Sea History 087 - Winter 1998-1999

No. 87

NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY

WINTER 1998-99

. . . . . EA HISTORY:

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

"The Venturesome Pursuit" on THE CAPE HORN ROAD The Historic Journey of the Sloop Experiment Casualties of the Undeclared Naval War A Baltic Schooner Reborn as the Brig Pilgrim Students under Sail in the Summer of 1998

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SEA HISTORY

No. 87

WINTER 1998-99

CONTENTS FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE 6 NMHS MARITIME EDUCATION INITIATIVE. NMHS Sea Experience Programs: Challenges and Adventures on the Water Students and teachers who participated in NMHS Sea Experience Programs in 1998 report on their life-changing experiences Life at Sea Is the Teacher, by Alix T Thorne The recipient ofthe 1998 NMHS Walter Cronkite Award far Excellence in Maritime Education discusses her work with students

11 THE CAPE HORN ROAD, XVII. America Begins to Change the Atlantic World,

by Peter Stanford The port ofNew York leads the US in its "venturesome pursuit ofcommerce" in local waters and around the world 18 SHIP OF THE ISSUE. The Brig Pilgrim: The Old and the New, by Capt. Raymond

Wallace The saga offinding and refitting a Baltic schooner and sailing her across the Atlantic with teenagers in crew

18

22 "In thy map securely saile," by Alice Hudson

Maps and charts from the Map Division of The New York Public l ibrary display the history of mapping, the development of technology and the pursuit of knowledge 28 MARINE ART. The Sloop Experiment Leads the Hudson out into the Wider

World, by L. F Tantillo l. F Tantillo '.s vibrant images ofthe sloop Experiment and his detailed research into its place in Hudson River and American history farm the basis far Project Experiment '.s plan to build and sail a replica ofthe vessel 22

34 USS Kearny and USS Reuben James: Early Casualties of the Undeclared Naval War, by William H l angenberg American sailors traversed the dangerous waters ofthe North Atlantic and paid the ultimate price in World War°!! before America '.s official entry into the conflict

COVER: The Black Ball packet Orph eus makes her way down the East River from her South Street pier on a blustery day, passing local traffic, steam and sail, in 1835 on her regular run to Liverpool in john Stobart's oil painting. (See pages 11- 16)

(Courtesy ofMaritime Heritage Prints, Boston MA)

DEPARTMENTS 2

DECK LOG & LETTERS 40 AMERICAN MERCHANT 5 NMHS NEWS MARINE MUSEUM NEWS 26 MARINE ART NEWS 43 REVIEWS 38 SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS 48 PATRONS

28 SEA HISTO RY (iss n 0 146-93 12) is published quarterly by the ational Maritime Historical Society, 5 John Walsh Bl vd ., PO Box 68 , Peekskill NY 10566 .

Periodi cals posrnge paid at Peekskill NY 10566 and add '! mailing offi ces.

CO PYRIGHT © 1998 by d1 e Natio nal M aritim e Historical Society. Tel: 9 14-737-7878.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes w Sea Histo ry, PO Box 68, Peekskill NY l 0566.

NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY

LETTERS

DECK LOG Dave Brown and I were talking about the Experiment, the Hudson River sloop that sailed halfway round the world to China in 1785. Rear Admiral David Brown, president of the State University of New York Maritime College, Fort Schuyler, leads Clutching his new DLitt, our President expounds on the project to build a working the Experiment as SUNY Maritime College Presirep li ca of this gallant 60-foot top- dent RADM David Brown waits his turn to get in sail sloop, servi ng as Project Ex- a word or two. (Photo: SUNY Maritime College) periment co-ch airm an with Peekskill (NY) City Manager General Patrick Garvey, USMC (Ret).

Supported by educators and civic leaders, the Project mission is to tie the Hudson River towns together in shipborne educational program. T his will revive to fresh purpose the riverine communications system that helped build New York State and the nation. It wi ll help people young and old learn at first hand how all this happened-and what it was really like along the way.

This venture, ab ly piloted by our great friend, the late Basil Harrison, is set forth in Basil's own words on page 30 of this issue, supplemented by the artist Len Tantill o's appreciation of the Experiments place in Hudson River history, on pages 28-31. We shall all be aware of Basil's cheerful, dedicated sp irit as Project Experiment goes forward in coming months.

The occas ion ofAdmiral Brown's and my exchange of ideas was the graduation of the summer class at the Maritime College in the Bronx, New York. Founded in 1874 aboard the schoolship St. Mary's, this venerable institution is alive wi th new initiatives and outreach into the local urban neighborhoods, while it turns out heads-up citizens ab le to take on the wo rld and to uphold the traditions of American seafaring.

I was on deck to receive an honorary degree as Doctor of Letters. Addressing the graduating class, I talked abo ut Felix Riesenberg, a shipmaster and later president of the schoolship that became the college. This plain-spoken man never lost his seamanly ways and learning, hard-won in rugged Cape Horn sailing in the Down East three-skysail-yarder A.}. Fuller. He also m ade his mark in the literary world, writing the classic Under Sail and other books that live today. With Riesenberg, as with our friend Basil, words and acts spring from the same so urce.

In the 1920s he joined forces with the novelist Christopher Morley to getasquarerigger sailing under the American fl ag again-a project which succeeded when James Farrell of Farrell Lines moved in to pick up where the Three Hours for Lunch Club left off. But that's another story, for another day ....

"The American Experiment" T he Experiment will benefit from the taunt seamanly style found at the Maritime College as it will from the active, open approach to learning Basil Harrison brought it. From it will surely grow new initiatives in learn ing-and the sense of fun that grows from dedicated service to a good cause!

President George Washington (a more witty and innovative person than pictured by some dour ideologues) spoke of the young Republic he led as "the American Experimen t. " The sense of adventure in that phrase, and the simple readiness to be judged by results achieved under the open sky, pose an everrenewed challenge to succeeding generations of Americans.

And it is in that young and wise spirit that the sloop Experiment will sail.

- PETER STANFORD

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Encouraging Notes from Pete Seeger I've just finished reading Sea H istory 85, and write in deep admiration . I'm taking yo u up on your offer to sponsor gift memberships.

O ne of my grandfa thers had two uncl es lost at sea-one was a m ate on a merchant ship swept overboard in an A tlantic gale in 1820, another captain of a navy ship sunk off Veracruz in 1844. M y ocher grandfather was a navy man who saw action in Cuba 100 years ago, and a few years later got to meet Joshua Slocum when the laner was lecturing in Nantucket.

Keop oo!

M-/

PETE SEEGER

Beacon, New York Solidarity from the Boston Marine Society At a meeting of th e Boston Marine Society on 13 October, it was voted to make a donatio n of $25 0 to "Do So mething for the Ship ." A nd, bycheway, lrvingJohnson, whose words ini tiated the campaign, was a member of the Society.

CAPT. HAROLD F. LYNC H Secretaty/T reasurer Boston Marine Society Bosto n, Massachusetts We aregratefit!for the supportofthe world's oldest marine society, established in 1742.-ED.

Ernestina Extends Her Thanks O n behalf of the Schoo ner Ernestina, official vessel of th e Co mm o nwealth of Massach usetts, I wo uld like to express o ur sin ce re app reciation to the Rockland Co un ty Bicentennial Committee, the National Maritime Histo rical Society, the local officials of Stony Point and al l the peo ple of th e comm uni ty who wo rked together for an exceptio nal event, great hosp itali ty and a m emorable visit to Rockland for a great Hudso n River celebration Memorial Day weeke nd. You made us feel very welcome.

We commend al l fo r pulling the stops out and going for such a big event, the Tal l Ships Riverfest. Congratulations on your success.

GREGG SWANZEY, Executive D irector Schooner Ernesti na Foundatio n New Bedford, Massachusetts Schooner Ernestina Foundation, Box 2010, New Bedford MA 02741-2010; web site: www.ernestina.org.

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

•

Summer of Sail Training Launched a Lifetime of Opportunities I suppo rt your proj ect to ger yo ung peo ple interested in the sea-ler an old man tell you why. As a high school junior in 1935 I answered an ad for a summer learning experi ence on a rail ship offered by rhe American Nautical Academy aboard rhe Marsala , commanded by Captain Olive r Bo hid. Every morning starred at 0630 with "all hands up and over rh e mainmast. " M y first ass ignment was as the Captain's cabin boy (I think I was the cleanest-looking cadet on board that month).

As a result of that experience I applied in 1938 for rhe US Merchant Marine Cader Co rps and was appointed ro Moore-Mac's SS Brazil as a D eck Cad er. I later sailed with American Export Line, did my active duty in the Navy, and afte r the war sailed with Alcoa until 1949, at w hich rime I went to work for rhe NY Port Authori ty. I retired in 1980 as Ge neral Manager, Marine Terminals.

Ir is very important to help get yo ung peo ple exposed to the wo nders of the sea.

CYR TL V. STORER Whiting, New Jersey Basil Harrison and Project Experiment My wife Beth and I had rhe opporruniry to co ngramlate Bas il Harrison on receiving NM HS's Distinguished Service Award for his commitment to Proj ect Experiment at the Society's Annual M eeting held at M ystic Seaport in April 1998.

Basil Harrison 's resolve is a scintillating example of the comm itment I find so inspiring and abundan t among our m embers. H e will be missed as he has left us w i rh a high standard to maintain.

STEVEN J ONES Middletown, D elaware A remem brance of Basil's life appears on p.

41.-ED. Vets Interested in WWII in the Pacific USS Morris, a Sims-class destroyer, named afte r Comm. C harl es Morris (1 784- 1856), was built by rhe No rfolk Navy Yard. She served in both rh e Atl antic and Pacific fl eets and made 3 passages through rh e Panama Canal. Morris an d her crew earn ed 15 barde sta rs and awards for other actions in their figh ring.

Morris did every possible tas k, including rhe rescue of hundreds of survivors SEA HISTORY 87 , WINTER 1998-99

from sinking aircraft ca rriers. W hen rhe Secretary of the Navy spoke ar our reunion in 1988, he said " l ,7 50 m en were saved by the Morris."

Old ve terans seem to share a common goal, to put a human face o n historic tragedies, guard the m emori es, tell the "sea stories" of rhe ships, the survivo rs, and the victims. We are t rying to locate veterans in re rested nor only in the Bartles of M idway and Okinawa but also in o ther Pacific O cean areas where Ameri ca n sailors, airmen, marines, soldiers and Coast Guardsm en fought and died .

C DR WILLIAM C. GIBSON , USN (Rer) USS Morris (DD-41 7) Veterans Ass'n USS Morris (DD-4 17) Veterans Association, PO Box 187, Chatham PA 193 18.

More Remembrances of "Shetlands Bus" I sent a copy of Sea H istory 84, with rh e arti cle on rhe KNM H itra-rh e "Shetlands Bus" which ran men and supplies into German-occupied No1way in WWII-to a fri end of mine, Jan E rikso n, in H augesund, Norway. Jan served in rhe Norwegian underground durin g rh e war and remembers rhe H itra. I am enclosing photos of her ly ing alongside the quay this summer in Haugesund, Norway. She appears to be shipshape and in Bristol fas hio n, her age 56 years.

CAPT. WARREN G. LEBACK Princeton, New J ersey In his letter in Sea H istory 86 regarding m y articl e on KNM H itra (SH84) concerning

KNM Hirra, indeed looking shipshap e and in Bristol fashion, in H augesund, Norway

the ro le of rhe "Shetlands Bus" in the sin kin gs of Bismarck, Scharnhorst and Tirpitz, Marc Cohen was quite correct in saying rhe subchasers played no part in the sinkin g of the Bismarck. As he poims our, the sinking rook place many months prior to Norway's acquisition of the SCs. Neve rtheless, the Norwegians we re sending their fishin g smacks back and forth between rhe Sh etlands and Norway, ca rrying short-wave radios, transmitting equipment, coast watchers, and undergrou nd personnelall to inform the Allies of everything they detected regarding enem y ship movements.

