman, J. Russell Jinishian , Hajo Knurrel, Gunnar Lundeberg, Joseph A. Maggio, Conrad Milster, William G. Muller, Stuart Parnes, Lori Dillard Rech, Nancy Hughes Richardson, Bert Rogers, Joyce Huber Smith

SEA HISTORY EDITORIAL ADV1SORY BOARD: Chairman, Timothy J. Runyan; No rm a n J. Brouwer, Robert Browning, W illiam S. Dudley, Daniel Finamore, Kevin Foster, John Odin Jensen, Joseph F. Meany, Lisa Norling, Carla Rahn Phillips, Walter Rybka, Quentin Snediker, Wi lliam H. White NMHS STAFF: Executive Director, Burchenal Green; Membership Director, Nancy Schnaars; Marketing Director, Steve Lovass-Nagy; Communications Director, Julia C hurch; Accounting, Jill Romeo; Store Sales & Volunteer Coordinator, Jan e Maurice

SEA HISTORY. Editor, Deirdre O ' Rega n; Advertising Directo r, Wendy Pa gg iotrn; Editor-at-Large, Pete r Stanford

-Burchenal Green, President 4

SEA HISTORY 130, SPRJNG 20 I 0

LETTERS David Porter v. David Dixon Porter Commodore David Poner (1780-1843), the subj ect of William H. White's articl e in Sea H istory 129 (Winter 2009-10), was the fat her, but the tide, "D avid Dixo n Porter Jr.," is rhe son! That gaffe aside, there is an interesting project pursued by David Porter of which most of yo ur readers may be unaware.

Foll owing his release from capriviry in June 1805, he was given command of Enterprize and employed as a messenger for rhe commodore, exchanging communications with American diplomats in rhe various Mediterranean pons, delivering orders to rhe squadron's dispersed units and returning their reports. Ir was an ideal situation for a man who had decided to pursue the creation of a memo rial to the six naval officers lost at Tripoli. For fundin g, he es tablished a "gift" level for the several grades of officers in the squadron. Ships' captains were expected to come aboard at rwenry dollars apiece. Wardroom officers were expected to kick in ren dollars each, and surgeo n's mare, captains' clerks, and midshipmen , fi ve dollars a head. As rh e mo nths passed, he managed to contact just about everyone still in the squadron and coll ected at leas t $ 1,200.

To create rhe memorial, he eventually selected an Italian sculp tor, Giovanni Carlo Micali . The work was completed abo ut 1 February 1807, and Porter reported to Washington that it wo uld be shipped in forry-five cases weighing a total of fifteen tons. Later that year, the homeward bound Constitution was tasked to be the carrier of what turned out to be ninery-eight "large boxes." On 1 March 1808, Porter formal ly delivered the memorial to the Navy, together with funds for its erection.

The m emorial initially was located in rhe Washington Navy Yard, but following the War of 1812, which it survived with only min o r dam age, it was relocated to a reflecting pool near the Capi tol. As a part of rhe major post-C ivil War building program at rhe Naval Academy, the memo rial was moved thence as an appropriate source of inspiratio n fo r the aspiring SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 20 10

We Welcome Your Letters!

Write to the editor at editorial@seahistory.org or by mail to: Editor, Sea H istory, 7 Timberknoll Rd., Pocasset, MA 02559. midshipmen. And that is where the nation's oldes t veterans monument still is today. Unfortunately, the sculptor, not rold otherwise, thought it wo uld be placed indoors in th e European m anner of the day, and co nstructed it of a soft

Tramp Steamers I was am azed to see on page 4 of the Winter 2009- 10 issue a reproduction of a painting showing the SS Karanja. I served in the Peace Corps in Malawi (formerly Nyasaland) d uring rhe years 1964-65, and along with a couple of fe llow Peace Corps volunteers, (left) Commodore I spent C hristmas 1964 in Mombasa. My David Porter, USN buddies and I booked passage on the SS (1 780-1843), and Karanja from Mombasa to Dar es Salaam , (below) his son, Admi- which was just an overnight voyage. Being ral David Dixon Porter, Peace Co rps volunteers, we wanted Thi rd USN (1813- 1891) C lass ti ckers, and I recall that the agent was reluctant to let us have them. The agent said Third Class was too "rough," but he did final ly give in , and we m ade do on prisonsryle bunks down in the hold. I did not see any further information abour the ship, but maybe yo u could tell me something I could pass alo ng. Ir couldn't be still afloat.

MICHAEL S HO UGH

San Francisco, California

Carrara marble that is being eroded quite noticeably in its o utdoor location. A few years ago, an Academy class funded an effort to clean it and remove mold and fun gi, but that was only a delaying action. Ir needs to be placed indoors.

CDR TY MARTIN, USN (RET) Tryon, No rth Carolina

Ian Marshall- Mr. Shough must have travelled in the SS Karanja (1 0,3 00 tons) of the BI line built in 1948. She operated in the Bombay-Durban service, calling atports along the east coast ofAfrica. The ship was sold in 1976 to the Indian Shipping Corporation, renamedNancowry and was employed on the Madras-Andaman Island service. She was still going in 1987, but I should imagine she did not continue for more than 10 years because she used steam turbines. She and her sister ship could carry 2, 441 passengers(!), ofwhich

Join Us for a Voyage into History Our seafaring heritage comes alive in the pages of Sea History, from the ancient mariners of G reece to Portuguese na vigators opening up the ocean world to the heroic efforts of sa ilors in modern-day conflicts. Each issue brings new insights and discoveries.

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130

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60 were in I st class and 180 were in 2nd. The remainder were described as "unberthed" or "deck passengers" in the original configuration.

The ship of the same name in my painting of D urban was built in 1931, was of9,900 tons and was sunk by enemy aircraft during the North Africa Landings in 1942. The Bl Line went out of business in 1986

Not all cargo ships are tramps: Ian Marshall's article in the recent issue of Sea History badly confuses tramp steamers with what are properly described as dry cargo steam ers or freigh ters. This type is divided inro two distinct gro ups of ships with different ro les and characteristics: the cargo liner and the tramp . As the author points out later in his article, a cargo liner operated on regular scheduled services, sailing whether full o r not, and usually carrying many small consignments of different cargoes. In contrast, a tramp went anywhere it could pick up a paying cargo. These were almost invariably bulk cargoes, usually coal, grain, ores or timber, and the tramp steamers had large, clear holds to accommodate such com modities.

Cargo liners usually had more sophisticated cargo gear, holds sub-divided to stow smaller consignments of cargo usually with 'tween decks, and were often faster than tramps.

There was some crossover between the types: cargo liner companies wo uld buy or charter tramps when they were short of to nnage, and aging cargo liners were often sent tramping, despite their holds not always being suitable for typical tramp cargoes . But owners of cargo ships invariably specialized in liner trades or tramping because th e two trades required a very different company structure. A liner company would have to supervise a network ofagents to book cargoes at the ports it served. A tramp owner needed to have staff who knew what cargoes were available and where and be in close touch with the brokers who had such cargoes on offer.

To say "the quintessential tramp owner was the Clan Line" is nonsense. The company did at one time have the larges t fl eet of cargo ships, but they were employed on regular services, mainly from Europe to South and East Africa, and India. Likewise, the other co mpanies he cites were all essentially cargo liner operato rs. Examples from the UK of major tramp ship fleets were Watts, Watts of London; William Reardon Smith of Cardiff; Walter Runciman ofNewcasde; and

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Ropner of H artlepool. Mr. Marshall was also wrong in claiming that "G lasgow shipowners were the leading operators" of tramps: the major British ship owning ports were London and Liverpool, with Newcastle and Cardiff being important for tramp owning because of the coal cargoes they generated .

I also query the authenticity of his painting of Alfred Holts's Perseus in Calcutta.

This company served ports much further east, including d1ose in China, the East Indies and Japan: Calcutta was largely the preserve ofT. and]. Brocklebank.

This article wou ld have been much more appropriately tided "The cargo steamer."

the brigantine Albatros, which was lost in the Gulf of Mexico in 1961. (The Albatros was the same ship owned by C hristopher Sheldon, th en spelled Albatross with 2 S's, upon which the movie White SquaLL was based.)

S TEVE GANN

Carmel, Cali fornia

I read the articl e by Lesley Lee Francis abo ut her mother's voyage on Wander Bird with great interest. I had heard stories of Robert Frost visiting my grandfather's (Clifton Johnson or "CJ") farm in Hadley, Massachusetts. CJ traveled widely and wrote, DR RoY FENTON edited, or illustrated more than 100 books.

London, England His papers, photographs, and drawings are now at the Jones Library in Amherst. I Ian Marshall: Dr. Fenton is a real expert in enjoyed the article and its tone is correct, the history ofthe shipping trade. I am not, and but there are a couple of small corrections.

I was pleased, therefore, to see that he reiterates My father Irving Johnson, did not "[disapso much of what I had to say about the era of pear] witho ut saying a word ro anyone." In the tramp steamer and the definition of the the fall of 1929 at age 24, after being the tramp trade. He takes me to task for too Loose professional captain of the yacht Charmian usage ofthe term as applied to ships. Neverthe- for fo ur summers and with the help of his less, he agrees that the same ship could itself employer, he was able to join the Ge rman be put to use during its Lifetime in tramping barque Peking for its voyage around Cape and then in regular service on a prescribed Horn. His fam ily kn ew where he was goroute. Some shipping firms, too, changed the ing, but, of course, did not know that the nature of their operations over the years. I Peking had arrived until they received a was intrigued to Learn recently from a Maine postcard from him. Also, my mother, Exy pilot that he recently brought in a German Johnso n, graduated from Smith College and tramp (motorship), part of a H amburg fleet then studied French at UC Berkeley, but stilL engaged in the traditional itinerant trade. she never studied music or art in France. I D r. Fenton's strictures seem to arise partly from do remember my mother telling me of her my neglect to mention shipping companies mother's reaction to her engagement to my that engaged exclusively in tramping, many fat her: "WHAT! That barefoot boy?" of them in more Localized operations rather ROBERT J OHNSON than oceanic trade, but it was the big firms Sherborn, Massachusetts that developed a worldwide cargo business that Port ofBalitmore's Champion, were highlighted in my article about the era.

Helen Bentley Regarding the Perseus in Calcutta: Although their usual destinations were generally farther Regarding The Port That Built a City and east, Blue Funnel ships were certainly to be seen State: I enjoyed yo ur review of the DVD and in Calcutta. There is nothing "inauthentic" yo ur remarks abo ut Helen Bentley. What about the sight of SS Perseus in Calcutta in you did not mention is that Helen went on 1910. My father told me about seeing them. to serve for ten years (1985-95) as amember of the US House of Representatives, repreWander Bird senting the Second Congressional District I thought yo u might find it interesting that, of Maryland. Whe n she was championing when the Wander Bird was being restored by something she believed in, such as the US Harold and Anna Sommers, her new masts Merchant Marine, she could be rough as were donated by the Gann fa.mi ly in m emory nails. She knew the industry, understood of their son, George K. Ga nn. Geo rge Gann its termi nology, and knew how to debate was lost at sea while serving as first officer of and wi n her points. the supertanker Chevron Mississippi in 1973.

E. KAY GIBSON Ern est K. Gann was skipper and owner of Camden, Maine

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NMHS: A CAUSE IN MOTION Second Annual Washington DC Awards Dinner Join us on Thursday, 22 April 2010, when the National Maritime Historical Society will honor retired US Senator John W. Warner; Admiral Gary Roughead, USN, Chief of Naval Operations; and James W. Cheevers, Associate Director and Senior Curator of the US Naval Academy Museum at the second annual Washington Awards Dinner. Dinner co-chairs Philip and lrmy Webster are delighted to invite you to join them at the Army and Navy Club on Farragut Square for this spectacular evening.

Senator John W. Warner Retired US Senato r John W. Warn er will receive the NMHS Distinguished Service Awa rd in recognition of his illustrious career as sailor (WWII), marine (Korean War) , Chair of the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, U nder-Secretary and Secretary of the Navy, and Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. According to Philip Webster, Senator Warner represents "the epitome of what we love to see from a man who loves the sea." Warner served in the US Navy in World War II and joined the Marine Corps in O ctober 195 0 at the outbreak of the Ko rean War, serving as a gro und offi cer with the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. Warner served fi ve terms in the US Senate from 1970 to 2008 and rose to be Chairman of the Senate Arm ed Services Committee. W hile serving as U nder-Secrerary of the Navy (1969- 1972) and Secretary of the Navy (1972- 1974), he represented the Department of Defense at the Third UN Confe rence on the Law of the Sea in Geneva during 197 1-1 973. In his last year in Congress, Warner parti cipated in writing the new G I Bi ll as his way of "paying back" his debt of grati tude for the lasting benefits he has experienced from his rime in uniform.

Admiral Gary Roughead Admi ral Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval O perations, will be ho no red wi th the NMH S Disti nguished Service Award for his exemplary and dynamic leadership of Naval Operati o ns and fo r furthering rhe impo rtance of history in rhe US Navy. He has established the Naval Histo ry } and H eritage Co mmand, emphasized naval histo ry Navy-wide by mandating th e inclusio n ' ~ of history in rhe core curriculum for navy seam en and making naval history part of the advancement examin ations of rhe senior enlisted personnel. H e is spearheading a majo r commemoration for the War of 1812, about whi ch he states, "It provides an opportunity to celebrate the Am erican spirit and uni ty that protected our yo ung nation at a critical po int in history. As the past co ntinues to inform the present and guides us to rhe future, the War of 1812 Celebration will commemorate o ur rich history and heritage." As Chief of Naval Operations, Admi ral Roughead is responsible for rhe wo rld's largest combined fleet command, encompassing 102 million square miles and m ore than 190 ships and submarines, 1,400 aircraft, 19 1,000 sailors and marines and 30,000 civi lians.

Jam es W. Cheevers James W Cheevers, Associate Director and Senior C urator of the US Naval Academy Museum , will be ho nored with the NMH S Robert G. Albion/James Monroe Award for maritime historiography for his long and distinguished career at the Naval Academy Museum caring fo r and building this national resource during his fo rty-year tenure.

C heevers's stewardship over the collections has made val uable ed ucatio nal resources available to a generation of maritime scholars and countless midshipmen. The Society recognizes his years of service to the Historic Naval Ships Association , his guardianship of Co mmodore John Paul Jones's tomb, and his leadership of the multi-million dollar restoration of the facility.

Presidem of US Sailing Gary Jobson, distin guished sailor, America's Cup winner, yachting comm entato r and autho r will serve as the evening's Master of Ceremonies. A color guard wi ll be on hand to represent the Sea Services. The US Coast Guard Academy Cadet "Idlers" will travel from New London, Connecricur, to perform under rhe directio n of Dr. Robert Newton. The event will begin ar 6PM with a cocktail reception, featuring a maritime art exhibit offering wo rks by renowned Chesapeake artists John Barber, William Storck, and Marc Castelli. O n display will also be a silent auctio n with an exceptional selecti o n of nautical items, cruises, and vacatio n getaways; proceeds will benefit rhe work of rhe Society. D inner will begin ar 7PM. Our web sire, www.seahistory.org, will posr all information, including silem auction items and marine art items. You need nor arrend to make a purchase, and, if yo u wo uld like to bid o n selections in the silent auction bur are unable to attend the evem , NMH S will assign a proxy bidder for yo u. -Burchenal Green, President, National Maritime Historical Society

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SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 20 l 0

I. Maritime Meeting Extravaganza, 13-15 May, in Mystic and Avery Point, Connecticut Mystic Seaport and the University of Connecticut at Avery Speakers will tackle this complex theme through talks, prePoint will host the 2010 NMHS Annual Meeting and mari- sentations, and panels. Highlights NMHS members wo n't want to time conference, held in conjunction with the North American miss will be: Chairman Ronald Oswald's presentation on the NaSociety for Oceanic History, the tional Maritime Historical Society; Council of American Maritime Sea History edito r Deirdre O 'Regan's Museums, the Society for Nautidiscussion on tips for getting pubcal Research, and the Steamship lished in the magazine; a cruise Historical Society of America. down the Mystic River aboard the historic steamboat Sabino; and the Program co-chairs for the event, Matthew McKenzie, Assistant ProFriday banquet speaker Helen Rozwadowski , author of Fathoming the fessor of History at the University Ocean and winner of the prestigious of Connecticut, and Paul O ' Pecko, NASOH Lyman Award.

Vice President of Co llections & Research at Mystic Seaport, have arOn Saturday the m eeting moves to Avery Point and begins with a ranged three days of seminars, talks, NMHS Business Meeting and opget-togethers, tours, cruises, receptions, and dinners, where members portunity to meet NMHS staff and from the five maritime organizatrustees. UConn Avery Point is sponsoring a Fisher's Island Sound cruise. tions can meet with one another Excursions to the USS Nautilus Muand learn about current research seum and a back-door tour of the and programs being developed by COU RTESY OF MYSTIC SEA rORT each. Early reservations are recomUSCG Academy are also planned for Saturday. mended because space is limited for Use the registration form printed several of the activiti es. on the wrapper or yo u can download "Maritime Environments," the the form at www.seahistory.org. A conference theme, exp lores the full 3-day registration including concontemporary crises in the wo rld's tinental breakfasts, coffee breaks, and oceans and examines how we have lunch and the Saturday night awards approached simi lar problems in the banquet at Avery Point's Branford past. As Professor McKenzie states, House is $200. One-day registration "Once again , the world's attention is $75 per day. Reservations are rehas been pulled back to the marine environm ent. Continued concerns over depleted fish stocks, piracy, quired for the Sabino cruise and the Fisher's Island Sound cruise. changing climate, global shipping policies, and the safety of mer- The cruise fees are included in the conference registration fee; there chant mariners and port comm unities have all recently converged is an additional $42 fee for Friday's plenary banquet.

Updated information will be posted on the NMHS web site. to remind scholars, policy makers, and citizens alike that we ignore our relationships to the marine world at our peril. More than just This is a great opportunity for maritime enthusiasts to meet with recent phenomena, however, each of these ties between society and leaders in the field and to tackle the common challenges we face as a society. Do sign aboard.

-Burchenal Green, President the marine environment has deep historical roots."

HOTELS: Two options are listed below-a complete list of hotels in the Mystic area is posted on the NMHS web site. To secure the group rate, attendees should reference "NASOH" when making reservations. PLEASE NOTE: Reservations must be made by 12 April to secure the group rate. Further information about other attractions can be found online at: www.mysticcountry.com (please note that the Mystic area is covered by the "Coast" section of this web site).

Best Western Mystic 9 Whitehall Avenue, Mystic, CT 06355 Ph. 860 536-4281 www.bwmystic.com $79 per room plus tax

Hilton Mystic at the Aquarium 20 Coogan Boulevard, Mystic, CT 006355 Ph. 860 572-0731 www.hiltonmystic.com $ 149 per room plus tax

National Maritime Historical Society, 5 John Walsh Blvd., POB 68, Peekskill, NY 10566; Ph. 914 737-7878; nmhs@seahistory.org

SEA HISTORY 130, SPRJNG 20 10

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Off to Fiddlers' Green CDR Owen "Tommy'' Thompson, USMS, (Ret.) For over 39 years, Commander Thompson was an instructor at the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York. A native of Massachusens, he graduated from Massach usetts Maritime Academy and later earned a bachelor's degree from Columbia University. As a merchant marine, he primarily sailed the run from New York to California through the Panama Canal- a voyage he made more than 25 tim es. H e signed up in 1938 for the United States Maritime Service and served as a third mate through chief mate in the Merchant Marine for six years during World War II. He was stationed on board a merchant vessel that delivered tanks to British forces in Egypt, by way of the Cape of Good Hope to the Red Sea, to be used to help stop the German-Italian forces under German General Erwin Rommel. On their return, Thompson's ship was torpedoed and sunk by a German U -boat on 15 June 1942. Rescued by the navy, he and his shipmates were put ashore in nearby Trinidad.

Tommy went on to join the faculty at the US Merchant Marine Academy, teaching collision prevention, nautical science, rules of the road, firefighting, Tommy Thompson (bottom Left, wearing a cap) cargo handling, and seamanship. H e enjoyed competi- and his crew aboard Ice Fire, the Kings Point tive sailing as well, competing in six Newport-to-Ber- boat they sailed in the Newport-Bermuda Races. muda races, primarily as navigator, but as captain in his sixth race.

In his retirement, Tommy served as the volunteer librarian of the National Maritime Historical Society for over fifteen years. When he took on the task, NMHS owned thousands of maritime books, all stored in boxes and in complete disarray. Tommy sorted, categorized, and organized over 7,000 books on the shelves, turning a diso rgani zed and unusable collection into an o rderly and functioning system. His extensive m aritime backgrou nd proved critical in his ability to organize the library so successfully. Tommy's ability and steadfast dedication to getting the job done, his knowledge and the ever twinkle in his eye were an inspiration and pleasure to everyone. Tommy Thompson died o n 6 December 2009 at the age of 93. He is survived by his daughters Diane Thompson and Pamela Th ompson Bauernfeind, and two grandchildren, David and Bethany Bauernfeind. His legacy at Kings Point and NMHS continues.

Seymour Wittek Seymour Winek was a long-time volunteer at NMHS who came to work at headquarters on a regular basis. His enthusiasm, willingness to tackle chores, and ab ility to reach out to other m embers made him an invaluable asset. H e was a great storyteller.

