Sea History 064 - Winter 1992-1993

No. 64

NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY

WINTER 1992-1 993

~EA HISTORY:

75

THE ART, LITERATURE, ADVENTURE, LORE & LEARNING OF THE SEA

STEAM & SPEED: p ART I, How STEAMSHIPS PADDLED OUT OF THE SHALLOWS INTO THE OCEAN WORLD The Steamship Central America A Gallery of Stearn

SPECTACULAR NEW LIMITED EDITION PRINT by marine artist William G. Muller 1-;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;::;:;::;;::::;;;;;;;;;;;:;::::::::::::;:::::::::;:::::::::;:~=======;;;;:;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;~

"View from South Street, New York, in 1892" In this moonlit view, we look over the East River and Brooklyn Bridge from South Street at Fulton Ferry, as the full-rigged ship Largo Law sets sail with the tide on a September night in 1892.

In a lintited-edition of 950 signed and numbered prints at $1 7 5. 00 Image size: 20 1'2 " x 29 1/4" Sheet size: 27" x 35 1/4" Printed on 120 lb. acidfree stock.

Available through:

NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY

5 John Walsh Blvd., PO Box 68, Peekskill NY 10566-0068

For credit card orders phone 914-737-7878

Arti st's proofs and remarqued prints also available; please inquire.

Add $ 10 for shipping & handling. New York State residents add your local sales tax.

AMERICA'S TEAM

. . CENTRAL ~ GULF LINES, INC.

~Water• 11an ~

STEAMSHIP CORPORATION

PRINCIPAL SUBSIDIARIES OF INT ERNAT IONAL SHIPHOLDING CORP ORA T ION

ISSN 0146-9312

No.64

SEA HISTORY

SEA HISTORY is published quarterly by the National Maritime Historical Society, Charles Point, PO Box 68, Peekskill NY 10566. Second class postage paid at Peekskill NY 10566 and additional mailing offices. COPYRIGHT © 1993 by the National Maritime Historical Society. Tel: 914 737-7878.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Sea History, Charles Point, PO Box 68, Peekskill NY 10566.

MEMBERSHIP is invited. Plankowner $10,000; Benefactor $5,000; Afterguard $2,500; Sponsor $1,000; Donor $500; Patron $250; Friend $100; Contributor $50; Family $40; Regular $30; Studentor Retired $15. All members outside the USA please add $10 for postage. SEA HISTORY is sent to all members . Individual copies cost $3.75.

OFFICERS & TRUSTEES : Acting Chairman , Alan G. Choate; Vice Chairmen, James Ean , Richardo Lopes , Edward G. Zelinsky; President & Secretary,Peter Stanford; Vice President, Norma Stanford; Treasurer, Nancy Pouch; Trustees , Karl Kortum, George Lamb, Brian A. McAllister, James J. Moore, Nancy Pouch, Ludwig K. Rubinsky, Marshall Streibert, Samuel Thompson, David B. Vietor; Chairman Emeritus, Karl Kortum OVERSEERS: Charles F. Adams, Townsend Hornor, George Lamb, John Lehman, Clifford D. Mallory, J. William Middendorf, II, Graham H. Phillips, John G. Rogers, John Stobart. William G. Winterer ADVISORS: Co-Chairmen, Frank 0. Braynard, Melbourne Smith; D.K. Abbass, Raymond Aker, George F. Bass, Francis E. Bowker, Oswald L. Brett, David Brink, William M. Doerflinger, John S. Ewald, Joseph L. Farr, Timothy G. Foote, Thomas Gillmer, Richard Goold-Adams, Walter J. Handelman, Charles E. Herdendorf, Steven A. Hyman, Conrad Milster, Edward D. Muhlfeld, William G. Muller, David E. Perkins, Richard Rath, Nancy Hughes Richardson, Timothy J. Runyan, George Salley, Ralph L. Snow, Edouard A. Stackpole, John Stobart, Albert Swanson, Shannon J. Wall, Raymond E. Wallace, Robert A. Weinstein, Thomas Wells, Charles Wittholz AMERICAN SHIP TRUST: International Chairman, Karl Kortum; Chairman, Peter Stanford; F. Briggs Dalzell, William G. Muller, Richard Rath , Melbourne Smith, Peter Stanford, Edward G. Zelinsky

WINTER 1992-1993

CONTENTS 4

DECK LOG

8

LETTERS MISSION: THE MARITIME EDUCATION INITIATIVE LOOKS AT WORK IN THE FIELD; THE ROBERT G. ALBION A WARD

12 STEAM & SPEED, PART I: HOW STEAMSHIPS PADDLED OUT OF THE SHALLOWS INTO THE OCEAN WORLD, Peter Stanford 20 MARINE ART: GALLERY OF STEAM

26 THE STEAMSHIP CENTRAL AMERICA AND HER ERA, Charles E. Herdendorf and Judy Conrad 30 MARINE ART NEWS 32 SHIP PORTRAITS : 150 YEARS OF SHIPS CHINA, Daniel C. Krummes 34 SHIPNOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS : TALL STACKS ' 92, VIKING REPLICA SHIPS SINK, AGE OF EXPLORATION WRECKS JOIN ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD, CAPE HORNERS WORLD CONGRESS 40 REVIEWS 46 DESSERT: VERDALEN: A LIVING LEGEND OF THE FJORDS, Olaf T. Engvig

COVER: "Steamer Great Western in New York Bay," by Mark Myers, watercolor 15" x 21 "_The British steamer Great Western, in 1838 the first steamer to establish a regular transatlantic service, makes her way through busy New York Bay. Myers is one of six talented artists represented in "Gallery of Steam," in the "Marine Art" section of this issue.

Join the National Maritime Historical Society today ... and help save America's seafaring heritage for tomorrow.

We bring to life America's seafaring past through research, archaeological expeditions and ship preservation efforts. We work with museums , historians and sail training groups on these efforts and report on these activities in our quarterly journal Sea History.

We are also the American Ship Trust,

which works to save ships of historic importance. Membership in the Society is only $30 a year. As a member ofNMHS, you'll receive Sea History four times a year, as well as other reports and notices of annual and other meetings.

Come aboard with us today!

To: National Maritime Historical Society, PO Box 68, Peekskill, NY 10566 Yes, I want to help . I understand that my contribution goes to help the work of the Society and that I'll be kept informed by receiving SEA HISTORY quarterly. Please enroll me as:

SEA HISTORY STAFF: Editor, Peter Stanford; Executive Editor, Norma Stanford; Managing Editor, Kevin Haydon ; Curator/Assistant Editor, Justine Ahlstrom; Accounting, Joseph Cacciola; Membership Secretary, Patricia Anstett; Membership Assistants, Bridget Hunt, Grace Zerella; Assistant to the President, Thomasina Ross ADVERTISING: Telephone 9 14-737-7878.

0 $30 Regular 0 $40 Family 0 $50 Contributor 0 $100 Friend D $250 Patron 0 $500 Donor 0 $1000 Sponsor

NATIONAL MARITIME IDSTORICAL SOCIETY

CHARLESTON

MARITIME FESTIVAL

Experience Brilliant "A Schooner Famous For Her Elegance And Speed"

Learn by doing. A salt water sailing adventure for adults.

For details call 203-572-5323.

MYSTIC SEAPORT@ SAIL EDUCATION PROGRAMS ..

September 24, 25, 26, 1993 Charleston, South Carolina

Celebrating America's rich maritime heritage.

Maritime paintings, sculpture, models, crafts, carvings .. . retail and commercial exhibitors along with numerous other maritime exhibits.

Parties interested in attending or exhibiting at this first annual event are invited to call now.

SOUTHEASTERN MANAGEMENT COMPANY

21 l Meeting Street I Charleston, SC 29401 I l•800•221 •5273

The Journey of Odysseus

t

Retracing the Odyssey through the Ancient Mediterranean June 15 - July 1, 1993 This summer, follow in the wake of Odysseus-explore the

ruins of ancient Troy, then sail to Mycenae, Agamemnon's kingdom; to Malta, island of Calypso; and to volcanic Stromboli, home of Aeolus; and to Ithaca, unspoiled island kingdom of Odysseus. With expert guest lecturers, you will gain new knowledge and insight about the ancient world and the continuity of culture up to our own time.

You'll enjoy contemporary pleasures as well; picturesque Tunisian villages, the lovely seaports of Bonifacio and Naples, and incomparable Istanbul, where East and West have mingled to create an exotic city.

Join us aboard the deluxe Aurora I this summeron this epic voyage that retraces the journey of Odysseus.

VINTAGE SHIP AND BOAT MODELS

DAVID

Inquire: Travel Dynamics 1-800-367-6766 or NMHS 914-737-7878

AIR

MARINE ART &ARTIFACTS

8BEACHSTREET,NEWYORK,NY10013 212 • 925 • 7867 By appointment 2

SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

3

DECK LOG People who work in history wince when they hear talk of history's " lessons." To ransack the records of our passage through time to abstract a set of answers as to what it 's all about is a generally futile (and sometimes dangerous) undertaking.

Besides, lessons are dull-where life, taken on its ow n terms , is never dull!

And it is to that fuller learning, a learning of the experience itself, that our efforts in hi story shou ld be devoted .

Some people distrust the idea even of the usefu lness of hi story-but not us.

We feel hi story is usefu l to mankind in ultimate ways. It is the heart of the timebinding processes by wh ich people learn from experi ence across generations.

But it should be taken whole, in multidimensional ways, as life itself is experienced. And it is our constant endeavor in Sea History to come at hi story that way, red iscovering its challenging uncertainti es, confronting its contradictions, and learn ing a kind of generosity of mind and spirit which can deal with these realities. This approach allows us to recogni ze opportunities in the difficulties of our own era in hi story, opportuniti es that rarely come in textbook lesson form.

We have a few words to say on this in the " Book Locker" in thi s issue, and there will be more to say in the Spring iss ue, where we take up the turning point in the Battle of the Atl antic , which occurred in the spring of 1943, just fifty years ago.

In thi s iss ue we look at the primary force which transformed ocean navigation in the hundred-odd years preceding that clim actic battle-the power of the steam engine. As this issue is being prepared for the printer, I worry over the ideas and words we use to picture this sweep ing change, and it is borne in on me how each development contributed, in unforeseen ways, to the nature and outcome of that battle to assure the passage of ships whose cargoes were to change the course of hi story.

But yo u' ve got to immerse yo urself in the story to see how those developments come stumbling onto hi story' s stage, and what happens to the story as a result. There ' s really no substitute fo r this full-bodi ed approach-and who in hi s ri ght mind wants one?

PETER STANFORD

4

•

LETTERS Convoy Catastrophe I read with great interestthearti cle " Convoy Catastrophe" in Sea History 62 as I had an Armed Guard crew on the Pan Kraft. She was not a tanker, as stated in the article, but a freighter of World War I vintage operated by the Waterman Steamship Co. of Mobile, Alabama.

Contrary to what was reported in the article, the Pan Kraft was still in the convoy when the order "scatter fanwise and proceed independentl y to destinations" was given . Being on the left side of the convoy , she had to steer more northerl y than before and soon ran into the ice. She then headed east along the edge. The German aircraft flew along the edge and picked off one ship after another.

Being faster, the escort vessels were sailing togetherto the east ofus. Lt. Comdr.

John Hall , captain of the corvette Lotus, requested permission from the escort commander to go back to pick up survi vors but was refused twice. The third time, for our ship, perm ission was given.

After taking the Pan Kraft crew aboard, the Lotus proceeded singly toward Novaya Zem lya. On the way, Lotus came across four or five men on a raft, with nothing e lse in sight. Several had clean white bandages. One of the surv ivors was the convoy commodore.

The sh ip had taken torpedoes in the stern, upended and had quickly sunk vertically. The forward deck cargo had come loose and, crashing downward, swept away the deck house. The submarine had surfaced , treated the wounded on board , take n the ir pi cture for propaganda purposes and put the men back on the raft.

Lotus proceeded to Matochkin Strait without further inc ident. We were transferred to a Liberty ship and went to Archangel where we stayed about a month . A British destroyer of the Tribal class took us to Murmansk, and the Tuscaloosa carried us on to Scotland.

Along the way, the Tuscaloosa sank a Qship, bringing survivors aboard.

(Footnote: When I asked Lt. Comdr.

Hall what I mi ght do for him, he said, " You can do nothi ng for me but yo u can send food to my parents," which I did .

John Hall ' s yo unger brother came to the US during the war for pilot training and visited my parents. He later died in an airplane accident during a British air show welcoming a Russian delegation to England shortly after the war.)

In the Spring of 1942 I sai led as Third Mate in Convoy PQ 17, on the Liberty ship John Witherspoon . Regarding the article " Convoy Catastrophe" in Sea History 62, from personal recollection and research , I would like to offer the following: On June 27, 1942, Convoy PQ 17 sai led from Hvalfjord, an inlet on the west coast of Iceland near Reykjavik, with 35 merchant ships, 20 flying the American flag, and two oi lers , SS A/dersda/e and SS Gray Ranger . G ray Ranger was to make the trip, while A/dersda/e, on July 2, would await the return of westbound Convoy QP 13. Gray Ranger suffered ice damage and took Aldersdale' s position to awa it QP 13, whi le A /dersda/e proceeded as fleet oiler.

On June 29, heavy fog grounded SS Richard Bland, and SS faford signaled she had ice damage and was returning to Iceland. It was two down and 33 to go.

These two ships should not be counted in the tall y of ships sunk. So 22 merchant vessels were lost, not 24 as stated.

JOHN S . M CCUSKER

New York, New York I read with interest about Convoy PQ-17 in the summer issue where I learned Jurgen Oesten had served on the Grille in Narv ik.

As a small boy, I played on the Grille whil e she lay in the Den Sa lvage Yard in Burlington, New Jersey , waiting to be cut up in 1948. I asked the managerofthe yard for something from the ship and received a small bronze ship 's clock D

!,

which I still have to this day .

I was told that the owners of the Grille, after the war, tried to use this ship for a number of duties, such as gambling and cru ises , but all fa iled financially. I was probably the last person to be on thi s beautiful ship before she was cut up.

HARRY VAWTER

RICHARDS . LENZER

Cedar Grove, New Jersey

Houston, Texas SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-1993

Columbus Series: Grace Under Pressure This note is about Sea History's eightpart series on Columbus. I just finished the last in stallment, put it down , and took a deep breath to mark considerable admiration. In the latest three years it has been my fate , like th at of man y other editors , writers and museum folk , to wade throu g h a clutch of books about Columbus, to di sc uss 500th anniversary programs by a half dozen organizations, and , in my case , to write a long piece on 1492 for Smithsonian while commissioning and editing several others.

In the process I ' ve become pretty well Columbused out. Even so, I read Peter Stanford on Columbus with pleasure. Graceful , hi storicall y informed in a time of galloping " presentism ," evenhanded in the midst of pernicious political correctness and accessible to the general reader, the seri es is a deli ght for anyone who cares about hi story or sailing. It is the best brief and popular accounting I've come across.

Magazine iss ues get lost, however. Is there a way yo u guys could print it all up ' together and make it available at a reasonable price to the membership?

TIMOTHY FOOTE Board of Editors Smithsonian Magazine I have read the latest work in the seri es on Columbus in the Autumn iss ue of Sea History. I want to te ll yo u what a splendid job has been done with thi s effort. The extremists have had entire ly too much to say about their own inte rests and biases, failing completely to take a bal anced view.By contrast, Peter Stanford's seri es has given the proper credit due to thi s remarkable man , at the same time acknowledging hi s flaw s.

It is vital , of course, as yo u have pointed out, to realize that Columbus was a man of hi s times and made no real pretension of being anything other than a capable seaman , a good navigator, and one with a spirit of adventure. (It 's of interest to note that even our own President George Washington was not without weaknesses).

I think these writings would be worth assembling into a publication of some kind before the era passes into hi story once more.

ROBERT W. HUBNER Butler's Island Darien , Connecticut SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

From Sea-Foam By some intervention of Poseidon your editors create contents of Sea History from sea-foam-like Aphrodite.

The Autumn issue attests to your prowess: li ghthou ses; Netherland waterways-hi story plu s vivid travel ; the Bo s ton-Li ve rpool race and the Kru zenshtern ' s tests of US hospitality.

Finall y, but really first, Peter Stanford's statesmanlike and va lid retrospective of Christopher Columbus and his milieu!

Congratulations.

SID EYW.DEAN , JR .

New York, New York Let's Hear It for Stan Hugill, the Shantyman In the Summer issue of Sea History , I was pleased to see John Townley 's appreciation of the life of my great friend Stan Hu gill. I would like to add a little more to thi s acco unt, in particular his life as a shantyman.

Stan co ll ected shanties from all he met over 20 yea rs at sea; and in the Caribbean he met co lorful characters like Harding the Barbad ian Barbari an, a black singer from whom he learnt the vocal hitches which he used to great effect in folk c lubs, and which no singer has been able to successfull y copy.

In the early 1950s, when a foundation was set up to put the 4-masted barks Pamir and Passat to sea again, he was involved in the training of the first crews and had connections with Kurt Hahn , the then-headmaster of Gordonstoun. It was Kurt who said he should write the shanties down before they were lost, and fate took a hand when he fell over a wa ll and broke a leg, which led to the eventual publication of Shanties from the Se ven Seas, published in l 961. Thi s book was to become the " bible" for a new breed of enthusiastic shanty singers .

Following hi s discovery by the folk world , he was much in demand at clubs and festival s up and down the country and hi s fame was spreading abroad. He was in demand in Holland, France and latte rly Poland , where a whole new shanty culture grew up, with hi s Shantiesfr om the Seven Seas being translated into Poli sh and being sung by youngsters of 16 to 20 years of age. I stood on a stage in Cracow to hear chants of "S tachu , Stachu," the diminuti ve of Stanislaw (S tanley) from as man y as 2,500 adoring fans . It was a breathtaking moment.

I would also offer these corrections to John Townley ' s account. Stan Hug ill

died on the 13th of May, not the 15th, and , unfortunately, hi s family was not with him when he died , but on their way to visit. Also, the Garthpool was not the last British commercial sq uare rigger, but the last deep waterman under the British flag. She sailed on the 23rd of October 1929 and was wrecked Armistice Day of that year, November 11 , at Ponta Reef, Cape Yerde- 1927 was not the year of her wrecking. "Fire Down Below" was indeed the last shanty sung aboard, but Stan told me man y times that it was sung a week or so before, and not on the day of the wrecking.

CHRIS ROCHE Surrey, England

Dra wing by Sran Hugill

I enjoyed John Townley ' s article on Stan Hugill in yourSummeredition immensely.

I'm doing research for a book on the yac ht Black Douglas, which was built for my father, Robert Roebling , by the Bath Iron Works and launched in June 1930. In November of that year, my parents departed on a trip aboard her around South America, which took them through the Straits of Magellan.

On the way, they experienced both crew as well as engine difficulti es , and stopped in Trinidad. The engine was repaired and the crew replaced . One of the sailors making up the new crew was none other than Stan Hug ill!

Stan remained with the ship through the Straits, did a beautiful pen and ink drawing of her there, and departed in Montevideo , when the call of the Argentine beckoned.

He contacted my mother and father from pri son camp during WWII , through the Red Cross, and they sent relief packages, including art supplies, up until the time we entered the war and this avenue was shut off. For years we thought he had become a war casualty, but in June of 1991 , when I was gathering information at the Maine Maritime Museum , I di scovered that I had just mi ssed one of Stan ' s fa mous shanty programs at Bath, by abo ut two weeks!

I called him immediately and in Au-

5

LETTERS ORIGINAL

ANTIQUE MAPS & SEA CHARTS U.S. & WORLDWIDE

aGRACE GALLERIES, INC. Box 2488, RR5 Brunsw ick, ME 04011

~·

(207) 729-1329 Call or write for li stings of your specific areas of interest

ANTIQUE MAPS • PRINTS • CARTOGRAPHIC BOOKS

6

g ust we were on hi s doorstep in Aberdovey. We spent a long weekend with Stan and hi s wife Bronwyn. I never quite mastered hi s beer and rum concoctions but we had a tremendou s exchange on log material, viewed videos transferred from l 6mm fi lm of the voyage, and went over endless still photos. It was wonderfu l getting the crew's perspective of the trip.

W .R. ROEBLI NG Longboat Key , Florida A Friend of Seamen The piece in the Autumn Sea History (No. 63, page 36) about the fiftieth anniversary of the United Seamen's Service pointed out President Roosevelt 's support of WW II merchant seamen and the United Seamen's Service; however, it neg lected to report that Mrs. E. S. Land, wife of Admiral E. S. "Jerry" Land , chairman of the Maritime Commission ( 1938- 1946), first suggested such an organization.

In hi s autobiography, Winning the War With Ships, Admiral Land relates the following: "I consider the USS one of the most important accomplishments of my maritime career and I take pride in say ing that it was the idea of my Betty. " In the opening months of the war merchant seamen came off ships which had run the submarine gauntlet and, because they wore no uniform , they were welcomed on ly at places where money could be sq uandered . When admitted to USO canteens they were accepted in a patroni zing manner; after surviving a torpedoing and days in open boats, they were dependent on handouts. To change thi s state of affairs , my wife urged that I take steps to start an organization for merchant seamen.

"At a conference in my office the USS was born , with Betty as godmother.

Clubs were establ ished, hotels leased , entertainment programs establi shed, and advice provided for those who had no other place to take their problems. The organization spread to nearl y every seaport where our ships could call. Incidentally , particul ar credit is due Madeleine Carroll , the number one pin-up girl of the Merchant Marine. " Although the Lands were Navy people, their support of the merchant marine seamen was second to none. The seed Mrs. Land planted grew into the United Seamen 's Service.

JOHN JOHNSTON Suffolk, Virginia

QUERIES

Steve Lawson is researching the ship Star of France built in 1877 by Harland & Wolff for J.P. Corry & Co. Interested in obtaining photos and relevant material on the vesse l, J. P. Corry & Co., Harland & Wolff, and the jute trade from 1870 to 1900. Can exchange information on ships and seafaring on the West Coast of the United States. Please write Mr. Lawson, 26015 Cypress St., #45, Lomita CA 90717.

William Wheeler, former director of the defunct Dunedin Maritime Museum in Florida, is looking for ownership information about the ketch Wyomi, for the period 1941 through 1978. The 25 1/2-ft vessel (LOD) was bui lt in 1925 from a design by Dunedin native John G. Hanna.

Wyomi was registered by Henry C. Warren at the Corinthian Yacht Club, Savannah , Georgia in 194 1. In 1978 she was in the ownership of Douglas G. Wellman of Port Clinton, Ohio. Contact Mr. Wh ee ler at 733 Edgewater Drive , Dunedin FL 34698.

Fora new book in hi s series aboutclasssic ocean liners, NMHS Advisor Frank 0.

Braynard is looking for names and addresses of people who came to the US aboard the linersRex and Conte di Savoia.

Contact Mr. Braynard at 98 Duboi s Avenue, Sea Cliff NY 11579.

Member John Lohmann is seeking a picture of the bark Fingal, used in the nitrate trade in the first decades of the 20th century. Please contact him at 450 I Sp1ing Creek, #298 , Bonita Springs FL 33923.

Brian Crawford is researching a book about a British privateer, the Port au Prince, which raided the west coast of South America before being captured and sunk in the Tonga Islands in 1806.

She was of 500 tons, 32 guns, and had been purchased by a Robert Bent of London , probably in 1804. She was formerly a French government vessel, Le General Dumouriez, captured by a British ship of war off Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

He is seeking any information about the vesse l, i.e.plans , origin, hi story , etc.

Please write to Mr. Crawford , 72 Oakland A venue, San Anselmo CA 94960.

SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-1993

NMHS MISSION:

The Maritime Education Initiative Looks at Work in the Field Wisconsin Fourth Graders "Adopt-a-Ship" Far from oceans and years past the tall sailing ships that estab li shed this country's reputation for commercial prowess , school children reach out to the sea and the lands beyond, writing to and learning from the captains and crews aboard American merchant marine vessels. The Propeller Club, led by Amelia Hansen of the Women's Propeller Club, initiated the Adopt-a-Ship program in 1936, forging ties between classes and merchant mariners with the intent of teaching students of the need for an adequate merchant marine.

Betty Coerber 's fourth grade class at the Evans School in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, has been following their ships since 1974. When school begins, the class is given the itinerary for their vessel. Ms. Coerber writes: "The shipmates' (as the students are referred to) excitement and enthusiasm remind one of Christmas Eve. They can't wait to begin their letters to the captain , hi s officers and crew. After introducing themselves, the shipmates ask questions about the cargo and the ports of call on the ship 's itinerary. This leads to an integration of social studies, hi story , geography, mathematics, lang uage, economics, art, literature, music and culture of our neighbors around the world."

Throughout the year, they correspond with the crew, receiving individuali zed answers to their specific questions. The culmination of the year is the Captain's Day Program when the captain joins the students for a day offestivities. The class is shown the applications of what they learned through hi s letters and they present awards to the captain for hi s contribution to their education.

The relationship turns school projects into adventures and brings out the skills of each student. In one case, recalls Ms. Coerber, a four-page personal repl y from a ship 's third officer turned an unenthusiastic potential drop-out into an Honor Society member. Students with artistic ability formed the "Ocean Breezes Card Company," designing greeting cards for all occasions to be sent with their letters. As partofthecuniculum, students prepare travelogues and videos and present programs for the school and the community.

