Sea History 031 - Spring 1984

HERE:S TO THE RIGHT STUFF AND THOSE WHO HAVE IT. Before Chuck Yeager turned 22, he showed the world what he was made of by shooting down thirteen enemy planes in World War II. Five in one day.

But it wasn't until after the war, when still only 24, that Yeager began to tackle an even more dan~erous adversary: the untested limits of space.

He went on to become the first man to break the sound barrier, the first to travel at more than twice that speed (over 1600 mph) and one of the first pilots to reach the edge of space, taking a plane above 100,000 feet.

If there's ever been anyone who had "the right stuff", it's Chuck Yeager.

Especially when it comes to the Scotch he drinks: Cutty Sark. ~-

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ISSN 0 146-9312

No.31

SEA HISTORY

OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE WORLD SHIP TRUST

SEA HISTORY is the journal of the National Maritime Historical Society, an educational , tax-exempt membership organization devoted to furthering the understanding of our maritime heritage. Copyright © 1984 by the National Maritime Historical Society.

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

MEMBERSHIP is invited: Sponsor $1,000; Donor $500; Patron $100; Family $30; Regular $20; Student or Retired $10.

ALL FOREIGN MEMBERS , including Canada and Mexico, please add $5 for postage.

CONTRIBUTIONS may be made for any recognized project. Make out checks' 'NMHSShip Trust ,'' indicating on the check the project to which you wish support to be directed .

OFFICERS & TRUSTEES are Chairman : F. Briggs Dalzell ; Vice Chairmen: Thomas Hale, Barbara Johnson; President: 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, James P. McAllister, II, 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 . President 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 .

WORLD SHIP TRUST : Chairman: Frank G. G. Carr; Vice President: Sir Peter Scott; Hon. Secretary: J. A. Forsythe; Hon. Treasurer: Richard Lee; Erik C . Abranson; Maldwin Drummond ; Peter Stanford . Membership : £10 payable WST, c/o Hon. Sec ., 129a North Street, Burwell, Cambs. CBS OBB , England.

Reg . Charity No. 277751.

AMERICAN SHIP TRUST: International Chairman: Frank Carr; Chairman: Peter Stanford; George 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 Stanford ; Associate Editor: Norman J . Brouwer; Accounting: Maureen Conti; Membership: Heidi Tepper; Corresponding Secretary: Marie Lore.

SPRING 1984

CONTENTS 2 3 7 8 16 18 23 25 27 43 45 46 49 53 59

LETTERS EDITOR'S LOG USS TEXAS: THE LAST DREADNOUGHT, Peter Stanford THE SHIP AND THE MYTH , Walter Rybka PLANNING THE RESTORATION , James D . Bell MARINE ART: CARL EVERS , Jean Evers MARINE ART NEWS IN CLIO' S CAUSE: RUSSIANS ATTACK CIVILIAN CRAFT, Kenneth Maclver HMS BEAGLE: VOYAGES , RESEARCH AND RECONSTRUCTION, Lois Darling MODELMAKER' S CORNER : A ROY AL SQUADRON IN THE US , Ann Jensen COLLECTOR'S ALLEY : "WHAT'S NEW " AT MYSTIC , Stuart Parnes SAILING CRAFT OF THE CARIBBEES, Philip Thorneycroft Teuscher SAIL TRAINING: AMERICAN SCHOOLSHIPS, Nonfl.an Brouwer DAY ' S RUN , Report of the American Sail Training Association SHIPS , SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS BOOKS

COVER : A stunning broadside flashes from the main battery of the USS Texas, already a generation old, as she steams into action in World War II. She survives today, 70 years old. She is the last dreadnought. Painting by Carl Evers.

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

We bring to life America 's seafa ring past through resea rch, archaeo logica l expeditions and ship preservation effo rts. We work with museums , histo ri ans and sail train ing groups and report on these activities in our quarterly journal Sea His1ory.

We are also the American arm of the World Ship Trust, an international group working world wide to help save ships of historic importa nce.

Won ' t you join us to keep ali ve our nation's seafa ring legacy?

Membership in the Society costs only $20 a year. You ' ll receive Sea His1ory, a fasc inating magazine fi lled with art icles of seafaring and historical lore . You ' ll also be eligible for discou nts on books , prints and other items.Help save our seafa ring heritage. Join the National Maritime Historical Society today'

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

YES

I want to help. I understand that my contribution goes to forward the work of the Society 'and that I'll be kept in formed by receiv ing SEA HISTORY quarte rl y. Enclosed is : D $1,000 Sponsor :::J SSOO Donor D $100 Patron :::J $30 Fam ily D $20 Regular Member 0 $10 Student/Ret ired NAME

(please print)

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NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY

LETTERS Beginning a Voyage One day last week I looked up from my work to see a three-masted bark setting sail and slowly standing down the Bay. I felt the urge to be once again climbing into the rigging to loosen gaskets and to be beginning a voyage. Then a day or so later I received the most recent SEA HISTORY and did begin a voyage. A voyage I look forward to each time I receive this fine publication.

I just wanted to thank you for many hours of enjoyable reading, and to ask you to enroll two new members. I am sure these two will echo my feelings once they become aware of the fine work you are doing, and will become lifelong members like me.

Merry Christmas and much success in 1984!

DAVIDE. BASSING San Francisco, California J# had a good many letters like this as the year ended, which explains why the Society comes into 1984 much strengthened-and refreshed!- ED.

An Award in the Fo'c'sle The excitement has died down just like the fire in the galley stove and the last bottle of rum has rolled into the scuppers. We are all relaxing now, refl ecting on th e magnitude of the Elissa restoration project and the bewitching experience of sailing such a beautiful ship. Those of us who participated in restoring and sailing her really consider that to be reward enough . However, it is most gratifying to realize that others appreciate our efforts. We therefo re would like to thank you for presenting the Ship Trust Award to the Elissa volunteers during her visit to Houston on October 18, 1983. The plaque is now hanging in the fo'c's le to remind us of what has been done a nd to e ncourage our future efforts.

TH E ELISSA VOLUNTEERS Galveston , Texas

No, No, No! Or Rather, Yes! A copy of SEA HISTORY came into my hands and my love of boats caused me to subscribe.At the time I was unaware of any other activities you were engaged in. But over a period of time it slowly dawned on me that you had other activi ties that helped c reate the magazine.

When this enlightenment occurred to me I wrote suggesting you take o ne issue and devote it to an explanation of what exactly your activities are: your ai ms and accomplishments pictures of your operations, work locations, etc. all of thi s to help your cause by putting in front of the public just what it is your outfit is doing. I know of at least four persons who might be interested , but at present they do not even know you exist, and I could not intelligently explain to them your operation. I rece ived no an-

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swer to this, and to my knowledge no action was ever taken. Must have been a poor sugW.E. MANSLEY gestion.

Warminster, Pennsylvania No, it 's a good idea! Jes, we should act on it. See "&iitor's Log.'.:.._ ED.

A Small Point? Not to HMS Sheffield!

I would like to make a small historical point regarding the article " What's In A Name"

by Lt. Cdrs. Arnold Shrubb and Eric Berryman (SH30).

The article stated that HM Cruiser Shef field was torpedoed by aircraft from HMS Ark Royal during the chase after Bismarck.

In fact, although an attack was launched, no hits were obtained as Captain Larcom of Sheffield "combed" his tracks successfully and withheld any anti-aircraft fire.

The aircraft flew back to Ark Royal, rearmed, took off again , located Bismarck and obtained a vital hit. As I said this is a small point but we might as well get it right .

ROBERT H . MOUAT Sherman , Connecticut Mr. Mouat has a personal interest in this since he was at sea in a vulnerable convoy at the time. J# are glad the formidable Bismarck did not find him in his small cruiser Cairo! FURTHER CORRECTION : The Camperdown rammed the Victoria in 1893, of course, not 1863 as misstated in "What's in a Name." J# do apologize for these careless editing errors. -ED. L<mg Live the Dainty!

Dainty is not just a yacht name, but has also been a name in the Royal Navy, a rather recent one. The first HMS Dainty was a destroyer launched May 3, 1932, transferred from China to the Mediterranean at the outbreak of World War II, and su nk by bomb offTobruk on February 24, 1941. The second Dainty was launched nine years later in 1950, and scrapped in 1972 . Two of her sisters , Decoy and Diana , serve in the Peruvian Navy today as Ferre and Palacios, respectively.

PETER A SOFF Alexandria , Virginia This name which so charmed Mr. Hale first occurred in the Royal Navy in a discovery ship, born as the Repentance, renamed Dainty in 1589 and captured five years later by the Spanish: then came a pink noted in service in 1645 and then our destroyer sunk off Tobruk. -ED. Never Argue With a Battleship Although naming US battleships for states was mandated by Act of Congress, another Act made an exception to name BB 5 USS Kearsage, in honor of the vessel that sank the Confederate raider CSS Alabama in the Civil War. In 1920 this long-lived Kearsage was converted to a crane vessel , and was in

service until 1955. I thought Commander Berryman should have this information before some crusty old regular Navy man sailed into him regarding the oversight.

JOSEPH H . GEDEN Stoughton , Massachusetts

A Small Part ... Not Forgotten Thanks for the splendid article in the fall issue. " The Battle Won by Civilians ." It is incredible that the merchafit mariner's role in World War II goes so unrecognized as it is. Mr. Hayden notes that there is a British war memorial for merchant seamen, but no such memorial for Americans. But in a modest way, there is one such memorial : a bronze plate mounted in the Marine Museum at Fall River. The plate records the names of272 merchant mariners who died by enemy action at sea in World War II aboard vessels of the United Fruit Company. It is entitled: SHIPS OFFICERS AND SEAMEN WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES AT SEA IN THE SERVICE OF THE U NITED NATIONS. A small part of the whole, perhaps, but not forgotten .

RICH ARD W. BERRY Jamestown, Rhode Island

Merseyside Dreaming A dream of your president is coming true!

Peter Stanford came to Liverpool in 1971 and gave a talk on TV about how splendid a maritime museum could be set up in Albert Dock. Now it really is going to happen .

D Block of Albert Dock warehouses is being converted for use as a maritime museum. We have been operating a small maritime museum on a neighboring site for the past fo ur years, and we now look forward to open ing the first phase of the new museum on the working waterfront in ¡ August.

MICHAEL STAMMERS Curator Mersyside Maritime Museum J#ll done! Now get a ship to put in the dock.-ED.

For Youth of All Ages Thank you for the wonderful articles in SEA HISTORY . Any information on tall ship passages or training for adults would be appreciated . It seems that all that are listed are for younger people.

RO NNIE WOODWARD Kamuela , Hawaii To this, the American Sail Training Association's Vice Admiral Thomas R. J#schler, USN (ret.) responds: "Where the ships are small, ASTA cruises accommodate only youngsters in the 15 to 26 age group. For larger ships, ASTA opens the cruises to 'youth of all ages,' maintaining at least 50 percent ofthe spaces for the young men and SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

EDITOR'S LOG women .... ASTA brochures describing our opportunities include notation whenever adults can be included. " For further information: ASTA, Fort Adams State Park , Newport RI 02840.

Sail On, Corwith Cramer George Crowninshield's obituary of Cory Cramer in the fall issue was very well done and on behalf of all of us at the Sea Education Association I would like to ex press our gratitude.

The work of SEA is going on very well and the future looks bright . Cory was always very clear in stating that SEA was his monument, and that we simply had to build it very tall and very well . We have all accepted that charge and so the outcome is not ever to be in doubt , no more than it ever was under his stewardship.

Gale Cramer, Cory's widow and a former SEA student and staff member, has joined the board and is actively helping the rest of us remember our hard-learned values. And we have agreed that our new vessel to be built when we have raised the money will be named the Corwith Cramer.

TOW NSEND HORNOR

Chairman Sea Education Association

Ah, Sea Cloud!

Sea Cloud is one of the last of the " tall ships," a graceful and maj estic reminder of earlier days . With her 30 sail s set and billowing in a stiff breeze, she is a beautiful sight to see. We watched with fascination the agile young sailors, who hail from several countries, climb the swaying rigging and lean precariously along the spars to unleash the great canvas. Sun-bronzed and muscular, they dressed casually in jerseys and shorts and seemed perfectl y at home high amidst the swaying masts.

Now owned by German businessmen, Sea Cloud was built in the 1930s for heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post as a gift from her husband , E.F. Hutton. She sailed to ports all over the world and her hospitality was enjoyed by the famous .

Our two attractive Greek gal guides from Athens-veritable walking encyclopedias of information on every subject-accompanied us throughout the entire trip. On board Sea Cloud, the Purser and our Cruise Director were both yo ung women, one American, one German , each most attractive and competent. Our Captain was Ame ri can, still youngish but with an impress ive bac kground of experience, who had piloted Sea Cloud on many prev ious voyages. His attracti ve wife was aboard during our trip.

We anchored off Mykonos for a brief visit to that charming white-washed vi ll age SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

one evening just before sunset. We were delighted by its narrow winding streets with quaint shops displaying embroidered blouses, crocheted doilies and knitted sweaters, hand crafts and jewelry. Strains of Greek song and music wafted from restaurants where lights glowed warm as dusk came on. While hurrying back to the landing dock by bus, we were treated to a beautiful sight-the dark silhouette of our " tall ship" against the crimson afterglow of sunset-a view never to be forgotten.

MRS. PAUL FOLEY, JR.

Manhasset , New York Another NMHS-sponsored cruise to the Greek Isles is scheduled for August 7. Members should have received their brochures by now. Anyone interested should respond quickly, as these tours sell out early.

And Then There Were Some More ...

I read with interest Thomas Wells' article "And Then There Were None" in the autumn issue on the XXXIX Cape Homers World Congress at Imperia , Italy. I can readily appreciate the distinction Mr. Wells makes between yachtsmen who have rounded Cape Horn and the older square rig commercial sailors who rounded the Horn. However, there is a link between the yachtsmen of today and the square rig seamen of yesterday-the round ing of Cape Horn under sail! The British Section of the AICH (Association oflnternational Cape Homers) includes membes from the United States, Canada , Australia , Eire and South Africa , as well as the United Kingdom. As a yacht member who recently attended the British Annual General Meeting in Greenwich , I can state that this section welcomes new members, either yachtsmen or square rig commercial sailors, who have rounded Cape Horn under sail. Any person interested should write to: Hon. Secretary, AICH, Mrs. Molly Bartlett, National Maritime Museum , Greenwich , London SElO 9NF, United Kingdom.

MICHAEL J. JOH NSON

Ernest Hemingway called her a "strange and unbelievable Monster," belching fl ame and steel at the coast of France in 1944- but she was our monster, and immensely reassuring to the scared troops dri vi ng in small boats toward the hostile shore. So the battleship Texas continued to serve a generation after she was commissioned , into quite a different world , in 1914. When she was built , in what for most Americans was still the horse and buggy era, she was a Battlestar Galactica of her day. Walter Rybka and the White Elephant Management gang worki ng on her called her that when I visited with them last fall. Only partl y, perhaps , in jest: there is a gathered power in the vessel that g ives one pause, stepping over her rail today, a power compounded of what she is and what she stood for. And that is what Rybka , a sailing man venturing into a new territory, ex plores in his thoughtful examination of the ship and her myth which beg ins on page 8. .

He and I do not fully agree on the usefulness of the ship and her type-the dreadnought battleship in history. But we cherish and cultivate that difference: truth in history is not a God-given thing, only the quest for it is-and that is unending.

Our quest for the truth of the seafaring experience is vastly strengthened by the Rybkas, the shipsavers like Karl Kortum , sa ilormen like Biff Bowker, scholars like Bob Herbert , collectors like Barbara Johnson. These are the people in the field , doing things, the dreamers of dreams, sailors of ships, the students and leaders of projects. Our wisdom, we like to think , flows from the work of such people, or from our efforts to keep up wi th them. T he caring of the individual member is vital to this act; ifthe people are grass, as an old say ing has it , they are the grass of histo ry's pasture, they nouri sh great things.

Our Society's winning th ro ugh to its 21st birthday this year is thanks to our members.

We mean to make this the year of the member'

Grundy, Virgi nia

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A fighting lady

One of her planes, an SB2C Helldiver, wheels home out of the lonely sky to land on the ship's welcoming decks. This was August 12, 1944. Intrepid has just joined Task Force 38, the main battlefleet in the Pacific, following repairs made necessary by a torpedo hit earlier in the year. Later she'll be hit by three kamikazes, losing lives and planes. But always she comes back. She keeps on hitting.

It's March 18, 1945, offthe coast ofjapan.

Fighting a determined foe, the great ship narrowly avoids a Japanese kamikaze bomber which crashed into the sea alongside her. Her own planes, hunched down on the flight deck, will survive this moment to take off in operations against the Japanese home islands.

needs your help!

USS Intrepid helped us all when we needed her help desperately. Today she needs your help to perform her last, in some ways most vital mission-to tell her own story and that of her people, so that Americans of this generation and generations to come may know how a free people fought and won the greatest sea war in history. How they did it, and what it cost.

James Ean, director of the Intrepid Aerospace Museum, remembers well his first sight of the great aircraft carrier which houses the museum. The ship lies at quiet moorings today, on Manhattan's West Side just north of 42nd Street. When Jim first saw her, her huge grey bulk loomed over the horizon of the Pacific Ocean where the ship he served in, one of a scratch group of hastily converted aircraft carriers, was operating in the struggle to roll back the Japanese air-sea onslaught of World War II. "She looked beautiful," he recalls. "With that kind of ship we knew we could win:' Intrepid was one of five Z7,000-ton Essex class carriers laid down just before American entry into World War II. Completed at Newport News Shipyard in just over a year and a half, she went through the arduous training that welds ship, planes and men into a fighting unit in the fall of 1943, steaming out to join the fleet in the Pacific early in 1944. Her arrival, with her sistersultimately 17 of these great carriers served in World War II-had a decisive effect on the Pacific war, punching great holes in the webbed defenses of the Japanese island empire and reducing the awesome power of the Imperial Japanese Navy to a few shattered hulks still afloat by the war's end.

Many of the people who worked to build the ship had never seen the inside of a shipyard before. Many of the people who served in her had never seen a ship before.

They learned. And they taught the world how great ships are built-and how they are sailed to victory.

The Intrepid Museum looks back to these lessons of history- hard learned lessons paid for at a high priceand also looks forward to the American adventure in space with the great influence that will have on future history. The ship carries a very important message to the people of New York City and the nation today. We of the New York Council of the Navy League of the United States want to see her strengthened and confirmed in that role. The great ship needs your help!

Here's what you can do:

• Write Hon. Edward I. Koch, Mayor of the City of New York, City Hall, New York, New York 10007 to tell him why you want to see this ship kept open to the public in New York. There is a good deal that the city can do in reducing rents and other costs, without spending tax dollars.

• Send people to the ship! It's a rewarding trip for families , school groups, office pals, golfing buddies ... people of all kinds, sorts and conditions.

• Give money to help with the budget, or time to help with volunteer tasks. Write or call Intrepid Museum Foundation, Intrepid Square, West 46th Street & 12th Avenue, New York, NY 10036: tel. 212 245-2533.

We of the New York Council of the Navy League are proud to support this important project. We run an active program of talks, lunches, ship visits in the New York area. If you'd like to know more about us, just drop us a line. We'd be glad to welcome you aboard!

NEW YORK COUNCIL NAVY LEAGUE OF THE UNITED STATES 37 West 44th Street • New York, New York 10036 • 212 575-1999

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Todd shipbuilders - an irreplaceable resource Todd's shipbuilders realize they have a highly responsible job : building and repairing the naval and commercial ships so necessary for national security and the transport of vital materials.

Angeles , we are constructing a ship lift and land transfer facility, to be operable the early part of 1984. When completed , this system will be capable of handling five ships simultaneously.

Our skilled craftsmen are delivering the guided missile frigates (FFGs) , under construction for the U. S. Navy, on time and on or under budget. We look forward to being afforded the opportunity to participate in the construction of the Aegis-equip ped Arleigh Burke class (DDG-51) guided missile destroyers to continue this outstanding performance .

We have the equipment, know-how and expert craftsmen , at all of our five shipyards, to provide rapid, high quality and cost efficient workmanship.

Give us the job and we'll deliver.

Todd has invested much of its profits in facility improvements, including new dry docks at Galveston, New Orleans and Seattle ; piers, cranes , CAD/ CAM computer technology, robotics and the acquisition of an entire shipyard in San Francisco, with a 65,000 long ton capacity dry dock. At Los

Todd Shipyards Corporation One State Street Pl aza, New York, N.Y 10004

DELIVERING THE SHIPS THE U.S. NEEDS WHEN IT NEEDS THEM.

The USS Texas shows a classic dreadnought profile as she slips in quietly past Morro Castle to bring President Hoover to H_avana in 1928. Much in this photo advertises its era, not least the throngs turned out towelcome a US Pres1.dent to Cuba! Today th.e heavily armed and armored ship herself no longer represents the force she once did, any more than the piled-up stone that made the fort a formidab le bastion in its time. But she and her kind served their turn in this century's ba11les against totalitarianism. Official US Navy photo.

The Last Dreadnought

by Peter Stanford One by one they have gone to their resting places. The USS Arizana (built the year after the Texas), caught unprepared , blew up in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 , and her underwater wreck is today a Navy memorial. England's Warspite, which came under the fire of the whole High Seas Fleet at Jutland in 1916, taking a dozen heavy hits, and which threw brand-new German destroyers up on the shore with fire from her own heavy guns at Narvik in 1941-she went hard , breaking away from the tug towing her to the scrapyard to wreck herself upon the rocks of Cornwall. Not all of them saw such action , but all helped shape history. Most of them lasted through two World Wars, and were retired quietly, and little noticed , a generation ago.

Only one of these battleships remains-the USS Tex.as, last of the dreadnought breed .

She seems small , our author Walter Rybka notes-an impression I certainly shared with him , coming to visit the tough 70-year old veteran in her quiet berth at San Jacinto just off the Houston Ship Channel . An historian of some distinction , who played a notable role bringing into being the super-dreadnoughts of Texas and Warspite's ilk , had noticed the same thing, in the long Edwardian evening just before the fury of World War I burst upon the world: For consider these ships, so vast in themselves, yet so small , so easily lost to sight on the sur face of the waters. Sufficient at the moment , we trusted , for their task , but yet on ly a score or so. They were all we had. On them, as we conceived, floated the might , majesty, dominion and power of the British Empire. All our long history built up century after centu ry, all ou r great affa irs in every part of the globe, all the means of livelihood and safety of our faithful. industrious, act ive population depended upon them. Open the sea-cocks and let

SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

them sink beneath the surface, as another Fleet was one day to do in another British harbour far to the North, and in a few minutes-half an hour at the most-the whole outlook of the world would be changed .... Europe after one sudden co nvulsion pass ing into the iron gnp and rule of the Teuton and of all that the Teutonic system meant.

There would only be left far off across the Atlantic unarmed , unready, and as yet uninstructed America to maintain , single-handed , law and freedom among men .

That is how Winston S. Churchill , out of office between the wars saw these ships. And in my generation, coming into awareness i~ the 1930s as the Nazi menace rose to tower over a distraught divided world , I knew the names and armaments of each of thes~ ships, these survivors from another era that remained as the ultimate force that kept the sea lanes open. Without them , it seemed clear to me (and still does today) , the German energies that went mto undersea warfare, released into far more efficient flotilla and cruiser ~arfare on the surface, would have ended either of the two wars m weeks. It was the dreadnoughts that shut the gate and held it.

The USS Tex.as-not to give away her story, which follows never entered the ultimate, life-and-death sea battle for which she was so boldly, carefully and artfully designed . That is someti mes held against her and her type. Why build this expensive thing that never fights? But that's the point. She never fought that ultimate action because her grip was never broken .

That is the test of her success.

NB: 7he fleet that opened its seacocks was the German High Seas Fleet, some time after its surrender in 1918 under the guns of USS Texas, among others.

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"Pride of the Navy," this classic portrait is labeled in a proud hand. Sh e's already been to war: the director control atop the bridge, the range dial on the cage mast and bearing label on the superfiring turrent forward , are all results of her service with Britain 's Grand Fleet in the North Sea in the final year of World War/. Her big guns have yet to fire a shot in anger, but their menace helped keep Germany 's Hoch See Flotte useless in port. Photos , Texas State Parks & Wildlife Commission unless otherwise noted.

USS TEXAS: The Ship, and the Myth

by Walter P. Rybka The first impression made upon me by the Texas, as I drove up to her where she is at rest today, in a tree-lined bend of the Houston ship channel , was that she is far smaller than I had envisioned her. This is not just because her dimensions are only about half those of one of the supertankers that pass her bound to Houston's tank farms and refineries-it is because the legend and myth surrounding the dreadought battleship is so vast.

The dreadnoughts were the most important ships of their age and while relatively few were built (Britain had only 20 at the outbreak of World War I, and just 15 when World War II began) , they exerted an awesome influence on world affairs. Their destructive power was a leap of technology to a higher and more dangerous plane, yet the physical power of such ships seems almost incidental to the psychological power they had over the thinking of nations.

The United States alone still owns battleships. The four Iowa class ships are being returned to active service, and the Texas , Alabama, North Carolina , and Massachusetts are decommissioned and run as museums in their name states. Of these the Texas is by far the oldest and is the only surviving battleship in the world from the Dreadnought Era-the years leading up to World War I, in which these ships were the ultimate weapons, decisive factors in national policy decisions.

When she was laid down in 1911 , the Texas was to be the most powerful ship in the world. The international standard of heavygun power had been the 12in gun (firing an 849lb shell) until the Royal Navy's Orion class introduced the 13.5in gun (firing a 1395lb shell) in 1910-a 64 percent increase in weight delivered.

When the Texas was commissioned in 1914 with 10-14in guns , she threw the heaviest broadside in the world (14,000lb) until Britain's Queen Elizabeth class entered service the next year with 8-15in guns (15,000lb). This accelerating tempo of escalation came Jess than a decade after the introduction of the dreadnought type-the all-big-gun battleship which completely outclassed all earlier warships.

The power of these great guns must be seen against the background of a time when most Americans still lived on farms and travelled in horse-drawn vehicles on unpaved roads, and many veterans still walking had carried muzzle-loading muskets 8

in the Civil War. The advent of ships like the Texas that could steam worldwide and fire broadsides hurling seven tons of hot metal over twelv.:: miles to sink fleets or level cities was profoundly disquieting .

From the time of the Spanish Armada through the Crimean War the world's battlefleets were made up of "ships of the line," large wooden sailing vessels each carrying numerous muzzleloading guns ranged down her sides on two or more decks.

Parallelling the rapid development of the industrial revolution ashore, the destructive power of warships began a geometric increase in the 19th century with the introduction of shell-firing guns in the 1820s, followed by the introduction of steam propulsion in the 1840s, iron construction in the '50s, armor plate and rams in the '60s, breech-loading guns in the '70s , quick firing in the ' 80s, and effective torpedoes in the '90s.

The pendulum swung between ever increasing offensive and defensive capability. The second half of the 19th century saw many strange experimental and hybrid designs as naval architects tried to keep up with the new developments and wrestle with the basic problem of keeping a large mass of iron afloat when everyone was doing their worst to let water into it.

During this period the size of battleships crept upward from 10,000 tons to between 12- and 15,000 tons, but was held there for a time by an informal common consent. This was not because larger ships could not be built but because most navies felt safer with larger numbers of smaller ships and, more important, because parliaments refused to pay for anything larger. By the 1890s a more or less standard international battleship evolved that was typically armed with 4-12in guns, 6 to 16 intermediate guns of 6-IOin , and a plethora of light guns to keep away torpedo boats.

The design assumption was that battles would be fought at ranges of3-4,000 yards, the limit for direct sighting . This was little more than the extreme range of Nelson's guns but beyond the then effective range of torpedoes. The heavy guns were expected to do the armor smashing but the intermediate battery was considered necessary to achieve a high volume of fire which would demolish the lesser protected portions of an enemy ship. These assumptions were not to last long. The newer guns were capable of far greater ranges and there was every incentive for a comSEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

It's July/, 1911 , and the Texas is just 301 months old as thousands of tons of carefully shaped steel take form at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company. Th ey built the Texas, in all her complexity, in under three years-a very considerable achievement for the young American industrial establishment, in what was still the horse-andbuggy era (note the two horses bringing supplies to build this incredible sea machine!).

mander to open fire as soon as possible, hoping to damage the enemy before the range closed.

At the Battle of Santiago in 1898, five American battleships destroyed four much weaker Spanish cruisers by firing at ranges of over 5,000 yards, but with minimal accuracy. One source estimated only one hit was achieved for every 300 rounds fired.

The US Navy took a very serious look at its gunnery training program but the problem was common to all navies and efforts to correct it went on parallel paths on both sides of the Atlantic.

As the range opened up two things were soon realized: The only way to correct the fall of shell was for an observer high in the ship to sight the splashes of misses, and at a range of several thousand yards it was impossible to distinguish the splashes made by 12in shells from those of say an 8in or 9in shell and thus impossible to correct the aim of individual guns. And at the longer ranges the smaller guns would have little effect against a well armored ship.

The logical conclusion was the concept of the all-big-gun ship.

If a ship were given guns of a uniform calibre the fall of shell could be expected to achieve close grouping. If 8-10 guns were mounted they could be fired in two alternating salvoes, reducing the lag between firings to half the loading time, thus minimizing the rate of change (the distance the target could move before the next salvo arrived). Four or five shells landing together offered a fair chance of scoring a hit and with all 12in shells not many hits would be required.

The idea occurred simultaneously in several places. In England Admiral Fisher was thinking about such a ship in 1900, and the Italian designer Cuniberti published an article in the 1903 Jane's Fighting Ships describing an ideal battleship armed with 12-12in guns. The first complete designs to be drawn up were begun in 1903 by the US Navy for the battleships Michigan and South Carolina. The design work was very thorough-the ships were not begun until 1905, and were not commissioned until 1908. The first to begin construction of an all-big-gun battleship were the Japanese, who laid the keels of their two Satsuma class ships some months ahead of the Michigans. Both nations' ships had a main battery of 8-12in guns. In 1904 Germany began design work on a ship to carry 12-12in guns but waited to see how British ships evolved before beginning to build theirs in 19ITT. Meanwhile in England , Fisher was now First Sea Lord. Spurred by knowledge of American plans and suspicions of German intentions he convened a committee in December 1904 to produce a design for the Royal Navy. The plans took shape in a few short months and the ship was begun in late 1905 and built in the record time of 14 months . Named Dreadnought, she was the first of the new kind when commissioned in January 19ITT. The truly unique aspect of the Dreadnought was not her design but the astonishing speed of her construction and the fact that three more of her kind were built in each of the two following years. This reflected British shipbuilding prowess coupled with Fisher's zeal but was even more the product of the political situation in which Britain saw her position threatened by the rise of the German fleet.

The 19th century was a time of relative stability in Europe.

Since the end of the Napoleonic Wars England had been the supreme naval power. Shipping was the lifeblood of the British Empire, to the extent that in the last quarter of the 19th century four out of five ships afloat flew the Red Duster.* The British Army was minuscule by European standards, and spread thinly over the Empire. British policy was to stay clear of European alliances and conflicts. At the same time the British were sufficiently wor-

Always,for any ship, a great moment: her people file aboard for commissioning ceremonies, March 12, 1914, as a late snow lies on the ground. 1he Salvation Army horse-drawn wagon provides hot coffee, a crew member, who was present at this scene recalled. He kept a scrapbook of her early years. I* do not know his name.

