LETTERS New Tall Ship on the Right Course I would be remiss ifl ignored Brian Skelley's letter in the Autumn 2012 issue ofSea History denigrating Rhode Island's new full-rigged sailing ship, Oliver Hazard Perry. Bad news, Mr. Skelley, it's more than a plan-the hull is well on its way to completion and, worse news, there's nothing Class B about it. Ir's bigger than you think. Perry is a Class A size ship, even by the old pre-Tall Ship inflation standards. In this country she will be second in size only to the Coast Guard Barque Eagle and USS Constitution. We have nothing to say regarding the success or failure of any recently built wooden schooners. Our new steel ship builds on a market void left when my former ship, "HMS" Rose, was sold to the producers of the film Master and Commander. Our formidab le board, led by the indefatigable VADM Thomas R. Weschler, chairman emeritus, has thought and worked long and hard on both the ship's construction and business plan. We're all in this for the long haul. A photo log of hull construction can be seen at our website: www.ohpri. org by clicking on the "Narragansett Bay Shipping" link. There are trying times ahead, as both regulators and underwriters scrutinize larger wooden passenger and sail training vessels; this scrutiny need not indict the profound and meaningful lessons learned through seafaring in safe ships. I reacted with some amusement as Mr. Skelley rolled his eyes " ... don't we have enough hungry, under-educated, impoverished children ? Wouldn't it be great if we could rake care of the ones we already have before adding more to the population?" CAPTAIN RrcHARD BAILEY
SSV Oliver Hazard Perry Newport, Rhode Island
In 1969-70, I built for the upcoming US bicentennial a full-sized, operational copy of Rose, the British frigate whose vigorous anti-smuggling campaign in Rhode Island led directly to the founding of the Continental Navy. "HMS" Rose was a museum in Newport for many years. In 1984, I sold her to a group in Bridgeport, CT. The Sailing Schools Vessels Act had recently been passed, and Captain Richard Bailey courageously and far-sightedly talked Rose's owners into investing in the ship to bring
SEA HISTORY 141 , WINTER 2012- 13
We Welcome Your Letters! Please send correspondence to : editorial@seahistory.org or by USPS to: Editor, Sea History, 7 Timberknoll Road, Pocasset, MA 02559 her into compliance with the new law. She got her certification and went on to a successful sail-training career under Bailey as the only private full -rigged ship in North American to be so licensed.
Oliver Hazard Perry, as she
will look when completed. Late in 2000, the Bridgeport owners were making plans to sell the Rose to a group based in Newport, RI, but instead, the ship was sold to a production company ro play a role in the Hollywood movie Master and Commander. Rose was then transferred to the Maritime Museum of San Diego under her stage name, HMS Surprise, where she remains today.With the exception of the USCG Barque Eagle, there were no US full-rigged ships or barques left in the American sail training fleet. A Canadian fam ily, meanwhile, had begun construction on a steel version of the Detroit, the losing British flagship at the Battle of Lake Erie. When I learned
that the family's situation had changed and the partially-built Detroit was for sale at a bargain price, I notified Bailey, who informed the Newport people who had previously almost bought Rose. They bought th e steel hull and are now completing her to a revised design in order to meet Coast Guard standards. This will be the Oliver Hazard Perry, and when she is finished she wi ll be the only full-rigged ship in North America licensed and devoted to sail training. She will reportedly carry up to 48 trainees. M any experts feel that square-rigged vessels are superior platforms for sail training programs; the new ship Perry is on the right track. JOHN FITZHUGH MILLAR
Williamsburg, Virginia
Os Brett, Alan Villiers, and the Beginning of the Maritime Heritage Movement The square-rigger Joseph Conrad running hard, beset across the cover of the Autumn issue Sea History, was a sight to lift any sailor's spirits! Artist Os Brett brings this scene vividly to the life-a crew of yo ung people tucking a third reef into the fore topsail, as the little full rigger runs her easting down en route to Cape Horn on her round-theworld voyage in 1934-36. Alan Villiers, Conrad's skipper, had made this voyage "in defense of my poor ideals,'' as he said at the time, in a world afRicted with economic recession and with threats of a world-wide war. Os had met Vi lliers when the Conrad
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