Most recently, Ms . Coerber's students have become aware of the disintegration of America's merchant fleet and, with Captain J. D. Smith of the SS Eliza-

8

beth Lykes, have helped form "Save Our Ships," a national non-profit effort to educate the public about the need for a merchant marine fleet.

While the Adopt-a-Ship program currently has a waiting li st of 200 classes, other possibilities for correspondence with a vessel do ex ist. Ms. Coerber suggested spreadi ng the word about "Save

Our Ships" and encouraging school s to educate their communities about the merchant marine. Her class has also begun a pilot program with a barge company operating on the Mississippi River system . Teachers along the coasts or on other river systems could contact local commercial vessels to initiate simil ar programs.

JMA

Against the backdrop of a mural showing the Elizabeth Lyke' s route.Shipmate Meaghan Harvey presents awards of appreciation to Lt. Cmdr.

Douglas C. Lloyd (Marad), left, and Capt. J. D. Smith , Master, SS Eli zabeth Lykes.

Shipmates study the memorablia Captains RobinsonandSrnithsentfrorn ports of call on Elizabeth Lykes' s itinerary.

In Essex, Massachusetts, History Surrounds Students Among those who have called and written stores and marinas, visit the Historical in response to word about the Maritime Society or the Shipbuilding Museum and Education Initiative are teachers from share a wonderful sense of place, livelischools and museums, asking for infor- hood and avocation with their neighbors. mation on how they can incorporate MEI We hope, as a result, they' ll take better into their programs or telling us about care of their natural resources as they projects they have already done. become the planners and developers of In Essex, Massachusetts, a town with a their town ." (Essex Historical Society & wooden sh ipbuilding history that dates Shipbuilding Museum , Box 277, Essex back 300 years and accounts for some MA 01929) 6,000 vessels, the Essex Shipbuilding Museum has incorporated maritime education in the local elementary school curricul a. Grades two through six have maritime units which many teachers choose to include every year. Once a year, volunteers present a morninglong series of workshops for every student in the school, geared to different age groups.

"Prior to these efforts," says museum administrator Diana Stockton, "the classrooms in Essex offered the same fare as those in every other Massachusetts town. Now, at some point in their classroom education, Essex children have a chance to take a walking Students gather for a round of sea shanties by tour of the town and learn the history of Essex musician Daisy Nell as part of the Essex the sites of the restaurants, antique Port program.

SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

People Speak Out

And some respondents see the failure to teach history properly as a real threat to our way of life: "The loss of history and geography as a part of education is a threat to the survival of democracy."

"It is not only an essential part of education, it is an essential part of life."

This is the kind of response we ' re getting from people we asked to comment on the teaching of history, in connection with our Maritime Education Initiative series in Sea History. In these responses we find nearly total agreement that history is not adequately taught today. A few feel it 's well taught in their particular school, but most view the situation with real concern and even indignation: "I think it's a crime that we should have to revive our history. It should never have died."

"A knowledge of where our nation has come from is vital if we are all to play an active and productive role in defining where our nation is headed."

Why do people feel this way? For some history is an essential part of one ' s basic mental eq uipment: "History is as fundamental as math and English. It is the basis of understanding our country and the world."

Several observe the wealth of maritime resources and focus on ways to use them effectively: "History didn ' t come to us by plane or train but by boat! So, to revive history in our schools, let's not drill countless

The conviction that history can help us master current problems is widespread in these responses.

"Without history we know nothing! We will never find our way into the future without knowing our past."

dates from a book into the skulls of our students . ... But show them the towns and seaports where great ships anchored and brought our forefathers and traditions with them. You may forget hearing of someplace but [you' LL] never forget being there. " "A trip to a 'living history' site such as Mystic Seaport does more for a student than any number of textbooks or lectures, by placing the student within the context of history and instilling a sense of association between the student and the event or subject. " And some pay tribute to good work already accomplished by teachers in this field : "I applaud the efforts of those teachers who are making it fun for our children to learn history. In a pe1fect world, they would be the celebrities we all pay homage to."

The Re-named Robert G. Albion Award At l lAM on January 5 this year, a small group gathered in the Whitehall Club, overlooking the Upper Bay in New York harbor. They were there to mark the l 75th ann iversary of the packet ship James Monroe setting out on the first sai ling of a Black Ball packet from New York-a sai ling that the historian RobertGreenhalgh Albion stoutly maintained was the most important departure ever made from this port.

Who was there? Jan Larson of the Mystic Seaport Museum Education Department, to whom we presented the James Monroe A ward for her superb work teaching teachers how to teach maritime hi story: to wit, by getti ng them involved in maritime museums and programs. No one-night stands! What's offered is real , continuing invo lvement, otherwise don't bother. To which we say, Amen.

There to assist with the Amens and meet our ship' s company was Chaplain Don Kimmick of Seamen's Church Institute, and Peter Larom , the new director of SCI. Newly installed in sensitively adapted buildings in South Street Seaport, SCI has fulfill ed our long-held dream that South Street Rediviv us in this century would be a place of first resort not just of yachtsmen and tourists (bless 'em), but also working seamen .

Also on hand was Sid Dean of the SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

City Club of New York , a rare civic leader who understands the importance of seafari ng in the city's continuing story; David Vietor, newly elected Trustee of NMHS and executive producer for Sea History Films, an enterprise we share wit h the Acorn Foundation ; Paul Pennoyerof Project Sai l, in East Harlem, and Erin Urban of the John Noble Collection in Staten Island, and ... well , the Usual Suspects.

And some new ones! Steven Jones takes young New Yorkers out sailing who would never otherwise have the opportunity, in a program called Project City Kids. He told us the watchwords of this effort are discipline, adventure, and order.

Bob Albion had g iven a talk on the James Monroe's sai ling here, to an appreciative if raucous crowd of shipping men, just twenty-five years before; in honor of that occasion, we renamed the James Monroe Award the Robert G. Albion/James Monroe A ward. That will take some li ving up to.

Other A wards In accepti ng the Albion/Monroe Award, Jan Larson emphasized that her work with kids and teachers depends upon the work of others-historians, preservationists, ship keepers. And at the Society's Annual Dinner a few weeks earlier, on December 18 at the New York Yacht Club-a festive affair, attended by 111

people-our American Ship Trust awards honored such people.

One award went to the aircraft carrier Intrepid. This was presented by Rear Admiral Joseph F. Callo USNR (ret. ) and accepted for the ship by Larry Sowinski, longtime executive director of the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum under the chairmanship of the noted philanthropist Zachary Fisher, who has so successfully earned a place for the great ship in the heart of New York. Admiral Cal lo also recogni zed the work ofNMHS Vice Chairman James Ean, founding president of the project. And he spoke of the need for education in sea power, wh ich remains the essential underpinning of the new era of collective security and growing international trade the world is counting upon-a subject we ' ll be pursuing in the next Sea History.

The other Ship Trust Award was presented to Karl Kortum of San Francisco, with a message from Walter Cronkite, who could not present on this occasion.

Mr. Cronkite's remarks, delivered by Acting Chairman Alan Choate, concluded: " It seems¡ there is always more to be done. And in presenting the American Ship Trust Award to Karl Kortum we know ... he 's going to expect us to do more for his ships! Well,on behalf of our National Maritime Historical Society, PS we accept that burden."

9

1storic, antique Coast Survey maps from the 1800s Most Ameri can seaports and coastal waters . Reprints, too . Unique framed, great

as gifts . $1 bri ngs illustrate1 lists. Specify area.

CHARTIFACTS, DSH, Box 8954 Richmond , VA 2 22 . 804 272-71 20

GRISWOLD INN

fine frcs~ food nrccMCals•D•y Seven Days • Weck On 1bc Har~r in Vineyard Hivcn

soS -"9J·9"J

~r!i~~~a I':

ANTIQUE & MODERN

MARINE CHRONOMETERS Bought, Sold and Serviced

30' & JS' Classic F1al1ll Tug

. IL l "\., .rI 10 L• r4

..

24' & 29' Molorlaunch • Dlesel or SCeam

~am

There is a very spec ial place in Connecticut ca lled the Griswold Inn. It is so lovely that one wou ld think a poet designed and built it.

Opened at Essex on June 6, 1776, its longev ity gives witness to genuine New Eng land hospitality; fin e overnight accommodations, smi ling waitres ses, heavy-handed bartenders , homemade sausages, meat pies, prime rib, and local seafood.

World-famous marine paintings and brass bells and binnacles will seemingly transport you to another world.

Ring 203-767-1776 and we shall tell you even more about the 'Gris.'

36 Main St., Essex, CT 06426

29' Waler Tud. Dinner Crulser

J.P. Connor & Co. "The Chronometer Specialists" P.O. Box 305, Devon PA 19333 (Near Philadelphia) Tel : 215-644-1474

Custom built to exacting standards uncommon in today's market. Elegant yachts starting at $36,000. Loaded!

Call for brochure. Hull kits available.

American Classic Boatbuilders P.O.Box70385, Seattle, WA 98107

(206)784-9077 • Fax:784-9767

FOLLOW YOUR STAR

U.S.C.G. EAGLE

• • • • • •

Marine Sextants Aircraft Sextants Astro Compasses Chronometers Calculators Star Finders Plotting Tools Computer Programs • Books

131 ffi armion illay Rockport . Til assMhusrtl s 01966 (508) 546-2 211 Dec ided ly small - ini enti onall y quiet. Gracious hosp italit y in l uxurious surroundin gs w ith magnifi cent v i ew~. Our famous compl ete breakfast included. Spacious ground s, love ly ga rdens and amp le parking. Sorry, no chil d ren o r pe ts. Read abou t us in BED & BREAKFAST AMER ICAN STY LE, COUNTRY NEW ENGLAND I NNS. BED & BREAKFAST I N NEW ENG L AND. MOB IL GU IDE FODOR 'S Fea tured as " Bes t of th e Bed and Breakfasts,'' HI STO RI C PRESERVATION , May/June 1983. Voted 1988 " INN OF THE YEAR " by the readers of Pamela Lan ier's THE COMPL ETE GUIDE TO BED A D BREAKFASTS , INNS .& GUESTHOUSES I T HE UN ITED STATES AND CANADA. Th e NEW YORK T I MES calls thi s co mprehensive g uid e to ove r 4800 inns ". lik e Fra nce's Mi chelin ... " Ma y we send you our brochure?

***

OPEN APRIL TO NOVEM BER Leighton T. Saville

IO

Your Hosts: Dwight B. Macco rm ack, Jr.

FREE CATALOG

celestial navigation "world 's largest" 416 S. PERSHING

WICHITA, KS 67218 PHONE : 1-800-727-9785 FAX : 316-686-8926

NAUTICAL NOVELTIES P.O. BOX 622 NORTHPORT, NY 11768

SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

"The history is sound, the paintings dazzling ... not in some Disneyland 'antiquity' but in their functionality, their dynamic presentation of the problems of seafaring and the solutions men evolved to meet them ... Morris is clearly fascinated with the story of man's passage across the ocean ... These things explain a lot-everything except the sheer being-thereness and raw vitality of his portraits."

-Sea History

PACIFIC SAI1-._9 .

Pacific Sail: Four Centuries of Western Ships in the Pacific Roger Morris $29.95 Hardbound FOUR CENTURIES OF WBST.ER.N SHIPS IN THE PACIFIC

This compellingly handsome volume offers a sweeping history of the opening of the North Atlantic, from the Norse voyages, Columbus' great discovery, Verrazano, Jacques Cartier, and John Hawkins, through the Virginia Companies, Hudson, Champlain, the Spanish galleons, Grand Banks fishin g fleets, and the magnificent packet clippers of the mid-nineteenth century.

Ten Centuries of Exploration and Tmdeinche North Atlantic

Atlantic Seafaring: Ten Centuries of Exploration and Trade in the North Atlantic Roger Morris $34.95 hardbound

Roger Morris is a maritime artist of international repute, as well as a professional seaman of broad experience. The combination of his beautiful, detailed paintings and carefully researched text has produced two lively and fascinating books, invaluable additions to maritime literature.

Available at your local bookstore International Marine A Division of TAB /McGraw-Hill Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17294-0850

SHW

ed Part I

How Steamships Paddled out of the Shallows into the Ocean World Steamboats were a mechanical curiosity arousing little public interest two hundred years ago, when the first experimental vessels were built. But within the next half century they took over the waterways of America and Europe, and by 1838 regular transatlantic service had begun.

By then , the idea of the steamer and the steam rai 1road had captured people 's imaginations, as they began to see the world transformed by this undreamt capability of power and movement which seemed to betoken an actual change in the natural order of things .

It was in this aura of visionary change that the ocean-going steamship set out and, in the next half century, took over the sea routes of the world. Significant steps in the developing technology that made this possible were Brunel 's supership Great Britain of 1843-incorporati ng the innovation s of iron hull, compartmentation, double bottom, screw propeller-and the introduction of the compound engine in the 1860s, which cut fuel consumption in half, lengthening the short tether the steamer had had to work on. In the early 1900s, the turbine and the water-tube boileropened furtheradvances, leading to the ultimate passenger steamship, the United States of 1952, and the ultimate freighter, the SL-7 of 1972.

12

By Peter Stanford What survives of thi s period of sweeping advance in ocean navigation? Precious little; but the ships that have been preserved help us understand hi story .

And what significance did the oceangoing steamer have in world history?

Plenty; in fact the visionaries seem to have been right, and the ocean-going steamers that spread over the seas wrought change more far-reaching perhaps than their operators ever realized.

The path of progress looks simple in retrospect. In 1712 Thomas Newcomen built the first of hi s "atmospheric" engines used to pump ground water from English coal mines. The role of steam in these enormous engines was simply to be condensed, forming a partial vacuum in an open-headed cylinder, which drew the piston down with great force. A counterweight ponderously raised the piston again, and the cycle was repeated- perhaps ten times a minute.

In 1775, James Watt contributed the invaluable step of condensing the steam in a separate chamber, which sucked the piston down without going through the work of cooling off the cylinder. This immediately doubled the cycl ic rate from

about 10 to 20 strokes a minute, and cut fuel consumption 50%. This engine was becoming a practical proposition for more varied uses than fixed-place pumping. He also closed the top of the cylinder and created adouble-actingengine, with steam alternatively being fed in and condensed at both ends of the cylinder. And he developed gearing to transform up-and-down motion into rotary motion to drive wheels around rather than lift water in a pump.

On the Delaware River at Philadelphia, John Fitch, a transplanted Connecticut Yankee, got a four-knot steamboat going in 1787. He ran this boat and successors on trials for the next few years and even got a few paying passengers before going out of business for lack of fund s. This remarkable man was crotchety to a degree, at war with establi shed religion, with half his friends and supporters, and, it would seem, with himself. His boats were regarded as interesting mechanical devices, part of the general flowering of mechanical invention that broke out as the Industrial Revolution gathered headway.

But Fitch had a broader vision of his own work. He did not see the steamer merely facilitating river and harbor traffic, but changing the ocean world. He wrote: SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

(}

Fitch did not see the steamer merely facilitating river and harbor traffic, but changing the ocean world.

"The Grand and Principle object must be on the Atlantick, which would soon overspread the wild forests of America with people, and make us the most opulent Empire on Earth."

Few others, it would seem, shared that vi sion , and Fitch died a disappointed man after eleven years of further effort.

Robert Fulton ' s North River Steamboat (known to later ages as the Clermont) made her famous five-knot run up the Hudson in 1807 employing a BoultonWatt engine imported from England.

Thi s engine probabl y used steam under pressure at two or three pounds above atmosphere-so this engine was already becoming a true steam engine, depending on the push of steam under pressure, as well as the pull of a partial vacuum created by condensing steam.

In Scotland, in the meantime, the small steamer Charlotte Dundas had been built in 1802 to tow barges through canals. This proved to be a valuable service, though by 1830 steam rail way engines in both Great Britain and the United States had begun to cut into canal traffic. In both countries, however, the obvious advantage of towing sailing ships through narrow waters and crowded harbors led to a rapid growth in the towboat business, beginning in 1818 in New York Harbor and 1819 in the Thames. Throughout the first half-century of successful steamer operation, the main service of the steamboat in oceanic trade remained that of towing big sailing ships in and out of port. Indeed, the existence of the steamboat made the huge sailing ships of the later nineteenth century and early twentieth century possible.

Without this help, they simply couldn ' t be handled in New York ' s narrow East River or in Liverpool 's crowded Mersey or in the winding reaches of the Thames, serving London.

ropes hauled by lusty rivermen. Nicholas Roosevelt built the high-sided steamboa t New Orleans for the FultonLivingston group at Pittsburgh in 1811 and proceeded to take her downstream with hi s young wife and daughterthrough incredible difficulties, including a major earthquake that wrought havoc along the river 's sparsely settled banks. Once the boat reached the seaport city of New Orlean s, she could only get as far back upriver as Natchez, due to her heavy hull (which had stood them in good stead during the wild trip downriver!). Her weak Boulton-Watt condensing engine simply couldn ' t push her upstream against the growing downstream current above Natchez. That historic engine ended up powering a sawmill ashore.

But three years later another remarkab le person , Captain Henry Miller Shreve, gave up his keel boat and built a light riverine steamboat driven by a true steam engine with a 40-pound persquare-inch head of steam . Hi s boat rushed supplies to Andrew Jackson in time for him to fend off the British attack on New Orleans at the end of the War of I 812, then churned back upstream towing a string of keelboats. Shreve went on to pioneer steamboat navigation throughout the whole river system, opening an era when the steamboat whistle drew settlers to their inland waterfronts, and connected them to the oceanic world a thousand miles or more distant. That connection brought people, plows and axes to tame and farm the wilderness, letters and news-

PIONEER STEAMBOATS

John Fitch's ExPERIMENT, 1788

Coming of Age on America's Rivers In the United States, Fulton saw from the beginning the future of the steamboat not on the Hudson , where hi s patron Chancellor Livingston determined that they should launch the ir riverboat venture, but on the mighty MississippiOhio river system, which opened the heartland of America to navigation . Oneway flatboats , built to be scrapped for their lumber, made the trip from Pittsburgh to New Orleans, where the Mississippi debouches into the Gulf of Mexico . Keelboats made the round trip, but only one round trip a year, working their way upriver with poles and tow SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

Lord Dundas's CHARLOTIE DUNDAS, 1801

Robert Fulton's NORTH RrvER, 1807 13

Dickens said the steamer Britannia "throbbed like a strong giant that has just received the breath of life." papers to keep in touch with the wider world, and books to educate their children and keep their culture alive.

Driven by the urgent need for this kind of communication, steamboating flourished in the young American republic. As early as 1819, the year the first steamship crossed the Atlantic, there were 100 steamboats in American waters. A count taken a year later showed only 43 steamboats, by contrast, in the more industrially advanced British Isles.

An examp le reported by the Franklin, Missouri Intelligencer, hundreds of miles inland, shows why. On 30 April 1821 , it reported the arrival from St. Louis of the "large and elegant Steam Boat Washington, Captain Shreve." The 220-mile trip had taken just six days-"againsta stream the most rapid, perhaps , in the world ."

The Intelligencer went on to cite the normal time for this journey by keel boat as "from twenty to thirty days."

An enterprising American, Moses Rogers took the first steamboat across the Atlantic, the immortal Savannah, in 1819. She carried no cargo and had to sail more than she could steam, but the impact of her arrival on the far side of the ocean and her tour through the Baltic to St. Petersburg was considerable.

As her historian Frank 0. Braynard has pointed out, she showed that a heavy , ocean-going ship cou ld be steamed at sea, and that nightmare visions of fire breaking out in the wooden hull , or engines toppling over if the ship hit rough going were just that-chimera dissipated in the broad daylight of the workaday world. But another twenty years' progress in engineering was needed before regular steam service opened across the Atlantic. The Savannah's engine was removed after her return to the US, and she worked the rest of her days as a sai ling ship.

The implications of the new motive power for naval warfare would have been evident, one would think, but navies were slow to move on them. Fulton, who had demonstrated mines and submarines to the French and English, was charged with installing defenses for New York Harbor in the War of 1812-which is said to be one reason the British used their overwhelming naval power to attack Washington rather than New York.

His most impressive harbor defense weapon , however, was completed only in July 1815 , five months after Fulton's untimely death and after the end of the war. Thi s was a steam frigate which 14

made seven knots, carrying an armamentofheavy guns behind wooden walls five feet thick, with an internal paddlewheel well sheltered from gunfire. This remarkable vessel, named at first Demologos, or " Voice of the People," and later Fulton ! , was put to purely ceremonial use and had her guns and engines removed after three years. She lived out her days as a stationary guardship until a careless watchman ignited the powder kept aboard for saluting purposes and blew her up.

Although Fulton felt that hi s contributions to naval warfare were more significant than his steamboats splashing up the rivers and waddling out along the coasts, it was the steamboats that changed history by speeding the settling and development of North America. And the ocean-going steamship, as Fitch had presciently asserted, was to have a tremendous impact on history by bringing people to our shores in the first place.

Mastering the North Atlantic The beginnings were slow, and they were predominantly British, as befitted the world's most advanced industrial nation and leading sea power. Steamships began crossing the English and Tri sh channels, feeding their greedy engines with abundant cheap coal for these short runs.

By 1837 there was a line to Oporto, Lisbon, Gibraltar and round into the Mediterranean to Malaga on Spain 's Mediterranean coast. The primitive steamers were operated at a loss until they secured a government mail contract or subsidy of ÂŁ29,000 a year. In 1840 the service was extended the length of the Mediterranean to Alexandria, for an increased subsidy of ÂŁ34,000 a year$170,000, in those days. This led to the formation of the Pacific & Oriental Steam Navigation Company, which went on to extend its service into the Indian Ocean, from Suez to India, and later to Penang and Singapore in Malaysia, and the British colony of Hong Kong in China.

Reasons of empire thus led to the financing of this first great oceanic steamer route. Other lines were subsidized on the West Coast of South America and to Havana; and most important, the Admiralty invited tenders for an Atlantic mail contract in 1838, the year the Great Western opened regular liner service to New York. The award of ÂŁ55,000 ($275,000) yearly went to a syndicate headed by the Nova Scotian Samuel Cunard, however, and in 1840 he placed four steamers in service to Boston. They

maintained an average of 13 days westbound, 11 eastbound with the push of generally fair winds. The sailing packets on the Liverpool run had averaged 36 days on the westward pas sage, 24 eastbound in the preceding decade. (And Junius Smith, the American steam pioneer who sponsored the voyage of the Sirius, the ship that just beat Brunel 's Great Western to New York in 1838, had made a 54-day passage to New York under sail in 1832, which lead him to get a steamer to do the crossing in 15 days!)

The noveli st Charles Dickens, who took passage westbound in Cunard's Britannia in January 1842, soon afterthe service began, reported that on getting under way the vessel " throbbed like a strong giant that has just received the breath of life." On the whole, he claimed he preferred the easier eastbound passage home in an American sailing packet.

The throbbing that made such an impress ion on Dickens was a problem in the wooden steamers. The great weight and thumping of the engines, with their enormous low pressure cylinders, 6 feet in diameter in the Britannia's case, induced leaks and shortened the vessels' lives. The omnipresent dirt from the smokestack and the ri sk of fire, were other disadvantages noted by that fine sailorman William McFee, who observed that the officers on the amidship bridge between the paddle boxes "might, with a following wind, be smothered in soot from the funnel. " And the officers, brought up in sail , had to contend with a new class of seamen brought into being to serve the giant engines: "The black gang, dumping ashes every watch, made life hideous with their banging and clashing of buckets, and the fine ash blew across the decks and into the cabins."

But the complaints that accompanied the shift to steam service on the North Atlantic run were largely "blowing smoke." The steamers took over the North Atlantic packet trade because they were faster and kept more reliable schedules than any sailing ship could. Through the 1820s and '30s this trade had been dominated by smart Yankee packets, Black Ballers and others. With the advent of steam, John Bull resumed his accustomed dominance on this the most important ocean trade route in the world.

And as the next vital step was taken, the development of iron hulls to withstand the beat of the engines and above all to permit the large size that would make for more efficient operation, the SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

(j

'

British lead became decisive. Iron shipbuilding, like the steam engine itself, derived from innovations of the 1700s.

Engineer Captain Edgar Smith pointed out in his Short History of Naval and Marine Engineering in 1937: "It was the epoch-making discovery by Henry Cort in 1783, of the processes of producing wrought iron by puddling and of rolling it into plates and bars which provided the new race of engineers with the material for their boilers, their ships, their railways, and their bridges."

That statement puts the development of the universal ocean steamship, capable of carrying cargo economicall y to the far comers of the world, in proper perspective. Ship development swam along in the mainstream of the Industrial Revolution, as part of the whole sweeping advance that was beginning to span England and America with rails and longspan bridges, and to power big machines to make cloth and paper and to replace hundreds of manual jobs from printing books to digging ditches.

Brunel's Great Iron Ship As usual in matters maritime, the conservati sm of the trade delayed progress toward the iron hull , and Brunel 's Great Britain of 1843 was the first really big iron ship to be built. But an iron hull was lighter and stronger than wood, and in the British Isles, where wood was in short suppl y, an iron hull was soon found to be about 20% cheaper per ton than a wooden one-per ton , that is, of what was already a markedl y more efficient ship. Brunel, with his penetrating insight into the possibilities of machine-age technology, embodied in this first great iron ship watertight bulkheads and a double bottom- innovations that made ships far safer in case of collision, hitting an iceberg, or stranding, the hazards responsibl e fo r most of the losses experienced at sea.

Difficult as it is to grasp this today, before bulkheads and double bottoms were adopted, a ship was just one big tank inside. She needed only one sizeable hole in her outer skin to be assured of sinking.