Seymour was a World War II hero. In 1943, he was a Coast Guardsman working from the Jersey C ity, New Jersey, barracks. On 24 April, a fire erupted beneath the engine room of an old Panamanian freighter, SS EL Estero, where it was moored in Bayo nne. The EL Estero was loaded with 1,365 tons of ordnance and moored to a pier in a metropolitan area, which stored even more explosives. The potential for catas trophic damage was real and immediate. Seymour Winek was one of the Coast G uardsmen back at the barracks when they got the call for volunteers to help fight the fire. He and his mates all rushed to help. The EL Estero fire was eventually put out (by flooding the ship and sinking her out in the harbor), and those that put themselves in harm's way to prevent what wo uld have been one of the worst disasters in New York history demonstrated exceptional bravery. Recently, NMHS wo rked with Seymour Seymour Wittek at the USCG award to produce an illustrated talk about the EL Estero fire and the ceremony in 2 008 aboard USS Intrepid. heroic role he played in extinguishing it. H e gave his first talk to the Charles Point Co uncil and then went on to present it to many gro ups. The story also appeared in the ~ ~ Spring 2009 issue of Sea H istory 126, written by William Thiesen, Atlantic Area Historian for the USCG. 0 On Veteran's Day, 2008, USCG Vice Admiral Robert J. Papp presented Seymour Winek with the Coast Guard Commendatio n Medal aboard USS Intrepid in New York C ity. Seymour wore his NMHS > ~ ~ cap as a visible sign of the organization he valued most. g.__ _ _ __,__ ___...__ _ Seymour died o n 30 December 2009, at the age of88 , survived by his son Alec Winek, his daughter Jacqueline Goldstein, and their families, grandchildren and great-grandchildren . His great passions in life were his close-knit family, of which he was very proud; his Jewish faith and his temple, Congregation Sons oflsrael in Briarcliff Manor, New York; his country; the US Coast Guard; and NMHS. H e was a trustworthy fri end and he is missed . ~ ~

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SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 2010

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Philip Haemo de Thorneycroft Teuscher and His Hopes for the National Maritime Historical Society

by Walter R. Brown , NMHS C hairman Emeritus; Thomas F. Daly, NM H S Trustee; and Burchenal Green, NMHS Presiden t MHS m ember Captain Philip Teuscher is an adventurer in 1887- 1888 for one of the founding members of the Cedar and avid professional sailor, whose curiosity, interest in his- Point Yacht C lub of Westport, Connecticut, used for racing in tory, and knowledge have taken him around the wo rld. H e is a Long Island Sound. She then becam e an oyster boar before his twenty-first century Renaissance Man; for years, he was a regular fam ily bought her, sloop-rigged, in 1943, and used her as a yacht contributor to Sea History on such diverse subjects as the steam- until he sold her in 1966. H er then-owner Go rdon D o uglas doboats oflstanbul, Victorian-age kerosene-illuminated lighthouses nated her to South Street Seaport Museum . Teuscher has plans ro in the Baham as, and Caribbean sailing craft. In 1989 he was pre- restore this vessel to her original glory and awai ts the next chapter in Shadow's life when her dissented with the NMHS James play will educate a new generaMonroe Award for historiogration about the sailing craft that phy for his extraordi nary work were used in the great oyster in developing lively testimony industry of Long Island So und. of the traditions of local boatmen, from Caribbean Indians His other boats have into Long Island Sound oysrercluded a 26-foot Cuban fishing smack in which eleven refugees men. With Gregory Pettys, escaped from C uba in 1962. producer, he wrote and directed Two others were inspired by the sixty-minute documentary Willi am Atkin-Colin Archer Last ofthe Karaphuna abo ut the double-enders; one of them , surviving Caribbean aboriginals of the Dominica in the Lesser Tanaquill, sailed in three OperAntilles. With a grant from rhe ation Sail parades in New York harbor. Teuscher's current boat Connecticut Council of Humanities, he completed "The is a 1890s authentic steamboat, Last Drift," a history of ConRum Hound, in which he cruisnecticut's last wind-powered es in Long Island Sound. She fishery. This oral hisrory of is most likely, since 1930, th e last listed New York Yacht C lub Connecticut's oystermen, those who dredged the state-owned steamboat. natural oys ter beds under sail, Teuscher's appreciation and captured stories depicting a way love of the sea came from his family. His fa ther hail ed from oflife that disappeared over half a century ago. the Midwest, but he came east Extending from his life's to attend m edical school at work in preserving history and Tufts, learned to sai l a catboat, sharing these, and many more, and finall y settled at Westport, stories with the world, Philip CT, on Long Island Sound.

Teuscher has placed a codicil in His mother cam e from an anhis will leaving a large legacy to cient English family who had the National Maritime Historiarrived with William the ConPhilip Teuscher taking a noon sight aboard Tanaquill in 1993. cal Society. When asked why he queror. A m ore recent ancesmade this generous gift, he was very clear on his mission: "Educa- tor, John Isaac Thorneycroft, was a shipbuilder and innovator of tion is the best hope the world has. NMHS and Sea History are high-speed steam launches in the 1870s. Teuscher was born into dedicated to education. Only if we can understand our history a family of vo racious readers and students of history. H e is o ne and what went before and learn from it, not repeating o ur mis- of fo ur brothers-all of whom shared a maritime passion. They takes, can we set a course to a sustainable future for humani ty. spent many years on family boats when their fa ther, Dr. W illiam Maritime history is one of rh e keys to this because much of our P. Teuscher, became a ship's doctor for Grace Lines.

So me of his early formative books were Robert Louis Stemigration and commerce developed over the seas. C ulrure, language, and cargo were carried by boat. To tackle our future we venson's Treasure Island, Arthur Ransome's Swallows & Amazons, need to understand our background and our ships and what it Sir Walter Sco tt's Ivanhoe, and Howard Pyle's lhe Merry Advenmeant to be a people who cam e from rhe sea. How we traversed tures ofRobin Hood. As a yo ung boy, Teuscher saw Yankee returnrhe sea rapped into man's creative ingenui ty and abili ty to solve ing from a wo rld cruise. He was greatly influenced and inspired problems." by the aro und-the-world voyages of Captain Warwick Tompkins Captain Teuscher has owned and sailed many boars. O ne of in Wander Bird and Irving and Exy Johnson aboard Yankee, where his favorites was Shadow, originally a cat-rigged sandbagger built they kept alive the skills of sailing a tall ship.

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SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 2010

And did we m ention he is a Renaissance man? In addition to his maritime pursuits, Teuscher plays classical guitar, skis, and ice skates. He enjoys ballroom and Larin dancing, m artial ans, windsurfing, equestrian sports, and hunting. He has been on horseback safaris in South America, Europe, Mongolia, and Africa, has scuba dived in wa ters around rhe world, has a pilot's

license, has wo rked as a professional photo-journalist, and is a collector of Model A Fords.

Teuscher explained that helping National Maritime Historical Society continue its work in preserving and promoting our maritime heritage is one way he can help to improve the world for the better. ;t

Tanaquill, Teuscher's 50-ft. ketch was

inspired by William Atkins and Colin Archer's famed double-enders.

Teuscher's favorite vessel these days is his steam launch Ru m Hound, which can be found cruising the waters ofLong Island Sound.

'Ways to Make a Tax Deductible Contribution to NMHS...

Philip Teuscher agreed to let us interview him in the hope that he could encourage other members to make the simple call to their lawyers and set up a will provision or codicil bequeathing a legacy to the National Maritime Historical Society. If you have left a bequest to the Society, we wo uld be grateful if yo u wo uld let us know. We wo uld also be glad to discuss it with anyone who is contemplating such a genero us act or any other tax deductible donation, which will do such good.

In this difficult economic climate, the generosity of our members is integral for the success of the Society. As a 50l(c)3 norfor-profir organization, NMHS is dependent on member support as the foundation o n which is built all of our work fo r the maritime heritage. Please refer to the list below when considering making a gift to the Society.

Outright Gifts Outright contributions, often cons1stmg of cash or appreciated securities, are the most direct way of assisting NMHS.

Appreciated Securities A gift of long-term appreciated securities, either publicly traded or from a priva te company.

Restricted Gifts A donor may choose to designate his gift for one or more of the specific needs of the Society.

Gifts of Cash Matching Gifts Many companies will match or multiply donations made to the National Maritime Historical Society by their employees and, in some cases, by employees' spouses.

IRA Account Transfers Other Gifts Life Insurance Donors who own a life insurance policy that the fam ily no longer needs.

Bequests Members are requested to please consider including the National Maritime Historical Society as a beneficiary of their will or trust or IRA.

Sustaining Gifts Sustaining Mem bers support NMHS at a higher level than might otherwise be convenient. A sustaining gift may be in any amount, and it can be charged each month or quarter from a credit card acco unt.

For more information from the National Maritime Historical Society, a donor or his or her adviser may contact the Society's president, Burchenal Green, at 914 737-7878; or by e-mail: bgreen @seahistory.org.

SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 20 I 0

13

The Wreck of the Gold Rush Steamship Winfield Scott awards rhe end of rhe M exican War rhar resulred in California being ceded ro rhe Unired Srares, the federal government was eager to imp rove co mmuni ca ri o n s between rhe Wes t Coast and rhe resr of rhe country. In 1847 ir aurhorized the subsidy of two steamship lines-the US M ail Steam ship C ompany and rhe Pacific M ail Sreamship Company-ro carry mail, cargo and passengers ro California and Oregon from East C oast pons.

Sreamship service ro California was up and running ar rhe end of 1848 , jusr ar rhe time gold was discovered ar Sutrer's Mill.

The Gold Rush creared an unexpecred and immediate migration of tens of thousands of people ro C alifornia, traveling by any means they could. While rhe Gold Rush provided rhe imperus for the creation of the famous American clipper chips of the 1850s, most of the argonauts chose the Isthmus of Panama route, with US Mail sream ships bringing them from Easr C oasr ports ro the Caribbean side of Panama, and Pacific Mail Steamships picking rhem up on the Pacific side and sailing north ro San Francisco. W ith rhe sudden flood of people seeking passage, rhere we re not enough ships to handle the traffic. Soon, rival independent steamship companies sprang up ro compete with the two subsidized ones . One of these commercial steamship

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Color lithograph of the sidewheel steamer Winfield Scott. The artist exaggerated some features that are not historically correct, such as adding a bowsp rit.

lines was New York-based D avis, Brooks, & Company, which in 185 0 contracted with the Westervelt & M ackey shipyard in New York ro build a composite wooden and iron steamship, SS Winfield Scott, named for the celebrated general, a hero of the Mexican War. The 1,29 1-ron side-wheeler was built under the supervision of Caprain William Skiddy; her two side-lever steam engines were manufacrured ar New York's Morgan Iron Wo rks. At 225 feet in length with a 34-foot beam , she could accommodate 3 15 passengers- 165 in cab ins and 150 m ore in steerage. H er dining room could accommodate 100 people ar a rime, and passengers could relax in the between-decks

drawing room aft and the salon forward.

An American eagle and coar of arms graced her round srern, with a carved bust in the likeness of General Winfield Scott serving as the figurehead on the bow.

The ship was described in Gleason's Pictorial D rawing Room (26 July 1851) : "her lines partake somewhar of rhe 'hollow' kind, beautifully swelling ro her extreme width , and as beautifully tapering off again as rhey approach her stern. The venrilation and lighring of rhe vessel reflect great credit on Captain Skiddy, with bur few vessels being able ro boast of such excellence in these important necessaries to the comfort and health of her passengers."

T h e Winfield Sco tt's steam engines produced 370 hp each , driving two side paddlewheels. M assive pisrons, each wi th an eight-foot stroke, moved levers posirioned (left) Map of the United States, the British Provinces, Mexico &c. Showing the Routes of the US Mail Steam Packets to California, by J H. Colton, 1843.

Ambitious gold seekers faced a difficult journey to California, no matter which route they chose: over land, more than 2,500 miles by horse and wagon; sailing 14, 000 miles around Cape H orn; or the Isthmus of Panama route, which cut approximately 7, 000 miles off the Cape Horn route but was more expensive. Travelers would book steamship passage to Chagres, on the Caribbean side of Panama, cross the 60-mile wide isthmus on foot and by horseback, then wait far another steamship on the Pacific side to take them north to San Francisco.

SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 2010

o n each side of the engine. As the pistons One of rhe passe ngers, F. S. Crane, later Ir appears Captai n Blum intended to moved up and down, the levers were con- recalled his experience: Earlier rhar year, run the passage between Sam a Cruz and nected at opposite ends by crossh eads Crane and his parmers had left Illinois, Anacapa Island. By dinner rime on 2 D ecco nnected rn rods that turned rhe cranks. d riving a herd of 150 carde to H angtown , ember, a heavy fog set in and by nine o'clock, The cranks were connected rn port and star- California, in the gold fields. Once the cattle most passengers had retired for the night. board shafts which turned the paddle- drive was completed, C rane booked passage Captain Blunt misjudged their position , wheels. 1h e engines were assisted by sails- home aboard rhe Winfield Scott, traveling missing rhe Anacapa Pass by a wide margin. a system widely used during rhis time when in steerage because the cabins were already In nearly zero visibili ty, he altered course fo r ships were transitioning fro m sail to steam. sold our. H e fo und many returning miners what he rhoughr was open water, but instead She carried a square topsail forward and gaff- in steerage, "nearl y all of whom had specie headed the ship directly towards An acapa rigged fo re-and-aft sails o n all three m as ts. belts well fill ed . There were a good m any Island. C harles H olden reported : "On rh e The ship's first route ran between New nighr of D ecember 2"d, soon after supper, York C ity and New Orleans. On 26 Jana dense fog set in . About 10 'clock there uary 1852, now owned by the New Yo rk was a 'great commotion' am o ng rhe and San Francisco Steam ship Company, offi cers of the ship, and o rders a subsidiary of D avis, Brooks & were quickly given to the Co mpany, she left New York for man at the helm." H olden Califo rnia. She doubled Cape thought th e ship H o rn and arrived in San had altered course, Fran cisco on 28 April and then things after a record voyage of serried down 48 days, 10 hours. She again . Thar was likely offSam a C ruz began regular service to Panama with fa res Island, and passengers ranging from $35 0 fo r heard rumors that fi rst cabin rickets to the ship had nar$200 fo r steerage. They ro wly esca ped some rocks. also sold berths below rhe wa terline, usually bought At approximately 11 P M, rhe by gold seekers fo r $75 . A typ ical voyage between Panam a passengers were sudand San Francisco too k two weeks, denly aroused when the ship, under full power, and rhe ship was usually overcrowded .

On 18 M ay 1853, the line ran hard aground o n rhe changedirs name rnthe NewYorkand submerged rocks just off AnaCalifornia Steam ship Company and STE AMER OEN', WINFIELD SCOTT LEAVING NJ, W YOJ1K HARBOli . capa Island. Holden recalled : then ceased business altogether in July.

"Instantly, as it would seem, rhe The Pacific Mail Steamship C ompany pur- hard characters among them and life fo r deck was covered with the passengers, evchased the Winfield Scott on 8 July 1853 to the fi rs t twenty-fo ur hours was an ything ery stateroom being ar once emptied of its replace the Tennessee, one of their steamships but pleasant." inmates seeki ng fo r safety upo n rhe sh ip's that had been lost north of San Francisco.

Acco rd ing to fellow passe nger Asa deck." (H ow no one was injured when rhe Between 1848 and 1869 (the year the Cyrus Call , rhe ship had som e tro uble with ship, going 11-12 knots, suddenly hi t rhe transcontinental railroad was completed), a leaking boiler, which slowed her speed rocks remains a mys tery.) the Panam a ro ute to California transpo rted until repaired . (This is no r documented Passe nger Edward Bosqui later wrote, almost 600,000 passe ngers and mo re than anywhere else.) Cap tain Blum steered fo r ''Ar midnight I was suddenly awakened from $7 10 million in gold bullion. The Winfield rhe Sama Barbara C hannel, where they a sound sleep by a terrible jarring and crashScott earned a repu tation for swift and co m- arrived the next day. Ano ther passenger, ing of timbers. Tumbling our of my berrh, I fortable voyages and became a popular choice Charles P. H olden, in an acco unt he wro te was confro nted by rhe horror-stricken visage fo r rravelers going both directions. U nder in 1883 for rhe Chicago Times, claimed that of my toothless and bald-headed stateroom the command of Captain Simon F. Blunt, the "Winfield Scott took the ro ute through companion , who had no rime to secure his SS Winfield Scott sailed fro m San Francisco the C hannel because rhe skip per saw sev- wig and false teeth and was groping about to on 1 D ecember 1853, bound fo r Pan an1a. eral ships on the o utside, and he wanted to fi nd them . Leaving him paralyzed wi th fea r, She was carrying twenty-four sacks of m ail, bear them to Panama." Cap rai n Blum would I hurried our on deck, where my attention an estimated $1 million in gold, and 500 have known rhe Sam a Barbara C hannel was fixed on a wall of towering cliffs, the passengers, 20 Ar my officers, and 73 crew well because he had hel ped to survey ir tops of which were hidden by rhe fog and several years earlier. darkness and appeared about to fall and m embers.

SEA HISTO RY 130, SPRING 2010

15

The events leading up to the wrecking of the Winfield Scott and subsequent rescue ofher passengers and crew were well-documented.

There was no loss of life, and several of the passengers, including Asa Cyrus Call (left) and Charles Holden (right), wrote accounts of their experiences. Holden p ublished his in a Chicago newspaper thirty years later. Most ofthe passengers were well enough to wait for another Pacific Mail steamship to pick them up and continue on towards their original destination: Panama.

crush us. All around was the loud booming of angry breakers surging about invisible rocks."

"From remarks I overheard afterwards, I believe the Captain thought he was ashore on Santa C ruz Island," Crane said later. "By daylight everybody was safe on shore, or what appeared to be the shore but which in reality was a rock lying close to the main island."

1he ship struck the lower edge of a slanting rock ledge. One account claimed that the captain ordered the engineer to force the ship onto the rocks to avoid sinking in deeper water, but another version has the ship backing off the rocks and then striking them again, this time with the rudder being torn away.

In his account Bosqui continued, "The captain knew that some unknown current had taken the steamer out of its course; but where he was then he could not tell for yo u could not see half the ship's length so dense was the fog. The boiler fires were do used and passengers put on life preservers."

According to historian James Delgado, "Captain Blunt gave the order to abandon ship. Life preservers were handed out and a boat was lowered to search for a safe landing place. A group of men rushed the boat but were held off at gunpoint by the Captain and his officers."

Passengers were taken off in boats and put onto the rocks. "When daylight came the passengers found themselves huddled together on a mere ledge, surrounded by water, whi le a short distance away was the main island of wh ich this spur was a part," Bosquiwrote. Only a few hundred feet from Anacapa, the crew transferred the passengers ro the island.

Food was salvaged from the ship, but, nonetheless, supplies were meager until Santa Barbara mountain man and sea otter hunter George Nidever showed up in his boat and gave the shipwrecked survivors fish hooks and line. Bosqui put together a fishing party that worked each day, and Asa Call shot a seal with his pistol.

"The first day a boat with four men was dispatched to the mainland with instructions to make their way overland to the nearest point from which word could be wired to San Francisco," Crane reported.

All the baggage above water was brought on shore, plus the go ld bullion and mail, and a guard was posted. "An Irishman and a Negro were caught in the act of cutting open carpet bags in the cabin. They were ironed and carried as hore for a trial. We immediately formed a vigilance committee and appointed a police patrol of the camp with Captain Brown as chief. The two thieves were tried and an example made of them for the benefit of the rowdy element who showed a decided disposition to run things their own way. The two men were stripped, spread-eagled on the sand and whipped by Captain Brown in person." Captain Brown appears to have been traveling as a passenger on Winfield Scott, but Captain Blunt called upon him to help manage the passengers.

On 4 December, SS California, another

Pacific Mail steamship en route to San Francisco, was passing by when it caught sight of the smoke from the surv ivors' fire on the beach. Already fully loaded with passengers and unable to take aboard nearly 600 more, the California took just the women and children-and the gold-on board.

They headed for San Francisco, where they would send for help. The tug Goliah was sent fro m nearby Santa Barbara, arriving at Anacapa on 5 December. Goliah's crew landed some provisions but took no passengers off the island. She departed the same afternoon.

The fo llowing day, George Nidever transported six or seven passengers to the mainland at Santa Barbara. Local Santa Barbara attorney C harles Enoch Huse wrote in his journal that the people marooned on Anacapa Island were offered rescue and shelter in Santa Barbara but had declined, holding out for a southbound ship to Panama, their original destination.

A few days later, food and water were running out, but by daybreak, the California returned again. Despite the heavy swell , all of the passengers and what baggage that could be recovered were taken on board without incident, and the California departed for Panama by nightfall. Captain Blunt and crew remained on the island, hoping to salvage the ship, along with the remaining baggage

(right) Aerial view of the beach on Anacapa Island where the Winfield Scott's passengers sought refage and awaited rescue.

16

SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 2010

SANTA BARBARA

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and mail. Twenty-four mail bags, which had been submerged, were recovered from the Winfield Scott and taken to San Francisco, where they were dried out and evenrually sent on to their final destinations.

On 10 D ecember, the steam er Southerner arrived at Anacapa and landed plenty of provisions for the crew. Finally, on 12 D ecember, the Winfield Scott was abandoned. Captain Blunt and his crew boarded the Republic, which had been dispatched from San Francisco to assist, and returned to San Francisco. Upon his arrival, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company fired him, even rho ugh the crew and passengers spoke in his defense. H e later returned to his home in Baltimore, where he died of typhoid fever less than five months later.