The sinkings of the Scharnhorstand Tirpitz rook place in Norwegian waters, after the SCs we re in operation. No one will ever know the exact nature of the communicatio ns network that led to these sinkings but it seems safe to say the Shetlands Bus was a key link in a highly coordinated, complex effort.

THEODORE R. TREADWELL D anbury, Co nnecticut

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87

Return to National Maritime Historical Society, PO Box 68, Peekskill NY 10566

3

NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY OFFICE RS &T RUSTEES: Chairman, C raig A.

C. Reyno lds; Vice Chairmen, Ri chardo Lopes, Edwa rd G. Ze lin sky; President, Peter Stanfo rd ; Vice President, No rma Stanfo rd ; Treasurer, W illia m H . Whi te; Secretary, M arshall Streibert; Trustees, Wa lter R. Brown, W. G rove Co nrad, Fred C. H awkins, Jakob lsbra nd rsen, Steven W. Jones, G uy E. C. Ma itl and, Ka ren E. Ma rkoe, Wa rre n Ma rr, I l, H arry Ma rshall , Br ia n A. McAl lister, David A. O 'Neil, O gden Reid , Cha rles A. Robertson, H oward Slotn ick, Bradfo rd Sm irh, Joh n Ta lbot, Lou is A. Trapp, ) r., D avid B. Vietor, H a rry E. V in all , fll , J ean Wort, Alexa nder Zago reos; Chairman Emeritus, Alan G . C hoate FOUNDER: Ka rl Ko rtum (19 17- 1996) OVERSEERS: Chairman , Townse nd H o rn or; C harl es F. Ada ms, RADM David C. Brown, Wa lter Cro nk ite, J o hn Leh ma n, J . W illi am M idd endo rf, IJ , Gra ham H . Phillips, Jo hn Sto bart, W illi a m G. W inte rer ADVISORS : Co-Chairmen, Frank 0. Braynard, Melbourne Smith ; D. K. Abbass, Raymond Aker, George F. Bass, Fra ncis E. Bowker, O swald L. Brett, o rman J . Brouwer, RADM) oseph F. Call o, W illi am M. DoerAin ger, Fra ncis J. Duffy, John Ewald, Joseph L. Fa rr, Ti morhy G. Foore, W ill ia m G il ke rso n , T homas Gi ll m er, Wa lter J .

Handelman , C harles E. Herdendo rf, Steven A. H yman , H ajo Knuttel , Gun nar Lu ndeberg, Co nrad Mi lster, W illi am G. M uller, David E. Perkins, Nancy Hughes Richardso n, T im othy J .

Runyan, Ra lph L. Snow, Shann o n J . Wall , Thomas W ells SEA H ISTORY & NMHS STAFF: Editor, Peter Stanford; Executive Editor, No rma Stanford; Managing Editor, J usrine Ah lstrom; Contributing Editor, Kev in H aydo n; Editorial A ssistant, Shelley Reid; Director ofEducation, David B.Al len; Director of Marketing and M embership Development, Blaire Sm ith Bell iveau; Chief of Staff, Bu rchenal G reen; M embership Secretary/Merchandising, Erika Kurtenbach; Membership Assistant, Irene Eisen fe ld; Advertising Secretary, Ca rmen M cCa ll um ;Accounting, Joseph Caccio la; Secretary to the President, Karen Ritell T O GET IN TOUCH W ITH US :

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4

Norfolk's Fate in the Revolutionary War T im Jo nes is justly proud of all the hard wo rk he and others have do ne to revitalize the No rfo lk waterfront (SH86). However, I ca nnot let the old canard that British Gove rnor Lo rd Dunm ore "shelled No rfolk to the ground" pass without comment.

As Dunmo re and his little fl eet were anchored in No rfo lk H arbor, he told N orfo lk authorities that if they could not guarantee that cannons would not be fired at him he wo uld feel free to fire on th e row n in retaliation . T hey fired a few shots at Dunmore, and he fired a few shots back. The V irginia forces then set fire to N orfolk and made sure that not a single building was left intact, so Dunmore would not be able to come ashore and make it his capital. T hey loudly claimed that it was Dunmo re's cannonballs that set the city ablaze, and that lie persisted until disproven a generatio n ago.

J OHN FITZ H UG H MILLAR

W illiamsburg, V irginia

Americans in the Mediterranean?

Can anyone identify the Am eri can ship in the Straits of Messin a sho rtly befo re th e Battle of the N ile in 1798-mentio ned in the diary of John N icol, m arin er (S H 85, pp . 62- 3)- whose captain refused to yield the best ancho rage to Captain Foley of HMS Goliath? N icol called the ship a manof-war. H owever, there were no American naval vessels in the Medi te rranean at that time. American merchantmen, though, were heavily armed to res ist French priva teers and naval vessels. N icol seemed impressed by the Ameri can captain's spirit. H e does no t mentio n Captain Foley's reactio n. Although the Am eri can was a neutral, they had a mutual enemy, French priva tee rs.

Foley was one of N elson's great captains. As well as leading the attack in Abo ukir Bay, he was Nelso n's fl ag ca ptain at C openhage n later. It was to him , regarding Admiral Parker's signal to w ithdraw, that N elson said, "You know, Foley, I have on ly one eye . I have a ri ght to be blind so metimes, and I really do not see the signal! " R O BE RT P AR KINSON

Berkeley, Califo rnia

It's about Time!

My co mpliments o n a great job with the Columbia story in Sea History 86. I was also deli ghted to see the articl e on the Lady Washington. It's abo ut tim e those stories

were told, as a piece of Am eri ca n maritime history even vintage seafa rers a re not awa re of. I have visited Adve nture Cove depi cted in George D av idso n's painting "Winter Quarters" (p. 13). It is o n M ear's Island, Clayoquot So und, Va nco uve r Island.

It's good to see Steve Mayo's painti ng of Columbia crossing the bar, whi ch I co mmiss io ned fo r the G ray's H arbo r Historical Seapo rt Authority in 198 9. Indeed , Steve is o ne of the best maritime artists and histo ri ans in the No rth wes t. T he picture cap tio n sho uld read "May 11, 1792." T he land promo ntory o n the lefr is Cape Disappointment at the Colu mbia Ri ver en trance.

CAPT. RAYMOND E. W ALLACE San Ped ro, Califo rni a

Clarification of Privateers' Strategy I would like to clari fy a point on privateer strategy in an o therwise fin e article on the replica of the Lady Washington. The article stated that a priva teer would attempt to strike "the powder roo ms, armo ry, navigation stations and offi ce rs' quarters" o f a target vessel. H owever, artillery of the 18th ce ntury was not accurate enough to allow targetin g any part of a vessel.

T he usual result of an unlucky hit on the magazin e was co mplete destructi o n of the vessel and dam age to the privatee r. As fo r an armo ry, if the merchant vessel crew had decided to put up a fight, the arms wo uld al ready have been handed out to the crew.

T he author also mentions "placing 30 to 40 armed m en in the hold ." Unless stealth was called fo r, the crew wo uld all be o n deck making noise. The usual strategy was to let the prey see the crew o n deck waiting to board and ho pe that the sight of so many, alo ng with a shot across th e bow, wo uld bring surrender without doin g any damage to the vessels. It usual ly wo rked .

MIKE FLAN

ERY

Syracuse, New Yo rk

ERRATA Paul & C o., US distributors of H. M. Bark Endeavour, by Ray Parkin, advise us th at the book may be ordered through local bookstores. Contact information in SH 86 was incorrect.

W e are experiencing some growing pains in using new technologies to produce th e magazine. W e apologize for errors such as the anom alous font that appeared o n pages 26 and 27 of SH86 .

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

NMHSNEWS Walter Cronkite Honored at NMHS Maritime Education Initiative Reception Walter Cronkite received long-overdue recognition for his co ntriburion to rhe maritime heritage as fri ends and supporters of NMHS gathered at India House in Lower Manharran on Tuesday, 6 October, to honor his work wirh NMHS 's Mari rime Education Iniriarive, which he serves as chairman. H e was presented wi rh the Society's Founder's Sheer Anchor Award, given to individuals whose work wirh NMHS rakes the Society in new directions and to greater purposes .

A broad cross-section of people from the marine industry, maritime educators and preservationists, and business leaders, as well as friends and colleagues of Mr. Cro nkite fill ed the roo m with cheers and laughter as he looked ar his warch, and wirh his newsman's sense of riming, nored thar he'd been allowed 40 seconds fo r his remarks . H e proceeded to tell the assembled: The educational initiative we began a few years ago has begun to pay off We have miles to go yet, and we will sail those waters together. I am particularly proud of the new educational effo rt to bring back to the people ofNew York the great heritage of our port, one ofthe great ports ofthe world. Godspeed to you and this organization.

Joining in the NMHS tribute were George Plimpton, Kent Barwick and Howard Slotnick; William F. Buckley, Jr. and Peter Jennings sent messages to be read ar the reception. A high point of the eve ning was rhe rime Mr. Cronkite spent discussing sail training wirh four students from rhe Spirit ofMassachusetts, docked in New York City as part of its O cean C lass room educational voyage along the East Coast.

Excellence in Maritime Education As parr of the work of the Maritime Education Initiative, NMHS has so ught our and recognized particularly innovative, challenging and effective programs for students. This year, rhe WalterCronkiteAward for Excellence in Maritime Education was presented by Mr. Cronkite to Alix T. Thome of the Schooner H arvey Gamage Foundation for her successful programs in deepwater sea experience under sail at high school, undergraduate and postgraduate levels. (See Ms. Thorne's remarks on p. 8.)

We also presented the 1997 award to Capt.

James Gladson, founder and president of the Los Angeles Maritime Institute, for his

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

successful, intensive work with th e children of Los Angeles and his inspired leadership of the TopSail Yourh Programs.

Capital Ship Essay Contest Through generous grants from rhe D avid M . Milton Trust and rhe Mobil Corporation, the Maritime Education Initiative carried out a national essay compennon to encourage students to explore rhe maritime and commercial heritage of ports (see Sea H istory 86, p. 32) .

Benjamin Ying, winner of the first prize, received his award and had the opportunity to discuss his research on the port of New York with Mr. Cronkite.

-JUSTINE.AHLSTROM

With their awards, from left: Capt. Jim Gladson, A lix T Thorne, Walter Cronkite, Daniel Ying, Benjamin Ying (top). At right, Walter Cronkite checks his allotted time as he receives the NMH S Founder's Sheet Anchor Award. (Photos: Patrick Callahan)

ANNuAL AWARDS D INNER SALUTES AMERICA'S TALL SHIP, USCG BARK EAGLE A record crowd of 280 members and image to Capt. Papp for the ship . The fri ends gathered at the New York Yacht two were also presented with copi es of C lub in Manharran on 5 November fo r Sea History Press's new edition of The NMHS 's Annual Awards Dinner-this Skipper & the Eagle, by Capt. Go rdon year a tribute to the US Coast G uard McGowan. The evening was enhanced Academy and America's tall ship, rhe by superb performances by the cadets of USCG Bark Eagle. We we re particularly rhe USCG Academy Singers. privileged to have RADM Douglas We thank the Dinner Commirree, led Teeson, superintendent of the Coas t by Trustee Guy E. C. Maitland, for their G uard Academy in New London, Con- work in creating such a successful event. necticut, as keynote speaker. H e From left: j ean Wort, Howard Slotnick (NMHS rece ived th e Society's Distintrustees), Capt. Robert ]. Papp, J r. ofEagle, artist guished Service Award, as did William G. Mu ller, RADM Douglas Teeson, USCG Eagle's current commandUSCGA (Photo: CDR Daniel R. Croce, USCG) ing officer, Capt. Robert J . Papp , Jr. , and Howard Slotnick, trustee and director of tall ship events for NMHS and chairman and CEO of OpSail Miami.