Right into the 20th-century, big sailing ships, even metal ones, were built with only a "collision bulkhead" say 20 feet abaft the stem. Hit them with anything substantial anywhere abaft that bulkhead, and they went down fast. The loss without trace of many fine, well-found ships undoubtedly stems from this fact.

And of course, iron was more resistant than any kind of wood to the one great SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

hazard remauung, fire. The danger of simply being overwhelmed by a stormy sea, perhaps as a result of carrying canvas too long, or broaching to, or, in the case of a steamship, losing pumps and propulsion though flooded boiler rooms, has always ranked lower than the risk of collision, stranding or fire, simply because ships are designed to resist the sea and will generally do so successfull y, whether made of wood or iron, unless age has worn them out or something has happened to violate

their structural integrity.

Leading up to Brunel's Great Britain were a succession of English canal boats made of iron, the first apparent! y as early as 1787, and then riverboats and, by the 1830s, sizable coasting steamers.

A New Order of Things Half a century after Fitch 's first trials, the Western World was agog with the steam engine. It appeared that a fundamental reordering of creation was going on in the mastery by mankind of un-

EARLY TRANSATLANTIC STEAMSHIPS

TheGreatWestem,first of the transatlantic steam ferries , is depicted here by Joseph Walters in his "The Great Western on Her First Voyage, 1838. " She was built fo r the Great Western Shipping Company.

Br itanni a, the f irs t steamship built fo r Samuel Cunard, wa s launched in Februmy 1840 . Here, Bostonians t urn out to chop a p assage thr oug h the ice fo r her, as she leaves their harb or on _,,,,.._.__...._.,.._..u.LIL.......I February 3, 1944.

On the 19th of July, 1843 , the Great Western Shipping Company launched its second steamship , the innovative, iron-hulled Great Britain.

15

It's not whirling iron . .. it's a new idea, a new energy, a reordering of the elements of the natural world. dreamt mechanical powers-especially in the phenomena of the railroad engine and the steamboat.

A daringly imaginative artist, J. M. W. Turner caught this feeling magically in his painting Rain, Steam and Speed in 1844--a blurred, expressive rendering of a steam engine rocketing through mist and rain. It's not just whirling iron coming at you down the tracks, it's a new idea, a new energy, a reordering of the elements of the natural world. Perhaps the idea had been anticipated in a painting he did two years earlier of a steamer in a snowstorm, its hot center establishing a kind of mastery over the swirling, icy chaos of its surroundings. Turner explained of this painting that he was not presenting an image, but an experience.

It was something he 'd lived through: "I got the sailors to lash me to the mast."

This cantankerous painter, who seemed at the time to be perpetually at odds with the thought and manners of his age, now seems to us to have been at its heart, expressing the emerging ethos of the age we are in.

The Victorian genius Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who broke the trail for the big ocean-going steamship thattook over and to a large degree opened up the world of ocean trade, was a short-tempered visionary and dreamer like Turner, but one who exercised his imagination in huge three-dimen sional works. His steamer Great Western, which opened regular transatlantic service in 1838, was an embodiment of Brunel's strong vision, commitment to progress, and fiery determination. An advocate of steam and power, he had bridged, tunneled and bulldozed (before the word existed) the

Great Western Railway from London on the East Coast of England to the West Country port of Bristol, facing on the Atlantic. He simply could not stop his express traffic there and see it go into dilatory, undependable sai ling ships , which at best took four or five weeks westbound to cross the Atlantic to New York. So he put a steam plant in what was essentially a sailing ship hull , equipped her with the conventional paddlewheels (along with full sailing ship rig) and drove her across the ocean in 15 days.

Having no maritime experience, Brunel had this ship built according to the conventional wisdom of the day. But that was the last conventional ship he built. His next, the Great Britain, was a true wonder of the ocean world, and remains so today, where she sits partly restored in the dock she was launched from in 1843 in Bristol. She was built of iron, to get the strength Brunel needed in a big, 322-foot, 3,440-ton hull , three or four times the size of a first-class Western Ocean sailing packet. No matter that the metallurgy of the day was not really up to this-he simply rivetted together thousands of small iron plates measuring 3 by 6 feet, apparently the largest size available. But, she worked, she steamed 12 instead of her predecessors ' 9 knots, and she survived a brutal stranding early in her career that would have destroyed a wooden vessel. And with the new material she could have watertight bulkheads and a double bottom. More to the point, Brunel gave her these things.

The other great innovation of the Great Britain was, of course, her screw propeller. Brunel made the shift from paddlewheels after running tests on the

pioneer screw steamer Archimedes in 1839, while the Great Britain was actually under construction. The screw propeller arrived rather late on the scene, but it derived, like so much else, from the intellectual curiosity and gadgeteering of the preceeding century. Many people seem to have wondered about screws, and the great James Watt himself, writing to a friend as early as 1770 on propulsion for canal boats, asked: "Have you ever considered a spiral oar for the purpose?"

A man-powered screw was used in trials aboard a British man-of-war in 1802, and other experiments were made.

But it was John Ericsson's contra-rotating screws in the Robert F. Stockton, an iron ship launched in Liverpool in 1838, that convinced the Times of London of "the success of this important improvement in steam navigation." Ericsson did not get very far with the Admiralty with what they had earlier called "a pretty toy," but migrating to the United States, he did build a screw frigate, the USS Princeton, and much later, of course, the USS Ericsson, which is known to history as the Monitor.

Finally, in April 1845, a few months before the Great Britain steamed forth on her first crossing of the Atlantic, the British Admiralty held their famous tugof-war between the screw steamer Rattler and the paddle steamer Alecto. The Rattler with a more powerful engine and the superior torque of screw propulsion, ended up towing her hapless adversary backward at 2 1/2 miles per hour, and that ridiculously unscientific demonstration convinced My Lords of the Admiralty where nothing else had.

Besides giving the Great Britain a Th e illustration on the far left demonstrates the great size of the walking beam engine. The largest ever built was bigger than this, with a cylinder diameter of 110 inches and a piston stroke of 14 f eet.¡ It developed 7500 horsepower and eight boilers were needed to supply it with steam. The paddlewheels it drove were 35 feet in diameter and each weighed JOO tons. These engines saw extensive use on the inland rivers.

THEWALKING BEAM ENGINE

16

THE SIDE-LEVER ENGINE

Much used in Europe and less often in America, the side-lever engine had a low center of gravity and was better suited to seagoing use.

The mass of the engine would lie below the paddle shaft.

SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

<: :E

z

~

Vl

0

"'['.! z

°' 0..

Ul (J

;:;

°' UJ

:i:: UJ

:E

f::

°':E <:

u.

0

>Vl

Ul

f-

"':::>

0

u

John Stobart shows us the ultimate post-Civil War river steamboat-a boat that carries tons of cargo in water as shallow as 2 to 3 feet , ejfec1ively opening the vast interior of the United States,from Pennsylvania to the fa r west, and as far north as the Canadian border. "Night Run to Friar's Point," by John Stobart, oil on canvas 16" by 26".

screw propeller, Brunel gave his ship beautiful fine lines which anticipated the American clipper-the ultimate fast-sailing ship which was to burst on the ocean scene a couple of years later with the famous Rainbow and Sea Witch. When the New York Herald reported on the lovely Sea Witch lying in South Street, the paper noted that she " much resembles the model of the steamer Great Britain, only on a smaller scale. " But large scale (as well as sharp lines) was vital to Brunel's conception. He had noted: "The resistance of vessels in the water does not increase in direct proportion to the tonnage. The tonnage increases with the cubes of their dimensions, while the resistance increases at about their square, so that a vessel of double the tonnage of another, capable of containing an engine of twice that power, does not meet with twice the resistance. Speed, therefore, would be greater with the larger vessel."

There was also the matter of coal. The engines of the day could only be called coal monsters, and this was the main limitation on the utility of the steamship.

The Great Britain made hermaiden crossing in 1845 at an average 9.4 knots-the tough headwind passage being accomplished in just over two weeks, cutting the fastes t sailing ship times in half. However, most of the weight she carried was coal.

When she ran hard aground on her fifth outward passage, in September 1846, her strong iron hull saved her, but her owners went broke. She was then rerigged as a sailing ship with auxiliary engine for the long run out to Australia by way of the Cape of Good Hope, home SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

via Cape Hom , thus rounding the world.

In this serv ice she prospered , making thirty-two trips between 1852 and 1876, when she was laid up . In 1882 her replacement power plant, outmoded in its tum, was removed, her hull strengthened with wooden cladding to carry cargo, and she put to sea again as a pure sailing ship. ln 1886, beaten up and partly di smasted battling her way east to west around Cape Horn , she put back to the Falkl ands in distress and became a storage ship. Richard Goold-Adams, a student of Victorian engineering, then organized the remarkable campaign that brought her back to her builder's dock in I 970. She returned to the clatter of photographer 's helicopters and the blare of automobile horns, in a world utterly transformed from that which she had left a century and a quarter before when wooden- walled, tall-masted sailing ships ruled the world 's oceans.

Many earl y steamers went through the Great Britain 's transformation, ending the ir days as pure sailing ships when they could no longer compete as steamers. What was happening was that the accelerating pace of technological advance was shoving aside successive generations of steamers, even as it drove the sailing ship progressively from the trade routes of the ocean world.

Triumphant on All Oceans Returning to the story of ocean trade, we find the British were reasserting their traditional maritime dominance through the development of the ocean-going steamship in the 1840s-particularly in the open ing of the four-s hip service of

the Cunard Line in 1840, and the launch of the supership Great Britain in 1843.

From then on, the North Atlantic run , accounting for the largest share of British trade, and indeed the leading artery of world trade, steadily went over to British steamers.

The enterprising New Yorker E. K. Collins, who had run a highly successful line of sai ling packets from New York to Li ve rpool , built four big woode n paddlewheelers in 1849-50 to challenge the British dominance of this route. Fast and luxuriously outfitted, these glorious anachroni stic vessel s were intended to "drive the Cunarders off the sea." The Collin s Liners c ut a day off th e Cunarders' crossin g times and were widely admired. Despite thi s, the line Jost money. Then in 1854 the Arctic sank after a colli sion in the fog, with a loss of 318 lives including Collins ' wife and two children. In 1856 the Pacific went mi ssing. Following thi s, the government subsidy of the line was withdrawn, which put an end to this venture.

The American bent fo r big wooden paddlewheelers died hard. Driven off the Atlantic run, ships of this type firs t mastered the run down to Panama, and up from Panama on the Pacific to San Francisco, providing a convenient alternative to the long, arduo us passage by sai 1ing ship down around South America by way of Cape Hom. The completion of the transcontinental rail way in 1869 cut into this traffic, but by that time Pacific Mail was operating behemoths like the ill-fated Japan across the Pacific. The Japan , 360feet long and astartling4,352 17

tons, went into service as one of a quartet of such ships in 1868 and burned at sea off China six years later.

But the completion of the transcontinental railway pointed the way that American energies were go ing after the Civil War. As has often been remarked , the nation turned its back on the sea; the country's rapidly growing funds and energies went to railroads to open the interior and farms and factori es to supply the burgeoning domestic market.

This was by no means the story with the rest of the world, however, nor does it begin to tell the story of what oceanic trade was contributing to American growth and development in the later 1800s. The fact is that immigration into the United States, running at an average of 32,000 people yearly in the 1820s and '30s, rose steadily during the steamship era, and by the 1890s and early 1900s had reached levels of one million annually. This fantastic growth was the result of a fastdeveloping economy which absorbed raw, often foreign-speaking labor and a society which transformed that labor into productive citizens. But the sheer numbers are simply not possible without the steamship, growing in size and safety and speed throughout the period.

While thi s was happening, E uropean fleets carried grain out of US East Coast ports and, as a suitable hard-kerne l vari ety was developed, from West Coast ports. Thi s gave the nation the exchange credits needed for the massive buildup of American industry that took pl ace after the Civil War-a buildup which by the outbreak of World War I, a bare fifty years later, had transformed America from what we today would call a "developing" nation into the mi ghtiest industrial machine on earth .

Thi s development, of course, owed everything to American ideas and energies, and to the innovative "can-do" spirit which not only surpri sed Europeansand sometimes shocked them-but certainly saved their liberties in two wo rld wars. But, it wouldn't have been possible without the European steamship.

At the center of ocean carry ing were, of course, the hi ghly indu striali zed, world-trading British. The pioneering British hi storian of these things, Adam Kirkaldy, in his epic British Shipping, Its History, Organisation and Importance (published in 1919, butwrittenin 1913at the end of the century of Pax Britannica), pointed out that British fo reign trade had grownfromÂŁ260million in value in 1855, 18

to ÂŁ1,232 million in 191 2-a fivefold growth that was at least as important to the regions the British traded with as it was to the British Isles. And these figures do not take into account the trade between other countries carried in British bottoms.

Kirkaldy esti mated that one fifth of the British merchant marine was constantly engaged abroad, carrying cargoes between other countries.

Reverting bac k, then , to the situation at mid-century , we find the pressure of events and opportunity producing innovative response in steamship eng ineering, particul arly in the concerted assault on the worst problem , the massive coaleating propensiti es of the early low-pressure ships. Shipping hi stori an C. Ernest Fay le, in hi s c lassic Short History of the World's Shipping Indu stry (London , 1933), cites some interesting fi gures on the over-the-hump progress between the first Cunarder, in 1840, and the fully developed Bothnia 34 years later, in 1874.

The Britannia of 1840 , a big ship for her time at I , 139 gross registered tons, a wooden paddlewheeler with the conventional side- lever engine, burnt 4.7 tons of coal per hour for each horsepower delivered by her eng ines. By 1855 the Persia , of3 ,300 tons (three times the size of the Britannia), sti ll using paddle wheels but wi th an iron hull , burnt 3.3 tons of coal per hour. In 1874 theBothnia, of 4,556 tons, an iron , screw-prope ll ed ship, burnt just 2.2 tons of coal an hour, per horsepower generated . This is less than half the consumption rate of the Britannia. The actual advantage was more than double, fo r the Bothnia traveled at 13 knots totheBritannia's 8.3-a50 per cent gain-and she lifted ten times the weight of cargo, and carried ten times as many passengers. Her engines, almost fo ur times as powerful , burnt onl y about one and a half times as much coal, due to doubled fuel efficiency and shorter passages.

By the time of the Bothnia, in fact, the breakthroughs had been made that enabled the steamer to graduate from the Atlantic ferry to world trade routes. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 had given the steamer a greatly shortened route to the Far East, studded with coal stations.

But four years before that, in 1865, the Holt liners had revealed the possibilities opened up by the compound steam engine by making the 8,500-mile run nonstop from Liverpool to Mauritius. "From that date," observes Ernest Fayle, "the ultimate triumph of steam in the cargo as well as the passenger trade was only a question

of time."

The compound engine utili zed the expansion of steam in two stages, thus getting full value out of the higher pressures that were becoming available as stronger boilers were built. Engineer Captain Smith in hi s History of Marine Engineering put the matter succinctl y. The simple expansion engi ne, working at about 20 pounds pressure, typically consumed over 4 pounds of coal per indi cated horse power, per hour. The compound engine, wo rking with steam at 60 pounds press ure, and using surface condensers rather than the old jet condense rs, red uced fuel consumption to 2 pounds per indicated horsepower, per hour, or less. Join this 50 per cent reduction with the reduced space and weight occupied by the improved machine ry, and the steamer becomes a formidable competitor in long-d istance cargo carrying as well as the premium , re latively short-di stance Atlantic ferry run . As Smith concluded, this "enabled the steam ship to become a powerful ri val of the sailing ship on the longest voyages .. .. "

The Tall Ships Depart And what was happening, then , to the fleets of wind-powered sailing ships that circled the g lobe? In 185 1, the Un ited States, with an ocean trading fleet cons isting almost entirely of sailing ships, had matched or exceeded the world freight carried by the British merchant marine, whi ch at th at point was a lso overwhelming ly of the sa iling pers uasion. Yankee innovations of ship design, and in investment theory (recogn izin g the cost of inventori es in transit as a justification for fast-sailing ships) , had beaten the world's leading sea power at its own game, if only for the moment. Yankee clippers mastered the C hin a trade to Europe, as English nav igation laws were wiped off the books in the cause of free trade.

Tall-masted American wooden ships competed successfu ll y in carrying West Coast cargoes of grain aro und Cape Horn to Europe, and West Coast lumber to Australia, South Africa and East Coast coal to everywhere it was needed, and served a growing trade in kerosene (case oi l, it was called, after the wooden case in which two five-gallon cans were carried). And of course, from US port to US port, as for instance San Francisco to Hawaii , only American ships were permitted to compete. This applied also to the traditional New York-to-San Franc isco trade, which petered out in the SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

Sailing ships were reduced to carrying coal for the steamers that were driving them from the seas. early 1900s, faced with the growing competition of the transcontinental rail way from 1869 on.

America' s wooden fl eets capitalized on the exi sting skills and resources of our maritime community, which came to center in the seacoast towns of Maine after the Civil War. But other nations built a new generation of sailing ship, constructed of iron and steel, that finally drove Yankee traders off the remaining routes the sailing ship still could work. In 1882, some 550 sailing ships cleared from the American West Coast for Europe by way of Cape Horn. These were mainly British and American. But the Americans fell by the wayside competing with cheap foreign labor and big, economical metal ships.

While the British seized on cheap iron to build over 3,000 iron or steel sailing ships for their world-trading merchant marine, the Americans built only 13 iron or steel deepwater square riggers. One of these, the bark Kaiulani, was built for the San Francisco-Hawaii packet run in 1899. The wind systems made this an efficient run fo r a square rigger, a fair wind out, and mo stl y fair wind s co min g hom e northabout. Even so, steamers pushed her

off this run before she was ten years old.

The story of the retreat of the sailing ship into more and more unprofitable trades to remote comers of the world is a long one. Ironicall y, coal fo r refueling stations was a frequent cargo.

A fe w statistics give the bones of the story. Up until 1870, British sail ing tonnage was still gro wi ng, reaching 6 million tons net in that year. By 1880, it had shrunk a little, to 5 1/ 2 million tons. In that same decade, steam tonnage grew from just over a million tons, to 3 million.

During the decade of the 1880s, British steam tonnage overtook sail tonnage.

But in terms of li fting power (taking into account qui cker voyages and turn around), the change had taken place in the prev ious decade, in the 1870s. What was true of the British was true of the other merchant marines, with a lag of one or more decades. In America, steam tonnage actually overtook sail tonnage only in the earl y 1900s, 20 years after thi s change took place in Britain.

Trade to remote ports with poor turnaro und facilities , trade in cheap bulk cargoes that did not tie up much capital in transit- these enabled the sailing ship to compete for nearly another half cen-

tury. Coal from Cardiff outbound to Chilean nitrate ports, and nitrate home to fe rtilize the depleted farmlands of Europe was a long-lived trade. Cleaning out the bilges of the sailing ship Wavertree at South Street Seaport Museum in the early 1980s, we found lumps of Welsh coal from her last cargo bound to Chile around Cape Hom in 1910 (she never made it, being dismasted off Cape Hom , and became a wool storage ship in the Straits of Magellan- which is how she survived to be saved as a museum ship).

The wind system of the Roaring Forties in the Southern Ocean kept ali ve a trade in Australian grain in sailing ships, until the outbreak of World War II in Europe in 1939 (there were a few postwar voyages in sail , but the great fleets were gone). The later ships, mainly big German vessels sailing under Finnish ownership, made it a rule to stay 300 mil es offshore, to avoid the danger of getting caught by fo ul winds and driven ashore. They were like the huge albatross that flouri shes off Cape Hombeautifull y at home in their element with white wings spread, but awkward and ungainl y as they came to land. â&#x20AC;˘ To be continued.

/,

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!

New York Harbor based tugs , barges and tankers.

Shipside bunkering a s pecialty.

______ ......

EKLOF MARINE __,....,._ CORP.

~~

BAY REFRACTORY 164 Wolcott Street Brooklyn, NY 11231 Tel: 718-625-3844 SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

MARINE TRANSPORTATION OF PE1110LEVM & CHEMICAL PRODUCTS 3245 Richmond Temtee, P.O. Box 030316, Sta1en 15laod, New York 10303-0003

New York Tel. (7 18) 720-7207

19

>-

""...J UJ

...J

<

Q Ul

::E

i:: C2 <

::E

u

i::

"'::E>>-

"'Ulr ::J ""

8 "Steamer Great Western in New York Bay," by Mark Myers, watercolor I 5"x21 ".The British steamer Great Western , the first steamer to establish a reg ular transatlantic service , makes her way through busy New York Bay .

GALLERY OF STEAM "Tu gs Towing Trawlers Out of Port. " by Ja ck Coggins, oil 28"x38". Harbors in many British ports had very narrow entrances. Consequently, when the wind was foul, sailing vessels had to he towed out. To save towage, the skippers of the British trawlers and drifters often split the fees , and tugs, like this hard-working paddlewheel steam tu g.frequently towed as many as ten boats at a time.

20

SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

l

>-

"'

UJ

..J ..J

<

0

UJ

:;;

f::

°'<

:;; u f:: VJ >:;;

>VJ

UJ

f-

"' :::J

8

" America, Victoria & Albert, and Black Eagle off the Isle of Wight, 1851 ," by Tim Th ompson , oil 20"x40". On a quiet morning in th e midnineteenth century, you could see an astonishing variety of vessels in harbors around the world. Here , off the Isle of Wight , with the Needles in the background, a full range of vessels has converged .from the left, idling in light airs, the schooner yacht America, whose racing prowess gave birth to the greatest trophy in yachting; rwo massive ships of the line, British and American , and one American frigate; th e first steam royal yacht , the Victoria & Albert I, and the two-funneled steamer Black Eagle charging up underfull steam .

The advent of steam brought momentous change to a tradition of sail-power thousands of years old. The six evocative paintings of steam vessels shown here were selected from Mystic Maritime Gallery ' s " 13th Mystic International Exhibition ," September 27-November 8 at Mystic, Connecticut. They

illustrate some of those changes, including the beginnings of the steam packet service (bringing with it the unheard of regularity and reliability that marked the very beginnings of modem travel), the great utility of steam tugs, and the potency and supremacy of the earliest steam-powered naval vessel s. â&#x20AC;˘

"CSS Alabama Leaving Cape Town , 1863 ," by Peter Bi/as, oil 27"x40". CSS Alabama was a wooden steam and sail corvette built in l 862 for the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War . Commanded by Captain Raphael Semmes and superbly campaigned , she virtually drove Union ships from the high seas . During her two years as a commerce raider, the Alabama captured , san k or burnt 68 vessels before being sunk off Cherbourg by USS Kearsarge in 1864. South African artist Peter Bi/as chose to depict the Alabama because she was a beautiful vessel and also because she played a significant part in both American and South African history . Th e Al abam a visited Cape Town a number of times and on one occasion captured a Union clipper, the Sea Bride, in Table Bay .

SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

21

..

>-

~ f-

"'

::i

0

...........

.

u "Rescue from rhe Thi stlemore, " February 7, 1892 , hy Da vid Blan cherre, acrylic 24"x36''. Wh en rhe Brirish sreamer Thi stl emore was forced aground on Peaked Hill Bar , on Cape Cod , in a losing barrle wirh a northeast gale, Captain Emanuel G racie of the Peaked Hill Coast Guard Starion set up a breeches buoy to the stranded vessel. On that day th ey landed twenty-jive men from the freighter grounded 100 yards offshore. On February 12 , with the help of wrecking tugs, she was freed and sent on her way.

"Fire the R ockets ," by Marek Sarba, oil 32"x42". Th rough heavy seas, the steam tug Cov ing ton has rwo barges in tow, plowing the route from New York to Main e. Oblivious to rhe rowline and barges , rhe 24 ,000- ton Hamburg America liner Kaiserin Augus te Victoria, wirh her f ull 18 knots speed, comes racing up threarening ro cut the lin e and send the barges and crew to rheir doom. Frantically , the crew of the Covington fire rhe rockets to warn off the Kai serin.

22

SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

SHIP MODELS Will build to your specifications.

Half hulls, Libertys, sailing ships, etc. Also repairs, packaging & shipping; misc. items and components. Over 25years experience.

SOUTHERN MODEL BUILDERS

, t

104 Buena Vista Dr., Daphne AL 36526

BRUCE HALLETT

TEL:205-626-0412

US Rt 2, RFD Box 60 Sherman Mills, ME 04776

the

MARINE OIL PAINTINGS OF HISTORICAL SHIPS

~-~.QIIosson

.

WRECKERS' MUSEUM

FOR SALE Finely detailed Merchant & Military Sailing Vessels .

Hand crafted to order. We will send price quote and color photo upon receipt of ship name and scale wanted. Many popular ships built ahead from 27" to 56". For list of ships in stock send $1 .00 to :

Oldest House in South Florida tells

of Key West wrecking history . .

322 ou:a1 St. Key West FL 33040

Wr, Qio.

IS "THE STOBART STORE" "The Old Harbor at Sunrise"

the Midwest's Premier Marine Art Galleries

"RACING TO T WHARF, BOSTON" 20 x 30 OIL

Two Locations

SEND FOR FREE

401 Race Street Cincinnati OH 45202 (513) 762-5510 7866 Montgomery Road Cincinnati OH 45236 (513) 89 1-5531

Fe lls Po int, Ba ltimore, with the Lady Maiy land and Pride qf Baltimore II Signed color lithograph 12 x 21 inches $60 + $10 shipping

Commissioned Paintings Free Brochure Ava ilable

BROCHURE ROBERT W. YOUNG 411 ELLIOTT ST BEVERLY, MA 01915 TEL 508-922-7469

Ca ll or w rite :

PHIL GIDLEY Box 183, 69 Mill Street Hopedale MA 01747 1-800-547-0771

ruQdJun Fishing Vessels - Circa 1885

DISCOUNT!!

