Sea History 070 - Summer 1994 by National Maritime Historical Society & Sea History Magazine

No. 70

NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY

SUMMER 1994

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

THE CAPE HORN ROAD: Part I, the Ships and Men that Made this Most Difficult Passage Hawaiian Voyaging Canoes Sail Training for the Next Century The Art of James Edward Buttersworth

Presenting the maritime art of. ..

For the past 23 years, the Vallejo Gallery has specialized in period marine paintings from the master marine artists of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. Now, for the first time, we are proud to represent the work of a living artist whose exceptional skill and passion for historical accuracy places him at the forefront of the new generation of marine artists ...

David Thimgan

MAXIM at San Francisco 15 x 24 inches Âˇ oil on board

GALA TEA and SEA FOAM at Mendocino 24 x 36 inches -oil on canvas

BENDER BROTHERS at Point Arenas 15 x 30 inches -oil on board

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ISSN 0146 -9312

No. 70

SEA HISTORY

SEA HISTORY is published quarterl y by the National Maritime Historical Society, 5 John Walsh Boulevard , PO Box 68, Peekskill NY I 0566. Second class postage paid at Peekskill NY I 0566 and additional mailing offices. COPYRIGHT ÂŠ 1994 by the National Maritime Hi storical Society. Tel: 9 14 737-7878. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Sea History, Charles Point, PO Box 68 , Peekskill NY 10566.

FEATURES 11 The Cape Horn Road Part/: The Ships and Men Who Made the World's Most Difficult Sea Passage by Peter Stanford 16 Returning to Normandy Two veterans return to Normandy; Walter Cronkite and the SS Jeremiah O'Brien by Walter Cronkite and Walter Jaffee

MEMBERSHIP is invited. Plankowner $ I0,000; Bene factor $5,000; Afterguard $2,500; Sponsor $ 1,000; Donor $500; Patron $250; Friend $ 100; Contributor $50; Family $40; Regular $30; St udent or Retired $ 15 . All members outside the USA please add$ I0 for postage. SEA HJSTOR Y is sent to all members. Indi vidual cop ies cost $3.75.

17 Britain Looks Back Britain remembers the final years of WWII- from D-Day to VE-Day by Kevin Haydon and Peter Stanford 20 Sail Training: The Next Century What shapes the sail training ships and their programs by Capt . David V. V. Wood

OFFICERS & TRUSTEES: Chairman, Alan G. Choate; Vice Chairmen, Richardo Lopes, Edward G. Ze linsky; President, Peter Stanford; Vice President , Norma Stanford; Treasurer, Bradford Smith; Secretary, Donald Derr; Tru stees, Wa lter R. Brown, W. Grove Conrad , George Lowery , Warren Marr II, Brian A. McA lli ster, James J. Moore, Dou g las Mu ster, Na ncy Pouc h, Ri c hard W. Scheuing, Marshall Stre ibert , David B. Vietor, Jean Wort; Chairman Emeritus, Karl Kortum

24 The Ships of James Edward Buttersworth Th e curator of the new Buttersworth retrospective , "Ship, Sea and Sky ," looks at the work of the 19th-century master by Richard Grassby 30 Hawaiian Voyaging Ha waiian voyaging canoes revive an astonishing seafaring tradition by Kevin Haydon

OVERSEERS: Charles F. Adams, Walter Cronkite, Townsend Hornor, George Lamb, John Lehman, SchuylerM . Meyer, Jr. , J. Willi am Middendorf, 11 , Graham H. Phillips, John Stobart , William G. Winterer ADV ISORS: Co-Chairmen , Frank 0. Braynard , Me lbourn e Smith ; D.K. Abbass, Raymond Aker, George F. Bass, Franc is E. Bowke r, Os wald L. Brett , David Brink , No rm a n J. Brou wer, William M. Doerflinge r, Fran c is J. Duffy, John S. Ewa ld , Joseph L. Fa rr, Timot hy G. Foote, Thomas Gi ll me r, Ri chard Goo ld Adam s, Wa ll e r J. H and e lm a n , C harle s E. He rdendorf, Steven A. Hyman , Haj o Knutte l, Conrad Mil ste r, Edwa rd D. Muh lfe ld , Willi a m G. Mu ll er, Dav id E. Perkins, Ri chard Rath , Nancy Hughes Ri chard so n, Timothy J. Run yan , George Sa ll ey , Ra lph L. Snow, John Stobart , Albert Swanso n, Shannon J. Wa ll , Ray mond E. Wallace, Robert A. Wein stein , Thom as We ll s AMERICAN S HIP TRUST: International Chairman, Karl Kortum ; Chairman , Peter Stanfo rd; Trustees, F. Briggs Dalzell , Willi am G. Muller, Ri chard Rath , Me lbou rn e Sm ith , Edward G. Zelinsky SEA HISTORY STAFF: Editor, Peter Stanford; Executive Editor, Norma Stanford; Mana ging Editor, Kevin Haydon; Assistant Editors, Justine Ahlstrom, Blair Benjamin ; Accounting, Joseph Cacciola; Membership Secretary, Patri cia Anstett; Membership Assistant, Erika Kurtenbach; Merchandising, Kim Parisi; Advertising , Carmen McCall um; Secretary to the Presidem, Karen Ritell

SUMMER 1994

34 The Folk Art of the Ship-in-Bottle What collectors look for in this popular art form by Louis Arthur Norton

DEPARTMENTS 4 6 28 33

Deck Log & Letters NMHS News Marine Art News Traffiques & Discoveries

38 Shipnotes, Seaport & Museum News 42 Reviews 48 Patrons

CO VER: Jam es Bullersworth' s '"Clipper Eag le in a Storm " captures the tension and storm-threatened grace of a fast ship shortening down in the face of a rising gale --a common sight on the road that led ships round that stormy corn er of the ocean world, Cape Horn.

Our seafaring heritage comes alive in Sea History SEA HISTORY brings to li fe America's seafarin g pas t. It is the quarte rl y journal of the Nationa l Maritime Historical Society , a n a ti onal non-profit members hip organiza-

tion , establi s hed in 1963 , that works to increase maritime awareness and educa te the public in our nation's maritime he ritage .

Come aboard with us today!

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At last, an encompassing tribute honoring the brave men and women who have served our country in the United States Merchant Marine. The tribute "In Peace and War" is a beautiful arrangement of skillfully drawn pen and ink illustrations of five significant monuments dedicated to the Merchant Marine nationwide. Added to this unique work of art is the 1946 U.S . Postage Stamp issued in honor of the MerchantMarine, in a mint block of four. The art is impressed on heavy, fine printing paper, image size 10" x 14". This two-color print comes ready to hang, under glass with a double mat, juniper green and white, in a go ld-edged walnut frame 18 1' x 22" . Signed by the Artist "IN PEACE AND WAR" in Limited Editi on

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LETTERS

DECK LOG In this Sea History, Walter Cronkite, a distinguished member of our Overseers Council, has something to say about American heroes. Perhaps you heard him say it at Omaha Beach on 6 June this year. But you haven ' t been able to read his words until now, because they were not written out in advance but put together on the spot, as a reflection on things Mr. Cronkite saw and felt around him. This very worthwhile statement, made on the scene with returning D-Day veterans, was never transc ribed, so with Mr. Cronkite 's permission we transcribed it and are privileged to bring it to you here. Mr. Cronkite spoke from the heart of the experience, of the spirit that bound these people together fifty years ago and so evidently binds them together today , both those who came through D-Day and went on with their lives, and those whose lives ended on the beach. As this generation heads over time 's horizon, never to meet again in such full array, it is our hope that Walter's remarks will live on, as a memorial, yes, surelybut also as a challenge to the ri sing generation and generations to come. That challenge is to recognize the real need America and the world has for heroes. Not paper or cinematic heroes, but ordinary people called to do extraordinary things, real people acting in real life out of the convictions of their lives. Despite the fashionable celebration of the anti-hero, and the "smart-money" erosion of some of the values D-Day was fought for-that recognition is crucial to the health of our society. History , the record of real deeds in a world where acts have real consequences, is important to all people of all cultures. We all need something more than the soft soap of politics or junk food of mass media to be refreshed in the purposes of our lives. And hi story is essential for young people, if our history is to have any continuity, indeed if it is to have a future. PETER ST AN FORD

MEMBERSHIP NOTICE

At the Annual Meeting in April this year, members resolved on a major effort to broaden the membership base of the National Maritime Historical Society. Trustees have now approved a national campaign with a first-stage goal of 15,000 members, an increase of some 3,000 over the 12,063 on our books as we go to press. To join in this needed effort, write for a membership campaign kit, or call 800 221-NMHS. 4

O'Brien Makes History 11May1994 As you well know, the Normandy '94 convoy is underway. Our ETA Portsmouth, England is 23 May to participate in the 50th anniversary commemoration ofD-Day. This ship is the only operating survivor of the original armada that is returning. Thanks to NMHS and Sea History for endorsing this historic voyage. By encouraging your members to contribute, you helped us raise the money necessary for the voyage. Our volunteer crew of World War II veterans greatly appreciated your efforts in our behalf. Each member of this crew is firmly committed to representing the United States Merchant Marine and the US Naval Armed Guard who sailed and fought these ships under the United States Flag. God Bless America. THOMAS J. PATTERSON Rear Admiral, US MS(Ret.) Chairman, Normandy '94 At sea, aboard SS Jeremiah O'Brien

Making it Work Please accept my sincere appreciation for the superb effort the National Maritime Historical Society made in awakening people across America to the importance of the Normandy Convoy , and for your work with the individual ships involved. Your society's members responded nobly to the appeal for letters which helped my bill HR 58 make it through the Congress and be signed into law by the President in December last year, and I understand that the society's members have also contributed generous ly to support the sailing of the ships once the basic federal support was provided to refit them for their voyage. Our work together dates back to the early 1970s, when we planned the Bicentennial Fleet program. lt was a great idea that should have come to pass! But never one to quit, the Society turned its energies to Operation Sail with Frank Braynard, and we all know how that became the central event of the National Bicentennial in 1976. To you, the active and concerned members of the Society, the sea services and the entire nation owe a debt of gratitude. I am glad to encourage all citizens who cherish the American heritage in seafaring to support your work and become members of the National Maritime

Historical Society. Keep up the good work! HELEN DELICH BENTLEY

US House of Representatives 2nd District, Maryland If Anvil Had Happened Earlier .. . I applaud Mr. Stanford 's thoughtful comments on Adm iral King in Sea History 69. It is no easy task to persuade the American naval men who regard him as a hero to take a fresh look at hi s strategic conduct of the Atlantic war. But King' s fau lty strategic sense prevented a service that had reached the highest technical and professional standards from producing at its full capabilities. His failure to deal properly with the Atlantic war is difficult to understand. He saw and exploited the ability of the submarine to destroy the Japanese merchant marine, yet only belatedly accepted that convoys were needed to prevent the same thing from happening to Allied shipping. I too am an admirer of General Eisenhower. His understanding of the maritime side of strategy was outstanding for an army general. He also had a great gift for taking the correct advice. His abilities, combined with those of Admiral Ramsey, put Operation Overlord into the safest hands the Allies could have had. I find it easy to accept that the planned simultaneous launching of Anvil and Overlord (burked by lack of shipping) could have shortened the war. The flight of the Germans back to the Rhine after the Normandy break-out and the Anvil landings was the most precipitous and disorganized retreat they ever made. Anvil tends to be seen as a side show , as it did not result in a great battle, as Overlord did. I take it that this is the point, that there were not the resources for a strong defense of Normandy had Anvil occurred at the same time. Certain ly the normal dogged German defense was completely lacking at Anvil , and their flight from southern France can on! y be described as a rout. They fled the scene without any attempt to throw the invaders into the sea or even to mount an effective rearguard action. It had never happened before in five years of war. PAUL QUINN

Stafford, England

Three Cheers for Sea History 69 In my opinion, the spring issue of Sea History excelled over anything ever printed about the Merchant Marine in World War II. There should be a copy in every library SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

and maritime museum in America. I'm proud to be a member of NMHS. PETER SALVO McKeesport PA Congratulations on your outstanding coverage of D-Day in Sea History 69. It has a superb selection of photos and articles. Well done. THORNTON THOMAS Bellevue WA I loved the recent issue of Sea History and appreciated your comments on the USS Laffey. Accordingly, enclosed is my check for $100.00 as a contribution. Perhaps thi s is the best way I can help you help Laffey. HARRY W. KONKEL CAPT. USN (ret.) Portland ME Captain Konkel, a postwar skipper of the USS Laffey, generously points the way to how his ship can be saved-as part of a larger movement. More on this in SH 71.-ED

Of Time and Tide Your coverage of the Normandy landings- rightly emphasizing approach by sea (though I was in the 82nd Airborne)was well done. My eye caught only one error: a note that Sicily " was invaded from the sea" in July 1943. The 82nd Airborne made its combat debut in Sicily- from the air, of course. The British 1st Airborne also went in. Unfortunately, 60 C-47s were riddled by "friend Iy fire" from offshore and beachlanded anti-aircraft weapons, and 23 of the planes were shot down. But the paratroops going in first helped assure the success of seaborne forces, as in Normandy. As noted by Sea History in regard to the Normandy landings, Rommel was sure that any Allied landings would be madeat high tide in order to keep the beach crossings as short as possible. It is interesting that Army planners on the Allied side thought the same way; Navy planners opted for low tide. Setting H-Hour for shortly after low tide meant better beaching conditions for landing craft and a chance to clear obstacles that would be underwater at high tide. It also allowed emptied landing craft to back off on the rising tide, clearing some beach space and making the craft available to bring in reinforcements-and it was desirable to do that twice during daylight hours. The combination of good moonlight SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

for nighttime airborne landings, low tide about dawn, and a second low on the same day would ex ist only on the 5th, 6th and 7th of June, so Eisenhower 's hands were pretty much tied about going on the 6th. In spite of the weather ri sk, it was go or delay a second time with an excellent chance of giving the whole show away. From the Atlantic, the tide sweeps east across the Normandy coast, surging up through the narrows at Dover Strait. It runs a maximum of about 23 feet. When it retreats, it' s as if Neptune were sucking it out in anger. It is all too easy to imagine the drowned bodies and eq uipment that the tide had swept in early on 6 June 1944 and left on the sands. JACK SMITH City Island NY

The Maierform Bow The photograph of the trawler Northern Da wn on p. 11 of the winter issue (Sea History 68) shows an excellent view of the German Maierform Bow patented by Bremerhaven shipbuilders in the midI 930s. Thi s is the Mark I; a later development was more ang ul ar and less rounded. By 1939 it could be seen on ships of ten thousand ton s and over. Northern Dawn's class of trawler consisted of some 15 ships built for the British trading house, Lever Bros. Before the war they were the largest afloat (655 grt) and worked out of Grimsby to the Arctic fishing grounds. Lever Bros. was obliged to build in Germany, as the advent of Hitler saw all foreign exchange frozen and earnings had to be spent locally. JOHN LEWIS Berkhamsted, Herts, England

The Last Wartime Convoy I enjoyed reading Lt. Glen E. Lackey's letter in Sea History 69. I too was in Convoy 355, as master of the Liberty ship Angus McDonald. We loaded in Philadelphia and proceeded to New York, joining theconvoy sailing9May 1945. We loaded to summer marks plus six inches, with a full deck load of Baldwin steam locomotives (6) bound for Russia. Because our vessel had a Scotch name, a gun crew member painted a life size Scotchman on each side of the smokestack in full kilts copied from a Dewar' s liquor ad which aroused curiosity in passing ships. We proceeded in convoy to Gourock on the Clyde, then independent to Murmansk and Archangel. Upon discharge, I loaded a full cargo of timber to be delivered to A vonmouth, England.

We returned to Boston on VJ Day. CAPT. ALLEN G. SMITH Hampstead NC

A Rewarding Experience The article on the reconstruction of the Constitution (Sea History 69) prompts me to add a footnote . During the reconstruction of the 1920s, the school children of America were invited to contribute fund s. Contributions were rewarded with a button (medal of Isaac Hull) for a nominal contribution of 10 cents, or a Gordon Grant lithograph for a 50 cent contribution . I still have both. GEORGE W. ENGELMANN Palos Heights IL 60463

Errata If I hadn 't read every word of the spring issue (Sea History 69), I wouldn ' t have noticed these trifling mistakes. It is an absorbingly interesting issue, which I couldn ' t put down for two hours! (I) In the "Queries" section on page 5, "Pekinese" Island should be "Penikese." Mr. Wolfensberger has "Buzzards" correct, without any apostrophe, so it might have been a typesetter who transposed the " n" and "k," thinking that Penikese was an error. (2) On page 44, the USMMA is at "Kings Point," without apostrophe. There is a King' s County on Long Island, but Kings Point is in Queens County. If this should find its way into print, please do not include my name. I have no desire to join the Nitpicker's Club. ANONYMOUS Mamaroneck NY Our apologies to Mr. Wolfensberger. It was an editorial error; his original letter had the correct spelling, as expected.

Queries Wayne Schneider wants to know if any World War I vintage four-piper destroyers remain afloat, whether conserved for other use or just abandoned. Send information to : PO Box 1000, Butney NC 27509. Paul C. Kayne, researching early steamboats, wants help locating drawings for the Phoenix (1808) , the Raritan (1809) and the Bellona (1818). He is also looking for information and photos of the model of the Be Ilona that was supposed to have been on di splay in Grand Central Station years ago. Contact Kayne at 1508 N. Indi an Pl. , North Brunsw ick NJ 08902-1632; 908 828-6356. 5

MISSION:

NMHS News Townsend Hornor Receives Ship Trust Award Steering a fledgling organization on a course to fulfillment can be an exacting task that demands great qualities of spirit. FortunateIy for the maritime heritage community, it has people of such character working within it. On Friday, 13 May, NMHS recognized Townsend Hornor of Osterville, Massachusetts, for his many contributions to the field and in particular for his contribution to the Sea Education

Townsend Hornor, at left , receives the American Ship Trust A ward presented by Jakob lsbrantsen , center. Peter Stanford is on the right.

Association (SEA), one of the country ' s most successful sail training and marine education organizations. Mr. Hornor was presented with the National Maritime His-

"At sea, the whole crew knows how their ship is being sailed ... They can feel a sure touch on the helm ... " torical Society's American Ship Trust A ward at ceremonies held aboard the frigate Rose in South Street following a sail training exercise held in New York Harbor. Mr. Hornor, chairman emeritus of the Sea Education Association, is also president of the Naval War College Foundation in Newport, trustee of the Herreshoff Marine Museum in Bristol, RI , and an overseer both of the Plimoth Plantation in Massachusetts and of the National Maritime Historical Society. The American Ship Trust Award, presented in the past to such leaders in historic ship preservation as Walter Cronkite of CBS-TV, Emil Mosbacher, Jr. of Operation Sail, and seaman-author Alan Villiers, was presented to Mr. Hornor by Jakob Isbrandtsen, chairman emeritus of the South Street Seaport Museum, and honorary trustee of the National Maritime Historical Society. Paying tribute to Mr. Hornor's leadership of the Sea Education

Sail Training New York Style NMHS Puts Members and Students Under Square Sail It had to be a genuine piece of luck. After all , it was Friday the 13th and it had been a wet weather week. But, as the 60 members and friends assembled at South Street's Pier 17 for our May sai l on the 1776 repli ca frigate Rose , the skies were bright, clear and full of promise. At 10:30AM we left behind the cares of the work-a-day world, and for some of us, the clamorous classroom , and motored down around the Battery and into the Upper Bay, just in time to run northward up the Hudson River with the beautiful QE2 on our port beam-a gleaming black and white vision as she passed the Statue of Liberty. Now, out of the shelter of the Manhattan towers, the breeze stiffened. We knew then we would indeed be sailing! Besides providing many members aboard with their first taste of sai l handling of the season (in some cases, their first ever on a square rigger), NMHS was also able to sponsor 13 junior high students of the East Harlem Maritime School in New York City forthe program. NMHS has previously recognized the school ' s maritime program and the work of teacher Paul Pennoyer; this excursion offered a perfect opportunity to help his students practice their fledgling nautical skills. Of course, his students were the first up the ratlines to the cross trees, scrambling to show their prowess. Time to setthe giant foretopsail and the staysai ls. The drill was not unfamilar to some, they being veterans of the Elissa, the Gaze/a, and other vessels, but everybody manned the lines like a junior deckhand. By the time we wore around to the east side of the Hudson for our return on the starboard tack, we were an eager, responsive complement to theRose's full-time crew. Paul Pennoyer' s class of East Harlem Maritim e We returned to South School students aboard the Rose on May 13 . Street around 4:00PM , in time to ready the Rose for the 5:00PM World Ship Trust Award ceremony to honor our guest of the day, Townsend Hornor. It was a fine day of fresh air and free spirits, a good day of sai ling, and for our young sailors , a day of learning with an 18thKEVIN HA YOON century twi st.

