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SEA HISTORY

No . 38

OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE WORLD SHIP TRUST

SEA HISTORY is published quarterly by the National Maritime Historical Society, 132 Maple Street, Croton-on-Hudson , NY 10520.

Application to mail at Second Class rates is pending at Croton-on-Hudson, NY .

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Sea History , 132 Maple St. , Croton , NY 10520.

COPYRIGHT © 1986 by the National Maritime Historical Society. Tel. 914 271-2177.

MEMBERSHIP is invited: Sponsor $1 ,000; Donor $500; Patron $100; Contributor $50; Family $35; Regular $25 ; Student or Retired $12 .50. ALL MEMBERS OUTSIDE the USA please add $5 for postage.

OFFICERS & TRUSTEES are Chairman: James P. McAllister; Vice Chairmen : James Ean , Barbara Johnson, A. T. Pouch, Jr. ; President: Peter Stanford; Vice President: Norma Stanford ; Secretary: Alan G . Choate; Treasurer: J. Kevin Lally; Trustees: Alan G .

Choate, Ellen Fletcher, Peter Goldstein, Thomas Hale, Barbara Johnson , Karl Kortum , J . Kevin Lally , Richardo Lopes, Robert J . Lowen, James P . McAllister, Conrad P. Nilsen, A. T .

Pouch , Jr. , John H . Reilly , Jr. , Spencer Smith , Wolf Spille, Peter Stanford ; Chairman Emeritus: Karl Kortum; President Emeritus: Alan D. Hutchinson.

OVERSEERS: Chairman: Townsend Hornor; Harris L. Kempner, Clifford D. Mallory, Schuyler M. Meyer, Jr., John G. Rogers , John Stobart.

ADVISORS: Chairman: Frank 0 . Braynard; Raymond Aker, George Bass, Francis E. Bowker, Oswald L. Brett, David Brink, George Campbell , Robert Carl, Frank G . G. Carr, William Main Doerflinger, Harry Dring, John Ewald, Joseph L. Farr, Timothy G . Foote, Richard Goold-Adams, Mel Hardin , Robert G. Herbert, R. C . Jefferson, Irving M . Johnson , John Kemble , Charles Lundgren, Conrad Milster, William G . Muller, George Nichols, Capt.

David E. Perkins USCG (ret.) , Richard Rath , Nancy Richardson , George Salley, Melbourne Smith , Ralph L. Snow, John Stobart, Albert Swanson, Shannon Wall, Robert A. Weinstein, Thomas Wells, AICH , Charles Wittholz. American Ship Trust, Secretary: Eric J . Berryman.

WORLD SHIP TRUST: Chairman : Frank G .

G. Carr; Vice Presidents: Sir Rex Hunt, Rt. Hon. Lord Lewin, Sir Peter Scott, Rt. Hon .

Lord Shackleton; Hon . Secretary: J. A. Forsythe; Hon . Treasurer: Richard Lee; Erik C .

Abranson, Dr. Neil Cossons , Maldwin Drummond, Peter Stanford. Membership: £10 payable WST, c/o Hon. Sec., l 29a North Street, Burwell , Cambs . CBS OBB , England . Reg .

Charity No. 277751.

SEA HISTORY STAFF: Editor: Peter Stanford; Managing Editor: Norma Stanford ; Assistant Editor: Lincoln P. Paine; Assistants to the President: Barbara Ladd, Michael T .

Sheehan; Accounting: Alfred J . Schwab; Advertising: Annette Stanton; Membership Secretary: Heidi Quas; Membership Assistant: Patricia Anstett; Corresponding Sec'y: Marie Lore.

WINTER 1985-86

CONTENTS 3

LETIERS EDITOR' S LOG

6

THE RESTORATION OF THE CHINA CABIN , Jeanne Price

9

THE SHIPS OF SAN FRANCISCO, Peter Stanford

12

BRING HOME THE VICAR , Lincoln P. Paine

18

TWO HALF HITCHES ARE ENOUGH, Gunnar Hexum

20

AN INCREDIBLE HULK: THE STORESHIP GLOBE , Christine Parker Smith

22

THE ESTHER JOHNSON GOES OFF TO WAR, Edward Zelinsky

24 29

MARINE ART: JOHN GROVES , Alex A . Hurst ART NEWS

30

SAIL TRAINING: A HISTORY OF SAIL TRAINING RACES, Part II, George Crowninshield

31

CALIFORNIAN' S FIRST YEAR, Christine Parker Smith

32

WORLD SHIP TRUST ACTMTIES REPORT FOR 1985,

33

SHIP NOTES , SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS

39

REVIEWS: Books and Videos

45

A ONE-TRIP COMMAND THAT LASTED SIX YEARS,

Eric Berryman

Capt. Fred Klebingat COVER: The Vicar of Bray, survivor of the California Gold Rush of 1849 (see page 12). The return of her hulk from the Falkland Islands to San Francisco is a long-held dream of the ship-savers who founded the National Maritime Museum, San Francisco. From a painting by John Stobart.

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

We bring to life Ame rica's seafa ring past throu gh research, archaeological ex pedi tions and ship preservation effo rts. We work with mu seums , hi sto rians and sa il training groups and repo rt o n these acti vities in our quarterl y journal Sea History.

We are al so the American arm of the Wo rld Ship Trust, an international group working worldwide to help save ships of historic importance.

Wo n't you join us to keep ali ve our nati on' s seafa ring legacy?

Membership in the Society costs only $25 a year. You ' ll receive Sea History, a fascinating magazine tilled with arti cles of seafarin g and historical lore . You' ll also be eligible for di scount s on books, prints and oth er items. Help save our seafaring he ritage. Jo in the National Maritime Histori cal Society today'

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SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1985-86

LETTERS When Wishes Are Horses This check is in response to Edward Muhlfeld's editorial in the November issue of Yachting . Hope you will get a lot of these.

HENRY C. ESTABROOK Clemson, South Carolina We did get a surge of new members and fresh interest in the welfare and programs of the Society from the editorial entitled "Sea History" in Yachting magazine . Off-prints are available . - ED .

One Hand for the Ship I just celebrated my eighty-eighth birthday by breaking my arm. I am now onehanded , and have a tremendous respect for anyone who could win the Battle of Trafalgar with one arm and one eye!

I hope the Campaign for Sea History is going well, and that it ends with a flourish , guaranteeing a good future for SEA HISTORY. JEAN SCHOEN SMITH Clearwater, Florida Mrs. Smith, a veteran ofsailing in square rig in the Pacific and a tramp steamer on the West Coast of Africa (she ultimately married the steamer's first mate) is also a poet (see SH37) , raconteur par excellence, and mainstay ofthe Society.

-ED .

No Other River!

The lead article in your excellent Autumn 1985 issue of SEA HISTORY reminded me of a trip Mrs . Trollope of England took to the United States over a century-and-ahalf ago . In 1832 she wrote a book entitled Domestic Manners of the Americans, which included the following observation on the Hudson River Valley: ''I had heard so much of the surpassing beauty of the Hudson River, that I expected to be disappointed . But it is not in the power of man to paint with a strength exceeding that of nature . Every mile shows some new and startling effect of the combinations of rocks, trees and water; there is no interval of flat or insipid scenery from the moment you enter upon the river at New York , to that of quitting it at Albany. The Hudson River can be surpassed by none on the outside of Paradise. '' Mrs . Trollope found no other river on this globe to compare with the Hudson .

She had not visited Paradise by then , but perhaps now she will agree with those who have explored the region on back roads as well as the river that the Hudson River Valley is indeed a paradise.

WALTER AVERILL Poughkeepsie , New York SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1985-86

EDITOR'S LOG Rex Stewart, Distinguished Modelmaker read with interest and some dismay Thomas Maggs's article about the Hudson River steamer models of Rex Stewart. It seemed to dwell more on Mr. Maggs's relationship with the modelmaker Van Loon Ryder than the modelwork of Mr. Stewart.

In Rex Stewart we have a remarkable artist and maritime historian in his own right who produces models (and drawings and paintings) with exquisite detail carefully researched from original documents and photographs . We have seen no other models of Hudson Ri ver steamboats which are up to the accuracy and quality of Rex Stewart's work . The Institute owns a model of the Mary Powell

by Van Loon Ryder which is a very fine model , but it was Rex Stewart' s research that pointed out a number of inaccuracies in its construction , however well done it was at the time and with the information that Ryder had available to him .

The Albany Institute has decided to hold an exhibition of Hudson River steamboat art in September-October 1986. This will feature Mr. Stewart's work in the context of earlier paintings, prints and drawings . Among the models to be exhibited are those of the St. John, Albany, City of Troy, Robert Fulton, Nantucket, and others . This will be preceded by our major exhibition on New York Dutch Art and Culture, 1609-1776, in which a new model of Henry Hudson ' s ship Half Moon will be exhibited , also the work of Rex Stewart.

It is important to give appropriate credit for work well done and I am sure that your readers will be glad to know that fine models , paintings and drawings of ships are being produced on the banks of the Hudson River!

RODERIC H. BLACKBURN Assistant Director Albany Institute of History & Art Albany , New York Medal of Honor Captain John Kennaday , USN, with whom I have corresponded on occasion (thanks to meeting him through SEA HISTORY magazine) has made an error in guessing that Admiral Dan Gallery, whom he knew , was perhaps the first to go below in the sub U-505.

The man who did go below was none other than the Assistant Engineering Officer of the Pillsbury , Lieutenant Albert L. David . For his service in the capture, he was awarded the Navy Cross, later withdrawn in favor of the Medal of Honor.

Coming back in this issue to the ships of San Francisco, we share the feelings of the Indians come down to see Drake's Golden Hind in the Estero in 1579" standing , when they drew near, as men ravished in their minds ."

Go among the people who come down to the ships on the waterfront and you will catch that feeling of wonder. And these ships live to vital purpose , giving street-smart kids a feeling for how their city really happened-a story that each generation must learn anew!

The ships have directly inspired action , as well . The San Francisco waterfront renaissance took shape and substance because of the ships on the North Beach and the people they drew to the waterfront. The conception of the South Street Seaport Museum in New York , and the origins of the National Society itself may be traced to that visible , stirring presence and to the sea dreamer Karl Kortum, who was principally responsible for bringing in the ships and making them live and express their truths for people.

Captain Fred Klebingat expresses this feeling for ships in his account of the handsome schooner Melrose beginning on page 45. For thirty years, ending only with his death last year at age 94, Captain Klebingat talked with Karl Kortum of his vast , hard-won experience at sea.

Kortum, a veteran of square rig and big steamers himself, has called him " a remarkable maritime mentor. '' Ed Zelinsky, who began as a paintscraping volunteer aboard the museum ship Balclutha , adds a little more recent history in his account (pages 22-23) of a voyage in one of the steam schooners that replaced vessels like Klebingat's Melrose . Zelinsky has gone on to lead the project to return to San Francisco the Gold Rush ship Vicar of Bray.

It may well be asked why, at thi s juncture, with the historic ships in visible disarray and their future in doubt , we support Mr. Zelinsky in his prophetic vision of a city recovering the ark of its founding. That is a good question . Let us just suggest that the dynamics that founded the Museum and assembled the ships thirty-five years ago are accessible to us today . The voyage home of this one ship might save the many by bringing to a focus the feelings that people have for the ships that built their city.

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In October 1968 , I had the good fortune of being a guest at the commissioning of the Destroyer Escort Albert David (DE- 1050), the vessel named after the man who did the heroic deed .

THOMASW. WELLS , Lt. JG , USNRS Seattle , Washington

Who Were These Men? In his pre-Summit speech of November 14, Pres ident Reagan made a particular point to mention the sacrifices of Americans who died on the North Atlantic and Arctic convoys which supplied the Russians during World War II. Who were the Americans about whom the President spoke? The large majority were civilians, members of what was then a nationalized United States Merchant Marine. During World War II , American merchant marine personnel casualties numbered 6,632 men; its ship sinkings greatly exceeded the ship losses of the United States Navy.

If merchant marine sacrifices were significant enough to warrant mention in an important Presidential speech made over fo rty years after the fact, then why, on October 18 of this year, did the Administration tum down an application to grant veterans' benefits to those same men? Was the President's reference to the wartime supply convoys his way of making a veiled apology to those seamen? Or was it just poor research by his speech writers?

CAPT. CHARLES D . GIBSON Camden, Maine Captain Gibson, a consultant on marine regulations , served in the Army Transport Service from 1944 to 1946, and in the Military Sea Transport Service during the Korean War . Author of The Ordeal of Convoy NY 119 , for the past six years Captain Gibson has worked to secure veterans' benefits for merchant seamen who were in active support of the armedforces during World War II. - ED .

More on the Oruwas With reference to your article in SEA HISTORY 36, "Sailing with the Last Sailors, Part II ,'' my father, the late William Forsythe , spent the whole of hi s life working in or connected with Ceylon (as it was then) from 1877 to hi s death in 1933 .

He told me how he had sailed in these catamarans from Negombo and on the east coast. (He spoke both Singhalese and Tamil.)

It appears that as the wind increased crewmen would be sent to sit on the outriggers to balance the craft, and the locals would talk about a " two-man breeze" or a "four-man breeze," according to

the number of men required on the outrigger-much as we speak of Force 2 or Force 4 .

JAMES FORSYTHE Burwell , England Major Forsythe , a frequent contributor to SEA HISTORY , is secretary of the World Ship Trust . -ED.

Ed Hoppen: A Significant Contribution Enclosed is a check which I am sending in memory of Mr. Edward Hill Hoppen, who passed away in Jul y of this year.

Mr. Hoppen, during his thirty-five years in Gig Harbor, Washington , made a significant contribution to this Puget Sound community as a builder of fi shing and recreational boats. He is best remembered for his activity in the development of a 26-foot sloop designed to feature fir plywood as a sound material for the construction of the racing/cruising class boat called the Thunderbird . The Thunderbird , designed by architect Ben Seaborn of Seattle, was an early user of the fin keel and spade rudder. Mr. Hoppen built many of the first T-birds and encouraged many wishful sailors to build their own boats .

As a class , the boat now covers the waters of the world in many fleets both in and out of the International Thunderbird Class Association.

As a past owner-skipper of Moana , Thunderbird # 17 , I have fond , respectful memories of my boat and of Ed Hoppen.

ROBERT F. MAIN Gig Harbor , Washington Standing Tall Since 1548 That fine seaman and talented author, Alex A . Hurst, whose knowledge and writings I greatly admire (but do not always agree with) , criticizes (SH37, p5) the term "sail-training" for what he believes should be called "school ships."

I do not think so. Most of the sail-training ships so called today give training under sail.

If Alex Hurst is right , the Sail Training Association and the American Sail Training Association must go . . . " School Ship Association" in future , please, on both sides of the Atlantic! Or, as all have auxiliary power, why not go the whole hog and let us have "Diesel Auxiliary School Ship Association?"

I also find myself at variance with him over " tall ship." This is a very ancient term. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary traces its use back to 1548 .

Admiral Smythe, in his Sailor's WordBook, published posthumously in 1867, defines it as "a phrase among the early voyagers for square-rigged vessels having topmasts;" and when, more than SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1985-86

QUERIES sixty years ago, I was studying weather lore for seamen , I was taught that: Mackerel sky and mare's tails Make tall ships carry low sails.

For his delightful book, published in 1958 , Alex Hurst chose the title The Call of High Canvas ; but how on earth does one set high canvas other than in a tall ship?

FRANK CARR Blackheath, England A Good and True Shipmate Captain Arthur R . Moore' s wonderful book, A Careless Word ... A Needless Sinking, lists the name of every American merchant ship sunk or damaged during World War II . It also lists the name and ship of every seaman killed .

Going through it, I was shocked and saddened to read of the death of my old shipmate Moody Harrison . He was an able seaman on the S.S. American Leader, a U.S. Lines ship . Homeward bound from Colombo, Ceylon , on September IO , 1942, about 800 miles west of Capetown, she was attacked and sunk by the German raider Michel. Ten crew members were killed in the shelling and subsequent torpedoing . The survivors, including Moody , were taken prisoner by the Michel after spending six hours on rafts.

Turned over to the Japanese at Singapore , the following September Moody and other prisoners were loaded aboard the Junyo Maru for transportation to Sumatra. En route , the ship was sunk by the British submarine Tradewind.

Moody , the Second Mate , and the Second Engineer went down with the ship.

Moody and I parted company in 1935 , when I paid off the S.S . Culberson, an American Republic Line ship . That' s fifty years ago. For three years he was my closest friend and shipmate . I learned a lot from him . He held a Second Mate's ticket, but for reasons unknown , never sailed under it. He and I went ashore together, lived in the same fo'c's le together, and once even fought together.

I mourn his passing. He was a good and true shipmate.

FRANK F. FARRAR Melbourne Beach, Florida As part of our Seamen' s Recognition program, we have been in touch with Stanley Gorski who was a shipmate of Moody Harrison aboard American Leader and who survived the Junyo Maru when she was sunk-with the loss of some 6,400 lives. Mr. Gorski believes that Moody Harrison died " probably when the second torpedo hit in Number 5 Hatch. " We shall be publishing Mr .

Gorski' s account in a later number. J, SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1985-86

I am interested in hearing from anyone with information about Captain James R. Luffman , a sea captain employed by Brett & Vose, New York , or about Brett & Vose itself.

MRS. KATHEL . MUNDINGER 1733 Lake Summerset Road Davis, Illinois 61019

I am writing a book on the presence of German U-Boats in the Gulf of Mexico during World War II , with emphasis on merchant ship losses close to the coast.

Any anecdotal or first-person material

about the sinkings and the U-boats would be helpful. CAROL L. MEAD Quail Ridge Press Brandon, Mississippi 39042 For a Fall 1986 exhibition of works by the nineteenth-century American marine artist Julian 0. Davidson (1853-1894), I am seeking the whereabouts of original oils, watercolors or drawings by this artist. Anyone knowing the whereabouts of any painting by Davidson should please MRS . LYNN S. BEMAN contact me .

114 Main Street Nyack , New York 10960

Oceanus· The International Magazine of Marine Science and Policy

Invites You to Discover the Titanic!

Research ers from the Woods Hole Ocea nographic Institution together with scie ntists from France recently discovered the broken hull of the Titanic at about 13,000 feet on an a lpin e-li ke slope in the North Atlantic. The scientists made the discovery using a new unmanned submersible th at promises to revolution ize und erwater exploration of vast a reas of the deep sea in the months a nd yea rs a head . Read about this exciting event a nd new hi storica l detail s about the s inking of the Titanic in the Winter 1985 issue of Oceanus.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

1986 Themes • The Great Barrier Reef • Marine Scien ce in th e Arctic

•How Japa n is Moving Out to Sea • Sex Practices in the Ocean

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Please make checks payab le to Woods Hole Oceanograp hi c In stitution . Checks accompan ying foreign ord ers must be made paya ble in U.S. dollars and drawn on a U.S. bank . (Outsi de U.S., add $3 per year to domestic rates). Mai l t o: OCEANUS, Woods Hole Ocean og raphi c Institution . Woods Ho le, Massa chusetts 0254 3.

5

The Restoration of the China Cabin

by Jeanne Price The restoration of a rare piece of marine architecture is nearing completion . In San Francisco Bay's picturesque Belvedere Cove stands the only known surviving work of naval architect William Webb and the onl y completely original relic from any nineteenth-century sidewheeler.

The China Cabin , as it is now called , is the passenger saloon from the Pacific Mail Steamship Company' s wood hulled, paddle wheel passenger ship S .S. China, which plowed the seas between San Francisco and Hong Kong and Yokahama from 1867 to 1879 .

After nine years of politicizing, fund raising, searching for obscure artisans, the Belvedere-Tiburon Landmarks Society has almost completed the cabin 's restoration to its Victorian splendor. There remain onl y the gilding of the interior decoration, installing the beautiful cutglass windows and stretching canvas over the flo orboards. That' s about $ 100,000 worth of labor and materials, according to Beverly Bastian Meyers who heads the project for the society .

Prior to acquisition by the society in 1978 , the cabin had been used as a waterfront residence in Belvedere for many years, accumulating many additions.

Authentic restoration was a challenge .

Needed skills were hunted out of obscurity and rev italized under apprenticeship programs.

The decorative molded strips and ornaments on the walls and ceiling had to be reproduced fro m the original bits that remained . Casts were taken , then molds made by retired naval pattern maker Al Giomi of Alameda .

A fl ex ible but firm substance was needed to cast into the molds if the strips were to fit the curves of the ceiling and walls. Ex perimentation fa iled to produce a composition both workable and authentic . Finally , the society fo und Louis de la Pena, of San Francisco , a 97-year-old picture framer, who possesses the secret of making compo . At first anxious he would lose his livelihood, he fin ally reluctantly di vulged his recipe .

Even then hi s secret was not an exact formul a , but a method of mi xing linseed oil , hide glue, whiting and rosin to the right consistency by instinct. After many attempts and much advice fro m de la Pena, Bruce Allan , the project's general supervisor, was able to come up with a sure-fire fo rmula.