"What it takes to man a.fighting machine": 1he crew, some 1,200 strong , our anonymous member noted, gathers in a traditional portrait, Captain Albert S. Grant, USN, standing square behind the life ring. Most ofthese men had served together on an earlier battleship sold off to the Greeks; they come to the ship as a cohesive unit, enabling her to step forward into her role as the world's strongest warship.

*1he British merchant shipping flag.-ED.

SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

9

"Germany was now more isolated and in a more inferior position than ever; yet the only solution seen was to build more shivs." â&#x20AC;˘)

ried about alliances between potential enemies that their naval policy was governed by the "two power standard':._by which the Royal Navy was to be maintained at a greater strength than the next two most powerful navies combined. By the tum of the century Great Britain had over 40 battleships and over 300 smaller types.

Germany, by this time, had become the fastest growing power, with a higher birth rate than England or France and the world's largest steel industry. The country was governed by a Prussian military caste which felt Germany was entitled to be a world power. The two men most responsible for the events that followed were Kaiser Wilhelm , who was determined to get Germany a " place in the sun," and Admiral Tirpitz, who convinced him that building a battle fleet was the way to do it. The German Navy had for some years been a qualitatively excellent but small coastal defense force. Tirpitz lobbied hard and in 1897 the Bundestag passed a Navy Law mandating the construction of a sizeable fleet , including 19 battleships within five years. Britain took note but there was no immediate cause for alarm-German shipbuilding capacity was then small and it seemed hardly credible that the Royal Navy could be threatened in the foreseeable future.

The Boer War in South Africa brought tension between Germany and Britain. The Germans were pro-Boer but were powerless to intervene with the Royal Navy controlling all trade routes and intercepting arms shipments to the Boers. Tirpitz made political capital out of this, leading to the Navy Law of 1900, which authorized an additional three battleships per year above those already planned .

This placed the British in a dilemma. To abandon the two power standard seemed heresy and to build more battleships, financially ruinous . The British decided to abandon the policy of non-alignment and seek a mutual defense alliance with Japan in 1902 and an informal understanding with France and Russia to end rivalry in naval development or colonial expansion . This securing of interests by agreement allowed the British to withdraw squadrons of the fleet from the far corners of the world and concentrate their power to face the Germans in the North Sea .

Tirpitz's strategy had backfired . Germany was now more isolated and in a more inferior position than ever, yet the only solution seen was to build more ships. In England some strident voices suggested the Royal Navy should "Copenhagen the German Fleet':._a reference to the Battle of Copenhagen in 1803, in which Lord Nelson annihilated a Danish fleet in a preemptive strike lest the Danes ally with France. Such notions could only throw fuel on the fire.

It was against this background of intense rivalry that the construction of the Dreadnought was perceived to be so sensational .

She represented a large escalation in destructive power, but this was the next logical step in a series of developments going for-

ward in all major navies. The real escalation was in the speed with which Fisher determined the Royal Navy had to be first and pushed the process to completion .

Tirpitz viewed the Dreadnought as a direct attempt at intimidation. The building of this one large ship was seen as far more threatening than the construction of any number of smaller ones because it was beyond the scale of German facilities . The largest battleships before the Dreadnought were 15,000 tons, with German ships at no more than 13,000. To accommodate the combination of massive firepower, armor, and speed demanded

by Fisher the Dreadnought was built to the unprecedented size of 18,000 tons. Germany could literally not float a battleship of this size. In order to compete, slipways would have to be lengthened , drydocks enlarged , the Kiel Canal widened , new locks built , and harbors and channels dredged to accommodate the deeper draft of such vessels. The Germans at once took up the challenge.

Fisher's new ship put the British in the strange position of nullifying their own superiority in the now-outmoded predreadnoughts at a single stroke. A Liberal government was in power in England and there was growing concern over the need for social legislation ; unemployment was high and old-age pensions nonexistent or inadequate. Parliament did not enjoy being told that the vast sums spent on the Navy to date were largely invalidated and that truly staggering sums would be needed to rebuild the fleet yet again .

In Germany the situation was nearly the same, with rising armament expenditures at last being hotly debated. In both countries the opposition was sizeable-but the militant voices prevailed . The result was an absolutely unprecedented arms race which spread like a fever of fear and pride around the globe.

Within five years of the launching of the Dreadnought England had authorized 29 capital ships, Germany 21, and the United States 12. France, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Spain , Russia , Japan , Greece, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina , and Chile all had 2 to 4 ships either building or on order in foreign yards .

On the other side of the Atlantic United States naval development had swung from post-Civil War indifference to a determination to have a fleet second to none. A large part of the reason for the earlier complacence was the general effectiveness of the "Pax Britannica," the worldwide stability of trade routes controlled by the omnipresent Royal Navy. On the surface the US had ongoing disagreements with Britain, over arms sales to the Confederacy or fishing rights with Canada, but basically US and British interests coincided. The business of both nations was business, and the foreign policy of both was nonalignment. The Royal Navy policed the world's oceans to keep the seas free for British commerce and the United States gained as much by it, without the costs of maintaining a navy.

Joining the fleet, the Texas (from which this photograph was made) steams in line abreast with her twin sister New York, and beyond a ship ofher predecessor class Wyoming. This battle line is the third strongest

in the world, and is widely known to Americans-this photo being from one of a bunch of postcards featuring the Texas, probably collected by our anonymous photographer.

The sea, no respecter of machines of war or any other kind, tosses the heavy ship up... and sends her smashing down while tons of water roil across her decks. Bauleships were notoriously wet, but built to take punishment they could steam through seas that defeated lighter craft.

By the late 1880s, however, the United States was ready to start a modest program ofnew ship construction. No crisis threatened , but with the growing power of foreign navies it was considered imprudent to leave the country absolutely defenseless any longer. The stated primary mission was to be coast defense but the ships were not used this way. This new navy was ready by the time the nation succumbed to a fit of jingoism and visions of empire. War with Spain in 1898 resulted in the acquisition of her colonies of Cuba and the Philippines. The United States then embarked on major naval expansion, and in Teddy Roosevelt's presidency enthusiasm for the navy resulted in building numerous battleships on a par with current European designs. By the time the Dreadnought was built the US Navy was well along in construction of its own version, the Michigan class. With 25 of the pre-dreadnought type built or building, the US had much to lose in the premature obsolescence of the world's third largest fleet of expensive new ships, but the trend was calmly assumed to be inevitable. The commitment was made by Congress to fund two new battleships a year until the fleet had been upgraded to the 17 dreadnoughts authorized by the outbreak of World War I. And the ships kept getting bigger, becoming superdreadnoughts beginning with HMS Orion and her 13.5in gun. The new gun's range, accuracy, and above all its striking power dramatically outclassed any 12in gun. But this bigger gun was of course heavier, requiring more displacement to float it. The turrets, their supporting barbettes and magazines had to be made larger which increased the area to be armored and the armor had to be thicker to account for the rise in penetrating power. All these factors increased weight which forced the ship to become bigger which then required more power to drive it and so still more displacement was needed. Each succeeding round in the dreadnought competition was more expensive than the last. The Texas's immediate predecessor Arkansas, 12-12in guns on 26,000 tons, cost $4.7 million . The Texas class was increased to 27,000 tons to take 10-14in guns and the cost rose to over $6 million.

As an artifact the Texas is somewhat a paradox . Her greatest historical significance is as an example of the World War I superdreadnought. At that time battleships were the ultimate weapons, the mere existence of which swayed national policy.

Typically enough, however, she saw no action in that war, although the arms race to build the dreadnought fleets had been a contributing factor in starting the war. More money had been spent on battleships than on anything else and yet precisely this cost kept them from being often used . Their loss was too catastrophic to risk.

Her current appearance is the result of inter-war modifications and additions to her armament and equipment made for World War II. During that war she saw action, but only in a role her designers had never envisioned: providing artillery support for land battles. World War II was the important part of this ship's SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

operational history, but by then she was an anachronism.

This dual identity adds to her uniqueness as the only remaining US naval vessel to have served in both world wars and makes a study of her all the more instructive because such a wide range of strategic and tactical ideas are built into the ship.

The shape of the hull truly identifies her as a World War I ship. the stem slopes forward to a bulbous bow that was not a ram but is in profile deliberately reminiscent of one. Along her straight but sloping sheer line the deck edge undulates in and out and the plating is molded in striking sculptural forms around what were originally casemates for the secondary battery-Sin guns for defense against torpedo attack by fast-moving vessels that had to be stopped by a high volume of fire. War experience showed that such attacks were not the threat they'd been thought to be, and also that wars don't stop for bad weather, which flooded the casemates in the ship's sides. Her battery was cut down, from 21 guns to 6, and these were moved up a deck.

Below the now barren casemate level , the sides bulge outward from torpedo blisters, an outer shell of light plate added in the ship's major refit in 1925. Wartime losses had shown torpedo protection to be grossly inadequate. The thin plating interposed 5ft 5in out from the ship's side was to detonate the torpedo outside the hull , giving some chance for the internal protection system, including several bulkheads, to absorb the blast before it reached vital spaces.

These changes, augmented by others, notably the anti-aircraft armament piled up on decks and superstructure to meet the aircraft challenge of World War II, and the enormously expanded superstructure around the foremast, devoted to larger staffs and more extensive equipment for command, sensing and information functions, do not succeed in obscuring the central purpose of the ship-her only real purpose.

This resides in her ten great guns in five twin turrets. Her reason for being was to float these guns through an action, and keep them shooting effectively at an enemy. Everything else in the ship is designed around these weapons. and when they speak, they make an impression. My uncle saw the Texas firing at German positions ashore during the Normandy invasion in 1944. He was a signalman on a Liberty ship about % of a mile away. Every time the Texas fired a broadside the shock wave made the deck plates jump under his feet.

Visitors can enter the midship turret through a small hatch at its rear lower plate. One climbs into the turret captain's cramped booth with small scuttles port and starboard into the gun rooms.

The breeches of the 14in guns take up most of the space and crowded around them are the loading gear and elevating and training controls. The turret is divided by a centerline bulkhead in the hope that if it's penetrated in action the gun crew on one side or the other might have had a chance of survival and keeping their gun in action . The guns could be loaded and fired in 40 11

"For all the scientific sophistication involved in dreadnoughts, at the crucial hours they were totally dependent on the musclepower and stamina of a few hundred men armed with shovels."

For the little city of men who li ved aboard and worked the ship, coaling was the dirtiest j ob: the dust got in everywhere and reduced the usually immaculate vessel to a.filthy shambles.

seconds . In firing salvoes from each gun alternately the turret would be shaken by a deafening crash every 20 seconds. Depending on magazine arrangements, turret crews were from 70 to 100 men. Only a few were in the turret, with the rest distributed through the magazines and ammunition hoists. The shells weighed up to 1500lb and were fired by four powder bags of 105lb each.

These had to be handled manually many times to get from powder room to breech.

The complexity of the hoists was due to the need to guard against fire if the armor was pierced by a shell. Fire penetrating to the magazines usually resulted in the ship blowing up and sinking in seconds. As a powder bag moved up the hoist it passed through many flash-tight flaps that would close behind it.

Several lateral movements and right angle turns were involved as well. These arrangements were intended to ensure that in the event of damage the fire would be limited to only a few bags. The powder was theoretically explosive only in the tight space of a gun breech or in the concentration of the magazine. If a bag were ignited in a larger space it was supposed to flash rather like a giant match. If a shell pierced the armor, the hoist compartments would be ripped apart and the crews killed by blast or burning.

Saving the ship then depended on flooding the magazines , which often drowned those stationed there.

Wreaking just such havoc on the enemy vessel first was the overriding purpose of the hours of drill required to achieve fast and accurate shooting. There could be no fat men in a turret crew.

The rush to general quarters meant racing up narrow ladders and squeezing through tiny scuttles in the maze of claustrophobic cubicles that were instantly sealed and dogged down like a tomb.

Just getting there was a major athletic event let alone the hot and heavy work of tossing a steady stream of powder up to the hungry guns. It took months to work a crew up to speed . Each forced himself to become an integral moving part of the whole immense mechanism.

The ship's tremendous firepower was controlled from the mast tops. The multi-stored tower-like structure atop her present tripod mast was built to house the directors for the main and secondary batteries. These were duplicated abaft the stack, in case the main director& were knocked out. The director was a combination mechanical and optical instrument to take constantly adjusted bearings on the target and feed the data down to the plotting table in the bowels of the ship. The plotting table was a mechanical computer which worked out the course and speed of the ship, course and speed of the target, and where the target would most likely be after the 30 seconds or so that the shells would be in flight. Also taken into account were such variables as the heat of the guns (ballistic properties changed as they heated up with prolonged firing) , barometric pressure, local magnetic variations, and the rotation of the earth. The necessary elevation and lead were computed in seconds and fed to the gunners in the turrets. When all guns were ready they could be fired 12

simultaneously by a trigger in the director.

Naval gunnery was equivalent in the dreadnought era to missile guidance systems today and solving its problems soaked up the equivalent brain power of that generation's mathematicians and engineers. The object was to land all of the shells of a salvo in a close grouping with some falling short and some over the target. Achieving such a "straddle" made it likely that sooner or later one or more of the shells would be hit. Five percent hits was considered excellent shooting.

If the directors or range finders (and in World War II , the radar) were hit, the ship was effectively blinded. The turrets were equipped to carry on the fight individually but independent fire was only effective at extremely close ranges , which were rarely encountered. One of the weaknesses of a battleship was that while it might have required an immense amount of damage to sink one, it required relatively little to render it ineffective-as the Bismarck proved to be in 1941 after being knocked about by her British pursuers. Despite her superlative gunnery a few days earlier when she sank the Hood, she did not register a single hit against the two British battleships that closed in to finish her off, though her main battery was still intact.

Below the director platforms on the tripod mast are all of the levels of the bridge and conning tower. The bridge compartments were all an accretion of continuing modifications. As built the bridge was little more than a catwalk with room for a few people.

This was a deliberate design policy to force officers to become accustomed to operating the ship from within the armored conning tower which was considered to be the captain's proper battle station. The problem was that visibility out of the slits in the 12in armor was so poor that commanders frequently preferred to stay out on the bridge regardless of circumstances in order to see what was going on and feel they still had a handle on the tactical situation . World War I experience showed that a far larger staff than had been envisioned was needed for signalling and communication work and that long patrols in bad weather made exposure a serious problem. The only solution was to give bridge personnel a dry, comfortable place to work from.

In action against German shore batteries off Cherbourg on June 25, 1944 the Texas was hit on the conning tower by an Hin shell which did nothing to the tower but exploded upward , blasting apart the deck of the wheelhouse. The helmsman was killed and thirteen others wounded . Control was immediately shifted to the Executive Officer in the conning tower and the action continued. The first thing that jumps to mind is that if the ship had not been conned from the wheelhouse the casualties could have been avoided . However the Texas was in a three-hour gunnery duel with shells splashing all around her. The fact that she was hit only twice (the second shell failed to detonate and caused no casualties) is most likely attributable to the skillful evasive maneuvering of her captain, which could only be accomplished with the visibility the bridge granted.

SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

The big three-quarter ton shells that make the ship a formidable contender throughout her career are wheeled past the big guns in a cleaner and more deadly operation; and, at far right, the big guns speak!

Abaft the bridge is the smokestack. Originally she had two stacks to serve coal-fired boilers. In the World War I era every time a warship returned to port the first job was to coal ship, all hands turning to with shovels to get thousands of tons from lighters into the bunkers. It was filthy, backbreaking work and could take up to twelve hours. Underway, the stokers had to

"Every time the Texas fired a broadside the shock wave made the deck plates jump under his feet." balance on a rolling, pitching, deck plate in the steel inferno of a fireroom where the temperature was frequently over 100 ° and shovel coal for hours into the roaring furnaces. In action all hands would be at stations throughout the ship and there would be no relief at the change of watch. It was then that speed would be wanted most and if the engagement lasted long enough the stokers would start dropping from exhaustion. It is surprising to realize that for all the scientific sophistication involved in dreadnoughts, at the crucial hours they were totally dependent on the musclepower and stamina of a few hundred men armed with shovels.

The Texas was the last class of coal-fired battleships in the US Navy. In 1925 she was converted to oil, her original 14 boilers being replaced by 6 larger, more efficient oil-fired boilers.

The Texas's huge reciprocating engines are a National Engineering Landmark, among the largest of their kind ever built and the last of that size in existence. The engines were anachronistic even in 1911, high-speed rotary turbines being in common use for warships by then. The US Navy had already powered five earlier dreadnoughts with turbines but when the manufacturers refused to meet the specifications for the Texas the older type was reverted to. They are four-cylinder triple-expansion and built to a truly massive scale. Each 14,000hp engine stands three decks high . The cylinders range from 39in to 84in diameter, with a relatively short stroke of 48in . It would have run smoother with a longer stroke, but it had to be made to fit below the top of the belt armor and the armored deck-hunched down , as it were, to stay under cover.

The greatest part of the ship's weight is not the guns and not the giant engines that enable her to move the guns-it is the armor that protects her vitals and enables her to keep fighting under the most extreme punishment.

It was impossible to protect the whole ship. Only those areas essential to survival were covered . Most obvious are the gun turrets, with 14in faces and 12in sides tapering to Sin at the rear. The barbettes, the cylinders under the turrets, are 12in and protect the hoists down to the magazines . The magazines , engine rooms, and boiler rooms are all behind belt armor and under armored decks. Belt armor is vertically mounted plate along the ship's SEA HIS1DRY, SPRING 1984

The hitting power: Ten rifles of 14in diameter, each 52ft 6in long, mounted in twos in five revolving turrets. Each turret is heavilyannored, and turns upon an armored barbette-a three storey tower reaching down to the magazines in the bowels of the ship. This lethal assemblage spits forth over a tone of screaming metal a distance of up to 12 miles, every 40 seconds.

The protective system: The sides of the ship are protected by a main 12in belt, closed in at the ends by lOin armored bulkheads running across the ship, and roofed over with two armored decks totaling 6in thick. The upper armored deck was strengthened by an additional 5!8in to increase resistance to bombs and long-range plunging fire in the 1925 rebuild, and 5ft 5in bulges were added on each side to bring the depth of anti-torpedo protection to 15ft. Six bulkheads would have to be breached before water could get into the vitals of the ship, and then only in the afflicted compartment. No ship is unsinkable, but the Texas after her rebuild qualifies as a very tough nut, even for World Uilr 11 ordnance to crack.

MIDSHIP SECTION 1945

MIDSHIP SECTION 1914 13

The splendid dowager, still a first-class fighting unit, wearing bustlelike bulges added to increase anti-torpedo protection after World War I, squeezes through Gatun Locks in the Panama Canal. Her extensive rebuilding in 1925-26 made her a considerably more f ormidable fighting machine, able to absorb far more punishment and better equipped to f end off attack from the air. Al far right, in her ultimate guise in 1945, she hustles out to the Pacifi c. She is no longer the capital ship, in the Pacific War where aircraft carriers hold sway; but armed to th e teeth against air

attack, she delivers a knockout punch to shore def enses (with deadly accuracy and penetrating power far beyond what any aircraft can deliver) and remains a formidabl e def ense against surface incursion (twice in rhe war, thin-skinned aircraft carriers were caught by battleships and sunk on the spot). Being now the oldest battleship in the fleet , she is not with Oldendorffs rebuilt World War I dreadnoughts that fight and win the last dreadnought battle, at Surigao Strait on the night of October 24, 1944.

sides and on bulkheads athwartships to close off the ends. The Tex.as s belt tapers from 12in at the waterline and below the lowest armored deck , to 6'h in midship under the main deck . The purpose of the upper belt was to protect the original locations of the secondary battery from the fire of smaller vessels. It was expected that heavy shells would pierce it and detonate inside.

Their splinters were to be stopped by the 3in armor decks, of which there were two, on the first and second levels under the main deck .

Belt armor had to be thick because it was likely to be hit by the flatter trajectories and higher velocities of shorter ranges . Shells that made it through the thinner upper belt were expected to either detonate and only throw splinters or glance off the armored deck which therefore could be much thinner.

There was a serious flaw in this design based on an incorrect assessment of the great range at which battles were to be fought .

World War I showed that hits were scored near the outer limits of range, when the shell fall s at a steep angle. A shell could thus sail over the top of the belt and hit the deck without being slowed and at a steep enough angle to penetrate it. In the 1925 rebuilding the upper armored deck was increased to 4in to help correct this.

Armor could in no way confer invulnerability. It could improve the odds but not guarantee the result. At very short ranges the belt could be penetrated and at very long ranges steeply plunging fire could punch through the decks. It must be kept in mind that any ship may be completely destroyed by a single lucky hit. Invincibility is a cruel myth.

It is in the spaces below that one begins to realize the true complexity of a large warship. Designing the structural details for all the needed equipment and combining access with watertight integrity while allowing for miles of piping and wiring, and the paramount requirement of massive strength was an immense undertaking. The labor required to build such an all rivetted structure is simply mind boggling. In general, battleships were probably the strongest structures ever built and looked at from the

historical perspective of shipbuilding and engineering, the Texas is the ultimate surviving artifact from the age of rivetted steel.

The deck levels below the main deck and over the machinery and magazines held berthing spaces for the crew in every conceivable corner, to house her ultimate complement of 1800 men .

The ship in many ways is a self-contained floating city. As one walks past the post office, tailor shop, barber shop, and canteen the image comes to mind of an underground mall .

A curious omission in nearly all the technical and even the historical literature concerning battleships is the almost total absence of description of the human complexity of a warship.

The physical needs of 1800 men had to be accommodated in the steel confines of her decks, and the functions of living and housekeeping had to conform to the needs of the ever-present machinery. A compartment the size of the average living room may have been the windowless living and sleeping space of twenty men , with a Sin ammunition hoist coming up in the middle of it and counterflooding valves for damage control along one side.

The logistics of feeding , clothing, washing, etc. occupied whole divisions of the crew. Moving such numbers of men around within the ship was a giant job. Life was regulated precisely by the watch bills of who was supposed to do what when and the station bills of who was supposed to be where for every kind of situation. Even leisure time had severe space restrictions. Men off-watch were not allowed to wander about the ship below decks . This was partly to monitor and control the men's behavior, avoiding such "bad apple" problems as theft or goofing off. But the overriding concern was the need to reach general quarters readiness in the shortest possible time.

General quarters meant the assigned station of each man for battle; a cook might be an ammunition passer and an off-watch junior radioman might be assigned to a fire hose with a damage control team . Keeping the off-watch close to their stations could save crucial seconds in the urgent running to stations that required a meticulously worked out routine. Passage was up and

14

SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

"The power of an underwater explosion is so great that there is no way to design a protection system that does not involve absorbing and localizing the damage through the sacrifice of some compartments ... "

forward on the starboard side and aft and down on the port. The alarm could be sounded at any minute and catch hundreds sleeping, other hundreds eating, or bathing or painting.

As men ran along passageways or dove down ladders and began to spin gun elevating wheels, start ammunition hoists , run out firehoses, or lay out bandages and tourniquets, the sound of watertight doors being dogged and armored hatches clanging shut resounded through the ship. Only the few gunners, gun director crews, signalmen , and officers on the bridge and in the conning tower saw anything of the battle. The overwhelming majority of the crew were deep within the ship, cut off from fresh air, the light of day, ornews of the engagement. Men in the engine rooms, boiler rooms, and magazines often could not distinguish between the roar and shock of their own guns firing or the enemy's shells arriving. There was often not the slightest indication of winning or losing until either the order came to secure from stations or the lights went out and the water rushed in. But most had specific tasks that kept them too busy to think about it.

"The dreadnought battleship represented an illusion of invincibility -in a world of increasing vulnerability."

The most nervewrackingjobs were had by the damage control and medical teams. It was their lot to stand by and wait while hell broke loose and if the ship took a hit it was their duty to go running towards the flames or the inrushing water to make the best of a bad situation.

The spaces below the lower armored deck are a daunting labyrinth of watertight compartments, a steel honeycomb designed to limit the spread of fire or flooding from torpedo or mine damage. This structural toughness , the ability to take punishment and keep the big guns shooting, is what defined the battleship.

The weapon that finally made the battleship obsolete was the aircraft-launched topedo. In World War I and earlier the torpedo had been the dreadnoughts' most dangerous foe. Between the wars it was recognized that battleships would face air attack in the future, but the expectation was that planes would drop armor piercing bombs from high altitude to punch through deck armor.

This in fact happened to the Arizana and the Tirpitz, but they were stationary targets attacked in port . Throughout the war high altitude bombers consistently missed anything that could move.

Dive bombers scored many hits, but their bombs were of nowhere near the power of the plunging shells which the battleships had been built to withstand. In nearly all cases of aircraft sinking battleships, it was by means of torpedoes.

The power of an underwater explosion is so great that there is no way to design an underwater protection system that does not involve absorbing and localizing the damage through the sacrifice of some compartments and thus some buoyancy. One or two torpedoes almost never sink a battleship, but it was just a matter of attrition to breach enough compartments and the ship attacked was guaranteed to sink. Battleships may have been far harder to sink than any other vessel but they could stiJI be sunk and by weapons vastly cheaper than their own guns.

And in their role as capital ship they were superseded by the flexibility, speed, and range of the carrier and her aircraft. In 1850 a major warship could cover 150 miles in 24 hrs and throw about 1500lb of shot per minute to about 2 miles . By 1910 a battleship could steam 500 miles a day and throw 15,000lb of shell per minute 12 miles. By 1940 this increased to 700 miles and the SEA HISlDRY, SPRING 1984

throw to 20,000!b hurled nearly 20 miles. However, by that date an aircraft carrier could steam the same distance and its planes could cover over 150 miles per hour and deliver 40,000!b of ordinance.

The Texas was built as part of that first dramatic upsurge of accelerating escalation . Within ten years of her building ships were being built that she would have had smaJI hope of survival against. After her launching the navy kept improving armor, and gunpower took another dramatic leap in the 16in gun which the US introduced in 1916. As World War I ended in 1918 the British fleet was still the world's largest but the US fleet had newer, more powerful ships. Japan began a program to catch up with the US, and Britain began designing ships that could outclass both . The new designs were all monsters of over 40,000 tons, capable of over 30kt, thickly armored , and armed with 16in or even 18in guns .

The United States called a halt to this folly by convening the Washington Naval Conference of 1922 , which permitted the three leading powers to each complete or build two new 16in gun ships in return for scrapping a far larger tonnage of older ones.

A ten year holiday on new construction was agreed to and replacements of older vessels could only be built after they were twenty years old , later extended to twenty-five. Parity was at the status quo, giving these ratios: US 5, Great Britain 5, Japan 3, and France and Italy each 1.75. The Washington Conference held firm for its ten year term. In 1931 it was extended.for five years .

There was hope that it would continue and that a further reduction could be negotiated to reduce gun calibre to 14in . The British committed themselves to the 14in gun when they began the new King George V class, before the conference was reconvened.

The naval agreements fell apart under the rise of fascism. In 1934 Japan gave two years' notice that she would not renew the treaty. In 1935 Germany renounced the terms of the Versailles Treaty that had limited her to a coast defense navy of ships no larger than 10,000 tons , and at once began to build battleships of 26,000 and later 41,000 tons. Italy was building two of 41 ,000 tons. In 1938 at the London Naval Conference Great Britain, the United States, and France agreed to limit future construction to 45,000 tons but by then it was almost a moot point. The Japanese announced they would abide by this new limit but were secretly building two monsters of 63,000 tons armed with 18in guns. So this second arms race ended up just like the first, with everyone racing to outbuild each other until the war started in 1939 and the new tactics relegated the battleship to second place.

In this perspective much can be learned from the Texas. Her story combines the genius of engineers, the folly of statesmen , the fear of nations and the bravery of men in struggle and ruin , uncertainty and hope. The Texas was built at a crossroads in history, a time that marked the end of isolationism for the United States, the end of the existing world order, and an unprecedented growth in armaments and their destructiveness. There is no more fitting symbol of an era that ended the most peaceful century Europe had known in a dozen centuries or more. The dreadnought battleship, a type of which she is the last survivor, represented an illusion of invincibility in a world of increasing vulnerability. .ti

Mr. Rybka , former skipper ofthe South Street schooner Pioneer, is director ofrestoration for the Galveston Historical Foundation '.s bark Elissa; see his reports in SH 15 and 26 (now available in a commemorative edition from GHF, PO 539, Galveston TX 77553).

15

USS TEXAS (BB35) Chronology Texas today at the San Jacinto National Monument. Ph: David Canright.

Planning the Restoration of the Battleship Texas

by James D. Bell, Director of Parks Texas Parks & Wildlife Department The oldest battleship in the United States, the USS Texas came under the stewardship of the State of Texas on April 21, 1948. As a pre-World War I battleship, the Texas did not figure prominently in the Navy's plans after World War II-but the ship was a source of pride for the people of Texas! Except for a brief twoyear period, the Texas operated under the Battleship Texas Commission until September 1, 1983. The passage of time has not been kind to the Texas . Effective September 1, 1983, the Texas became a part of the Texas State Park System , a division of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Under Parks and Wildlife, the battleship will enjoy a support organization that it never had previously. This support includes an experienced administrative structure, a development planning unit with a history of a team approach to planning, expertise in historic site planning, and similar expertise in interpretive planning. At the same time, Parks and Wildlife recognized that naval architecture is a very specialized field and that additional expertise will have to be brought to bear. Of equal importance, Parks and Wildlife realizes that large financial resources will be required for a major restoration of the battleship, and that both private and public sources of funds will have to be tapped to achieve the Department's goals.

Work is already underway to improve the interpretive signage of the ship and to upgrade the overall appearance of the public areas. Planning for the restoration of the Texas will proceed in stages. The initial stage, already begun , is the investigation stage. The focus is upon obtaining as much data about the condition of the ship as possible. Hull soundings using a Krautkramer Branson SUSL 38 Flaw Detector have already been made. The report on this inspection indicates that the outer blister of the ship retains its structural integrity. A more detailed investigation of the inner hull and the water and oil tanks and ultimately a full study of the entire ship will follow. Its purpose will be to determine what areas to restore and to open to the public. It is the intention of Parks and Wildlife to make accessible to the public as many different areas of the ship as is safely possible, given the limitation of funds.

The combination of these two studies will provide the data for estimating the cost of the restoration . A decision on the restoration options will not be made until these data have been gathered.

Planning will not be limited to the restoration of the ship, however. Other matters to be addressed include visitor parking, concessions, an administrative center, interpretive displays and other programmed activities for public enjoyment, curation of the ship's many artifacts, and visitor and staff safety.

Battleships are tremendously difficult to preserve, but the Texas has played a significant role in the military history of this nation. As a source of pride to all Texans, the Texas is worth every effort required to preserve her as she should be preserved .

16

April 17, 19ll: Laid down at Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Virginia; May 18, 1912: Launched. March 12, 1914: Commissioned at Norfolk .

1914: Late March , proceed New York for gun sights; returning Hampton Roads, proceeded Vera Cruz to land 800 seamen and Marines on April 22, 1914, to protect US citizens and property during political unrest . Returned New York in August, then made another cruise to Mexico in late 1914.

1915-17: Operated with Battleship Force of the Atlantic Fleet in the Atlantic and Caribbean. After US entry into World War I on April 6, 1917, to New York for overhaul. Ran aground off Block Island on September 26, en route England. Returned New York Navy Yard for repairs.