Association, which conducts college level courses aboard sail training vessels operating out of Woods Hole, Massachusetts, Mr. Isbrandtsen said: "At sea, the whole crew knows how their ship is being sai led. They know this going about their tasks on deck or even sleeping in their bunks below . They can feel a sure touch on the helm, as the vessel makes her way through the sea. And that sure touch Townie brought to SEA." Rafe Parker, President of SEA, in a letter to Mr. Hornor, detailed aspects of his leadership which had left a lasting and beneficial mark on the institution. In his letter Mr. Parker recalled how Mr. Hornor had said to him twelve years ago: "Rafe, I don't know how we 're going to do it, but we are going to have a campus

of our own and a new ship for ourselves that all of us will be proud of. " Which, Parker noted , was just what came to pass under Mr. Hornor's leadership. Peter Stanford, President of the National Maritime Historical Society, sponsors of the Ship Trust Award, said that Mr. Hornor was "a Renaissance man," whose interests "ranged from marine art to historic ship preservation, from the ways of the lobstermen in Nantucket Sound to the collections policy of Mystic Seaport Museum, where," he added, "he sits on a committee to oversee such things." "Town ie Hornor' s is the gift of the great navigators," said Stanford, "for whom no shore was too far. And he brings that generosity of vision to all he does in our field. " SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

Volunteers Make Waves

Veterans Speak Up at D-Day Exhibit Opening

When the Liberty shipleremiah O'Brien departed San Francisco for her hi storic return to Britain and Normandy for DDay ce lebrations there, she left with an experienced crew. In fact, the average age of her all-volunteer crew was 65! What were all these people doing, whose peers would more likely be found in lei surely retirement than embarking on such an arduous adventure? What put them up to it? Well , the answer comes direct from the bridge of the Jeremiah 0' Brien, from Rear Admiral Thomas Patterson, who said: "Each member of this crew is firml y commited to representing the United States Merchant Marine and the US Naval Armed Guard who sailed and fought these ships under th e United States flag." Admiral Patterson 's dispatch went on to thank NMHS members for their contributions to the O'Brien and her trip. The NMHS role in thi s was to urge our members to campaign for the enabling legislation, sponsored by Representative Helen Delich Bentley, and to contribute money. Rep. Bentley acknowledged this support in a letter encouraging "all citizens who cherish the American heritage

On 21 May, the Society began its 50th anniversary commemoration of D-Day with the opening of a D-Day photo exhibit at our headquarters at Charles Point in Peekskill. The open ing of"Remembering D-Day" drew a crowd of sixty people and featured an illustrated lecture by Society president Peter Stanford entitled "D-Day: Operation Overlord" fo llowed by a di scussion during which WWII veterans gave their recollections of the military campaign that began the liberation of Europe. Fifty years after 5,000 ships delivered 170,000 troops to the Nonnandy shores on 6 June, 1944, the historic day is being remembered worldwide as one of the defining moments of the 20th century. At our event, the several Normandy veterans present gave riveting, first-hand accounts of the operation to a deeply appreciative audience. As slides appeared on the screen , veterans joined in the presentation , providing recollections that reflected a spectrum of experience-from the dazed , shell -shocked and imperfect memories of you ng men in their most frightening hour, to the strangely detailed images of minds forced to a state of super alertness by the imperatives of survival. When the image of a sunken Liberty ship came up, merchant seaman Frank Lavalle of Beacon, New York, exclaimed "That's my ship! theFrancisC. Harrington" and went on to describe how she was blown up by an acoustic mine off Omaha on the morning of7 June. The explosion claimed the lives of 45 US soldiersabouttodisembark forthe beaches Normandy veteran Joe Hussey stands and sank the vessel by the stem. She was later before a photo of Omaha beach. raised and resumed transporting troops. John Mac Lean of Pound Ridge, New York, who served with Company B of the 50th Signal Battalion, recalled hiscompany 'sentranceonJune 13 (D-Day+ 7) into the town of Ste. Mere Eglise, captured by paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division with considerable loss oflife. The incident was immortalized by the film "The Longest Day," which MacLean declared surpri singly accurate-for a Hollywood film. Leo Evans, who landed at Omaha beach on June 17 (D-Day +I 0), gave a blowby-blow description of hi s division's progress inland with maps and vivid, but chilling, recollections of the ferocious skirmishing among the hedgerows of Normandy . Leo 's aston ished wife said as they left: "You know , he has never told me or our children any of this." Joe Hussey of Harriman, New York, served aboard the American Liberty ship Ignatius Donnelly, chartered to the British Army. Early on 8 June (D-Day+2), the Donnelly delivered troops of the British 8th Army to Gold beach and then continued a shuttle serv ice between English ports and the Normandy beachhead. " Remembering D-Day" is open to the public in the Society 's ga llery at Charles Point from 9AM to 5PM daily Mon. to Thur. , 9AM to 9PM on Fridays, and 11 :30AM to 3:30PM on Sundays. KEVIN HA YOON

M embers Arthur Liss, on left, and Tom Kennedy, at right, man a table at the Intrepid Museum with NM HS President PeterStanford.

in seafaring to support ... and become members of the National Maritime Hi storical Society." We think ours is an important role: to educate the public and raise its awareness of our nation 's maritime heritage, and to preserve it where we can. Though we are a society of words and pictures, ideas and causes (and that is what often seems most apparent in the dail y buzz of the office), it is when those ideas and causes bring us into concerted action, making waves, that we are at our finest. Volunteers in the New York City area recently manned a table at the Intrepid Museum and the Navy Pier in Staten Island during Fleet Week. They were there SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

to sell Sea History and spread the good word on NMHS. But they were also there to meet people: other volunteer members, new members, and whoever happened to be interested in what we all love. In our current membership drive, we have friends of the Society passing out magazines to visitors on square-riggers, aircraft carriers, ferries, tugs , a Liberty ship, and a variety of other vessels. We have employers giving gift memberships to their workers and clients. We have volunteers writing letters to their fellow

maritime alumni and naval veterans . In the generous words of NMHS Trustee George Lowery , "we are basically a group of volunteers from all walks of life who have a very strong interest in maritime history ... and a small paid staff that does most of the hard work." It is through its members that the Society exists and grows and will continue to do so-if 12,063 people have their say. BLAIR BENJAMIN *For information on gift memberships, call 1-800-221-NMHS

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Progress has been made on the passage of legislation considered vital to the success of maritime preservation efforts nationwide over the next decade. On 23 June, a revised version of the National Mari time Heritage Act (HR 3059) passed through the Merchant Marine subcommittee of the House of Representatives. NMHS President Peter Stanford described the revised bill as " incorporating key elements left out of the original-it now provides full representation for maritime interests. It is time to persuade legislators to get behind this bill." The bill was introduced by Congressman Tom Andrews of Maine in September 1994 and originally called for the establishment of a National Maritime Trust, modeled after the National Trust for Historic Preservation, to receive fund s from the scrapping of obsolete vessels in the National Defen se Rese rve Fleet (NDRF) for the preservation of the nation's maritime heritage. The bill has now been amended so that merchant marine interests will also share in the proceeds. The proposed distribution calls for 25 % to go to the US Maritime Administration for maintenance of the National Defence Reserve Fleet, 25 % to the state maritime academies, and 50% to a National Maritime Heritage Grants Program. Of the Grants money, half is to go to maritime education projects, administered by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and half to maritime preservation projects, administered by the National Park Service. The establishment of a National Maritime Trust to receive Grant fund s has been left out of the revised bill. NMHS joins with the National Maritime Alliance support for the bill and urges members to contact their congressional representatives and ask them to co-sponsor HR 3059. The Act is designed to address an imbalance in past federal funding of maritime needs (seeSeaHistory68, Winter 1993-94 ). Federal funding has been limited to special legislation initiated by individual congressmen and two large allocations: $5 million in 1979 (initiated and campaigned for by NMHS) and $3 million for lighthou se preservation , 1988-1990. For information , contact the National Maritime Alliance, BathPort, 99 Commercial Street, Bath ME 04530; 207 443-4550. KEVIN HAYDON

SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

THE WIDER VIEW:

Real History? Or Disney? Faced with plans for a giant Disney theme park in Haymarket, Virginia, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has named the Northern Piedmont area of Virginia to the 1994 li st of" America's Eleven Most Endangered Places." The Northern Piedmont's gentle landscape is dotted with 22 Civil War battlefields, including Manassas and Chancellorsville, pre-Revolutionary War villages and roads , and the homes of three presidents: Thomas Jefferson (Monticello), James Madison (Montpelier), and James Monroe (Ash Lawn). Much of the countryside is unchanged since George Washingon farmed there. The area includes 50% of Virginia's orchards and vineyards as well as the heart of its horse-breeding. The 405-acre theme park is only part of the Disney project, which also plans a racetrack, a 21,000-seat amphitheater, an auto racecourse, two million square feet ofcommercial space and 2,500 residences. It is a huge commercial undertaking. Virginia's governor, GeorgeF. Allen, and most local elected officials support the project, citing the 19 ,000 jobs and 6 million visitors that the enterprise is expected to create. But even as the Virginia legislature approved$ l 63 million in subsidies-most to upgrade roads in the project areaopposition was growing among local residents. They have been joined by such prominent historians as Shelby Foote, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and David McCullough. Mr. McCullough summed it up: "We have so little left that's authentic and real . ... Once this commercial blitzkrig comes, it will never be the same again. " The National Trust invites citizens to contact their US senators and representatives and urge them to "make every effort to protect our heritage." Sea History believes: • Our history belongs to all Americans, from Maine to Hawaii; and all Americans have a legitimate interest in what affects these treasured landmarks. •Flashy, noisy presentations overpower the slower, more thoughtful and thorough presentations of real historic sites. • While a development of this size will create jobs, it should not be built where it will intrude on some of the nation's most revered historic places. •The right of a private company to present history for commercial reasons, or to build housing and racetracks is not the issue; it is the inappropriateness of the location. We welcome our readers' views. J, SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

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SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

The Cape Horn Road

hen it comes on to rain some of my earliest memocats and dogs, as itdid ries are of pictures of the saillate the other night, I ing ships that once crowded find myself thinking of the the narrow waterway. Tall Wavertree. In my mind 's eye ships, whose skysail poles I can see the curtains of fallseemed indeed to scrape the ing water draw across the sky and whose crossed yards deserted, meaninglessly lit up and thicketed rigging were office buildings of Lower instilled with high purpose Manhattan, and then sweep out of another age than ours. across the ship. I hear the rain The East River came to drumming on the planking of seem a haunted place to me, a the decks and feel it stream by Peter Stanford stage where memorable chardown the ship 'scold iron sides acters had walked and unforinto the East River tide that gettable stories had had their swirls around the great hull in beginnings. The narrow city the darkness-a clucking, lanes winding down toward restless tide that tugs and caSouth Street, Dover Street, joles: Come away down into Beekman, Fletcher, Cuyler's the open water of the Upper Alley and the rest, seemed Bay, and out through the Nareach to echo a vanished presrows to the ocean, set out ence, a sailor just home from I again on the Cape Horn road! Hong Kong , a tall ship bound Have you ever noticed how in with heavy rope hawsers, rain on your roof overhead like a captive antlered deer, at can sound like the rising voice the end of the street. That of the wind over a wild ocean, haunting sense of a departed and how the rushing water promise led some ofus a quarseems to be made up of a ter century ago to bring the babble of many conversations Cape Horn sailing ship Waoverheard? Those unselfconvertree back to New York to scious voices are out of your fill out that picture-a ship at own life as you've lived it the end of the street. and perhaps out of scenes Idly turning the pages of before your time which have an old book some years ago, I caught you up in their own came upon one of those picreality. I hear sailors' cries, tures that had got into my and gulls' cries, and sometimes mind as it was learning to I seem to hear the cries of The Wavertree, dismastedof!Cape Horn in 1910, rests easy at South recognize things, a picture that ch ildren who play at seafar- Street Seaport, when she arrived in 1970. drew me into its reality and ing and dream of it, and under imprinted its message deep in it all I hear the crash and pounding of the seas and the baying my brain circuits. It was an etching of a tall arched ship's bow. of the winds that drive the great seas on ward-winds that blow Its bowsprit reached forward over a waterfront street, and on around Cape Horn and seas that roll on right around the world , it stood a figure like a boy, steadying himself with a hand on uninterrupted by land except where at the southernmost tip of the forestay, looking down on sma ll craft bobbing on the South America, the gaunt rock of the Horn itself stands out to shadowed water that bore up the great sailing ship. Over the meet them . boy 's head--0r was it a man' s?-the foremast and rigging Why dream of Cape Horn? I have not gone to Cape Horn as began their steady ascent toward the boundless sky. the old seafarers did, in conditions that tried the ship and her That gesture of aspiring outreach in a tall ship 's rig has people to their limits. I've been to that gaunt outpost in a cruise plucked many young men from waterfront streets to put them ship. It' s just not the same thing . But I went because of the on the watery path that leads down the harbor, out to sea and ships and their people who had gone before. Cape Horn haunts on the Cape Horn road right around the world! Don ' t let an the imagination because of what they achieved there, against out-of-place "realism" deceive you for one minute as to the such odds. pulling power of the rig of tall ships. It is very strong. It drew The Cape Horn trade in sail is over. A few dozen men who strong people to serve in the ships. Sailors in the last days of were in it survive and stay in touch through Cape Homers' the Cape Horn passage-and it's only toward the end of the clubs. The ships they sailed ended their runs while I was a boy. story that we get to know them well enough to speak with The East River, a tidal stream running under the bluffs of confidence of what they felt about it all- walked the extra Brooklyn Heights where I grew up, had been cleared of the mile to serve in ships with towering rigs. A ship with a skysail square riggers that once thronged the Manhattan shore across yard crossed above the royals would attract a crew faster than the way at South Street before I swam into consciousness, too her workaday lower-rigged sisters in port. John Masefield, late to see them . But memories hang on, stories are told, and poet laureate of England, scared and scarred on the Cape Horn

Part I: The Ships and Men That Made the World's Most Di,fficult Passage by Sea

SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

road, noticed this and culties. A clear dawn and serene morning can made much of it as a hallgive way to calamitous mark of a real sailor. He said that this topmost yard conditions by midday . drew the sailor's eye and And to put a final twist lifted his heart. And tough in the situation, early t:: navigators noted that oldArchieHorka,thefirst ~ they weren ' t getting to actual sailor I talked with ~ windward even as well who had shipped out of ..J SouthStreettowardCape ~ as their poor, ill -found C5 ships would normally Hom, remembered vivi;; take them. The reason idly how as a homesick ~ for this is that there is a youth wandering on an ~ steady eastward drift of Australian waterfront, he :;: spied the skysail yard on o.. the whole body of wathe barkentine Forest Bound for Cape Horn, Francis Drake's Pelican stands southward off Patagonia, ter between Cape Hom Dream. On the spot he following her consort Elizabeth. The Pelican, re-named Golden Hind, was the and Antarctica 500 chose that ship and no first ship to round the Horn , in 1578. miles to the south . A sailing ship fi ghting for each mile of windward progress finds other to ship aboard and come home. And why not? It was a dog's life anyway, life before the the rug continuously pulled from under her at a rate of about mast in these compellingly beautiful ships . Why not go in a knot and a half, or nearly 40 sea miles in the 24-hourday. (A style? Join me in my journey to search out what happened on sea mile is longer than a landsman 's mile, measuring 6020 the Cape Hom road, reader, and where, if anywhere, it led rather that 5280 feet.) And , of course, Cape Hom is miles from anywhere, with no besides the horrors of sailortown San Francisco and other harbor at hand for shelter or seaport destinations- though none were quite like Frisco- The loss of ships and people on this road succor. Even today, with a Chilean weather station atop or the living death of guanowas heavy, beginning with Drake's its headland and with the readigg ing on the Cincha Isles sonably frequent passage of off Peru. You ' ll have to lay Marigold in 1578 ships of different nations to aside Marxian determinism, logical positivism, Jamesian pragmati sm and similar bang- nearby Antarctica, it is a lonely , treacherous and dangerous thump mechanica l ex planation s of human aspirations and comer of the ocean world. But it was a comer that had to be behavior to begin to understand what moved these men. turned. Until the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 (and You ' ll simply have to throw away thi s kind of unsailorly the opening of the Arctic passage by the steel-armored tanker baggage if you hope to share in what thi s awe-inspiring Manhattan in 1969), it was the only way to get past the long continental barrier of the Americas into the Pacific world. passage under sail was about. And the passage was accomplished by tall ships leaning on For with these ships and these people, we come close to the childhood of mankind , a childhood lived under wider ski es the wind , a long procession of them beginning with Drake ' s and in a more untamed environment than what we know today . Golden Hind and petering out only in recent times. The And mankind has grow n old enough and wise enough, or so conditions they met at Cape Hom became the stuff of overone can hope, to know how important those childhood years ni ght legend. The loss of ships and people on thi s road was heavy, beginning with Drake's Marigold in 1578, which went are to all that comes after. down with all her people within hailing distance of Drake's The Corner that Had to Be Turned own ship, and ending with Conditions off Cape Hom the loss of the well-found are awful, in the ancient " steel-hulled, radio-equipmeaning of the word- inspiring awe and fear beped Admiral Karpfanger ,eQRT STANCE' yond the bodily kind . in 1938-also lost with all -"ÂˇÂˇ fALKLAND Is . Howling gales , "Cape hands , but without traceHom snorters," spring up and a countless hostofvesu sels and people of many at short notice from the \ \ nations in between. Sevwestward, the direction the \ eral high-tech multi-hulled Atlantic sailor has to go to r~/7I sailing yachts (fortunately get around the Hom. This "' I )'-, , j//,,r; I \ /,,..__ ,......_ equipped with the latest in makes the going extremely " ,(___ / I' ... _.!,-1-J-.,. ' v / lifesav ing devices) have tough for sailing ships, ~7: /~;-been lost on this passage which have to sail in zig- " r.==========;i ROUNDING CAPE HORN ( ' j' / in recent years, simply The PRIWALL's record in 1938 f T / I'- /~-A- - -I 7 zag tacks against a head 1 ,..1 7 _/__/ / \ 5 days 14 hours ----0-----. ' overwhelmed by the as1 M (I 1' / ,.. ..i. / wind, like a skier go ing up Compared with the SUSANNA \ / .J I I I t I !__ ,,, -' / sault of mountainous, una steep mounta in. The sud94 days in 1905 - - - - + \ I '--1 ,,....,...,,. \/ ;_,..., relenting seas. Choosing denness of change in the their weather to make the weather adds to the diffi"

. .,fjf

Nov.

SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

Seamen at the capstan look apprehensively as heavy seas break aboard the Parma on her 1933 Cape Horn passage.

At bottom, in the height of a gale, the Panna's deck is awash in a vicious sea.

passage and relying on reaway, smashed doorways in ports from satellites miles the deckhouse barricaded above the battlefield to dodge agai nst the sea, spars missthe worst of it and come ing from aloft, bow sprit throu gh, other advanced splintered and held together modern yachts have made with a yard, scars and patches that passage successfull y in everywhere. Sailors in the recent years. One of these, port knew the story before the extraordinary French the survivors limped or were boat Ecureuil (Squirrel), carried ashore. lowered to 62 days the old Because of the hi storic sailing ship record of89 days importance of the Cape Hom â&#x20AC;˘ from New York to San Franpassage and its place in the cisco, set by the clipper ship legends and indeed the whole Flying Cloud in 1851 and cu lture of long-haul ocean again in 1854. But the agile seafaring, a few soul s in the Ecureuil was not burdened latter days of the passage with the 2,000-odd tons of Rounding Cape Horn became the defining act began to ship out on the Cape cargo it was the Cloud' s misHorn road for the experience. that marked ships and men as a breed apart. Irving sion to deli ver. Johnson, joining the Cape Horn is not there for powerful German bark Pesport, or to be sported with. Seamen, who have to live in the king in 1929, was greeted by a lost seaman 's effects being sea and take what comes, never speak li ghtly of it. To them it brought ashore as he was goi ng out in a small boat to board the is the Horn-rarely the Cape. The poet and novelist Rudyard big bark riding, seemingly invincible, in Hamburg's quiet Kipling, who had some knowledge of these things and some harbor. He rode the " bi g wagon" as he called her, through two feeling fo r them, wrote chillingly of"the blind Horn 's hate." Cape Horn snorters, with winds you couldn 't breathe against and seas that bent in the ship 's strong steel si de as though it "A Crouching Lion" Long before Kipling, aboard the first Atlantic ship to come were a tin can. upon Cape Horn, Francis Drake 's chaplain Francis Fletcher Johnson made films of those combers sweeping across the spoke of the "malice" of the mountains of which Cape Horn decks like surf ragi ng across a half-tide rock. And in this is the outermost one. His journal, we ' II see later, which he kept environment the ship 's people kept the ship to hertask, driving under what must have been indescribable conditions aboard her forward through scenes of insanity to do what she was ship, seems to confuse the very rocks with the sea, in a meant to do-make westing. Get to the westward, past Cape universe gone crazy. Captain James Barker, a quintessential Horn. Irving Johnson said later that the whole experience Cape Horner whose passage in the British Isles in 1905 has taught him to "lean forward into life." The seaman-author Alan Villiers, who lost his chum and been argued over by sai lormen ever since (an argument that will likely continue as long as the Cape Horn passage is fellow adventurer Ronald Walker on hi s first Cape Horn remembered among seamen), spoke of Cape Horn as a "crouch- passage, likew ise undertaken to learn what it was like, went ing lion," a beast waiting to spring, which exacted its toll on back that way in hi s own littl e shiploseph Conrad with a crew those who ventured to pass it. In that 1905 passage, it claimed of young people in 1935. He went the so-called "easy" way, the lives of five men, one-fifth of the ship' s company aboard that is, from west to east, with-not agai nst-the prevailing the British Isles. Captain Klebingat, who saw the ship come wind and current aro und the damnable headland. He ran a little into her Chilean destination of Pisagua, told me that her very too long before a strong west wind that mounted in sudden look as she came to anchor inspired dread. All her boats swept gusts to become a screami ng gale, and then he had to bring his

SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

mountainous sea that ship through the dancame near sinking the gerous maneuver of ship herself. The men coming around head to were worked ruthwind in cresting seas. less ly. There was no He bitterly regretted other way to do it, to that he had brought his make the passage. crew of youngsters to There was no power this comer of the world. available but the power He wondered if the little you brought aboard in ship would live. yo ur two hands, a "You bastard sea!" power used to the limit he exulted when the to work the ship ' s sails ship had been brought and harness the power round and was lying-to of the winds. safely, as the first hissTo me, the most ing greybeard slid "I am not in distress as long as I have one mast to sail with," said the master amazing realization is harmlessly by. But he of the Champigny, dismasted off Cape Horn in 1927. He refused any offer that this way of life on knew, none better, that of a tow as he sailed his crippled ship into safe harbor in the F al kl ands . the Cape Hom road was there is no permanent victory in what he called "the war with Cape Hom." in full flower in our own times, in the lifetimes of people still The artist Anton Otto Fischer making his passage round the among us. Hom in the early 1900s, referred to "the watery hell of Cape To Be a Cape Horner Hom," and remembered with horror the two "nightmarish" Rounding Cape Hom became the defining act that marked months it took his ship to get around the Hom and clear into ships and men as a breed apart. A ship making that passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific world is called a Cape Homer. the Pacific. The trip had its moments, however. One that Fischer recalled with passionate fidelity more And her people are called Cape Homers. Historically, the than forty years later was a view of the wild scene that he rounding of Cape Hom was the turning point in the voyaging shared with a wandering albatross. It happened after a tough, impulse that began some 5,000 years ago, an impulse that exhausting session stowing a royal that had broken out of its finally opened the whole world to trade and to the interchange gaskets while the ship careened through heavy seas. "I was of peoples and ideas just a few hundred years ago. A defining tossed on a wide arc from one side to the other and had to hold development, we may agree, in the story of mankind . Of the ships that made this passage, a few survive, due to on desperately to keep from being pitched into space," he the strong faith and exertion of a surprisingly small number of remembered. He then continues: I made the sail snug, tightened each gasket as well as I devoted souls (Norma Stanford and I call them "the ship cou ld under the conditions and then got off the yard, savers"). Among them is Alan Villiers's Joseph Conrad stopping on the gallant cross tree to stop the pounding of which lies afloat at Mystic Seaport on the Mystic River in my heart. I had a bird 's-eye view of the whole scene and Connecticut. Irving Johnson' s great big wagon Peking has it was a beautiful sight, awe-inspiring in its grandeur. found safe harbor at South Street Seaport Museum in New The skies had cleared somewhat and there were patches York. Across the slip from her lies the older full-rigged ship of blue amongst the driven clouds. The ship seemed to Wavertree. Dismasted off Cape Hom in 1910, she was towed be wallowing in a sea of greenish milk; ranks of huge into Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands on Christmas Eve that waves bore down on the ship from windward, breaking year after she had found her own way back from the Horn, with a thunderous roar. Spume and spindrift blotted out rolling down the bitter seas with broken masts and yards on the horizon, merging sea and sky in a gray vapor. An deck and men with broken arms and legs. Battered but albatross appeared hovering around the ship and gliding unvanquished, she survived , was discovered in an Argentine quite close. He was motionless except for his head and backwater by Karl Kortum (the ringleader of the ship savers), eyes, and almost insulting in his indifference to the and brought back to New York in 1970. Around this dismasted howling gale. The whole scene was so breathtaking that hulk, challenged and inspired by its presence, the South Street for the time being I was unaware of all the dangers and Seaport Museum took shape on the East River waterfront the hardships, lost in the overpowering display of the close to the Brooklyn Bridge. With the help of the ship savers of the National Maritime Historical Society, the great ship elements unchained. 1 The conditions under which sailors met these unchained may be rerigged to make her most important voyage yet-to elements changed little in the essentials in the five battering educate coming generations in how men learned to build such ,t centuries of men coming this way in their sailing ships. The ships and take them to sea on the Cape Hom road. ships, except for a few at the very end of the tale, had no radio, and indeed no electricity. Bunks were washed out again and Future installments of Mr. Stanford's story of the Cape Horn again by seas smashing their way into the accommodations. trade will go into how deepwatervoyaging began, what were the Men fell into the sea from aloft, weakened by cold and impulses oftrade and desire that led mankind to take longer and exhaustion. That was how Barker lost three of his five men longer leaps across watery distances, and the impact of the experikilled in that horrendous passage in 1905, one other being ences on societies ashore. Reader comment and criticism is invited. stunned and drowned by boarding seas on deck, and the last 1 Anton Otto Fischer, F ocs' le Days (1946 & 1987) pp. 34-35 grabbed from the top of a deckhouse and swept away by a 14

SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

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SchoonerAater to Sloop, 1899 1 Steam Stern-Wheeler, 1909 4 1 Sloop/Skipjack (centerboard), 1898 1 Sandbagger Sloop (centerbrd), 1872 4-Masted Schooner, 1900 10 Power/Gasoline, 1912 1 Crowley #21/#26 Bugeye (log canoe descendant) ,1901 2 Edith F. Todd Steam Schooner, 1917 11 Edna Christenson Schooner, 1893 6 Gracie S. 5 James F. McKenna Scow Schooner (centerboard), 1902 7 James M. Donahue Steam Side-Wheeler, 1875 Barkenline, 1901 5 Kohala Log Canoe (3 logs, centerbrd) , 1898 2 Lillian L. 4 Louisa Morrison 2-Masted, Gaff-rig . Schooner, 1868 3-Masted Schooner (cntrboard), 1875 2 Lu cia A. Simpson Steam TowboaVlater diesel, 1914 (rebuilt) 3 Marie L. Hanlon Sidney 0 . Neff Steam (screw; was 2-mast. brge), 1890 3 Schooner, 1899 3 Smith K. Martin Noman's Land Boat (cntrbrd), 1898 2 Unnamed 1-Masted Felucca (lateen rig.). 1900 2 Unnamed New Haven Sharpie (cntrbrd ), 1900 1 Unnamed Schooner (centerboard), 1879 3 Virginia 2 3-Masted Schooner (topsails). 1902 William Bisbee William Wesley Sloop, 1874 3 Alice & Mary Antelope

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Returning to Normandy To the Heroes of D-Day

The Stuff of Dreams

In gathering D-Day experiences from were experiencing again the stories from membersofNMHS,repeatedcasesarose an earlier conflict, stories of fathers and where the veteran was telling the story uncles who had fought in this land barely forthefirsttime-fifty years taler. Walter a quarter of a century before. For each of us here, the memories Cronkite noticed the same thing when he traveled with D-Day veterans back to return. We look to each of the veterans Normandy this year. Here, who has returned and say in paying tribute to the men, again-thanks. We look to he explains why he believes the white markers which there is this hesitancy to surround us out there and speak.His explanation, unitsay- thanks . Thanks that ing the living and the dead we stand here today in peace in one company again, is the and in friendship on beaches once littered with death and most memorable commentary on the experience that filled with the terror of dywe have encountered. Mr. ing. We honor the veterans of this battle and remind ourCronkite, of course, was Walter Cronkite present at D-Day, covering selves of the great price paid the story for UPI in one of the bombers to secure peace and freedom here. that flew through flak-filled skies to sup***** port the troops below. I came here on this trip by ship, honored to share the passage with several hunFifty years ago today, the liberation of dred veterans . Western Europe began on these beaches I was surprised to learn that many, here at Normandy. The greatest invasion perhaps most, had kept silent on their force in history landed here to open the exploits-a half century of silence, even final stage of World War II in Europe. with their families . And I was somewhat For this great Allied underpuzzled by that, until I realtaking, more than seventy ized that these men did not thou sand American sol- "/ was surprised feel that they should reap the diers , sailors and airmen to learn that glory just because they surovercame tremendous odds vived. It was, they felt, their to secure these beaches. many, perhaps comrades who didn ' t make However, we are not most, had kept. . . it who were the true heroes. Let me assure those who here to celebrate, nor are a half century of we here, certainly, to gloare here and those thousands rify battle. Our purpose to- silence, even with who could not get back to Norrnandyforthiscommemoday is to remember-to re- their families." member and to say thank ration, that to us, whose libyou once again to the vetererty and freedom you assured, ans who stand before us, and who lie that you indeed are heroes-each and around us here. every one of you. Each of us has our own memories of This day fifty years ago, changed the this land. As we relive them with fami- world. Its legacy remains-for my genlies and friends, this beautiful and this eration, as well as for all generations and peaceful land of today masks the horrors generations to come-a symbol of the of a half century ago. The American Military cemetery at true cost of peace and We remember the Co/leville, overlooking Omaha beach. freedom . men, we remember Maytheshortwhile that we share here tothe sacrifice of life, the willingness to risk day help inscribe in the everything to restore annals of time the freedom and peace to memory of those who a country that many died, along with those who landed on these who survived and beaches had only up who together shall to then read about in live forever. their history books. Sadly, many of them WALTER CRONKITE

The shakedown for the SS Jeremiah O' Brien's voyage to the beaches of Normandy came not with the refitting at the drydock in San Francisco (where more than 2 1/2 miles of welding was done), nor with sea trials in San Francisco Bay, but with the first leg of the voyage itself-<lown the West Coast of North America. lf there were problems with machinery we knew they would develop on the run to Panama. If the crew failed to coalesce, it would be in the heat of the tropics . The odds were that a fifty year old ship would never sail the oceans again. But theoddsmakers hadn'treckoned with the SS Jeremiah O'Brien or her crew. Coming from all walks of life, the crew consists of volunteers with little formal education, those with PhD's and everything in between. Some are retired, some are employed in other professions, some are active merchant mariners. The oldest man on the ship is the captain, a retired San Francisco harbor pilot; the youngest is a Kings Point cadet of 19. The average on board is 63. They are college professors , pilot captains, sanitation inspectors, maintenance foremen, salesmen, machinists and mechanics. The one thing the crew has in common is a sense of optimism, an unshakable belief that the ship could make it to Normandy and back. When everyone else said itcouldn' t be done, the crew knew it could. They knew that the ship was aptly named. Jeremiah O'Brien, the person, was a hero of the American Revolution who defied the odds by capturing the British warship Margaretta with a ragtag troop of sailors armed with little more than pitchforks. He went on to capture several other British ships and, after being captured himself, walked out of a British prison. They knew theferemiah O'Brien had also defied the odds by surviving. One of 2,751 ships built to last a: voyage or perhaps a year, she has survived more than half a century. She outlasted the hazards of the North Atlantic in 1943 and 1944 carrying food and supplies to England. She made eleven voyages from Southampton to the beaches at Utah and Omaha, emerging unscathed from frequent air attacks, E-boat threats and mines. She went on to survive the war in the South Pacific despite a malaria epidemic, neglect on the part of the military

by Walter Jaffee

SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

The Liberty ship Jeremiah O'Brienpasses under Tower Bridge in London , after participating in the D-Day 50-year commemorations in Portsmouth and at Normandy. The O'Brien was the only US vessel that took part in the Normandy Invasion that returned for the commemorations . ("Arriving London" was photographed by Don Markel; 8" by JO" color prints are available from Maske/ Marin e Services, 496 Jefferson Street, San Francisco CA 94109; a portion of the proceeds go to support the Jeremiah O' Brien-send $10 plus $3 s+h)

and the threat of kamikaze attacks. She yacht Britannia berth at South railway was then put into the layup fl eet and for jetty), at least unti 1the yacht itself made an 33 years survi ved the very real threats of appearance. Then came the Queen 's review and again a place of be ing so ld to a foreign counhonor next to the USS George try or taJcing a one-way trip In Portsmouth Washington. Our ship was to the scrap heap. After 14 years as a mu- we started realiz- given the new ly created (by the Maritime Administraseum ship, the crew knew ing just how tion) Merchant Marine flag theJeremiahO' Brien would and the Jeremiah O' Brien continue defying the odds. special the So it came as no surprise to Jeremiah O'Brien became the first American to raise this proud symthose on board when the ship was to the people ship bol of our industry. came to life again. The crew As the Queen's review fell into a routine and the of Europe. ended, President and Mrs. ship ran, from San FranClinton debarked from the cisco to Panama, day after day, solid, secure and untiring. If prob- Ro ya l yacht a nd came aboard ther lems were going to develop, they would 0 ' Brien, the first American President to step aboard an acti ve merchant ship in on that first leg. None did . After transiting the Canal, there was modern hi story . The crew was pleasthe long push up the Atlantic to Po11s- antly surpri sed and honored that the Chief mouth, England. After 19 days the O' Brien Executive and hi s wife had time to shake arrived safe and sound. Everything ran each of them by the hand and talk to each just the way it should, a comfortable old one individually. The crew had rehearsed the "Hip-hip-hip-hooray" salute for the Libe11y making another trip. It was in Portsmouth that our publicity passage of the Queen ' s yacht earlier in began catching up with us and we started the day. But when the Pres ident turned realizing just how special the Jeremiah and saluted them, they responded with a O' Brien was in the eyes of the world and spontaneous " hip-hip-hip-hooray," three to the people of Europe. We were given a times over. It was a special moment in place of honor at Portsmouth (the Royal the life of the ship. Afterward, several of SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

the crew admitted that they were so taken with Mrs. Clinton that one or two fe ll in love on the spot and others offered never to wash their ri ght hand again. We sa il ed that afternoon for Normandy. Arriving in the early morning, we anchored off Pointe du Hoc. Before dawn a launch came and took several of our crew, among them many D-Day veterans, to a special ceremony aboard the USS George Washington with President Clinton. On board the O' Brien day broke grey , overcast and di smal, somehow fitting forthe commemoration at hand. Through binoculars the crew saw a steep brown bluff topped with thick green grass. Here and there were tents for the ceremonies and a line of flagpoles carrying the flags of the countries involved. A holiday was declared on the ship. It was, after all , the point of our be ing here. We were too far away to see anything, but somehow it didn ' t matter. Certain ly we were part of the backdrop for the ceremony on the beach. That was appropriate. It was a chance fo r the crew to sit and reflect, to think about all those soldiers fifty years ago who agonizingly sacrificed their lives that others might enjoy the fruits of liberty and freedom. Yes , we defied the odds, or rather, the ship did. She always has. Perhaps it was her destiny to return to the beaches she frequented a half century ago. On a day of deep refl ection the crew came to realize that although the voyage may have been the stuff of dreams, it was the ultimate tribute to fallen comrades and the dreams were rea l. For the Jeremiah O'Brien they always wi ll be. ,t

Walter Jaffee is author of The Last Liberty, a history of the Jeremiah O'Brien, available from Glencannon Press, PO Box 341, Palo Alto CA 94302

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Britain Looks Back South Britain Remembers D-Day The 50th-anniversary parades and pageants may have passed, and the flotillas may have sailed, but Britain is still rememberi ng D-Day. From D-Day to VEDay, May 8, 1945, exhibits and events can be found in every comer of Britain, from city libraries to shopping malls and town hall s, that recall not on ly the military campaigns, but also the civilian life-the music, the food (or lack of it)-and the mood of the nation as it rose out of its direst days of World War II and readied itself for a triumphant return to Europe. This couldn't be more true than in South Britain. Always a popular destination for maritime travelers, commemorative activities in the region are an added bonus thi s year. Several months before D-Day, the mass ive build-up of forces in South Britain began. ForthecountiesofDorsetand Hampshire it amounted to a "friendly invasion " from America. The US forces took control of numerous airbases, army camps and port facilities, and requi sitioned thousands of houses and other buildings. Tent cities sprang up overni ght. Eventually, a million and a half US troops were bivouacked near the coast, poi sed for the invasion. For US veterans returning, the rolling countryside, small villages and seaside towns of South Britain will be what they remember most. The Dorset ports of Weymouth, Portland and Poole all housed US Navy bases. Poole harbor was also home for a flotilla of 60 US Coast Guard cutters tasked with . rescuing wounded men and disabled craft in the assault convoys. In the seaside vacation spot of Weymouth, the commingling of US troops and locals was complete. Gis practiced landing craft maneuvers on the beaches while bathers swam and frolicked nearby. At night, big band entertainment for the troops was plentiful in the hotels and dance halls. Music seemed to accompany the gum-chewing, wolfwhistling Americans whereverthey went. "They taught us Glen Miller and jitterbugging," recalls resident Mary Blackwell , who was to become a GI bride. "The local lads couldn ' t compete," remembers one Weymouth man . "The Yanks had it allglamor, looks and money! " Of the 70,000 British girls who married American serviceman, Weymouth can claim more than its share. When the time came, Weymouth and 18

UStroopsboard/andingcraftatWeymouthpier.