Based on this, the San Francisco Foundation fund ed an apprentice program at the project fo r compo mi xing , molding and installing . G ilding wi ll also prov ide apprentices with the opportunity to learn 6

..

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-

The passenger saloon of William Webb's China (above) can be seen at the base of the mainmast . The cabin's clerestory windows appear as a row of tiny dots . Courtesy, John Haskell Kemble. Below, the cabin today.

Photo, Philip L. Molten .

" tipping, " a spec ial kind of gilding which is applied for highlights. Research indicates this was the original ty pe of gold leafin g used in the China's saloon .

Earl y in the work, Thomas Ti sch Fine G lasswork of Oakland reproduced sixty clerestory and main wi ndows fro m twenty originals that remained. The onl y artisan in the Bay Area so qualified , Tisch was able to refill each empty window fra me with a brilliant cut bouquet of crystal fl owers in a fros ted pane . A restoration specialist, Tisch called the China Cabin ''a real th ril l to work on. '' ;!:

* * * *

The China Cabin is expected to be available earl y in 1986 for small conferences , lectu res and parties . Reservations can be made by calling the Landmarks offi ce Monday thro ugh Friday 9- 12, at 41 5/ 435-1 853 . Free , docent-led tours may also be arranged.

J,

J,

J,

As with most restorations, a wide variety of skills was called fo r, from glass etching to mold making and gilding. Below, a view of the work in progress, with the opening for the mainmast clearly visible in the overhead. Photos by Philip L. Molten.

CORRECTIONS A keen-eyed reader points out an error on our waterways map of New York State, SH37 , page 10. The Genesee Valley Canal runs from Rochester to the town of Olean near the Pennsylvania border, but , although it actually crosses the upper reaches of the Allegheny via aqueduct, the two waterways do not connect. The link shown on the map was a planners' dream proposed as early as 1823 to link New York to the American heartland. The idea was delayed in the New York State Legislature for years, and was not heartily endorsed by Pennsylvania , whose cooperation would have been needed to improve the upper Allegheny.

By 1860, when the Genesee Valley canal extension was completed , railroads had become the prime means of transport , and the two locks needed to connect the two waterways were never built.

Frederick E. Ives Oil on can vas

by Antonio Jacobsen , 1892 22" x 36"

8th Annual Marine Exhibition January 11-March 1 19th & 20th Century American Marine Paintings, Watercolors, E tchings, and Dra wings

In SH37, page 18, we inadvertently flopped the picture of the Daily Freeman building, which is indeed in the foreground , but the row should stand beyond it to the left.

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The extreme clipper Flyi ng Cloud comes through the Golden Gate and into San Francisco Bay on August 31 , 1851, ending her maiden voyage as the first ship to make the passage in under ninety days-a record only twice equalled, once by the C loud herself. The artist, John Stobart, catches the lithe, heavily sparred, hungry-bowed clipper slipping in fro m the booming ocean under easy canvas .

Her owners , Grinnell, Minturn & Co. , !Jave "their agent on the pier to greet the tall racer, but the real tribute is paid by the retired sea captain standing up in admiration in the small boat off the wharf.

THE SHIPS OF SAN FRANCISCO: Ships Built the City, and Their Heritage Challenges the City Today

by Peter Stanford Francis Drake mi ssed the entrance when he sai led by in his round-the-world voyage in 1579 . But he landed close outside at a sandy cove just to the north known today as Drake's Estero . And there he claimed the land for Queen Elizabeth in the p_resence of Indians who welcomed the voyagers, standing in awe of the tall ships (as the Elizabethans themselves called them) that they had arrived in , and sailed away in. Two centuries passed until a Spanish ship sailed in through what was to become known round the world as the Golden Gate.

The tempo picked up a little as European voyagers opened the Pacific world in various trades, and Mexican ranchers established cattle farms along the wild California coast.

Richard Henry Dana , arriving in December 1835 aboard the little hide drogher Pilgrim (on a voyage he was to make famous in Two Years Before the Mast) , provides a vivid picture of "a magnificent bay, containing several good harbours, great depth of water, and surrounded by ferti le and finely wooded country." He noted the presidio on a point. "Behind this ," he noted , " is the little harbor, or bight, called Yerba Buena, in which trading vessels anchor. . . . " Thirteen years later, in December 1848 , President Polk confirmed the discovery of gold in California (the actual find had been made almost a year earlier) . .. and the California Gold Rush was on. Everything that could float, it seemed, was commandeered to get round Cape Horn or through the Straits of Magellan into the Pacific. (Some opted for the still more hazardous transit of the fever-ridden Panamanian jungles, to SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1985.-86

await seaborne pickup on the Pacific shore .) Even a runaway New York ferryboat, fleeing from the sheriff, made the journey and went on to earn an honorable living carrying goods and people inland to the gold fields from San Francisco Bay. Hundreds of ships that made the voyage were abandoned, and by 1852 the Chilean journalist Benhamin Vicuna-Mackenna described the growi ng settlement around Yerba Buena Cove as "a Venice built of pine instead of marble ... a city of ships , piers, and tides." And he noted at that early date: Ships, the largest I have ever seen , were unloading merchandise from all over the world ; Chinese silks, timber from Norway , flour from Talcahuano , and articles from Paris.

The California Clippers A new class of sai ling ship came into being to meet the extraordinary demand for fast passage round Cape Horn to San Francisco--a distance of some 15-18 ,000 miles round the stormiest corner of the ocean world. This new ship was the California clipper. There has been a revisioni st question raised lately as to whether these great ships, which broke records in all seas, were really a new "kind " of vessel. Rapidly overtaking the first generation of clippers built for the China trade , these huge , daringly rigged, sharp-bowed ships were certainly recognized as different in kind by the people who knew them and sailed in them .

The fact is that people at the time were intensely conscious of the beauty of these ships and the drama of their fast passages.

9

The very great clipper historian Carl Cutler noted that the 89-day 21-hour passage of the Flying Cloud from New York to San Francisco was "at once the wonder and admiration of old sailors and mariner merchants to the end of their days." The clipper' s day was brief; from the mid- I 850s on, first-class traffic went through Panama by steamer and rail, leaving slower, cheaper cargos to the sailing ships on the Cape Hom road.

A new class of vessel, again, sprang up to supersede the California clipper after her moment in the sun. These were the big , capacious Down Easters launched from New England ways after the Civil War. Sailed mostly by State of Maine crews, under Maine ownership (since New York merchants were turning to railroads and the developing industries of a rapidly growing America as a better investment than ships), these vessels had the learning of the clipper in their lines and rig, but they were far more capacious and competitive with the ever-improving steamship that was taking over the world 's ocean trade routes in this era. The patterns of oceanic trade brought these ships round Cape Hom to San Francisco , for the growth of San Francisco as a seaport continued to play a shaping role in US seaborne commerce after the hurrying clippers had charged over time's horizon and after the Gold Rush passed into mythology.

Two great rivers feeding into San Francisco Bay helped the port develop mightily as Gold Rush fever waned: the Sacramento River, on which steamboats found their way over 150 miles inland and northward , and the San Joaquin, stretching equally far south. [n 1881, 559 ships loaded grain from these great river valleys in San Francisco--a fleet approaching the size of the Gold Rush fleet of a generation earlier, but made up of much larger ships.

From an early date , this world-involved seaport sent its ships radiating out into the Pacific world, as well as back to the North Atlantic basin which gave it birth . Russian fur trappers and traders had come as far down the coast as San Francisco; American ships pushed back the other way to Alaska and Kamchatka. It had been fou nd from the beginnings of American trade with China in the eighteenth century that furs were one of the few things Chinese merchants found worth exchanging for their porcelains, lacquers , teas and silks. Another was beche de mer, a sea slug prized in China, which American and Australian schooners picked up from native harvesters in the Pacific islands. And San Francisco became , in the latter half of the nineteenth century, the leading port for the American whaling industry, carried on at first in old barks brought round from New Bedford and Nantucket, and later in steamships built of Oregon pine, which pursued their gigantic prey into the Arctic ice- in the last years, more for the sake of the springy whalebone they yielded for ladies ' corsets, than for the whale oil that was rapidly being replaced by kerosene from the oil wells of Pennsylvania and Texas.

As the vagaries of the sailing trades would have it , San Francisco ended up as the port with the greatest fleet of squarerigged deepwatermen on into the '20s of this century . These were largely sustained by the Alaska Packers trade-a business of taking shipping fishermen north to the salmon fisheries in the spring and bringing them back at the end of the summer.

The sailings of these ships, and their returns, were widely noted events in the age of the automobile and the airplane.

But by the 1930s the last of these sai lings had ended.

So passed the ships that had built a city-the great Cape Hom square riggers which had connected San Francisco with the rest of the world.

There's No Substitute for the Real Thing Visiting in San Francisco in October 1965, my wife Norma and I heard about some old ships berthed at North Beach, near Fisherman's Wharf. So we headed out that way, and after 10

dinner, walked out on the Hyde Street Pier. The stout masts of a big sailing vessel loomed dimly above the lights and the people who, like us, had come to walk about the waterfront.

A damp night breeze , carrying the salt message of the wide Pacific beyond the Golden Gate , thrummed in the halyards gathered around the three great masts. Equally spaced like reiterated affirmations of the same underlying purpose, they nodded gently as the schooner's black hull responded to the gentle surge of the harbor .

Entranced, we mounted the gangplank, and stepped down onto scrubbed decks enclosed within high , rugged bulwarks, huge coils of manila hung on the pins, everything looking ready to bend sail and put to sea. l had often found myself dreaming of taking an old sailing ship to sea with a pickup crew, from the waterfront of my own city, New York. . . . Below decks we found snapshots of scenes on deck at sea, and group photographs of the people who had sailed the schooner in her incredibly long and varied career (built in 1895 for the lumber trade , she had made her last voyage, catching codfish, in 1950--only fifteen years earlier!).

From this massively wooden ship and the memories of her people, we walked out further on the pier to board the steam schooner Wapama, a marvellously antiquated-looking monster , one of some 225 wooden steamers built in the years before World War I to move lumber, supplies and passengers along the coast. Straight out of the confident, brash, velvet-andmahogany era of Cappy Ricks (the mythical San Francisco shipowner, of eagle eye and flinty heart , immortalized in the waterfront stories of the maritime reporter Peter B . Kyne), she had been restored to glowing life- polished brass , gleaming paintwork, talking machine record player and all. A copy of the pink-paper Police Gazette was flung down on the berth in the mate 's cabin. You could picture the "What the hell does the Old Man want now?" expression on his face as he bounded out, leaving his oilskin jacket hanging on its hook because it wasn't really his tum on watch.

Quite bright and early the next morning, we came down to the waterfront by the Hyde Street cable car, and turned right to pass the closed-up restaurants of Fisherman 's Wharf and set out toward a lofty trio of spars crossed with square yards and unevenly spaced in the distinctive pattern of a full-rigged sailing ship. This, it turned out, was the Balclutha of 1886, saved from the Sausalito mudflat where Frank Kissinger left her when he died, and restored with panache and authority by men who had sailed in square rig-including Karl Kortum , founding director of the then fourteen-year-old San Francisco Maritime Museum .

Kortum had grown up hitch-hiking in from his family's farm in Petaluma (a quiet town on the winding river that flows eventually into San Pablo Bay, north of San Francisco) to spend weekends with his pals exploring the decaying hulks of American wooden Down Easters and West Coast schooners in the harbor. They sailed a converted lifeboat, and dreamt of greater things . In his late teens, Kortum (who combined a soaring imagination with what was to prove an enormous tenacity of purpose), began to conceive schemes to save these dying beauties . And then, in 1941, he and his friend Harry Dring were signed on to go to sea with Captain Hjalmar Wigsten in the Alaska Packers bark Star of Finland, given back her original name , Kaiulani and manned optimistically with old square riggermen summoned to respond once more to the call of high canvas, and a bunch of young men ("college kids," Wigs ten lugubriously called them) , to carry a load of Douglas fu around Cape Hom to Durban, South Africa.

At the end of the next leg of her voyage, in Australia, she was commandeered and cut down to serve as a barge supporting the Allied campaign in New Guinea . At the end of the war SEA HISTORY, WINTER 1985-86

she was brought into service in the Philippines as log barge, until the early 1960s when the National Maritime Hi storical Society was formed to save her. But all we were able to do, fully fifteen years later, was to bring home the ship's forefoot and other relics salvaged from her scrappi ng-the forefoot completing a 37-year circumnavigation, when it rode into San Francisco on a Crowley barge in 1978.

During these years the San Francisco Maritime Museum had grown under Kortum 's leadership to be a leading center of the historic ships movement. The original fleet , ably maintained by Kortum 's shipmate Harry Dring , had grown apace.

The Cape Homer Balclutha, the three-masted schooner C. A. Thayer and the steam schooner Wapama had been joined by a British paddle wheel tug , the Eppleton Hall , which the newspaper editor and museum co-founder Scott Newhall saved from the scrapyard in England and steamed across the Atlantic, through the Panama Canal, and up the West Coast to San Francisco in 1970; to these were added the New Jersey-built steam tug Hercules, the huge walking-beam engine ferry Eureka, the little scow schooner Alma. Later additions included the World War II Liberty ship Jeremiah O' Brien and submarine Pampanito--and such new ventures as the reconstructed felucca Matilda D. , named for the shipkeeper's wife, a scholar in her own right, who built up the museum 's priceless archives of photographs and other records saved from hi story 's dustbin .

Indeed , the fledglin g museum , started with such enthusiasm (and such anxious moments) a quarter century earlier by the Kortums , the publicist David Nelson and the newspaper editor Scott Newhall , had acquired not only ships and archives , but people of vision, energy and ability to keep them .

And it had reached out to inspire others. Norma Stanford and I returned from our October visit determined to see what could be done to bring historic ships into the waterfront of New York-and eighteen months later, in April 1967 , South Street Seaport Museum , opened its doors .

Other visitors to Karl Kortum 's eyrie had similar experiences! Young Alan Hutchison , wandering by with thoughts of getting an ocean liner up the Potomac as a tourist attraction came away fired with the vision and zeal which still inform (we hope) the National Maritime Historical Society, of which he became the founding president.

The story I like best , however, is of Graeme Robertson , the great Australian authority on wrought-iron architecture. He came to the maritime museum in pursuit of a storefront which had been saved from a demolished building which the museum had taken and put in storage. Kortum welcomed hjs interestand told him he had a more important piece of iron in hi s own backyard . That was the coal barge Rona , which today largely thanks to Robertson's intervention , is gloriously restored as the handsome bark Polly Woodside in Sydney Harbor.

A Generous Vision What one really admires about thi s is the generosity of vision which saves a storefront, and converts a building preservationist into a ship saver. Since 1978 , however, that generous impulse and creative force has faltered in San Francisco , and the ships are imperilled.

From left to right , the C. A. Thayer, the Alma, and the Balclutha. Drawing by Mark Myers .

The Wapama may no longer be seen at the Hyde Street Pier.

For getting on seven years now she has sat atop a barge in Oakland Estuary, trapped like some disconsolate prehistoric monster behind the tin masts of the brightly colored plastic yachts that bob around her. Last survivor of her breed, she is in very poor shape-she catches no more passers-by as she caught Norma and me that October night 20 years ago.

What on earth has happened? Well , in 1978 the Federal Government , through the National Park Service, took over the desperately extended (but ably coping) private museum . We in the National Maritime Historical Society consulted with Park Service officials and ship and museum people extensively while this shift was being accomplished . We felt-and feel still-that something more than a " maritime unit" was needed to make the ships and the collections work; and that innovative steps are needed to underwrite their future. That " something more" has simply not come forth. The hows and whys of the next steps needed are now being widely discussed-and that is the vital first step! '' Maybe the time has come for yet another public outcry,'' says John Conway, a shipwright apprentice in the Maritime Unit of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. He adds , in a recent letter published in WoodenBoat: "We can save these ships , but we'll have to pull together!"

San Francisco has ever been , and remains , a sea-haunted town. Catch the cable car down Hyde Street, perhaps on an evening as we did . Seaward from the lights and bustle of Fisherman's Wharf, you ' ll see the masts of the ships stirring against the evening sky . Walk down the pier and listen to the creak of their rigging, the slap of impatient waves against their sides. The local bard George Sterling wrote: " At the end of our street are spars .. . the sea-contending ships! " Surely they are important to the future as well as the past of this sea-gi rt city, those ships-too important, surely , for the city, or the world , to lose. .t

Read on ...

A lively , accurate account of the historic ships is given in Steven E. Levingston ' s Historic Ships of San Francisco: A Collective History and Guide to the Restored Historic Vessels of the National Maritime Museum (Chronicle Books , San Francisco, 1984, $8. 95) . Includes good brief bibliography .

To stay abreast of developments and help support the work of the museum , you can join the National Maritime Museum Association, 680 Beach Street, Suite 330, San Francisco CA 94109. Benefits include The Sea Letter, an occasional newsletter, and invitations to special events. Friends of Historic Ships (c/o Mr. Raymond Aker, 2605 Waverly St. , Palo Alto, CA 94306) also welcomes membership and maintains an active volunteer program , as does the National Liberty Ship Memorial (SS Jeremiah O'Brien, GGN Rec. Area, Bldg. 20 1, Fort Mason , San Francisco, CA 94123) which mai ntains the Liberty Ship Jeremiah O'Brien at Fort Mason.

Autumn sunlight gilds the flaxen sails of the Vicar of Bray as the sturdy workhorse dries out after a shower in San Francisco Bay. It is 1849, and the ships of the Gold Rush fleet make the beginnings of a new, world-involved city on the shores ofSan Francisco Bay. Painting by John Stobart.

Bring Ho01e the Vicar!

by Lincoln P. Paine In 1912, according to a man from thereabouts, a hulk named Vicar of Bray came to her present resting place at Goose Green, head of Choiseul Sound in the 'Falkland Islands. With coal in her holds , the Vicar was blown ashore in a storm and fetched up in shallow waters to be incorporated, eventually, into a pier. So it is that one finds her today, weather-beaten but not bowed. The high latitudes of the South Atlantic , inhospitable as they are to man and ships, are even less a place for worms and other predators that feast on ships' timbers.

There, sheltered by islands which on a map seem tattered by the southern tempests like an ensign set for all time , lies the former bark, a threefold monument to the human enterprise.

The Vicar of Bray , a tough ore carrier of the 1840s , is the sole representative of an era that some regard as the acme of pre-scientific naval architecture in Britain. She is probably the only survivor of the many hundred ships in the argosy to the Golden Gate in 1849. And finally , she is the motive force,

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the unmoved mover of a growing clutch of visionaries who would and probably will see the Vicar home in the city she helped to found, San Francisco.

The Vicar's curious name was given to her by her first captain and part owner, George Seymour, of Bray . Her namesake was a Tudor clergyman who might have mistaken doing well for doing good, and in this doggerel written to his memory achieved a different sort of immortality than that conferred by the endurance of his nominal descendant: And this is law I will maintain until my dying day, sir: That whatsoever king may reign Still I'll be the Vicar of Bray, sir!

The vicar remained at his post-variously protestant or papist, as dictated by the persuasion of the four monarchs under which he served.

SEA HISTORY, WINTER 1985-86

The ship was built in 184 I by Robert Hardy for the copper-ore trade between England and Chile. The Whitehaven yards in Cumberland were past their economic prime and would close forever before the century ended; but the builders were specialists in the design of strong bulk cargo vessels, which they had developed for the Dublin coal trade monopolized by them in the previous century. When surveyed by Lloyds, the Vicar was pronounced " As good as can be built," and given the rating of "A 1, for 12 years." A prescient journalist of the time saw fit to state that she was " Built to Last a Hundred Years."

And well she was. A survey undertaken at Goose Green in 1976 by Peter Throckmorton, Norman Brouwer and Hilton Matthews, found her basic structure to be in a good state of preservation, with little deterioration save on the surface of her timbers. 1 It is estimated that 85 % of the original hull survives . (For the sake of comparison, it is believed that only about 15% of the U.S.S. Constitution is original, and even less of the H.M.S. Victory.) Framed and planked with West African hardwoods, with lower planks of American elm, floors of English oak and pine decks (since removed) , she was fastened with oak treenails, copper bolts and forged iron knees , pointers and breast hooks. Before her lengthening to l 20ft overall in 1859 , she was registered at 281 tons, 97ft on deck, 24ft 3in beam, and 16ft lOin depth in hold . She underwent a further change in 1877 , when her hatch coamings were enlarged, giving her a registered tonnage of 364 tons. Fitted out as a bark, she is puzzlingly listed as a brig in Lloyds from 1843 through 1849.

