Sea History 029 - Autumn 1983

No . 29

SEA HISTORY OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE WORLD SHIP TRUST

SEA HISTORY is the journal of the Natio nal Maritime Historical Society , an educationa l, tax-exempt membership organization devoted to furthering the understanding o f our maritime heritage . Copyright '° 1983 by the Nationa l Maritime Historical Society .

OFFICE: 132 Maple St. , Croton-on-Hudson , NY 10520. Telephone: 914 271 -2177 .

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OFFICERS & TRUSTEES are Chairman: F. Briggs Dalzell ; Vice Chairmen: Thomas Hale, Barbara Johnson ; Presidem: Peter Stanford ; Secretary: Alan G . Choate; Treasurer: A .T .

Pouch , Jr. ; Trustees: Norman J. Brouwer , John Bunker , Alan G. Choate, F . Briggs Dalzell , Thomas Hale, Harold D. Huycke , Barbara Johnson , James F. Kirk , Karl Kortum , Robert J. Lowen , A . T. Pouch , Jr., Richard Rath , John H. Reilly , Jr. , Kenneth D. Reynard , Walter F. Schlech , Jr ., Howard Slotnick, Peter Stanford , John N . Thurman , Alen York . Chairmen Emeritii : Walter F .

Schlech , Jr ., John M. Will , Karl Kortum .

Presidenl Emeritus : Alan D. Hutchinson.

ADVISORS: Chairman: Frank 0. Braynard ; Francis E. Bowker, Oswald L. Brett , George Campbell , Robert Carl , Frank G . G . Carr , Harry Dring , John Ewald , Joseph L. Farr, Timothy G. Foote, Richard Goold-Adams , Robert G . Herbert , Melvin H. Jackson , R . C. Jefferson , Irving M. Johnson , Fred Klebingat , John Kemble , Conrad Milster, William G . Muller , John Noble, Capt. David E. Perkins, USCG (ret.), Nancy Richardson , Ralph L. Snow , John Stobart, Albert Swanson , Shannon Wall , Robert A. Weinstein , Thomas Wells , AICH , Charles Wittholz.

Curator-at-Large : Peter Throckmorton.

WORLD SHIP TRUST : Chairman : Frank G. G . Carr; Vi ce President: Sir Peter Scott ; Hon. Secretary: J. A. Forsythe; Hon . Treasurer: Ri chard Lee; Erik C. Abranson ; Maldwin Drummond ; Peter Stanford . Membership: £ 10 payable WST , c/o Hon. Sec. , l 29a North Street, Burwell , Cambs. CBS OBB , England.

Reg . Charity No . 277751 .

AMERICAN SHIP TRUST: International Chairman: Frank Carr; Chairman : Peter Stanford ; Geo rge Bass; Norman Brouwer; Karl Kortum ; George Nichols; Richard Rath ; Charles Lundgren; Senior Advisor: Irving M .

Johnson.

SEA HISTORY STAFF: Editor: Peter Stanford ; Managing Editor: Norma Stanfo rd ; Associate Editor: Norman J . Brouwer; Accounting: Maureen Conti ; Membership : Heidi Tepper ; Corresponding Secretary: Marie Lore.

ISSN 01 46·93 12

AUTUMN 1983

CONTENTS 2 EDITOR ' S LOG LETTERS 6 THE BATTLE WON BY CIVILIANS , Edward L. Hayden 11 THE JOHN W . BROWN 13 ALLEN RUPLEY , J . Peter Grace 14 THE NAVIGATORS , Sanford H . Low 17 TREASURE OF SNUG HARBOR 18 JACK 'S LAST PORT, Mel Hardin 21 JOHN NOBLE, Peter Stanford 22 AND THEN THERE WERE NONE , Thomas Wells 24 SAIL TRAINING: DAY'S RUN, Report of the American Sail Training Association 29 THE WOODEN SHIP ERA AT MANITOWOC , David L. Pamperin 30 SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS 32 COLLECTORS ' CORNER: THE BARBARA JOHNSON WHALING COLLECTION 34 MARINE ART: JAN RYNINK, Alex. A. Hurst 38 MARINE ART NEWS 41 MODELMAKERS' CORNER: LLOYD McCAFFERY, Mary R . Maynard 43 BOOKS 46 OLD GAFFERS LIVE FOREVER, Robert Simper COVER: The bowpiece of the late 19th century armored cruiser N ew York shines with martial spirit and native pride, as rescued and installed in the growing maritime center at Snug Harbor, Staten Island , in New York. Photo, John Skelson.

The National Maritime Historical Society is saving America's seafaring heritage. Join us.

We bring to li fe Ame rica ' s seafa ring past throu gh resea rch, archaeo log ical expediti ons and ship preservati on efforts. We work with museums, hi storians and sail tra ining groups and report on these activities in our quarterly journal Sea History.

We are also the Ame rica n arm of the Wo rld Ship Trust, an internatio nal group wo rking worldwide to help save ships of histori c impo rtance.

Wo n' t you join us to keep a li ve our nation's seafaring legacy?

Membership in the Soc iety costs only $20 a year. You' ll rece ive Sea History, a fasc in ati ng magaz ine fill ed with arti cles of seafa ring and hi sto rica l lore. You' ll also be elig ibl e fo r di scount s on books, prints and other items.H elp save our seafa ring heritage. Join the National Maritime Histori cal Society today'

10: National Maritime Historical Society, 132 Maple St. , Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520

YES

I want to help . I understand that my contri butio n goes to forwa rd the wo rk of the Soc iety ' and that I' ll be kept informed by rece iving SEA HI STORY quan erl y. Enclosed is: D $1 ,000 Sponsor D $500 Donor D $100 Patro n D $30 Family D $20 Regular Member D $10 Student/Retired NA M E

(please pri nl)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Z I P ~~~~~~~-

Co nlributio ns to NMH S are lax dedu ctible.

NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY

EDIIDR'SLOG As July 28 wound down in the happy confusions of the newly opened South Street Seaport Marketplace-a development on which we may entertain more comment, further down the road, let us now just salute a major achievement and addition to the life of New York's waterfront-as that lovely summer day drew on toward the long New York evening, hard bargaining led by Congressman Mario Biaggi was going on in Washington (shared anxiously by us in New York) to save the surviving Liberty ship John W Brown. The next morning, she slipped out of New York Harbor uncelebrated and unnoticed save by a very few. On page 10 you may see a photograph of her standing to sea past the Statue of Liberty, where she had carried our hopes, and the world's hopes , in World War II . She is the last on the Atlantic Coast of that great fleet of ships that bridged the oceans to defeat the Axis powers in World War II. "The battle won by civilians," a veteran of that effort termed it, in a story we are proud to publish in this SEA HrsroRY. We hope for the John Brown 's return , and we have pledged ourselves to work for that return and for the restoration of her magnificently simple machinery and her admirably functional hull as a living memorial to a chapter in our history which stunned the aggressor nations and will astonish our descendants.

In this SEA HrsmRY also, we visit with a remarkable group of sailormen , the Cape Homers-people who have been that tough sea road under sail . Tom Wells, one of their number, reports on their conclave with the gusto and love of life and in the open, generous spirit one finds among so many old sea dogs.

Continuing our investigation into the neglected but awakening world of primitive navigation , we go to sea with film maker Sam Low in a canoe driven by a remarkably able South Pacific navigator-one who has not lost touch with the beliefs and techniques that guided the Pacific's peoples across a great section of the ocean world , millenia ago.

We look in on an important new maritime center developing , most appropriately, in Snug Harbor in Staten Island, where old sailors the world forgot used to go to end their days. With people who understand the value of the heritage they left us, anything is possible. We look for new flowering from these rich old roots.

Seafarers all! Without them , as a correspondent writes, we'd probably still think the world was flat. And we would be PS poorer in many, many other ways.

2

LETTERS These Civilizing Qualities The spirit and substance of your work is a great inspiration to me and , I hope, to others . The great ships of the past are monuments to engineering excellence, beauty of conception and detail, and human co-operativeness and trust. These civilizing qualities are vital to our individual and societal health.

ALBERT C. CIZAUSKAS, JR. Falls Church , Virginia

Undying Pride in Their Service A new group is being formed to give the children of the World War 2 Merchant Marine veteran the chance to share with each other the experiences of our fathers and our undying pride in their service to our country in her time of need . We are also seeking some lasting and meaningful recognition from our nation for the service our fathers gave.

Anyone wishing further information please send a stamped return envelope to sons and daughters of US Merchant Marine Veterans World War 2 , 1806 Bantry Trail , Kernersv ille NC 27284. There are no dues and no politics.

Although we are the sons and daughters we welcome fathers , mothers , brothers , sisters, in short anyone who has a sincere desire to keep green the memory of the World War 2 merchant marine.

IAN A. MILLAR Kernersville, North Carolina

Broader Meanings, Better Management Lance Lee's self-characterization as "gadfly to the maritime preservation movement" is incorrect (SH28:6-7). His various writings over the years-not to mention The Apprenticeshop, past and present-have been a provocative and humanizing influence upon a movement that is too frequently exclusive, inflexible, and humorless in its estimate of how things should be done.

The loss of the various hands-on programs Mr. Lee lists is lamentable. But I wonder if it is not in part a result of the movement selling itself short, in effect failing to demonstrate the broader meaning of maritime skills and values to an audience larger then we, the converted.

Consider the Sound School, a collaboration between the New Haven Board of Education and Schooner, Inc. , an environmental education organization devoted to the study and conservation of Long Island Sound. The Sound School is

a fully accredited public high school that uses the marine environment as its teaching context. All courses-English, Mathematics, History, Science-use things maritime as their focus. Every student spends one full day per week in the boatshop and five days per semester aboard Schooner's sailing research vessel, the 66-foot bugeye ketch, J.N. Carter. The school has 175 students in three grades, all inner city kids, 70 percent minority, 60-40 male-female. Now in its third year, we will expand to 250 students in 1985.

Several points about this program may be of interest: (1) It is a public-private collaboration , financed through the public education system with additional contributions of dollars, resources, and skills from the private side; (2) it is not a narrowly directed vocational program , but rather seeks out " truths" associated with the water-the meaning of work, the value of competence, self-reliance and cooperation , respect for nature, the interrelationship of function and beauty, etc:--as a context in which teachers and students alike pursue meaningful education; (3) it is inclusive, not exclusive, broadening the circle of folks who share our enthusiasm and gratitude for lessons learned from our maritime heritage to minorities, parents, educational administrators, politicians, and philanthropists, whose lack of understanding might otherwise have greeted the project with indifference or denial.

Like any such program , The Sound School is always at risk and cannot afford complacency. I offer it as an example here because it achieves many of the objectives of the maritime preservation movement while being innovative and financially stable. Lance Lee has raised in excess of a quarter of a million dollars in the few short months since The Apprenticeshop was compelled to start anew. Perhaps he knows something we don't; perhaps we should listen more closely to the gadfly buzzing in his bottle.

PETER NEILL Schooner, Inc. New Haven , Connecticut

I have just finished reading in the Summer issue of Sea History, "A Report from the Original Apprenticeshop." I must take issue with one of the author's remarks. In his article, Mr. Lee remarks that " ... the hands-on boatbuilding programs .. . have had a terrible year."

This is untrue.

The Landing Boatshop has had a very good year. Ours, too, is a not-for-profit, SEA HISIDRY, FALL 1983

USS Intrepid viewed from one of her own aircraft during the 1944 Battle ofLeyte Gulf, with battleship Iowa in background. Both survived, the Iowa re-commissioned as a rugged gun and missile platform in today's fleet, the Intrepid restored as a museum ship bringing new understanding of the purpose and price of sea control to all who board her in New York City. Photo courtesy Intrepid Museum Foundation.

The Navy Is Here!

The aircraft carrier Intrepid, one of 24 Essex-class carriers built to meet the challenge of World War II, is seen here heading into action-action resulting in the sinking of the Musashi, biggest battleship ever built. lntrepid's air group helped to sink Musashi far beyond the range of Musashi 's huge 18-inch guns, an example of the mastery of a new form of conflict at sea which proved vital to US victory in World War II. Today, lntrepid's battleship consort Iowa has been re-commissioned as a formidable fighting machine adding depth and flexibility to the US Navy's capacity to respond to challenge in the present-day contest for mastery of the oceans. In this contest, we must keep the sea lanes open in the face of threat, or even strong free nations can succumb to creeping or avalanching aggression, leaving the US potentially isolated in a conquered world.

Today, Intrepid serves a role fully as vital as Iowa's. She serves as a remarkable museum exhibit, full of fighting aircraft, with dramatic re-enactments of the battles she survived. She also presents the story of space exploration (in which she played a vital role as recovery ship for the US space program) , and opens up vivid scenes of future air, sea and space navigation. Intrepid Museum Chairman Zachary Fisher has said: "It is fitting that the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum is opening during a time in our nation's history when the spirit of patriotism has been re-awakened. She is, first and foremost, a tribute to the American spirit which has spurred this nation to greatness."

The New York Council of the Navy League of the United States is proud to play a supporting role in the Intrepid

Museum. We believe deeply in the importance of such educational works. And we are proud to support the work of the National Maritime Historical Society, particularly in the good words they have published from such Naval leaders as Admiral Arleigh ("31-knot") Burke. We share the Society's conviction that the story of American seafaring includes the story of our fighting Navy.

We cordially invite you to join the Navy League. You'll receive the monthly publication Sea Power, and through our active New York Council, you'll have the opportunity to visit Naval ships and to foregather with Naval people on various occasions. Above all, you'll be helping to keep the old motto current in today's troubled world: "The Navy is here!"

NEW YORK COUNCIL, NAVY LEAGUE OF THE UNITED STATES

,----------------------Rear Admiral Edwin Dexter, USN (ret.)

President New York Council, Navy League of the U.S. 37 West 44th Street New York, New York 10036 Dear Admiral Dexter: I'm interested in what you have to say about the Navy League. Please send me information about joining this good outfit.

NAME ADDRESS

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LETTERS hands-on educational program . But we differ in two ways from those schools whom M r. Lee points out as hav ing suffered bad times.

First of all , we are a vocational school.

We see wooden boatbuilding not as a museum art, but as a trade at which our graduates can earn their livings in the marine industry today. And they do.

Secondly, we do not , and never have, relied upon grants from trusts, foundations, or government agencies to maintai n finan cial solvency. It has been our experience that the sort of practical responses which Mr. Lee advocates are much more likely to arise for those organizations who are able to demonstrate their own financial responsibility than for those who do not.

I too bemoan the fate of the schools in Beaufort , Boston , and New York . I know all too well the difficulties which a lack of dollars can cause. But I remain convinced that the application of sound management practices to the problem is the best way to solve it. Included in our perpetuation of skills should be an emphasis on perpetuation of financial self-responsibility towards these very programs which are so near to us.

CLIFFORD G. H URST Business Manager The Landing Boatshop Kennebunkport , Maine

Mr. Lee notes that he agrees with each point made in these letters, and that he admires particularly the work of the Landing Boatshop, which does excellent design as well as construction work. The Apprenticeshop's present need, he notes, is a one-time matter of capital startup-or restart up,---- ED.

The Not-So Little Richard Peck A letter on the Sound steamer Richard Peck prompts me to send along this photograph of the vessel taken by a friend in 1930, as she slipped up the East River, about to go under the Brookl yn Bridge.

As George Rogers identified her, back in those days inland steamers were describ-

SEA HISTDRY, FALL 1983

ed as: side wheel, stern wheel or propeller. She wasn't really a "saucy little" vessel , being 303 feet long. Having a typical Sound steamer profile, she was quite smart looking .

ROBERT G. HERBERT, JR .

East Northport, New York

bach Paper Co. as well as the foresight of Karl Kortum of San Francisco (who told us of Riversdale's existence) the parts and pieces were shipped to New York for installation aboa rd that beautiful ship.

CAPTAIN ALBERT A . SWANSON MDC Historian Boston , Massachusetts

In the latter part of 1943 the government sold the Richard Peck to the Pennsylvania Railroad to operate on the Cape Charles , Old Point Comfort and Norfolk ferry run.

The government had previously commandeered the Virginia Lee fo r wartime service, leaving the Eastern Shore without a boat to meet the train at the Cape Charles terminal. The Richard Peck, renamed Elisha Lee after a deceased vice president of the railroad , proved to be ideal for the cross bay run. She soon won the hearts of the many who made the trip frequently.

The service this boat gave is remarkable when you stop to realize it was then over 50 years old. Service was provided by this wonderful steamer up until 1953 at which time it failed to pass government inspection , and was dismantled in Baltimore at the age of 62 yea rs.

PHILIP W. BEWfE Dunedin , Florida

Captain Swanson did a hero's job on this ship and other floating objects early on in South Street. Richard Fewtrell led the restoration in Deroko's watch , stepping the missing mainmast and sending up the admirably executed topmasts. The contributions along the way of the late Captain William]. Lacey, George Demmy and Norma Stanford also seem important to us, along with the sterling efforts of her Hon. Master, Joseph Farr. The Wavertree needed them all, and called forth the best each had to give.-ED.

The Wavertree Needed Them All It is difficult to find anythi ng written about the restoration of Wavertree at South Street Seaport Museum , prior to 1979. I was working on Wavertree during the time the " restoration work languished." I have a difficult time recalling the eleven o'clock bullion I must have enjoyed while reclining in my deck chair on the quarterdeck . I do, however, recall fabricating va ri ous components for the vessel, splicing and seiz ing wire and sending topmasts aloft. I feel that an attempt has been made to alte r or eliminate that chapter in the history of the restoration of Wavertree and that the work that the crew of six accomplished has been disregarded . I would like to know why.

CHARLES D EROKO New York, New York I was disappointed that Mr. Brouwer's article (SH26:9-12) didn't include my quest for equipment for Wavertree. In 1969 I was in charge of piers, ships, volunteers and other loose articles at South Street. I returned to the waterways of my youth (Puget Sound and the Straits of Georgia) to locate equipment for her. This included anchor windlass, boat davits and other gear from a later ship in the series, Riversdale. Through the generosity of the Dollar fa mil y, W.R. Grace and the Zeller-

CAR FERRIES. Anyone with information on the railroad car ferries which plied the Susquehanna between Ferryville and Havre de Grace is invited to be in touch with Richard E . Hall , 149 W. Netherfield Road , Wilmington DE 19804.

HOWARD I. CHAPELLE. I am w ntmg a doctoral dissertation on Chapelle-as a maritime historian , author, architect, and curator-and his contribution to maritime preservation . Information , photographs comments would be appreciated. JoAnn King, 127 C Street SE , Washington DC 20003 : 202 546-0064.

NOTE: It seems incredible, but in SH28 we identified "Greenock " as "Greenwich" in that wonderful (handwritten) letter from A.O. Jones in South Africa-the letter about using a bar top as a drawing board ("the barman ... silently wiped the bar counter dry, and handed the speaker a piece of chalk") to resolve ship construction details. "The two places," Mr. Jones remarks, "are of course poles apart, as fa r removed as Valparaiso is from Vladivostock. Greenock, in Scotland on the Clyde, was an important shipbuilding center; Greenwich , on the Thames below London, is home to the National Maritime Museum, and the Royal Observatory being there made it the prime meridian , the zero longitude from which all east-west measure starts.

"Thank you fo r the most important work you and your associates do so very well," concludes Mr. Jones, generously, we feel.

"It helps provide a necessary bulwark to prevent our all becoming numbers in a computer."-Eo. .i,

5

A convoy ship in a storm offHvaljjardi, Iceland. In order to stay within range offriendly airfields, convoys were frequently routed into fou l weather and often lost ships to storms instead of U-boats. Courtesy The Nimitz Library, US Naval Academy.

The Battle Won By Civilians This year marks the 40th anniversary of what the German radio on 20 March 1943 called, "Die grosste Geleitzugschlacht aller Zeiten "- the greatest convoy battle of all time. This was the climax of a longer, six-year battle, the Battle of the Atlantic. Of this, Winston Churchill said after the war: "The only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was the U-boat peril. ...The Admiralty, with whom I Ii ved in the closest amity and contact, shared these fears."

The Battle of the Atlantic began on the first day of the war-September 3, 1939when Oberleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp, captain of the U-boat U-30 sank the passenger liner Athenia.

Then on May 8th , 1941-with poetic justice- the submarine U-110 commanded by the same Fritz-Julius Lemp was captured by escorts of the Royal Navy. And Lemp was killed in the action. But of more significance it was the first U-boat to be captured with an intact Naval Enigma machine- the German super code device- with a complete set of U-boat 6

by Edward L. Hayden cyphers ready to go.

It was a great-and lucky-intelligence feat , and it served to keep us in the game.

The Germans had been successful in their intelligence activities , too. They had tapped the Atlantic cable between New York and England , and they had managed to unscramble the top secret radiotelephone conversations between Roosevelt and Churchill. They gleaned valuable convoy information from these sources alone. But in 1942-unknown to the Allies-they broke the Allied Naval code.

And the carnage in the Battle of the Atlantic began in earnest.

During one month German U-boats sank 860,000 tons of Allied shipping .

In their book The Battle of the Atlantic Terry Hughes and John Costello wrote: "Unlike the U-boat men or the escort crews, the Allied seamen were strictly civilians. They were the real heroes of the Battle. And nearly 8,000 Allied seamen lost their lives in the slaughter of 1942."