Portland acted as major stagi ng points, embarking over600,000 troops and loading 140,000 vehicles for Normandy. Weymouth remembers thi s dramatic episode, with D-Day walks abo ut town , veterans meetings and exhibitions. From the ramparts of Weymouth 's historic Northe Fort, visitors can compare nowpeaceful Portland harbor to the mounted displays depicting the huge build-up of land ing craft, troopships and Mulberry harbor components that crowded the bay 50 years ago. Center stage for Britain 's D-Daycommemorations is Portsmouth , Hampshire. On the weekend of June 4 and 5, over 100,000 people joined in the commemoration services here. The Portsmouth Esplanade is home to the D-Day Museum, the only British museum totally dedicated to D-Day. Its most spectacular

A panel of the Overlord Embroide1y.

display is the Overlord Embroidery, a 270-ft mural in 34 panels. Just as the Bayeaux Tapestry became the definitive image of the Norman conquest of England, the Overlord Embroidery tells the full story of D-Day. Further down the Esplanade, the Royal Marines Museum has opened an exhibition honoring the 17 ,000 Royal marines who took part in the landings. Portsmouth has been dubbed "the flagship of maritime England," the home of

the Royal Navy, and for the 50th anniversary the Royal Naval Museum in the Portsmouth Naval Base has mounted an exhibit examini ng the naval aspects of Operation Overlord. Other attractions at the Naval Base warrant a brief discursion from the D-Day theme. They include the pride of Britain 's historic ship fleet, Nelson 's flagship Victory, which boasts a sh ip tour that above deck engages visitors in the glories of the Battle of Trafalgar, and below deck, immerses them in the grisly and draconian details of the 19th-century sailor' s life. Adjacent to the Victory is the Mary Rose, Henry VIII's flagship , lost in 1545 and raised in 1982. To the left of the naval base gate is the early steam frigate HMS Warrior. Magnificently restored, this wrought iron , riveted monstrosity, built 134 years ago, a technological marvel in its time, still impresses. In the lead-up to D-Day, Southwick

The D-Day Wall Map at Southwick House.

House, a Georgian mansion located in the hills in back of Portsmouth, became the operational headquarters of General Eisenhower. It is here that Eisenhower gave his final "OK, let's go!" order. The original D-Day Wall Map showing the assault has been restored and is on view. Visitors can tour the site (by pre-arrangement) and also visit the D-Day exhibit at the pub in nearby Southwick Village. Eisenhower, Montgomery and General Bradley were regulars at the Golden Lion and its Lounge Bar was in fact used as a mess hall for senior officers. Resourceful locals have restored the adjacent Brewhouse and are serving the same half-pint of bitter that Eisenhower enjoyed. A number of museums have mounted exhibits focusing on the weaponry used in the invasion. The midgetsubmarinesor X craft-that carried out reconnaissance operations and marked the beaches for the seaborne assault on D-Day can be seen at the Royal Navy Submarine MuSEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

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seum in Gosport. Examples of most of the armored vehicles taken to Normandy, including the specifically engineered floating tanks, are on display at the Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset. The role of aircraft in the operation is highlighted in special exhibits at the Royal Air Force Museum in Hendon and the Southampton Hall of Aviation, and the special D-Day duties of the British 6th Airborne Division is recognized by exhibits at the Airborne Force Museum in Aldershot

and the Museum of Army Flying m Middle Wallop. Commemorative events add a silverlining to travel in Britain this year and the next. Returning servicemen will be especially welcome in Hampshire. The D-Day Museum is looking for US veterans to record their histories and Hampshire schools are seeking US vets to volunteer time to talk to local school children. For information on tours, or to find out what's going on and when, travelers can call the D-Day Hotline at the British Travel Authority in New York at 1-800-BTA D-Day. KEV IN H AYDON

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SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

History of War: At th~ Imperial War Museum As you come up to the world's preeminent museum of warmaking, and of the impact of war on history and humanity, you are confronted by two of the 100 reasons that Germany had to fight the Battle of the Atlantic from underwater-where, God knows, they did damage enough-without being able to effectively contest surface sea control. These two reasons are the 15inch, 42 calibre guns carried by thirteen of Britain's fifteen capital ships at the outbreak of World War 11. An argument could well be made that these are the most decisive weapons in the long struggle against totalitarianism in this century. Certainly, without these guns, Two 15-inch guns guard the approaches to introduced by Winston Churchill in London's great museum of the impact of war on history and humanity . (Courtesy , ImpeWorld War 1, that struggle could not rial War Museum) have been waged as it was, nor could D-Day have been mounted, nor the Brit- gest in the world-to helplessness in ten ish Isles held against the German on- terrible days in May 1940, leaving the slaught in the two World Wars. But that British Expeditionary Force surrounded is by no means all that the great mu- and to all appearances doomed to destrucseum holds. tion on the French shore of the English "The young men rushed to en list in the war," observed Thucydides in hi s history of the Peloponnesian War of 434-405 BC, "because they had not seen war. " In the Imperial War Museum in London you will see all that any sane person would ever want to see of war. An estimated 100 million people have died in wars in this century, under conditions where often the dead were counted the lucky ones. Against this background, the heights to which human endeavor can ri se are inspiring-like snowy peaks risi ng above a rank morass of human suffering. A Spitfire, the British fighter plane that gave the decisive edge to victory over the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain in 1940 swoops down from the ceiling of the main hall, the first thing you see coming in off the quiet streets of Lambeth , the district where the War Museum makes its home. This observer was brought up short, totally unprepared for the shock of seeing one of the actual planes that stopped the German armed forces in their march toward world domination- the first time in the first twelve months of war that Hitler 's march to world domination had been slowed down by people fighting to tum it back. You'll see live film of German tanks massing for the attack that reduced the French Army-thought to be the stron-

Channel. The successful evacuation of most of this army from the beaches of Dunkirk was rightly hailed at the time as the Miracle of Dunkirk-a miracle forged of an indomitable people's refusal to give up when most of the world, most notably Hitler and the German High Command, reckoned that its goose was cooked and the European war was over, with Germany triumphant. Four years later almost to the day, this army, reorganized , rearmed and retrained in the new ways of war, sprang ashore on the French beaches farther down the coast at Normandy, and with its American, Canadian, French and Polish allies, started the march across Europe that led to Hitler 's downfall and the end of the Nazi empire, which had been touted as the "Thousand Year Reich." If there is, as we should all resolve there must be, a way to peace through the horror and carnage of war, the trail might well begin here, in the profoundly evocative and educational exhibits of London 's Imperial War Museum. PETER STANFORD

The Imperial War Museum's special exhibit "D-Day to Victory" opened I 8 February and continues through 25 I une 1995. 19

A crew member works high in the rigging of the replica frigate Rose. In this world of rope and canvas, sailorly skills are kept alive.

Sail Training: The Next Century by Captain David V. V. Wood

n late July of 1972, the US Coast Guard's training bark Eagle set sail from her home port of New London, Connecticut on an extraordinary voyage. In what amounted to a Presidential command performance, she was to participate in a Tall Ships Race from the Solent, on England's south coast, to the Skaw between Denmark and Sweden, and then visit Kiel, Germany for the sailing events of the 1972 Olympic Games-her first return to Germany since being taken over by the Coast Guard at Bremerhaven in 1946, in the aftermath of

World War II. There were a numberofother "firsts" for Eagle on this voyage, but they belong to another story. What stood out for me-and, I believe, for Eagle's entire complement of officers, crew, and cadets-were the excitement and adventure of participating in an historic international event, the thrill of pitting our developing skills as square-rigger sailors against those of the other magnificent, cadet-crewed vessels in the race (Germany's Gorch Fockll and Poland's Dar Pomorza), and the opportunity to mingle ashore with fellow seamen from the 15 nations and SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

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encouragin g the increase in large, more than 60 sai l training vessels traditionall y- ri gged school ships. participating in the event. Tall ship gatherings on a grand scale, None of us had ever experienced such as 1992 ' s Operation Sail and anything so exhi larating; we had Sail Boston , are relatively infrequent known some great sailing in Eagle, of course, but in isolation. The interin North America, for the simple national camaraderie of seafarers, the reason that our only large schoolship challenge and satisfaction of compe(the Coast Guard's Eagle) is based tition, the drama and pageantry of a here, and such ships tend to be tied major international gathe1ing-these fairly closely to an academic prowere all new, and they were wondergram that makes the scheduling of transoceanic voyages difficult to cofull y exciting. It would not be an ordinate with such events; but more overstatement to say that the experimodest gatherings of traditionally ence set my own course for the rerigged vessels, with a11 occasional mainder of my Coas t Guard career, and, while there were many glorilarge school ship , have become a regular feature of such annual fes tious days during my subseq uent vals as Norfolk ' s " Harborfest" and tours in Eagle and other ships, I similar harbor and waterfront celwould frequently look back to 1972 as a kind of watershed, a benchmark Trainees balance on the foot rope and furl the main ebrations around the country . And in Europe, the annual schedule of against which such days were to be topsail aboard the frigate Rose. Sailing square rigged vessels offers unique challenges to trainees. measured. such events is almost bewildering, Such experiences on the part of with port c ities from Scandinavia to the thousands of yo ung people who participate in these events Iberi a vy ing fiercely to host the scores of sai ling vessels in Europe each year, not to mention the millions of spectators competing each year in the "Cutty Sark Tall Ships Races"who go to see the ships and share in the exc itement in the ports direct descendants of that first race in 1956. T he popularity of such events is not surpri sing. For all the which host them , go a long way toward explaining the remarkable growth in size of the world ' s fleet of large, square-rigged obv ious reasons- the desire to celebrate a g lorious maritime schoolships in the late twentieth centu ry. Given the trend in past, nostalgia fo r an age when hum an affairs moved at a modem merchant and naval fleets toward ever larger and more slower and less bewi lde ring tempo, the romance of the sea complex ships with ever smaller and more technologically and far-off, exotic pl aces, admiration for the craftsmanship sophi sticated crews, this development could hard ly have been and beauty of the ships themselves-people by the thousands anticipated by the organ izers of the first International Ta ll and even milli ons are drawn to the waterfront whenever Ships Race in 1956. They set out to bring together what they sailin g ships are in harbor. In hi s foreword to Operation Sail's believed were the last of the great square riggers still training official program for the 1992 event, OpS ail 's Honorary yo ung men for careers at sea for a race across the Bay of Biscay Chairm an , Walter Cronkite, suggests that we celebrate ships from Torbay to Lisbon . Five ships enbecause they brought our world " to the criti ca l pitch of communication and tered that race, three of them ScandinaFrom the beginning, it was to commerce that has made today's global vian (Danmark , Christian Radich, and SÂ˘rlandet), one Belgian (Mercator), and be "less a training for the sea awareness poss ible." Whatevertheattraction, visitors drawn one Portuguese (Sagres !) . Eight years than through the sea ... " later, when the organ izers of the first by tall ships events inev itably provide an "Operation Sail" in New York Harbor economic boost to the cities hosting them had a similar idea (the race was separately organized), more and can even be a catal yst for waterfront redevelopment, improved facilities for tourism, and so forth. The Commonthan twice as many large ships showed up-three of them (Germany's Gorch Fock II , Argentina ' s Libertad, and Chile ' s wealth of Massachusetts, for example, has estimated the Esmeralda) of post-World War II build. And by 1992, when overall economic impact of Sail Boston 1992 at something on the "Grand Regatta Columbus Quincentenary" visited San the order of $500 million; and a study commi ssioned by the Juan, New York, and Boston in commemoration of Col um Merseyside Development Corporation, which organized bus' voyage to the New World , fully 10 of the 24 naval and events in the port of Liverpool for the final port call of the merchant schoo lships present had been built since 1964. Grand Regatta Columbus, reports benefits on a comparable scale. For the owners (usually governments) of large schoolships, such events are a marvelous oppo1tunity for Drawn by Tall Ships To those (and I am one) who believe that the modern squareshowing the flag and generating international goodwill , or rigged ship represents a pinnacle of human achievement in even for subtl y promoting economic investment in their appropriate technology , and that-notwithstandi ng the size countries-a fact which may help to explain why much of the and compl ex ity of modern oceangoi ng vessels-training at recent growth in the number of large schoolships has been in such places as Latin America and Eastern Europe (including sea under sai l remains the best possible sort of apprenticeship fo r those aspiring to a seagoing career, this growth in the Russia). For the crews and trainees , of course, such events have always been a wonderful opportunity to meet, compete, number of schoo lsh ips is indeed gratify ing. But it must be acknowledged that the equally remarkable growth in popuand party with people of simi tar age and interests, and to learn larity of tall ships events has played a significant part in more about other cultures. SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

In the Beginning w ith its corporate Th e Sa il Trainin g sponsor, Berry Bros. and Rudd- is "to enAssociation (ST A), able young people of es tabli s hed in th e United Kingdom in all nati ons to race to1956 to carry on the ~ gether at sea under idea embodied in the i sail ," and the genius :i: of the ST A has been Inte rn a ti o na l T a ll Ships Race of that ~ to consistentl y keep ~ the foc us on the trainyear, deserves much of the credit for these ~ ees aboard the ships. deve lo pm e nts. As ~ G iven the alreadythe races (and the ::> noted economic benu harbor events that at~ efit to cities hosting i;; the fl eet, as we ll as tended them) grew steadily in popular~ th e need of many 5u vessels for commerity , they provided a s timulu s to th e ~ c ial sponsorship in O:i: order to make ends growth of numerous 0. sail training projects meet in their effort to The British training ship Royalist heels over in a stiff breeze. This handy lillle brig has within the UK, most given a splendid account of herself since her launching in 1971. Her role is to take Sea prov ide sail training of which- unlike the Cadets to sea as an extension of their onshore and small boat training. She is typical of o pp o rtuniti es fo r bi g sc hoo lships - the growing number of small sail training vessels (under 200-ft) thal offer diverse yo ung peopl e, there had little or nothing programs to a broad range of public. is an ever-present to do with training danger of the events profess iona l seafarers. Rather, they grew more or less direc tl y be ing swamped in a sea of commerciali sm. There is no out of the idea embodied in the first Outward Bound school denying the importance of commercia l support, of course, but establi shed at Aberdovey, Wales in 1941 , that an ex perience a balance is essential , and using its proven ability to bring of seafa ring under sail is ideall y suited to develop qualities of together large numbers of ships-most of them small-tocourage, endurance, discipline, self- re li ance, resourcefulness, medium in size, but generall y with a liberal handful of the bi g teamwo rk , to lerance, and hum ili ty (to name only a few) in schoolships-the STA has done its utmost to hold host ports yo ung people. In short, it is a nearl y ideal character-molding to strict conditions regarding prov ision of services to ships and ex perience. In the words of Lawrence Holt, the Briti sh ship- who lesome acti vities for crews and trainees and has been ping magnate who funded the Aberdovey project in coll abo- generall y successful in preventing commerciali sm from overration with the legendary Kurt Hahn , father of the Outward shadow ing the ideals of sail training during the shoreside Bo und movement, it was to be " less a training for the sea than events of each race series. through the sea, and so benefit all walks of life ." Thi s has continued to be the prevalent model for sail Sail Training Goes Worldwide training programs in England , most of which stress the aim s of Another result of the STA's phenomenal success, and a character development and advenheartening validation of its ideals, ture rather than seamanship, and most A small boy takes a compass reading al an American has been the establi shment of sail of which, incidentally ,operate much Sail Training Association "Dockside Demo. " These trainin g associations in other couns m a ll e r vesse ls th a n the b ig exhibits, often held in conjunction with ASTA Tall Ships tries. T hese retain strong ties to the ST A, but tend to foc us more broadl y schoo lships. The Ocean Youth Club, Rallys, engage the public and publicize sail training. on coordin ating and encouraging the fo r example, sails a fl eet of 12 ketches :fir up to 72' in length , with berth s fo r a development of sail training programs ,,. dozen trainees each on week- long and less on the narrower role of orga\ crui ses; the largest vessels in the UK ni zing annual races . The first of such a re th e ST A's own sc hoo ners, associations was the Ameri can Sa il Malcolm Miller and Sir Wi nston T raining Assoc iation , or AST A, establi shed in 1973 and initi all y modChurchill, 150' in length with berths for 39 trainees each on crui ses of two eled quite closely on the ST A , with the idea of organi zing races among to three weeks. Ori gin all y biennial events, the the re latively fe w sail training vesST A races are no w held annuall y, sels then operating in US waters. In and regularly rotate between the Balthe more than 20 years since its fo unding, however, ASTA-and sail traintic, North Sea, the Bay of Biscay, ing in the US-have evolved in ways and occasionall y the Med ite rranean. The stated aim of the Races-called that refl ect our own geographic and the "Cutty Sark Tall Ships Races" cul tural characteristics and respond since 1972, in recogniti on of the to American needs. The same is, of ST A's long and happy relati onship course, true in the other countries

SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

The beginning of another Cutty Sark Tall Ships Race. The Sail Training Association (STA) has been organizing the enormously successful races since 1956, bringing youth of many different European countries together for competition and camaraderie.

where sail training has taken root. Where sail training in the UK is generall y understood to mean a seagoing voyage of a week or more in duration and involving young people between 15 and 25 who have little or no prior sailing experience, ASTA's member organizations include a wide range of programs involving crui ses from a few hours to six weeks or more in length, "trainees" from elementary school age to adults, and objectives ranging from pure adventure to serious scientific research. What ASTA members have in common is a shared belief that, no matter what other objectives may be served, putting people together on a sai ling vessel and involving them in the work of sailing the ship can be a life-changing experience. This belief is reflected in AST A 's stated mission, which very much embodies the traditional ideals of sail training: "to encourage character building through sail training, promote sail training to the American public, and support education under sail." Recogni zing the popularity of tall ships events and their enormous potential value in bringing to the American public a greater awareness of the ideals of sail training, ASTA has devoted increasing energy to organizing a series of Tall Ships Rallies each summer in conjunction with harbor or waterfront festivals. Originally conceived as an alternative to races, rallies involve crews in various forms of competition, both at sea and ashore, emphasizing seamanship, safety, and teamwork. In the process of developing this concept, ASTA has cultivated close relationships with port cities from the midAtlantic states to New England and the Great Lakes and in 1993 held its first West Coast rally in San Francisco Bay. The effort to extend this idea to other regions, and thus stimulate public interest in and support for local sail training programs, will continue. Into the Next Century As the end of the twentieth century approaches, what is the future of sail training, both at home and around the world? On one hand, it seems doubtful that the fleet of big square-rigged schoolships will continue to expand; properly maintained, those now in existence will sail for many years to come, but whether they will be replaced when they come to the end of their useful lives seems unlikely. Some, after all-like the great Russian barks Sedov and Kruzenshtern-are more than SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

60 years old, and many, like the superb sister ships Eagle, Sag res II , and Tovaritsch , are nearly so. On the other hand, the number of relatively smaller vessels providi ng youth (and adult) sai l training for adventure, education, and character development seems very likely to continue to grow: vessels like Australia 's Young Endeavour, England 's Lord Nelson, Japan 's Kaisei, and the American Corwith Cramer and Tole Mour , as well as many others-not to mention the traditional, but smaller, schoolships like Poland's Iskra and Bulgaria's Kaliakra. All of these vessels are under 200 feet and were built within the last ten years; they serve a remarkable variety of "trainees :" naval midshipmen, high school and college students, disadvantaged and adjudicated youth , di sabled youth and adults. This, I believe, gives us a glimpse of the future of sail training: fewer big schoolships training professionals, but more and more smaller vessels providing a seagoing experience to a greater variety of people. To celebrate the beginning of the new century, the ST A is already planning a transatlantic tall ships race-to be called "Tall Ships 2000"-that promises to be the largest-ever assemblage of sail training vessels. Following a course similar to that followed by the "Grand Regatta Columbus" in 1992, this magnificent fl eet will originate in Europe and sai l across the Atlantic to visit ports on the eastern seaboard of North America during the first summer of the new century; similar events are under consideration in the Pacific. Unlike such gatherings in 1976, 1986, and 1992, thi s fl eet will not come to help celebrate a historic anniversary of past events; rather, it will bring the message of the energy and idealism of young people from around the world-the hope of the future . AST A will be working with the ST A and with US port cities to plan events on this side of the Atlantic, and to insure that the message of sail training remains at the forefront-a message that seems more valid today than ever before. ,t

As operations officer aboard Eagle, Captain Wood participated in the 1972 Cutty Sark Tall Ships Races; he returned to command Eagle in 1988, and was at the helm during the "Grand Regatta Columbus Quincentenary" in 1992 . Retired from the Coast Guard, he now serves as a member of ASTA' s Board of Directors and is US National Representative to the STA' s International Racing Committee . 23

"The Clipper Eagle in a Storm," 20" x 30". Built in 1851 by Perry Patterson & Stack of Williamsburg, New York,for Harbeck & Co., the 1 ,340-ton Eagle was employed in the South American trade until 1862. Th e ship is riding out a storm with only the lower topsails set. Here Buttersworth employs chiaroscuro and stark contrasts fo r visual impact, illuminating only the crests of the wa ves, the sails, and the masts. There is no clear division between sea and sky; the ship is centered in a pattern of clouds and waves that merge at the horizon.