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"Jbe Winfield Scott shipwreck is a significant historic site because ofthe role the steamship played during the California Gold Rush. Jbe 1850 paddlewheeler provided the first regular direct steamship connection between New York and New Orleans before moving to the West Coast. Jbe oldest identified shipwreck in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, it is the only site in the Sanctuary listed on the National Register ofHistoric Places. Interpretation of the wreck site serves to further our understanding of California's rich maritime history andfosters stewardship ofAmerica's maritime legacy. " - Deborah Marx, Maritime Archaeologist, NOAAs Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary In the months and years that followed, private individuals ran salvage operations on the Winfield Scott, including local Santa Barbara resident Captain H o ratio Gates Trussell. In 1854 Trussell salvaged som e of the cargo and timbers to construct a home for his wife. The floorb oards and metal threshold Trussell salvaged from the wreck are still visible at the Trussell-Winchester Adobe in Santa Barbara, and it is believed that the m ain roof beams of the house were built from the ship's masts.

In 1894, the wrecking scow San Pedro began a "professional" recovery of the ship, seeking to find brass and copper fittings that were then wo rth six cents a pound.

The salvage team recovered several hundred five-foot copper bolts, plus the ship's copper pots and pans. In addition, they removed the General Winfield Scott figurehead off the bow, now preserved at the Natural History Museum ofLosAngeles Coun ty. The divers working the site reported: "The oak in the ship is as dose-grained and hard as it was when it was built." They also reported that the engines were more or less intact.

During the second World War, divers recovered scrap metal from the wreck and recreational divers further disturbed the sire SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 2010

scavenging for souvenirs. Legal protections for the site fin ally came in 1980 when President Jimmy Carter designated the Channel Islands and their surrounding waters as a National Marine Sanctuary, providing federal protection for maritime heritage resources within its boundaries. In 1987 the Winfield Scott was officially put on the Na tional Register of Historic Places.

SS Winfield Scott was purpose-built for West Coast steamship service during the great rush to provide reliable and comfortab le transportation between Panama and San Francisco after the discovery of gold in California. The 1,29 1-ton steamship was launched just a month before the famo us George Raynes clipper ship Sea Serpent (1,337 tons) and six weeks before

Underwater photo of the Winfield Scott's port paddlewheel and support flanges as it looks today. The shipwreck was added to the National Register ofH istoric Places in 1987.

17

Donald McKay's Stag Hou nd. It was an era that represents the pinnacle in American naval architecture and shipbuilding ofwhich surviving examples are rare.

People can learn more about the Winfield Scott and see some of its artifacts at the Santa Barbara Maritime M useum (see image at right), 113 Harbor Way, Santa Barbara, CA 93109; Ph. 805 962-8404; www.sbmm.org.

More information on the ship's history and shipwreck can be found online at the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary web site at http ://channelislands.noaa.gov.

SCUBA divers may visit the Winfield Scott shipwreck, as long as diving protocols are strictly followed. ,!,

Deborah Marx's master's thesis on the Winfield Scott,Jor East Carolina University's Program in Maritime Studies, was the first

Willard Thompson is a trustee of the Santa Barbara M aritime Museum, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. He is a writer ofhistoricalfiction and non-fiction. His novel, Dream Helper, A Novel of Early California, thefirst ofhis fictional trilogy, "The Chronicles ofCalifornia," was awarded the Independent Publishers Book Awards' gold medal as the best Pacific/Regional fiction for 2009. You can reach Tho mpson at willardthescribe@ hotmail. com or on his web site, www. rinconpublishing. com.

•

comprehensive examination of the steamship's historical background combined with an archaeological investigation of the shipwreck.

SS Winfield Scott diorama at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum

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Sailing for All: Joe Lee and America's First

by Mari Anne Snow, Gary C. du Moulin, and C harles Zechel lasted be the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of nothing, blasted be they that mourn, for they shall be discomforted. Blasted be the meek, for they shall be kicked off the earth ." This creative interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount is an example of the passionate philosophy of the colorful Joseph Lee Jr. of Beacon Hill in Boston, MA-founder of the oldest continuously running public communi ty sailing program in the US. Born into privilege, Joe Lee embraced his own brand of philanthropy while nurturing the so ns and daughte rs of the immigrant wo rking classes of Boston. His outspoken approach to facing down those who stood in his way and his willingness to challenge the social conventions of his day have left an indelible mark on the city. The m any generations of children impacted by his wo rk and his example were given an exceptional gift-the knowledge that they could change the wo rld when they held to their beliefs and displayed a deep commitment to public service.

While Joe, a long- time member of the Boston School Committee, is most rem embered for his commitment to public education, the maritime world, particularly the sailing communi ty, remembers Joe Lee Jr. as the man who helped launch Boston's renowned community sailing program. For seventy-four years, Community Boating has been putting thousands ofpeople in sailboats on the Charles River Basin, allowing them to experience the joys of sailing, and these boats have become an iconic symbol of the City of Boston. This is the story of a man and an organization so indelibly interwoven that it is hard to separate the two.

The Lee family had a long and engaging history amo ng Boston's wealthy citizenry.

They were descendants of Thomas H andasyd Perkins, the prominent shippin g magnate who once turned down a cabinet post as Secretary of the Navy under George Washington because he owned more ships.

Part of the Boston aristocracy, the Lees belonged to the network of families known as the "Boston Brahmins," who shared their prosperi ty with the city by funding, amo ng other things: the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the M useum of Fine Arts, the Ch arles River Basin and the adjoining Esplanade. It was Joe's father, Joseph Lee

" B

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Sr., "the father of the American Playgro und Movement," and his uncles, James Jackson Storrow and Major Lee Higginson, who in 1903, as members of the Charles River Dam Committee, fought to create the C harles River Basin by damm ing the river to cover the mud flats.

Joseph Lee Jr. Joseph Lee Jr. was born in Boston in 1901 , the third child and on ly so n of]oseph Lee Sr. and Elizabeth Perkins Cabo t Lee. His father, a staunch proponent of public recreation, and his mother, a supporter of the American Kindergarten Movement, held strong views on philanthropy that they passed on to their children . Joe Jr. learned these lessons well and took his civic responsibilities very seriously.

Public sailing in Boston began largely as a result of Joe Lee's vision. He saw the recen dy created Charles River Basin, funded by an unprecedented $ 1 million donation from his aunt, Mrs. Hel en Osbourne Storrow, and intended as a public water playground, being used mainly by members of the wealthy elite. Determined to fulfill his fam ily's vision to create a water playgro und for the public on the Charles River Basin, Joe decided to take matters into his own hands . His first plan was to design a simple, inexpensive watercraft, easy enough for any child to assem ble and sail. With modest monetary contributions from his friends

and family, in 1936 Joe set out to build a small fl eet, which would soon challenge the rights of ownership of the Basin waters.

Joe tinkered with anything he thought wo uld float. His testingsitewas an area called the Charlesbank, located in the lower part of the Basin just upstream of the treacherous Charles River Locks. One old West Ender recalled : "Joe wo uld lash four bales of hay together wi th gimp, cover the bales with a tarp, stick a sail on top of the craft and away he would try to sail." Joe built the first two prototypes of his final design with the help of his young nephews, Kenny and Donny Robertson. Just a little more than twenty dollars and twelve hours of labo r co uld build Joe's simple sixteen-foot, fixed-keel craft derived from a northern kayak. They weren't beautiful wo rks of art, but they were sturdy and truly handcrafted, requiring only simple hand tools for construction .

The boat's frame, or envelope, was sawed from 24-foot pine boards, whose glued diagonal ends formed the bow and stern .

Forward, center, and aft thwarts braced the wooden envelope and floorb oards sealed and completed the craft. Mr. Binder, the stitcher from the local shoe factory, sewed sails from heavy-duty hospital sheets, and Mr. Geller, the tailor, made sail repairs. Masts made of simple bamboo provided fl exibility and could be easily replaced if broken .

Once the first two boats were complete, Joe nego tia ted w ith John Halko, the directo r of the West End Community Center, for space in the basem ent of the Co mmuni ty Center facility fo r use as a boatbuilding site. Joe, a social wo rker and educator by avocation, was convinced that disadvantaged children living throughout the tenements of Boston could benefit from being taken off the streets and given a break from their difficult lives. Convinced a community boat club could provide this oppo rtuni ty, Joe began recruiting from the surrounding neighborhoods.

Along with boatbuilding, Joe gave "his kids" the standards for a new kind of life.

Mike Vendetti, one of the original gang, recalls, "Joe Lee was very fussy. H e carried a tape measure with him, everything had to be perfect. Center was center. An eighth of an inch was an eighth of an inch." Built under Joe's wa tchful eye, many of these original boats were still in use as late as 1953-a

SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 2010

I

Public Community Sailing Program

I

true testamenr to the time and attenrion to they needed a safer location away fro m the construction. Professor O wens, designer of derail invested in their original constructio n. dangerous Charles River D am to contin ue. the MIT "Tech" raci ng dinghy, responded With boat construction underway, Joe In a calculated m ove, Joe chose to sto re the by announcing he hoped that the flimsy sought out W. Duncan Russell, the head of fl eet on M etropolitan District Commission boars wo uld soon fall apan "before serious the Communi ty Recreation Service (CRS), (MD C) pro perty without seeking their casualti es or tragedies occur." William a social agency that provided wo rk program s permission. The M D C administered M rs. W hittaker th en cl aim ed there was no for underprivileged boys . H e asked that Storrow's generous gift, and it was Joe's m o ney for a boathouse because the statutory the age ncy become a sponso r fo r the newly plan to force the M D C to use some of that lim itation on the Storrow funds had lapsed. fo rmed Communi ty Boat C lub. A CRS m oney to build a boathouse for his kids on Joe, wirh the suppo rt of the mayo r's office, staff member acted as club secretary and the Upper Basin. A political chess gam e was countered by petitioning the H ouse Ways and M eans Committee to release the unspent fl yers announcing the new o rganizati on abo ut to begin. we re senr to all the settl em enr h o uses th ro ughout Boston.

In May 1937, the first organizational meeting of "Co mmuni ty Boat C lub" was held at the Community Recreation Service rooms on 739 Boylston Street. Joe, clad in his plaid shirt, corduroys, and work shoes, puffed on a large Italian stogie and offered a challenge to th e attendees. Angelo Ando n rem embers Joe saying: "Ifyou fellows wanr to learn to build yo ur own boats, I will put up the twenty dollars so yo u can." The first club members we re Wes t End neighbo rhood kids fro m the tenements, the sons (and occas io nal daughter) of first-generation immigrants, along with some Suffolk Law students who boarded and worked as pan -time counselors in the settl ement houses. Boas ting 100 members and a seven-boat, boy-built fleet, Communi ty Boat C lub began operating off Percival Watt's boathouse on the C harlesbank that summer. Two dock mas ters, M r. Arthur Original Community Boat Club members sailing on the upper basin. (date unknown) Robinson and Spike (H arry) Lee ran the Almost immediately, M D C Chairman Sror row mon ey. W hen the co mmittee day-to-day operatio ns, with Mr. Robinson overseeing instruction and swim tests. Sailing Eugene Hultman, a staunch oppo nent of the restored the $281,000 to the MDC, it went theory, safety rules, boatbuilding and boat Communi ty Boat Club, dem anded that Joe back into Hultman's unsupportive hands. design classes al l took place in the o pen air of remove the boats from M D C pro perty. In Hultm an continued to refuse fundin g for the dock. O ut on the water, the kids sailed by respo nse, Joe wrote: "W hy do n't yo u rake it the boathouse, despite th ree written pleas "following the leader." If they capsized, they now and smash the boars the kids built las t by Mrs. Storrow herself.

In June of 1938, the Boat C lub opened held onto their boat until Kenny or D onny year?You w ill only break a few hearts ." Then he attacked Hultman in the newspapers, fo r its second season in its original locati on .

Robertson rowed our to rescue them .

To the sophi sticated Massachuse tts claim ing that the MDC had violated the Over the winter, the fl eer had doubled to Institute of Technology (MIT) sailors and terms of th e Storrow gift. Supported by fo urteen, with one design modification-rhe the wealthy Union Boat C lub rowe rs in the M rs. Storrow, Boston Mayor To bin, C ity fixed keels were repl aced with side leeboards upper Basin , the Communi ty Boat C lub's Councilor Shatmck, and W illiam Shand o r po ntoons. Youth boat builders from operation pro bably appeared run-down, (all Lee relati ves or family fri ends), Joe the W est, N orth, and So uth Ends eagerly undisciplined, and lackadaisical. To the pitted himself against Hultman; Douglas signed up. \)(Tith the help of C BC al umni , underpri vileged children of the Wes t End Lawson, the head of the C harles River dockmas ters Jim Marino and H arry Lee whose families came to America with next Association (wh ich represented the Union taught the new members sail theo ry and to nothing, the club was idyllic, a bright Boat C lub); Professo r Geo rge O wens, safety rules. Fo r new skippers, a pickle and shiny promise of a berter future. Frank head of M IT's Pratt Schoo l of Naval barrel, cut in half and rigged with a sail and Lavine later recalled, "Joe Lee taught m e D esign; and W illiam Wh ittaker, Secretary outriggers, served as their first "cockpit" o n of rhe M D C. shore. Later, experi enced members too k new what America could be."

Joe pushed hard fo r release of$28 l ,OOO sailo rs om on the wa ter fo r hands-on drills.

The Co mm unity Boat C lub's first But Joe was hardly content. The club season ended successfully, but it was clear fro m the Sto rrow money to fund boatho use SEAHJSTORY 130, SPRTNG 2010

21

needed a boathouse, and he was determined to see it through. The only way to get a boathouse was to lobby for it. Joe decided he must mobilize his club membership. H e was determined to teach these children of humble beginnings the meaning of civic action. The upper basin was dominated by th e MIT sailing pavilion on the Cambridge bankand the U nio n Boar Club on the Boston bank. Bo th MIT and the U nion Boat Club considered th e upper basin their private preserve. Ir was time for the tenem ent kids from the lower basin to force their way up the river, while learning a first hand lesson in how the American political system worked.

Joe Lee was delighted to be their mentor.

Joe and his yo ung "lobbyists" initiated their campaign during the prestigious Annual America n H enley Regatta, held at the Union Boat Club. While Boston deburantes socialized with the academic elite of MIT and H arva rd , Jim Marino lead a flotilla of 14 boars under the Longfell ow Bridge into the upper Basin. Labeled "river rats" by the MDC police, the scruffy boys with their scruffy boars were promptly rowed back below the bridge and ordered not to return.

Bur return they did , o n a daily basis, with Joe rou tinely sending boars to every span of the bridge, trying- and succeeding-to drive the MDC patrol boar officers crazy. On weekends, the battle came to the streets of Beacon Hill with kids assigned to every street corner to as k local Beacon Hill residents to sign boathouse petitions. As che boathouse lobbyists and their oppo nents gathered momentum for an inevitable co nfro ntation, Mother Nature stepped in unexpectedly to offer her help.

July of 1938 was plagued with torrential rains and severe thunderstorms that caused massive flooding along the Charles. 1he Charles River locks we re opened to alleviate the flood waters, making it imposs ible to sail safely in the lower Basin . Joe and his boys rook to the streets, marching through the West End, across Cambridge Street, up Temple, past Suffolk Unive rsity to the State House. Carrying homemade banners, petitions, and a sailboat named the Eugene C. Hultman that they "docked" on the floor of the State H ouse's H all of Flags; the noisy lobbyists were greeted by Governo r C harles Hurley. Jack D onovan, a Suffolk Law School student, stated the group's purpose and presented the governor with their petitions.

22

The kids tas ted their first small victo ry when Governor Hurley o rdered Hultman to allow the kids to sail fro m the public landing in fro nt of the U nio n Boat C lub. They had nor ye t achieved their d ream , but they were one step closer to ir.

W hen the C harl es Ri ve r reced ed , the kids sailed thro ugh the spans of the Lo ngfellow Bridge, escorted by the MDC patrol boat that had once chased them o ut. While neither the MIT sailors nor the rowing crowd at the Union Boat Club welcomed their new neighbors to the Upper Basin, several of the elder Boston aristocracy

kept things relatively o rganized. "Ordinary seamen" stayed inside the breakwater and were easily visible as they we re o utfitted with colored sails. "Able seaman" could sail outside the breakwater. "Chief petty officers" am o ng the older kids formed the club m anagem ent and could sail the schooners.

The club ended its third season with 600 permanent, year-round m embers. That year, the ride turned once again when Joe's cousin, Leverett Saltonstall , was elected governor.

Joe had been biding his time, waiting for the perfect moment to advance his cause. He was determined to move the boathouse plans

embraced the kids. Admiral Richard Byrd, accompanied by his dog, charred with the C BC kids and bro ught his grandchildren down to the Basin to sail with them. H enry Shattuck, city councilor, encouraged them and Stephen Cabot befri ended them .

In th e s umm e r of 1939, J oe 's Community Boat Club opened its third season up-river with an expanded fl eet of rwenty sailboats and four three-m as ted schooners. In addition to the sailboats, they had built a 24-fo ot gondola, co mpl ete with canopy, cushio ns, and a rowing stanchion for a standing oarsman in the stern . On hot summer evenings, passengers boarded fro m the granite steps near th e concert shell and were ferried around the Basin as music wafted across the water. Go ndoliers were chosen for their ability to sin g Italian so ngs, and the income from chis enterprise was used to defray the club's operating coses.

That summer, m embersh ip swelled to over 1,000. A new club rating system

forward, and Salronsrall's election presented him with a perfect opportuni ty.

Early in the spring of 1939, Joe had the kids name one of their three- mas ted schooners the Leverett Saltonstall, then he sent an invitatio n to the governo r fo r the for mal christening cerem ony. White hat in one hand and a borrle of champagne in the other, the new governor visited the bas in to officially christen "his" ship. The christening was a triumphant success, and it set in motion the kids' next move. As the governo r had now publicly decl ared his support for the C BC, Joe felt the rime was right to initiate the next step in the group's campaign . With dock mas ters Jack Donovan and Jim M arino leading the way, 100 chanting teenagers descended on the State House. Carrying signs and pushing fruit carts, borrowed from several of the kids' parents and packed fu ll of sail boats, the yo ung people surged fo rward up to the Scare House steps, where they were greeted by the Gove rno r and the SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 2010

MDC Commissioner, Joe McKenny. ''I'll do what I can to gee you your boathouse," Governor Saltonstall promised.

On 11 January 1940, at the hearing of the Legislative Committee on Metropolitan Affairs, more than 100 kids showed up to root for Joe and the boathouse. Governor Saltonstall sent his secretary, Russell Gerould, to urge the legislature to officially designate part of the Scarrow funds be used to build the boathouse. As Chairman Hultman had no wish to openly oppose the new governor, his representative, William Whittaker, the MDC secretary, stayed quiet in che background. In the end, after much debate, the MDC agreed to the governor's request-Joe's kids would get their boathouse and public sailing wo uld have its first permanent home.

While the blessing of Governor Saltonstall proved helpful in securing che funds for the boathouse, control of the facility was immediately problematic. Once the decision had been forced on the MDC, Hultman moved swiftly to cake over the program. As with the original Communi ty Boat C lub, the Community Recreation Service was recommended and accepted as manager. But as the lawyer for the CRS was drawing up the lease for the property based upon the agreed sum of $1 a year, the CRS management, in conj unction with the MDC, installed Douglas Lawson, MIT Professor George Owen, and Walter "Jack" Wood, Owen's assistant, as the new advisory committee. The foxes had taken over the hen house.

A press release issued on 26 January 1941 clearly laid out the new world order.

Heralding the opening of the newly formed Community Sailing Association as the premier public sailing program offered on the Charles River Basin through the "foresight of the MDC," Community Boat C lub was summarily dismissed. With MIT sailing master Jack Wood generously on loan from MIT to supervise the sailing curriculum and George Owen to design the new fleet, all would be well. The piece touted the "astoundi ng success of the MIT sailing program; the growth of dinghy racing as an intercollegiate sport; and the desire of Chairman Eugene C. Hultman and the MDC co gain thefullescuseofchis unequalled sheet of water under its jurisdiction."

Included in the press release was the delineation of the new organization's

SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 2010

The origi,nal boathouse, built with funds from Mrs. Storrow.

dues, which ranged from 25 cents to a full $15 per year. The new club wo uld serve adults, juniors, and organizations (particularly collegiate sailing groups) with local college men from Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, MIT, and Northeastern hired as instructors. Junior instruction would be organized in stages mirroring aviation training-ground school, passenger, dual control and soloing.

Children who completed these stages and followed the "MIT methods" would be issued membership cards chat designated their "rank."

Behind the scenes, Wood made it plain he wanted "co scare with boys of the right type" for chis new organization. In addition, the adult sailing season would be restructured to run from mid-June until September to mirror the collegiate calendar. The junior program wo uld be reduced to a little over two months and che new boathouse workshop, intended as an expanded boacbuilding area, would be kept padlocked. Joe, the lone member of Community Boat Club included on the new advisory board, was outraged.

Despite the conflict, construction proceeded on the boathouse apace. Still exerting influence wherever possible, Joe, along with a delegation of Communi ty Boat C lub members, mer with the boathouse architect, William Roger G reeley, and convinced him to extend the docks and slips.

On 28 June 1941 , with Mrs. Scarrow in attendance, the new boathouse, constructed of grey brick trimmed with rough granite at a cost of $55,000, was formally dedicated to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

When the new Community Sailing

Association opened for business that summer, James E. Marino and Lt. John J. Donovan Jr. were the lone carry-overs from the original Community Boat Club staff.