On both sides of the Atlantic it was feared that the terrible losses and hard-

ships would crack the morale of the Allied merchant seamen. But the British Ministry of War Transport, the US Maritime Commission , the US War Shipping Administration and the maritime unions continued to provide men in required numbers.

All of these men were civilians. All were volunteers. And their morale never cracked .

I remember one particular seaman from the state of Mai ne. After an all night session of exploding depth charges ringing the convoy, there was a break in the weather-rare in the North Atlantic for that time of year. The sun was shining and flashing off the blue-grey waves. And a brisk wind was blowing spray agai nst my face . The seaman walked by, made a sweeping gesture towards the white-capped waves and said , ''Ah, who wouldn't sell his farm and go to sea on a day like today." You don't forget such a man.

In early 1943 the weather in the North Atlantic was the cruelest in fifty yea rs. Incredible winds and sixty-foot seas poundSEA HISTORY, FALL 1983

'~ll ... were civilians. All were volunteers. And their morale never cracked."

ed the area. During one 140-day stretch storms raged for 116 days.

Weather was always a factor in the North Atlantic. The Allies had access to excellent forecasts. But convoys-fighting to stay withing range of friendly aircraft based on Iceland-were often routed through the most intense storms. Sometimes they lost more ships to the weather than to submarines.

The Germans, lacking the weather reporting facilities of the Allies, early in the war constructed a clandestine weather station on the east coast of Greenland . So from our own front yard they kept U-boats apprised of the vagaries of the North Atlantic weather for most of the rest of the war.

In February 1943 the Germans had approximately 400 U-boats. More than a third were always ready for the Atlantic battle. And 50 submarines .were concentrated on the main convoy routes between Greenland and Iceland.

At the same time the British were running out of supplies. In two months if the U-boat attacks persisted , the British would be unable to meet their military requirements .

Gross Admiral Donitz had taken full naval command from Admiral Raeder.

And his reputation for aggressive submarine warfare was well known to Churchill and the First Lord of the Admiralty, Admiral Sir Dudley Pound.

Then in March , 1943 German Intelligence (B-Dienst) stumbled onto a real prize: The complete plans and routes of Convoys HX229 and SC122 had been sent by mistake by radio from New York to the U.S. Coast Guard Patrol off Greenland .

Convoy SC122 with fifty ships left New York on March 5th. And Convoy HX229 left New York in two sections on March 8th and 9th with an additional seventyfive ships.

Having decoded the complete message, the Germans were ready. Admiral Donitz committed 42 U-boats to the convoy confrontation. And as the Germans characterized it , the greatest convoy battle of all time was soon to begin.

There was some confusion on the German side when they failed to see that Convoy HX229 had been divided into two sections. After they received the message that HX229A had been ordered to proceed on a different course to the north , they prepared to engage it. Then when they intercepted the communication directed to HX229 giving the anticipated course, they concluded the first message was a ploy. And they changed plans to attack HX229- leaving Convoy HX229A with thirty-seven ships to escape to the north.

SEA HISTORY, FALL 1983

A North Atlantic convoy in August 1943. Courtesy, Special Collections , the Nimitz Library, US Naval Academy.

Th e last North Atlantic convoy, April 1945, taken from th e Liberty ship Oakl ey Wood bound for Antwerp with a cargo of 10,000 tons of 500 pound bombs. E. L. Hayden collection.

The author, Chief Radio Officer Ed Hayden , aboard the Liberty Ship Herman Melville in 1943 bound f or Hull , England with 10,000 tons of ammunition.

Convoy SC122, slightly ahead on the same course as H'X229, had nine escorts.

But Convoy HX229 was dangerously short of protection . The Royal Navy's B4 Group had been given the job originally, but storm damage had reduced it to five ships . To make matters worse the senior officer, Commander Day, on the destroyer HMS Highlander had to proceed to St. Johns for emergency repairs. That left Lt. Commander John Luther, an inexperienced junior officer on the destroyer HMS Volunteer, in command with only four other escort vessels and no rescue ships.

Early on the morning of March 16th Admiral Max Horton , through Western Approaches Headquarters (CINCWA) at Derby House in Liverpool , and Admiral 7

'~ .. the

Allies lost ... 30,248 merchant seamen in the Battle of the Atlantic-a higher loss rate than that of the military."

Karl Donitz , through the U-boat operations room at the Hotel Am Steinplatz in Berlin, received the same message at the same time : The convoy had been sighted

by U-653.

And just before midnight Convoy HX229 was under attack.

Admiral Horton began receiving urgent messages from Lt. Commander Luther describing the grave situation. After the fifth attack of the night the entire convoy made emergency turns to the left to disrupt the U-boat pattern. And Admiral Horton responded to Luther's pleas by dispatching the US destroyer Babbit and the US Coast Guard Cutter Ingham from Iceland, 800 miles to the north , and VLR (Very Long Range) Liberators from Northern Ireland , 900 miles to the east.

On the morning of March 17th both Convoys HX229 and SC122 were under

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heavy attack. It was St. Patrick's Day. But it was no day to celebrate.

Lt. Commander Luther had no rescue ships assigned to the convoy, so in addition to escort duty he diverted his destroyer to rescue survivors . He was criticized for this, however, and later, in pursuit of a U-boat, he swept by seamen from two torpedoed ships without stopping to pick them up.

One ship, the Canadian Star, a fast refrigeration ship from Australia, should not have been in the convoy in the first place. It was ordered there for protection because its gun had been damaged in an accident. It also carried twenty-four passengers, some women and children. Another, the Walter Q. Gresham, was a Liberty ship on its maiden voyage. Its cargo of 9,000 tons of sugar and powdered milk created an eerie sight as high winds and heavy seas churned it into a great froth .

Lt. Commander Luther shouted that he would be back . But you can only imagine the emotions of the civilian merchant seamen , struggling in the bitter cold , thinking rescue was at hand , when they saw the one brief hope of survival ploughing by at flank speed! . Fifty-seven perished from those two ships . Luther profoundly regretted his action, as he never found the submarine. And it was a decision that was to haunt him the rest of his life.

At the end of the three day battle, Admiral Donitz's U-boats had sunk 22 merchant ships.

During the first 20 days of March the Allies had lost 97 ships.

The Admiralty in London conceded that ".. .the Germans never came so near to disrupting communications between the New World and the Old as in the first twenty days of March, 1943."

The war in the Atlantic and the outcome of the war in Europe hung in the balance.

The British were as close to defeat as they had ever been, a fact most historians of the war seem to be unaware of.

The convoy system was on the verge of collapse. A decision to disband all convoys and send merchant ships out alone was under serious consideration. If that had happened, the merchant skippers and crews were prepared to go it alone.

The convoy system prevailed. And before he died in late 1943, Admiral Sir Dudley Pound , the First Lord of the Admiralty, said: "The battle of the North Atlantic convoys may well have been won by civilians."

And ships-90 per cent were merchant ships with civilian crews-continued to sail against a keenly professional and well

disciplined enemy. The morale of the submariners remained high. The submarine service fought loyally to the end, when Uboats were hounded day and night. Their performance of duty has been recognized

by Germans and the Allies alike.

The dedication of the Allied merchant seamen, however, a fiercely patriotic and individualistic group of men who made a singularly decisive contribution to the outcome of the war, has never been fully acknowledged in the United States.

The British have the Tower Hill Memorial in London where the names of the 37,701 British merchant seamen lost in both World Wars are inscribed. There is no such memorial for Americans .

In recent years when survivors of Uboat crews-now in their retirement years-have been contacted , some ask the question : What happened to the crews of the merchant ships we sank? Did many survive?

The answer lies in the 13 Y2 million tons of shipping that went to the bottom.

Translated into men and ships-the Allies lost 2 ,603 merchant ships and 30,248 merchant seamen in the Battle of the Atlantic-a higher loss rate than that of the military.

On May 7th 1945, three days after the Germans had surrendered, and five years and eight months after the first ship had been sunk, Kapitanleutnant Emil Klusmeier in U-2336-who claimed he did not receive the surrender message- sank the Canadian merchant ship Avondale Park.

When the ship slipped beneath the waters of the North Sea , that ended the longest battle of World War II . It had been fought from the opening day until the last.

And the Battle of the Atlantic-the battle that had to be won-was won in ships sailed by civilian volunteers. w Reading List : Convoy: The Battle for Convoys SC112 and HX229 by Martin Middlebrook. (Penguin Books, Ltd ., London SW 1, 1976). The Battle of the Atlantic by Terry Hughes and John Costello. (Dial Press James Wade, New York, 1977). The Game of the Foxes by Ladislas Farago (Bantam Books , 1971).

The Ultra Secret by F.W. Winterbotham (Harper & Row). The Second World War by Winston Churchill, Vol. II, p.529 (Houghton Mifflin Co., 1949) .

Mr. Hayden, who is retired, lives in Bay Ridge, Annapolis. He graduated from the Merchant Marine Radio School at Boston in early 1943 and was at sea, mostly in the North Atlantic, from April 1943 to late 1947 aboard the Liberty Ship Herman Melville.

SEA HISTORY, FALL 1983

Rare, prized and fabled- then and now... smooth as the kiss of spindrift, dangerous as the broadsides of England's walls of oak, this is the original "Nelson's Blood" - the British Tar's splendid 8-bells answer to Napoleon's brandy. At the Battle of Trafalgar on October 21, 1805, the daily FUSSER'S RUM ration was Y:z pint per man - and ottimes before battle ( and always after victory) , the order was given to "Splice the Main

Brace!" -which meant a double issue for all on board. From before Trafalgar to the victory toast at the Falklands, the Royal Navy's rum has been the most famous of its traditions. Excellent mixed - but first, try sipping it their way: "neat" - or undiluted. This superb rum is not a drink; it is an Experience. Ask for it. Taste it-you're tasting history - and the world's finest rum.

The A1111erican Sea111an Why, he asks, does our country forget its debt to wartime merchant mariners?

As OUR COUNTRY once again prepares to honor the Armed Services on Veterans Day, much has been said and written about the shabby treatmentmeted out by the U.S. Government to the veterans who were sen t to fight the unpopular and bloody war in Vietnam.

But there is another group of Americans who have also been shamefully denied the freely-given recognition and tangible gratitude of the country they love and which they served so well in World War II .

They are , of course, the merchant seamen, the forgotten ''Heroes in Dungarees'' who moved the bullets, bandages and beans to battlefronts around the world and who suffered loss oflife and limb second only to the United States Marine Corps.

Generals Eisenhower, MacArthur and Admiral Nimitz all declared that World War II could not have been fought and won without the seamen. On signing the GI Bill of Rights for members of the Armed Services, President Roosevelt said: ''I trust Congress will soon provide similar opportunities to members ofthe merchant marine who have risked their lives time and time again during this war for the welfare of their country."

Our nation , however, has yet to honor this sacred promise. Most World War II seamen are now too old to take any real advantage of any GI Bill. While som e seamen could use the medical care and other benefits, that's not what they talk about.

They talk about their children and grandchildren being able to say '' H e was a Hero in Dungarees and he was buried in a National Cemetery with the American

~

Attacks on mercha nt ships were the end tor som e; fo r others, the beginn ing of terrible ordeals. Yet those who survived came back time and again t o " Keep 'em sai ling."

flag. " And they say-all of them-that if there were a national em ergency tomorrow, every last one of these oldtime seamen would be walking up the gangway to serve his country.

National Maritime Union Shannon J. Wall , President Thomas Martinez, Secretary-Treasurer National Headquarters: 346 West 17 Street, New York NY 10011 • (212) 620-5700

On July 29 the Liberty Ship John W. Brown towed to sea past the Statue of Liberty, symbol of the freedoms she helped defend. Photo, Michael Gillen.

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THE JOHN W. BROWN: She Did the Job The John W. Brown Preservation Project, established to save the Liberty Ship John W. Brown '~s a living memorial to those valiant seamen who gave their lives so that others might live in freedom ," is now fonned as Project Liberty-a division ofthe National Maritime Historical Society. Those subscribing $25 (or $10 student/retired) will receive the quarterly Liberty Log as well as SEA HISTORY. The ship, for many years part ofthe New York City school system, was towed to layup in the James River, Virginia, in the care of the Federal Maritime Administration-who have pledged to keep her safe and return her cost-free to New York or such other port as she may ultimately be set up in. The Society is now investigating sites in New York and Baltimore. Our interest in the ship was expressed in this testimony, delivered to Congressional hearings held aboard the ship by Representative Mario Biaggi.

The John W Brown is one of the overnight fl eet of some 3,000 Libe rty Ships laun ched from United States and Canadi an ya rds to turn the tide of the oceanic struggle in Wo rld War II . Pres ident Roosevelt , in announcing the unparalleled progra m th at produce this fleet capable of lifting 30 million tons at once, called the Liberty Ship an " ugly duckling." And so she was - the ugly duckling that produced the swan of victory in the worldwide oceanic war.

The Liberty had a quality of miracle about her, for al l her workaday appearance and rather primitive eng ineering.

There was, first , the miracle of production- that the US alone, unprepared for th e maritime emergency created by Axi s agg ress ion in the Atlantic and Pac ific oceans, could produce over 2,700 of these vessels to steam off and turn the tide of a SEA HISlORY, FALL 1983

terrible war. Ce rtainl y the Ax is powers did not dream we had this capability, and in developing it we surprised ourselves . " Rosie the Ri veter" was symbolic of the untrained labor that built these ships in the middle of cornfi elds and other unlikely locations. The press ure of emergency developed new opportunity fo r ethnic minority labor as we ll as women never before conside red fo r such wo rk . They did the job.

Then there was th e miracle that crews could be form ed up to sail these ships, and officers to nav igate them across w ide oceans in peril ous conditions. Again , people who had never seen salt water became heroes, and wrote an imperi shabl e chapter in the wo rld 's maritime history.

Again- they did th e job.

The John W Brown is a distinguished and very serviceable survivo r of an important ship type. She is needed , as her sister the Jeremiah O 'Brien is needed on the West Coast , to give an East Coast presence to the story of th e Liberty Ship and the indomitable merchant mariners of World War II .

The Maritime Museum in Camogli , Italy, is putting on an ex hibition entirely devoted to Liberty Ship models and memorabilia. The c itizens of th at seaport town know what the Liberty Ship means to the freedoms they live under todayth ey know her ro le in liberating Italy.

We have here not a model of a Liberty Ship, but the rea l thing-a real ship w ith a real sto ry to tell. The sto ry of how Americans, once united and ag reed , can indeed produce miracles , and however imposs ible the job may look , produce and sail a ship to do it. That ship is the John W BrolVn. She did the job. But she has an equall y impo rtant job ahead of her- to teach , so we and our children may learn fro m what she did .

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Remembering "Rup" J. Peter Grace, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, W.R. Grace & Co.

by

The pass ing of my dear fr iend and co lleague, All en S. Rupley, was an occasion marked by deep sadness and lonelinessnot onl y fo r myse lf, who had benefitted from hi s wisdom and guidance fo r 47 yea rs, but also for the many people whose li ves he touched. Those of yo u who knew of his love fo r ships can apprec iate the loss of this g reat human being. His dedication to them extended beyond W. R. Grace & Co.'s involve ment with shipping, trad ing and the Grace Line, which we re so much a part of his li fe during the firs t halfof his sixty-five yea r career with the company.

Up until the ve ry end , he was wo rki ng on the restoration of the histo ric squarerigger Wavert ree, to help preserve our heritage. To each of us he has left a rich and meaningful legacy.

When I first struck up an acquaintance with " Rup," as we affectionately called him , he had already been worki ng fo r Grace fo r nineteen years. It was 1936 and he was an assistant secretary in the Treasurer's Office. The company was very much a shipping and trading fi rm then. I was getting my feet wet , learning the " fa mil y" business with a job in the Mail Room, and I hadn't yet decided what I wanted to do with my life-carrying bags of mail around was not that stimulating.

Rup usually stayed late, so I took that opportunity, after regular or irregular wo rking hours (he was always the last one to leave) , to talk to him about my career.

Since he was 12 years my senior, I guess I looked up to him. Of course, he was a great influence in my deciding to stay with the company. From then on this loving, loyal wo rker was my mentor and guiding light through all the turbulences of change and growth that our company passed through in the last three decades. I never had a better friend , or one to whom I was more devoted .

The depth of Rup's concern for others was shown after a tragic plane crash in Peru in which a number of Grace executi ves lost their lives . When he heard the news, he insisted on driving eleven grueling hours with the rescue team to the scene of the accident. We wouldn't let him climb the mountain due to his health , but he waited eighteen hours at the base to minister to the wounded when they were brought down . He would have walked through fire to help anyone. Evidently, his spirit was contagious; I'd have climbed Mount Everest for him, if I had had the chance.

Everything about Rup has been a model for me to live by. He was 100 percent honest- a perfect example of " to thine own self be true." He had humble beginSEA HISlDRY, FALL 1983

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( './-AJJ_,J~l i~\~~~~ nings (he educated himself at the New Yo rk Public Library at night after putting in a ten-hour work day), but his life was proof that one can reach the top through hard work, diligence and common-sense intelligence. I might add that I have never known a better educated or more cultured man. This quest fo r knowledge and appreciation of culture was the underlying philosophy upon which he fo unded the Grace Foundation in 1961. Through the Foundation Rup was able to extend his helping hand to others with support of educational , cultural and needy ins titutions. He worked tirelessly, circumnav igating the globe twice yearly as he accompanied me on business trips to places as far away as Beijing. Because he traveled a lot, he carried his huge pile of papers in an airplane-pilot's satchel, a practice that was emulated by his colleagues ; they nicknamed the satchel the " Rup bag."

Rup never fo rgot his fr iends-he was always keeping in touch with colleagues to show he cared . He had the courage and strong determination to see that the right thing was done-at all times . I doubt Grace would have existed as a company today without hi m; his strength and support carried me th rough the days in the early 1950s when we were changing over fro m a shipping and trading firm to a chemical company and borrow ing tens of millions for this purpose fo r the firs t time in company history.

It has been gratifyi ng to see the outpouring of notes of sympathy from Rup's many colleagues and friends. We shall miss him very much, but how fortunate we were to have had the years of frie ndship and devotion that he gave us. .t

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13

THE NAVIGA1DRS: Filming the Story of the Polynesian Conquest of the Pacific Ocean

by Sanford H. Low, PhD

As the walls of Troy were falling to the Greeks, more than 3,000 years ago, intrepid Pacific seafarers beached their canoes on the island of Fiji and began one of the greatest, but least-known feats of maritime endurance, courage and skillthe settlement of the entire Pacific Ocean.

The ocean distances are mind boggling: by the 6th century AD the Polynesians had made voyages from the Marquesas to Tahiti , 2500 miles; and from Tahiti to New Zealand, 2700 miles . They had by then developed powerful double-hulled sailing canoes to carry tons of cargo and dozens of colonists, as well as a sophisticated system of navigation that allowed them to find their way across the vast Pacific wilderness. This is a story of great human achievement, and one that is only now being told as archaeologists, linguists and anthropologists are assembling the results of years of research in the Pacific.

In 1981 I began to raise funds to tell this story in a documentary film, "The Navigators." The 60-minute film took two years to complete, and it took me on a voyage back in time and across the entire Pacific. The first need was money$400,000. A generous grant from Pacific Resources , Inc. , of Honolulu was followed by funding from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations and the Hawaii Committee for the Humanities . With funding Teenagers sail an 18ft outrigger in sheltered water off Satawa[ Island (at left). Beyond, the wild ocean leaps and roars against the barrier reef; that is the world this kind of canoe came from and which it sails today.

in place, a daunting challenge remained : We would be filming in remote locations, islands without any reliable communication with the outside world; we would have to travel there with literally a ton of delicate film equipment; and I would have to assemble a crew of sensitive people who were also highly qualified professionals and ask them to travel far.

Our first destination was Satawa! in Micronesia, to find a navigator named Mau Piailug. Mau first achieved fame when he navigated Hokule'a , a replica of an ancient Polynesian canoe, from Hawaii to Tahiti-a voyage of 2500 miles . He found landfall across that vast stretch of sea without compass, chart or sextant, by practicing a skill that is centuries old in the Pacific. Mau is one of the last keepers of very ancient skills. The ability to navigate without instruments has now been lost in all of Polynesia due to the influence of Western civilization. It's only in the remote Caroline Islands that these ancient techniques are still practiced .

Piailug is the last navigator, or "Palu'', to be initiated into the secrets of both magic and navigation on Satawa! . Years ago the initiation was outlawed as pagan

by Christian missionaries, and while navigation is still passed on from generation to generation, it is a skill that is now fading. Piailug uses a world of natural

signs to find his way across the ocean: stars, winds, currents, waves, even the flight of birds.

The stars serve as Mau's compass . He has literally memorized the shape of the nighttime sky for every one of the 365 days of the year. During the summer months, Mau guides his canoe to the east by setting his course toward the rising of Mailap, or Altair. The setting of Mailap defines the west. The north is defined by Polaris and the south by the Southern Cross in its upright position. To fill in the rest of the cardinal points , and so that Mau can steer his canoe throughout the year, he must memorize the paths of hundreds of stars. He needs only a small patch of unclouded sky to steer his canoe confidently, filling in the rest by exercising his tremendous powers of memory.

Prevailing wave trains in the Pacific, moved before steady trade winds , flow in a set direction for months. And lesser winds, even variable winds, establish swells recognizable to the palau . Mau and his fellow palu can sail just by the motion imparted to their canoe by these swells.

