Sea History 137 - Winter 2011-2012

NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY

WINTER 2011-12

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SEA HISTORY

No. 137

WINTER 201 1- 12

CONTENTS 10 The War of 1812: Year Three-1814, by W illiam H . W hi te As the ~r of 18 12 entered into its final year, the outcome was anything but certain. Naval battles from big ship action to small gunboat firefights in the Chesapeake, Lake Champ lain, and even far offin the Pacific would shift the winds of war in favor ofthe Americans, building to a final confrontation in New Orleans as 1814 came to a close.

18 Measure of the Earth: Navigation, Science, and the War of Jenkins's Ear,

by Larrie D . Ferreira In 1739, in the high altitude ofthe Andes M ountains, an international team ofscientists was four years into an exp edition to determine the shap e of the earth when the outbreak of war threatened to derail the expedition.

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22 A Verry Fatigueing Journey- The Van Valen Gold Rush Archive,

by Paul F. Johnston In 2 006, the Smithsonian's National Museum ofAmerican H istory acquired an archive belonging to A lexander Vtzn Vtzlen (1819-1869), one whose personal venture as a Gold Rush prospector provides us with an intimate look at the exp eriences shared by the hundreds of thousands who headed to California round Cap e Ho rn seeking their fortune.

26 Virginia Woolf's Maiden Voyage, by Christie Jackson and Richard J. King Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), one ofthe founders of the M odernism literary m ovement and considered one ofthe most important writers in English literature, set her first novel aboard a steamship. The choice was far from random; she traveled by steamship herselfa few years before she published The Voyage O ur, and the descrip tions she uses in the novel provide a look into early nineteenth-century passenger travel by sea.

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34 Marine Watercolors by Cheng-Khee Chee, by Jon Swanson and Cheng-Khee Chee Award-winning watercolorist Cheng-Khee Chee has sp ent his life split between the East and West, and his paintings are clearly manifestations of both traditions. The Minnesota Marine Art Museum is currently exhibiting his p aintings in a show that features forty of,~is marine watercolors. Mr. Chee shares a selection of them here and explains how his choice of marine subjects and the blending ofEast and West traditions has defined his art.

Cover: Commodore Thomas Macdonough, ca. 1815118 18.

Painting by Gilbert Stuart, oil on wood, 28 9116 x 23 1h 6 inches

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Thomas M acdonough led the US Navy's fleet of ships on Lake Champlain to victory over the British in the last year of the ~r of 1812. (See p ages 10-17)

DEPARTMENTS 4 D EC K LOG AN D L ETTERS 8 N MHS: A C AUSE IN MOTION 30 SEA HI STORY FOR Kms 38 MARITIME H ISTORY ON THE I NTERN ET

40 49

SHIP N OTES, SEAP ORT & M USEUM NEWS

51 56

REYl EWS

CALEN DAR

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NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY

DECK LOG Bicentennial of the War of 1812, Ways to Participate

T

he bicentennial of the War of 18 12 is now at hand, and the Natio nal Mari time Historical Society has been working diligently with groups across No rth America and in E ngland planning events and educational activities, and pub lishing War of 18 12 history articles. Soon we will be releasing Our Flag Uias Still There, a highly readable history of the conflict written by War of 18 12 historian and author W illiam H . W hi te and a guide to commemo rative events yo u won't want to miss. These commem orative offerings marking America's "second war for independence" inspire the public to learn more about our nation's histo ry and, specifically, about the role our m aritime heritage plays in our national story. We urge you to take advantage of as many opportunities as you can, from authoritative books and educational conferences to The Brig N iagara on Lake Erie. museum exhibits, 18 12-era replica ship po rt visits, and reenactments from New Orleans to the G reat Lakes and Canada. All provide excellent opportunities for authors, teachers, museums, organizations, and ships to share the important lessons of our seafarin g heritage.

There will be no shortage of spectacle in the bicentennial celebratio ns; O pSail and the Naval History and H eritage Command are organizing a spectacular Tall Ships Parade of Sail up the East Coast, starting in New Orleans in Apri l and visiting ports in Norfolk, Baltimore, N ew York, Boston, and New Lo ndon before heading to the G reat Lakes. There will be call sh ips and gray hulls, Blue Angels air shows, fireworks, and festivals.

The War of 18 12 dem onst ra ted to Americans the val ue ofastrong navy. W illiam H . W hite, who no t only penned Our Flag Uias Still There, but also has been covering the W ar of 181 2 in Sea History, declares that "the strong personalities of our early naval offi cers and their actions, when faced with conflict, undoubtedly co ntributed to why the fledgling American navy survived. They wo uld win by audacity, co nfidence, and co urage."

Look to the N MHS website at www. seahistory.org fo r infor m atio n o n 18 12 commemorative activiti es throughout the coming year. There, yo u'll see events and activities listed by date and locatio n, plus . . . resources, links, and updated inform ation Reenactment of the Battle ofMzsszssznewa as the year goes by, and look for even mo re features and improvements in o ur website in the new year. In addition to www.seahistory.org, we encourage yo u to visit the US Navy's website on the War of 18 12 bicentenni al at www.o urflagwass tillthere.org.

M ost of the big events will start in the spring, but yo u can prepare by learnin g more about the history of the War of 18 12 in Sea History and online. Plus, look fo r Our Flag Uias Still There-available on our website in D ecember. Sea History will co ntinue to feature info rmation on a wide range of angles of the War of 18 12 through 201 4, including perspectives from the UK, Canada, and the civilian population , plus a look at the music, art, and culture in spired by these important events. We are excited to contin ue learning m o re about it together. -Burchenal Green, President

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NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY

PU BLISH E R'S C IRCLE: Peter Aro n, G uy E.

C. Ma itland, W il liam H . W hite OFFICERS & T RUSTEES : Chairman, Ro nald L. Oswald ; Vice Chairman, Ri chard o R . Lo pes; President, Burchenal G reen; Vice Presidents, De irdre O ' Regan, Na ncy Sc hn aa rs; Treasurer, H owa rd Slo tni ck; Secretary, Thom as F. Daly Trustees: C harl es B. And erso n; Walter R. Brow n; RADM Joseph F. Callo, USNR (Rer.); James Car ter; D avid S. Fowler; W illiam Jackso n G reen; Virgini a Steele G rubb ; Karen H el merso n; Ro bert Kamm; Ri chard M .

Larrabee; Capr. Sally C hin M cElwreath , USN R (Rer.); James J . McNamara; Mi chael W M o rrow; T imothy ]. Runyan; Richard Scarano; Phi lip J. Shapiro; Brad fo rd D . Smith; H. C. Bowe n Smith ; Cesa re Soria; Ph ilip J . Webster; D aniel W. W halen; W illi am H . White; Jean Wo rt Chairmen Emeriti, Wa lter R. Brown, Alan G. C hoate, G uy E. C. Maitl and , Howard Slotnick; President Emeritus, Peter Stanford FOUN D ER: Karl Kortum (191 7-1996) OVERSEERS: Chairman, RADM David C. Brown; C live C ussler, Richard du Mo ul in , Alan D. Hutchison, Jakob lsbrandtse n, Gary Jobson , Sir Robin Kn ox-Johnston, Jo h n Lehman, Brian McAl lister, John Stobart, W ill iam Winterer N MHS ADVISO RS : Chairman, M elbourne Smith; D. K. Abbass, Geo rge Bass, O swald Bren, Francis J . Duffy, John S. Ewald , T imothy Foo re, W illiam Gi lkerson, Steven A. H ym an, J . Russell Jinishian, H ajo Knuttel , Gunnar Lu ndeberg, Joseph A. M aggio, Co nrad Milster, W illiam G . M uller, Stuart Parnes, Lori Di llard Rech, Na ncy Hughes Ri chardson, Bert Rogers, Joyce Huber Smirh

SEA HISTORY EDIT ORIAL ADVISORY BOARD: Chairman, Timothy J. Runyan; N o r m a n J. Brouwe r, Rob e rr Bro w nin g, W illiam S. Dudley, Daniel Finamore, Kevin Foster, John Odin Jensen, Josep h F. M ea ny, Lisa No rling, C arla Rah n Ph illips, Walter Rybka, Quemin Snediker, W illiam H . Wh ite NMH S STAF F: Executive D irector, Burchenal G reen ; Membership D irector, Nancy Schn aa rs; Communications D irector, Suzanne Isakse n; Marketing D irector, Steve Lovass-Nagy; Accounting, Jill Romeo; Store Sales & Volunteer Coordinator, Jane M aurice

SEA HISTORY. Editor, D eirdr e O ' Rega n ; A dvertising D irector, We ndy Paggio tta; Copy Editor, Shelley Reid; Editor-at-Large, Peter Stanford

SEA HISTORY 13 7, WINTER 2011 - 12

LETTERS Privateers vs. Letters of Marque As always, I enjoyed the Autumn issue of Sea Histo ry, especially the continuing series on the Warofl812 by Wi ll iam H . White. I do take issue, however, with yo ur characteriza tion of the schooner Lynx as a privateer (photo caption, page 14) . While the new Lynx is an impressive and beautiful vessel, the history of the original vessel is being misrepresented. Although referred as such in the article and again on page 30, Lynx was not, in fact, a true privateer. She was never intended to serve as one, never attempted to rake a prize, and indeed never took one. Lynx was always intended as a letter of m arque or blockade runner. Ir was in that capaciry she sailed o n her one successful voyage to France, and it was in that capaciry that she was captured in the C hesapeake while awaiting ano ther opportuniry to dash across the Atlantic.

Although blockade runners often took out privateering commissions, there were several important distinctions between privateers and letters-of-marque vessels, which sailed from US pons during the War of 1812. Priva teers were intended to take prizes; letters of marque were intended to carry cargo. Privateers "cruised" in search of enemy merchant vessels; letters of m arque sailed from port to port. Privateer crews served for a share of prizes taken; letters-of-marq ue crews served for a set wage.

Privateers seized wealth from their enemies by taking their ships and cargoes; letters of marque m ade money off civilians by exploiting wartime shortages. The difference between privateers and letters of m arque during this conflict is not som e modern distinction but was clearly drawn at the time, as anyo ne who has studied contemporary documents will confirm .

A better cho ice of a modern vessel to illustrate this article might have been the Pride of Baltimore. Like Lynx, she is a modern representation of the Baltimore clipper-sryle topsail schooners that were so successful during the war-both as priva teers and letters-of- marque. Unlike Ly nx, Pride represents a historic vessel that was indeed a genui ne privateer-Chasseur. The better-than-fiction exploits of Tom Boyle and Chasseur are detailed in many books, including Fred H opkins's Tom Boyle: Master Privateer (Tidewater Publishers, 1976).

A less-spectacular choice to illustrate a

SEA HISTORY 13 7, WINTER 2011-12

privateering vessel from the War of 1812 Perks of Membership would have been my humble Fame, a C he- Membership in the National Maritime Hisbacco boat that sent the first two prizes of torical Sociery has d imensionalized my life, the war in to Salem , Massachusetts. Fame launching me on a maritime omnib us and made som e twenry captures while embark- revealing enrichmems beyo nd imagination. ing on mo re priva teering cruises (12) than I have joined crews of the Kalmar Nyckel any other American privateer of the war. (Wilmington, DE) and the A.] Meerwald For more information, visit SchoonerFame. (Bivalve, NJ), sailed aboard the Woodwind com. A representation of Fame conducts (Annapolis, MD) in the Great C hesapeake public sails and private charters our of her Bay Schooner Race (at almost sixteen knots hi sto ric home port of Salem. and the Pride ofBaltimore II sailing just off CAPTAIN MICHAEL RuTSTEIN our stern), experienced a personal tour of Salem, Massach usetts the Charles W Mo rgan (Mystic, CT) generously provided by the legendary Matthew Stackpole, and lunched with the author of Eagle Memories Thanks for a memory-jogging article abo ut Shipwrecked, Dave Horner-all in less than yo ur experience aboard the USCG Barque a year! My NMHS cloiso nne lapel pin and Eagle. I was fortunate enough to make two the pride I experience whenever anyone cruises in the Eagle: our "short" cruise to notices it and asks about it emboldens me Bermuda in 1954 (returning thro ugh to invo lvement never imagined ... .I virtuHurricane Carol) and the "long" cruise in ally become "NMHS M an," with powers 1955 to Glasgow, Le H avre, Lisbon, and beyond (well, yo u get the idea).

Funchal, Madeira. The latter was notable to LLOYD CO LLI NS Washington, DC me because my father had visited Funchal in the New York State Schoolship Newport in 1924, under the command of Felix RiN ews from South Street I read Peter Sranford's excellent article esenberg. You can imagine the enjoyable hours Dad and I spent comparing itiner- about the difficult prob lems facing what aries, experiences and (especially!) square- I still th ink of as the South Street Seaport rigged ship handling. N ow I'm off to the Museum. Fro m what I have read , it apHouston Maritime Museum for a program pears that through the effo rts of a number about shipwrecks in the G ulf of Mexico. of dedicated people, the Seaport and its Thanks again for what you do. sh ips wil l be saved and will beco me a part PETER 0. HERB ERT of the Museum of the C iry of New York.

Housto n, Texas The Save our Seaport gro up deserves to be

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

bays-if you appreciate the legacy of those who sail in deep water a nd their wo rkada y craft, then you belong with us.

Join Today !

Mail in the form below, phone 1 800 221-NM HS (6647), or visit us at: www.sea history.org (e-mail: nmhs@seahistory.org)

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commended for making people awa re of the situation and for fighting to preserve such an important part of our maritime history. I have been a long-rime supporter of the National Maritime Historical Society and an avid reader of Sea History. I was introduced to Peter Stanford many yea rs ago by my uncle, Frank Braynard. At the time (!are 1960s and early 70s), I was starting my career as a young trainee at W R. Grace & Co. I recall the efforts char wem into getting the Seaport starred and even more Frank's tireless work to make his dream of O pSail '76 a reality. OpSai l '76 was the highlight of rhe nation's bicentennial, while So uth Street Seaport became a continuing and wonderful reminder of our country's maritime heritage. If Frank were living today, he would be grateful to yo u, to his fri end Peter Stanford, and to all those who worked with the Save our Seaport gro up to help keep chis heritage alive. As I recall the extrao rdinary effort over many years that Frank put in to make both th e Seaport and OpSail a reality, I appreciate what yo u have done as well.

ART PEABODY

Houston, Texas OWN ER'S STATEM ENT Srare menr fi led 9/28/ I l required by rhe Act of Aug. 12, 1970 , Sec. 3685, Ti tl e 39, US Code: Sea History is published quarterl y a t 5 John Wa lsh Blvd ., Pee kskill NY 10566; minimum subscrip t io n price is $ 17.50.

Pub lisher an d ed itor- in-c hi ef: No ne; Ediro r is De irdre E. O ' Regan; ow ner is Na tion al Maritime Hisrori cal Socie(y, a non -profir corpo rarion ; all are located at 5 John Wa lsh Blvd. , Pee kskill NY 10566. During th e 12 months p reced in g Ocrober 20 11 th e ave rage num ber of (A) co pies printed each iss ue was 25,576 ; (B) pa id an d/or requ es ted circul atio n was: (1 ) o utside co unty mai l subscri ptio ns 7, 879 ; (2) in -co unty subscription s O; (3) sales th ro ugh deale rs, ca rri ers, co unter sales, o the r no n- USPS paid disrriburi o n 150 ; (4) oth er classes mailed through USPS 330 ; (C) total paid and/ or requested circu lat io n was 8,359; (D) free d ist ri butio n by ma il, sa mp les, co mplimen tary a nd o ther 15,935; (E) free distribution o uts ide t he mails 423; (F) total free distr ib ut ion was 16,858; (G) to ta l d isr riburio n 25,2 17; (H ) cop ies not distr ib uted 359; (I) to tal [of 15G a nd HJ 2 5,576 ; (]) Perce ntage pa id a nd/or requ esred circula ti o n 34% . The accual numbers fo r the sin gle iss ue p recedi ng O ctober 20 .11 are: (A) tota l number p rinted 25,532; (B) paid and/or requ es ted circu lat io n was : (I ) outside-county ma il subscri ptio ns 8, 11 9 ; (2) in -co unty subscription s 0 ; (3) sales throu gh dealers, ca rri ers, co unrer sales, other non - USPS paid d istr ibution 188; (4) ot her classes ma il ed throu gh USPS 384; (C) tota l paid and/ or reques ted circulatio n was 8,69 1; (0 ) free d iscriburion by mail, sampl es, co mp limentary and o ther 15, 116; (E) free d istrib ut io n ou rs ide rh e mails 503; (F) tota l free distr ibu t io n was 16 ,424; (G) to ta l distribution 25,5 11 5; (H) cop ies nor disrr ibu red 4 18; (I ) to tal [of I 5G and HJ 25, 532; (]) Perce ntage paid and /o r requ esred circu lat ion 35% . I ce rti fy char th e above sracemenrs a re correct and complete. (s igned) Burchena l G reen, Executi ve Di recto r, N ation al Ma rit ime Hisro ri cal Society.

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Around the Cabin Lamp Arr Peabody's letter (left) vividly reminds us how many people, including great leaders like Frank Braynard, did wonderful things in fo unding the South Street Seaport Museum as the active, people-involving institution it was in its early years. In the last issue's "Around the Cabin Lamp," I recalled how things were then , and how yo ung volunteers supported by som e old codgers like myself, mindful of the leading role the Seaport had played in the life of New York, had rallied to form Save Our Seaport to get our beloved museum off the rocks.

As early as April, Mayo r Bloomberg let it be known that he intended to see the museum reconstituted and set on a new course. In October the replacement of the existing board and management, which we had called for, was announced. The wellrun and popular Museum of the C ity of New York was named to rake charge for a trial period of 18 months, and on 2 November the MCNY director Susan Henshaw Jo nes invited Save Our Seaport to hold its next meeting at the museum .

Art, and others who care for a revival of the city's great Seaport Museum of yo re, it is a pleasure to report the wild cheering that broke our, shakin g the venerable timbers of the museum's headquarters in Schermerhorn Row, when M s. Jones announced that the museum had resolved to revive its former name of South Street Seaport Museum . This recognition of South Street, the city waterfront street o nce lined with the tall ships that co nnected the city to the wider wo rld, went to the heart of the story that Save Our Seaport m embers felt the museum was here to tell.

Jerry Gallagher, the museum's new general manager, had already held working meetings with members of Save Our Seaport to re-enlist the volunteer energies and ski lls that had helped no t only to maintain the museum ships but to put the smaller vessels to wo rk in active sailing programs-a sure first step towards realizing the aim so clearly articulated by rhe museum's founding chai rman Jakob Isbrantsen when he said: "We're not just go ing back to the past here, we're getting down to fund amentals."

Neglect of those fundamentals of the seafaring experience led the museum to be trivialized in city planning circles, as "an amenity"-a bone to a dog. As a result, the new managem ent faces towering problems as the future of its wa terfront is decided.

No provision has yet been made, we learn, by the Economic D evelopment Corporation-which is calling the shots-for docking the Wavertree in South Street.

The museum's principal square rigger, Wavertree helped shape the museum's mission even before we brought her to M anhattan in from a distant backwater in Buenos Aires. Such sh ips are viral to the Seaport story, which is not about the virtual reality too often fobbed off on the public instead of the real thing.

The M arine Society of New York has offered to host a m eeting of interested parties to consider forming a consortium to rake over Pier 15, immediately south of the sole pier now left to the museum. The consortium would set up a changing exhibit on city waterfront developments- past, present and future-in the pier building, which will provide a clear locus for learning about what the city's Planning Commission has called the city's sixth borough. This unofficial designation indicates the priority the Planning Commission believes should be given to the city's waterfronts and wa terways as the priceless assets these are, educationally and culturally, but now being sold off fo r short-term real estate income. Making this pier a center of city waterfront development wo uld add a special public experience to rhe greenway now planned along the Seaport waterfront.

And nothing could better occupy rhe water spaces, surely, than rhe tall ships that built a city from the sea.

PETER STANFORD

Sea History Editor-at-Large NMHS President Emeritus Co-founder So uth Street Seaport Museum

SEA HISTORY 137, WINTER 2011-12

Off to Fiddler's Green William Kooiman (1927-2011) Bill Kooiman joined the US Navy as a teenager in 1945, served again during the Korean War, and grad uated from George Washington University in 1950. H e worked for Grace Lines for twenty years as a ship's purser, transiting the Panama Canal more than ninety rimes.