NAUTICAL JEWELRY

FINEST QUALITY-LOWEST PRICES 3 STRAND TURKS HEAD RING SILVER $ 195 14KT GOLD $438

3 STRAND TURKS HEAD

BRACELET

SILVER $275 14KT GOLD $ 1282

PADDLE-WHEEL FISHING STEAMER OUR HEAVIEST llNCHOR CHAIN BRACELET 8" LENGTH Solid 1/2 " links SILVER $ 180 14KT GOLD $1260 Solid 9/16 " links SILVER $254 14KT GOLD $1783 (AVAILABLE IN ANY LENGTH )

CUSTOM DESIGNED PIECES

CROATAN FISHING BOAT Lim ited Edition of 300 . $30 SI N . $60 remarqu ed .

Image si ze 9 1/2" x 15 ". on acid -free paper.

IF IT'S NAUTICAL. WE MAKE IT, AND FOR LESS THEN ANY OTHER NAUTICAL JEWELER!!!

Shipping $5 , VA & NC add appropriate state tax .

EVERY PIECE IS HAND MADE

ERNEST JOHNSON STUDIO/GALLERY

CUSTOM TO YOUR ORDER.

RR 3. Box 542. Gloucester. VA 2306 1

SPECIAL SIZES ARE NEVER

804-693-20 19

A PROBLEM-JUST ASK

SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

ARE A SPECIALTY ONE OF A KIND TO 1.000 FOR BUSINESSES. YACHT CLUBS ANO INDIVIDUALS'.

:z'1.Vf2VM.

409 N. PACIFIC COAST HWY #102 REDONDO BEACH , CA 90277

1-800-368-5595 CATALOG ON REQUEST DEALERS INQUIRE

23

TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION From our own collection we are pleased to offer an array of rare prints by the foremost marine artists of our time, in the company of an original painting which is unique in bringing together so much of the Herreshoff legend in one intimate picture - and we believe destined to stand out as a classic in the field of marine art. All prints have been signed and numbered by the artists, and are in pristine condition - new, never sold, purchased by Yankee Accent directly from their publishers at issue and stored flat in a controlled environment to museum standards.

RARE: Sold Out Editions

Image Size

Price

John Stobart BOSTON Lightning towing out on her Maiden Voyage in 1854 BOSTON Long Wharf by Moonlight in 1865 Five Mile River, Rowayton c. 1920 GEORGETOWN Moonlight on the Potomac River Harbourtown by Moonlight LONDON (UK) Moonlight over the Lower Pool in 1897 MARBLEHEAD Appleton's Wharf in 1850 Nantucket Sleigh Ride PHILADELPHIA Moonlight over the Delaware in 1935 PITTSBURG Moonlight over the Monongahela in 1885 PORTSMOUTH Merchant's Row overlooking the Piscataqua in 1828 SAN DIEGO the Brig Pilgrim loading hides in 1835 SAN FRANCISCO the Flying Cloud arriving in port in 1857 SAVANNAH Moonlight over the Savannah River in 1850 Straight Wharf, Nantucket in 1832 Sunrise over Nantucket in 1835 SYDNEY the Parramatta alongside Circular Quay in 1872 U.S.S. Constitution

19x28 20x32 17x30 18x28 18x28 15x24 18x24 15x22 18x34 19x32 19x32 ¡17x25 19x32 19x32 14x24 19x32 20x31 21x28

1500 3000 600 900 1800 900 600 900 1800 1400 1000 1000 1100 2000 500 900 1200 600

Thomas M. Hoyne The Widow Maker Last Leg to Gloucester (Remarque) First Life On the Way to Glory

22x27 19x24 19x24 19x29

1500 1800 500 500

John Mecray Close-Hauled for Finish

19x33

1000

Sally Caldwell Fisher Cape Elizabeth Clambake Lantern Lights (serigraph) Moonwatch at Chatham Portland Head Light

19x19 20x24 21x18 19x19 19x19

250 300 800 250 400

West Fraser Rockport Harbor

16x27

200

21x26

15000

Frank H. Wagner

Yhe, ~ ~12 ~!Fo-o-ter~am J\lcltluzmzel .!l. :Y&~;f'r./i {!J 16

Acclaimed as the finest family boat and the best all-around sailboat of her size ever developed, generations of sailors have acq uired their skill and love for sailing at her helm. The best loved of all of NGH's designs, as many as 250 of the approximately 440 wood 121/2 footers built between 1914 and 1948 are still actively sailed.

I

The painting catches Captain Nat in a moment of relaxation, totally in control yet totally at ease in his element. Sailing ROBIN from his family home nestled along the Bristo l village shoreline past the stern of his magnificent Cup Defender RESOLUTE, the crew is seen in unconscious salute in their attention .

So many seasoned sailors of big boats attained their fee l for sailing and love of the sea in a small boat, and are rejuvinated by the intimacy and essence of their return. How fitting the tribute of the giant RESOLUTE and crew to the legendary genius and his classic 12 1/i footer.

Commissioned to commemorate the 75 th an niversary of the Herreshoff 121/2 Foot Class, this beautiful painting is as much an affectionate portrait of the ultimate master of yacht design and construction.

The 21 x 26 inch image area of the premier edition is exact to the origina l painting. Š copyright 1990 Yankee Accent, Inc.

~ ~ ~v12 ~!?Touter@zJ tat/i J\01..1amzd §. !7lerr&Jltf,f'1/1 {916

Image Size 21x26" Edition 300 S/N 14x18" 650 S/N 8x10" 950 N

Great care has been taken to assure print editions unusually faithfu l to th e original art, with artist and publisher present at every step of the reproduction process. Printed on archival paper using light-fast inks. From an original painting in gouache by celebrated marine artist Frank. H. Wagner.

.

YANKEE ACCENTÂŽ 23 Wianno Aven ue Ostervill e, Massachusetts 02655 508-428-2332 Fax: 428-0009

To order: Please define print by title and size.

Provide personal check, or MasterCard or Visa account number and expiration. Please add $12 for delivery of any number of prints to one location in the continental US. Massachusetts residents please add 5% sales tax to the print price. Conservation framing to museum standard s is available from Ya nkee Accent. Please call or write for details.

Price $250. $150. $50.

More than four hundred passengers and crewmen died when the sidewheel steamer Central America foundered off the U.S. East Coast in September 1857. Thirteen decades later her wreck site a mile and a half beneath the Atlantic has yielded much of her cargo of Cal ifornia gold-as well as valuable scientific and archaeological discoveries.

The Steamship

Central America and Her Era

By Charles E. Herdendorf and Judy Conrad

The 1850s were a glorious peri od in the nautical hi story of America. Clipperships were mak ing the often treacherous voyage aro und Cape Horn , while sleek sidew heel steamers plied the Panama Route. The di scovery of gold in California sparked thi s trade, and for two decades enormous shipments of gold and the patronage of affluent passengers sustained it. More than one hundred steamships served in the isthmian routes, but none remain and few are reco llected.

But one ship stands out for the tragedy which befell her, the heroism of her passengers and crew, the fasc inating story of her rediscovery, and the recovery of the greatest lost treasure in American hi story. And now that she has been found , we can celebrate thi s ship and li sten to wh at she is te lling us about our heritage.

She was the SS Central America.

The Central America, once a handsome sidewheel steamer born of the California Gold Rush, now lies deteriorating on the bottom of the North Atlantic. Overwhelmed by a hurricane in 1857, she sank in water a mile and a half deep, taking hundreds of passengers and crew and the ir be longings with her. At nearl y 200 miles offshore and at thi s depth the ocean is a tranquil , cold and lightl ess 26

wo rld that is probabl y the most unchanging environment on earth .

A vio lent hurricane spira led out of the Sargasso Sea during the second week of September 1857, damaging more than 40 ships at sea between North Carolina and Georgia. The Central America was on the last leg of her 44th round trip voyage, inbound for New York , when the storm hit. She battled mountainou s seas for three days before sinking on September 12, 1857. Of the 578 passengers and crew on board , 425 peri shed and tons of California gold were lost.

This was America ' s worst civ il di saster at sea and for months the sinking made headlines across the country. But soon it wou ld be ecl ipsed by stories of the impending Civil War, and by the turn of the century the SS Central America would be all but forgotten.

For 130 years the final resting pl ace of the Central America was unknown.

Then a small team of high-tech eng ineers and scienti sts organi zed in Ohio, th e Columbus-America Di scove ry Group, took up the challenge of finding the ship. After yea rs of painstaking research and months of grueling ocean s urveys, they found the wreck lying on the Blake Ridge in nearl y 8,000 feet of

water some 200 miles east of Savannah.

They a lso discovered the treasures of the Central America, not just he r go ld , but o ther treasures-her ri ch hi sto ry, myste riou s marine life thriving on her wreckage and contributions to marine sc ie nce and tec hnology resulting from the ex peditio n.

Eighty percent of the Panama Route steamers were built in New York 's shipyards. There , along the East River, the kee l for the Central America was laid on Marc h 25, 1852, by master shipbuilder William H. Webb. Orig inall y named the George Law, she was launched a scant seven months later and towed a few blocks upriver to Morgan Iron Works.

Here, George W. Quintard oversaw the installation of the steam engines and the elegant, 32-foot diameter sidewhee ls. In October 1853 , she was placed in service by the United States Mail Steamship Company and went on to complete 43 round trips between New York and Aspinwall, Panama.

The sleek steamer was 278 feet long, constructed of pine and oak timbers with coppe r sheathing to protect the hull against shipworms and powered by two inclined steam engines which drove midshi p paddlewheels. Her oversized fireSEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

J

The weather worsened, and on September 11 the crew discovered that the ship had sprung a leak. A deadly domino effect was soon in operation: when the water came in, it wet the coal, which made it useless for firing the boilers. tube boi lers and massive engineworks accounted for an estimated 750 tons of the ship 's weight. The large boi ler size was required to perm it operation at low pressures, reduc ing the like lihood of an explosion. The twin bo ilers burned about 60 tons of coal each day; thus the 20-day round-trip jo urney between New York and Panama required some l ,200 tons of coal. With a sharp bow and onl y 40 feet in breadth, she was long and sleek-all in all , a handsome ship. The paddle boxes were bl ack with a gold semic irc le in the center and the paddlewheels were bright red. Her single funnel was bl ack with a red band at the tip. Her jet-blac k hull contrasted with the varnished wood decks and weather cabins.

The captain of the Central America was 44-year-old Cdr. Willi am Lew is Herndon , USN, of Virginia . During the terrible hours before the sinking of the Central America, he demonstrated a nobility and courage which made him a nat iona l hero. He was comm ended throughout the country fo r hi s orderly resc ue of the women and children and his maintenance of di scipline on board the ship-as well as for hi s personal courage in rema in ing with hi s ship to the end. In the best tradition of the US Navy , he went down with hi s ship and was lost.

One remarkable thing about the disaster was the ex tensive coverage it rece ived in the newspapers of the day.

Entire issues of newspapers from around the country were devoted to it. Reporters

were eager to record the survivors' ordeals, and these accounts-some sixty in all-were often printed in their entirety.

It was these newspaper articles that provided the clues that enabled the Columbus-America Di scovery Group to locate the shipwreck. In reading and rereading the survivor accounts, the researchers began to feel that they knew the Central America's passe ngers and crew like old friends. The survivors spoke to us across the decades, and as they did , their personalities came to life viv idl y.

What a wonderfu l group of people they were: men, women, and children; black and white; rich and not so rich.

A lmost every group in the country was represented, providing a true cross-section of America at the time. Among them were gold miners and judges, popu lar entertainers and attorneys, gamblers and servants, sailors and cooks, respectabl e housew ives and women of less conventi onal occupations.

Among the first cabin passengers were hon ey m ooners An se l a nd Adeline Easton . Ansel was a San Francisco businessman , and Addie was the sister of Darius Ogden Mill s, one of the richest men in the state who would later become a fo under of the Bank of Ca li fornia. In a memoir publi shed in 1911 , Addie reco unts the tragedy of the sinking. She emerges as a li vely, optimi stic yo ung woman and Ansel seems determ ined to be manl y and serious. They were obviously very much in love .

Another honeymooning coup le, from a different walk of life, were Bill y and Virginia Birch. Bill y was a famous comedian and entertainer of the day, a member of the San Francisco Minstrels.

Hi s beautiful and vivacious bride, who had her pet canary with her on the Central America, was reportedl y known in San Francisco as " the notorious Jenn y French."

Among the other first cabin passengers were peopl e like Judge A lonzo Castle Monson, who "sported to the limit," having once lost hi s house and all hi s money in a legendary Sacramento poker game, and attorney Rufus All en Lockwood , who was known as an eccentri c with a tendency to di sappear period ically. Down in steerage was Oli ver Perry Manlove, a young romantic who had written a book of poems about hi s five yea rs in the gold fields. There were also young couples like Sam and Mary Swan, going home to Penn sy lvania with the ir baby daughter.

The li st goes on and on-so many personalities, so many faces , so many lives. Five hundred and seventy-eight people crowded the dec ks of the Central America when she left Panama for New York: 476 passe ngers and 102 crew.

Only 153 wou ld surv ive.

The story of the Cenrral America's fin al voyage began on the morning of August 20, 1857, when the passengers departed San Francisco on the Pac ific Mail Steamship Sonora . They reached

â&#x20AC;˘ ?

Shown right is " Wreck of th e steamship Central Ame ri ca," a hand-colored li thograph by J . Chi lds, Philadelphia. Courtesy ofthe Peabody Mu seum of Salem.

Opposite page shows the steamshipGeorge Law(later renamed Central America) by an unknown artist .

Courtesy of the Marin ers' Museum , Newport News , Virginia .

SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

27

"Suddenly a rocket shot out obliquely, the lights disappeared beneath the waves, and all the world grew dark for me."

Panama on September 3, crossed 5 who would shortly be reunited 0 the isthmus by train , boarded the i3 with their wives. But for many Central America on the Atlantic ~ other families there would be no side, and sailed for New York the 0~ happy reunion. same day. ~ Nine days later, and 400 miles Until Wednesday, September ~ to the north , the last three survi9, the weatherwascalmand pleas- ~ vors were miraculously found ant. On that day, the ship entered ~ floatin g in a battered lifeboat. < the fringes of a hurricane. The ~ The Central America now beweather worsened, and on Sep- ~ longed to the sea and few believed it would ever be found. tember 11 the crew discovered 3 0 that the ship had sprung a leak. A u But in the early 1980s, ocean deadly domino effect was soon ~ e ngi neer Tommy Thompson in operation: when the water came ii: dreamed of finding the Central in , it wet the coal, wh ich made it , . . . .

America. When looking for a 13useless for firing the boilers. Nemo slights pick out the s1dewhee/ of the Central America. decade old shipwreck a number When the fires in the boilers were extin- disappeared beneath the waves, and all of things must be considered, including gui shed, the Central America's huge the world grew dark for me. " hi storical accounts of its position and the steam engines stopped, and the pumps, At 8:00that nightthe Central America processes that may have altered the wreck which relied upon the eng ines for power, sank, taking with it all those men who since it sank. Using advanced mathematiwere rendered useless. had so gallantly stood back and allowed cal search theory, Columbus-America Captain Herndon ordered all the men the women and ch ildren to be saved. Discovery Group selected a 1400 square on board to go to work bailing. On Fri- Many men were dragged beneath the mile area of the North Atlantic for surday evening, as the men worked to near waves by the suction of the sinking sh ip. vey with a side-scan sonar. This elecexhaustion, Addie Easton sudden ly re- Those who managed to strugg le to the tronic device paints a picture three miles membered her wedd ing gifts. She moved surface we re struck with a horrifying wide of the ocean floor which can be amo ng the men distributing her g ifts of scene. "Men, some holding planks, and di sp layed on a computer monitor in orfood and wine. She was later described others without anythin g, were tossed der to depict objects that rise above the about through the sea for a great space, sea bed , such as shipwrecks. by the men as "a true angel of mercy."

By Saturday morning, September 12, and appeared to me like so many corks," The next problem was to interpret the passengers and crew al ike believed that said passenger Barney M. Lee. "The images received aboard the survey vesthe ship was going to sink and all would be cries of despair which were uttered by all sel. To do this several additional factors lost. But then, at noon , there was a glim- faintly reached me. I could not describe had to be considered. In 130 years would mer of hope. They sighted the brig Ma- my feelings at thi s awful moment. " the ship be covered with sediment? What rine, of Boston. As the brig came alongThe men floated for hours in the darkwould be the condi tion of the ship 's side, Captain Herndon ordered the life- ness , sometimes in groups, sometimes materials? Would all the iron be corboats launched, and the women and chil- alone. Providentially , at about one roded away? Would all timbers be disindren were lowered by ropes from the o'clock that night, the Norwegian bark tegrated by shipworms? Would the initial Central America 's deck down into the Ellen sai led into the midst of the shipimpact of the ship hitting the bottom drive wrecked men and began taking them on it beneath soft ocean sediments? Using boats.

Ansel Easton remained on the Cen- board. By 9AM the next morning about the best estimates and models that scientral America , as did Billy Birch and most 50 men had been resc ued. Among those tists and engineers could provide for this of the other men. That evening, afterthe saved were Ansel Easton and Billy Birch, least understood environment on our women and chi ldren were safe, the planet, key sonar targets were semen on the sinking Central America Galatheid crabs and six-armed s1aifish pass over gold coins lected for subseq uent investigation. and bars on the collapsed timbers of the Central America. prepared for the worst. The ship The next phase of the project was settling fast, and passenger involved a major leap in deep-sea Thomas Badger described the technology, the development of a scene: " At I 0 minutes of 8 o ' clock submers ible capable of performing Capta in Herndon took position on precise archaeological tasks at presthe wheel-house with hi s second sures hundreds of times greater than officer and fired rockets downward , at the ocean's surface and in an envithe usual signal... that we were sinkronmentwith no light and near freezing rapidly." Captain Herndon reing temperatures. The major paraportedly used Ansel Easton 's cigar dox to overcome was that an "arto li ght the last rocket. chaeological machine" was needed, On board the Marine, Addie one robust enough to carefu lly lift Easton had been watching the lights heavy objects, yet delicate enough to of the Central America. She saw recover a single gold coin without the signal, and later described her marring the exquisite mint luster. feelings at that moment: " Suddenly The Ohio team met the challenge and built Nemo, a 6-ton a rocketshotoutobliquely, the lights 28

SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

1

In places the hull has collapsed outwardly and the decks have fallen in a jumbled mass of timber. Only the knees still stand as sentinels marking the former perimeter of the ship. new to science. Strange remotely operated submers- 5 ibl e espec ial ly designed to ~ sponges and golden corals, function in one of the earth 's ;: parachuting feather stars and UJ huge starfish, and gregarious mo s t alien environments. "' > 0 crabs and elastic sea cucumFrom the mi ssion control room u "' aboard the research vessel Ci bers are everywhere. Once, a large fema le octopus that Arctic Discoverer, the sc ien- i5 UJ ti sts and engineers use com- :;: turned out to be one of a dozen new animal specis found livputers and video monitors to ,;,< ::::J direct Nemo's actions. Be- "':;: ing on the sh ipwreck, craw led ::::J cause Nemo is directed by the ....l inside Nemo and did some exteam that watches its actions u0 ploring of its own. And when scientists place fish carcasses on a video screen, everything ~ near the wreckage, dozens of that is done on the Central ~ America s hipwreck s ite is monkey-faced eels, grenad ier videotaped. The SS Central fish and deep-sea cods emerge America Project represents the The remote controlled "archaeological machine" Nemobeing loaded from their hiding places. But most startling was the sudden first shipwreck exploration onto RIV Arctic Discoverer. When in operation, Nemo removes large appearance of a 21-foot long that has been videotaped from trays from drawers in her superstructure, places them about her on start to finish. Some of the the sea floor, and gathers and sorts specimens into them.

Greenland shark. This formielements of Nemo's operation dablepredatorwas l ,OOOmiles on the shipwreck that have been pio- video cameras to illuminate the wreckage south and 4,000 feet deeper than any neered or advanced by thi s project in- and send remarkably clear images back to previous sighting. clude: (I) sonar/sate llite navigation the control room aboard the R/V Arctic As the cameras closely explore the which continually keeps the surface ship, Discoverer. As Nemo descends to the wreckage, the viewer sees bits of what R/V Arctic Discoverer, directly over the ocean floor, the enonnous iron paddle life was like on the ship . Personal efwreck site without anchoring; (2) a tran- wheels are instantly recognizable as well fects , glassware and pottery are scatsponder-based acoustical grid system for as the massive engine works , but the tered in the timbers . Then, as if a Hollypositioning Nemo in the shipwreck , and wooden members have suffered the at- wood set has been constructed on the optical ranging for preci se ly document- tacks of a deep-sea shipwonn known as ocean floor, the video screen reveals ing the position of artifacts and wreck Xyloredo. In places the hull has collapsed images of coins literally dripping from components; (3) the various safety and outwardl y and the decks have fallen in a beams, stacks of hundreds of mint $20 dive duration advantages of an unman ned jumbled mass of timber. Only the knees double eagles, and gleam ing bars of go ld.

The early economic history of Calideep-sea vehicle; (4) sophi sticated im- still stand as sentinels marking the former forn ia can be read in the inscriptions on aging technology including five broad- perimeter of the ship.

As the cameras scan the shipwreck the go ld : names of prominent assayers cast quality cameras and 3-D real-time imaging with movable camera booms; the most amazing scenes appea r on the like Kellogg & Humbert, Henry Hentsch and (5) spec ially developed tools and monitor. The wreck has become a bio- and Blake & Co. The transition from techniques including a propeller boom log ical oasis teeming with mysterious early private assayers to the Federal mint to clear the site of turbidity , a s ili cone marine life, includin g several spec ies is illustrated by the coins and bars recovered from the shipwreck. injection system and suction picker Th e contents of Addie Easton' s trunk, found in a Surrounding the wreck is a debris for recovery of delicate objects, hysandy oo:e 100 feet ji¡om the wreck, were well field the size of a football stad ium . Late draulic storage drawers, and a resis- presened at this great depth. in the summer of 1990, about one tance feeler on the manipul ator cahund red feet from the ship, the Col umpabl e of sensing 1/ 10 oz. press ure. ¡ bus-America team came across a modThe deve lopment of advanced est trunk standing on the sandy ooze. search and recovery techniques and Us ing acoustical grid coordinates and the des ign and testing of the first optical ranging, the trunk 's location deep-sea archaeological submers ible was carefu ll y plotted as with all the has facilitated major advances in other artifacts and ship components. ocean sc ience and technology. The The trunk provided a fertile topic information obtained through the use for speculation among the team memof Nemo is greatly enhancing our bers. Questions began to race through understanding of the deep sea and the their minds. Whatifitcontainedclothpotential resources of the ocean floor. ing, diaries, photographs, or other Equally important, it is bringing to personal items? What if the passenlife the courageo us story of the SS ger it had belonged to could be idenCentral America and the dramatic tified? What if the trunk could be events surrounding its sinking by reretrieved? The research team discoverin g artifacts and treasures that cussed the possibilities and decided were tho ught to be lost forever. to bring it up. A special , water-tight Nemo has powerful lights and e ight

°'

'

SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

29

MARINE plex iglass container was built to hold the trunk in a protective capsule of sea water. In the fa ll of 1990, the trunk was retrieved and taken to the campus of Ohi o State University in Columbus.

There, under the guidance of professors from the the Department of Tex tiles and Clothing, including a speciali st in archaeological tex tiles, it was opened and its contents systematicall y examined and prepared fo r furth er study.

The opening of the trunk brought with it many strong emotions. After studying the Central America fo r so many years, the team knew the people on board like old friends. Looking at thi s unopened trunk, they were nervous and exc ited. It had belonged to someone on the Central America-but who? About some of the passe ngers and crew, such as Addie and An sel Easton , and Bill y and Virgini a Birch, a great deal of info rmati on was avail able. About many others, such as men like D. Fisher and J. Irving, nothing was known but their names.

To ease a tense moment the team joked with each other, " If there are minstrel programs or bird seed in it, we ' ll know it belonged to the Birches. Or maybe it belonged to the Eastons or Judge Monson." There was reall y little hope of determining the orig inal owners at all. Could di aries , letters, photographs, and the like survive fo r 133 years in a trunk one and a half miles deep in the ocean? No one knew.

As each item was delicately removed from the trunk it was pl aced in a water bath and unrolled fo r pre liminary investigation. Nex t, the items we re li fted from the bath , smoothed out on a fiberglass screen, and pl aced on a rac k in a freezer.

It soon became apparent that thi s trunk belonged to a well -to-do married couple.

Inside we re a man's shirts and a woman ' s petticoats, men 's socks and women' s stockings, ni ghtshirts and ni ghtgowns, and long johns and bl oomers.

The team became even more excited.

All the women on the Central America were saved, and at least a littl e something was known about most of these women and their husbands. Thi s meant that whoever the trunk had belonged to , they were probabl y not strangers to the researchers.