1918: On January 30, sailed for Britain to join Division 9 of the Atlantic Fleet , forming 6th Battle Squadron of British Grand Fleet based at Scapa Flow. On fleet outing, sighted submarine periscope, firtd on it with 5in gun, dodged torpedo: only action WWI. November 21, part of force escorting German High Seas Fleet into Firth of Forth for surrender. December 1, with four other USS battleships, visits Portsmouth and Brest prior recrossing Atlantic to arrive New York December 26.

1919-25: Airplane added on platform on No. 2 turret. March 9, Sopwith Camel makes first flight from US battleship, in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. July, proceeds to Pacific, returning East Coast early in 1924.

1925-27: Reconstructed at Norfolk Navy Yard, converted to oil , bulges added. September 1, 1927, recommissioned, become flagship, C-in-C, US Fleet (Adm. Charles F. Hughes).

1928-41: Carries President Hoover to Pan-American Conference at Havana , Cuba, 1928. September 1939, when WWII erupts in Europe, she is flagship Atlantic Training Squadron.

Becomes Atlantic Fleet Flagship (Adm. Ernest J. King). As US expands Atlantic patrols, narrowly misses being torpedoed by U-203 on June 21.

1941-45: Following US entry into WWII , Texas does convoy duty from early January 1942 until November, when initial landings in North Africa with 14in gunfire, November 7. Supports Omaha Beach landings in Normandy invasion , June 6, 1944, provides gunfire support along French coast until June 15-25, hit by a 9in and an llin shell off Cherbourg. Fired total 891 14in. Following repairs, proceeds Mediterranean, supports landings in Southern France August 15, firing 172 14in. Returned New York for 35-day overhaul including new gun liners, added anti-aircraft, etc. November 10, 1944, departs New York for Western Pacific. March 7, joins Iwo Jima bombardment , firing 923 14in.

April I, Joins Okinawa bombardment , firing 2019 14in. From May through end of August, when war ends, operating in Philippine waters. Joining "Magic Carpet" fleet , makes three trips bringing US servicemen home from Pacific.

1946 to date: Returns Norfolk February 13, 1946, 32 years, one month after she first put to sea from there. Goes into reserve until donated to State of Texas and re-commissioned as flagsh ip of "Texas Navy" at San Jacinto, April 21, 1948. Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz , Texan-born C-in-C of the Pacific Fleet in WWII, took her under his honorary command as Admiral of the Texas Navy. Administered Battleship Texas Commission , in 1983 she was taken over directly by the State Parks and Wi ldlife Department , and plans were launched for her complete restoration and development as a museum. .t .t .t SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

Universal Maritime Service Corporation One Broadway, New York, New York 10004 • (212) 269-5121

Multi-gate truck complexes, complete with truck scales and pneumatic tube document transfer systems, assure rapid and accurate handling of trucks and cargo entering or departing Redhook and Port Newark terminals .

Universal Maritime Service Corp. is one of the largest, most versatile and technologically advanced terminal operators in the Port of New York.

Now in its 55th year of operation , the company serves over 20 of the world 's most prominent ocean carriers; maintains facilities on both sides of the harbor, and has repeatedly been relied upon to carry-out some of the most varied, complex and extensive cargo movements in the history of the port.

Within the past two years, Universal has invested over $15 million in new facilities and equipment, with additional commitments on the way.

FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT & SERVICES With its latest expansion in Brooklyn and Port Newark, Un iversal 's active terminals offer : • 6 container berths • 2 Ro-Ro berths • 9 breakbulk berths • 1,150,000 square feet of shedded/ consolidation space and breakbulk handling area • 140 acres of container storage and open cargo area • 5 Paceco container gantry cranes, ranging from 4070 long-tons in capacity • 14 forty-two-ton top loaders • 45 Ro-Ro and yard hustlers • 27 heavy lift forks (15-30 tons) • Hundreds of forks, hilos and other pieces of support equipment • An on-line data-flow system, based on an IBM 433111 central processing unit, serving all facilities ADDITIONAL EXPANSION Under negotiation now are plans for expanding the Redhook container terminal in Brooklyn, which would result in a doubling of its capacity in the near future.

Expansion in both area and equipment is also planned for the Port Newark container terminal.

Universal looks forward to adding to its list of distinguished steamship services at all three of its locations - Port Newark, Redhook and Piers 1, 2 and 3 in Brooklyn - and highly recommends these facilities to importers and exporters of international cargo which moves through the Port of New York.

As illustrated by the photos above and at right, Universal's combination terminals are designed to handle all types of cargo operations - including heavy lifts and project moves - simultaneously and with equal ease and efficiency.

Universal's president, James G. Costello, recently capsulized the company's market position and business outlook as follows : "At no time in our history has Universal been better prepared to serve the commercial fleets of the world, and we remain committed to do whatever is necessary to help the Port of New York retain its ranking as the world's number one market for international cargo."

CARL EVERS:

This painter of dreadnoughts firing broadsides and four-masters shouldering their way through Cape Horn Seas is above all a caring and gentle man-and incidentally, a first-rate cook.

by Jean Evers Besides be ing a fi ne artist, Carl Evers is a fi ne husband . I can testi fy, since we mark our twentieth year together this January. He is gentle, witty, hard-working and cooks gourmet meals. By coincidence, our twenty years mark this transition fro m a success in advertising art to the new fie ld of fin e art. But. . .therein lies the story.

Since every story has a beginning, we start with Carl 's bi rth in Dortmund , Germany, 19ITT. Hi s father was British, which made Carl a Briti sh citizen and his mother, herself an artist, was German. After high school education in Ge rmany when Carl showed his art talent early, he attended the Slade School ofFine Art in London. He wo rked fi rst with a printing firm until he was called fo r a post with the adve rtising firm of E rwin \vasey in Sweden to do Ford automoti ve illustrating. T he j ob was supposed to be fo r six months, but hi s stay in Sweden extended to sixteen years.

There, in other agencies, he concent rated on art fo r Packard , International Harvester and the Jeep. He portrayed vehicles on the job in all kinds of terrain .

While he was busy on these automoti ve accounts, he was dri ven anyw here he wished to go. In post World Wa r I Germany, there we re no cars , only bicycles to get about on. So Carl never learned to dri ve- and still doesn't. I am his willing chauffe ur.

Marine Yearning A lthough he could command his price in the automotive fie ld , something was mi ssing in hi s artistic goals. Maybe one day, Carl simpl y decided he had painted his last wheel. His father had been a marine engineer and though Carl 's home town was not a seaport , he had happy memories of his boyhood trips to the No rth Sea.

In Sweden, he fo und the sea available and started painting water and ships in his spare time fo r Swedish American and Johnson Lines.

He made a major decision to come to the United States, the land of opportunity, in 1947. Sweden and even England had turned socialist and taxes were high on individuals. He decided to make a break and pursue his goal as a marine artist. To this end , he traveled on a Johnson Line freighter. Wishing to experience the sea fu ll y, he sketched his way along, recording water and waves, sky action and the life of seapo rts touched at , arri ving at last in San Francisco. There sketches came in very handy for later commercial assignments and his fin e art.

Carl has a habit of researching his every endeavor- a habit that led to an amusing encounter in San Francisco the day he arrived in this country. He was wea ring an "American-style" suit he had o rdered fo r his new 1ife and had memori zed much of the map of San Francisco, the city that had captured his imag ination. As he stepped from his hotel for the first time to explore the city, a stranger as ked him how to find a certain street. Carl replied , " One block down and two to the left." He returned enchanted . He had passed fo r a San Franciscan!

It had become evident , however, that New York City was the best place to market his talents. He crossed the country and , with samples, soon was in the marine art business, both oils and watercolors. Watercolor, later, became his chief medium .

Adm iral Edmond J. Moran, of Mo ran Towing and Transportation, was an earl y enthusiast for Carl 's work. Covers for Towlin e, the Moran publication, became prints popular around the world .

The Grace Line, Farrell Lines, United Fruit , Cunard and others kept Carl busy and established his reputation for skill with ships and the sea in its many moods in differing locations.

One secret of his success with settings is his pass ion for geography and resulting study- practicall y a hobby. He knows the volcanoes in Hawaii , the shoreline for surfers in the Philippines, the coasts of South Ameri ca and can place his ships in surroundings so acc urate that even a nati ve has never fo und fault. Oceanic geography enters here also- the way currents flow the hues of shore waters and the Gulf Stream, the deeps of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

By observation he learned optics- how light behaves on water surfaces , placid or in motion, how the sun and sky are reflected by the sea. T his process of observation never ceases.

During these producti ve yea rs in New York , Carl had an aversion to passenger planes. Although he painted 36 objects fo r General Dynamics , showing a plane high in the sky in settings around the world (geography at play, here) , he refused other airline ass ignments because he fe lt planes were hurting the survival of ships and trains, his favorite vehicles. Today, accepting that a plane is the fastest way to travel, we fl y in them as needed.

A majo r ass ignment involved 13 years of painting action around the Port of Philadelphia for Phil adelphia El ectric Company, seen as full pages in The Saturday Evening Post and other publications.

Nature going out of co/lf rol , might be a title to this Florida hurricane scene-a thing of savage beauty and th reat, and a swirling sense of motion f eeding motion that is a hallmark of much of Evers's work. Another hallma rk is evidelll here, the sense of immediacy, of presence: you f eel the solidity of the wind Th aTshrieks Through Th ose protesting palm Trees and heaps up That harried water: ii is a real , and awesome presence.

18

SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

The Olympia Admiral Dewey's.flagship ar rhe 8a{{le ofManila Bay in rhe Spanish-American l#irof 1898, steams into acrion in awe-inspiring fashion.

She is a forceful expression ofrhe new indusrrial America, and ofrhe iron and coal rechnology rhar is replacing rhe old ways of wood and canvas at sea . The United States came crashing into world power status and awareness in rhis brief struggle. Olympia is a unique survivor of her era and is moored todays at Penn's Landing in Philadelphia.

Carl says he has redesigned the skyline so many times, he should have been on the city's planning comm ission.

New Directions Now, it is 1964 and everything happens at once. Philadelphia Electric gave up its advertising just as we married. Shipping lines came upon hard times and cut their commissions. It was time to pursue other things in the wings and find new projects. One that proved most rewarding in futures and satisfaction was the United States Naval Institute, which needed art for the covers of its publication , Proceedings. Carl, from his studio and home in Queens Village, New York , had already started with USNI covers, when he had time to spare.

In our studio apartment on 36th Street in Manhattan, after we married, he pursued work with the USNI to supply more covers for the Proceedings and help create their print program . He eventually produced 20 paintings on naval topics. Many were made into prinis and at this date nearly 50,000 of his USNI prints are in someone's home or office. The readers of the Proceedings proved an enthusiastic audience and soon requests came in for private commissions-chiefly from those who wished to commemorate an experience in World War II. Since the individual's scene was etched in his memory, all details had to be accurate, even to-say-how the radar was placed on that particular ship in 1943.

Because gear on ships changed quickly during war years, Carl had to play detective on details, with the invaluable help of the USNI photo library.

Pleasant experiences resulted from our association with the US Naval Institute. We had no honeymoon , since Carl had to meet a January deadline with his painting of the USS Thresher, doomed SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

nuclear submarine, so we considered our trips to Annapolis for consultation as sentimental journeys. We had the luck to stay in Carvel Hall before it was torn down and enjoyed the friendship of the personnel at the Institute. An offshoot of painting the several famous battleships, now retired as memorials, was pleasure trips to attend the awarding of the paintings by the Institute to the memorial ships and their busy commissions dedicated to keeping them alive for the public.

I remember a luncheon aboard the USS Alabama, in Mobile, when the Mayor gave us both keys to the city and to me, a kiss on the cheek for the photographers. We journeyed to Fall River for installing the USS Massachusetts painting, also at a luncheon and to Philadelphia for a party to unveil the painting of Admiral Dewey's USS Olympia.

On these earlier journeys , we are glad we took the train . The glorious ones Carl and I remembered separately were about at the end of their run . Here I thought marrying a marine artist would at least warrant a cruise (these came later) for a honey moon. Instead we took the last run of the Panama Limited to New Orleans, satisfy ing Carl's hobby as a train buff.

The trip to New Orleans was not without its purpose. As a new venture, Carl had the des ire to paint " how we get our seafood," prompted a bit by the sight of oyster skipjacks in Chesapeake Bay. Along the Gulf Coast , he covered shrimping with on-the-spot sketching from Galveston to Mobile. We also made several junkets to Key West , stay ing on the " working side' ~ of the key to sketch shrimp and turtle boats and the ever-changing sky. He only was taken by the local fi shing boats and when heavy, " ugly" commerc ial ships came into use, he abandoned this seafood project.

In the '60s the Reader's Digest was commiss ioning original art 19

'

\

Th e awesome power of the American super-carrier is caught in this strongly drawn impression of giant bows and overhanging lift and the Star Wars superstructure of the vessel across the way. Evers recorded this view of th e USS America (righ t) and Enterprise on a visit to Portsmouth in the 1960s.

"This process of observation never ceases." for its covers and Carl was often called upon . He did 19 covers for national and international issues and much inside art. He called himself " the disaster expert'', since he often portrayed historic flood and typhoon mayhem around the world . He was very good with flotsam and jetsam, as well as wild water. Covers for books have always come his way when nautical subjects were suitable, particularly from Ballantine Books . He illustrated The Lonely Sea and the Sky and The Romantic Challenge by Sir Francis Chichester about his solo voyages around the world in his famous small craft , "Gipsy", Eric Newby's The wst Grain Race, The Two- Ocean War

by Samuel Eliot Morrison , The Big E, by Commander Edward F. Stafford , USN, and others.

At this particular phase in his growth, the continuing work for both the Institute, the Reader's Digest and other publications aided in publicizing Carl's particular talent and started a fl ood of private commissions.

At the same time, art aI)d marine publications began to recognize Carl's work. After his one-man show at the Society of Illustrators in late '62 , American Artist ran a flattering six-page feature on his work . It was published while we were courting and impressed me mightil y! Others followed, with, among the latest, another feature in American Artist, July, '77, and six pages in the summer '78 issue of Nautical Quarterly.

In Connecticut When we moved to Connecticut in 1972 , we were aware that easy access to advertising accounts such as was enjoyed on 36th Street was over, but the momentum of work in fine art was under way and the '70s proved to be very busy years.

A new facet of work emerged, in full swing when we landed in the country-historic sailing ships . It is hard to say what sends an artist on a new tack. Call it coincidence-or need for a fresh expression . At any rate, an early assignment from the new Oceans magazine called for a sailing ship. Carl chose the Moshulu , a fourmasted bark , because he had come to know her story-she was the SEA HISlDRY, SPRING 1984

The four-masted bark Moshu lu is here in her elemem , the deep-laden hull coming to life and fa irly rollicking along, the strong rig and stout canvas equal to its task , in a wild, free , surging world remote from any land. Moshulu is an early and lasting favorite of Evers, perhaps because he came to feel the life in her in Eric Newby's great book The Last Grain Race. Or perhaps because ofall the big four-posters that closed our the era ofdeepwater sail, she was one of th e ablesr,fasresr and most beawifu/. She li ves on today at Penn 's Landing, Philadelphia.

The lambasting power of the USS Texas is expressed in seven tons of hurtling metal as she fires a broadside. She steams ahead on her mission indifferent to a choppy sea breaking over her low-slung hull forwa rd; she is here to do jus1one thing, and rhal she is doing as only a dreadnough1 ba11leship can . N01ice how The machine, in This painting, lives in its environmenr. 77wr is a fee ling men come to ha ve for their chariots by sea or land, and ii shows in Evers's work: his ships are nOT jusT stuck in , bur inhabi1 The scenes they steam or sail through. Texas is today a National Monument at San Ja cimo, outside Houston .

SEA HIS1DRY, SPRING 1984

21

MARINE ART ship in Newby's Last Grain Race. He had also done the first Grace Line ship, a three-masted square-rigger, W R. Grace, and had a hankering for this type of beauty in sail. So, Carl put his head in the rigging and history books and went on to triumph in this genre, which he so much enjoys.

After we were organized in our new home and studio in Heritage Village, Southbury, Connecticut, Ian Ballantine, formerly of Ballantine Books, put us in touch with the Greenwich Workshop, located in Trumbull, Connecticut, a nationally known producer oflimited edition prints. This proved to be a rewarding and friendly associaton. Carl painted the Constitution , Privateers, South Street Seaport in 1879, Letter ofMarque, America '.s Cup Race in 1870-all dealing with historic ship subjects. Eleven paintings for the workshop are now in print form.

As you may gather from this history, Carl has always been too busy to exhibit much in galleries. Everything he paints goes right out of the house on commission. This lack of gallery activity hasn't earned Carl credits in the art world that estimates such listings.

He hasn't needed them. We do thank the many galleries that have asked to show Carl's paintings . The only originals left now hang in the Greenwich Workshop Gallery in Southport, the Gateway Gallery in Palm Beach and the Kirsten Gallery in Seattle. A lovely lady, one Evelyn Wallace Richter, pursuaded us to mount a oneman show at her Gateway Gallery in Palm Beach, Florida , at Christmas 1979. For this one, we robbed our walls, and enjoyed a trip to be on hand (or the opening and local hospitality.

Finally, a Cruise Since Carl is dedicated to his work, and a modest man, we haven't circulated much socially. On our tenth anniversary, we decided to take a Cunard Caribbean cruise that featured " interests for seaminded people." We paid the full price and met folks of like interests. At the last stop, on St. Thomas, I noticed a print of Carl's

in the window of a jewelry shop, and ran back to tell our ship companions. The guide leader said, "You couldn't be the CarlEvers! " The next year brought an invitation to show and talk aboard the Cunard cruise ship Mventurer and in 1977, Carl displayed his art and gave a slide lecture aboard the Queen Elizabeth 2 during its Thanksgiving voyage around the Caribbean.

In all these nice twenty years with Carl, I have served as partner, treasurer, travel agent, chauffeur and scribe. My role as scribe has been to answer the many fan letters he receives, after due consultation with him . These range from " How do you paint water?" (in twenty-five words or less) to one from South Africa on "May I come to be taught by you?" Some have come from children. All are treated with respect and with the best answer to help them , because they are interested in painting the sea.

Over the years, the advice has been the same: "Observe, practice your hand over and over. Try again. Take early art jobs to pay your way while you are perfecting your art. If you don't have the talent, admit it, tum to related work."

A regular question: "How long does it take you to do a painting?" Carl's answer: ''After the needed research, a month-and forty years ."

It has been good , in these past twenty years, to see Carl more honored in his profession. It has also been good to work side by side with him in our studio, say ing no word until about 5 :00 PM when it's: "What's for dinner?" Whatever the answer, he is such a good cook , I know it will be good! w Mrs. Evers, Carl's wife since 1964, has been an editor ofVoices, a weekly regional newspaper, for the past ten years. Earlier, she had worked in New York on architectural and decorating magazines. She has been listed since 1962 in Who's Who in American Women .

On April 23, 1838, the wooden-hulled paddle steamer SIRIUS arrived at New York , responsible for starting the first North Atlantic steamship service, heralding a new 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

212-330-1817

TANKER DEPARTMENT: Theo Theocharldes, V.P. EdWlllla

SIRIUS HOUSE ¡ 76 Montague Street Brookly n Heights, New York 11201 Teleph one : (212) 330-1800 Cable : " SIRIUS NEWYORK" lnt 'I Telex : TAT 177881 / ITI422871 / RCA 225111 Domestic Telex : WU 126758/645934/TWX 710-584-2207

Hugh Bellas-Simpson

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

DRY CARGO DEPARTMENT: Jamea A. Bergonzl, V.P. Phil Romano

212-330-1843 212-330-1845

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

212-330-1830 212-330-1833

FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION: Jose Florenzano, V.P.

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212-330-1835

SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

Marine Art News The Marriage of True Minds A unique and beautiful thing has happened in our world , in the publication of American Whalers in the Western Arctic, as noted in "Books," this issue. The beauty is in the marriage of first-class , first-hand scholarship in the 20-year active study of Arctic whaling by the New Bedford Whaling Museum's John Bockstoce, with the scholarly concern and artistic vision and verve-the positive elan-ofWilliam Gilkerson. In an accompanying volume, An Arctic Whaling Sketchbook, Gilkerson sets forth in lively fashion his whole approach to this kind of art, which transcends illustration and is yet intimately related to the text. Part of the credo expressed is a passionate devotion to the living thing, the line drawn under pressure-as distinct from the copied photograph or measured drawing, which is always at least one step in retreat from inspiration and which shows a kind of inevitable woodenness. " True," observes Gilkerson at one point in his discussion, "wooden work can be disguised to a certain extent by facile technique, but it bleeds through in the end , like rust through new paint." So Gilkerson got family and friends to act out all the scenes, including some in a genuine urine-cured Eskimo parka. His friend and mentor in these studies, Dr. John Bockstoce, brought a depth of first-hand " being there" quality to the production-since for ten years he hunted whales with the Eskimos in their own craft, and for twenty years he has spent each summer in the Arctic, including a 9-year accomplishment of the dread Northwest Passage in a small boat of traditional design . But the artist has had his own opportunities to stretch his legs at sea, including one memorable occasion cavorting with friendly but perhaps over-curious whales.

And, from his farm at the head of Buzzard's Bay, just this side of Cape Cod , Gilkerson as he points out is in easy range of the Kendall and New Bedford Whaling Museums, where such things as actual whaleboats exist. He points out that a whaleboat's shape, in its seeming simplicity, takes some knowing. It is full of subtleties and is all too easily misdrawn, and he notes ; " Even luckier was the opportunity to sail next to Henry Kendall's whaleboat in Marion Harbor on several points of sailing, observing the craft from various vantage points, and then to sail in her and operate her helm. This was a rare and especially valuable experience, enhanced by the fact that the boat is out of the old whaling bark Wanderer, and almost certainly the last original whaleboat still sailing."

And as it happened, he was aboard his own little vessel when this whaleboat was towed in , ending her last season and he made this sketch of her on the spot:

Gilkerson's own boat is a 27-foot doubleended herring boat from Sweden, where it had been in his wife Kirsten's family-who date the little vessel as at least 100 years old and perhaps a bit older. Gilkerson is now at work on a more modest book , a tale of seagoing adventure told from the boat's point of view.

He pays special tribute to Edward Lefkowicz bookseller of Fairhaven, who first suggested to the two friends that they make a serious production of their shared interests, and who when this terrific work emerged, performed the heroic act of publishing American Whalers in the Western Arctic. The matchless production drove the price of the book to $1200. But it's worth it , especially if you count in the separate portfolio of 12 carefully proofed and signed prints that accompanies it.

John Stobart " It takes dedication to bring it back ,'' says John Stobart of traditional painting . In keeping with his philosophy of paining from life, he moved last year into a house on the end of Union Wharf in Boston Harbor, where the sky opens out over the urban scene and the water all around reminds one ceaselessly that life is always moving, whispering memories, gleaming with promise.

Currently the artist, who has led a pretty hard-driven life since migrating to the United States from England in the late 1960s, is off on a five-week trip to Tahiti.

Deeply interested in the work of the World Ship Trust to safeguard the heritage of the ships he paints, Stobart has traveled to England to present his work to Prince Philip, and now plans a return on a larger scale, with an English exhibition in the offing. SEA HisroRY plans to do an historic seaports series featuring John's work, which would help give a new dimension of perception and meaning to the Statue of Liberty Centennial in 1986. For after all, the most important thing our ships transported was people.

Joseph Saunders Bohannon Bugeye Times , newsletter of the Calvert Maritime Museum , reports growing interest in the paintings of steamboat skipper Joseph Saunders Bohannon (1894-1973). Of

this colorful figure's work , Robert Burgess of Mariner's Museum has noted: "... He would use pencil shading, water color, show-card color gilt around the paddle box decorations, charcoal and even tobacco juice smear in the coal smoke issuing from the stacks. Hairs from dime store brushes, paint dripping onto other parts of the works from a brush , and even fragments from his ever present cigar might be found on the painting.''

Calvert, which holds the largest collection ofBohannon's work, asks that anyone who owns one be in touch with them at PO Box <J?, Solomons, MD 20688.

Muller Catalog A color catalog of William G. Muller's brilliant show at the Smith Gallery last fall is available for $10 from the Gallery, 1045 Madison Avenue, New York NY 10021.

Noteworthy Exhibitions Continuing its innovative and highly successful mixed-media exhibitions on different seafaring topics, the Mystic Maritime Gallery will open " The Fishermen," March 24-May 6, following " The Steam Era" which opened January 29 and closes March 17. Then , comes the Fifth Annual " Mystic International ," May 13-June 14.

Last year this fixture attracted 287 entries, of which 83 were hung, by painters from six nations. This year, a jury composed ofJim Cheevers of the Naval Academy, Bob Burgess of Mariners Museum , and the artists Tom Hoyne of Chicago, Bill Muller of Ossining, and John Mecray of Newport will select from what promises to be an even broader entering body of work. Following this will be "Coastwise," a show broken into changing segments featuring tugs and pilot boats, ferries and day liners, and sailing coasters, June 30-0ctober 7. Gallery, Mystic CT 06355.

Smith Gallery's 6th Annual Marine Show, up through the end of February, offers a catalog for $10. The Gallery will be participating in The Armory Show, May 10-13, with 75 others exhibiting works of art and fine antiques. Gallery, 1045 Madison Ave. , New York NY 10021.

Kirsten Gallery of Seattle will hold their marine show July 10, and Greenwich Workshop of Connecticut plans theirs for this autumn.

The Paul McGehee Gallery in Arlington , Va ., shows many McGehee oils and prints, and the front section incorporates the artist's studio where he works daily. Paul has recently released two new prints, "Annapolis Harbor in 1982," and "Lifting Fog ," as well as "C hesa peake Bay Portfolio," a set of eight prints of his pencil drawings of contemporary Bay scenes.

23

PAUL McGEHEE

ANNAPOLIS-A panorama of the harbor viewed from Eastport in 1982.

Image 20 " x 30 ". Edition of 1800 signed and numbered $100, or with remarque pencil drawing $200.

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SKIPJACKS OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY The work of PAUL McGEHEE, one of America's foremost marine and landscape artists, j_s distinct and set apart from all others. "ANNAPOLIS" is a superbly executed contemporary narrative marine scene that is making the collectors of fine art sit up and take note of his unique talent. The limited-edition print accurately captures every detail, from the clean lines of the sailboats/ ' to the happy splashing of the mallard ducks in the foreground. Annapolis, the historic capitol of Maryland, was our nation's capital 200 years ago. Situated at the mouth of the Severn River, the town is now the home of the U.S. Naval Academy, as well as being a popular harbor for pleasure boaters. The print (published in 1983) is reproduced by the most modern offset lithography techniques on the finest acid-free stock. Your collector's print of "ANNAPOLIS" is available signed and numbered, or personally remarqued. McGehee's remarque pencil sketches are unparalleled in their quality. Two examples (3/4 actual size) are shown above. "ANNAPOLIS" is a must for every discriminating collector of fine art. Call or write to reserve your copy now. Please include $5 shipping.

VISA, Mastercard accepted. Dealer inquiries invited. © 1983 by Paul McGehee

COLOR CATALOG-$1 Art Recollections 704 N. GLEBE RD. #212 ARLINGTON, VA 22203 Tel: (703) 528-5040

IN CLIO'S CAUSE

Russians Attack Civilian Craft

"We Must Expect

to Be Attacked Tonight"

by Kenneth Maciver History may not repeat itself but the twisting circles it spins are patterned in familiar configurations. Just over 79 years ago a Russian battle fleet attacked unarmed British fishing boats in the North Sea , killing innocent civilians. The so-called "Dogger Bank Incident" has many similarities to the downing last fall of a KAL airliner by a Soviet missile. On a night when visibility was reasonably good and identification of target was probable, Russian naval units attacked without warning, setting off a shock wave of concern and anger throughout the world. Moreover, as in the recent episode, the Russian Government crudely and unsuccessfully attempted to redefine the affair through manipulation of the news.

The roots of this scarefying " incident" ran back to the Russian attempt to secure their frontiers by occupying Manchuria .

Upheavals in China, the fulcrum of Asia , seemed to offer this opportunity. Nationalist societies-translated as "Righteous Harmonious Fists" or Boxers-attacked missionaries and consulate staffs . In response an international contingent of troops, including some from Russia and the United States, intervened and put down the Boxer Rebellion. The real action was in the north, however. There the Czar's government took advantage of the Chinese crisis to pour thousands of troops into Manchuria. They showed no inclination to leave. Imperial Britain , whose fleet ruled the waves, responded to Russian aggression by signing a mutual aid pact with the Japanese ; in effect , the Japanese were given carte blanche to unleash their armed forces. They soon struck and Russia's Far Eastern adventure turned to a nightmare.

The Japanese pounced on the Russians at Port Arthur and subsequently wiped out the Russian Pacific Squadron. Japanese armies invaded Korea and the Liaotung Peninsula and pounded disorganized Russian troops. Desperately the Russian High Command attempted to relieve the shambles in Asia by sending its European fleet round the world to join in the war.

It was this navy, labelled the Second Pacific Fleet, that attacked the peaceful fishermen trawling on Dogger Bank, a long sand bar in the North Sea between England and Denmark.

A fleet of some 150 trawlers, mostly from Hull, had set their trawls and were going about their work when suddenly searchlights from the Russian squadron of 40 ships flashed upon them. Some fishermen joked, some held up their freshcaught haddock and plaice to identify their purpose, others cursed , and then some died-for without warning the RusSEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

sians opened fire and poured hundreds of shells into the flotilla of fishing boats.

Russian guns fired and fired , hitting not only fishing boats but their own vessels.

At last they concluded that they had driven the enemy away. When the guns fell silent there were no Japanese torpedo boats to be seen , only battered fishing craft.

World opinion reacted forcefully to the outrage. As pressure mounted , the Russians issued a statement noting that their Second Pacific Fleet had been attacked by Japanese torpedo boats in the North Sea , and that during the course of the combat, searchlights revealed the presence of several fishing boats. More news came in , and it became apparent that the Russian ships had also fired on two merchant steamers, one Swedish, one Danish , in the same day. They had even threatened to sink the Danish launch that brought news of Rozhenstvensky's promotion to Vice Admiral. British demands for compensation and apology brought only silence.

And then the lion roared. In those days its roar was deafening. Eight battleships from the Channel Fleet , twelve from the Mediterranean, others from the Home Fleet, two score cruisers and seventy-five destroyers and gunboats were alerted. Reserves were called up and a fever of activity swept British naval bases and shipyards. Russia backed down; apologies came, compensation was promised and certain officers were dropped from the fleet to face punishment for the incident.

As for the Second Pacific Squadron , it steamed to Qie Straits of Tsushima where in May 1905 it was destroyed by the guns of Admiral Togo's warships. Russia was forced to cede Port Arthur and the Liaotung Peninsula , agreed to leave Manchuria and acceded to Japanese domination in Korea. It might have been worse but for President Theodore Roosevelt who would mediate the peace at Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

If Russian tactics on that October evening in 1904 were similar to the actions of the Soviet Air Defense in September last year, it was because the mindset and strategy of the Russians were also comparable to current attitudes. Then as now, the Russian state saw itself hedged by hostile forces. She had been shaped by war and invasion and an archaic and autocratic social system. Russian paranoia, coupled with diplomatic inefficiency, established a deep-rooted case of jitters, a tendency to rely on widespread networks of spies and a muddled, bungling foreign policy. All these factors contributed to the slaughter of the trawlermen. u, u, U, .