In 1963 he became chief purser for SS Hope, rhe first peace ri me hospital ship, and served there until the vessel was retired in 1973. In the 1980s Bill began work on what became a defi nitive history, The Grace Ships, 1869-1969. Nor an established author at rhe rime, he had to publish the book himself. Remarkably, his self-published book sold our, and today it sells in the rare book marker at several rimes its initial price. In 1989, parrly as a result of counrless hours spent in rhe ]. Porter Shaw Library at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, Bill began a second career as reference librarian, reti rin g after twenty years in 2009. His perso nal experience at sea, coupled with his self- taught research skills and an extensive knowledge of both maritime history and the collection at the J. Porter Shaw Library, all coalesced with a genial personality and his genuine interest in researchers and their pursuits. Bill became known nati o nwide as the person to go to fo r prompt answers, and rhe]. Porter Shaw Library likewise developed a reputatio n for its excellence in reference service. Nor surprisingly, througho ut his second career, Bill pursued his personal interest in maritim e histo ry, publishin g a continuing stream of articles; when he retired from the library, he was the most-published member of rhe SFMNHP staff. Rest in Peace, Bill, you were a good shipmate. -David Hull Principal Librarian {RET), J Porter Shaw Library, SFMNHP

Captain Arthur M. Kimberly (1922-2011) Captai n Arthur Kimberly cast off for his final voyage on 17 September at the age of 89. H e passed peacefu lly at home in New Sm yrna Beach, Florida, in the company of his fami ly and several of hi s former shipmates from the briga ntine Romance, including Captain Dan Moreland (m aster, Picton Castle). Known as "Skipper" ro all who sailed with him, Captain Kimberly and his wife G loria sailed Romance from 1966 ro 1989 on voyages throughout the Caribbean and the Sourh Pacific, and twice aro und the wo rld. He trained hundreds of yo ung seam en in the proper way of a ship. Skipper was well qualified ro do so, as one of the last Americans who sailed around Cape Horn in commercial square-riggers. In recognition of his co ntributions to sail training and the preservation of maritime ski lls and traditions, Captain Kimberly was awarded the NMHS Karl Kortum American Ship Trust Awa rd in 200 8 and the American Sail Training Association (now Tall Ships America) Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996. For those of us lucky eno ugh ro sail with Skipper, ir was the best apprenticeship rhar a yo ung seafarer could ever hope for. For those who follow afrerward s, know rhar his legacy is alive and well and hard at work in many fin e vessels throughout the tall ship fleet. Skipper was never a self-promoter, and he didn't write books. His reputation was earned by simply being himself-a rough, skillful, and authentic seaman. Few individuals have had greater impact on rhe broad scope of sail training in America than Arthur Kimberly. We say goodbye ro the m an and pay our utmost respects to his great life of the sea. -Bert Rogers, Executive Director, Tall Ships America

Joseph E. Garland (1922-2011) Historian, author, and columnist Joe Garland of G loucester, Massachusetts, died o n 30 August at his home o n Eastern Point. H e was born in Boston but had a strong connection ro Glo ucester from a yo ung age, spending childhood summers at his fami ly's hom e o n Cape Ann. As a writer, he covered the stories and histo ries of numerous subjects, bur his passion for G loucester's history, particularly the city's maritime history, becam e a major focus of his life and work. In addition ro counrl ess columns and articles for rhe Gloucester Times, he was also the author of twenty-five books, including Lone Voyager and D own to the Sea: the Fishing Schooners of Gloucester. Garland graduated from H arva rd University before serving in rhe US Army's Intelligence and Reconnaissa nce Platoon of rhe 45rh Infantry Divisio n's 157 rh Regiment, serving in Italy and France during World War II. After the war he wo rked for various newspapers from M inneso ta to New England before settling down in G loucester in rhe late 1950s. H is research was thoro ugh and his writing a joy ro read, weaving detailed history with local culture and a good bit of humor. His books on Gloucester served more than just a regional interest, as those studying rhe history of comm ercial fishing, the schooners of G loucester and Essex and the men who worked them, and the long histo ry of the regio n dating back to rhe 17'h century will undo ubtedl y seek our his books. His pass io n for maritime hi story was clear, bur his interests were nonetheless dive rse. His last book, Unknown Soldiers: Reliving World Ular II in Europe (2008), is an important co ntribution to the historiography of Wo rld War II, written by a dedicated historian whose perso nal wartime experience lends weight and intimacy to the story. In addition ro being a prolifi c writer of the past, Garland was an involved citizen in his local communi ty, and causes about which he felt strongly often benefited from his strong voice and active involvement.

SEA HISTORY 137, WTNTER201 l-1 2

7

NMHS: A CAUSE IN MOTION Service, Leadership, Dedication: The 2011 NMHS Annual Awards Dinner in New York Honors Achievement in the Maritime Heritage Community

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n O ctober, rhe Narional M aririme Histo rical Sociery recognized four individuals who have made impo rtant conrriburio ns towards preserving our maririme heritage at its annual gala awa rds dinner in New York C iry. Againsr a backdrop of hundreds of ship models and fanras ri c maririm e art which ado rn th e New Yo rk Yacht C lub's model room, N MHS Chairman Ronald Oswald remarked thar chis yea r's awa rdees have nor onl y made las ring contriburions to the fi eld, bur rhey have inspired ochers to embark o n o r continue rheir efforts in wharever as pect of m aritime heritage rh ey might be involved. The missio n co nrinues, thanks to their ongoing work and the high standards they set.

We were proud to recognize rhe Honorable John F. Lehman, for mer secrera ry of rhe navy, wirh the NMHS Distinguished Service Award and to have dinner chairman D aniel Whalen present the awa rd . The Bravo Zulu Award was presenred to a lo ng-time fri end of the Sociery, Admiral Robert J. Papp Jr., Commandanr, U ni red Stares Coast G uard, who has been a vocal advocate of the value of teaching C oas t G uard history to rhe m en and women in the C oasr Guard and to the pub lica history of doing exrraordinary work wirh o rdinary means. Shipping execurive and N MH S ch airm a n emeritus C lay Maitland presented rhe awa rd. The David A. O'Neil Sheet Anchor Award was pre- (above, 1-r) NMH S chairman Ron Oswald, sentedto N MHSchairman chairman emeritus Clay M aitland, and A demerirus Walter R. Brown miral Robert]. Papp J r. by president of US Sailing and America's Cup winner Gary Jobson, who also serves as an N MHS overseer. Finally, the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Maritime Education was presenred to Woodson K. Woods and the Lynx Educational Foundation by awa rd-winning aurhor and N MHS trustee W illiam H . W hite.

The impo rtant wo rk do ne by each of the fo ur recipients was vividly broughr to life in the short documentaries produced by N MHS vice-chairman Rick Lopes and his crew ar Lopes Picrure Company, a The 2 011 NMH S awardees (1-r): Woodson K Woods, John F highlighr of rhe evening. All of rh e award recipients were excellenr speakLehman, Admiral Robert]. Papp J r., and Walter R. Brown. ers, discussing rhe val uable li fe lessons rhey have learned rhrough sailing and time ar sea, and how rhese experiences have srrengthened them in life in myriad ways . Each recipient spoke abo ur rhe impo rtanr role rhe Sociery pl ays as rh e narional voice of rhe maririme herirage communi ry, and how crucial iris to cominue rhe high qualiry of "- Sea H istory, rhe books published by Sea Histo ry Press, and rhe o rganization's website. 1hey congratulated the Sociery's stand in being proacrive in irs efforrs to save iconic historic ships.

Gary Jobson a1id C lay M aitland ably served as joint mas ters of ceremony, and rhe USCG Academy Cader Idlers, under rhe direction of Dr. Robert Newton , entertained dinner guests wirh music of the sea that ranged from parrioric runes to ro llickin g chanteys, m akin g ir a most memorable evening. The evem was a lively and inrim are gatherin g of rhe maritime com m uni ry, highlighting great works in rhe maritime field while raising essemial funds fo r the Sociery. - Burchenal Green, President

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D r. Robert Newton (2nd from right) and choral groups from the US Coast Guard Academy have p erformed at the NMH S Annual Awards Dinners for many years. This year, they were particularly honored to sing for the Commandant ofthe United States Coast Guard, Admiral Robert]. Papp J r. (center), who was one ofthe evening's honorees.

8

SEA HISTORY 137, WINTE R 2011-12

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1he War of 18

by William H. White

U

ntil mid-September, 1814 was not a great year for the struggling United States of America. But by autumn, the winds of war had shifted and the Americans prospered in telling engagements both in Baltimore and on Lake Champlain, signaling that, in spite of the Royal Navy's tight blockade of the East Coast, extraordinary resources, and e~perienced military, the Americans wo uld not fall under their domination.

The British reappeared in the Chesapeake Bay in the spring, terrorizing the citizens on both shores. Elsewhere, they had tightened the blockade to the point where very few ships could slip through. Napoleon's abdication in Europe, whi le a grand success for the English, became a huge problem for the Americans. The troops formerly commanded by the Duke of Wellington, the "Iron Duke," in Europe were now available to fight on the North American front, and ships heretofore engaged in harassing the French coast and shipping could sail immediately for America to reinforce the blockade. The British now had sufficient naval resources in place to chase down any American ships that successfully made it to sea. However, when offered command of the British troops in Canada, Wellington is reported to have said that he wo uld not consider it until such time as the British controlled the waterways along the border.

Without that control, he claimed, the British, no matter how many troops they put on the ground, could not hope to win the border conflict. While there were ample naval resources in the Atlantic, EnglandlikeAmerica- had to build in situ the ships they needed on the Great Lakes. But like the year before, England had to import almost all the materiel necessary in the construction of their ships, while the Americans had it readily at hand. And once again, a building race commenced in Canada along the border; on ly this time, instead of Lake Erie, it was on Lake Champlain.

When the British formed their blockade of the East Coast, there were American warships already at sea. These vessels for the most part stayed at sea, replenishing in neutral and friendly ports as necessary. In April of 1814, perhaps energized by their victory in Europe, the British frigate HMS Orpheus (36) captured

10

the smaller USS Frolic (22) and then, with other assets of the Royal Navy, extended the blockade through New England.

You may recall that eastern (northern) New England had been given a pass to ensure its continued cooperation with the British during the early days of the blockade. With additional ships, troops, and materiel, that coast was no longer necessary to the English and joined the rest of the eastern seaboard in its misery.

Once the British began their occupation of eastern Maine (then part of Massachusetts), British warships sailed more or less where they wished with impunity, but didn't always win when confronted with an American ship; USS Peacock (22) sank the British brig Epervier and our Wasp (22) defeated HMS Reindeer (19) in June.

By March of 1814, David Porter had been wildly successful in the Pacific capturing British whalers. His cruise of devastation had lasted more than a year when he returned east from the far reaches of the Pacific to refit and restock his ships (USS Essex and Essex junior) in neutral Chile when two British ships found him. HMS Cherub (26) and HMS Phoebe (46) had been sent from England specifically to find him and put an end to his destruction of their whaling fleet. They anchored off shore , essentially precluding Por-

ÂĽEARTH

David Porter ter's departure. The senior commander was Captain James Hillyar in Phoebe.

Porter's two ships, his frigate of 46 guns (mostly short-range carronades) and a converted British whaler he had named Essex junior and fitted out with a few guns, would be no match for two "real" warships, each equipped with long guns of notably greater range than his carronades. Nonetheless, he offered Hillyar the opportunity to try his luck at single-ship combat, Essex

USS Peacock vs. HMS Epervier, 29 April 1814, offthe coast ofFlorida.

SEAHISTORY 137, WINTER2011-12

REE,1814 versus Phoebe. It was possible, he reasoned, that with superior sk ill and abilities he just might be able to survive such a m eeting and escape back to sea. H illyar, perhaps suspecting the same outcome, declined the offer.

Eventually, Porter had to sail and brought h is ships out of Valparaiso, hoping to get pas t the enemy ships. H e was in neutral waters and reasonably felt that Hillyar would respect C hile's neurrality. A sudden squall brought down a topmas t on Essex, and Porter sought refu ge in a sm all bay to effect repairs. Phoebe and Cherub followed him in and attacked, despite the obvious fac t that they were still in Chilean waters.

After a hard-fought battle, Porter was forced to srrike and his ship was captured . H e and his crew were given their parole (m eaning t hey were released after givi ng their word they wo uld not take up arms against England aga in) and sent home in Essex junior.

Porter fel t that since he had been attacked in neutral waters and thus captured illegally, his parole was invalid; they m ade it home in time to assist in the defense of Baltimore in September that yea r.

With the onset of summer, things heated up along the border with Canada.

The American general Jacob Brow n took the offensive and led h is troops, rrained by W in field Scott, across the N iaga ra River to lay siege to British-held Fort Erie. The sm all British garrison there surrendered, and Brown led his fo rce north in search of the m ain British army. U nder former congressman Peter Porter, a sm all troop of militia was successful in routing a band of Indians they encountered near the Chippawa River, but shortly thereafter, those same militiam en were routed in disarray

by British reg ulars. Winfield Scott fortuito usly appeared w ith about 1,5 00 of his regulars and engaged the enemy. The shocked Englishmen realized they were now facing American Army troops rather than the ill-trained militia and broke when Scott mounted a bayonet charge, d rivi ng them across the river. The relati vely short engagement becam e known as the Bat tle ofChippawa and proved that t raining and discipline can m ake Am erican sold iers the m atch of any British unit.

Brown subsequently moved his fo rce across the Chippawa River, ho ping to link

SEA HISTORY 13 7, WINTER 2011-1 2

up with Isaac C hauncey fo r a combined assault on the British bases along the river.

C hauncey was once again ill, resentful of Brown, and, as usual, slow to respond. Eschewing naval support, Brown led his 1,000 soldiers to a point north of the river, not far from Niagara Fa lls, and, with General Scott, attacked a superior British force at Lundy's Lane. U nli ke many battles of the time, this one continued into night, its noise almos t completely d rown ing out the roar of N iaga ra Falls! Both sides received reinfo rcem ents and both suffered dreadful losses. Brown and Scott were seriously wo unded ; Scott's injuries we re serio us enough to fo rce him out of the war. So violent was the fighting that a detachment under Colonel Jam es Miller led a ferocious and successful charge right into the artillery anchoring the center of the British line; his m en ac tually bayoneting the soldiers ma n ning t h e gu n s! D es pite rep eated counterattacks, the British were unable to recap tu re this important battery.

Brown, realizing nothing was being gained in a standoff, ordered his m en fro m the field, bringing about an end to the fighting and carnage. Both sides lost over 85 0 m en and, even though the Am erican fo rces w ithdrew, the Battle of Lundy's Lane was deemed a draw due to the relatively even losses sustained . The Americans, now under General Edmund Gaines, withdrew to Fort Erie.

W h ile the aforem entioned was where m ost of the heaviest fighting took place, it was fa rther east where the British had concentrated m any of their soldiers; they were poised to mount what turned out to be the only British offensive on the northern fro ntier in 1814 . G overnor-General Sir George Prevos t took the recently arrived troops and m arched down the western side of Lake C hamplain to attack Plansburgh, New York. H e planned to continue down the Hudson River Valley to New York City, thus dividing the northern states and severely reducing their ability to retaliate. Recalling Wellington's admonition, General Prevos t intended to support the Royal Navy's efforts on Lake C hamplain, thus ensuring control of that waterway and the ro ute south . The move would also draw troops away from the C hesapeake, where Admiral Sir Geo rge Cockbu rn

Governor-General Sir George Prevost (prono unced "Co-burn") continued to wreak h avoc.

Prevost's capture of the territory aro und Plansburgh would also be used as a bargaining chip in the nascent peace negotiations in Ghent, Belgium. Both the Americans and the British wanted to end this confl ict, expensive financially as well as in lives. O bviously, a strong position held by one side would sway the treaty discussions in that direction.

The m arch down the lake, begun on 31 Aug ust, went as Prevost had expected; he led 10,000 troops and, since Secretary of Wa r Ar mst ro ng did not expect the Bri tish offensive, he had no t left any significant number of troops in the area.

Those who rem ained were predominantly militia and untrained regulars under the comma nd of General Alexander M acomb.

The general's staff counseled retreat, but

A lexander M acomb

11

the plucky general refused, sending out sm all parties from his m ain body of 3,400 men to harass the enemy in their m arch. W hile this was surely a brave defensive move, the British simply swept them aside and reached the Saranac River on 6 September.

There, Prevost expected to join forces with Captain George Dow nie, the British naval commander on Lake C hamplain, fo r the attack on Plattsburgh.

Thirty-year-old Lieutenant Thomas Macdonough, in command of the American naval forces on the lake, had other ideas, however. Both sides had been frantically building ships; by the first week of September M acdonough, a veteran of the Barbary W ars in the M editerranean , had built and launched four vessels ranging from the 26 -gun Saratoga to rhe 7-gun Preble. H e also h ad ma naged to build some ten gunboats, carrying a total of 16 guns. Virtually all the American guns were short-range carronades. They wo uld face four English ships including the Confiance (37), Linnet (16), Chub (11), and Finch (11).

There were, in addition, twelve British gunboats mounting a total of 17 guns. A notable difference between the forces was rhar most of the British firepower was centered in long guns which, while firin g a somewhat lighter shot, could fi re a good deal fa rther than the heavier A merican carronades.

Anticipating Downie's attack, Macdonou gh positioned his sm all fle et off 1 H eavy lin es acrach ed co anchors off eicher side of the ship, whi ch co uld be adjusted co swing che ship approxim ately 180 degrees. W ith no wind, fighting ac anchor was relatively co mmon , but the use of sprin gs co cum the ship was less so.

C umberland Head in Plattsburgh Bay. H e anchored the larger ships and rigged springcables 1 so rhar the ships might engage either side, depending on how the enemy was positioned . H e chose his location so as to obviate wh atever advantage the British

Thomas Macdonough might have gained from their longer reach, forcing them to come close where his own more powerful guns could do the most damage.

Ar S AM on 11 September, Captain Downie's fleer rounded C umberland H ead and engaged. Each side quickly lost a ship, Chub on the British side and the 7-gun Preble on the A merican . Chub drifte d ashore and was captured by A merican forces on the beach, while the A merican ship, disabled, simply dri fted our of the barrle. Additionally, both commanders were hit early on; D ownie was struck and

killed instantly by a gun carriage which had been hit by American ro und shot and Macdonough was knocked senseless twice.

The first rime, it was the head of a decapitated midshipman that hit him as it flew from the unfortunate yo ung officer; the second was from fl ying debris. H owever, both rimes the valiant officer rallied and resumed his command.

The barrle raged fo r more than two and one-half hours; both fl agships were severely damaged and Saratoga was set ablaze by hot shot (cannonballs heated to red hot before fi ring) . H er sta rboard-side battery was silenced by British gunfire, but M acdonough, having prepared for this eventuality with his spring lines, warped his ship around to present his opposite side to the enemy and began firin g anew. When the same happened to Confiance, Lr. James Robertson, who had taken over command upon Capt. Downie's death, tried to follow suit, bur his anchor cables were fouled and the ma neuver fa iled . M acdonough continued firin g unopposed into the fri gate's now unprotected side. The pounding the British ship received was so intense that som e members of the crew refused to fight any longer. Robertson had litrle choice bur to surrender. W hen the smoke cleared , the crew counted over 100 shot holes in Confiance's hull!

The o ther Britis h ships quickly fo llowed suit and surrendered- F inch had become unmanageable and drifted agro und off C rab Island-and only the English gunboats escaped , having fled when the action becam e too hot.

M acdonough , ta kin g a page from Oliver Perry's book, w rote to the secretary of the navy, "The Almighty has been pleased to grant us a signal victory on Lake C hamplain in the capture of one fri gate, one brig, and two sloops of war of the enemy." General Prevost, anticipating a British victory on the lake, h ad moved into position for his attack on Plattsburgh.

When he heard of Downie's defeat, he withdrew, fearing that, even should he be successful in his assault, without the control of Lake C hamplain, the Americans Macdono ugh's victory on Lake Champlain and defeat of the British Army at Plattsburg by Genl. Macomb, Sept. 17 th 1814,

painting by Hugh Reinagle (1 788-1834); engraving by B. Tanner.

12

SEA HISTORY 137, WINTER 2011-12

would interrupr his supply lines. He was well aware of rhe large numbers of borh regulars and miliria pouring into rhe area and now, of course, American ships could sa il unimpeded on rhe lake. According ro one of Prevosr's generals, rhe Brirish wirhdrawal was conducred in rhe "mosr precipirare and disgraceful m anner."

As so ofren happens in such a siruarion, Prevosr's wirhdrawal became his undoing; he was vilified by his officers a nd hi s rroops were close ro muriny. Macdonough, on rhe orher hand, became a celebriry, honored by Congress wirh a gold medal (usual in such circumstances), a rhousand acres of land in Cayuga County from rhe Srare of New York, and another hundred acres of land from Vermont. C iries surrounding the lake gave him and his officers memenros and orher honors in recognirion of his brilliant vicrory.

While Brirain continued ro srren grhen irs forces in Canada, rhere would be no more fighrin g save for an occasional ski rmi sh rhar a mo unted ro norhing of consequence. 1he Bardes of Plarrsburgh a nd Lake Champlain rurned our robe rhe final engagements on rhe norrhern fronrier and, afrer rhreeyears offighring, rhe border dispute ended in a sralemate.

To rhe sourh, on the Chesapeake Bay, British acrions were reprising rhose of the previous year and served ro demo ralize much of rhe popularion. Brirish wars hips had rerurned during rhe spring and esrablished a base on Tangier Island. They fo und very lirde resisrance from the local populace, who remembered the cruelry rhey suffered when rhey resis ted the year before. The only bright nore wo uld be found in Joshua Barney, who had convinced rhe W ar D eparrmenr rhar a fleer of gunboars would be rhe mosr efficacious form of defense and personally oversaw rheir consrrucrion. His squadron sa iled rhe shallow warers of rhe Bay, sheltering in ridal flars and river mouths ro arrack Brirish warships as rhe opporruniry presenred . His efforrs were so successful rhat rhe British larer disparched Caprain Roberr Barrie, whose sole purpose was ro catch and desrroy rhese marauding boars .