Item after item came out of the trunk , but nothing indicating to whom they once be longed. There were items like due ling pi stols, jewelry, and even a readable issue of the New York News. Then a small obl ong bundl e of materi al was 30

pl aced in the bath and unroll ed. It proved to be an embroidered dress shirt, very well made and handsome. Near the wai st there was an inscription of some kind. We looked closer; the writing was legible.

It was a name: "A. Ives Easton. " Pandemonium broke out. The trunk had belonged to Ansel and Addie Easton , two people very well known to Columbus-America researchers, and very much admired. No one had seen these clothes since 1857, and the last people to see them had been An se l and Addi e , when the trunk was pac ke d . Team me mbe rs couldn ' t help thinking how peculiar it was that they were among the few people in the world to remember the Eastonstwo people not related to the group at all , but who through this shipwreck exploration, they had come to know more intimately than theirown great-grandparents.

The researchers couldn ' t he lp wondering what Addi e wo uld say if she knew that 133 yea rs later a group of scienti sts and hi stori ans was examining her dress ing gown s and petti coats with such av id attenti on. Kn owing Addie as they thought they did, they didn ' t think she ' d mind . She seems to have been so curious and ac ti ve, so wa rm and humorous, and so lack ing in pretension, that she wo uld probabl y find the whole idea fasc inating and amusin g.

Most of us hope to be remembered in some way after our deaths. The Central America had largely been forgotten. Now it will be remembered. The people who died, as well as those who survived, will be remembered too. Adventurers, risktakers, ex plorers of a new world , they were people who had dared life and limb to travel to the golden land of oppo1tunity--Califo mi a. They would probably be intrigued and delighted to learn that a new generation of explorers has located the final resting place of the SS Central America. â&#x20AC;˘

Charles E. Herdend01fis prof essor emeritus of limnology and oceanography at Ohio State University. Dr. Herdend01f serves as science and education coordinatorfo r the SS Central America Proj ect.

Judy Conrad is a historian with ColumbusAmerica Discovny Group . She is editor of the book Story of an American Tragedy: Survivors' Accounts of the Sinking of the Steamship Central America. The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of staff and directors of the Colum bus-America Discovery Group, especially Robert D. Evans.

From Antwerp to Maine, the Pierhead Art of De Clerck In August 1899, the painter Aristidius De Clerck died in Antwerp of pulmonary tuberculos is. His passing excited no great notice, fo r in art circles he was a nobody and always had been. It is doubtful , a hundred years later, that he will yet make an impress ion on the world of art, for De Clerck was a Belgian pierhead artist who wo rked the docks of Li verpoo l and Antwerp striking bargains with visiting captains and crew for a quick study of their vessel- for a cheap price. Virtuall y every major nineteenth-century seaport in Europe or North America boasted a few pierhead painters who lived and died in simil arobscurity. So why the recent exhibition of De Clerck paintings at the Maine Maritime Museum?

Well , first of all , a number of hi s hundred s (perhaps thousands) of paintings feat ured Maine vessels, but more to the po int, as maritime writer and hi stori an Dr. Kenneth Martin points out in hi s li ve ly 17-pageex hibit catalog"The Maritime Fol k Art of A. De Clerck," thi s is a genre in whi ch slight dev iations from the norm can be con sidered major ex pressions of a ship portraiti st 's individuality .

The late arti st and hi stori an Roger Finch described De Clerck 's wo rk as among " the few pierhead paintings about which there can be no question of attribution."

De Clerck, in fact, enjoyed a large and loyal cli entele of wo rking mariners.

The Scandinav ians, who espec iall y liked hi s work , knew him as " the Rembrandt of Antwe rp. " It is Martin 's assess ment that "The more ex peri ence he gained, the more he simplified hi s style," and "the more he simplified hi s style, the more favo r he found with the nautical community." De Clerck 's work in effect transcends mere documentati on of vessels to become folk ait. It is thi s quality that serves as a focus fo r this interesting exhibit ex tended through April 18 and recentl y enlarged with the addition of several newly- located De Clerck paintings .

The De Clerck show is just one of a growing number of marine art ex hibits at the Maine Maritime Museum . For 1993, museum curator Robert Webb is putting together "Patterson in Maine," a retrospecti ve of the work of Charles Robert Patterson (1878- 1958) concentrating on his connections with the state of Maine.

Webb has for some months been searching out Pa tte rson paintings which have as their subje ct the waters of New England SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

ART NEWS has finall y been establi shed as an ex hibit at the new Sail o rs Sn ug Harbor home of the John Nob le Coll ection at 1000 Ri chmond Terrace, Staten Island . Originally the teak salon of a transatlantic yacht, the studio was the place whe re, as Noble wrote in 1977, "most of my pictures have been clumsi ly breech birthed for nigh unto forty years with great effo11 and small g race. " Nob le frequented New Yo rk ' s marine scrap yards to record the last days of comme rcial sailing shi ps and over the yea rs fitDe Clerck al his fo lk-an best. The schooner Esmeralda of ted the studio with parts of Gloucester, Gloucestershire enters the Scheidt River in 1892. many vesse ls unti I it became, (Maine Maritime Museum photo, counesy Dr. Kenneth Martin) in the words of Noble Coland ships built in Maine. Two ships in lection director Erin Urba n, "a kind of particular, the Henry B . Hyde and theA. G. m icrocosm of the hi sto ry of New York Ropes, are known to have been pa inted by Harbor. " Patterson. Readers might also be a ble to An ex hibit at ew York' s hi stori c help Webb discover the whereabo uts of immi gratio n center o n ElI is Island , showan ide ntified but unlocated painting of a ing April I 5 thro ugh June I 5, wi ll depict small steam-powered whaling catche r in grand sca le anothe r, mo re o pule nt, boat, the Orion, fast to a running whale in vision of New York Harbo r maritime heavy seas.( Maine Maritime Museum , hi story. Steamshi p a rti st and hi storian 243 Was hington Street, Bath ME 04530) Pe te r Sparre ' s ex hibit " Development of the Passenger Liner at its Peak: 1893Different Perspectives of 19 16" wi ll di splay large colo r side elevaNew York Harbor tio ns, all drawn to scale from bu ilder' s Marine a rti st John Nob le ( 19 13- 1983) plans, of 24 passe nger liners from thi s had a we ll -known, fa nc iful ha bit of pe r- unprecedented period of development. sonali zing hi s living and work ing space. Also shown will be a complete set of Customi zation added characte r to hi s Titanic pl ans on huge plates accompanied ho use on Staten Is land , New York (see by hand-colo red structu rals of the ship. ::~** * * Sea History 59) and also created a unique a rti fact o ut of hi s studi o. Nobl e ke pt hi s In the last issue ASMA Pres ident Denni s floatin g studio o n a barge in the Ki 11 van Beaumont me ntioned the traveling maKull off the C ity of Bayonne, New Je r- rine art exhibits of the US Coast Guard sey. Now, under the directi on of restora- which include a series of Anton Otto ti o n spec ia li st Ru sse l Powe ll , the bai·ge Fischer paintings during World War II. John Noble clears ice fi·om his studio barge .

SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

Anothertrave lingex hibitthatcaptures the US Navy at sea and in the air during World War II is the Smithsoni an Institution ' s " Steichen and hi s Me n," organi zed in conjunctio n with the Navy Memorial MuseU1n , Was hington DC. Photographer Edward Steichen is recogni zed fo r elevating the usuall y ano nymo us for-the-record work of naval photographers. He told his colleagues: " Don ' t photograph the war.

Photograph the man, the little g uy-the struggle, the heartaches, plus the dreams of thi s guy." Steichen later edited US Navy War Photographs, which sold six million copies in six months, a record for a photography book. On the road since 1988, the 60-piece exhibit can be seen at the fo llow ing venues: Fresno Metropolitan Museum , Fresno CA, January 16Apri I 4; P a rk e rs burg Art Cen ter, Parke rsburg WV , April 24-May 23 ; Marietta-Cobb Museum of Art, Marietta GA , June 12-A ugust 29 .

O ur final despatch is news of a new maritime fes tival in Charleston, South Caro lina, to be he ld Septe mber 24-26.

O rgani zers of the first Cha rleston Mari time Festiva l are incorporating a maritime art show as part of the program and are see kin g submi ss ions for jurying . The festival wi ll be he ld nex t yea r in conjunct io n w ith the start of the aro und the wo rld BOC Challe nge race , in Charleston on September 17, 1994. For informati o n contact Southeast Manageme nt Company , 2 11 Meeting Stree t, Charleston SC 2940 I ; 803 723- 1748 .

K EV IN H AYDON

Exhibitions • November 5-April 15, William Partridge Burpee: American Marine Impressionist. Peabody & Essex Muse um , East Indi a Sq ua re, Sa lem MA 01 790.

•Fe bruary 28-June 2, The Great Age of Sail: Treasures from the National Maritime Museum compri s ing some e ighty paintin gs , including works by Canaletto, Turner, William Yan de Yelde, C leve ley a nd Brook in g. Peabod y & Essex Mu seum , East Indi a Sq uare, Salem MA 01970 • April I 5-June I 5, Development of the Passe nger Liner at its Peak: 18931916. Elli s Isla nd, New York .

• Ap ril 25-Septe mber 20, Contemporary Marine Masters, an in vitati o nal ex hibition of national and inte rnatio nal artists. Thi s new show supercedes the annual " Mys tic 100" event and features a smalle r gro up of artists . Mystic Mari time Ga ll e ry , Mysti c CT 06355.

31

3

5

7

6

Ship Portraits: 150 Years of Ship's China Steamship portraits have graced ship ' s china ware since the earliest days of steam navigation. Indeed, the earliest such pattern is associated with Samuel Cunard's pioneering transatlantic steamer service of 1840. The tradition continues today in the china service used by at least one cruise line.

It was no accident that the introduction of specially patterned tableware coincided with the beginning of regularly schedu led steamship services. Early steamship companies attempted to stress not only the reliability of their service but also its uneventful character. What better way than to provide the traveling public such home comforts as clean table linens and decent food served on handsomely decorated tableware?

32

Daniel C. Krummes The in tense com petition of the steamship era called for new inspiration in shipboard service and for specific company identification. Ship's china reflected this revolution. A bold and confident style both reassured passengers and adverti sed the company to attract future business.

Then , as now, ship ' s china was rarely fine quality chinaware of porcelain.

Rather, a heavy duty ware cost less and minimized breakage in everyday use as well as in rolling and stormy seas. While the decoration of this ware has traditionally included a host of maritime themes, from houseflags and funnels to nautical equipment, perhaps the most beautiful

and striking designs are those of ships themselves.

19th Century Ship Portraits One of the earliest maritime china patterns , known as "Boston Mails," features both exterior and interior views of early Cunard Line vessels. The pattern was registered with the British Patent Office Design Registry in 1841,just one year after the maiden transatlantic voyage of the Britannia.

Whether Cunard ordered the service for on board use, or whether it was produced by its English manufacturers to commennorate the new steamship route to Ame:rica, remains unclear. Regardless, thfe pattern provides a delightful glimpse: of ocean travel in the 1840s.

The pattern frequently portrays the SEA HUSTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

'

Early steamship companies attempted to stress not only the reliability of their service but also its uneventful character. What better way than to provide the traveling public such home comforts as clean table linens and decent food served on handsomely decorated tableware?

Britannia, Acadia, Columbia and Caledonia, Cunard's first four steamships. The "Boston Mails" trademark itself (figure I) also gives an excellent feel for those small, 1840s transatlantic steamships.

Most "Boston Mails" pieces portray one of three interior views-"Gentlemen 's Cabin", "Ladies Cabin" and "Saloon"-in surprising detail. "Ladies Cabin" (figure 2), reveals three women passengers in fas hionable dress gathered around the table. One does her sewing, one reads, while the third, large bonnet tied around her chin, appears ready for a tum on deck. The ladies ' cabin is more elegantly appointed than that of the gentlemen, with sofas, sconces flanking the fireplace, and decorations adorning the mantle.

As Samuel Cunard established his transatlantic service, Captain Eber Ward and his family founded a Great Lakes shipping line ofby 1840s standards-palatial steamboats. One 1840-50s Wards Line pattern (figure 3) portrays a sidewheeler steaming confidently past an idyllic lake shore. Note the two tall stacks, located abreast of one another, a typical early Great Lakes design. The figures visible on deck give us a reasonably accurate impression of the vessel's size.

Nightboats became increasingly important in the United States after the Civil War. By the 1890s these vessels served the Eastern seaboard as well as the Great Lakes. For overnight service between Washington, DC and Norfolk, Virginia, no line rivalled the Norfolk & Washington Steamboat Company.

For that service, the line commissioned perhaps the handsomest and best detailed of nineteenth-century vessel portraits usedonship'schina(figure4). The vessel portrayed is either of the sister ships Norfolk or Washington, seen steaming at full clip through choppy seas. The two ships entered service in 1891 , and the pattern appears to have been first produced sometime around that date.

Chinaware portraits have reflected the evolution in steamship naval architecture and an example is the butter pat from the Quebec Steamship Company (figure 5). Now a discontinued variety of

SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

china service, this butter pat dates to the tum of the century. The ship portrayed on it boasts two tall funnels , a straight stem , long hull, low superstructure and counter stem-a far cry from the "Boston Mails" sidewheelers of the 1840s.

20th Century Ship Portraits Steamship portraits on ship 's china changed in the twentieth century to reflect the tastes of a changed world .

From the 1930s comes a pattern (figure 6) from the Compagnie Maritime Beige. The creamer dates to 1937, though the pattern itself may be older. Its out-ofscale elements include a large company houseflag billowing over a stylized ocean liner wqich slices through oversized Art Deco waves. The squared superstructure and two stacks suggest that the vessel must represent the line's late 1920s sister

only china pattern illustrated in figure 6.

The service debuted in 1989 for a special cruise aboard the Norway in which the vessel was rechristened France. As the cruise focused on the delights of French cooking, with French chefs holding forth once again in the liner's celebrated kitchens, a special table serv ice seemed appropriate.

The pattern derives from a 1987 Norwegian Cruise Line travel poster which featured a romantic vision of the ship in the tropics. Palm trees and pastel skies are dominated by a bow-on profile of the fabled liner. While the original poster advertises the Norway, the china pattern adds "France" to a dominant position to reflect the feelings that many still hold for the beautiful ocean liner.

Interestingly enough, although there was a second cruise as the France, this china service was not used again.

It has been reportedperhaps apocryphallythat so much of this service "di sappeared" during the first cruise that it was too costly to replace missing pieces.

* * * * *

ships Albertville and Leopoldville.

With the suggestion of speed its chinaware implied, the Compagnie Maritime seems to promise passengers a fast voyage from Europe to the Belgian Congo.

Such a voyage routinely took 2-3 weeks oneway during the 1920s and 1930s.

Figure 7 illustrates a pattern of a different sort, from the dining room service current! y used by Holland America Line.

Two vessels meet in the effective tribute to the glorious history of Dutch seafaring: Henry Hudson 's famed Half Moon silhouetted by the line's magnificent Nieuw Amsterdam of 1938.

Holland America introduced the logo as early as the 1950s, then re-adopted it around 1985. Its use on chinaware has created a pattern which is unarguably one of the handsomest dinner services currently in use at sea.

Even more nostalgic is the one-time-

The nineteenth-century patterns illustrated here present reasonably accurate portraits of steam passenger vessel s of their era. They reflect the pride that owners felt for special vessels in their fleets .

The three examples of twentieth-century patterns focus on intangibles such as speed, glamor and nostalgia. They, too, exhibit the corporate pride and affection for specific ships conveyed by their nineteenth-century antecedents.

Ship's china is a long standing nautical tradition. While much has changed since the Britannia first steamed across the Atlantic, it is reassuring to see marked ship' s china sti ll in use today.

Let us hope that the tradition will remain with us for as long as ships sail the seven seas. â&#x20AC;˘ Daniel Krummes is a Librarian at the University of California's Institute of Transportation Studies in Berkeley. He is compiling an illustrated catalog ofGreat Lakes ship's china and would appreciate information from collectors, researchers and dealers on Great Lakes patterns.

33

SHIPNOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS Viking Replica Ships Sink The two Norwegian replica Viking ships, Oseberg and Saga Siglar, were overturned in a sudden squall off the coast of Spain in May. The replicas were making passage from Valencia to the World 's Fair in Seville when they were struck by 50-55 knot winds and 40-ft waves . The crew of the Oseberg were pitched into the sea by a large wave striki ng the vessel from astern and some hours later the Saga Siglar crew were forced to abandon their vessel. All crew were rescued , although the Saga Sig lar crew drifted in life rafts for e leven hours.

The rep licas had toured the US Atlantic seaboard during late 1991 as part of the joint Norwegian/Icelandic Vinland Revisited project commemorating the thou sa nd year anniversary of Leif Eriksson 's voyage to the new world. In October they parted with the replica fleet's flagship Gaia , which traveled on to participate in the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro . While the Oseberg was a ninth-century replica not originall y built for open water sailing, the Saga Siglar, a copy of an eleventh-century cargo vessel, had successfu ll y circumnav igated the globe.

The Saga Sig far was later salvaged as were the parts of the Oseberg that drifted ashore. The wreckage was taken to the World 's Fair for display before being returned to Norway. (World City Corporation, 330 East 43rd Street, New York NY 10017) The Oseberg, Saga Siglar and Gaia.

Headliners: Quee_n Mary, United Stales The era of the transatlantic passenger liner is long past, but the movements of relics of that age still generate head lines.

When the Harbor Commission of the Port of Long Beach, California, offered up the Queen Mary for bidding, after the Walt Di sney Company decided to no longer operate the 800-ft Art Deco liner as a touri st attraction, bids were received 34

Tall Stacks '92 While residents on the East Coast reveled in tall ships' visits this past summer, in the heartland they had their own maritime celebration called Tall Stacks ' 92. Throughout the weekend of October 15-18, the proud wheels churned on the Ohio River at Cincinnati as 17 stemwheelers ran heats of riverboat races, and engaged in tug-ofwar pull s and calliope contests, all to the beat of a jazz and blues festival.

The greatest steamboat enthusiast of all , Mark Twain, once wrote: " the most enjoyable of a ll races is a steamboat race, two red-hot steamboats raging along, neck-and-neck , straining every nerve-that is to say, every rivet in the boiler-quak ing and shaking and groaning from stem to stern. " A largeriverfrontcrowdcaughta glimpse Th e crowded Cincinnati wate1front during a of the Twain-era spectacle when the Tall Stacks event. two remaining stem wheel river passenger steamboats, the 1927 Delta Queen and 1914 Belle ofLouisville, paired off against each other in the big event of the weekend.

Following up on the success of the first Tall Stacks event in 1988, this year's event attracted riverboats from the Mi ss issippi, Tennessee, Kanawha and Ohio rivers and drew an estimated 1.5 million people to the historic Cincinnati waterfront. (Greater Cincinnati Tall Stacks Commi ss ion, PO Box 1256, Cincinnati OH 45201) from all over the world (see report Sea History 63, p38). The Port Commission said it intended to accept the highest bid-a $20 million offerthat would move the ship to Hong Kong-but relented on September 30 and decided that the World War II veteran liner wi ll remain in Long Beach where she has been berthed since 1967. Intervention of concerned citizens is credited with bringing abo ut the change of heart. Doug Otto, of the Long Beach Heritage Coa lition remarked that "Long Beach's identity has been so intimately connected with the Queen Mary that it's hard to imagine the city as a tourist attraction without it. " The ship will be given to the City of Long Beach at no cost and the Commission wi ll contribute toward its renovation . The ship 's hotel is closed but tours and restaurants aboard remain open. In the meantime, as a result of the publicity surrounding the Queen's future and reduced admission fees, visitation has increased in recent months.

The Virginia Pilot Ledger Star reports that the United States, the fastest transatlantic liner of them all, made a slow but safe passage in July undertow from Hampton Roads, Virginia, to Istanbul , Turkey, where she will be refurbished for the cruise trade. Dutch ocean tug operator

Aart W. Brand described the tow as "no problem ," despite some rough weather.

"She's so sharp that she sat behind the tug in a straight course," said Brand. Her arrival in Istanbul presented difficulties, however. As no berth was ready, crew struggled to put down an anchor unused for 23 years to make safe anchorage several miles from shore in the Sea of Marmara.

While the Queen Mary and the United States are the only two blue riband ocean liners that remain, memories of others live on. A group of historians and enthusiasts, including Frank 0. Braynard and well known writer Walter Lord, are working to establish as a permanent memorial the Ocean Liner Museum. The National Maritime Historical Society is supporting the plan and is currently investigating the possibility of a home for the museum in Snug Harbor, the former seamen 's retirement home on Staten Island, New York.

Getting Around the Ships The 220-ft sidew hee l stea mboat Ticonderoga, built in Shelburne Shipyard, Vermont, in 1906 and now an impress iv e on-shore exhibit at the Shelburne Museum, is undergoing restoration, thanks to a recent million dollar gift. The Ticonderoga is one of only two vessels left in America with a walk-

SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-1993

ing beam steam engine. After service on Lake Champlain for nearly 50 years, she was moved in 1955 two miles overland from the lake to the Shelburne Museum.

Job captain for the restoration, which started this past fa ll and is expected to take two years, is veteran Great Lakes custom boatbuilder Frank "Chip" Stulen.

Restoration work includes replacing decks, sheathing and paneling in the

-,

Capt. Ray & Ann Williamson

Established in 1935 .. .. .

KEEP THE TRADITION ALIVE ENJOY A 3 OR 6 DAY CRUISE ABOARD AN HISTORIC VESSEL

Departing each Monday-Friday. Rates from $295-$625 Group rates available Tune & September.

For information: Box 617-SH, Camden Maine 04843 • (207) 236-2938 • 1 800 736-7981

~Don't Go Sailing Alone!

Take

The sidewheel steamer Ticonderoga.

...

superstructure, and painting. A large portion of the donated funds w ill be put aside for an endowment to support regular maintenance of the vessel. (S he lburne Museum, S he lburne VT 05482) By contrast, the news cou ld hardly be worse for the last of the Hudson Ri ver's elegant sidewheel stea mboats. T he Alexander Hamilton, built 1923, sank at a New Jersey pier 15 years ago. Hopes of refloating her rested on the Navy ' s concern that she was a hazard to navigation along one of the busiest amm uniti on supply depots on the East Coast. But the construction of a two-mile-long trestle alongside the o ld weapons pier has now placed the Hamilton out of navigation's way. For now, the 349-ft hulk of the steamboat seems destined to remain si lted up in 16 feet of water.

The Grand Old Dame of San Diego's waterfront, the 130-year-old Star of India, wi ll once agai n cleave the waters of San Diego Bay. The San Diego Maritime Museum recently a nno unced August 14 and 22, 1993 as her sailing dates.

The iron bark, built in 1863 and sailed around the world 21 times in her 60 year career, last sailed the bay in 1989. In the interim, something more than restoration work has been taking place in the Star's hold. For much of last year, the museum's ship carpenter Jeff Saar used the hold as workshop space to build a replica ship's boat of the San Salvador, Spanish exp lorer Juan Rodriguez Cabri ll o's vessel. The 17-ftChalupa was launched September 26 to participate in the 450th a nni versary reenactment of Cabri llo's landing in San Diego in 1542.

SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

"TARRY BREEKS" With You! SEA SHANTY CASSETTES "Tarry Breeks-Sea Shanties" $9.95 "Those Are The Breeks" $11.95 SPECIAL - BOTH - $20.00 Mail Check or Money Order to: "Tarry Brccks", P. 0. Box 2660, San Pedro, CA 90731, or, call to order by phone (310) 514-8978

A SALUTE TO HISTORY MILITARY AND HISTORICAL ART SHOW AND SALE May 14 through 23, 1993 • San Antonio, Texas Home of the Alamo, Historical Spanish Missions and the San Antonio Riverwalk

Featuring Military and Hi storical art of all med ia from America's foremost professional artists. Ex hibiting arti sts will include members of the American Society of Marine Artists, Society of American Historical Artists, American Society of Aviation Art ists, Society of Illustrators and U.S. Air Force Art Program.

Many of these master artists will be in attendance.

Gallery open to public May 16-23, JO a .m. to 6 p.111., $3.00 per person admission. Discounts to organized groups.

...., PREVIEW PARTIES MAY

14 & 15....,

Parties fea ture go urmet buffet, cocktail s, big band orchestra and entertai nment.

Contribution of $75 per person wi th net proceeds benefiting the Children's Shelter of San Antonio and other Alamo Kiwanis Club Charities .

We expesct sell-out attendance at Preview Parties, so call or write early for reservations:

' '"A"'"'":r"''

30th Annual Art Show

Alamo Kiwanis Club Charities 9 1 1 North Main A venue, #8-4 San An tonio, Texas 782 12 (800) 584-2800

' '"A"'""'"·"'""

30th Annual Art Show 35

CAST IRON LIGHTHOUSES DOORSTOPS • BOOKENDS • COLLECTIBLES

FREE COLOR LITERATURE!

Buy or Sell

,,

u~

~

Original Lightho use Col lecti o n ® I 096 Da vis Street I Monroe, GA 30655 I -800-633-8 149

Marinas I Boatyards on Chesapeake Bay

v

~ g-~

70 DESIGNS! Hand-painted museu m quality replicas.

7" - 10", 6-IOlbs. Add$5S/ H.

~

j_

•

'

* .