Insight into the Russian view of the Dogger Bank attack is given in letters Eugene S. Politovsky, Engineer-in-Chief to the fleet , wrote home to his wife from aboard the fleet flagship Suvoroff. Killed when his ship was sunk at Tsushima the following year, he had no chance to revise his notes, which reflected the dense atmosphere of fantasy that prevailed aboard the warship.

Starting with pity for the fishermen, he rapidly gets onto other concerns: "Imagine the feelings of the people in those ships! They were, no doubt , fishermen. Now there will be universal scandal. As a matter of fact they are to blame themselves. They must have known our fleet was coming, and they must have known the Japanese wished to destroy it. They saw the fleet. Why did they not cut adrift their nets, if they had them out, and get out of the way? The nets could be paid for afterwards."

The fishermen in fact had lights on , and sent up flares to advertise their presence; apparently the Russians took these as ruses by the wily Japanese. Politovsky, having unburdened himself of these circuitously embarrassed and pettish thoughts, concludes in mounting paranoia: " If it was not the Kamchatka, but the Japanese, who asked the position of the fleet [Kamchatka had strayed off and wirelessed in asking where the fleet was, shonly before the attack] , they will now know where we are to be found. If that is the case, we must expect to be attacked tonight."

Still more depressing is the considered testimony of Commander Semenoff in his famous book Rasplata ("The Reckoning").

He initially, quite sanely, had suggested that the Admiral verify the missing Kamchatka '.s signal by asking the name and birthday of the engineer-information hardly likely to be instantly available aboard a Japanese torpedo boat. This was ignored, and the debate on the flagship's bridge continued until , stumbling upon the fishing craft , the warships opened fire on them.

Semenoff at first felt this was a mistake.

Later, reading the shocked reaction of the world press, he reversed himself and decided Japanese torpedo boats had been present-and that one at least had been caught and damaged by the Russian fire!

The "disciplined English press," who were fomenting all the trouble about the shootup, had presumably managed to keep these ships utterly hidden from the world. Final confirmation of Semenoffs suspicions came to him in the realization that people on five different Russian ships had seen the Japanese-could they all be "victims of the same hypnotic influence"?

The answer is, tragically, yes. -ED.

25

NMU message to National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on their 75th Anniversary

The A111erican Sea111an He'll stand shoulder-to-shoulder with NAACP for another 75 years When the seamen who made up NMU's first Convention in 1937 declared the union's purpose to be the organizing of seamen on all waters "without regard for race, creed and color" they were not tossing off an empty phrase. Those days there were "white ships" and there were "black ships:' There were a few ships which carried both black and white seamen and they were known as "checkerboard ships" but on those blacks could

serve only in the galley crew.

But the founders of NMU knew what the color line had cost seamen and all American workers. They knew how one group would be used against another to keep them all down. They dedicated themselves to breaking a centuries-old iron-bound tradition. They led the nation in fighting Jim Crow and together-white and black-built the strongest maritime union in the world.

NMU members train to become Able Seamen at Union Upgrading and Retraining School.

National Maritime Union Shannon J. Wall, President Thomas Martinez, Secretary-Treasurer National Headquarters: 346 West 17 Street, New York NY 10011 â&#x20AC;˘ (212) 620-5700

'/l critical situation. H. M.S. Beagle .. .East Coast ofPatagonia, S. America ," unsigned. Courtesy National Maritime Museum , Greenwich , England.

HMS Beagle, 1820-1870 Voyages Summarized, Research and Reconstruction

by L-Ois Darling With appreciation for the valuable contributions made by Commander Arthur Waite, Ret., National Maritime Museum, and Mr. John Chancellor In all of maritime history, few vessels have had a career of more consequence than HMS Beagle. Built at Woolwich Dockyard on the Thames River below London , she was launched on May 11th , 1820, the forty-first in her class of IO-gun brigs , 235 tons and 90ft on deck. The great wars that opened the century were over, and although many ships of the Royal Navy had become engaged in various peacetime pursuits, there appeared to be no immediate need for the little brig's services. Except for a brief moment of glory during a naval parade in celebration¡of the coronation of King George IV, the Beagle lay " in ordinary," for her first five years.

The First and Second Voyages In September of 1825, Woolwich Dockyard reinforced and repaired the brig's hull already afflicted with rot , sheathed and recoppered her bottom , added a poop cabin and forecastle, stepped a small mizzen mast , and otherwise prepared the Beagle for her future as a surveying vessel. Under her commander, Pringle Stokes, she was to accompany HMS Adventure (330 tons) for the purpose of exploring the labyrinth of channels existing at the southernmost tip of South America .

Here, buffeted by the foulest of weather, the Beagle would spend the better part of the next four years (1826-1830), surveying and charting waters acknowledged to be among the most dangerous in the world. By August 1828, with the little ship in sorry state and out of provisions, and her crew sick from scurvy and pulmonary diseases , Captain Stokes returned to Port Famine on the Strait of Magellan , retired to his cabin and shot himself.

He was replaced by twenty-three year old Robert FitzRoy, Flag Lieutenant, HMS Ganges, then stationed in Montevideo. After nearly losing the Beagle within months of his appointment, Fitz-

SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

Roy learned to sail her with consummate skill for the duration of the first voyage and all of the second (1831-1836). Aside from extensive exploration and surveying, .making studies of the weather, and much else, FitzRoy was charged with the formidable task of establishing the precise longitude of Rio de Janeiro. Also, a chain of meridian distances and determination of longitudes more accurate than hitherto must be made as the Beagle worked her way around the world. The official account of both voyages, written mostly by FitzRoy, was published, in two volumes by Colburn in 1839.1 FitzRoy writes , " I could not avoid often thinking of the talent and experience required for such scientific researches, of which we were wholly destitute; and inwardly resolving that if ever I left England again on a similar expedition I would endeavor to carry out a person qualified to examine the land ; while the officers and myself would attend to hydrography." It was such thinking, not uncommon in the Royal Navy of this time, which resulted in a series of events which made it possible for Charles Darwin , then twenty-two, to be aboard the Beagle for her second voyage.

During the years of ~xploration on the waters, continents, islands, and coastlines of the Southern Hemisphere, the enquiring eyes of the ship's young naturalist saw many things. He wondered at the diversity of life in the seas and the incalcuable number of microscopic organisms he found there. He roamed the tropical rain forests and the plains of South America. In Chile he climbed the Andes where he found beds of fossil seashells thirteen thousand feet above the sea. He sent boxes and barrels of specimens of both recent and fossil animals and plants home to England. On the lonely Galapagos Islands, some six hundred miles off Ecuador, Darwin found species of plants and animals

"The incredible beauty, the hope and discouragement are all there." which existed nowhere else on earth, but which seemed related to similar species he had observed in South America. In the book he would one day write, he says of this experience, " ...we seem to be brought somewhere near to that great fact-that mystery of mysteries-the first appearance of new beings on this earth."

The Beagle continued on into the Pacific. She visited South Sea islands and coral atolls. (Darwin's brilliant theory about how atolls were formed is still the accepted one.) He saw something of Australia a nd that isolated continent's own peculiar set of animals with pockets, the marsupial kangaroos, koalas a nd their relations.

Home at last after almost five hard, dangerous years, Darwin found himself already recognized as an accomplished scientist.

With his travels fresh in mind and his notebooks at hand , he was able to complete his first book, with help from his inspired diaries, in a remarkably short time. Subtitled Journal and Remarks, 1832-1836, it was published by Colburn as Volume III of the Narratives. It became an immediate success, so much so two more issues were printed . In 1845, Darwin's revised and shortened version was published by John Murray. This second edition would be the first of many editions, issues and reissues by many publishers to follow.2 In time, this book would become known world over simply as The Voyage of the Beagle.

The Third Voyage HMS Beagle's little-known third and final voyage is just as interesting in its own right as her previous o nes. The sto ry of the voyage, Discoveries in Australia, 3 is told by John Lort Stokes, Midshipman on the Beagle's first voyage, Mate and Assistant Surveyor on her second , and the Beagle's commander before the end of the third . At the beginning of Volume I Stokes writes: " .. .I call to mind, that fo r eighteen years the Beagle has been to me a home upon the wave-that my fi rst cruize as a Middy was made in her ; that serving in her alone I have passed through every grade in my profession to the rank I have now the honour to hold- that in her I have known the excitements of imminent danger, and the delights of long anticipated success; and that with her perils and her name are connected those recollections of early and familiar friendship, to which even memory herself fails to do full justice!"

Obviously, Stokes was a superb seaman . But he was also a superb writer and an intelligent, sensitive observer. His account of the Beagle's wanderi ngs along the shores of the vast unknow n continent of Australia is a delight. FitzRoy had quoted Stokes as saying, "There is a pleasure I cannot express in roaming over places never visited by civilized man ." 4 And Stokes goes on proclaiming his joy, anguish and wonder in countless ways, throughout the entire six years necessary fo r the Beagle to complete her mission.

Parts of the Great Barrie r Reef are explored and examined ; estuaries and rivers found and penetrated far inland by the Beagle's boats; shore expeditions proceed despite intolerable hardships; the heat, the " musquitos," the inc redible beauty, the hope and discouragement are all there. Names which can be seen sprinkling the map of Australia today, are chosen . Unknown straits are braved, spice islands visited ; the government , the penal system , the burgeoning settlements, the treatment of the natives, their looks and behavior are discussed . A fantastic array of flora and fauna fro m gouty-stem trees to cacti , kangaroos to crocodiles, cockatoos, platypuses, butterflies, beetles, fish , lizards and snakes are all brilliantly portrayed by word and e ngraving. Everything was new, st range and excitingsometimes too much so, as when Stokes was speared by a native.

Mission accomplished, Beagle and her crew head home to England . Stokes writes; " From Portsmouth we proceeded round to Woolwich , where the ship was paid off on the 18th of October, 1843. After giving the men their certificates, I loitered a short time to indulge in those feelings that naturally arose on taking final leave of the poor old Beagle at the same place where I first joined her in 1825. Many events have occurred since my first trip to sea in her: I have seen her under every variety of circumstances, placed in peculiar situations and fearful positions, from nearly the antarctic to the tropic, cooled by the frigid clime of the extreme of South America, or parched by the heat of North Australia; under every vicissitude, from the grave to the gay, I have struggled along with her; and after wandering together for eighteen years, a fact unprecedented in the service, I naturall y parted from her with regret. Her movements, latterly, have been anxi ously watched, and the chances are that her ribs will separate, and that she wi ll perish in the river where she was first put together. She has made

.H. M.S. Beagle, Sydney, March 9th 1839. Drawing by Conrad Martens who settled in Sydney but who was

aboard the ship as artist for part of the second voyage. Courtesy The Mitchell Library, Sydney, Australia.

herself as notorious as during the war did her namesake, that reaped golden opinions from her success in prize-maki ng; while my old friend has extensively contributed to our geographical knowledge." 5 It would be another sixteen years before the publication of Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species would give the Beagle a more permanent place in history than her contribution to "geographical knowledge" alone.

The End The Beagle did not, as Stokes predicted , " perish in the river." In a way her fate was worse. In June 1845 her bottom was recoppered at Sheerness Dockyard . On July 11th she made the short run down the Thames and up along the coast to the Rivers Crouch and Roach. Moored in Paglesham Pool, Beagle Watch 1-essel was stripped of her upper masts and ya rds. Landlocked and pinioned , she would never again go to sea. No more than a hulk , the Preventive Service (Coast Guard) would use her fo r storage and possibly fo r personnel quartered aboard , fo r a cookhouse was erected on her once proud deck. In the year that The Origin of Species was published , 1859, the Royal Navy took over the Coast Guard and in final degradation the Beagle lost her name altogether, becoming WV. 7 (Watch Vessel 7) . The end came on May 13th , 1870 when she was sold fo r a pittance to Murray and Tra iner who presumably broke her up fo r scrap.6 Noth ing tangible remai ns, except , possibly, two anchors. These, hav ing proved inextricable, were left by the Beagle on November 29th , 1839, at Holdfas t Reach, Victoria Ri ve r, Australia.

Research and Reconstruction With so many books written th rough the years, and still being written about all aspects of the Beagle's second voyage, I was amazed to find out , in 1958, that no comprehensive stud y had ever been made regarding the appearance of the ship herself.

Presented here is the culmination of twenty-fi ve years of sporad ic "Beagling," the th ird and I trust last article about my efforts to reconstruct the ship on which Charles Darwin circumnavigated the wo rld fro m December 1831 to October 1836?

The initiated reader will see that the inboard profi le and sail plan appear to be much the same as those I have published earlier. Basically they are. But since I have gone to such pains to make the Beagle just as right as possible, it has become necessary to incorporate small but significa nt changes in the new draw ings presented here. Although some things may forever remain in doubt , most impo rtant prob lems have yielded to conscientious research.

There is no reason to believe that the Beagle's lines were basically altered from those of her many sisterships, 10-gun brigs bu ilt after July 16th, 1817. At this ti me alterations made on a copy of an Ad miralty plan8 were incorporated into subsequent copies, one of which is reproduced here, and sent to various shipbu ilders, including Woolwich Dockyard fo r the building of the Ba rracouta and Beagle.9 Keith Thomson10 did not, as he thought , discover what was already well know n about the plans fro m which the Beagle was constructed . But his conclusions regarding these and his mistakes made in depicting the ship are offset by his other worthwhile historical contributions.

Outboard Profile It has been possible to establish the length and height of the Beagle's fo recastle and poop decks wi thi n a few inches. The bul wa rks remain the same as before the Beagle's captain FitzRoy had the deck raised 12in forwa rd and Sin aft. This was suggested

by John Chancellor, whose mag nifice nt painting of HMS Beagle in the Galapagos has now been reprod uced . His suggestions have been helpfu l in many ways and this one is corroborated in

SEA HISTORY, SPRI NG 1984

one of FitzRoy's letters to the Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy, July 9th , 1831: "The Beagle is ordered to carry only two six pound guns,-therefore raising the deck will not be of consequence as respect the guns, and their ports. By making this alteration, the stowage and comfo rt of the vessel will be very greatly increased. She will be much dryer upon deck;-Her waist will be less deep, and as she carries only two guns, the stability of the vessel will not be affected ..." 11 The concern of the Beagle's commander did not, in the end , keep hi m from carrying fo ur six pound brass guns, two nine pounders, also of brass , and a six-pound boat carronade. The positions of these is described by FitzRoy.12 After the voyage, FitzRoy is able to comment that raising the deck " ... afterwards proved to be the greatest advantage to her as a sea boat, besides adding materially to the comfo rt of all on board ."

The hammock rail , channels and chains are based upon contemporary paintings and drawings made by the Beagle's artist, Conrad Martens , and her officers, as well as Admiralty draughts. 13 Although Captain FitzRoy mentions " hammock netting" in his Narrative, there is a possibility that he was using a phrase which remained in use long after true hammock nettings were abandoned . Inconclusive evidence suggests that the Beagle's hammock " nettings" may actually have been hammock boarding, commonly in use by 1831.

The angles of the chains seen on D raught #3861 shown he re are interesting as they confirm the heights of the masts in John Edye's Naval Calculations, which I'll take up later under " Sail Plan."

When the Beagle was iaunched in 1820 only the lower edge of her wale would have been made fair with her planking. 14 During alterations and rebuilding in 1831 it is possible that the upper edge would have been made to fair also, a common practice by this time.

Actual quarter galleries are inconsistent with what is known of the Beagle , and yet most contemporary representations indicate an indecipherable something on her quarters. In a letter fell ow Beagler David Stanbury in England states that these represent the quarter badges mentioned in the Beagle's log.

FitzRoy writes , " The Beagle's d raft was eleven and a half feet fo rwa rd , and thirteen feet aft , when in ordinary loaded trim ." 15 And so I have drawn it. " The rudde r was fitted acco rding to the plan of Capt.

Lihou .. .." In all probability it would , by this time, have been of " plug-stock" design, a vast improvement over the " rule-joint" rudder shown on the Admiralty plans.

Dav id Stanbury 16 writes, " The original P.G. King plan quite clearl y shows a fi gurehead of a beagle." It does, but in 1959 I felt this would be less reliable than what could be seen in an engraving by Thomas Landseer showing the Beagle Laid Ashore, River Santa Cruz. 17 This was based upon a sketch by Conrad Martens who, presumably, was there at the time, April 13, 1834, looking up at the bow. The sketch is unfo rtunately lost, but one would th ink that Martens would have been careful to show the carved and painted figurehead of a beagle had there been one. And La ndseer would have copied Martens' sketch faithfull y. No beagle is seen . Still , Martens' small sketch may have been diffi cult fo r Landseer to foll ow. This could explain why his beached Beagle abounds in errors.

Aside from King's orig inal sketch, the best evidence that the Beagle did indeed have a beagle fo r a figurehead can be found , wi th careful searching and wishful imagination, in the lovely watercolor by Owen Stanley showing the ship in Sydney Harbor, 1841 (N .M .M .). Stanley was in command of the Beagle's sistership, Britomart, in Australia at the same time as the Beagle was surveying there during her third voyage, and it is unfortunate that

29

"H. M.S. Beagle rounding the Cape of Good Hope," unsigned watercolor dated July 10, 1843. Courtesy National Maritime Museum , Greenwich.

he fa iled to paint his rare close-up of the Beagle with more of the eye of a naval officer familiar with 10-gun brigs, and less of the eye of an artist . Had he, many questions regarding the ship could be answered with certainty. As it is , Owen Stanley's painting, with its top-heavy rig, overly steeved bowsprit , the " beagle" sitting on the stubby cutwater, the forecastle break , but not one for the poop deck , etc., leaves us in a quandary.

A consensus of contemporary art shows the ship's headrails to have been boarded in . Less attractive than the open head which almost surely graced the Beagle's bow at her launching, the closed head , prevalent by this time, would have provided needed protection as well as privacy for her crew.

Contemporary paintings and drawings show the Beagle's white band to have been narrow. However, even in the work of the same artist, the band is seen to range up and down . Sometimes it is broken by the gunports, the aftermost of which is faked , sometimes it extends just below them, and sometimes a black stripe can be seen cutting in and running parallel.

Boats At the beginning of the Narrative , Volume II , FitzRoy lists the rather extensive alterations which were made on the ship in preparation for what lay ahead . The Beagle's more important additional equipment is also mentioned , including "... six superior boats, besides a dinghy carried astern , were built expressly for us, ..." On page 79 he mentions the six boats again: "Four of the set were built by Mr. Johns, the well-known boat builder in Plymouth Dockyard , the other two by Mr. May, our carpenter."

FitzRoy's official request to the Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy for the boats to be supplied by Plymouth Dockyard is dated July 9, 1831 : " I have to request that you will all ow four Boats to be built at this Dockyard fo r the use of Hi s Majesty's Surverying Vessel Beagle, of the undermentioned descriptions, being best calculated for convenient stowage on the vessel, and fo r the Surveying Service-Yawl 26 feet in length , Cutter 23 feet in length , and two Whale Boats 25 feet in length. I have also to request that the Yawl and Cutter may be built on Mr. Johns' principl e of Diagonal planking; and that the Yawl may be fitted with the Windlass invented by Captain, the Hon'ble George Elliot."

On July 28th, FitzRoy asks for " Two small Boat Tents" and ''A strong awning for one Boat (Yawl of 26 feet) made according to the enclosed plan ." IS A year later found the Beagle in the harbor of Rio de Janeiro, 30

in July 1832. FitzRoy, in a particularly long and informative paragraph regarding the ship, writes, "... and amidships two boats, on the diagonal principle, one stowed inside the other, and as close to the deck as possible ; being secured by iron cranks, or supports .. . .Over the quarter-deck, upon skids , two wha.le-boats eight and twenty feet long, were carried ; upon each quarter was a whale-boat twenty-five feet in length and astern was a dinghy." 19 These quotations leave no doubt as to the number and location of the Beagle's boats , their type, and except for the dinghy, their size and builder. FitzRoy describes the Johns-built yawl as "excellent" and " largest boat ," and one is tempted to believe that he contrived to have it made longer than the 26ft initially asked for.

I feel certain he did not, however, and that " largest boat" referred to displacement, not length . The quotation David Stanbury used to describe the yawl (M.M. , 65) , and, I, earlier, comes from the Narrative, Vol. I, p. 180: "She was a beautiful boat , twenty-eight feet in length ...." This sad eulogy for the yawl goes on to describe its loss on being hauled aboard halfway through the.first voyage.

The 28ft whaleboats built by the Beagle's carpenter, Jonathan May, and the 25ft whaleboats built by William Johns, would have been made as light as possible, clinker-built in the Royal Navy of this time.

In the few drawings in which the whaleboats are shown large enough , they do appear to be clinker-built and extremely " banana-shaped." Often they are silhouetted. When not, they still seem to be dark or of a middle value and quite possibly varnished . However, one of the many watercolors made by Conrad Martens depicts a black whaleboat under sail. Another, also by Martens, made upriver from Port Desire, Patagonia, gives a fine idea of the yawl.20 This boat appears to have been varnished with a white strake. The bowsprit, if indeed it is one and not some other spar, is offset to starboard of her stem. Her fore and mainmasts are sharply raked, and her gaff mainsail is lowered . Her rudder is unshipped. A similar painting in sepia wash and done at the same time, includes the dinghy, equally dark.

Many questions, once I delved into them, had clear-cut answers. Others remain elusive. An example is the question of the boat the ship carried on her port quarter from mid January 1833 to the end of the voyage. From the time the Beagle left England until this date we know it to have been a 25ft whaleboat. Further, in the same paragraph already partially quoted,2 1 FitzRoy states that, ".. .the Beagle's equipment afterwards remained unaltered , ..."

SEA HISlDRY, SPRING 1984

Then , in describing a gale off Cape Hom on January 13th, 1833, in which the Beagle was nearly capsized, he writes of"... the loss of a lee quarter boat, which although carried three feet higher than in the first voyage, was dipped under water and tom away." 22 A log entry of this date reads, ''At 1:45 lost the lee Quarter Boat by a heavy lee lurch ." (Wind and course directions make it possible to deduce the lurch was to starboard.) One would expect the Beagle's meticulous captain to inform the reader when, where, and with what the Jost whaleboat was replaced. He does not.

David Stanbury writes, " The second cutter, rather smaller than 25ft was carried upon the port quarter and may have been known as the gig. Certainly gigs are referred to in the log and the terms first and second gigs are used." 23 Mr. Stanbury does not give the dates of the Jog entries for the gigs , but one for March 1833, only two months after the loss of the whaleboat, coincides with Captain FitzRoy's acquisition of a schooner of 170 tons in the Falkland Islands, which he renamed Adventure. Bought to assist the Beagle with her surveying, it is possible, since FitzRoy wrote, "I always carried seven boats on the Beagle", that either a boat from a wrecked French ship or one of the schooner's three boats replaced the lost whaleboat.

Mr. Stanbury continues, "The outlines of these boats, so vital to a survey ship, can be seen in the plans of the Beagle drawn up

by P.G. King (Mitchell Library ML 816) although these plans were not drawn up until 1897." And several paragraphs later, "The original sketches by P.G. King, who was a midshipman on the second voyage, are in the Mitchell Library but they were drawn from memory over sixty years later and although they show details they are out of proportion . Attempts to fit them to scale plans run into many difficulties but they do seem to show some minor points."

In King's H.M.S. Beagle's Upper Deck, 1832 , the Cutter 2nd (Gig) is not only out of proportion , at least in relation to the ship, but when compared to contemporary drawings and paintings, it can be seen to be much too far forward. Also, date and cutter are incompatible as we know a whaleboat occupied the port quarter through all of 1832 . Ifthe Cutter 2nd in King's original is divided into the length of his ship (Beagle was 90ft between perpendiculars and about 98ft from stem to stern) , it comes out roughly 17ft 8in . This is but one instance of many which make it clear that PG. King's efforts cannot be accepted on face value. This does not mean they are not of interest to the researcher and an important aid if evaluated carefully.

In the case of the missing quarter boat , King's memory indicating that the port quarter whaleboat, (after having been moved to starboard), was replaced by a "Cutter 2nd (Gig) ," the occassional mention of a gig in the log ; and the knowledge that the replacing boat must be rather light, are all we have to go by.

Although the log reports sending"... the Cutter to pick up a boat drifting past the ship" (November 27th , 1833) , it is not likely that this would be the permanent replacement. One can but speculate that FitzRoy, with an eye for a finely made boat , would , in the end, have kept one of the gigs belonging to the schooner he so reluctantly parted with in Valparaiso, September, 1834. The Adventure was no ordinary schooner. Built as a yacht in England , both she and her boats would have been exquisite examples of the shipwright's art. As a replacement for the lost whaleboat, what better than the Adventure's graceful gig, about 24ft, clinkerbuilt, light and able?

Among the few known reasonably close-up contemporary representations of the Beagle are a drawing and a painting which depict the ship from an after quarter. The drawing shows the Beagle from her lee side and as close hauled as she can be on the port tack off the east coast of Patagonia in a "critical situation ." 24 The painting H.M.S. Beagle rounding the Cape of Good Hope SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

(July 10th 1843), shows the ship on the port tack also, but from to windward. She is on her last voyage and homeward bound . Both drawing and watercolor are ably executed. The boxy shape of the Beagle's stern , her poop cabin , rig, and a number of other things are clearly deliniated. Her whaleboats hang from their davits at each quarter and the dinghy hangs astern. This can be seen to extend well across the Beagle's after end, thus indicating a length of 14ft. The lines of a dinghy of this size are reproduced in Commander May's The Boats of Men of War. 25 This boat appears to be not unlike that which the Beagle may have carried. Commander May writes, " The word dinghy is oflndian origin and the type of boat as used in this country probably originated in East Indiamen. The earliest reference in the English language is 1794." 26 In the concluding page of Discoveries in Australia, J. Lort Stokes relates, ''A rrived Spithead 30 Sept. (1843) ... after an absence of six years. During this period we lost only two men, and preserved throughout almost the same spars and boats we left Plymouth with in 1831."

P.G. King and His "Diagram Sketches" of the Beagle Due to the important role time has thrust upon P.G. King in regard to the appearance of the Beagle, I feel it is necessary to think about his contribution more carefully than has been done hitherto, at least in print .

Nine year old Philip Gidley King (1817-1904) accompanied his father, Captain Philip Parker King, RN , FRS, in command of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle, commissioned principally to survey the dangerous waters in the area of Tierra del Fuego, 1826-1830.

In 1831 , fourteen-year old Midshipman King sailed on the Beagle's second voyage. Darwin wrote his sister, Caroline, April 25, 1832 , "... he is the most perfect pleasant boy I ever met with , and is my chief companion."

Upon the Beagle's arrival in Sydney, January 1836, King left the ship and the Navy to rejoin his parents living in Parramatta , Australia , where he was born . By twenty-five he had entered the service of the Australian Agricultural Co. in charge of its cattle and stud horses. Stockman , mayor, legislative counselor, bank director, P.G. King had removed himself from his early seafaring years. While touring Australia in 1890, Hallam Murray, son of England 's publisher John Murray, and his wife visited Mr. and Mrs. P.G. King. From the correspondence which followed it is possible to better understand the background of what King called his "diagram sketches" of the Beagle , as well as the copies made of them. My inquiries sent to the still esteemed publishing house of John Murray, on Albemarle Street, London , brought immediate response. Along with her helpful letter, Virginia Murray not only sent me Xeroxed copies of King's letters to Hallam Murray from 1890 to 1899, but a photograph of King's original sheet of sketches, H. M.S. Beagle's Quarter deck and Poop Cabin. This is the only original of those King sent Hallam Murray in November 1891 remaining in the publisher's hands. The "originals", reported by David Stanbury 2 7 to be in the Mitchell Library, Sydney, are actually photographic copies which King appears to have had made before sending his sketches to England.

In his letter to Hallam Murray of November 27th, 1890, King mentions, " Your brother's request that I could write an Article for 'Murray's Magazine' a 'Voyage with Darwin' is very flattering .. . ." A year later, November 3rd, 1891, he writes: " I had been wondering ...whether you would still like to have any rememberances of mine of dear Mr. Darwin-Once or twice I have taken the idea up but from my youth at the time it is very likefy my production would be thought puerile. However I have it in hand-but what will be more acceptable perhaps will be some diagram sketches

31

,.

----of the Old Ship's interior arrangments. I had intended to have had them copied here into something like a neat style but fearing some unnautical hand mulling the whole or a part I now send them in the rough for what they are worth- they are very interesting to me and I may tell you are as accurate as it is poss ible to make them-Even to the contour of the ship's bow and cut-water both of which came back to my mind very vividly and confirmed by a Sketch found since you were here-"

The following day he continues with a PS, ending, " If you ever mean to put these Beagle diagrams into a 3rd Edition of Her Voyages and you go to the trouble of having them Copied I would like to see a tracing of the Copies for Correction ...."

By the time he wrote this letter, John Murray's 1890 illustrated edition of Journal ofResearches had already been published . Its introduction states rather ambiguously, " Most of the views given in this work are from sketches made on the spot by Mr. Pritchett , with Mr. Darwin's book by his side." Illustrator R.T. Pritchett , (1827-1907), could hardly have made his well known but faulty engravings of the Beagle or views of the areas visited "on the spot." That King's sketches arrived too late to be included with the other illustrations explains why the engravings made from two of them , H. M.S. Beagle, middle section fore and aft, 1832 and Upper Deck 1832, can only be found in some books of the 1890 edition and not others, and why they are not listed with the other illustrations. These copies of King's originals, quite possibly the work of Pritchett also although no record appears to exist, show the ship to be slightly more compressed fore and aft than King shows it. Some details made in apparent effort to correct King, are erroneous instead . Aside from this, the John Murray engrav32

ings copy King's sketches faithfully, including such aberrations as drawing the mizzen mast all the way through the deadwood! It would have interested the reader to find that P.G. King had been a midshipman on the Beagle and it is a shame that John Murray never, even in later editions and reissues , gave King credit for his valuable contribution.

The last letter I have from King to Hallam Murray, dated March 25th , 1899, is also important to Beagle research as it gives the source of the halftone frontispiece , showing the Beagle under full sail, found in the Murray 190! edition of Journal of Researches, and subsequent reprintings up to 1912. King writes: " Instead of your apologizing fo r hav ing kept my drawing of the Beagle by Wickham I have to thank you for having kept it so safely and for sending it to me. I had forgotten there was such a pretty remembrance of my Old Ship-I immediately sent it to be framed and now have it ornamenting my room. I am glad you had a photo taken of it and trust you will find that someday you may be justified in reprinting the Voyage. I still think the masts are too taunt [tall] but it was drawn by a thorough sailor the 1st Lieut of the Ship-It might be objected to that he drew her with her lee topmast and topgallant studding sa ils but that is all right with the wind abaft the beam."

Finding this obscure information in one of King's letters came as a happy surprise. Hitherto I had discounted this frontispiece for research purposes as its source was unacknowledged.

Wickham ought to know what the Beagle looked like and though he proudly makes his future command look far larger than she was with masts too "taunt" as King pointed out, other things such as the proportions of the Beagle's headsails, one to the other, could be trusted . Errors which had made me cautious SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

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years ago, including bobbing off the tack of the jib, could now be attributed to the ignorance of the engraver as he prepared the halftone plate made from Murray's photograph of Wickham's drawing for reproduction. I too am "glad" Hallam Murray " had a photo taken''---as the original appears to be lost.

Anyone interested in Darwin and the ship on which he sailed is also familiar with a different set of drawings attributed to King.