The Vicar's primary trade was between English coal ports and the copper ports of Chile where thirty yeai:s after independence there were still no copper smelters. This rugged trade, down the Atlantic, around Cape Hom, and back again, stands as one of the world's most trying for ships and sailors. It is described by Joseph Conrad in his reminscence of a former captain: It appeared he had "served his time" in the copper-ore trade, the famous copper-ore trade of the old days between Swansea and the Chilean coast, coal out and ore in , deep-loaded both ways, as if in wanton defiance of the great Cape Hom seas-a work, this, for stanch ships, The dynamic heart of a city born of the sea lies before you in this view of San Francisco, seen from Rincon Point in 1853. Wharves which will become streets are being pushed out into the shallow water of Yerba Buena Cove where the argonauts' ships lie largely abandoned, andfences markfuture landfill sites. In the right foreground , an unmasted ship is being scrapped by Chinese laborers working for the shipbreaker William Hare . This panorama was made up of daguerreotypes made by William Shaw. Courtesy the Smithsonian Institution.

SEA HISTORY, WINTER 1985-86

and a great school of stanchness for West-Country seamen. A whole fleet of copper-bottomed barques, as strong in rib and planking, as well-found in gear, as ever was sent upon the seas, manned by hardy crews and commanded by young masters, was engaged in that now long-defunct trade.

"That was the school I was trained in, " he said almost boastfully , lying down among his pillows with a rug over his legs. And it was in that he obtained his first command at a very early age.

The Vicar continued in this through the 1840s, then freighted general merchandise, at first between England and Peru, and then to Australia. In the early 1870s, outward bound from Swansea to Valparaiso once again, she arrived at Port Stanley and was condemned. Purchased and refitted by the Falkland Island Company , she commenced sailing between the Falklands and England , until 1880, when her entry is listed for the last time in Lloyds and stamped "now a hulk."

In I 966, Karl Kortum, director of the National (then the San Francisco) Maritime Museum, visited the Falklands with a view to bringing to San Francisco the hulk of the first ocean liner, Great Britain, for exhibit at the Museum's Hyde Street Pier. The iron-hulled Great Britain, the engineering wonder of her day (1843) , had been used by the Falkland Island Company for wool storage until she had outlived even that grim utility. Kortum was offered her replacement, the four-masted bark Fennia, better known by her original name, Champigny.

Hearing of this other strangely named ship, Vicar of Bray, he managed a side-trip to Goose Green and took some cursory measurements and a few photographs. 2 Back in San Francisco, while typing a letter recommending that the Vicar's bows and windlass be brought to the Museum for display , Kortum decided to look up her dates in Lloyds.

Surprised to find that she had been built as early as the midnineteenth century, he turned to the Museum's librarian, Al Harmon, and said, "I wonder if the Vicar of Bray could have come here during the gold rush-she was built in 1841."

"Without a word," Kortum continues, "Al reached for a quarterly publication of the Society of California Pioneers and opened it to a list of arrivals made by the San Francisco har-

I. Throckmorton ' s report is published in SHS , Fall 1976.

2. Neither the Great Britain nor the Champigny got to San Francisco.

Roused by the interest of " the Yanks"-and to Kortum's satisfactionEnglish interests took on the salvage of the Great Britain, and she was towed to Bristol in 1970. The Champigny project failed. Towed away by an entrepreneur for restoration , she was ultimately sold for scrap.

13

''Stanch'' copper-oremen are caught lying in at Swansea in 1842, by the English photographer Calvert Jones. Jn the left foreground is the apple-bowed Mary Dugdale, built at Hull in 1835, and beyond her a swarm of masts and hulls waiting for a fair tide. Courtesy of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

bormaster. We scanned the columns. Suddenly , the name jumped out of the page: Vicar of Bray, arrived Nov. 3, 1849, from Valparaiso. " T he discovery of the Vicar of Bray for San Francisco has been extravagantly compared with d iscovering one of the necklaces for which the island of Manhattan was traded to the Dutch. To understand this, one must envision the magnitude of the gain-inspired migration to Cali forn ia in and after 1849.

The historian J.D .B . Stillman has written that " Never since the Crusades was such a movement known." In simple terms, from April 1848 to April 1849, four cargo vessels from Atlantic ports put into San Francisco Bay. In Ja nuary of 1848 , gold was fo und in a mill race on the property of Carl Sutter, a Swiss immigrant to the region . President James Polk announced the verified discovery to the nation in December , and by the end of January , 1849, there were 150 ships advertising for passengers . By the end of the year, nearly 800 vessels had left the East Coast for San Francisco, more than realizing Richard Henry Dana's prediction of fo urteen years earlier: "If Cali forn ia ever becomes a prosperous country this bay will be 14

the center of its prosperity."

Curious to relate , the Vicar's passage to California was probably planned before news of the strike had taken hold in England ; and by coincidence, her cargo was directly related to the mining of gold . In the 1840s an Englishman by the name of James Alexander Forbes acting as British Vice Consul in California developed an interest in the New Almaden quicksi lver mine south of San Francisco . This deposit rivalled the original Almaden mine in Spain which was controlled by the Rothschilds . The Vicar's special cargo-listed in the records of H.M . Customs and Excise--consisted of two state-ofthe-art retorts for the distilling of quicksilver. (Prior to the arrival of this shipment, the miners had been using inverted whaling trypots.) These would put the New Almaden mine- financed by the distinguished London banking house of Baring Bros.-in a position to break the Rothschilds' Spanish monopoly. Quicksilver is used to extract gold from its ore .

It is assumed that her master, Captain Charles Duggan , able to command a better price than average for the last leg of his voyage, took prospectors from Valparaiso to this remote but SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1985-86

hopeful outpost. Shortly after di scharging her cargo , the Vicar lost six of her crew to the diggings, one who was paid off and five who deserted, as did many of their peers.

Although the Vicar was a new and well-found vessel by any standards, especial ly when contrasted with the majority of the vessels in that anchorage, and although she was advertised as such, complete with her Lloyds rating, it was three months before she weighed anchor. As it was, she sailed short-handed , what crew there were being paid $80 per month-eight times the usual rate for seamen , and $30 more than the captain-and quite possibly she sailed in ballast, as there was little cargo out of the port. Those forty-n iners who were either lucky or shrewd enough to have laid aside funds for the return home preferred the speed of the fortnightly steamer service to Panama.3

* * * * *

Plans to bring the Vicar of Bray to San Francisco were formulated in the 1960s , but it was not until 1974 that arrangements were begun in earnest. After long negotiations between the 3. By another coincidence , the Pac ific Mai l Steamship Company had been formed in 1848 by a group of New York shippers led by William H. Aspinwall. Three steamers, the Panama, Californ ia and Oregon, were commiss ioned to provide regul ar service from Panama to the outposts of San Francisco and Portland . At her departure from New York in October of 1848 , on ly 7 of the California's 200 berths were filled , with no one ticketed beyond Call ao. Her maiden arrival at Panama in January of 1849 was greeted by more than a thousand prospectors already en route to California and clamoring for berths aboard the steamer.

SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1985-86

The Vicar of Bray stands out to sea, flags snapping bravely in a formal ship's portrait. The double topsails she sets came into use in the 1850s; she is an ocean veteran by no w.

Possibly taken the same day as the picture opposite, this Calvert Jones print shows another part of Swansea harbor. Lying beside the barks are two steam tugs with their curiously tall stacks. Developed at Newcastle-upon-Tyne scarcely a quarter century before, these single-axle tugs were hard to manuever, since their paddles couldn' t rotate in opposite directions and the wash from them gave little force for steerage . Courtesy of the National Maritim e Museum , Greenwich.

15

Top, the hulks Vicar of Bray, Egeria (1858) , William Shand (1839) and Snow Squall (1851) lie together at Port Stanley late in the last century . The Vicar moved on to Goose Green, but the other three remain at Port Stanley as seen here, abutting the East Jetty of the Falkland Island Company. The Vicar's name on her bow here (and in the painting , page 15) was probably lettered in by some Falklander unknown . Both photographs were given to the National Maritime Museum , San Francisco, by the Falklands historian Carl Lellman . Courtesy, the National Maritime Museum , San Francisco. Today, (lower left) under the low slate skies of the Falklands, the Vicar serves as a pier for ships offloading at Goose Green. At right, one can see her full length and her cant to port. Foreward, her capstan remains firmly fixed . Photo at right by Nicholas Dean.

National Maritime Historical Society and the Falkland Island Company, the Vicar was purchased by the National Society for $1, with the stipulation that funds be forthcoming to repair the Company's dock when she is removed .

This transaction was celebrated in 1976 with a luncheon hosted by the National Society's president, Peter Stanford, aboard the National Maritime Museum's ship, Balclutha, and attended by Mayor George Moscone, representatives of California government and British dignitaries who had helped effect the purchase. Most prominent of these was Alan Burrough, distiller of Beefeater Gin, who brought a letter to Karl Kortum from Prince Philip, a long-time supporterofthe cause .

Despite this enthusiasm to lift the Vicar from the Falklands, a lull ensued following the US bicentennial. In 1982, a new leader of the effort emerged in the person of Edward Zelinsky, an antiquarian and former member of the Advisory Board of the Museum. Leaming of and sharing in Kortum ' s distress that nothing more had been done to move the Vicar , he formed the not-for-profit Bring the Vicar Home Committee in 1984.

16

Zelinsky , who is known for his sweat-of-the-brow approach to preservation , recently travelled to the Falklands to see the vessel for himself. Accompanying him on that odyssey were Christopher Martin, president of The Cannery and vice chairman of the Committee; Donna Ewald , president of a public relations company and herself an antiquarian; and the San Francisco Examiner's piratical columnist , Warren Hinckle , whose coverage of the expedition was front-page news for two weeks . Zelinsky has martialled a wide constituency to support this project, which has been commended by San Francisco ' s Mayor Diane Feinstein , Senator Alan Cranston , and Congresswoman Sala Burton , to name a few.

At this writing , a new survey of the Vicar of Bray is being made, and a report on the pier is due from the Falkland Island Company . A major fund-raising event is planned for early 1986.

For additional information about this historic process , write the Committee at 975 Bryant Street , San Francisco , California 94103; 415/621-7400 . And help bring home the Vicar!

J,

J,

J,

SEA HISTORY, WINTER 1985-86

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17

The Wreck of the Cottoneva

Two Half Hitches are Enough!

by Gunnar Hexum We had to pull out of Port Orford with the Cottoneva because it got so God-damn rough. We had a heavy blow ... it was blowing the lumber off the shoreside piles down onto the ships .

Like a man shuffling a pack of cards and they get away from him- that' s the way those planks were flying through the air. ' 'The Kaiser,' ' his last name was Stahlbaum, and his brother had bought' the ship some years before. His brother was on the bridge with him this time. All he could say as we tried to get out of there was , " Oh my God , my God , my God ."

They probably didn ' t have much money . The Cottoneva was the old Frank D . Stout. She had been laid up for a while when we joined her. We went over to Oakland Estuary and got her ready for sea, renewed all the running rigging and so on . She was kind of short on stores. The Kaiser hired old friends for mates and engineers and they had to put up with the conditions. He explained to them that he was on a shoestring- "It's either going to make us or break us." They were glad to get a job. It was still depression times; a good many of the steam schooners were shut down . But for us sailors it was the first trip after the ' 36 strike and we insisted on full and plenty. What it amounted to was that we had bacon , and the Kaiser's friends-the officers-<lidn 't.

The ship was unusual in that she had her boilers on top of the engine room. The boilers were in our mess room. There was a hatch behind the boilers down to the engine room. She was a twin screw . The Cottoneva had friction winches-very delicate. When you released them they were gone . . . brother , if you let them go too far you couldn't hold them. But great for fast discharging; swing the load and throw it shoreside and let it go completely . . . the load would just throw itself.

Getting back tu Port Orford , there was a heavy sea running , but the wind was the worst of it. The lumber was blowing off the stacks and through the air .. . like a hurricane. We let go and got away from the dock but we hit an old wreck. It damaged one of the propellors . That doomed the ship; she couldn't be maneuvered . We began to drift in towards the beach. Stahlbaum tried to anchor, but when the mate, "Snoose Eric," went forward to let go, the chain pipe pulled right out of the rotten old deck . It rode up and jammed the wildcat.

I don't know what was the matter with the other anchor, but. by that time the seas had got the best of us and we were a goner anyway. A young Swede and I went forward and put on clean dungarees and put our sailors' papers in our pockets .

We figured we were going to do some swimming. We took a tum of baling wire 2 right through the pants to keep them there; the papers were in an oiled wallet.

She hit a rock and rolled right over on her side-the Swede and I were by the hatch coaming and slid down the deck on our backs. We thought we were going over completely. I'll never forget his eyes . . . both his big blue Swedish eyes were ready to pop right out of his head as we went sliding down the deck. I have never seen eyes bulging like those two blue eyes.

But Cottoneva straightened up again.

There is only about a quarter of a mile of sandy beach there; all the rest is rocks. The Phyllis had gone ashore in the same place. When the Kaiser knew the ship was lost, he decided to drive her ashore on that little strip of beach to save our lives.

It was damn good ship handling. ' The Record of the American Bureau of Shipping shows the Cottoneva bought by Stahlbaum in 1932 and wrecked in 1937.

On the steam schooners you might have seizing wire or you might have baling wire. They were half farmers on those God-damned ships.

When you secured a shackle pin through the eye you were just as likely to use baling wire as anything else.

2

18

I

'

I~

Gunnar Hexum devoted his later years to the Masters , Mates & Pilots union and the young San Francisco Maritime Museum.

He is seen here holdin g Jeanie Kortum at an early fundrais er f or the Balclutha. Pharo courresy Karl Kortum.

The Coast Guard fired a breeches buoy out to us and I went up the foremast to make it fast. Two half hitches will hold anything, 3 but when they dragged the big line out to us it had not two half hitches, but about eight or nine. You can imagine how jammed up they were- a brand new line being dragged through the sand and surf, swelled up. I was up aloft, trying to hang on-no cross trees, no nothing-and undoing all those half hitches with a marlin spike. I had to go down to get the spike-a wire splicing spike; I needed a flat tip to pry the half hitches loose, one at a time. I was hanging on by my legs while I was working with my hands . I still have scars on my legs from trying to clamp myself to the mast.

Der Kaiser was next to the last ashore and I was the last.

When I came in I wanted to know who the f--- was responsible for that bad sailorizing. Because I was the last man off the Cottoneva they thought I was the captain: "Yes, captain ... no, captain . . . . " 'Tm not the God-damned captain," I said, "I just want to know who tied all these half hitches."

I will say for them that the first thing that came out to the ship on the breeches buoy was four bottles of whiskey. ''Snoose Eric" took charge of this and we drank whiskey and used slices of ham for a chaser.

*

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*

Afterward the Kaiser rigged his own high line to salvage what gear he could. Some of us stood by up there a couple of weeks.

At the start he offered another Norwegian and myself $35 if we would go out to the ship and send the mooring lines and the running rigging ashore. Anything that could be unrove.

We got out there and bent one line onto another and they hauled it onto the beach. We were back in about an hour.

"How much do I owe you?" said the Kaiser.

"Why, the deal is $35. " The Kaiser started to buck: he had thought it was a bigger ' There is an old sea story: Ship's boy: " Captain , didn ' t you say that a round tum and two half hitches will hold anything?"

Captain: " That's correct. " Boy: " Well , sir, that's the way I tied up the jolly boat last night and it's gone this morning."

SEA HISTORY, WINTER 1985-86

"/was hanging on by my legs while I was working with my hands.

I still have scars on my legs from trying to clamp myself to the mast." job. He started to talk about how he expected everything to be made up into coils, etc.

"C'mon. Pay them ," said his brother.

We stayed at the Knapp Hotel. The Cottoneva had a piano in the saloon. I promised the girl in the hotel the piano but we found we couldn't get it off in one piece on the high line .

The ship had a little saloon about the size of a kitchen, but it had mirrors on all four sides and it looked like 200 people were eating at a time.

A scene I remember is being out on the wreck with the Kaiser and sitting on the galley bench with our feet up on the railing of the stove. She was down by the stem so that the top of the bench and the top of the stove were out of water, which was otherwise up to your knees. The coal box was under water and we were trying to keep warm by stoking the stove with the Kaiser's precious sides of bacon.

It was more comfortable evenings in the Knapp Hotel. We would sit in front of the fireplace and the Kaiser would tell sea stories . I wish I could remember them, good stories. One of them was about when he was bosun in one of those big British sailing ships.

I didn't get a ship for a long time after I got back to San Francisco from the Cottoneva. I lived in the Harbor Hotel , getting a handout now and then from whoever had a job. That was when Eric Swanson was building his model of the Preussen down in the basement.

SEA HISTORY, WINTER 1985-86

It was sixteen years later that I got back to Port Orford one time and found them selling postcards of the Cottoneva ashore.

This was in a store; I bought one and told them that I was in her at the time . " You were in the Cottoneva wreck!" It made me into a celebrity in those parts, like the return of the Ancient Mariner. They gathered around me, kids and all.

I attended a Fourth of July celebration in Tacoma. There was a parade, fireworks at night, and all sorts of other events.

One of the events, carried out in the stadium, was a reenactment of the Wreck of the Cottoneva by the Coast Guard. It burned me up , this pageant of how the ship goes ashore and then how they make this perfect rescue. Nothing about all those half hitches and me trying to hang on at the masthead until I have scars on the back of my legs . This day , I had to sit in the stadium and take it. I felt like going to the microphone and offering some comments on their seamanship.

All in all, I don't think the Kaiser came out of it too badly .

The Cottoneva was insured and the Kaiser had a reputation for shrewdness on the coast. I didn ' t detect too much distress when we sat there in the galley stoking the stove with his own sides of bacon. <!The Cottoneva was run ashore in high winds at Port Orford, Oregon, after damaging her propellor. The rescue of her crew became a local legend. This picture was taken later in much calmer weather. Photo courtesy National Maritim e Museum, San Francisco.

19

An Incredible Hulk: The Storeship Globe

by Christine Parker Smith Gold seekers arriving at San Francisco in the 1850s found the anchorage cluttered with hundreds of abandoned ships, their spars a "forest of masts ." It is less well-known that the levee at Sacramento City had its share of hulks as well.

In 1850 Samuel C. Upham described the scene: "The Levee for a mile along Front Street is lined with vessels, and in some places they are two deep. They number upwards of twenty ships and barks , and thirty brigs . There are also a large number of schooners and other small craft." The distance from San Francisco was 104 miles, the passage upriver taking from one to four days. Sacramento stood at the head of navigation and was "the natural metropolis for the rich and extensive mines of the north , south and middle forks, Yuba , Feather and Bear Rivers, Deer Creek , Cosumnes, Dry Creek and the Upper Sacramento, together with all the dry-diggings contiguous."

Not every writer was as charmed as Upham; another journalist commented, " there is a superabundance of mud . . . . " The proximity to the diggings and ease of navigation on the river in the early 1850s led many mining companies to sail upri ver without disembarking at San Francisco. Indeed , the cost of freight from 'Frisco to Sacramento could easily be double what it cost to bring the same goods around the Hom.

By May of 1850 there were thirty-three hulks along the levee in use as storeships. The "city" of canvas shacks had already been washed away twice over the winter of 1849-50. These abandoned vessels were more secure from flood or fire than the buildings ashore. They were used as stores , landing platforms from steamboats, warehouses and offices. One hulk served as the prison for the entire region . Some were bi.tilt up with large houses on deck, and others were stripped and used as wharf-ships . This was the only practical solution to the ever-changing river level , and the hulks were to be an essential part of the riverfront from 1849 to 1866.

Today Old Sacramento lives anew, restored to look like it did in the period 1855-70. Streets have been cobbled, signs repainted, boardwalks replaced. Brick , stone and clapboard buildings of the Gold Rush Era stand here perfect and as if new. Yet the riverfront, just feet away, was until recently blocked from view by a massive concrete floodwall. The memory of a levee crowded with ships and steamboats seemed remote if not impossible .

Now the City has embarked upon a restoration of the historic riverfront, which will include construction of ramps and sailing hulks to be used as landing platforms. Warehouses and depots for the California Steam Navigation Company and the Central Pacific Railroad are also being rebuilt.

The first of the hulks , the floating storeship Globe, was launched thi s past October and has taken her place at the riverfront. When ramps and fixed moorage are completed she will serve as a landing platform for the many cruise boats arriving at Old Sacramento.

The brig Globe was originally built at Westbrook , Maine in 1833. She measured 92ft 6in in length, 24ft l 3/4in in breadth , with a depth of 12ft 7/sin , and her register tonnage was 239 36/95. The recreation of Globe is of the same dimensions , with the exception that her tonnage has been reduced to save on stone ballast.

The brig Globe brought the eleventh company of missionaries from Boston to the Sandwich Islands in 1844 . One of the Gold Rush fleet in 1849 , her enrollment was transferred to the port of San Francisco in February of 1850. By March of 1851 Globe was in use as a storeship between J and K Streets at Sacramento. A large house enclosed her deck aft, and a shed roof provided shelter forward . For many years she served as the office of the California Steam Navigation Com20

The floating storeship Globe, designed by Melbourne Smith, arriving at her berth on the Old Sacramento riverfront .

Below, master shipwright Bill Elliott (center) looks on as the Globe leaves the shipyard on her one and only voyage-to have her masts stepped and to move to her permanent berth. She' Ii never go far , but a lot of water will pass under her keel! Photos by Shirley Burman .

pany , and at one time even had gas lighting aboard. By the time she was broken up in 1875 , the heydey of the steamboat trade on the river was also over.