A high light of the event was rhe presentation of W illiam G. Muller's painting of Eagle in New York H arbor to Admiral T eeson for the Academy and m e presentation of a framed print of the

5

MARITIME EDUCATION INITIATIVE

NMHS Sea Experience Programs: Challenges and Adventures In 1998, NMHS carried out two experiential educational programs aboard tall ships, the first over Memorial Day Weekend during a parade ofsail sponsored by the Rockland County (NY) Bicentennial Commission and the second through our own two week-long "Sail of Two Cities" voyages with students from Boston's Hull Life-Saving Museum and New York's Floating the Apple. Here 's what participants said about their sea experience.

T he hi ghlight of Rockland Coun ty's bicen tennial year was the Tall Ships Riverfes t, paying tribute to the role of the Hudso n Ri ve r and of our m aritime histo ry in the development of Rockland Coun ty. A flotilla of ten tall ships, acco mpanied by USCG bark Eagle, sailed up the Hudso n and docked in Rockland ports. Eight of the ships, "H MS" Rose, the Quinnipiack, the

Richard Robbins, the Ernestina, HMS Bounty, th e Harvey Gamage, the America, and the Providence carried 200 Rockland students from New Yor k City to the students' hom e pons d uring the parade of sail o n 22 May. Five of my sixth-grade Fa rl ey M iddle School students- G regory Al bert, M ichelle Costa, Jennifer Edlun d, Vince nt Femia, and Amanda McLaughli n-a nd I we re part of the crew of H MS Bounty. In anti cipati o n of the voyage, the children didn 't mind being on the bus at 5:1 5AM fo r the trip to Pier A in Manhattan. V incent wrote: I had to get up at 4:00 in the morning. I wondered why I was doing this. I found out that Friday, May 22, 1998, was one of the best days of my life.

As we sailed back and fo rth across the harbo r fo r filming of "Good M o rning Am erica," students raised and lowered sails, wo rked as a team co haul o n lines and began to learn the intricacies of sa iling a ship.

Perhaps rhe mosr exciting part of the trip was scaling the ratlin es . We lea rn ed how co use the safety harness and were cold co climb

N R OTC students furl a sail aboard HMS Bo un ty (above) while Vincent Femia takes the helm (right) and Amanda McLaughlin climbs the ratlines (far right). (Photos: Barbara Friedrich)

up the starboa rd side and down the po rt side, "up and over" as the crew explain ed .

Mi chell e w ro te: We soon got to my favorite part of the trip, climbing the net [ratlines}. When they first started talking about going up I was scared and unsure. But I was sick of being called a wimp and decided I could prove myself I grabbed hold of the rope for dear life and slowly started climbing. Before I knew it I was at the top. I couldn't believe I made it! Soon came the harder part, getting down. . . .

Eventually I got it and slowly made my way down. We were all very proud-even Mrs. Friedrich did it!

Jennifer had a slightly different view: When it was my turn to climb up the mast I was very nervous and thought I was going swimming. The netting [ratlines} had very large holes, and at times I thought I wouldfall through. When it was my turn to climb it was extra scary because we were just about to go under the George Washington Bridge.

As we co ntinued co sail north wa rd th e students roo k turns steering the ship, mastering th e p ro per way co coil lines and learnin g so me seafa rin g phrases. When we fin ally docked, we we re exhausted but sorry co see o ur adve nture end. As Vincent wro te: When J stepped on land again, my legs felt wobbly. I could barely walk. I still can't get over the fact that we were a real part of history.

Perh aps G reg said it best for all of us.

When I was chosen to go on the ship my parents told me it was something I 'd never forget-! won't!

-

BARBARA F RIEDRIC H

Farley M iddle School

At left, New York students sweat a line aboard the frigate Rose.

(Photo: Don Betts)

6

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

on the Water

We had the opportunity to show offto our families who were invited for a day sail.

It was great to see the parents as they watched their fearless children scamper aloft to unfarl the sails as we got underway in Boston H arbor. Not only did these children feel proud and confident . .. but the parents andfamilies, after the initial shock, were pleased and proud of their children's accomplishments. These children were changed as a direct result ofthis trip [and} will return to their schools as ambassadors not only for the Rose but also for sail training in general.

Andfrom the "SailofTwo Cities" aboard the frigate Rose: [Following our week aboard "HMS" R ose} two of our rowing gigs were on the water off Red Hook, rehearsing a shanty-accompanied "dance" performance. One gig was crewed entirely by Rose veterans, and it was clear that something quite special bound them together. I sensed that in all ofthe kids who raced on the Hudson the Sunday after the ship's arrival. . . . They had become inseparable, surrounded by strangepeople who knew nothing oftheir week-long trials and discoveries as a crew.

D. JOHNSON Marine Science Teach er South Boston H igh School

-CARLETON

K. DAVIS Founding T rustee Floating the Apple

- MI CHAEL

I learned how to work as part ofa team, how to put up with different people's attitudes and their different personalities. I also overcame a fear ofclimbing heights. Now it's a piece of cake.

-LATOYA EDWARDS,

NY

I got something.for myself, too, to know that I'm capable of doing things . ...

My effort counted.

-DOMINICK

FRA COIS, NY

I did things that mostpeople only dream of doing. I now have that experience and knowledge to share with others.

-EVELYN OSPINA,

NY

One ofour trainees told me later: 'Tve been asleep for 19 years, now I'm finally awake. " -

BRENDAN MALONE

Fl oating the Apple

SEA HISTORY 87 , WINTER 1998-99

UL..- - --

--'

Top, left to right: New York students work the ship in wet weather. Desiree October takes her turn at the wheel, concentrating on keeping the ship within 3 degrees ofthe correct course. Bosun J esse Schaffer ofthe frigate Rose looks on as D aniel Francois takes the helm.

Evelyn Ospina, Daniel Francois and Alex Taveras (above) navigate unfamiliar waters. While Katanyah Yehudin takes the wheel (left), Evelyn Ospina reports from the bow watch. (Photos: D on Betts)

7

MARITIME EDUCATION INITIATIVE

Life at Sea Is the Teacher!

by Alix T. Thorne

T

week, th ey we re o rganized into standing watches and taught the line-handling skills and co mmands necessary fo r operation of the vessel. T hey began a week of visiting the places where our maritime tradi tions we re created. Fro m the great po rt of Boston aboard a repli ca of a G lo uces ter fis hing schooner, they transited the m odern mi racle of the Cape Cod Canal and sail ed o n to absorb th e whal ing histo ry of Na ntucket.

Next they navigated the tri cky river up to Mystic Seapo rt for an overview of li fe in a New England seafarin g village and a visit to other ships like th e L. A. Dunton-an authentic fishin g schoo ner.

With summer warmth long go ne, so me strong winds, rainy nights and, at rim es, the dreaded sea sickness, they learned what it was like to be burrowed deep into the covers and hear "Time to get up , yo ur wa tch ," and know that their frie nds on deck we re co ld and we t and yea rning fo r sleep. If they we re home, perhaps they wo uld ro ll over and skip school that day, but on the ship that is not an o ption-yo u get up , even if it is 3:30 in the mo rning, because to morrow it will be yo u in the rain on deck and yo ur shipmate will do it fo r you . Above all, they learn that no matter After receiving the Walter what, the ship comes fi rs rCronkite Award, Alix Thorne (left) returned to sea their survival depends o n it.

So o n with the journey herselfas second mate and arri va l in the great and aboard the .frigate Rose wo nd ro us port ofNew York, where she could be found rhreadi ng th e treacherous furling the t'gallant. (Photo, H ell's Gate, past the jeering courtesy Alix Thorne) priso ners locked in co nverted Glenn McKechnie, Hollie fe rry boats nea r Ryke r' s IsGillis, Eddie Ng and Mariah Keagy .from Ocean land, past the lux ury apartClassroom met with Walter men rs, and beneath the t rafand Betsy Cronkite at the fic roa rin g across the BrookNMHS reception (Photo: lyn Bridge. Every turn of the Patrick Callahan) river prese nts a new and wondrous view ofNew York, one nor visible from cars and subways o r even o n foo t.

T hey ti e up at South Stree t in the shadow of the mi ghty ships Peking and Wavertree. T he next morning it is "All Hands" at 4AM and these kids, fres h from life on a repli ca fis hing schooner, visit th e Ful to n Fish M arker where the history of th e fi shing industry comes

hank yo u to all of the t rustees of NMHS fo r choosing me to be the 1998 rec ipi ent of th e Wa lte r Cro nkite Award fo r Excellence in Maritim e Educa tio n. Ir was a great ho nor to meet Walte r Cro nkite at Indi a H ouse in New Yo rk C ity on 6 O ctober, as well as to be part of a tribute to him. His in te rest in the m ari time wo rld has been an inspirati o n ro many of us who are dedica ted ro raking kids to sea.

Yo ur Society, my H arvey Gamage Foundati o n, the A merican Sail T raining Associatio n, O peration Sail and the myri ad orga nizatio ns that advocate the benefits of education at sea, sail trainin g, and the preserva ti o n of m aritime traditi o ns are all wo rki ng to offer opportuni ties to yo uth of d ive rse backgro unds to grow in to respo nsible yo un g leaders who will "lean forwa rd in to li fe, " as Irv ing Johnso n observed.

T he fo ur students fro m Ocea n C lassroo m who attended the ce remo ny at India H o use had just spent their fi rs t week on boa rd the Spirit of Massachusetts in the co mpany of 16 other students, two teachers and eight professio nal crew. In that first

8

alive amidst the hustle and bustl e, th e sigh rs and smells of the market. The vessels and th e quantiti es and types of fi sh have changed, but th e buying and selling, th e search fo r freshn ess and quali ty continue.

By evening, tired and exhilarated by th e sights of New Yo rk, fo ur of rhe students represented the gro up at India Ho use, to meet W alter Cro nki te. As I accepted the award fo r th e H arvey Gam age Fo undatio n, I loo ked at those students with awe and envy. T hey are living the life that we all, in di ffe rent ways, are wo rking so ha rd to make poss ibl e-th ro ugh fund raisin g, program development, ship preserva tio n and advocacy of the benefits of exposure to life at sea.

Fri ends and fa mil y ofren ask what it is that I do with the Harvey Gamage. Isn' t it ni ce, th ey say, that yo u reach kids to sa il , that yo u rake them cruising. No, no, I say-th e life at sea is the reach er, the experi ence alo ng the way and the sight of fa r off places and di ffe rent cultures are the textbook. W ith the help of qualifi ed teac hers, with the dedi catio n of profession al crew, with the invaluabl e support of Proctor Academy in New H am pshire fo r academic accredi tatio n, we can combine all of the elements of education under sa il. Al l those ph rases that we speak so earnestl y-sail train ing, seam ans hi p, character buil d ing, leadership and respo nsibility, teamwo rk and cooperation-as soon as the lin es are cast off o n the first day, th e lesso ns begin and the adve nture unfolds, as limitl ess as the imagin atio n of each perso n o n board.

T he students who came to India H ouse went back to their ship, and at the slack ride, they left the dock, ancho ring at midnight in the shadow of the Statu e of Liberty. E ight weeks and approximately 25 00 miles late r they will dock for th e fin al rim e in the Dominican Republic. If they experienced so much in that first week, im agin e th e sto ries they will have wh en they join their fa milies fo r T hanksgiving-imagine th e changes the fa m ilies will find in their so ns and daughters.