The story of their discovery by Sir Geoffrey Keynes, along with a letter written by King, December 1897, to Captain (later Admiral) F.W. Fisher, can be found in Charles Darwin s Diary and the Voyage of H. M.S. Beagle by Nora Barlow, 1933, and in The Beagle Record by R.D. Keynes, 1979. Both of these exceptional books include reproductions of the copies under discussion.

Under Illustrations Lady l3arlow writes, "The drawings were prepared at the request of Mr. Hallam Murray, who used one of · the drawings in ...the Naturalist's Voyage (Journal of Researches) in 1890, and again in .. .1901." Further along she says that King's letter to Captain Fisher enclosed " press copies of the drawings."

Actually, it is the Murray engravings discussed earlier and not what Keynes found which appear in the volumes mentioned . To me, "press copies" and proof prints are synonymous. And yet I have been unable to find any record that the Keynes discoveries were ever published before Nora Barlow included them in her first mentioned book, Charles Darwin's Diary. In a helpful letter, John Chancellor's paleontologist son, Gordon, suggests that if these copies had been printed anywhere by 1897, "why did not King say so in his letter to Fisher?" He also points out that Lady Barlow may " ... have mistakenly thought they were press copies SEA HIS1DRY, SPRING 1984

i• 1

Th e names of various JO-gun brigs, such as Cadmus, Rolla , Frolic, and in this case Brisk , should not be taken as meaning they are the vessels represented by the drawings on which they apear! Th ey are merely class names put on by an Admiralty Librarian sometime in the 1920's (along with the number)for listing purposes. These draughts might as well have been given the name Beagle instead, as she was built from just such an AL/miralry plan as is reproduced here, not impossibly this very one.

of the originals''---copies of those King sent to Murray. Were this not confusing enough, the Keynes copies contain extremely perplexing features in themselves .

From his letter of Nov. 3, 1891, one receives the impression that if King, then 74, could have made "neat style" drawings to send to Hallam Murray rather than risk some "unnautical hand,'' he would have done so. Where, then, did the Keynes "neat style" copies come from and when? Further, these copies are not simply neatened versions . Many things have gone sadly awry, and it becomes difficult to understand how King could have made errors on his second set of drawings not seen on the first. For example, it seems strange that he would have changed his whaleboat, too small but of an acceptable outline in his original sketch, H. M.S Beagle 1832, into something so totally unlike a whaleboat in the Keynes copy. Why would he have made his figures, tables and chairs, shown however crudely on deck in the first instance, so strangely levitated in the second? Poor vision perhaps? And could this account for the figurehead of a beagle clearly drawn in King's sketch, being so amorphous in the Keynes copy? On King's Murray sketch , Beagle's Quarterdeck, he has added more information than is on the Mitchell Library photograph. This

33

HMS Beagle at the time of Darwin 's voyage , reconstructed and dra wn by the author.

and other notes, e.g. , " The tops of the Binnacle Compasses ought to show above the Captain's Skylight about 1 foot" and "(Bad perspective!)," would not have been made for himself.

Rather, they would have been instructions for John Murray's illustrator should it have been decided to publish a copy of this sketch . Had the Keynes Quaner deck included the last minute correction seen on the King original we would know that it was drawn from this. It does not, therefore proving that it was made from one of the photographic copies in Australia , and , presuming that King did indeed make it , he had forgotten his added note.

The " bad perspective" has been corrected but King's note regarding the binnacles has been misunderstood . Rather than showing "above the Captain's Skylight about 1 foot " from a position behind it, they are placed on top of it! This is contrary to where King shows them , not only in his sketch , Poop Cabin, but on his profile and the Keynes copy of the same! The original Quarter deck shows the diamond pattern (a stylized reminiscence of netting, perhaps) often found on inboard panels of hammock boarding, with the level of hammocks tending to fall flush with the poop deck . The Keynes copy appears to lack understanding as it leaves out both the hammocks and the boarding. Instead the bulwarks are made as high as the poop deck , an impossibility on the Beagle with her low bulwarks . This situation contradicts the King Quarter deck sketch , and his profile, the Murray engraving and, amazingly once more, the Keynes profile.

One could go on and on. There is no need to belabor the point but so many errors and discrepancies not seen on King's originals appear to demonstrate the very fears King mentions in his letter. It looks as though some " unnautical hand " had made an attempt to neaten his drawings at the expense of their validity.

Could King's advancing age have caused his own hand to have been the unnautical one? Not impossible, but it does seem 34

unlikely. Captain Fisher's note thanking King and returning " his plans of the Beagle" mentions that "he had taken copies of them." 28 Could he, himself, have drawn neatened copies from the copies he had " taken"? This, too, seems unlikely. As a naval officer he would have understood ships too well to have changed his King copies to their detriment.

In reference to King's " minor points," David Stan bury writes 29 " the galley is shown under the forecastle and in front of the foremast and not in the position shown by Mrs . Lois Darling [M.M ., 64, 320]. Companionways are shown at both the fore hatchway and the main hatchway and they are fore and aft in position." He continues, "The yawl and cutter are shown in the deck plan as being stowed partially over the fore and main hatches and presumably they would have to be moved to completely open up these hatches-but if the galley was where the cabin plan suggests then at least the tin chimney would be out of the way."

By pointing out the various discrepancies between P.G. King 's drawings and my reconstruction of the inboard profile of the Beagle , Mr. Stanbury has not, perhaps, considered the complexities carefully enough . When Captain FitzRoy mentions "one of Frazer's stoves" to replace the "fireplace" but fails to include a major change in its location, it could be an oversight, but I would doubt it unless the change took place at the time of the first voyage. No request for such a change is mentioned in FitzRoy's letters of 1831.3° Also, it cannot be considered as " better than those of vessels of her class" 3 1 to move the galley from the central , relatively roomy area where the Admiralty draughts show it with grating above, to the dark, motion prone, confined and airless part of the ship where King places it. Some seventy souls depended upon the output of that galley and there must have been a limit, even in the 1830s, to how badly the unsung heroes, the ship's two cooks and their jhelpers, could have been treated .

SEA HISlDRY, SPRING 1984

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H. M.S. Beagle's Quarterdeck. Photograph of original drawing by PG. King courtesy of John Murray.

While looking at King 's galley it is also necessary to exam ine the various objects which must become involved with such a change. These would include the Beagle's patent windlass which can only be placed where the Admiralty plans show it.32 This heavy and cumbersome piece of mach inery is installed on the upper deck just ahead of the foremast. Here its bitts and standard knees, as well as the heel of the bowsprit , for·m a massive whole.

Built to withstand extraordinary stresses, the bitt's timbers pass through the upper deck to be let into the beams of the lower deck at the exact spot King has placed his galley. In his inboard profile King sidesteps this conflict by showing the windlass but without the timbers just refered to or the galley. Instead, he wanders to starboard where he shows a hammock , locker and Sick Bay. King does not show the stove's " tin chimney" which Mr. Stanbury suggests " would be out of the way" and no wonder. Had he, it must pass through the upper deck in an area already crowded with the windlass, its bars (cranks, apparently, in this case), and bitts, anchor "chain and hempen cables ,'' not to mention toiling sailors , and extend through the fo'c's'le deck above. A study of ships' draughts shows that such a condition is not impossible, but it is unusual. Surely it would seem that the Beagle's forecastle deck would be the last place for a stovepipe if it could be avoided .

Here the forecourse would be " handy-by " to catch escaping sparks and force a down-draft , and here the heavily tarred mainstay and main preventer (spring) stay must come uncomfortably close. And no matter how well stayed and protected the stovepipe was, thrashing headsail sheets , other running rigging, rain , sleet , breaking seas, and sailors handling anchors and much else, would all conspire to make the position of the Beagle's "tin chimney," although out of the way of the boats, in the thick of it here, and very vulnerable.

With no galley in his profile, there is room aplenty for fore and aft companionways as King shows them , particularly so since he leaves out the bitts in these areas. Forward of the mainmast there can be little doubt the bitts were there. But abaft the foremast questions arise. Among FitzRoy's requests to the Naval Board, Jul y 4, 1831, he asks to have " ... thf Beagle to be fitted with a " PaSEA HIS1DRY, SPRING 1984

tent Windlass" in addition to her Capstan , ..." Once the windlass was installed, there wou ld be no need for riding bitts. Such a condition can be seen in the Beag le'.~ sisterships Barracouta and Frolic. Both were converted to barks and fitted as packets. On October 8th 1831, FitzRoy writes again: " I have the honor of requesting that you will allow the Patent Capstan · of Hi s Majesty's Surveying Sloop under my co mmand to be returned to Store. The excell ent Patent Windlass . .. renders the Capstan Un necessary;. . . it causes the Compass cards in the Binnacles to deviate ten degrees ... The Windlass which is now on board the Beagle was in the Chanticleer during her last voyage and answered every purpose exceedingly well."

In the area originally occupied by the capstan, the Beagle's artist, Augustus Earle, in his Crossing the Line 33 shows two cavorting "Neptune's assistants" leading a man blindfolded . When I made my inboard profile I copied Earle's carefully deliniated skylight , with its cambered top and barred lights, as well as the smaller skylight King drew to a like design over the captain's cabin.

The only way to obtain access to the upper deck forward would be to pass under the yawl's forequarter with companionway athwartship as the Admiralty, not King, shows it. As for a companionway at the main hatch , there seems no reason to place King's sketch above the Admiralty plans, which show none.

King's halting efforts convey the charm and intimacy of having been made by someone who actually sailed on the Beagle in his youth. In many ways his sketches are remarkably consistent with what I have been able to find out about the ship. They also include details which otherwise would be lost to history. That copies of them are occasionally published under such misleading titles as "Detailed plans ofH. M.S. Beagle" is hardly King's fault. I doubt if he ever meant his efforts to be taken so seriously. The old gentleman simply made his sketches ". .. from old drawings and recollections, . .." as he said in his letter to Capt.

Fisher, with no idea they would be forever accepted as exact portrayals of his ship. In so doing he gave pleasure to himself, Hallam and John Murray, and to the reader who would buy lour35

nal of Researches enhanced by King's remembrances and would sail away on what would in time become better known as The Voyage of the Beagle.

Sail Plan 34

David Stanbu ry writes, "Although a number of sketches of the Beagle are now known, there is really no accurate representation which would enable her detailed sail plan to be reconstructed ."

I ag ree that any attempt to recreate a "detailed sail plan" fo r the Beagle would be impossible. However, specifications, relative proportions, and details, other than those unique to the Beagle as she was fitted fo r survey ing, can be fo und in excellent books solely devoted to masting, rigging and sailmaking as it was practiced through time on ships and classes of ships in the Royal Navy.

With naval specifications from which to wo rk , spar dimensions and simple sail plans often sufficed . I had this in mind when I made my diag ramatic draw ings in an attempt to reconstruct the Beagle's sail plan initially, as well as with the draw ing published here, which incorporates small changes.

For those interested in how I arrived at my sail plan, the fo llowing is a summary of factors which went into its d rafting. Nothing I have come ac ross in either the " sketches" Stanbu ry refers to, some of which go far beyond this definition, or in the literature, leads us to believe that the proportions of the standard 10-gun brig rig, other than the replacement of the mainsail and its long boom with a mizzenmast, its spanker and topsail , and the addition of what FitzRoy called " large trysa ils between the masts," were bas ically altered in the Beagle at the time of her conversion from brig to bark . This is confirmed by FitzRoy's request to The Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy, August 19th , 1831, " I have the honour of requesting that you will allow His Majesty's Surveying Sloop, under my command , to be furni shed with Spars and Sails acco rding to the accompanying List, in addition to the present establ ishment for vessels of her class." 35 As all FitzRoy as ked for was certain "additional" spars and sail s and " her class" was a IO-gun brig, we have onl y to turn to John Edye's Naval Calculations, 1832. The date is right and in

36

table after table one fi nds a wealth of info rmation , not only pertaining to the Beagle's class, but other H .M . Ships from 120-guns to cutter.

With the help of Edye's tables listing the Dimensions and Weight ofrhe Masts and Ya rds, (pp. 110-lll), along with his table, The Dimensions and Area of the Principal Sails, (pp. 120-121) , questions regarding the Beagle's basic rig are immediately answered . Edye also includes a scaled diagramatic draw ing, The JOGun Brig. 36 Essentially this is the same as his tables, but small va riances allow a choice when weighed against other evidence.

With Edye as a bas is, closely corroborated by Fincham's A History ofNaval Architecture, 1851 (page 270), the judicious use of contemporary drawings and paintings of the ship make it possible, with the help of proportional di viders and more measurements than I care to look back upon, to reconstruct a sail plan of the Beagle as she appeared at the time of her second voyage, one which can be accepted as reasonably accurate.

Poop Cabin In 1976, thanks to Commander and Mrs. Arthur Waite and M r.

Peter Gautrey of the Camb ridge University Libra ry, I received a photograph of a si mple diagrammatic drawing titled Poop Cabin . Labeled in Darwin's unmistakable handwriting, the style resembles that fo und in other of Darwin's draw ings, e.g., Formation of a coral island. 37 I feel certain that Darwin made it , but regardless of who did , this authoritati ve plan view provided the solution to the problems I had been hav ing.

Captain FitzRoy writes , " ... over the wheel the poop-deck projected, and under it we re cabins, extremely small certainly, though filled in inve rse propo rtion to their size." 38 P.G. King in his original plan view, Poop Cabin , labels these No. 7, Stokes' cabin, to starboard and No. 8, WC. , to po rt . In his sketch H. M.S. Beagle's Quarter deck , it is poss ible to find the barest indication of Stokes' cabin if yo u look hard enough fo r something you know should be there. But the little cabin to port is omitted both here and in King's profile. Only the starboard of the two midget size doors shown in Quarter deck is shown in Poop Cabin. The po rt

SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

door, had King included it, would have been blocked by Mr. Darwin's Drawers. Such baffling inconsistencies confused me, and I only wish I had known of the Darwin drawing when I made my little model of HMS Beagle in 1959.

Happily for the researcher the Darwin plan view includes the scale as an integral part. Equally scientifically Darwin has saved himself time and the possibility of being incorrect by schematically drawing a straight line to represent the curve of the ship's side. To make such a curve properly would involve many measurements from stations on a fore and aft line, measurements further complicted by the need to measure through what Darwin labels Book Cases and King labels Chart Lockers. As charting was a principal occupation it is probable that this area was used for charts as well as books. And it was reassuring to see that Darwin's Poop Cabin drawing, painstakingly measured at the time on hands and knees , and King's Poop Cabin sketch , painstakingly wrested from his memory, were in many ways similar. There is an all-important difference however. In King's poop cabin the main cabin occupies the entire after end of the Beagle's upper deck. Darwin's does not.

In his drawing's upper right hand corner, the after end of Old Stokes' Cabin can be seen to project 18in into the poop cabin's starboard side. We note with relief that "Old Stokes," the Beagle's young mate and assistant surveyor, could now stretch out on a bunk at least 6ft long rather than the mere 3ft 6in allotted

by King! Aft of Stokes' cabin is the large area marked Book Cases already mentioned. These run along the starboard side and continue across the after end of the cabin . Darwin draws these with a straight line also, without the transom's bow.

At the very bottom of the drawing the crudest of outlines can be seen overlapped by the scale. Here Darwin has scrawled Rudder. From it the tiller thrusts forward from beneath the Book Cases, passes under a bar and vanishes from view, hidden by the Great Table. This is roughly centered on and just aft of the mizzenmast. Before the start of the voyage Darwin, in a letter to his sister, Susan , September 17, 1831, wrote, " My cabin is the Drawing one, and in the middle is a large table over which we two sleep in hammocks ...."

Diagonal guards cover the sheaves and ropes leading from tiller to wheel barrel , not shown but just forward of the bulkhead.

Even a bit of what appears to be the tiller's relieving tackle is drawn in with its blocks. Aft, two large amorphous masses may forever remain unidentified.

To port of Stokes' cabin the poop cabin's narrow door hinges to starboard and opens inwards so as not to interfere with Stokes' door on deck or the man at the wheel. To the left of the door is a cabinet marked Instruments and next to this a Washstand. A Chest of Drawers , undoubtedly the same as those King remembered as Mr. Darwin's Drawers, is shown farthest to port, its corner lopped off at a forty degree angle.

To port of the poop cabin, I was delighted to find faintly sketched lines delineating the Beagle's port quarter. A passageway, with what could be a row of lockers, can be seen leading to an area 6ft long, 32in wide forward and 2lin aft. This space scales to be the same as the Water Closets shown in the same location , to starboard as well as port , in the Beagle's sistership Frolic (#4057) , and on other of the Admiralty draughts. Arthur Waite, in a letter, had questioned where I originally placed the WC in my inboard profile drawing. I agreed he was right, but, at the time, justified it as being "a la King!" With the poop cabin no longer extending across the entire after end of the ship, and Darwin's draught conforming with those of the Admiralty, King's WC loses what credence it had.

But how was access to the passageway achieved? This is nowhere shown and King's WC (FitzRoy's "extremely small" SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

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Above, H. M.S. Beagle's poop cabin. Photo of original drawing by P.G. King, couriesy John Murray. Below, plan ofH. M.S. Beagle's poop cabin annotated by Charles Darwin. Courresy Cambridge University Library.

,{

cabin) would appear to block the way. In an attempt to answer the question , I laid both of King's drawings , Poop Cabin and Quarter deck, and Darwin's one, upon the drawing board. In so doing, the reason for the port door King shows in Quarter deck but not in his Poop Cabin and the forty degree angle off the corner of Darwin's poop cabin became suddenly apparent. I had only to place tracing paper over an Admiralty plan of the upper deck to see ifthe Darwin drawing would lay in as well as I expected it to do before I could find out if my supposition were correct.

Frankly, the fitting in process was not as easy as I had anticipated. First it would be necessary to draw in the changes which occured after the upper deck was raised .

With this worked out , the Darwin Poop Cabin drawing, 37

('!,

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.---------1--~~:¡~~~~ o~,.......,, . . . ,Š1uz

Recons1ruc1ed and drawn by the auihor.

Stokes' cabin , the "extremely small" cabin to port , the WC. , the passageway to it , and the entrance to the passageway with its door made possible by the forty degree angle off the corner of the poop cabin, all slid into place as neatly as a jigsaw puzzle.

*

*

*

*

*

Dramatically exposed to the overwhelming variety and exuberance of life during his world encircling voyage on the Beagle, Charles Darwin had already begun to have thoughts which would ultimately lead to the publication of The Origin of Species in 1859. This book, the result of over twenty years of patient , painstaking work, thought, and experiment , was to give the science of biology the great unifyi ng concept it had previously lacked . And although biologists of diverse disciplines may still argue fiercely over the mechanistic details of the evoiu-

Notes Narrmive of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesry 's Ships Advenlure and Beagle beiween the years 1826 and 1836 describing their e.xamina1ion ofthe southern shores ofSouih America and the Beag{.e 's circumna viga1ion of 1he Globe in 1hree volumes with an appendix.

Henry Colburn, 1839 Volume I, Proceedings ofthe Firsl Expedition , 1826-1830, under the command of Caplain P. Parker King , R.N., F. R. S. Volume II, Proceedings ofthe Second Expedition, 1831-1836, under 1he command of Captain Robert Fi1zRoy, R. N. Volume Ill , Journal and Remarks, 1832-1836 by Charles Danvin , Esq., M .A. Sec. Geol. Soc. 2 Darwin, C., Journal of Resea rches info 1he Natura l History and Geology of1he countries visited during the voyage ofH. M. S. Beagle round the world under the Command of Capt. FitzRoy, R.N., John Murray, 1845 ; also Freeman, R.B., The Works of Charles Danvin, an Anno1a1ed Bibliographical Handlis1, 2nd Ed ., 1977 .

3 Stokes, J. Lort, Commander, R.N. , Discoveries in Australia; with an account of the Coasts and Ri vers explored and surveyed during the Voyage ofH.M.S. Beagle, in 1he years 1837-43. In two volumes ,

4 5 6 7

8 38

T. and W. Boone, 1846; also Australiana Facsimile Editions , No. 33, Adelaide, Libraries Board of South Australia, 1969.

Narralive, Vol. I, p.5.

Discoveries in Australia, Vol. II , p.526.

Thomson, K.S ., " H.M.S. Beagle, 1820-1870, " American Scientist, Vol. 63,6, p.671 , 1975 .

Darling, L. , " The Beagle-a search fo ra lost ship," Natural History May 1960; ''H. M. S. Beagle, Further Research or Twenry Years aBeagling , " The wg ofMystic Seaport , Vol. 29, 1, 1977; Reprinted in The Mariner's Mirror, Vol. 64,4 , 1978 .

No. 3974, Box 56, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England.

tionary process, the scientific fact that evol ution has indeed occurred is accepted . Today every branch of the life sciencespaleontology, genetics, embryology, anatomy, physiology, behavior, etc.-all take the concept of organic evol ution into account.

Most people have come to like the idea of being related to other animals, however distantly, and find this oneness even more exalting than the older explanations of life. Darwin expresses this in the closing sentence of his great book: "There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that whilst the planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravi ty, from so simple a beginning endless fo rms most beautiful and most wonderful , have been and are being evolved."

9 Log of M.S. , 29 ,1; M.M ., 64 ,4.

10 Am. Sc., 63 ,6.

11 Public Record Office, London , 106/ 1346,6520.

12 Na rrative, II, 82.

13 N.M.M. 3974,3861 , 4052 and details , 6586.

14 M.M.M. 3861 and others.

15 Narrative II , p.292 .

16 Stanbury , D., Notes , The Mariner 's Mirror,, Vo l. 65 ,4,357 , 1979.

17 Narrative II. 18 P.R.O. 106/1346,6520 .

19 Narra1ive II, 82.

20 Smyth , M. , Mitchell Library, Sydney , Australia.

2 1 Narrative II, 82.

22 Na rrative II, 125.

23 M.M ., 65 ,4.

24 N.M.M. ; Log of M.S. , 29, I. 25 N.M.M. Monographs and Reports , 15.

26 Ibid ., See also M.M. 2, (19 12), p.8 .

27 M.M. , 65 ,4.

28 Mitchell Library, King Papers , Ref. A-1977.

29 M.M ., 65 ,4.

30 P.R.O. , 106/1346,6520.

31 Narrative II , 82.

32 N.M.M ., 4052 ,4057.

33 Landseer, T., engr. , Narrative II .

34 M.M. , 65,4.

35 P.R .O., 106/ 1346.

36 Log of M.S ., 29 , I ; M.M. ffi4 ,4.

37 Cambridge University Librrary , Darwi n, MSS. 38 Narrative II, 82 .

SEA HIS1DRY, SPRING 1984

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SEA HISTORY PRINTS

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40

77ie sidewheel excursion steamer Grand Republic in the Hudson Highlands.

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Thanks to the generous help we've had , the ship is now in good shape and is receiving visitors on a limited basis. (Call South Street Seaport Museum , 212 669-9400, to find out when you can go aboard.) A beginning has been made on the crew's deckhouse, which was dedicated on October 21 to the memory of the late Allen Rupley, co-chairman of the Freinds of Wavertree.

We have a long way to go to get to the skysail clewlines, which we very much want to do by the old Cape Homer's 100th birthday, December 10, 1985.

With many hands working to our now-famous motto (see the head of this ad) , our main need is funds-funds for materials, which can't always be donated , and for heavy industrial work beyond the capacity of our volunteer gang .

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SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

MODELMAKER'S CORNER

A Royal Squadron that Found Safe Harbor in the US

by Ann Jensen In the last months of his reign, before he lost his throne, and then his head in 1793, Louis XVI, King of France, did many of the usual kingly things. One of them was to commission the building of five ships. He never saw them. His date with the guillotine came before they were completed. The five vessels were finished, nonetheless, representing some of the finest examples of French sea power of that century. In the following years the squadron survived the Revolution, Napoleon's wars, and decades of political upheaval. Not once, however, in all that time, did they set sail and put out to sea. Nor were they manned for battle, though they stood at times in danger of destruction by the guns of war. After an incredible journey from the French port of St. Malo in which they were built, the small squadron of ships arrived in this country in 1854.

They have been here ever since, preserved and maintained in the Ship Model Collection of the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. The five models, built at the order of Louis XVI nearly 200 years ago, are part of a ship model collection that is unique in the world for its quality, number and historic significance. The flagship of the fleet of miniature French vessels is the Ville de Paris, a ship of the line mounting 120 guns. The original warship was the finest vessel of her day, a gift from the citizens of Paris to Louis XV. She served her country well into the reign of Louis XVI when she was lost to the British on her way to assist the American colonists in their struggle for independence. The British received no benefit from their prize, for she was then lost in a storm at sea. The other models commissioned by Louis had also served with distinction and in times undoubtedly better for the monarchy: the Aristide, a ship of the line carrying 74 guns ; the 44-gun frigatelunon ; the 16-gun sloop Berceau; and finally, an unnamed East lndiaman . Each model is meticulous in its detail, and of great beauty, and built at no small expense.

Ship models were made as a matter of course in the shipyards ofFrance and England . Most dockyards had ship model shops and crews of professional ship model builders who made models with pinpoint accuracy and workmanship of the highest order. Shipwrights used the dockyard models to study the construction of a ship they were building. With a model, they could work out new rigging patterns, the placement of masts, or other structural changes. A model served also as a presentation piece to be shown to those who commissioned the ship to be built , and who most likely couldn't read plans. Finally, models were made simply to commemorate a particular ship.

SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

~,-

7h.e 120-gun Ville de Paris, built to the order ofLouis XVI nearly 200 years ago, has recently been restored by mode/maker George F. Dukes, working with Robert Sumrall of the US Naval Academy Mu seum. Over I ,000 hours of highly skilled labor went into this effort. Photo, US Na vy.

A.M. Piedaniel , in the seaport city of St. Malo, had built the little squadron at his monarch's order. After Louis XVI was beheaded he hung onto the models, perhaps hoping for a suitable buyer when the political upheaval in France came to an end .

They were still among his belongings when he died in the early 1800s. Then , in 1810, they were bought by a merchant of St. Malo for 32,000 francs . The merchant moved to Paris with his family, hoping to sell the models to Napoleon , who had become Emperor. There he learned that the Emperor had moved on to Dresden. Undaunted , he followed with his family, and the models.

One can only imagine his frame of mind when he learned on reaching Dresden that Napoleon and the French had quit the city, where the Russian Czar Alexander was now encamped. Our man from St. Malo evidently decided that one head of state was as good as another, and offered the models to the Czar for 125,000 francs. Alexander, taken with the little squadron, countered with an offer of 100,000 francs. The merchant wouldn't bargain , and as French forces returned to threaten the city, Alexander hastily agreed to pay 125,000 the asking price, and sent a company of his Cossacks to escort the Frenchman and his models to him and close the deal.

The Russian Army had retreated across the Elbe, however, and when the Cossacks came to the river, finding the bridge destroyed , they swam across, leaving the merchant stranded on the bank with his family and his models. The merchant moved on to Berlin , where his daughter met a young

Frenchman , Alexander Vattemare, who had been a prisoner of war. Vattemare married the daughter, and was eventuall y able to raise enough money to get himself, his new wife, her family, and the collection of ship models back to France.

When Vattemare inherited the collection in 1827, he presented it to the French Navy.

He kept track of the little ships, however, and became distressed at their deteriorating condition. During a visit to the United States in 1839, Vattemare met former President John Quincy Adams, and offered him the models. Adams, who had actually been aboard the Ville de Paris as a boy, and remembered the loss of the great ship, accepted it on behalf of the American people. Vattemare then asked the French Navy to restore the damaged models. Th is never happened , so finally, in 1854, the aging Vattemare presented the five ships to Secretary of the Navy James C. Dobbin.

With them, he sent a letter recounting the history of the collection and apologizing for its condition. It looked , he said , "as if it had just issued from a terrible conflict."

As indeed , it had . A century was to pass with crude, cosmetic repairs to the ships, until in the early 1970s, Robert Sumrall , Curator of the US Naval Academy's model collection , took them in hand in his newly established model shop. Only a trained eye cou ld see that the battered , crudely overpainted ships, missing their gear and most of their rigging, could possibly be works of art capable of distracting a czar from the waging of a war. But that kind of trained care was now available. .t 43

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COLLECTOR'S ALLEY

"What's New": Recent Collections at Mystic

by Stuart Parnes, Associate Curator Mystic Seaport Museum To those of us who work in museums, collecting is such a natural, fundamental activity, that we seldom stop to think about it or even remind ourselves of its importance. Though from day to day we may be teachers, designers, publishers or explorers, we are after all-collectors.

Collecting can be an all-consuming passion. Some of us fill every working hour, and more than a few of our leisure ones, in the search for small pieces of the past. There are always embarrassing gaps in our museums' collections-missing artists, missing periods , missing styles, unusual materials, early examples, late examples-there is no end to the patching that we can do to the fabric of history. For collecting is the sine qua non-the noble activity that separates the museum from every other cultural and educational institution. To gather up artistically or historically significant objects so we may preserve and study them-that is our true calling. More than the construction of new galleries or the increase in numbers of staff and programs, it is the growth and refinement of our collections that is the true gauge of a museum's development.

Unfortunately, our public is often unaware of our collecting- often not even sure what we collect, never mind how or why we collect it. It is this public on whom we depend for so much of our support, yet our museums have traditionally done little to help their understanding.

What the public does learn about collecting is what makes the news. We all read about the record prices brought at auction for impressionist paintings or Chippendale furniture. And who is not dazzled when an institution like the J. Paul Getty Museum of California announces that it will pour millions upon millions into its search for collections?

The somewhat less newsworthy truth is that most museum collecting is done quietly, methodically, year after year after year. A revealing look at one museum's ongoing collecting is now being offered in a new exhibition at Mystic Seaport's R.J. Schaefer Gallery. Entitled "What's New," the show presents a selection of nearly 100 artifacts that have come into the Seaport's collections during the past five years. The variety is impressive and surprising!

Traditional maritime artifacts are of course included-navigational instruments, scrimshaw, ship portraits in oil and watercolor, and rigged models of astonishing detail. But Mystic's collections are far broader than this, and it is this unexpected breadth that is the real subject of the exhibit.

SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

A wide variety ofnew acquisitions will be and display in the "Whats New" exhibit at the R.J. Schaefer Gallery at Mystic Seaport Museum until April 29.

Sharing the spotlight are two full-sized sailing boats, a collection of tattooing gear, a Japanese robe brought back to America by a Portuguese whaleman, and a magic lantern projector complete with 19th century glass photographic slides of fishing and lifesaving activities. A few steps from a group of elaborate silver yachting trophies is a printed paper bag from a local Mystic ship provisioner, that through some small miracle has managed to survive since the 1890s. And there is much more.

The exhibit raises some good questions: "Why does one museum want to collect all these different things?" Fine arts, decorative arts, boats, instruments, photographs, silver, textiles, models-the objects are linked by one common thread. In some way they each help Mystic Seaport achieve its stated purpose: "... to preserve materials , artifacts, vessels and skills relating to maritime history in order to enhance man's knowledge and understanding of the sea's influence on American life."

"Did.you buy all these things?" Ah, if it were only true! Mystic Seaport, like most other museums in America today continues to rely on private collectors and benefactors to donate art, artifacts and funds for acquisitions. Few public institutions can any longer afford to compete at the auction block with commercial galleries, dealers and each other. Since 1929 when Mystic was founded, over 5,000 in-

dividuals have contributed objects to the growth of the museum's collections. Even over the past five years, when the staff has taken a far more active role in seeking out and purchasing needed artifacts, the great majority of important new material has come as gifts. ''What do you do with all this material once you get it?" Mystic's gallery space is sufficient to exhibit at most 10 percent of its collections. at any one time. The percentages vary, but the situation is basically the same in any museum . So why collect more than you can display? The size of a museum's collection should be limited only by its ability to preserve it. Proper storage is extremely expensive, as are the preservation and conservation efforts that may be required. But a collection's depth is its strength. A strong reserve collection not only provides the objects for changing exhibitions at home and loans to other museums, but it assures a rich and well preserved archive for research . The millions of pieces of our material culture that are preserved within museum walls are the primary source materials for generations of students and scholars to come.