· JJ

call Wilford Land Company PO Box 953, Easton MD 21601 TEL: 410-S22-4586

DISTANT SEAS"" THE MER.CHANf MARINE GAME

(SDMM, 1306 N. Harbor Drive, San Diego CA 92101) Certainly replica ship 's boats have been the rage of the West Coast in recent years. In addition to the Chalupa and a second identical boat to be launched soon at San Diego, the Gray's Harbor Historical Seaport has launched one and is building another long boat replica for their brigantine replica Columbia of 1789. These two will join the more than 24 replicas of British, Spanish and American survey boats built in recent years in the Northwest (see Sea History 61, " Northwest Maritime Revival ," p8).

Among thi s number is a replica of the first European boatto sai l up the Colum bia River, the ship's cutter carried aboard HMS Chatham. Captain C.S .

Wetherell of Vancouver, Washington , re port s th e 24-ft laun ch, built in

Vancouver by boatbuilder Dou glas Brooks, was sailed between October 22 a nd 31 along the exact course of British Lt. William Broughton 's 110-mil e upriver exploration of 1792.

From Seattle, Northwest Seaport board member Pat Hartle reports with mixed emotions on the fate of the historic steam ferry San Mateo . On Octobe r 16, the Seaport transferred ownership of the 217-ft former San Francisco a nd Puget Sound car ferry to Garry A. B e reska of Surrey, British Co lumbia.

Faced with the loss of her mooring and not having received any bids for scrapping the vessel , the Seaport claims it had run out of options-other than paying over a half million dollars to have the vessel scrapped-w hen they accepted Bereska 's offer. Bereska, a locomotive engineer for Canadian Railways, plans

Age of Exploration Wrecks Join Archaeological Record REALISTIC AND EXCITING! THREE UNIQUE GAMES IN ONE! SAILSHIP GAME STEAMSHIP GAME CONTEMPORARY GAME 2 TO 4 PLAYER.S

AGES 12 AND UP

Send $30 plus $5 shipping & insurance MD residents add Sl.50 sales tax (overseas orders add SIO shipping)

Distant Seas Publishing Company 9557 Fern Hollow Way Gaithersburg, Maryland 20879

UltiMate SlJip WeatlJ€RVaN€S

D etailEtJ, Histonically AccunatE, StnikiNG aNtJ QuitE LaRGE

R.M.S. 'CitaNiC (UNbER bEVEIOPMENt)

AvailablE aRE tl')E clippER '7\RiEI:' "GREat EastERN" aNb a VENEtiaN WaR GallEY. AIUMiNUM aNtJ staiNIESS stEEI CONstRuctiON, IMRON® coatiNG. MajEStic, tJiGNifiEtJ, aNtJ GRaCEfUI. SENtJ $2.00 fOR pl)otos aNtJ iNfORMatioN.

(401) 7s9-179s

36

Cl)anlES DoYIE 46 FiRE LN. #I Jenny BROWN FaRM Rb. WakEfiEltJ, RI. 02079

An early- 16th-century wreck was not what Florida businessman and salvage hunter John Browning expected. In the summer of 1991 , Browning and hi s associates were prospecting along a coral reef north of West End, Bahamas, when they di scovered the wreck in side the reef buried under 6 feet of sand and coral. In the opinion of Florida State Archaeologi st Roger Smith, who vi sited the site in the summer, thefind promises to increase the archaeological record of ships of the period of discovery fourfold. "To their credit," says Smith, "they recognized immediately that what they had found had archaeological significance. It is the largest early 16th-century site I've seen on thi s side of the Atlantic." The tentative dating is based on artillery discovered on the heav ily armed vessel.

Archaeologists and divers working for Browning's St. John 's Expeditions and Mel Fisher's Maritime Heritage Society, a nonprofit organization formed by Fisher after hi s controversial commercial salvage of the Spanish treasure galleonAtocha, began excavation of the site this past summer. About 25 percent of the site has been excavated so far, uncovering a large number of fragments of plates, pitchers, oli ve jars and every class of period weapon, including a large section of a soldier's helmet and a rare crossbow complete with cranking mechanism. According to site archaeologist David Moore, the site is not being commercially salvaged. Because the Bahamas lacks any conservation faci lities, artifacts are being A contemporGJy engraving by Th eodore de Bry depicting a typical sea-going vessel of conserved at the Maritime Heritage the mid-16th century.

Society's facilities in Key West, Florida.

From a visit to Havana in October, at the invitation of the Cuban government, Roger Smith reports on the preservation of another I 6th-century wreck. For the past two years Cuban archaeologists have been taking the wreck from a reef on the coast of Cuba to El Morro, the castle in Havana harbor, for conservation and display . Smith reports the wreck is well preserved. The bow section is missing but the entire hull below the waterline from above the main mast back to the rudder is present. Dated to 1590, the wreck is thatoftheRosario--a vessel known to have been attacked and sunk by English voyagers on the second voyage to the first Engli sh settlement in the New World at Roanoke, Virginia, under the command of Christopher Newport.

KH SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

SHIPNOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS The Classic Windjammer Vacarion

to live aboard and make the restoration of the badl y deteriorated vessel a lifelong project. (NWS , 1002 Valley Street, Seattle WA 98109) The las t trading schooner to wo rk the Mersey is to be compl etely remasted a nd rerigged in an extensive fi ve-year restoration program at the Merseyside Maritime Museum at Albert Dock, Liverpool.

The 75-year-old schooner De Wadden was built in 19 17 in Ho ll and and spent 40 years in the Irish Sea trade. From Finl and comes news of two new wooden boat constructions. One, a replica of the merchant vessel Jacobstads Wapen of 1767, was launched in Jaco bstad, in July.

The second , a new three-masted schooner is be ing built in the fa mous seafaring town ofM ariehamn on the lines of o ne of the las t A land Island vessels, the 1920 Linden. The new 11 6-ft Linden w ill be used for charter sailing.

In the naval ship preservation department, Sea History can report that the Blueback, the last non-nuclear submarine built fo r the Navy, has been donated to Portl and 's Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. The 32-yearold submarine was decommi ss ioned in 1990 and is presentl y at Bremerton, fro m whi ch point she will be moved at no cost to the museum. In November, the c ity of Corpus Chri sti , Texas , opened the USS Lexington Museum on the Bay aboard the World War II veteran aircraft carrier Lexington. The Lexington parti ci pated in nearl y every major operati on in the Pac ifi c. From 1962 to her decommi ssioning in November, 199 1, she served as a Navy training carrier in Pensaco la, Florida. As a touri st attraction the carrier is ex pected to bring in more than 300,000 visitors per year.

If

Museum News In recent years, archaeo log ical di scoveries in Lake Champlain , Lake George and other New York waterways have gene rated a lot of interest in I 8th-century inl and shipping vessels. A main stay of shipping in thi s period was the fl at-bottomed, shallow draft 3-handed, 4-handed or 5-handed batteau. As part of a li ving hi story program commemo ratin g the Bicentenni a l of the Western Inland Lock Nav igati on Company, the New York State Museum thi s year built and sailed a re pli ca 31-foot " three-handed " Mohawk River batteau. The vessel made its fi rst passage in October o n the o ld na vi ga ti o n ro ut e bet w ee n Schenectady and Canajoharie alte rnatSEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

SCHOONER MARY DAY

ing her single-sail power with the ass istance of a New York State Barge Canal tug. It carried late- 18th-centu ry-type cargoes collected by schoo lchildren in the

Good F~:X'ti~fa~~~

Wild Islands , Snug Harbors Seals , Eagles, Whales, Puffins Cap1. S<eve & Chris Cobb Box 79BA, Comden, ME 04843 800-99 2-22 18 . (207) 236-2750

CRUISE THE MAINE COAST -----.

//

A BOAR D T H E W JNDJA.AtM f:J<

~NG ELIQUE 3 & 6 DAY VACATI ONS

U\'ely sa iling, t:xploring or relaxing , you'll find Down East hospi1Jlity 3nd a unique:, memorable var:111un. S)OO 10 S6IO

. Write: Capt . Mike & Ly nne McHenry Box 736- R Camden, Maine 04843

Call Toll Fm 1-800-282-9989

Mohawk River batteau replica Di scovery

two towns on a six-day return voyage.

(NYS M, Room CEC 3097 , Albany NY 12230) Under the auspi ces of the City of Paducah, a group of organ izations and ind ivid ua ls in thi s Ohio Ri ver hu b are ac ti vely pursuing the development of an Inland Waterways Maritime Museum.

T he museum has engaged the museum des ign firm of E. Verner Johnson & Assoc iates to do pre liminary development work.

Underwater News Arm y Corps of Engineers divers will soon attempt to raise what is thought to be the onl y survi ving specimen of amarinecrosshead engine. The mass ive 10-ton iron and copper engine is from the Baltimore-built sidewheelerColumbus, which caught fire and sank near the mouth of the Potomac River on November 27, 1850. The crosshead engine was the simple but ineffi cient and unreliable predecessor to the more advanced and widel y used " walking beam" engine. The recovered engine will prov ide a rare glimpse into the evolution of steam technology.

In the words of Paul Hindley, underwater archaeol ogist with the Mary land Hi storica l Tru st, " If yo u can get little snapshots of changes li ke the Columbus engine, yo u can break what look like vast leaps of technology into smalI steps."

The restored eng ine will like ly become an ex hibit at the Chri stopher Co lumbus CenterofMarine Research and Exp loration, due to open in Baltimore ' s Inner Harbor in 1994.

T he sunken remain s of the USS Massachusetts, the nation's oldest surviving battleship, will soon become the state of Florida ' s fo urth Underwater Archaeolog ica l Prese rve. T he Indi ana-c las s battleship was built in Ph iladelphi a in

Ship Model Gallery Museum Quality Investment Grade Model Ships Post Box 303, Hamilton, New York 13346 1-315-824-2462 PARTICIPATION SAILING ADVENTURES ona

WORKING SCHOONER

Live the tradition .

1911

Sylvina W. Beal Group Charters 2 Day - 3 Day - 5 Day Sails 1-800-3 33-MYSTIC 1 20 School St. ,Mystic, CT 06 355 37

*MAINE

*

WINDJAMMERS*

*

1-1100-648-4544 AMERICAN EAGLE . ~ ISAAC H . EVANS LEWIS R. FREN CH HERITAGE

~

......

---~ Weekl y Cruises

* $3 10 - $645 *

For Brochure wr i1 e:

SchoonerCap1ain s,Box 482T, Rockla nd , ME 0484 1 1-800-648-4544 or 207-594-8007 *

*

Captain's Clock of solid oak, cherry and mahogany. 3-year guar. on quartz movement. $45, ship'g incl. Also : Oldfashioned handmade dolls. Photos on request. Keeler & Olson Clocks 125 Hill St. , PO Box 6, Whitinsville MA 01588 Tel : 508-234-5081

MUSEUM QUALI1Y SHIP MODELS "The finest for less•

The worlds finest inventory of ship models at down to earth w holesa le prices.

Lannan Ship Model Gallery 58 Thayer Street Boston, MA 02118

(617)451-2650

That 's how long your fo nd memories will last when you come aboard a hi storic Tall Ship for a hands-on sailing experience. Idea l for: • 2-IOday EdVentures T M •Day Sails •Weddings • Social Functions • Corporate Entertai nment • Executive Team Building PO Box 379 Tel:617-344-1749 Stoughton MA 02072

38

1893 as part of the new "steel Navy" and saw action in the Spanish-American War. She has lain in shallow water near the entrance to Pensacola Bay since being sunk as a target vessel in 192 I . While the wreck is already a popular fi shing and diving location , the new des ignation will allow for further interpretation and pub1ic accessibility for the site. (Bureau of Archaeological Research , Tallahassee FL 32399-0250) Briefly Noted In wooden boat circles, the Rockport Apprenticeshop has been highly regarded for quality in struction in the arts of wooden boat building. Many craftsmen working throughout the country got their start or refined their skill s at the "Shop" in Rockport, Maine, started by Lance Lee over twenty years ago. Now the school's program has taken on a new emphasis and a new name. As the Artisans School , it wi ll be offering a threeyear, college- level program that combines hands-on construction skills with a curriculum of related business and science courses, mathematics and English.

(The Artisans School , PO Box 539, Rockport ME 04856) Conferences & Seminars The sixth annual conference of the Colonial Maritime Association will be hosted by the Half Moon/New Netherlands Mu seum in Jersey City , New Jersey, on February 20, 21 . The CMA is an informal association of shipholders, historians, technicians and enthusiasts working to fo ster a greater understanding of colonial vessels, their seamen and their place in history . The period covered ranges from the Viking era to the War of 1812. For information on the program , to take place at New York City 's Intrepid Museum (present for touring will be the Half Moon and the Columbus replicas), contact Nick Burlakoff, HalfMoon Visitors Center/New Netherlands Museum, Liberty State Park, Jersey City NJ 07305 ; 201 433 -5900.

The Council of American Maritime Museums and the North American Society for Oceanic History plan a joint conference at the Bermuda Maritime Museum, March 17-20, 1993. The theme for the conference is "Museums, Maritime History, and Underwater Archaeology." For information contact Dr. William Still, Program in Maritime History, East Carolina University, Greenville NC 27858-4353.

INVENI PORT AM THOMAS

W. GLEASON (1900-1992)

Teddy Gleason, who served for many years as president of the International Longs horeman 's Assoc iation , died at age 92 o n December 24. He came up the hard way , organizing dock workers on New York 's waterfront in the 1930s and at one point, barred from the piers, made a living se lling hot dogs. Born in Tipperary, he was active in Iri sh-American affa irs. John Cardinal O 'Connor sa id at Gleason 's funeral mass at St. Patrick 's Cathedral: "He was known for hi s toughness and his honesty. " John Bowers, president of the ILA since Gleason retired five years ago, said: "Don ' t shed any tears fo r Teddy ... ifl know him , he's up there negotiating with the angels." A widower since I 96 I , Gleason leaves four children, 14 grandchildren and eight greatgrandchildren.

SCOTT NEWHALL (1914-1992) " A man with Scaramouche's 'gift of laughter ' and a sense that the mad world of journalism could be madly entertaining," said his old friend and co-worker, the San Francisco columnist Herb Caen, on learning about the death of Scott Newhall , who died on October 26 at age 78. The San Francisco Chronicle, which Newhall served as editor until 1971, said: "Mr. Newhall transformed the Chronicle from a stolid journal that was third in circulation among San Francisco's four dailies into an irreverent aggressive newspaper with the most readers."

Fed up with hi s city 's politics, he ra n for mayor-a foredoomed bid he turned into a campaign that will live in San Franc isco annals long after the winner of the e lection is forgotten. Foiled in his plan to save England's last working paddle tug , he took the burned-out hulk of the old paddler Eppleton Hall , restored it, and steamed it to San Francisco-a deed of arm s recorded in a grand book he wrote about the venture.

He was a founding trusteeofNMHSanother mark of hi s sympathy with mad schemes, perhaps! He has been an unfai ling source of inspiration and encouragement to our Society and me personally. But that was true of so many people and causes he took up with! Scott's longtime friend and co-conspirator Karl KortLDm will have more words to say on that in a future Sea History.

Scott is survived by wife Ruth, a spirite d civic crusader in her own right, and their sons Skip, Tony and John .PS

SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-1993

SHIPNOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS

Cape Horners World Congress It was a dwindling breed of sailonnen who met this year on 8-11 June for the XL VIII Cape Homers Congress in the little seaport town of Mariehamn, Finland, in the Aland Islands on the Baltic Sea. Every year they gather from all parts of the world as members of the " World Congress of Amicale Internationale des Captains au long Cours Cap-Homiers Saint-Malo" (AICH) to greet each other as old friends , exchange yam s, and help perpetuate the hi story of the big squarerigged windjammers that sailed around

ships. When I was of age, I followed in hi s footsteps and signed on in thePassat.

This year's attendees represented AICH Sections from Australia, Britain, Chile, Denmark, Finland , France, Belgium , Norway, Sweden and the Aland Islands. There is no American Section, although many men from the US sailed in ships belonging to the countries just mentioned .

The Congress began with the traditional flag-raising and a service held in honor of those who had passed on since

Eight of the crew that sailed around Cppe Horn in the Passat on 18 April, 1939 :from left to right, Erik Brunstrom (Donkeyman), Aland, 78; Elliot B. Knowlton (Apprentic e) USA, 78; Tor Linqvist (AB), Australia, 72; Lars Stromsten , (A B) , Finland , 73; Lief Strandvik (AB), Finland , 73; Hildin g Nissen (Ordinary), Finland , 73; Erling Hopper (Ordinary), Denmark, 72; Thomas Wells (Apprentice), USA, 75.

Cape Hom in the first half of the 20th century.

Mariehamn itself, population I 0,000, is a place of special favor for these mariners . For one, it is the home of Paul Sommerlund, the only Albatross left in the world today. Albatross is the title given to a captain who commanded a square- rigged ship sailing around Cape Hom. Paul is now 87 years old. He rounded Cape Hom 12 times, the last time as master of the Archibald Russell.

It is also the home of Gustaf Erikson, the last great owner (he had a dozen o r more) of the huge, stee l-hulled sailing ships, mostly four-masted barks, that sai led to Australia with sand and rock ballast to return home with their bellies full of wheat. Commonly known as grain ships, these are the vessels that Alan Villiers wrote about in the earl y thirties in National Geographic magazi ne. It was through my reading his articles as a young boy that I became interested in these SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

the last Congress one year ago. And as usual, over the course of four days we sat down to such Cape Homer culinary luncheon pleasures as "fish soup" and "buffalo" (some say the Argentine salt beef we had on the grain ships was

buffalo) , neither of which have grown much in their appeal to me over the last fifty years. But the hospitality at Mariehamn was exceptional. Festivities included a party given by Mrs. Solveig Erikson in the garden of Gustaf Erikson 's home and a farewell pa1ty on board the four-masted bark Pommern, a former grain ship and now an Atands Museum ship.

Attendance at the Mariehamn Congress was 240. The number of our shipmates lost in the last year totaled 83.

Each we honored and asked for blessings of peace in the spirit of St. Malo.

S ince the first congress my wife Wanda and I attended in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1974, more Cape Homers had passed away than attended thi s most recent Congress. Today , there are probably arou nd 700 true Cape Homers around the world. Our crew in Passat in 1939 numbered 3 1. Sixteen are living today, and nine of us attended this conference.

One of the couples attending was Yoh Aoki and hi s wife from Japan. A big, tall fe ll ow, Aoki sa iled a little 20some footer single-handed around Cape Horn to Argentina, then doubled back aro und the Horn and returned to hi s homeland . Indeed, if the World Congress of Cape Homers is go ing to perpetuate itself, it will have to be through yachtsmen like him , for the last big sail ing windjammer to round Cape Hom was thePamiron Monday, 11July1949.

But for as long as Cape Homers new and old meet, the final chapter in the age of ocean sa il , and the spec ial challenge the waters of Cape Horn represent to sailors the world over, will remain a vivid part of the seafaring heritage.

THOMAS WELLS, ASMA

Towards a North American Section of Cape Horners "They are a special group," reflects NMHS Honorary Trustee Harold Huycke on the attendees of the XL VIII Cape Homers Congress, "each one having that rare experience of going to sea under sail , driven only by God 's variable winds in ships which for the most part were very much older than the oldest man in attendence."

Not a full-fledged member of the AICH himself, Capt. Huycke enjoys what he call s the " lesser privilege" of being a "sympathizer" member of the A land Section, a distinction g iven him thirteen years ago in appreciation of hi s efforts to collect and preserve deep-sea

sa iling ship hi story.

Having thought about the small number of representatives from the US in attendence this year--0nly two of the seven present being full members-he is proposing the establishment of a North American Section comprised of Canadians, Americans and Mexicans. "We have in the US and Canada an impressive number of real Cape Homers who could well represent a North American Section at these meetings," says Huycke, who would like to hear from those interested in pursuing this idea further. He can be contacted at 18223 84th Place W., Edmonds WA 98028.

39

REVIEWS Classic Kn otwork Traditional knotwork, fenders, mats, swim ladders & other salty sai lor stuff. For illus. catalog send SASE to THE KNOITED LINE

9908 168th Ave., NE, Redmond WA 98052-3122 Tel: 206-885-2457

WANTED 19th Century original prints of Stephen Parrish, Charles A. Platt, Henry Farrer, JamesNicoll, JamesD. Smillie, Otto Bacher, Robert Blum, Theodore Wendel, etc.

Robert A. Horn Tel: 212-371-1511 llO East 59 St., 23rd Fl., NY, NY 10022

ALL SEASON GREETING CARDS Famed 1 BOO's sailing ships in pen & ink by ISMP artist. No verse. 4 designs (2 each) in B&W w/env's.

Folded size SY2 x 4y, in Deluxe Strathmore.

8/$12.95 - 16/$19.95 Postpaid Satisfaction Guaranteed. AK, HI, foreign add $3

STRATHAM HOUSE GREETINGS Box 802, So. Dennis, MA 02660

FOR SALE John Stobart Print "South Street 1880" (Twilight) Make offer.

Tel: 914-965-2949

"''&'.: ...:-

Sail the Maine Coast

e.tv•••e Cl

V.i::I

·.

~ "'

..

·

·-

·

Th"'"'"""""-·

Summertime, offers three and six day cruises of the breathtakingly beautiful waters of Coastal Maine.

•Individuals or pps up to sa: •Group disoounls • •Callforresmationsand/orfr"eebrochure •

115-F So. Mam St., Rockland, Maine 04841 , 8)().562-8290

BILL BLACK AGENCY GROUP INC. independent ship agents specializing in dry and l iquid bulk cargoes parcel shipments and LPG/LNG

Port Operations offices: New York - 8-0ston - New Haven - Phillldelphill Fort i.Jmdcrdale - New Orlenns - Houston - Aruba

Administration/ Marl:cting:

BBA Group In c.

205 l>\brccstrr Court Falroouth , MA 02540

phone 508 540 6899 - lt'lex 413701 - fnx 508 540 4956

...yours to co unt on

40

Mutiny: A History of Naval Insurrection, by Leonard F. Guttridge (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD, 1992, 3 l 8pp , photos , maps, biblio , index ; $26.95 hb) Leonard F. Guttridge, the well-known writer and respected historian, co-author with Hay D . Smith of The Commodores (a book that has stood the test of time for two decades), and author of Icebound:· The Jeannette Expedition's Quest for the North Pole, has filled one of two noteworthy lacunae in social and maritime scholarship--modem examinations of mutiny and dueling-with his latest book, Mutiny: A History of Naval In surrection.

Guttridge's engaging writing style, smooth transitions and command of his topic (the latter quality a function of his consummate ability as a researcher) lead the reader gracefully through hi s text.

A voiding a boring " beads on a string" approach to the subject, Guttridge hits the high ones hard. He leads off with the world 's most romanticized mutiny, William Bligh, Fletcher Christian, and the Bounty; curdles your blood by following with the most murderous mutiny, the death of the bestial Captai n Hugh Pigot and several of his officers on board HM Frigate Hermione; and then moves on to the great Royal Navy squadron mutinies of 1797 at Spithead and the Nore, which provide an ambience for the fleet mutinies of the 20th century he will discuss later in the book.

Guttridge rattles down his rigging with two continuous threads subtl y woven throughout thi s treatise: What is a mutiny, and how many people does it take to consummate a mutiny? After centuries of examining the latter question, the Royal Navy, through Parliament's much amended Naval Discipline Act, has settled on a minimum requireme nt of two people. Perversely, the United States' Armed Services' UniformCodeofMilitary Justi ce adopts a different course and settles rather unfittingly on one person. Can a single sailor perpetrate a mutiny? Can he somehow be described as a mutinous assembly?

People aside, the most nagging question of all is still begged. What is a mutiny? The historic anomaly is that many have attempted an answer-yet no orie has answered satisfactorily. Guttridge 's approach is to present the actual events of the world's key lower deck di sturbances and let the reader decide.

The author draws a worthy compare and contrast evaluation of the difference

between events at Spithead and the Nore in 1797. Valentine Joyce, the en listed men 's chief delegate at Spithead, earned an encomium from an Admiralty spy: "Nothing like want of loyalty to the King or attachment to the government could be traced to this business." The curtain falls on this venue with Joyce joining Lord Howe (the Earl of St. Vincent, whom the First Lord of the Admiralty, Earl Spencer, dragged out of retirement to negotiate with the sailors) and hi s lady for dinner at the Portsmouth governor's house, where they were mutually cheered and toasted for their efforts. Not so the fate of Richard Parker, self-professed "President of the Floating Republic" at the Nore.

For the Admiralty it was a case of reluctantly tolerating loyal rebellion , but fiercely suppressing the radicali zation of its sai lors (a political format that would play amajorrole in Russian, Austrian, and French 20th-century mutinies). When the upri sing seas had calmed at the Nore, Parker "ate a good breakfast, received a glass of wine and a handshake from his captain and psalms from the chaplain, and was hanged from the yardarm."

The author's attention is strongly drawn to the Somers tragedy, often illogically claimed to be the United States Navy 's only mutiny. It is an interesting paradox that a sea service whose laws allow one man to constitute a mutiny , claims to have suffered but one such event in its two-century hi story.

Guttridge, like James Fenimore Cooper before him, is no friend of the Somers's skipper, Alexander Sli dell Mackenzie.

He principally indicts Mackenzie's punishment record. But was it a case of overabuse with the "cat-o-nine-tails" or the "colt" that led to the death sentence for Midshipman Spencer, Boatswai n Crowell, and Seaman Small by a drumhead court? As with most writers who have explored the Somers mutiny 's unanswered questions, Guttridge devotes little investigation to the ro le of the ship itself: the miniscule officers ' quarters, a tiny quarterdeck overflowing with shackled mi screants, the overcrowded ship with 20% more trainees on board than she could capably carry, and those sai lors jammed into quarters on a deck less than five feet tall. Surely Somers herself must have been part of the causation.