The new hulk Globe was built next to the new railroad depot at the foot of J Street by a team of builders under the direction of Melbourne Smith of the International Historical Watercraft Society and master shipwright William C . Elliott. Photo _documentation provided by the Sacramento Housing & Redevelopment Agency and the city's History Department ensured that the recreated storeship could be as historically accurate as possible . She is roofed with hand-split cedar shakes, and her hull is painted to resemble the whitewashed sides of the original. Eventually canvas drop-curtains will enclose the deck for the rainy winter season. Like her predecessor, Globe will provide an ideal landing for Old Sacramento for years to come . u, SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1985-86

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The Esther Johnson Goes Off to War

by Edward Zelinsky It was in 1943 that I first heard of the Esther Johnson from the dispatcher with the Army Transport Service at Fort Mason , San Francisco. He stated that I could ship out on the vessel.

Knowing nothing about her, I pictured the Johnson as a luxury liner with spacious crew quarters and great food. I could not have been happier. I had not caught the name too clearly.

I arrived on Pier 2 at the Oakland harbor and walked from pier to pier looking for the large luxury liner called the President Johnson. Instead I found a Liberty ship and an old wooden steam schooner, which I paid no attention to. I finally asked a dock seaman where the President Johnson was berthed. He shook his head and said, "Son, I don't know where the President Johnson is , but over there is her half-assed sister, Esther."

I went back and looked at the old re lic, which had a deck load of piling and lumber. It looked as if the ship was sinking, as the water was almost up to her gunwales. No one in their right mind, I thought, would sail on such a ship, much less would they sail on her all the way to Australia . I was thinking of returning to San ¡Francisco and Fort Mason from where I had been dispatched. But after awhile the spirit of adventure hit me , and I signed on as a seaman .

The first person I met when I came aboard was the boatswain .

I gave him a snappy salute. He gave me a dubious look and told me to go "aft" to sign the ship's articles. 1 asked, " Which way is aft, sir? " He grumbled and swore a little, but pointed me in the right direction . After signing on, I was told to store my belongings in the "forecastle. " I was surprised to find that my dream of nice quarters turned out to be one big room with twenty bunks and an old wood-and-coal stove in the center. There were three bunks to a tier, one drawer to each sailor for his belongings. Of course, I had to take the top bunk , and being in the bow of the ship , it was difficult to get up there, especially in a rolling sea.

I was told that the Esther Johnson used to run from San Francisco to Oregon carrying lumber, and that she was the last of the wooden steam schooners built on the West Coast.

She was built in I 923, and long before World War II she was unfit for sea duty and beached on the Alameda mudflats .

Sailing day arrived. I was told to stand by the lines in preparation to cast off. That is what I did-I just stood by. I was told by the boatswain , in no uncertain terms, not to touch anything!

We steamed to a position off Treasure Island where we dropped anchor among the many ships we were to join in convoy to the Hawaiian Islands. The next day the convoy weighed anchor and headed towards the Golden Gate. By the time our sh ip reached the Gate the rest of the convoy was barely in sight. We were told by our Navy escort to proceed on our own. This did not worry me as I figured the enemy would not waste ammunition on such an old ship. The Esther Johnson belched black smoke in the daytime and sparks at night.

Two days out to sea, J was told to report to' 'Charlie Noble.''

I looked all over for him. J asked several of the crew, and they sent me from one deck to another. I finally found out that "Charlie Noble" is the name for the galley stack.

The Esther Johnson settled down to a sea routine. For my part, I stood watch, painted , caulked, and steered. We had a wheel taller than I was . But we never used the wheel to steer; instead we used a steam winch. When we pulled the lever to the right the ship would go to starboard and, of course, when we pulled the lever to the left the ship went to port. I mentioned that this steering engine, as it was called, ran by steam. Every time the lever was moved you cou ld hear the loud noise of steam moving the pistons. Many times the Captain would hear

22

this sound from his cabin and come up to the wheelhouse and say, " Damn it, steer the ship straight, and don't make so much noise doing it. " We were stead ily zigzagging our way across the Pacific Ocean.

Captain Anderson was our commander. J was told he had not been to sea for some time, and was not very happy about making this voyage. He kept to himself and was a little hard to understand, especiall y when he got excited . When he gave orders I had to ask him to repeat them several times.

The first mate was Mr. Bjorkman, a heavy-set, rough steam schooner officer who liked his beer. He was hard to get to know, but after awhile he would spend some time with me to teach me "steam schooner navigation ."

Our Second Mate was Heinrich Schuback , who we called "Heinie." He had not been to sea since World War I. Before joining us he owned a delicatessen in San Francisco, which I heard about during the entire trip. It was the best and cleanest deli in all San Francisco. Heinie had come arou nd Cape Horn as third mate with Capt. Miethe in the five-mast bark Potosi of the " Flying P" line of Hamburg . (Heinie hadn ' t got all the Hamburg out of his accent.) The Potosi was someth ing else he talked abo ut. He was our navigation officer, and at first didn ' t remember much about navigation. Too many years in delicatessens-he had one in Petaluma, too . His friends ca ll ed him "Baloney" Schubach. Heinie kept reading books on how to navigate . But he was a nice man and I enjoyed his friendship and hearing his sea stories.

Our Third Mate was Daniel P. Ricker-a good- looking young man who was also "green," but he became a good seaman and officer.

We finally made it to Honolulu a few days after our convoy had sailed from there for Pago Pago. We were in Honolulu, for two days, taking on water, supplies and fuel. The day we were to sai l we developed engine problems, and it was a week or so before we were again on our way.

The cook we called "Bay Leaf" Bill because everything he cooked had a bay leaf flavor. We threw several bags of bay leaves overboard, but somehow he never ran out of this distinctive seasoning. Bill considered himself a good cook, but I'm afraid we didn ' t. Our dining area had the ship's stack going through the center of the room. When we approached the equator it got so hot in there that we ate as fast as we could in order to get back outside in the fresh air.

Our second port of call was Pago Pago , complete with grass huts and grass skirts. Having taken on supplies and as we were preparing to get underway on our third day there , we again had engine problems which required a stay of several more days. There was not much for us to do , but Pago Pago was a beautiful island and we hated to leave.

Forty-five days of pushing the old bucket (forty-five days is a long stretch in a coastwise wooden schooner!) brought us finally to Australia- Brisbane to be exact.

We arrived on a Sunday and I was told I cou ld go ashore, which I did . I had planned to see the city, but being Sunday the trams and taxis were not operating. In fact, everything was closed , including the cinemas. Brisbane is a notoriously unlively city at the best of times , worse on Sunday . I spent the day lounging up and down the dock and to top it off enjoyed one of Bill's now famous " bay leaf" dinners.

When the Esther Johnson was in port, the sai lors not only stood watch , but worked the cargo, too, steam schooner style.

We had a set of "friction" steam winches which lifted the cargo off the deck and out of the hold by steam-it lowered itself by its own weight. We worked hard and long hours in port. I know why they say that sailors who sailed on steam SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1985-86

schooners had strong backs and weak minds.

We were now ready to steam to New Guinea. For the third time, on sailing day, the engine broke down and we were in Brisbane for an additional two weeks while the engine was repaired and we awaited the next convoy.

In the end we sailed to many ports in New Guinea and made many round trips going farther into the war zone each trip. I noted that when the ship was in New Guinea our engines never broke down and we always departed those dangerous dogholes promptly.

We often tied up to a coconut tree when we arrived up there and then began the process of unloading our pilings and lumber, either on shore or in the water. Several times on arrival I swam into the beach with a heaving line and pulled in the hawser and made the ship fast to the coconut tree. The steam schooner hove itself in until the forefoot touched the store. In those parts , you could take a step or two from the shore and be in deep water.

For all of her temperamental sailing-day breakdowns (or were they ours?) the Esther Johnson contributed usefully to the war effort. I suppose the idea behind sending a steam schooner to the South Pacific was that they were specialty vessels--designed to carry lumber. (A similar "double ender," the Barbara C., was sent down from San Francisco, too. There may have been one or two more.)

In Newcastle, Australia, while preparing again to get underway and before our engines could break down, the Esther Johnson was taken over by the Australian Navy. We were told to pack and we left the ship within two hours. It was all so delightfully sudden; we were on our way by train to Brisbane and home to San Francisco by army transport ship before we knew what was happening.

It's no wonder the young author's heart sank at the prospect of shipping aboard the Esther Johnson (above).

But this worn survivor of a bygone era took cargo and crew through hostile waters to Honolulu, Pago Pago and eventually Australia. Photo courtesy the author.

I made friends with many of the crew, and kept the friendships up after the war. They were all as green as I was when I came aboard but we had become good sailors. All in all , I spent fourteen months aboard the Esther Johnson . It was an experience I shall never forget. I learned a lot from the ship, the crew and the sea. The Esther Johnson will always have a warm spot in my heart , and wherever she is I hope she is resting in peace. J,

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23

John Groves,

by Alex A. Hurst

Competent though many artists are, those in the very first rank are rare in any generation, and thus it is seldom that a picture in an exhibition makes such an impression that it is etched on one's memory for all time. I had such an experience some years ago at the Royal Society of Marine Artists , where I saw a small pastel of a square-rigger close on a lee, rock-bound coast, and seen from the shore.

For my part, I was entranced , and it seemed that I was not the only one. The lighting , the execution and, indeed , the whole conception were masterly . Of course, I should have bought it there and then, but I waited until I had seen the rest of the show and, by then, was too late . Nor was I the only one so disappointed , for the picture became quite a conversation piece . It was by John Four men to a wheel was never satisfactory . They had to act with impossible unison, and it taxed the watch . One can f eel the strain on the ship and men.

In 1799 during the quasi-war with France , the US merchant ship Gallant Planter successfully fights off a heavily armed French privateer.

24

SEA HISTORY, WINTER 1985-86

Marine Artist Groves, of whom I had never heard . I asked friends in the Society who he was, but no one knew.

Just one picture was exhibited, and that a masterpiece . Some of us waited impatiently for another year and, once again, there was a single splendid picture: this time of the helmsmen of a square-rigger in bad weather. Essentially, it had the same features, with an understanding of the interplay of light and shadow, and of the very run of the sea that gave the impression that the artist had seen it all and knew it through and through.

So it continued. Before long, no one asked, "Who is John Groves?" He was not only elected a member, but also to the hanging committee. Whilst I would be the first to concede that we do not all like the same pictures , I believe that his A family of crabbers enjoy their work on an idyllic day in friendly waters.

The catch is landed on a hazy morning along the Cornish coast.

SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1985-86

25

MARINE ART: JOHN GROVES work has stolen most of the thunder of the show for the past few years.

One reason for this lies in both his treatment and subjects, which tend to depart from the conventional concepts and , often enough, are enhanced by some human interest , without either crowding his pictures or introducing confusing architectural detai 1-a popular trend now .

The odd thing is that his work does not stem from some inborn love of the sea, or from particular associations with it. As a boy , he was interested in ships (as boys so often are) and , living within

easy reach of the Thames at Greenwich, was in a position to see such ships as still came up the upper reaches. But even then the London river was a-dying. The National Maritime Museum , of course , became a magnetic attraction, although he had little enough time to think much of ships while studying at art school.

When he was qualified, he turned his hand to book jackets and illustrations quite divorced from the sea , having a natural gift for figure drawing.

Then, gradually, unprompted by anything in particular, the interest in ships

At left, John Groves in his studio. Below, his gutwrenching view of the death of a ship embayed on a hostile shore-a picture of every deepwaterman.' s nightmare.

26

returned. His first efforts, submitted to the RSMA, were never seen by the public , since they bounced back . Realizing that his technical knowledge of ships was probably at fault, John Groves went through a self-imposed crash course, not only in their working, rigging and construction (and he is now just as much at home in one era as another, with large or small vessels) but , after intensive study of the great artists of the pastBrooking, Backhuizen, Pocock , Serres and Cooke being a few of his favoriteshe started to paint what he wanted, with an emphasis on light , moods and, perhaps, a modicum of drama .

Most of his work is commissioned.

This has its restrictions, since it entails meeting the purchasers ' requirements.

But all his works are stamped with his own artistry. The picture illustrated , of four men at a ship 's wheel , is splendid .

My first reaction was to ask what ship she was , assuming her to be French (si nce that country most commonly sported a double wheel aft) but , like the picture of the wreck breaking up , it was no particular vessel. In both cases, the picture is right. There is an element of drama, and a feeling for the play of light which rivets one's gaze. Then again, one asks "Where is this?" It is nowhere in particular, in fact, but John Groves is too polite to say that it doesn ' t matter a damn where it is! The brig discharging on the beach-any beach- his many paintings of fishermen , with the people all about their normal business, though none of them intruding , give his pictures a splendid atmosphere.

Many might suppose that the Battle of Trafalgar had been done to death, having been , it seems, a compulsive exercise for every marine artist ever since it occurred. Graves's picture , at the outset of the battle as the Victory heads for Villeneuve' s Bucentaure, is, in my estimation , a masterly piece of composition, for it is this very ability to compose, coupled with hi s draughtsmanship and uriderstanding of light, which give his work a cachet all its own. For all his " long-shore '" background, he has achieved a miraculous understanding of the relationship between ships, seas and skies. In no case that I have seen is there any jarring note whatever. Each is "right" and with an individual treatment which, at all events when he is painting " out of his head ," owes nothing to anyone. So much has been painted already that old ideas and styles must inevitably intertwine with the new, yet here is a man who is sai ling his own course , leaving many in hi s wake . ..i..

SEA HISTORY, WINTER 1985-86

NOW IS THE TIME TO HAVE YOUR VESSEL IMMORTALIZED Save the dealer commission fee by contacting the artist directly at her studio gallery and arrange to have a watercolor or oil painting done of your ship or boat placing it in the background of your choice.

Prices begin at $225 for a 16x20" watercolor USS ENTERPRISE with escort Sea Duke , watercolor painting by San Fran cisco Mari ne Artist GEORG INA CANDELAR IA

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27

America's Poster ... America's Heritage

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peoples that have come to me I have 9J.ven them "' Sanctuary

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I have set them free

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She has inspired hope in the hearts of millions for a century . .. she is part of your heritage. In honor of her centennial, celebrated American artist Paul McGehee has created "LIBERTY, " a poetic tribute to Lady Liberty and all she stands for. McGehee's "LIBERTY" is a unique, individually hand-signed fine-art poster, available for $50.

Image size 24" x 18". Please include $5 shipping. VISA, MasterCard accepted .. . . Order today by mail or phone. A beautiful color collector's catalog is available for $2. Painting "LIBERTY" and original poem both Š 1985 by Paul McGehee.

ART RECOLLECTIONS, 704 N . GLEBE RD. #212, ARLINGTON, VA 22203. T 1'el. (703) 528-5040

MARINE ART NEWS SHIP PORTRAITS

William Gilkerson has published a 20page catalogue of his prints, posters and publications. Peter Spectre, Senior Editor at WoodenBoat, says: "A Gilkerson ship ... is a genuine ship as seen by an artist." The catalogue is $5 postpaid from Barkentine, Box 27, Rochester MA 02770.

Through February 16 , the Mystic Maritime Gallery pays tribute to ''The Schooner,'' in an exhibit featuring works by twenty-nine contemporary artists.

The gallery is at Mystic Seaport, Mystic CT 06355, 203 572-0711 .

Four new works are among the twenty John Stobart prints hanging in the Windborne Gallery (559 Post Rd., Darien CT 06820 , 203 655-9735). Works

by West Frazer, Yves Parent and Blaikie Hines may also be seen.

A color supplement to the Maritime Heritage Prints catalogue of Stobart paintings is offered for $2.50. This includes the artist 's inimitable Palette Scrapings newsletter. Also offered is the substantial and elegant catalogue of the Stobart show held in November at Wunderlich galleries, for $10. These, plus a listing of current Stobart prints available , may be had from the NMHS.

PLAQUES, MARKERS AND TABLETS

Was there a Seafarer in your family?

Why not commission a portrait of his vessela fine oil painting using the best of materials.

Also, VESSEL HISTORIES RESEARCHED on request. For information & brochure, write: Capt. JEFF ELDRIDGE P.O. Box 8 North Carver MA 02355 20" x 24" canvas- $300.00

Free Brochure shows cast bronze, alu minum and Graphicsplus r' You have preserved a portion of America. Let us he lp you recognize it taste full y.

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Smith Galleries (I 045 Madison Ave., NYC 10021 , 212 744-6171) noted for their attention to marine art and the authoritative newsletter, are sponsoring their 8th Annual Marine Art Show, through February 28. Catalogue, $10.00.

Grand Central Art Galleries (24 West 57th St., NYC 10019, 212 867-3344) features an exhibit entitled "The Siren Song of Sea and Sail," including works by Anton Otto Fischer, Frederick Waugh, Antonio Jacobsen and Christopher Blossom. Through February 14.

Works of Anton Otto Fischer are also on view at the San Francisco Ship Model Gallery (I 089 Madison Ave., NYC 10028, 212 570-6767), along with the work of James Mitchell including his studies for a series of plates depicting ocean liners and tall ships. The book Anton Otto Fischer, Marine Artist is available from the Society for $50, less 10% for members .

A collection of Violet Parkhurst's lithographs and oils and the commercial marine works of Jeffrey Taber are being shown at the Parkhurst Galleries (591 Embarcadero, Morro Bay CA 93442).

At the Parkhurst Galleries in San Pedro is the work of Thomas Riggins. For information, call 213 832-1076. w SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1985-86

JANUS LITHOGRAPHS Marine art publishers of fine limited edition prints of the following artists:

Exacting Colour Prints ...

Faithful to the original watercolors!

Limited to 500 each. Plates destroyed.

15" x 11" image with ample margin on heavy stock.

• 450 Signed and numbered-$50.00 each • 50 Remarqued, signed and numbered-$80.00 each •Plus $5.00 handling & shipping )MD Res. add 5% tax)

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Thomas M. Hoyne, F, ASMA Robert E. Sticker, F, ASMA West Fraser, ASMA Roy Perry, RIPW Send $5.00 for catalogue or call the dealer nearest you.

JANUS LITHOGRAPHS P.O. Box 3303 Hilton Head Isl., SC 29928 Tel: (803) 681-4242 toll free 1 (800) 992-8356

29

SAIL TRAINING: Report of the AMERICAN SAIL TRAINING ASSOCIATION

A History of Sail Training Races: Part II

by George Crowninshield In 1972, the United States lagged far behind maritime Europe in the worthwhile endeavor of sai l training . When sail-training ships made their debut in the Solent, two American vessels participated for the first time in the sixteen-year history of the International Sail Training Races: the Coast Guard bark Eagle and the privately owned and operated hermaphrodite brig Black Pearl. This was the start of a change in attitude in the United States. After racing from Cowes to the Skaw and continuing with a crew interchange for the Parade of Sail at Kiel (in connection with the Summer Olympics) , the owner of Black Pearl, Barclay H. Warburton, III, returned to Newport and initiated the now well known process which resulted in the formation of the American Sail Training Association. The new Association, at its third meeting , agreed to organize sail-training races to be held in July of that year-a series which started in New Bedford and visited Block Island, New London , Mystic and Newport. Two months after this decision, a commitment was made to fill half the berths on the Bill of Rights and the Shenandoah with cadets between the ages of fifteen and twenty-two during the week of races , and to seek the funds to assist the cadets financially . Thus the two salient objectives of a Western Hemisphere sail-training program were established very early on .

In 1974, ASTA limited itself once more to races in local waters . In Europe the international series had become far more complex and involved than the early days. There was a series of races that year from Copenhagen to Gdynia (won by Tovarishch), and also races from Dartmouth to La Coruiia to Portsmouth , where the Duke of Edinburgh took the Salute to the Parade of Sail in the Solent.

Perhaps the greatest challenge faced

by ASTA in its early years was the role of host for the visit of the " Tall Ships" to Newport in June of 1976 as part of the festivities planned for the United States bicentennial. In just a little more than three years, the organization raised the necessary funds , located the desired facilities, and assembled the large staff and volunteers who made that visit the historic success that it was. The race series, which started at Plymouth and finished at Newport, with intermediary races to Tenerife and Bermuda, attracted the greatest gathering of square-rigged training ships in the world, led by Eagle , Christian Radich , and Danmark, with Amerigo Vespucci , Dar Pomorza, Es30

meralda, Gazela Primeiro, Gloria, Gorch Fock, Juan Sebastian de Elcano, Kruzenshtern, Libertad, Mircea , Nippon Maru, Sagres II, and Tovarishch joining in, a nearly complete who' s who of the world's surviving tall ships.