Unlike in 1813, rhe British now had a specific agenda for rheir return under a new commander, in rhe person of Vice Admiral Sir A lexander Cochrane, who had replaced rhe elderly Admira l War ren .

SEA HISTORY 13 7, WINTER 20 11-1 2

Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane Cochrane held a burning harred of A mericans, rhe reason for which h as never been fully explained; ir could be because his older brorher was killed in 178 1 ar rhe Barde ofYorkrown (rhe concluding batde of rhe A merican Wa r for Independence).

This change in commanders m arked a significanr cha nge in rhe original plan. In rhis visir, Cochrane gave Admiral Cockburn free rein ro wreak as much havoc as he could, and Cockburn did his level besr ro comply. In facr, Cochrane suggesred rhat burning the American capiral in Washingron Ciry wo uld be a firrin g reraliarion for rhe previous year's burning of York (now Toronto), rhe capiral of Upper Canada, by rhe Americans. During rhe previous year under Admiral Warren, Cockburn had been Admiral Sir George Cockburn

chasrised by rhe Admiralry for his rampage up and down rhe Bay when he had been assigned simply ro blockade rhe enrrance. Cockburn, an aggressive and proven leader, reveled in rhe change ofcommanders and the resultant change in his mission!

Again, rhe Brirish did everyrhing rhey could do ro disrupr life on rhe Bay: liberaring slaves (encouraging rhem ro join ranks wirh rhe British and fighr their former masrers), burning villages, stealing crops, and arracking coasral rrade. Slaves who joined up were trained at Tangier Island and became rhe Coloni al Marines. They saw rheir firsr action on 30 May, when rhey were used ro arrack Pungoreague, Virginia.

While Ii rrle ofvalue was desrroyed or taken, Cockburn saw it as a publicity coup and made sure everyone knew rhar his Colonial Marines-former slaves-had risen in armed combar agains r their former owners . Ar rhe time, Cockburn was unawa re ofBarney's squadron, bur prior ro ordering his Colonial Marines ro a second arrack, he did discover rhe squadron's exisrence.

Fearing rhar Barney's gun boars might hamper h is efforrs, he ordered Captain Barrie ro take his squadron, led by HMS D ragon, ro find and destroy rhe gunboar Aorilla. A simple matrer, he probably assumed, for a squadron of frigares, brigs, and schooners ro ca tch and decimate a handful of small gunboars armed wirh only one or rwo guns each, especially since rhe squadron was British, commanded and mann ed by well-rrained Brirish sea men, whil e rhe gunboars were m anned by rusric and unskilled Americans.

Barney was wa iting at the mourh of rhe Paruxent River for a favo rable wind and a ride change. Barrie's squadron sailed norrh from the mourh of rhe Poromac and caughr sighr of rhe gun boars as rhey lefr rhe shelrer of rhe river, heading for a n attack on Tangier Island. Reali zing Barney's force was sign ificanrly larger rhan rhey anricipared, Barrie ordered his ships ro come abour and run back ro rhe Poromac, now pursued by the gunboars. When a sudden squall came up, rhe driving rain and high winds made rhe gunboats unmanageable, and ir was all Barney's sailors could do ro keep rhem from swamping. Barrie's 74-gun flagship had no such difficulties and prepared ro arrack rhe small g unboars, which had now rurned aro und and were srruggling ro gain rhe Paru xent River once again, 13

hotly pursued by the fl ags hip's tender (a schooner), and HMS D ragon . At the mouth of the Patuxent, Barrie's gunners managed to destroy one of the schooners accompanying the American Beet and cut off gunboat # 137. Barney saw this and anchored his ow n flagship, the "block sloop" USS Scorpion, to engage in the figh t. The British vessels, including HMS St. Lawrence, the tenders, and the gun barges, fired several salvoes, but seeing the amount of fi repowe r arrayed against them, turned tail and retreated back to the protection of the fl ags hip. The Barde of Cedar Point was declared a draw, and C ommodore Barney led his flotilla

14

farther into the Patu xent where he anchored about three miles upriver from the Bay. Barrie anchored his Beet off the mouth of the river and waited for Cockburn to send him more ships.

A fe w d ays la ter, rein fo rcements arrived a nd Barrie was ted no time in mouming an attack. H e shifte d his Bag to a frigate, HMS L oire, and loaded barges with Royal M a rines, which wo uld be escorted by his own fl ags hip imo the river.

W hen he saw Barney moving his g unboats imo the shallow waters of St. Leon ard 's C reek, a sm all tributa ry in the no rthern shore of the Patu xent, he immediately

ordered two of his shallower-d raft vessels, the schooner St. Lawrence and the brig j aseur, to give ch ase and head them off. Seven of his barges wo uld follow, as wo uld Loire.

The schooner ran ha rd agro und, sco tching the attack, while Barney led his boats into the safety of the creek .

O ver the ensuin g three wee ks, both sides waged attacks and counterattacks.

When the British at tacked with Congreve rockets and carronades, Barney returned fire with long guns, fo rcing hi s enemy to retreat. Then he counterattacked . In one British effort, t here were twenty-one barges carrying 600 Royal M a rines with bands pl aying, pennants flying, and high hopes of finally carrying out C ockburn's orders to annihilate the pesky gunboats. No t to be!

Barney's m en opened fi re w ith long guns in a galling fire. Recognizing that they would not succeed aga in that day, Barrie ordered a retreat and, in so doin g, St. Lawrence once again ran aground. Capitalizing on this turn of events, Barney pressed his attack, attemp ting to capture the British schooner, but j aseur a nd Loire opened fire against him and fo rced his withdrawal. The Battle of St. Leonard 's C reek had lasted most of the day, the decision going to the A m ericans, while the British suffered large losses in ships a nd men . St. Lawrence h ad been holed at the waterline, her deck tom up, several guns dismounted, and her m ainmast shot nearly through about half way up. Some of the British barges and other schooners were equally devastated .

As June was coming to a close, Com m odo re Barn ey a nd two of hi s senior officers determined that a sm all fo rt on the top of the bluff overlooking the m outh of the creek would be something the British wo uld not expect and at the sam e time, wo uld help them get the gunboats out of the creek, where they had been bottled up.

In secret, working only at night, his m en built a fo rt, arming it with two 18-pounder cannon and a furnace for heating iron sho t. C oincidentally, Admiral Cockburn had ordered two divisions of Royal Army overland to the scene, each more inexperienced than the other. They had m ade a fo rced march from Friendship, Maryland , and arrived just as the Second Barde of St. Leonard's C reek commenced: 4AM Sunday, 25 June. The secretly constructed fort

SEA HISTORY 137, WINTER 2011-12

Joshua Barney's gunboat flotilla vs. the Royal Navy at the Battle ofSt. Leonard's Creek. opened fire on the unsuspecting British ships floating serenely some 600 yards out in the Paruxent River. Their fire was devastating, but Barney's pla n went wrong, as the gunboats were not in position to follow up the attack, having been delayed some forty-five minutes through miscommunication. No netheless, rhe florillamen rowed furiously to rhe mouth of rhe creek once they heard rhe bombardment and surprised rhe British ships for the second time. The frigates, brigs, and schooners blockadin g rhe mourh of the creek took a substantial bearing, with many of rhe vessels holed at their waterlines, topmasts down, and large numbers of casualties among their crews.

The raw recruits sent overland by rhe British were easily repulsed by the florillamen left ashore.

When Captain Thomas Brown, commanding the British squadron in Barrie's absence-he had left to discuss rhe problem face-to-face with Cockburn-saw rhe damage his ships had suffered, he ordered a retreat to rhe mouth of rhe Paruxenr.

Barney saw his chance and moved his fleer our of Sr. Leonard's Creek, farther up rhe Paruxent, since he could nor escape to rhe Bay. Before leaving, he scurried several of his dam aged gunboats and barges, knowing rhey wou ld only slow his movement.

Brown, for his part, tried ro minimize rhe effect of the battle on the British forces in his report to Admiral Cockburn. But the reality was that two fri gates were severely damaged: HMS Loire was hulled in at leas t fifteen places and her mizzen topmast SEA HISTORY 13 7, WINTER 2011-12

shot down; another fri gate, Narcissus, was holed so ma ny rimes rhe crew thought her sinking imminent and unavoid able. (She did nor sink.)

Cockburn joined his fleerwirh Barrie's at rhe mouth of rhe Paruxem and prepared to chase Barney's boars up rhe river. H e was headed in that direction anyway, as Cochrane, yo u will recall, h ad ordered him to arrack the capital in Washington C ity.

Cockburn did nor just sail his ships up the river; he stopped frequently, carrying our lightning raids on coastal communities and farms along the way. Now rhar he had rhe troop transports in company wirh him, he determined rhar Benedict, Maryland, wo uld be rhe ideal place from which ro stage his arrack on the capital, an arrack rhar wo uld be led by Major General Robert Ross.

Approximately ten days later, on 11 September (the same day that Lr. M acdonough was fighting Captain Downie's ships in Lake C hamplain), rhe Royal Navy sailed into the Patapsco River, aiming for Baltimore. Seven miles up the river, Fort McHenry would have to be silenced before rhe fl eer could proceed on to Baltimore itself. The star-fort, so called because of its shape, was commanded by M ajor George Armistead and comained a garrison of about 1,000 men . Armistead had run a huge fifteen-star American fla g up the fla gpole in the cem er of rhe fort, a fla g rhat would remain flying throughout rhe rwenty-fi vehour firefight. This flag becam e rhe subject of Francis Scott Key's immortal song rhar som e 117 years later would become our

national anthem. We'll examine rhe siege of Baltimore in a furure article, along with the burning of Washington C ity, giving these iconic events rhe close look they each deserve. Suffice it to say here th at rhe American defense of this imporram port repulsed rhe enemy a nd resulted in the death of General Ross in rhe related Battle of No rth Point.

While Cochrane's fleet was ravaging the Chesapeake, rhe Caribbean fl eet had begun to implement rhe other part of rhe plan designed to draw American troops our of rhe mid-Atlamic theater-the invasion of the Gulf Coast. In addition, occupation of the Gulf Coast would provide access to rhe imerior; the mid-G ulf a rea, specifically New Orleans, was lightly defended and sparsely populated, and offered significam booty to the conquering British . It was a major port, consolidating all rhe goods from the interior of the country for shipment to rhe East C oast as well as the Caribbean and Europe. After Admiral Cochrane and his fleet were repulsed at Baltimore, they headed to rhe Caribbean to join forces with the fleet that would arrack rhe Gulf Coast and New Orleans. C ochrane would command the sea service elements, while General Edward Pakenham, the Duke of Wellington's brother-in-law, would lead rhe shore contingent. They sailed for rhe Gulf Coast in !are November, arriving in rhe Delta area in early D ecember.

Admiral Cochrane decided to arrack through Lake Borgne- nor a true lake, but rather a protected harbor open to rhe Gulf-and move his men across the shallow waters and the bayous in small boats.

Keeping watch on the lake for General Andrew Jackson was Thomas ap Caresby Jones 2 with a small fleet of sailing vessels.

H e had orders not to precipitate an altercation, bur when rhe British appeared, he had little choice bur to fight. H e was defeated, (British losses over 100, American at about 40 killed or wounded and the res t taken prisoner) but still got word ro General Jackson rhar rhe British were on the way.

The British initially ser up a base ar Pea Island, bur quickly determined they wo uld be berrer off at an abandoned plantation across rhe lake and fa rther through rhe bayous. The rest of rhe British army and 2

"ap" is rhe Welsh designarion meaning "son of."

15

Marines wo uld marshal there and make ready for the attack, which Pakenham planned for early Jan uary 1815.

Unbeknownst to either side, the negotiations in G hent, Belgium , had draw n to a successful conclusion, arriving at a mutually agreeable treaty on Christm as Eve, 1814. Bur witho ut modern communications, no one on the western side of the Atlantic wo uld learn this news for nearly two months.

The treaty was signed, but the fighting continued.

We' ll rake a look at the end of the War of 1812 in a future issue of Sea History.

Stay tuned . 1,

1812 and the Star Spangled Banner, and he is the author of the upcoming NMHS book," . .• our Aagwas still there," The Sea History Press Guide to the War ofl812lts History and Bicentennial Commemorations, available in December 2011 .

Mr. White serves on the Board of Trustees for the National Maritime Historical Society, the USS Constitution Museum, and the Lynx Educational Foundation . For more about the author and his other books, visit: www.seafiction.net.

William H. White zs a maritime historian and award-winning author who specializes in the history of the US Navy during the Age of Sail. He serves as chair of the NMH S Committee for the Commemoration and Bicentennial of the War of Battle of Lake Borgne, Louisiana, 14 December 1814. Painting by 7homas Hornbrook (active, 1836- 1844).

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16

SEA HISTORY 137, WINTER 201 1-12

COMING in December

ftom Sea History Press ...

"Our Flag Was Stil!There" The Sea History Press Guide to the War of 1812 Its History and Bicentennial Commemorations Maritime historian and award-winning author William H. White will guide readers through the highlights of both the land campaigns and the sea battles and answer the questions: "What really happened?" and "Why does it matter?"

Our Flag U-as Still There will serve as a guidebook to the upcoming bicentennial celebrations across the country beginning in 2012: the OpSail tall ship and naval ship parade up the East Coast and in the Great Lakes, exhibits, reenactments, concerts, air shows, fireworks and more. It will be a valuable tool in navigating the many opportunities to take in the spectacle and will be available in December 2011. To order your copy, visit the National Maritime Historical Society's Ship's Store at www.seahistory.org, or call 914 73 7-7878, ext. 0.

Sea History Pressâ&#x20AC;˘ Softcover, illustrated $24.50 + $6.95 s/h in US; call for international rates

Measure ofthe Earth: Navigation, Science,

by Larrie D. Ferreiro n his latest book, Measure of the Earth, award-winning author Larrie Ferreiro tells the story of the Geodesic Mission to the Equator (1735-1 744), a joint scientific venture between France and Spain to establish the exact size and shape of the Earth.

Despite the fact that their ships had been navigating the world's oceans for centuries, the governments of France, Great Britain, Portugal, and Spain were still struggling to accurately map the earth and to come up with practical ways to determine one's position at sea. These governments could only control and maintain their global empires through the protection provided by their navies; those that could accurately determine the planet's shape could securely navigate its oceans. In the 1730s, there were two hotly debated theories about the shape of the Earth: Isaac Newton held that the Earth is not a perfect sphere but rather bulges out at the equator due to the Earth's rotation, while in France, the followers of Rene Descartes insisted that the Earth instead has an elongated polar axis. Members of the elite French Academy of Sciences were sharply divided on this question and determined that the only way to prove one theory over the other was to take physical measurements of the earth. They identified a stretch of earth along the equator in colonial Peru as the best geographical location to accomplish this mission.

I

I

n 1735, a team of scienti sts and naval officers traveled ro Quiro, almost exactly at the equaror, where th ey would spend ten grueling years along the Andes Mountains survey ing and mapping the land. The expedition was led by the French scientists Louis Godin, Pierre Bouguer, and Charles-Marie de La Condamine, assisted by two Spanish naval officers, Jorge Juan y Santacilia and Antonio de Ulloa, and a team of aides including Jean-Baptiste Godin des Odonais, Louis Godin's cousin.

The scientists were prepared for physical hardships and scientific setbacks, but not for the outbreak in 1739 of the War of Jenkins's Ea r between Spain and Britain .

By 1740, fi ve years into the expedition and just as they were on the point of completing their as tronomical observations, war suddenly threatened to completely derail the entire expedition.

Pierre Bouguer, returnin g from his astro nomical observations on the coast of Peru, arrived in Quito on the evening of 27 August 1740 to find the entire city on a war footing. The militia had been mobilized, though many of the soldiers were prisoners who had been taken from th e city's jails and pressed into service. In the m idstof militarization, Quito was also filled with hundreds of mules and muleteers, and Bouguer soon lea rned why.

Several weeks earlier, an enormous pack train had arrived in the coastal city from G uayaquil, carrying six hundred chests of gold and silver. The riches had been sent from Lima to Panama's booming 18

Porcobelo trade fair, but the fair had been canceled and the booty stranded en ro ute.

Jose de Arauj o, the president of Quito, had perso nally overseen che transfer of the treas ure to his inland capital, where it could be kept safe from marauding pirates and hostile navies. The Portobelo trade fa ir had been called off because the city of Portobelo itself was now in British hands.

War had broken out between Britain and Spain the previous year, 1739, but the two nations had been in sporadic confl ict ever since the end of the War of the Spa nish Success ion in 1714. British smuggling and privateering in the Spanish-held Caribbean was a continuing source of tension between the two nations: British privateers often waylaid Spanish treasure ships, while J5 AJ.hp of TERRA FIRM.A PE&U.AMAZONELAND.B.R.ASIL &c, 'tlNNorthP..fLA.PL.ATA .

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Peru, 1736, map by Herman Moll. It had long been clear that, to decisively ascertain the true shape ofthe Earth, scientists would need a latitudinal measurement from the equator. Of the known equatorial sites-in Africa, South America, and Asia-none were consideredfeasible.

In 1733, however, everything changed with the signing ofa treaty between France and Spain (Treaty of El Escorial). Spain had prime real estate right on the equator in the Viceroyalty ofPeru, and with the political landscape dramatically changed, an expedition to the equator suddenly became a real possibility.

SEA HISTORY 137, WINTER2011-12

and the War of Jenkins's Ear 1739-a confl ict later dubbed "The Wa r ofJ enkins's Ear." A British squadron under Vice Admi ral Edwa rd Vernon was already in the Caribbean when the news of the decla ratio n arrived there, and it profited from the element of surprise by bombarding and capm ring the ill-prepared Portobelo in a single twenty-four-hour period in November 1739.

The capture of Portobelo had initi ally ish attack on Portobelo was only one part of been devastating to Araujo, but he soon a larger plan to plunder Spanish possession s cam e to see in it a business opportunity. in the New World, raid the treasure flee ts, Lim a's m erchants had counted on usin g and, with luck, overthrow the viceroyalties the gold and silver to pay fo r Europea n in Peru and M exico. In D ecember 1739, goods at the Portobelo trade fa ir, which only a month after the raid on Por tobelo, Pierre Bouguer they could re-seJI in Peru at an enormous Commodore George Anson h ad been given the Spanish coas t guard routinely stopped profit. N ow that Portobelo was in British command of a squadron with orders to sail and boa rded British vessels suspected of ha nds, Lima's merchants had m ade the to the Pacific by way of Cape H orn, ra id smuggling and confisca ted their cargoes. tactical decision to reroute their gold and Peru and Panama, des troy the Spanish One such British vessel, the merch ant brig silve r fa r inland , to Quito, where it wo uld Pacific fleet, and capture the im mensely Rebecca, commanded by Robert Jenkins, be safe from capture. W ith no trade fa ir, rich Manila galleon on its biannual run had been boarded o utside Havana in 173 1. however, the m erchants could not tum a between N ew Spain and the Philippines.

As the story went, Jenkins insulted a Spa n- profit and so the treasure languished in News of the Briti sh plot quickly reached ish offi cer, who responded by cutti ng off Q uito. Araujo, who had recently been a the ears of Spain's rulers thanks to their effithe British capta in's ear and threatening to m erchant himself and was still heavily cient intelligence network a nd the assistance do the same to King George II if he, too, inves ted in the trade fa ir, had counted on of the French, who had rem ained neutral ever broke rhe law by smuggling goods turning a profit there. To m ake up fo r his thus fa r in the conflict. loss, he bega n demanding bribes fro m the into Spanish territories.

By early January 1740, details of BritAt fi rs t, the story caused little excite- merchants for safeguarding their coin. H e ain's bold plan- including the n ame of ment back in Britain, bur, several yea rs later, was not concerned by the poss ibility that Commodore Anson and those of the ships disputes over Caribbean trade ignited British the colonial government might take a dim under his command-were k nown to the public opinion against the Spanish, a nd the view of those bribes because the viceroy's Spanish prime minister. H e immediately flam es of anger were fa nned by the retell ing attention was now foc used on shoring up sent dispatches to his viceroyalties in the of the mutilation of Robert Jenk ins. The the defenses of Cartage na de Indias on the Am ericas . W hen the warnings arrived in British government, under press ure fro m Caribbean and various ports in the Pacific late February, the Viceroy of Peru convened popular anti-S panish sentiment, fin ally against a nother British assa ult. h is war council and planned their defense, The Spanish had learned that the Brit- including refittin g fo ur heavy wa rships to declared war against Spain in October patrol the seas, constructing lighter wa r Battle of Pon o Bello, 22 November 1739, painting by Samuel Scott (1702-1112) galleys for coastal defense, and reinforcing the port cities of G uayaquil, Callao, and C oncepcio n in C hile. A larger flee t under Admiral Jose Alfo nso Piza rro was being fitted out in Santander in no rthern Spain, but it would not be ready to sail until October and could nor possibly a rrive until the next year, at which point it might be too late. The Spanish colonists had to m ake preparations to fe nd off a British assault on their own.