The theme of the text swings from hi s tory to political science, without any loss in readability, when the author tu rns his attention to radicalism in the fleets of the world, beginning with the Tsar's

SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-1993

REVIEWS battleship Potemkin. He continues through to a sociological exami nation of the race- inspired revolts on board the American aircraft carriers Constellation and Kittyhawk during the Vietnam era.

To the relief of the modern US Navy, Guttridge never refers to these as "m utinies," again leaving the nomenclature to the reader.

An innocuous enemy of mutinies, especially the larger fleet types, emerges unbidden from Guttridge's text-it is time. Time wears down the cause, the spirit, and the unity of the perpetrators, as well as the patience of the authorities.

From the Nore to the Potemkin to the present, time is the debilitating factor eating away at the heart of the energies that lead men with few or no rights to rebel against those who hold them in thraldom.

But not all mutinies originate from the lower decks. Perhaps the greatest mutiny of all occurred in 1917 , when Admiral Hans Ludwig von Reuter disobeyed the orders of his govern ment, the dictates of hi s British captors, and the terms of the peace treaty ending WWI. The German High Seas Fleet of74 ships had steamed into captivity at Britain's Scapa Flow anchorage in the Orkney Islands: "what a mechanic's mate of the Prinzregent Luitpold called 'the saddest voyage ever made by an undefeated fleet. '" Months later, on June 17, 1918, von Reuter appeared in fu ll uniform on£mden'squarterdeck. At I OAM telegraphs signaled hi s orders. Within minutes a select group of officers and loyal enlisted men opened seacocks and scuttled the entire High Seas Fleet. By 5PM, every German ship lay on the bottom-the result of a mutiny by an admiral.

Leonard Guttridge's book deserves to be called " landmark." Would that he wrote a similar treatise on dueling. The ed iting of Mutiny : A History of Naval Insurrection is well above average, and its 57 careful ly selected illustrations can be thoughtfully combined with the unusual array of quality movies devoted to mutinies. The author unabashedly ac know ledges cinematography's contributions to the crime's historiography by free ly mentioning Sergei Eisenstein's landmark movie "T he Battleship Potemkin ," the various Bounty fi lms, andWWII's"CaineMutiny,"allofwhich contribute significant visual exposition to hi s subject matter.

In the end, however, it is you, the reader, who must decide. What is a muSEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

tiny? Thanks to the talents of Leonard F. Guttridge, developing the answer has become considerably less burdensome.

DR. W . M . P. D UNNE

Long Island University Southampton, New York Sails and Steam in the Mountains, by Russell P. Bellico (Purpl e Mountain Press, Fleischmann s NY, 1992, 400pp, illus; $45hb, $20pb) The secondary title of thi s book , " A Maritime and Military Hi story of Lake George and Lake Champlain ," promises much, and the work that follows delivers substantially on the promi se. As a series of fully packed chapters carrying the reader through the events that shaped the region-always linked to waterways and watercraft- it provides a thorough treatment of the naval and land engagements of the French and Indian War, the American Revolution , and the War of 18 12 as well as a broad chronicle of the canal and steamboat eras on the lakes.

Voluminous hi storical fac t, otherwise overw he lming, is effectively garni shed with an informative blend of hi storic maps , retrospective illustration s, and modern photographs by the author.

The presentation would benefit, however, from a modem reference map, inserted periodically as an index to the text.

Given the dramatic topography surrounding the lakes, and the role terrain played in the logistics of war and the developments of peacetime, such a map could be an integral part of the presentation.

The frequent linkage of the narrative to archaeo log ica l ev idence, appended to some chapters in the form of a brief summary, adds dimension to the work and draws, quite obviously , on the author's special interest, experience and expertise.

On the author's unspoken agenda is the message that in sp ite of fascinating glimpses into our submerged maritime past, we have all , as citi zens, suffered heartbreaking losses through the selfish, and often mindless, activities of others.

Given the dimension of thi s problem still today, one could only have wished for an even stronger condemnation of the motives that promote these activities.

But thi s may be more by way of commentary than criticism. No one who claims interest in the hi story of the Lake George/ Lake Champlain region, who expresses a fascination with the richness of underwater history and a desire to see it preserved, or who just enjoys envi sioning the past

DOVER Books on Ships, Maritime History AMERICA'S LIGHT~~HOUSES, Francis Hol- ~ land, Jr. Illustrated his- I '""'"~~~~· tory describes founding ~ !~~HOUSES and operation of over ~ ;n nluStrated History 200 famous lights along !

U.S. coastal and inland (~ waters, 1716 to 1930s. ; Over 100 photos and illustrations_. Best book I 1til -~ . on the subiect. 240pp. ,., .

- _ .- 8 x 10~.

25576-X Pa. $10.95 AMERICAN SAILING SHIPS, Charles G. Davis. Invaluable guide to schooners, frigates, clippers, other craft, 18th to early 20th centuries. 137 photos, plans show construction details, more. 240pp. 6% x 9J~.

24658-2 Pa. $6.95 SAILING VESSELS IN AUTHENTIC EARLY NINETEENTH-CENTURY ILLUSTRATIONS , Edward William Cooke. Masterwork of maritime art by famed English artist. 65 black-and-white illustrations portray English ships, ports in ea rly d eca d es of 19th century. 76pp.

818 x I m.

26141-7 Pa. $6.95 THE YANKEE WHALER, Clifford Ashley. Fascinating firsthand account published in 1926 of the whaling trade: ships, gear, shipboard routine, whales and whaling men, methods of attack, more. 150 photos and illustrations. 304pp. 6Jl x 9Jt 26854-3 Pa. $10.95 ADVENTURESAT SEAINTHEGREAT AGE OF SAIL, Elliot Snow (ed.). Five fascinating firsthand accounts of adventure on the high seas from 1790 to 1830s. Stories of pirates, shipwrecks, exploration, survival on uninhabited islands, more. 33 illustrations. 37lpp. 518 x 8%.

25177-2 Pa. $9.95 SAILING ALONE AROUND THE WORLD, Joshua Slocum. Exciting narrative of the first man to sail alone around the world in a small boat. Slocum's three year voyage on a 34' sloop, 1895- 98, covered 46,000 miles and many adventures. 67 illus.

20326-3 Pa. $4.95 318pp. 5% x 8.

THE ART OF RIGGING, George Biddlecombe. 1848 classic is considered the best manual ever produced on rigging the sailing ship . Discusses and illustrates every aspect of the subject. Fascinating reading for sailing buffs, essential for ship model builders.

166pp. 518 x 8Jl. 26343-6 Pa. $5.95

I

·

24 Full-Color Postcards, $3.95!

HISTORIC SAILING SHIPS POSTCARDS, John Batchelor. Detailed, accurate full-color renderings of Santa Maria, U.S.S. Constitution, Cutty Sark , Flying Cloud, 20 other great ships on ready-to-mail postcards.

27099-8 Pa. $3.95 FREE Maritime/Social Science Book Catalog (59100-X) illustrates and describes over 300 books on maritime history, travel and adventure, more. No purchase necessary.

TO ORDER: List author, title, code number. Add $3.00 for postage and handling (any order). N.Y. residents add sales tax. All books unconditionally guaranteed.

SEND TO: DOVER PUBLICATIONS, Dept. SHY93, 31 E. 2nd Street, Mineola, NY 11501

41

REVIEWS /NAVAL-MARITIME-MILITARY" AVIATION BOOKS Send only $5.00 for a 1-year subscription consisting of 4 quarterly catalogs. Each contains 48 pages & includes approximately 1,500 book listings of out-of-print &new books.

ANTHEIL BOOKSELLERS 2177(SH) Isabelle Ct. • No. Bellmore, NY 11710 ~

~

"Larry Reiners Minute of Silence is a valuable contribution to American literature of the sea ... few writers have written with more authority." -Prof. Bert Bender $18.95 Postpaid lntegra Press, 1702 w. Camelback Rd. Ste. 119, Phoenix AZ 85015

OUT-OF-PRINT

MARITIME BOOKS FREE CATALOG

W. WIEGAND & CO. BOX 563, GLASTONBURY, CT 06033

:; MOO\l ®@00@@1

®llil l}{]®IJil®rr ~1.10 \llru

®lk

The American Coasting Schooner

Frederick F Kaiser 320 pages, 170 half-tone illustration Line drawings by the author ISBN 0-931781-05-1 $34.95

By mail the price includes shipping, tax. Send check to

The Sarah Jennings Press 2222 Fuller Road Ann Arbor, MI 48 !05-23 I 3 313-665-74!0

42

in modern landscapes, should find their library without this book.

At the end, one finds oneself disappointed that the presentation ends. With so much of the maritime heritage of the region laid out before us, with so many issues raised or hinted that strike at the core of arc haeological preservationissues vital to the survival of the underwater hi story we have all inherited--one wishes the di scussion could go on.

PHILIP LORD , JR .

New York State Museum

evolution from an agrarian to an industrial soc iety .

This impress ively researched and lucidly written book will be a standard source for a long time to come.

FREEMAN M. TOYELL Victoria, British Columbia A Heritage in Wood; the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum's Small Craft Collection, ed. Richard J. S. Dodds and Pete Lesher (Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, St. Michaels MD, 1992, l 32pp, illus, photos & drawings; $19.95pb) The first craft built in North America were fashioned after those European models with which co lonists were familiar, the most common being small sloops, shall ops and pinnaces. Under the unique conditions of the Chesapeake Bay, however, influences both env ironmental and economical quickly conspired to give a distinct character to the reg ion 's watercraft. The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is home to the largest collection of these indi genous vessels, now fully catalogued in the museum 's new publication A Heritage in Wood.

Rare photos from the museum archives a nd careful line drawings enrich thi s s urvey of the museum 's 76 vessels which, in this ana lysis, are divided into the categories of log-built boats , roundbilge boats, V-bottom boats, flat-bottomed boats, gunning boats and onedesig n boats. They represent all types of construction methods and span a century of boatbuilding tradition . The pride of the collection is the nine-log bugeye Edna E. Lockwood, built 1889, a direct descendent of the Indian dugouts that predate the settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. The book serves as more than just a catalog, as each section begins with an insightful overview of the reasons why Chesapeake builders created native types of boats for local uses in fi shing, oystering and transportation.

Heritage in Wood is in equa l parts a valua ble expression of the maritime charac ter of the Chesapeake Bay and a testimony to the museum 's 25 years of acquisition , research and restoration. KH

Otter Skins, Boston Ships, and China Goods: The Maritime Fur Trade of the Northwest Coast, 1785-1841 , by James R. Gibson (McG ill-Queen 's University Press, Montreal , and University of Washington Press, Seattle WA, 1992, 420pp, maps, illus, biblio, tables, index; $45hb) This major work by a di sting ui shed Professor of Geography at York Uni versi ty, Toronto, is the first comprehensive account of the maritime fur trade which dominated the hi story of the Pacific Northwest from the first European contact with the indi genous population until well into the 19th century. With emphasis on the economic and social aspec ts, Gibson records in cons iderable detail the constantly chang ing nature of the trade and how it involved and affected four wide ly se parated regions and peoples: the Northwest Coast and its Indians, the Hawaiian Islands and their Polynesian s, South China a nd it s Cantonese, and New England and its Yankees. Fu ll use is made of the logs and diaries of sh ips' captains, com pan y records and national arc hi ves, including arc hi ves of the former USSR. Gibson contends that the impact of the trade on the Northwest Coast was both positive and negative. New goods and new ideas we re introduced, which the Indians adapted to their needs. Their culture was stimulated by the introduction of new tool s and their li ves improved by a measure of more material prosperity. But the negative impact included disease, a rapid decline in population , and the cond itioning of Euroamerican native relations along antago- Bering Sea Escort: Life Aboard a Coast ni stic lines. The political , economic and Guard C utter in World War II, by social effects were even more marked on Robert Erwin Johnson (Naval Institute the Hawaiian Islands , although the fur Press , Annapolis MD, 1992, I l 6pp, illus, trade helped unite the islands under appemd , index; $ 19.95hb) Kamehameha I. For New England, he This book is two stories in one: a says, the fur trade contributed to the hi story of US Coast Guard Cutter Haida formation of the capita l that led to its from its launching in 1921 to its scrapSEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992- 1993

ping in 1951 , and the personal memoir of the author, who served as a seamanquartermaster aboard Haida in World W ar II .

Because the author had access to the ship 's log, to hi s own wartime correspondence and to hi s own remarkable memory, the book is bl essed-or burdened-with almost limitless minuti ae of the daily operations of a Coast Guard cutter as an escort vessel and weather ship in voyages between ports of Alaska and the Aleuti an Islands, whi ch, as the author concedes, was not a major theater of maritime action in WW II. LCDR HAROLD J. McCORMICK, US NR (RETIRED) Author of Two Years Behind the Mast.

Thunder Below: the USS Barb Revolutionizes Submarine Warfare in World War II, Adm . Eugene B. Fluckey (Uni versity of Illinois Press, Chicago IL, 1992, 444pp, maps photos, appendices, index; $29.95hb) In thi s hi story of fo ur war patrols of the USS Barb, Fluckey provides a personal acco unt of the subm arine campaign aga in st Japan 's navy a nd me rchant marine. Recipient of four Navy Crosses and the Congressional Medal of Honor, he sank the greatest tonnage of any American submariner in World War II. Both American and Japanese historical sources together with personal accounts fro m various crewmen are used to give a balanced view of thi s ocean- wide struggle. The perspecti ve diffe rs depending on various situations, giving the reader a view " up close and personal."

Yet thi s presentation is hampered by the book's patrol log fo rmat giving dates and times of events. Continuity is sacrificed to realism. Additionally, the preface states that " reconstructed conversations abound to breathe life into the story" and that they have a fac tual bas is due to the sources of the author. While these conversations do indeed add the human element to the story, they are of questionable value from an hi storical perspective.

Readers seeking comparable personal acco unts of World War II submarine campaigns will also want to read Paul R. Schratz 'sSubmarine Commander: A Story of Wor ld Wa r Two and Korea (Uni versity Press o f Kentucky, 1988) and the recently reprinted Erich Topp Odyssey ofa U-Boa t Commander: Recollections of Erich Topp (Greenwood , 1992).

HAROLD N. BOYER Broomall , Penn ys lvani a SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

The Whale and His Captors ; or, the Whaleman ' s Adventures, and the Whale Biography, as Gathered on the Homeward Cruise of the Commodore Preble, by Rev. Henry T. Cheever (Ye Galleon Press, Fairfi eld WA , orig. 1850, repr. 1991 , 3 14pp, illus, notes; $ 19.95hb) The Cruise of the Gipsy: The Journal of John Wilson, Surgeon, on a Whaling Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, 18391843, edited by Honore Forster (Ye Galleon Press, Fairfie ld W A, 199 1, 404pp, illus, biblio, index; $32.50) The Pacific whaling voyages of the British Dr. John Wil son ( 1839-43) and the American Rev. Henry Cheever ( 184344) cover a peri od when the British whale fi shery in that area was dec lining and the American was rapidl y ex pandi ng. It is perhaps appropri ate, then, th at Cheever 's narrati ve, based on hi s journals and the stories of hi s shipboard compani ons, is full of lively anecdotes of the whalin g trade (an acti ve partic ipant in several chases , the author, himself, was th row n overboard by thras hing whales more than once), a detailed hi story of the industry and the ' natural hi story' of the whale. By contrast, Dr. Wil so n's jo urn al onl y occas iona ll y to uches on the ques t for wha les (a lth ough the voyage was a successful one) , foc usin g, in stead , on the islands and ports the Gipsy visited , in cl uding descri pti ons of the inh abitants, geography and fl ora of the strange, tropica l lands. Both auth ors we re educated men and the ir writin g is both luc id and e nte rta ining.

JM A

Marine Insurance Policy, Wa shington Insurance Co. , Providen ce, 1806, car go to foreign port $50, to US port $40 . Ea rly ship bills of lading, 1800s $25 .

E. Moore Box 243 W ynn ewood P A 19096

Dockland Life: A Pictorial History of London's Docks, 1860-1970, by Chris Ellmers and Alex Werner (Museum of London, di st. by Trafa lgar Square, North Pomfret VT 05053 , 199 1, 205 pp, illus; $39.95 hb). If you delight in historic waterways, old brick, hard-working men and the coming and going of an incredible variety of shipping-get this book ! PS

J:Jt

Pearl Harbor: Final Judgment, by Henry Clauson and Bruce Lee (Crown Publishers, New York, 1992, 485pp, illus, append, index; $25hb ). Thi s careful , full and authoritati ve report is not go ing to be popul ar with conspiracy enthusiasts; in a fasc inating search the author (armed with high governmenta l authority) found nothing but sloth and care lessness behind the di saster that befe ll the US Pac ific Fleet in the Japanese attac k of December 7, 194 1, which prec ipitated US entry into World War II. PS

Old & Rare Maritime Books at reasonable prices Send for free catalogs

ten pound island book co.

3 Center St Gloucester, MA 01930.

(508) 283-5299

We are also eager to purchase old books of all kinds, especially maritime. Please call or write.

IJNIVERllll PIJBUCllTIONI New an d

Ou t o f Prin t

Old

Marit i m e Books

Pos t Ca rds

Ocea n Lin er s -

Li gh th o uses

U. S. L i fe Savi ng Service

Pr i nt s Ligh th ouses - Ships

Se nd 301

for

FREE CATAL OG

E. O l d

Ca rl is l e , PA

Yo r k Rd .

170 13

MARITIME

BOOKS 1806 Laurel Crest Madi son, Wisconsin 53705 (608) 238-SAIL

Out-of-Print and Rare Books about the Sea, Ship & Sailor Catalogue Upon Request

43

REVIEWS

COLUMBIA TUDING COMP4NT

I NAUTICAL BOOKS

Large selection of out-of-print nautical books 5 catalogues/year from our stock of 10,000 books

OPEN SHOP 504 Main St. (Rt 6A) atthe corner of Meadow Lane West Barnstable. MA 02668 (508) 362-8966

NAVAL, MILITARY, AVIATION & WORLD HISTORY BOOKS

Out-of-print

•

Used

•

Rare

Large cata logues issued several times a year.

Subscription $5 fo r the nex t three iss ues, deducti ble from first purchase. We respond to wa nt li sts and a lso buy in our fi eld .

J. H. Faber, Box 24, Millwood NY 10546

The Abraham Lincoln of the Sea: The Life of Andrew Furuseth, by Arnold Berwick It is assumed that slavery in the United States ended with the Emancipation Proclamation, but American seamen were held in bondage for another 52 years.

This is the story of a Norwegian sailor who devoted his life to securing freedom and justice for seamen.

"Andrew Furuseth was famous for nearly half a century, but has pretty much faded from memory. However .. . a good writer got caught up in his unique story and has put it between the covers of this book. It is a grand San Francisco waterfront tale and . .. an anchor to windward against old Andrew slipping back into obscurity."

- Karl Kortum, Curator and Founder San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park An Odin Press Book.

Hardcover, 176 pages, photos. $19.95 ISBN 0-9633611-0-4

MUSEUM QUALITY

SHIP MODELS Represellling th e fi nest work o{intem ationally acclaimed model makers since 1975 All nwdels f ully documented Free Color Brochure or

Illustrated Catalogue $10.00 Restorations • Appraisals • Display Cases Custom Models M E.\ 1BER

American Marine Model Gallery 12-S Derby Square. Salem. MA 0 1970 (508) 745-5777

CADDELL DRY DOCK AND REPAIR CO. SIX DRY DOCKS 1500-7000 TONS CAPACITY

Compkte marine repair facilities seroicing your needs since 1903.

Foot of Broadway P .O. Box 327 Staten Island , NY 10310

718-442-2112 44

ln1ema1ional Congrcs:-. o f Maritime Mu:-.c urn:-. ln1cma1ional Socicly of Fine Ans Appraiser~. Ltd. U.S. Na utica l Research Gu ild Soc iety for Historical Archaeology

The Abraham Lincoln of the Sea; A Biography of Andrew Furuseth, by Arno ld Berwick (Odin Press, 511 Summit Drive, Santa Cruz CA 95060, 1993, 176pp, illus:$ l 9.95hb) President Woodrow Wilson , speaking to his secretary moments after a private meeting with Andrew Furuseth, reportedly said to him : "Tumulty, I have just experienced a great half-hour, the tensest si nce I came to the White House."

A few days later, on March 4, 19 15 , Wilson signed into law the Seamen ' s (La Follette) Act, extendin g fo r the first time Jong-denied civil rights to seamen.

Forthe Norweg ian-born Furuseth , it was the culmination of25 years work and the high point of his long career as a tireless maritime union campaigner.

Abraham Lincoln of the Sea is a gritty retelling of Furuseth 's 1ifelong fight for the freedom and welfare of sa ilors-a story of crimps and boardinghouse keepers, buckoes , Wobblies and Communists, the rise of maritime uni ons , maneuverings in Washington DC , and strikes and battles on the San Francisco waterfront. This compe lling biography is a tribute to a remarkable man .

KH The Book of Wooden Boats, photographs

by Benjamin Mendlowitz, text by Maynard Bray (W.W. Norton & Co., New York NY, 1992 , 191pp, large size, index; $50hb ). Maynard Bray ' s authoritative text sets off 210 stunning photos of 90 classic wooden boats from Benjamin Mendlowitz ' s camera, which catches the very spirit of these lovely, serv icable vessels.

Video Treasures of the Titanic, Cabin Fever E ntertai nment, 1988, co lor, 60 min. Two years after the rediscovery of the Titanic by a joint French-American team, the French government sent an exped ition to remove artifacts from the wreck. This film does have some magnificent underwater shots of the broken vessel, but it is impossible to ignore the fact that at least 900 pieces of hi storical ev idence were removed from thi s new ly discovered site.

Setting Sail: The Star oflndia Goes to Sea, narrated by Walter Cron.kite, San Diego Maritime Museum, Wilarvi Communications, Inc., 1992, 30 minutes,co1or.

This film marvelously communicates the hard work, discipline, and most of all , the exhilaration of a dedicated, novice crew pulling together to bring a piece of our maritime past to life on the open sea.

SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

THE BOOK LOCKER Somehow we mi ss very important things, just mi ss them completely. Amo ng the books we rev iewed in the observa nces of the 200th anni versary of the Bounty mutin y, whi ch took pl ace on the morning of 28 April 1789 (an anniversary now more than three years pas t), we missed the most important, A wake, Bold Bligh! This large fo rmat, 88-page vol ume is built around re prints of William Bli gh 's literate and fee ling lette rs describing the mutiny , with an elegant accompanyin g text and notes b y Paul Brunton of the Mitchell Library of the State Library of New South Wales, Australia. As Mr. Brunton remarks, the mutin y was "an event which has entered legend but has not been well served by it. " Thi s wo rk brings us close to the actualities of the mutin y by the best possible means-that is, by di rec t encounte r with the records of the time. Brunton 's skilled editori al hand provides just enough in terpretati on and additi onal backg round to g ive us a sound contex t for w hat we read, and he very sane ly asc ribes the mutin y to Chri sti an 's unba lanced and tormented psyche above any othe r factor, though Bli gh's lax di sc ipline and fits of self- ri ghteous anger combined to feed Chri sti an 's sickness of spiri t. Harsh di scipline of course had nothing to do with it; there was no harsh di scipline.

Thi s perhaps surpri sing fac t is amply confirmed in a we ighty tome on the mutin y whi ch appeared just last year: Mr. Bligh's Bad Language; Passion, Power and Theatre on the Bounty, by Greg Dening, Emeritus Professor of History at the Uni versity of Me lbourne.

Thi s 445-page book works throug h the layers of myth and mi sre presentation whi ch ra pidl y gathered aro und Bli gh fo llow ing the mutin y, di scussing the concern s people bro ught to thi s inc ident whi ch has commanded such inte rest for so long a span of time. Denin g uses a sense of theater to develop the ac tualities of the mutin y itself, findin g in Bligh 's bad-mouthing of Chri sti an and o thers a psychic impac t going fa r beyond any ph ys ical , three-dimen sional probl ems aboard HMS Bounty.

All thi s makes fascinating reading and it is bac ked by exqui sitely detailed research (where else could yo u learn that tons of New Jersey sand were dumped on T ahiti 's bl ack beaches for the Marlon B rando Bounty film of 1962-to li ve up to people's expectati ons of a South Pacific isle?). In the mass of info rmation the author presents, I fo und o nl y one SE A HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

omi ss ion , where he laments the lac k of a first-class biography of the Eng li sh phi lanthropist Jones Hanway, hav ing evi dentl y mi ssed James Stephen Tay lors' superb biography publi shed in 1985 (reviewed inSea History 47 , Summer 198 8).

This fl yspeck notwithstanding, Dening's di scussion of others' wo rks that bear on the actualities of seafaring and the attitudes of succeeding ages is alone worth the price of admi ss ion.

Profe ss or D e nin g uses d ec onstructionist technique creatively, not to say there is no hi storic truth , but to say that we see that truth differentl y-and to find nouri shment in the differences. He admires and makes good use ofN . A. M .

Rodger' s class ic study of the Royal Navy of the 1700s, The Wooden World, which we said in these pages three years ago was full of " lively insights dri ving out the debased currency of revisioni st historians who mi ss the animating principles and therefore the meaning of what those British tars achieved at sea in their wooden walls."