Maritime History in Paint:

The Ships of Jallles Edvvard Buttersvvorth by Richard Grassby

he nineteenth century was the golden age of ship portraiture. While the representation of ships on maps, seals, murals and monuments was a practice of great antiquity, modem marine painting was established as a genre by the Dutch in the seventeenth century and refined in the eighteenth . Earl y patrons of marine art were public institutions, connoisseurs and naval officers, and the majority of paintings depicted either fi ghting ships, often in he roi c battl es, o r to werin g East Indiamen. In the nineteenth century, on the other hand, when marine technology developed at an ever fas ter pace and world tonnage exploded, new sources of patronage grew proportionally and ship portraiture became a prosperous minor industry. Nineteenth century America had some 500 profess iona l marine painters, engravers and lithographers. The number of paintings produced must have ap24

proached 50,000 and included ships of every type and size, both sail and steam , as well as racing yachts and schooners. Although the genre was almost eliminated by improvements in photograph y, it offers a continuous visual record of the physical appearance of ships, of technological change, of famous events and of life at sea until the twentieth century. Few artists better illustrate the value of marine painting to the maritime historian than James Buttersworth , whose centenary is commemorated by a special exhibition , entitled " Ship, Sea and Sky," mounted by South Street Seaport Museum in New York and current) y on display until August 24. Butterswo1t h was born in England in 1817 into a family which included two marine painters, Thomas Buttersworth Senior ( 1768-c. l 828) and hi s son Thomas Junior ( l 797- 1842). Although eithercould

have been James's father, the more likely candidate is Thomas Junior. James probably learnt his trade from Thomas Senior, who was the better artist and who, having served in the Royal Navy , speciali zed in naval engagements. It seems that James earned his living as an arti st in London from his teens onward. After marrying at 2 1, he had a famil y to support and, when he reached 30, he emigrated to New York, presumabl y in search of greater economic opportunity. Based initiall y in Manhattan, he soon bought a house in the vill age of West Hoboken, New Jersey (l ater renamed Union City), where he lived until he died in 1894. In th e co urse of hi s lo ng life, Buttersworth had an opportunity to observe at close hand, in the two largest ports of the world, the changes in ship design and operational procedures which continuously transformed the shipping ind usSEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

"The Washington Rescuing the Passengers and Crew of the Winchester," 18" x 24". The Winchester, a Liverpool packet of 600 tons , was dismasted and lost her boats in a gale on April 17, 1854. Pumping kept her afloat for two weeks until she met the Edward , which took off 50 of her 447 passengers. She drifted until May 3 when Washington took off the remaining passengers before the ship sank 20 minutes later. Buttersworth was always optimistic in his choice of anecdotal detail. As the passengers wait hopefully on deck, a small boat challenges the the fury of the sea; a gleam of light in the bla c kn ess of th e s torm clouds symbo lizes hope. (Private Collection)

Buttersworth's ships are set in an everchanging environment of sea and sky " Ya chting Race in New York Harbor with Naval Salute at Castle Williams on Governors Island," 20 9116" x30 7l t6 " . This srudyof yachts off Governors Island offers a vivid example of Buttersworth' s use of lighr ro emphasize movement through water. Th e sun emerges from a break in the clouds and highlights the huge, wind-stretched sails and the wake of the craft. By grading and fusin g his halftones, Buttersworth conveyed half-light and shadow and achieved rransparency and luminosity. (Courtesy Museum ofArr, Rhode Island School ofDesign, P rovidence RI )

try. He witnessed the brief heyday first of the packets, which exchanged Southern cotton for European immigrants and manufactures, then of the clippers, which dramatically reduced passage times to California and Asia, as well as the slow but relentless transition from sail to steam. And from the 1860s onwards he recorded the boom in recreational sailing and competitive yacht racing. Buttersworth was in a different c lass from the many pierhead artists of the period who offered quick, and often formulaic, ship portraits to ship owners and crew. Buttersworth ranks more as a seascapist than a portraitist-but he had SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

to sell hi s work to support hi s family. Consequently , he had to either secure commi ssions or paint subjects, particularly famous ships or events at sea, for which there was a ready market. Several of his portraits of clippers and yachts are known to have been commissioned by their owners , builders or masters, such as Nicols L. McKay , Vernon H. Brown and the Spencer family . He al so worked to order for the famou s lithographer Nathaniel Currier and produced low, horizontal pictures which cou ld be hung in yacht cabins. Although he seems to have only twice partic ipated in a public exhibition , at the Art Union in 1850 and

1852, he often cliose newsworthy subjects-famous battles like the engagement between the K earsage and the Alabama; notorious shipwrecks and rescues such as the Win chester and the Jeanette; newly built c lippers and steamers such as the Great Republic and the Atlantic, ce lebrated naval vessels; and, of course, legendary yachts in action such as Magic and Gracie. Since hi s total output probably exceeded 2,000, it is likely that he painted every vessel of importance, both sail and steam , as well as hundreds of lesser frigates, sloops, schooners, catboats, sandbaggers, tugs, pilot boats and ferr ies. But fewer than 900 of hi s paint25

"New York Ya ch! Club Race , aboul 1850 ," 6314'' x 23 3/ 4". This was originally hung aboard Sybil and depicls Sybil loge/her with Spray, Cornelia, Ultra, and Una. A buoy provides !he foca l poinl. The pain ling is illumina1ed principally by !he seafoam and sails in !he rig hi middle ground wilh a glimpse of 1hefar horizon lhrough a break in 1he line of ships. (Co urlesy New York Ya ch/ Club , New York)

ings are known to have survived . Four characteristics di s tin g ui s h Buttersworth from the general run of portraiti sts. First, he did not focu s just on the ship and regard sea and sky as a backdrop or an afterthought. He always integrated hi s vessels with their environ ment and excelled at depicting cloud , wind and waves under every weather condition. Hi s water is both solid and fluid , translucent and reflective of light. His ships sit deep in the water to support their we ight and the set of the sails and the angle of heel are consistent with the strength and direction of the wind. Seco nd , Butterswo rth opened up space and created the illusion of depth and di stance through a progressive dimi nution of scale, through alternating bands of light and shadow, through the relative clarity of receding objects and through changes in color value. Third , in hi s best pictures, he di splayed a mastery of the refractive and reflective properties of light playing on hull s, sail s and water. Sometimes his whole canvas is suffused with a brilliant light reflected from the sky , or the main ship is silhouetted by backlighting; at other times light is concentrated at a specific point or filtered through clouds from an unspecified source. Buttersworth captures the ephemeral quality of light and its shimmering effect when it strikes solid form s or penetrates water. Fourth , he had a special talent for conveying movement, whether breaking waves, trailing wakes , scudding cloud s or powerful ships ploughing through both calm and storm tossed seas. Hi s straining yachts , as they edge ahead or heel or round a buoy or lightship, convey the thrill of speed and sailing under full canvas. Of particular interest to the maritime hi storian is Butters worth 's grasp of form

and design- the linear structure and contours of hull s, the tension of sail s, the complex pattern of rigging and the identifying characteristics of a particular ship. A tight, crisp draftsman, he modeled clearly and three-dimen sionall y and varied hi s angle of view to di splay different features of a ship. Hi s patrons expected accuracy of detail down to the fi gurehead, deck, wheelhouse, pennants and house flags. Buttersworth concealed his brushstrokes and favoured fine and precise detail , surface likeness and a polished, optical reali sm. He introduces anecdotal incidents to add interest and often hi s paintings narrate a parti cular event. Butters worth had a talent for miniaturization, whether describing activity on board a vessel or a harbor in the di stance. His canvases were based on careful observation and he undoubtedly viewed and sketched some ships either in harbor or at the regattas. Nonetheless, Buttersworth took many artistic liberties. He introduced sharp contrasts of light and dark and polarized colors for dramatic effect. Hi s landmarks and lighthouses were stereotyped pictorial motifs, intended as identifying dev ices, and his port scenes are not topographically accurate. He suppressed or ignored unwanted information and compromised the factual record in order to produce an attractive picture. Details were chosen for decorative interest and not for documentary purposes. Buttersworth painted in his studio and must have relied on illustrations, other paintings and possibly ship models, photographs and silhouettes. It is clear that he never saw some of the ships he painted and others were entirely imaginary. His patrons expected the ir ships to be shown in the bes t li g ht with fresh paintwork and faultless ri gging. Buttersworth romanticized hi s portraits; he altered their proportions, elongated their

sail s and rai sed their bows to achieve dramatic intensity. He did not literally copy or illustrate, but transformed reality through hi s imag ination into a fictive world . The labo ured representation of facts would have cluttered his pictures and cramped hi s style. Hi s objective was fide lity rather than precision. The importance of marine painting as a visual statement of American hi storical development and as an integral part of American culture is beyond di spute. It celebrated the dominance of the sea in American life before 1860 and commemorated the achievements of the captai ns, whalers and merchants who revolutionized tran sportation and made the fledgling nation rich. Ship paintings are not as re liable a source as the architectural drawing, the ship model , the physical artifact and the written word. But in some cases they represent the only record of a ship and they convey the pride, mystique and awe which ships inspired , a unique sensation of how they moved and functioned, and the beauty, grandeur, charm and drama of the sea. The ship portrait in the hands of a master like Buttersworth is more than a nostalgic recollection of a past era. It is a symbol of tec hnol og ica l ingenuity, progress through competi tion , human courage, skill and willpower and the symbiosis of man and Nature. J,

Richard Grassby is a specialist in European and American marine art and is curator of "Ship , Sea and Sky : The Marine Art of James Buttersworth," on exhibit at South Street Seaport Museum in New YorkthroughAugust24. From September to December, it will show at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, and from January through April, 1995, at the Terra Museum of American Art in Chicago, Illinois . SJEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

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MARINE ART NEWS The New York Yacht Club Rounds 150-Year Mark in Newport Seldom do the rank and file have the opportunity to see the one-of-a-kind collection of art objects and trophies housed in the stately quarters of the prestigious New York Yacht Club on 44th Street in New York City. Since its founding aboard first-Commodore John Cox Stephen ' s Gimcrack, anchored off the Battery on a sunny July afternoon in 1844, the Club has become home to an outstanding collection of paintings, prints, trophies and models. But this year is the club 's sesquicentennial year, and as part of its I 50th-year celebrations the club is displaying some of its finest examples at the Newport Art Museum in Newport, Rhode Island. The opening of the exhibit, entitled "Rounding the Mark: 150 Years of Treasures from the New York Yacht Club," will coincide with the arrival of the club 's squadron in Newport in July for its Sesquincentennial Regatta. On 27 July , lay day forthe week of racing, the exhibit will be opened by Commodore Charles M. Leighton. The exhibit may be seen through 11 September at the Bellevue Avenue museum.

The Bounty of Photographer Edwin Levick On 10 June, The Mariners' Museum opened "Edwin Levick: A Man and His Time," an exhibit that highlights the richly diverse works of a photographer who captured the excitement of America ' s Cup races and the bustle of New York maritime activity in the early 1900s. During his career, Levick became known as the unofficial photographerof the New York Yacht A shipyard photo from the Levick collection

covery, and a number of American ships from the age of sail. Warth er fashions the models from legal antique ivory that is purchasd from museum and private collections. Even the rigging of his ships are carved of elegant ivory strands that measure ten thousandths of an inch in diameter. Mystic Seaport Maritime Gallery has given high praise to Warther' s work . (David Warther Carving Museum , 2561 Crestview DriveNW,Dover, Ohio44622; -KEVIN H AY DON 216 852-3455) An ivory model crafted by David Warther

The model room at the New York Yacht Club

Club and also supplied photographs to the New York Times, New York Herald Tribune, the New York Sunday World and the Chicago Tribune. Images in the exhibit include immigrants rejoicing at the sight of the Statue of Liberty as their ship enters New York Harbor, dock workers unloading ships, and yachts racing in America 's Cup competitions. Mariners ' curator of photography, Thomas Moore, describes Levick 's photographs as reflecting a style that was innovative and unrestrained by convention. The exhibit also details the museum' s recent efforts to preserve some of its approximately 53,000 Levick prints and negatives. The museum purchased its first collection of37 ,000 images in 1955, after a collector rummaging through New York City 's photo stock houses discovered them, buried in forgotten files for 30 years. The exhibit is open through 18 September. (The Mariners' Museum, l 00 Museum Drive, Newport News VA 23606)

Perfection in Ivory In the small town of Sugarcreek, Ohio, in the heart of Ohio Amish country about an hour from Akron and many more hours from the sea coast, carver David Warther II is carrying on a rare marine craft. Warther is a fifth-generation carver of Swiss heritage who is carving his own niche in the family tradition. His lifelong project is an educational exhibit of solid ivory model ships entitled "The History of the Ship," dating from l st Dynasty Egypt (3000BC) to the present day . To display the models, Warther recently opened the David WartherCarving Museum where Warther can also be observed working. Completed models to date include a punt of ancient Eygpt, a cog of medieval Europe, ships of dis-

Exhibitions • 18 March through September, Art of the Yacht, Mystic Seaport Museum, 75 GreenmanvilleAvenue,MysticCT06355; 203 572-8551 . • 14 April through September, Ship, Sea and Sky , South Street Seaport, 207 Front Street, New York NY 10038; 212 6699400; from September through December at the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem MA; and from January through April, 1995, at the Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago IL. • 23-24 April to 11 September, 15th Anniversary Show and 25 September to 6 November, 15th Annual Mystic International, Mystic Maritime Gallery, Mystic CT 06355; 203 572-8524. • 25 June through October, ASMA Northwest Regional Art Show, featuring work by regional members of the American Society of Marine Artists (ASMA). Columbia River Maritime Museum, 1792 Marine Drive, Astoria OR 97103; 503 325-2323. • lOJuneto 18September,EdwinLevick: A Man and His Time (see story) and 24 October to 19 February, Antonio Jacobsen's Painted Ships on Painted Oceans, The Mariners ' s Museum, 100 Museum Drive, Newport News VA 23606; 804 596-2222. • 27 July through 11 September, Rounding the Mark: 150 Years of the New York Yacht C lub (see story). Newport Art Museum, Bellevue Avenue, Newport RI. SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

MARINE ARTISTS! American Society of Marine Artists is a national organization formed to promote marine art. Join us if you ' re interested in ships, shore or sea. Your opportunity for: national exhibitions, educational exchange, informative newsletter & social gatherings. We support, share and have fun! Write: ASMA 1461 Cathy's Lane N. Wales PA 19454 or call 215-283-0888

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The Ha waiian voyaging canoe Hawai 'iloa sailing offthe Hawaiian coast not long after her launching in July, 1993. Construction ofthe 52-foot, sprucehulled Hawai 'iloa signified the continuance of a voyaging tradition set by the 19-year-old voyaging canoe Hokulea and the revival of Hawaiian maritime arts.

No NaMatno Hawaiian Voyaging Canoes Revive an Astonishing Seafaring Record by Kevin Haydon hink of Hawaii and familiar images appear-white sa ndy beaches, pounding surf, residents clad in bright native prints, high-rise hotels and green, cone-shaped mountains. For a growing number of Hawaiians, however, a more dominent symbol represents their homeland and culture. It is the Polynesian voyaging canoe-a vessel that is emblematic of one of the great accomplishments of mankind, the peopling of Oceania. Perhaps as long ago as 30,000 years, people from Southeast Asia began slowly to develop a maritime tradition by traveling over open water. In time, canoes arrived at the shores of what we now call New Guinea.By 1200 AD the Polynesians in their voyaging canoes had completed the settlement of a vast stretch of the globe. Did this settlement happen by accident, or was it intentional? For the last fifteen years, experimental voyaging by a replica double-hulled voyaging canoe, the Hokule'a, has brought answers to these questions and, in so doing, has revived a remarkable cultural legacy preserved only in legends. The canoe has become a focal point of a cultural revival in Hawaii, and her voyaging has helped spur an interest in Polynesian maritime traditions through-

out the Pacific amongst far-flung communities that share a common origin. The builder-operator of the H okule 'a is the non-profit Polynesian Voyaging Society, which, since launching the canoe in the spring of 1975 , has undertaken four history-making voyages. The most momentous of these was a 2-year 12,000mile "Voyage of Rediscovery" completed in May 1987, which took her to Tahiti, the Cook Islands, New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa and the Tuamoto Archipelago, retracing routes believed to have been sailed by the ancestors of modemday Polynesians as they settled the Polynesian Triangle of the Pacific. Although built with modem tools from modem materials, the 60-ft vessel is a performance-accurate replica; that is, her lines, weight, rigging and sailing characteristics come as close as possible to replicating those of the vessels developed by the ancient Polynesian navigators. The conception, design and construction of Hokule'a were part of a bold experiment: to test the theory of "intentional" exploration and colonization of Polynesia as opposed to the theory of "accidental" settlement. The key questions were: given that Polynesians may

long ago have had the skills to build such a sophisticated craft, could such a vessel be sailed close to the wind? (an absolute necessity in sailing from west to east in the tropical Pacific); and, could they have made repeated voyages of settlement over thousands of miles of trackless ocean without the aid of navigational instruments of any sort? H okule 'a and her crews have metthese questions head-on. The first voyage, in 1976, was navigated by Caroline Islander Mau Piailug, who demonstrated that traditional navigation techniques were indeed su itable for planned, long-distance sailing. Hawaiian crew member Nainoa Thompson was so inspired by the voyage that he began to study traditional navigation. For four years, Thompson memorized the night sky and studied under Piailug. In 1980, Thompson guided Hokule'a from Hawaii to Tahiti and back solely by observing stars, ocean swells, currents, colors, winds and sea birds. This historic voyage made him the first Hawaiian in centuries to navigate without the use of modem navigational equipment. Four times now, Hokule'a has sailed from Hawaii to Tahiti navigated without the use of instruments of any kind-not even watches. Twice she has sailed from Tahiti back to Hawaii navigated in the same manner. These voyages have strengthened the theory of an intentional island-hopping movement over a period of several thousand years, a theory strongly supported by linguistic studies, archaeological finds and observable physical characteristics of Polynesians who toiday inhabit the various groups of SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