And the res t of us present at India H o use th at evening we nt back to o ur own ways of suppo rting these kinds of o ppo rrun ities for kids across the nati o n. ~

Schooner Harvey Gamage Foundation, Inc., PO Box 446, Cornwall NY 12578; 914 534-3881 SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

This rendition of the 1907 Lune Valley Fast Steam Launch is I/ 10th scale, 42" in length.

Th e brass fitti ngs and stainl ess-steel shaft for th e prope ll er give th is mod el the authenticity o f th e full -s ized original, and the white 'OPAL' 1907 Lune Valley Fast Stea m Launch (Mad e in England) fibe rglass hull ca n be "7l 200ps i. custo m painted an y co lo r. All parts for the stea m engin e tested to La er-c ut ply bulkhead s, sheet mahoga n y, ply and str ip wood are a ll suppl ied.

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3) Warship Plans: early US sail and steam navy, ordnance, mid-18th century-1900, including Civil War. 125 pp.

Send U.S. $10 per catalog (check/money order only) payable to SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION to: Ship Plans, NMAH-5010/MRC 628, Smithsonian Institution, Washin ton, DC 20560-0628 USA

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SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

THE CAPE H ORN ROAD, PART XVII:

America Begins to Change the Atlantic World, Led by a Powerful "X" Factor in New York's Way of Doing Things

by Peter Stanford nowflakes whirled dow n out of the gray winter sky as the England. T heir reaso ning ran co mpl etely co ntrary to the custombells of St. Paul's C hapel at Broadway and Ful ro n Street rang ary practice of a ship departing only when she'd loaded a fai rly out th e hour- ten-o 'clock ofa frosty winter morning. It was complete cargo. People we re taken aback when she d id actually sail Mo nday, 5 Jan uary 1818, and the horses that had drawn the on tim e. T he co unterpart ship that the owners had arranged to sail carriages bringing anxious relatives and well-wishers down ro New from Liverpool in England did not sa il as scheduled on 1 January, Yo rk's South Street wa terfro nt snorted puffs of steam fro m their but delayed her sai ling til 9 January, when her cargo was co mplete. nostrils as they shifted from foo t ro foo t, wa iting fo r whatever was Most owners wo uld have been pleased to get that full loading, but going to happen. these we re no ordinary owners. They persisted in their vision of At the foot of Ful ro n Street the pewtery East Rive r wa ter slid regular, on-time sailings . An d in th e future, all Black Ball packets through th e pilin gs of th e pi ers, bearin g an occasion al shee t of sailed on time. ice on its way downriver towa rd the sea. Just to the north, at the T he Bl ack Ballers soon began to command premiu m rates and Beekm an Street pier, a tall, bluffto sail with full holds as sh ippers bowed, smartly painted and varlearned to get their goods aboard on nished ship lay with sails hanging in time, knowing that the ship would M ost owners would have been pleased to get leave when she said she wo uld. And their gear. As the St. Paul 's bells sounded the hour, the big shi p, over that full loading, but these were no ord inary the company did everything else to one hundred fee t in length, the last ass ure fast, regular d e! ive ry of owners. They p ersisted in their vision of wo rd in transAdantic travel, cast off cargo-as fas t and regular as the her lines forward and hauled out of regular, on-time sailings. A nd in the future, passage could be made in a sailing the slip on her sp ring line, the me n ship dependent on the vaga ries of all Black Ball p ackets sailed on time. forwa rd smartl y h oisted jib and the wind. fores taysa il. They backed the graceThe line sailed nothin g but new, ful airfo ils against the chilly wind to big ships of around 400 rons, in a swing the beauty's head off, as other hands tailed on ro the time when ocean freighters seldom exceeded 100 tons. T heir foretopsail ya rd halyard, hoisting the grea t sail to pull the ship skippers cracked on sail and drove th ese big ships as ships on the forward and out into the seaward stream . T here may have been a North Atlanti c run had never been dri ve n before. In the 1820s song or two on deck aboard this great ship that wo uld be these vessels es tablished an ave rage cross ing time from New York re membered in song and story, but we may be sure there were the ro Liverpoo l of onl y 22 days. The return journey rook 40 days on usual sharp commands-"Look alive there!" '"Vas t heaving!" average. T hese runs co uld be much longe r or a good deal shorter, "That's well, the fore braces!" and the like-for the language of the depending o n wind and weather. But th e Black Ball Line inaugusea has not changed much since that distant snowy day, and the rated what was a virtually new mode of Atlantic crossing, accomway of backi ng a square rigger out of her sli p, not at all. plishi ng the passage, com ing and go in g, in something like half the So the 400-to n packet fames Monroe set fo rth on th e first cusro mary time. rransAdancic passage of th e Black Ball Line. T he p ro ud vessel T he prescient French observer H ector St. John de C revecoeur, stood high out of the wa ter, fo r she carri ed only a small cargo of wh om we saw in our last in stallment call ing attention to Ameriapples, cotto n and turpentine from Southern fields and fo rests, cans as "a new race of man," co uld have take n pride in the changes and flour, ap ples and other produce from New England and local the sailin g of these ships wo uld bring about-fo r he had sa id this New Yo rk and New Jersey fa rms. It was much less than she could new man, the American, wo uld "o ne day cause a great change ro carry and less than she did carry on her subsequent voyages under the wo rld ." th e Blac k Ball fl ag. And o nl y eight passe ngers we re visible o n deck "The Venturesome Pursuit" rather than the 28 she was designed to carry, as the ship stood dow nriver toward the Na rrows and the open sea beyond .

It was no accident that the Black Ball Line was conce ived and T he f ames Monroesetoutca rrying less than half her capacity fo r sail ed from New Yo rk. New Yo rk had risen ro preemin ence among a simple reason: her owners had decreed that she wo uld leave at Ameri ca's seaporrs in a startlingly sho rt tim e after the British ten-o'clock that morning, rain or shine or even, as it wo rked out, pulled out of the burnt-out city. British so ldi ers had occupied the snow-whi ch was partic ul arly bad because a sudden flur ry could city fo r over seven yea rs, from mid-1 776 unti l 25 N ove mber co mpletely close down visibili ty. T he owners were a co nso rtium 1783 , when the occupying arm y marched ro its boats ro board the of five men headed by Jeremiah T hompson, known up and down ships that roo k th em back to E ngland, in acco rdance with th e the Atlantic seaboard as "that wily old Q uaker. " His partn ers were T reaty of Pa ris which en ded the lo ng wa r. T hey left behind th em bankers and shippers interested in the burgeo ning trade with a shatte red city, whose on ly fu nction had been as an increasingly

S

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998- 99

11

This trade opened the Pacific world to a US presence, and it brought American ships to what was to become the US West Coast. isolated fortress shielded by its waterways from a hostile countryside.Trade relations had been disrupted in an age when commerce depended on personal relat ions and rrusr.

In th e face of these formidable obstacles, eleven weeks after the British left, New York's Empress ofChina sa iled from rhe rund own Manhattan waterfront to make the first voyage under the American flag ro C hin a. T he voyage was finan ced by leading citizens from other cities-an ea rly example of New York's magnetic abi li ty to draw in ta lent and funding from outside sources.

The fin ancial backing and government letter of au thoriza ti o n was mustered by that remarkab le Philade lphian Robert Morris, financier of the War of American Independence just ended. He had thought ar first ro send a ship ro rhe Pacific Northwest, bur ultimately serried on the excitin g prospect of direct trade w ith China, in what he called his "ve ntureso me pursuit of commerce."

Boston Mayor Samuel Shaw worked w ith Morris on rhe trad ing strategy, and another Bosto nian , John G reen, commanded rhe ship. Ginseng, an herb makin g a to nic po pular as a stimul ant in C hina, was rhe leading item in rh e outbound ca rgo, supplem ented by pig lead, pep per from Arab ia, woo len clothing and furs, with cons iderabl e cash to make up th e difference in value of their cargo and th e value of the costly teas they plann ed to bring home. A ll worked accordin g to plan , and rhe ship realized a profit of over $3 0 ,000 on an in vestment of $ 120,000 in her 15-monrh voyage.

This remarkable 25% profit did nor pass unnoticed.

Tea was rhe driving force rhar made this pro fir. In rhe hundredodd yea rs that rea had been brought into Britain from the Fa r East, every cargo for Am eri ca h ad had to go through London. Thar restriction was now ended. And six mon rhs after rhe Empress came home, th e 85.5-ron Hudso n River sloop Experiment set sa il o n rhe long voyage to Ca nton under her reso lute skipper Srewan Dean, w ho had sa il ed privateers aga inst the British in th e Revo lu tion.

People were stirred by th e littl e sloo p, 60 feet long, m ak in g this voyage halfway aro und th e wo rld. The d irect passage ro C hina was by way of rhe Cape of Good H ope rather than the fearfu l Cape Horn road, bur the Experiment found high seas and rough go ing enough ro undin g Good Hope on her return journey against th e prevailin g wes terli es of the Roaring Forties.

The great profits of the Empress ofChina's voyage were apparently nor rea lized in rhis voyage, due to grow ing co mpetiti o n in the Ca nton trad e. She brou ght hom e her cargo safely, however, and her crew of ten, includin g two ship's boys. One of rhe two boys, called Blackboy Prin ce, was African A meri can. H e was nor a slave, and was paid rhe sa me amou nt-ÂŁ34, l s, 4p for the voyage-as the other boy. New York's African Ame ri ca n population was roughly one-fifth free in this era, a rati o that steadil y increased as slaves earned the ir fr eedom, or as their owners simply freed them on principle. Complete freedom was on ly secured for New York slaves in 1827.

Accounts differ as to rhe profitabili ty of the Experiment's C hina voyage. Bur it was hail ed in the press as rhe embodim ent of "a spirit of enterpri se," and Captain D ea n's passe nge r business aboard the Experiment flouri shed as peo pl e trave ling on the Hudso n Ri ve r-including, notably, Crevecoeur-crowded aboard rhe sloo p th at h ad bee n to C hin a. This by- product of the voyage certa inl y was profitab le-so much so that Captain Dean soo n built a bi gge r sloop Experiment which continued to do a land-

12

office business, h er cabin fined our in C hin ese carvin gs and gewgaws, her affabl e and wealthy cap rain always ready with a ya rn or two about the "Fl owery Kingdom " of C hin a.

A Growing Pacific Involvement Ir was as well that the good Captain Dean got this advantage from his gallant voyage-a ve ry New York-style ad va n rage, it might be noted , founded on promotion-fo r Bosto n cam e to dominate the first few decad es of the C hina trade. This success was du e to the fact that Boston m erchants chose to pursue the Pacific Northwest fur trade which Bosto n's Columbia had pioneered in her roundrhe-world voyage of 1787-90-as recounted in our last. Precious sea-o tter furs m ade m ore money than ginse ng. And th ere was a double profit involved , first in buying the furs very ch ea ply from the Northwestern Indians, and selling them at an immense profit in C hina, and then selling C hinese tea, silks and porcelains at a healthy profit in New York.

This two-t ier trade in rhe Pacific was a good thin g for the fl edgli ng America n Republi c. Ir opened rhe Pacific wo rld to a US prese nce, and it brought America n ships to wh at was to beco me the US West Coast. The ships had to go by way of rhe rough Cape Horn road aro und the rip of South America, rather than rhe easier passage round So uth Africa's Cape of Good H ope, to pick up chea p furs in the American Northwes t befo re proceeding on to C hin a.