And now let me introduce yo u to an extraordinary treat, a novel whi ch explores the laye ring of time and experience in the great seaport city of London-a c ity seen through the eyes of a successful but doubting architect seeking a new cente r to his life after hi s di vo rce from a wife who had meant everything to him . A semi-savage waif sheltering under a cart in the London of Dr. Johnson 's time; a member of a rescue squad in the aeri al bombings of 1940-41 ; an Es kimo brought to London from Ma rtin F robi she r 's voyage to Greenl and in the late J 500s-these are some of the people whose lives seem to speak to thi s architect out of the fa bric of the city, w hich is changing as he observes it. He is building an office tower in an area of di s used docks; it is to be called Frobi sher House, and he seeks out a glass engraver to engrave a likeness of Frobi sher's ship on the glass door. He has looked up old engravings in the maritime mu seum downriver at Greenwich, and the ship becomes real to him: "The ship is a pinpoint in infinity, and a universe. It is a fragile thing to be smashed in the ice or swall owed by a wave; it is a great creaking ponderous solidity of wood and iron . It is a defiant statement of ingenuity and order, a challenge flun g dow n to the anarchic wastes of water, wind and ice."

The engraver catches hi s spi rit, his vision of the ship . She asks, however, as

in duty bound, should there be human fi g ures? "No," he says. " I think the ship says it all. " Penelope Lively wrote thi s tale, which is called City of the Mind. It suggests that the city is a repository for thoughts, dreams and memori es that somehow inhere in the streets and building wall s, catching even a whiff of Arctic voyaging on the glass door of a new offi ce building. To me, thi s makes exce llent sense and excellent hi story, recogni zing the reality of things long vanished and the shuttling work of a mind of hi storic bent, weav ing out of hopes and memories and impressions of things before its time the continuum of experience that defines a city and gives it its own unique but widely shared character.

Would that more historians understood the immanence of the past, and the lively interactions of past reality with presentwe should lend them Ms. Lively 's shuttle.

Ms. Sayers Says It! Let me offer a concluding thought from the mystery-story writer Dorothy Sayers, no mean scholar in her own right. She has the head of a woman's college in Oxford observe, in Gaudy Night: " I entirely agree that a hi storian ought to be precise in detail ; but unless you take all the characters and circumstances concerned into account, you are reckoning without the fac ts. The proportions and relations of things are just as much facts as the things themselves; and if yo u get those wrong, you fa lsify the picture really seriously. " Thi s ought to be read out like a benedi ction at the beg inning of every conc lave of hi stori ans; in the go ing bac k and forth in time that makes up the bu siness of hi stori ograph y, thi s ac t of getting things in perspecti ve, which we all recogni ze to be important in everyday affa irs, remain s the sine qu a non of goo d hi s tor y, hi s to ry you ca n trul y PS ha ve confidence in .

Awake, Bold Bligh! William Bligh ' s Letters Describing the Mutiny on HMS Bounty, ed. with intro. by Paul Brunton (University of Hawaii Press & State Library of New South Wales, 99pp, illus, $22hb ) Mr. Bligh's Bad Language;Passion, Power and Theatre on the Bounty, by Greg Dening (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK, 1992, 445pp, illus, biblio, index , $34.95hb) City of the Mind , by Penelope Lively (HarperCollins, New York & London , 199 1,229pp,$20hb) 45

Verdalen: A Living Legend of the Fjords

by Olaf T. Engvig

Norway is known throughout the world larger and better equipped competitors for its countless fjords, bays and other on thi s route, although she had different ocean inlets. This major characteristic owners and different routes of trading made all travel except by water difficult. over the years. The large hull was used When railroads were built in other coun- for general cargo of all types, including tries, Norway found its equivalent in the livestock, and her superstructure aft was fjordsteamer. After 1850 a fair sized enlarged forward to make more room for steamship was developed with space for passenger accommodation. all needs. Like the " milk train," it would Until 1948, Verda/ensai ledon aregustop at every small place with a few lar schedule to Trondheim and serv iced houses along the shore, going in or out, the less popul ated and steep north side of along or across the fjord. For a century the fjord and the islands in the fjord an armada of local steamships kept the where roads and automobiles had not yet long and rugged coastal nation together. taken over. She was always a popul ar The industrial revolution for most ship. Going on the fjord was a pleasant Norwegians s tarted with the fjord- way of transport compared to horse and steamer. Arrival of the boat was the carriage on rugged roads where lots of highlight of activity in any small com- fences had to be opened and where, on munity. Not until road building, cars and steep hill s, passengers had to walk up or ferries developed after 1950 was thi s big down beside the carriage. The steamer fleet of steamships relieved from duty. was considered the safest and fastest The change from steam to motor ferries way to travel. About 90% of the year the did away with the steamers so effective ly that fewer than a handful of The industrial revolution for these ships are alive today. most Norwegians started with One of the oldest and most original fjordsteamers remaining is the Verda/en. the fjordsteamer. Arrival of the Thi s small ship was built of steel and boat was the highlight of activiron by Trondhjems Mek. Verksted in ity in any small community. yard No. 61 at Trondheim in 1891. She is 82.3' x 16.6' x 5.1 ', I J2.3 tons, and is fl at- bottomed so to be able to enter shal- warm interior of a steamship, or even low rivermouths. She was powered by a outside behind the funnel , was a far nicer 100 IHP compo und steam e ng in e. place to be than on a windy and rainy road.

Verda /en has cabins for the.crew forward Shortly after World War II it was obvi and a structure aft containing the galley, a ous that Verda/en had done her duty as a nice saloon, two cabins and a toilet. fjordsteamer. She was sold but not broken The owner was Verdalsbruket, a big up. Her rather unusual design with the saw mill in the inner part of the propul sion machinery aft and the big Trondheimsfjord. The ship was specially cargo-hatch made it easy to convert her designed to carry planks and boards in into a modern coaster of that time. The the hull , besides towing lumber barges steamplant was replaced with a diesel which was the common way of trans- engi ne, leaving still more space for cargo. porting sawmill products in those days.

The first few years she served as an Often in the last century a steamer ordinary coaster. Then she was taken built for a company would have passen- over by a fish processing company in ger space and would serve the area as an Trondheim that was an early experiall-purpose trader as we ll. Many menter with frozen fish long before the fjord steamers obtained a contract with war. Verda/en, however, often carried the country's postal services and carried fresh fish. She would be in Lofoten durmail. The residents could use the boat, ing the famo us cod fisheries in winter and the owner was able to make ex tra and early spring. The old lady would income for the sailing and maintenance deliver a load of fresh cod from Lofoten of the ship. Verda/en had a small mail to the railroad at Mo in Rana. In this way, office aboard and a cancelling stamp as the cod would be on the dinner table in well as the ship 's stamp for letters re- the biggest Scandinavian cities and on ceived for carriage. the continent of Europe on ly two or three Verda /en serviced the Trondheims- days after being caught. fjord on the route from the little town of The rest of the year Verda/en would Verdals¢ren to Trondhe im from 1892 deliver frozen herring used for bait in the onwards. She outlived the transport of long-line fisheries- this also being a sawmill products as well as most of her pioneer enterprise. Fishermen saved time

not having to go out and fish the bait themselves as they usually had to do.

She also served as an assistant transporter during the massive herring fisheries of that time. During thi s period the herring fisheries were bountiful. The sea was boiling with fish and the fishing vessels often had far too little capacity to carry the whole catch themselves. All types of ships were used and enormous quantities were landed each day . Teenagers right out of school could make a year ' s wage during two months if they worked hard. Verda/en and her crew and company got a fair share of thi s harvest of "ocean si lver." By the early 1960s it was all over-a new and well organized frozen fish industry had developed . But the old fjordsteamer was sti ll in good condition, and once more she entered the general coastal trade until she was so ld in 1972 to a shipowner in the north of Norway to be used in the sand trade.

Verda/en was equipped with a sandgrab. Flat-bottomed and drawing less than 4 feet of water when empty, she could sa il up o n a shallow sandbank on low tide and there the hull was filled. A few hours later she would float off with the tide and leave to unload the cargo where sand was needed for construction work.

In 1977 the old diesel engine gave up, and the ship was laid up. It looked like it would be her final resting place.

Short ly before that I wrote a book on some I 00 fjordsteamers on the Trondheimsfjord. During this work I discovered thattwo of the old ships were still alive and in relatively original condition.

I tried to encourage someone to save these ships, but, as no one was interested, I had to try to save them myself. I rescued Hansteen, built in J866, from destruction in 1978 and Verda/en in 1980.

Verda/en had by then been sched ul ed to be filled with stones and sunk to make a breakwater and foundation for a pier. I found a 110-series GM Detroit Diesel engine of 220 BHP and a marine gear that made a perfect fit for the Verda/en and, what's more, it was almost unused.

Once installed, Verda/en did better than 11 knots! This was in 1981 and the same year Verda /en left North Norway on a 1500 nautical mile trip back to her native Trondheimsfjord where she had sai led in daily service for 56 years.

The vessel was given to a "cl ub" in Verda! that intended to restore her to her former glory . They soon gave up, and vandals raided the ship and stole bits and pieces of her. After a few years she was

46

SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

Often the Germans would stop her and soldiers searched the ship while the resistance man was fully hidden in a secret compartment with his radio equipment, batteries and a pistol in his lap .... once more a wreck inside as well as outside. In 1988 I started all over restoring her to operating condition, a job that few thought possible.

I sai led her to the Trondheim shipyard that had built her, but it had just closed down after about 140 years in business. So I had to start a new shipyard 0 in Trondheim. In 1990 we started restor> 0 ing the hull where it was needed. We ~ have replaced five plates below deck so f-' ci far, doing all the work in the old wayby riveting. We have a few more plates ~:i: left to do on the hull. Work also had to be 0.. done on the superstructure fore and aft Young people learn the old work of riveting on the Verdalen. To restore the JOO-year-old and much of this has been accomplished , steamer, Olaf Engvig has brought together skilled craftsmen and unemployed youth in an abandoned repair yard in Trondheim/or a job training program funded by local government. except for some riveting.

Hopefully, Verda/en will be ready for another 100 years on the sea in a not too distant future, all depending on financing. When restoration is completed, the ship will have accommodation for up to six crew members and six passengers.

The plan is to obtain a certificate that would make it possible to operate her in most places around the world.

Numerous stories have been told and written about this ship. Some angry individuals in the 1890s wrote to the newspaper to complain about the speed of the ship. Apparently the owner had adver- ."Ji tised a Sunday trip to the country, but the > < ship was towing barges as well, and the ~

speed was reduced to less than 4 knots . 6 The day in the country became a day on ~ the Verda/en . Sometimes she was so ~"'"¡ , .....â&#x20AC;˘.~. :., l "..I:, loaded that seas would sweep the deck, ,.. . JJ. making it difficult to move about, a situ- Verdalensai/s intothe townoflevangeronluly4,1981 ,ending the /500-m ilevoyagefromthenorth ation frightening to passengers. of N0tway back to the Trondheimsfjord where she operated as afjordsteamerfor 56 years.

In spite of this, she was always a popu- of that time, Trondheim was said to be movements, in particular, the whereabouts lar ship with a small and friendly crew. Hitler's biggest naval station outside Ger- of the Tirpitz and other vessels.

Unlike other largerfjordsteamers, she did many. Right in the front of the city on the Tirpitz and the other famous particinot have I st, 2nd and 3rd class accommo- fjord one could find as many as three pants in the Atlantic theater of World dations. Passengers, goods, mail , live- German battleships ata time. Trondheim War II have all gone long ago, but stock and crew in the same boat made it was out of range for allied bombers in Verda/en, which was 50 years of age informal. A low price was charged for the the first part of the war; so the Germans when this happened , has survived until tickets. Because of this Verda/en was al- felt safe on the big Trondheimsfjord. today. The ship participated in imporwaysamongthe "TopTen"steamersmost The North Atlantic ocean was right out- tant parts of our present history and has popular on the fjord. The bigger, newer side and the convoys to Russia passed become a living legend. It is hoped she and more exclusive steamers had prob- not too far away. will soon again be ready for service, Verda/en was in good company when giving new generations genuine knowl!ems in breaking even at times, while Verdalen made fair money on her serv ice. she steamed past German prides like the edge on what life and transport was like During World War II she was used to Tirpitz, Scharnhorst, Admiral Hipper or 50 or 100 years ago, when the fjordsmuggle radio operators and other res is- the Li.i.tzow and other big ships, on her steamer introduced a new way oflife and tance people trained in Sweden, along route into or out of Trondheim. Often the modern communications to this part of the last and most dan gero us lap from Germans would stop her and soldiers Europe. â&#x20AC;˘ Levanger into Trondheim. The under- searchedthe shipwhiletheresistanceman ground people would obtain information hid in a secret compartment with his radio Olaf Engvig is a Norwegian maritime on German movements and activities in equipment, batteries and a pi stol in his scholar and shipsaver currently residing in San Francisco and considering the area and transmit it to London. lap, in case the enemy opened the hatch.

Trondheim was a very important city In this way Verda/en assisted the work the start ofa similar program ofreviving for the Germans during the war. For part of informing Allied forces about military old skills for young people in that city.

SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

47

NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY SPONSORS ACORN FOUNDATION CHARLES F. ADAMS HENRY H. ANDERSON, JR. HOPE P. ANNAN J . ARON CHARITABLE FOUNDATION VINCENT ASTOR FOUNDATION R. BARNETT MRS . F. HENRY B ERLIN ALLEN G. BERRIEN BOATING ON THE HUDSON ALA N G. CHOATE MARC S. COHN MELVIN A. CONANT JoHN C. COUCH REBEKAH T. DALLAS PONCET DAVIS, JR. JoHN H. DEANE JAMES EAN MORRIS L. FEDER ROBERT E. GAMBEE W ALTER J. H ANDELMAN CAPT. P AUL R. HENRY DR. CHARLES E. HERDENDORF ADRIAN S. HOOPER ELIZABETH S. HOOPER FOUNDATION CECIL HOWARD CHARITABLE TRUST MR. & MRs . A. D. H ULINGS LCoR ROB ERT IRVING USN, ( RET.) MRs. R. C. JEFFERSON MRS. I RVING M . JoHNSON STEPHEN JoHNSON CHRISTOS N . KRITIKOS ART K UDNER

H.

GEORGE R . LAMB

R. L OGAN

JAMES

DONALD C. M cGRAW, RICHARD I. MORRIS, JR.

MARINE SOCIETY OF NEW YORK MORMAC MARINE TRANSPORT, I NC.

JR. MR.

A.

M ACDONALD FOUNDATION

SCHUYLER M. M EYER, JR .

MRS. SPENCER L. M URFEY,

&

JAMES P. M ARENAKOS

M AR IN T UG

&

B ARGE

DAVID M. MILTON TRUST MOBI L OIL CORPORATION JR. BRYAN OLIPHANT P ACKER M ARINE W ALTER H . P AGE

WILLIAM A. PALM MRS. A. T . PoucH, JR. Q uESTER MARITIME G ALLERY LA URANCE S. R OCKEFELLER J O HN G . ROGERS EDMUNDS. R u Mo w1cz MR. & MRS. JoHN RUPLEY JoHN F. SALISBURY ARTHUR J . SANTRY, JR. D ER S CUTT R OBERT A. SINCERB EAUX H OWARD SLOTNICK B AILEY AND POSY SMITH FRANK V. S NYDER NORMA & PETER STANFORD EDMUND A. STtNLEY, JR. JoHN STOBART STOLT-NIELSEN, lNc. TEXACO I NC. DAN & Aux THORNE BRIAN D. W AKE S HANNON WALL THOMAS J. ATSON , J R. H ENRY P ENN WENGER JoHN WILEY AND S ONS, I NC. WILLIAM G. WINTERER Y ANKEE CLIPPER EDWARD G . ZELINSKY

w

DONORS HARRY K. B AILEY

FRANK

0.

BRAYNARD

VIRGINIA

K.

POPP

JAMES H . B ROUSSARD

STOTT

&

HENRY H. CAFFEY , MD

HON. SIR LEONARD CONNER

JoHN D USENBURY

w.

H AVEN C . ROOSEVELT

JACK B. SPRINGER

BOYD CAFFEY

H ARRY W. GARSCHAGEN FLOYD H oLM CAPT. ALFRED E. H ORKA R OBERT W. J ACKSON JACK JoHNSON, I NC. RI CHARDO LOPES CLAY M A ITLAND PETER MAX DAVID A . OESTREICH D ONALD PETIT STEPHEN PFOUTS

B RENT FoLLWEILER FREE W1 No PRESS H OWARD JoYNT CAPT. R uss K NEELAND

DANIEL

COMPANY LTD.

&

JoANNA R OSE

A. H E RB ERT SANDWEN,

WILLIAM R . W ALS H

S EA-L AND SER VICE I NC.

MRS. M AR IE WOLSTEM

CAPT.

&

KI MBALL S MITH

MELBOURNE SMITH

MRS. PETER WARBURTON

PATRONS JAMES D. ABELES WILLIAM K . ABELES WALTER J. ANDERSON RI CHARD ANGLE R OBERT M. BALY JosEPH B ASCO M EMIL G. BASTAIN B ENJAMIN D . B AXTER G EOFFREY B EAUMONT CAPT. J . HOLLIS B OWER, JR. STEPHEN J . BRECKLEY K ARL L. BRIEL W ALTER BROWN WILLIAM H . BROWN III CRAIG B URT, JR. G EORGE C. B UZBY VADM J AMES F . CALVERT WILLIAM J. CANAHAN MR . & MRS. NED CHALKER JAMES E . CHAPMAN MR. & MRS. DELOS B. CHURCHILL JosEPH CONTINI JAMES C. COOK CHRISTIAN E. CRETEUR ALICE D ADOURIAN STAN DASHEW D OMINIC A. D ELAURENTI S, MD H ENRY F. D EVENS JAMES D EWAR MALCOLM DICK JoHN H. DOEDE EDWARD J. D UNN, JR., USNR R EYNOLDS DUPONT, JR. MR. & MRS. STUART EHRENREICH P AUL EKLOF HENRY FAIRLEY, III JAMES P. F ARLEY B ENJAMIN B. F OGLER J . E. FRICKER, JR. THOMAS GILLMER LCoR B . A. GILMORE, USN (RET) BRA D GLAZER BRUCE GooLEY RoLAND GRIMM JERR Y Gum MAJOR C. P. GuY, USMC, RET CAPT. W ILLIAM H . H AM ILTON FREDERICH. H ARwooo FRED HAWKINS DR. & MRS. D AVID H AYES H . DALE H EMMERDINGER JoSEPH F. HENSEL CARL W. HEX AMER II H OWARD E. H IGHT MR . & MRS CHARLES HILL R ALPH W . H OOPER TOWNSEND H ORNOR R OBERT HOWARD , JR. GEORGE M. ! VEY, JR. CoL GEORGE M. JAMES (RET) P. J AYSON HOWARD W. JoHNSON, Ill KEN'S MARINE S ERVICE I NC. BERNIE KLAY P ETER K NIFFIN ELIOT S. K NOWLES W ALLACE C. L AUDEMAN MR. & MRS. T. E. L EONARD JACK R . L ESLIE W. P . LIND ARTHURS . LISS CLIFFORD D . MALLORY P ETER MANIGAULT M AR ITIME AGENCIES P ACIFIC, LTD. WILLIAM R . M ATHEWS , JR. H . H . M cCLURE, JR. WILLIAM H . M cGEE & Co. RICHARD D. McNISH CLYTIE MEAD T HOMAS MENDENHALL J. P AU L MICHIE MICHAEL M URRO JoYCE & H ARRY NELSON, JR. NEW Y ORK Y ACHT CLUB REY. EARLE NEWMAN H A RRY O AKES HARRY J . OTTAWAY RICHARD P AGE MRS. GODWIN J . P ELISSER CAPT. D. E. PERKINS CAPT. CLAUDE D. PHILLIPS D ON PHILLIPS AURA-LEE E. PITTENGER, PHD TH EODORE P RATT M ARCOS JoHN P SARROS Qu1CK & REILLY I NC. L ESLI E C. Q UICK GABRIEL R OSENFELD VINCENT J. R usso, MD SANDY H OOK PILOTS, NY/NJ GEORGE; E . SHAW, JR. MICHAEL T . SHEEHAN CHARLES D . SIFERD LELA F. SILLlN, JR. GEORGE SIMPSON CAPT. EDWARD SKANTA GEORGE R. SLUKER, JR. MR. & MRS. EDWARD W . SNOWDON F. N. SPIESS CoR VICTOR B. STEVEN, JR. H ARRIS B . STEWART, JR. MARSHALL STREIBERT CAPT. C. A. STUKENBORG D AN IEL R . S UKIS BRUCE SWEDIEN R ICHARDS. T AYLOR EDMUND B. THORNTON FOUNDATION CARL W . TIMPSON, D R. lNG H . J . W ARNECKE JoHN S. WILLIAMS,

JR.

RAYNER WEIR JAMES

H.

CAPT. JoHN WESTREM

JR.

JAMES D. T URNER RI CHARD P . VOGEL JoHN

SIR GORDON WHITE, KBE

R. E. WILCOX

C.

V OLK

E. ANDRE WILDE, JR .

R AYMONDE. W A LLACE

CAPT. RICHARD G . WILEY

Y OCUM

Maritime Museums ...

COMMISSION YOUR FAVORITE SHIP Sail or Stea m â&#x20AC;¢ New or O ld

The

D~medary

Ship Modeler's Center

RENOWN SHIP PORTRAITURE ARTIST

Jij. J/~P' A UNIQUELY BEAUTIFUL SHIP PORTRAIT PAINTED EXPRESSLY FOR YOU AND YOUR HERITAGE DEAL DIRECTLY WITH ONE OF

AND

A.l\1ERICA'S FOREMOST MARINE ARTIST SA VE UP TO 60% OVER RETAIL.

We are specialist suppliers for all aspects of-the model boating scene.

(Not cars, trains , planes .) We can start you off with basic kits or,provide you with plans and materials.

Our range also covers working or static models , and we carry an extensive selection of fittings for all types of ships and boats .

Send for our newest Catalog $6 postpaid

$7 outside the U.S.

You'll find over 350 of them all under one cover.

Sea History's Guide to American and Canadian Maritime Museums With this publication, NMHS seeks to provide a comprehensive source of information on all maritime museums, vessels.and maritime exhibits in the Un ited States and Canada. It is intended as a useful, pleasant-reading guide for the casual traveller, as a valuable resource for scholars-and easily affordable to both . I 13pp, illus., index.foreword, afte1word.

"If you' re a maritime buff, Sea History 's Guide to Maritime Museums is the book to take along whenever you travel ... where to go and what to see when you get there-it's all in this gem of a guide."

-JENNIFER ELLIOT, WoodenBoat Send check orm.o. for $11.50, to: NMHS, PO Box

HERB HEWITT IOR Drui d Hill Avenue, Dept.SH

01880 617-245-5242

Wakefield, MA

TOLL FREE 800-323-9370

48

68,

P eekskill , NY

10566

The Dromedary 6324 Belton Drive El Paso, Texas 799 12 (9 15) 584-2445

Or call for Credit Card Orders: (914)737-7878

SEA HISTORY 64, WINTER 1992-93

PILOT BOAT NEW YORK

New York and New Jersey Sandy Hook Pilots Serving the pilotage needs of New York Harbor since 1694 â&#x20AC;¢

201 Edgewater St. , Staten Island, NY 10305 718 448-3900

I

I

1993's PREMIER NAUTICAL ANTIQUE EVENT! 1 P.M., SUN DAV, MAV2ND PORT& STARBOARD CENTER OCEAN BEACH PARK NEW LONDON , CONN.

PREVIEW - 9:00 A.M. Absentee & Telephone Bidding

Exquisite Fully Illustrated Catalog With Post-Auction Price Key

$25 ($30 Outside U .S.)

Available April 5, 1993

WEST SEA CO. 2495 CONGRESS ST. SAN DIEGO, CA 92110 CALL (619) 296-5356 FAX (619) 296-1097

OVER 225 MUSEUM QUALITY ANTIQUES Fine art by A. Jacobsen, J.E. Buttersworth, Stubbs, T. Wright, Willis, Chappell, Hathaway, L. Roberto and others. Major collection of scrimshaw, canes, swift, crimpers, French P.O.W. and others.

17th, 18th & 19th C. navigational inst ruments & telescopes. Antique ship models and builders' half hulls. U.S. Lighthouse & U.S. Lifesaving Service items. Early American whaling logs. Important 19th C. ship carvings. Large whalecraft collection . Clocks, chronometers & gimballed barometers. Backstaff. Nocturnal. Sea chests - one 'Bk Globe.' Sailor valentines. Naval ceramics. Old signed Nantucket baskets. Diving.

Admiral Nelson letter ... and much morel

ALL ITEMS GUARANTEED AS DESCRIBED OR YOUR MONEY BACK!

~

MODEL SUCCESS STORY' "The Maritime Prepositioning Ship program is a model success story, and I couldn 't be more pleased . MPS is on schedule and proving to be an extreme ly valuable strategic asset."

- General PX. Ke ll ey Commandant U.S. Marine Co rp s

* *

DISTRICT 2 MARINE ENGINEERS BENEFICIAL ASSOCIATION -ASSOCIATED MARITIME OFFICERS AFFILIATED WITH THE AFL-CIO MARITIME TRADES DEPARTMENT 650 FOURTH AVENUE BROOKLYN , N.Y 11232 (718) 965-6700

*

RAYMOND T. McKAY PRESIDENT

JOHN F. BRADY

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

.