Meanwhile, in the interior, the scientists were prepa rin g fo r their fin al astronomical observations. In September, Jorge Juan and A mo nio de U lloa, the two Spanish naval officers who had been assigned to the mi ss ion, received an urgent dispatch from the viceroy ordering them to Lima "with a

SEA HISTORY 137, WINTER 20 11-1 2

19

haste that admitted no delay." The summons arriving on the eve of a massive British as- structures to attack, retreat, and regroup, was not unexpected, given that the entire saulr. Emboldened by his easy capture of Lezo's forces staved off the British, costing countryside was girding for war; the two Portobelo, Admiral Edward Vernon had them ten men for every Spanish casualty. men were naval officers first and foremost, turned his attention to Cartagena. After By mid-May Vernon, after suffering 18,000 regardless ofrheir charge to assist the French several months of intermittent bombard- casualries, had retreated ro Jamaica. Despite astronomers. 1he officers departed on 21 ment, Vernon had assembled a force of the defeat, Lawrence Washington was so October, arriving in Lima in December 186 ships carrying 31,000 men , including impressed by his commander that he went 1740. a marine regiment from North America on to name his Virgin ia plantation Mount The two Spanish naval officers had including Lawrence Washington, the Vernon, a name George Washingron been well trained in navigation, tactics, and elder half-brother of George Washington. would keep when he inherited the propseamanship, as well as in civil and naval Assaulting a Spanish contingent of fewer erty. As for Blas de Lezo, his triumph was engineering, and once they Musâ&#x20AC;˘0 NAVAL, MA 0 â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ 0 than 4,000 soldiers short-lived; the admiral himself died from arrived in Lima they were put arrayed behind the disease just a few months later. toworkshoringup the colony's massive stone fortidefenses. During their eightfications that Viceroy Meanwhile,JorgeJuan and U lloa, who month stay in the capital, Jorge Eslava had reinforced, had only recently returned to the expediJ uan was given the responVernon's force would ti on from building up Lima's defenses, had sibiliry of constructing two attempt the largest been called to war a second time-this light war galleys, while Ulloa amphibiousoperation rime to Guayaquil. Commodore Anson's was tasked with drafting plans in history, surpassed fleet, long delayed in the voyage around of Callao (Lima's principal only by the D-Day Cape Horn, had suddenly appeared in port), rebuilding its fortificainvasion of World the Pacific and sacked the city of Paita on rions, and repairing cannon.

War II. the Peruvian coast.

As the year 1741 dragged on Bur Cartagena had Anson's flotilla had departed Britain with no news of Anson's fleet one advantage: Blas in late 1740, and by March 1741 it had in the Pacific, Jorge Juan and deLezoyOlavarrieta, begun its attempt ro round Cape Horn Ulloa became anxio us to reone of Spain's greatest against fierce gales and strong currents. turn to their astronomy. They Antonio de Ulloa naval strategists. A For weeks, Anson kept a westerly course, petitioned the Viceroy to release them, and generation before Horatio Nelson was born, navigating by dead reckoning, until he he reluctantly agreed, signing orders that, Blas de Lezo, who had also lost an eye and guessed that the ships were three hundred alrhough allowing the officers to return to limbs in combat, was MusEo NAVAL, MADRID miles into the Pacific.Turning the expedition, expressly warned that he the most feared fighting north into what he expected might recall them at any moment. admi ral in the Atlantic. were calmer waters, Anson He understood siege was shocked to see Tierra del When Jorge Juan and Ulloa arrived warfare from both the Fuego dead ahead. Without back in Quito on 5 September 1741, defensive and offensive adequate means of dererminready to assist Louis Godin with his astro- perspectives, having led ing longitude, he had badly nomical observations, anot her expedition the 1732 invasion of miscalculated their position member was also returning from the front Oran, during which he and did not realize until lines of battle. In October 1740, Jean- had besieged and then almost too late that the wind Baprisre Godin des Odonais had decided captured the Ottoman and currents off the Horn to travel to Cartagena de Indias to trade city. Now, charged with had driven them back to their in textiles. Godin des Odonais h ad served guarding Cartagena, starting point. as a "chain-bearer" for his older cousin, Blas de Le zo's plan After several more weeks carrying and placing survey markers, but was to wage a defenbarding storms and current, once those tasks had been completed, he sive battle aga inst the the British force had finally Jorge Juan Y Santacilia clawed north into the Pacific, had little material wealth to show for his overwhelming British four years in Peru, a land that had become force, gambling that the rainy season be- the ships now scattered and a few having synonymous with gold and silver. Deter- ginning in April would force the attackers been lost in the process. One ship, Wager, mined ro make his fortune, he set off on ro retreat. went aground on the Chilean coast, where the 900-m ile trek overland, carrying among The battle began on 15 March 1741. several of its crew were taken prisoner. his supplies a trunk from La Condamine The British fleet stormed into the harbor, Centurion finally arrived at the latitude filled with "natural curiosities" from Peru setting fire to ships there (including the of Juan Fernandez Island off the coast of ro ship back to France. one containing La Condamine's trunk of Chile, a landmark then famous as the exile Godin des Odonais reached Cartagena curiosities), bur the assailants soon found ofrhe real-life Robinson Crusoe, Alexander de Indias in March 174 1, five months after the tide turned against them. Skillfully Selkirk. The uninhabited island had been he had set out, but had the bad luck of using the city's landscape and defensive designated as the rendezvous point for the 20

SEA HISTORY 137, WINTER2011-12

Bricish fl eer, bur A nson, unfortunately, had once again been unsure of his longitude and had spent several more weeks traci ng and retracing his course until he ar rived at the island on 9 June. By the time the fl eet was reassembled , watered, and repaired at Juan Fernandez in September 174 1, Anson was down to three ships and scur vy had left him w ith just 330 ofhis original 1,900 me n.

Peru's own squad ro n of four wars hi ps had been out looking fo r A nson while he was gropi ng aro und in the Pacific . H aving patrolled the ocean since the previo us Jan uary, the ships were in bad shape and needed to put in fo r repairs. On 7 June they had left C hile to return to Callao, just two days before A nson arrived at Juan Fernandez.

The Peruvian authorities, after lea rning that the Spanish fleer chasing A nso n from theAd antic had fa iled to round Cape Horn and was now stuck in Buenos A ires, were convinced th at the British fl oti lla had mer rhe same fa re. Ir had, cherefore, come as a complete shock when Anson appeared off Paira in November, looting and burning the city befo re disappearing into the offin g.

The sa me authorities, who did nor know about the weakened stare of the British squadron, ass umed A nso n would press o n to attack Callao, G uayaquil , a nd Pana ma; they could nor know that he was now sailing northwa rds, our of Peruvia n waters to Acapulco in M exico, where he hoped to capture the M a nil a ga lleo n then sa ilin g to the Philippines, loaded down w ith treasure.

Jorge Juan and U lloa arri ved in G uayaquil on Christmas Eve 174 1. For several weeks the offi cers reinforced la nd batteries a nd supervised the construction of oared galleys, bur they fin ally beca me convinced rhar che danger had passed. A nxious to fi nish rhe as tro nomical observations, U lloa returned to Q ui to, while Jorge Juan remained in G uayaquil against a ny eventuali ty of furth er arrack.

Although they had brushed off their summo ns as a fa lse alarm, the Spanish offi cers' travails were no r over yet. A rrivin g in Q ui to o n 19 January 1742, U lloa immediately visited President Ara ujo, who showed him a letter from the V iceroy com mand ing that rhe two officers make for Li ma "with all possible speed ." U lloa, t hough exhausted from his jou rney, which had been made almost impossible by the incessa nt rai ns, turned aro und th ree days later and ret urned to G uayaqu il. H e picked up

SEA HISTORY 137, WINTER 2011-1 2

Jorge Juan there on 1 Februa ry 1742, and they departed by ship, stopping at Pa ira to obtain a firsthand acco unt of A nson's raid and fin ally a rri ving in Lima at the end of February.

Jorge Ju an and Ulloa reached Lima several weeks too late to join a squ adron sent to Panam a to look fo r A nson, who was by then off Acapu lco ar the rime. Bur the departure of rhe fl eer had created a new problem for rhe viceroy: rhe entire Pacific coast of Spain's South Ame rica n te rrito ry was left unguarded. Ad m iral Jose Piza rro's Spanish fleet, which had been attempting to rei nfo rce rhe coloni al wa rships in the

Commodore George Anson Pacific, had made a second fa iled attempc to ro und the H orn and was in any event red uced fro m five ships to just one operable vessel, the fi fty-g un Esperanza. W ich a sizable Bricish fo rce scill bel ieved to be prowling the Pacific, the lack of a defensive fleet was causing understa ndable consternation among the Peru vian authorities.

Although all of Peru's operable warshi ps we re off hunting for A nson, the colonial navy was nor our of options. In rhe port of Callao were two large merchant vessels, Nuestra Senora de Belen and Rosa def Comercio. It was nor unusual in that era to convert m erchantmen into men-of-war and vice versa, since the two were often similar in design and construction, so the cwo lieucenants were now instrucced to repai r che ships, rearm chem as fri gaces, and rake comma nd of them to safeguard rhe Peruvian coast.

Over rhe course of 1742, che Spanish officers converted rhe cwo merchanrmen for military service, arming each of them with chirty can no n and readying che 650 men who wo uld sa il and fighc in each one. By che end of che yea r chey received

word char Pizarro had ordered Esperanza aro und che H o rn fo r a chird rime, while che Spanish fl eec's n aval in fa nrr y was m arching overland to C hile, where rhe two fo rces would reunite. Villaga rda's plan ca lled for Jorge Juan, commanding Belen , and U lloa, commanding Rosa, to join fo rces w ith Pizarro, fo rmin g a duee-ship squad ro n to patrol rhe Southern Pacific.

Cas ting off from Callao in earl y D ecember 1742, rhe Spanish officers were in the Chilea n port of Valparaiso by February 1743, where they rendezvoused with Piza rro, who had fin ally succeeded in ro unding Cape H orn. From February unril June, rhe three-ship squadron patrolled a roughly triangular parch of ocean between Va ldivia, Va lparaiso, and Juan Fernandez Island , without sighting a single enemy sa il. In April , U lloa ra n into a terrific storm rhar almost submerged Rosa, fo rcing him in to Concepcion fo r repairs. By June of 1743 , Anson had crossed the Pacific to che Philippines and captured che Manila galleon, which would nee $60 million equivalenr in prize money when he compleced his around-che-world voyage che following spring. By July, rhe Peru squad ron was back in Callao, providing rhe viceroy and rhe residenrs of che capitol w ich a sense of security aga insc a ny furth er British th reat.

The cwo officers rem ai ned in Lima chrough rhe end of 1743, further bolsterin g rhe city's defenses, until rhe Viceroy gave rhem permission to return to Quito. Th ey arrived there sepa rately in Janua ry 1744, h aving been away from their as tronomica l work fo r chree yea rs. N ow char chey we re reuniced with the exped ition, they wo uld soon learn that the ascronomical observacion s, which the French scienti sts had so carefully conducced during cheir absence, turned our to be completely wro ng a nd would have to be throw n o ur. Boch che Spanish offi cers and the French scienrisrs were now faced w ith the unserding news that they mi ght have to remain in Peru indefinitely, unril they could finall y achi eve an accurate measure of rhe Earth .

.:t

Adapted with permission from M easure of che Earth: The Enlightenment Ex pedition That Reshaped Our World, by Larrie D. Ferreiro. Available now from Basic Books, a member of 1he Perseus Books Group.

Copyright Š 2 011.

21

A Yerry Fatigueing Journey -The Van Valen

by Paul F. John sto n he di scovery of gold in Ca li fo rnia on 24 Jan uary 1848 Francisco, bur also nearly forry letters betwee n prospector Alexwas a major event in the lives of mid-nineteenth-century a nder Va n Valen and his wife Susa n, his bro ther-in-law, a nd his A mericans in that it instigated the mass migration of corporate fin anciers during the course of hi s two-yea r Ca li fo rni a people from the populated East Coas t to the un fa mili ar adventure. Together with several contemporary photograph s of and undeveloped Wes t Coas t. As fast as they could the prospector and his fa mily, the contents of th is archive provide a n unva rni shed behind-the-scenes look a rran ge their trips, tho usands of men at one of the most exciting, d ra m atic, rook off fo r the gold fields, traveling and significa nt events in our nation's across the continent by la nd o r ro unding it by sea. M any who stayed behind growth and development.

A lexa nder Va n Valen was born on 15 also participated in the gold rush , either June 1819 in Poughkeepsie, New Yo rk. by bankrollin g their fri ends or fa mil y We don't know much about his early members willing to take the risk, or by life or educat ion, but the latter must supporting the families left behind while have been substantial, jud ging fr om their yo ung men raced wes twa rd. his smooth writing style and extensive M any never returned, while some vocabul a ry. Va n Valen and his wife came home in rime, either having found th eir fo rtune o r, in mos t cases, having Susan Maria m arried on 16 April 1844; The original gold nugget found at John Sutter's fo urteen mo nths later, Susan gave birth give n up or run our of m oney. Most of sawmill in Coloma, California, by foreman f ames to twin daughters Catherine and Sarah. these intrepid pros pectors left little o r no Marshall is remarkably modest, considering the imIn August 1846, she bore a second pair of reco rd of rhei r experiences beyo nd a letter pact it had on our nation's growth and development. twin daughters, H ester and Louise, but or a fa mily tale embellished by rime and retelling. Today, w ith access to insta nt inform ation at our fin gertips the couple lost these two yo unger child ren to unknown causes . and inexpensive and convenient means to travel rhe globe, it is Gold was discovered in Cali fo rnia in January 1848, and by almost impossible to gras p the inability to communicate and , fo r August the news, along with a m ass ive am ount of rumors, had some, rhe situ ation facing those who said goodbye to loved ones m ade it back Eas t. Initi ally, ma ny di sbeli eved the resulting m edia heading wes t, never to be heard from again. In 2006 the Smith- frenzy, but that changed fo rever on 5 December 1848, when, in sonian's Na tio nal Museum of Am erican History acquired a gold an address to Congress, President James Polk validated the sto ries, rush a rchi ve that included nor only an educated and articulate stating: "The acco unts of the abundance of gold in that territory forty- niner's daily journal of a sea voyage from New York to San are of such extraordinary character as wo uld scarcely command belief were they nor corroborated by au thentic reports of offi cers Alexander Vtm Valen in the public service." Va n Va len, along w ith tens of thousands of ocher easterners, m ade immedi ate pl ans to join the Gold Rush. H e and fo ur fri ends for med the Cali fo rnia Gold Mining Co mpany, fin anced in the a mount of $2,5 00 by two New Yorkers. Va n Va len was treasurer a nd correspondent of the company, whose members committed to spending "two M ining or Summer Seaso ns" in Cali fo rnia. In exchange for bankrolling the venture, rhe fin a nciers we re to receive 25% of a ny profits. Anyone departing the company before returni ng to New York was subject to a $500 fin e or fo rfe iture of a ny interest in the company proceeds, according to the copy of the contract included in rhe archive.

Leaving his 25-year-old wife Susan and three-year-old twin daughters behind in New Yo rk, Alexander and his fo ur partners each booked $150 passage to Cali fo rni a on the barque H ersilia.

Built in Duxbury, M assachuse tts, in 1840, H ersilia was 180 feet long and 309 tons. A lexa nder Bax ter of Duxbury, part owner of the ship, served as H ersilia's captain fo r the voyage. On 22 January 1849, she cleared New York fo r Californi a w ith a crew of only ten men, alo ng with seventy-seven passengers. Most hailed from New Yo rk and Rhode Island, with fo ur from C onnecticut and two from Massachusetts.

In his journal, Va n Valen m ade keen observation s over the course of a multi-ocean voyage las ting nearly seven months. For example, the first time any passengers bathed was on 15 Febru ary, m ore than three weeks out of New York. They washed by

T

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SEA HISTORY 13 7, WINTER 2011-1 2

Gold Rush Archive joining toge[her in small groups of fo ur to five men, taking mrns dashing bucke[s of seawa[er on one ano[her. From early on in [he voyage, [he passengers preferred to ea[ a nd sleep on deck when condi[ions permined. The food was, as expec[ed , monownous, and bad enough [ha[ [he passengers peddoned Captain Baxter to enlarge [he galley. Van Valen displayed considerable creativity and humor in describing the situation and its outcome (a bigger galley).

On 26 February, Van Valen described in great detail the horrible ordeal of"having a visit from Old Neprune," the age-old custom at sea of h azing crewm en or passengers who were crossing the equator for the first time. Individuals were tarred, hoisted aloft then plunged into the water multiple times, shaved with a rusty barrel hoo p, and even reportedly keelhauled-all described comprehensively and ultimately ending with good humo r-"all of which must be done or forfe it a Bottle of Wine! " A few weeks later, Van Valen listed the more common passenger pursuits typical of a long voyage: "the Passengers are generally collected about in small compa nies, some amusing themselves in Playing Cards, Back Ga mmon or some other recreation. Some Reading, some Writing, some practicing upon some Musical instrument."

On another morning, afrer a particularly decadent breakfast of "Fried Ham, Potatoes, Mush & Molasses . .. the passengers took the advantage of the weather and amused themselves in performing various gymnastic feats among the rigging."

Much ofVan Valen's journal reads like a ship's log, recording wind, weather, and sa il changes, longitude a nd latitude cribbed from the mate's noon sights, ships sighted, birds observed, fi sh caught, whales seen, and the like. About four months out, on its second landfall, H ersi!ia anchored at Valparaiso, Chile, for fresh provisions and a brief rest. He wrote quite lyrically about the beauty of the Andes, noting that the local prices of goods and services were high and gold fever there as strong as it was back in New York.

A month late r, Van Valen laid out a typical day aboard the barque. With just five crew per watch operating a 180-foot ship, conditions must have been extremely arduous for the crew. He wrote, "A Sailor's life is a dog's life, but now I shudder with a different perception-a dog's life is far bener than theirs. No ordinary dog suffers as much, is injured at all so grievously, Or is as destitute ofapt resources in ti mes of exposure or wa nt. ... A Sailor seem s a kind of an amphibious animal, devoted to hard service, wet or dry, aloft or on decks, by night or day... " Meanwhile, back in New York, Alexander's wife Susan was getting by, but not happily. O ver the course of several letters, she reported to her

Susan Van Valen

husband that she was lonely for his company, that New York was unhealthy, but that her income from sewing was adequate. She always reported cheerful details about the girls, although it could not have been easy working and tending two toddlers by herself.

H owever positive she tried to appear to her distant husba nd, the family was indeed suffering hardship. In her husband 's absence, she had to move to less expensive housing and occasionally had to borrow sm all amo unts of money from the partnership's financiers to meet her fa mily's needs. Generally, she was able to keep betwee n $25-$75 in her savings acco unt, supplem ented a few times by sm all packets of gold (both co in and dust) sent home by her husband from the gold fields. In a letter dated 16 December 1849, she reminded him that the twelfth was the anniversary of the day that financier H enry A. Kerr had offered ro bankroll the prospectors'

,,,.

Dated 11 January 1849, Van Va/en's Seaman's Protection Certificate was issued by the New York Collector of Customs. Originally, these p apers were designed to prevent impressment into the British Navy, but, by the time of the California gold rush, they were used more for individual identification and proof of citizenship.

SEA HISTORY 13 7, WINTER 2011-12

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venture (only a week afrer rhe Presidenr Polk 's a nnouncemenr). In fac r, Va n Valen had decided to go wes r even before Kerr's offer, as rhe dare on his Seaman's Prorecrion Cerrificare arresrs. Susan also informed her husba nd rhar his informarive and arriculare lerrers back ho me were being published in rhe Commercial Advertiser, a N ew York evening newspaper, over rhe pen na me "Van" or "our Co rrespo ndenr."

Back o n rhe ship, Van Valen continued to record events borh large and sm all. Two per dogs exhibiring signs of madness we re rhrow n overboard. A large sunfis h (mola mola) sunning irself on rhe wa rer's surface was caughr, killed, a nd a nato mica lly srudied.

H ersilia's passengers celebrared Geo rge Was hington's birrhday on 22 Februarywirh a one-hundred-gun sa lure ar daybreak, acco mpanied by fife music and an empry-wa rer-cask drum. One passenger delivered a srirring orarion on rhe Fourrh ofJul y, and anorher read rhe D eclararion of Independence. Music, sin ging and dancin g, acco mpa nied by a fife, drum, and banj o, fo llowed. Fin ally, on 8 Augusr, "El Dorado" was sighred and H ersilia anchored in San Fra ncisco Bay rhe followin g day-199 days our. A frer more rhan six monrhs ar sea, rhe passengers were so our of shape rhar Van Valen observed in an unusually hones r lerrer to his brorher-in-law, " ir was a verry farigueing journey for persons no berrer prepa red rha n we were for rhe underraking, hav ing been co nfined for nea r 7 monrhs on board of a sm all Vessel, w irh lirrle cha nce fo r exercise, and no m anual labor to harden us." One of rhe ra rely-considered adva ntages of overland rravel over rhe sea roure was rhe physical condirioning forced on rravelers of rhe lo ng rrail. Upon landing, Va n Valen wem firsr to rhe pos r offi ce, where he fo und "a bounti ful! supply of Len ers for [him] self and Company."