()

At left, a crew member holds the tiller of the Hawai ' iloa.Atfarright,NainoaThompson, wellknown Hawaiian "wayfinder," works with a stone adze on the Mau/oa canoe, a 27joot canoe recently built at Honaunau , Hawaii. Above, Lily Jane Nunies and Elizabeth Akana weave the /au ha/a (pandanus) sails for the Hawai'iloa.

islands in the Triangle. Voyaging also determined that the closest the canoe can sail into the wind is 67 Â°, roughly the same as the square rigged vessels of the great Western Age of Exploration. The year 1993 marked a milestone for the Polynesian Voyaging Society. On the morning of 24 July, at Pier 36 on the Honolulu waterfront, as gusts ofrain swept down from the Ko'olau mountains and rainbows arched above the green hills and grey city, two and a half years of work by Society members came to fruition with the launching and blessing of another voyaging canoe, the Hawai'iloa. The Hawai'iloa project has become a dramatic "next step" for the Society. This new 52-ft canoe is being readied for a planned 1995 voyage to rediscover and learn about the original voyages of settlementofHawaii from the Marquesas Islands. But the challenge of building a traditional voyaging canoe has led to an expansion of the Society's original focus on experimental voyaging. The Society became aware of the loss of cultural and natural resources on the islands. For 1,800 years Hawaiians had the renewable resources to build 50,000 canoes. But there were no traditional canoe builders left in Hawaii, and no koa trees large enough for the hulls of a voyaging canoe could be found in native forests. To build the Hawai'iloa , a Micronesian was brought in to teach Hawaiians the ancient art of canoe building; the Tlingit and Haida Indian tribes of Alaska donated two spruce logs for the hulls; and the lack of material suitable for fabrication of the canoe's sails brought about the involvement of groups in Tahiti, the Austral Islands and Micronesia as well. The entire atmosphere surrounding the Hawai'iloa is one of vibrant cultural reSEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

naissance. Hawaiian women are learning the art of weaving !au hala sails and Hawaiian

men are fashioning canoes with stone adzes in a tradition thousands of years old. Their willingness to learn echoes the curiosity of King Liholiho Kamehameha II , 17971824, who, when assailed in his own age with modem conventions, asked "Why shouldn'tlknow [the old ways], when it is a road often traveled by my parents." The 1995 voyage is dedicated "No Na Mamo" ("For the Generations"), to impart to another generation the knowledge of cultural recovery gathered from previous voyages of the H okule 'a and to bring a message of self-sufficiency and cultural identity that will stand against the ongoing environmental degradation of the islands. Joining the Hawai'iloa on the 1995 voyage will be the old campaigner Hokule'a, which now continues its educational role as part of the collection of vessels at the Hawaii Maritime Center, where it is berthed at the seaward end of Pier Seven as the flagship of the Hawaii Maritime Center's exhibit of Pacific canoes. There it is maintained and operated jointly by the Society and the Maritime Center and provides award-winning edu-

cation and at-sea experience on its frequent sails among the Hawaiian islands. The voyaging will go on, and it will continue to bring what, in the eyes of the Society and its members, is an important proof: that the ancient chants and legends which recall the adventures of brave voyagers and the success of planned migrations, reflect actual events and the real accomplishments of their ancestors.

For information contact the Polynesian Voyaging Society, Pier 36, Honolulu HI 96817, or the Hawaii Maritime Center, Pier 7, Honolulu HI 96813 . Further reading: An Ocean in Mind, by Will Kyselka, and We, the Navigators: the Ancient Art of Landfinding in the Pacific, by David Lewis, University of Hawaii Press, 2840 Kolowalu Street, Honolulu HI 96822 .

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A map of general Paclf1c m1grat1on patterns

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Traffiques & Discoveries

Safe Harbor in St. Johns Visitors to St. Johns, New Brunswick, are often impressed with the Loyalist city ' s unique charms. Not least for the maritime motifs found in the city ' s architecture and public art. If they step into the Trinity Anglican Church, a special delight awaits. It is a stained glass window bearing the red, blue, gold and green seal of the the St. John Harbor Pilots, images of two pilot vessels and the Trinity Lamp. The glass is a tribute to the harbor pilots and a gift ofNMHS member Bruce Cobham , a former merchant mariner and a harbor pilot for 28 years. The three lamps- also known as the Three Sistershave a special place in the lore of harbor pi toting; at one time, by lining up the harbor salmon atop Trinity Church with the center lamp, incoming ships could safely enter the harbor. Mr. Cobham retired in 1978 and says he now spends his time "enjoying my collection of nautical instruments, books, paintings and other nautical memorabilia. "

"Ram you, damn you liner with a pair of bucking screws" Seafarers are famous for their picturesque language, and a fascinating project of Norman Brouwer, Curator of Ships at the South Street Seaport Museum in New York, has uncovered a ship's store of it. Brouwer is compi ling a bibliography and cumulative index of first-person accounts of life in deepwater sailing ships from the period 1840-1940. It includes published books and booklets of first-person accounts and an alphabetical listing of selected salty slang tenns and popular sayings that can be found in them . Rudyard Kipling is the source of the"ram-you-damnyou" steamers reference to traffic in the English Channel. On shipboard fare read " midshipman 's muffin" for hardtack soaked and rebaked and " mahogany'' for salt beef hard enough to carve into souvenirs; on 1igging read " like a giblet pie, all legs and wings" for a heavily sparred ship and "Irish pennants" for stray lines; on weather read "Paddy 's hurricane" for flat calm; on ships read "putty , pitch and providence" for what holds old wooden ships together; and on sailors read "farmers" for men with no night watches and "flying fi sh sailors" for those that never make Cape Hom voyages. Brouwer' s work-in-progress includes a list of ships sailed in by the authors and is available for a$ I 0 check made out to Norman Brouwer, c/o South Street Seaport Museum, 207 Front Street, New York NY 10038. ,!,

"Where's Glencannon?" resulted in more hearty laughs around our saloon table-and, On October 24, 1942, this headline appeared on a column in I have no doubt , many another--thanfrom any other source. the Saturday Evening Post. Glencannon, of course, was the And information of a similar nature sijis back to me jiÂˇom the colorful main character-a Scottish Chief Engineer on the SS troops, via Mombasa. Even the landsmen like our crusty pal. Inchcliffe Castle- in a popular series of stories that appeared "Please give us back our Glencannon stories . . ." . in the Post in the 20s , 30s, 40s and 50s. On this date, both the Well , Gi lpatric relented and went on to keep Glencar.il)on editors and the readers were making loud lament of the alive and safe from theJaps and Germans, much to thedelightof writer' s decision to suspend the series , imploring him to return readers then- and now! A Glencannon Society has recently to his "patriotic" duties as creator of been founiled -with the avowed purpose "to celebrate the exemplary life the much-loved illustrated series. The and charitable good works of Colin editors cited the hundreds of letters received from Glencannon fans and St. Andrew MacThrockleGlencannon." published one from a Capt. A. G. "We might be termed a drinking Graham, master of the SS Henry S. and dining society for that is what we do, with Glencannon serving as our Grove, for the American South Afrifoca l point," writes founding member can Line, who wrote: Walter Jaffee (whose report from the "/ am the master of an American SSJeremiahO' Brien appears on page steamship regularly running to South 17 of this issue). The society puband East Africa. Every voyage I take 1ishes a quarterly newsletter, The to sea with me a three or.four month's accumulation of Posts which I-and Kirkintilloch Chronicle, and subscriptions are avai lable at $10 per year. my officers-read on the passage out, Anyone is welcome to attend the and then deliver to our agent in Mombasa , who passes them on to the An illustrationjiÂˇom the Glencannon story "Crocodile meetings as the guest of a member, troops in East Africa. My last accu- Tears," The illustration is by George Hughes, who the prerequisites being a passion for mulation contained no Glencannon stepped in as the Post's WWII replacement for Anton Glencannon and an interest in the sea-many of the small group are stories, and a hasty glance through Otto Fischer, then serving with the US Coast Guard. fo1mer merchant marine officers. To the bundle I am about to take to sea discloses the same deplorable situation. What has become of become a member, al 1yo u have to do is locate a bottle of the pithy Guy Gilpatric ? His sea stories are the prime favorite among chief engineer's favorite Scotch whisky, Duggan's Dew of us , and reminiscing over the antics of our walrus-mustached Kirkintilloch, and offer it to the gathering. (Glencannon Society, favorite , his pal (?)Muster Montgomery, et. al., have probably PO Box 633, Benicia CA 94510) ,t KH, PS SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

The Foll( Art of Ships-in-Bottles by Louis Arthur Norton

Two seamen ply their craft-on the right , one prepares a bottle model.

hips-in-bottles, the skillful and fanc iful representations of untrained sailor craftsmen, have been growing in popularity among art collectors and museum attendees . Often the most sought after are those built at sea by seamen . When the sailor arti san turned the technical skills needed to perform or survive at sea to making a ship-in-bottle, the result was often a work of beauty with in a naive design. In some cases a lack of technical mastery found compensation in freedom of expression, simplicity, honesty and inventiveness. This has been preserved as a finely crafted folk art, and in some ways a form of industrial art. A collection of such extraordinary pieces leaves the viewer with the vexing question: " How did they do such work under the grueling conditions of life at sea?" Theship-in-bottle seascenerepresented a unique challenge in reverse. The craftsman had to build the contents to fit exactly the inner dimensions of the "package" whi le entering through the restrictions of a tiny unyielding opening. This folk art form combined most of the manual skills of the sailor as well as his imag ination. More than a century ago, ships-in-bottles were popular gifts from seamen, but few have survived. Bottles break and intricate models become unglued. They have become scarce objects as well as historical records. The objects are, in fact, miniature time capsules of maritime life; sailors' folk art under glass. Most folk art in bottles was apparently made by either an active sai lor or retired seaman . Few are signed , but occasionally they contain a tag or label suggesting a nautical origi n. One shipin-a-bottle was labeled a "ship made" piece by Patrick A. Flaharty in April of 1900. Another label read "constructed by Andrew Blackm(an) of the schooner

B.A. Van Brunt on February 2, 1906." Still another was labeled "Capt. Kurtz, Ketchican , Alaska, 1932." The great marine museums of the United States and Western Europe retain examples of ships-in-bottles as sailors' folk art in theirpermanentcollections. Forexarnple, the South Street Seaport Museum features some of the extraord inary collection from the Seamen 's Bank for Savings of New York. Denmark and Germany have museums devoted solely to the display of ships and whimsies-inbottles. The earliest piece thi s author has found is in the Maritiem Museum Prins Hendrik in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The ship is a Dutch poon used for inland navigation in Holland 's southern waters about 1800. The model is in a vertica l hand blown bottle. It is suspended from an elaborate ly carved knob that can be turned, thus rotating the ship. Seamen from numerous nations engaged in thi s craft and many surviving examples are of European origin. They appear to have been particularly popular with seamen from the North Sea countries of the British Isles, France, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, and Norway , as well as Portugal and Spain. The Portuguese ships were brightl y painted as is typical of craft from their sunny country. The French often worked bone or ivory into their ship or whimsy models and stoppers. There are no data concerning the "on board" as compared to shore origin of this handicraft. Evidence indicates that retired seamen probably engaged in this hobby as a way of maintaining some of their ship-honed skill s. Certainly the fine eyesight and sophi sticated manual skills needed imply that most artisans were younger active seamen. Ocean passages confronted by the nineteenth century

mariner spawned long days of tedium punctuated by short periods of franti c, dangerous activity. Sailors engaged in complex hobbies to fi ll their time. Captains encouraged thi s, because an id le hand and mind was prone to the di sease of ship-board discontentment. Bottles or flasks were not common in the early days of America. Spirits and other liquids were shipped in wooden casks. Therefore, most empty bottles were likely to have come from the ship 's medicine box or the cook 's spice cupboard. These bottles were particularly useful because they took up little valuable space and were strong and clear so that a model inside could be seen by an admirer. The bottle itself may be half the history and beauty of the object. It may not be the same age as the object inside, since a craftsman of any era may choose and older bottle for hi s work. But most artisans used contemporary di scarded glassware, so the bottle usually provides valuable clues for determining the age and origin of the piece. Color, composition , use and imprint are important in dating a bottle, as are the marks left from manufacturing. Thus the collector must include mold, ponti l and polish marks as well as bubbles, cooling surface swirls, glass fu sion scars, lip design, mold seams and plate mold data in the list of clues for bottle identification. Examini ng bottle collections at local museums or antiques dealers specializing in o ld glass helps the collector appreciate the scope and complex ity of the manufacturing variations. The detailed bottle markings can tell a story all by themselves. The ship-in-bottle, with or without a diorama for a background, was difficult to make. The method for building these objects has been well documented and is SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

The bottle at near right co ntains an American bark , a complex background diorama, a Lug towing the ship info the bottle neck and a neatly tied Turk' s head stopper cover.

Atfar right, an early 1900s style eleclric bulb with a small glass tip on its end houses a ship with a diorama.

onl y described here to enhance appreciation of the intricacies and variatio ns of construction. First, the craftsman fo und a suitable, clear glass empty bottle. Not all bottles were whole. Sometimes the neck was frac tured and salvaged fo r thi s purpose after the bottle was broken. T he sharp broken glass of the neck was heat po lished or sanded with dried shark skin or emery cloth fo r aestheti cs and safety. T he bottle size and shape as we ll as the intent of di spl ay (vertical or hori zonta l) dictated the plan of the d ioram a o r nautical scene. Thi s was a three-d imensional scene in miniature occasiona ll y de picting an actual port of call. T he shore and sea were made of mode ling clay or window putty placed on the side of the bottl e as a back drop fo r the ship . T hi s was worked with a lo ng me tal spatul a fo r texture. The waves, sea and shore were painted. The li ght ho uses, harbor jetty, village houses, churc hes, windmill s, docks, trees and other structures were carefull y placed in the diorama. A sentimental sailor included a picture of a loved one or a fr iend to decorate an occas iona l back dro p. A n unu sual variation was a diorama built upon the bottom of the bottl e o r one extended into the neck. The add iti on of a porti on of a di orama in the neck was the las t task before closure constructio n. A diorama constructed on the bottom of the bottle obviously took the greatest sk ill because the detailed scene was at great distance from the opening and fi t into a confined space. Mystic Seapo rt Museum has a bottle with a painting of a tropical scene done on the inner surface of the glass. A rare variation was the reverse glass painting process popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. To paint in this manner the layer next to the g lass was the fin al detail and fo reground. The artist then painted in layers to middle ground and finally the background, the opposite way a painting was applied to a board or canvas. These dioramas were quite striking, fragile and diffic ult to create. Sailors more commonl y used only the SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

putty sea and a simple storm y sky painted on the outside of the bottle. The ship o r ships were carefull y designed and constructed outside the bottle so that masts, yards and rigg ing could be hinged and fo lded on their hulls. The collapsed rigg ing and ships had to be small enough to pass undamaged th ro ugh the neck of the bottle. A master builder made a compl ex re plica of a ship that full y occupied the inside of the bottle. The mini ature ship was frequently a waterline model, with set ri ggi ng, masts at deck level and yards tied to mas ts by the ir lift halyard s, braced fo re-and-aft. All this was laid out fl at on the deck. The shrouds were secured to their hounds as well as the stays. A ll detail painting was completed outside the bottle. The ship was set upon its green and whi te wavetossed putty sea. Long threads or lines attached to the ri gging were left to dangle out of the bottl e neck in order to erect the masts. The mas ts had to be stepped, properly raked by long fo rceps, and glued into pos ition. Other special long-handled instruments were used to detail the rigging pos ition, and make the lines and stays taut, the yards braced and the shrouds sec ured to the shro ud plates. The gathering of threads was g lued at the bowsprit. Once the glue dried, the excess thread was cut loose. The sail s were usually set fro m the fo lded position. Some were set after the mast and rigging was up by gluing the sai ls to the yards start-

ing fro m the stem and worki ng to the bowsprit fl yi ng jibs. Most shi ps were erected with the bow fac ing the neck so that the rigging could be placed as just described. American and Euro pean ships were not usuall y pos iti oned in the bottle with the stem toward the neck, but thi s was characteristic of Asian construction techniques. Some shi ps had large solid super structure and were constructed by joining wooden secti ons within the bottle. T hi s was a rare construction technique fo r a sailing shi p, but frequentl y done in more modem steamer or battleship models. The placement of ships in the bottom of a vertical fl ask presented a host of difficult pro blems. The craftsman was , again , required to work at a great distance from the neck of the bottle using very long im plements. The most challenging construction problem of all was a Scandinav ian variation where the diorama covers and blocks the neck of the bottl e. The shi p was inserted through a ho le in the putty sea and erected, after which the hole was sealed with addi tional putty. The product was an " upside do wn" or inverted ship-in-bottle that had to be di splayed on a stand. An acknow ledged mas ter of thi s technique was Peter Jacobsen, known as "Bottle Peter" fro m Aer0sk0bing on the island of Aer0 Denmark. Jacobsen, born in 1873, was a retired seaman whose main hobby was building ships-i n-bottles. A collection

This exlraordinary model of Lhe ship Perseverance ofGlasgow has a diorama on its base and an elaborately carvedsland containing a burgee , ensign and the name of the ship and its port. The ship was launched in Dunbarton in 1896 and sailed unlil 1900.