Gothenburg to Oslo via a course around Fair Isle set the scene for the European races in 1978, when Gorch Fork was first in Class A, and Gladan won the STA 's "Cutty Sark Trophy. " This trophy is awarded to the ship which, by the vote of all Captains present, has done the most for international goodwill during the races: some of the other winners over the years have been: Dar Pomorza, Kruzenshtern, and Zenobe Gramme. Nine teen seventy-eight also saw the first sailtraining races in the Pacific Ocean: Honolulu-Victoria-Seattle-San Francisco-Long Beach. Eagle made the long journey through the Panama Canal to participate; and ASTA's own "Cutty Sark Trophy " was first presented-to Oriole, for her outstanding contributions to sail training .

The frrst inter-American race (from Cartagena to Norfolk) took place in 1980. It saw Gloria, Guayas and Juan Sebastian de Elcano together with Blanca Estela, Esperanza, Fortuna II, Chaser, and Sabre, on the starting line. This was followed by a cruise-in-company to Boston in connection with that city's 350th birthday , and thence a transatlantic race to Kristiansand . Ships which finished this race went on to Kiel for the STA races in the Baltic and North seas. Guayas won the ASTA " Cutty Sark Trophy" for her participation in this series.

The "Cutty Sark Tall Ships" Races started off the Danish island of Falster in 1980, with more than eighty ships setting a course around Gotland to Karlskrona , and then cruising in company to Frederikshavn in Denmark before racing to Amsterdam. In Class A, Dar Pomorza , the famous full-rigged ship owned by the Merchant Navy Academy at Gdynia in Poland , won both races , as well as the ST A ''Cutty Sark Trophy.' ' She has since retired , honorably , to become a museum ship.

The Silver Jubilee Year races in 1982 saw full programs on both sides of the Atlantic. The South American ships started a race at La Guaira , Venezuelawhere the recently launched Simon Bolivar was host ship--and sailed to the mouth of the Delaware. The Brazilian navy's sail-training yacht Cisne Branco (ex-Ondine) startled observers by arriving seven days ahead of the rest of the fleet. After a tricentennial celebration at Philadelphia, where the fleet was joined

by Sag res II of Portugal, the ships visited Newport prior to the start of a transatlantic race to Lisbon where they rendezvoused with European ships which had raced from Falmouth. Winner of that year's AST A Cutty Sark Trophy was Esmeralda. The STA fleet then went on to Vigo, Spain for a race to Southampton.

In 1984 a major series of ST NASTA races was held celebrating the 450th anniversary of Jacques Cartier's voyage of discovery. Starting from St. Malo , France, in April, the first contingent raced to Bermuda, where they met the ships of a Western Hemisphere feeder race from San Juan , Puerto Rico . The combined fleet raced on to Halifax , and then cruised in company up the St. Lawrence via Gaspe. The ships joined Quebec's celebration of Cartier' s voyage of 1534, June 24-30, and then paraded out of the harbor, and stopped off in Sydney, NS before racing back to Liverpool to join the STA European series.

AST A also organized a race series in Ontario. An ambitious schedule! Disaster struck in the sinking of the Marques with tragic loss of life in the BermudaHalifax race-the first such loss in AST A history.

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Barclay Warburton wrote in 1978 of his reasons for continuing the arduous " behind-the-scenes " work necessary to running the International Sail Training Races. "Surely it is our youth who will turn our eyes seaward again, just as, in past centuries , the youth of the worldship's boys at twelve , mates at eighteen, masters at twenty-two--conquered the seas, established commerce, and brought the nations in touch with one another.

The youth of today are no different from those of the past: They seek adventure; they need challenge; they wish to prove themselves . In the overprotective society in which we live today, sail training is one of the few areas left where young people may exercise their God-given right to dare . The older generation must not rob them of this right; mature adults may design ships, enact legislation, and run museums , but it is our youth who must keep the sea. Youth and the sea and the ship--a trinity which has brought us so far , which may yet unite us all."

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Captain Crowninshield is Executive Director of the American Sail Training Association (365 Thames St., Newport RI 02840 ), which is affiliated with the National Maritime Historical Society through joint membership .

SEA HISTORY, WINTER 1985-86

Californian's First Year

by Christine Parker Smith June 9th, 1985 marked the start of the San Diego-to-Maui Race, an event held every other year and jointly sponsored by the Ancient Mariners Sailing Society of San Diego and the Lahaina Yacht Club or Maui. Competing for a good start in the bright sunshine were many of the handsomely maintained wooden yachts of the Ancient Mariners, and among them was a new "old " boat celebrating an anniversary of sorts: the topsail schooner Californian.

Exactly two years earlier her construction had begun on a sandy beach at Spanish Landing in San Diego (see SEA HISTORY 30 & 32), and in June of 1984 the vessel was undergoing sea trials on the waters off Point Loma. Maneuvering for a start on San Diego Bay may have seemed a bit like coming home to the young vessel. A cannon fired by a U.S. Navy crew signaled the start, just off Shelter Jsland. Light airs from the south forced the fleet to short-tack out of the channel, with the largest vessels, Californian, Dauntless and La Violante, providing quite a spectacle for the crowds massed on shore. It was a grand start for what proved to be the slowest Maui Race ever, with the first to finish , Scottish Fantasy, making the passage in more than sixteen days.

Californian, 94 feet on deck, carried a crew of eight and twelve young sailtraining cadets on the voyage. Although she made one good day ' s run early in the race , winds continued light , and for two days she lay becalmed. The Pacific lived up to its name . Aboard as guests were a film crew and actor William Conrad, who were preparing a video documentary of the trip. Work on the film, and swimming in the broad Pacific swells helped to relieve the windless monotony for a time. The decision to scrap the race was made on the ninth day out, when the Californian had covered a scant thousand miles. After eight days of motorsailing she arrived at Lahaina on schedule to exchange cadets.

The second group of cadets enjoyed better sailing and a deal of pageantry during their two week tour of the islands.

After a short layover in Lahaina , they crossed the Molokai Channel to Honolulu, where the vessel took part in the Hawaiian Islands Parade of Sail off Waikiki Beach on the Fourth of July.

Leading the parade, which was held in celebration of the centennial of the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants to Hawaii, was the Japanese schoolship Kaiwo Maru.

While in Honolulu the young cadets had a special mission to fulfill, commemSEA HISTORY , WINTER 1985-86

orating an historic event. In 1851 the US Revenue Cutter Lawrence had visited the Sandwich Islands under the command of Captain Alex Fraser, former Chief of the Revenue Marine Bureau . Captain Fraser celebrated the birthday of King Kamehameha III with a display of fireworks and presented a pistol to the King as a special token of the esteem of the American people. The training vessel Californian is an example of a United States revenue cutter of 1850, modelled on the lines of the Campbell (better known as the Joe Lane). Thus she is a sister vessel to the original brig-rigged Lawrence , the first vessel of the Revenue Marine to be charged with opening the Pacific. Californian, the official sailing representative of her home state, brought a copy of the original pistol as a gift from Governor Deukmejian of California to Governor Ariyoshi of Hawaii. Miss Allison Watt, senior cadet of the year, made the presentation at a special reception ashore.

This visit to Hawaii marked the end of an eventful first year of operation for Californian and her owners, the Nautical Heritage Society at Dana Point. The vessel had logged over 12,000 nautical miles and carried more than 200 cadets on seventeen cruises, normally of eleven days duration each. Cruises have ranged coastwise from San Diego to San Francisco Bay and up the Delta to Sacramento. Much of cadet sailing time has been spent among the Channel Islands off Santa Barbara. On a typical elevenday cruise the cadets, who range in age from sixteen to twenty-one are instructed in marine science, coastal navigation and the history of California as well as the study of wind and weather. They must stand watch and help the crew with all aspects of ship handling. On one day of a weekend, the vessel is in port and cadets are expected to help with a dockside reception or day charter.

As this article is written the Californian is homeward bound from a special cruise to bring earthquake relief supplies to Acapulco, where they were received by the Relief Program of the University of Anahuac in Mexico City. It was appropriate to carry the supplies in this way because air transport is already at capacity . Thus the topsail schooner again has served a purpose reminiscent of the duties of her earlier sisters on the Pacific coast-the sailing cutters of the U.S . Revenue Marine .

Tuition for a cruise is $700, but many cadets have received scholarships. According to Steve Christman, Director of the Nautical Heritage Society, income from the cadet program and other operations of the vessel meets only 45 % of the Society's revenue requirements. The balance must be made up by private donations, corporate sponsorships, memberships and grants. In addition to the Californian, the Society maintains a fleet of thirty-five small boats, which are available to young people in Dana Point Harbor. Future goals of the Society include improvement of the sail-training program , development of three regional home ports along the California coast and strengthening of its financial support base .

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At the start of the Mariners Sailing Society race from San Diego to Maui, Californian (above) is seen here in the light airs that would cause the race to be aborted nine days out. Photo, Dale Fink .

The author, (below) Christine Smith (wife a/Californian's builder, Melbourne) at the helm during sailing trials in 1984. Photo, Barry Bowles.

Ship Trust Activities Report for 1985

by Eric Berryman, Hon. Secretary, American Ship Trust At its final meeting of the year on December 3, at the Marine Society in London , the World Ship Trust trustees welcomed Sir Rex Hunt, recently retired as Governor of the Falkland Islands , as Vice President. He joins the noted wildlife artist Sir Peter Scott, Admiral of the Fleet Lord Lewin , and Lord Shackleton in that capacity. Discussion at the meeting centered on plans for an international Maritime Heritage Year in 1988 , of which more will be heard in these columns .

Report was also heard on the proposed move of the Maritime Trust's Arctic exploration ship Discovery, to Dundee , where she was built in 1901. A very extensive restoration of the ship's massive timber hull and bark rig is being completed. She has been visited by nearly half a million people at her present site in St. Katharine's Dock , London, since she was brought in there in March 1980, following out-of-water work at Sheerness.

Norman Brouwer's International Register of Historic Ships has been published in England and the United States by Anthony Nelson , Ltd . World Ship Trust Chairman Frank Carr notes, " With more than 700 ships in 45 countries, more than half of them illustrated , and with full details , almost to Lloyds Register standards , in a bound volume of 368 pages, it has been an immense task ."

On April 3, the WST awarded its fourth Maritime Heritage Medal to H. K. H. Prince Henrik of Denmark for his leadership in the restoration and exhibition of the 44-gun frigateJylland (1860) .

Her Majesty Queen Margraethe lI graciously undertook to present the medal to her consort at a ceremony held aboard the frigate, at Ebeltoft, Jutland.

In New York, Ship Trust Wavertree is now organized as a separate company to restore the 1885 square-rigger Wavertree at South Street Seaport Museum . Under the chairmanship of Jakob Isbrandtsen (who was the Museum 's founding chairman) , the volunteer group has built up noteworthy expertise and experience. It administers what now amounts to a considerable fleet. Besides the 2, 100-ton Wavertree, there are two 26ft Monomoy lifeboats , the sandbagger Shadow, brigantine Black Pearl and harbor lighter Vernie S. Diversity of ownership, in this fashion , avoids burdening the South Street Seaport Museum with liability costs and recreates some of the independent energies that characterized the Street of Ships. Ship 32

Trust Wavertree may become an affiliate of the American Ship Trust. The AST, an activity of the National Maritime Historical Society, is closely associated with the World Ship Trust, as is the Maritime Trust of Great Britain. Formal affiliation does not yet exist in legal language. The Society's president Peter Stanford expects that " The nuts will be drawn down on these bolts in the near future .''

On other fronts the Trust is pleased to report on a Portsmouth , New Hampshire , initiative where an independent New England Ship Trust has been organized to support the acquisition of a 1907 Danish-built freighter , Diana Chris, and her conversion into a sail-training ship.

The vessel is to become a barkentine after designs by Captain B. Barner Jesperson , of Copenhagen.

The AST variously assists and reports on a wide variety of projects . Captain William P. Frank, Managing Director, Key West Maritime Historical Society conferred with the Trust in the matter of seeking protection for a small unknown Spanish vessel (caravel/bergantina/galizabra) found in Key West harbor. Preliminary plotting has revealed various artifacts: bar shot, a clay olive jar, a blue goblet, dense remnants of barrels of hemp for cannon wadding and caulking, wrought-iron nails , hand-hewn trunnels, planking and frames. The AST and WST have been asked to endorse the project and the National Trust for Historic Preservation has provided a grant for an environmental impact study .

Dr. Thomas Giegerich, a long-time member of the Society , contacted the AST for assistance in locating a suitable historic vessel to be located at a 600ft berth on the Cleveland Lakefront. The project is being funded by the local waterfront development (a $50 million project) . No immediate answer to this challenge has been found as yet.

The schooner Equator, used by poet and novelist Robert Loui s Stevenson to sail the Pacific , may become the Northwest's newest preservation success. For twentytwo years Everett, Washington , native Dr. Eldon Schalka has lead a crusade to save the ship. Now , under the umbrella of the Equator Foundation , the day may not be far off when his hopes and efforts are rewarded . Dr. Schalka believes that the schooner is a strong link to the early development of Puget Sound and the entire West Coast. It was built by Matthew Turner, an early day boat builder, and

perhaps the most prolific shipwright in that part of the world . The Equator is probably the last of Turner's total of 228 boats . She worked for decades on Puget Sound and in Alaskan waters, before being remade into a tug and ending her working life in the sands of the Snohomish River.

Both the World Ship Trust and American Ship Trust have expressed concern about an announced attempt to drill into a tomb near the Cheops pyramid in Egypt. The tomb is believed to contain a sister ship of the first Cheops ship, which has deteriorated far more in the dozen-odd years since it was dug up than in the previous four-and-a-half millenia. Though the latest effort seeks only to sample "4,600 yearold air" in the hermetically sealed tomb, via a special drill which leaves no contamination behind, ship preservationists are rightly concerned that the ship preserved in that ancient atmosphere not be disturbed in any way.

Project Liberty Ship continues to make progress . Gibbs Brothers Foundation awarded a grant to assist with the effort to preserve the John W. Brown. James R. Ean (for eight years president of the Intrepid Museum Foundation) is now the Project 's executive director, and sights have been set on placing the ship at Liberty State Park, on the New Jersey side of New York Harbor, in 1986. The Brown and the Liberty ship Huddle lie alongside each other in the James River Reserve Fleet, near Fort Eustis, Virginia.

The Brown will be preserved , but the Huddle is to be sunk off the New Jersey coast as a haven for marine life .

The Snow Squall Project also continues to grow with two principal targets set for the 1986 expedition to Port Stanley: (I) Conserve and prepare the starboard hull section for transportation to the United States; and, (2) Obtain offset measurements of the bow, midship and aft sections of the hull. Under the leadership of Harvard-based Dr. F. Yalouris , the Snow Squall project moves ever nearer to the day when a complete exhibit of the bow section will open in South Portland, Maine. Historic ship preservationists the world over could rejoice if all such projects moved forward with the same resolution and meticulous scientific care and despite such a paucity of funds .

Dr. Yalouris has done brilliant work and has shared his expertise with the WST chairman in the matter of Lady Elizabeth's restoration as a museum ship in the Port Stanley waterfront. .t SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1985-86

I

SHIP NOTES ''They were the grandest boats you ever could see ,' ' says Connemaraman Pat Jennings. And to many, the Galway hookers still are. Indigenous to the rugged West of Ireland , where for centuries they were the workboats of the regionthe last earned their way through the I 960s- these sturdy vessels, well found and round , like Rubens of the sea, were almost extinct until a handful of their countrymen turned their eyes to the river of ocean that girds their green and misty land . Now, restored or refined or newly hewn , some twenty bad m6r and Leath bhad (bawd moor, or "big boat; " and la wawd, or " half boat") survive, together with their smaller sisters the gle6iteog, and the lug-sailed pucan (glowchug, from "pretty; " and pookaun, meaning, well ... pucan).

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The hookers traded and fished in Ireland 's western waters, the Atlantic, and never strayed far from home . With new lives come new journeys, and one intrepid Dub liner, Paddy Barry, hopes to bring Saint Patrick (1907) to New York for the centennial celebration of the Statue of Liberty, Operation Sail 1986.

She has sailed to the Canaries, where she is wintering; and can funds be found, Saint Patrick and company will press on to New York. Those interested in seeing them here should contact Sheila De Barra (43 Bronx River Road, Yonkers, NY 10704; 212/228-5247). For as Mr. Jennings will tell you, "Sure you'd be lonely without them."

Plans are afoot to bring the United States Navy into the mainstream, if not the vanguard, of nineteenth-century sail technology, with a Melbourne Smith-built replica of Sea Witch, the fast early clipper which set a Hong Kong-to-New York record that has not been bested in the 138 years since. "For the first time," writes Captain John Bonds, Commodore of the Naval Academy Sailing Squadron, SEA HISTORY, WINTER 1985-86

in a recent issue of the U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, "Navy personnel will be able to participate in European tall ships events"-and we can almost hear his sigh of satisfaction.

With a keel-laying ceremony slated for the Fourth of July , 1986, at a site yet to be determined , the construction will be in the traditional manner of Smith's previous creations-Pride of Baltimore, Spirit of Massachusetts and Californianand completed by the same crew currently working on the Globe project (see page 23). The National Society commissioned this magnificent venture, and be sure we shall be reporting its progress.

After a decade of attraction and success on our gold coast, Greig Craft has opened a New York arm of the San Francisco Ship Model Gallery (I 089 Madison Avenue, New York 10028; 212/570-6767).

Originally specializing in three types of models-bone and ivory models crafted from memory by sailors; decorative scale models constructed of exotic materials; and Admiralty (or builders ') modelsthe Gallery is increasingly handling more contemporary works notable for their clean and precise lines. A major reason for this new direction is Craft's desire to "cause a greater awareness of our maritime heritage ,'' and to bring this infrequently heralded art to the attention of a broader spectrum of people. Although Craft feels that one way to achieve this is by selling them to offices and institutions for display, if you seldom find yourself at corporate headquarters, you are welcome to browse at the clean well-lighted gallery in New York, or in Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco 4151771-1722.

We have come across this article in the Todd Shipyards clipping sheet, whither it came from the New Orleans TimesPicayune!States-ltem. The author, who really knows how to tum a phrase, is unknown; but we thank him or her anyway: Today the President comes home.

Generations of New Orleanians know it's not Ronald Reagan; it's the President, the boat.

For a long time the riverboat was a New Orleans landmark as famous as streetcars, river ferries and the treacherous, winding Honey Island Road to havens "across the Jake [Pontchartrain]."

It was a teen-ager's floating dance palace and smooch emporium . Also, cokes and pimento cheese sandwiches were available. The boat provided the means for an all-day, inexpensive date . And the girl brought fried chicken.

L~!:;~~s!;,,!!!~'~'~H:a Maine Coast Since I 871

Vacalion Cruises from $235

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Great Sailing, Excellent Food.

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Wriu, for Folder: Ca pt. John C. Foss, Box 482 NT Rockland, ME 04841 •Tel. (207) 594-8807 or 594-7617

A unique experience. $360-$450 weekly, includes everything.

Brochure, Toll Free 1-800-225-5800

Schooner TIMBERWIND Capt. Bill Alexander

Box 247 SH, Rockport, Me. 04856

~ail into Living History <:.Jail the Maine Coast

on the Famous Fishing Schooners out of Gloucester Schooner ADVENTURE immortalized in Joe Garland's new book Queen of the Windjammers (send for book _ . __ _ information).

Schooner ROSE WAY, last sailing pilot vessel.

Schooners ADVENTURE & ROSEWAY Box 696SH • Camden, ME 04843 • 207-236-4449 Largest windjammers in the Camden fleet.

EXPERIENCE THE THRILL of square rig and 7000 ft . of sail.

Weekly cruises in the warm waters of Southern New Eng Iand between Long Island and Nantucket aboard 108' square topsail clipper Schooner "SHENANDOAH" For color folder & complete infonnation write:

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SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & NAVAL RESEARCHER Requires work .

Fully conversont British Archives .

3 years with HMS Warrior Restoration .

Write to: Antonia Macarthur, 6 Priory Rd, Kew, Richmo nd , Surrey, United Kingdom.

MAINE W indjam mer CRUISES 6 Carefree Days!

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Enjoy the grandeu r of 1he Coastal Islands aboa rd Matt ie. Mercan1ile or Mist ress. $355 in June & Sept. $395 in Jul y & August. For folder tel: 2ITT-236-2938 o r write:

On weekends a dozen teen-agers could slip into their fashionably soiled saddle oxfords, board a trolley for seven cents and make a day of it cruising aboard the President dutch treat. A boy could lose three pounds after a day aboard that boat.

He could leap three steps at a time up the starboard side , down five on the port to arrive on the dance floor with popcorn to " cut in" on slinky " Boodles" for a tango to Johnny DeDroit's orchestra.

And all in less than two minutes.

Capt. Les Bex , Box 617H CAMDEN, MAI 'E 04843

MARINE CH RONOMETERS Bought , So ld and Serviced Restoration and Appraisals

J. P. Connor & Co. Agents for Thomas Mercer, Ltd .

P.O. Box 305 , Devon PA 19333 Tel: 215-644-1474

Sail Conn., R.I., Shores, Cape Cod and the Islands aboard the 55 year old SCHOONER MARMION. Come sail with us and leave your cares on Shore. Enjoy sightseeing, beachcombing, swimming and ou tstanding shore dinners. Daily, weekly and extended rates.