The other great cause of Ame ri can ships raking rhe Ca pe Horn road into the Pacifie was the hunt of the whale, a h un r pursued in to the broad reaches of the wo rlJ 's largest ocean, as the custo mary whalin g gro unds of rhe Atlantic, from Iceland in rhe no rth to the Falkland Islands in the so uth, we re progressively fished our.

The pursuit of whales ca rried American ships to Hawa ii , w here an American whaling captain marri ed in to the Hawaii an royal family. T he islands soo n becam e a ce nter for mail and a va lued stopove r for American wives who had acco mpanied rhei r sh ipm as ter husbands in to the Pacifi c, aga in usu all y arriving by the Cap e Horn road. H awa ii , discove red by Captain Coo k in th e late 1700s, thus came naturally into th e A meri ca n orbit, beco ming a US State in rhe mid- 1900s.

In the Pacific Northwes t, as noted, Boston led in the fur trade.

And America ns as we ll as nat ive peop les lea rn ed much from these Pacifi c enco unters. This is vividly illust rated by rhe career of rhe remarkabl e Captain W illi am Stu rgis. Sturgis came from Barnstab le on Cape Cod, a town whi ch contributed many shipm as rers to Bosto n 's overseas trade. On the death of his father, Sturgis was sent to work at age 14 at a kinsman's counti nghouse in Boston.

Two years later he signed o n to go to sea in rhe 136-ro n Eliza, carrying a crew of 136 m en. Sturgis late r noted: "For defence aga inst th e Indians a much larger number of officers and men were taken than wo uld have bee n requisite for a common voyage ... . " Sturgis, sa iling befo re rh e mas t as a co mmon seam an , soo n became ass ista nt to rhe Eliza's cap rain , a plain man "without edu cation ," as Stu rgis tells us. Sturgis had stud ied navigation and his business experi ence was helpful in man ag in g th e so m etim es co mpl ex dealin gs of the fur trade, in w hi ch the Indians were becoming adept at pitting ship against ship-or, som etimes, in ve nting non existin g ship arrivals ro urge fur prices higher.

Young Sturgis proved a rough, cons istent, fa ir-dea lin g trader.

H e had a ge nuine admiration for th e Indians he dealt with and

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

rook the trouble to lea rn their language.

H e repeatedly deno un ced the perpetrato rs of fraud and viol ence upon these hardy and ge nerous fi shermen . In a memorabl e passage he called them "victims of injustice, cruelty and oppression, and of a policy that seems ro recognize power as th e so le standard of right."

Ir rakes nothin g from this wo rth y sentim ent to note rhar the Noorka Indi ans of Va ncouve r Island were wa rlike and attacked each other as well as rhe in rrusive op presso rs. Sturgis rook ca re to have armed guards ready on his ships and The "venturesome pursuit ofcommerce " took American ships like the 0 rpheus (473 registered when he we m ashore. As he later wro te of tons, launched in 1832) around the world carrying raw materials, manufacturedgoods and the his own experience: immigrants whose labor created the commodities and who purchased what was brought to the His own safety was owing to his habitual burgeoning markets ofthe US. This particular ship, in john Stobart's "The Black Ball Packet vigilance, to his familiarity with the habits Orpheus L eaving New York's South Street in 1835, "(oil on canvas, 30 "x 50 ') made a record and manners of the different tribes, which journey in 1838,from New York to Cork- 12-and-a-halfdays-and was in Liverpool oneenabled him to appreciate at once any slight and-a-halfdays later. (Courtesy Maritime H eritage Prints, Boston MA) change in their reception ofhim and to see that things did not look exactly right. " H e mentions also warni ngs he might receive from the "warm friends" co nfrontation al coexistence in the No rthwes t. he had made amo ng these people of such different backgro unds.

In rhe years 1795-1804, rhe scholar John Schofield informs us In later life, as a wealthy Boston m erchant, Sturgis served in the in his book Hail Columbia (O regon Historical Press), rhar of 59 Massachusetts Legislature. Wearying of the pretentious classic fur tradin g voyages, fu ll y 50 we re Am erican. T his was nor a matter quotations used by a legislato r, he rose to deliver a response of accessibi li ty, for E ngland was for all practical purposes as close liberally salted wi th observatio ns in rhe Noorka language, which , as Bosto n o r New York ro rhe Northwes t by the Cape Horn road, he ave rred, we re just as germane to the subj ect at hand as the Larin bur the British had begun to concentrate on the Indi a/China trade. and G reek rags used by his adve rsary-a nd just about as likely to This American domin ance in the fur trade did nor last long, as the sea otter populatio n dwindl ed away rapidly under American be understood.

Sturgis furnished the US Government with documentation for assault. Samuel Eli ot Morison , in his classic Maritime H istory of rhe US claim to th e No rthwes t Coast when Russia claimed the Massachusetts, cites 18 Bosto n vessels on th e Northwest coast in territory aga in st de facto US and British occupation. And in 1844 182 1. By 1830, he no tes o nl y 2 vessels in th e trade, and by 1837, he urged moderation in a simil ar co nfromarion w ith rhe British. he says, rhe trade was "a thin g of the past. " New York, mea nwhile, forged ahead in oth er fields, creating a His pamphlet o n rhe subj ect, widely read in both th e US and Britain, affirmed: "Each has so me ri ghts, which should be ad- marker in Lower Ma nhattan which bent the force lines of trade. justed by co mpromise and material co ncess ions. " And this was rhe The booming industrialized mills of E ngland's Midlands created view rhar prevailed, after so me anxio us momem s with hotheads an insatiable demand fo r co tton grown in America's agricultural So uth . Southern plamers needed No rthern funds to finance their on both sides.

Sturgis retired to his nati ve Barnstable, where he di ed , aged 87, cro ps a nd soon lea rn ed to acce pt New Yo rk marketing and leaving his extensive library to rhe town. The Sturgis Library transportation as well.

So as Southern cotto n we nt to E ngland via New York, indusflourishes today as part of a Iively histori ca l studies center in the well-kept town of Barnstabl e o n Ca pe Cod, a place well wo rth a trial products, fro m boo ks and hunting guns to hoes and plows, visit ro anyo ne seeking o ur the hero ic days ofNew E ngland sail on came back ro the South ern pons in the New Yo rk ships. And after the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, in which Na poleo n, locked in allthe far side of the continen r. out wa r against the British , so ld a vas t tract of land west of the Mississippi ro rhe Uni red Stares for des perately needed cash, New A Changing World Grear change had come over Ame ri ca and indeed the wo rld while York packers began to serve rhe American Gu lf Coast pons.

Due to these coastal trades and th e burgeoning trade with Captain Sturgis lived our his long life of service to his principles of humanity and fa ir deal ings. Amon g a host of other things, rhe Britain, which was fast becoming Ea rth 's first industrial nation , New York becam e the place to bring what yo u had to sell and rake C hin a trade had changed.

Ar first several nations had bee n in volved in the fur trade to away what yo u had to buy. Bigger ships were justifi ed by the C hin a. In 1791 fi ve-S pain, France, Russ ia, Bri tain and rhe US- growing vo lume of trade, and these sail ed faste r and moved cargo had been at loggerheads over tradin g ri ghts o n the No rth wes t more reliably and efficiently than the small er ships sa ilin g from coast. Britain and the US, th e survivors of th ese showdowns, smaller ports.

As a child in the small Co nn ecticut River village of Essex, I was settled down to an uneasy, occasionally cooperati ve, occas io nall y

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

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Fitch had the vision to see the oceanic future ofsteam navigation and to foresee the epochal changes this would bring in people's ways oflife and commerce, not just on the rivers, but also on the open ocean, throughout the whole world. astounded to be told that tall ceramic vases and delicate teak screens in a house I was visitin g had come imo the house directly by sea from Canton. The C hinese wares had been unladed from a small ship in the river cove behind the house. This kind of thing just didn't happen as bigger ships took over the ocean trades after about 1800, and it didn't happen any more in the little tobacco ports in the C hesapeake Bay, where winding rivers led up to mansions built of English brick brought as ballast in the little ships that carried the tobacco leaf away to Bristol and London. And it didn 't happen anymore in the town of Salem, just north of Boston in M assachusettS Bay, which had taken the lead in the China and Indies trades in the early years of the American Republic.

New York provided financing, ready markets, and ships ready for quick dispatches to practically any quaner of the world. By 1800, 17 yea rs after the British left, the city had far surpassed both Philadelphia and Boston in tonnage of ships and goods handled.

The English traveler John Lambert, arriving in New York in 1807 aboard Captain Dean 's second (and larger) sloop Experiment, described the New York waterfront scene vividly: Bales ofcotton, wood, and merchandise; barrels ofpotash, rice, flour and saltprovisions; hogsheads ofsugar, chests oftea, puncheons ofrum, and pipes of wine; boxes, cases, packs and packages of all siz es and denominations, were strewn upon the wharfs and landing-places, or upon the decks ofthe shipping. All was noise and bustle.

He continues with the activities that generated all this movement of goods: The merchants and their clerks were busily engaged in their countinghouses, or upon the piers. The Tontine coffeehouse was filled with underwriters, brokers, merchants, traders and politicians; selling, purchasing, trafficking or insuring; some reading, others eagerly inquiring the news . ... The coffeehouse slip, and the corners of Wall and Pearl Streets, were jammed up with carts, drays and wheelbarrows; horses and men were jammed promiscuously together, leaving little or no room fo r passengers to pass. . ..

And he notices the New Yorker's typical racing eagerness to get ahead and th e worldwide reach of what was happenin g on their streets: The people were scampering in all directions to trade with each other, and to ship offtheir purchases for the European, Asian, Aftican and West I ndian markets. Every thought, word, look, and action of the multitude seemed to be absorbed by commerce; the welkin rang with its busy hum, and all were eager in pursuit ofits riches.

In the same year (1807) that Lambert recorded this productive and cheerful scene, a remarkable American, Robert Fulton, steamed his North River Steamboat (popularl y known as the Clermont) from New York to Albany. This began the first continuous commercially successful traffic under steam. There had already been the short-lived experimental boats of] ohn Fitch and Rumsey in Philadelphia in the 1790s. Fitch's boat was probably viable as a co mmercial proposition but he lacked capital for successful promotion and sustained operation in the face of early losses.

Fitch had the vision, however, to see the oceanic future ofsteam navigation and to foresee the epochal changes this wo uld bring in people's ways oflife and commerce, not just on the rivers, but also on the open ocean, throughout the whole world-predictions we might take a closer look at later in this narrative.

For the immediate future, steam navigation was to effect

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marginal improvements in the Hudson River passenger and fast freighter traffics, spreading out across Long Island Sound and down the Jersey coast in the next two decades. And in 1818, the steamship Savannah, built in New York, voyaged from Savannah, Geo rgia, to England and to St. Petersburg in Russia at the eastern branch of the Baltic Sea. Her primitive engine pushed her along successfully in fair weather, but excessive fuel consumption limited its employment. After her return from this promotional voyage-s urely an important voyage for what it was- she reverted to a plain sailing rig.

Until the late 1830s, fully a generation after the voyage of Fulton's North River Steamboat, the main contribution of steam power to ocean navigation was harbor tugboats rowing the increasingly large sailing ships to sea.

Steam power at sea had a long gestation. French experiments with steamboats had been made since the 1600s, and the English tug Charlotte Dundas operated successfully on the Caledonian Canal in 1803 until irate canalers had her shut down, allegedly because the wash from her flailing paddlewheels crumbled in the canal banks.

It took the vision, multidisciplinary talents and form idable drive of a Robert Fulton to assemble the capital, management and Boulton-Watt engine imported from England and fitted into a light, stream lined hull to get steam navigation going in its natal river-and all of this would sti ll not have worked without this extrao rdin ary man's positive genius for promotion.