During the filming we traveled to the tiny island of West Fayu to film a fishing expedition. I sailed with the camera crew on a chartered 60-foot schooner. Mau and his crew traveled aboard their 30-foot outrigger. After we had completed the Mau Piailug teaches navigation to his son. On the mat are laid out rising and setting points of 32 stars. Mau is pointing out the setting of Tumur, or Scorpio, defining northwest. His son will study all this for 15 years or more to become, in his turn , Palu or Navigator.

Mau Piailug 's seagoing canoe perches lightly on the shifting sea. She finds her way by signs of changing sea and sky, and even the flight of birds, as well as the constant stars. Photos, Sanford H. Low.

filming on West Fayu , Mau inspected the sky at sunset and reported that a storm was brewing. " The wind will last for three days, at least", he told me. "It will be bad tonight but far worse tomorrow. We must leave now."

We set off as darkness fell , the canoe and schooner traveling in company ; but we were soon parted . The wind picked up during the night, gusting to 50 knots, and we shortened sail. At times the wind died off completely, only to blow up again. The sky was completely clouded during most of the night. Not a single star was visible.

The captain of our schooner steered by compass and Satnav. Mau was off in the gloomy night navigating by his instincts and the waves. We reached Satawa! in the morning, about lOAM, to find Mau 's canoe waiting for us at the entrance to the reef. While it is possible to intellectually understand how Mau can steer by the waves alone, you really have to experience the conditions that he can sail through and yet still find land to fully appreciate his skills. His feat is even more remarkable when you consider that Satawa! Island is only ten feet above sea level and is just a mile wide. In the midst of storms and without any navigational aids, Mau was able to find this tiny speck of land unerringly. His predictions of the weather were also accurate.

Scholars first brought these unique skills to our attention a few years ago. Dr. Thomas Gladwin and Dr. David Lewis visited the Caroline Islands and were the first to make detailed reports of Carolinian navigational skills. Prior to these reports, it was widely believed by educated laymen that the Polynesians settled the Pacific from South America aboard primitive rafts, as suggested by Thor Heyerdahl. But since the voyage of SEA HIS1DRY, FALL 1983

Heyerdahl 's raft Kon Tiki , scholars have begun to piece together an even more fascinating story. If the Polynesians voyaged on rafts, at the mercy of the wind and wave, then they needed little in the way of navigational skills . They merely cast themselves adrift and hoped for the best. But now the evidence shows that the Polynesians sailed in the opposite direction , from Asia , in large sailing canoesagainst the prevailing wind and waves .

They were true explorers and not drifters .

Archaelogical evidence on Polynesian migration has been pieced together in a lifetime's work by Dr. Yosihiko Sinoto of Honolulu's Bishop Museum . By studying the shapes of stone adzes and fishhooks , the prime tools of the Polynesians ; by analyzing carbon 14 dates ; and by excavating in the Marquesas , Tahiti and Hawaii , Sinoto has revealed that the Polynesians sailed from the islands Samoa and Tonga to the Marquesas , from there on to Tahiti , Hawaii , New Zealand, and Easter Island. Recently he has made his most startling discovery in the debris left behind by an ancient tidal wave on the Tahitian island of Huahine. In about 850 AD the wave struck a small seaside village on Huahine, sweeping all before it. As it receded , the debris was covered with tons of mud and buried . Among the debris , now being excavated by Sinoto, were canoe steering paddles, two beautifully shaped canoe planks, outrigger booms, hailers and other artifacts that attest to ancient seafaring skills. Piecing together these remains, Sinoto guesses the canoes being manufactured on Huahine were 80 feet long, clearly large and powerful enough to cover the distance between Huahine and any major island group in Polynesia .

Linguistic research has also played a

strong part in tracing the Polynesians' voyages. Scholars like Dr. George Grace at the University of Hawaii have now determined that the mother tongue of all Polynesian languages is found in the islands of southeast Asia. This adds another piece to the puzzle and confirms the Polynesians were navigators who sailed against wind and wave. By studying language, it is now believed that on this evidence alone the Polynesians jumped off from Fiji , Tonga and Samoa to Central Polynesia- the Marquesas and Tahitian Islands- and thence to Hawaii , Easter Island and New Zealand.

Having completed the filming, we were still faced with the task of editing together the archaeological sequences with the film we made on Satawa!. I think we have succeeded . Watching "The Navigators," our audience will travel to Huahine to participate in the excavation of an ancient canoe ; to Fiji , where we will find pottery that defines a trail left by the earliest settlers as they traveled across the Pacific from island to island , to Hawaii where we will board Hokule'a and voyage with Mau Piailug to Tahiti and where we will also investigate ancient ruins with archaeologist Patrick Kirch-the discoverer of the first village sites on the island of Moloka'i ; and we will sail with Mau aboard his canoe on voyages from Satawa! and sit beside him as he teaches navigation in a secret ceremony in his canoe house.

For me, all this was quite a trip. I hope it will be for you , too, when " The Navigators" appears on PBS. It's now set for October 3-check local listings . ,r,

Dr. Low is an anthropologist and filmmaker making his headquarters, at present, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

15

THE U.S. MERCHANT FLEET MUST NOT BECOME AN

END GERED SPECIES

FEW AMERICANS KNOW. ..

• that the United States generates the largest volume of international trade, but U.S . -flag merchant ships carry less than 28 % of this nation's container commerce, and less than 2 % of U.S. bulk cargo; • that of the 1,500 merchant vessels active in world liner trades today, only 190 fly the Stars and Stripes ; • that of the 53 privately owned U.S .-flag liner carriers that operated in U.S . foreign trades 22 years ago, only 8 are left today, and the economic viability of several of these carriers is in jeopardy ; • or, that the seafaring employment on large U.S.-flag oceangoing merchant ships has dropped from 57,000 in 1967 to some 15,500 today.

To keep the U.S. Merchant Fleet from becoming an endangered species, we must take bold steps to ensure the continued operation of a competitive American maritime industry resource representative of our national interests. Industry management , shippers, labor and government leaders will have to set aside special interests and work together in the national interest, not only to enact U.S. maritime policy reforms, but to effectively influence formulation of international maritime law.

®

Sea-Land Service ... pioneer of container shipping For more information on our views, write to Charles I. Hiltzheimer, Chairman, Sea-Land Industries Investments, Inc., P.O. Box 800, Iselin, NJ 08830

Snug Harbor fun ctioned as a tidy community of its own, with the sailors housed in monumental Greek Revival buildings, staff living in rather more modest houses off to the right. The community grew its own vegetables, milked its own cows, ran its own cottage industries and buried its own dead. Randall 's enormously rich bequest even enabled the Harbor to support a music hall fo r vaudeville shows.

Treasure of Snug Harbor

by Peter Stanford In August 150 yea rs ago, in 1833, 37 sailors arrived at Sailors' Snug Harbo r, a haven provided for seamen worn out in thei r call ing. The faci lity had been establ ished with a grant provided in the will of Robe rt Richard Randall , son of a wealthy 18th century privateersman and himself a seafaring man . By 1900, as many as 900 men were housed in the elegant Greek Revival buildings planted in a spacious park on Staten Island 's northern shore, fronting on New York Harbor.

After a century the need for the facility began to decline as social welfare programs took over. The income to support it also waned. A smal ler and smaller number of old seamen inhabited the echoing halls. In 1976, informed that they could not demolish the Landmark buildings, the Trustees of Sailors' Snug Harbor moved the fac ility to modern quarte rs in the quiet North Carolina commun ity of Sea Level. The City of New York assumed responsibility for the grounds and buildings, responding to the call of civic leaders who recognized the priceless heritage embodied in the prope rty. A not-forprofit corporation , Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Inc., was established to operate a multifarious program .

Part of that program is an ambitious maritime historical effort . With vigor and prescience, Historic Site Director Mel Hardin has reached out to build a permanent collection including such items as the bowpiece of the armored cruiser New York. Exhibitions have included " The Lighthouse," one of the most comprehensive presentations of this subject ever undertaken . And currentl y, through the end of the year, there's an exhibition on the lives of the men, using artifacts from the Ba rbara Johnson Collection, South Street and other sources, called "Jack's Last Port ." A Randall Society has been established , which sponsors a lecture series.

Ove r the years, people looked in on the "Snugs," as the seafarers were called : Bill Doerflinger, who recorded their songs, the harbor artist John Noble, who was their prophet- my last visit with John was to sit in with him on an oral history program at Snug Harbor. I had been there before to visit with such men as Captain James E .

Roberts, a wonderfully dignified, spruce, twinkling old mariner who had sailed in the South Street Museum ship Wavertree in 1897-8 (SH19: 12-13). And New Yorkers who cherish seafaring and seafarers gathered there to pay tribute to Susan and John Noble, both lost to us earlier this year.

There is a strong sense of place about Snug Harbor today. But it is not the 26 classic buildings, not the 80 acres of landscaped parkland , or even the stained glass windows and growing maritime collection. It is none of these, but rather the men named in Randall's will , the "aged , dec repit and worn-out sailors,'' who are the real treasure of Snug Harbo r.

SEA HISffiRY, FALL 1983

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Treasure of Snug Harbor

Jack's Last Port

by Mel Hardin Historic Site Director Snug Harbor Cultural Center "After serving on American vessels for a period of time extending over forty years leading the life of an ocean slave on many ships which were veritable floating Hells, robbed beaten and starved by tyrant Captains and "Bucko" mates, abused, plundered, shanghaied by shipping crimps on land, until a sailor's life on most American ships was naught but Hell on earth, without one ray of hope to gladden him on his way through life's journey but the beacon that shoneforthfrom Randall's noble legacy, Sailors' Snug Harbor."

-Frank Waters, February 28, 1918

One could sit in a corner, like this rather splendid old gentleman , dreaming of flying fish , perhaps, and sounding whales. The elegant urn in this picture survives, incidentally, and sits today in the busy main hall entryway, touched by young people in passing where once it had served as a kind of repository of old men's memories and musings.

It was a rare sailorman who could not spin you a decent yarn, and that with considerable style and flair to it. Battered, worn out, misused by any modern standard, these old seafarers showed the grit and good cheer needed to survive in a hard calling.

18

The paragraph above, awkward in a literary sense but real as it conveys a feeling of the way people talk, was discovered in the archives of Snug Harbor Cultural Center this year. It demands attention and one can almost imagine hearing the litany of the words slicing through the smoke of a waterfront bar on South Street in New York, or in Callao, Yokahama, Casablanca, Buenos Aires, Marseille or Frisco.

This statement of a man's life, carrying all of the psychological maritime baggage of the 19th century, is that of a real man , made of blood and muscle. Sailors' Snug Harbor really meant something to such a man . As it was told on ships around the world, this was where a man could go when he was worn out. " Working a ship,'' as delightful as that may sound to some, is an occupation that offers an abundance of hazardous possibilities. In the 19th century most American ships were still under sail , and a man could fall 50 or 100 feet from aloft to the deck, and become permanently disabled . If the man was lucky he was killed on impact. Falling from the rigging was a frequent enough event that in one account of a 19th century voyage that was particularly boring, the sailor on deck actually wished someone would fall to liven up the day. If he lived , but was to be handicapped , this would be his last voyage. And as if ship related injuries were not enough , Jack Tar also had to contend with diseases of the general population-arthritis, arteriosclerosis, diabetes, heart disease and of course the "gentleman's disease," syphilis. A landsman might be able to tend his shop or clerk his desk , but a seaman suffering from any of the above certainly would not be able to carry his own weight on shipboard.

These once young lively men whose robust bodies opened the trade to China , fought in the War of 1812, commanded the seas and literally made New York City rich beyond the dreams of Peter Stuyvesant , were put ashore. Aged and decrepit , worn and ravaged with disease, their death would not come easy. Too often there was no wife or children to tend the

final hour. They were on land and they were in a hostile environment.

There were no agencies of relief for these old men. With the bright eyes and braggadocio ways they had stormed about the oceans ; they were destined to die in pitiful surroundings without love or care in the Port of New York. Without knowing it , Thomas Randall , privateer par excellence, was going to alleviate this suffering.

Thomas Randall appears to have come to America in 1740, becoming a ship's captain after his captain died during a battle. He sailed the Caribbean in pursuit of French merchantmen , and he prospered , becoming a landowner in New Orleans.

He also operated in New York, where he apparently secured land in exchange for land he held in Louisiana. He owned the ships Delancy, General Abercrombie, Charming Sally, The Fox and Goldfinch.

He not only prospered but became wealthy. New York became an open port like New Orleans, and encouraged privateering. Goods captured from foreign vessels were sold in New York and exported back to Europe. James Lydon in Pirates, Privateering and Profits estimates that the return from privateering in the years 1756-58 was substantially greater than that of importing goods from England .

Randall's brig Charming Sally did particularly well. In the Seven Years' War, 1756-63, she captured 24 prizes, valued at over ÂŁ41,000. Shipowner and merchant , Thomas Randall was also an early member of the Marine Society (charged with caring for sea captains' widows and orphans) and as a member of the Committee of 100 he helped lay the foundation of the new republic. He also became a city landowner with a farm in Manhattan at present-day Washington Square. It was this rich heritage that led to the establishment of a home for old sailors , by Thomas's son Robert Richard .

Little is known of this bachelor heir to the privateersman's fortune. Stuyvesant Fish in The New York Privateers, 1756-1763, gives us this picture: SEA HISTORY, FALL 1983

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'. II

The best known of the captains and owners of Privateers was Captain Thomas Randall.

His outstanding claim to fame is that he had a bad tempered son to whom he left his fortune. This son, Robert Richard Randall followed in his father's footsteps. He also privateered and saved his dollars. Feeling that the end was near, it is said that he got Alexander Hamilton to draw up a will disinheriting all his kith and kin , leaving a very considerable estate to found and endow the Sailors' Snug Harbor. The joint and persistent efforts of the family have failed to break the will and so at Sailors' Snug Harbor on Staten Island stand s the only monument of a Privateer of the Seven Years' War.

This somewhat legendary account caught the imagination of reporters for magazines and newspapers, but it's my understanding that the day books kept by the meticulous lawyer Hamilton do not show any entries that identify a relationship with Robert Richard. Randall did in fact deed his Manhattan farm to the future maintenance of "aged and decrepit seamen," however, and so Sailors' Snug Harbor was born.

The birth was not easy. Relatives including a Bishop from Nova Scotia contested the will and the matter remained in the courts for almost thirty years. During those thirty years Manhattan grew at a fantastic pace. The farm, which is now the location of New York University, was graded level , the cow path roads were ignored in anticipation of the building of Sixth and Seventh avenues. The Trustees in a remarkable act of vision, decided that the quiet and bucolic atmosphere of Staten Island might be more favorable for the failing health of aging mariners.

The first mariners arrived at Sailors' Snug Harbor August 1, 1833. The building they entered was designed by Minard Lefever, a New York carpenter who was to become an important architect. It was a grand design , in the Greek Revival style so popular at the time, grander than the actual ship captains' houses built in this style in towns like Searsport in this era. The administration of this new charity fell to the Marine Society. Only members of that society and former ships' captains would be eligible for the position of Governor.

The Trustees, meantime, made handsome profits managing the land in Manhattan. The charity became embarrassingly wealthy. They added more buildings on the shore of the Kill van Kull .

They also added a 1500-foot iron fence seven feet high . Sailors' Snug Harbor had with its tremendous capacity generated monies that created magnificent buildings, hired a professional staff and

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enlisted men from the Presbyterian and Episcopal churches to shepherd the salty souls to their last reward . But the sailors still acted like sailors, getting beastly drunk and probably offending some of the ladies who had come to the new resort areas on Staten Island to escape the heat of New York . So the Trustees built a fence around them. While the fence is certainly handsome, it didn't always serve its intended purpose:

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Basketmaking was a universal industry, providing pocket money for tars who were free to cross over by ferry to the South Street grog shops, coming home on occasion the worse for wear.Ship model making was another occupation . Afew got out in the harbor fishing or doing odd jobs on barges.

Captain Main Hall. At 11:50 P.M. George Feelove #760 was brought in main gate by two policemen under the influence of liquor after being taken down from hanging on the fence between the main gate and Tyson St. Sent for stretchers and had him taken to hospital.

WP Tyler Lodge Keeper July 23, 1936

The sailors created a subculture with its own vocabulary. One of the words brought back from their travels was the word taboo-a word which is now firmly implanted in daily language of America .

It was turned against them in the form of Fishing at night.

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11

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JACK'S LAST PORT

The Unconquerable Spirit

T he Taboo Book. T his book shows men disci pl ined for being late, drunk, unruly (which could mean they complained about something) and confined to grounds and/or a job fo r a period of time.

Thomas Melville, brother of Herman Melville, was the Governor who installed the taboo system , in the 1870s. His successor is said to have kept up his portra it to remind hi m of what "the worst Governor of Snug Harbor" looked like. Snug Harbor was ru n as much as possible like a ship. But there can be no doubt that the rules laid dow n went beyond what was needed.

For years the men at Snug Harbor had di vided themselves into two classes, "deepwatermen and coasters." Deepwater sailors considered themselves in a class far above the men in the coastal trade. As time drew on, steamboat men began to come to the Harbo r. Sailormen joined in scorn ing them, which made the "coasters" feel better. Fishermen were on the bottom of the ladder, but they were reluctantl y admitted . This hierarchy still exists. Tankermen are considered infe rio r to those that served on fre ighters.

Between 1833 and 1976, 7,000 men came to Sailo r's Snug Harbor. They are all dead and "stowed away on Monkey Hill " just behind the property. They were called rogues and rascals and many times they lived up to that notoriety. They were in fact the d isenfra nchised second sons of English and European fami lies, selftrai ned poets, debtors , drun ks, artisans, tradesmen , and literate adventurers. They were men with new names, men wi th hearts broken on land who trusted their souls to a new master under God , the captain of the ship, until they came to this last port. They gave Snug Harbor its purpose, and its soul . ..t

Forty-odd years ago William Main Doerflinger, whose family home was halfa mile from Snug Harbor, came to know the deepwater veterans well-and to the enrichment of us all, he invited them over to his house to sing their songs, collected with others in his classic Songs of the Sailor and Lumberman. Because ofthis invaluable intervention, we can hear today such rousing tunes as "The Leaving of Liverpool," sung as Captain Dick Maitland heard it on a night watch at sea, about a century ago.

Discipline was strict, but it's debatable whether Ja ck would have understood or liked a slacker style. He'd been to a hard school.

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The iron men who manned the ships, wooden and otherwise, of square-rigger days, will be remembered fo r many reasons. Of these, their unfo rgettable shanties are not the most important. Yet neither are they the least important, fo r here, in these songs made up in the midst of toil and hardship and loneliness , is perh aps the finest reco rd that the real "common sailor" has left us of himself. Unsurpassed by any other fo lk songs in their inspiring tunes, they are hardly to be equaled for the unconquerable spirit that rings fo rth , without dramatics, in every line.

It has been said that the deeper fun ction of music is to express what cannot be said in wo rds. For the sailorman, that was one fun ction of his shanties. Songs as fresh and bracing as the salt sea winds into whose teeth they were flung, they live on to enrich our heritage of folk song.

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" There would perhaps be a man with an accordion in the middle of the hatch," said Captain P'atrick Tayluer in a recorded interview. " He would stri ke up a familiar tune, and away all the sailors would sing it! The office rs would often come down and join in the choruses. The cap' n he would stand at the break of the poop, and smile and sing the choruses with the men, sometimes. " These songs, they went around , all over the diffe rent ships, and the men would sing them so as to bring cheer to the watch that was going to have the eight hours out that night-four hours between eight and twelve, and fo ur hours between four and eight."

Dick Maitland , who sang "The Leaving of Liverpool ," learned it about 1885, when he was bosun of the American ship General Knox. " I was on deck one night ,'' he said , "when I heard a Li verpool man singin' it in the fo'c's le_ . . Yessir, that song hit the spot!"

-From Songs of the Sailor and Lumberman , collected and compiled by William Main Doerflinger (New York, Ma cmillan, 1972), copyright 1951, Š 1972 by William M. Doerflinger.

Reprinted by permission.

20

The great bow piece, (see cover) carved by an anonymous craftsman in Philadelphia, makes an impressive statement in the Main Hall, expressing the confidence and fie rce pride of late 19th-century America. Above, the piece in situ soon after the commissioning of the juttingjawed cruiser in 1893.

A growing collection:

The Bow Piece of the Cruiser New York A 10,000-pound bell bouy for the lighthouse exhibit , now a 3,000-pound bow piece from the armored cruiser New York- these are the kind of weighty object now being collected at Snug Harbor. The bow piece fea tures the shield of New York State, fl anked by Liberty holding her torch , and Justice with her scales-the whole surmounted by a truly formidable American Bald Eagle, with the face of Neptune in full cry beneath .

New York , commissioned in 1893, played a distinguished role as Sampson's fl agship in the Spanish-American War, 189 8. Subsequent duties took her to Tsarist Russia and China . Finally stricken from the Navy Register in 1938, she was scuttled to prevent capture by the Japanese in December 1941, in Manila Bay. Along the way, in 1907, she lost her bow piece, this kind of work being considered incompatible with the image of a modern steel navy. Figureheads and bow shields " were expensive, added a good deal of weight , and served no practical purpose in wa rfare," in the words of the curmudgeonl y order that ended this millenia-old practice.