CALL OR WRITE: 203-447-7137 Capt. Brian Beckwith

Capt. Katie Beal

SCHOONER SAILS 136 Bank Street, New London, CT 06320

34

Originally the President was a transfer boat, hardly more than a hull used to carry rail cars from one side of the Mississippi River to the other. Later, as a packet , she delivered passengers from Cincinatti to the New Orleans Mardi Gras . In 1932 she was purchased by Streckfus Streamers , which expanded her hull and added superstructure to create an art deco wonder on the water: the President , first all-steel riverboat. In those days , Capt. John Streckfus was at the wheel in St. Louis and here. In 1940, she was moved permanently to New Orleans. Capt. Don Summers is at the helm now for the new owner, President Associates , Inc. , 2345 ITM Bldg. , New Orleans , LA 70130; 504/522-3030. ''To strengthen communications and cooperation among the member institutions , and by so doing, to enable them to better fulfill their missions, including the collection and preservation of artifacts and documents utilizing high professional standards, " is the stated and worthy purpose of the Association for Great Lakes Maritime History. Encompassing almost 100,000 square miles and bounded by the United States and Canada, the five Great Lakes (Ontario , Erie , Michigan, Huron and Superior) have been avenues of trade and exploration since before Europeans planted their standards in North America . And they continue to be truly important to our maritime heritage .

Over the years, many museums and other organizations have come into being from the shores of the St. Lawrence River, to Duluth , Minnesota, 800 miles

to the west as the crow flies. ln these is represented the full range of maritime historical endeavour: boatbuilding and preservation at the Thousand Islands Shipyard Museum in Clayton , NY; the waterfront development project in Erie , PA; the amassing of regional-and not so regional-archives and libraries at the Chicago Maritime Society; and underwater archaeology sponsored by the Ford Seahorse Diving Club in Dearborn, MI. To make known the many and diverse achievements of these institutions, among many others in this country and in Canada, the AGLMH was founded . Now in its third yt<ar, the Association welcomes members to receive its straightforward newsletter.

Write David L. Pamperin , AGLMH Secretary , Manitowoc Maritime Museum, 809 South 8th Street, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, 54220; 414/684-0218.

"Magnificent Voyagers: The U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842" is a spectacular exhibit celebrating the first overseas scientific expedition sponsored by the United States Congress. The collection of nearly 1500 artifacts on view at the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution (Constitution A venue at Tenth Street, N. W., Washington , DC; 202/357-1300) is the largest temporary exhibit ever mounted in the museum.

The motives for the expedition were diverse, but they reflect the energies and aspirations of the young state . ln the fore was the real need for improved charts for whalers , fishermen and sealers outward bound from New England. In addition to discovering new or verifying the outline of known lands, they were charged with confirming the non-existence of islands indicated on maps through inadvertence or whim and maintained by tradition .

There was also a desire in the scientific and military communities to assert the country's independence of endeavour and " show the flag" with a demonstration of self-sufficiency and ability. Logging nearly 90,000 miles under the command of the protean Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, the explorers succeeded admirably , confirming the existence of Antarctica, and collecting tens of thousands of zoological, botanical, geological and ethnographical specimens and artifacts which were to form the core of the Smithsonian's research collections. It was also the first peacetime cooperative venture between the U.S. Navy and civilians.

Among the scientists and artists who accompanied Wilkes were the geologist James Dana and the painter Titian Peale.

SEA HISTORY, WINTER 1985-86

MUSEUM NEWS

Sailing Adventures SCHOONER HARVEY GAMAGE a 95' windjammer in true "down East" tradition U.S. Coast Guard inspected

Summer months the ship cruises the Maine coast out of Rockland ... winter months in the Virgin Islands from Charlotte Amalie.

Enjoy a week under sail ... make new friends ... relish hearty meals ... return relaxed, filled with happy memories. Write or phone1-800-845-5520 Although many of the pieces have been on view as part of single discipline displays , this is the first time that they have been shown in the context of this very great American voyage of discovery . A major catalogue has been prepared for the exhibit, which runs through November 1986 and will travel to museums in Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Tacoma, Anchorage and New York, through 1988.

The Seamen's Church Institute celebrated its sesquicentennial this past November. Founded by Episcopal laymen of the Young Men's Church Missionary Society, the Institute was the first organization in New York to take in hand the thousands of sailors who would otherwise fall victim to crimps, whores and the demon drink while ashore. The Institute 's first real achievements were brought about by the Reverend Benjamin Parker, whose offices were above a New York tavern. In 1844 he helped establish the ''Floating Church of Our Savior'' on a barge in the East River. A decade on saw the availability of lodgings maintained by the Institute; and fifty years later there were 400,000 seamen from around the world passing through New York, many of whom came to the Institute at one time or another. With headquarters at 25 South Street, it could offer a meeting place, hostelry and classes in seamanship.

In 1968 , the Institute moved into a specially designed building at 15 State Street, facing Battery Park and surmounted by a plain but landmark cross.

Earlier this year, faced with an occupancy of less than fifty percent, the SCI sold the building , whose layout was so particularly suited to their needs that it had to be dismantled. Now at 50 Broadway (212/269-2710), the Institute is looking for another place more in keeping with its needs and more suitable to its modern role. The Institute's Center for Seafarers' Rights, founded in 1982, is working to improve substandard conditions endured primarily by third-world sailors working on " flag-of-conveniSEA HISTORY, WINTER 1985-86

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Specialists in navigation instruments, whaling artifacts, ship models, sailors work, telescopes, and the only 19th and early 20th century Marine Art Gallery on the West Coast.

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MAINE MARITIME MUSEUM . ..Tells the story of Maine and the Sea. • • • • • •

Historic shipyard Boatride Apprenticeshop program Grand Banks schooner · Three sites in Bath Open year-round.

For more information, write: Maine Maritime Museum Bath, Maine 04530 or call 207-443-1316

35

SAIL AWAY TO YESTERDAY Sail the Maine Coast.. aboa rd the historic windjammer

schooner Stephen Taber Weekly

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Schooner Stephen Taber 70 Elm St. Drawer D. Camden, Maine 04843

EXPLORE DIE MAINE COASI' Weekly Salling Vacation Windjammer "MARY DAY" For Folder Write:

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WILLIAM H. ALBURY on an inter-island adventure. Share good seafaring, food , island life. Ports of call are romantic, historic out island settlements in the Bahamas. From $300 per person. Private groups inquire about sail training program in conjunction with American Sail Training Association.

INTER-ISLAND SCHOONER

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36

With a bone in her teeth, the iron bark Elissa charges along on a sea trial off Galveston last October. Built at Alexander Hall 's yard in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1877 , the vessel was discovered as a motorship in the Aegean in the early 1960s, and after a long-drawn series of efforts to save her , was taken on by the Galveston Historical Foundation, under whose flag she sails today.

Sailing here under the command of Jay Bolton, she has also been skippered by Paul Welling and Carl Bowman, formerly of the US Coast Guard. Three weeks after this scene from her annual sea trials was recorded, the trim grey vessel set out on a deepwater passage down the coast to Corpus Christie. We hope to see her make the longer passage to New York for Operation Sail-1986 this July 4.

ence " ships. The National Society is happy to toast the Seamen's Church Institute on its anniversary, and looks forward to its success in time to come.

A most distinguished and historic vessel coming to New York for OpSail '86 is the bark Belem, whose master is Cdt. Jean Randier. Built for French owners in 1896--a scant ten years after that other longevitous French-woman whom she will honor next July-she has had a long and varied career, though it must be admitted , not a tremendously strenuous one.

Until 1913 , Belem traded sugar and cocoa from the Caribbean and South America for chocolatiers in Paris. In that year, she was purchased by the Duke of Westminster for his personal use.

Though her mizzen mast was lengthened to accomodate an auxiliary exhaust, and her iron poop railing was replaced with a teak balustrade (which she sports sti ll), in most externals she retained her original character and profile . Changing hands again in 1921, she flew the flag of the Hon. A .E. Guinness , who named her Fantome II and sailed her around the world. It is supposed that she did little cruising after the 1930s , although she seems to have been well maintained until her owner's death in 1951.

She was then purchased by the Fondazione Giorgio Cini and stationed at Venice with the name Giorgio Cini. Rerigged as a barkentine , she carried cadets until 1965 , when she was put on permanent moorings at the Isola San Giorgio .

An attempt to retrofit her as a bark in 1972 proved too costly for her new owners, the Carabinieri , and she passed under the ownership of the shipyard, with whom she remained until purchased

by French interests operating as the Fondation Belem. (SeeSHl6, Winter 1980.)

Belem, as she is once more , is the largest of the French sail-training vessels, one of only a handful of the larger sail-training vessels originally built for commerce. Others in this catagory are the USSR's Kruzenshtern and Sedov , and the Gazela of Philadelphia and Galveston's Elissa.

November saw the formal establishment of The Schooners Foundation, a notfor-profit educational organization that hopes to attract American youth to the outward bound-oriented programs offered by the British Sail Training Association aboard their two topsail schooners, Sir Winston Churchill and Malcolm Miller. The programs , designed to accomodate thirty-nine people between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four in each SEA HISTORY, WINTER 1985-86

SAILORS' UNION OF THE PACIFIC,

AFL-CIO Celebrating its 1OOth Anniversary

A spirit of hard work, enterprise & cooperation sailed the tall ships of yesterday & the Liberty Ships of World War IL.. and that's what makes things move today!

BAY REFRACTORY MARINE REFRACIDRY AND MARINE INSULATION 164 WOLCOIT STREET â&#x20AC;¢ BROOKLYN, NY 11201

March 6, 1885 - March 6, 1985 Paul Dempster, President and Secretary-Treasurer

Jack Ryan , Vice-President and Assistant Secretary-Treasurer

Discover the San Francisco Ship Model Gallery Now in New York City, too.

Dealing in the world's fi nest museum quality ship models.

Original marine oils and lithographs of both historic and modern vessels, a collection of rare naval documents and a variety of masterfull y handcrafted nautical treasures.

The San Francisco Ship Model Gallery in Ghirardelli Square, and now at 82nd and Madison in New York City, too.

Explore it.

SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1985-86

37

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VICTORY CHIMES New England's outstanding windjammer vacation .

Largest passenger schooner under U.S. flag. Excellent food, comfortable staterooms . U.S. Coast Guard inspected .

The Maine Maritime Museum (963 Washington St., Bath , ME 04530; 207/ 443-1316) offers the following lectures thi s winter-February 6: Philip Shelton, on the " Building of the Hackamatac k Schooner Janet May; " February 20: Mary Charbonneau's " Memories of Hendricks Head Light" (her home); March 6: Nathan Lipfert, on the maki ng of Lobstering and the Maine Coast, which he co-authored; March 20: Dr. Ernest W . Marshall , on "Clues from the Coastline: Maine's Exotic Ballast Deposits.' ' Please call the museum for times and location.

Free color folder.

Call 2(17-596-6060 or 2(17-326-8856.

Send $2 .00 for this 16-page color cata. plus special sale price. The most complete nautical clock cata. in the world (more than 200 choices) & guarantee the lowest price! Also , write for our free cata. list on nautical antiques , gifts, decors.

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38

vessel, are geared primarily to helping youths of all backgrounds and strengths and weaknesses to mold and share these enduri ng qualities with their peers in a challenging and labor-intensive passage between European ports.

Each year, the two vessels carry about 1200 cadets-including impaired youths-and T he Schooners Foundation hopes to recruit about 100 Americans for this rewarding experience . Both boys and girl s are accepted in the program, though there are no coeducational cruises. Adults can also share in the process of sail training either by joining one of three one-week crui ses (which are coeducational) or by signing on as a watch leader, purser or nav igator. For in fo rmation , contac t George Maxwell , The Schooners Foundation, 53 East 66th Street, New York NY 10021; 2 121744-771 9.

Dauntless, Majestic, Ironsides, Brittania . . . . A fleet list? Yes! Of the Ipswich (England) Borough Transport. In a commendable salute to the sea , the authori ty has named forty-eight of its Leyland Atlantean Double Decker Buses after Thames Sailing Barges-and another after the settler-ship replica Godspeed . Pictured is Bus 21 (launched in 1977) , Orion, whose name is on the scroll beneath the license plate.

The Mary Rose exhibition currentl y touring the United States (see SH37) opens at the Boston Museum of Science on January 11 , and will run through Mairch 9 . (Science Park , Boston , MA 021114 ; 6171723-2501) . J, SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1985-86

REVIEWS The Finest of British Ships' Officers The Odyssey of C. H. Lightoller , by Patrick Stenson , fwd . Walter Lord , (W.W. Norton , New York , 1984, 314pp, $16.95) .

Four shipwrecks (including the Titanic disaster), a fire at sea, a destroyer ramming a U-boat , and Dunkirk- a script for a T.V. drama or a grade-B movie?

Far from it , the above scenario touches only the highlights of the life of Charles Herbert Li ghtoller, seaman , ship ' s officer and a remarkable man whose biography reads like a Conrad novel--except that it is all true .

C. H. Lightoller (always known as " Li ghts " ) was born in 1874 and when he died 78 years later his career had spanned the entire age from the great skysailyarders of the ' 80s battling Cape Horn to the era when 5- and 6-day passages across the North Atlantic in floating palaces were routine . Lights first shipped out at thirteen aboard the Primrose Hill , a great steel bark bound from the Mersey to the Golden Gate. His indoctrination was fast , hard and painful as he learned to shinny up the last twenty feet to the skysail yards, where, some 200ft above the deck he and his mates would spend as much as four hours furling a sing le sail while a frigid Antarctic gale raged around them. His next voyage was in the Holt Hill bound around the Cape of Good Hope for Calcutta under a Captain who drove his ship and hi s men unmercifully , saying , " I'll never let another ship pass me while any sai l is furled. " This was to be hi s downfall , for the result of this reckless boast was that the Holt Hill ran headlong into the isolated , tiny islet of St. Paul carrying full sail in a gale and at night. By some miracle only one man was lost; but a beautiful ship was wrecked, the Captain's career was forfeit and the survivors spent eight hungry days before being rescued.

The boy was becoming a man and a first rate seaman . His escapades on shore are as hilarious as his experiences at sea are dramatic . Despite his adolescent high jinx he was absorbing everything possible to do with his chosen career , and had earned his second mate's ticket by the time he was twenty-one. He went out as third on the Knight of St . Michael with a cargo of coal for lquique in Chile , but the coal caught fire at sea after a storm in which all the boats were smashed.

Despite decks so hot the men were dancing , they wOiked her to the coast of Brazil and by superhuman efforts quelled the blaze.

Lights swore he would never leave sail for steam. With cargos harder and harder SEA HISTORY, WINTER 1985-86

to find , however, and after one passage of 165 days from Chile to Liverpool with nitrates he reluctantly went back on his word and became a deck officer in a steamship. Trading along the West African coast he dealt with natives, incredible surf, a drunken captain, and caught malaria . A few years of this was all he could stand, and he left for Edmonton, a victim of gold rush fever. After an incredible journey by canoe, horseback and foot which almost cost him his life he came back from the Klondyke and became a cowboy. But this was too much for the seaman in him, and he returned literally penniless to England where he was immediately hired by the White Star Line . Now his career was on course he hoped for good . He had his master' s papers and in 1912 was third officer on R .M .S . Titanic, to the envy of his compatriots .

The story of that hideous April night has been told and retold, but Lights's part in it and the aftermath is fascinating and enlightening. He was in charge of loading and lowering the portside boats and the collapsible Englehards. When the unsinkable sank he was dragged down with her but fought his way back to the surface where he and thirty other survivors stood and sat for hours on the BOOKS! BOOKS! BOOKS! Maritim e Histo ry, nd erwa te r Archaeology, Marin e Life, Etc., Etc. Se nd $ 1.50 for illustrated catalogue.

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bottom of an upside-down boat until rescued by the Carpathia . As the senior surviving officer he was subjected to an unmerciful grilling at the Senate hearing in Washington and later by the Board of Trade at home . At both inquisitions, without telling an untruth, Lightoller did his best not only to maintain his own reputation , but to salvage what he could · of Captain Smith's, J. Bruce Ismay ' s, and that of the White Star Line itself.

Instead of being thanked by White Star, he was ostracized and ended up as the whipping boy for the line. Even after distinguished service in the Navy in World War I, when he returned to the line he was passed over for all promotions even though he was by now senior and obviously highly qualified. He had been in hi s bunk off watch when the Titanic hit the iceberg, but the stigma stayed with him and he never held a White Star command . Without a word of thanks for his loyalty and service, his resignation was accepted with obvious relief. He was only in hi s forties, but the years ahead as a civilian were the hardest in his life. In the long run, however, it was the White Star Line that was the greatest loser .

In the late 1930s, taking a page from Erksine Childers's book The Riddle of

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YOU

YES-you are needed! An informed citizenry is the surest defense of a democracy, and in the Navy League we invite you to become informed about naval affairs and to participate. The New York Council of the Navy League offers: • Regular monthly luncheon meetings with service leaders, who give you their views-and ask yours!

• Tours of visiting ships that come to New York Harbor.

• Out-of-town trips to naval installations, schools, aircraft and ship bases, to keep up with today's Navy.

• Subscription to the nationally renowned magazine Sea Power, where you'll be kept in touch with the people and developments shaping tomorrow's Navy.

It's easy to learn more about the New York Council and its programs. Just drop a line to: Mr. Austin Volk President, New York Council, NAVY LEAGUE of the UNITED STATES 37 West 44th Street New York, New York 10036 PS: Our recruiter is from a World War I poster. Please remember to say that she sent you.

REVIEWS

CLIPPER CLASSIC AMERICAN CLIPPER SHIPS 1833-58,

the Sands he and hi s Australian wife spent weeks aboard their 60ft motorsailer Sundowner (he had taken to yachting with soul -sati sfy ing pleasure) exploring the German East Fri sian Islands acting as innocent vacationers, but at the Admiralty 's request. Then came Dunkirk. Lights, now sixty-six , and dodging Stukas and everything the Germans could throw at them, brought back 130 men in one trip overloaded and on the brink of capsize. He died quietly in 1952, but in 1965 , the 24th anniversary of the Dunkirk evacuation , hi s beloved wife, Sylvia , and hi s be loved Sundowner joined in a sentimental re-crossing of the Channel to mark the occasion .

Patrick Stenson has written an enthralling biography of a man who indeed might have stepped out of the pages of a heroic tragic Conrad story . One marvels that a man could in one lifetime enco mpass such adventure and success yet had to endure such unjust fru stration and di sappointment. Despite a litany of hardship and danger, of fru stratio n and disappointment , the man moves through hi s own life's story with calm , sing le ness of purpose and superb professionali sm.

Personally, l would have been honored to serve Lightoller, who personifies all the facets of character that typified the finest of Briti sh ships' officers- a man who could not only rise to any occasion , but consistently rose above .

This is a book you must not mi ss!

THOMAS HALE Beyond Our Sensibilities Lone Survivor , by Ruthanne Lum McCunn (Design Enterprizes of San Francisco, San Francisco, 1985 , 235 pp , illus , $6 .95pb/$14 .95hb).

On November 23, 1942 , the S.S. Benlomond, bound Capetown to Paramaribo , was torpedoed and sunk . On April 6, 1943 , Poon Lim, the only survivor of the ill-fated vessel, walked ashore in Belem . Naked and alone , unable even to read the English labe ls on the raft's provisions , he had survived 133 days in the South Atlantic .

We cannot consider an ordeal of this magnitude; it is incomprehensible. Ms .

McCunn has accepted this, and though Lone Survivor is rich in factual detailall attested to by Mr. Poon , who lives w ith his family in Brooklyn , and by documents prepared by navy survival experts who had' him recreate his experience in New York harbor-the book 's strength is in Poon's reveries of home, his conjuring of dispassionate gods, and of his reminiscences of the awful petty cruelties of childhood returned to haunt him .

SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1985-86

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Poon Lim as he looked on his arrival at Belem , before seeing a doctor.

The details of Poon ' s daily battle for survival are told in sometimes gruesome detail : the ravages of his body; hi s evol ution from a ship's steward ignorant of the sea into a fisherman distinguishing the merely unpalatable from the poisonous (all caught on a nail gouged from the timbers of his fl oat and tied to a line fas hioned from strands of its canvas aw ning); and the cresting and falling of his spirits tortured by his imagination and by real indications of help or landfall .

Poon ho lds the Guinness Record for endurance. McCunn 's biography is no less an honor , and both Poon and we should be thankful fo r her achievement in recreating an experience beyond our sensibilities.

LINCOLN P. PAINE Building the Wooden Fighting Ship, James Dodds and James Moore (Facts On File Publications, New York , 1984, 128pp, illus., $ 19 .95pb).

Those keen on the history of wooden ship construction and technology will find here an excellent entry into the field as well as a useful refere nce source .

Based on a great deal of solid research the book narrates the hi storical precedents for, and the technical details of, construction of a typical 74-gun ship-ofthe-line, H .M.S . Thunderer of 1760.