Walter Wood, che manager appointed by the advisory board and paid $2,000 a season to manage the club, seldom showed up for work and, when he did , rarely provided direction.

Regardless of the lofty public declaration of a new system, Marino and Donovan, the chief instructors, quiedy continued to use che original training materials for the junior classes. Ocher members from the original club continued co volunteer as well.

The boat designed by Owen for the new club was a 13'4" chine-bui lt, centerboard vessel modeled on the C lass B "Frost-bite" dinghy. With hollow, un-stayed masts, a cat-rig, and double-hulled construction designed for buoyancy, the boats carried two sizes of sail: a 72-square-foot sail on a 15Y2 foot hoist for racing and light air sailing, and a 56-square-foot sail on a 12-foot hoist for heavy weather and sailing instruction.

The contract to build the boats was awarded co the lowest bidder, James C. Graves of Marblehead, a friend of Professor Owen.

While the original design specifications called for marine plywood or its equivalent, Mr. Graves, with the consent of Owen and the MDC, substituted plywood chat he manufactured himself. The cost per boat ran $435 for the hull, $60 per mast, with additional coses for the two sails. Joe Lee, ever a frugal Yankee, was apoplectic.

Due to the high cost of the new fleet, only thirty boats were built, which required the new club co use Community Boar Club's original Aeet to meet the demand. Joe agreed to lend che boars co maintain a presence

23

and ensure that his members could still those who sought ro use the boatho use fo r the D epart m ent of Co n servatio n a nd commercial purposes. In 1946, with little Recreation, is a highly valued partner that sai l. Pro blem s with the new boars surfaced immediately. Ar 225 pounds, they were so fanfa re, Communi ty Sailing Association m ain tains the boathouse facili ty. The M IT heavy no one could lift them on to the racks was dissolved and Communi ty Boating, sailo rs and the m any rowers peacefully cobuilt fo r them, certainly nor kids. During the Inc. (CBI), a chartered , non-pro fi rdedicared exist with CBI members, which now total to preserving public access to the Charles approximately 4,000 adult m embers and first season, amo ng other things, most of the m as ts bro ke and the boars leaked . Many of River Basin, rook over operations at the more than 2,5 00 juniors througho ut the the boars began to split apart, layer by laye r, boatho use under the motto "Sailing for all." season . The current curriculum includes likely a resul t of the handmade plywood. In The new board co nsisted of many of the sailing, kayaki ng, windsurfing, navigatio n, the end, rwo full-rime paid boar builders first generation of CBC sailors, incl uding and, recently, boarbuildingwas reintroduced were required ro keep the new boars in usable Jack D onovan, Arthur Arhanas, and Steven to rhe program. T he U niversa l Access condition.

"Sully" Cudlirz-bur nor Joe Lee. Instead, p rog ram acco mmod ates blind sa ilors, W ith the US entry into Wo rld War II , he watched from the sidelines as the C BI sail o rs with developmental o r phys ical m any of Joe's boys answered the call. The board acqui red the rights ro the boathouse limi tat io ns, a nd p atients fro m nearby 194 1 and 1942 sailing seasons passed with Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. The Mass lease from the MDC fo ur years later.

Bay High School Sailing ever-increasing tensio ns that fin ally cam e to a Association partners with unity Boating, in its various forms, has been getting city head in July of 1942, C BI ro provide safe sailing kidS in Boston out on the water, sailing boats, fo r 74 y ears. res ul rin g in Do uglas fo r high schoolers, and Lawso n's resignatio n as the junior prog ram has a racing team . Volun teer chair and Joe Lee leaving the o rganization . After wo rk p arries kee p t he rhe 1942 season , Wood, m embership ac ti ve and Marino, and Donovan invested in club activi ties all re tired a nd Owen during the win rer offseason. was d ro pped fro m the Today's fl ee r n ow ad v iso ry co mmi t tee.

W ith no o ne left from the b oas t s 7 5 Cap e Co d original cl ub, the rhreeMe rc ur ys, a s talwa rt mas red schooners fro m fib erglass sailing dinghy the o ri ginal fleer were rhar has been the mainstay left o utside all winter, of the fleer since 1952, as s u ffe rin g exte n s ive well as Rhodes l 9s, Sonars, damage.

420s and Lasers. The old In 1943, w hen a raring system still exists friend of Lawso n's was put in charge of the Although Joe wo uld eventually return and a m ember as yo ung as 10 and as old as boathouse, Joe roo k the Communi ty Boar ro rhe boathouse as a m ember of C BI's 100 can ea rn solo skills sufficient ro skipper C lub fl eer, which had only been loanedro the board, tensions rem ained betwee n him a boar on their own. O perating expenses Communi ty Boat Association, and starred and the boatho use crew. H e refused to give are covered entirely by in com e from adult reachi ng city kids sailing at a nearby public up his spot on the public landing, and he membership fees and private donatio ns. land ing. Lawson seized his opportunity continued to mento r boys and girls fro m the Junior tuiti on remains just $ 1 per year for and immedi ately placed a sign o n the old neighborhoods at that locatio n well into any child aged 10- 18. The dock staff is boathouse door that read, "Members and the 1960s, reaching them ro sail in retrofitted populated wi th junior program graduates G uests O nl y." W hile Joe raged, rhe MDC open whaleboats that he bought fro m the who grew up sailing w ith CBI and who o rdered Lawso n to remove the sign, bu t Charlestown Naval Shipyard for $300 a perpetuate the cultu re ofknowledge-sharing Lawso n refused and the sign stayed on the boar. Iro nically, our of loyalty to Joe, this and volunreerism with adults and chi ldren door. Returnin g veterans, m any of them the new generation of sailo rs also viewed C BI alike. 1 h e general members are still always original Communi ty Boat Club "lobbyists" with suspicion. Although so me of them ready ro help, reaching classes, wo rking on who had fo ugh t hard for the boa tho use, were ended up working and sailing at C BI, m any commi ttees, o r doing whatever needs to be now faci ng ano ther battle, bur this rime, of the public landing gro up rem ained apart, done. W ith out the enthusias tic participathey were ready ro rake a stand on thei r own, content ro sail their whalers roo close ro the tion of its members, C BI co uld not exist, CBI docks (much ro the irritation of dock let alone co ntinue ro thrive as it has done. without thei r mento r.

After the war had ended, the men mas ter Leo Manfredi, who wo uld shoo them And what happened ro Joe Lee? As the away). battle for public sa ili ng access ended and who re turned in place of the boys that had To day, CB I o perates a yea r-ro und CBI grew, Joe concentrated on his o th er left were m uch changed. D etermined to co mplete their childhood miss ion, a small program on the C harles Ri ver and time has cause, public education, where he rem ained gro up wo rked behind the scenes against m ended old wo unds. The MDC, renamed distinctly visible, serving o n the Boston 24

SEA HISTO RY 130, SPRING 2010

Community Boating, Inc., sailboats have become a City ofBoston icon.

School Commirree unril his dearh in 1991 ar age 90 . Around CBI, Joe is now rhe sruff of myrh and legend. His srories are rold and re-rold, passed o n rhrough generarions of sailors who come ro rhe boarhouse ro learn ro sail, and reverendy preserved by rhe original "kids" whose loyalry ro Joe is as srrong as ever.

Joe's pomair, painred by nored Beacon Hill arrisr Parricia Tare, hangs overlooking rhe seco nd-Aoor funcrion room, pan of rhe boarhouse expansion rharoccurred in 1987.

H e sirs uneasily on rhe edge of his sear, dressed in a slighdy rumpled blue-srriped blazer wirh shocking whire rousled hair and a wearhered face, looking direcdy ar all co mers as if challenging rhem ro bart!e srill.

Ir is impossible ro know how many kids have passed rhrough rhese doorways and inro rhe Augusr 1992; and a wrire-up of evenrs by sailing wo rld. Bur whar is nor in quesrion Joseph Lee Jr., 1944. is Joe's conrriburion ro rheir lives and rhe impacr of his vision of sail rraining as a rool Mari Anne Snow, co-founder and CEO of for somerh i ng much bigger rhan racking and Sophia Think Consulting in Marblehead, MA, is an avid sailor and writer. She is a gybing. ,!, long-time supporter of CBI NOTE: Informarion for chis arricle was Gary C. du Moulin, PhD, M PH, is gleaned from an arricle by C. E. Downs, trained as a medical microbiologist and is "The Boar Club rhar Began on a Tenemenr Senior D irector, Quality Compliance for Roofrop," Beacon Hill Times, Vol. 28 (12), Genzyme Corp. in Cambridge. Gary started

sailing at Community Boating after retiring from the US Army, retiring at the rank of colonel. H e serves as a member ofCBTs board ofdirectors.

Charles Zechel has served as CBI 's executive director for the last 6 years. H e is a member of US Sailing, a certified Instructor Trainer, and a long-time j-24 racer. Charlie recently launchedanAccess Sailingprogram at CBI to ensure sailors with physical limitations can enjoy the pleasures ofsailing.

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Classic

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804-77 -6151 25

SS Coamo and SS Borinquen, Twin Sisters of the New York

by Capcain Henry N. Helgesen, US Coast Guard, (Ret.) altogether and create a US-flag fleet to remain in the trade. From 1898 until its end in 1949, the company's ships operated solely under the US flag. In 1907 the Porto Rico Line, along with the Ward line (Cuba Mail Line) , the Clyde Line, the Mallory Line (both consolidated in 1934), and

her maiden voyage on 26 February 1931.

The company decided to retain the general characteristics of the Coamo for their new flag ship Borinquen, whose lines were drawn aribbean cruises were not always the luxury cruise ship experience up by Theodore E. Ferris.

When it was launched, the Coamo (ofthey are today. In the 1920s and 30s, regular steamship service to ficial no. 225135) was the largest ship of the West Indies was plentiful, but 'T".!11~----------a the company at 7, 05 7 gross tons ! rt"''\HH.\ H with a displacement of 11 ,000 modest in terms of both speed g ,/ / ! "'""), .'.:'.~ "" 1, , \ tt£ o 0 and comfort. Steamship service ~ / l '"-· f:~~-. ~ ( 6,f Ol{lll i\l(O tons, 429' length x 59.8 ' breath to Puerto Rico, an American posI ~ur .. .., \ .

11H.i\I, ~ (TEAMSLllP otiPAHY. and a draft of23'6." SS Borinquen "'• ....,., .., •. ~) V.r1 otlS 5cRttc~ (official no. 230447) was slightly session since 1898 , was restricted / · ~'' -· re» r r-._ ~ i:.~5rc ..oiiA~'-"""' t~ ·PORTOalCO. largerat 7, 114 gross tons, butothby ca botage 1aw (fi rst enacted in ·~ \ ll .

181 7 and refined in 1920 as the erwise had the same sped fications.

"Merchant Marine Act of 1920," Both were powered with steam or "Jones Act") that barred forturbine engines-single reducATI .\ 'fl eign competition. As a result, the tion, 6,500 HP, oil burning. .<>C AN quality of passenger service left Deadweight carrying capacity for a lot to be desired until 1926, each was 4,600 long tons. when the New York and Porto To attract passengers, the comGU LF or Rico Steamship Company (Porto pany advertised that the ships ' I C.XI 0 Rico Line) introduced the paswere designed and built to meet senger ship Coamo to the route. the most exacting requirements ·•· SS Coamo was a modern and fast of even the most discriminating ship which typically steamed in passengers. As a youngster, I was the l 6 Y2-knot range. She could on board the Coamo and can attest to her elegance. Both vessels could truly be called a luxury vessel, but she was also built with extensive accommodate 350 passengers: refrigerated cargo holds for carrying the the Southern Steamship Co mpany, was 250 in first class and 100 in second class. island's perishables. She would run with acquired and became a subsidiary of what The interior common areas included a the slightly smaller and slower San Lorenzo became the Atlantic, Gulf, and West Indies main lounge and music room, dining, (ex-Erazo 1919) until Borinquen replaced Steamship Company (AGWI). TheAGWI smoking and writing rooms, a library, and her in 1931-a dramatic improvement. subsidiaries operated indepe ndentl y; There was no air service between Puerto AGWI planned and made the expenditures Rico and the continent during this period. for the building of ships for the subsidiaries Passenger travel with any sort of comfort and controlled rhe companies.

The Coamo and the Borinquen could was found only by sailing with the Porto Rico Line. Most times, the trip between be called twin ships, or sister ships, bur a New York and San Juan would take 3Y2 discerning observer would notice differdays and was considered a fine cruise. The ences between the two. For example, the minimum fare for the eleven-day round Coamo's bridge was beautifully crafted from trip cost $150. Together, the Coamo and mahogany, and its lifeboats were staggered Borinquen maintained weekly sailings on two boar decks, while the Borinquen's from New York to San Juan and Ciudad bridge was more utilitarian-painted white Trujillo (Santo Domingo) in the nearby steel. Actually, their launch dates were spread apart by five years. SS Coamo was Dominican Republic.

The Porto Rico Line was incorpo- built by the Newport News Shipbuilding rated in 1890 and operated twenty-five & Dry Dock Company in Virginia and cargo ships, all registered under a variety set out on her maiden voyage on 7 Januofforeign flags . When Puerto Rico became ary 1926; th e Borinquen was delivered by a United States territory late in 1898, the the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation Porto Rico Line had to dispose of its fl eet in Quincy, Massachusetts, and sailed on

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SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 20 10

and Porto Rico Steamship Company a rea veranda, all elaborarely decorared and furnished . Th e ships carried 154 offi cers and crew, includ ing rhe o rchesrra.

The Coamo and Borinquen were in liner service carrying US mail, cargo, and passengers. In 1940 ir was adve nised rhar rhe Coamo, inrroduced inro service in 1926, had never fa iled, nor even a day, on irs regular roure, which represenred an ex-

Pueno Rico fo r rhe firs r few monrhs. The New York- to- Pue n o Rico ro ure crossed ri ghr rh ro ugh U- boar infesred wa rers.

In co mpliance wirh orders from rhe US Navy, rhe shi ps rraveled under blackour cond irions ar nighr and mainrai ned radio silence ar all rimes. By February of 1942, as rhe war escalared , rhe govern menr requisi rio ned borh vessels fo r use as US Army

16 Brirish Army personnel rh ar should nor have been rhere. Due to rhe immediare disp arch of rhe Coamo by rhe Bri tish Adm iralry, it was not possible to make a transfer.

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The same can be said abour rhe Borinquen.

To a remarkable degree, rhe shipping line became inrerrwined in everyday life on rhe island; in pon , rhe ships rhemselves became rhe cenrer of commerce berween Puen o Ricans and markers in N ew York.

Borh rhe social and commercial clocks of rhe islands we re ser by rhe ships' schedules, and any change in rheir irineraries wo uld li kewise airer people's ro urines, nor only in rhe ciry, bur also in rhe inrerior.

Afrer rhe Unired Srares enrered in to Wo rld War II, rhe Coamo and Borinquen mainrained regularly scheduled service to

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troo p ships. SS Coamo did not survive rhe war and was sun k by rhe German sub marine U-604, wirh a loss of 186 lives, on 2 D ecember 1942 in rhe Nor rh Ad anric: 133 crew, 37 Naval Arm ed Guard, and

SS Borinquen did sur vive rhe wa r, servi ng in every war cheater before being returned to AGWI in 1946 . The company refurbished her as a Cabi n C lass passe nger vessel in May of 1947. I remember the ship well from that period; I served as the 2nd O ffi cer. In March of 1949, AGWI sold the asse ts of the Porto Rico Line, which included the Borinquen. The ship was first bought by Bull Line and later sold and operated under various owners and fo reign Bags. A lthough her name changed several times, she stayed in passenger service unril she ran agro und and was wrecked in a ga le near Port Hueneme,

(left) A view of San Juan and the Porto Rico Line's first liner SS Coamo at the dock, 19 07.

The arrival and departure of these Large passenger ships were big events on the island, both commercially and in society.

Today, modern cruise ships still tie up in that exact Location in "Old San Juan. " Captain Frederick W Folker was master of both the "old" 19 02 Coamo and the "new " 1926 Coamo during his employment with the Porto Rico Line.

SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 2010

27

Porto Rico Line masters rotated between company ships. Borinquen and Coamo shared 4 captains between them: Captains Evans, Folker, H elgesen, and Lundstrom.

Ca lifornia , in 1970. Today, portions of her hull are still visible as part of the Port Hueneme breakwater.

The Coamo and the Borinquen had on ly four perm an ently assigned masters between them. They were: Captain Thomas Evans (Coamo and Borinquen), Captain Frederick W. Folker ( Coamo), Captain Nels H elgesen ( Coamo), and Captain Ernest Lundstrom (Borinquen).

Captain Thomas Evans was born in Aberayon, Wales, in 1878. H e first went to sea as an apprentice at 13 in a sailing vessel shipping out of Liverpool. At 23 he earned his British master's license and joined the Lam port and Holdiner Tennyson as a 2nd officer on a voyage to Brazil and the Falkland Islands. His first co mmand came after four years sailing for the Porto Rico Line as m as ter of SS Porto Rico, 1,257 gross tons; he was the company's senior captain for many years. W h en he retired in Jan uary 1942, he had commanded rh e San Juan, Coamo, and Borinquen.

Captain Frederick W. Folker was born in Nova Sco tia in 1878. He shipped out as a boy in a small barque, Stadacona, which called at European and Sou th American ports. From 1897- 1899 he worked on commercial runs between Canada, the United States, and South America. H e entered the service of the Porro Rico Lin e as a quartermaster aboard SS Mae before bei ng promoted to master of the Vasco and the "old" Coamo, ex-Californian. H e rook 28

over command of the 1926 Coamo from Captain Evans in 1931 and co ntinued as her captain until his retirem ent in June 1938 at the age of sixty.

Captain Nels Helgesen, my father, was born in H auges und, Norway, in 1888.

Ar 17, he emigrated to the US and found employment in coastal vessels. H e signed onboard the Jamestown in 1913 as 2nd offi cer and later served on a number of other vessels as 2nd and then chi ef officer. On 15 Ap ril 1918, during World War I, he received his first command with the Porto Rico Line: the seized German cargo ship Watauga. From there, he went on to command the Marianna, Choctow, Isabella, Manta, Porto Rico (ex-Prinz Joachim, another seized German vessel) , Montoso, Ponce, Huron, San Lorenzo, San Juan, Coamo, San Jacinto, Borinquen, and the Puerto Rico (ex- Haiti). The company rotated the masters between vessels; he served as relief cap tain of th e Coamo beginning in 1927 and the Borinquen in 193 1.

In January 1942, SS Coamo was in the Atlantic off the O uter Banks of North Carolina when they sigh ted a li feboa t adrift in the open sea. Captain Helgesen and his crew rescued seventy-o ne survivo rs from the Canadian passenger liner Lady Hawkins, which had been torpedoed five

Captain Nels H elgesen days earlier en route to San Juan . On their return trip to New York, the Coamo was challenged by three enemy subma rines directly ahead. Captain Helgesen m ade an attempt to ram them, but the U- boats submerged too qui ckly. The Coamo pressed on to New York at full speed to safety.

The rescue and U-boat incidents were reported nationally by the press . A month later, Coamo-sai ling as a US Army troop ship-carried 1,5 00 troops to Ascension Island before heading for Brazil and the Caribbean. On her second trip as a troop ship, she participated in the African Landing (Operation Torch) in earl y November

SS Borinquen (below) and SS Coamo both served as US Army Troop ships during World War fl Only Borinqu~n would survive the war and return to regular passenger service.

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SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 2010

1942. Afrerwards, sh e was dispatch ed out of the convoy by the British Admiraltyand proceeded independently to New York, but was sunk en route with all h ands. N els Helgesen was 54 years old and h ad been a mas ter for twe n ty-fi ve years. In 1989 Captain Helgesen was inducted into the National Maritime H all of Fam e at Kings Point, New Yo rk.

Captain Ernes t Lundstrom , born in Sweden in 1901 , served with the AGWI subsidiary C uba Mail Line (W ard Line) for his entire career, including service as mas ter of the famous Oriente (s ister ship of the ill-fated Mo rro Castle). Because Captain Helgesen preferred the Coamo, Captain Lundstro m was then assigned to the Borinquen . Captain Lundstro m commanded the ship as a US Arm y troop shi p for the entire war and in all theaters, taking part in the African landin g and D -Day No rmandy landings. H e never

took a day off durin g the entire war. SS Borinquen returned to passenger service in 1947, and Captain Lundstro m continued to command the ship unti l she was sold in 1949. Consequently, he was appointed the Marine Superintendent for the C uba Mail Line until the co mpany and AGWI went out of business in 1955 . Finally, h e returned to sea for a number of co mpanies as a m as ter of chartered cargo ships carrying military cargoes, tramping throughout the wo rld . When he fin ally retired, he had been in command for twen ty-fi ve years.

After World War II, the Porto Rico Line resumed servi ce, but the only prewar ship to be returned from military duty was the Borinquen. They purchased new ships, wartime-built C- l s and C-2s.

The company and its asse ts we re sold for good in M arch 1949, an early ending for these extraordinary ships and a renowned American-flag steamship co mpany. J,

Captain H enry H elgesen went to sea in 1943 as a US Merchant M arine Academy cadet midshipman and received his commission in the Coast Gua rd in 1956 H e is a veteran of three wars-World war 11 and the Korean and Vietnam wars-retiring in 1982. H is father, Cap tain Nels H elgesen, served as master of a number of Porto Rico Line ships. H e was captain aboard SS Coam o when she was lost with all hands in 1942.