Staten Islander William Russonello found the discarded carving in a basement in Washington State 18 years ago, and campaigned to get it back through promises made and fo rgotten. In 1965 he'd written Governor Rockefeller urging its return to New Yo rk , wherever the Governor thought best. " However,'' he added , "as a Staten Islander I would offer Sailors' Snug Harbor on Staten Island fo r consideration .. .." And that is where it has ended up, on permanent loan from the US Navy.

SEA HISTORY, FALL 1983

"Then the things of the deep come up and look at you."

JOHN A. NOBLE " You educated us ; you pleased us; you taught us to think again, to be compassionate and sympathetic." It was Anthony Gaeta speaking, President of the Borough of Staten Island . "John , you loved Staten Island in a way that makes me feel somehow wanting."

That was John Noble's prophetic gift , as artist and man : to make a borough president confess that John's feeling fo r the borough ran somehow truer than his own. And to make him , moreover, glad of that avowal! " You are a treasure we have lost," Gaeta continued, speaking from the steps of Snug Harbor, overlooking the Kill van Kull. "All Staten Island mourns your passing, John . But we rejoice that we were able to walk this road with you."

The Mayo r of Bayonne was there ; and of course Joe Dirsa, barkeep at Hendrickson's Corners in that city; and a retired police chief who came up from Florida; and Joan and Charlie Deroko of the South Street Museum work force; and Katherine Lacey, widow of Captain Bill ; and my son Thomas, whom John held enraptured for one long dusty afternoon , driving through the swamps of the Jersey shore past hulls of submarines that had prowled the depths of the Pacific Ocean, now being scrapped and guarded by fierce dogs that stand sentinel over the dirt track known for some reason as the Burma Road ; and others including of course John's sons Alan and John , John being the one who opened his remarks by saying : " My father was a difficult man ." Indeed he was.

Four days before John died on May 15 this year, an assistant public relations director at Staten Island's Wagner College (of all unlikel y types!) got him talking to a tape recorder, and not hiding his thoughts behind the cloud banks of disdain and contempt broken through by lightning flashes of anger, which he usually exhibited to the press. Erin Urban is this remarkable person's name. She described her day with him , in his house "overlooking the glories of New York Bay," as one "filled with stories and pictures and laughter." " The glories of New York Bay." Ms. Urban saw them with new eyes, I suspect, because of John. In that interview, he described New York's 700-odd miles of waterfront as "rowboat territo ry." In the earl y 1930s with his new-wed wife, the green-eyed beauty Susan Ames, he indeed rowed the harbor's waterways, and walked the industrial streets and anonymous residential blocks, where bricklaye rs and subway car drivers live, which are, of course, the real New York . He spoke of those long walks to me when we SEA HIS1DRY, FALL 1983

sat by Susan's bed when she was dying.

Somehow you wanted to laugh or cry with the two of them , surely one wished powerfull y to have been with them on those walks! In the Erin Urban interview he said : " The Harlem River brought me to Staten Island . I was crossing the 134th Street Bridge on the Harlem River on a spring day in 1928, and I was so shocked - it changed my life. I was frozen on that bridge, because both east and west of the bridge were sailing vessels. And I thought sailing vessels, you know, were gone, but quite a few sailing vessels went in the Harlem Ri ver to bring lath . The old houses have wooden lath , which schooners brought down from Maine and Nova Scotia . There it was, and I couldn't eat, or anything ; I was so excited ."

John Noble, born in 1913 in Paris, was worldly wise, deeply read , the son of an artist who made a considerable splash in the Edwardian world and was a fo unding spirit of the artist's colony in Provincetown , at the tip of Cape Cod. John loathed that life (" they went out to paint delicate ladies sitting under umbrellas on the beach, and never noticed the fishing boats chugging out to sea" ) and he had a contempt for "art" conceived as a thing for its own sake, and he quite genuinely felt prouder of his work hung in a workingman's home than in a museum. (Most people, I think , believed that attitude was one of John's many poses-God what a Shakespearean ham he could be!-but sharing the sentiment , I knew it was real. ) He made the life of the harbor his own; he was accepted by its people (like Conrad 's Lord Jim) as "oneofus." He was not , thus , just an observer of that life. He was part of it. He spoke- his crayon spoke for him-as a witness to its experience.

Someone asked if we would do a special memoir of John in SEA HISTORY. I said No, we will just go on reverting back to him as we do anyway (see for example the cover of SEA HISTORY 13, and the story that goes with it). John would hate a special tribute, besides ; so let us just put him to work, here, to say the ultimate thing that needs saying about the real treasure of Snug Harbor. Look out fo r these winged words, from the Erin Urban interview, once more: " Snug Harbor in those days was a cultural institution. It was a great one because those men had been all over the world , seen all kinds of civilizations. You saw things you wouldn't see on a steamer, because when you're becalmed you don't make a sound .. ..Then the things of the PS deep come up and look at you."

Talking with Erin Urban shortly before his death last spring, John Noble ponders the answer to a question. Photo, Bill Higgins.

Below, 1he man himself' fall of 1he j oy of life , againsl iniquity and uuerly dedica1ed 10 the lru.lh of working p eople's li ves and 1he glory of 1heir works. Photo, Joseph Dirsa.

Like a weeping willow plamed in the industrial water alleyway of 1he Kill van Kull , a New York City Fireboal salutes John Noble's memory, part of the parade ofha rbor working craft held a1 lhe National Society's invi1ation 10 mark his passinfi. Photo, John Skelson.

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21

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''And then there were none." I cannot help thinking of that line when members of the Amicale Internationale des Capitaines au Long Cours Cap Horniers gather together from all parts of the world to greet one another, exchange yarns and perpetuate the history of square rigged windjammers around Cape Horn.

It is a dwindling breed of sailormen who met this year in the seaport town of Imperia , on the Italian Ri viera , May 23-26, for the XXXIX Annual Congress of Cape Horners-320 men , average age near 75 years , from 14 countries. This annual pilgrimage started back in 1936 when a group of French captains who had skippered square-rigged sail around Cape Horn formed a small friendly group they called Internationale des Capitaines au Long Cours Cap Horniers (the Association of International Cape Homers, or AICH). These were sailors who lived along the Bordeaux coast , and they held their meetings in St. Malo. They designed their logo around the life ring and the albatross in honor of all those drowned off Cape Horn from Magellan's time up until the last, Walter Cooper, lost overboard from Viking off Cape Horn on March 22, 1938:" Sailing lore has it that the albatross is the soul of a dead sailor lost at sea off Cape Horn .

During the middle 50s other countries that had captains who had commanded ships around Cape Horn joined the AICH . Eventually there were 12 sections from Europe proper: Norway, Sweden, Finland , Aland, Denmark, England, Germany, Holland , Belgium, Italy, and Spain , along with what was now the French section. The by-laws read that every five years the AICH Congress was to meet in St. Malo, the place of origin.

All minutes and proceedings were to be in English. Australia joined officially in 1978 and New Zealand in 1980. We are now working on forming an American section.

The last square riggers sailed from Finland down to Spencer Gulf in South Australia for grain. Many young American lads sailed in those later days including the writer. I already have the addresses of at least 25 US Cape Homers, and I know that 'lVith the help of such good people as Capt. Harold Huycke, Karl Kortum, Norman Brouwer, Peter Stanford and others we can scare up over 50 Cape Homers living today within our continental limits. *Mr. Well's painting ofthis is shown in SHJ8:63.

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SEA HISTORY, FALL 1983

There Were None'' on the XXXIX Cape Horners World Congress

Of the 14 sections now in AICH, the German one is the largest, including almost one-half of the enrollment. No one survives who sailed the American clippers of the 1850s or the iron and early steel ships of England of the 1880s.

After the turn of the century the optimum of sail design came out of Germany -the big, black, all steel four and fivethousand tonners. Some of the most famous of these were the Preussen , Potosi, Pamir, Passat, Priwall, Padua, and Parma of the Flying P Line. The Fiying P Line got its name because Mrs. Karl Laeisz, wife of the ships' owner, had curly hair like a poodle dog. When her husband named his first ship he called it Pudel after her, and every ship name since that time up until the super cargo vessels of today

"Experiences have a way of being communicated through eyes and smiles of men who have battled against the sea." has started with a " P." Germany also had the "Seimers" ships named after first names in the Seimers family-Hans, Kurt, Mimi , etc,-and the " Bek" ships like Lasbek, Wandsbek, and Thielbek. These vessels covered the world . The Germans would send these big four-masted barks out around Cape Horn as cadet ships with 50 or more in the crew, whereas we in the same ships sailed with 20. They would load nitrate from the Chilean hills and return to Germany doubling the Horn.

They said the nitrate was for agriculture, but a great deal went for munitions for both World War I and II. Irving Johnson , the well known American captain and author, made a passage in Peking in 19Z7 on one of those voyages.

Peking now lies down at South Street Seaport in New York. Moshulu, ex-Kurt, is a restaurant-museum ship in Philadelphia .

Passat, my old ship, is now a national monument of the West German Republic in Travemunde, outside Lubeck, Germany. The last of the big barks to be built , the Padua of 1926, sails today under the Russian flag as the training ship Kruzenshtern.

The Finnish se~ tion is perhaps next in size. Both the Finnish and Aland sections are under the same roof, so to speak , in one country. These people, who sailed under shipowner Captain Gustav Erikson of Marieham , were the last to sail around SEA HISTORY, FALL 1983

Cape Horn . When the great German sailing ships began to be replaced by steamers, Erikson bought them up at boneyard prices. He refurbished these vessels to almost mint condition and put them to sea again in the Australian wheat trade. That is when I signed in Passat , in 1938. I have everybody with the Erikson Company to thank for my wonderful sailing experiences that will live with me forever.

The XXXIX Cape Homers World Congress, under the High Patronage of the President of Italy, was memorable, as were the other three I have attended . In the typical Italian manner, there was almost too much of everything: little time to rest, off to the next event, chartered buses taking Cape Homers this way and thatpretty tough going for old-timers! Cape Homers enjoy all the camaraderie. They are a happy crowd , and love mixing it up.

Although they represent 14 different nations, there is no language barrier. Experiences have a way of being communicated through eyes and smiles of men who have battled against the sea.

Since the Congress in Oslo, a year ago, 110 of this good crowd have crossed the bar. Three names live on in my heart and mind : Captain Karl Cerisch (Pamir, 1932-34) , a close friend Wanda and I met on the decks of Peking the day she was commissioned at South Street. Karl and Ursla were to visit us this summer in Seattle.

They were killed in an automobile on the German autobahn .

Captain Verner Bjorkfelt, who sailed ten times arou nd Cape Horn . Capt.

Bjorkfelt was in command on Pamir Monday, July 11, 1949, at 0100 hours when he passed 70 miles below Cape Horn to become the last master of the last squarerigged ship in regular trade to round Cape Horn on this planet earth.

Captain Alan Villiers who, through his many books, brought the square rigged windjammers before our own eyes in our homes. I attribute my finding a life on and love for the sea to reading his Cape Horn stories.

Traveling on the charter bus from one event to another in Imperia, I had the good fortune to sit next to Captain Hans Schuman (Ponape , 1931-33) , Secretary General of the German section . The Captain said : " Tom , we are now less than a thousand Cape Homers on his earth , somewhere in the nine hundreds I would estimate. It has been near 35 years since a

Tom IM!lls , with cap on, arm-in-arm with his shipmate Leif Stradvik of Finland. They were together in Passat in '38 (and weathered the famous hurricane of that year at sea). The rest of the gang, from the left, are the Australians Jason Hopton (Passat '48), Alfred Jarvis (Lawhill '37) Bill Smith (Olivebank 27) .

The Italian sail training ship Amerigo Vespuc-

ci lies just ahead of the Cape Homers' cruise ship, her rig towering over the waterfront ofthe ancient town of!mperia. Photos by Tom IM!lls.

big square rigger has battled the Horn ."

As the big bus packed with Cape Homers, their wives and sweethearts rolled on to our hotels, the thought again came to my mind: "And then there were none."

Envoi Ever since Sir Francis Chichester rounded Cape Horn in the Gypsy Moth while circumnavigating the world and Queen Elizabeth bestowed knighthood on him, the British section has included yachtsmen who have sailed around Cape Horn. The Australian section has yachting members. They carry "Y" after their names in rosters and titles. As far as I know, none of the European sections have accepted yachting members as yet.

The yachtsman's exploit is much more daring. But to the old timers, it is of a dif ferent time, another experience, uncomparable. To them, it lacks the salty romance history has recorded. Some day, however, ifthey wish to perpetuate the A/CH breed, they will all be yachtsmen. w 23

DAY'S RUN Report of the American Sail Training Association Eisenhower House, Fort Adams State Park, Newport, RI 02840 Tel: 401-846-1775

ASTA announces:

1984 International Sail Training Races The International Sail Training Races have taken place in every even-numbered year since 1956. In tribute to the great sailing ships of old , in remembrance of deeds past , in the knowledge that time at sea fits young people for life, and in an awareness of the interdependency of all the peoples of the planet, the Sail Training Association and the American Sail Training Association bring the great sailing ships of the present together in these friendly competitions. The Races have been organized from the start by the Sail Training Association of Great Britain; ASTA joined in this effort after its founding in 1973.

The Races bring together young people from many nations to share the unparalleled challenge of racing under sail , contributing to international goodwill and understanding. Over the years, a closeknit "family" has emerged-similar to that in Europe formed with the STA. The friendship and interaction of captains and crew members also spread to the trainees.

The Races also offer opportunities to educate young people in the values of our maritime traditions , in an understanding of our maritime heritage, and in the need to protect our marine environment.

Participation is often the culmination of a you ng person's training-offering the experiences which build character and maturity.

In 1984, Canada will commemorate the 450th Anniversary of Jacques Cartier's voyage of discovery. Three years ago STA accepted the invitation of M . Jean Pelletier, Mayor of Quebec, to visit that city as part of the pfanned festivities. Accordingly, the Tall Ships series will consist of three major races , with the first one starting off Brest, France, on Tuesday, April 17 (preceded by a visit to St. Malo) and finishing at Bermuda-4,200 miles later-with a compulsory stop at the Canary Isles. The second major race, 750 miles long, will take the ships from Bermuda to Halifax , Nova Scotia, starting on Saturday, June 2. After a visit at Halifax, the fleet will cruise in company to Quebec City, stopping at Gaspe. Following the visit in Quebec, the ships will make their way down the St. Lawrence to Sydney, Nova Scotia, where they will start the third major race-to Liverpool, a distance of 2 ,400 miles-on Wednesday, July 11.

ASTA will run two feeder races for Western Hemisphere ships. The first will be from San Juan , Puerto Rico, to Bermuda-a distance of 885 miles-starting on Sunday, May 20. The second, for U.S .

24

Class B and C ships, will leave Portsmouth, New Hampshire on Tuesday, June 5th, and join the fleet at Halifax .

Among the big square riggers from the Western Hemisphere expected to participate are the US Coast Guard bark Eagle, the Chilian barkentine Esmeralda, the Columbian bark Gloria , the Argentine full-rigger Libertad, and the Venezuelan Simon Bolivar. Yachts are particularly welcome to join in any of the Races and attendant festivities-bearing in mind ASTA's basic rule that half the crew must be trainees aged 16-25. Race information and entries are available from ASTA. For the European races, write: Race Director, Sail Training Association , 5 Mumby Rd ., Gosport, Hants P012 lAA , England.

Schedule oflnt'I Sail Training Races 1984 STA Program Wed., 9 April to Sun., 15 April, At St. Malo, France Tues. , 17 April to Tues., 29 May, RAC E I , St. Malo to Bermuda, approx. 4,200mi with compulsory stop in Canary Isles ASTA Program Wed., 16May toSun.,20May, At San Juan , Puerto Rico Sun., 20 May to Tues., 29 May, RAC E I-A , San Juan to Bermuda, approx. 885mi STA /ASTA Program Tues., 29 May to Sat., 2 June, At Bermuda Sat., 2JunetoSun. , lOJune, RACE2, Bermuda to Halifax , Nova Scotia, approx. 750mi ASTA Program Tues. , 5 June to Thurs., 7 June, At Portsmouth , New Hampshire Thurs., 7 June to Sun., lOJune, RACE2-A , Portsmouth to Halifax, approx. 360mi STA/ASTA Program Sun., lOJuneto Wed., 13June, At Halifax

ASTA Local Sail Training Races The tenth annual ASTA East Coast Sail Training Races were held July 4-8. Racers from Oyster Bay, Long Island and Block Island converged on Vineyard Haven on Martha's Vineyard, cruised in company with the traditional crew exchanges, and then raced from New Bedford to Newport to conclude the series.

After a reception for captains aboard ASTA's flagship Black Pearl, the crews and trainees were entertained by chantey music and treated to a barbecue. The prize-giving ceremony saw the fo llowing results: First Overall in the Series-Commodore Henry H . Anderson's Blue Shadow; First in Class B-Captain Joe Davis' Bill of Rights; First in Class CBlue Shadow. Second in Class C-Mystic Seaport's Brilliant, skippered by Captain BiffBowker; with a tie for Third in Class C between the US Naval Academy 's Avenger and Carl Sherman's Tar Baby.

There were more than 130 trainees embarked aboard the participants in this year's race series, coming from as far away as Buffalo, New York, and including-among others-a Girl Scout Mariner Troop aboard the Brilliant. The ship which traveled the furthest distance to take part in the series was the Christian ~nturer, owned by Robert R. Doe of Somerset, Bermuda and sponsored by the Bermuda Sail Training Association .

Mystic Seaport's Brilliant skippered by Captain Biff Bowker. Photo, Ma ry Ann Stets.

Wed., 13 June to Mon., 18 June, Cruise-inCompany, Halifax to Gaspe Mon., 18 June to Wed., 20 June, At Gaspe Wed., 20JunetoMon., 25June, Cruise-inCompany, Gaspe to Quebec City Mon., 25 June to Sat., 30June, At Quebec City Sat., 30 June to Sat., 7 July, Cru ise-inCompany, Quebec to Sydney, Nova Scotia Sat., 7 July to Wed., 11 July, At Sydney Wed., 11 July to Wed. , 1 Aug., RACE 3, Sydney to Liverpool, United Kingdom , approx. 2,400mi SEA HISTORY, FALL 1983

CORWITH CRAMER, JR.

by George W. Crowninshield Executive Director, ASTA

BLUENOSE II Bluenose II is a two-masted gaff- rigged schooner owned by the Provi nce of Nova Scotia . She will be the host ship when the fleet of Tall Ships visits H alifax at the conclusion of Race 2 in 1984. " Bluenose" is the nickname given to the fisherme n of Nova Scotia by their ri vals from Gloucester, Massachusetts.

The original Bluenose was built in 1921, as one of the biggest of the Grand Banks fis hing schooners. Her wooden hull was 143 fee t long, and carried mo re th a n ten thousand feet of sail. Her objecti ve was not just to get her cod to market quickly in order to realize a good price : he r ma in concern was to win the big Internati onal F ishermen's Races between Canada and the United States. Win she did , aga in and aga in , and became so famous that, like the maple leaf, she is depicted on stamps and coins as a nati onal emblem . Eventually she was sold , to continue her career as a trader in th e West Indies, where she ra n on a coral reef in 1946 and became a total loss.

Bluenose II was built in her m em ory, using the origi nal plans, by Smith and Rhul and , Ltd. of Lunenburg-who had built the original schooner. S he was launched on Jul y 24, 1963, wi th the only di fference from her namesake being in the accommodation plan. The space of the hold is taken up by comfo rtable cabins fo r passengers and crew. The nav igatio n instruments are of the most up-to-date type.

During th e summer Bluenose II c ruises mainl y in Canadian wate rs; during the winter she does charters in the Caribbean .

She carri es a complement of 18: C aptain , 3 M ates, 2 Stewards, 9 C rew, a nd 3 Cadets, and has accommodations fo r 12 overnight guests. She participated in Tall Ships events in 1976 and 1982 , and th rough her past visits has become well known to East Coast boating peo ple and harbor watchers.

SEA HIS1DRY, FALL 1983

With deep reg ret we at ASTA note the death , late in July, of Corw ith C ramer, Jr. -founder and until recentl y, Executi ve . ' · · · Director of th e Sea Edu cati on Association in Woods Hole, Mass.achu~etts. .

Cory had a long-time mterest m the sea-extending back to his youth , when he was educated aboard the family houseboat by his mother, and nu rtured by adolescent years spent cruising between the West Indies and Nova Scotia . After a traditional education at Yale, several long distance sailing adventures, and a stint in the Coast Guard , he turned to the fi eld of teaching. From 1954 to 1970, he cl imbed the educational ladde r fro m history teacher to headmaster, acquiring a Master's Deg ree in Maritime History and serving as a Fellow at Yale University while pursuing his love of sailing du ring summer breaks .

In 1971, Cory decided to fo rsake the ivycovered walls and-with a fr iend 's helpfo unded the organization which he had been dreaming of for several years and which would become SEA . The fi rst task of the fl edgling assoc iati on was finding a ship in which to conduct their program .

