Letters
courtesy tall ship providence
The 1976 replica Providence. American Navy’s first ship in Canada, and wanted to build her in the United States instead. At that time (no longer true now), building wooden vessels in Canada was one-eighth the price of building them in the States, so I told the board that they would have to be prepared to raise a lot more money. As part of that fundraising effort, I asked John Stobart’s manager if we could talk him into creating a painting of Providence. “You can’t afford him,” was the reply, “but we can recommend an unknown artist who can do a good job for you—John Mecray.” John came up to Newport to talk to me, made a beautiful painting showing the sloop boldly escaping from a British frigate, and found someone else to pay for the painting. He also had large prints and postcards made of the painting that could be offered for sale. It was at that point that John decided to move to Newport.
seahistory@gmail.com or Editor, Sea History, 7 Timberknoll Rd., Pocasset, MA 02559
The sloop Providence was built in Newport and was launched in 1976. For years she was a popular sight sailing along the East Coast, but chiefly in Rhode Island waters. She has now been purchased by a group in Alexandria, Virginia, and she is expected to be open to the public there next year. Rose, after a sixteen-year sail training success under Captain Richard Bailey, was sold to Fox Pictures, which used her to star as HMS Surprise in the Hollywood movie Master and Commander, starring Russell Crowe. She is now part of the fleet of historic and replica ships owned by the Maritime Museum of San Diego in California. John Fitzhugh Millar Williamsburg, Virginia
about a Great White attack on Cape Cod that killed a young man on a boogie board. Another swimmer was attacked and seriously injured earlier in the summer at a beach not far from where the fatality occurred. Ms. McCauley’s article, “Sharkish Seas,” shows us that we have long grappled with how we view, interact and—in modern parlance—manage sharks in their natural environment. Humans, of course, are the invasive species, if you will. Sharks are indeed magnificent and impressive creatures. Whalemen knew it. We know it. We just do not know what to do about it when we want to share the same space. The most obvious solution to the human-shark interaction problem would be to stay out of the water, but we all know that is not a valid option. Killing them in great numbers so that we can enjoy frolicking at the beach is not a reasonable or mature response either. I will leave it to conservationists and others to figure out a solution. Until then, thank you for the reminder that when we think history is “all in the past,” we see these stories having relevance today and every day. Jonathan Watts Yarmouth, Massachusetts
Shark! Not long after I received my copy of Sea History in the mail, I read in my local paper (and subsequently in all the national news)
From NMHS Trustee Capt. Cesare Sorio: While reading Emma McCauley’s article about sharks, I found a remarkable coincidence told in a non-fiction book I recently
nmhs
John Mecray & the Sloop Providence I loved seeing the pictures and reading about my late friend John Mecray in the last issue of Sea History. There was one part of his story that was omitted: Why did he move to Newport, Rhode Island? In 1969–70, as part of the USA’s bicentennial celebrations, I built in Nova Scotia a full-size copy of the British frigate Rose, whose anti-rum trade activities were the direct cause of Rhode Island getting Congress to found the Continental Navy on 13 October 1775. I also wanted to build a copy of the 12-gun sloop Providence, the first ship authorized by Congress for the Navy. My board of directors—mostly retired naval officers—balked at building the
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John Mecray’s painting of the Sloop Providence (image of a postcard)
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