Fulton, it should also be noted, operated a submarine that succeeded in sinking a warship in a staged experiment in France.

No one rook him up on this project, the British in particular quite rightly wishing Fulton and his infernal machine would simply go away. But the deadly potential of Fulton's machine, further developed in advanced metallurgy and propulsion in the 1900s, nearly brought British sea power to its knees in the world wars of this century.

Fulton also built the first steam warship , a catamaran sheathed in thick oak armor which may have played a deterrent role in discouraging a British attack on New York on the lines of their attack on Washington DC in the War of 1812, in which they burnt the Capitol. Christened Demo logos, or "Voice of the People," she would have spoken with a loud voice indeed, smash in g even the more powerful conventional warship with her heavy guns, while practically immun e to counter-fire. In a stroke of genius, her vulnerable paddlewheels were completely sheltered between her two hulls . T he US Navy never quite knew what to do with the monster, which was ultimately blown up by careless handling of gunpowder in 1830 while serving as a guardship. Officers of the sailing navy who knew of her existence presumably breathed a sigh of reli ef.

Fulton also provided a reliable steam ferry to operate across New York's East River just south of where the Brooklyn Bridge was erected 70 years later. The Manhattan and Brooklyn streets feeding into this strategic ferry crossing were renamed Fulton Street for the inventor.

The National Maritime Historical Society had the honor of restoring this name to the Brooklyn side ofFulron Street in the late 1970s when we maintained a pier on the old ferry site. This historic street had been renamed to placate a bumptious developer

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

Flanked by the countinghouses ofSchermerhorn Row on the right and the fish market on the Left, the Fulton ferry steams out into East River traffic, making its intrepid way from Manhattan to Brooklyn in the 1840s. ( "View ofBrooklyn, "by E. Whitefield)

of some new buildings up in Brooklyn H eigh rs. W e effecred rh e name change simply by pain ring a sign and prinring srarionery.

The Posr Office accepred rhis wirhour a murmur and finall y rh e Ciry pur back "Fulton Srreer'' signs. Everyo ne knew whar rhe real name of rhe srreer was, afre r all.

A War that Brought Peace New Yo rk rempers bo iled in rh ar sa me sp lendid yea r 1807, when rh e Englishman J ohn Lam berr marveled ar sce nes ofsea commerce in Sourh Srreer, and Roberr Fulto n rook his sreamboar up ro Livingston's manor ho use "C lerm onr" on rhe Hudson and on up to Albany. Whar m ade peo ple an xio us and angry was Presidenr T homas J efferso n's decision to impose an embargo on all foreign rrade to avo id insulrs to American ships and seam en ar rh e hands ofBrirain and F rance in rheirriranic war ove r rh e furure of Europe.

Of rhe rwo belligerenrs, rhe Brirish were by far rhe worsr offenders of neurra! American shipping. Com manding rh ewo rld 's sea lanes, rhey had more need of seamen and mo re opporruniry ro snarch men off rhe decks of American ships. Brirish shipping was srrerched to mainrain rhe wo rldwi de co mmerce which enabl ed rh em to fin ance a war againsr a E urope co nquered or coerced by N apoleon into subservience to rhe new French Empire.

And rhe Royal Navy, commanding rhe seas afrer Nelson 's victory ar Trafalgar in 180 5, was srrerched to conrain rhe F rench and Spanish fl eers, rhe navies of H o ll and, co nquered by apoleon , Denmark, coerced by Napo leon , and rh e big fleers of Sweden and Russia, which swayed opporrun isri cally from o ne side ro rhe orher, lo nging ro rweak rhe rail of rh e Brirish lion , bur fear ing irs heavy paw. T he Royal Navy had more ships rhan ever befo re, which ir had to man from a popularion base much smaller rhan rhe popularions broughr under Napoleo n's sway. The need for sea men was real, bur ir led to severe violarions of American ri ghrs ar sea, including a disgraceful firin g on rhe unprepared US fri ga re Chesapeake. Orders-in-Council allowed Brirish ships to seize American cargoes for a wide range of causes, and seizure of Ame ri can seamen was recognized as valid if rhe seaman had been born in Brirain.

Ir was nor rhese very real abuses which led ro rhe ourbreak of rhe War of 18 12, however. New England and maririme ew York vo red againsr wa r w hen war was urged by rhe radi cal interesrs in Congress pushing for US conquesr of Canada. Bya narrow margi n, however, wa r was d eclared. The res ulrs surprised borh sides.

Firsr, rh e American forces marching in to liberare Canada were

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

dri ve n back by scour Canadian resisrance. Then Brirish frigares, accustomed to bearin g anyrhing rhey m et ar sea, shorr of an enemy line-of- bartleship, were overwhelmed and caprured by superi o r Am eri can firepower and ship-handling in a series of engagemenrs wirh rhe American heavy frigares Constitution and United States.

The Royal Navy had to order irs frigares to parrol only in pairs in American waters. American sloops of small er size achieved similar successes against rheir Brirish counrerparrs.

And when Brirish forces mounred aggressive drives into American rerritory aro und Lake Erie and Lake C hamplain, US victo ri es over Brirish fl eers in borh rh ese lakes forced rhe invadin g Brirish armies to retreat. Brirish forces landed in rhe Chesapeake and burnr rh e US Capitol in Washington DC, while liberarin gAmerican slaves. Bur rhey were th en driven off in rheir arre mpr o n Balrimore. T he American Francis Sco rr Key, who had go ne aboard a Brirish ship to secure rhe release of an American civilian, wa rched rhe bombard menr of Fon McHenry. When he saw rh e fl ag still fl ying afrer a day-a nd-nighr bo mbardm enr, he wro re a poem , "T he Srar-S pangled Banner" whi ch, ser to rhe rune of a popular Brirish so ng, became rhe US Na ri o nal Anrhem. The fl ag, 29 feet in rh e ho isr and 36 feer in rh e fl y, was forrunarely big enough to be seen rhrough rhe smoke of rh e bombardment.

The Brirish , giving up rhe arrempr to storm rhe forr, sa il ed away ro rry to caprure New Orleans ar rhe mourh of rhe Miss iss ippi .

This arrack was pressed home and fai led di sasrrously, wirh d evasraring losses to rh e Brirish. Ironical ly, when rhe arrack took pl ace in J anuary 18 15, peace had already been declared, bur nei rher side learn ed rhis in rime ro avoid rh e slaughrer. Both sides had wa nted peace afre r rwo-and-a-half yea rs of co nflict. America had suffered rhe humiliarion of rhe Brirish go ing where rhey wanted on rhe American sea coast and occupying a large part of the coas r of Maine. A co nvention of New E ngland Srares stron gly opposed to the wa r had met at Hartford and had co me near voting rhemselves our of rh e Union.

But rhe decisive pressure fo r peace had come from the depredari ons of American privateers, which drove British in surance rates to new heights while puttin g an enormous amount ofliquid wealth from rhe sale of caprured cargoes into the hands of American shipping interesrs.

W ith peace ar last achi eved in E urope afrer 20 yea rs of nearl y continuo us war wirh France, and wirh rhe gateway to the rich trade with America open o nce again, British m erchants piled goods into New York in a dumpin g operarion to drive our 15

Those swirling currents of commerce gave New York merchants and suppliers a fair tide for farther development. Never short of initiative and energy, New York simply forged ahead, piling one advance on another, with cumulative effect. dem and fo r Briti sh and E uropean products.

Bob Albion came to New York at our invitation thirty yea rs ago, in 1968 , to celebrate the l 50th anni ve rsary of the launch of th e Black Ball Line, on 5 Jan uary 18 18. I asked him whether th ere wasn ' t so mething a li ttle special abo ut New Yorkers, beyond th e good location of the port, that ex pl ain ed their unique impact o n America n seafaring.

We talked of the dive rse population that had existed from th e first European settlem ent under the Dutch, and th e necessa ry tol erance of new ideas and different ways of doing things th at this di ve rsity had brought about. Bob , a New Englander born a nd bred , enjoyed New York tremendously-its bossiness, its brash , adventurous and contentious peo pl e-and h e had particularly enj oyed talking to New Yo rk shipping peo ple about th e h arddri ving practi ces of their ancesto rs.

H e had also pursued th e statisti cal study of maritime history in greater depth and w ith more originality th an anyone before him .

But o n th is qu estion, of ex plaining New York's success, h e paused.

"T here are so me thin gs yo u ca n' t exactl y measure," I rem ember him saying. "The m eas urem ents we get lead to intangibles like creati vity, openness, drive and just pl ain gut instincts. You do n ' t get th e New York sto ry w itho ut those thin gs." You need somethin g more, an "X" factor , we agreed , to ex plain New York's rise as America's grea test sea port.

W hat that "X" fa ctor had add ed to th e d evelopment of New Yo rk mad e a great difference to Am eri ca in the adventurous days of th e Yo un g Republic. W hat it wou ld add in coming d ecades was to make a difference to th e wo rld. ~

competition from foreign and dom estic suppliers. The abundant suppl y of low-cost British manufacturers had the unanticipated res ult of making New York, already the leading American seapo rt, a great national market for goods which had bee n in short supply for years of embargo and war.

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Those swirling currents of com merce gave New York merchants and suppliers a fa ir tide for furth er develop ment. Neve r short of initi ative and energy, New York simply fo rged ahead, pilin g o ne adva nce on another, with cumul ative effect.

The sa iling of the first Black Ball packet, with which we began this review, was an outstanding d emonstration of New York's willingness and p ositive desire to inn ovate. To rhe grea t historian of th e port, Robert G. Albion , this sailing stood as the symboli c signal of N ew York's preeminence-a symbolism m ad e stro nge r by rhe fact that no one else tried th e radi ca l step of o n-time sa ilin g to a set, regul ar schedul e unril the Black Ball had paid off ri chly fo r its sponsors, and until the lin e itself had secured a leadin g pos itio n which it held until steam repl aced sai l in the ca rriage of passe nge rs and fast freight across rhe Adantic.

New York's wealth and New Yorkers' wi llingness to invest in new proj ects led to the openin g of the Eri e Canal in 1825 , whi ch b ro ught the agricultural produce of th e America n Midwest pouring into New York at prices that drove Hudson River farme rs out of busin ess . T his huge ca pital effort, by far th e greatest single proj ect ever undertaken up to th at tim e, attracted new immi grant labo r, w hi ch swelled the passenger rolls of the packer ships. T he fast-growing population of New York in turn soon raised th e Very large stock of used and rare nautical books!

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SEA HISTORY 87 , WINTER 1998-99

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SHIP OF THE ISSUE

The Brig Pilgrim: The Old and the New

by Captain Raymond Wallace To those readers who have not read Two Years Before the Richard Henry Dana, son of a wealthy shipowner, chose to Mast (and shame on you), the little brig that was featured in ship as a seaman in the brig bound for California via Cape the great American classic by Richard Henry Dana was Horn. With a talent for writing, Dana created an informaindeedpart ofthe Cape Horn saga ofsailing ships boundfor tive report of severe discipline practiced by a ruthless capthe West Coast of North America and the Orient. The tain and gave us a colorful picture of the anchoring holes Pilgrim, a "snow brig" of some 150 tons, was sent to the and ports of California then under Spanish rule.