When "What's New" closes in April, most of the artifacts will return to storage, where they will remain for months or years until they are selected again for study or display. But meanwhile, the collecting will continue through purchase and donation . The search will go on as it must, for something old, something new.

45

Sailing Craft of

by Philip Thorneycroft Teuscher,

The wharfs at Cite Simone buzz with mercantile activity as people and goods are shipped by sail from Port-au-Prince to outlying districts. Below, an outward bound sloop shosts down the Cite Simone roadstead. Shortly her jib will be set and the sculling oar stowed.

A boatwright saws a frame from natural crooked stock, as a couple of idlers find shade under a partially planked hull.

46

Amber slcies were replacing the blackness of night. Roosters' distant crowing carried across the water. I was awakened by the clatter of pots and pans and soft, yet guttural Creole of Haitian seamen preparing breakfast on charcoal-fired deck galleys. Slowly swaying spars were silhouetted against the sepia mist rising over the wharfs and cargo fleet at Cite Simone, Port-au-Prince.

Another day was dawning for Haiti's sailors.

My desire to study and photograph native sailing vessels has brought me back to Haiti. Recently I had coasted Hispaniola in my cutter Statis and had become acquainted with the vessels of the largest fleet of commercial sail in the Caribbees.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Caribbean Basin. Because of this poverty, the vast majority of her commercial fleet are pure sailing vessels . Auxiliary engines are just too expensive-and the wind is free.

One effect of this poverty is the Haitian vessels are crudely built with a ramshackle appearance. They often reminded me of an incarnation of a child's crude/naive drawing of a "sailboat." The Haitian must work with what he can scrounge or fabricate from recycled or found materials. This appearance is deceiving, however, as the craft are fast, able and fulfill their designed mission , as I was soon to learn .

The foreshore and wharfs at Cite Simone buzz with mercantile activity. Everything from shipbuilding and repair, to cargo handling, arrivals and departures-all the ancillary work of maintaining a merchant marine was going on all around me. Near the docks commissioned vessels were careened for caullcing and bottom painting and a couple of new hulls were under construction.

Structural members and frames are sawn and hewn from native hardwoods. Wood is so scarce that I have seen bark hanging from timbers which were barely thick enough , so they were never planed down. Imported pine house lumber and old wooden paclcing crate stock are used for planlcing. Regular carpenter nails and forged concrete-reinforcing rod stock suffice for fastenings. Oakum for caullcing is spun from worn-Out running rigging with an occasional rag thrown in. Ship's hardware is forged from scrap metal and reinforcing rod material. I noticed one smithy hammering a Model A Ford front axe! into a stock anchor. A straight spar does not exist in Haiti. Masts are crooked and dog-legged and spars are fitted together from two or three lengths of pole stock spliced with lap joints. Standing rigging is salvaged telephone pole cable full of burrs. For running rigging line is spun from local sisal in a ropewalk near the wharfs. Sail cloth is cotton or recycled CARE rice or flour sack cloth .

Recycling of material has been practiced in Haiti since long before it came into vogue in the States. In Nassau , Bahamas, I anchored Statis near a fleet of Haitian traders, their decks heaped with plastic bottles, bed springs, old chez-lounges and scrap lumber. Sloops import fresh produce to Nassau. There, they load up on junk, scavenged from the dumps of more prosperous New Providence Island, which is recycled in Haiti.

Haiti's sailors have immense pride in their vessels. In spite of their poverty they lavish colorful paint jobs on their craft and in Voodoo tainted ceremonies they christen them with fanciful names with religious overtones: Dieu Benit, Llvenir Esta Dieu, Christ Roi and Mie La Deessee Devine.

The sailors navigate using local knowledge and dead reckoning. Once, a sloop captain proudly showed me the only compass I ever saw aboard a Haitian ve:ssel.

At night Haitians sail blacke<d out. Navigation lights are unaffordable. Statis was almost rarmmed off Great lnagua by a large sloop returning from Nassau. , She must have seen our running SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

the Caribbees: II photographs by the author

lights as she sheered off and waved a kerosene lantern when passing abeam.

Haiti is surrounded by sea on three sides. Her roads, where they exist, are marginal. Most commerce is carried along her bifurcated coastline in three types of sailing vessels. Beachboats, a fourth type and the smallest , are used for fishing. In mid-afternoon aboard Statis, in Cap Haitien , I always made a point of watching the return of the fishing fleet. Dozens of sack cloth sails flecked the seascape like wind blown flower petals on an aqua.marine sea .

The larger craft are decked over or have open holds with a fore and quarter decks. The decked sloops, some over sixty feet, have a foredeck hatch , a cargo hatch amidships and a boxy trunk cabin aft. Trade along the coast and to the off-lying Haitian isl~nds is carried by both types. The decked craft are utilized for offshore commerce to the Turks/Caicos and Bahamian Islands. This is the type of craft frequently intercepted off Florida overloaded with Haitian " boat people."

Sprit rigs and high peaked gaff rigs are fitted to the two hull types.

Sprit rigs predominate on the open hulled , coastal craft with the decked vessels utilizing the more manageable gaff rig. The only schooners and one of the most picturesque Haitian vessels ply the Gulfe de la Go nave. These little schooners look as if they sailed out of the eighteenth century with their stubby masts and sprit rigs.

While observing Haitian craft I always had the feeling that a leaf or two of the pages of history had been turned back. I was witnessing sights of an era when human muscle and wind power made the mercantile machinery of nations turn . In this nuclear age Haiti 's seamen are functioning in the pre-industrial era , an age of wooden ships and iron men, if you will.

Traders are constantly arriving and departing Cite Simone's docks. Heavily laden vessels arriving from the west drop their gaff mains or brail up their sprits and sail to the mast. Under jib or sculling oar they maintain their momentum until their.bowsprits poke among the craft at the wharf. With a lot of shouting and gesticulating the boats are warped dockside or rafted up, sometimes four or five abeam. Bundle-laden passengers stream ashore trailing pigs or goats on their way to market. Scullers ply lighters ferrying cargo to and from vessels anchored in the roadstead .

The rhythmic squeal of throat and peak halliard blocks carries over the hubbub-a gaff rises methodically. The helmsman works his sculling oar, a sloop makes her way into the roadstead. The mainsail flaps lazily, sheets are trimmed and the sail fills . The vessel, down on her lines with her hold full, picks up speed and the jib is hoisted. Another cargo is on its way by wind power.

All the buggy lugging, hoisting and movement of cargo is by " Norwegian Steam''-human muscle, Two and three part tackles, rigged from vessels' cross-trees, are used to hoist heavy items like cement or fifty- five gallon drums. Cattle are lifted out of the hold by their horns. A sailor then " tails on ; ' grabs the bellowing bovine's tail , and swings the beast out over the water. The terrified bullock is forthwith dropped into the sea and herded ashore by an aquatic cowboy.

Ever since my first sight of a Haitian vessel under sail I had lusted for a chance to sail aboard one. I realized my ambition when I bargained for and got passage on a forty-foot, sprit rigged schooner between Saint Marc and Anse Rouge ori the Gulfe de la Gonave.

She was an open boat except for her fore and quarter decks. Her sturdy masts were supported by massive thwarts tied into the hull by natural crooked knees. Sprits and booms, approximately thirtyfive feet long, were spliced together from short stock. Her stem was raked and her run ended in a handsome, wine glass transom .

She looked like a burdsome, early nineteenth century French or SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

A big trading sloop, her decks cluttered with unstowed gear and cargo, awaits a place at the wharf to unload. A water-taxi , under sculling oar, has just hove-up.

This gaff rigged , open sloop has a jaunty look. Her owner has given her a gay paint j ob. Notice the fram e-end chain plates and decorated waterways. Below, a heavily laden sprit rigger running down wind has just released her main sheet. A sailor runs across the cargo to brail up the sprit mainsail.

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English yawl boat with schooner rig. She was riding light so the crew carried aboard beach gravel on their heads to ballast her.

The crew hoisted the foresail luff and we cast off into an inky black night. An offshore breeze coming off the mountains would push us seaward. One man fitted the sprit into the foresail peak while three others steadied the butt. The sailors went about their work methodically. Each man's job was done with a rhythm and economy of effort characteristic of wind ship sailors down through the ages. Three seamen tailed on the snooter tackle and with a timed sequence of sing-song grunts they hoisted it two-block . I lent a hand to hoist the large mainsail and jib. The loose footed main and foresail were boomed out and the sheets adjusted.

Shapes were indistinct in the blackness except for the red dots of sailors' cigarettes as they flared in the breeze.

The crew settled in , rolling up the blankets in odd corners out of the wind. I lay on my back in my sleeping bag staring up at the Milky Way. With a hissing-swashing sound the seas rolled under our quarter and the schooner responded with a long, easy roll.

Booms are sprits swayed out and back with rhythmed creaks.

My body and my mind felt tuned to the elemental forces sweeping us along-natural forces that sailors have harnessed to propel their ships down through the ages.

Haitian sailors, out of dire economic necessity, harness these forces, maintaining traditions of a brotherhood born of the sea and wind. This brotherhood of windship sailors is the stuff of romance and history.. .and in Haiti , it is a way of life . .t Mr. Teuscher photographed and researched this article aboard his cutter Statis during the filming of "Last of the Karaphuna" (SH27:47). He is currently working on a film about sailing ships and the effect of windpower on man 's migrations.

11

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48

SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

SAIL TRAINING

AMERICAN SCHOOLSHIPS: Nineteenth Century Beginnings

by Norman Brouwer Formal educational programs for seagoing professions are a relatively modern development. For centuries, seafaring had been a trade one learned from actual experience, entering " through the hawsepipe" as ship's boy or ordinary seaman and eventually, with ability and perseverance, rising to captain, and often , shipowner. However, in the late 18th century the Industrial Revolution , with its demand for vastly expanded merchant fleets and its rapidly changing technologies, began to place a heavy strain on this system. Shipowners and underwriters became increasingly concerned over real , or potential , shortages of skilled officers and seamen, and a movement toward organized schooling took shape.

The first American maritime schoolship was the result of the philanthropy of an American-born British Admiral , Sir Isaac Coffin , a native of Boston who had embarked on a successful career in the Royal Navy prior to our Revolution . Though residing on an English country estate, and representing his district in Parliament, he continued to maintain close ties with a number of friends and relatives in Massachusetts . At some point, he became thoroughly sold on the scheme of creating a series of nautical schools for American boys. A transcript survives of a remarkable will he had drawn up, setting down the plan for these schools in minute detail: from the curriculum , and the types of ships and small craft to be utilized , to the design of the uniforms and the awards to be given at graduation . The broad curriculum would have done credit to a fullfledged naval academy. There were to be three schools, located at Boston , Newburyport and Nantucket. Preference for enrollment was to be given to boys of Coffin ancestry.

Admiral Coffin was unsuccessful in getting schools started at Boston or Newburyport. In September of 1826 he paid a visit to Nantucket. His arrival there happened to coincide with a lively controversy over the establishment of public schools, which were lacking on the Island in spite of Commonwealth laws requiring them.1 Consequently, the institution Sir Isaac created , with a gift of $12 ,000, was a general school eventually incorporated into a town public school system . The brick building built for the Coffin School is still in existence.

In 1829 Admiral Coffin returned to see how his school was doing, and it was then that he fitted out the schoolship Clio. She was a brig of 179 tons, 'if! feet in length, built at Barnstable, Massachusetts in 1822 . On July 9, 1829 she was registered at Boston under the ownership oflsaac Coffin's good friend Jonathon Amory.2 The Clio sailed from Nantucket for Quebec in September SEA HISTDRY, SPRING 1984

Th e s1a1ionary schoolship Lodebar al Charles /on , Soulh Carolina aboul 1858.

commanded by Alexander B. Pinkham , a 37-year-old lieutenant on temporary leave from the United States Navy. On board she carried twenty-one boys aged twelve to sixteen , and a "small freight carried with a view to meet the expenses of the voyage." 3 Around the beginning of 1830 she departed from Boston on a second voyage to St. Catherine's , Brazil , crossing the Equator southbound on February 3rd. A manuscript log kept by a cadet on this voyage still exists in the collection of the Nantucket Historical Association.4 This was the Clio's last cruise as a schoolship.

She was sold to Salem owners the following year, and to owners in Brazil in 1840.5 The Clio school probably failed because it did not develop out of a strongly felt need for such training within the community, but was instead created to satisfy an outsider seeking a philanthropic enterprise. When Admiral Coffin's money was used up, the thrifty islanders went back to the old ways of training seamen. Over 25 years passed between the demise of the Nantucket schoolship and the next experiment in maritime training in this country. However, during this period, there were several efforts to get schools started , the earliest of which centered in New York.

Around the time the Nantucket ship ceased operation, Thomas Goin , a New York notary and ship broker, initiated a campaign for nautical schoolships which lasted almost two decades. One of his supporters was Henry Eckford, the country's leading designer of naval vessels . Eckford built for Goin a model of a "corvette" schoolship which was exhibited in New York until 1835

and then presented to the Navy Department.6 Schools for both the Navy and the merchant marine were advocated .

The most frequent argument Thomas Goin used was the lack of American seamen in American ships. He did a survey of the very active packet trade by sending a form letter to all the captains. What he found was an average of less than 20 percent United States citizens in the crews. He also found that on many of our naval vessels on extended voyages the percentage was little better. During 1837 Congress received a petition from the merchants of New York asking Federal support for a nautical school.

The only actual success ofGoin's efforts was the Navy's first system of training seamen , instituted the same year, which provided for the enlistment of boys ages thirteen to eighteen years old who would begin their service by attending classes on stationary naval vessels at Boston , New York and Norfolk.

The apprentice school at New York was first operated on board USS Hudson at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. It was soon transferred to the ship of the line USS North Carolina, anchored off the Battery during the summer months. To this ship in November of 1841 came a newly appointed fourteenyear-old midshipman named Stephen B. Luce. He spent six months in the North Carolina . It is not known whether this opportunity to see an attempt at Naval training influenced his later career. However, Luce was to become the Navy's leading advocate of training ships and the person most influential in bringing about the founding of the New York school.7 The Naval appren49

To provide a "means oflivelihood suited to... adventurous spirits," the sailing reformatory schoolship Mercury operated out of New York from 1870 to 1875.

tice schools were discontinued in 1844.

Around 1853 there was another surge of interest in the founding of nautical schools.

The brief era of the clipper ships was at its height. In 1853 Donald McKay, shipbuilder of East Boston , produced what was by a good margin the largest sailing ship yet built; the four~masted Great Republic. In designing her, McKay provided accommo. dations for thirty boys who were to be quartered comfortably, away from the regular crew, and taught seamanship and navigation. Over 100 applications for these berths were received, coming from all parts of the country. The Great Republic was brought to New York to load for her first voyage. On December 26, 1853, a fire in nearby buildings spread to the ship and she burned almost to the waterline. Later, when she was rebuilt for other owners, the space for trainees was eliminated .

In that same year, 1853, shipmaster and shipowner Robert B. Forbes of Boston also began campaigning for nautical training, supported by Captain John Codman of New York . Forbes wanted to convert obsolete sailing ships to moored schoolships at each port of any size. Graduates of these schools would then get their first seagoing experience in small barks or brigs.8 Also in 1853, the Secretary of the Treasury sent around a circular asking " If it would be expedient to establish, by law, schools of instruction for mariners, or such as were preparing to enter the merchant service." By November merchants of several ports had been heard from . The group in Boston suggested paying a bonus to shipowners who would take graduates of the schools, stating: "The growing scarcity of seamen and their incompetency renders it expedient to encourage the growth of American seamen ." 9 Federal support was not forthcoming, but two schoolships of the type Forbes envisioned were created, one at Baltimore and the other at Charleston , South Carolina.

The Baltimore school opened in 1857 on board the old sloop of war Ontario which had been laid up at that port over a decade.10 The Charleston school opened two years later on the wdebar, a Maine-built merchant brig. 11 Both institutions went out of existence during the Civil War years.

In 1860 Massachusetts established this country's first reformatory schoolships. A successful British experiment begun in 1854 may have been influential, but the idea was not new. As early as 1812 Reverend John Stanford, Chaplain of the New York prisons , had advocated such a system to train young offenders. 12 The school at Boston was created after a fire destroyed portions of a facility ashore. The merchant ship Rock.all built in 1841 was purchased for use 50

as a stationary vessel and renamed Massachusetts. A small schooner named ÂťUve was attached to the school as a cruising tender, a system of training also popular with the British schools. However, the latter craft was sold in 1962 . In 1864 a second square rigger, the former packet Art Union was bought and renamed George M. Barnard for a major donor; one ship now being stationed at New Bedford .

After the Civil War ended, these ships began to make limited summer cruises along the Massachusetts coast. In 1867, connection with the State Reform School was dissolved , and the name Massachusetts Nautical School adopted . However, the ships continued to be operated as a penal institution . The offenses for which boys were admitted tended to be minor ones. The purpose was to keep them removed from the type of atmosphere in which they might become hardened criminals, until they had learned a trade.

The schoolships were praised by such distinguished visitors as Charles Dickens and Admiral Farragut , but by 1872 the program had been closed down, and both vessels sold for further trading under foreign flags . A published final report cited as rea8ons: operational costs per pupil double those for schools ashore, a lack of interest in maritime careers on the part of graduates, and insufficient opportunity for practical training in addition to classes. As late as 1868, the trustees of the program had been expressing "unshaken confidence in its workings." By then, 1,714 boys had been trained . The ships accommodated around 150 students each. In 1867, interestingly, the enrollment on the Massa chusetts included fifteen black students.

In 1869 the Grand Jury of the District of Columbia was recommending the establishment of a reformatory schoolship in the Potomac. Nothing appears to have come of this, but in the same year, New York established a reformatory schoolship as an annex to the reform school on Harts Island in Long Island Sound. The vessel acquired was the Le Havre packet ship Mercury, built at New York by Westervelt and McKay in 1851. The creators of the program hoped that it would provide the boys with a "sure and honest means of livelihood suited to their adventurous spirits." They originally intended to teach seamanship at anchor in the harbor and by occasional short cruises, but, "experience of a few months demonstrated that the only effectual mode of instruction is the continuous handling of a ship at sea ." On December 20, 1870, the Mercury departed on a four-month cruise to Madeira, the Canary Islands, Sierra Leone and Barbados.

A new generation of schoolships would be born with the passage of the Federal Act of 1874, beginning with New York's St. Mary's , placed in service early the following year. The Mercury made one more cruise in 1875, to Barbados, Martinique, the Virgin Islands, and Trinidad . Though the new ship had no connections with any penal institution or program, it was decided that New York did not need two schoolships, and the Mercury was sold. She went back into trading out of New York until 1886, and after that Port Townsend, Washington. On April 11, 1898, she was wrecked at Skagway, Alaska, while being employed as a coastwise barge. '1> To be continued NarE: Th e National Society would be glad to have additional information on Admiral Coffin, who sailed with Nelson and whose American philanthropies are said to have cost him a promised earldom. He is mentioned in Marryat 's Peter Simple, and there exists in the Library of Congress a rare The Life of Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin, by Th omas C. Amory (Boston, 1886).

'"Reminiscences of Samuel Jenks ," Nantucket Historical Association Journal, 1901, p.

17 .

2 U.S. , Works Progress Administration, Ship Registers and Enrollments of Boston and Charleston (Boston: National Archives Project, 1942) .

Wiles Register, October 3, 1829, p. 85.

4 Henry Clapp, Jr., cadet logbook, Jan. 18, 1830-March 7, 1830, Nantucket Historical Association , Archives.

'Ship Registers of the District of Salem and Beverly 1789-1900 (Salem: Essex Institute, 1906) p. 34.

6 Stephen B. Luce, "Nautical Schools in the U.S.A., A Historical Sketch. " The Nautical Gazette, February 15 , 1873.

1 David Foote Sellers , Stephen B. Luce , A Register of Their Papers in the Library of Congress (Washington: Library of Congress , 1969) p. 9.

8Robert B. Forbes , An Appeal to Merchants and Shipowners on the Subject of Seamen (Boston, 1854), p. 20ff.

9 Luce, "Nautical Schools. " 10 Baltimore, Commissioners of Public Schools, Annual Report, 1858-1865.

11 Harper~ Weekly Magazine, December 1860. ' 2New Yo1rk and its Institutions (Richmond, 1872).

SEA HISmRY, SPRING 1984

~

DAY'S RUN Report of the American Sail Training Assn.,

~

Eisenhower House, Fort Adams State Park, Newport, RI 02840

Destination: Quebec

by Kristine Mann "Born for its location, besieged for its location , defended for its location , prospering from its location- Quebec is a city determined by the intricate cycle of cause and effect on geography and history." 1 Rising 350 feet above the Saint Lawrence River, a steep bluff was christened Cape Diamond by Jacques Cartier nearly four centuries ago when he visited the Indian village of Stadacone. In 1608, Samuel de Champlain , realizing the strategic importance of the site-the cliffs could be fortified to protect a settlement, and they would also protect ships anchored in the deep waters of the Saint Lawrence-built an abitation, ortrading post , near the river at the foot of Cape Diamond . And so the city of Quebec was born.

Serving as a base for trade and for exploration of the interior continent, Quebec expanded in the only direction possible: up the cliff. Lower Town, or Basse-Ville, the city's mercantile district, was later protected by Haute-Ville the Upper Town built on the cliff above it. Thus the French colony prospered , becoming the center of New France and enjoying a brisk trade with its mother country during most of the 1600s.

Quebec was attacked and successfully defended itself several times during the early part of the 18th century, relying on its natural defenses as well as the protective wall and fortifications built around Upper Town in 1720. Then, in 1759, during the French and Indian War, Quebec fell to Britain . The French city became English - but in name only. In spirit, culture, and tradition , Quebec remained French-as it has to this day.

In 1978, a small group of Quebecers conceived the idea of emphasizing the historic importance of the Saint Lawrence River on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of Jacques Cartier's arrival in Gaspe. This group was organized as "Corporation Quebec 1534-1984" on March 3, 1980, and it will sponsor a program making Quebec City the sailing capital of the world in the summer of 1984.

From June 23 to August 24, the city will welcome hundreds of ships , thousands of sailors, and throngs of visitors who will come from all over the world to celebrate the anniversary and to pay tribute to the men and women who braved the sea to build a new world on the banks of the Saint Lawrence River.

The inaugural event of the summer will be a visit by the Tall Ships. The 1984 International Sail Training Races, organized and run by the Sail Training Association (United Kingdom) and the American Sail SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

Thoughts on ASTA's future Adaptedfrom an address delivered to the Annual Sail Training Conference on October 28, 1983.

Training Association, will have training ships from a number of countries assemble at St. Malo on the French coast (the home of Jacques Cartier) . These two, three, and four-masted sailing ships, manned by crews ofup to 350 men, will make for Bermuda via the Canaries, where they will be joined by other ships (primarily from South America) which have raced from San Juan .

The Tall Ships will then race to Halifax, Nova Scotia for a rendezvous with smaller American vessels which have competed on a course from Portsmouth , New Hampshire. The fleet will leave Halifax and make for Quebec City, arriving on June 25th after calling in at Gaspe.

When the ships and their crews arrive in Quebec City, they will be greeted by crowds of celebrants. The Tall Ships will be moored in the Old Port of Quebec City for five days. The climax of this historic visit, the Parade of Sail by the Tall Ships , will take place on June 30th. Assembling upstream from Quebec City, the ships will sail gracefully past the Old Capital , saluted by hundreds of thousands of spectators. They will then make for the Atlantic, calling at ports along the Saint Lawrence River and the Gulf.

Through a unique rating rule, family cru isers and modern ocean racers are able to compete against traditional (often square-rigged) craft. This varied fleet will race in three classes .

Owners wishing to join this special event and further the cause of getting young people to sea should be in touch with the ASTA . Persons wishing further information on the Quebec events should write : Quebec 1534-1984, rue Sainte-Anne, Quebec, Q.C. GIR 3X2 , Canada.

Tour8ook: Atlantic Provinces and Quebec. pllblished by lhe Canad ian Automob ile Assoc iat ion and the American Auto mobile Assoc iation. 1983 edition , p. 87.

1

During recent travels of ASTA personnel, we have been concerned with the need for defining and refining the objectives and purposes of ASTA and assigning priorities since it is essential that all of us involved are coordinating our efforts towards a unified ~oal.

We submit that ASTA's primary purpose is the promotion and development of sail training everywhere possible, but primarily in the Americas, and that the primary function or role of ASTA in accomplishing this objective is that of a service organization ministering to the needs of our constituents engaged in sail training, both directly through vessels and programs and indirectly in an ancillary or support role in such vehicles as Sea History, approved port festival s, various maritime museum programs, and the like.

How do we do this? Items on the agenda for our 11th Annual Sail Training Conference show a preponderance of subjects directly related to the needs of the sail training activites of our constituents, e.g. regulations under the Sailing School Vessels Act, accreditation under the Act, the story of building and funding a sail training vessel, and so forth. Other items indirectly further the expansion of most important, exposure to the public of sail training-such as the Quebec voyage next summer and the events planned for '86.

A new role in ASTA's service of its constituents has been suggested by Steve Christman of Dana Point. He has been named ASTA Regional Representative for the State of California. This is the result of a bit of collaboration with Steve who proposed to take on this role on an experimental basis for one year in order to publicize sail training and ASTA's service related activities, to boost constituent and individual membership, to serve as an information center. This prototype post and operation could lead the way for other constituents to represent ASTA on a more formalized basis than currently, thereby providing benefits for both themselves and ASTA .

-HENRY H . ANDERSON , JR.

Chairman

SAILING ADVENTURE 1984

~

Ocean & Offshore 1 & 2 Week Cruises Sai l Training Coed ; Ages 15-26 Marine Sciences Some Scholarships No experience "-fl!I Groups Welcome Some Cruises with "Tall Ships" Info: American Sail Training Association Eisenhower House, Ft. Adams St. Park Newport. RI 02840 (401) 846-0884

51

DAY'S RUN

Sailing School Vessels Council

by Thomas R. Wesch/er Vice Admiral, USN (ret.)

As the sail tra ining community waits fo r the Sailing School Vessels Act to take effec t o n April 15, 1984, the Council of Educatio nal Shipow ne rs, w hi ch initiated the legislati o n, is foll owing it through to successful imple me ntati o n . O rganized in 1CJ"77 th rough effo rts of Co rwith Crame r, Jr. a nd Barcl ay H . Warburto n, III, the Counc il was o rig inall y a committee of the A me ri ca n Sail Training Assoc iati on . Its purpose was to offe r a fo rum fo r ow ne rs to a ir and solve commo n proble ms, and also to prov ide guida nce to ASTA's Board of Directo rs in ma king ASTA programs most effecti ve for the sa il trai ning wo rl d .

About te n o rga ni zati o ns at a ny o ne time made up th e Counc il.

Sailing School Vessels Act By the fa ll of 1981, th is Committee identi fied th e need for new legislation to govern sail tra ini ng ships. In essence, these ships we re being regul ated as small passe nge r vessels, w ith all the rul es fo r passenge r comfo rts o ne mi ght ex pect . Req uire me nts for compartmentati o n, stability, and the like fl owed mo re fro m the characte risti cs and mode rn co nstruction of powe red ships than fro m traditi o na l sailing ship no rms. And tra inees had no separate status ; they we re e ithe r passengers o r c rew. Thus ma ny sound and histo ric sa iling ships were excluded fro m sail tra in ing, a nd insura nce rates stayed high .

A maj o r effo rt in the first nine months of 1982 , led by He nry Do rmitze r of New Engla nd Histo ri c Seapo rt , c ulminated in the Pres ide nt sig ning th e Sailing Sc hool Vessels Act o n Octo be r 15. ASTA and the membe rs of the Co unc il of Educatio nal Shipowne rs have wo rked dili gentl y fro m that time to provide draft regulations fo r implementati o n of the act , to be cons idered by the Coast Gua rd. A team of nearl y fo rty expe rts vo lunteered most of the effort to achieve thi s.

Throug h the ir coo perati ve effo rt , a 150-page docume nt was app roved by COES me mbe rs and presented to the Coast Gua rd in August 1983, whic h is now mov ing through the Fede ral bureauc racy. Thanks to the effo rts of o ur me mbe rs and fri e nds, a sy mpath eti c interpretatio n of the new law appears likely-and the April 15 date (th ought too early by some) has beco me realistic. The new regul ati o ns sho uld bring o ur maritime he ritage of traditi o nal sa iling

52

ships back into our ha rbo rs as the sail tra ining vehi cles for to mo rrow.

School Vessel Accreditation A compa rable actio n has been go ing o n in the fi e ld of acc reditatio n . To be accepted as a sailing school vessel, the ship asserts it is educationall y o riented w ith courses taug ht aboard in sail training a nd , pe rh aps, in o the r marine o riented subjects-marine scie nce, literature, history, nava l a rchitecture, a nd the like.

The Coast Gua rd has po inted out its inability to pursue the valid ity of these assertio ns without s ig ni fica nt new effort.

The Coast G ua rd would be aided by be ing able to o bserve an accred ita tion progra m within the industry whi ch assures th at the re are sta ndards for (a) what co nstitutes sail training, (b) w ho is a qu al ified instructo r, and (c) what is a legi timate and suffic ient program . The C O ES acc red itati o n committee, chaired by M s. Nancy Hug hes Richa rd son , Girl Scout M arine Consultant , is the g roup address ing this issue . Note th at th e Coast Gua rd reta ins com plete auto no my.

COES Autonomy Legal counsel had recomme nded over the past eig hteen mo nths that the Co unc il of Educatio nal Shipowners become an auto no mo us o rgani zatio n so th at it could functi o n mo re effectively as an a id to ships (an industry representative) and to use r organi zations (schools, coll eges, individual s, no n-profit groups) , and so th at it would be legally sepa rate fro m the A me rican Sa il Training Associati o n to insure o bjecti vity and limited liability.

ASTA app roved di vestiture in June 1983, a nd COES ratified the action and adopted a new charte r at a meeting Octobe r 26 in Annapo lis. Officers elected we re : Pres ident-Captain George N ic ho ls of Ocean Research and Educatio n Society; Vice Pres ident-Captain Francis X. Bow ke r of Mysti c Seapo rt Museum ; Sec retary/ Treasure r- VADM Thomas R . Weschler, USN (ret .) of ASTA . Membe rship today sta nds at e leven regula r, two prov isional a nd twenty indi vidual members. The fl edgling o rganizatio n will re main unde r th e general umbrella of ASTA until the end of 1984, receiving finan c ial and administrati ve suppo rt from the m until then so that they ca n continue to concentrate o n impleme nta ti o n of th e Sailing School Vessels Act .

Barkentine Our Svanen, owned by Douglas and Margaret Havers , conducts a training program for the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets.

Eleventh Annual Sail Training Conference

by George W. Crowninshield T he U nited States Naval Academy was th e scene this past Octobe r for the Eleventh A nnual Sail Training Co nfere nce spo nsored by the A me rica n Sail Training Assoc iatio n. O ver o ne hundred co nfe rees fro m th ro ug ho ut the U nited States as we ll as Canad a , Austra lia and Great Britain shared the ir thoughts and ideas in this two-day confere nce a nd ag reed it was the best eve rsurpass ing a ll o th ers in numbe rs, inte rest and s ha ring .