Set within the context of her age, the authors show the Thunderer as a product

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of the technical achievements available to her builders , and how certain limitations affected her creation . Quoting from the first chapter: " By the beginning of the seventeenth century, shipwrights had built the largest ships possible with all-wood construction , and from then until the early years of the nineteenth century the industry seems almost to have stood still. " The book contains a good economic discussion of shipbuilding and maintenance in the 1700s . These were very expensive ships to put into use, but due to the rapid expansion of the empire they were necessary. The great accumulation of wealth during this period made their financing possible.

Of high interest is the chapter on the timber trade in the eighteenth century , a trade equivalent in importance to the oil industry today. This is not hard to believe when we learn that it took 3400 mature oak trees to construct a single ship of this type. The authors show where the timber came from, how it was got out , and how it was delivered to the shipyards. The first thing that one grasps is the tremendous amount of hard , heavy work the trade required in those days .

Obtaining first class timber was then, as it is today , not always possible . Due to the increasing use of green timber and the lack of covered sheds during building , the average li fe of a naval vessel declined to a low of eight years by 1792.

In repair, Thunderer cost two-and-a-half times her original building cost during her twenty-year life.

As each chapter is valid unto itself, perhaps it would be useful to list them al l: The Origins of the 74; The Timber Trade in the Eighteenth Century; The Purchase of Ships' Stores; The Dockyard; The Shipbuilders; Draughts, Models, and the Mold Loft; The Building; The Launch ; Furniture and Armament.

There is plenty of detail in each chapter as , for instance , in the examination of worki ng conditions and rates of pay for the various trades employed in shipbuilding . The drawings of construction techniques are quite good throughout , including those showing how heavy timber assemblies were put in place . The book is well laced with illustrations, leaving little to the imagination .

While there is no index , there is a brief bibliography. Physically, the size allows room for large spreads and the book is well printed and bound . The price represents a sound bargai n, when today many paperbacks , containing far less solid material , sell for as much . Very highly ROBERT CHAPEL recommended.

QE2 , by Ronald Warwick and William H . Flayhart III, fw d . by Prince Philip (W .W . Norton, New York, 1985 , 176pp , illus, $ 19 .95hb).

QE2 is a good book and anyone with an abiding interest in either the ship herself or the Cunard Line will find it sound .

The text begins with a history of Cunard from its inception through the declining years of transatlantic passenger ship travel and the decis ion- long postponed-to build Queen Elizabeth 2, and the recent acquisition of the company by Trafalger House . There follow chapters on the day-to-day life of the Queen , with a synopsis of a year's voyaging, and the vario us improvements constantly adopted to keep her as sophi sticated as possible . The Queen's innumerable amenities are examined in brief detail, and we learn of the ship 's morgue (cautiously described as "a specially refrigerated compartment should sudden death occur" ), and- for the haler members of the ship 's complement--of the 13 ,000 gallons of beer carried in bulk, to name but two features that make the Queen '' the only way to cross."

By far the most interesting pages are those devoted to the Queen's role as a transport during the Anglo-Argentine conflict over the Falklands/Malvinas.

The photographs of troop transfers, helicopter manoeuvres off the temporary flight decks fore and aft, and mid-ocean fueling, together with a well paced narrati ve bring to life what Prince Philip calls " the most dramatic episode in an already very full career." Long live the Queen!

LPP

The Long Farewell: The Perilous Voyages of Settlers under Sail in the Great Migrations to Australia, by Don Charlwood (Penguin Books , Victoria, 1983 , 338pp, illus , Aus Aus ., $ 12.95pb).

With quotes from more than sixty diaries and a wealth of other sources including ships' newspapers , studies of the age of sail and government reports, Mr. Charlwood portrays as vividly as can be imagined the ghastly conditions to which the million nineteenth-century Australian immigrants were exposed . Uprooted from their homes, borne away from their land and familiar skies-the Great Bear, laments one diarist, '' That had seemed like the face of an old friend " -and , upon landing , severed from the last vestige of England with her rigid but comforting! y familiar tiered society , by the hundreds the dispossessed and ambitious gave themselves up to unimaginable fears for uncertain futures.

SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1985-86

Charlwood , an admirable writer himself, allows the migrants to tell their own ordeals and expectations. Though in the main the narrati ves are gloomy affairs , there is more than a little levity . Sometimes, it is unintended , as in a description of a man who had become ill in his plate, and bidden by his messmates to throw it overboard, " became obstropolis and refu sed to do it.'' Three journals are given in full , the most articulate being that of Dr. H . M . Lightoller who in the face of constant illness and freq uent death among the passengers manages to keep a bright outlook. "Felt something tickling the end of my nose last night. Made a grab at my nose, and caught what do you think? Why, two cockroaches. Lord, didn ' t I jump! The animals were evidentl y having a day out at my expense.

I nearly swallowed one in my coffee this morning."

With scores of illustrations and diagrams depicting sleeping arrangements ( 18in x 6ft for steerage passengers), surgical implements, and "A Proposed Scale for Victualling at Sea," The Long Farewell is a remarkable work that will stir the heaviest minds to compassion and reflection.

LPP Ferries Around Britain, by John F. Hendy (Ian Allan Ltd ., Shepperton, Eng., 1985, l 12pp , illus, ÂŁ7.95) .

John Hendy, who writes the "Ferry Scene" column for the magazine Sea Breezes, is an obvious choice to write an account of the many present-day ferries operating around and from the coasts of Britain . In this book he prov ides a record of the principal fe rries in service during 1984. Acknowledging that by the date of publication some ships w ill have been withdrawn while others wi ll have changed to other ro utes, he wisely observes that " there is no such thing as an up to date map and the task of writing about fe rries has proved almost as difficult to produce."

In spite of this, Mr. Hendy has produced an excellent and informative photographic record which is enjoyable to read . Each section contains a useful map to supplement the text, and the illustrations are culled largely from the author's extensive collection , each accompanied by a thu mbnai l description of the service involved . He deals at length with the well known Cross-Channel and Irish and North seas services, as well as with the smaller craft maintained on shorter routes in the Solent, the West Country and remote Scottish isles, among others. These even include a diesel-hydraulic chain ferry which only SEA HISTORY, WINTER 1985-86

needs to take on fuel twice a year!

This is a delightful book, well illustrated, and recommended for its portrayal of the extensive ferry trade still active in this decade . JAM ES FORSYTHE The Ultimate Challenge: Around the World Alone, prod . by Vision Associates (New Fil m Co., 1984, VHS, 58min , $75; $295 for institutions) .

Any true sailor dreams of sailing aro und the world single-handedly, and in " The Ultimate Challenge" the totality of this experience is deftly , at times movingly, presented. Seventeen Class I and II boats set forth in the 1982 BOC Challenge from Newport for the nine-month , 27 ,000-mile circumnavigation via Capetown , Sydney and Rio de Janeiro. The resulting competition offers an absorbing demonstration of the participants ' seamanship, resourcefulness , endurance and courage. More immediately, the sailing footage-intercut with interviews with the competitors-is used to dramatic effect. These men are searching their souls, and the viewer cannot help but look into his own. Desmond Hampton of Britain provides the fi lm's most intro-

spective and shattering moments.

HAL FESSENDEN Island of the Bounty, prod. by Cochran Film Productions (Compass Rose Ltd. , Mill Valley , CA, 1984, VHS/BETA , 60min, $49.95+$3 postage) .

An Englishman (a descendant of Fletcher Christian) and his crew retrace the last voyage of the Bounty to Pitcairn Island and live among the sixty-odd progeny of the original mutineers and their Polynesian wives. This remote island is visited just four times a year by supply freighters , and its unspoiled customs and peaceful demeanor make it a modern-day Brigadoon. The confluence of Southern Pacific and English traditions is fascinating.

HF The Galway Hookers, by Richard Scott (Ward River Press, Swords , Co . Dublin, Ire ., 2nd ed., 1985 , 135pp , illus , IRÂŁ6 .50pb).

This expanded edition of The Galway Hookers (see SH 34) is a vast improvement, with color photographs , larger plans and pictures, and an update on the revival of these beautiful craft . ..i.. LPP

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SE A HISTORY , WINTER 1985-86

A square rig sailorman builds a new life aboard a South Sea schooner

A One-Trip Command That Lasted Six Years

by Capt. Fred Klebingat

Dr. Joseph F. Oliver, for whom I worked , was a medical man who had hung up hi s stethoscope and put away his scalpel to manage and own ships. He was an easy man to work for because he had faith in the men who sailed hi s schooners. If anybody else from the ship came to him with requests or complaints, he would say: "I don 't know you. I don't know anybody but the captain.

When I don't have faith in the captain, I' ll get rid of him ."

It came about in this way that I got my job in the Melrose.

Julius Mendelsohn (proprietor of J. Cohen's tailor shop on the City Front, son-i n-law of J . Cohen) said one day , " Want to go skipper in the Melrose?" " No-o-o . ... " I had plenty of money . I was just back from the Orient with my wages from Chin Pu and I also had a pay day waiting from the Alaska Packers from the Star of Poland-about $800.

I told him I didn ' t like schooners.

He waited about fourteen days. (My money was going down.) "How about the Melrose?"

"All right. f'll take her for a trip ." I stayed six years. I wasn' t required to buy into the Melrose when I took command.

Nobody was anxious to take the schooner; they knew Captain Treanor. She would be all run down. Jobs were still plentiful at this point , a year after the war had come to an end. I bought into her a couple of years late r of my own volition--one-sixteenth as I remember. A schooner was divided into sixty-four shares. I joined Melrose at one of the San Francisco piers south of the Ferry Building; this was in November of 1919 .

Captain Bill Treanor-" Peg Leg " -was giv ing up the com-

mand on doctor's orders . There was danger of a heart attack .

Sitting at the cabin table was hi s nephew , Austin Keegan, also a schooner captain. He had commanded the Melrose some years before and he would have liked to have his old job back .

But Treanor wouldn ' t even give his own son , Charlie , the job.

Despite the fact that Mrs. Treanor had a share in the vessel. ln other words, Treanor wouldn ' t force any of that bunch on Dr. Oliver.

The origi nal managing owner of the firm that owned the schooner, before Dr. Oliver , was a Nova Scotia man , well known in San Francisco shipping circles , by the name of McKinnon . Treanor was skipper of a McKinnon schooner, the J.M. Colman , in the early 1890s. However, as time went by it was Treanor's vote- when he had accumulated enough shares-that ousted McKinnon .

Most of these people were related: Keegan , the McCarrons , the Murchisons , the Treanors . That particular clique was from Prince Edward Island . Keegan actually owned some shares in the ship sti ll. Although Keegan was a nephew of Bill Treanor, Treanor wasn't going to give him the Melrose.

Mike Mccarron , the first skipper of the Melrose , was later killed by the Japanese cook when he had command of the Sophie Christenson. Those skippers who were murdered by Japanese cooks . . . it was always the same thing. Mccarron was a mean sort of man. He would get drunk and hard-time the cook. Get him out at all hours of the night when the schooner was in port to wait on hi s guests . The Japanese were funny that way. They got morose and waited for their chance .

The cook cut McCarron's throat as he lay asleep in hi s bunk .

The Melrose, built from this forest and just launched, sets out down the Hoquiam River in the State of Washington with a full deckload of lumber. Radiating the vitality of West Coast schooner design in every line, this handsome vessel found a truly appreciative skipper in Capt. Klebingat in the 1920s. Courtesy, National Maritim e Museum, San Francisco.

The author and Shorty (in hat) making a new fore topmast for the Melrose at Port Angeles, Washington in 1920. Photos this page by ÂŁ. Adermann, from the Martha Petereit Collection, Nationa l Maritime Museum, San Francisco.

Above, Capt. Klebingat making a maple settee on top of the schooner's deckload of lumber. At left, in the cabin of the Melrose, Christmas 1921, Capt. Klebingat (right) shares a Christmas toast with afr;end at Port Angeles.

This was a couple of years after I took charge of the Melrose.

About ten years earlier we had a Japanese cook in the fivemasted schooner Crescent where I was sailing before the mast.

In Makaweli the cook claimed he was sick and refused duty.

Captain "Hungry" Olsen (also called " One-eyed " Olsen) , another hardcase , kept the cook locked up in the lazarette for three days . He just disappeared ; we didn ' t know where he was . When the Old Man let him out the cook looked as if he had one foot in the grave. Olsen had to give in and have the doctor look at him . " He 's not sick ," said the doctor, " but you might as well discharge him anyway. '' Ten years, maybe more than that , went by . I needed a cook for the Melrose and Harry Thornton , who supplied officers and cooks to the schooners in Seattle, sent me a Japanese.

46

SEA HISTORY , WINTER 1985-86

"I won't say I was convinced at the time. But gradually I began to appreciate a schooner-a Pacific Coast lumber schooner-more and more.''

I saw him looking at me. " Well , steward (I usually called my cooks that), what is it?" '' I know you .''

"You do?"

"You boy , schooner Crescent."

It was the same man , Nagasawa. asked him if he was really sick that time . " Oh , no . Me want to get married."

Well , Nagasawa was a fine cook . In a month 's time he never repeated the menu once. A lot of the Japanese cooks in the schooners came from Bainbridge Island . They were in the business of strawberry farming over there . The reason for Japanese cooks being so common was that white cooks for the most part were tramps and drunks. Even the union couldn't stand behind them. Men have to eat.

The schooner had the name of Melrose from the town of Melrose in Nova Scotia where McKinnon was from. The Morris boys, including " Jumping Jack ," skipper of the A. F .

Coats, came from Havre which was a short di stance from Melrose.

I told Keegan sitting at the table that I wasn' t much on schooners. I liked the square-riggers- more men and all that.

But Keegan spoke up for schooners. His first voyage to sea was before the mast in the clipper ship Dashing Wave and he was mate of the Newburyport full-rigger John Currier. Later he served in and commanded several fore-and-afters. In 1906 he had the big four-master William Nottingham around the Hom to Boston with a cargo of spars-for two days he abandoned her in the ice off the Hom after collision with an iceberg .

But they went back aboard when they saw that the Nottingham wasn ' t sunk by all the ice that came crashing on deck off the berg . The deckload had saved her- it prevented the deck from being stove in . Keegan at different times had commanded the schooners Solano, on a trip to Australia, and the four-mast Cecilia Sudden. '' The worst thing that can happen to you on a schooner is that you carry away the boom tackles," he told me .

He meant if you catch aback. If that happens to you in a square-rigger you might- under the worst circumstances-be caught alee and capsize. In a schooner you just lose the boom tackles. Even with moderate winds, being caught aback in a square-rigger was no fun . You 've got a lot of work . You can't just brace around . You 've got to run before the wind . . . you've got to square in the crojik, square in the main , and finally square in the foremast. And then you ' ve got to come around again .

That's a hell of a lot of effort. In a schooner you just let go the boom tackles (assuming it wasn ' t blowing that fresh that they actually carried away) and you 're on the other tack .

Of course, you've got to clew up the topsails and set them on the other side.

What Keegan said made a certain amount of sense, although I won't say I was convinced at the time . But gradually I began to appreciate a schooner-a Pacific Coast lumber schoonermore and more. Over the years I have been reading about accidents to European sailing ships and to American Downeastbuilt vessels-how they behaved in bad weather in the Atlantic and the damage they suffered. I have come to the conclusion that our West Coast-built vessels like the Melrose were probably better sea boats. West Coast-built vessels went through hurricanes and survived with less damage, I am sure, than would have been incurred by these other craft I mention.

I would not be afraid to take a vessel like the Melroselumber laden, cargo well stowed and secured-anywhere on earth in any kind of weather. Even with a below-deck cargo SEA HISTORY, WINTER 1985-86

(and no deck load) they were sea kind. This may be due to the fact that a great deal more timber was built into Pacific Coast ships. I admit that I may be prejudiced and I am onl y going on what I have read and heard about these other craft.

I have never sailed in a Downeaster or a European wooden ship.

Keegan was in hi s fifties; I had just turned thirty. I could not help but feel that he resented my taking command of a ship that he believed he should have had . He told a story on himself: It seems that he had a supply of whiskey aboard the Melrose and it di stressed Mrs. Keegan. She searched and searched and finally found it , saying nothing. All he knew was that his bottles disappeared one day . Now it was hi s turn to search.

Knowing his wife , he was sure that she would not have thrown the whiskey overboard. So he quietly ransacked the after quarters of the schooner. " Now , let 's fi gure this out. It can' t be far. . . . " In the bathroom there was hanging on a hook a big copper tea kettle . Thinking in terms of what kind of container could accommodate that much booze , the kettle came to mind . He craned his neck and gave a good sniff. End of the trail. That made it very convenient for him for some weeks to come. Just tip the kettle a little ... take a sw ig at the spout. Much better than looking after a bunch of bottles, corking and uncorking.

Treanor had been a figure on the waterfront for thirty or forty years by the time I took command . The Melrose was Peg Leg 's schooner, everybody knew that (although Mike McCarron had her first and one of the Murchi son's later) . But now he was minded to take a trip off .. . and what a mess he left behind. The Melrose had arrived in San Francisco with a cargo of copra from Fiji and it was still being di scharged when I went on board and found her leaking like a basket.

Doors were off the hinges or mi ssi ng altogether. There was a turd in the second mate 's bunk ....

So when I got to sea I kept myself busy . I was handy with tools. In addition to sailing the schooner and carrying cargoes and making money with her, I set to work to put her to rights.

I made a new topmast and booms. I recaulked and puttied the poop and planed it off to look like a new deck. I renewed frames in the lifeboat and put in new planks where the boat needed them . I built myself a new bunk , a settee and a new desk . Over a period of time I also built new bunks and desks in the mate's and second mate 's rooms.

I was young, I worked hard . I built doors, I built tanks-I made two of these big oval shaped deck tanks out of redwood 4 by 6 by 8 feet. I sheeted the deck in the galley and caulked same. I built new bins and tables in the galley and a bunk for the cook. I told Dr. Oliver to order me a length of California laurel from the blockmaker Gallois. Gallois had a tin building standing pretty much by itself between Spear and Main Streets on Mission . (I think that all around him was burned out during the fire.) From this laurel I made three lower sheet blocks like the one made into a lamp in Karl Kortum's living room .California laurel , of course, is the same wood as Oregon myrtle-supposed to grow only in these states and in the Holy Land . I must have forgotten a few things in this list , such as making picture frames and framing pictures .

When a schooner got to leaking bad , when he had run her down to rags, then Treanor got off. When, after a period of time a new captain-this time me-had her fixed up again , new sails, recaulked-then Bill Treanor would come back. " Have somebody else fix it" -that was his middle name . Peg Leg had got his reputation that way as an economical captain. ,i, To be continued.

47

NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY E . M ARK B ECKMAN G . A. B ECNEL W ALTER BELL AMERI CA co~SERV>\TIO~ ASSOCIATION JER0'1E B ELSON APEX M ACHINE (ORPORATIO'l JAMES B EN'IETT AR ON C H A RITA BLE TRUST ARTH UR A . BIR Nl:.Y VI NCENT ASTOR F OUNDATION ELIZA BETH BL.AIR H ARRY B ARON JAN B JORN-H ANSF..N B EEFEATER FOUNDATION CARROLL N . 8J URNSON ALLEN G. B ER RI E ARTHUR BLACKETT BowNE & Co . INC D ANA B uss E DWA RD & DoROTHY CA RLTON P AUL M . Bl.00'1 EDNA M cCONNELL CLARK FOUNDATION K ARL B OU.MAN R EBEKAH T. D ALLAS JESSE B O,tTECOU Lo1S D ARLING CAPT R . A . B o" Ll-.:G U N ( R H . ) JAM ES R. DoNALDSON B ARRY L. B OYER EVA GEBHARO..GOURGAUD fDTN CAPT R OBERT G . B RAUN JAMES W . GLANVILLE ERNEST S BREED PETER G OLDSTEIN M R & MRS M AUR ICF J . BR ETZAELD W . R . GRACE F OUNDATION FREDERICK BREWSTER H AIG HT. GARDNER . P OOR & H AVENS L AWRENCE BR l:WSTER CAPT & MRS PA UL R. H EN RY K . L. BRI EL ELISABEru S. H OOPER FDTN DR CHARLES M . BRIGGS CECIL H OWARD CHARITABLE THOMAS H . BROADUS . JR TRUST JACK BROOKS ALAN H ITTCHISON JAMES H. BROUSSAND I N"T'ERNATIONAL LoNGSHOREMEN D AVID F . BROWN LcDR R OBERT )RVING (USN R FT l R AYMOND G . B ROWN JAMES P . McALLISTER Assoc R AY BROWN MD R. JEFFERSON FREDERICK B RUE."llNER B A RB A RA JOHNSON STEVEN W 8RUM"El I RVING JOHNSON WM F . B UCKU' Y JR H ARR IS K EMPN ER JOHNS . B u LI A . ATW ATER K ENT. J R ADM ARLEIGH B URK I:.