California coast in 1835 by Massachusetts leather merOne hundred thirty-eight years later, in early 1973, chants to buy cattle hides from the Spanish Dons and Captain Raymond Wallace, a noted maritime artist, histomissions. rian and naval architect, seized upon a unique opportunity Of the many brigs, ships and barks in the trade, the to design and build a reasonably authentic replica of the Pilgrim became a famous "hide drogher" only because brig Pilgrim as described in Dana's work. t isn't every day that two gentlem en walk into my office to order a replica of the hide brig Pilgrim, the ship in Richard Henry Dana's classic book, Two Years Before the Mast. But that's what happened when, in June of 1972, Marion Barich and Paul Johnson of Salinas, California, appeared at my door. They had heard of my experience in converting Danish Baltic schooners into yachts, museum ships and/ or waterfront village icons such as the Prince Louis (ex-Lilliabaelt), the Perseus, the Lene Marie and others. As reputable designers and architects for the theme park and entertainment industry while also enjoying the "stigma" of being ship experts, my small firm in San Pedro, California, was, and is, fairly well known throughout the historic maritime communi ty.

My dear and marine-literate wife Barbara and I took off for Denmark with a sea bag full of twenty-dollar bills to purchase a Baltic schooner of similar design to the original bri g Pilgrim. We went directly to the ex-schooner- then motor-sailer-Joa/ at Hadsund, Denmark. A sturdy vessel of oak planks on oak frames, she would indeed be adaptable for the planned conversion.

The foal was a double-ender, bur with another three feet oflength, the repositioning of her stern post, and new cant frames aft, she would accommodate a transom or stern gallery. Since Dana had not described the Pilgrim in any informative detail, neither I nor any historians ever knew if her stern gallery was penetrated with windows.

Knowing I was going to be the new Pilgrim's captain on her eventual transAtlantic crossing and would be occupying the master's cabin aft, I took a designer's prerogative and specified openable bur sea-tight muntined windows.

After thejoalwas finally purchased from her delightful owner, Captain Villadsen, I went to the American embassy in Copen-

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hagen and acquired a certificate of American ownership, thus allowing the US ensign to be flown from her stern . Awaiting the results of my purchasi ng mission was a young protege sailor, artist and drafts man by the name of Steve Johnson whom I sent to Denm ark with his companion, Susan Morris, and the young so n of a client and friend, Scott Morris. The three were to make up a skeleto n crew to live aboard and maintain the foal until I found a shipyard capable of doing the precise and meticulous conversion from my plans.

Prior ro my mission to Europe, I had prepared a fairly accurate set of drawings and specifications for a typical snow brig rig that would fit a hull of some 86.6 feet of waterline and 96 feet on deck. With those drawin gs Barbara and I proceeded to call on shipyard owners throughout Denmark only to discover that the value of US funds in Europe had dropped to the point where the Danish shipyards had become cost prohibitive for our budget.

Barbara and I located a suitable shipyard in Portugal. The yard was one of several at the fishing village harbor of Setubal, about 20 miles so utheast ofLisbon.

CarlosAdanjo, owner of the small boatyard, appeared to have all of the shipwright capabi liti es necessary for the job ahead. Now it was time to bring th ejoalto Portugal. First, Barbara and I returned to California, where I had to draw the plans, profiles an d sections of the hull from lines taken off whi le the Joa! was hauled out in H adsund.

During that pleasant stint at the drawing board I piqued the interest of some sailor frienJs and neighbors to join me on a "gentlemen's yachting cruise" from D enmark to Portugal. After pondering the in vitatio n for about twenty seconds, they agreed to become vo lunteer officers.

We all met in Aalborg, Denmark, to begin our delivery cruise aboard the motor-sailer ]oal with our foe' sle crew of five.

Flying the burgee of the Los Angeles Yacht Club, the un-yachtlike ship with Captain

The J oal in Denmark, 1973 (All photos courtesy ofRay Wallace}

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

Villadsen aboard departedAalborg rhrough rhe Lim Fjord to Vuesr where Capr.

Villadsen lefr us on our own to face rhe Non h Sea, rh e English Channel, Il e D 'Ouessanr, rhe Bay of Biscay, Cape Finesrerre and on to Lisbon via Vigo, Spain, and Aveiro, Portugal. In spire of rhe appearance of our big black Balric schooner hull, we were rarher royally welcomed ar rhe C lub de Naurico in Vigo and ar rhe Lisbon Yacht Club.

T he arrival ar Adanjo's yard in Setubal was un eventful. There, our volunteer crew, under the direcrion of Steve Johnso n, was to begin the rigging task with masts, ya rds and spars made in Vila Real on theAlgarve coast of Portugal. Meanwhile, Adanj o's shipwrights did a remarkable job with new beams and planks over the old hatches and well-spiled planks over new fram es to achieve rhe broader stern and transom gallery. The spoon bow, ryp ical of rhe Balrics, was fitted with a new beak wirh rails, trailboards and a carved fig urehead . A new galley house, somewh at larger rhan the one described by Dana, contained a modern stove and oven and a stainless steel sink, but with an old farm-sryle hand pump to provide the fresh water from new tanks below rhe 'rween-deck sole. I would fl y to Portugal abo ur once a month to bring rhe payroll and to get US-purchased equipment through Portuguese customs and down to the ship.

All was go ing well until late May of 1974 when General Spinola sent half of his army from Angola in to Portugal to oust the dictator Marcelino Caeteno. Spinola occupied the entire country in a 24-hour coup.

Sudden ly there were tanks rolling down the streets and hundreds of fat igue-clad so ldiers brandishing automaric weapons and manning sandbagged posts throughout the town . T he shipyard workers went home and locked their doors. O ur ship was abandoned!

Try as we might to coax the wo rkers out of their homes, they would not budge, including Adanjo himself. My Engineer and I went to the military Commandant in an attempt to learn why rhe shipya rd workers were hiding. The Commandant, a regal-looking fellow in a splendid uniform , replied to .us in quire good English: "They are free to go and do as rhey wis h. Everyone in Portugal is now free! " During all of this difficult time, our

SEA HISTORY 87 , WINTER 1998-99

ship had been hauled on an athwartship ways and was chocked up on dry land adjacent to a roadway from town out to the end of an ancient stone quay. To be sure that our vessel was seen to be American, I flew the US ensign from the peak of the spanker gaff all day and illuminated it at nighr. For some reason, the Portuguese kid s, in ce lebra ting their alleged new-found freedom, had set fire to a nearby French boar.

W e kept a watch all night accompanied by one of rhe arm ed soldiers.

Slowly, over a period of four or five weeks, some of the The replica brig Pilgrim sails offDana Point, California. braver workers came out of the woodwork to help with con- hounds. As rhe yards were sem up, my struction derails ye r to be done. Our crew yo uthful crew went aloft and laid out to was doing well with the rigging and the reeve the lift rackles and buntlin es, learnship was nearing completion, bur the ing well the old sailor's lament, "growl ye "Spinola revolution " was raisinghavocwirh may, but go ye musr. " After about a month our schedule, budget and ability to attract of this, plus working aloft to tend rigging local suppliers and contractors. As our and bend sails, Sreve and I decided they planned sailing date was the firsr ofJ uly, we could well handle the rig and gear ar sea. were in a bit of a dilem ma.

With some fair talent afr and a green bur able and willing crew, we were beginning The Crew Gathers to fir our and provision for the long AtlanPrior to all of this, we had recruited a young ric crossing. Although the brig was not volumeer crew from our yachting comm u- co mpletely finished as I would have liked niry who were for the most part sons and her robe, our rime was running out for rwo <laughters of Los Angeles-area yachrsmen major reasons: I had promised my volunwho had learned to steer by compass, tie a teer crew a transAtlantic adventure in a few knots and comprehend some basic square-rigged sailing vessel and they needed nomenclature and rhe disciplined routine to reach the US in time to go back to schoo l of watch standing and shipboard life. They in rhe fall; and it was mandatory that we soon fell into a routine ofliving aboard ship leave Portugal in late Jun e or early July to and assisting with the never-ending job of beat the hurricane seaso n in the southern installing rhe standing and running rigging. North Atlantic Ocean and in the leeward Sreve Johnson and I began a rarher reaches of the Caribbean. rigorous training program . Each morning before breakfast all hands would go up and A Midnight Escape over rhe main- or foretop wirh their hands On the morning of 14 July 1974, a union the shrouds; they did it again before formed soldier appeared at the gangway to lunch and were allowed no shore leave inform me that we would not be allowed to umil they did ir again afrer dinner. When leave the port until the Commandant had the topmasts were sent up and the shrouds searched and inspected rhe ship . I am sure ranled down, up they wem to the topmasr yo u can imagine my reaction to that! Were 19

The young crew of the sail-training brig Pilgrim farls the sails in preparation to berth in Long Beach.

we being interned ... and for whar? I held a quick musrer of my officers and crew.

Susan was ro go ashore and casually buy some lasr-minure provisions. Agarden hose on the dock was enough ro fill rhe warer tanks. Four 50-gallon drums of diesel fuel were quietly rolled aboard. Knowing thar the occupation forces did not have a navy, nor did we see any nearby chase boats, our planned midnight escape might work.

The waterfront was quiet except for the rumblin g of a large generaror on a nearby coastal freighter that helped ro muffl e the exhaust of our diesel. I was pleasantly surprised rhat the military had not posred a sen try on the docks, and darkness appeared robe in our favor. Without runnin g lighrs we eased away from the dock and our inro the seaway channel. Apparently we had disturbed no one as we set the watch and srruck a southbound course for the Ca nary Islands but, just in case, we kept a good lookout astern.

About abeam of Caba de Sines we made all plain sail in a light offshore wind, and wirh help of the engine we were leaving Porrugal ateight knots. The morning broke clear with a freshening breeze that fill ed o ur new canvas, prompting the order to douse rhe engine. The sail was a refreshing experience to all hands and provided an opportuniry for the youngsters to apply their

20

newly learned ab iliti es in our beautiful brig-now actually under sail.

We rose the peak of Gran Canaria at dawn on the third day and anchored in th e port of Las Palmas without a pilor. He had not respo nded to our "george" signal or our radioed requesr. Liberty was granted to the off warch while Joe and I handl ed the Cusroms routine an d shopped for much-needed life rafts, which had not been available in Setubal.

The anchor watch busied themselves in bowsing down the shroud and stay lanyards and seizing the spencer luff ropes to the hoops. Due to the work needed to cross the Atlantic safely, plus handling hardware and equipment from suppliers, there was little time to enjoy Las Pal mas.

Soon we were off ro Tenerife, our last port before cross ing. There we purchased berrer life preservers and topped off our fuel and water. After three days we weighed on a beautiful sunrise and stood to sea on the Northeast Trades on a co urse for Barbados, some 1,500 miles to the so uth and west.

To Sea, At Last With ballast taken aboard in Setubal the little brig sailed well and felt good under my feer. We had now settled into the seagoing shipboard disciplines of standing watches, keeping the log, manning the galley and adhering to rhe age-old tradition of striking the time on a lovely brass bell hanging in gallows at the break of the quarterdeck.

The Pilgrim sailed well in the fine weather and moderate seas we had for most of the passage, with her speed aided by the frequenr use of the big Alpha to make our declared ETA. Fortunately our course along the closest isobars encountered no bad weather while broad reaching and running down the Northeast Trades under the Atlantic high .

In the waist abaft the main fife rail I would hold daily classes in navigation for our yo uthful crew. Early lesso ns in piloting and dead reckoning graduated eve ryone to the use of the sextanr. Since each student had brought a nauti cal alm anac and the volume ofH 0249 for our la ti tu des, by the last few days of our crossing they were all taking meridian altitude sights plus sun and star lines of position. I was indeed

fortunate to have such a bright and enthusiastic group of boys and girls to help me sail this damn thing across the treacherous wastes of the Atlantic Ocean.