Dr. Geo rge Nichols, Jr., Chairman of the Sa iling Schoo l Vessels Council a nd Director of Ocean Resea rch and Educatio n Society in G lo uceste r, Massachusetts, rev iewing the hi sto ri ca l bac kg round of sa il training in this country in hi s key note address, co ncl ud ed th at th roug h the passage of the Sailing School Vessels Act we now have the oppo rtunity to proceed full speed ahead and that the future of sa il tra ining can be golden if we a ll ma ke a co mmitme nt to ma ke it so th rough o ur own effo rts.

Pane l disc uss io ns included "Acc reditati o n of Sail Tra ining Prog rams," led by Na ncy Ri cha rdso n of the Girl Sco uts of A me ri ca, and " Safety Procedures ," led by Lt. Ge ne ra l Ro be rt C . Ta be r, Vice-Commodo re of the Nava l Academy Sailing Squad ro n. Terry Linehan presented an illustrated re port o n the Ta mi Ca noe proj ect (SH 30 :38-9) , and re ports we re hea rd on sai l tra ining prog rams aboard the Seattle schooner Adventuress , the Virginian Galleon 's Lap, th e Canadi a n Our Svanen a nd G reat Brita in's Sir Winston Churchill a nd Malcolm Miller.

Reports we re heard o n plans for a Pac ific Ta ll Ships Race in 1986, to uching o n Vancouver, whe re Expo '86 will be in progress, and fo r Op Sa il ' 86 in New Yo rk Ha rbo r, celebrating th e IOOth birthday of the Statue of Li berty. Vice Admiral Sir David Stevenso n desc ribed plans for th e Australi a n Bicente nni al in 1988, whic h it is hoped will incl ude Tall Ships eve nts.

Po inting to co llateral effo rts, atte nti o n was called to th e wo rk of Marine rs Inte rnational, a British-based organizati on dedicated to getting people to sea unde r sail , with a n invaluable newsletter Windjammer; and to the Ame ri ca n Sailing Assoc iati o n , whi ch proposes to license a nd certi fy instrui cto rs in sa il tra ining.

SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

SHIPS, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS time Museum Trust. The aim is to collect both vessels and arti facts, to make up a major museum.

MELVIN H. JACKSON Melvin H . Jackson , PhD, master marine r and successor to the late Howard I. Chapelle as C urator of Marine Transportation at the Smithsonia n Institution, died at age 69 at Fenwick Free, hi s home at St. Inigoes, Maryland , on Octobe r 16.

Born in New York City April 14, 1914, he attend ed Yale before World War II , became an offi cer in the merchant marine, and entered the Coast Guard early in the war, serving in the North Atlantic and later in command of a tank land ing ship at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

A fter the war he earned his doctoral degree at Harvard , studying oceanic history under Professor Robert G. Albion. He went on to teach at Miami University, and then joined the Smithsonian in 1961 , where he set up the Hall of Amer ican Maritime Enterpri se and prov ided expert scholarly counsel to all comers. Follow ing hi s retirement in 1978 he served as consul tant to South Street Seaport Mu seum and to the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York. He did not find either pos ition very sati sfactory-the writer recall s some pithy comments delivered , appropriately, on the fantail ofa sma ll boat plowing th rough New York Harbor, on the pretensions of people who ask " What is Truth?" and like jesting Pilate do not stay for a n a nswer-and he returned to mo re congen ia l pursuits teaching at St. Mary 's College and offering his unstinting help to those who came to him o n seafaring questions.

Mel had a gruff, often somewhat qui zz ical manner, smacki ng more of the quarterdeck tha n the hall s of academia. He did not always su ffer fools gladl y- he had a quick mind and a lways wanted to move the question fo rward- bu t was end less ly generous to those who were in sincere pursuit of answers. Hi s practi cal experi ence at sea gave unique insight and authority to a ll hi s work in the fi eld of maritime history. For a brief, romantic interlude after World War II, he sa il ed the Effie M. Morrissey (which later became the Brava packet Ernestina), and he pursued his nautical interests in lively fas hion, keeping hi s master's li cense current and sa iling hi s ow n s ma ll boat in the Chesapeake. He served as volunteer sailing master aboa rd the St. Mary 's Dove, where he enjoyed instructi ng young people in the mysteries of that vessel's seventeenth century rigging. He will be missed aboard the Dove and among the many peopl e in the mari time co m PS munity whose li ves touched his.

The tr ima ran Beefeater, which was to try to best the Flying Cloud 's 89-day ru n from New York to San Francisco, was sun k in high wi nds o n her way to New York from England. Another tri , the Cys1ic Fibrosis Crusader, had set sa il ear li er from New Yo rk bound on the same miss io n.

When she rounded Cape Horn on December 10, she was 6 hours 55 minutes ahead of the Flying Cloud 's time in 1851. But hav ing weathered one savage bl ow off the Horn , she was hit hard by another and the vessel was dismasted on D ec.

12 , 16 miles off the Coast of C hil e, her crew of three rescued by the Chil ean Navy. We may be thankfu l that no lives were lost. The real contest, it turned out, was not with the Flying Cloud, PS but with the un fo rgiving sea.

SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

The Maritime Tru st seeks fund s to renovate Scott's fam ous Antarctic research ship Discovery. To date ÂŁ238,000 has been spent and about a fifth of the work done. Donations would be gratefull y received at 16 Ebury St. , London SWlW OLH . Meanwhile the ship can be viewed as part of the Hi storic Ship Coll ecti on at St. Katherines Dock, Tower Bridge, London .

Press Association Photo

WORLD SHIP TRUST O n October 28 HM Queen Eli zabeth II presented the Third World Ship Trust Award to HRH Prince Charl es, show n above holding the award with the Queen and Frank Carr, Chairman of the World Ship Tru st. The awa rd was given in recognition of Charl es's leadershi p in the salvage of the Tudor warship Mary Rose (SH23).

The award , a bronze medal, is conta ined in a deadeye-shaped box made of 16th century oak with a slate 1id carved with a Tudor rose and the cipher of the Prince of Wales. It is the co ntribu tion of Alan Bur rough, MBE , di still er of Beefeater G in and patro n of other international hi storic shi p efforts incl ud ing the sav ing of the last Gold Rush ship Vicar of Bray, now in the Falkland Islands.

Another in the series of exped iti ons to the Falkl ands to wo rk on the histo ric ships there is now pl anned for May, when Dr. Fred Yalouri s of Harvard University will lead a team sponsored by the Peabody Museum and others to undertake fu rther measurements and conservation work on the remains of the clipper Snow Squall of 1851 .

W hile there, the team will also make further studies of the Bri tish iro n bark Lady Elizabeth of 1879, whi ch the World Ship Tru st is wo rking to restore as a museum ship in Po rt Stanl ey.

George Campbell , AMRI NA , architect of the Cut1y Sark and Wavertree restorations, is drawing up plans fo r thi s undertaking.

Later thi s year, the Wo rld Ship Trust pl ans to announce publi cation of No rman Brouwer's Historic Ships Register, with the co-sponsorship of the Maritime Trust of Great Britain and the American Ship Trust of the Nat ional Society.

The li sts that ma]\e up the Register have been partiall y pu blished in SEA H1sroRY over the past 13 years, and fu rther additions and updating are welcome as this long-term effort comes to fru ition.

GREAT BRITAIN Openi ng in 1984 for its first full season is the Ramsgate Maritime Museum of the Kent Mariti me Tru st. By spring, four galleries should be established in the 1817 Harbor Clock House.

Ramsgate, a channel harbor & resort has a mari time hi story whi ch , with its Hover terminal, stretches from today back to the time when it itself was a part of the Isle of Thanet. Its importance grew from Smeaton's fi ne harbor constructed in the years fo ll ow ing 1780.

In Scotl and , on the Firth of C lyde, a combination oflrv ine New Town Development Corporation, commercial, academic and enthusiast interests, have established the Scottish Mari-

A n amazing survival of classic steam coasting fi nally ended in October. With the withdrawal of the Sir William l#ilker and James Rowan , preceded earlier in the year by the Cliff Quay, steam power departed from the collier fl eet of the Central Electricity Generating Board . These three ships of 1950s vintage, with tripl e expansion reciprocating steam power, had generally run fro m No rtheastern coalfield ports to power stations on the South Coast. Earlier in 1983, your correspondent was abl e to organize a visit to the engine room of the Cliff Quay on the Tyne. Although oil fired , the atmosphere in the engineroom was more that of the 30s than of the 80s.

The first British ironclad HMS Warrior, built 1860, is being restored at Hartlepool. The Maritime Trust report that, due to the exceptional generos ity of the Manifold Trust in fu nding the restoration , ow nership of the Wa rrior has passed from the Maritime Trust to the Ship Preservation Trust- the restorers. Such is the pace of restoration that the ship, which arrived at Hartl epool from Mil fo rd Haven in 1979, will , it is hoped , move to Portsmouth in 198617. The restoration also prov ides welcome employ ment in an area hard hit by recession.

By contrast , the displ ay of the WW II destroyer HMS Cavalier at Southampton has not proved able to generate a large enough number of visitors. It is hoped that a move to the Brighton Marina will have occurred by the time this is in print.

To celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Norwich & Lowestoft navigation project, a gathering of wherries took pl ace on August 23. The pl easure wherry Solace, wherry yachts Lady E.di1h and Olive and trader Albion set out in convoy, to sail together. The Albion , the only trading wherry still sa iling, may soon lose thi s distinction , since the Wherry Trust's other wherry, the Lord Roberts also of 1898, is now up fo r restorati on. After many years in a mud berth , she has been rai sed and taken to Wrox ham. Un like the Albion 's unique carve! construction , the Lord Roberts is of characteri sti c cl inker build .

A fu rther trading wherry is also being res tored privately. This is the Maud of 1899, built by Hall s ofReedham. Abl e to carry 40 tons, she lay fo r many years sunk on Ranworth Broad. Raised in 1981 and moved to Upton Dyke, her restoration is progressing steadily. Your correspondent visited the vessel in the autumn of 1983. The owner, himselfa mill wright, is doi ng the work himself with the aid of a Broads Authority Grant , Donations though are welcome to Mr. Pargeter, 46 Heybridge Rd. , Ingatestone, Essex. CM4 9AQ. 53

SIIlPS, SEAPORT Interest is being generated in the idea of preserving a Norfolk keel. These vessels, the forerunners of w herries, whose ancestors were the Saxon ceolas, were square-rigged. The last keel has recently been discovered buried beneath the river bank at Postwick near Norw ich.

R OBERT FORSYTHE

Information- and photos-should be sent to Mr. Forsythe at 39a North Street , Burwell, Cambridge CB5 OBB, UK.

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Three tons of the bow section of the American clipper Snow Squall of 1851, brought back from the Falkland Islands last spring by a team headed

by Dr. Fred Yalouris of Harvard , are now being cleaned, catalogued and subject to conservation treatment at the Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute. This represents about a quarter of the material surviving in the first 38 feet of the hull , which has formed the foundation of a pier in Port Stanley. Ultimately it is planned to return all this material to the ship's birthplace in South Portland , Maine, where a committee is looki ng into the possibilities of setting up a maritime museum to honor the port's heritage and house this unique survivor of the American clipper era. The same team is doing survey work on the iron bark Lady Elizabeth of 1879 in the Falklands. Funds are sought for an expedition to the islands in May 1984. Contributions may be sent to Ship Trust-NMHS, or direct to Snow Squall Project, 20 Garden St., Cambridge MA 02138.

Reagan Administration officials have call ed fo r suppo rt oflegislation to protect historic shipwrecks from plundering. George Bass, president emeritus of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology, has pointed out that the legislation " would remove historical shipwrecks from Admiralty law, where they are prey for treasure hunting and looting, and would place them under state preservation laws like other archaeological sites." He adds : "I have always found it regrettable that underwater sites are not protected in the same manner as land sites." By contrast , the well known commercial diver on wrecks, Mel Fisher, charges that the bill " would wipe out the little guy o nce and for all ." The National Society does not believe that our heritage in historic ships exists to support the little guy or anyone else in commerce and recommends that all who share this view write Hon. Lloyd Bentson , US Senator, and Hon. Walter G. Jones , US Representative, both at Washington DC 20515, to support their bills, which now also enjoy Administration support .

The National Underwater & Marine Agency, inc. (NUMA) has done pioneering work in locating and marking preliminary surveys of historic ships on the seabed. Led by the best-selling novelist Clive Cussler, who is a dedicated nautical archaeologist, the foundation has no staff and pays expedition members nothing but their expenses. It encourages others to move in with the necessary technology and funding to raise and conserve ship remains or artifacts when a find is made. Incorporated initially to search for the remains of John Paul Jones's Revolutionary War

SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

& MUSEUM NEWS flagship Bonhomme Richard in 1978, the foundation did not succeed in that mission, but has since located and investigated a number of significant wrecks, most recently the steamer Lexington , lost in Long Island Sound in 1840 (SH30:40).

NUMA , PO Box 42016, Washington DC 20015.

" ~

~ ;,:j

~ Captain Irving M. Johnson and his wife Electa (Exy) revisited the schooner l#Jnder Bird in San Francisco last autumn. They had met aboard her in 1931, and two years later they set out around the world in the first of their three llinkees, to write unforgettable chapters in sai ling adventure with young people in crew. With them was Sterling Hayden, who had sailed as mate in the first llinkee. San Francisco obliged all hands with a breeze that kicked up whitecaps in the Bay and sentthe old schooner, now beautifully restored, charging along in fine style. " Not bad ," says Exy, "sailing an 85-foot schooner in a fresh breeze at age 78!" She adds that she and Irving lately visited the Hudson River Maritime Center at Kingston , New York , which they found enchanting.

The gang at the Waterfront Center in Washington DC plan two major gatherings in June: "C reating Lively Waterfronts-An Urban Waterfront Recreation Workshop," June 1-2 at Alexandria, Virginia, and " The Midwest Urban Waterfront Conference" (co-sponsored with the Quad Cities Junior League) , set for June 15-16 in Davenport, Iowa. " Urban Waterfronts '84," a national gathering modeled on the successful effort of 1983, is set for September in Washington DC and will probably be preceded by a day or intensive workshop sessions. Center, 1536 44th St. NW, Washington DC 20007.

Norfolk, Virginia's annual Harborfest will be observed May 25-Tl, the weekend before the Donald McKay Festival takes place in Boston .

Many of the ships involved in this gala event, which last year attracted over a million people, are expected to go on to Boston. From there some are expected to rendezvous in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and proceed up the St. Lawrence to Quebec for Quebec 1534-1984, that city's 560th birthday celebration (see "Sail Training") .

Simultaneously, the most extensive waterborne parades of all time are scheduled for May 26-28, to launch the 1984 World's Fair at New Orleans.

The Fair's theme is how the rivers of the world serve man. Frank Braynard, creator and general manager of Operation Sail '76 in New York , is directing this event, which opens with a "Flags of All Nations" parade for smaller vessels coming down the Mississippi, May 26, a northbound parade led by the Delta Queen and the Mississippi Queen proceeding upriver from the Gulf of ยง Mexico, May Tl, and a home-going parade May ~ 28. OP SHIP, 919 Third Ave., New York NY -<> 10022; 212 752-7150. ~ The Port of Long Beach will be host to an Olympic Tall Ship Parade on July 4, three weeks before the opening of the XXIll Summer Olympiad. Called TOPSail '84, the event may include some vessels from New Orleans, which will come round to the West Coast via the Panama Canal. TOPSail '84, PO Box 570, Long Beach CA 90801.

The Titanic has captured the public's imagination ever since that cold night of April 14, 1911, when the 46,000-ton liner hit an iceberg and sank.

Each year the Oceanic Navigation Research Society, dedicated to the research and preservation of ocean liner history, salutes the memory of the liner, those lost and survivors at an annual dinner called 'Titanic Tonight,'' often attended by several survivors of the disaster. This year the event will be held in San Francisco at the Sheraton Palace on April 13. On the next night, the 73rd anniversary of the sinki ng, a second dinner will be held on board the liner Queen Mary in Long Beach, California in the Queen's Saloon. ONRS, PO Box 8005, Universal City CA 91608.

SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

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The National Society's James Monroe Award for distinguished contribution to maritime histo ry was presented to Captain Robert J. Lowen in ceremonies al'the New York Yacht Club on November 17. Congressman Mario Biaggi , Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Merchant Marine, said: "A primary advantage of our maritime industry is the outstanding quality of our officers and seamen. Captain Lowen through his tireless efforts has been instrumental in maintaining the high standard of maritime personnel."

A Navy veteran of World War II, Captain Lowen graduated from the US Merchant Marine Academy in 1952. He has had a wide and varied career in the maritime industry-working both ashore and afloat on both management and labor sides. Much of his seagoing career has been as Master sailing with States Marine Lines. Below,

8c 6:: he is shown holding the James Monroe mug with National Society President Peter Stanford and Vice Chairman Barbara Johnson. Previous recipients of the award include the late Robert Greenhalgh Albion , the seaman-author Alan Villiers , the artist John Noble and the naval architect George Campbell.

Schooner aficionados should make it their business to catch up (if they haven't already) , with the American Schooner Association, whose very full newsletter Wing & Wing tracks the doings of these archaically rigged craft, their crews and owners . It is of interest to note the range of events reported in the Fall 1983 issue, beginning with the oldest, the Mayor's Cup Schooner Race in New York Harbor, whose 17th running was celebrated in October. While up to now an East Coast (spreading to the Med, the Caribbean , and where the wind bloweth) organization , a West Coast branch is now impending. Association , PO Box 484, Mystic CT 06355.

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EAST COAST Neil Cossons, Director of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England , will be among the speakers at the Maine Maritime Museum's annual symposium, May 4-6. Museum, 963 Washington St., Bath ME 04530.

The Newburyport Maritime Society announces a major schedule of lectures: NMHS Vice Chairman Thomas Hale will give his slide show on the Wasa at the Annual Meeting, March 12, 7:30PM . A report on the Spirit ofMassachusells will be heard April 26, and on May 17 there will be a panel discussion of American and European marine painting, wi th Lynn Kortenhause of Haley & Steele Gallery and Bill Vose of Vose Galleries. Sanford Low's film Th e Na vigators (SH29 : 14-15) will be shown June 7. On September 2 Giles Tod will show films of seafaring under sail 50 years ago, and on November 8 Philip C.F. Smith will speak on local privateering in Federalist Newburyport . Society, Custom House Maritime Museum , 25 Water St. , Newburyport MA 01950.

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The American Ship Trust of the National Society held a champagne reception aboard the square rigger Waverlree at South Street Seaport Museum in New York on December 9, in ho nor of the ship's 98th birthday. The actual birthday was December IO, a Saturday-when the Wavertree ga ng turned to as usual to ironwork , woodwork and rigging work , heartened by a grant of $100,000 by the Vincent Astor Foundation, and other gifts from Beefeater Gin, Bowne & Co. , Yachting magazine and othe rs. The work undertaken has come in under budget, and with funds saved , Jakob Isbrandtsen, chairman of the Ship Trust Friends ofWavertree Committee, has announced an endownment fund. A first contribution of $10,000 has been received from Jens Thorsen of Denma rk. Friends of Wavertree, 2 Lafayette Court , Greenwich CT 06830.

Wilmington Steamboat Foundation reports 67 % membership growth in past year, still seeks a home port for proposed Maritime Museum of Delaware, and preservation of steamboat State ofPennsylvania. They publish a lively newsletter and offer an important book , Last ofthe Steamboats, Saga ofthe Wilson Line, available for $10 from the Foundation at PO 903, Wilmington DE 19899.

John Zatkovich 1465 Midland Ave. Bronxville, NY 10708

~ 1984

has written two books on the subject: Hull Down and Blue Water. He is currently work ing on a third and frequently lectures o n maritime subjects throughout New England . Following his retirement as master of the schooner, he wi ll remain on the staff of Mystic Seaport Museum as a research associate.

National Society Advisor Captain Francis E. " Biff' Bowker, at the helm of Mystic Seaport Museum's sail training schooner Brilliant for 25 years, first as mate, and since 1962 as skipper, is turning over command to George Moffett , who is shown at right , above with Biff aboard the Brilliant. Moffett has served as mate for the past two years (some of his thoughts on maritime education appeared in SH30, pages 34-5).

Born in 1917 in Waltham , Massachusetts, Biff first went to sea at 16, shipping out as a "workaway" aboard the three-masted Canadian schooner Peaceland, which sailed from Boston to the Bay ofFundy and back with a load oflumber. In following years he sailed on nine of the last coasting schooners-vessels of from three to five masts-in waters from South America to Canada. During World War II he served aboard two tankers, a freighter, a troopship, and an ammunition ship in the North Atlantic. He attended the US Maritime Services Officer's Training School at Fort Trumbull and was Third Officer of the Alcoa Cutter. Illness forced him to quit the sea in 1944 and by then World War II had put an end to the era of the coasting schooners. His first contact with Mystic Seaport came in the summers of 1957 and 1958 when he brought a group of Vermont Sea Explorers to participate in the seagoing Mariner Training Program-a cruise on the Brilliant. The following year he was hired by the Seaport as mate of the sail training vessel .

An authority on the New England coaster, Bi ff

The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum's Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival, held the first weekend in October, attracted 117 participants from as fa r away as British Columbia. The Museum , which has greatly expanded its plant and programs in recent years without losing its strong volunteer roots and "old shoe" sty le, is well under way with constructi ng a waterman's village, starting with the restoration of two examples of historic Eastern Shore architecture which have been brought to the site. T he new foundations are lapped and pegged: no nails! An informative newsletter, The Weather Gauge, keeps a large and growing membership in touch .

Museum , St. Michaels MD 21663.

The Calvert Marine Museum, in add itio n to its extensive exhibits on Bay life and the oystering industry, has been building up serious pictorial collections, and a recent issue of their newsletter Bugeye Times reports on their holdings in the steamboat master Joseph Saunders Bohannon's paintings (see " Marine Art News") and in motion picture footage showing "suc h commercial activities as pound net fishing, oystering in the Patuxent, local oyster buy-boats at work , sei ning for crabs, soft-shell clamming, and the daily round of work at the J.C. Lore and Sons Seafood Company in Solomons." Good work if you can get it, and thank heavens they have got it! Museum , PO 97, Solomons MD 20688.

Alexandria Seaport Foundation, which held its first me1mbership meeting November 13, is now establiished with a four point program: to SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

& MUSEUM NEWS restore hi storic vessels, coll ect maritime artifacts, conduct educational activities in sai l training, lectures and boatbuilding, and to publish "Alexandria's history as a seaport city and the boat building that flourished here in the 18th and 19th centuries." Currently they maintain the three-masted topsa il schoone r Lindo, , a Baltic trader and veteran Atlantic cruiser which is open to the public when not out sailing. Foundation , PO 33 18, Alexandria VA 22302.

GULF COAST The Elissa, the iron bark of 1877 returned as a hulk from Greece and restored as sailing ship by the remarkable energies of the Galveston Historical Foundation , did a round of day-sa il s after her reception in Houston as reported in our last, and in fact celebrated her 106th birthday that way-unde r sa il. Her people intend to keep he r moving, and it is hoped she will play a leading ro le in the Louisiana World Exposition in New Orleans this spring. Foundation , PO Drawer 539, Galveston TX 77553.

WEST COAST Friends of Alma and Historic Ships, the volunteer o rganization that has in the past steamed the paddle tug Eppleton Hall and sailed the scow schooner Alma to points arou nd San Francisco and San Pablo bays, is reo rganizi ng for a major effort not j ust to get these two ships back in shape and under way again , but to redeem the whole fleet of historic ships now in threatened condition at the National Maritime Museum, San Francisco. Cyrus Lee, commodore ofFofA for the past

fifteen years, has stepped down to be relieved by Captain Raymond Aker, well known naval architect and historian, who has done dedicated work for the historic ships of San Francisco since signing o n in 1955 to assist in re-rigging the Cape Ho rn square rigger Balclutha. Captain Aker has proposed a new location fo r the Maritime Musuem and its ships in China Basin. This and other long-range plans are under study wh il e a campaign is being undertaken to fu nd the ships and see them properly provided for in the future. We urge all inte rested parties to be in touch with FofA, 680 Beach Street #330, San Francisco CA 94109.

Lieutenant Henry Forsythe, USN, (ret.), reports as follows on the National Maritime Musu em's Liberty ship Jeremiah O'Brien, open to the public at Fort Mason , San Francisco: "On the last Sunday of the month, usually, steam is gotten up a nd the main e ngine is operated at dead-s low ahead , all auxiliaries work, and even the galley a nd mess hall is in operation with light snac ks available to the public. A boarding fee of $3 is charged , $1 for retirees and students . Volunteer crew members provide the labor. I found them very generous a nd helpful in a nswe ring questio ns and, in my visit , the Chief Engineer obliged me by 'rocking the main engine' so I cou ld see what takes place in such a n evolution ....

Don't miss it 1" The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding announces an extensive schedule of workshops and seminars this year. Fee is $18 pe r day.

Schoo l, 25 1 Otto Street , Port Townsend WA 98368.

LAKES & RIVERS Inga Thorteinson , Ship's Husband of the topsail ketch Nonsuch, a replica of the vessel whose voyage of 1668 led to the founding of the Hud son's Bay Company now at the Manitoba Mu seum, writes an interesting report in a recent issue of the admirable Lines & Offsets (Journal of the Traditional Wooden Boat Society, llOI Wing point Way, Bainbridge Island , WAS98ll0): "She was built using 17th century tools and methods a nd is full y rigged as ketch with hemp lines and fl ax canvas sai ls. She is lov ingly decorated in the 17th century sty le with wood carvings by Mr. Jack Whitehead of the Isle of Wight. ...

So here she sits, a lonely ship way out o n the prairie. Nonsuch is here for anyone who wishes to see first-hand how a 17th century ship is put togethe r." The museum also has a 22' English shall o p a nd a " small, rotund " jolly boat. Mani toba Museum of Man & Nature, 190 Rupert Ave., Winnipeg, Manitoba , Canada R3B ON2 .

The SS Meteor Maritime Museum is maintained by Head of the Lakes Maritime Society aboard the what is believed to be the last whale back ship extant. Launched in Superior in the spring of 1896 for the iron o re trade, the Meteor was one of 43 whalebacks built on the Lakes in the decade 1888-98. In 1972 she was opened as a museum , since when 300,000 visito rs have been welcomed aboard . A recent acquisition is a mass of artifacts from the tug Scotch Cap, launched locally during World War II. Museum , Box 775, Superior WI 54880 ; 715 392-5742 .

SEA HISTORY PRINTS

Steamship Postcards

H.M. Armed Transport

BOUNTY Running on strong winds off the island of Moorea by

OSWALD L. BRETT This limited edition of 500 prints signed and numbered by the artist is printed in full color on fine rag paper. Through the generosity of the artist, proceeds will benefit the work of the Society.

Image 14 V2 " x 20 V2 "

The Steamship Historical Society of America, Inc. IOI President Rd ., Dept. SH. Westwood NJ CJl'i575 Name - - --

--------

Pri ce $85

Reproduced in full color by the Oceanic Navigation Research Society, this collection of 32 different sailing cards includes Cunard , North German Lloyd, Red Star and others.

Make check payable to Nat'l Maritime Historical Society. set of 32 $8.75

To : National Maritime Historical Soc. 132 Maple St., Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520

To: National Maritime Historical Soc. 132 Maple St., Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520

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

Please send me._ _ _sets of postcards.

My check for ¡s enclosed.

NAM E

Name - - --

- - - - --

-

--

ADDRESS _ __ __ _ _ _ _ __ -

-

- - - - - --

Zip _ __

SEA HIS1DRY, SPRING 1984

_ _ _ _ __ __

Z IP _ _ _ __

_

_

_ __ __ _ _ Zip _ _ __

57

SHIPS, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS At the Hudson River Maritime C enter, at Kingston' s Rondout Creek, Nick Benton's Rigging Gang is laying up I 0 , 13 1ft of hemp rigging fo r the Sea Lion , an operation that may be observed at the riggi ng loft/museum. T hey expect to journey westward to step masts and complete the Sea Lion 's rig in March 1985, and will then shake down the rig and sail-train the craft 's operators. Gang, 1 Rondout Landing , Ki ngston NY 1240 1.

19th Century American Marine Painters Artists available:

Antonia Jacobsen

Granville Perk.ins

Reynolds Beal William Birchall Walter l..ansil Franklin Briscoe W. P. Stubbs Edward Moran Unsigned ship portraits of lhe banJeships Mai ne and Texas. Partial list.

HANOVER SQUARE GALLERY 3 Hanover Square , New York. NY 10004 Tel: (212) 344-4406

Hours: Mon.- Fri . 11 :00am -5:00pm

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8 530 Wilshi re Blvd , Suite 309

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Since 1972 , a dedicated bunch on Western New Yo rk State's Lake Chatauqua have been working on Sea Lion, a 60ft replica of a 60ft English

O F SEA & SHI PS © Beve rly Hills, CA 902 11

~-

1111\NIEL H. '~II ~< 1 _,_

NJ\

St .,

I~

Queries Reminiscences, photographs , comments on the work of the late Howard I. Chapelle are sought

by JoAnn King, 127 C St. SE , Washington DC 20003 ; 202 546-0065 .

SAll1'1AKEH. y,<?2_T.~4. l',

BOX 71, E:;;.

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Our specialty Superb seafood , exquisitely prepared fresh from the morning 's catch Tender , choice steaks grilled to perfection In the heart of the historic South Street Seaport district Open for lunch , dinner and cocktails The Yankee Clipper 170 John Street New York NY 10038 (212) 344-5959

Major credit cards accepted

58

I

AUSTRALIA HMS Sirius Restoration has been formed to rebuild the fu ll-rigged 18th centu ry frigate replica HMS Rose as a repIica of the frigate that accompanied the F irst Fleet to Austra lia in 1787-88.

The ship will b e moving to Norfo lk , Virginia in July , fo r a thoroughgoing rebuilding aimed to have her in shape for 1986 Tall Ships events (including O peration Sail in New York Harbor, honoring the Statue of Liberty centennial), and then across to England to lead the First Fleet reenactment of the 1787 voyage of the first settlers to Sydney , A ustralia- where she expects to arrive on Australia Day , January 26, 1988. Restoration , 7 10 So uth Harry St. , Willi amsbury VA 23 185; c/o R.J . Tanner, Roach Tilley Grice & Co. , 37 Bligh St. , Sydney 2000, Australia .

PS

merchantman of 15 86 . Designed using the three-arc system of the later 16th century , she is built of 16th century oak , all of which came from four great trees cut local ly, and is fastened with iron cut nail s above the wales , tru nnels below . Sea Lion P roject is a ·nonprofit educatio nal outfi t which has adopted the 94ft steamboat Chatauqua Belle, built in 1976 to rev ive the o nce-extensive steamer traffics on the lake, and operates other lake craft. Contributions are tax deductible . Sea Lion, RD I, Sea Lion Drive, Mayville NY 14757.

The International Great River Road Association has announced plans fo r a $ 1 million exhibit, which is being constructed on the grounds of the Louisiana World Exposition in New Orleans.