D AVID H . K OLLOCK USN (RET) J. K EV IN L ALLY R OBERT J . 8 URK l:.

H . THOM AS & E VELYN L ANGFRT CRAIG B URT. JR H . R. l...oGAN JAY G . B URWtLL J AMES A. M ACDoNALD F ON STEVEN 8 UTTERW0RTll CLIFFORD 0 . MALLORY, JR JOHN H . BYRN E M ARINE SOCIETY , PoRTOF NY THOMAS P . BYRNES MRS ELLICE M CDoNALD. JR JOHN CADDELL SCHUYLER MEYER. JR JAMES R . CADY MILFORD B OAT W ORKS. I NC BOYD CAFFEY M OBIL Ou. CORP JOHN CALDER MR & MRS SPENCER L. M URFEY . JR MR & MRS STEELE C. CAMERON N EW YORK COUNCIL. N AVY H ARRIET CAMPBEi.i.. I NC L EAGUE OF lliE UNITED STATES PAUL CAPRON RICHARD K . PAGE ELio C APUANO A . T . POUCH. JR MR & MRS PETER CAROOZA JOHN G . R CXiERS 0 . C AREY B ARBARA SCHLECH TH0 \1 AS S . CARLES SIRIUS BROKERS DA VID CARNAHAN A . M ACY SMITH MRS JOSEPH R . C ARTER JEAN S . SMITH MR & MR S R E . CASSIDY S ETI-I SPRAGUE F OUNDATION A . CHAPIN N ORMA & PETER STANFORI) JAM ES E. CHAPMAN EDMUND A. STANLEY , JR TERR Y CHAPMAN G OROON THOMPSON RICHARD D . CHASTA IN TIDEWATER PuBLISIUNG CORP ALAN G . CHOATE SHANNON WALL. N . M . U .

D AVIDS . Ctt0MEAU H ENRY PENN WENGER ERBERT Clef.NIA MR & MRS. WILLI AM T . WttlTE ALB ERT C . CIZAUSKAS. JR YANKEE CLIPPER MR & MRS C. THOS CLAGETT. JR CAPT OWEN CLA CY A . J. CLARK C HARLES A . H ENORE JACK A . Cl.ARK JAMES P. F ARLEY JAMF.S M . CLARK W . J . H ENTSCHEL H ERBERT A . CLASS l..oBSTER INN. I NC CAPT L. H . CLAUSEN C. N . MILLER G EORGE F . CLEMENTS R OBERT A .

ICHOl..S F ERNANOO T ORRF.S CLOTE E . A . PoSUNIAK J. E . C OBERLY H AVEN C. R OOSEVELT JOHN COEN H OWARD SLOTNICK EDWARD COLLINS Swiss AMERICAN S ECURITIES JOHN J . COLLINS EDWARD ZELINSK Y J . F ER RELL COLTON WILl.I AM COMBS COMMONWEA LTH OF M ASSACHUSETTS CDR & MRS R . E . C ONRAD Y JAMES D . ABELES TREVOR CONSTABLE WILLI AM K . ABELES JAMES COOK C . F . ADAM S L. CDR MICHAEL CORDASCO E . DouGLAS A DA MS RICHARD C. CORRELL JAMES K . AHEARN MR & M RS ROY G . CossELMO'I RAYMOND AKER H A ROLD R . COTrLE MD M AX A . ALBERT FRANK COYLE L. H . ALBERTS WILLIAM P . Cozzo P . M . ALDRI CH CAPT ALAN 8 . CRABTREE RICHARD B . ALLEN W ALTER CRONKITE R OBERT & RHODA AM ON BRIGGS CUNNINGHAM H . L. AMOS JOHN CURRY C HARLES ANDER SON R USSELL CURTIS J . W . A NDREWS ALBERT l. CUSICK RICHARD ANGLES CIJTTY S ARK SCOTS WHISKY PETER ANSOf'F D EXTER J . ANDERSON ALICE D AOOUR IAN M ORGAN D ALY MR . & MRS.W ALTER ANDERSON PETER T . DAMON ANDRE M . ARMBRUSTER CoR W . H . DARTNELL LA URENCE H . ARMOUR. JR STAN DASHEW JACK ARON JAMES K . DAVIDSON PETER ARON ASSOCIATION OF M ARYLAND PILOTS JOAN DA VJDSON EDWIN D AVIS R OBERT H . ATHEARN F . K ELSO DAVIS ATWATER K ENT FON . I NC KRI S H . C . D AVIS BILL A UBRY D ENNIS D EAN JOHN J . A VIGNONE P. S . D E BEA UMONT JAMES A . B ABSON JOHN f>. DEBONIS ARlliUR B . B AER R oeB D F.GNON H ARRY K . B AILEY D AVID M . B AKER ANNE D EIKE EDWARD A . DELM AN JOHN 8 . BALCH 8 . A. BALDWIN. JR J. A . D E L UCE R OBERT H . D EMERE H ERB B ALL DEBORAH D EMPSEY R OBERT B ALY PAUL DEMPSTER R ONALD B ANCROFT JOSEPH DE P AUL & SoNS JAMES B ARKER R OBERT E . D EVLIN F . J . B ARR Y HIRAM DEXTER J . H . B ASCOM D AVID S ASSING BRENT DIBNER WILLIAM BAUER M ALCOLM DICK JAMES DICKM AN B ENJAMIN B AXTER PETER B ECKER ANTliONY DIM AGGIO

SPONSORS

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DONORS

PATRONS

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CHARLF.S W . D ILLON R . DoAK A . J . DoBLER D AVID L. DoOOE WILLI AM M AIN DoERFLINGER 0oLPHIN BOOK CLUB DEAN DoUGLAS JOSEPH 0oYLE

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JEREMIAH T. DRISCOLL CDR EDWARD I Du-.;-.: R . J. D UNPH Y JOHN D USENBURY D AVID B EA TON H OWA RD H. EDDY EDSON CORP MR & MRS ALBERT EHINGER G EORGE F . EMER' FRED EMMERICH D AMON L ENGLE G ALE M . ERNEST MR & MRS R . S ERS KINF . JR CoR L. F. EsTEs D AMARIS ETHRIDGF WILLIAM EvERDELL CAR L G . EVERS Jo m" & CAROL EWALD H ENRY EYL JOHN P FAHY H ENRY F AIR LEY Ill JOHN H ENRY FALK GEORGE FEIWELL GERALD FELDM AN L YNN S . F ELPS MR & MR S STFPHEN M . FENTON 111 WU. LIAM W . FEILD H AROI n B. F1_o;;o;;1,N1>1 N DouGLAS F1FE JOHN FISCllER M ORG AN FITCH CHARLES FLEISHMA NN ElLEN FLHCHER MR & MRS B ENJAMIN FOGLFR JAMES F OLEY DR & MRS BR ENT FOLLWFILER F . S FORD . JR JOllN FOSTER CAPT WU.LIAM FR ANK FRED FREEMAN DR & M RS Louis FREEM.$,N CHARLF.S M . FR EY J . E. FR ICKER DR H ARRY fRIED"AN RICHARD GALLANT WILLI AM E. GAROPICK . JR R OBERT GARVIN MR & MR S R OBERT GATl:.S B FRNARD M . GEIGER GEORGE E NG INE COMPANY E . NORMAN G EORGE N ORM A G . GERMANY CHARLES D ANA GIBSON WIU.IAM GILKERSON L CDR B . A . GILMORF W . F . GITHENS AnvELL & CLARE GLASSELL RICHARD GLEASON H ENRY GLICK J AM I~ E . GOLDEN PRODUCTIONS PETl:.R J . GOULANDRIS OLIVER R . GRACE PHILIP GRAF ARTH UR S . GRAHAM J IM GRA Y B ERNETT GREEN C . WILLI AM GR EEN fl R OBERT H . GREGORY D . GR EIMAN H EN RY F . GREINER MRS C . W ALTER GRIFFI N D AVID B . GR IFFITH R OI. AND D . GRIMM CHARLES G ULDEN GULF STATES PAPER CORP R . H . G ULLAGE LCDR EMIL G USTAFSON H ADLEY E X HIBITS. I NC M ORTIMER H ALL CAPTAIN H AMILTON JOHN R. H AMILTON R OBERT K . H ANSEN CLIFFORD H ASLAM ARVIO H AVNERAS WILLIAM H AYDEN M ARSHALL D E L. H AYWOOD CAPT JAMES E . H F.G THOP,.tAS H ENRY WI LLIAM R. H EN RY H AROLD HERBER W . R . H ERVEY JAMES D . H ERWARD H ERBERT H EWllT R OBERT J . H EWllT R OY H EWSON CARL W . H EXAMER H . H . HICKS H OWARD E . H IGHT CHARLES H ILL K ARENINA M ONTliEIX H OF"FMAN W ALTER W . H OFFMAN R OBERT W. H OFFMANN RICHARD H OKIN DWIGHT H OLLENBECK PETER H OLLENBECK JOHN W . H OLTER COR . ALFRED E . H ORKA Aux T . HORNBLOWER T OWNSEND H ORNOR CA.PT M . F . H ORVATH GoDFREY G . H OWARD CAPT. DREW B . H OWES THOMAS H OYNE. Ill

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H UBACH PER H UFFELDT WILLIAM H UU CK Ill FR ANCIS H UNTINGTON H YLAND GRANBY ANTIQUES JA MF.S B . )GLEHEART INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF M ASTERS. M .-.TES & PI LOTS ISLAND Y ACHT SALES, INC G EORGE JVEY RICHARD JACOBS

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T OBY JAFFE CAPT GEOR GE W . JAHN COL GEORGE M . JAMES PAUL C. JAMISON L EONA RD C . JAQUf_<; B OYD JEWETT CtlARLES W . JEFFRAS ARNOLD JONA.SSE CARL A . JOHNSON N EILS W . JOHNSON A LAN JONES C HARLES M . JONES THOM AS JOSTEN W . J . JOVAN W . H ADDON JUDSON W . 8 AILH K AHL B EAN K AHN NOR M AN K AMERMAN'I AR NET K ASER NEIL K EATl'IG J . K FLLY CAPT JOHN M . K ENNA DA Y JOHN K ENNEY G . W . R. KENRICK JOHN F . KERNODLE Ill WILLARD A . KIGGINS R oBtRT J. K1fl.m s FRANCIS KI NNFY JOHN KINNEY C HARLES E. KIR SCH N OR MAN KJ ELDSFN R . J. K NEELAND ELIOT K NOWLES Eu.ion B K NOWLTON H ARRY K NOX WILLI AM I. K OCH ARTH UR K OELLER B . D K OEPPEL K ARL K ORTUM RICHARD W . K OSTER W ILLIAM H. KR AMER ANDREW KRA VIC K ENNETH KROEHLER G EORGE P . KR OH R OYDEN K UESTER Scorr K ULICK E A NTHON Y L AM ARCO FREDERICK N . L ANG JOHN R . L ANGELER CAPT WILLIA M R . L ARSON

CAPT Louis M OCK RICHARD MONSEES MD C . S. M ORGAN SAM UEL W . M ORRIS J . R . M ORRISSEY ANGUS C . M ORRISON MR & MRS EMIL M OSBACl l ER. JR WILl.IAM M UCHNIC EDWARD M UHLFELD DR & MRS J. M ULLE JAMES W . M ULLEN II WILLI AM A . M ULLER WILLIAM G . M ULLER CAPT G. M . Mus 1CK RAY M USTAFA M. J . NAGY JAMES W . NAMMACK, JR NANTUCKET SHIPYARD. I NC H ARRY L. N ELSON . JR M ERR ILL NEWMAN Scorr EWH.-.LL NEWSOAY L ARR Y NICKEL M ORRIS W . NEWMA N WIU. I AM L. NICHOLA S MI LTON G . NOlTINGHAM D. G. OBER 0cEAN IC NAVIGATION RESEARCH SOCIHY CLIFFORD 8 . O'HARA T . M ORGAN o· H oRA D ENNIS O'MALLEY J . o · NE1L1.

R OBERTS OWEN PAC IFIC ·GUL~ M A RI NE. INC ALBER T F. P.o\DLEY LI NCOLN & ALLISON PA INE JANE P ARFET L A IRD PA RK . JR S . T . P ARK S RICHARD H . PARSON JAMES A. PAITEN M ARY PEABODY JOHN N . PEARSON EARL PEDERSEN MR S. G . L. PEUSSERO A. A. . PENDLETON CA IYf. D . E. PERKI NS TIMOTHY L. PERRY . JR PETERSON B UILDERS. INC DoNALD PETIT

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H ENRY PETRONIS WI LLIAM PElTITI STEPHEN f>FouTS W ALTER PHARR MR & M RS NICHOLAS PHILLI PS VINCENT J . PIEC YK MR & M RS 5 . W . PORTER. JR G EORGI: POST MR & MR S ALBERT PRATI THF.OOORE PR ATI W . C. LENZ I RVJNG PRESTON M A RT INE PR ICE PHILIP L EO ARD MR & M RS T E . L EONARD FR AN K C . PRI NDLE A . J . PusATER I A ARON L EVINE L ARRY LEWIS B EN D . RAMALE Y H OWARD LICHTER MA N THOR H. R AMSING D A VIO W . LI NCOLN MICHAEL B. R ATC'UFF RICH ARD RAnt SALLY LINDSAY CAPT L . M . loGAN AR V I E. RATY MR & MRS W ORTH Loof\US JAMF.S R EDICAN RICHAR DO l..oPES CAPT B ARTif R EED JIM H . REED CALEB LoR ING T . LAWR ENCE L UCAS COL ALFRED J . R EESE JOHN R EILLY CHARLES L UNDGREN FR EDER ICK REMINGTON JOHN E . L UNDIN P . R. J. R EYNOLDS Jmm J . L YNCll . JR PETER PEIRCE RICE KENNETll LYNCH & SONS DoUGLAS 8 . RICHARDSON RADM H ARVEY L YON EDWARD R1TIENHOUSE R oss M ACD UFFIE E . D . R OB BINS. MD MR & M RS R . M AcCRATE CAPTAIN WILLI AM H . M ACF ADEN R EED R Oll ERTSON C HA RLES R . R OBINSON R OBERT M ACFA RLANE PETER R OBINSON M . D . M ACPH ERSON L AWRENCE H. R CXiERS . JI JOSEPH B . M ADISO R OBERT H . M AHLAND D AN IEL R ose VINCENT M AI DA VID R OSEN A . 8 . R OSEN BERG PETER M ANIGAULT JAMES PEARSON M ARENA.KOS LESTER ROSF.N BLAlT DR M ORTON L. D . R OSENTHAL JOSEPH A . M AN LEY M ARIN T UG & B ARGE . I NC hlER R oss FR ANK J . M ARSDEN PH1uP Ross JAMES W . ROYLE. JR RA Y M ARTIN RICHARD W . MARTI N S. M. RUST D A.VII) R . RY AN LAWRENCE MARX . JR WILLIAM R . R YAN THOMAS F . M ASON M . J . RY AN R OBERT MASTRCXi lOVANNI PHILIP M AlTINGL y R . 0 . RYDER C HARLF.S I RA SACHS PETER M AX JollN M AY SA IL DoROTHY M cCONNELL JOt-IN F . SAUSBURY JAMES M . S.\LTER Ill H AROLD J . M cCORMICK C REW OF THE SS BT SAN DIEGO R OBERT M CCULl.OUGH SAN D11~ YACHT CLUB R. M cCURDY A . H ERBERT SANDWEN CAPT E . C. M c DoNALD JAM ES G . SARGENT GEORGE P . M CDoNOUGH H . R . SAUNDERS . JR JEROM E M cGLYNN H OWARD M cGREGOR . JR JOSEPt l SAWTELLE W . B . H . SAWYER JAM ES M CN AMARA R . J . SOI AEFER MESA DISTRICT 2 CLYTIE P. M EAD D AVID & B ARBARA SCHELL M ADELEINE SCHULHOf'F JAM ES M EADE R OBIE.RT C. SEAMANS. JR .

PETERS . M ER RI LL FREID SEEBER T OM METZGER J . PA UL MICUIE R . Fr. SEIFERT DI ELI.LE FLEISHMAN SEIGNIOUS EDW ARO MILLER M ARR VIN SHAPIRO JOHN MILLER W!LLUAM SHAPLAND STUART MILLER MICFllAEL T . SHEEHAN MICHAEL MILLS R . K ENT MITCHELL WILLLIAM A SHEEHAN R OBBERT V . S HEEN. JR .

CHESTER MIZE

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K ENNETH W . S t-IEETS . JR SHIPS OF TH E SEA M USEUM DAVID SIMMONDS GEORGE SIMPSON PAUL SIMPSON R OBERT SINCERB EAUX FRANCIS D . SKELLEY E ASTON C. SK INNER SANFORD SL.A VIN CHARLES R . SUCH. 111 E. K EITH SUNGSBY ER IC P ARKM AN SM ITH CAPT GEORGE E. SMITH H OWARD SMITH LEE A. . SMITH M ELBOURNE S~·ll'I H SAM SMITH THOMAS SMITH W ALTER A . SMITH MR & MRS EDWARD W . S OWDON E . P . SNYDER M AX SOLMSSEN SONAT M AR INE. INC CONWAY B. SONNE SOUNDINGS T . SPIGELMIR E JACK B . SPR INGER M ANLEY SPR INGS PHILIP STENGER S USIE S TE HOUSE CDR V1CTOR B . STEVENS . JR W. T . STEVENS WI LLIA M STEWART J . T. STILLMAN H ERBERT STOCKMAN LT. H OWARD L . STONE H ARLEY STOWELL WILLIAM STurr FR ANK SUCCOP D AN IEL R . S UKIS BR UCE SULLIVAN CAPT JOHN 0 . SvENSSON RICHARD SWAN SIADHAL SwEENEY J . C . SYNNOlT D AV IS TAYLOR R . T AYLOR C. PETER T !lEUT B ARRY 0 . THOMAS CLARK THOMPSON JOHN TH URMAN L UIGI TI BALDI R OBERT TICE DoUGLAS A . TILDEN CARL W . TIMPSON . JR WILLIAM E . T INNEY GEORGE F . T OLLEFSEN ANTHONY T N.ALLA JAMES D . T URNER ALFRED T YLER II UNI VERSA L M AR ITIM E SERV ICES CORPORATION U . S . LI NES K ENNETH F . URBAN R ENAUD V Al.ENTIN CAPT R OBERT D . VALENTINE MA RION V ALPEY T ED VALPEY D . C. M . VAN DER K ROFf JOHN D . VAN !TALLIE PETER VA.NADIA DALE R . VoNDER AU VAN 0MMEREN SHI PPING BL. AIR VEDDER . J R R . W . JACK VOIGHT JOHNC . V OLK FRANZ V ON Z IEGESAR JOHN VR EELAND JAM ES W ADATZ GLENN IE W ALL ALEX ANDER J . W ALLACE R AYMOND E . W ALLA CE ALEX ANDER W ATSON THOMAS J. W ATSON . JR .

MR & MRS TIMOTHY F. WEB ER DAVID W ATSON W . H . W EB B M RS. ELIZABETH W EEDON R AYNER W EIR THOMAS W ELLS L. H ERNDON W ERTll MICHAEL W ESTBROOK JOHN W ESTREM SI R GORDON WH ITE KBE C RAIG W . WHITE JOHN·ROBERT WHITE R AYMOND D . WHITE G . G . W11rrnEY. JR .

FR JAMES WHITfEMORE L AURENCE WH!lTEMORE WI LLIAM A . A . WICHERT CAPT. H AROLD B . WILDER J. S. WILFORD STEPHEN J . WILLIG EDWARD W ILSON R OBERT WILSON JOSEPH W 1NEROTH JOHN F . WING WILLIAM F . W ISEMAN W OMANS PROPELLER CLUB .

PORT OF B OSTON DoRAN R . WR IGHT GLENN W YAlT WILLIAM C. W YGANT YACHTING JOHN YOUELL HENRY A . YOUMANS R AN DOLPH S . YOUNG KIRK Y OUNGMAN W . J. Y UENGLING CHARLES ZEIEN TH E ZNIDER·s

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Engineering 'Ibmorrow's Sea History

One of two ship simulators at MITAGS, inside of which is an array of instruments normally found aboard ships. These simulators offer unlimited operating areas to train deck officers in the principles of ship handling.

This is MM&P Country This strange-looking device is one of two ship simulators at the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies which is used to train MM&P deck officers in the principles of ship handling in a variety of environmental settings. Students on the bridge of the simulator react to varying situations programmed by the instructor. On command, the legs of the machine cause the bridge to pitch and roll plus or minus 20 degrees and heave as much as 18 inches.

Ship officers return regularly to MITAGS to sharpen their skills and learn new ones-all on dry land-while they navigate their way through any number of simulated waters with com plete safety.

MITAGS is the result of a close and profitable collaboration between MM&P and the American flag shipping companies in their joint Maritime Advance me nt , Training, Education and Safety (MATES) Program .

LLOYD M. MARTIN

ROBERT J. LOWEN

International Secretary-Treasurer

International President

International Organization of

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