After a fruitless wo rldwide search , they were told by Irv ing Johnson of a vessel owned by a Hawai ian organization. It was, he said , a replica of his Yankee, and the best to be found . Although the owners at fi rst refused to sell , in July 1971 l#stwa rd did become the property of the recently incorporated SEA. The organization's original concept was to provide a deep-sea sail training ship to serve an association of edu cational institutions which could not individually affo rd such an investment. Cory recently recalled the early days of SEA when he and Edward MacArthur sailed their newly acquired vessel down the coast from Seattle to San Francisco to Santa Barbara to Los Angeles to San Diego: The mission was to wave the flag and beat the drum . We got good articles, national articles. I was no publicist; I had never done it in my life, but if you make enough noise, people pay attention to you. The Associated Press put us on their weekly Sunday supplement. It was a unique and exciting idea to people, and we were the only ones who were doing it . We got enough attention to fi ll the boat, and so on New Year's Day, 1m, fifteen high school and college students arrived in San Diego to get on th.: ship .

The fi rst voyage was a fasc inating one. It went dow n the coast of Califo rnia, stopping atsomeofthe remote islandsoffth e Mexican

coast, visited the Galapagos and Cocos Islands and then went th rough the Panama Canal to San Juan, Puerto Rico. T.hat last leg was a hard plug, 1,000 miles stra ight upwind in the Trades . Our fi rst class discharged at the end of nine weeks.* Cory achieved a majo r breakth rough when he registered l#stward with the Coast Guard as an oceanographic research vessel . Then, in 1973, SEA affi liated with Boston Uni versity, and students began attending classes ashore befo re they went to sea, receiving a full semester's credi t fo r their wo rk . And so the nucleus of the program was established .

In looking back over the assoc iation's history at the time of his retirement, Cory stressed two key facto rs for success. The firs t is people: " What's really made SEA work are the extraordinary people that we've had involved with us; the list is almost endless." The second is fa ith : " I didn't know where it was going. You don't think ahead , you just do. There were lots of people who quite correctly said , 'There's no way you can do it .' If I'd believed that we had to raise $120,000 just to keep it going in the fi rst two years, I'd never have started . But if you have to, you can do almost anything ; that's, of course, what l#stwa rd teaches."

Cory will be well remembered by his fri ends at ASTA as the fo unding father of the Council of Educational Shipowners, the group which was instrumental in the conception and enactment of the Sailing School Vessels Act. It was Cory who called the attention of the delegates at the Annual Sail Training Confe rence at Mystic in 1976 to the need fo r a professional o rgani zation to represent the common needs of shipowners. And agai n, it was Cory who- when progress in the form ation of such an organi zation was at a standstill in mid-1977- arranged for the first meeting of a group of interested owners at St. Geo rge's School in Middletown , Rhode Island in September of that year.

We know that we speak for the entire sail training world when we say that he was a pioneer who pointed the way and that his ready contributions of thought and effort w ill be sadly missed . Contributions in his memory may be made to SEA , clo ASTA . w *From Followi11g SEA . journal of the Sea Education Association. Spring 1982.

25

DAY'S RUN From ASTA's Seabag The German square rigger Gorch Fock visits the US Coast this autumn to honor "300 Years of German Immigration to the United States of America." She'll be in San Juan , Puerto Rico September 2-6 ; Norfolk , Virginia-September 16-0ctober 3; Philadelphia , Pennsylvania- October 5-10; and Portsmouth , New Hampshire October 14-18.... Portsmouth , New Hampshire is a busy port for Tall Ships visits this year.

Simon Bolivar, Venezuelan Navy training ship, paid a return visit during the summer in honor of her stop there during her maiden voyage in 1981. ...The Coast Guard bark Eagle has a new commanding officer. CDR Ernst M. Cummings, USCG, has relieved CAPT Martin J. Moynihan . Eagle is scheduled to visit Narragansett Bay during the America's Cup Races in September.

Cisne Branco stopped in Newport during late May and early June to have some renovation work done. We at ASTA were pleased to have this chance to renew acquaintances with our friends from the Brazilian Naval Academy who participated in the entire Western Hemisphere Tall Ships series last year, flying like the wind from start to finish of each race ... .Black Pearl , ASTA's flagship, donated by Barclay Warburton shortly before his death , is now

moored in the Boat Basin at Fort Adams with a skilled seaman/carpenter on board as her port captain. She is gradually being restored to top condition , and will move to Bowen's Wharf on the Newport waterfront in the fall. ASTA members and friends are invited to pay a visit to her when they are in the area ... .Once again, members of the international Tall Ships fleet-Sorlandet Inca , and Marques this time-have been prevented from providing sail training opportunities to American youth because of regulations and red tape of various sorts. To minimize such disappointments is an urgent and vital goal of ASTA and of the Sailing School Vessels Council (former Council of Educational Shipowners).

Fifth Chilean 1000-Mile Race The Federation of Yachting of Chile has announced the Fifth 1000-Mile Race (V Regata Copa Mil Millas), from Valparaiso to Robinson Crusoe Island to Talcahuano to Valparaiso between January 28 and February 11 in 1984. The track to be covered is a most attractive and challenging zone for experienced yachtsmen , and the race sponsors encourage the participation of vessels from other countries. To help achieve this, the sponsors hope to ob-

tain free-of-charge shipment of participant vessels . This shipment would be on a round-trip basis and to and from the corresponding Chilean Merchant Line terminal closest to the interested party. Inquiries may be made to : Comite Ejecutivo "V Regata Copa 1000 Millas" Federacion de Yachting de Chile Vicuna Mackenna No. 40 Santiago, CHILE Attn: Mr. Roberto Kelly, Chairman

1983 Sail Training Conference Members and friends are cordially invited to attend ASTA's Eleventh Annual Sail Training Conference at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland on Thursday and Friday, October 27 and 28. The conference program includes among other items, a feature on safety and an update on progress of the Sailing School Vessels Act. If you are not on our mailing list, but would like to receive an agenda and registration information, please write or call ASTA (401 846-1775).

Sandy Hook Pilots Making a Lee in an Easterly ŠJohn A. Noble

JOHN A. NOBLE IN MEMORIAM 1913, 1983

New York and New Jersey Sandy Hook Pilots Serving the pilotage needs of New York Harbor since 1694 On e Bay St , P 0 Box 1694, Staten Is land , N Y 1030 1 â&#x20AC;˘ 2 1 2 448-3900

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SEA HISTORY, FALL 1983

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SEA HISlDRY, FALL 1983

" Dirty work, long hours, no pay. "

The volunteer Wavertree Gang is working to restore the iron Cape Horner of 1885 at the South Street Seaport Museum Here 's what you can do: Make a contribution to restore Captain Masson 's cabin or the piano on which he hammered out " The Blue Bells of Scotland " while the helmsman listened through the skylight ; or the swords in a rack around the rudderpost wh ich the Mate laid out to do a sword-dance while the Captain was ashore-or the figurehead which 15-year-old James Roberts rode in 1897 on his first voyage offshore . Or what about a memorial to James 's chum George Robinson , lost from the upper topsail yard that same year while the ship ran her eastin g down in the Roaring Forties? Perhaps a scholarship to send one of our yo ung volunteers to sea in a sai ling ship this summer?

If none of these strike your fan cy, there are plenty of other things that need doing where the ship can use yo ur help.

12,000 sq . ft. new Duradon sails for iron bark Elissa, Galveston Historical Foundation, Galveston, TX

NA.THANIEL S. " 'IJ.,SON SAIJ.,1\IAREU Box 71 , Lincoln Street, East Boothbay, Maine 04544 (207) 633-5071

If you can help the ship in any of these areas, please contact:

FRIENDS OF THEWAVERTREE c/o SHIP T RUST, NMHS 132 Maple Street , Croton-on-Hudson NY 10520 Tel : (914) 271-2177 ....._~~~~~~-

28

SEA HISTORY, FALL 1983

''The Wooden Ship Era'' Opens at Manitowoc

by David L. P-amperin, Director Manitowoc Maritime Museum

A new permanent exhibition , "The Wooden Ship Era ," opened this summer at the Manitowoc Maritime Museum .

Centering upon a full-scale reproduction of the midsection of the 1854 schooner Clipper City, the exhibition is des igned to provide a closeup dimensional look at Great Lakes wooden shipbuilding between 1850 and 1900.

Research for this major exhibition began in 1981 after the Edwa rd Cams marine collection, considered the most comprehensive documentation of upper Great Lakes wooden ship material in private hands, was presented to the museum

by Henry N. Barkhausen and the late Henry Schuette. Never has a museum il lustrated with graphics the step-by-step process of building Great Lakes wooden vessels, so it was the initial intent to have noted marine illustrator Samuel Manning prepare sixteen drawings show ing this process . During the initial research however, museum staff located what proved to be one of the exhibit's most essential research tools, the mold loft note book of William Bates, one of the most adva nced and knowledgeable of the builders on the Great Lakes. His yard was located in Manitowoc as early as 1851, and his building efforts received national and European attention. Most Great Lakes builders in this era built by eye, keeping no record of construction detail -one reason so little is known about Great Lakes wooden ship construction. Bates kept ve ry complete notes so that the mold loft notebook answered many never before answered questions.

With the aid of Henry N. Barkhausen, technical advisor for the project , museum officials realized that the unique opporSEA HISTDRY. FALL 1983

tunity of authentically reconstructing a section of the Bates schooner Clipper City existed . The Clipper City has always been considered a major benchmark in Great Lakes schooner des ign because of her design innovations. In the 1850s, most Great Lakes harbors had very shallow entrances and narrow channels. Bates designed a vessel adapted to these conditions, a wide-beam , fine-lined centerboard craft.

Only fo rty percent of the cargo was stored below decks, with sixty percent above deck . This allowed the hull to be shallow fo r easy access to Great Lakes ports, which we re still not dredged in the 1850s.

Total attention to authenticity was adhered to during construction of the replica. Research sources include the mold loft notebook; the 1856 US. Nautical Magazine (which featured an article on the Clipper City) ; plans fro m the Smithsonian that were drawn during the 1930s WPA era ; Howard Chapelle's Search fo r Speed Unde r Sail; and an onsite inspection of the Great Lakes schooner Alvin Clark in Menominee, Michigan. Fullscale timbers were used including a keelson measuring 14in x 20in x 7in . Natu ral knees, a section of a large tree where the trunk and root meet to fo rm a right angle, were used . All large iro nwork was turned out in a blac ksmith shop. Timbers were sawed with a band saw because Manitowoc did not have a circular sawmill in 1853 - 54.

The result is a full -scale replica of one of the most advanced and well known of the Great Lakes schooners. Because of the vessel's record-setting speeds, the City of Manitowoc became known as "Clipper City" around the Lakes.

The reproduction is supported fo r inter-

pretation with sixteen illustrations by Samuel Manning. Other themes in the gallery focus on the shipbuilders, the mari ners , port commerce, and the wooden steamships. Together they stand as an endu ring monument to the days of " Iron Men and Wooden Ships" on the Great Lakes . .t

P otos, Isacco . Valli

29

SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS GERMANY The U-boat Wilhelm Bauer, one of the few surviving German World War II submarines, will be given to the German Maritime Museum at Bremerhaven. Until recently she was still commissioned in the German Navy. The Lightship Deutsche Buehl will go to Emden as a museum ship by the end of this year. Built in Papenburg in 1914, she served on the " Germany Bight" station for nearly 70 years, until her retirement later this year.

CANADA Toronto Brigantine Inc. , has carried on youth training sails since 1962. "Seamen" presently sail aboard two 60ft brigantines, the Pathfinder built in 1964 and the Playfair built in 1974.

Young people aged 14-18 participate in a 12-day experience, 6 days ashore learning basics and 6 days at sea. Each of the vessels can take a crew of 18, plus a captain and 9 officers.

Last year Toronto Brigantine also began offering adult weekend courses. The youth program costs $450 for the 12 days ; some financial assistance is available for those otherwise unable to participate. The adult program costs $150 for the weekend. Toronto Brigantine Inc. , 283 Queen's Quay West, Toronto, Ontario M5V lA2.

UNITED STATES Five tons of pieces from the last surviving American clipper ship Snow Squall arrived

in Charlestown MA , June 8 aboard the container ship TFL Democracy. They had been three months on route from the Falklands Islands to South Portland ME. The Snow Squall was built in South Portland in the vintage year 1851, and was condemned at Port Stanley, Falkland Islands after damage off Cape Horn . The container carrying the Snow Squall pieces continued on its journey to South Portland where it was unpacked by friends and volunteers of the project. The five tons of wood and iron remains are from a 20ft section of the starboard bow. Plans are being made for port side remains to be returned to South Portland from the Falklands and for the entire bow to be reconstructed and placed on display. Snow Squall Project, Harvard University, 20 Garden St. , Cambridge MA 02138.

The first coal-fired steam-powered cargo carrier built in this country since 1929 was launched June 9, at the General Dynamics Shipyard in Quincy MA . The SS Energy Independence is a 665 foot collier built for New England Electric System . This utility will sail the Independence on regular runs hauling 2.4 million tons of coal from Norfolk, Baltimore, and Philadelphia to its power plants in Massachusetts. The vessel will burn the same coal it carries ; it could theoretically sail around the world five times by burning its cargo. Because the ship will burn the same coal that the utility buys in massive quantities, the ship's fuel (250 tons , round trip) will cost about half the price of an equivalent amount of

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30

oil. The SS Energy Independence's coal burning technology is much advanced over the old "Black gang" era. Two conveyor belts carry the covered coal the length of the vessel , unloading coal and feeding the boilers automatically.

The Hellenic Institute for the Preservation of Nautical Tradition, in conjunction with the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University, plan to build a replica of an ancient Greek ship that sunk off Kyrenia , Cyprus in the time of Alexander the Great. The project should take five years to complete. The 47ft ship will be built at the Manolis Psaros shipyard in Athens. The Kyrenia vessel was discovered 15 years ago and has been extensively excavated by Texas A&M students and other groups. Over 6,000 wooden pieces of the original hull were saved and are on display in the Crusader Castle at Kyrenia. The replica will be built by traditional methods, including the ancient technique of building up the planking, then bending in the frames. After completion and launching, the replica, which may be named Kyrenia II, will be sailed to retrace the last voyage of the original vessel. INA , Texas A&M University, College Station TX 77843.

The History Department of the US Naval Academy announces that it will hold its sixth annual Naval History Symposium September 29-30 at the Academy in Annapolis. Symposium , History Department, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis MD 21402.

The Washington Ship Model Society will host the tenth Annual Conference of the Nautical Research Guild, October 14-16, at the Naval Museum, Washington Navy Yard . The featured address will be made by Mr. A.R .

Cole, of Scarborough , Ontario presenting the Discovery of the Hamilton and Scourge. Mr. Eugene L. Larson (Conference Chairman) , 9223 Presidential Dr. , Alexandria VA 22309.

EAST COAST Dan Moreland has been named captain of the Ernestina, ex-Effie M. Morrissey. Captain Moreland has more than 12 years' experience with sailing wooden schooners and has captained such boats as the schooner Harvey Gamage. The Ernestina has spent most of the summer in New Bedford and will be moved back to Gloucester in the fall for installation of an engine donated by Cummins. Friends of the Ernestina/Morrissey, 392 Central Park W #12C, New York NY 10025.

The Peabody Museum of Salem MA will open a new exhibition "Steam and the Sea" on October 27, displaying much of its extensive but little-exhibited steamship collections. " Steam and the Sea" will illustrate the great age of steam from the late 18th century to modern times. Steamship developments, uses in cargo and passenger services, importance in American immigration , and steamship-inspired art are all themes interpreted in the exhibit. Peabody Museum , East India Square, Salem MA 01970.

SEA HISTORY, FALL 1983

Mystic Seaport Museum has acquired Florence, a 4lft dragger built in 1926 at the Franklin Post Shipyard in Mystic. Representing the evolution of fishing vessels from sail to modern stern draggers, she was just recently retired from a 55-year career. Shipwright Walter Ansel was responsible for finding the vessel and bringing her to the attention of the Seaport. He also did the background research on her before she came to the Museum .

The third annual Symposium on Southern New England Maritime History will be sponsored by Mystic Seaport on Saturday November 5. Five speakers will give talks on diffe rent aspects of the areas maritime heritage. " Refl ections on Lower Narragansett Bay and a Boatbuilding Family" will be given by John and Laura Saunders; "New London and Nitrates," by Robert D. Farwell , and George D. Bryant will speak on "The Port of Provincetown, 1815-1915." The Seaport's associate curator of small craft , John Gardner, will discuss early boatbuilding in southeastern New England. And early wharf construction will be discussed by Andrea H . Muego. Mystic Seaport Museum , Mystic CT 06355.

can Merchant Marine Museum , on Oct. 2; Christopher Buckley, Author of Steaming to Bamboo/a , on Oct. 9 ; Barbara Johnson, Collector, on Oct. 16. The exhibit will be open to the public l-5pm Wednesdays through Sundays until October 31. Snug Harbor, 914 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island NY 10301.

On May 24, 1983 the Brooklyn Bridge lOOth birthday was celebrated and New York Harbor craft gathered for a special waterborne salute. About 75 working harbor craft of di fferent types, accompanied by many smaller pleasure boats, rendezvoused in Buttermilk Channel to form a double line and make their way up the East River under the Bridge. The fl otilla passed under the Bridge then turned around at about abeam of the Navy Yard , coming back down river on the Manhattan side. It is estimated that as many as a million people watched the parade from the Brooklyn and Manhattan shores.

LAKES & RIVERS

''A Use of Riches," a conference on mixed industrial, commercial and cultural use of New York City waterways and waterfronts, will be held October 19 at Snug Harbor, registration $20 including lunch. Speakers include Ports & Terminal s Commissioner Susan Frank, J.P. McAllister, Chairman of NY Sandy Hook Pilots Commission, leaders of the Parks Council and Municipal Art Society. Sponsors are National Maritime Historical Society, New York City, and Snug Harbor. For further information: Mel Hardin , Snug Harbor, 914 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island NY 10301; 212 488-3232 .

Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island NY celebrated the 150th Anniversary of the opening of Sailors' Snug Harbo r last August 6 with the opening of a new exhibit "Jack's Last Port ." This exhibit tells the story of the creation of Sailors' Snug Harbor, the first retirement home fo r seamen in the US. In conjunction with the exhibit , a series ofl ectures are being sponsored by the Randall Society. The fi rst was given August 7 by NMHS President Peter Stanford , who is also honorary chairman of the l50th celebration . Other lectures will be given by: Norman Brouwer, Curator of Ships, South Street Seaport Museum, on Sept. 18; James Lydon, Professo r of History, Duques ne Univ. on Sept. 25 ; Frank Braynard , Curator, Ameri SEA HISTORY, FA LL 1983

WEST COAST The remains of a ship uncovered by storms last winter on the California shore at Ocean Beach have been identified as the turn of the century schooner Neptune, wrecked there August LO, 1900. Comparison of the construction and fi ttings on the wreck with the National Maritime Museum's schooner C A. Thayer along with photos and records of the Neptune's loss, and analys is of the timbers found on Ocean Beach al l led historian James Delgado to make the identification. National Maritime Museum at San Francisco, Golden Gate Recreation Area, Fort Mason, San Francisco CA 94123.

The H. Lee White Marine Museum, located at the mouth of the Oswego River on Lake Ontario, j oins the growing number of organizations devoted to preserving and interpreting Great Lakes maritime history. The Museum is sponsored by the Port of Oswego Authority and located right on the docks of this active lake port. Among the historical objects, models and pictures on display is the Van Cleve Collection of watercolors painted in the 19th century by Captain Van Cleve of the Lake vessels he saw and worked . Museum open- 10- 5 weekends , from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Museum , Port of Oswego Authority, PO Box 387, Foot of East First St. , Oswego NY 13126.

Hudson River Maritime Center on Rondout Creek in Kingston, NY will dedicate their new, permanent building at One Rondout Landing on September 24. The opening will complete a summer of much work and excitement for the Center. Another major acquisition for the center this summer, was the 1899 steam tug Ma tilda transferred from the South Street Seaport Museum . She will be di splayed ashore as a permanent exhibit. Center, One Rondout Landing, Kingston NY 12401.

Th e Rickmer Rickmers, 1980-ton bark built at Bremerhaven in 1896, later a Portuguese training ship, renamed first Sagres , then Santo Andre, came triumphantly home to Hamburg on May 7 this year, "the 784th birthday of the free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg," as our correspondent Hans-Joachim Gersdorfnotes.

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The brigantine Eye of the Wind , which rounded the world in Operation Drake, 1978-80, enters Sydney Harbor with the topsail schooner New Endeavor late last year- marking a welcome revival of square rig in these waters, notes our correspondent Edward A. Mitchener of Tasmania.

AUSTRALIA

That humble hybrid, the sail-assisted schooner barge, is receiving attention from a distinguished source. Paul Morris offers this splendid shot of the tug Perth Amboy of the Lehigh Valley Company towing a couple of schooner barges through the Cape Cod Canal, before its widening. "You may recall," he says, "that the Perth Amboy was shelled and set on fire during World War I by a German U-boat. All her barges were sunk, although she herself was repaired and returned to service." Morris, 5 New Mill Street, Nantucket MA 02554.

Mori Flapan has been named Ship's Conservator for the Jam es Craig restoration project.

Research and planning are well under way. The Sydney Mar itime Museum has started an oral history project, recording fo rmer crew members, and is presently seeking other info rmation, especially photog raphs of the ship, fo rmerly named Clan Mcleod. Sydney Maritime Museum , Birkenhead Point, PO Box 149, Drummoyne 2047.