(a bove right and below) To celebrate National M aritime Day, 22 May 1940, crewmembers from ships in port in San Juan participated in a series of boat races, with the Coamo crew emerging victorious. Ships sending race crews were: Coamo, Marjory, American Press, and the Kofres i. The boat crews from Coamo and their friendly comp etitors from the other vessels posed fo r this photo on the deck of SS Coamo, where Captain H elgesen hosted a luncheon for all participants after the races. Captain Nels H elgesen is in the suit and tie, third from the left; 2nd Officer f ames D illing is holding onto the life ring, center; immediately to his right is Chief Officer Otto Berggren. A lso manning the oars were: E. Greenlaw, Chief Engineer, HD. Blazer, Chief Purser; Manual Vitte; and Ed D e Voe. 1

]ames D illing became the Chief Officer and on the next trip and was killed, along with Captain H elgesen, when SS Coamo was struck by a torpedo fired from the German submarine U-604. The ship sank with all hands, 2 December 1942.

(l-r) Captain McGuire USCG, the Officer in Charge, Marine Inspection (OCMI) N ew York; Captain Ernest Lundstrom; Captain H enry H elgesen (author), then the 2nd mate of SS Borinquen.

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Man and Machine: LTJG Charles Eliot Winslow and His Heroic Rescues in Command of the Coast Guard Cutter Argo

by W illiam H . Thiesen, PhD

W

hen terro rists attacked the Wo rld Trade Cen ter o n Septem ber 11 'h, 2001 , nearly one millio n people we re stranded in lower Manhattan, desperate to get our of the ci ty. The sheer number of people,

Wo rld Wa r II .

In 1933, Argo (WPC-100) became the first in her class of 165 -foo r US Coast G uard cutters to be put into service for Prohi bition enforcement. When the United Stares entered Wo rld Wa r II, rhe Coast

M IVSi gh rseer XII, a Circle Line Cruises sightseeing vessel, ferried stranded New Yorkers from Man hattan across the H udson after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11 th. When Circle Line Cruises acquired Argo, they modified herfor passenger service and equipped her with eight General Motors 6-7 1 Quad diesel engines (four per shaft) and Falk reverse/reduction gears with individual hydraulically operated clutches for each engine.

amid the co nfusion and terro r of that mo rning, wo uld have overwhelmed rh e em ergency personnel and age ncies had it no r been fo r the immediate respo nse of dozens of commercial rugs, ferries, and passe nge r vessels, which arrived o n the sce ne to transpo rt people across rhe rive r to New Jersey. New York's M/V Sightseer XII, a passe nger to ur boar, was am o ng rhe vessels rhar came to their rescue. Due in part to Sightseer XII and the selfless effo rts of its captain and crew, the U nited Stares Coast Gua rd recognized rhe vessel's owner, C ircle Line Sigh tseeing To urs, with rhe 9/ 11 Medal, an ho nor bestowed by the US D epartment of Transpo rtati o n. This vessel was particularly well-suited fo r the task, as it had a lo ng histo ry of performing successful rescue operations fro m its days as rhe US Coast G uard cutter Argo during

30

wa r clouds fo rming on the horizo n in 1940, he enlisted in rhe US Navy. In 194 1, at the age of thirty-o ne, W inslow found himself called ro ac ti ve duty with th e rare of seam an second-class. In his first assignment, he served o ut of Bosto n aboard USS Puffin (AMc-29), a fo rmer fishing vessel rhar had been conve rted into a minesweeper. In November 194 1, he rook the co mpetitive examinatio ns for an offi cer's commission in th e Coast Guard Reserve. H e passed , and by D ecember h ad resigned from rhe navy ro acce pt an ensign's commission in th e US C oast Guard.

In la te 1942, after serving as executive officer on rhe wea ther ship Menemsha (AG-39), W inslow received appointment ro rhe anti-submarine warfa re school in M iami , Florida. U pon his graduatio n, rhe Coast G uard promoted Winslow to lieutenant junior grade and ass igned him ro th e Argo. Beginning in February 1943, W inslow served as senior watch offi cer and naviga tion officer on board the cutter, bur he rose rapidly through the ship's offi cer ranks and was pro mo red to executive officer of Argo in April, serving co ncurrently as the ship's g unnery offi cer. After o nly two mo nths as rhe cutter's executive officer, rhe Coast Guard pro moted Winslow to commanding officer ofArgo, a position he LT} G Charles Eliot Winslow

G uard conscrip ted her and her sister ships ro esco rt commercial vessels alo ng the East Coast. Argo carried a crew of seven ty-fi ve m en and p rovided a solid platfo rm fo r radar and sonar equipment, an armam ent of twe nty-millimeter and three-in ch guns, as well as depth charges and anti-submarine wea pons. As convoy escorts, these Coas t G uard cutters typically rook up station o n no rthbound and southbound co nvoys, tracked underwater contacts, and attacked anything that resembled the so nar signature of a U- boar.

During the las t three years of the war, Argo's fa re wo uld be closely linked ro rhar of its captain, C harles Eliot W inslow, wh o grew up alo ng rhe shores of mid coasr Maine, bur in the 1930s was wo rki ng as a successful paint salesman in Bosto n. W inslow held a deep sense of du ty and , with

SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 2010

would hold fo r the remainder of the war.

On the morning of 6 Janua ry 1944, convoy N K-588 steamed southward s out of New York harbor and into the teeth of a gale with nearly for ty-mile-per-hour winds and twenty-foot seas. The convoy consisted of a tanker; the navy patrol gunboat USS St. Augustine (PG -54), a converted 300foot yacht that served as the convoy's escort command vessel; and the C oas t G uard sister ships A rgo and Thetis (WPC -115).

That night at 1O:OOrM, the St. Augustine encountered an unidentified vessel abo ut 60 miles southeas t of Cape M ay. U nknown to the warship's crew, the vessel w as an American tanker, Camas M eadows, steam ing unescorted out of Delaware Bay under blackout conditions . The master of th e tanker had taken ill to his cabin, leaving the third mate to serve as officer on deck (OOD) . With mostly a green crew and no one m anning the bridge who knew how to send o r receive blinker signals, the Camas M eadows was in a bad situation and unable to communicate her identity to the escort vessels.

LTj G Charles Eliot Winslow at sea on board USCG Cutter Argo.

CG Cutter Argo returning to p ort after escort duty. The 165-foot steel cutter was built by j ohn H M athis Company at Camden, New j ersey, in 1933. Originally designed for Prohibition enforcement, this class of cutters was particularly seaworthy and maneuverable. Argo could attain speeds of 16 knots and was powered by two Winton M odel 158 6-cylinder diesel engines, which could deliver 1,340 horsep ower. With the US entry into Wo rld Wtz r IL the ship was attached to the Atlantic Fleet as a convoy escort.

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Farther back in the convoy, Argo had also made radar co ntact w ith the darke ned ranker and the cutter's OOD repo rted the target to LTJG Winslow in the captain's cabin . W inslow ordered the target's positio n transmitted to the St. Augustine by the coded talk-between-ship (TBS) system .

Argo's radiom an sent the m essage and received ackn owledgm ent from the lead escort. Meanwhile, Argo's looko uts made vis ual contact with the ship and no ted that the St. Augustine had left her convoy statio n, steamed toward the mys tery vessel, and chall enged the ship by blin ke r signal and by Hash ing running li ghts.Argo's OOD altered co urse to allow the cutter to swing wide aro und the stern of the ship cross ing ahead, and he presumed that St. Augustine had executed a similar course change.

Th e St. Augustine, however, had actual ly al tered course in fro nt of the ta nke r, settin g the two vessels on a collisio n course.

W ithin a few short minutes, thro ugh the darkness, Argo's OOD could see the bow of the 300-foot St. Augustine rise o ut of the water at an odd angle, fall back in to the wa ter, and disappear. G iven th e state of the stormy seas, he and the oth ers o n the bridge assumed the escort had ridden up a large wave and dropped back in to th e acco mpanying tro ugh. H owever, the m en on Argo's bridge had actually witn essed th e demise of the St. A ugustine as th e tanker ramm ed into the 300-foot patrol gunboat amidships, cutting deeply into the esco rt's hull, and pushing the mortally wo unded ship bri efl y befo re separati ngwith her. Th e St. Augustine fl ooded and slipped below the waves, va nishin g in fewer tha n five m inu tes.

Still mil es away fro m the scene of the disas ter, Argo's OOD asked his radarman if he still had St. Augustine on the screen.

The radarman indicated that he no lo nger h ad a contac t for the patrol gunboat. 1hetis tried to raise the St. Augustine by voice radio with no success, so Argo's O O D tried to co ntact the vessel by T BS. TI1 e darkened tanker cam e to a stop and threw o n all of her runn ing lights, an act normally p rohi bited du ring wa rtime in wa ters known to harbo r U- boats. By chis time, A rgo's OO D feared the worst; he called LTJG W inslow for assisrance and ordered Argo's crew to general q ua rters.

32

Aerial view ofthe ill-fated patrol gunboat and converted yacht, USS Sc. Augustine (PG-54) W inslow swung in to acti o n the mo- scene th at morning befo re steaming back m en t he stepped on the bridge. H e o rdered to Cape M ay to survey the damage to a co urse change straight fo r the unid entified her hull. M eanwhile, the navy and Coas t vessel, brightly illuminated in th e heavy seas G uard laun ched a m assive search-anddead ah ead. H e also o rdered the signalman rescue o peration, involving ships, planes to communicate with the vessel by blinker to and blimps, in an effo rt to locate m o re find o ut what h ad ha ppened . Afte r repeated survivors. A1go had rescued twe nty-three q ueries, the tanker blinked back "survivo rs of St. Augustine's survivors, while 1hetis to the left of yo u." After several mo re unan- acco unted for anoth er seven. In addi tion , swered signals, the ranker respo nded that it the search -and- rescue effo rt located sixcyhad rammed the esco rt and was taking on seven bodi es o ut of the patro l gunboat's coral losses of 106 crewm embers. water.

A board of inquiry, conve ned to deAfter pounding th ro ugh heavy seas for nearly twen ty minutes, Argo arrived at termine the cause of the accident, fo und the scene of the disaster. The cutter's crew greatest fa ul c in che faral maneuver chat began sighting groups of survivors on life put USS St. Augustine in the path of the rafts and individuals floating in the fri gid Camas M eadows. The board also found water waving the red lights attached to their the tanke r's crew too inexperienced , with life jackets. W inslow ordered all of Argo's several h aving no previo us sea time. In searchlights activa ted and began navigating additio n , the board determined chat the th ro ugh the wreckage to collect survivors. ran ker's radioman had little knowledge W inslow focused initial efforcs o n saving of em ergency procedures, and that the those in life rafts an d gro uped together in only crewm embers qualifi ed in signaling the water befo re the sto rm could scatter had take n to thei r bunks, preventing the chem across the w ind-swept seas. Later, Argo tanke r fro m co mmunica ting with the St. located individual survivo rs and, after that, Augustine.

Fo r his ro le in the St. Augustine epithrew lines over bodies ro see if they showed signs oflife. If the bodies fai led to react, Argo sode, LTJG W inslow received a commendam oved on to search fo r those who might still tion from Navy Secretary James Forrestal be saved adrift in the heavy seas. for "o utsranding service." Acco rding to the Argo remain ed o n scene during the citation , Winslow maneuvered "his ship early m o rn ing ho urs of 7 January and through heavy winds and debri s-littered thro ugh the rest of the day as W inslow seas" wiith "o utstanding ractical skill. " and the crew search ed fo r m ore survivors. Coast Gi uard Commandant Russell WaeThe Camas Meadows also rem ained on sche alsoo co mmended Winslow, writing,

SE.L A HISTORY 130, SPRING 2010

"I am pl eased to commend yo u and the members of yo ur crew for initiative and resourcefulness manifested throughout rhe task, which was made more h azardous and difficult by strong winter winds and prevailing high seas."

Winslow demonstrated his skill and ship handling ab ility a second rime off the coast of Georgia towards rhe end of rhe 1944 hurricane season. A powerful storm whirled up from the Equator in October and was churning off the southeastern US coast by 19 October. Ir caught rhe Mexican ranker Juan Casiano ninety miles due east of Savannah, severing rhe vessel into rwo parts and sending them both ro rhe bottom. Only twenty-one of rhe ship's fifty crewmembers found rheirway ro a battered lifeboat. They did their best to cling to rhe boar as physical exhaustion and rhe storm's fury peeled rhe men away one by one.

Argo arrived on scene a day after rhe sinking and, at approximately 8:00PM rhar evening, the cutter's crew sighted Rares illuminating rhe darkness over the swamped lifeboat. Newly promo red to full lieutenant, Winslow skiII fully maneuvered the 16 5-foor cutter through rhe heavy seas to rhe lifeboat.

Argo rook on board eleven m e n suffering from shock and exposure. The rest of rhe o ri ginal twenty-one survivors h ad perished in rhe hurri cane over the course of rhe previous day. Winslow commenced a box search in rhe heavy seas ro check for rhe others bur had no luck. In the commendation for the Juan Casiano rescue, Co mmandant Waesche cited Wi nslow for his "outstanding ability and devotion ro dury." Between the St. Augustine and Juan Casiano rescues, Winslow and his crew aboard Argo had saved thirty-fo ur desperate m ariners and give n them a second chance ar life.

LT Winslow had found within himself a natural, almost instinctive, predisposition for command at sea. InJune 1944, the senior member of a navy inspection ream reported on Winslow's ski ll s: "Th e [Argo's] Commanding Officer is an able and competent officer, forcefu l, decis ive, military in conduct and beari ng, maintainin g discipline with a firm ye t tactful h and, with the result that rhe vessel under his command is a smart, raur ship . He handles rhe ship exceptionally well and is in every respect qualified for hi s co mmand SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 20 10

and administrative responsibilities." Yer, afte r the war ended , Winslow was ready ro go home. In a letter to his command he wrote, "If rhe Argo .. . is scheduled ro fight rhe wintry blasts alone all winter, my answer is 'Get me off.' One winter upside down was enough for me. It rook me three weeks to regain the full use of my feet! " Winslow and Argo went their separate ways. With rhe end of the war, the Coas t Guard experienced a dram atic decrease in personnel levels, forcing the service ro retire several cutters, including Argo. The cutter was mothballed ar rhe Cape May Coas t Guard station and then decommiss ioned in 1948. She was sold in 1955 to commercial service. In 1959, New Yo rk City's Circle Line Sightseeing Tours purchased Argo and she began a second fr uitful career as M/V Sightseer XII. During wartime, man y are called to serve in harm's way. Some of those call ed ro dury on the water discover an affinity

for the sea that they would never have known if nor for the demands of war.

C harles Eliot Winslow had just such an experi ence. Having served the entire war on the high seas, Winslow moved back to M aine, near th e family home in Southport Island . There he es tablished a successful tugboat business and summer cruise line, naming hi s first sightseeing boat Argo. H e died in 2006 at the age of 97. 1, William H. Thiesen, PhD, is the Atlantic Area H istorian for the US Coast Guard.

H e is the author of Industrializing American Shipbuilding: The Transformation of Ship D es ign and Construction , 18201920 (University of Florida Press, 2006) and is a regular contributor to Sea Histo ry.

For more information on USCG history, visit www.uscg.mil/historyl or contact: H istorian's Office, Coast Guard Atlantic Area, 43 1 Crawford Street, Portsmouth, VA 23704; Ph. 157-398-6643.

While under the command of LT Eliot Winslow in May, 1945, the Argo participated in the surrender ofthree U-boats offthe east coast: U-805, U-234 and U-873. The cutter took aboard a number ofprisoners and escorted the German submarines back to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This photo, taken by Captain Winslow, included his handwritten caption on the back: "Gangway: Captain [Kapitanleutnant Johann-H einrich} Pehler starts for the gangway convinced that the Argo is no place to air his complaints. The officer facing him is not extending the Key to the City ofPortsmouth but is muttering a bed time story about the remarkable resemblance between gangsters-ljohn] Dillinger and Pehler. "

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SEA HISTORY for kids United States Coast Guard Semper Paratus The United States Coast Guard is the narion's oldesr maririme service. Irs history is a linle confusing because rhe Coasr Guard we know today is really a combinarion of five di ffere nt agencies char were broughr togerher to make chem run more efficiendy.

These agencies-rh e Revenue Cutter Service, rhe Lighthouse Service, rhe Life-Saving Service, rhe

''Always Ready''

Bureau of Navigation, and the Steamboat Inspection Service-used to be rheir own organizarions, bur rheir duries ofren overlapped with one another. Eventually, rhe government pulled chem all togerher when ir creared rhe US Coasr G uard. Today's Coast G uard performs multiple missions, which com e from the original groups thar fo rm ed ir.

By law, rhe Coasr G uard has 11 missions:

• Ports, waterways, and coastal security • Drug interdiction •Aids to navigation • Search and rescue • Living marine resources • Marine safety • Defense readiness • Migrant interdiction • Marine environmental protection • Ice operations • other law enforcement duties upon US waters In 1790, rhe Congress au thorized Secretary of the Treasury Alexander H amilton to establish a "system of cutters" to enfo rce customs laws o n sh ips importing-sometimes smuggling-goods into the United States . This "sysrem of cuners" was called rhe Revenue Marine or Revenue Cuner Service. Today, rhe US Coasr G uard srill uses a system of cuners in its wo rk on the hi gh seas .

What is a cutter in the United States Coast Guard?

The term "cutrer'' referred to "sm all single-mas ted, sharp-buil t broad" vessels . Their m ases were sec fu rther afr (towards stern) than typical mercham vessels to allow room for double headsails, and they were rigged wirh larger m ainsails to give chem grearer speed. They becam e known as cutrers because they could "cut" through the water fas ter rhan other vessels. The Revenue Marine chose this design because part of their job was to catch smugglers, so rhey needed fasr vessels. W hen steam engines were invented, sails were no longer needed to power ships, but the term cuner remained . Today, a Coast G uard cmter is any ship longer rhan 65 feer. Vessels less than 65 fee t are classified simply as "boars."

These three vessels are all USCG cutters: (le.ft to right) two-masted schooner USR C Massachusetts (1791); side paddlewheel steamer USR C Fessenden (1883); the 4 18-foot diesel and gas powered USCGC Bertholf (2006).

PAGE 34 IMAGES AND INl'ORMAT ION COU RT ESY USCG HISTORIAN'S OFF ICE

Today, nearly 42,000 m en and wom en serve on acti ve du ty in rhe US Coas r G uard .

Their mono is "Semper Paratus," meaning "Always Ready."

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You can learn more about Unired Stares Coast Guard history by · visiting: www. uscg.mil/history.

SEAIBISTORY 130, SPRING 2010

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) serves to provide scientific information to describe and understand the earth, which helps reduce the loss of life and property when natural disasters hit and helps us manage our natural resources . The uses employs 10,000 scientists and technicians who collect, monitor, and analyze scientific data about the land and sea and share what they have learned with the public through maps, reports, video, posters, and other published m aterials.

Elizabeth Pendleton is a geologist for the uses in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod .

She works in an office that studies coastal and m arine science, and her specialty is coastal geology. Coastal Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska. Elizabeth's first project at USGS was to geologists try to learn more about the land, processes, travel to twenty US National Parks to assess their vulnerability to sea-level rise. and hazards that exist where land and sea m eet-the seaside. By learning more about what kinds of things affect our shores and how those things affect them , we can make better decisions about h ow we use our coastal areas, which is important to human safety and the environment. Hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, and climate-related issues, such as sea-level rise and beach erosion, are just a few of the topics that coastal and marine geologists address.

Most of the projects Elizabeth works on can be broken into two parts- data collection and data analysis. To collect data, coastal and marine geologists have to do fieldwork, which for Elizabeth usually means going out on a research vessel and using scientific instruments to map the seafloor, collect samples, or measure properties of the water or sediment along the beach and underneath the wa ter. For her job, she might spend anywhere from two weeks to three months of a year in the field. The rest of the time, she wo rks in her office on Cape C od, analyzing the data on a computer and writing up the results of what they learned in reports and presentations.

"My favorite part of being a coastal and marine geologist is the fieldwork.

Every trip is different, but I always get to travel, learn, and see new things.

For my first project at USGS, I visited 20 national parks in the United States, including those in Alaska, Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands. We were trying to assess how vulnerable our coastal national parks are to sea-level rise in the next 50-100 years, and my task was to map coastal landforms and areas where they have been eroded . Many of these areas are hard to reach by land, so we traveled to them by boat and by plane. In addition to visiting some beautiful coastal landscapes and meeting some incredible people, we encountered wild animals-both on land and in the sea-Ia never seen before. I can't think of what other job would give me this opportun ity. I grew up in Tennessee, but my favorite family vacations were at the beach . I liked to collect shells and play in the waves, so, in a way, I started studying the coastal environment even then . We had to drive 8-10 hours just to get to the beach, so I decided that I needed to live closer to the ocean when I grew up. When I was in high school, I applied to colleges that offered marine science degrees. After check ing out marine biology, chemistry, geology, and oceanography, marine geology just seemed to click for me, and my advisor encouraged me to continue on to graduate school, where I earned a master's degree." -Elizabeth Pend leton

In Montara, California, neighborhoods are built right up to the cliffs that separate the houses from the powerful Pacific Ocean waves. Knowledge of beach erosion and coastal processes is important to protect people's property and to prevent others from developing land in environmentally sensitive areas.

You can learn more abo ut research projects at the by visiting: http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/.

uses in Woods Hole, MA,

Fieldwork takes Elizabeth to sea on research vessels but not necessarily away from a computer and lab. Here, Elizabeth sits inside a computer lab aboard ship and processes data they just collected during a USGS seafloor mapping research cruise.

SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 2010

f yo u were reading The New York Times on rhe 23'd of Augusr, 1896, chis headline mighr have caughr yo ur eye: "Four G irls on a Schooner." The reporter explained char four yo ung women had jusr rernrned from nearly a month's voyage, from New York Ciry co Nova Scoria and back, aboard a merchant schooner named Gypsum Express. They had volunteered so rhey co uld gee rhe chance co rravel on rhe ocean as working sailors. They worked hard, srood rheir warches, rode ch rough a nasry squall, saw a warerspour, and jusr seemed co have had a fabulous rime overall. Ar one point in rhe anicle, rh e reporrer wrore abour an animal char rhe yo ung women saw over rhe ship's rail: "The mosr exasperacing calms and dispiriring fogs marked rhe early part of rhe homeward voyage, bur a grampus, or cowfish, some rwenry feer long, enabled M iss Roach co bring her Kodak into play."

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G rampus can be found aro und the wo rld in tropical and remperare oceans as far north as Alaska and rhe Shedand Islands and as far south as Tasmania and Cape Horn , most commonly in offshore waters.

In the 1890s, when those yo ung women were; sailing across the Gulf of Maine, one parti cular grampus became something of a celebriry off the coasr of New Zealand because it co ntinually fo llowed ships, leaping in rheir bow wakes. The sailors named this grampus "Pelorus Jack." According co Paul H orsman, it became the first legally protected dolphin because rhe Governor of New Zealand signed an official order in 1904, worded: "co prohibit the raking of rhe fish or mammal known as Risso's dolphin in rhe warers of Cook Srrair or bays, so unds and esrnaries adjacent thereto."

Two years after chose four women made the New York Times, Rudyard Kipling wrote his novel Captains Courageous, in

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They rook a phocograph of a grampus?¡A cow.fish? Today, we call this animal a Risso's Dolphin. Ar sea, it can be confused with a borrlenose dolphin, a pilot whale, or a killer whale-in part because it has a tall dorsal fin that curls backwards. In fact, some sailors also used co refer co killer whales as grampus. Marine biologist and author George Fircher wrote char rhe word "grampus" comes from the joining of rwo simple French wo rds: big (grand) and fi sh (poisson).

A grampus has a squarish head and a curved mouth char looks co us like it's smiling. Its grey body is often covered with scratches and scars, which might come from squid tentacles, one of its favo rite foods. If the grampus those yo ung wo men saw was indeed rwenry feet long, it wo uld have been an exceptionally large one, as these dolphins are normally less than a ~ dozen feet from nose co rail.

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SEA HrSlfORY 130, SPRING 20 I 0

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which a yo ung rich kid named H arvey finds himself aboard a fishing schooner wirh anorher boy, Dan, who is already an experienced salr on rhe Grand Banks. Kip ling wrires:

At the first splash a silvery-white ghost rose bolt upright from the oily water and sighed a weird whistling sigh. Harvey started back with a shout, but Dan only laughed. "Grampus, "said he.

"Beggi.n' fer fish-heads. They up-eend thet way when they're hungry. Breath on him like the doleful tombs, hain't he?" A horrible stench ofdecayed fish filled the air as the pillar ofwhite sank, and the water bubbled oilily. "Hain't ye never seen a grampus up-eend before? You'll see 'em by hundreds Jore ye're through. "

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Did Rudyard Kipling read rhar New York Times anicle abour rhe fo ur female sailors and rhe grampus?

In rhe nexr issue: Galapagos [Urde soup-excepr ir's nor made from [Urdes. If yo u'd like w read pasr "Animals in Sea Hisrory," go ro: www.seahistory.org.

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Marit1e Art News-Haitiat1 Marit1e Art Haiti, as we have seen recently, is in a desperate situation after the 12 January 2010 earthquake. Video and photos show the total devastation of Port-auPrince and the surrounding region, affecting nearly three million people. Even before this natural disaster, Haiti has been a troubled country throughout its history. Life in Haiti poses more difficulties, from widespread poverry and political instabiliry to environmental devasration, than most of us will ever face.

Despite the odds against them, there exists in Haiti a thriving and talented communiry of artists, whose paintings are characterized by vibrancy of color and scenes ofbeaury and hope. Drawing from their rich culture, the intensiry of their spiritualiry-both Christian and Vodou-and their troubled history, Haitian artists depict scenes of daily life, mystic and spiritual subjects, animals in symbolic human roles, and historic imerpretation . As Haitians have strong ties to the sea, many of these themes include scenes of the sea, fi shing, boatbuilding, and other marine subjects.

Flame Tree Cove by Simeon Michele Many galleries in the United States represem artists in Haiti, and, when acrylic on canvas, 12 x 16 inches, 1986 the news of the earthquake broke, gallery owners and representatives took immediate steps to help, donating proceeds of sales to earthquake relief, and by offering links to reliable organizations offering direct assistance to the victims. You can do yo ur part by learning more about Haitian artists and supporting them in their livelihood through purchasing their works.

Waterside Village by jean-Baptiste Chery acrylic on canvas, 16 x 20 inches, 2004

Harbor Sunset by Raymond LaFaille, acrylic on canvas, 12 x 30 inches, 1990

The online galleries, including www.haitianart.com and www.medalia.net, as well as other Haitian art galleries in the United States you can find through the web, are excellem and convenient ways to connect with Haitian artists. The proceeds go directly to the artists and the local galleries in Haiti who support them, with the gallery owners taking a small percentage for showcasing, advertising, promoting, and handling sales of their art.

Further information on Haitian art sales for earthquake relief funds is posted on their web sites.

Other ways to support the people in Haiti are by donating cash to: Partners in Health at www.standwith haiti.org; Doctors Without Borders at The Winding Road www.doctorswithoutborders.org; the

by Gerard M . Lafontant, acrylic on American Red Cross at www.redcross. canvas, 20 x 24 inches, 2008 org; the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund at www.clintonbushhaitifund.org; UNICEF United States Fund at www.unicefusa.org, and many others.

Patched Sails by Gary Chanel, Acrylic on Canvas, BxlO imches, 1992

38

SEA HISTOIRY l 30, SPRING 20 I 0

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SEA HISTO RY 130, SPRING 20 10

Ill us. catalog S10.

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MARITIME HISTORY ON THE INTERNET

SlaveVoyages.org: Bringing Research to Everyone ccasionally, a sire will appear online rhar contains such a remarkable collecrion of borh raw dara and insighrful analysis rhar ir's worth a much deeper invesrigarion. "Voyages: The Transatlantic Slave Trade Database" is such a sire: ir conrains nor only an incredible collecrion of dara and o riginal documents, bur also numerous images, essays, maps, and conceprs rhar condense rhar info rmarion into m ore manageable uni rs. In addirion, individuals can nor only do rheir own studies based on rhe raw dara collecred over m any years by m any different researchers, rhey can improve and enhance rhe darabase wirh rheir own original research.

The Voyages darabase is a grear example of how schol arship has developed and evolved over rhe pas r decade. Ten years ago, as an academic reference librarian wirh responsibiliry fo r maririme hisrory, I eagerlyawai red rhe publicario n of rhe ve rsion of rhis darabase, on C D-ROM, for a graduare student doing wo rk on rhe slave rrade. N ow, an updared version of rhar C D -ROM producr is available online, free ro everyone, ar hrrp: //www.slavevoyages .org.

The online version includes recenrly uncove red dara abour m any voyages ro Sourh America, none of which had been included in rhe inirial C D -ROM. The sire allows anyone ro search rhe emire dara ser, and view individual researchers' flies , regarding nearly 35,000 slavery voyages. In addirion, users can contribure ro rhe darabase irself, by correcring any errors they fi nd and providing addirional info rmarion abour voyages no r o rherwise represem ed .

Because of rhe complexiry of rhis darabase and rhe sheer amounr of informarion wirhin ir-a given voyage could have dozens of dara poims associared wirh ir- ir can somerimes be a bir challenging ro search. Ar rhe sam e rime, an individual can creare remarkably effici ent and powerful searches, locaring, for example, on ly vessels rhar sailed berween an y rwo dares, and rhar went from ,

O

nrsr

say, Liverpool ro rhe Caribbean (or any specific port rhere) . Anyone can creare a rorally unique search of rhe hundreds of rhousands of dara poinrs rhe compilers have collecred. One can rhen highlighr any of rhe resulring voyages and di scover everything rhe darabase contains regarding a given voyage. An exrensive PDF guide helps people understand the database and how ro use ir, as do demo videos and orher rools.

One of rhe more remarkable aspecrs of rhis sire, though , is what rhe aurhors have done wirh rhe dara. The "Assessing the Slave Trade" secrion contains valuable es rimares on rhe rrue size of rhe slave rrade: reco rds have nor survived for m osr slave voyages, so careful esrimares, based on rhe dara presenred, are particularly valuable in derermining rhe rrue size of rhe rrade. A number of remarkable maps provide, in just a few images, an incredible view of the size of the slave trade, particularly showing where most of the slaves came from and we re raken ro. In addirio n, rhe sire crearo rs, led by D avid Eltis and M artin H albert ar Emory Universiry, have builr rools rhar allow users ro design cusromized timelines, graphs, and m aps of rhe porrio ns rhar imerest them .

The site contains the nam es of over 67,000 slaves carried on rhese voyages, a remarkable resource in irs own right. Another section includes links ro a variery o f online lesson plans and web resources for educarors regarding the transAtlantic slave trade.

O verall, the Voyages sire is a fa ntas tic example of how modern academic scholarship can be extended ro, and enhanced by, the general public. The web site designers should be commended fo r no t only crearing a sire from whi ch individuals can view original documents and obtain raw dara, bur can also easily build complex and meaningful queries thar directly address their imeresrs.

Suggesrions for column ideas o r other sites worth m entio ning are welcome ar p eter@sh ipin d ex.org.

-Peter M cCracken

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•Small Ships • Sailing Ve s s e ls •Expediti ons •Freig hte rs •Educational or Traditi ona l C rui ses

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SEA HIST<ORY 129, WINTER 2009-10

SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS In November, the American Sail Training Association (ASTA) recognized Captain Jonathan Bacon Smith with their Lifetime Achievement Award for 2009. Captain "JB" Smith is the senior captain of the Ocean C lassroom Foundation (O CF), which owns

four was joined by Ned Cabot, Horacio Rosell, and Sailors fo r the Sea co-founders D avid Rockefeller Jr. and D avid Treadway for the passage around the Horn . The boat is scheduled to clear back into the US in early M ay and will be open fo r visitation when it arrives in San Diego, California, sometime around 5 May. C heck www. aroundtheamericas.org for updates on their position and schedule. On the east coast, Dr. Ned Cabot will be back in New England in time to give a presentation at the New Bedford Whaling Museum on 20 April.

Dr. Cabot serves on the boards of the Sea Close-up of M atteo Ricci's "Impossible Black Tulip"

Captain Jonathan Bacon Smith

and operates the schooners Spirit of M assachusetts, Harvey Gamage, and Westward.

H e has sailed tens of thousands of miles in command oftraditional sailing ships, introducing and nurturing young people in the ways of shipboard life. According to Alix Tho rne, fo under and chairman of O C F, it has beco me a rite of passage am o ng the Ocean C lass roo m crew to sail under JB to learn, fi rs t han d, not just the skills of a mas ter mariner but the traditio ns and sryle of a sea captain who is also a "class act."

Smith has sailed all over the wo rld, serving on a US Navy destroyer, a Spanish squid fishing vessel, va rious cruise ships and classic yachts. O cean Class room Foundatio n, a 501 (c)3 non-profit organization, is an expeditio nary learning organization fostering the next generation of ocean stewards by providing majo r voyages of discovery in which the trad itio ns, values, and adventures of m aritime life provide a unique context fo r educatio n. The American Sail Training Associatio n, fo unded in 1973, serves as a fo rum fo r inform atio n exchange, program standards, and professional development, and as an advocate for sound policy and regulatory oversight, as well as organizer for the Tall Ships C hallen ge, a series of races and m aritime fes tivals in No rth Am erica.

Congratulations JB! (Fo r more information on O CF, visit www. oceanclassroom.org; ASTA, www.sailtrai ning.o rg) ... lnJanuary, the Around the Americas (Sailors for the Sea) crew aboard the 64-ft. steel cutter Ocean Wtitch successfully rounded Cape Horn. Ocean watch'.s permanent crew of SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 2010

Ocean Watch shares the view off Cape Horn with a cruise ship.

Education Association in Woods H ole, MA, and of Sailors for the Sea, based out of Newport, Rl. The Around th e Americas expedition was a fea ture article in Sea H istory 129, Winter 2009-10 . (For information o n the expedition, visit www.aroundthe ameri cas.org o r www.sailorsfo rthesea.org; fo r informatio n about Dr. Cabot's talk at the New Bedford Whaling Museum , visit www.whalingmuseum.org and check "programs," then click "Sailors' Series") ... One of the world's rarest maps, Matteo Ricci's "Impossible Black Tulip"(1602) depicting the world with China as its center, was recently put on exhibit at the Library of Congress, in Washington, DC. In April the map will be put on permanent display at the Universiry of Minnesota Jam es Ford Bell Library. The James Ford Bell Trust acquired the map, which is the first map in Chinese to show the Americas . Only six

copies of the map remain and several are in poor condition. The cartographer M atteo Ricci created the m ap at the request of the C hinese emperor, who wanted the m ap to serve as a resource for explorers and scholars.

Ricci, a Jesuit pries t, was among the first Westerners to travel to China. The map is on display at the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Co ngress, the first time ever in No rth America. The Library of Congress will be maki ng a high resolution scan of the map fo r future use by scholars and researchers before the map heads to Minnesota. (Jam es Ford Bell Library, 472 Wilson Library (4th floor), 309-19thAvenue South, Minneapolis, M N 554 55; Ph. 6 12 62 4- 15 28 ; www. bell.lib.umn .e du) (continued on page 43)

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NINTH â&#x20AC;˘

ar1 1me CONFERENCE The N inth Maritime Heritage Conference, scheduled to rake place next September in Baltimore, is shaping up to be rhe larges t gathering of maritime heritage professio nals to dare. W ill you be there?

Co nfe rence program chair D r. D avid W inkler is scheduling ~. an o utstanding series of panels covering a broad range of to pics to t he conferen ce theme: "The M aririme Nexus-Re-connecting Landsm en with their Seago ing H eritage." The ve nue will be the H yat t Regency, which fea tures co nve nien t m eeting roo ms, recepti o n areas, and superb dining arrangem ents. C onferees can rake ad vam age of d iscoumed ho tel ra res and fo rego car rernals, as the hotel is served by a conveniem li ght-rail line that connects with BWI Ai rpo rt.

A sampling of the many conference subjects covered includes: Imem arional Trade Whaling, O ceanic Immigration, Underwater Archeology, War of 18 12, Small C raft, Lightho uses & Lifesaving Stations, M ercantile & N aval Ports, Historic Sh ips & Preserva tio n, USS Constellation Sail Training, M aritime Museums, Literature, Arr & Music of the Sea, Marine Sanctuaries and Pro recred Areas, plus many, m any o ther topics related to global m aritime heritage.

Ba ltimore's ri ch maritime reso urces are a great draw.

The Ninth MHC will get underway-literally-late in the afternoo n on W ednesday, 15 September, with a harbor cruise welcoming reception aboard the historic Liberty Ship SS John W. Brown.

Thursday, 16 September: Sessions begin first thing in the mo rning and will cominue thro ughout rhe day, with breaks including a luncheo n banquet with a distinguished speaker. Thar evening, USS Constellation and H istoric Ships in Bal timore will host attendees at a gala receprio n and behind-the-scenes to urs of the Army landing ship Robert Smalls, Constella tion, USCGC Taney, U SS Torsk, Lightship Chesapeake (LV- 116), Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse, and other historic sires located in the Inner H arbor.

Friday, 17 September: Attendees will have the option to travel to Washington D C fo r exclusive tours of m aritime heritage treasures in the nation's capital, including: a visit to the newly renovated m aritime section of the National History Museum at the Smithsonian, rhe Natural History Museum's Sant Ocean Hall, and the National Museum of the United States Navy and Cold War Gallery in the Navy Yard. 1he gro up will continue on to a receptio n at rhe newly renovated U S N aval Academy Museum in Annapolis, where they wi ll be joined by remaining conference attendees who will be transpo rted to rhe Naval Academy from nearby Baltimore.

Saturday, 18 September: This will be a full day of sessions and presem arions, a plenary luncheo n with a speaker, and a grand evening receptio n to cap off the fi nal day of sessions and m eetings.

Sunday, 19 September: Join the Army Historical Foundation "staff ride" to Fort M cH enry to examine rhe 18 14 British C hesapeake campaign or pay a visit to the NS Savannah, rhe first nuclear-powered cargo-passenger ship.

The Conference H osts-H istoric Ships in Bal timore; N aval Historical Foundation ; Bal timore Na ti o nal H eritage Area; Fort McH enry National M onument and Historical Shrine; H istoric N aval Sh ips Association; Maryland Historical Society; Natio nal Maritime Historical Society; National O ceanic and Atmospheric Administratio n; Pride of Baltimore, In c.; Sail Baltimore, Inc; and the US Naval Institute-all look fo rward to welcoming yo u to the co nference.

CALL FOR PAPERS: The deadline fo r submitting proposals is 1 June.

Individuals fro m all segments of th e maritime heritage community are encouraged to submit a paper o r panel proposal (details fo r submi tti ng pro posals are posted online at www.seahistory.org). Inqui ries and pro posals can be sem to the attention of program chai r Dr. D avid W inkler, either via e-m ail to dwinkler@navyhistory.org, o r m ailed to: Naval Historical Foundation, 1306 Dahlgren Avenue SE, Washington Navy Yard, Washingto n, D C 20374.

42

MAKE YOUR REsERVATIONS: Look to rhe National M aritime Historical Society web site www.seahistory.org for program updates. Yo u can register fo r the conference o mline and book yo ur hotel room through links on the NMH S wveb sire as well. Pl ease note that th e block ofhorels rooms reserved:! at the H yatt Regency is limited and, in each of the p revious Marittim e H eritage Confe rences, the hotel ran our of rooms. Register early! We look fo rward to seeing yo u there.

SEA HISTOffiY 130, SPRING 20 l 0

Administrators of "The American Maritime People," the 2010 National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute at Mystic Seaport, are accepting applications through 2 March 2010. 1he program is designed primarily for teachers of America n undergraduate stude nts.

Q ualified independent scholars and chose employed by museums, libraries, historical societies, and other organizations may be eligible to compete, provided they can effect ively advance the teaching and research goals of the institute. Led by Munson Institute co-directo rs G lenn S. Gordinier and Eric Roorda, the program will examine 400 years of American maritime history. Gordinier and Roorda will be assisted by eminent maritime scholars, including: Daniel Vickers, Lisa No rling, John Jensen, John Hattendorf, Marcus Rediker, Jeffrey Bolster, and Mary Kay Berkaw. The Insti tute requires a six-week residency (21 June-30 July) at the museum with a stipend ro cover expenses. (All application materials and informat io n are online at www. mysticseaporc. org, click o n "Education Programs & Resources" and scroll down to "college or graduate programs.") ••. The International Yacht Restoration School in Newport, RI, will host its 5th annual Marine Industry Career Day on Saturday, 6 March to give individuals interested in marine careers a valuable chance to learn about career opportunities and green jobs that are emerging in the field. This year's event features a special appearance by wo rld-renown marine technical expert and writer Nigel Calder, who will talk about career opportu nities that are emerging as the marine industry looks for green alternatives.

1he one-day event is free and open to the public. Career Day attendees will be able to meet with regional marine employers, including boat builders, boat yards, and marine manufacturers; learn about the ski lls needed to work in the boating business a nd relevant training programs; and attend infor mative seminars on finding employment opportunities in the marine trades a nd funding for training programs. (IYRS, 449 Thames St., Newport, Rl 02840; Ph. 40 1 848-5777; www.iyrs.o rg) ... The Society of Professional Sailing Ship Masters (SPSSM or "spasm!") is holding its first meeting in 24 years on 11 March 2010 at Mystic Seaport. Outgoing acting president, Captain Daniel D . Mo reland, iscallingon those holding a 100-ton or greater master's license

SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 2010

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and "post-active" or retired sailing sh ip masters to reactivate the o rgan ization, which went dormant after its president, Captain Armin Elssasaer, was lost in 1986 in comm and of Pride ofBaltimore. Voting membership is restricted to those with the above mentioned license and at least one year of acti ve command in sailing ships. There is no fee to attend. An evening "Dutch treat" dinner and cash bar will cap off the afternoo n meeting. (For details, visit: www.sailtraining. org/events/SPSSM.php) .â&#x20AC;˘. US Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has announced he will issue a decision on the plan by Cape Wind Associates LLC to build 130 wind turbines in Nantucket Sound by April if the project developer and its opponents do not not reach a compromise before 1 March. Cape W ind has been fig hting opposition to the project since 2001.