Designed as a replica of a Mississippi River steamboat, the exhibit will provide visitors to the fai r with the sights and sounds of early days aboard a paddlewheeler. To be installed in the water course inside the Louisiana Exhibition Hall, it will house displays from the ten states and two Canadian provinces that comprise the Great River Road and will be open throughout the fair , May 12-November II , 1984. Association, PO 1984. New Orleans LA 70158 : 504- 1984 .

WEST INDIES Nelson's Dockyard at English Harbor, Antigua , West Ind ies , has long been a gathering place fo r yachtsmen bent on purposes more peaceful than those which saw major European battlefleets contest control of the island trades in the 17th and 18th centuries. Desmond Nicholson, who came to the island to operate a boatyard after World War II, has led a remarkable historical renaissance based on the buildings that served the Royal Navy so long and so well , and offers a splendid historical guide to the Dockyard .

A next step in is to survey the myriad wrecks scattered around the island, a task Nicholson is well embarked on with National Society Trustee Norman Brouwer at South Street Seaport Museum. Antigua Archaeological Society, PO Box 103 , St. Johns John 's, Antigua , WI.

In fo rmation on Edward Collins, founder of the 19th centu ry Collins Line, is sought by Ann Jensen, 407 Merryman Rd ., Annapolis MD 21401.

A set of the sailing ship medals issued by Franklin Mint two years ago is sought by Peter Paul M artinek , PO Box 176, Young AZ 85554 .

I am working on an anthology of sto ries concerning German U-boat operations off the American coast and in the Carribean during World W ar II, and would like to hear from any merchantmen who could relate their experiences involving U-boat contacts during that periodor from people who served in the U-boats. Capt.

James E . Wise, Jr ., USN (ret.), 6118Redwood Lane VA 223 10.

In fo rmation on scrimshaw canes-photos, descriptions of their manufacture , stories about them- is wanted by Caroline Dike, of Cane Curiosa , c/o Mrs. de Coppet, 45 E. 9th St., New York NY 10003.

For a biography of the pioneer aviator Admiral John H. Tower (1885- 1955) , I would appreciate hearing from anyone with documents , letters or reminiscences. Clark G . Reynolds, Box 986 , Mt. Pleasant SC 29464 .

LoGCHIPS:Supplement No . 9 to this journal of recent maritime history has now been issued , including a list, " Iron Sailing Ships Launched in the UK , 1864, '' a full update on theRickmer Rickmers of 1896, which returned to Hamburg , Germany , last year, and a continuation of the description of Falkland Islands ships , covering

Jhelum , Lady Elizabeth , Margaret, Snow Squall, William Shand . This and prior supplements are available for $2 , or one may receive them regularly for $5 payable National Maritime H.istorical Society , 132 Maple St. , Croton-on-Hudson NY 10520 . ..t SEA HIS10RY, SPRING 1984

BOOKS & RECORDS The Great War at Sea, 1914-1918, by Richard Hough (Oxford University Press, Oxford & New York, 1983, 353pp, illus, $25).

In what is easily the best book yet written on the maritime side of World War I, Hough upsets a good many received opinions, beginning with the confused and confusing notion that drifts through so much writing on the Great War (as it was known at the time), like the mist that hung over the battlefleets in combat at Jutland , that the English somehow "lost" the war at sea, or at any rate did not win it decisively. Hough maintains that the war at sea was a decisive victory, and one on which victory in the whole war depended.

Hough's lively narrative cuts to the heart of a wide range of subordinate questions, such as the performance of the British battlecruisers-those high-speed , lightly armored monsters carrying the biggest available gun, of which the British lost three to the German's one at Jutland. Hough believes the ships were sound in concept and basic design, and I believe he carries his point. It is strange to find this case made in a book written over half a century after that deadly afternoon when Admiral Beatty, learning that the huge and awesome-looking Queen Mary had blown up, remarked to his flag captain Chatfield: "There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today."

What was wrong was not the design or handling of the ships, but inferior British technology, which permitted fatal flaws in ammunition handling and protection. This technological inferiority showed up in other areas as well, notably in the British shell which tended to break up against German armor when fired at the unexpectedly Jong ranges at which sea battles were fought.

Hough writes brilliantly on such themes, and on the terrors and uncertainties of sea battle, so far removed from the drawing boards where the ships were designed or the lobbies where the political decisions to build them were taken.

The British victory was built on "not losing," on maintaining the distant sea blockade which protected Britain's vulnerable overseas sea supply lines and denied seaborne imports and exports to Germany.

The British commander-in-chief Jellicoe, as Churchill rightly observed in his history of the war, was the only person on either side who could have lost the war in an afternoon. This does not excuse his hyper-conservative handling of the fleet , in Hough's eyes, any more than it did in Jellicoe's subordinate Beatty's eyes at the time.

Hough paints a true picture of Jellicoe's obsessive personality-kept awake at nights by fears for his own health, fearful speculations on a mythical German super-gun, SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

fears of his commanders taking independent action and spoiling his rigid system of command. Probably Jellicoe increased the risk of defeat by his fears, which seemed to govern his every action. On the good side, he understood the new technologies he was dealing with quite well, and he managed to produce and lead a pretty well trained and cohesive fleet. German leadership, on the other hand , was uniformly capable and resolute, and the German achievement in building the world's second best fleet in a decade was a kind of miracle.

Hough believes that without the naval renaissance led by the tempestuous Admiral Jacky Fisher and the political head of the navy, Winston Churchill , the British would have been beaten by the very strong German challenge. It was a tragedy for the nation that Fisher blew up, like one of his own "splendid cats" (as the battlecruisers, with names like Lion and Princess Royal, were irreverently called) , and resigned , forcing Churchill's resignation , in the second year of the conflict. Luckily Churchill and some of the ships whose building he pushed through , survived to take the helm of first the Navy, and then the whole nation , in World War II .

PS

American Sea Songs and Shanties, Long-Playing Records L26, L27 in the Series "Folk Music of the United States," from the Archive of Folk Culture, ed.

Duncan Emrich (Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. , $14).

Here is a classic collection of deepwater shanties and fo'c'sle songs recorded in the voices of real sailors who went to sea in the latter years of sail. Presenting 21 of the finest traditional songs collected by fieldworkers for the Archive of Folk Culture at the Library of Congress, these two excellent long-playing discs, originally issued by the Archive some years ago, are now available in a new edition with superior sound quality. Encased in an attractive album illustrated with a woodcut of singing sailormen, they faithfully preserve the haunting traditional art of the shantyman of square-rigger days.

The records are accompanied by two brochures in which the words of all the songs are transcribed, with background notes on each song and a knowledgeable introduction by Duncan Emrich. The singers, all old-time sailors, give explanations in their own words of how the various shanties were used at sea, a valuable feature not found in shanty and seasong recordings by professional singers.

In these, as in other Library of Congress folk recordings, is preserved the pure tradition of folksong , undistorted by

the influence of art music. "To those who may be acquainted with certain of these [shanties] through the radio or from the singing of trained vocalists," Emrich writes, "one thing is at once apparentthe slow tempo of the singing. This tempo is true to the tradition, and any faster tempo is a falsification of the shanties.

The shanties were work songs, and the work was slow and arduous ; the work would have been impossible at a faster tempo." Thus, for example, the measured tread of men tramping laborously around the capstan, heaving at the capstan bars to take in chain and raise a massive anchor, determined a tempo that helps to give the capstan shanties that indefinable magic that as John Masefield wrote years ago, "stirs the blood like a drum-tap."

In addition to capstan shanties, halyard and short-haul shanties are well represented in these recordings. There is one walkaway shanty, "What Shall We Do With a Drunken Sailor?" This is sung by Richard Maitland as it would have been sung by men walking the deck pulling the ropes bent to a makeshift baranacle-andweed-scrubbing device lowered under the ship's bottom .

The voice of Dick Maitland , the great shantyman who died at Sailors' Snug Harbor on Staten Island , New York, in 1942 , can be heard on these recordings with remarkable fidelity, as anyone who heard him in life will attest. Maitland's versions of ''A-Roving," " Heave Away" and " Paddy, Get Back" are memorable listening experiences. Another highlight of the discs is the capstan shanty " Rio Grande," sung by Captain Leighton Robinson of California with a chorus of men's voices. Listening, one can easily imagine that the shanty is sounding across the water from the fo'c'sle head of a lofty outward-bounder. Captain Robinson's versions of "The Sailor's Alphabet," a fairly rare song, and " The Dead Horse" are also exceptionally good ones. Unusual solo lines for " Blow, Boys, Blow" and " Reuben Ranzo" sung by Noble B. Brown of Wisconsin and a rousing rendition of "WhenJones's Ale Was New" by John M .

(Sailor Dad) Hunt of Virginia add to the interest of an album that can be highly recommended. American Sea Songs and Shanties offers a rare opportunity to hear authentic forebitters and shanties sung as they really were under sail.

WILLIAM MAIN DOERFLINGER

Mr. Doerflinger, author of the classic Songs of the Sailor and Lumberman , sought out Dick Maitland and other old hands in their retirement, and helped to save these sailors' songs as they sang them.

59

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60

American Whalers in the Western Arctic: the Final Epoch of the Great American Sailing Whaling Fleet, ill .

William Gilkerson , intro. & text by John R. Bockstoce (Edward J. Lefkowicz , PO 630, Fairhaven MA 02719, 1983, very large size 14 '/.i in x 19in , viii +48pp, 12 color plates, and also 12 signed prints in separate portfo lio, $1 ,250 ; or, in half leather with original signed sketches, $2 ,000) . An Arctic Whaling Sketchbook, by William Gilkerson (published as above, 15in x 12in, 56pp, $185, or, with original sketch tipped in , $350) .

On a foggy day in July 1848, the American whaling bark Superior, Captain Thomas Roys, anchored in Bering Strait , far to the north of the usual Pacific whaling grounds-and began catching bowheads. She went on to Hawaii , the central entrepot of American Pacific whaling, with 1600 barrels of whale oil in her hold . So a new industry was born, with next year 70 ships, and by 1852 , over200 ships maki ng the lonely trek no rthward to search for whales among the ice. It was an industry full of hardship and peril. In 1871 , 32 ships were abandoned , hemmed in by crushing ice with no chance of escape.

But men adapted to this incredibly bleak and hostile environment , and with the help of Eskimo allies, even humanized it to some extent. By the 1890s ships were letting themselves freeze in for the winter, with sod plunked down on their decks as insulation , canopies of sails built over that , and with walls of ice blocks built around the hulls to shield them from screaming winter winds at 30 ° below. The winter freeze-in ended with understandable celebrations on July 4, as ships exchanged visits and entertainments prior to setting out whaling again for the eight-week Arctic summer. Ultimately, as the whale catch thinned out and oil prices dropped , and even whalebone began to go out of fashion, the big ships fell out of the trade and it ended up with small schooners making the long trip, trading with the Eskimos and knowing their voyage was made if they could catch a whale.

John Bockstoce, who has spent twenty summers in the Arctic sail ing small boats and studyi ng Eskimo ways, brings unique first-hand authority to his lively, authentic history of this industry. His scholarship is buttressed by the resouces of the New Bedford Whaling Museum , which he serves as surely their most peripatetic curator. His partner in this book is the marine artist and skrimshander William Gilkerson, whose contribution to this monumental work is separately reviewed in " Marine Art News" in this issue. Of the ships, only one I believe survi ves, the tug Ma ry D. Hume, now ensconced as a museum ship in the Rogue

River in southern Oregon (SH25:23). Of the men, I had the privilege of knowing briefly Fred Harvey, who sai led fo r the North Pacific whale fisheries in the bark Gay Head, from San Francisco in 1903-a gallant man who survived his ship's sinking and was landed back in the US with only the clothes he stood in , and something like $1 in his pocket for his trouble chasi ng whales. The ships, the men , the hard trade they plied and ennobled by their efforts, are well remembered here.

PS

Shiphandling for The Mariner, by Daniel R. MacElrevey, illustrated by Earl R. McMillin (Co rnell Maritime Press, Centrevi lle MD, 1983, 24lpp, illus, $20) .

This excellent book constitutes a complete guide for deck Officers and future deck Officers and masters of all nations, not only the United States. It covers its subject in comprehensive detail starting with arrival in port , vessel maneuvering in rivers and channel s and in close quarters, proper use of tugs (made up alo ngside, head o r stern up, etc.), docking or undocking with or witho ut tugs in various types of vessel, various sizes of vessel with different type propellers, etc. Passage through the Panama Canal is well presented , as are the various types of emergency drills , such as the Williamson turn and the Helicopter operation , pick up and land ing, and the replenishment at sea exercise. These drills are of value of course in rescue action, but are also of value in learning the many idiosyncrasies of one's vessel in various maneuvers.

A chapter on training reviews facilities available to deck Officers such as CAO RF (Computer Aided Operation Research Facility) , Marine Safety International at LaGuardia, New York and the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies at Linthicum Heights, Maryland . I fo und that hav ing attended all the above centers, it is better to make mistakes in the classroom and correct your errors under the close supervision of competent instructors than to try it out on the bridge of your vessel!

This work should be a text book at all Maritime Schools and training centers, and should be on board vessels for easy reference. The only objection I found to it , in fact, is that it was published forty years late.

I could have used it instead of doing it the hard way.

Shiphandlingfor the Mariner is a plus for the marine industry and its future.

CONRAD P. NI LSEN Captain Nilsen , President ofthe Council of American Master Mariners, is also coChairman ofthe National Society's Project Liberty.

SEA HIS10RY, SPRING 1984

McKinley's Bulldog: The Battleship Oregon, by Sanford Sternlicht, PhD (Chicago, Nelson-Hall , l'J77, 139pp, illus, $11. 95 hb, $5. 95 pb.

Built in the dawning of America's role as world power, in 1896, the "seagoing coastal battleship" Oregon proved a very efficient ship, of sound and powerful design. Her mixed turret batteries of 4-13in and 8-8in guns carried on a displacement of 10,000 tons at 16 knots placed her in the front rank of major power battlefleets. Her immortal 14,500-mile dash around Cape Horn to lead the destruction of Cervers's squadron at Havana in 1898 opened the world's-and America's- eyes to the strategic mobility of heavy units in a world where most ships, including many warships, still carried sail.

The Oregon lived in a world of aweinspiring changes. She was laid up just ten years after her commissioning, completely outclassed by the advent of Britain's dreadnoughts and our Connecticuts .

Subsequently recommissioned to serve in ceremonial and auxiliary roles, she was condemned for scrap in World War II over the protests of her many admirers; ironically other uses were found for her stout hull and scrapping was interrupted-she went into service as an ammunition barge in Guam , and finally went to a Japanese knacker's yard in 1956.

Here her career is well remembered, from the exuberance of her launch at San Francisco's Union Iron Works through the tension of her Cape Horn dash and the varied occasions of her later service. The slim volume does not pretend to present in depth the world situation the vessel sailed in . But the ship and her people live in this work, illustrated with first-rate and fascinating photographs, and one is reminded anew that while Dewey's flagship Olympia lives on at Philadelphia, the Oregon will be forever missed from her berth at Portland , where only her mast remains in a park uhore.

PS Clean Sweet Wind: Sailing Craft of the Lesser Antilles, by Douglas C. Pyle (East Reach Press, Preston MD, 1983, 302pp, illus, $16.50pb, $25hb; available through International Marine Publishing, Camden ME).

Mr. Pyle spent ten years gathering data and photographs to compile this " marine anthropological" work. Much of thi s time he cruised the Eastern Caribbean in his yacht Eider, which gave him an entree with the Caribbean seaman and schooner captains whom he interviewed , tracking down the varied craft and their trades .

Aboard a Bequian whaleboat pursuing a whale under sail he heard the helmsman exclaim: ''Ah , clean, sweet wind , Mon! " SEA HISmRY, SPRING 1984

The West Indian will put an engine in his boat, if he can afford it , but he is still very much tuned to the purity of wooden boats , the Trade Wind and the non-hurried life of moving cargo under sail. Pyle's research turned up some interesting facts. Schooner design and building in the Caribbean was essentially a matter of outside influences.

American whaling captains and their vessels and English shipwrights located on various islands created a trend of designing and building that the natives picked up and adapted to local materials and methods .

Most of this lore is passed on by oral tradition-and that is how Mr. Pyle acquired it.

His encounters with West Indian shipwrights, schooner captains and his assistance in the building of the Bequian sloop Skywave gave him a unique and personal perspective. He related to his subjects as a sailor and this is conveyed to his readers in this book , with considerable charm and real authority.

PHILIP THORNEYCROFT TEUSCHER

Mr. Teuscher has sailed his own boat through the Caribbees,filming native era.ft and folkways-with results illustrated in "Sailing Craft. of the Caribbees ," in this . issue.

Steam and the Sea, by Paul Forsythe Johnston (Peabody Museum of Salem MA, 1983, 90pp, illus, $15pbd, $25hdbd). A lively and brilliantly illustrated sweep through the American experience in steamers, based on the Peabody exhibition oflast fall. The museum and its curator of marine transportation , Mr. Johnston , are to be congratulated, and readers wi ll find a rewarding evening or two following a colorful and variegated story.

Frederic Cozzens, Marine Painter, by Anita Jacobsen (Alpine Fine Arts Collection , New York & London , 1982 , 252pp, illus, color, $75) . This finely produced book pays just tribute to a noted yacht portraitist, who also did spirited renditions of harbor work boats, Long Island sharpies, dories in wet and blowing Grand Banks weather, and toward the end of his career, surprisingly, western Indian themes. His patrons, we learn, ranged fromJ. P Morgan and Cornelius Vanderbilt to Donald McKay, son of the builder of the Flying Cloud and Arthur H . Clark, author of the classic Clipper Era. PS THOMAS J. BROWN & SONS, Inc. Established 1929

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AMERICAN WHALERS in the

WESTERN ARCTIC

Mmiral Sims in Cambridge 10 receive an honorary degree with the Prince of Wales , at left , in 1921.

THE FINAL EPOCH OF TH E G REAT A MERI CAN SA ILIN G WHALING FLEET

Dreadnought Admiral A Portfolio of

Introduced and

Watercolors & Drawings

Related in text

by WILLIAM GILKERSON

by JOHN R. BOC KSTOCE

PwblUJHd by F.Jw.ird). LLfooama. '"'¡ F11irlNlwr., M.au..cb_.as, LJ,,;ud Sutn of Amniu

AMERICAN WHALERS IN THE WESTERN ARCTIC has been called A landmark event in the maritime arts by Kendall Whaling Museum Director Stuart M. Frank. A wholly original book, one of a very few of its scope to be published in our century, the volume and its plates incorporate the finest materials, printing techniques and binding available, in an elephant folio (15-1/4 x 19 in.) presentation of twelve color paintings and dozens of line drawings by marine artist William Gilkerson, with text by Dr. John R. Bockstoce of the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

Gilkerson 's work here is highly original in conception . .. yet it is meticulously researched and carefully documented, never losing sight of the faithfulness to history and accuracy of detail for which Gilkerson's work is known, says Director Frank.

Conjoined with an authoritative and often whimsical text by Dr. John R. Bockstoce, ... Gilkerson 's paintings, drawings, and sketches provide an historical overview and many anecdotal sidelights which bring this harshly heroic era of Yankee enterprise vividly to life.

The richness of American Whalers in the Western Arctic is impossible to convey in this limiced space. Each book is accompanied by an excra suice of che 12 color places in a separate portfolio, each place numbered, and signed bv che artist. Jolin Swain Carter, American Neptune Editor and Maine Maritime Museum Director, says of che book: Rarely does one see a work of such quality - and it is worth the price. Production expenses for che four hundred copies co which the edition is limited necessirace the price of $1250.

Thirty copies are in a Deluxe format, each containing cwo of Mr. Gilkerson's original scudio sketches. These are priced $2000, and are nearly sold out. For more detailed information, or to order, contact the publisher:

EDWARD]. LEFKOWICZ, INC. P.O. Box 630 Fairhaven, Mass. 02719 U.S.A. Telephone (617) 997-6839

62

In 1918, four years after her commissioning, USS Texas, built to match the new British battleships, went overseas to serve alongside Britain's Grand Fleet.

She came under the Commander of US Naval Forces in European Waters, Admiral William S. Sims.

Fleet Admiral William R Halsey, famous practitioner of fast-carrier warfare in World War II, records a memorable picture of the high-spirited, clearsighted Admiral in the years shortly before he went to take up that command: The Commander of the Atlantic Destroyer Flotilla was Capt. William S. Sims who, as a young lieutenant, had made such a cogent case against the fleet's poor gunnery that President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him inspector of target practice. Sims did an excellent job, and Roosevelt shoved him along, to the extent that he was only a commander when he was made skipper of the battleship Minnesota-the first and only time a commander has been permanent captain of a battleship in the Battle Fleet. This did not increase his popularity with his seniors , although his juniors loved him . I doubt if he was aware of either opinion ; he cared no more for popularity than he cared for convention . He seemed to exult in affronting authority.

In 1910, he made a speech at London in which he stated, " Speaking for myself, I believe that if the time ever comes when the British Empire is menaced by an external enemy, you may count upon every man , every drop of blood , every ship, and every dollar of your kindred across the seas."

The severe reprimand that President Taft sent him for his tactlessness, Sims framed and hung in his cabin .

*

*

*

*

*

I remember him as tall and vigorous, a crisp, decisive talker, and a great believer in conferences. In Guantanamo, he liked to hold them at the officers' club, and frequently attended in tennis clothes. If he became bored or if the discussion got out of hand , he would break it up by heaving a tennis ball at the speaker.

-Admiral Halsey's Story, by Fleet Ad miral William F. Halsey, USN SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1984

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A short but detailed account of the development of the numerous classes of this convoy escort and sub-hunter type, including conversions of wartime destroyers. JAF

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THE BOOK LOCKER Hough properly dedicates The Great War at Sea to the late Arthur Marder, an American scholar who after World War II burrowed through British archives to achieve a remarkable reconstruction of British naval policy and the people who shaped it, before and during World War I. His books , The Anatomy of British Sea Power, dealing with the turn-of-the century navy, Fear God and Dread Nought, an appreciation of the life and career of Jacky Fisher, First Sea Lord in 1904 and again, briefly, in 1914-15, and finally From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow, tracing the story from the launch of the Dreadnought in 1905 to the surrender of the German Fleet at Scapa Flow in 1918, comprise the foundations of all further work in the field today.

Your reviewer had the privilege of working with Marder and learned great respect for his determined pursuit of fact , his brilliance in linking up seemingly unrelated bits of evidence and an appreciation of the role of intuition in developing sound history (or sound strategy!).

Another person deeply engaged in the period is David Howarth , author of The Dreadnoughts in the Time-Life Seafarers series, an enthralling and (as usual) superbly illustrated overview of the great ships from their genesis to the scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa. How these ships and their successors fared thereafter is recorded in lively fashion in Peter Smith's The Grear Ships Pass, a 1977 publication of the Naval Institute Press. And working backward , the Naval Institute has published a numberofwell illustrated books opening up the transitional decades from the sailing battlefleet to the hard-hitting, fasttravelling, stoutly armored Dreadnought.

Perhaps the most exuberant and expressive of their eras are Colin White's The End of the Sailing Navy, and the just-published Victoria's Navy: The Heyday ofSteam. John Leather's World Warships in Review, 1860-1906 unrolls a fascinating panorama of the warships that passed before the yachting photographer Beken's camera at Cowes. And then there is Admiral G.A .

Ballard's authoritative The Black Battle Fleet, which surveys the masted ships with black hulls and white upperworks that kept the Pac Britannica in the days when it seemSEA HISlDRY, SPRING 1984

ed it would last forever, and R .A. Burt's Battleships of the Grand Fleet, which focuses in on the few dozen grey ships that fought World War I at sea.

An authoritative (although sometimes contentious) and engrossing technical review of the dreadnoughts and the ships that came after is given in Battleships and Battle Cruisers, 1905-1970 (Doubleday, 1973),

by Siegried Breyer, who worked as a designer in the German Navy in World War II . His historical introduction is alone worth the $25 price, making clear the shifting values in armor and ordnance which characterized the chaotic adolescence of the armored fighting ship-in which one gets 24in armor inferior to armor of half that thickness a decade later, and 18in guns which would have been helpless victims of a ship bearing 9.2s a little later on. Breyer digs into the protective systems of the ships, particularly, with revealing diagrams that tell the real story under the skin of the ship, that gave her her ultimate staying power.

As to the men of the period, the Naval Institute has published an authoritative AijTed Thayer Mahan, by Robert Seager II. Mahan was the prophet, read by such as Kaiser Wilhelm II and Theodore Roosevelt who coined the phrase "sea power." A difficult man , as prophets tend to be, he died full of years in 1914, the year that saw the outbreak of the Anglo-German contest at sea which he predicted that the United States for deep reasons would be drawn into. A more lively and perhaps engaging character is Admiral Sims, subject of a splendid biography by Elting M . Morison , published by Houghton Mifflin in 1942.

Sims, an intensely practical man who had a devoted following in the Navy and in the nation , led the gunnery revolution that brought the Navy into the 20th century. He eschewed "navalism" (having the biggest fleet for the sake of having it), and believed that a coherent, stable US foreign policy should shape naval policy. After World War I he preached the ascendancy of the aircraft carrier and was one of the first naval persons to call her the new capital ship. His marvellous style and love of exchanging ideas are suggested in a brief memory of him by Admiral Halsey, printed on the opposite page. J,

Actual size 25" x 30"

The whaling era brought the skill of Marlinspike Seamenship (knot tying) to a flourishing folk art. After 7 years of stud y Barbara Merry is offering this fascinating and intricate folk art to the public.

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A sea classic and a fine gift!

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The Peking Battles Cape Horn Thi s is Irvin g John son 's class ic narrative of a pa ssage round Cape Horn in 1929 in the stee l bark Peking. A new foreword a nd appendi x provide background o n th e au thor a nd the ship. In the new afterword the author look s back, after 48 yea rs of seafaring, to hi s experiences a board the Peking.

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To: National Maritime Historical Soc. 132 Maple St. , Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520 Please send me_ hardcove r copies of " Peking" at $11.95;_ paper cove r co pies at $5.95 each. My chec k for $ _ _ _ is enc losed. ' AMF _ _

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63

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MR. & MRS. JOSEPH G. SAWTEELLE

W . B. H . SAWYER FRANK SCAVO DAVID & BARBARA SCHELL RADM. WALTER F. SCHLECH . JR. JOYCE SCHOBRICH JOSHUA M. SC HWARTZ AUSTIN SCOTT SEAHAWK I NTERNATIONAL SEAMEN'S C HURC H I NSTITUTE 0JELLE FLEI SHM AN SEIGN IOUS SE LIGMAN SECURIT IES MICHAEL SERENSON WILLIAM A. SHEEHAN ROBERT V. SHEEN, JR. RI CHARD A. SHERMAN KENNETH W. SHEETS, JR. CAPT . H . H . SHUFELDT DAVID W. SIM MONDS D. W . SIMPSON GEORGE SI MPSON ROBERT SI NCERBE AUX FRANCIS D. SKELLEY D. L. SLAOE DAVID L. SLAGLE E. KEIT H SLINGSBY l·fQWARD SLOTN ICK JAMES A. SM IT H LYMAN H. SMITH MELBOURNE SM ITH SONAT M ARINE, I NC. CONWAY B. SONNE THOMAS SOULES EDWARD SPADAFORA T. SPIGELMIRE JOHN S. W . SPOFFORD CREW OF T HE SSBT SAN D IEGO RALPH M . STALL ALFRED STANFO RD BRIAN STA RER PHILIP STENGER EDNA & I SAAC STERN F DTN. \V . T . STEV EN S J. T. STILLMAN JAMES J . STORROW STUART REGAN STONE FRANK Succor SU MNER B. TI LTON, JR. SUN REFINI NG & MKTG. Co .

SUN SHIP, INC. ROBERT H . SWAIN SWISS AMERICAN SECURITIES I NC. R. S. S YMON G H . TABER JOHN THURMAN DOUGLAS A. TILDEN SUMNER B. TILTON ROBERT T! SHMAN TOAD PRODUCTION GEORGE F. TOLLEFSEN SKIP & ROGER T OLLEFSON ANTHONY TRALLA W. A LLEN TRAVER, JR. BRUCE TREMBLY, MD JAMES D. T URNER THOMAS TURNER UNI ON DRY DOCK UNI VERSAL MARITIME SERVICES CORPORATION U.S. NAVI GATION Co. U.S. LINES RENAUD VALENTlN CAPT. ROBERT D. VALENTI NE MARJON VALPEY VANGUARD F OUNDATION JOHN D. VAN !TALLI E VAN METER RANCH C HARLES V ICKERY JOHN VREELAND )AMES WADATZ S HANNON WA LL ALEXANDER J. WALLACE RAYMONDE. WA LLA CE E. R. WALLENBERG R. C. WALLING PATE R M. WARD A. WARRICK DAVID WATSON MRS. ELIZABETH WEEDON ARTHUR 0. WELLMAN THOMAS WELLS W. S. WELLS L. HERNDON WERTH WESTLAN D FOUN DATION JOHN WESTREM JOHN ROBERT WHITE RAYMOND D. WHITE W ILLIAM T. W HITE G. G. W HITNEY.JR. FR . JAMES W HITTEMORE ANT HONY WIDMAN CA PT. & MRS. JOHN M. W I LL. JR .

H . SEWALL W I LLIA MS STAN WI LLIAMS KAMAU WILLIAMS W I LLIAMSBURG SAVINGS BANK P . J. WILLIAMSON H AROLD D. WILLI S JAMES H. W I LLIS MALCOLM WI LSON SUZANNE C. W I LSON CAPT. J. M W IN DAS SIDNEY W I NTON LAURENCE F. W!TTEMORE WOMENS PROPELLER CLUB. PORT OF BOSTON WOMENS PROPELLER CLUB, PORT OF JAC KSONVI LLE JEFF WOODS CMDR. PHILO WOOD. USN (RET .)

MAR\olN R. WORTELL THOMAS H . WRIGHT W I LLIAM C. WYGANT YACHTING JAMES H. YOCUM ALEN SANDS YORK H ENRY A. YOUMANS ANNE YOUNG

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 Y2pint per man - and oftimes 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.

A conspicuous first of its kind in 40 years, the MM&P-contracted SS En ergy Independence, shown above o n se a trials, leads a growing fleet of coa l-fired colliers sailing the Northeast Atlantic coast.

This Is MM&P Country CGmmanded by MM&P deck officers, a sixty-million dollar collier, the SS Energy Independence, has been carrying coal this year from the coal-loading ports at Hampton Roads , Baltimore and Philadelphia to the Massachusetts ports of Brayton Point and Salem where two large coal-fired electricity generating plants are located . This 33,724 dwt. bulk-carrying vessel is jointly owned by the New England Electric System and Keystone Shipping and is the only new coal burner equipped with a self-unloading conveyor belt system to discharge coal to shore from a boom on deck .

The successful operation of this ship has been .e ntrusted to MM&P deck officers whose skills are regularly sharpened by the Maritime Advancement, Training, Education and Safety (MATES) program . MM&P ship officers make a practice of return ing regularly to the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) at Linthicum Heights, MD, to sharpen their old skills and learn new ones with the aid of the most modern teaching equipment available.

ROBERT J. LOWEN International President

LLOYD M. MARTIN

ALLEN C. SCOTT

International Secretary-Treasurer

International Executive Vice President

International Organization of

Masters, Mates & Pilots 700 Maritime Boulevard, Linthicum Heights, MD 21090 •Tel: (301) 850-8700 •Cable: BRIDGEDECK, Washington , DC• Telex: 750831