BETH H ASKELL

Norn: Since 1967 the Falkland Island Journal, an annual on Falkl ands history and nuggets mined from various archives, has reached subscribers with such items as an account of Shackleton's 1916 rescue expedition. The editor proposes reprinting the first 15 issues, to be bound in 3 volumes at a possible cost of ÂŁ30 for the set; cost could be lower with more subscribers. Sydney Miller, Lois Cottage, John St. , Stanley, Falkland Islands, Via GPO London . w 31

COLLECTOR'S ALLEY

The Barbara Johnson Whaling Collection: "Respect for the Man, Respect for the Whale" One day I had a very large whaling collection and everybody asked me how I got interested and why I collected it. I racked my brain to give a polite answer, and now I am selling it and everybody asks me why I am selling it and again I am racking my brain to give a polite, truthful , and satisfying answer. It is a little like as king why does one have children. I cannot really say why I had my child , I just know I had to.

And I cannot say why I had my whal ing collection, I j ust had it. It just happened , or so it seemed .

The realization that it did not "just happen" came when I was as ked to find the provenance and to record the history of the pieces . This was almost like collecting all over again . I must have read six to eight thousand letters from me to dealers and from dealers to me, from descendants of whalemen to me and from me to descendants of whalemen. It was joyful but ve ry difficult to research and to fi nd out everything about these pieces , each one so full of history, each one designed , made and used by whalemen. It had been difficult to find these pieces . Sometimes, many months went by before a suitable piece came up. For every piece bought and added to this collection which was of high craftsmanship and high history, there

SEA HISTORY PRINTS

H. M. A rmed Transport

BOUNTY Running on strong winds off the island ofMoorea by

OSWALD L. BRETT T his li mited edition of 500 prints is print ed in full color on fi ne rag paper. Through th e generosity of the art ist, proceeds will benefi t the work o f the Society.

Image 14 Y2 " x 20 Y2" Price $85 To : National Maritime Historical Soc. 132 Maple St. , Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520

Please send me__ prints. My check for$ is enclosed .

NA ME - - - - - - - - - - ADDRESS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ZIP _ _ _ __

32

were hundreds of offers which I had to reject; not only mediocre pieces, but also outright copies and fa kes, or those which had only the dealer's hopeful connection to whaling. And I also rejected many fine pieces which did not fit in or add depth .

Provenance was important to me; every piece was the subject of hundreds of hours of study. For example, the " Marguerita Spoletina" tooth now has a file of several dozen letters written to determine who she, Marguerita Spoletina , was and why a whaleman engraved her naked fo rm on a beach with a monk bending over her. The Vatican got so intrigued that they printed the " Margueri ta Spoletina Mystery." I like to share similar experiences I had with other pieces and , therefore, have provided commentaries to many objects.

It was a pleasure to make friends with fellow historians, researchers, collectors, and dealers. I feel a great affection fo r all of them . And together, we have, I think, preserved and reevaluated a face of America which is of tremendous imp0rtance. Whaling money went into cottonfields, the tobacco industry and shippi ng, built the railways to Chicago and Texas, and financed real estate. And the whale oil itself lit the lamps of the wo rld so that we could be producti ve and comfo rtable. We owe the whale a lot and I feel that the surviving whales deserve a safe pasture. I, therefore, have decided to offer a portion of the proceeds of this sale to the whale protection societies. But I also feel that we must honor the men who have helped to make our world secure and great and let them be remembered by preserving their creations. I , therefore, have decided to also offer a portion of the proceeds of this sale to our great museums so that they will

be able to continue to do just that.

Each of these two facets- respect fo r the man , respect fo r the whale-contradictory as this may seem, were ve ry important to me. The collection reflects that and the display emphasized it.

I have always felt that collecting is a responsibility, that one should not collect everything willy- nill y and place it in drawers and boxes. My grandmother told me never to buy a dress if I did not have a closet space and a hanger with which to hang it up. I kept that in mind . Each of my scrimshaw teeth , for instance, was singled out by havi ng a stand made fo r it and every care was ta ken to have the pieces relate to one another so that they present a harmonious picture.

There are many spectacul ar pieces , not just scrimshaw, but also tools, gear, paintings, and carvings which all speak fo r themselves; but many of my favo rite treasures are those which are very overlookable until suddenly one sees their immense charm and power. They convey so much.

I wish to quote here a friend , Charles Mee, the fa mous writer and editor who says: A treasure is a unique and priceless object- va luable not only because it is made of gold or sil ver, ivory or marbl e, wood or shell , but because it stand s, like an icon, fo r the c ivili zation from which it comes : fo r the people who took the precio us materials fro m the ea rth and sea , for the crafts people who spent thei r li ves and ski ll s shaping the materials, fo r the savagery and wit , the arrogance and powe r, the wi sh fo r excell ence, the boldness, the fin esse and restrai nt of the culture that determi ned its shape and use.

These pieces were all together fo r the last time as they began to go on sale; they are now prepared to go on their own , all over the wo rld . But I have a feeling that they had a good upbringing and now they can stand on their own and bring some joy to whomever will own them in the futu re.

B A RBARA J O H NSON

Ms. Johnson, former president of the Museum of American Folk Art, is Vice Chairman and Trustee of the Society. She lives in Princeton, where her privately housed collection has been widely visited and admired. She reports that its continuing sale has brought her many new fri ends-one a collector who kept the catalogs of the sale on his bedside table.

The above testament, which we think fo rms a beautiful introduction to the art of collecting, is adapted fro m the preface to one of these catalogs. The next session of the sale will be at Sotheby Park Bernet in New York , December 16-17.

SEA HIS1DRY, FALL 1983

Eklof Marine Corp.

Since 1926

Marine transportation of petroleum and chemical products.

New York harbor based tugs, barges, tankers.

Shipside bunkering a specialty.

1571 Richmond Terrace Staten Island, NY 10310 Telephone: 212-442-1271 Shipyard tel: 212-273-8300 Dispatcher's tel: 212-442-1112 TWX: 710-588-4152

Martha's Vineyard Shipyard (Since 1861)

Gasoline • Diesel Fuel • Ice • CNG & Propane • Marine Hardware • U.S. Chart Agency • Dyer Dinghies • International Paints • Complete Marine Supplies

We monitor VHF channels 9 & 16 A full service yard specializing in sailboats and auxilliaries. New boat construction in both wood and fiberglass. Complete hull and engine repairs. Rigging work of all kinds including swaging and rope-to-wire splices. 16 ton mobile lift. Over 1/2 acre of inside storage completely sprinkler protected.

Builders of the 29 1 Vineyard Vixen and the Vixen 34, cruising auxilliaries built with traditional detail and craftsmanship.

Beach Road, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568 Telephone 61 7 -693-0400

On April 23, 1838. th e wo oden-hulled paddle steam er SIRIUS arrived at Ne w York. respo nsible for startin g th e first North Atlantic steams hip servic e. heraldin g a ne w era.

On April 25, 1981, we , the men and women comprising the SIRIUS crew of today , moved across the East River and settled into our own and permanent berth alongside this historic shore. Please note our new address and communications numbers below.

Capt . Wolf Spille, President

S IRIU S HOUSE - 76 M o ntagu e Street Brooklyn He ights . New Y o rk 11201 Telep hone: (212) 330-1800 Cable: " SIRIUS NEWY ORK" l nt'I Te le x : TAT 177881 / l TT 422671 / RCA 225111 Domestic T ele x : WU 126758/ 645934 / TW X 710- 584- 2207

SEA HISTORY, FALL 1983

212-330-1817

TANKER DEPARTMENT: Theo Theocharides, V.P. Ed Willis Hugh Bellas-Simpson

212-330-1810 212-330-1812 212-330-1806

DRY CARGO DEPARTMENT: James A . Bergonzi , V.P. Phil Romano

212-330-1843 212-330-1845

OPERATIONS AND RESEARCH : Capt. Arnaldo Tassinari , V.P. Janet Forti

212-330-1830 212-330-1833

FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION: Jose Fiorenzano, V.P.

212-330-1835

33

The light under the bushel:

Jan Rynink, Marine Artist

by Alex. A. Hurst

Since I make no pretensions to being an art critic, it never fails to amaze-and frequently to depress-me that so many soidisant marine artists send me specimens of their work for assessment. The time element provided when the work comes through the mail at least allows some time to improve on such reactions as : "I am sure you have done your best." But on those occasions when such artists have actually arrived with their work, it has usually been a trifle embarrassing. My fairy godmother did not endow me with a poker face.

Thus my heart sank when a Dutchman said he was going to be in England and would like to show me his work. He duly arrived and proved to be an extremely pleasant fellow with an utterly charming wife. So far, so good , but I still eyed an

unopened portfolio with a degree of apprehension.

Finally it was opened, whereupon my eyes almost started out of their sockets. In the same instant, I lost all fears of having to conjure up insincere comment. Here was a man with a sure and masterly touch , who knew precisely what he was doing ; who painted what he saw with no flights into spheres of which he had no experience; and who had some uncanny mastery over all the tricks and gradations oflight.

Jan Rynink, for he it was, certainly had a flying start. Both his grandfather and father were experienced painters who, seeing his enchantment with their work, with infinite patience introduced him to the difficulties , pitfalls and joys of painting. They could scarcely have had a more apt pupil-but I doubt if anyone can teach

an understanding of the very play of light itself.

As a small boy, he was attracted to the sea and ships which still constitute the bulk of his subjects. He fell wholly under their lure and in 1938, at the age of 18, went to the Nautical College at Terschelling, one of a chain of small islands off the Dutch Frisian coast. There followed service as a cadet in the Dutch hospital ship Oranje, and later he served with both the Rotterdam-South America Line and the Holland Inter-Amerika Line, obtaining his master's ticket in 1954. Two years later, on getting married , he "swallowed the anchor" and came ashore to pursue a successful commercial career, living at Overveen, near Haarlem.

Soon our room was covered with pictures, as we talked. Scenes on the Por-

"The Trailing Wave of the Wake" in the Red Sea near Perim Island.

34

SEA HISTORY, FALL 1983

'~ .. /doubt if anyone can teach an understanding of the very play of light itself."

Botters moored near Enkhuizen.

"Sailing at Sunset. " The French container ship Caraibe leaving the locks at Ymuiden.

SEA HISffiRY, FALL 1983

35

Two ballers becalmed.

Jan and Aida Ryninck with an oil of a stormy sea in the North Atlantic.

A Danish fishing craft at West Jutland , Denmark.

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tuguese, French, Dutch and Danish coasts ; fishermen, freighters, local sailing types ; sometimes just some corner of a key or slipway, at which many people would not have looked twice, yet each providing a charming and wholly accurate study.

I asked what he did with these pictures.

His wife, splendidly named Aida, cut in with a tone of conviction: "He won't sell them , you know." (My wife and I had a momentary vision of the poor woman trying to run a house amidst piles of paintings.) He himself confirmed this. He was not concerned to sell them. What a waste of talent! I persuaded him to get in the car and take some to a gallery not far away.

The owner was entranced and said he would like to mount an exhibition at once.

In the end , much to Aida Rynink's surprise, he was persuaded to leave one or two.

I suggested he exhibit in the Royal Society of Marine Artists exhibition in London, rather with my tongue in my cheek , since many fine artists fai l to be accepted at the first essay. Of course, he was hung at once.

Later, I visited the Ryninks' house at Overveen . "Treasure-house" might be a better description. Without overcrowding, the walls bear solid visual imprint of his genius and , when they are finally exhausted , there are many fo lios of delightful records of ships and craft, docks and coastal scenes and , inevitably, the sea itself. Most are watercolors , though some are oils.

Craftsmanship apart, Jan Rynink's pictures record his times, and no doubt future generations will prize his records of the ugly counters of modern container ships as much as his favourite subject, the Dutch botter-a seaworthy fishing boat originating from the Zuider Zee but now, sadly, a vanishing type, though some enthusiasts are trying to preserve those which remain. Poles apart from the famous seventeenth century Dutch masters in subject matter and technique, Jan Rynink's standard is uniformly high, unlike the majority of marine artists, possibly because he has never painted for a living. It has really been a hobby but. .. his light is much too bright to be hidden under a bushel and withheld from the public gaze! .V

Mr. Hurst, seafarer and publisher of seafaring books under the Teredo imprint in England, may be no critic but does , obviously, know what he likes.

36

SEA HISTORY, FALL 1983

EXHIBITION OF MARINE PAINTINGS Weekdays 9:30-5 :30

of the 18th, 19th and 20th Centuries OCTOBER 4th to NOVEMBER 4th

Saturdays 10:00-1:00

Fully illustrated catalogue available on request-U .S. $10, inclusive of postage.

Sold in aid of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

-----

On Canvas 34 x 50 inches

W. J. HUGGINS , signed & dated 1841 THE BRITISH EMPIRE OF LONDON OFF QUEBEC

N. R. OMELL 18th and 19th Century Paintings 6 Duke Street, St. James's, London, S.W.l 01-839 6223/4

5 lb. Baby Whale!

Original Prints Of Thomas Wells "Moshulu" is one of 4 prints being offered in limited editions of 950.

Thomas Wells, himself, h as sailed upon th e maj estic ship s h e has sin ce immortalized on ca nvas . He is, in fact, one of the surviving few to have sailed around Cape Horn on a sq u are-rigged vessel. Also available are the "Star of Scotland," "Schooner Vega Off The Farallons," and "Big Cape Homers of Hamburg," signed and numbered for $115.

SEND FOR YOUR FREE COLOR CATALOGUE. International Fine Art Marketing 8195-C Ro nson Road· San Diego, California 92111 ·Phone (619) 277-5005

SEA HISTORY, FALL 1983

This beautiful 121/z" brass whale will enhance your desk, den or office. A real collector's item for the discriminating lover of the sea. $49 .50 Send check or money order.

Gift wrapp ing ava il ab le. l11 c/11des µos tagc anywhere i11 USA

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American Express card accepted.

Edgewater Enterprises, Inc. Box R

Staten Island , NY 10305

37

MARINE ART by PAUL McGEHEE

" NANTUCKET'', a limited-edition of 950 prints by the noted marine artist PAUL McGEHEE. Available signed and numbered for $100, or with artist's remarque for $150 . Please include $5 shipping . Depicted is the entrance to the famous whaling port ' s harbor in 1908. The steamer " Nantucket" , built in 1886, is shown passing the Brant Poi nt lig hthouse , erected in 1901 and still standing . A Paul McGehee print is not only a piece of fine art, but a historically accurate window to the past.

Send $1 for FULL COLOR CATALOG

(c¡ 1982 by Paul McGehee

ART RECOLLECTIONS, Inc. 704 N. Glebe Rd. , 0-212 Arlington, VA 22203 Tel : (703) 528-5040

William G. Muller One Man Show November 4-November 26, 1983

Cunard Liner "Mauretania" arriving in New York in 1911. 26" x 40" oil/canvas

Smith Gallery 1045 Madison Avenue at 79th Street , New York , New York 10021 Mon.-Sat. 11:00 a .m.-6:00 p.m.

(212) 744-6171 38

Marine Art News On the streets of Manhattan of recent years it has become commonplace for strangely dressed people to pass out handbills illustrating acts usually performed in private, mixed with a leavening of tracts announcing the imminent end of the world (whether by fire, ice, or imperialism) . What joy, then , to be handed (by a handsome but conservatively dressed young lady) an invitation to an exhibition of 19th and 20th century marine paintings! Said exhibition , held June 15-August 10, proved dazzlingly rewarding, and we wish well to the new Hanover Square Art Gallery in Lower Manhattan .

Joe Corish reports that his exhibition of 25 oil paintings, " The Golden Age of Sail ," has moved on from Singapore to Port Keylang, Malaysia.

An important new gallery in Newport, Rhode Island, the Aquidneck Marine Gallery, opened its doors this summer. It offers distinguished old and contemporary marine art by appointment: (401) 847-5622.

Mark Greene's "Clipper Packet Dreadnought" was one of a stellar assembly of contemporary art (including scrimshaw) shown at the Seventh National Exhibition of the American Society of Marine Artists, at Newman & Saunders Galleries , near Philadelphia , May 21-June 25.

Upcoming exhibitions of more than passing interest include paintings by the octogenarian British artist Henry Scott, September 27-0ctober 8 at New York's Incurable Collector Gallery, 42 East 57th Street, and the long-awaited one-man show of William G. Muller at New York's Smith Gallery, 1045 Madison Avenue, now set for early November. Bill painted covers for SEA HISTORYs 10, 20, and 28, which is only the most visible aspect of his involvement with the maritime heritage. He was also instrumentala driving , and inspiring force-in the founding of the Hudson River Maritime Center in Kingston , New York , and plays an active role as Advisor to the National Society.

On the West Coast, another of our Advisors is also holding an important exhibition at the Foster/White Gallery, 311 V2 Occidental Avenue South, in Seattle, presents the work of Thomas Wells, AICH. Tom gave us the cover for SEA HISTORY 16 with a rattling good story of sailing in the big Cape Horner Passat, and another story, of sailing in the then-Effie M. Morrissey, in SH23. His reports on the recent Cape Horne rs Congress appears on pages 10-11 of this issue. His work has ever seemed to us to express the joys, and yes ... the f reedom of service in deepwater sail . He is. a salt who certainly has not lost his savor. But we believe he is too diffident SEA HIS1DRY, FALL 1983

,,.lrJL.1rJl.)i'tl

in calling yachtsmen who sail around Cape Horn more daring than the old timers who drove big ships that way without benefit of ice warnings , radar, radio or even, for that matter, electric light.

Our mission to redeem the work and reputation of that most sailorly of artists, Charles Robert Patterson (1878-1958) has turned up widespread sympathy and support among his peers in the marine art community. But he was a reticent man to put it mildly ; everyone we've met who knew him speaks of his proud and somewhat aloof stance in life. I have to record with sorrow that John Noble, who worked in Patterson's atelier and wanted very much to write about hi s life and work, died untimely this spring-but not before letting us know the depth of his feeling for the master. Few know that Patterson died in poverty, too feeb le to go on and too proud to beg a crust. We appeal to all who knew him or have views on his contribution to marine art, to weigh in now-and we thank those caring souls who have done so.

PS

"The American Clipper" An Exhibition of Paintings by He nry Scott Tu es day , Sept. 27 - Saturday, Oct. 8

STAIR'S INCURABLE COLLECTOR 42 E. 57 St., New York, NY 10022 Te l : (2 12) 755-0140

. ,. ... ......, lo. JlllJLll.Jl>

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Nautical Antiqu es , Co llec tibl es .

Maritime Hi story, Sea S to ri es .

Fasci natin g Bi-monthly Magazine $ 10/ Year. $13 1st Class .

Full refund if not satisfied .

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PAUL McGEHEE GALLERY - Traditi o nal Marin e Art/11any Origina ls on Display, with a Large Selec tion of Fin e Art Print s 704 N. GLEBE RD,# 212 ARLINGTON , VA. 22203 (703) 528·5040

c Prinr f o Id c r w r i t e: OF SEA & SHIPS © 420 So. Bever ly Dr ., Suit e 207 Beve rl y H ills, Ct\ 902 12.

Thomas Wells, A.1.c.u., F.A.s.M.A.

NOTE: Thanks to the generosity of Kennedy Galleries of New York, a limited number of their illustrated catalog of C.R. Patterson's work is still available from the National Society, 132 Maple Street, Croton-on-Hudson NY 10520, for $10. " Pamir. The Last Cape Horner. · · oil on linen. 20 " x 24 " . 1983

Foster/White Gallery is pleased to present a maj or ex hibiti o n of new paintings by internati o nall y acclaimed marine arti st , Thomas Wells , November 3 - 27, 1983 .

Foster/White Gallery

311 '12 Occidental South Seattle, WA 98104 2061622-2833

A First Rate tak ing in Stores.

Sig ned .. J M W Turner 18 18 .. (19 x 17 in. ) Superb qua lity pri nt of a very beaut ifu l Turn er wat ercolo ur. Ar1 histo rian BL Binyon wrote in 1909 . .. Th is is Turner at the p €ak of his powers. his pa lene is positively transluce nt. .. T he o r iginal is in a private collectio n in England , and has rarel y been seen since 18 19. when it was exhibited at

Grosve no r Palace.

A few h undred copies were printed to com mem · ora te Turn er's bicentenary. We have ever y one of th em . Th ere w ill be no more available once th ese few are gone .

Print $15.50 (Framed $59.90) Calif. residents add 6% tax. Tel. (2 13) 452-2443

OXFORD GALLE RIES 22 10 Wilshire Blvd. N627 Santa Monica, CA 90 403

.. USS FRANKLIN .. by William R. May, c. 1871

Name _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ Add ress. _

_

_

City _

_

_ __ __

_

0 VISA 0 M.C. •

_ __ _ __ __ __

State _ _ Zip _ _ Exp.

SEA HISlDRY, FALL 1983

-f2

.71tiyh [/Jbted

Oil 20 "x30 "

4-M -84'7-5622

JVe<ofiO'd, tn.~. 02 84'0

39

HARTFORD. A View of the State House from the Connecti cut Ri ver Waterfron t, 1876.

SEA HISTORY PRINTS

BY

JOHN STOBART

A collecti on of importa nt ha rbor a nd rive r views during the heyday of the me rc hant sailing ship BosroN, C lippe r Lightning 1854 ; G EORGE1DWN , Po tomac subj ect to change by di ctates of the collecto r's market. Through Wha rf 1842; N EW YORK , Pac ket Orpheus, East Ri ver 1835 ; the generos ity of the a rtist , half the cost of each print wil l go to NANTUCKET, Sailing Day 1841. Signed , lim ited editio n collec- benefit the wo rk of the NM HS, a nd is therefore tax-deductible. to r's prints, $300. O the r prints are also ava ilable. Prices a re An illustrated colo r catalog is ava ilable for $15.

NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY Te l : 914 271-2177

132 M a ple Street , Croto n-o n-Hudso n NY 10520

The handsome steam packet Mart ha's Vineya rd leaving Port Jefferson, Long Island Sound.

SEA HISTORY PRINTS by WILLIAM G. MULLER Celebrating the JOOth anniversary of the Bridgeport-Port Jefferson Steamboat Company, the distinguished marine artist William G. Muller has painted superb portraits of the old river steamboat Grand Republic and the soon-to-be retired propeller Martha's Vineyard. A limited supply of fine prints of these wo rks has been made ava ilable, signed by the artist, to suppo rt the wo rk of the National Society in saving America's maritime heritage. An illustrated history of the Bridgeport-Port Jefferson Steamboat Company is also offe red .

40

771e sidewheel excursion steamer Grand

Republic in the Hudson Highlands.

Ma rtha's Vineya rd (show n uppe r left) image 12\/z x 19 ": $30 Grand Republic (above) image 16 V2 x 25 ": $45 Illustrated History (full colo r illus. , soft cove r): $5

NATIONAL MARITIME HIS1DRICAL SOCIETY 132 Maple Street, Croton-on-Hudson , New York 10520 SEA HISTORY, FALL 1983

Models of Achievement

Close-up of US Naval brig Syren 1806 shows figu rehead, rigging and fittings.

Favorites of d iscriminating model bui lders, our sca le model wooden ship kits contain on ly the finest materia ls for both plank-on-frame and so lid hull construct ion.

Everything's included to make a handsome model worthy of your time and care.

Send $2.00 for illus trated cata logue of kits, fittings and supplies.

MODELMAKER'S CORNER

Thinking Small-Exquisitely So!

by Mary R. Maynard Lloyd McCaffery, a marine painter, has developed a remarkable art for m in museum-quality miniature ship models . His work has been likened to fine jewelry or Faberge-style sculpture.

Each model McCaffery builds is two-inone, his trademark . One side of the 7in o r 8in ship is completely fini shed with paint, varnish, copper sheathing, etc. to duplicate the original vessel. The other side is left unplanked, revealing the ship's inner structure of frames, beams , and timbers.

McCaffery is painstakingly accurate-the tiny planks are fastened with miniscule treenail s, the ironwork is modelled by hand and the rigg ing is fas hioned of tiny wires to be of exact scale. McCaffery purchases no manufactured parts for his ships; he makes every piece himself.

For each model , he researches and then

recreates the original building techniques used on the full-sized vessel, to a lin to 16ft scale. He reproduces every detail of the ship, dow n to the appropriate clothing and postures of the crew.

His current project is a model of the 1885 schooner Coronet, which is still sailing the waters of Massachusetts Bay. A veteran of Cape Horn passages and round-the-world cruises, Coronet is considered by some to be the finest schooner yacht ever built . A project subject worthy of McCaffery's unique approach.

Originally a native of California , Mccaffery has now taken up residence on the Connecticut coast hard by Mystic Seaport, where his work is regularly exhibited and sold through the Seaport Stores Gallery. Inquiries may be made there, or to Lloyd Mccaffery, Box 148, Rockfall CT 06481.

'IB!:t,l!.lEL4fllflPsT ESTABLISHED 1905 P.O Box 5JJ.S H. Shelton. CT 06484

John B. Comstock &Co. Museum grade ship model building and repairing.

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41

The Best in Sea History from the Naval Institute Press

THE COUNTER ARMADA

1596 The Joumall of the Mary Rose

By Stephen and Elizabeth Usherwood Based on a recently discovered diary kept by a member of the inner council commanding the expedition Sir George Carew, Lieutenant of the Queen's Ordnance and Master of the Mary Rose, this book contains one of the most comprehensive on -the-scene accounts yet of the preparation and execution of Britain's famous assault on Cadiz.

It throws new light on the navy of Drake's and Raleigh's day, on Elizabeth I and her policymaking councils, and on the leading personages of her courts.

Valuable details about the handling of warships of the period and the lives of the sailors on board are also included.

Appendices contain the original text of the diary, complete with Sir George's own corrections, reproduced here for the first time; the translation of a log book kept by a Dutchman for part of the voyage; and a list of the ships that

served on the voyage with their statistics. l98.3. l 76 pages. 20 illustrations.

Appendices. List price: $l5.95.

Americans with its new weapons. Track charts. maps, photographs, and diagrams all help to complete the story. l98.3. 288 pages. 50 illustrations.

6 " x 9". Index. List price: $l8.95.

HUNTER¡ KILLER U.S. Escort Carriers in the Battle of the Atlantic

THE MAYFLOWER

By William T. YBlood

And Other Colonial Vessels

By William A Baker

This in-depth study at last brings the U.S. escort carrier's crucial operations against the famed German submarines to the forefront Amazingly versatile and hardy, the American CVE's sank more than fifty U-boats during the prolonged Battle of the Atlantic. The author's masterful retelling of some of the most exciting anti-submarine encounters of the war offers a vivid you-are-there narrative that takes the reader onto the decks of the carriers and into the cockpits of the fighter planes.

Fewwill forget for example, YBlood's gripping account of the sinking of the U-569 by the Bogue and its heroic Avenger and Wildcat pilots. or the fiery attack on U-758, which surprised the

Book Order Deparbnent SH32 U.S. Naval Institute 2062 Generals Hwy. Annapolis, Maryland 2l40l Yes! Please send me... _ _ copy(ies) of The Counter Armada l596 (l.35 -8) at $l5.95 each. _ _ copy(ies) of The Mayflower and Other Colonial Vessels (84.3-.3) at $l5.95 each. _ _ copy(ies) of Hunter-Killer (286-9) at $l8.95 each.

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This important work stands as the final thoughts of an acknowledged expert on the merchant ships and small craft widely used in America during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Written shortly before the author's death, it provides, through extensive illustrations and an authoritative text a comprehensive history of the design construction and rigging of the large ships and the small shallops, pinnaces, barks, and ketches.

(Baker's replica of the Mayflower made its own historic crossing of the Atlantic in l957.) l98.3. l 92 pages. lOO illustrations. List price: $l5.95

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A NAVAL INSTITUTE PRESS BOOK

BOOKS "A Careless Word ... A Needless Sinkingi'

by Capt. Arthur R. Moore (American Merchant Marine Museum , Kings Point NY 1983, 552pp, illus. Order from Granite Hill Corp, RFD 1, Box 210, Hallowell ME 04347, $45 + postage, $2 domestic, $3 foreign).

This book documents and illustrates the losses of the American Merchant Marine in World War II. It catalogs the ships that were lost, and where and how they were sunk-and also what happened to the submarines and raiders that destroyed them .

The names of the seamen killed are listed side by side with their ships. The accounts of survivors tell what a sinking was like.

There were no survivors from some of the attacks and the story is told only by a notation in the logbook of the victor.

It is my belief that the book is quite accurate. I have compared what it says with such events in the war which I saw for myself, and also with stories of sea engagements told to me by shipmates who had taken part in them. To a large number of these eyewitness statements, Captain Moore has added the official documents which tie the whole thing together. And that is about all there is to go by, for newspaper reporters and historians were not present at the sinkings.

Surprisingly, even sailors' yarns may have truth in them. One that I remember hearing in 1942 was about a Luckenbacher that fought with two raiders and sunk one of them before she was sunk herself. There it is on page 269-the Stephen Hopkins. To me another charm is added by the pictures of the old Hog Islanders built at the end of the First World War. Beloved of seamen, they were called by them as "home''--and indeed the ships were designed to better working conditions on the ocean.

Memories also cluster about the names and pictures of the old rust-pots of the period such as the ~st Uishaway, the Tachira, etc.

They went down without much prodding.

After studying the volume, the story becomes clear. The American Merchant Marine was all but exterminated in 1942 and was effectively rebuilt and defended by 1943. The war ended with landings and invasions which drove up the tonnage losses again . Now that the ships have been scrapped and their crews have been retired, and even the records themselves are being shredded by the operations of the maritime industry, this book testifies for future times that our victory in World War II was not a foregone conclusion.

GEORGE F. HEUSTON Mr. Heuston , an artist who went to sea to earn a living, was aboard the Santa Rita when she was sunk by a U-boat in 1942 and told the story in SH23.

SEA HISlDRY, FALL 1983

SS Stephen Hopkins Company: Luckenbach Steamship Co. New York, NY Master: Paul Buck (Lost) Gross Tons: 7176 Home Port: San Francisco, Calif.

Built: May 1942 at Richmond, Calif.

Dimensions: 441' x 57' x 37' The Liberty Ship, SS Stephen Hopkins was shelled and sunk by the German Raiders Stier (Gerlach) and Tannenfels (Haase) at 0935 September 27, 1942 in the South Atlantic (28-08 Southm-59 West) while en route from Capetown, S.A . to Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana in ballast to load bauxite. Her complement was 40 merchant crew, 15 Naval Armed Guard, and 1 passenger. Thirty-two crew members and 9 Navy men were killed in the battle or perished from exposure on rafts and lifeboats, including the Master and Armed Guard officer.

At 0935, the Hopkins was attacked by the Stier and her escort , the blockade runner Tannen/els. The first salvo slammed into the superstructure of the vessel. The Master kept the stern of the Hopkins towards the raiders. Intense fire was poured into the vessel by both raiders . The men of the Hopkins fought back with the 37 mm bow gun, machine guns, and the 4" stern gun .

Shells from the Hopkins continued to strike the Stier. A salvo destroyed the lifeboats on the port side of the Hopkins and another shell struck in the engine room blowing up the starboard boiler. The ship lost headway and as she lay almost dead in the water, the raider's shells turned the Hopkins into a burning, twisted wreck . The men atthe4" stern gun continued to fire back but one by one the gunners were killed or wounded .

A shell hit the afte r magazine, hurling the Navy ensign to the deck of the gun tub. An engine cadet loaded and fired the 4" gun five times by himself. After the shells were expended , he left the gun platform and was killed by flying shrapnel. The battle lasted

20 minutes. The Hopkins went down in flames but the Stier followed her to the bottom. The Tannenfels, although damaged , made Bordeaux, France safely with the survivors of the Stier.

After surveying his blazing ship and with his command sinking beneath him , the Master reluctantly gave orders to abandon ship. He and the 2nd Engineer found #1 lifeboat still usable and together they lowered it into the water as shellfire continued to demolish the Hopkins. They then separated and the Master was not seen again except for a glimpse of him on a life raft .

As the boat was being lowered , a shell burst around the boat killing two men . This lifeboat was safely launched and the remainder of the crew put over the life rafts.

The 2nd Engineer jumped overboard and was picked up by the lifeboat. The men in this boat rowed around for 2 hours picking up survivors in the water. The sea anchor was put out and the boat drifted in the vicinity of the sinking until noon the next day but they found only floating wreckage.

The Second Engineer and eighteen other survivors rigged and sail and headed northwest. The boat made the coast of Brazil, at the village of Barra do Itabopoana on October 27 at 0400. Four of the original 19 survivors died in the lifeboat.

*

* * * *

In the words of a spokesman for the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations : " The extraordinary heroism and outstanding devotion to duty of the officers and crew of the Armed Guard and the ship's company we re in keeping with the highest tradition of American seamanship. Their fearless determination to fight their ship and perseverance to engage the enemy to the utmost until their ship was rendered useless, aflame, and in a sinking condition , demonstrated conduct beyond the call of duty."

- From "A Careless Word ... A Needless Sinking"

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43

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A Voya ge to the North P a cific a nd a Journey Through Sibe ria from 18 04-1 8 08. by

Captain "Nor'West" Jo h n D 'Wolf D'Wolf, the fir st American tO cross Siberia from the Pacific ro the Baltic was also an Uncle of Herma n Melville, who fictionalizes him in Redbi<rn & Mob y Dick. lt is limited to 22 5 copies with detailed commentary by H aro ld Turner & illu strati ons and maps by An ne H ughes, bot h of who m sign the colophon; pri nted in two colors o n archival paper, bou nd in quarter cloth over paper boards.

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THE HUDSON THROUGH THE YEARS

by Arthur G. Adams " ... the most comp rehensive boo k on the history of the 'Hudson River one can expect to fi nd."-Shirl ey Horner , New York Times.

Covers: history, literature, art, architecture, ind ustry, fe rries, steamboats, and rail roads that were relevant to the river.

185 photos & ill ustrations. Full color cover design and painting by William G. Muller, Mari ne Artist. $18.95 (postage included)

UE 44

LIND PUBLICATIONS

192 Third Ave nue West wood , N.J. 07675 (201 ) 666-731 3

Th e Mary Rose: T he Excavation and Raising of Henry Vlll's Flagship, by Margaret Rule, Foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales (Conway Maritime Press Ltd ., 24 Bride Lane, Fleet St. , London, EC4Y 8DR , UK , 240pp, illus. , ÂŁ 12 .50) .

The Mary Rose was launched in 1510, and after a long life and major rebuild in 1536, she was a flagsh ip in the English Fleet which sailed out of Portsmouth Harbour in Jul y 1545 to meet the French . By mishap she sank under the eyes of her Sovereign, King Henry VIII , with practically her whole crew.

In this large format, profusely illustrated book , Margaret Rule relates how, when effo rts to fi nd and recover the Tudor vessel we re initiated in the late 1960s, she joined the project, eventually becoming Archaeological Di recto r. The author reco unts in detail by stages the painstaking underwater archaeology during the seventies (during which time, when in her forties, she herself learnt to dive and spent many hours on the seabed), until eventually it was possible to empty the Tudor hull of all its historic artifacts . The author reports the finding of so much vital evidence of ship construction and rigging fro m a poorly documented period , quite apart fro m unique specimens of a way of life long gone.

Margaret Rule's account of this major marine archaeological undertaking, crowned with success when the ship's starboard side was lifted fro m the Solent Seabed in October 1982, makes enthralling as well as authoritati ve reading.

J AMES FORSYTHE

The Best of Sail Navigation, Ed . Charles Mason (Sail Books, Boston, 1982, 284pp, drawi ngs , $14.95) . The ability to navigate a vessel between two points is an art often neglected by otherwise competent sailors.

This book is an ideal answer to that situation, with 56 articles written in the clean crisp style that has made Sail one of America's leading boating magazines. The articles are organized into sections on cha rts, fog , piloting, etc.; main points are illustrated with diagrams. The book is a handy reference for weekend sailor and offsho re passagemaker alike.

AN DREW B ESHEER

The Book Locker The plain truth is that we have fallen behind in gathering reviews, and there are important books you should know about-so we'll just have to try an omnium gatherum to catch up particularly since in the coming holiday season , books are so welcome a gift , and far more likely to be used than a luau shirt or expressionist cravat. ...

SEA HIS1DRY, FALL 1983

Sperm Whaling from New Bedford: Clifford W. Ashley's photographs of Bark Sunbeam in 1904, by Elton W. Hall (Old Dartmouth Historical Society, New Bedford MA , . 1982 , 22lpp, ill. , $25).

Photggraphs startling in their immediacy and beauty, sensitively selected and interpreted with some depth of knowledge-an important book for any who wish to get closer to the real ity ofwhaleships and whaling and the ways of life of people in the trade.

The Tall Ships are Sailing: The Cutty Sark Tall Ships Races, by Holly Hollis (David & Charles , Newton Abbot , Devon UK/North Pomfret VT, USA, 1982 , 192pp, illus., ÂŁ9.50/$22.50). A colorful , engaging on-deck report on the 1980 races in Europe, this provides much background on the ships of the sail training movement (the history of each is given), crews and cadets , of whom the young Ms. Hollis is one.

The National Maritime Museum, ed.

Basil Greenhill (Philip Wilson, London [also Sotheby, 81 Adams Drive, Totowa NJ 07512 USA-$39.50], 1982 , 144pp, color, illus.) . This beautifully produced history and review of the holdings of the world's leading maritime museum is almost as good as a visit-and is in itself a gorgeously stuffed cram course in the history of ship development, navigation , weapons, marine art , etc.

chronicle of the work of Charles Tinkham focused on Boston and Five Islands, a seacoast village in Maine, capturing unique views on the coast and ashore.

Nantucket: The Other Season, by Stan Grossfeld , intro. David Halberstam (Globe Pequot Press, Chester CT, 1982, 148pp, illus. , photo, $12.95) . A photo-essay portrait of Nantucket Island , 20 miles off Cape Cod-where, in the off season , this community shaped by the sea that surrounds it , celebrates the simple gifts of the water, the land and the folks around town . Here we meet the people, walk the shores , face its horizons.

Explorer's Map and Directory of the New England Coast (Great Circle Productions, Southwest Harbor ME 04679, 1982 , 24" x 72", full color, $9.95) . A well presented guide covering natural areas, physical features, recreation and education facilities, navigation aids, shellfish locations. Includes 20 annotated indexes on museums, nature centers, boatbuilding and sai l training programs , environmental organizations, marine advisory services.

Boston and Five Islands: A Retrospective, by Charles William Tinkham (Down East Books, Camdem ME , 1981 , 165pp, 175 b/w photos , $17.95 + $1.25 handling) . A 40-year photographi c SEA HISTORY, FALL 1983

~

W

COLIN GLENCANNON !

Your Society offers, with some trepidation , not only Guy Gilpatric's Glencannon stories, immortalizing the tramp steamer lnchcliffe Castle and confining her sottish Scots chief engineer in hard covers, for $7.95, but also-Norman Reilly Raines's Tugboat Annie, also for $7.95! Or both (what a combination!) for $15.

And still at large is the Society's rambunctious Curator-at-Large Peter Throckmorton, whose pioneering report from the Mediterranean in the early days of marine archaeology, Shipwrecks and Archaeology, is available, hardcover, 360 pages, 45 photos, for $17.75.

And there is our Society's Senior Advisor, that grand sailorman Captain Irving Johnson, writing as a youth about a Cape Horn passage in square rig-and coming back to view it all 48 years later in The Peking Battles Cape Horn, hardcover, 225 pages, 40 photos , $11 .95, or $5.95 paperback .

The L-Og of HMS Mentor, 1780-1781, ed .

James A. Service, intro. Robert R. Rea (University of Florida Press, Pensacola FL, 1982, $11 .75, 204pp, illus., $11 .75). In the Battle of Pensacola , during the American Revolution , the sloop-of-war HMS Mentor played an important role in defending the British garrison against the Spanish . Her log records the day-to-day events of the battle and includes sail plans and the captain's personal log.

Newburyport and the Merrimack, by Peter E. Randall (Down East Books, Camden MA 04843, 1981, 88pp, illus ., $6.95 + $1 handling) . A small but rewarding photographic ramble through the streets of one of our old New England seaport towns . Others in series are Portsmouth ($8.95) and Isles of Shoals ($5.95) . If everyone had the feeling for his town shown here, we'd have no problems in urban America .

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45

Sporting watersails below her working canvas, the Essex smack Mermaid of1904 leads the Hyacinth in the Colne Race of 1982. Converted 10 power in 1935, she was rebuilt wi1h 70 p ercent new timber in 1981 . Pho1os , Robert Simper.

Old Gaffers Live Forever

by Robert Simper Just over twenty years ago I attended a meeting at Maldon, a small estuary port on the East Coast of England, where the idea was put forward that we should have a race just for gaff sailed craft. Later I went out and tried to recruit people to enter this unusual event . Many told me quite frankly that the gaff headed rig was fi nished and that the whole idea of this race was pointless. It was thought that possibly as many as six boats would come to our race, but in fact thirty entered the first East Coast Old Gaffers Race in 1963.

This race turned out to be a bit of a flop as there was not enough wind , but everyone was very enthusiastic about continuing some form of race just for gaff craft .

That autumn there was a link up with a similar race organized on the South Coast and the Old Gaffers Association was formed. This organization which is dedicated to preserving gaff sail boats is now twenty-one years old so it seems a good time to look back and see how far we have come.

We did not set out to change the whole

46

course of yachting history. We would have been disappointed if we had , for technology has led yacht designs to press on to newer heights. We wanted to provide a meeting ground for those reactionaries who wanted to stay with the gaff rig, but did not want to be social outcasts. This has been the OGA's approach . Since the whole organization is run by enthusiasts in their spare time, it has not been able to progress as far as we would have liked .

Although we have newsletters we simply do not have the resources to publish the technical material that our members would like. The " Register of Gaff Rigged Boats" published in 1980 (available from the Hon . Sec. John Scarlett, 1 Greenbank St. Galashiels, Scotland TD! 3BL) provides the only source of information on many unregistered gaff craft . This does however deal mainly with those based in British waters .

The main success of the OGA has been annual one-day races and rallies which are held by branches all round the coast of Britain. Our East Coast event on the River

Blackwater has on several occasions attracted over 100 entries . It is noticeable that although boats built in recent years

"The first boats home have usually been those built in the golden gaff era, 1890-1940." and using modern techniques have entered , the first boats home have usually been those built in the golden gaff era , 1890-1940.

The first boats home are usually the Essex fishing smacks, notably the ADC, built for sprat fishing in about 1890 and the little oyster dredging smack Hyacinth from about 1900. With their long bowsprits and powerful gaff cutter rig they can usually outsail the conventional yachts except for the Edwardian day racers .

