The author devotes a good part of this intriguing work to the political upheaval in the wake of Robbins’s execution, in the process reminding us all of the significant place held by American mariners in the hearts and minds of their countrymen during the period of the Early Republic. Even in death this sailor played an important role in underlining the diverging worldview between Federalist and Republican. Professor Ekirch’s thoughtful examination of the growing opposition to legislation like the Alien and Sedition Acts, and with it the notion of what constitutes nationality and citizenship, provides the reader certain parallels to today’s political debates. As for the actual identity of this doomed sailor, I encourage you to read this engaging study and make up your own mind. Richard C. Malley Simsbury, Connecticut Quincy, Massachusetts: A Shipbuilding Tradition by Wayne G. Miller (Quincy Historical Society, Quincy, MA, 2017, 198pp, illus, notes, 978-0-578-19850-7; $21.99pb) Ask anybody in Massachusetts’ “City of Presidents” about the history of shipbuilding in the old town, and the words “Fore River” will inevitably be invoked. And that’s just fine. The Fore River yard turned out
ships large and small—battleships, submarines, lightships and more—from 1884 to 1986, under various ownership groups, started by none other than Thomas A. Watson. Before investing in shipbuilding, Watson had worked with Alexander Graham Bell on another invention. He was the man on the receiving end of the first phone call: “Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.” Yet, as author Wayne G. Miller points out, there was much more to Quincy’s shipbuilding past than just the Fore River yard. With twenty-seven miles of coastline between two of America’s oldest settlements (Plymouth and Boston), shipbuilding arose as an early need in Quincy. The first ship built in Quincy was a ketch called Unity, that was launched in 1696; but the historical trail peters out after it slipped off to sea, both for the ketch and for any shipbuilding during the next century in Quincy. The next locally built vessel, the ship Massachusetts, launched in 1789. Miller crossed many miles—even nautical miles—in search of the stories of the many ships built on Quincy’s shores, as well as the histories of the shipbuilders themselves, almost all of whom arrived from elsewhere to take advantage of the bustling industry in town. Quincy in the nineteenth century was also home to a thriving granite industry in need of sloops, but when the local yards proved inadequate
MARINE HISTORY from WSU PRESS On the Arctic Frontier
Ernest Leffingwell’s Polar Explorations and Legacy Janet R. Collins Geologist Ernest deKoven Leffingwell helped determine the edge of the Arctic’s continental shelf in 1906. With assistance from Inupiaq neighbors, he pioneered research in ground ice, collected wildlife specimens, and surveyed and mapped Alaska’s northeastern coast. Paperback • ISBN 978-0-87422-351-4 • $27.95
Captain Cook's Final Voyage The Untold Story from the Journals of James Burney and Henry Roberts Edited by James K. Barnett Two young officers’ eyewitness accounts of Cook’s search for the elusive Northwest Passage depict the captain’s dramatic death, initial European contact, and Hawaii, Vancouver Island, and Alaska landings. Maritime historian James K. Barnett adds expert commentary. Paperback • ISBN 978-0-87422-357-6 • $34.95
Available at bookstores, online at wsupress.wsu.edu, or by phone at 800-354-7360.
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to build the larger and larger merchant ships being called for toward the end of the nineteenth century, the shipbuilders adapted. Yacht building became the local trade of choice. The book does end with the Fore River saga. Navy ships in the Great White Fleet, some that fought in World War I and some that were famous combatants of World War II, trace their roots to the yard. Miller’s book puts it in perspective as just the latest step in a long journey of Quincy shipbuilding history. John Galluzzo Hanover, Massachusetts Phoenix of the Seas: Ernestina-Morrissey, State Ship of Massachusetts by Chester Brigham (Whale’s Jaw Publishing, Gloucester, MA, 2015, 276pp, illus, notes, index; isbn 978-0974077840; $28hc) The historic schooner Ernestina-Morrissey, built in Essex, Massachusetts, in 1894 and now homeported in New Bedford, is the official sailing ship of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Next to the frigate USS Constitution and the whaling barque Charles W. Morgan, Ernestina-Morrissey holds a place among the most historically important vessels afloat today in the United States. All have survived from the Age of Sail, and all are key to teaching contemporary Americans about their proud maritime past. Ernestina-Morrissey has had many extraordinary chapters in her seagoing life. She has long awaited a worthy and accessible biography—one that tells her story in the full rich detail it deserves. Those who know and admire her—former crew, transAtlantic passengers from the Cape Verde Islands, students and educators—need wait no longer. With the publication in 2015 of Chester Brigham’s Phoenix of the Seas, this conspicuous need has been filled. Chester Brigham demonstrates convincingly that Ernestina-Morrissey is a significant sailing ship on a global scale, by exploring the multiple ways that, since her launch in an era when the Age of Sail was drawing to a close, this little vessel played a role in—and became emblematic of— significant transitional events in world history during the twentieth century. This handsomely elaborated book provides a SEA HISTORY 163, SUMMER 2018