Van Valen m ade his final journal enrry jusr one week larer.

Using coordinares from rhe mare's logbook, he drafred a colored cha rr cracking rhe long voyage and pas red ir in to rhe back of his journal. This wo uld nor be rhe end of rhe story, however. As rhe ve nrure's corpo rare correspondenr, Van Valen senr frequem lerrers to his backers, hi s w ife, a nd his brorher-in-law. These lerrers to New York cominued rhrou gh 18Augusr 185 0, providing firsthand

Van Valen's hand-drawn track chart of his 199 -day voyage from New Yo rk to San Francisco aboard the barque H ersilia.

derails of bis life and wo rk in the gold fields; they are exrremely valuable resources for informario n on rhe daily life of a typical fo rry-niner.

The parrners began mining along rh e Mokelumne Ri ve r, a few miles sourh of John Surre r's M ill in Coloma, California, where rhe ori gin al nugger rhar rri ggered rhe gold rush had been found by Ja mes M a rshall rwo winrers befo re. Van Valen glu ed an accurate h and-draw n m ap of rhe gold field s inro his journal and described in minure detail rhe va rious kinds of mining operarions in use, depending o n loca l conditions and proximiry to fas t-flow ing rivers. The company srayed in rhe sourhern mining area rhrou gh 1849 a nd in to 185 0, presuming ir to be as good as any o rher fo r prospecring. By Aug usr 185 0, rwo of rhe co mpa ny had lefr , and the am ounr of gold collecred by rhe rem aining rhree partners was slighrly over eighr lbs. Ar rh e rime, gold was officially valued ar $20.67/o unce; eighr pounds yielded a toral of $2,645.76 . Subrracting 25% for rhe fin a nciers nerred $1,98 4 .32 , of which Anchored ships abandoned by their crews who took offfor the gold fields, from William Shews famous p anorama of Yerba Buena Bay, San Francisco, 1853. Many ofthese ship s ended up as cheap Landfill in San Francisco, and some are still being uncovered today when construction crews are digging fo undations fo r new of fice buildings along the m odern waterfront.

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SEA HISTORY 137, WINTER2011-12

/.

/

eightee n days after giving birth on 26 April, just a few days afte r her rhirtieth binhday. The remainder of Alexander Va n Valen's life in New York, after his rerurn from the California gold field s, is largely undocumeO[ed . The 1860 census recorded rh at he lived in Rochester, N ew York, and an eighreen-year-old serva nt, Marga rer Kane, was also lisred in the Van Valen household rhar yea r, presumably ro help rhe widower in rhe care of his four daughrers and household. In 1863 ar rhe age of fony-four, Va n Valen regisrered fo r the C ivil Wa r draft in Rochesrer as a merchant, but norhing is know n of any mili ra ry ca reer. H e survived the co nAict and died on 22 N ovember 1869 ar rhe age of 50.

Alrhough he died premarurely, Alexa nder Van Valen's srory li ves on as a remarkable testimony to the lure and realities facing rhe prospecrors of rhe Ca lifornia gold rush, as seen rhrough the eyes and pen of one of irs panicipams. His vivid words bring rhe unique evem ro life once more and illusrrare rhe srrengrh , bravery, and persistence of mid-nineteenth-cemury emrepreneurs out ro seek their fo rrunes and determined ro improve their lives and those of their fa milies. Va n Valen may not have come back wealthy from the emerprise, but his painstaking and detailed record of hi s experience and the voyage ch ar m ade ir happen enriches us roday. J,

~n ~fen's sketch ofthe California gold fields was drawn fo r his wife Susan back in N ew Yo rk. H is company, the California Gold Mining Comp any, worked in the southern gold fields along the Mokelumne River. Sutter's M ill is marked by an 'X" along the South Fork ofthe American River in the northern gold fields.

Dr. Paul F J ohnston is Curator ofMaritime H istory at the Smithsonian's National Museum ofAmerican H isto ry, and secretary of the Council ofAmerican Maritime Museums. Items from the Van Valen Collection are on display as part of the museum's "On the Water" maritime history exhibit. The museum is located on the National Mall, at 14th Street and Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, D C (http://americanhistory.si. edu).

each of rhe rhree miners wo uld receive one-rhird, or $661.44 .

In his las r lener home ro Susa n dared 18 Augusr 1850, Va n Valen meO[ioned rhar he was in rhe eleveO[h hour of his veO[ure, and rharhe planned ro leave as soon as ir was healrhyar rhe Panama Isrhmus. This indicares a rerurn voyage ro N ew York by sreamer, bur ir is nor known exacdy when he left California. Mosr commonly, rhe Pacific Mail Srea mship C ompany rook homebound prospecrors from San Franci sco ro rhe wesrern side of Panama, which rhey crossed overland ro rhe mourh of rhe C hagres Rive r.

The Ad amic leg was cove red by US M ail Sreamship C ompany sreamers or any number of rhe comperirors rhar spra ng up ro accommodare homesick prospecrors.

CoO[emporary sources indicare rhar rhe rerurn rrip on sreamships was a good bir more expensive rhan rhe $150 ourbound ricker on a sailing ship-up ro rwice as much. In Van Valen's case, rhe cosr probably came our of his miner's share. H e musr have lefr California fairl y quickly and arrived ar N ew York around rhe end of D ecember 1850, for his fifth daughrer was born nine momhs later on 30 Seprember 1851. A final child, a sixth daughter, was born ro rhe Van Valens on 8 April 1853. Susan Va n Valen died (right) This small, well-worn daguerreotype of Susan ~n ~!en and her twin baby daughters Sarah and Catherine is believed to have accomp anied A lex on his California gold rush adventure. For as much toil and hardship as many 49ers endured, their struggles were shared at home by those left behind.

SEA HISTORY 13 7, WINTER2011-12

25

Virginia Woolf's Maiden Voyage

by C hristie Jackso n and Richard J. King

This past summer a team of researchers based at the Williams College-Mystic Seaport Maritime Studies Program in Mystic, Connecticut, in the US, and Bath Spa University, in the UK, examined The Voyage Out through a maritime history lens, exploring the novel's maritime imagery and viewing the work within the long tradition ofliterature of the sea. irginia Woolf, preemin ent English writer, looked to the sea fo r inspiratio n fo r such novels as To The Lighthouse (1927) and The Wtzves (193 1). She was one of the first majo r female novelists o n either side of the Atlantic to write extensive scenes depicting life at sea, as well as vo icing these acco unts through her novels' female characters. From her childhood summers spent seaside to ocean-going journeys to her tragic sui cide by drowning in a river, Woolf's life was marked by a tranquility and turbulence that was profoundly shaped by water.

V

Virginia Woolf(1882-1941) The autho r's pull to the sea was most apparent in her debut novel, The Voyage Out (1 91 5), a story in which the first quarter is set upon a ship and the rest of the novel is saturated with wa ter imagery. The Voyage Out is abo ut a young English woman who travels across the Atlantic to a port at the mouth of the Amazo n, where she falls in love, then tragically dies from a fever that she p resumably contracted during a boat trip upriver.

The Voyage Out begins on rhe Lo ndon wa terfro nt with characters boarding the Euphrosyne, a cargo ship, fo r a transAtl anti c voyage. Using the Euphrosyne as a pivotal backdro p for her story-

26

telling, Woolf follows the movem ents of a gro up of unlikely travel companio ns across the Atlanti c. The ship is bo und fo r the Amazon to load a cargo of rubber while carrying a small complem ent of passengers. Woolf's descriptio n of this fi ctio nal shi p, its interio rs, and shipboard routines reveal a fairly accurate pictu re of transAtlantic travel at rhe turn of the twe ntieth century. Woolf had traveled on ocean-going voyages in 1905 o n the Anselm and Madeirense, two vessels owned and operated by the Boo th Steam ship Company, and iris clear rhar she drew upo n these experi ences in her writing.

Ocean-liner enthusias ts and ship histo ri ans will not only greatly appreciate Wool f's vivid descriptio ns of life aboard the fi ctitious Euphrosyne, but also will enjoy uncovering the details that link Woolf's own personal voyages to those of her characters.

In 1905 Virginia W oolf and her brother Adrian boarded the steam er Anselm (II) in Liverpool fo r a trip to Lisbon . The Anselm was a 400-foo t, 5,442-gross- ton intermediate cargo vessel powered by a triple-expansion-steam engine turning a single screw. The Booth Line offered passenger service from Liverpool and H amburg to va rious ports, including Lisbon, on the way to Brazilian destinations such as Para (now Belem ) and M anfos (M anaus), where its ships wo uld take on Amazo nian rubber. Woolf and her brother joined the Anselm in M arch on its m aiden voyage and had a sea-kindl y passage across the Bay of Biscay. Woolf wrote in her diary rhar Biscay "was a little ro ugh , but nothing to keep up its reputation." As the passage went on , however, the engines "slowly ceased beating." The Anselm lim ped into O po rto, Po rtugal, and Woolf and her brother disembarked and too k a train to Lisbo n.

D espite her sho rt time o n boa rd, Woolf wrote vivid letters to fri ends and family th at extensively described shipboard life, including how boring she fo und the company and that she was "our of doo rs a good 8 hours a day, inhal ing sea breezes enough to m ake the dead walk, and eating hugely, to pass the time." The type of characters she encountered and the ro utines she established on the Anselm find their way into The Voyage Out, adding to the novel's authenticity and humo r. After their holiday, Vi rginia and Adrian returned to Liverpool aboard another Booth Line steamship, the smaller 2,83 1-gross-ton Madeirense, which also m ade regular voyages across the Atlantic. During this return passage, Woolf wrote in another letter that she "wore [her] fur coat and sat wrapped in a rug all the voyage"-pracrices her characters embrace in The Voyage Out. Woo lf co ntinued her blending of fictional story w ith fact ual acco unts when describing the Euphrosyne, which resembles in size and layo ut rhe Anselm and Madeirense. Although the fictional Euphrosyne is a reliable steam er and can weather fierce Atlantic gales, she is no r o ne of the grand transAtlantic ocean liners so popular d uring rhar peri od . Indeed, Woolf describes the Euphrosyne as seen th ro ugh the eyes of passengers onboard one of rhose massive ships: "Glasses were turned upon her from the decks of great liners, and

SEA HISTORY 137, WINTER 2011-12

"But while all this went on by land, very few people thought about die sea. They took it for granted that the sea was calm; and there was no need, as there is in 1nany houses when the creeper taps on d1e bedroom windows, for the couples to nnirmur before they kiss, 'Think of the ships to-night,' or 'Thank Heaven, I'm not the man in the lighthouse!'

For all theyimagined, the ships when theyvanished on the sky-line dissolved, like snow in water. The grmm-up view, indeed, was not much dearer than die view of the little creatures in bathing drawers who were trotting in to the foam all along the coasts of England, and scooping up buckets full ofwater. They saw white sails or tufts ofsmoke pass across the horizon, ai:vJ ifyou had said that these were waterspouts, or the P<:tals of white sea flowers, theywonld h e agreed."

Chapter 11, Tue Voyage Out

by Virginia Woolf

Booth Line postcard ofRMS Anselm (II ) of 1905, painted by Norman Wilkinson (1909). Note the Braz ilian flag on the head ofthe foremast.

she was pronounced a rramp, a cargo-boar, or one of chose wrerched lirrle passe nger sreamers where people rolled abour among rhe carrle on deck."

Whereas rhe ocean liners of rhe early rwenrierh cenrury boasred ronnage in excess of30,000 rons and speeds char rook chem across rhe Aclamic in as lirrle as six days, one may exrrapolare rhe Euphrosyne was roughly only 400 feer in lengrh and 5,000 rons, and rook a leisurely six weeks ro make her journey ro Brazil-similar in size and irinerary ro borh rhe Anselm and Madeirense. By serring rhe sro ry on an inrermediare cargo vessel, Woolf gave herself plenry of rime ro craft relationships berween rhe novel's characters and ro develop Rachel, rhe naive daughrer of rhe shipowner who is nor on ly on her fi rsr voyage, bur on her firsr significanr venrure away from home.

Passengers aboard rheEuphrosyneenjoyed access ro rwo decks, which conrained a ladies' lounge, smoking room, dining room, garden lounge, and a passenger deck promenade, all spaces typ ical of rhe period-and wh ich seem ro mimic almosr exacdy rhe deck plans of borh Boorh Line ships in which Woolf sailed. Genderspecific passenger spaces we re common in char era, and Woolf's

SEA HISTORY 137, WINTER2011-12

inclusion of a ladies' lounge on rhe Euphrosyne-used for reading, wriring lerrers, and co nversing-offers a glimpse inro gender ro les and onboard life while our ar sea: "When rhe ship was fu ll chis aparrmenr bore some magnificem ride and was rhe resorr of elderly sea-sick ladies who left rhe deck ro rheir yo ungers. By virtue of rhe piano, and a mess of books on rhe floor, Rachel considered ir her room, and rhere she wo uld sir for hours playing very difficulr music, reading a lirde German, or a lirde English when rhe mood rook her, and doing-as ar chis momenr-absolurely norhing."

Beyond rhe on board spaces, The Voyage Out also refl ecrs rhe rimeless persecuror of chose who crave! by ship-seasickness. Woolf had experienced some rough seas on her rerurn passage from Portugal, wriring char rhe "boar rolled, & we were slighdy ill! " In her novel, she presemed a somerimes-comic acco unr ofa pirching ship, where her characrers barde rhe elemenrs: "Mrs. Ambrose's worse suspicions were confirmed; she wenr down rhe passage lurching from side ro side, fending off rhe wall now wirh her righr arm, now wirh her lefr; ar each lurch she exclaimed empharically, 'Damn! '" Woolf includes rhe practice of drinking champagne as a cure for seasickness, a widely accepred remedy ar rhe turn of rhe rwenrierh

27

"On the following day they met-but as flying leaves meet in the air. Sick theywere not; but the wind propelled them hastily into rooms, violently downstairs. They passed each other gasping on deck; tl1eyshouted across tables. Theywore fur coats; and Helen was never seen without a bandanna on he1· head. F01· comfort they retreated to their cabins, where with tightly wedged feet they let the ship bounce and tunible. Their sensations were the sensations ofpotatoes in a sack on a galloping horse.

The world outside was merely a violent greytuniult. For two days they had a perfect rest from their old emotions. Rachel had just enough consciousness to suppose herself a donkey on the summit of a moor in a hail-storm, with its coat blown into furrows; then she became a wizened tree, perpetually d1·iven back by the salt Atlantic gale." -(from Chapter V?

<

I

I

Booth Line's Madeirense, 1903, and (right) the ship's music room.

century. Brandy, chloroform, drinking seawater, and coca wine made from cocaine were also doctor-advocated cures at the time.

Woolf began writing The Voyage Out three years after her trip to Lisbon and, working through innumerable drafts, took more than five years to complete it. No doubt Woolf's experiences on the Anselm and Madeirense influenced her depiction of the Euphrosyne, particularly in terms of the social encou nters, rolling seas, and ship's interior. H er abili ty to blend real-life shipboard details into the novel gives th e pl ot a certain realism. The emotions that Woolf gives her main character Rachel as she embarks upon her own maiden voyage likely reflect those she had felt aboard Anselm in 1905: when the Euphrosyne departs the English Channel sailing into the fresh , open-sea air, "an immense dignity had descended upon her." Woolf's description of the ship underway transfers the same characteristics to the novel's protagonist: "She [the ship] was an inhabitant of the great world, which has so few inhabitants, traveling all day across an empty universe, with veils drawn before her and behind. She was more lonely than the caravan crossing the desert; she was infinitely more mysterious, moving by her own power and sustained by her own resources.

The sea might give her death or some unexampled joy, and none would know of it. She was a bride going forth to her husband, a virgin unknown of men; in her vigour and purity she might be likened to all beautiful things, for as a ship she had a life of her own." With its authentic shipboard atmosphere, The Voyage Out is more than a simple wo rk of fictio n. As readers, we experience the sea through the eyes and pen of Virginia Woolf-a journey that is raw, realistic, and engaging, m ade even more powerful by the author's ability to blend maritime history with her mastery of storytelling.

Christie Jackson is a scholar of ocean-Liner history and the Ruby Winslow Linn Curator at the Old Colony Historical Society in Taunton, MA. Richard King teaches Literature of the Sea with Wiffiams Coffege-Mystic Seaport and is a regular contributor to Sea History as both author and iffustrator of "Animals in Sea H istory. " The rest of"Team Sea Woolf" includes Leila Crawford, Katy Day, and Stephanie Trott from Wiffiams-Mystic and Elizabeth Wright from Bath Spa University.

(right) Virginia Woolfand her brother-in-Law Clive Beff on the beach at Studfand Bay, Dorset in 191 O; photo by Vanessa Be ff (1879-1961).

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SEAHISTORY 137, WINTER2011-12

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www.shipsofglassinc.com 813 918 1566 813 968 2163 dhardy@shipsofglassinc.com

"Yes, I can make a replica of your sailboat." - Don Hardy SEA HISTORY 13 7, WINTER 2011-1 2

29

n the 21st century, most people wo uld agree that we live The earth's North and South Poles are close ro, bur no t in an age of technology, bur this is actually nothing new. perfectly aligned with, its m agnetic poles. The difference Technology has always been around- it's the applica- between them is expressed as an angle called declinatio n of science and invention to deal with practical real-life tion (o n nautical charts, this is call ed variation). Why pro blems. Early humans who used sto nes fo r cutting were are there two N orth Poles and two South Poles? The using techn ology, and by the 15th geograph ic poles, called "True North" and "True century, technology solved the South," are aligned problem of how people on with the earth's roshi ps and boars could fi gure out what directational axis, the tion they were sailing imagi nary line in and, perhaps even running through the earth around more importantly, what d irection they which it spins. To needed ro go ro get make things even more back home. Before complicated, the earth's that time, sailors rarely magnetic field shifts a littl e bi t ventured our of sight of every year, making it impossible land and instead relied on ro mark its poles permanently on visible landmarks ro get from place earth's magnetic field maps, globes, and charts. Cartographers (mapmakers) take care of ro place. This limited traders and navies ro routes close ro shore, bur the invention of the compass changed all that. No this pro blem by printing a "Compass Rose" on charts and one is exactly sure who invented it (probably the Chinese, maps, which shows the difference between true and magnetic bur the Greeks also undersrood about magnetism in ancient north and notes the change in declination each year. times), bur the magnetic compass as a shipboard navigatio nal The magnetic compass has come a long way since the instrument fi rst shows up in rhe hisrorical record in rhe early sailing days of Zheng H e, and some people might even argue 1400s, when the Chinese explorer Zheng H e (1371-1435) that we don't need them anymore now that we have satelused them ro lead a fleet of shi ps on seven major ocean voy- lites in space sending sig nals ro GPS units. G PS is a great ages thro ughout Asia, eastern Africa, and the Mi dd le East. advance in navigational technology, bur 1 h e magnetic compass contains a magnetic element only a foo l wo uld go ro sea with the .,. , ',~ ...i....L,,.,.f,, ,, . h b . ·11 • ,..~·""" t ......,,.,,""·"··.. that aligns itself with the earth's magnetic field . Think of the expectation t at atten es w1 ~-s:"''~'>"" '4,,,,/" ea rth as a big magnet. It has two magnetic poles, oriented never run down, signals will ,•..,/'''' "''\r,"' \,,.~ north and south, and close ro the geographi c No rth and always make it ro their GPS #../ \,,., So uth Poles. W hen a magnetic element (such as the mineral un it, and their electronic ~/ lodesrone or a fe rro us metal that has been magnetized) is al- instruments will always R j •..-··""'"", \_. lowed ro float freely, it will effectively point north and south, work perfectly. A mag+ ---= •thus showing you which direction you are goi ng in relation ro neric compass is si mple ~l -~ t~ that axis. and relatively inexpen- .~ ·-::;,., \ , ?--::: sive, never needs batteries, . \. ''·,; v·' ,L;: .. :r.; 1,; \ ,, an d easy (an cl fiun!) ro use. ~":>,,,, "i.:..' 1•1.,,f,,, ,,,\~;.,.>:~, ,/·.: "6 ;-,,,,, ~~...,....ii~·r"''"'r... · ,,. . . . , Yo u can even make one your.:·..... ~\· ,,,•"".!> lf . h . £ . l J';;•11,1,,,, \ 1\11\''''~ se wit JUSt a ew matena s... ,Z"""·:~·"'"';r'•"",~"''" l..

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Compass Rose. The outer circle points

to True North; the inner circle shows degrees in magnetic. At the center, the cartographer has noted the difference between them and how much it changes annually. (left) Before US Navy officers learn how to use high-tech electronic navigation systems, they must first learn how to use a compass to navigate at sea. In this photo, Ensign Jason Waddell takes a compass bearing aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island off the coast ofSouthern California in September, 2 011 .

SE A HISTORY 137, WINTER 20 11 - 12

\\ow to Make a Magraetic Cot11pass... it1 your kitchet1!

