NMHS: A CAUSE IN MOTION A Summer for our Seafaring Heritage r has been an active rime for our maritime heritage. We were delighted to hold our annual meeting at Erie Maritime Museum, and then find our that the brig Niagara received a welcome $4.8 million grant from the State of Pennsylvania's Commonwealth Capital Budget. Ir has been exciting for everyone as rhe whaler Charles W Morgan sails again. We were invited robe in the US delegation to the grand opening of the Babcock Galleries at the National M useum of the Royal Navy in Porrsmourh, England, a delegation led by Erik Olsrein, the charming new president of the Friends of rhe National Museum of rhe Royal Navy, so we rook rhe opportunity ro visit the beaches at Normandy to honor D-Day, and I was pleased to visit with Vice Admiral Jean-Marc Brulez, director of the Musee national de la Marine in Paris, ro plan future feature articles on their upcoming exhibits.
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Charles W. Morgan Over an 80-year career, rhe 1841 whaleship Charles W Morgan sailed on 37 voyages ro remote corners of rhe globe. This voyage, her 38rh, may perhaps be her most important. Charles W Morgan is the last of the wooden whalers that once numbered over 2,700 and at one time had been our young country's ambassadors around the wo rld. After an extensive restoration she was pushed by a tugboat from Mystic Seaport down the Mystic River and rowed to New London, passing thousands of people cheering her on from the river banks, at one point bursting into a rousing rendition of "God Bless America." This was the first rime the ship had left the museum since her arrival in November, 1941. A month-long fining-our period rook place while the Morgan was in New London; the ship was ballasted to her correct sailing draft, the sails were attached to the spars, and the crew conducted four days of sail training, followed by sea trials. When Charles W Morgan sailed for the first rime in over 90 years she sailed offthe dock. Sea History regular contributor Peter McCracken was aboard for a day of sailing on the 38'h voyage; read his impressions on pages 34-36. The voyage raises awareness about rhe changing perception about whales and whaling. Where once the Morgan's cargo was whale oil and baleen, roday her cargo is knowledge. The painstaking renovation NMHS Chairman Ronald Oswald, center, aboard the Cross and the lessons her restorers learned, this sail, the beauty of this last River Sound Ferry Sea Jet with Douglas Teeson, former president wooden whaler, a "lucky ship," are a happy chapter for the maritime of Mystic Seaport and his wife Phyllis, watching Charles W heritage community. Many skills were called upon to restore Morgan Morgan's sail training offNew London, Connecticut. to sail, skills that fewer people possess; by sailing her, Mystic Seaport calls attention to the value of historic ships and the important role America's maritime heritage plays in this country's history.
lOO'h Anniversary ofWWI-70'" Anniversary ofD-Day 2014 marks both the 1OO'h anniversary of the ourbreak of Wo rld War I and the 70'h anniversary of the D-Day invasion. The commemorations for D-Day seemed particularly significant and poignant this year-perhaps because the anniversaries coincide and bring additional reflection, perhaps because we see around us how few of the heroes of WWII are left. NMHS chairman emeritus Howard Slotnick rook his daughter, Sharon, and me to visit the beaches of Normandy this summer. He had taken cadets from the USCG barque Eagle in 2004 for the 60'h anniversary, and he had visited in 2001 with NMHS chairman emeritus Clay Maitland, days afrer the attack on the World Trade Center. Howard Slomickconrinues to visit the beaches and the museums and memorials dedicated to D-Day and the 100 Days of Normandy, reflecting, "By understanding these hardships and sacrifices, Americans can learn what it rakes to earn our freedom." On June 6, 1944, General Eisenhower directed a multinational invasion of France from near Portsmouth, England, to liberate it from German occupation. In Operation Overlord, 156,000 Allied troops with 20,000 vehicles stormed five designated beaches along the 200 km of beaches from C herbourg to Le 10
Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial is one of 14permanentAmerican WW II military cemeteries on foreign soil. There are 9,387 Americans buried there and there are tablets honoring 1,557 men missing in action. SEA HISTORY 148, AUTUMN 2014