The proposed wind farm wo uld have 258-ft.high wind turbi nes (the dis tance between the blades and the water wo uld ra nge from 75 feet to 440 fee t) erected across 24 acres

of Horseshoe Sh oals in Nantucket So und off the coast of Massachusetts. The site was chosen because it fi rs three criteria successfu l Euro pean offshore wind fa rms have fo und necessary: stro ng wind reso urce, sh allow depths, and relati vely low ocean storm wave heights. The project has already passed enviro nmental reviews by state and federal agencies and is waiting fo r a decision regarding rhe impact the project wo uld have on rh e si re's h istoric and culm ral properties . Recent opposition came !are in 2009 whe n the Natio nal Park Service announced the site wo uld be eligible fo r nominatio n to the Na tional Register of Historic Places afte r two Na tive American tribes, the Mashpee Wampanoag o n Cape Cod an d the Wam panoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aq uinn ah) o n Martha's Vineyard, req uested the historical designation based on the claim chat rhe location of turbines wo uld impact their sp irimal rimal of greeting the sunrise across an uno bstructed view of the horizo n and might distu rb ancestral

Fiery Pool: the Maya and the Mythic Sea Fiery Pool: the Maya and the Mythic Curato r of Mari time An and Histo ry Sea, an exhibition of ancient Mayan D aniel Finamo re and Professo r Stephen art interpreting the importance of H o uston of Brown U niversity. On openwater to ancient Mayans, opens on 27 ing day, the museum is also preseming March at the Peabody Essex Museum. the film screening of "Lost Ki ngdom of O ver 90 works, many never before ex- the Maya" ar 1:30PM and a presentation hi bited in the US, offer new insights by Dr. George Sm art, renowned Maya into th e culture of the anciem M aya, expert and archaeologist at 3PM. (PEM, foc using o n the sea as a defining fea ture Eas t India Square, Sa lem , MA 01970. of the spirimal realm and the inspiratio n Ph. 978 745-95 00; www. pem.org) fo r powerful wo rks of art. Fiery Pool was o rganized by PEM 's Russell W Kni ght

PH OTOS BY JORGE PERE Z D E LARA

(above) Lobster effigy, c. 15 50AD : Lam anai, Belize (National Instimte of Culture and Hi story, Belize) (left) Lidded vessel with the Sun God paddling across the aquatic floral road, 200-45 0: Mexico or G uatemala (Dallas M useum of Fine Arts)

44

COURTESY CAl'E WIND

Cape Wind's prop osed wind farm is modeled along the lines of successful European wind farms, such as the Nysted offshore wind farm in Denmark, pictured above. burial gro unds. The findin g of eligibili ty ensures char significant archeological, historic, and cultural values are considered in the review of the permit for the proposed Cap e W ind proj ect by the Minerals M anagem en t Service. ''Am erica's vas t offsho re wind reso urces offer exciting potential fo r o ur clean energy econo my and fo r ou r nation's effo rts to reduce our dependence o n foreig n oil," said Salazar. "But as we begin to develop these reso urces, we must ensure that we are doing so in the right way and in th e right places. (Information o n the US D ep t. of the In terior's review can be fo und at www.do i. gov; Cape Wind LLC, www. capewind.org; Mashpee Wampanoag, www. mas h peewam panoagtribe.com ; Wa m panoag Tri be of Gay H ead (Aquinnah ), www. wam panoagtribe. net; the Keeper of the National Register's D eterm inatio n docum ent, issued by the Na tional Park Service, can be viewed at www. nps.gov/histo ry/ nr/ pub! ication s/ guidan ce/N antuckecSo undD O E. pdf) ... AnthroNotes, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's biannual publication for educators, is going green and will no longer be available in print form. Those wishing to rece ive th e jo urnal sh o uld e-mail: anthroutreach@si.edu. AnthroNotes is free of charge and offers in-depth articles o n currem amhro pological research, teaching activities, and reviews of new resources . ...

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has declared the 2010 World Maritime Day as the "Year of the Seafarer."

The IMO is a specialized agency of the Uni ted Na tions and is responsible for measures to improve the safety and securi ty of imernational shipping and to prevem marine polluti on from ships. Every year the IMO celebrates World Maritime Day som etime durimg the las t week of September, but the exactt date is left to individual governments.

SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 20 l 0

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SHIP MODEL BROKER - I will help yo u BUY, SELL, REPAIR, APPRAISE or CO MMISS ION a model ship or boar. www.FiddlersGreenModelShips.com 21 ' gaff auxiliary sloop , cedar o n oak, Ya nmar di esel, $ 17, 000 , offers enco uraged: 6 17-876- 00 7 1.

EXPERIENCED MODEL BUILDER. Ray Guinta, PO Box 74, Leo nia, NJ 07605 ; www. modelshipsbyrayguinra.com.

Thousands of century-old ship postcards, ephemera- in San Francisco; Ph. 4 15 586-9386, kprag@planeteria. ner.

Photos of "messing around" boat yards, sailing in wooden yachts & boats. Hang beautiful pictures irt your home or office.

(See www.StanSinowitzPhotos.com) 1812 Privateer FAME of Salem, MA. Sails Daily May- October.

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Less crowded, lots of m aritim e his tory, excellent health care, beauti ful white beaches & great outdoo r acti viti es. Lots, acreage & homes. www.FloridaVacantPro perry.com. Bob Davis Realry of Pensacola-Ph . 850 982-1 907.

Elegant Ship Models. Individually handcrafted custom scale model boats. Jean Preckel: www. preckelboats.com or call : 304 432-7202.

BOOKS HARBOR VOICES by Terry Walton and other great maritime books are available on line ar rhe NMH S Ship's Store. Visit us on rhe web ar www.SeaHistory.o rg or call 800-22 1-6647.

IT DIDN'T HAPPEN ON MY WATCH and SCUTTLEBUTT by George E. Murphy. Memoirs of fo rry-rhree years wirh U nited States Lines aboard cargo and passenger ships. Anecdores of captains, chief engineers, crew members and rhe company offi ce.

Web sire: www.gemurphy.com; e-mail : gemurphy@carroll. com.

A CARELESS WORD-A NEEDLESS SINKING by Captain Arthur R. Moore. Documented account of caras rrophic losses suffered by American Merchant Marine and Armed Guard during WWII. 720 pp, lists crew members & ships, profusely illustra ted. Eighth printing sponsored by American Merchant Marine Veterans. E-mail: gemurphy@carroll.com.

NEXT VOYAGE WILL BE DIFFERENT by Captain Thomas E. Henry. Accounts from my 37 years ar sea. Available th ro ugh Amazon. com and Barn esandNoble.com. Also available, CRACKING HITLER'S ATLANTIC WALL. Call 772 2875603 (EST) or e-mail: Arcome@aol.com fo r signed copies.

SHIPS OF THE U.S. MERCHANT FLEET and HISTORY OF ELECTRIC DRIVE FOR SHIPs by Captain John A. Cul ver. Model Kirs of ships, rugs, CG Craft, lightships; free catalog jsh ips4u@comcasr. ner.

Advertise in Sea History ! Call 914 737-7 87 8, ext. 235, or e-mail: advertising@seahistory.org.

SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 20 I 0

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The day is used to focus attention on the importance of shipping safety, maritime security, and the marine environment. IMO headquarters will celebrate in 2010 on 23 September. (See www. imo.org for derails) ... Maine Maritime Museum is hosting a one day seminar, "B ig Ship Smack-Down: Who's Got the Biggest?," to determine wh at ship in history can claim the title.

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Chinese fleer of 1421 , and even Noah's Ark! Debaters will examine and compare the history of shipbuilding and operations of the largest vessels in the world from ancient rimes to the present. Active participation of attendees is encouraged. The 10 April seminar runs all day and into the evening, with breaks for meals and an evening reception . Registration required and some speaker slots are still open. Potential speakers should contact the museum's senior curator, Nathan Lipfert, at lipferr@MaririmeMe.org; Ph. 207 443-1316, ext. 328.

To register, contact Christine T itcomb at rircomb@MaritimeMe.org; Ph. 207 4431316, ext. 0. (MMM, 243 Washington Sr. , Bath, ME 04530; www.MaineMaririmeMuseum.org) ... Beginning in J anuary, the US Coast Guard is now accepting credential applications at its Regional Exam Centers (REC) via e-mail. Only complete applications will be accepted; subject line must include: last name, first name, middle initial, and mariner number (if known).

Attachments must be less than lOMB and include a copy of yo ur Transportaion Worker Identification Card or TWIC application receipt. Fees can be paid through www.pay.gov. The National Maritime Center (NMC) is now producing Merchant Mariner's Credenriials (MMC) similar in appearance to a U~S Passport. Anyone applyingforaMMC rmusrhavealreadyapplied for a TWIC. (Nl\v1C, Customer Service Center: Ph. 1-88:8-IASKNMC (1-888427-5662); wwvw.uscg.mil/nmc/) ...

SEAHISTOJRY 130, SPRING 2010

"DecoDence: Legendary Interiors & Illustrious Travelers Aboard the SS Normandie," a new exhibition showcasing objects and the interiors of the famed ocean liner, recently opened at the South Street Seaport Museum in New York City.

With its distinguished art deco design and quality furnishings, SS Normandie epitomized style and sophistication and set the standard for luxury travel. The fa med ocean liner, which met an inglorious ending at the bottom of New York Harbor, comes back to li fe through vivid photos, recreated interiors, and more than 100 i rems from the art deco era. The Normandie was an ambassador of French culture, design and style, and her passengers were surro unded by works created by some of the most prominent art deco designers including Jean Dupas, Rene Lalique and Em ile-Jacques Ruhlmann. SS Normandie operated for the French line Compagnie Generale Transatlantique from 1935-1 940 and made hundreds ofcommercial voyages between France and New York. Dubbed a "floating palace," the Normandie remains the most powerful steam turbo-electric propelled passenger ship ever built. The United States took control of the liner during the German occupation of France. While being converted into a military vessel in 1942, USS Lafayette, ex-Normandie, caught fire and sank in New York Harbor. The exhibition is open through January 2011. (SSSM, 12 Fulton Street; New York, NY; www.sourhsrreetseaportmuseum.org) ... The National World War II Museum in New Orleans opened its new 70,000 sq.-ft. expansion in November with the Higgins landing craft serving as its centerpiece. The Higgins landing craft, designed by company owner Andrew Jackson Higgins, is often credited with helping to win World War II for its role both the E uropean and Pacific theaters.

Higgins boats brought US soldiers and equipment to shore in every major amphibious assault in WWII. Higgins Industries grew from a 75 -employee firm to employing 25,000 workers in seven plants during the war. General Eisenhower said years later that Higgins "won the war for us." The National World War II Museum, founded by historian Stephen Ambrose (originally known as the D-Day Museum) , opened in June 2000. It is undergoing a $300 million expansion that will quadruple the size of the existing facility and will consist of fo ur pavillioins, a theater, USO

SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 2010

Wo rld War II on the Missouri's deck on 2 September 1945 in Tokyo Bay. The battleship was also used in the Korean and Persian G ulf wars before being decommissioned in 1992; the memorial opened in January 1999. The Missouri's return from drydockin g, completed on time, comes just in time

Higgins Landing Craft from World Wtir II entertainment venue, a restaurant, and parade ground. (945 Magazine Street New Orleans, LA 70130; Ph. 504 528-1944; www.nationalww2museum.org) ... The Battleship Missouri Memorial reopened to visitation in January, following an $18 million drydocking project. The museum ship resides in Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, moored just a few hundred yards from USS Arizona. The restoration work included a refurbished hull, fresh coat of paint, and state-of-the-art cathodic protection an d humidity detection technologies, protecting the ship against corrosion for decades to come. Officials from Japan and the Allied Forces signed surrender documents ending

Seawater floods Dry Dock 4 at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard during the re.floating of the battleship ex-USS Missouri (BB 63).

USS Constitution Model Shipwright Guild Exhibit Members of the USS Constitution Model Shipwright Guild will display their finest work during the 31st annual show at the USS Constitution Museum. Mode/,s in the Spotlight opened in late January and will run through 20 March. Modelers from across New England are exhibiting 75 ship models, ranging from World War II vessels to fishing dories, ships-in-bottles to sailing vessels. Volunteers from the USS Constitution Model Shipwright Guild will be on hand so visitors can watch them in action and ask questions. The USS Constitution Museum is located in the historic Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston, directly across from USS Constitution. (Museum: Ph. 617 426-1812; www. ussconstitutionmuseum.org. The USS Constitution Model Shipwright Guild is amo ng the larges t ship model associations on the East Coast with more than 100 members: www.co nstitution-modelshipwrights.org.) (above right) HMS Victory by Mike Swanson; (below right) Lackawana by Henry Keene; (below) Myrtle Cory

by George Willis Jr.

47

to commemorare the 65rh anni versary of the end of World War II. (Battleship Missouri Memorial is locared on Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, 63 Cowpens Sr., Honolulu, HI 96818; Ph. 808455- 1600; www. ussmissouri .co m) ... April lstis National Census Day and should serve as a reminder to residents of the USA to fill out the forms and get them back in the mail to fulfill their civic and legally bound duty. Historians should be especially motivated to do their part, both by filling out their own forms and encouraging friends and neighbors to do so as well . Furure historians will

May 15 & 16,

2010

1870 Census depend on the census reco rds for their research, just as today's historians have on pasr censuses. Ten quesrio ns, ren minures.

(For complete informarion abo ut the 2010 Census, visitwww.2010.census .gov) ... The Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, MD, has achieved its 3rd accreditation from the American Association of Museums (AAM), the highest national recognition for a museum. AAM accredi rarion meas ures quality ass urance, self-regularion, and public acco untabili ty, and earns national recognition for a museum for irs commitment to excellence in all rhar irdoes: governan ce, collections stewardship, public programs, financial srab ili ty, high professional standards, and continued institurional improvemenr. CMM is one of only 12 museums in Maryland to be accredired.

The Calvert Marine Museum has interprered history and culrure to Southern Maryland for nearly 40 years. Be sure to see their special exh ibition "Treasures from the C liffs" in the paleontology hall. The Calvert Marine Museum exhibits artifacts and fossils discovered within rhe famo us Calve rt Cliffs, where fossils from as far back as the Micoene epoch are revealed daily from wearher and wave action. (CMM, POB 97, Solomons, MD 20688; Ph. 410 326-2042; www.calvertmarinemuseum.com). !.

48

MARITIME

& SEAFOOD

INDUSTRY MUSEUM SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 20 I 0

CONFERENCES AND SYMPOSIUMS

•Traditional Boats of the Pacific Northwest Conference, 6 March at the Colum bi a River M aritime Museum. (For registrati on details, contact Sam Johnson, Exec.

Director of the C RMM, 1792 Marine Dr. , Asto ria, OR 97 103; at johnson@crmm . org; Ph. 503 325-2323; www.crmm .org) •New Researchers in Maritime History Conference, 12- 13 March 2010 at the Univers ity of Exeter, UK. (www.maritim ehistory.org. uk) -''Sea Literature, History & Culture" National Popular Culture & American Culture Association 2010 Conference, 3 1 March-3 April in St. Loui s, MO. (Fo r more information: www.pcaaca.org/ conference/ national. php) •4 lst Annual Meeting of the Association for Spanish and Portuguese History, 1518 April in Ottawa, Canada. Conference is organized by both Carleron University and Trent University. (See http ://asphs. net for details.)

• NMHS, North American Society for Oceanic History, Council of American Maritime Museums, and Steamship Historical Society of America: Joint Annual Conference, 13-15 May at Mystic and Avery Point, CT (see page 9 for details) •"Meandering through Time and Place: Rivers in American History and Culture," Kentucky-Tennessee American Studies Assoc. Conference, 21-22 May 2010, at Murray State Univers ity in Kentucky. Call for Papers deadline is 16 March. (www.ktasa.o nefireplace.com) •"Slave Narratives," IC/G ilder Lehrman American History Seminar, 13- 16 June at Yale University. Open to all full-time facul ty members in history, English, and related fields at C IC and United Negro College Fund institutions. (Ques tions should be directed to Stephen Gibso n, C IC Direcro r of Projects, sgibson@cic.nche.edu or Ph. 202 466-7230; for general information on this and other Gilder/Lehrman programs, v isit www.gi lderlehrma n.o rg) •34th Annual Conference of the Society for Caribbean Studies, 7-9 July at the University of Southampton. Sessions include: Maritime Studies, Archaeology and Material C ul ture, Ports of Arri val, Intra-Caribbean Migration, O ral History, Nature-Society Relations. (www.caribbeansrudi es .o rg. uk) SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 2010

•Corrosion of Historic Ships Conference 5 - 9 September 2011 , Mariehamn, Aland Islands, and Turku Finland. TI1e conference will be part of the celebrations of the town's l 50th birthday. If interested, ask to be put on the mailing list to receive detailed information in due course. (More information onlin e at www.icmmonline. org under "confe rences") •Ninth Maritime Heritage Conference, 15-19 September 2010 in Baltimore, MD. Held every three years. (For all the details, see page 42 or check www.seahistory.org)

201 1 at the H eritage M useum and C ultu ral Center in Michigan (HM&CC, 601 Main Street, St. Joseph, MI 49085; Ph. 269 983- 11 91; www. theheritagemcc.o rg) •Tales & Treasure: From the Attic & Archive, through Labor Day 2010 at the Cold Sp ring H arbor Whaling Museum (Main Street, POB 25, Cold Spring H arbor, NY 11 724; Ph. 631 367-3418; www. cshwhalingm useum .o rg) •Nautica 2010, the annual juried marine contemporary art competition and exhibit, rhorugh 3 1 March at the Ventura County Maritime M useum in Oxnard, CA (VCMM, 2731 S. Victoria Ave., Oxnard, CA 93035; Ph. 805 984-6260; www.vcmm. org) •Playing with Pictures: The Art of Victorian Photocollage, thro ugh 9 May at the Metropolitan Museum of Arr in NYC (1000 Fifth Ave nue at 82nd Street, New York, NY 10028; Ph. 2 12 535-77 10; www.metmuseum. org)

ExHIBITS •Models in the Spotlight, 3 1st Annual USS Cons titution Model Shipwright G uild Exhibit, through 20 March at the USS Constitution Museum, Boston (Charlestown Navy Yard , Building 22, Charlestown, MA 02 129; Ph . 617 42618 12; www.ussconstitutionmuseum.org; www.co nstitution-modelshipwrights.org) •Some Burdensome: Big Ships, Big Cargoes, through 18 April 2010 at the FESTIVALS,EvENTS,LECTURES,ETC. Maine Maritime Museum. (MMM, 243 •Ghost Ships Festival 2010, 5-6 March Washington Street, Bath , ME 0453 0; in M ilwa ukee, WI (G reat Lakes ShipPh. 207 443-13 16; www. main emaritime wreck Research Foundation, 7844 St. museum.org) Anne Court, Wauwatosa, WI 532 13; •Marking Time: Voyage to Vietnam: www.ghost-ships.org) Messages from a Forgotten Troopship, •"Ro-Ro at War: Roll On/Roll Off at Dthrough 24 April at the Santa Barbara DayandBeyond" lecture by Captain C hris M aritime Museum in Cali forn ia. (1 13 Lloyd, Atlantic Container Line, 26 March H arbor Way, Santa Barbara, CA 93 109; at Maine Maritime M useum; also on 23 Ph. 805 962-8404; www.sbm m.org) Ap ril "Fragile-Handle With Care: Mar• "Lasting Rejl.ections-Feuchter and itime Mistakes" by Cher Hopkins, former Castelli-Two Centuries of the Chesa- VP of Operatio ns, French Line. (MMM, peake" opens Saturday, 1 M ay, at the 243 Washington Street, Bath, ME 0453 0; Chesapeake Bay M aritime Museum (2 13 Ph. 207 443- 1316; www. mainemaririme N. Talbot Street, St. Michaels, MD 2 1663; museum .o rg) Ph. 4 10 745 -2916; www.cbmm.org) •"Drift Boats and River Dories" lecture •Working Waterfront, Photographic by Roger Fletcher, 3 April at the Columbia Portraits at the New Bedford Whaling Rive r Maritime M useum . (CRMM, 1792 Museum. The photos by Phillip Mellow Marine Dr., Astoria, OR 97103; Ph. 503 foc us on local shoreside workers and their 325-2323; www.crmm.org) jobs. (NBWM, 18 Johnn y Cake Hill, •"Armchair Paddlers' Guide to the New Bedford, MA 02740; Ph. 508 997- Schroon River" presentation by M ike Prescott, 11 April at 1:30PM at the Adiron0046; www.whalingmuseum.org) •Treasures of a President: FDR and the dack M useum (Rt. 28N & 30, Blue MounSea at South Street Seaport Museum in tain Lake, NY 128 12; Ph. 518 352-731 1; NYC (SSSM, 12 Fulton Sr., New York, www.adkmuse um.org) NY 10038; Ph. 2 12 748.8600 ; WWW. •1 7th Annual Cape Cod Maritime Days, southstreerseaportmuseum .o rg) month-long celebration, activities, and •Working Waterfronts: Planning and maritime histo ry symposium . (Check Preserving the Maritime Traditions of www.ecapechamber.com/MaritimeDays/ St. Joseph and Benton Harbor, through for upd ates on specific events and dates)

49

Reviews Gold Rush Port: The Maritime Archaeology of San Francisco's "Waterfront by James P. Delgado (University of California Press, Berkeley, 2009, 256pp, illus, appen, biblio, index, ISB N 978-0-52025580-7; $45hc)

Gold Rush Port: The Maritime Archaeology ofSan Francisco's Waterfront is rhe laresr

ir reads overmuch like an academic rreatise.