Materials you"ll tteed • sewing needle, about 2 inches long • a magnet (even a refrigerator magnet will do) • a cork from a wine bottle (best to use a real cork and not the plastic ones) • bowl half-filled with water • pliers

Step 1 Place the needle on a flat surface and rub the magnet along its length several times, always in one direction (not back and forth)-this magnetizes the needle.

0

Step 2 Slice off the end of the cork so that

~Step 3 Use the pliers to poke the

you have a circular piece about 1/4-inch thick.

needle through the side of the cork so that there is approximately the same amount sticking out of each end.

Step 4

Place the cork and needle in the bowl of water, and watch as it turns so that the needle is pointing towards the North Pole (unless you live in the southern hemisphere, in which case it would point towards the South Pole).

·-

By attaching a COlftpass card ro the magnetic needle, mariners then had a reference by which they could navigate North, East, South, and West and all points in between. At a very minimum, a compass card is marked with the Cardittal Poitits (North, East, South, West).

Next would be lt1tercardit1al Poitits (Northeast, Southeas t, Southwes t, and Northwest) . This compass card shows 32 poitits, each worth 11 1/4 degrees, which adds up to 360. Sailors learn how to "box the compass" by being able to recite from memory all 32 points of the compass in order. Try it! "North, North by East, North-Northeast, Northeast by North, Northeast," and so on.

SEA HlSTORY 137, WTNTER 2011-12

uring his 2nd voyage to the Caribbean aboard the Nina in 1494, Christopher Columbus visited an island just south of what is today the Dominican Republic. Columbus's son wrote that his father "anchored at a small island that he named Alta Vela [Tall Sail]; and having lost sight of the other two ships, he sent some men ashore to climb to the top of this very high island, from which one could see a great distance ... As they were leaving that island they killed eight sea wolves which were sleeping in the sand .. .the animals are unaccustomed to men."

Columbus's "sea wolf" was actually a marine mammal -a seal. This is the earliest European description of an animal that is now extinct, the Caribbean monk seal (Monachus tropical is). That Columbus's crew called this animal a "sea wolf" was probably not due to its ferocity but in part in the translation from Spanish to English . In Spanish, seals and sea lions are sometimes called "Iobos marinas," meaning "wolves of the sea," which likely traces to the grey color of their fur as well as the howls that these marine mammals make when hanging out on a beach or set of rocks, particularly if they are beside cliffs where the sounds echo.

The Caribbean monk seal was the only indigenous seal or sea lion in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. In recent decades, sightings of manatees and the occasional stray seal or sea lion from another part of the world have given people hope that a few of the monk seals might remain in the area, but the last confirmed sighting of a Caribbean monk seal was back in 1952 in the western Caribbean Sea . In 2008 the US National Marine Fisheries Service, after a thorough study and review, concluded that the species is definitely extinct. The Caribbean monk seal 's close relatives are also in danger: the Mediterranean monk seal has only about 600 animals left on the planet; the third member of the monk seal family, the Hawaiian, is critically endangered too, with fewer than about 1,500 individuals left on Earth.

What we know about the Caribbean monk seal comes from r\hese living relatives, a few preserved specimens, fossil records, evidence from native peoples, . and the written accounts from mariners and fishermen who encountered them on their voyages. Caribbean monk seals looked a lot like the seals we recognize today with a smooth body, flippers,

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and a short tail. These were large seals-some were more than four hundred pounds. They had big reddishbrown eyes to help see underwater and probably would have eaten fish, lobsters, crabs, and squid-all abundant in the Caribbean Sea .

When Columbus and the early explorers came upon Caribbean monk seals, the animals were passive and unafraid. Hunting and general disturbances to their island rookeries by No v1 s 1i;s1.-c humans over a few hundred years dwindled their population until E A.~ fl-P-.?s. \v\P.."Jo ~ li'~'\;>.15\\0 ?-S : fv\ ,b--~ 1 5 1:\P..'?-~S just those few sightings were left, and by then their extinction was L-l~ 5 pA.~ = imminent. Sailors hunted seals 20 -3 0 '(12-s ? for food, as did Columbus's crew, but more often for their blubber, which was used for lamp oil, lubrication, and even as a coating \-\1(:,\..\L'( Sf'NS r\\'.Jt: for the bottom of boats. Swiss \fJ\-\\S~ E°"\2. 5 1\1)\G\-\T VJeL..l- t:>\:\f€ l..<'.lf'E.D naturalist Konrad Gesner wrote .\-\€.\...~ f'I t-11) fl SI-\ C '-f>..WS O\J ~DNi an unlikely account of how 16th_ V"1t> t {2..\/'JA\'E~ -f'-l p~ c- ~s century sailors used the seals' pelts: "Its hair is reputed to be of such a wondrous nature that the skins or pelts are worn by mariners. When in thunderstorms, tempests and other inclement weather is nigh, the hair shall rise and bristle, but when it turns still and mild, it shall lay down smoothly." In 1707 Sir Hans Sloane wrote: "The Bahama Islands are filled with Seals; sometimes Fishers will catch one hundred in a night. They try or melt them, and bring off their Oil for Lamps to the Island." Early explorers and mapmakers named a variety of places across the region in a way that says they saw these animals, names such as Lobos Cay in Cuba, Cayo Lobo Marino in Nicaragua, and Seal Keys in the Bahamas.

Into the early 1800s, sailors and naturalists described monk seals throughout the Caribbean, including the Yucatan Peninsula and Venezuela. By the 1890s, however, four hundred years after Columbus's arrival, the Caribbean monk seal was considered very rare. The last Caribbean monk seal sighted in American waters was killed by a fisherman in 1922 near Key West, Florida. 1, In the next issue: the "people's food" of the ?;:::; 1,,,. ll..~';..~ Native American fishermen of the Pacific ) '-;_. I ~_/.:. ' ~7':) ,• / - (,,',. rr""Northwest. For past 'Animals in Sea History' \ " ,, . .,._ __.; -· r go to www.seahistory.org. "t~ I f ' r{ • . .- ~~ '"''J> "'-\

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Marine Watercolors b~ Cheng-Khee Chee ward-winning wa tercolorist Cheng-Khee Chee cam e to Minnesora in 1962 to pursue a graduate degree at the U niversity of M innesota, settling in Duluth in 1965. O ver the years, he has experimented with ways to synthes ize the concepts and processes of traditions from bo th his native China and hi s ado pted country, and his paintings are the product of his abili ty to blend technique and style from bo th Eastern and Wes tern influences. This duali ty results in ambitio us artworks of many styles, fro m traditional to nonobjective. A strong believer in the meaningful connections m ade between artist, artwork, a nd viewer, Chee explains, "My ul timate goal in painting is to achieve the essence ofTao, the state of effortless creation , and I hope the end results are the visual realizatio n of my inner being that will communicate on a universal and timeless level."

An associate professor emeritus of the University of M in nesota-D uluth, C hee is a natural teacher as well as an artist. His gradu ate studies at UM were in library science, however, not art. W hile he wo rked in the UMD library by day, h e h oned his artistic skills and techniq ue by night. In 1979, he began teaching wa tercolo r painting, fi rst at workshops and in time th rough the art department. W hen he left the uni versity in 1994 to pursue his own art full time, he retired from both the library and the art departmen t. That yea r, he was the recipient of the 1994 University of M innesota system -wide University College D istinguished Teaching Award and the Uni versity of M innesota-Duluth C ampus Chancellor's D istinguished Services Awa rd. W hile teaching was so mething he co uld offi cially retire from-on campus, at least- he was never able to walk away fro m it entirely. Since his university retirem ent, in add iti on to his wo rk as an artist, he has also produced instructio nal DVD s and books fo r as piring watercolorists. His wo rks have been exhibited in numerous national juried exhibitions and captured mo re than 200 ho no rs. Solo exhibitions have taken him across the co untry and back to his native C hina and former home-co untry, M alaysia. C urrently, visito rs to the M innesota M arine Ar t M useum can catch his latest show, Marine Watercolors by Cheng-Khee Chee, on exhibit through 15 January 201 2. The exhi bition fea tu res fo rty paintings of different periods and places, as well as M r. C hee's book illustrations fro m The Old Titrtle by D o uglas Wood, the 1990 bes t-sell ing childre n's book and winner of the Internacio nal Reading Associatio n's Children's Book Award (1993).

A

Morning Harbor- Meizhou, China, 3 0 x 4 0 inches (1995)

- Jon Swanson, Curator, M innesota Marine Art Museum

M eizhou is closest to my hometown in Southern China. It used to be a fishing town but now has become an important seaport and tourist attraction. I visited Meizhou the first time in 1995 and was mesmerized by the various kinds of wooden fishing- and cargo boats.

34

SEA HISTORY 13 7, WINTER2011-1 2

Ore Carriers 25 x 40 inches (1980)

Duluth Harbor, 22 x 3 0 inches (2009)

SEA HISTORY 137, WINTER 20 11-12

35

"I believe artists should not be content with the specihc su~ect matter in which the~ excel, or

established st~le. I feel artists should be sensitive to changes around them and, like scientists, ideas, and wa~s of expression. Picasso found inspirations in African Art. Matisse underwent interpenetration and integration of art forms of various cultures. As watercolorists, we should

Improvisational Splash Color Approach I di scove red rhar when a broad brush charged wirh color is swepr over rhe glossy gel medium-coared high-surfaced illusrrarion board, rh e painr is immediarely repelled, and creares exciring rexrures resembling rocks and mounrains. Sin ce rhe board is ve ry smoo ch, ir is also easy ro make changes. I urilize rhese qualiries and rake an improvisari onal approach ro painr subj ecrs such as rocks, mounrains, and canyons. I srarr rhe painring wirh srrong emorion and grear speed. I wo rk ar whire hear for abour rwen ry minures, crying ro cove r rhe enri re surface of rhe board. Gradually, rhrough rhe acr of painring, I discover rhe subjecr marrer and exerr more conscious conrrol ro guide rhe painring ro irs finishing srage. The painring develops in rhe very process of painring.

Homer, Alaska, Impression.

22 x 3 0 inches (2008)

I was awestruck by this sight in H omer, Alaska, with a group of boats superimposed on the majestic snow-capp ed mountains in the background.

Saturated Wet Process The sarurared we r paper allows easy lifong. Th erefore, I can painr rhe negarive background fi rs r, and rhen lifr our shapes of any subjecr I choose ro painr, mainraining sofr edges and a unified backgro und. I use rhis merhod fo r painring subj ecrs such as koi and flowers. Their shapes are generally lighrer in value rhan rhe negarive background, and rhey have sofr edges. When painring fish I rry to ger rhe feeling rhar fi sh are in th e warer and char rhe rwo are inseparable.

Koi 2008 No. 6, 22 x 3 0 inches (2008)

36

SEAHilSTORY 137, WINTER2011-12

with the specific process the2:J have mastered, merel2:J to repeat themselves within an be constantl2:J exploring, experimenting, discovering, and developing new concepts, the inRuence of the Orient. In light ot the shrinking time and space, there will be more be aware of the rich E:ast Asian watermedia traditions." -Che ng-Khee Chee

Traditional Approach

Lakers, 22 x 3 0 inches (1998)

The traditional approach is to pre-select a subj ect, and then work toward achieving the result.

Although striving for innovation, I have never overlooked the importance of traditional/ academic approaches to watercolor painting. Ir is imperative to master drawing skills and techniques of handling the inherent qualities of watermedia such as controlling paint and washes . Ir is also crucial to have a thorough understanding of design. Before starting a painting, I wo uld analyze its design elements and then orchestrate these abstract elements into a cohesive painting by applying design principles. I use this approach for painting subjects with concrete forms and complex perspective, such as boats, buildings and streets.

I have lived in Duluth since 1965.

This inland harbor draws ships from all over the world. Colorful ocean liners and distinctive red and white ore carriers frequent the majestic grain elevators and ore docks.

The Minnesota Marine Art Museum, located on the Mississippi River, is dedicated to exhibiting and educating the public about contemporary art inspired by water. MMAM, 800 Riverview Drive, Winona, MN 55987; Ph. 5 07 474-6626; www.minnesotamarineart.org. Information on the artist is available online at www.chengkheechee.com.

SEA HISTORY 137, WINTER 2011-12

37

by Peter McCracken

MARITIME HISTORY ON THE INTERNET

New Ways of Searching For-and With-Images ay back in 2007, I wro re a column here abour ways of searching for onro the Google Images search box (ir doesn'r currenrly work on the images online. I wro re, "So much info rmarion rhar's hidden in an srandard google.com sire; you need robe ar the "Google Images" sire) and image cannor be searched by modern search engines, bur rhar will likely pur Google ro work. You can use your own images, roo: if you forgot the change wirh rime and new rechnology." How very name of a lighthouse in a vacation phoro you rrue-roday, yo u can use rhe image irself ro search • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • rook or rhe title or arrisr of a work you phoand nor have ro rely on jusr using words rhar rographed, just click on the camera icon in SF.A I I !STORY describe rhar image. Ir is rruly an amazing rhing. rhe search box, and selecr "Upload an image."

There is srill much ro be said for rhe "oldLocare rhe image on your deskrop, and let fashioned" way of searching for images. Go ro Google do irs magic. http://images.google.com ro srarr, and simply Yes, orher search engines exisr. Yes, rhey type in a few words describing whar you seek. If have image searches, roo. Yes, if you're searchyou search for "cape harreras lighrhouse," you'll ing wirh rerms ir's probably worrh seeing whar see pages and pages of rhe black-and-whire-srriped Bing (http://www.bing.com/images) or lighrhouse. Bur rhere's much more available Yahoo! (http://images.yahoo.com) have if you look carefull y. to offer, rhough rhese rwo sires rry ro guess On rhe lefr side of rhe screen, whar you wanr ro see before you type anyGoogle presenrs several oprions. "Sorr rhing, and apparenrly ir's all celebrities. by subjecr," offered since las r May, sorrs Google, on the other hand, wairs ro hear all of Google's images inro differenr carewhar you really wanr. And, only Google gories: inside rhe Iigh rho use, rhe lighrhouse lets you use images ro search for rext or ar nigh r, ar sunser, moving rhe lighrhouse more images. away from rhe eroding beach back in 1999, Four yea rs ago I nored http://shipspotting.com, which now drawings of rhe lighrhouse, and more. Clicking "more like rhis" in rhe claims over one million images of individual ships. Orher ship-specific rop righr corner of each of rhese secrions will lead ro more similar-looking phorographysires have now appeared, includinghttp://grosstonnage.com, phoros. You can also sorr by color-clicking on rhe brown burron causes but this site requires regisrration, and a subscriprion after five days. The the brown National Park signs near the lighthouse, plus brown timbers, site at http://www.shipphotos.co.uk has phoros from around Britain red-brick buildings, and brownish sands ro sifr ro rhe rop. Google offers and Europe, and http://www.photoship.co.uk has ove r 100,000 some searches by rime, rhough rhe limirs reflecr when Google fo und rhe images of older vessels. Ar http://fotoflite.com, you'll see aerial marine phorographs; however, rhese are fo r sale and rhus have a "ForoFlire" page in quesrion, nor when ir was wrirren.

All rhese features are very inreresring and fun ro play wirh. Whar's warermark on rhe website samples. truly remarkable, however, is Google's new ability (as of June 2011 ) ro Suggesrions fo r orher sires worrh menrioning are welcome ar peter@ accept an image and rhen rell you whar ir "sees." If you find an image shipindex.org. See http://shipindex.org for a free compilarion of over online and wanr ro know more about it, you can jusr drag rhe image 140,000 ship names from indexes ro dozens of books and journals. ,!,

W

Three Centuries of Seafaring: The Maritime Art of Paul Hee tlkttlft tlrtit-

Marine artist Paul Hee of Beaufort.

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tlktttr J},,,,L This 140-page hardbound book features 100 full-color seascapes of American and British ships in exacting detail.

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First Hand Narratives Books, CDs, Resources :SEA HISTORY 136, AUTUMN 2011

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.SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS Mystic Seaport Museum is seeking individuals who witnessed the whaleship Charles W. Morgan's arrival in Mystic, CT, on 8 November 1941. So far, the museum has identified four people, including George White, a member of the museum's board of trustees, and Bob Lane, who was a Sea Scout in 1941 and was onboard when the ship came up the Mystic River. If you were rhere, or if yo u have phoros of rhe event, please conracr rhe museum's Marrhew Srackpole ar 860 572-5365 or by email at marrhew. stackpole@mysticseaport.org. A National Hisro ric Landmark, the Morgan is in rhe middle of a major resrorarion projecr ro nor o nly srabilize the vessel bur make her

SS Montebello

seaworthy for a highly anricipared voyage back to New Bedford, MA, where she was builr, wirh a derour out ro Stellwagen Bank Narional Marine Sancruary. In orher news at Mysric, rhe museum has announced ir will close ro rhe public for a six-week period this winter, from 2 January ro 15 February. Light visirarion during rhe coldesr weeks of winter has made staying open difficulr ro jusrify. The museum srared rhar rhe closure will allow rhem rime ro plan and prepare rhe museum's exhibits, grounds, and programs for rhe resr of rhe year. Sraff members will continue ro work during the closure alrhough some employees involved with exhibirs will see a reduction in their hours. (75 Greenmanville Ave., Mysric, CT 06355 ; www.mys ticseaport.org) In October, the US Coast Guard announced that what was feared to be a potential environmental disaster has been averted. This aurumn , an 11-day

Matthew Stackpole (left) and Bob Lane aboard the Charles W. Morgan. Mr. Lane was a Sea Scout onboard the Morgan when she arrived in Mystic in 194 1 as well (above).

40

mulri-agency expedition was conducred by the Coast Guard, rhe California Deparrmenr of Fish and Game's Office of Spill Prevenrion and Response, and the Narional Oceanic and Armospheric Adminisrrarion (NOAA) ro determine how much oil might still be crapped onboard a sunken oil ranker off the coasr of cenrral California. On 23 December 1941 , just a few weeks after the arrack on Pearl Harbor, a Japanese submarine fired a rorpedo ar rhe ranker SS Montebello, sinking rhe ship in 900 feer of warer. All 38 crewmen survived and made ir safely off rhe vessel, bur more rhan 3 million gallons of crude oil wenr down with the 457-foor ship.

The expedirion determined rhar rhe vessel poses no risk because no oil remains in rhe ranks. Whar no one has derermined, however, is whar happened ro the oil. Did ir leak our slowly over rhe lasr 70 years, or did ir happen all at once decades ago with no one noticing? The wreck of the Montebello lies jusr so urh of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, which was designared in 1992 and is a federally prorected marine area. SS Mo ntebello was builr in 1921 ar the Southwesrern Shipbuilding Company in San Pedro, CA, for rhe Union Oil Company of California.

She made regular runs to H awaii, Siberia, Brirish Columbia, and orher Pacific pons. The 2011 expedition was paid out of rhe Oil Spill Liabiliry Trusr Fund, a tax paid by the oil industry. (More informarion on rhe shipwreck can be found online ar hrrp ://channelislands.noaa.gov/ sh ipwreck/ dbase/ montebello_2 .html) ...

One of the Royal Navy's largest warships, HMS Albion, has been sent back to HM Naval Base Devonport from the Baltic and will remain in port, on standby, until 2016. The Brirish governmenr's Straregic Defence and Securiry SEA HISTORY 13>7 , WINTER 2011-12

Review reco mmended that the 18,000to n amph ibi ous assault ship be brought back to port and kept ar "exte nd ed readiness" until 2016 when sh e will rep lace her sister-ship, HMS Bulwark. During the past yea r the ship has been invo lved in rhe Libyan conflict and operations in the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

A Viking chieftain buried in his boat-turned-coffin for 1,000 years was unearthed this summer when the vessel's remains were discovered on the remote Ardnamurchan Peninsula in Scotland. The sire was found by a ream of archaeologists from rhe Ard nam urchan Transitions Project (ATP), a gro up led by researchers from rhe Universities of Manchester and Leicester, CFA Archaeology Lrd. , and Archaeology Scotland, and is rhe most complete Viking

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ship burial discovered to date o n rhe British mainland. The Ardn am urchan Peninsula is rhe most westerly point on rhe mainland. The ship-turned-coffin left its form pressed into rhe soil, and its lines are revealed by hundreds of fastenings, some still attached to pieces of wood. The vessel was small, ap proximately 16 feet lo ng with 5-foot beam. Buried with the deceased were a number of his possessions, including a whetstone from Norway, a bronze ringpin from Ireland, a swo rd, spear, shield, knife, axe, and a bronze object rhoughr to be pan of a drinking horn. Archaeologists recovered fragments of an arm bone and several reerh, wh ich they hope w ill help determine where the man came from. Analysis of rhe wood fragments from rhe ship's

SEA HISTORY 137, WINTER 20 11-1 2

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hull may also help identify th e types of trees used to build the ship and where they came from . Accordi ng to the University of Manchester's Dr. H annah Cobb, co-director of the project, "Such burials were reserved for high-status individuals. H e may have been a chieftain, a famous navigator, or renowned for his wisdom, bur this man was clearly special to his people." The ATP brings together studen ts and academics from several unive rsi ties wo rking w ith CFA Archaeology and Archaeology Scotland. They plan to return for another field season on the sire in summer 201 2. (www.arrs.manches rer. ac. uk/ archaeology/ research/ ardnam urchan /) .. . The US Coast Guard's Barque Eagle began a 3-month quadrennial drydock and maintenance period on 5 October at the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, MD. The $5 million work package includes overhauls of the main

in northern Germany on 14 October.