Shipmodels that displayed a fu ll suit of sails, as does the model shown above, were not commonly built, on account of their complexity. ~---------~

The topsail schooner seen in this unusual" upside down " carafe sails upon a sea placed across the neck of the bottle.

of hi s creations forms the nucleus of the Aen?lsk0bing Museum located in an 1835 Danish sea captain's house. The artistic value of a ship-i n-bottle largely lies in the quality of construction and detail of the ships. As stated above, the size of the ship in relation to the inner dimension of the container was one factor. The most important criteria, however, were the materials used in building the model and the carefu l attention to the sheer and hull design, the detailed deck plan, life boats, gear and rigging. Some sai!ors used mahogany and bone to craft their ships. Others used yellow or white pine or other soft woods suitable for whittling. Yards and booms were often made of thick wooden matches of the era, sanded down. The standing and running rigging, that which braced yards and trimmed sails, were as realistic as possible. Most seamen of thi s period had little formal education, but they knew about the workings of their ships. Sailors by nature and training were fastidious about neatness and detail. If the rigging or ship is grossly inaccurate one can ass ume that it was not made by a seaman. Ship models that di splayed a full suit of sails were not common Iy bui 1t because they great!y complicated the building process. Still, a ship hee ling under billowing sail in its rolling, putty sea spoke of more adventure than one with a skeleton of barren yards at anchor. These sails were made of paper or cloth , and occasionally of thinly carved painted wood or bent metal. One last sign of artistic ability was a bottle containing many properly rigged ships in correct proportion to each other. The marine historian or collector likes to find a signed and dated scene with the ships and locale identified. This may take the form of a label glued into the neck or under the putty sea or an attached tag or legend fixed to a ship-in-bottle base or stand. The name of the ship was frequently seen on models. The appearance 36

of the vessel may have changed as a function of the rerigging of the ship at various times in its useful life. For example the vessel Standard which has been modelled in a bottle was ship rigged at its launching in 1878, but was bark rigged in 1886. The period of the rigging and the artisan 's attention to detail help to date this particular model. Ships flew signal pennants to communicate with other ships or points on shore. Although codes have changed with time and nationality , it is poss ible to translate the messages being flown, thus adding to the story depicted in the scene. A helpful reference is Flags by A. Purves, a digested history of marine ensigns with a model maker in mind . The company burgee or national ensign shows when the vessel was constructed. Numbers of stars or flag design of the union jack help date an American ship. Foreign vessels displayed even more dramatic design changes in the merchant and man-o-war flags, as the political maps underwent revi sions in the last three centuries. In many ways ships-in-bottles have become a reflection of maritime history. Dating the ship by country of origin and the events depicted in the diorama has become a folk art historical record as well as a challenging puzzle. The closure, the sealing dev ice of the bottle, together with the stopper design was sometimes a minor work of art in itself. The cork was often lost, broken or

conside red unsuitable forreinsertion into a neck. The altemative stoppers of choice were carved wooden plugs with a cross piece or pegs inserted on the inside at the begi nning of the neck of the bottle so that the stopper could not be removed. The plug was painted with various artistic devices such as stars , geometric carvings or objects such as an eagle claw and ball. Ivory or bone stoppers are rare but not unkno wn. They were more commonly seen in examples crafted by French sai lors. Because sailors of the day were ski lled macrame makers and knitters, a well-fi nished bottle had a macrame sleeve, a Turk's Head knot, a knitted sock or tasseled cap to encase the stopper. A brass unifo rm button of a navy or merchant marine company embedded in the sleeve or a cap of the colors of a national flag help to establi sh the origin of the piece. The final touch in ship-in-bottle construction was an appropriate mounting or pedestal. Bottles that have rounded or cy lindrical shapes need a stable cradle. These are often simple wooden stands or plaster bases for mounting on a table, or a board for hanging on a wall as bulkhead decorati on. The real artist carved and decorated the stand to add to the effect of the entire fo lk art project. Occasionall y the stands were as or more attractive than the objects they held. Thus the sailors' art of the ship-inbottle is complex, ingenious, and often beautiful, depicting an adventure story of the sea to those who take the time and care to look. It is the artist's recollection and rendition of someth ing that was emotionally moving. They are provocative and puzzling pebbles left on the sand from the ebb of the tide of time for us to collect, preserve, study and enjoy. ,t Louis Arthur Norton , a native of the seaport of Gloucester, Massachusetts , and a professor at the University ofConnecticut Health Center at Farmington, is an avid collector ofmarine artifacts and an occasional author of marine history.

The closure is sometimes a minor work of art in itself. At right, a Turk's head and macrame stopper inDanishredand white enhance the closure. At left , a painted star and geometric pattern grace the closure bar.

SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

SHIPNOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS La Amistad Receives Startup Funding at Mystic Seaport The project to build and sail a replica of the slave ship Amistad took a solid step forward on 24 June as the Connecticut State Legislature approved a $168,610 grant to Mystic Seaport Museum to begin design and fundraising for the vessel. The Amis tad was seized by her cargo of Africans in 1839, and following lengthy trials the Africans won their freedom in I 841 in the US Supreme Court-which at that time included slave-holding justices. Out of the forces enlisted in the Africans' cause grew the Amis tad Center of New Orleans, which does educational work in Africa and led in founding Tuskegee and other African-American educational institutions in the United States. The Connecticut Afro-American Historical Society shares in the planning grant with Mystic and will work on the ship's display program, which is to include visits to seaport cities with young trainees in its crew. New York-based Amistad Affiliates, founded by NMHS Trustee Warren Marr in 1976 to promote the Arrnistad story, will also participate in the project. A Maritime Center for Long Island With a $45 million aquari um proposed for one side of the Peconic River, and a $20 million maritime museum proposed for the other, Riverhead, Long Island appears poised to establish itself as a major maritime heritage hotspot. The executive director of the museum group, Vincent Scandole, says that the plans call for a restoration center for historic boats, a sailing school, a nature walk and, possibly,a 15 ,000square-footimax theater. The integrated proposal faces a serious hurdle, however-a competing proposal for an aquarium in nearby Bay Shore. Observers feel there is probably room for no more than one aquarium in eastern Long Island, so a race is on to be the first to open its doors. Regardless of the outcome of the aquarium battle, organizers believe the Riverhead museum proposal will go forward with an opening planned for late 1996 or early 1997.

1810 Gulf Coast Scow Located The Gulf Coast Wooden Boat Association has begun its recovery of the remains of the Mary Ann, a 90-ft threemasted scow, built in 1810, in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, from a site in the SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

"Nauticus"-A New Maritime Center in Norfolk The Norfolk waterfront now boasts a maritime center designed to be an icon of that city's preeminence in naval and commercial shipping. Nauticus , which opened on 1 June, showcases maritime technology by utilizing the latest hightech interactive media. Through a series of interactive exhibits, shows and theaters, visitors will try their hand at such tasks as landing a jet fighter on a carrier deck, loading a container cargo, navigating an ocean-going vessel, and participating in a combat situation aboard a US Navy Aegis destroyer. Nauticus also offers a new 70mm film , "The Living Sea," and theaters devoted to commerce and shipbuilding. This is in addition to incorporating the completely redesigned Hampton Roads Naval Museum. The $52 million, 160,000 square foot facility, established with support from the Commonwealth of Virginia, the City of Norfolk and private contributions, is expected to be a big draw for visitors to downtown Norfolk. A 600-foot long pier for berthing visiting Navy, research or large sailing vessels is also available at the new center. (Nauticus, One Waterside Drive, PO Box 3310, Norfolk VA 23514) Mississippi Sound. The recoverable pieces of the vessel will be moved to Camp Maple Leaf, home of the association, and used in the rebuilding of the boat. The Mary Ann was built with a traditional flat bottom, outboard rudder and centerboard. She was employed in coastwise trading from 1810 to 1824, when she was believed sunk in a hurricane. (GCWBA, Camp Maple Leaf, PO Box 290, Lakeshore MS 39558)

Young America Not Forsaken Capt. Steven F. Pagels has an eye for finding beauty and functionality where others might only see irrecoverable decay. As the restorer and owner/operator of three traditional vessels in the fleet of Downeast Windjammer Cruises, he was not fazed by the sight of the once-Jovel y brigantine Young America, launched in 1975 as the Enchantress. Pagels recently purchased the Young America, which has lain unattended at Atlantic City for many years, and plans to rebuild and re-rig her, most likely as a twomasted topsail schooner. (Downeast Windjammer Cruises, PO Box 8, Cherryfield ME 04622) Liner America Lost During the Force 12 storms around the Canary Islands in January, one of the world 's best known passenger ships met her fate . The American Star, built as the 25,353-ton America in 1940, was under tow near the Canaries when her towline

broke and she was wrecked on the island of Fuertaventura. She had been bound for Ahuket, Thailand, where a group of investors planned to establish her as a floating hotel. Much of the original furniture and murals from her days as the America were believed still aboard. Havre de Grace Welcomes Martha Lewis The Havre de Grace Maritime Museum now has its own seafaring goodwill ambassador, the Chesapeake Bay skipjack Martha Lewis. During the winter, the 39-year-old vessel was rebuilt at a temporary boatyard on land loaned to the museum by the City of Havre de Grace and launched in time to join the oyster spattingfleetinMay . Launched in 1955, the Martha Lewis has never missed an oyster season-a legacy that the museum hopes to preserve. "We want her to be a museum ship," says the vessel's benefactor, Alabama based neuro-surgeon Dr. Randy George, "but we also want to preserve a lifestyle, and that means actually working her. " George decided last summer to locate a salvageable skipjack, restore her, return her to the oyster dredge fleet and find a suitable museum for an education program for all ages with a working skipjack as its focus. George contracted Allen Rawl, builder of the replica Susan Constant, to supervise the restoration. (HGMM, 100 Lafayette Street, Havre de Grace MD 21078) 37

SHIPNOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS Constellation Endangered The USS Constellation, launched in 1854-the last sailing warship built for the US Navy, has been named to the 1994 li st of "America 's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places" by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Now a National Historic Landmark, the Constellation gave the US Navy nearly 100 years of active and colorful service, capturing slave traders ' ships in West Africa in 1859, transporting food to Ireland during the 1880 famine, and serving as flagship for the commander-in-chief of the US Atlantic Fleet during WWII. Today she lies permanently moored in Baltimore's inner harbor and isoneofthecity 's most popular attractions, but is badly in need of funding to repair rotten timbers and halt further ~=~~~ deterioration. (National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1785MassachusettsAve.,NW, Wash- The Constellation, shown here at a Baltiington DC 20036; 202 673-4141) more pier in 1914, is in need of restoration .

C. A. Thayer Next Up Not long after the ferryboat Eureka returned to her Hyde Street Pier after a five-month $2.7 million restoration (see SH 69, page 41), another of the historic San Francisco fleet began to draw attention . On March 29, the San Francisco National Maritime Hi s tori c Park launched a $7 million "Save the Thayer" campaign aimed at restoring the 99-yearold three-masted lumber schooner. The C. A. Thayer was placed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation 's "Eleven Most Endangered List" last year because her hull had become riddled with dry rot. To begin the fundrai sing drive, the National Maritime Museum Association pledged $100,000 and the Alamo Rent-a-Car Preserve and Protect America Project is chipping in a further $5,000 to be paid through the National Trust. The Thayer has for many years been host to an extremel y successful overnight school visitation program. (SFNMHP, Fort Mason, San Francisco CA 94123) Tole Mour Trains Youth at Sea Her name means "gift of life and health ," and that is exactly what her operators at the Marimed Foundation and Vi sionQuest hope the Tole Mour will bring to the troubled young people on board sail ing up America's East Coast and into the Great Lakes this summer. It is the first voyage of a joint venture between the two non-profit organizations call ed OceanQuest-Hawaii. Marimed owns the ship. VisionQuest brings 21 years of experience with troubled youth to the venture, including similar sail-training pro38

grams aboard the Bill of Rights and New Way (ex-Western Union). Tole Mourboarded 28 youth averaging 20 prior fe lony arrests each in Hawaii on 24 April. VisionQuest has recorded considerable success with this population. Reports indicate that 70-85 % of participants stay arrest-free after completing the program , although extensive follow-up is considered crucial. (VisionQuest, PO Box 447, Exton PA 19341 ) Sea Experience for LD Students A new sail training program aimed at learning-disabled students is being established by the New England Historic Seaport, Inc. The Seaport is currently seeking participants for "Liberty Voyage," a program styled after the succesful but discontinued Watermark program aboard the schooner Te Vega, to begin in the fall of 1994. Students will sail the schooner Liberty along the East Coast, attending classes and tutorials aboard and communicating with other LD schools and organizations through Internet. (NEHS, Building #1 , Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston MA 02129; 617 242-1414) Heritage Conferences Announced A number of fall conferences of interest to maritime preservationists have been announced. The first of these will be hosted by The Naval Historical Center Detachment at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston, from 12-14 September. The Detachment will draw upon its experience with maintenance and repair of the USS Constitution to hold what promises to be a real nuts and bolts, file-

swapping event entitled "Technical Aspects of Maintaining, Repairing and Preserving Historically Significant Ships." For information contact Patrick Otton , NHCDB, Bldg. #24 , M&R , C harlestown Navy Yard , Boston MA 02129; 617 242-0752. Following on its heels is the 6th Annual National Maritime Heritage Conference, also held at the Charlestown Navy Yard , 14-17 September. Among the subjects to be di scussed are the 1994 National Mari time Heritage Act; the new maritime role of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and its cooperative agreement with the National Maritime Alliance; capital fundrai sing for the restoration and maintenance of hi storic vessels; and di saster planning for maritime resources. For a conference brochure contact Patricia Conn, National Maritime Alliance, BathPort, 99 Commercial Street, Bath ME 04530-2564; 207 443-4550. Unfortunately, the two Boston conferences coincide with the International Congress of Maritime Museums Interim Conference at the Vancouver Maritime Museum , 13-16 September, which will focus on Pacific maritime museums and their collections and issues surrounding maritime archaeology and maritime museums. For information contact the Vancouver Maritime Museum, 1905 Ogden A venue, Vancouver BC V6J 1A3; 604 257-8309. A month later, again in Boston , the National Trust for Historic Preservation wi ll hold its 48th National Preservation Conference at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel , 26-30 October. The conference schedu le includes a number of sessions relating to maritime heritage preservation and programs. For information write the National Trust at 1785 Massachusetts A venue NW, Washington DC 20036 or call 1-800-944-NTHP. Getting Around the Ships The Nuclear Ship Savannah, completed in 1959 as the first nuclear-powered merchant vessel in the world , was recently towed to Baltimore from Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum in South Carolina for much needed bottomwork. When repairs are completed, she will be mothballed in the James River Reserve Fleet unless her lease is picked up. Savannah had made her home at Patriots Point since 1981. (PPNMM, 40 Patriots Point Road, Mt. Pleasant SC 29464; 803 884-2727) SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

The City ofBristol , England, is building a full-sized replica of John Cabot's Matthew, the ship that took Cabot from England to North America in 1497. She is being built of traditional material s in the traditional manner and will be completed as a three-masted ballasted caravel, 75 feet in length, displac ing 100 tons, and carrying a crew of20. The Matthew will be launched in 1996 to begin the quincentenary celebration, which will include a trans-Atlantic voyage along Cabot's route. In mid-April, two of the three Columbus ship replicas moored in Corpus Christi , Texas, encountered an unexpected adversary- a runaway barge. A Coast Guard spokesperson reported that the barge "hit the Pinta and put a hole in the hull above the waterline, and the force pushed the Pinta into the Santa Maria, damaging the Santa Maria 's mast."The ships are on loan to the Corpus Christi Museum from the Spanish government. Restoration of the 1928 fishing schooner A. J. Meerwald is moving forward. The Delaware Bay Schooner Project has secured money provided to historic preservation projects through the Intermodal

The A. J. Meerwald under sail while oystering .

Surface Transportation Enhancement Act (ISTEA) and has recently engaged shipwright Rick Waters, a veteran of the Morgan, Elissa and Niagara restorations. Restoration of the vessel's hull, beginning at the bow and working aft, has begun with the goal of launching by the end of summer 1995 . (DBSP, PO Box 57 , Dorchester NJ 08316; 609 785-2060) In the tug department, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum relaunched its 19 12 tugboat Delaware in October last year. The Delaware is a rare example of a typical early 20th century wooden river tug and she will now serve as part of the museum 's exhibits on early mechanical power on the Chesapeake Bay. Still at work, after 110 years, is the tug Samuel A.Guilds (ex-Cap tain Co llier) , recently purchased from SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

McAllister Towing-Charleston by Great Link of California for use towing scrap metal out of New Orleans. Underwater News Archaeology magazine reports the discovery of the remains of three Roman ships and two Greek vessels found next to the city hall in Marseille, France, where a massive underground parking lot is being built. The Roman ships date to the fi rst or second century AD, and were apparently scuttled to form the foundation of a jetty on an ancient shoreline, close to the estuary of a river that once flowed into the Mediterranean. The most intact specimen measures 36 feet long and 12 feet wide. The Greek ships, found at a lower stratum , dated to the sixth century BC and the largest of these measures 42 feet by 12 feet. The wreck of the SS Copenhagen, an 1898 British steamship that ran aground and sank off Pompano Beach in 1900, was dedicated on 4 June 1994 as Florida's fifth underwater archaeological preserve. The state 's growing shipwreck preservation program also includes the Urea de Lima, a Spanish galleon off Ft. Pierce, San Pedro , a galleon near Islamorada, City of Hawkinsville, a steamboat in the Suwannee River, and the battleship USS Massachusetts near Pensacola. (Florida Department of State, Bureau of Archaeological Research , 500 South Bronough Street, Tallahassee FL 32399-0250; 904 922-0204) New York State's first two "Submerged Heritage Preserves" have opened in Lake George. The two sites are those of the Forward shipwreck and the seven colonial sunken bateaux off Wiawaka Holiday House. Similar to the Florida sites, the New York preserves are a type of underwater museum for visiting divers who are provided broch ures that give a history of each site, a map showing each location and guidelines for diving. Their opening is the culmination of a six year effort by Lake George's Bateaux Below, Inc. working in cooperation with New York State agencies. (BB , PO Box 2 134, Wilton NY 12866) In the fall, another underwater preserve will be opened to divers by the State of Maryland at the site of a sunken WWII German U-boat. The only surviving U-boat clad in rubber to neutralize Allied sonar detection , "The Black Panther" was seized by the US as a war prize and was later sunk during a depth

COMPASS ROSE BOX he de sign motif w hi c h i n sp ired ou r Com pass Ro se Bo x, is d e ri ve d from an 17 19 nautical artifact found in th e Italian c ity of Livorno. Precisely inc ised wi th th e ordina l points of th e compass, and decorated fl eur-de- les indi ca tin g tru e north , thi s box wi ll mak e a treasured add ition to your nau ti cal co ll ec tion.

M eticulou sly created in New Hampshire, of man-mad e fa ux i vor y, eac h muse um qualit y reprodu cti on is hand tinted, just as the ori ginals were, to brin g out the int rica te ca rved des ign. Measuring 3.5 inches in di ameter and 2 inches high, our Scrim shaw Compass Ro se Box will make an unusual and long treasured gift. In c lud ed w ith eac h co mpass ro se box is an au the ntica ting doc um e nt desc ri bing th e o rig in and lore of these magnificent histori ca l pieces. To order send $24.95 plus $4.60 shipping, insurance & handling to:

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charge experiment on the Potomac River. Excavation of the wreck of the CSS Alabama off Cherbourg, France this summer will include the raising of one of her large rifled guns. The dive on the vessel is being conducted by the private, non-profit group known as the Association CSS Alabama which is monitored by a French-American Scientific Committee. The committee provides advice to the French Ministry of Culture regarding the nature of the work on the wreck. (Naval Historical Center, Building 57, Washington Navy Yard, Washington DC 20374-0571) Another Civil War wreck was the subject of a recent underwater survey in Virginia . Underwater archaeologists working for the US Army Corps of Engineers have tentatively identified portions of the ironclad CSS Fredericksburg in the James River. Investigation of the remnants of the Confederate James River squadron , sunk below Richmond in the last days of the Civil war, were conducted in 1993 to locate significant historical wrecks that may be impacted by river dredging work. Breaking Records There 'sa newfastesttimeforthe 14,000mile Cape Horn passage from New York to San Francisco: 62 days, 5 hours, 55 minutes and 40 seco nd s. Isabelle Autissier, the 37-year-old skipper of the French sloop Ecureuil Poitou-Charentes 2, sailed out of New York with a crew of three on 19 February and docked at Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco on 22 April, alongside the Cape Horn square-rigger Balclutha. Her record time shattered the old mark, held by Georgs Kolesnikovs in the trimaran Great American, by 14 days. Autissier is now preparing for the BOC singlehanded race around the world, which leaves Charleston, South Carolina, on 17 September.

April Fool's Day found legendary seamen Robin Knox-Johnston and Peter Blake off the coast of France aboard the catamaran Enza in Force 10 conditions with only one thought in mind: finishing the final miles of their circumnavigation with a new non-stop record. Despite a harrowing final day, Enza stormed into the port of Brest to set a round the world record of 74 days, 22 hours, 17 minutes and 22 seconds. The new Jules Verne trophy holder bettered Bruno Peyron's 1993 Commodore Explorerrecord by four days. Along the way, she set an unconfirmed 24-hour record of 520.9 miles. D-Day Museum in New Orleans On 21 May a ground-breaking for the National D-Day Museum took place in New Orleans. The museum will honor New Orleans resident Andrew Higgins , whom Eisenhower gave high credit for having helped the the Allies win the war. Higgins developed the Higgins Boat, a vehicle able to transfer personnel from the sea directly to the shore. The Museum has received a $4 million grant from Congress and is working to raise $26 million to complete the museum by November 1994. (National D-Day Museum, 925 Common Street, Suite 800, New Orleans LA 70112; 504527-6012) INVENI PORT AM

Nixon Griffis (1917-1993) Nixon Griffi s became the first patron of nautical archaeology as we know it today when , in 1959, he made the initial contribution toward the excavation of a Bronze Age shipwreck at Cape Gelidonya, Turkey. That would prove to be the first ancient shipwreck excavated in its entirety on the sea bed and the first excavated to acceptable archaeological standards. I met Nixon Griffis when Peter Throckmorton, who had found the wreck, showed slides of it to potential On July 30, the Tecumseth received her Royal warrant allowing her to carry the letters HMS before her name and joined the fl eet of historic replicas operating out of Discovery Harbor, Penetanguishene, Ontario. She is a replica ofthe warship Tecumseth built at Chippewa on Lake Erie to be part ofBritain's defense fleet during the War of 1812. The 115-foot "-"l<.::l'o-'i schooner is seen here, after her launching and prior to her masts being stepped, alongside the replica schooners HMS Perseverance and Bee.

SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

WOODEN SHIP MODELS sponsors on a winter 's evening in hi s New York garret, trying to convince them that careful excavation beneath the sea was possible, and that results would be historically important. Before he left, Nixon pledged support, the first person to do so. Throughout the 1960s, Nixon continued and increased hi s support for the University of Pennsylvania excavations I led on various other shipwrecks in Turkish waters . It was on those excavations , all published in National Geographic, that many of the standard techniques of shipwreck excavation were developed . Nixon was then pres ident of Brentano 's book stores, but he wanted no favors when he visited to di ve with us. He shared camp duties, lived on beans and rice, and insisted on taking his turn as guard of our isolated diving barge, sleeping on its bare, rough deck under a sheet of canvas. In 1973 , when I had another dream, a private Institute of Nautical Archaeology, Nixon Griffis became a founding director, later Chairman of the Board. He helped it grow into an international organization, now affi liated with Texas A&M University, with surveys and excavations on four continents. When he said he was getting too old to be a regular diver, we thought we would not see him again in our camps. But one day in the late 1970s, when we were excavating a cargo of medieval Islamic glass inside a sheltered bay, a tiny Turki sh fi shing boat with only a small boy at the helm emerged from a raging storm . Unshaven and soaked by spray, Nixon stepped ashore, said he had heard that we were low on funds, handed us the cash to complete the job, spent the night, and headed back into the high seas for his return flight to New York. Those who had never met him before were astounded. I was not. Mr. Griffis, formerownerofBrentano' s book stores, was past president of the American Littoral Society and trustee of the New York Zoological Society. He is survived by his daughter, Hethea Nye of Manhattan , son Hughes, of New London, Connecticut, son Nixon S. of Palm Beach Florida, and four grandchildren. GEORGE BASS

Nixon Griffis,founding member of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology, died on 17 December 1993 . The preceding was adapted from the The New York Times memorial written by George Bass, Advisor to NMHS. SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

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• 18-2 1 August, ASTA Tall Ships Rally, in conjunction with Boston Seaport Festival, hosted by Coventures; expected ships areAdventure,Alexandria,Gazela,LenieG.Howard, Providence.Spirit ofMassachusetts, and possibly Bill ofRights and Tole Mour. (American SailTraining Association, PO Box 1459, Newport RI 02840; 40 1 846-1775) • 20-21 August, Antique Marine Engine Exposition , fea turing marine engines from the 19th century to the 1940s. (Mystic Seaport, Mystic CT; 203 572-0711) • 26-28 August, Festival of the Sea 1994, at Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco, featuring the scow Alma and the topsail schooner Pride of Baltimore, sea music, crafts and Pacific Islander canoe displays. For information call 415 929-0202. • 16- 18 September, Charleston Maritime Festival/BOC Challenge, featuring maritime art, boat displays, seminars, and the start of the BOC round the world race. (Southeastern Management Company, 2 11 Meeting Street, Charleston SC 29401 ; 803 723- 1748)

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SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

REVIEWS From Sails to Satellites: The Origin and Development of Navigational Science, by J.E.D. Williams (Oxford University Press, New York NY, 1992, 3 lOpp, photos, illus, notes, biblio, index; $35hc) This survey of man's attempts to find his way across expanses of ocean and air and, more important, to return again, explores three areas of historical importance to navigational science: how navigational needs have provided an impulse to scientific discovery; how navigation has utilized science, mathematics and engineering; and the use of physics and mathematics in the practice of navigation. Williams makes it clear that what he has written is not a work of scholarly research, but a "complex tapestry in which the writer seeks to illuminate anecdotally" the hi story of navigational science. Using a topical approach to this vast subject, he touches upon many fascinating developments such as the fact that the Greek hi storian Plutarch was aware of the circumnavigability of Africa, that the calculations of Columbus were wrong and hi s reputation as a navigator is suspect, and the many Muslim contributions to navigation in the 15th century. Chapter notes provide superb detail and additional information. The illustrations of navigational techniques and photographs of in struments assist the reader in understanding this history. HAROLD

BOYER

Montana Tech Butte, Montana D-Day: Piercing the Atlantic Wall, by RobertJ. Kershaw (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD, 1994, 254 pp, photos, illus, index; $34.95hc) This is not your typical D-Day overview; it is an in-depth collection of unique and intimate moments which allows all of us who weren't there to come as close to the face of war as we'll ever get without being there. Although the lack of a traditional narrative flow takes a few pages to get used to, the pieces of the puzzle offered by Kershaw add up to a total picture with more detail than I have seen before. Unlike a hundred other books on this monumental event, which cover it fro m a lofty perspective, Kershaw gives us micro sound-bites, memorable, personal glimpses into the lives of the men who made it happen. But this is not just a collection of"there I was ..." stories. This SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

book allows the reader to experience the ground level reality of war on what was one of the largest, and on a personal level, most confused days in history. What many historians mi ss is the fact that once the plans were set in motion , June 6th was not about Eisenhower or Montgomery, Rommel or Rundstedt. It was about several hundred thousand regular foes and Tommys and Fritzes. Although these men knew little of the major events going on around them while they were fighting their own disparate battles in the woods, on the beaches, and in the air, D-Day is their story and this book tells it from their perspective. The book also contains some extraordinary photographs, and is well indexed and referenced. If you think you've read everything about D-Day, read thi s! JERRY ROB ERTS

Intrepid Museum New York, New York The Coast of Summer: Sailing New England Waters from Shelter Island to Cape Cod, by Anthony Bailey (HarperCollins, New York NY, 1994, 357pp; $23hc) This fine yam covers far voyaging in thought, reflection and experience, in the relatively short span of salt water between Shelter Island at the eastern end of New York's Long Island, and Cape Cod some 100 miles still further eastward. The book is populated with very real and remarkable people who play some role in the author' s voyaging in the small stock sloop he outfitted for cruising New England waters in the summers, while living in alleged retirement in England 's Greenwich on the River Thames. The eccentric but infinitely capable Yaacov Adam is one of these real-life characters, known to this reviewer; another is the swashbuckling but somehow infinitely appealingPeterThrockmorton, who has contributed so greatly to marine archaeology and to what might be called reality-based appreciation of the ancient wrecks he helped discover in the Mediterranean , and of the wooden Maine-built Down Easters and Yankee packets he sought out in the Falklands. Both characters are memorably limned here, Yaacov's through a vinous evening of high philosophy and skillful mechanical problem-solving; Peter, rather touchingly , because of Mrs. Bailey's desire to seek out further facts of his life following hi s untimely death the year before this crui se took place. So, thi s book

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is not only about how to sail, but how to live, seeking out what matters whether past, present or future . And it is mainly for that reason, I believe, that the book written by a former New Yorker writer who has hedged and ditched himself a pleasant life on both sides of the AtlanPS tic, makes excellent reading. Ferries of Sydney, by Graeme Andrews (Oxford University Press, third Edition, 253 Norman by Road , South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 3205 , 1993, 264pp, illus, appendices, index; A$29.95sb) and The Wheels Still Turn; A History of Australian Paddleboats, by Peter Plowman (Kangaroo Press, KenthurstNSWavai lab le from Seven Hills Books Distributers, 49 Central Avenue, Cincinnati OH 45202, 1992, 160pp, illus, biblio, index; $27 .95hc) Two recent books highlight significant chapters in the maritime development of Australia. The first is a loving look at Sydney ferries, written by their greatest fan, Graeme Andrews. A former tugmaster and the current editor of Australian Sea Heritage , Andrews not only provides all the factual information on the hundreds of ferries that have plied Sydney harbor, beginning with the first steam- and horse-powered vessels and leading up to modem, computer-operated catamarans, he also presents a form of illustrated social hi story. Under the spotlight are the people who owned, operated and used Sydney ferries as Andrews discusses the role of the ferry service and its social significance to the life of Sydney. This edition has been greatly expanded since the book 's second printing in 1975 and is embellished by over 180 photographs from the author's collection. Peter Plowman 's history of Australian paddleboats is also the rewarding result of one man's deep fasci nation. Plowman is one of Australia's most noted maritime historians and the author of several books on Australian maritime history. In this large format, beautifully illustrated book he offers a study of the role of paddlers in each of the early Australian colonies, in intercolonial and overseas trading, as tugs and even church mission boats and particularly along the Murray River system. It is a story of ingenuity and adaptibility that produced a great assortment of vessels, a surprising number of which survive today and are here captured in color by Plowman's roving camera. KH SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

The Oxford Book of Sea Stories, selected by Tony Tanner (Oxford University Press, New York NY, 1994, 406pp; $25hc) The list of authors with selections included in this new compendium of sea tales reads like a Who's Who of 19th and 20th century Anglo-American literature: Conrad, Melville, Poe, Crane, London, Kipling, Masefield, Forster, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Faulkner, etc. Here, the sea is not the setting for genre-writing of the thriller, romance and western mold. It is rather the ultimate soul-searching arena of many of the greatest writers ever to have lifted pen and set sail. BB Boats: A Manual for Their Documentation, edited by Paul Lipke, Peter Spectre and Benjamin A.G. Fuller (American Association for State & Local History , Nashville TN, Museum Small Craft Association, Mystic CT, 1993,415pp, illus , appen, biblio, index; $37.95pb) This useful guide to measuring, recording and preserving boats, a collaborative project of the Museum Small Craft Association and the American Association for State & Local Hi story, manages to assemble a comprehensive documentation manual out of such disparate components as field sketching, boat stabilization, cultural context and archaeological reconstruction. Contributing chapters are provided by Willits Ansel, Maynard Bray, Kevin J. Crisman, D.W. Dillion, Benjamin A.G. Fuller, Paula J. Johnson, Paul Lipke , William N. Peterson, Peter Schmid, David A. Taylor, Peter T. Vermilya and Garth S. Wilson. BB Whaling Will Never Do For Me: The American Whaleman in the 19th Century, by Briton Cooper Busch (University Press of Kentucky, Lexington KY, 1994, 265pp, notes, biblio, index; $29hc) This history of the whaling life is anthropological in scope, observing all areas of social life to answer the author's thesis question: "given the sweated nature of the industry, and the low rewards paid to most men, what kept the men in service once their illu sion s, if indeed such had brought them aboard, were shattered?" Mr. Busch 's answer explores the nature of discipline at sea, the hierarchical structure of a whaling crew, the various legal and illegal means of redress at a sailor's disposal, and the religious beliefs, sexual behavior, and ceremonial practices of the men who lived on whaling ships. BB SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

The Jeffersonian G unboat Navy, by Spencer C. Tucker (University of South Carolina Press, Col umbia SC, 1993, 265pp, ill us, appen, notes, biblio, index; $39.95hc) Mr. Tucker examines the naval gunboat program pursued duri ng Thomas Jefferson's pres idency-a program that left the young nation virtually powerless on the sea in the War of 1812. Tucker describes the forces that prompted the decision to pursue such a poorly conceived policy, and carefully details its failings as a coastal defense system in theWarofl812. BB Boarders Away II: Fir earms of the Age of Fighting Sail , by W ill iam Gilkerson (Andrew Mowbray, Inc., Old Louisquisset Pike, Li ncoln RI 02865, 1993 , 331 pp, illus, appen , notes, biblio, index; $65hc + $4s&h) The author follows up his Boarders Away-with Steel with thi s examination of weapons used on American and European vessels, 1626-1826, including chapters on fireworks, small artillery, multi-shot guns, ship's muskets, rifles and boardi ng pistols, copiously ill ustrated by color plates and the author's own splendidly illuminating drawings. JA The Landings in North Africa; November 1942 (GPO 008-046-00159-6; $6.50), The Sicilian Campa ign; 10 July-17 August 1943 (GPO 008-04600160-0; $9.50, T he Aleutia ns Cam paign, June 1942-August 1943 (GPO #008-046-00155 -3; $8 .00), T he Landing in the Solomons, 7-8August1942 (GPO #008-046-00 161-8; $4.75), T he Battles of Savo Island, 9 August a nd The Eastern Solomons, 23-25 August 1942 (GPO #008-046-00162-6; $4.25), The Battles of Cape Esper ance, 11 October 1942 and Santa C ruz Islands, 26 October 1942 (GPO #008-04600163-4; $4.00), and The Battle of Guadalcanal, 11-15 November 1942 (GPO #008-046-00164-2; $4.50). These seven volumes are part of a series of21 published and 13 unpublished combat narratives of specific naval campaigns produced by the Publications Branch of the Office of Naval Intell igence during WWII. They have been republished by the Naval Historical Center as part of the Navy's commemoration of the 50th anniversary of WWII. The narratives were prod uced by a small team composed primarily of professionally trained writers and and historians, who based their accounts on research

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CLASSIFIED ADS Ship Paintings Restored. Museum quality restoration of old paintings. Peter Williams, 30 Ipswich St. , Boston MA 02215. By appointment: 617-536-4092 Cash for helmet diving books, ephemera. 9 16-972- 17 42. Canal Cruising, USA! Explore New York's world-famous canal system. Two ways to go: 3-day cruise aboard Emita II or skipper your own Lockmaster. For 25 years, canalling at its finest from Mid-Lakes Navigation, PO 6 1 SH, Skaneateles NY 13152. 800-545-43 18. Sampson Boots WWII Navy vets 19421946. Write: Gil Miller, PO Box 194 , Thendara NY 13472. Tel: 315-369-6058. Nautical Antiques & Decor. Visit Seafarer Shop Ltd ., Rte 9, Oceanville, NJ 08231. Open daily, phone 609-652-9491. Send for free brochure or $3 for partial listings. Books! Used and out-of-print, over 300 titles of marine interest. Catalog $2.50. Shop open 7 days. Book Miser, 906 Fell St. , Fell ' s Point, Baltimore MD 2 123 1. Tel: 410-276-9880. Hudson River Video Cruising Guide, NYC to Troy with port/service informat ion, local knowledge, historical fact and fiction , stunning vistas, and classic boats. Check/MO for $29.95 + $3.50 tax/shipping to WVPL, POB 340, New Paltz, NY 12561-0340. A ward Winning Documentary on the unique maritime history of Loui siana. From paddle wheelers to pi rogues, Ci vi 1War gun boats to Caj un row ing skiffs, and Nati ve Ameri can dugouts to WWII Hi ggins Boats; " From the Wake of the Bow." VHS $32.95. Keepsake Productions, 25 Kings Canyo n Dr., New Orleans LA 7013 1-8611. Old Salt, history of the seafaring men of Ocracoke, 1700 to present. $10. Live Oak Publications, Box 483 , Ocracoke NC 27960 or phone 919-928-7331. WWII Naval Artifact Sale! Everything must go! 1. Azimuth circles, built in 1950s, gorgeous mahogany tongue-and-groove box, beautiful overall condition, few only, $ 15/ each. 2. Russian 7 x 50 WWII ship' s binocular, IF, porro prism, with great canvas case, optically reconditioned, with reticle, bright and clear, very unusual , $ 150. 3. British antiaircraft sight, beautiful solid brass, fully polished and restored, stamped with maker's mark and WWII date, with speed ring reticle, boxed, gorgeous, $ 150. 4. NATO fire control binoculars, used in targeting large ship-toship gun batteries, designed for 24-hr marine exposure, 4x with extra wide field of view, opticall y recond itioned, many features, great for back deck, $350. 5. British variable power sighting telescope, fully 28" long, solid brass gleams like gold, 5x- 15x variable power, completely restored both optically and cosmetically, in wood tongue-and-groove box, easily 46

REVIEWS mounted, wi ll grace any home, $799. Please add $5 shipping+ 7.75 % for CA buyers. Call Deutsche Optik, 1-800-225-9407, fax 619692-8199, ormail to PO Box 75 18,SanDiego CA 92 167. Money back if not completely satisfied. Call for catalogue, too! Macs Wanted! NMHS needs more computers and printers. Your old Mac II, Mac Plus or SE 30 wi ll find a good home here. Call Kevin at 1-800-221-NMHS (6647).

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GRISWOLD INN There is a very s pecial place in Connecticut called the Gri swo ld Inn . It is so lovely that o ne would think a poet designed and built it. Opened at Essex o n June 6 , 1776 , its longevity g ives w itness to ge nuine New E ngland hospita lity; fine overnight accom m o dation s, smiling waitresses , heavy- h a nd ed bartenders , homemade sausages, m eat pies , prime rib, and local seafood. World-famous marine paintings and brass bells and binnacles wi ll seemingly transport you to ano ther world. Ring 203-767-1776 and we shall tell you even more about the ' Gris.'

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and a nalysis of avai lable primary source material, suc h as action reports an d war diaries, a ugmented b y interviews with individual participants. To order, send a check or ch arge card information and GPO catalog numbers to the Superintendent of D oc uments, Government Printing Office, PO Box 37 1954, Pitts burg h PA 15250-7954. KH

New and Noted Operation Crossroads; the Atomic Tests at Bikini Atoll, Jonathon M . Weis gall (Naval Institute Press, Annapoli s MD, 1994, 46pp, 46 photos, 2 maps, appendix, notes, biblio, index ; $3 1.95hc) Queen of the Lakes, Mark L. Thompson (Way ne State U nive rsity Press, Detriot MI, 1994, 224pp , 76 illus, index : $32.95h c) Shooting the War: Memoirs of a World War II U-Boat Officer, by Otto Giese and Capt. James E. Wise, Jr., USN (R et.) (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD , 1994, 289pp, illus , appen, notes, biblio, index; $29.95hc) Whaling Will Never Do For Me: The American Whaleman in the Nineteenth Century, by Briton Cooper Busch (The University Press of Ke ntuck y, Lexington KY, 1994, 265 pp, notes, biblio, index ; $29hc) Alongshore, by John R . Stilgoe (Yale U niversity Press, New Haven CT, 1994, 443pp, illus, no tes, biblio, index; $35hc) Sea Harriers Over the Falklands: A Maverick at War, b y Commander 'Sharkey' Ward, DSC, AFC, RN (Na val Institute Press , A nn apoli s MD, 1994, 299pp , i llu s, g loss , ap p e n , ind ex; $25.95hc) The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign: Naval Fighter Combat from August to November 1942, John B. Lundstrom (Naval Institute, Annapolis MD, 1994, 626pp, illus, appen , notes, biblio, index; $44.94hb) An Officer of the Blue: Marc-Joseph Marion Dufresne, South Sea Explorer, 1724-1772, Edward Duyker (Melbourne University , Victoria, Australia-distributed b y International Specialized Book Services, Portl a nd OR, 1994, 229pp, illus, g loss, appen, notes, biblio, index; $39.95 hb) Let the Sea Make a Noise: A History of the North Atlantic from Magellan to MacArthur, by Walter A McDougall (Basic B ooks-Divi sion of HarperCollins, New York NY, 1993, 793pp, illus, sources, gloss, index; $30hc) J, SEA HISTORY 70, SUMMER 1994

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