But rhis is a minor quibble, and one caused by rhe seemi ng contrasr berween earlier works by rhe aurhor, who is a fluid wri rer, and rhe sraid prose found here. His asserrions thar San Francisco's crearion and development are best und ersrood as a manifesrarion of rhe expansion of capitalism and the emergence of a world economy are

offering from prodigious aurhor Jam es Delgado. Based on over rhirty years of exrensive fieldwork and rhorough archival research , ir relares rhe srory of how San Francisco cam e ro play a major role in JAMES P. DELGADO global commerce. Tied ro rhe sea in ways rhar few ciries could expecr ro become, San Francisco grew from a sleepy ourposr ro a The Mari Lim_: Archaeology of San Franci sco 's Wat c rf~t busdingentrepor all because ofirs maririme connecrions. By analyzing and interprering rhe buried hulks associared wirh rhe Gold Rush of rhe mid-nineteenth century, Delgado is able ro convincin gly relay his argument thar the rise of San Francisco was nor "an accident arrribured ro rhe discovery of gold," bur had been carefully planned and orchestrared by enrrepreneuri al merchants and farsighred visionaries.

Ir is hard ro imagine this book being wrirten by anyo ne but Delgado. The most well defined and arriculated. In so doing, highly regarded scholar of San Francisco's Delgado makes a convincing case rhar maritime past, he has impeccable creden- rhe city of San Francisco was literally and tials, and has spent dozens of years investi- figurarively builr o n a maririme foundation. garing rhe buri ed ships rhar make up much This book's srrengrh is in irs rhesis: San of rhe subsrrare of modern San Francisco. Francisco was a porr before ir was a city, Ochers have given a rhorough reporr of and rhis allowed ir ro become rhe firsr rrue rhe process by which rhe city was "claimed Am erican entrepor in the Pacific Basin. from the sea" and, had rhis book merely Even before rhe frenzied acrivity associared expanded on d1ar srory, it wo uld have been with rhe Go ld Rush, the shoreline of San a welcome addirion. Bur this is more rhan Francisco was synonymous with its business a mere caraloguing of vessels such as rhe disrricr. This meant rhat ir was well-placed Niantic or General Harrison, or of orher ro arrracr inves rment in rransporr faci liries long-forgorren venues associared wirh San and commercial acrivity, and ro engage Francisco's sroried pasr. Indeed, Gold Rush in an exchange of mineral wealrh for rhe Port reveals new derails abo ur the cargoes mass- produced goods of the industrial age. contained in sroreships and warehouses When over rwo hundred sroreships were and provides a window in ro rhe pasr rhrough co nvened into warehouses rhey creared his descriprions of rhe sire formarion pro- rhe necessary infrasrrucrure for business cess. The aurhor then exrrapolares from and commercial exchanges. Delgado rhen rhese findin gs ro place his own scholar- merhodically places rhese ships-and rheir ship within a wi der rheorerical consrrucr, conrenrs-inro a wider cultural, hisrorical, parricularly rhat of rhe role rhar maririme and archaeological contexr so as ro explore rransport played in rhe developm enr of a the narure of maririme rrade and show how modern wo rld sysrem. Ar rimes, rhis im- rhar sysrem rransformed San Francisco. By pedes rhe progress of the book, bur rhis is looking at commodi ty flow, Delgado is able understandable: this is, afrer all , based on ro link the parricular of buried Gold Rush Delgado's docroral disserrarion, and ar rimes ships ro rhe generality of global economic

50

growth. His final conclusion is rhat San Francisco's waterfront was the center of a rapidly developing entrepot that was dominated by commission m erchants. As he writes, "rhe sroreships and rhe warerfront thar housed rhem are arrifacrs of the incorporarion of San Francisco inro rhe wo rld sysre m." The developmenr of rhe city was not jusr a byproductof rhe Gold Rush: by using maririme rrade and connecrions, and by managing and conrrolling rhe influx of commodiries and bui lding a successful entrepor, San Francisco became a central component of rhe global markerplace. While the observarion thar "San Francisco was dependant on maririme trade rhar linked it to national and inrernarional eco nomies" mighr nor be surprising, rhere is much here ro recommend this book ro special ises and the general public alike. Histo rians, archaeo logisrs, and ochers will find much to inform rheir own scholarship in rhis volume, and casual readers and aficionados will learn somerhing new each rime rhey peruse irs conrenrs.

TIMOTHY

G.

L YNCH, PHD

Vallejo, California

Charles Wilkes and the Exploration of Inland Washington "Waters: journalsfrom the Expedition of1841 edired by Richard W Blumenthal (McFarland & Co mpany, Inc., Publish ers, Jefferson , NC, 2009 , 320pp, maps, illus, appen, nores, biblio, index, ISBN 978-0-7864-4316-1; $49 .95pb) The 1838 ro 1842 US Exploring Expedirion (US Ex Ex) was rhe last nationallysponso red voyage of discovery to circle the globe under sail. As America's grandesr Enli ghtenment explorarory ges rure, the US Ex Ex produced volumes of Wilkes's own narratives, so me of the n ation's first surveyed charts outside its own terrirorial seas, and a wealth of o bj ecrs that wo uld become the core collectio n of rhe Sm ithso nian Institution.

The lay public first gor a comprehensive view of the Wilkes legacy only rwen ty years ago, when rhe Smithsonian assembled a travel ing exhibirion from irs own and orher collections. The exhibition's global scope was brearhraking, bur many specific details were lost in its sweep. The Pacific Norrhwest gor some anention in a synopt:ic volume,

The Wilkes Expedition: Puget Soiund and the Oregon Country, edired by FranKes Sarkin SEA HISTORY 130, SPRUNG 2010

and published by the Washington State Capital Museum, as a Wilkes exhibition and Washington State Centennial spin-off.

Blumenthal's new edition limits itself to Washington's Puget Sound, and fulfills the need to gather scattered journal material into a concise volume that triangulates the views of Wilkes, his officers, and crew into a composite impression of the expedition, its wo rk, and the world in which it found itself. By adding the journals of ten observers to Wilkes' own narrative, it creates a tableau of the precise moment in history between the eras ofdiscovery and settlement.

Their collective viewpoints capture Native American people and villages a decade before smallpox would decimate their populations. The visit to Puget Sound immediately precedes treaties with Great Britain and the tribes that would "settle" claims and counterclaims over the landscape and waves of immigrants who, by land and sea, would enter the Pacific Northwest. The observers record place names and describe natural features, as well as the mechanics of the survey effort itself-from malfunctioning equipment to insubordination and its retribution.

Blumenthal's edition advances scholarship opportunities by narrowing the Wilkes spectacle and, at the same time, magnifying its moment in time within a regional geography that has undergone great social and environmental transformation.

ROBERT STEELQUIST Sequim, Washington

The Great American Steamboat Race: The Natchez and the Robert E. Lee and the Climax of an Era by Benton Rain Patterson (McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, Jefferson, NC, 2009, 216pp, illus, notes, biblio, index, ISBN 978-0-78644292-8 ; $35pb) New Orleans, Thursday June 30th, 1870, minutes short of 5PM: a crewman's axe severs the single line holding the Robert E. Lee to the wharf. Captain and owner Jon W Cannon backs the stately-but stripped down-paddlewheeler into the Mississippi River and turns the vessel upriver. The official starting time is 4:59:45PM. As soon as the Lee is clear, Thomas P. Leathers, owner and captain of the Natchez, swings his vessel out into the stream. The signal cannon

SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 2010

booms at 5:02PM. The race of the century is on! On to St. Louis! ... a steamboat race was aspectaclewithout an equal...To see a well-matched pair of crack steamboats tearing past, foam flying, flames spurting from the tops of blistered stacks, crews and passengers yelling-the man or woman or - c!!!!!:=:'.j!I child . .. that had seen this had a story of Manhattan, is terra incogn.ita. A military to tell to grandchildren. post for most of its history, visits by civilians It certainly was not a race for the faint of were, until recent years, rarely authorized. heart. The two brawny captains were up Most New Yorkers were left to wonder to the task. Their rivalry for supremacy of what life was like on the island, so near speed on the river was intense, including a and yet so far. Now Ann L. Buttenwieser, fist fight in a saloon, after which they not an urban planner and author of Manhatonly ceased to speak to each other, they tan Water-Bound: Manhattan's Water-front refused to exchange whistle salutes whilst from the Seventeenth Century to the Present, passing on the river-a grave breach of has teamed up again with Syracuse Univerriverboat etiquette. This would not be the sity Press to offer this superlative addition to the growing literature of New York only etiquette breached during the race: subterfuges, cunning, what might even be Harbor.

The book's framework is chronologicalled unsportsmanlike behavior held sway, encouraged by the highly partisan groups cal, taking the reader from the eighteenth backing, betting, or simply cheering the century, when the 60th Regiment of Foot, the famous Royal Americans, were orgaboats on.

Ben ton Rain Patterson wri res a cracking nized on then-Nutten Island and Israel good narrative of the race, with the sort of excitement one might expect from a World THE GLENCANNON Series announcer in a right game between bitter rivals. Between innings, so to speak, PRESS he fills in the background through which the boars are hurtling: the Civil War aftermath and westward expansion, the role of steam navigation on the Mississippi, the social life on the majestic boats and the NEW! Hardluck Coast, characters who captained them. The many west coast shipwrecks ... archival photographs from the era are Grave Passage, a Henry excellent. A caveat: I found myself craving a chart to follow the boars upstream.

Grave Mystery ... An Act of Thoughts of Mark Twain's "Life on the Piracy, the story of the SS Mississippi" are unavoidable, bur rime Mayaguez ... Hollywood to and distance insure that this is Patterson's book. They make fine companions on the Honolulu, LosAngeles. S.S. bookshelf.

Co .... The Tankers from A ARDEN SCOTT to Z. The Victory Ships from Greenport, New York

lâ&#x20AC;˘~....,~I

Governors Island: The jewel ofNew York Harbor by Ann L. Buttenwieser (Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, NY, 2009, 288pp, illus, notes, biblio, index, ISBN 9780-8156-0936-0; $60hc) For most New Yorkers, Governor's Island, the small island off the southern tip

A to Z. The Liberty Ships from A to Z ... more.

FREE

1-800-711-8985 Online catalog at www.glencannon.com CATALOG

51

Putnam's artillery dissuaded che Bricish from kedging a frigace in co che Ease River and preventing John G lover's Marblehead boatmen from lifting rhe continental army off the Brooklyn shore co fighc again. The chronology ends with the 1997 departure of the US Coasc G uard and che island facing a brave new civilian future under che direction of the Governors Island Preservation and Educacion Corporacion, with a large portion operating as a National Park Service Landmark Hiscoric Discricc.

Added sections, termed "Island Highlights," expand on selected copies such as "Early Island Engineers" and "Island Music."

The evolution of engineering challenges and their solucions represem an imporram theme in the hisco ry of rhe island. Dozens of rare phocographs and illustrations bring rhe island and its garrisons alive. Its coffee table fo rmat is a triumph of the publisher's craft and explain the hefty price. For anyone imeresred in Governors Island or New York harbor, this is the one. }OSEPH

F.

MEANY, PHD

Annapolis, Maryland

Theodore Roosevelt's Naval Diplomacy: The US Navy and the Birth ofthe American Century by Henry J. Hendrix (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 2009, 272pp, illus, notes, biblio, index. ISBN 978 -159 11 4-363-6) In the interest of full disclosure, Theodore Roosevelt is this reviewer's favo rite US president and his heroics as a rancher, Under-Secretary of the Navy, Rough Rider, Commander-in -Chief, and posrpresidenrial explorer of The River ofDoubt are my favorite parts of his multifaceted life scory. I have read it from the pens of David McCullough and Edmund Morris, and cherish my first edition of Roosevelt's The Rough Riders, bur CD R Henry J. Hendrix, USN, brings cogerher the naval aspect of this many-sp len dored renaissance man in a fresh, easily-readab le, fast-moving way char successfully links up all the pieces.

In sum, Hendrix splendidly weaves the scory of Roosevelt's effect on the US Navy at rhe turn of the 20th century, and the navy's impact on Theodore Roosevelt's legacy. Borcom line: H endrix poims our,

at the rime of [Roosevelt's] entry imo public life, the United States was a rhirdrate power with a fifth-rate navy. When h e left the presidency in March 1909, the Uniced States scood firmly in the first tier of Grear Powers, and almost by sh eer force of will , Roosevelt had created the second most powerful navy o n earth ."

Along rhe way, CDR Hendrix tells us how Theodore Roosevelt became fascinated with ships and the sea, and how his overarching doctrine of congruent naval and global power emerged . In an episode reminiscent of Kennedy's Cuban Missile Crisis, we learn from fresh sources unearthed by H endrix of Roosevelt's use of the threat of naval fo rce and shrewd diplomatic maneuvering during eleven days in December 1902 co reaffirm the Mo nroe Doctrine in resolving the Venezuelan Crisis over Germany's attempt at colonial expansion. In the process, Hendrix sprinkles his narrative with littl e-known facts such as Kaiser Wilhelm II's thought of invading Long Island as a bargaining chip co use in his lust for a foothold in the Western Hemisphere.

ifrn:Dl IP«»JW Wli\jf IB111JIIJLir £ ~ill> ~~IDE

carnrw

Baltimore's Historic Maritime TV Series Produced by Helen Bentley at WMAR-TV from 1950-1965

60th Anniversary Commemorative DVD presented by

The Baltimore Museum of Industry Featuring 2 hours of historic 16m.m.film., not seen since 1965 •A 1955 History of the Port of Baltimore's 250 years • Highlights from programs on Black & Decker, Haussner's, McCormick Spices, Glenn L. Martin, Bendix & more • Helen Bentley interviewed by Alan Walden, illustrated with historic film of the port & its p e ople

Available at the Baltimore Museum of Industry 1415 Key Highway Baltimore, MD 21230

Call 410-727-4808 x 132 or order on our web site

www.thebmi.org T UGBOATS• SKIPJACKS •LIBERTY SHIPS• OLD B AY LINE N. S . SAVANNAH & MORE

52

SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 20 10

l \1

CDR Hendrix tells us of Roosevelt's use of th e naval services in support of the Panamanian independence movem ent of 1903 (thus facilitating his plans for the Panam a Canal), the Morocco-Perdicaris kidnapping incident of 1905, and in negotiating an end to the Russo-Japanese War (1905), as well as of the stunning diplomatic, technological and public relations achievement Theodore Roosevelt scored with the round-the-world voyage of the Great White Fleet of sixteen Atlantic Fleet Battleships in 1907-09 .

Theodore Roosevelt's Naval Diplomacy: The US Navy and the Birth ofthe New American Century is thoroughly researched with new primary sources and is a co mpelling read, documenting how one m an almost single-handed molded the modern US Navy.

No wonder, as C DR Hendrix indicates, we celebrate Navy Day on October 27, Theodore Roosevelt's birthday.

PHILIP]. WEBSTER St. Michaels, Maryland

Sir Francis Drake: The Construction of a Hero by Bruce Wathen (D .S. Brewer, 2009, 200pp, illus, biblio, index, ISBN 9781-84384- 186-9; $95hc) This is anew look at a well-worn subject.

However, it is not about the life of Drake but a careful review of the image of Drake as continually constructed and reconstructed by success ive generations of his countrymen ro reflect the needs and anxieties of each new era- often to justify the existing order. There is Drake rhe self-made man, explorer, slaver, circumnavigaror, pious churchgoer, hero of the Spanish Armada bat tles, supporter of the Crown, warrior founder of British sea power, leader of co mmercial enterprise, forefather of Nelso n and The Grand Flee t, political leader in the West Country and Parliamenr, and civic benefacto r who brought good wate r to Plymouth-all true to a greater or lesser degree, all seen through different lenses over rime.

Drake folk tales, legends and quasilegends have been told and re-told over the years: Drake's Drum , his supernatural powers, the Game of Bowls before setting out to defeat the Armada, and Drake's Prayer, whi ch helped rally a beleag uered Britain in World War II . Then the re is Drake's spirit supporting English freedom, nationalism, SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 2010

Protestantism, heroic endeavor, colonialism as a liberating influ ence, perso nal character development, moral superiority, racial tol erance-and even tourism!

Woven throu gh these attributes is Drake's transformation from sailor-warrior to secular saint. The methods of keeping the Drake story in the public eye are covered well, with written biographi es in the forefront, but including poetry, music, drama, pageants, movies, statuary, and paintings, with a few creations, such as Sir Henry Newbolt's poem "D rake's Drum," having particular power and longevity.

Ihe author mines a remarkably wide range of sources and m entions the development of serious biographi cal studies over the past two ce nruries . Howeve r, he shows only a modest interest in the real Drake, makes little effort to separate high-quality writings from pot boilers and distortions, emphasizes chan ges rather than continuities in the perception of Drake, and fails to recognize the accomplishments of researchers who have progressively given us more realistic views of Drake and his times, such as the superb life-and-times biography by John Sugden, which is mentioned only in passing. While clearly not a Drake-basher, he seems to delight in the eccentri c views of such writers as H arry Kelsey, and his repeated simplistic use of the term "p irate" sugges ts a lack of subtlety in his understanding of the real politics of the late sixteenth century.

Eventually Wathen, a strong relativist, concludes that "there is no 'authentic' Drake," a sentimenrwith which this nautical hisrorian begs ro differ, while he also states that Drake will not fade away but will be reshaped in the years ro com e, perhaps in terms of race and slavery srudies. Nevertheless, this is a good, albeit pricey, analysis for those willing ro read critically.

EDWARD VON D ER PORTEN San Francisco, California

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The Age of the Ship of the Line: The British and French Navies, 1650-1815

by Jonathan R. Dull (Unive rsity of Nebraska Press, Lincoln , 2009 , 25 0pp, ISBN 978-0-8032-1930-4; $29.95 hc) The Age ofthe Ship ofthe Line is a scholarl y, but compressed survey of 165 years of European struggles for the balance of power around the world, largely through the use 53

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of naval ships of the line. Ships of the line were sailing warships that formed parallel lines to engage opposing fleets and fire at each other. The advantage went to those with the heaviest broadsides and/or most powerful guns. This led to the building of larger and larger ships, mounting 40 to 110 guns and more.

The book presents a broad global view of the political and military history of the times, furn ishing numerous insights into the backgrounds and implications of many battles plus subsequent changes in economic and military strength and control of territory. This work is not about the maritime history of these vessels, but periodically refers to changes in numbers of available ships of the line, those that took part in various battles and the losses on all sides. Mentioned in aggregate, there are few references to their ratings, numbers of cannon and crew size, and only passing discussion about the evolution of ship design, rigging, cannon, projectiles, crew training, tactics, etc.

There is also little information about frigates, support ships, fire ships or transports that were also participants in these battles.

After a relatively sparse text, Dull's extensive notes section lists many additional reading sources, but it rarely contains commentary information that would be helpful.

The author leads the reader on an odyssey onboard a literary French TGV train-the countryside appears beautiful, but goes by too fast. It leaves vivid impressions with perhaps a mental promise to return some day for an in-depth visit. Like any good journey, thought-provoking end-of-chapter summations are welcome pauses during this rapid trip through complex historical events. Those chapters that emphasize French history's relationship with its navy are particularly insightful and carefully crafted. They demonstrate how 165 years of off-and-on wars between France and Britain almost ruined them while strengthening and enriching their European neighbors.

In summary, The Age of the Ship of the Line is a broad-brush work of a well-recognized scholar in the field of European naval history, an overview of a complex subject, a useful starting point for an extensive sojourn into a series of naval engagements that influenced much of wes tern world history.

Lours ARTHUR NORTON West Simsbury, Connecticut

An Act ofPiracy: The Seizure ofthe American.flag Merchant Ship Mayaguez in 1975 by Gerald Reminick (The Glencannon Press, Palo Alto, CA, 2009, 330pp, ISBN 978- 1889901-47-3; $22.95) Captain "Hell Roaring" Mike Healy: From American Slave to Arctic Hero by Dennis L. Noble and Truman R. Strobridge (Univ. Press of Florida, Gainesville, 2009, 384pp, ISB N 978-0-8130-3368-6; $34.95hc) Captains Contentious: The Dysfunctional Sons ofthe Brine by Louis A. Norton (Univ. of South Carolina Press, Columbia, 2009, 185pp, ISBN 978-1-57003-807-5; $29.95hc) Darwin's Armada: Four Voyages and the Battle for the Theory ofEvolution by Iain McCalman CW. W Norton & Co., New York, 2009, 423pp, ISBN 978-0-393-06814-6; $29.95hc) Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815 by Gordon S. Wood (Oxford University Press, 2009, 778pp, ISB N 978-0-19-503914-6; $35hc) The Finest Hours: The True Story of the US Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue by Michael J. Tougias and Casey Sherman (Scribner, New York, 2009, 224pp, ISB N 978-1-4165-672 1-9; $25hc) Gibbons v. Ogden: Law, and Society in the Early Republic by Thomas H. Cox (Ohio University Press, Athens, 2009, 260pp, ISB N 978-0-8214- 1846-8; $26.95pb) The Imperial Cruise: A Secret H istory of Empire and Wt'ir by James Bradley (Little, Brown, and Company, NY, 2009, 400pp, ISBN 978-0-316-00895-2; $29.99hc) Khubilai Khan's Lost Fleet: In Search ofa Legendary Armada by James P. Delgado (Univ. of California Press, Berkeley, 2009, 225pp, ISB N 978-0-520-25976-8; $29.95hc) The Sea King: The Life off ames Iredell Wt'iddell

by Gary McKay (Birlinn, EH, UK, 2009, 297pp, ISBN 978-1-84341-046-1; $ 16.50pb) The Sea:AnAntholO?gy ofMaritime Photography since 1843 edited by Pierre Borhan (Flammarion, Paris, Fraance, 2009, 300pp, ISBN 978-2-08-0300631-8; $75hc)

SEA HISTOIRY 130, SPRING 2010

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SEA HISTQ)RY 130, SPRING 20 l 0

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