111is Rainbow Warrior is the th ird flagship for the organization; it carries srare-ofrhe-arr communications equipment and two "action" boats, an d can carry a h elicopter on its aft deck. Two A-frame masts carry almost 14,000 square feet of sail, helping keep h er carbon footprint to a minimum and m aking her one of the most environmentally friendly vessels of Rainbow Warrior III

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her class. She h as a cruising range of 4 ,500 nautical miles. For 40 yea rs, Greenpeace has sailed the world's oceans, often in old, rusting, borrowed, or repurposed ships; the n ew Rainbow warrior replaces Rainbow warrior IL which was retired from service in August and will now serve as a Ba ngladesh hospital ship.

The original Rainbow warrior was a trawler bui lt in Aberdeen, Sco tland, in 1955 and was blown up in New Z ealand m as t and bowsprit, as well as renewal of in 1985. (For more info rmation and a propeller shaft and rudder bearings . virtual tour of rhe new Rainbow warrior, Woodcarver J.P. Uranker has set up shop visit http ://anewwarrior. greenpeace.org) The Herreshoff Marine Museum/ at the Coast Guard Yard to repair and regild Eagle's mahogany figurehead and America's Cup Hall of Fame has been stern boards. Eagle was lifted out of the awarded a $10,000 matching grant water on 11 October and is scheduled to from the Collectors Foundation of Trabe re-Boated in mid-December. (Yo u can verse City, Ml, to run an after-school fo llow the USCGC Eagle both on the program teaching classic boat repair hard and once sh e is back in the water by and maintenance. 111e program began "friending" the US Coast Guard Bargue this fall in the same complex of l 9rhEagle on Facebook at www.facebook. cenrury buildings where, between 19 14 com.) .. . Greenpeace launched a new and 1939, the HerreshoffManufacturing purpose-built flagship, Rainbow war- Company desigmed and buil t the boats rior Ill, from a Berne-Motzen shipyard used in the mus;eum's sailing program .

SEA HISTORY 137, WINTER 201 1-1 2

The museum's Herreshoff Institute, organized in 1998 , seeks to teach math and science through sailing. In 2010 the museum's After School Mentorship Program enro lled 15 students from East Providence, Warren, Bristol, and T iverton, RI; it aims to help yo ung people gain valuable skill s, wh ile contributing to their community's cultural heritage and modern industry. (HMM, One Burnside Street, POB 450, Bristol RI 02809 ; Ph .

401 253-5000; www.h erreshoff.org) ...

The application deadline for the John Carter Brown Library (JCBL) research fellowships for 2012-13 is 15 December. Shorr- and long-term fellowships are open to scholars and writers working on all aspects of the Americas in the early modern period and require relocating to Providence, RI, to be in continuous residence at the J CBL for the full term of the award. Shorr-term fellowships are for 2-4 months with a monthly stipend of $2, 100; long-term fellows stay for 5-10 months with a monthly stipend of $4,200. Som e of the long-term fellowships are funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, for which an applicant must be an American citizen or have been resident in the United States for the three years preceding the application deadline. G rad uate students are not eligible for long-term fellowships. The John Carter Brown Library, an independently funded institution for advanced research at Brown University, will award approximately forty residential Fellowships for the year 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013. The Library con tains one of the world's premier collections of primary materials related to the discovery, exploration, and se ttlement of the New World to 1825, including books, maps, newspapers, and oth er printed objects. For more information , email jcbl_fellowships@ brown .edu; or visit www.jcbl.org) ... In recognition of her upcoming centennial, the tug Delaware is now being restored to her 1912 appearance in full public view at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (CBMM) in St. Michaels, Maryland. Delaware is a rare example of a typical early 20th-century river tug. Built in 1912 in Bethel, Delaware, by boatbuilder William H. Smith, the 39-foot wooden vessel is a product of

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Berhel's grear age of wooden ship- and boarbuilding and, apart from rhe 1900 ram schooner Victory Chimes (formerly Edwin and Maud), may be rhe only survivor. For 70 years, rhe Delaware was a

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co mmon sight around the Upper Eas tern Shore, engaged in building bulkheads and docks unril she was laid up in the late 1980s. Delaware hauled scows o n Broad C reek, often laden with lumber, and towed ram schoo ners to and from Laurel.

O ccasionally, she carried passe ngers to Sandy Hill for day rrips on rb e Nami co ke Ri ver. Shipwrigh rs at the C BMM are replacing six bo rtom plan ks (yellow pine) on the port side, all the way forward.

Thar will also allow the shipwri ghrs and apprentices to replace suuctural floors and fram e ends, as well as repair the keel.

They are also replacing the 25-foot lower guards on the hull to the original configuration. Restoration work is being done over th e fa ll and winrer months, in full public view in the museum's harbo rside boatyard. (CBMM, 2 13 N. Talbot Street, POB 636, Sr. Mi chaels, MD 2 1663; Ph .

4 10 74 5-2916; www. cbmm.org) ... The US Naval War College (NWC) presented British naval historian N. A. M. Rodger with the Hattendorf Prize for his contributions to maritime history on 20 October. During a ceremony at the 20th Imernational Seapowe r Symposium, US C hief of Naval Operations Ad-

miral Jonathan W. G reenen and rhe British Royal Navy's Firsr Sea Lo rd, Admiral Sir Mark Sranhope, joined rhe Naval War College's pres idem Rear Admiral Joh n N. Chri srenso n and Professor John B. Hatrendorf in recognizing Rodger as rhe inaugural H an endorf Prize Laureare. Rodger is a fellow of All Soul's College ar O xfo rd U niversity and of rhe Brirish Academy, rhe UK's London-based national organizarion fo r distinguished scholars in rhe humaniries and social sciences . In from of an audien ce of maririme leaders from more rhan 110 narions, Rodger sta red, "I've ofren rhoughr naval histo rians are able to do more service to navies rban navies realize. I like to take the opporruniries thar come my way to tell admirals rhis, bur I must say, I never dreamr I should find myself with the opportunity to say rhis ro all rh e admirals in the whole wo rld who man er." The prize is named fo r the Naval Wa r College's Professor John B. H attendorf who first joined the NWC facul ty as a lieurenant in 1972 and has been the college's Ernest ]. Kin g Professor of Maritime Hisrory si nce 1984. Since 2003, he has also been th e d irecror of th e Naval War College Museum . (www.navy.mil/local/nwc/) ...

The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum has received a grant of $23,985 from the National Park Service's American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) to undertake an archeological survey to determine the precise location and established boundaries for MacDonough's War of 1812 shipyard in Vergennes, Vermont. This grant is one of 25 National Park Service grants ro raling $ 1.2 million ro preserve and protect significanr battle sires from all wars fo ught on American soil. Federal, stare, local, and tribal governments, non-profir organizations, and educarional insriruti ons are eligible fo r Nati onal Park Service bartlefield granrs, which are awarded annually. (LCMM, 4472 Basin H arbor Rd., Ve rgennes, VT 0549 1; Ph . 802 475202 2; www.lcmm .org. More informati on

(l-r) Chiefof Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert, Professor j ohn Hattendorj NA . M . Rodger, Royal Navy First Sea Lord Adm. Sir Mark Stanhope, and NWC president Rear Adm. j ohn Christenson .

44

on rh e N PS gram s is online at www.nps. gov/hisrory/hps /a bpp .) ... The Minnesota Lakes Maritime Museum's 25-foot launch, Stella, is the winner of the Best Antique Launch category at this year's Antique and Classic Boat Society International Boat Show in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Stella is a restored 1907 Fay & Bowen launch, powered by a IO-horsepower, 2-cylind er Kerm ath engine. 1h e firm ini tially m anufac tured bicycle parts and vemured inro boatb uilding in th e earl y 1900s. From that time forward,

their vessels developed a loyal following as gentlemen's launches and Adirondack guideboars. The ACBS holds three juried sh ows each year featuring classic boats from the US and Can ada. The Minneso ta Lakes Maritime Museum is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of antique an d classic watercraft, resort memorabili a, and sporting equipment used on the M innesota lakes.

(MLMM, 205 3rd Ave. W, POB 12 16, Alexandria, M N 563 08; Ph. 320 759111 4; www.mnlakes maritime. org. ACBS, 422 James Street, C layton, N Y 13624; Ph. 3 15 68 6-2628; www.acbs.org) The Noble Maritime Collection on Staten Island opened its new Ship Model Gallery to the public in September. The gallery features builders' m odels-including half models, scrarch-builr models of famous sailing ships, fol k arr models, and ships in bottles. Some of rhe models are believed ro have been built by Sailors' Snug Harbor residents, called "Snugs," and represent vessels in which rhey sailed. Among rhe models on exhibit is a model of rh e C ivil War sloop-of-war, USS Hartford. Builr over a rwo-year period by W illi am G raham, a o ne-a rmed navy ve teran who served aboard her, the model's equipmem , rigging, and armament is mathemati cally accurate. Two models by Sailors' Snug H arbor res idem Fred Kaisch are also included: rhe 186 1

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model. sloop-of-war USS Kearsarge, launched in 1861 to hunt Co nfederate raiders in European waters during the C ivil War; and SS Savannah, a vessel launched in 1819 as a sailing packet that was later converted to a steamboat paddle wh eeler. The museum has on display a scratch-buil t model of an Admiralty-style, 24-gun warship with an exposed hull, which was presented to Sailors' Snug Harbor in 1894 by the Staten Island marine adjuster and community leader Henry W J . Telfair. John A. No ble served aboard the Annie C. Ross, launched in 19 17, and sh e is represented by a half-model mad e by his friend and fellow shipmate fro m the Ross, Fred Kaiser. In all, the model roo m features 24 models that augment the No ble Maritime Collecti on's large collection of ship models, which adorn its o ther galleries and classrooms . The No ble Maritime Collection is a maritime museum and study center located on the gro unds of Snug H arbor C ultu ral Center on Staten Island. (1 000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, New York 10301 ; Ph. 7 18 4476490; www.noblemaritime.org) In September, the Massachusetts Maritime Academy opened the doors to its new American Bureau of Shipping Information Commons. The faci lity is a high-tech lib ra ry that, in additio n to its collection of books, includes a simulator of a ship's bridge and state-of- the-art-

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equipped classrooms where professors can stream live video feeds and bring its future professional mariners up to speed with the latesc in ship cechnology. Massachusetts Maritime Academy is a stace college located alo ng the Cape Cod Canal in Buzzards Bay, MA. (MMA, 101 Academy Drive, Buzzards Bay, MA 02532; Ph. 508 830-5000; www.maricime.org) . . . The barque Picton Castle is planning its next voyage, a one-year 15,000-mile journey to Europe and Africa and the Spanish Main, and slots on board are still available. Learn che ways of a traditional square-rigger on a deepsea voyage on two transAt!antic passages and experience coastal sailing in and around the UK, Scandinavia, Germany, France, Portugal, and Spain before heading to Morocco and Senegal. Captain Dan Moreland, licensed as a US Mercham Marine as a Master of Sceam, Motor, or Auxiliary Sail, Vessels of Any Gross Tons upon Oceans, wil l be in command.

Picton Castle is a working tall ship, which sails with a professional crew of 12 and approximately 40 trainees. The ship's company is co-ed. The Picton Castle is registered in the Cook Islands, in che So uth Pacific, and is owned and operated by the Windward Isles Sailing Ship Company, Ltd. (Barque Picton Castle, POB 1076, 132 Montague Street, Lunenburg, NS BO] 2CO, Canada; Ph. +1 (902) 6349984; www.picton-castle.com) In September, Operation Sail, Inc., announced the names of the first seven international tall ships that have committed to participate in OpSail 2012.

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Sail port cities for 2012 include New Orleans, San Juan, New York, Norfolk, Baltimore, Boston, and New London. In addition to the parades of sail, events include publi c visitation of tall ships, international athletic competitions, comm unity relations activities, and air shows featuring the US Navy's Blue Angels. OpSail has staged spectacles for five previous American milestone events: the 1964 World's Fair, the 1976 bicentennial of American independence, the 1986 Statue of Liberty centennial, the 1992 Columbus quincentennial, and the m illennium in 2000. Dates for the OpSail/US Navy ship visits are: New Orleans, 17-23 April; San Juan (tall ships o nly), 9- 14 May; New York, 23-30 May (Fleet Week); No rfolk, Virginia, 1-12 June (Harborfest); Baltimore/Annapolis, 13-19 June; Boston, 30 June-6 July; New London, (tall ships only), 6-9 July. (www.opsail.org) j:,

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EXHIBITS

•Three Voyages to Paradise: Cook, Melville, and Gauguin, through 2011 at the Maritime Museum of San Diego (1492 No rth H arbor Dr., San Diego, CA 92 101 ; www.sd maritime.o rg) •Tattoo-The Art of the Sailor, th ro ugh 2011 at the Columbia River Maritime M useum (1792 Marine Drive, Astoria, OR 97103; Ph. 503 325-2323; WWW. crmm .org)

•American Society of Marine Artists 15th National Exhibition, 2011-2013, travel ing to : Florida, Alabama, Texas, Califo rni a, O regon, and Minnesota. The first two venues are: Cornell Museum of Art and American Culture in Delray Beach, FL, now through 9 January 2012 (www. oldschool.org) ; Mobile M useum of Art in Mobi le, AL, 19 January-8 Apri l 20 12 (www.mobilemuseumofart.com). (ASMA, www.americansocietyofmarineartists.com) •The Salty Edge, paintings by Pamela Enticknap and Kathleen Elsey, through 15 January at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (113 H arbor Way, Santa Barbara, CA 93 109; www.sbmm.org) •In the Dark, examines ecosystems that exist without light, through January 2012 at th e National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium (35 0 East 3rd Sr., Dubuque, IA 5200 1; www.rivermuseum. com)

•Neptune's Orchestra: Songs of the Seafarer, at Mystic Seaport M useum (75 Greenmanville Ave., Mystic, CT 06355; www.mysticseaport.org)

•Always Good Ships: A Tribute to 125 Years of Newport News Shipbuilding, opened in August at The Mariners' Museum (100 M useum Dr. , Newport News, VA 23606; Ph. 757 596-2222; WWW. marinersmuseum .org) •FreePort [No. 004}: Peter Hutton, exhibi tion of his fi lm , At Sea, through 27 March at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA. (16 1 Essex Sr. Salem , MA 01970; www. pem .o rg)

•Marine Wtitercolors by Cheng-Khee Chee, through 15 January at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona. (See feature article on pages 34-37)

•Port of Portland: A Ship-Shaped History, through 13 May, presented by the Maine Mariti me M useum at the Portland Publi c Library. (243 Washington Street, Bath, ME 04530; www. bathmain e.com;

PPL, 5 Mo num ent Square, Portland, ME 04 101 ; Ph . 207 871-1700; www. portlandlibrary.com) FESTIVALS, EVENTS, LECTURES, ETC.

•Antique & Classic Boat Display, 10 December at the C hesapeake Bay Maritime M useum- part of the village-wide Christmas in Sr. M ichaels. (CBMM, 2 13 N. Talbot Street, Sr. Michaels, MD 21663; Ph . 4 10 745-29 16; www.cbmm. org; also www.christmasinstmichaels.org) •"One Good Port: Beaufort Harbor, 1862- 1865" lecture by Dan Blai r, 10 Decem ber at the No rth Carolina Maritime Museum. (NCMM, 3 15 Front St., Beaufort, NC 28516; Ph . 252 728-73 17; WWW. ncmaritimemuseum.org) •16th Annual Moby-Dick Marathon, 6-8 January at the New Bedford Whaling M useum. Includ es Friday night dinner and lecture, plus "Stump the Scholars" on Saturday at 1OAM befo re the marathon reading begins. (NBWM, 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA 02740; Ph. 508 99 7 -0046; www. whalingm use um .org) •Chicago Maritime Festival, 25 February at the Chicago History Museum (Reservations recommended; information available at www.chicagomaritimefestival.org) CONFERENCES AND SYMPOSIUMS

•Society for Historical Archaeology Annual Conference. Theme: "By the Dawn's Ea rly Light: Forging Identity, Securing Freedom, and Overcoming Co nflict," 4-8 January in Baltimore, MD (www.sha.o rg) •Tall Ships America 39th Annual Conference on Sail Training and Tall Ships, 30 January-I February in Newport, RI (29 Touro Street, Newport, RI 02840; Ph. 40 1 846-1775; www.sai ltraining.org; as ta@tallshipsamerica.org) •New Researchers in Maritime History Conference 2012, 9-10 March at the Riverside Museum , G lasgow. (www. maritimehistory.org. uk) •Sea Literature, History, and Culture: National Conference of the Popular C ulture Association and the American C ulture Association (PCNACA), 11- 14 April in Boston, MA. CALL FOR PAPERS deadline is 15 December. (Details at http://pcaaca. org/ co nference/ national. php) •"Sea-Changes"- A Maritime Conference in the Humanities, 12-14 April at

the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay, MA. (http: //nautilus. maritime. edu/) •Herreshoff Classic Yacht Symposium, 2 1 April 201 2 in Bristol, RI. (Herreshoff Marine Museum, 1 Burnside St., Bristol, RI; www.herreshoff.org) •North American Society for Oceanic History Annual Conference, 22-26 April in Galveston , TX, and will be held jointly with the Council of American Maritime Museums. Theme: "The Multifaceted Maritime World." CALL FOR PAPERS deadline is 1 January. (I nfo rmati on is available at www. naso h.o rg/201 2NASOH-CFP.pdf) •Mercator Revisited: Cartography in theAge of Discovery, Annual Meeting of the American Studies Association, 25-28 April in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium (www.mercatorconference2012.be/) •Community and the Sea in the Age of Sail, 24-25 May at Aalborg U ni versity, Denmark. Hosted by the Cultural Encounters of Premodern Societies (CEPS) and the Insti tute of C ultural and G lobal Studies (CGS), Aalborg University. CALL FOR PAPERS deadline is 20 D ecember.

(For more information, email: Johan Heinsen at heinsen@cgs.aau.dk or Torben Kjersgaard N ielsen at tkn@cgs.aau.dk.)

•Conference on the Watercraft of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, 30 May- I June, at the Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney. (www. anmm .gov.au/s ite/page.cfm? u= 192 1) •Ninth International Conference of the History of Oceanography, 12-16 July 20 12 in Athens, Greece. Theme is "Oceanography in the Age of G lobalization." (For information, see www.seok. gr or co ntact the local organizer, Dr. George Vlal1akis, at vlal1akis@yahoo.com) •T he War of 1812 Bicentennial Conference Series: Part I , "Origins and the War at Sea," 27-29 September 20 12 in St. John, New Brunswick. H osted by the Gregg Centre for the Study ofWar and Society at the University of New Brunswick, the Canadian-American Studies Program of th e University of Maine, and the New Brunswick M useum to commemorate the bi centennial of the War of 181 2. CALL FOR PAPERS deadline is 1 April 2012.

(Email Dr. Marc Milner, Director of the G regg Centre at milner@unb.ca fo r more inform ation)

The Skipper

&theEagle ...

NEW EDITION with an Introduction by Admiral Robert]. Papp, Jr., Commandant, US Coast Guard "This rousing yarn of how the US Coast Guard barque Eagle sailed from war-torn Germany to become 'America's Tall Ship' makes good reading/or all hands who care about the traditions ofAmerican seafaring and the brotherhood of the sea. " -WALTER CRONKITE

The year was 1946, the place was bomb-shattered Bremerhaven. Amid the confusion of bombed cities, displaced persons, and food and housing shortages, Commander Gordon McGowan, US Coast Guard, found himself the master of a three-masted barque, a battered prize of war which he had to transform into a well-found Coast Guard training ship able to make a transatlantic voyage under sail. With her carry-over crew of German seamen and neophyte Coast Guard personnel, the barque found new life and a great adventure under the calm and gentle leadership of a Coast Guard officer.

This edition features an Introduction by Admiral Robert]. Papp, Jr. , Commandant, US Coast Guard.

In Admiral Pap p's words, " ... in his simple effort to document a small portion of Eagle's history, [McGowan J related a story of courage, initiative, humility and devotion to duty which stands the test of time, and should serve as both a lesson and example for the young public servants that the Coast Guard Academy strives to develop."

The Skipper and the Eagle is hearty fare and ranks near the top of seagoing literature. There isn't a dull page in it. To order your copy, visit our Ship's Store at www.seahistory.org, or call 914 737-7878, ext. 0.