Although the truth is that most gaff craft still afloat now were built for cruising, while the out and out gaff day racers were lightly built and most fell by the wayside when gaff was unfashionable, 1940-65.

SEA HIS10RY, FALL 1983

"The French approach ... appears to involve drinking a great deal of wine and much lusty singing."

With the Old Gaffers Races we seem to be steadily putting the clocks further back because every year more boats appear back under sail. Types of working sailing craft which have not been seen under sail for decades are suddenly resurrected. The Essex smacks never actually died out.

The West Mersey smack Our Boys was still dredging oysters under sail for a few seasons after World War II , while the little Maldon smacks Joseph T and Polly were using sail right into the 1950s. However the number of smacks sailed for pleasure has been steadily rising. Notable restorations include the complete rebuilding of the 1808 built Boadicea by Michael Frost and the 42ft Charlotte Ellen , rebuilt twice for John Rigby, once when she was converted back to sail from a power craft and then again after she was wrecked in the Thames Estuary. It was hoped that the Charlotte Ellen would beat the ADC in the Old Gaffers and Smack Races but she has never quite proved to be a champion. Now John Rigby is having the 49ft Sunbeam rebuilt by Johnnie Milgate at Peldon Creek, Essex. No one remembers the Sunbeam, which was probably built back in the 1870s, actually sailing, but legend has it that she was the fastest Essex smack ever built.

The Thames Estuary bawleys, which were shrimpers and had loose footed mainsails, were all converted to power craft by the mid-1930s . It was a great thrill in 1980s Old Gaffers Race when two bawleys, the Doris and the Helen & Violet appeared in their original sail plan . Both

The Charlotte Ellen lazes across the finish line wirh easy grace, winning the Caine Race of the year before. The spritsail barge Ardwina of 1909, last sailing barge built al Ipswich,follows on; it's not her weather.

SEA HISlDRY, FALL 1983

of these bawleys had had a major rebuild to get them back under sail. The Rochester bawley Thistle which appeared the following year, had had even more of a rebirth as she had been submerged in the upper fresh water Thames for several years before being rebuilt.

In 1982 it was the turn of the King's Lynn smacks, which again had all been motorized since the 1930s, to reappear under sail. The 36ft Lynn smack Mermaid, built in Norfolk in 1904, raced in immaculate order. Some of these craft are rebuilt with such love and attention and good quality materials that one is left wondering if they are not better than when originally built! The Lynn smack Lily May also appeared on the East Coast. She has an open weil (or cockpit), a feature of some Lynn cockle boats, while most East Coast work boats were decked .

The OGA cannot take the claim for the return of all these craft being back under sail because it has been the work of individual owners, but the Association provides the only races where every type of gaff craft can compete on a handicap basis. When afloat the OGA fleets look very picturesque with an odd assortment of everything from Baltic schooners to open day boats, but ashore in the informal get-togethers afterwards, the members prove to be the same types of people. It doesn't mean that OGA members agree about everything. In fact it is the exact opposite. The owners of gaff boats have chosen to be different from normal yachting circles and are inevitably found to be

rugged individuals with lively views.

In the opening years of the OGA , thrilled by the success of people joining in quite large numbers, we saw ourselves as the centre of an international brotherhood of gaff boat owners. It has not quite worked out like that, but one of the great successes was between the gaff boat owners on the English South Coast and those in Brittany in North France. Now at a national level , British and French political leaders have for centuries disagreed with just about everything, but when it comes to traditional boats, the English and French owners have had some friendly rallies. The French approach to racing appears to involve drinking a great deal of wine and much lusty singing. Language proved no barrier when it came to sailing and restoring boats.

Strictly speaking the OGA doesn't have a headquarters of its own, but meets in various friendly yacht clubs. The rise in bar sales usually guarantees our return .

The French now have their own separate gaff club, but remain on very good terms with the British-based OGA . The Germans have also formed their own Friends of the Gaff Sail , modeled on the OGA .

Learning from what has happened in the past it would seem that the OGA needs branches in each country. There are quite a number of OGA members in America , but no central body-as yet-to organize events . .t Mr. Simper, renowned student of sailing vessels great and small, is President ofthe Old Gaffers Association.

''Handsome is as handsome does'' might be the mouo of the small short-rigged oyster smack Katie sailing homeward happily enough after the race.

47

NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY

SPONSORS AMERICAN CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION ANNENBERG F UND APEX MACHINE CORPORATIO N )ACK R. ARON VINCENT ASTOR FOUNDATION ATLANTIC MARITIME E NTERPRISES HARRY BARON BEEFEATER FOUNDATION ALLEN G. BERRI EN CITICORP DAVE (LARKE Dow CORNING CORP. EUREKA CHEMICAL Co. EVA GEBHARD-GOURGAUD FDTN. W.R. GRACE FOUNDATION HAIGHT, GARDNER, POOR & H AVENS MR. & MRS. TH OMAS HALE CAPT. & MRS. PA UL R. H ENRY ELISABETH S. HOOPER FDTN. CECI L HOWARD CHARITABLE TRUST ROBERT lRVING R . C. JEFFERSON BARBARA JOHNSON CHRJSTIAN A. JOHNSON ENDEAVOR FON. IRVING JOH NSON H ARRIS & ELIZA KEMPER F UND A. ATWATER KENT, JR .

DAVID H. KOLLOCK J AMES A. MACDONALD FDN .

MARINE SOC IETY I PORT OF NY MRS. ELLICE M CDONALD, JR .

MILFORD BOAT WORKS, !NC .

RADM EDMOND). MORAN USN R (RET.) NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE H UMANITIES NAUTILUS FOUNDATI ON NAVY LEAGUE MICHAEL O'BRIEN MICHAEL PLATZER A. T. POUCH, JR .

R CA THOR RAMSING MR. & MRS. JOSEPH G. SAWTELLE HELEN MARSHALL SCHOLZ

MR. & MRS. PETER SEEGER SIRIUS BROKERS H OWARD SLOTNICK A. MACY SMITH JEAN s. SMITH SETH SPRAGUE FOUNDATION NORMA & PETER STANFORD EDMUND A. STANLEY, JR. HENRY PENN WENGER

PATRONS RAYMOND AKER ALCO MA RI NE AGENTS THOMAS ROY ALLEN AMERICAN BUREAU OF SHIPPI NG CAPT. E. R. ANDERSON AND RE M. ARMBRUSTER LA URENCE H . ARMOUR, JR .

ARTEK l NC. ATLANTIC CO RDA GE CORP. BILL AUBRY HARRY K. BAILEY J OHN B. BALCH B. A. BALDW IN, JR. 8. DEVEREUX BARKER FRANK BARKER JAMES BARKER JEFFREY BARLOW [RA M. BAROCUS ) . H. BASCOM DAVID BASS DAVID SASSING R. S. BAUER HOBEY BA UHA N BENJAMIN BAXTER BAY R EFRACTORY BAY RIDGE WATER & LIGHTERAGE N.B. BEAM CHARLES A. 8ENO RE H AROLD P . BERNSTEIN BRONSON BINGER GEOFFREY BIRKHOLZ R . M. BIRM INGHAM CARROLL N. BJORNSON

ARTHUR BLACKETT JEFF BLINN BLOOMlNGDALES R. A. BOWLING J . W. BOYLE ARTHUR E. BRACY CAPTAJN ROBERT G. BRAUN FREDERICK BREWSTER K.L. BRIEL PAUL H. BRIGER S.R. BROSS, JR. NORMAN J. BROUWER HARRY & GIN! BROWN RA YMONO G. BROWN DOUGLAS A. BRUCE FREDERI CK H . BRUENNER STEVEN W. BRUMMEL A. BUCHTER WM. F. BUCKLEY, JR .

JOHNS. BULL JOHN BUNKER AGA BURDOX ADM. ARLE IGH BURKE USN (RET.) ROBERT J . BURKE STEVEN BUTTERWORTH BYE BYE BIRDIE )AMES R. CADY B OYD W. CAFFEY H ARRIET CAMPBELL, I NC. 0. CAREY MRS. JOSEPH R. CARTER HAROLD J. CASEY CENTRAL GULF LINES C. A. CHAPIN JAMES E. CHAPMAN R. C HARMAN CAPT. GLEN R. CHEEK, USN (RET.) ALAN G. CHOATE CIRCLE LINE ALBERT C. CIZAUSKAS, JR. DAVID CLARKE GEORGE F. CLEMENTS ARTHUR CLEVELAND F . S. COLLINS ]. FERRELL COLTON CONSOLIDATED EDISON CO., LN"C. TREVOR CONSTABLE L. COR. MICHAEL CORDASCO HENRY A. CORREA R ICHARD C. CORRELL JAMES COSTELLO J OHN C . COUCH ]AMES W. COULTER COUNCIL OF MASTER MARINERS CAPT. ALAN B . CRABTREE JEFFREY CRABTREE BEN & SALLY CRANE GEORGE CRANDALL DOUGLAS CRUCET CRUCIBLE STEEL CASTING COMPANY JOHN CURRY CUTTY SARK SCOTS WHI SKY PHILIP J. DAILEY REBEKAH T. DALLAS F. BRIGGS DALZELL PETER T. DAMON CHARLES DANA DARIEN POWER SQUADRON CDR. W. H. DARTNELL ]AMES K. DAVIDSON F. KELSO DAVIS P. S. OE BEAUMONT ANTHONY & JOANNA DEAN ROBB DEGNON J . A. DE LUCE RICHARD A. DENNY JOSEPH DE PAUL & SONS ROHIT M. DESAI HIRAM DEXTER MALCOLM DICK JAMES DICKMAN

J OSEPH DIRSA R. L. DOXSEE J EREMIAH T. DRISCOLL RICHARD E. DROVER DRYBULK CHARTERING CRANFORD DUNCAN R. J . DUNPHY EDSON CORPORATION CAPT. RAYMOND T. E I SENBERG )AMES ELMER, JR .

DAMON L. ENGLE EPIROTIKI LINES ULF ERIKSEN CDR. L.F. ESTES WILLIAM EVEROELL J OHN & CAROL EWALD EYEVlEW FILM S HENRY EYL ]AMES P. FARLEY CAPT. JOSEPH FARR ROBERT S. FELNER MRS. JEAN F INDLAY PETER FINNERTY CHARLES FLEI SHMANN MELANIE FLEISHMANN MR. & MRS. BENJAMIN F OGLER )AMES FOLEY

HENRY FORSYTH CHARLES FORTES MEMORIAL FUND M ISS HAZEL ANN Fox MARBURY B . Fox CHARLES M. FREY ). E. FRICKER BENNO FRIEDMAN DR. HARRY FRIEDMAN FRITZSCHE, DODGE & OLCOTT, I NC .

JOHNS. F ULLERTON R. A. FULTON GAGE & TOLLNER RICHARD GALLANT ROBERT GARVIN WALTER GATES JOSEPH A. GEMMA GEORGE ENGINE COMPANY H. E. GERHARD NORMAN G. GERMANY ). T. GILBRIDE ROGER GILMAN ATWELL {CLARE GLASELL HENRY GLICK THOMAS J. GOCHBERG PETER GOLDSTEIN CARL GOOD )IM GRAY DR. ROBERT W. GREENLEAF ROBERT H. GREGORY HENRY F. GREI NER ROLAND D. GRIMM CAPT . & MRS. FREDERI CK GUI LD LCDR EMIL GUSTAFSON WALTER A. HAGSTROM CHARLES W. HALL MORTIMER HALL CDR . W. H . HAMILTON S. HANSEN-BURBANK Co., LTD .

CAPT. ROBERT H ART USN (RET.) CHRISTOPHER HEG CAPT. )AMES E. HEG HELLENIC LINES LIMITED THOMAS HENRY W.R. HERVEY HERBERT H EWITT CARL W. HEXAMER A. E. H EYDENREI CH JUDSON HIGGINS NEAL 0. HINES JOHNSON PEDERSON HINRICHS ROBERT B. HOPE, MD STEPHEN HOPKI NS Aux T. HORNBLOWER T . HORNER CAPT. M. F. HORVATH LAURA PIRES HOUSTON GODFREY G. HOWARD THOMA S H OYNE, III PER HU FFELDT HUGHES BROS. lNC. WILLIAM HUGHES , SR. ALAND. HUTCHINSON HAROLD D. HUYCKE lMPERlAI L CUP CORP. INDUSTRI AL F ABRICATING KAZ I NOUYE lNT'L LONGSHOREMEN'S Assoc.

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF MASTERS, MATES & PILOTS lOT CORPORATION JAKOB lSBRANDTSEN GEORGE I VEY JA CKSON & Co. CAPT. GEORGE W. JAHN RAPHAEL JAN ER R.H. JOHN CHART AGENCY HENRY JOHNSON NEILS W. JOHNSON ALAN JONES W. ) . J OVAN W. HADDON JUDSON NORMAN KAMERMANN M. W. KEELING JOH N KENNEY KIDDER, PEABODY NAT B. KING JI M & PEGGY KINGSBURY JOHN KINNEY W. KLEINDIENST, MD R. J. KNEELAND KOBI ENTERPRISES KOBRAND CORPORATION ARTHUR KOELLER BETTY KOHAREK DAVID KOL THO FF EDITH KOONTZ SANDRA KRAMER WILLIAM H. KRAMER ANDREW KRAVI C GEORGE P. KROH C. SCOTT KULICKE DANIEL LADD NORTON LA1RD FON. ANTHONY LAMARCO ROBERT LAPORT EDWI N LARSON KEVIN LEARY CLARK LEE PHILIP LEONARD

MR. & MRS. T. E. LEONARD RICK LEVINE PRODUCTI ONS DAVID LEVITT RUTHERFORD P. LILLEY LIN COLN SAVI NGS BANK A. S. LI SS DR. & MRS. LLOYD H. R.LOGAN JEFF LOVINGER KLAUS L UCKA CHARLES LUNDGREN JOHN E. LUNDIN Ross MACDUFFIE CAPTAI N WILLIAM H. MACFADDEN ALEN MACWEENEY, INC. JOSEPH 8.H. MAD ISON JOHN MAGUIRE CLIFFORD 0. MALLORY PETER MANI GAULT ANTHONY MARQUES ELISABETH M. MARTELL THOMAS F. MASON ROBERT MASTROGIOVANNI PETER MAX JOHN G. MC CARTHY JEROME MCGLYNN RAYMOND T. MCKAY R. M. MCINTOSH E.F. MCSWEENEY lll ROBERT MCVITTIE MEBA DISTRICT 2 MIDLAND I NSURANCE CO. CAPT . PHILIP MOHUN R. KENT MITCHELL MONOMY FUND MONTAN TRANSPORT (USA) INC. C.S. MORGAN C HARLES MORGAN J. R. MORRISSEY ANGUS C. MORR1SON MR. & MRS. EM I L MOSBACHER, JR. FRANK MOSCATI, INC. RICHARD MOSES MYERS & GRINER/ CUESTA MYSTIC WHALER NANTUCKET SH I PYARD NAT'L HISTORI CAL Soc .

NATIONAL MARITIME UNI ON ERIC NELSON FR. EARLE NEWMAN NEW YORK AIR NY PROPERTIES NY SH IPPING Assoc.

NEW YORK TELEPHONE Co. ROBERT A. NICHOLS JOHN NOBLE DAVID J. NOLAN ). A. NORTON MILTON G. NOTTI NG HAM CLIFFORD B. O' HARA T. MORGAN O'HORA )AMES O'KEEFE B.J. O'NEILL ORES HOWARD OTWAY PACIFIC-GULF MARINE, I NC. RICHARD K. PAGE WALTER PAGE WILLIAM PAPARELLA S.T. PARKS DAVID P ARTRIDGE PENNSYLVAN IA SCHOOLS HIP ASSN. MILES A. N. PETERLE STEPHEN PFOUTS WALTER PHARR DR. JERRY C . PICKREL PLATZER SHIPYARDS, I NC. PORT AUTHORJTY OF NY & NJ GEORGE POTAM IANOS THEODORE PRATT WALTER PRETZAT R. S. PULBO EBEN W. PYNE RICHARD RATH JOHN REI LLY DONALD RlCE FREDERICK W. RICHMOND FON. I NC. Russ RIEMANN ROBERT RIGG EDWARD RITTENHOUSE E. D. ROBBINS, MD C HARLES R. ROBI NSON PETER ROBINSON HAVEN C. ROOSEVELT DAN IEL ROSE FREDERICK ROSE DAVID ROSEN A.B. ROSENBERG F.S. ROSENBERG M. ROSENBLATT )AMES W. ROYLE, JR. DAVID F. RYAN M. J. RYAN C HARLE S IRA SACHS D. R. SAGARINO CARRO LL A. SALA ST . JOE M I NERALS A. HERBERT SANDWEN SANDY HOOK PILOTS Assoc.

W. B . H. SAWYER FRA NK SCAVO DAVID & BARBARA SC HELL RADM. WALTER F. SC HLECH, JR. JOYCE SC HOBRJCH JOSHUA M. SC HWARTZ AUSTIN SCOTT SEA-LAND SERVICE , I NC. SEAMEN'S C HURCH I NSTITUTE D I ELLE FLEI SHMAN SE IG NIOUS SELIGMAN SECU RITIES MICH AEL SE RENSON W I LLIAM A. S HEEHA N ROBERT V. SHEEN, J R. RI CHARD A. SHERMAN DAVID W. SI MMONDS D. W. SIMPSON GEORGE SIMPSON ROBERT SINC ERBEAUX FRANCI S 0. SKELLEY D. L. SLADE DA VID L . SLAG LE E. KE ITH SLINGSBY HOWARD SLOTNI CK ) AMES A. S MITH L YMAN H. SM ITH MELBO URNE SMITH CONWAY B. SONNE TH OMAS SOULES T . SPJGE LMIRE RALPH M. STALL ALFRED STANFORD BRIAN STARE R PH I LIP STENGER EDNA & I SAAC STERN FDTN. W. T. STEVENS J. T. ST ILLMAN )AMES J. STO RROW JOHN STOBART STUART REGAN STONE SUMNER B. TILTON, JR. SUN REFI NING & MKTG. Co. SUN SH I P, I NC. ROBERT H. SWA IN SWI SS AMERICAN S ECURITIES INC. R. S. SYMO N G H. TABER JOHN THURMAN SUMNER B. TILTON ROBERT T ISHMAN TOAD PRODUC TION GEORGE F. T OLLEFSEN SK IP & ROGER TOLLEF SON ANTl-IONY TRALLA W. ALLEN TRAVER, JR. BRUCE TREMBLY, MD )AMES D. TURNER UN ION DRY DOCK U.S. NAVIGATION CO. U.S. LI NES CA PT. ROBERT D. VA LENTI NE MARION V ALPEY VANGUARD FOUNDATI ON JOHN D. VAN ! TALLIE VAN METER RANCH CHARLES V I CKERY JOHN VREELAND JAMES WADATZ S HAN NON WALL E. R. WA LLENBERG R. C. WALLING PATER M. WARD A. WARRI CK DAVID WATSON MR S. ELIZABETH WEEDON A RTHUR 0. WELLMAN THOMAS WELLS W. S. WELLS L. H ERNDON WERTH WEST LAND FOUNDATION JOHN WESTREM JOHN ROBERT W HITE R AYMON D D. WHITE WILLIAM T. WHITE G. G. WHITNEY, JR .

FR . JAMES W HITTEMORE ANTHON Y WIDMAN CA PT. & MR S. J OHN M. WI LL, J R. H . SEWALL WILLIAMS KAMAU WILLIAM S W I LLIAMSBURG SAVINGS BAN K P. J. WILLIAMSON ]AMES H. W I LLIS MALCO LM WILSON SUZANNE C. W I LSON CAPT. ). M W IN DAS S IDNEY WINTON LAURENCE F. W JTTEMORE WOMENS PROPELLER C LUB, PORT OF BOSTON WOMENS PROPELLER CLUB, PORT OF JACKSONVI LLE CMDR. PHILO WOOD, USN (RET.) MARVI N R. WORTELL THOMAS H. WRI GHT YACHTING JAMES H. YOCUM ALEN SANDS YORK HENRY A. YOUMANS ANNE YOUNG

District 2 Marine Engineers Beneficial Association Associated Maritime Officers )()

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650 Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11232 (212) 965-6700

The SS Kauai is the newest of five Matson Navigation Company container ships serving between Honolulu and the neighboring islands of Maui, Hawaii and Kauai.

This Is MM&P Country Hawaii, admitted as the fiftieth state of the Union in 1959, is connected to the mainland by a strong fleet of five ships operated by Matson Navigation Company in its West Coast-Hawaii fleet and an inter-island container vessel fleet serving between Honolulu and the neighbor islands of Maui , Hawaii and Kauai.

This lifeline is maintained under varying circumstances and in all kinds of weather by ship's officers trained by the Maritime Advancement, Training, Education and Safety (MATES) Program. Ship officers return regularly to the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) to sharpen their skills and learn new ones-all on dry land-while they navigate their way through any number of simulated waters with complete safety.

ROBERT J. LOWEN International President

ALLEN C. SCOTT

LLOYD M. MARTIN International Secretary- Treasurer

International Executive Vice President

International Organization of

Masters, Mates & Pilots 39 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10006/(212) 425-3860/Cable: BRIDGEDECK/Telex No.: 12-5858