Sea History Pressâ&#x20AC;˘ Hardcover, 255 pages, 36 illustrations $25.00 + $6.95 s/h in US; call for international rates

Reviews Maritime Maryland: A History by William S. Dudley (Johns H opkins Unive rsity Press, Baltimore, M D , in association with the M aryland H isto ri cal Society and the C hesapeake Bay Mari time M useum, 2010, 328pp, illus, glossary, notes, biblio, index, I SBN 978-0-801 89-475-6; $5 0hc) Readers of Sea History are familiar with Dr. W illiam Dudley, fo rmer director of the Naval H istorical Center, pas t president of the No rth American Society fo r Oceanic History, chair of the Mari time Committee

of th e Maryland H istorical Society, and m ember of the Sea H istory Editorial Advisory Board. Dudley draws on his extensive experience as a naval historian and his years as a C hesapeake Bay yachtsman to write a new maritime history of M aryland. In doing so, he updates and expands upon Arthur P. M iddleton's classic To bacco Coast: A Maritime H istory of Chesapeake Bay in the Colonial Era (1 989) and Admiral M .

Ernest Eller's anthology, Chesapeake Bay in the American Revolution (198 1).

Stefan Bielinsky once observed, "There are two kinds of historians: those who co unt-and those who guess!" Dudley counts. But more than that, he fleshes out his copio us statistics with a wealth of maritime history drawn from the lore of the C hesapeake Bay. A glance at his endnotes reveals his encyclopedic comprehension of the sources. Moreover, his concluding "Essay o n Sources" offers an invaluable guide fo r anyo ne wishing to pursue Dudley's themes in greater depth .

Eleven chapters and an epilogue bring the m aritime history of Maryland from the colonial period up to the present. O ne particularly powerful chapter documents the dism aying decline in Chesapeake fisheries, a them e echoed in his thought-provoking epilogue, "Our Diminishing M aritime SEA HISTORY 137, WINTER 2011-12

Environment." Dudley writes sensitively about the hard lives of Chesapeake waterm en . He co ncludes, "it wo uld take an optimist to say things are getting better for the oys termen, but the state is making major efforts to im prove the health of the bay and its oysters, although it has been, and will be, a lo ng, d ifficult battle."

Additional chapters document the apogee and decline of wo rking sail on the Chesapeake.

Dudleywri res respectfully of M aryland shipwrights and their beautiful productions. H e d ocuments the rise of steam navigation on the Bay, the re placem ent of working sail with recreational boating, the impact of various naval facilities and activities on the Bay, and the birth and growth of responsible underwater archaeology in C hesapeake waters.

Finally, m ention must be made of the exceptional job done by Johns Hopkins University Press in m aking this volume such an elegant addition to the library of anyone interested in maritime history. ]O SE PH F. M EANY ]R. Annapolis, M aryland

Iron Will: Cleveland Cliffs and the Mining of Iron Ore, 1847-2006by Terry S. Reynolds and Virginia P. Dawson (Wayne State University Press, Detroit, MI, 2011 , 35 1pp, illus, maps, biblio, index, ISB N 978-0-8 14335 11 -6; $44.95) O ne of the major voids in Great Lakes history has been a history of the pioneering company Cleveland-Cliffs. Beginning with the fi rs t shipment of iron ore from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to C leveland in 185 5, Cliffs grew in to a major player and is today the o nly independent iron ore mining company in the United States. The authors have hit upon a title that fits the subj ect. Cliffs was, and is, a survivor through its "iro n will ."

The Cleveland Iron Mining Company, which later became Cleveland-Cliffs, did m o re than just develop mines in the U pper Peninsula and ship ore to the steel mills of the lower lakes at Cleveland, Gary, Yo ungstown, and elsewhere. Cliffs engineered some incredible business deals and created an entirely new fo rm of business arrangements th ro ugh partnerships. Strategically a nd carefully fo rmed, these relationships wo uld buoy the business during tough times. But when the going got really tough during the numero us panics and the Great D ep ression , Cliffs always

returned to her core interes t- mining iron ore and owning the sources of production.

Ships made the whole system work.

Iron ore was min ed in Michigan and later the rich M esabi iron range in Minnesota, but it had to be transported to the blas t furn aces and productio n plants of the lower lakes. Those cities were close to coal, a necessary element in the production ofsteel. Moving massive am ounts of heavy bulk cargo was the challenge and opportunity of the Great

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Lakes . Entrepreneurs with a vision, such as Clevelander Samuel L. M ather, recognized rhe opportuni ty; many eastern iro n men did not. Samuel M ather also initiated the takeover of the Iron C liffs Co mpany in 1890, creating C leveland-Cliffs.

Cleveland-C liffs continued to prosper.

Stable leadership was a key: W ill iam G. Mather foll owed his fa ther Samuel as president and kept his eye o ut fo r new opportunities. One of these was the development of their own fleet of ships instead of chartering other vessels to haul ore. In 1888, Marher ordered co nsrrucrion of two purpose-built vessels, the Frontenac and Pontiac. Ar 3 19 feet, the steel Pontiac was th en rhe largest bulk freigh ter on the lakes. Subsequently, shipping rares dropped, profits climbed, and mo re vessels were added to rhe fl eet.

The authors were given access to the C leveland-C liffs company records, from which rhey traced key management decisions.

These included the transition to pellets from rhe 195 0s, a move rhar kept Lake Superio r ores competitive with high-grade fo reign ore. But the company's fleet d id not fare so well. Cliffs did nor fo llow Interlake Steamship (a subsidiary of Pickands Mather Co.) in building bigger self-unloading vessels.

The Saulr locks had been enlarged, allowing 1,000-foot ships to transit to and fro m rhe iron mines of Lake Superio r. When rhe huge Republic Steel float contract was rebid in 1977, Cliffs lost it to Interlake and rhe Ame rican Steamship Company. This began rhe demise of C liffs's ore-trans po rt business.

The Ameri ca n steel industry was soon in distress and virtually collapsed under competition fro m impo rted steel and the changing global eco nomy. After achieving its highest profits ever in 1976, the company's management was struggling to turn the business around a decade later. True to fo rm, the company refocused on irs core business, iron ore mining. Bur a second ro und of bankruptcies within the integrated sreel industry cam e as a shock. They used this as an opportuni ty to purchase mines from steel companies ar bargain prices, and rhen wo uld wai r fo r rhe economic turnaro und and increase in dem and fo r iron o re. The wait was short. Chin a entered rhe marketp lace with huge demands fo r iron o re and was even prepared to ship ir across rhe Pacific to China. The C hinese preferred pellets, which increased effi ciency and improved quali ty.

Cleveland-Cliffs emerged as the largest iron ore producer in rhe United States. Bur m an agement determined the iron m ining business in No rth Ame ri ca had reached m aturi ty and began explorin g global opporrun iries-including coal and iron m ines in South America and Australia. To reflect its new role as an imernarional mineral resources co mpany, in 2008 the com pany's nan1e was changed to C liffs Natu ral Resources, Inc. It remains headquartered in C leveland, Ohio, on Lake Erie.

Today, a walk from Cliffs's dowm own headquarters to rhe lakefrom leads to rhe high-tech G rear Lakes Science Center and its largest exh ib it, rhe 192 5-bui lr steamship William G. Mather. Named fo r rhe fo rmer company presidem , she was the p ro ud flagship of the fl eet. Decked o ut with special cabins and oak-paneled dining roo ms, the M ather carried nor o nly iro n o re, bm the company's directors as they met en route fro m C leveland to Ishpeming and the mines in the Upper Peninsula. The Mather is both symbol and expression of C leveland-Cliffs, whose name remai ns painted in large letters alo ng its 618-foo t riveted hull.

T I M OT H Y

J. R UNYAN

Greenville, N orth Carolina

Poxed & Scurvied: The Story of Sickness and H ealth at Sea by Kevin Brown (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD , 2011 , 246pp, illus, notes, biblio, index, ISBN 9781- 159 11 4-8 09-8; $34.95 hc) For centuries, vessels plying the oceans carried plague and yellow fever around rhe wo rld and created subsequent devastating epidem ics . Long mo mhs away fro m land brought o n scurvy rhar killed o r debilitated millions of sailors. Many diseases that incubate in domesticated an imals (es pecially pigs) were carried o nboardin close proxi m ity to the crew and, when turned loose ashore, these pathogens read ily found new hosts. As a result, ships transported measles, small pox, cholera, rrachom a, typhus, and tuberculosis from one land mass to another, diseases that infected and decimated Native Am erican populations. The Indians, in turn, introduced syphi lis to the O ld Wo rld th rough sailo rs-a d isease-retrib utio n of sorts. When a shi p first visited an exotic port, new crewmen, those w ho lacked immunities, were es pecially vulnerable to yellow fever, typhoid , dengue a nd Maira fevers, and malaria. Sick sailors

SEA HI STORY 137, WINTER 20 11 - 12

suffering from wounds, loss of limbs, or dysentery could not fight or operate a vessel efficiently and safely. The occasional visits to waters off unhealthy climes like Western Africa became known as the "white m an's grave." Therefore, shipboard sickness, the spread of disease, and maritime history are plaited in a disturbing interweave.

Brown parallels these events and their impact upon world history with British naval history. Each chapter focuses on specific problems: the repercuss ions of vario us diseases, attempts at finding effective treatm ents or cures, ~.. ··~ ·-~~ and th e evo l u' ti on of n ava l m edi cin e. T h e problems we re aggravated by the primiti ve edu ca tion al backgro unds of early naval surgeo n s, the terrors of slave ry and t h e horrific Middle Passage, and the age of mass imm igra tion and the health problems that cam e with it. The problem of venereal disease amon g sailors, the need for prophylac tics, and the introduction of the designation of "queen's women" who were inspected and certified "sexually safe" makes for interesting reading. Besides disease and debilitation, h e describes the slow morphing of the loblolly boy (an assistant assigned to the surgeon) to sick berth attendant, nurse, m edi cal midshipman, "paper doctor" (using the medical manuals that had to substitute for an unavailable physician or surgeo n), and finally medical corpsman.

In summ ary, Kevin Brown's Poxed & Scurvied, decorated with an outstanding dustcover illustra ti on, is a well-written scholarly work that should be a part of any serious maritime historian's library.

Lours ARTHUR NORTON Wes t Si msbury, Connecticut

Battle Surface! Lawson P. "Red" Ramage and the W'lir Patrols ofthe USS Parche by Stephen L. Moo re (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 2011 , 360pp, illus, notes, biblio, index, ISBN 978-1-59114-532-5; $34.95hc) Battle Surface! by Stephen L. Moore is a word-powered time machine that rakes

SEA HISTORY 13 7, WINTER 20 11-1 2

readers to 1944-45 and into the cramped confines ofUSS Parche (SS 384), a renown ed diesel-powered World War II submarine.

Moore leads hi s reader through Parche, compartment by compartment, then melds the crew with the ship. H e profiles officers and ratings and reinforces his narrati ve with photographs of the m en , often at their stations. Most of the 1944 crew had joined Parche the year befo re at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, where they helped their vessel rake shape on the ways.

Battle Surface! details Parche's six war patrols: three of them commanded by Ramage and the other three by Woodrow Wilson McCrory. DuringParche's second wa r patrol under Ramage, a rhirry-fo ur-minute bold maneuver and surface attack wo uld win her captain the Medal of Honor and a unit citatio n for Parche, not to mention a highly respected place in submarine histo ry for the ship and crew. Ramage navigated his submarine on the surface, straight into a Japanese co nvoy an d inside the area protected by its esco rt vessels. Parche was now a wolf in the herd of sheep, firing torpedoes into the best targets, barely escaping being rammed, reloading on the run and firin g again when most o ther subs would have submerged to reload. Parchewas credited with five kills for 34,300 tons of shipping.

Moore's narrative, based on letters, journals, diaries, and personal interviews with the Parches crewmen and their families, is history told through the eyes of those who lived it. TI1e book is recommended to anyone interested in Parche, World War II, submarines, rhe navy, or military history.

DR DAVID 0. WHITTEN Auburn, Alabama

'Ihe Battle ofMidway by C raig L. Symonds (Oxford University Press, New York, 201 1, 464pp, illus, maps, notes, biblio, index, ISBN 978-0-19539-793-2; $27.9 5hc) TI1e Battle of Midway, like the Punic Wars, the battles of Agincourt, Yorktown, Gerrysburg, and Normandy, and scores of other conflicts that changed the course of human history, w ill be analyzed as long as people maintain an interest in history.

And while it might seem as though some battles are already saturated with historical tomes covering them from a wide range of angles, there are others whose details are still being fleshed out as new sources and

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approaches are sought out and old theories are given more critical analyses. In his book, The Battle of Midway, historian Craig L. Symonds examines dozens of studies of the fight between Japanese and American naval forces in June 1942 that changed the course of World War II in the Pacific, and challenges some widely accepted conclusions. Perhaps the most familiar work is Gordon W Prange's Miracle at Midway, a tide that expresses a popular thesis: only a miracle can explain the US Navyvicroryover the superior forces of Japan's Imperial Navy at Midway in June 1942. H e disregards the easy-and imposs ible to defend-theories and builds a case based on a breakdown of tactics leadership on both sides. Symonds argues that there was no miracle at Midway but a battle tilted to favo r the US forces by Imperial Navy carelessness and careful and diligent employment of inferior resources and superior intelligence on the part of American naval commanders.

Symonds draws on oral history interviews to supplement official reports and debriefings to paint a portrait of events with more derail and fewer blank spaces than previously available. H e sets out the state of affairs for both the Japanese and the Americans before presenting the events leading up to the barde and then the conflict itself. Along the way, from the Doolittle fl ight and Coral Sea and then the Barrie of Midway itself, Symonds provides sketches of the individuals in both navies who called the shots and those who delivered them.

Symonds's Battle ofMidway is a worthy addition to a distinguished body of literature. Despite heavy competition from other studies, the book will command a place in the library of writings on one of the most important battles in world history.

DR. DAVID 0. WHITTEN Auburn, Alabama

Measure of the Earth: The Enlightenment Expedition that Reshap ed Our World by Larrie D . Ferreira (Basic Books, New York, 2011, 35lpp, illus, notes, index, ISBN 9780-465-01723-2; $28hc) The world is flat! Well maybe not-even Columbus's contemporaries knew that, but if earth is not a perfect sphere, where is it flattened or distorted ? Rene D escartes believed that it bulged at the poles like an egg and Isaac Newton argued rhat it was

flattened at the poles like a curling stone.

Who was right, the Cartesians or the Newtonians? Ir was the Age of Enlightenment, and in the eighteenth century, the French Academy of Sciences set our to see if the linear distance of one degree of latitude at the equato r was greater or smaller than one measured in Paris (48' N). In rhe 1730s, they put together an expedition to reso lve the debate about the earth's shape.

Sponsored by leaders of France and Spain, the expedition would find the answer, they hoped, that wo uld lead to more accurate navigation and, in turn, gain advantages in maritime commerce and military power for their respective nations. Once the shape of the earth was defined, their ships' captains would be able to use mathematical rules based upon physics rather than antiquated rules of thumb for navigation .

An expedition set out from France consisting of three extremely disparate scientific leaders. They repeatedly found themselves in desperate situations, mostly in the volcanic mountains and deep jungles of northwestern Peru (now Ecuador). Ir is not a well-known part of cartographic h istory, yet a captivating tale of personaliry conflicts, geopolitics, geographic dangers, luck (both good and bad), and a lot of sophisticated mathematic cartographic science frequently performed under abominable conditions. The story of this absorbing adventure and scientific discovery is told in scholarly detail, yet the author's elegant prose makes it an enjoyable read.

Measu re ofthe Earth is a lucid acco unt of an arcane expedi tion, a journey filled with intrigues and rivalries while facing many unanticipated psychological and phys ical challenges. The expedition rewrote _our understanding of the shape of the planet and led to the emergence of South America as a m ajor continent that wo uld give birth to many Latin American narions. We now know that Newton's theory was correcr, of course, but Ferreira's meticulou sly researched book clearly shows that proving it was anything but simple. Measure of the Earth focuses on a crucial part of maritime history commonly overlooked or taken for granted. Any m aritime historian should benefit from read ing this erudite book.

Lams ARTHUR

NoRTON

West Simsbury, Connecticut

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56

SEA IHJ STORY 137, W!NTER2011- 12

"U.S. Naval Aviation lOOth Anniversary Decanter"

A llUJBtflttlng X.. Gift $125; two or .w to tM ,__ ""'1rm, $115 melt.

This exceptionally beautiful one-liter ship's decanter has been commissioned to commemorate the U.S. Navy's IOOth Anniversary of Naval Aviation. This project was undertaken in concert with the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation, which receives a substantial contribution of$10 from the sale of each decanter. Every decanter has been hand cast from porcelain and hand decorated using glass colored inks that have been permanently fired into the ceramic at temperatures approaching l 600°F. Thus the design will not fade or wear with time. The quality of the decanter and its art are exceptional.

T

Each of the decorative elements are of historical significance. Of special interest is the decanter's underside on which the name of every USN aircraft carrier and almost every naval squadrons' designation is listed. Please see the website for a close up view of the decanters bottom and a complete listing of squadron designations. The bottom decor, from a painting by Stan Stokes, depicts SBD-3 Dauntless dive bombers rolling into their dive as they attack the Japanese Fleet at the critical Battle of Midway in 1942.

Around the base are 20 aircraft covering the period from the early days to the present, including bi-planes, props, jet, multi engine and rotary, and even a dingible.

Encircling the base of the decanter's neck are the more

famous flags of the American Revolution and the Continental Navy, some of which are still flown today on auspicious occasions. Battle streamers commemorating US Navy campaigns adorn the cobalt neck.

Constellation during the Vietnam era.

Continuing clockwise, from a painting by Stan Stokes, an F4U Corsair, on final approach, tail hook down, prepares to "trap" on board the USS Shangri-La.

The Eagle and the Shield cameo symbolizing the might 19 11 -2 011

and power of our great Republic, are surrounded by an anchor chain, oak leaf clusters and five life rin~, each commemorating major campaigns or battles in which U.S. Naval Airpower played a vital role. The cameo to the right, from a painting by John D. Shaw, depicts two legendary McDonnell F-4 Phantoms flying over the USS

The adjacent two-plane cameo depicts the F-14 Tomcat above an F/A-18 Hornet. The Tomcat was first deployed in 1974 as the air superiority fighter to replace the F-4 Phantom. It was retired from the fleet in 2006, having been replaced by the F/A- 18 Hornet, considered to be the finest and most versatile jet fighter ever produced.

Stopper Detail The fifth cameo, from a painting by Stan Stokes, depicts the USS Langley, CV- I, the Navy's first aircraft carrier that had been converted in J920 from a collier. The Langley fought in World War 11, but was so badly damaged by the Japanese that she had to be scuttled on February 27, 1942.

Please note that less than 5,000 units are being produced.

Early indications are that demand is going to outstrip supply significantly. We therefore suggest that you place your order now. Please note the decanters are empty.

ORDER OR SEE MORE DETAILS AT www.pussers.com, TELEPHONE 1-800-PUSSERS (1-800-787-7377)

14-night Panama Canal Jan 21 or Mar 24 2012 SPV Star Clipper/Star Flyer Vi siting ports ofte n untouched by larg er ships, Star Clippers operates three of the world's largest & tallest sailing vessels. Life is blissfully re laxed, with no rigid schedu le and improvisations by the Captain and crew. Clearly this is not a cruise ship in the ordinary sense.

• Activities, amenities & atmosphere of a private yacht • Star Clipper and Star Flyer each carries just 170 guests in pampered comfort • Royal Clipper carries 227 guests; the world 's largest full-rigged sail ing ship

• Inspired cuisine & superb service with the grandeur & tradition of sailing • Royal Clipper offers opportunity to climb the mast to lookout crows-nest • Local performances on board give an authentic taste of local arts

Balboa • Panama Canal Transit Cartagena • Oranjestad Willemst ad • Jost van Dyke Soper 's Hole (overnight) • Virgin Gorda Gustavia • Philipsburg Limited-time fare savings

7-night Grenadine Islands

7-night Treasure Islands

Feb 18; Mar 3 or 31, 2012 SPV Royal Clipper

Feb 18; Mar 3 or 17, 2012 SPV Star Clipper

Bridgetown • Captain's Best St. George's • Tabago Cays St. Vi ncent • Bequia • Fort de France Martinique • Marigot Bay Soufriere • Bridgetown

Philipsburg • Anguil la Virgin Gorda • Norman Island Soper's Hole (overnight) Jost van Dyke • Basseterre Gustavia • Phi llipsburg

STAR CLIPPERS The Mega-Yacht Sailing Experience

~f?n£2TRAVEL ~ TRAVEL ---

V1 RT L'OSO fvl E\ I BER. SHCIAllSTS IN THE ART Of TRAVH

800.729.7472

---

COMPANY

I

[info@pisabrothers.com]

' Rates are per person, double occupancy after discount and include port charges.Offer available in cabin categories 2thru 5only and cannot be combined with other promotions. Call for single rates. Air tax and transfers are additional. Free roundtrip air applies to New York, Baltimore, Boston, Newark, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and other select gateway cities. Call for reduced air from other brochure air cities. Air promotion is subject to seat availability at Star Clippers lowest contract air rate. If lowest air rate not available then guest pays for additional air fare. Offer may be changed or withdrawn without notice. Other restrictions apply. Offer only available to residents of the U.S.A., Canada and Latin America. Other restrictions apply. Ships' Registry: Luxembourg. Pisa Brothers strongly recommends the purchase of travel insurance. We reserve the right to correct errors and omissions. For complete terms and conditions contact Pisa Brothers.