I do not know how many of you have been to sea with teenagers, but I can say it was a marvelous experience. I am not sure who learn s rhe most-the captain or rhe kids! After a few days at sea engrossed in the routines and disciplines aboard, they begin to have a lot of questions. They don ' t really ask, but I can see it in their eyes and hear it in th eir attitudes and reactions. They ask, why is there a captain, why is there a chain of command, why must I get up in the morning and scrub the decks, why must I relieve the watch on time and why must I lay out on the fore t'gallant yard at threeo'clock in tl1e morning in 40 knots of wind?

The night before our landfall I passed the word that we would raise Barbados at 0900 in the morning and offered a rwenrydollar bill ro the first one in the rigging ro sing out "Land ho! " Sure enough, all hands were aloft in the early hours scanning the horizon ahead. At precisely 0914, the call was made from the topmast trestles by Douglas Barnes, who immediately slid down the capstay to collect his prize.

The harbor at Bridgetown was tight but accommodating for our small brig. Meeting us to join the ship for the remainder of the voyage were Barbara and Mari , my beautiful daughter of 13 years. We as ked th e port wharfinger if we could dock ar rhe careenage, but other ships were occupying the narrow estuaty. Thus we remained at anchor raking on fu el and water from lighters alongside. Bridgetown was a happy place and well administered by its colorful, polite and hospitable inhabitants.

Freshly provisioned, fu eled and watered, we departed Bridgetown bound for Miami, where arrangements were made to fini sh the job disrupted by the Portuguese coup. On a broad reach out of Barbados, we found our first anchorage ar Forr-deFrance, Martinique. From there, rhe Florida-bound voyage took us to Montserrat, rhen on to the Virgin Islands via Virgin Gorda, Tortola and Sr. Thomas, where we docked in front of the colorful, touristpacked town.

Ir was now the end of August 1974 and mosr of my young crew, commirred to the fall semester of schools and colleges, "jumped ship" for California. Fortunately,

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

I do not know how many ofyou have been to sea with teenagers, but I can say it was a marvelous experience. I am not sure who learns the most . .. the captain or the kids!

Linda Morris stayed with us in both the galley and the rigging. Through sheer need and with little time to get better acquainted, we picked up two men off the beach who professed having experience in sailing ships.

While watching one of them climb the rigging with his hands on the ratlines and the other man coiling down a halyard counterclockwise, I knew I had made a mistake.

As aggravating as that turned our to be, we continued on to Miami via Greatlnagua, the untourisred salr island above the Windward Passage. T he roadsread anchorage and visi t to Matthew Town was one of the highlights of the voyage, which we spent stuffing ourselves with conch fritters washed down with rum and coke.

The G ulf Stream was at its usual fou r knots as we approached the entrance to Miami H arbor. With the "iron mains'!" running we clewed up with the sails "hanging in the gear" and signalled for a pilot.

While entering the long channel toward the Miami docks, the hands aloft tucked a shipshape harbor furl just before the pilot landed us at a large dock near the bridge to downtown Miami. Ir was the end of our

memorable voyage. Our remaining officers and crew were packing to go their separate ways. I, too, had to go back to my offices in San Pedro, immediately following final arrangements to have rhe Pilgrim taken up the river to the Miami Shipyard for the derailing yet required to bring the brig up to her designed elegance.

Pilgrim Sails On Given the historic sign ifica nce of our mission, the Pilgrim was now a fair replica of Dana's fa mous brig. I like to think that all who aided in her conversion and served in her transAtlantic voyage became not only a co ntributing part of her legacy, but better sailors and navigators, and better people.

At the time of this writing in October of 1998 the Pilgrim, sti ll in excellent sailing co ndition, is owned by the Orange County Marine Institute at Dana Point, C alifornia, where it hosts youngsters for day and overnight visits. They learn the history of the original brig, knot tying, basic seamanshi p, sea chan ties and, above all, shipboard disciplines that will shape and influence their lives forever. Once a year the Pilgrim

sails the islands and ports of Southern California fo r some fo ur weeks with a young crew that aids in her maintenance and is rewarded with the privilege of sailing a 19th-century sailin g ship in the 20th century. In addition to the Atlantic crossing, I was fortunate to be the Pilgrim's sail-training captain on her annual cruises for a memorable nine years.

May the brig Pilgrim continue to provide a fl oating and sailing classroom to instill knowledge and experience to future generatio ns encouraged to pass on the traditions, disciplines, nomenclature and jargon of a bygone maritim e era. ,t

The Orange County Marine Institute was the first recipient of NMHS's Walter Cronkite Awardfor Excellence in Maritime Education in 1995. The Institute 's programs were written up in Sea History 72, Winter 1994-95.

(OCMI, 24200 Dana Point Harbor Drive, Dana Point CA 92629; www.ocmi.org) Designer, maritime artist and ship builder Capt. Wallace is also an Honorary Trustee of the National Maritime Historical Society.

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1- 800-255-2258 21

"In

thy map

securely saile"

by Alice Hudson But thou at home without or tyde or gale.

Canst in thy map securely saile. n these lines 17 th-century poet Robert H errick alludes to the role maps play in the exploration and navigation of un fam ili ar territo ry. The exciting visual stories revealed in maps and charts come not just from the beaury of the images and the evidence they show of advances in techn ology and wo rld-awareness, but also th rough evidence of where they took those who read them and how they were used.

T he maps and charts shown here focus on the New World as it was viewed by the British in the 1600s and 1700s and how such documents provided information o n nat ural reso urces and settlements in the New World and reAected the expansion of the British empire across the globe. T hey are part of a spectacular collection of approximately 600 maps, 100 atl ases and 50 books collected by Lawrence H . Slaughter over more than 20 years and donated to the New York Pub li c Library's Map Division by his estate. Whi le he primarily co ll ected E nglish pieces, many are from Europea n countri es where an earlier and more sophisticated gras p of mapp ing o r chartin g technique had developed.

I

The English Mapping Scene Maps are amo ng the oldest of the graphic a rts, evolving from cave art illustrating hunting gro unds and holy sites, to ea rly Babylonian maps on clay, to ancient Egyp22

Pieter Goos, "Pas Caerte van Nieu Nederlandt en de Engelsche Virginies . .. " [New Netherland and Virginia]; from De Zee-Atlas ofte Water-Weereld . . . Amsterdam, J 666. Dutch tricolors proudly wave from ships in a sea ofmixed control. By J 666, the English had claimed New England, not mentioned on the map, and Virginia. For 40 years, New Netherlands cut the English plantations into two separate, weakened entities, or so the Dutch thought. But on this map, published two years after the English took New Amsterdam and renamed the colony New York, for James, Duke a/York and brother to King Charles II, Dutch cartographic malaise does not recognize the change.

Exquisitely colored and highlighted in gold, this is a superb example ofthe beauty ofDutch charts, which makes them very collectible. The putti, merman, and sailor hovering over the scale indicator in the lower right and grasping the rhumblines, display a variety ofnautical instruments. This plate is in one ofthe earliest and best-known Dutch sea atlases.

tian properry maps of the Nile's annually Aooded fields.

Mapping in England, in so me detail, probab ly dates from the 1200s, with maps drawn by Matthew Paris, a Benedictine monk. In the 1300s, the so-called Gough map, named after its discoverer, delineated

blossomed with the "Thames" school of manuscript chart makers in the 1600s. As London's port grew in world importance, its corps of cartographic technicians developed. With Henry Y1II's bold move toward independence from continental Europe, and the publication in 1589 of Richard Hakluyt's Diverse Voyages touching the

By the 1770s, however, the glorious Atlantic Neptune charts of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts ofAmerica bowed to no nation in the skill of their presentation.

Discovery ofAmerica and the Islands adjacent, England's vision expanded to include

with so me accuracy road distances, walled and unwall ed towns, ecclesiastical si tes and forests. Property surveys first appeared in England at abo ut the same time. Two ce nturies later, C hristopher Saxton created a mass ive 2 1-sheet m ap of England at a scale of eight mi les to the inch.

Coastal pilot books and nauti cal charts ofEnglish shores, the Channel and beyond

possible direct trade routes to the riches of Asia and, later, to colonies in North America and the Indies. Maps and charts provided a visual means of recording, understanding and contro lling this worldwide empire.

Navigation and English Charting The earliest nautical sailing directions were oral instructions passed from pilot to pi lot.

These instructions develo ped into written descriptions of coastal navigation, from which evolved beautiful portolan charts, painted and drawn on vellum. In 158485, the Dutchman Lucas Waghenaer pulled

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

John Overton, "A new and most Exact map ofAmerica . .. "; London, 1668. This colorful, busy map is among

the earliest maps ofthe Americas in English, although it borrows heavily ftom Dutch maps. At the top and bottom borders are to be found explorers'portraits-Columbus, Vespucci, Noort, Candish, Magellan, and Drake-representations of native peoples-Virginians, Magellanics and Brasilians-and mini-maps of important sites-Havana, Mexico City, Cusco, Pomeiooc, Carolina, Siacobsi, Potosus, Phernambuco and Santo Domingo. These iconic cities appear over and over on maps ofthe New World. The map itselfis covered with place names, and in the New York area, New Netherland is named. This is surprising on an English map, as New Amsterdam had been taken ftom the Dutch by the English and renamed New York in 1664. This may reflect careless reliance on an earlier Dutch map as a model.

Joannes de Ram, "LondiniAngliae . . . ";Amsterdam, 1690. London was the center ofeconomic and political

activity in England, supporting many producers ofnautical wares: charts, atlases, sailing instructions, compasses and so forth.

This Dutch map celebrates England's "Glorious Revolution, " when the crown passed ftom James JI, via Parliament, who feared his Catholic sympathies, to a joint sovereignty accepted in 1689 by William of Orange, Stadtholder of the Netherlands, and his wife, James' sister Mary. The ascendancy of William III and Mary II assured the Protestant nature of the English crown and allied Holland and England against the Catholic Louis XIV's grand designs in Europe.

Perhaps those are oranges garlanding the royal couple and the view of London below. Oranges were noted in Europe in the 15OOs and 1600s for their decorative and aromatic value and were symbolic oflove. Putti happily crown the Stuart royal coat ofarms (not yet decorated with a shield carrying the arms ofNassau) as the London coat ofarms is carried forward in celebration.

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

23

MAPP OF AL L THE WORLD. A Hrn r i vv l1 ic h n. l D c~nibccl ;ill P a rt ~ or !Ir e L \lnl!

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SEA HISTORY 87 , WINTER 1998-99

this tradition toge ther in the text, views and hydrographic charts of his Spieghel der

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Translated in to English in 15 88, The Mariner's Mirrourwas the model fo r much

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ierry, "A Mapp ofAll the World .. . ";from [Composite Atlas], London, 1680. The late 17th-century 1rldview is revealed on this double hemisphere map (left, above). California is depicted as an islandpanish voyages had disproved that theory in the 1530s and '40s and earlier European maps had depicted ' to the mainland-and the Pacific coastal region is patriotically named New Albion, after Sir Francis idfall there ("Albion" was an ancient name for England). The Western Atlantic is pompously labeled "Sea <, Virginia, N. York, N. England, N. Scotland." The accompanying modern map ofthe world (above) fthe early cartographers had an in-depth awareness of many remote regions, while other portions show many ofwhich persistedfor generations in maps, even ifnot in practical knowledge among seafarers. (From rated World Atlas (Crescent Books, New York NY)) 1500s and 1600s, the English were dependent on foreign mapmakers, whose works were copied freely. :erry, derisively known in his own time as the ''English Sanson, "properly credits the French Royal r, Nicolas Sanson, whose map he has copied closely; despite these French origins, this "Englished" map now rinks the apparent size ofboth French and Spanish incursions into North America. These are the earliest iaps ofall parts ofthe worldpublished in Britain, and this is just one map from the largest single collection Berry maps known, made up of41 sheets. phatic and important dedication to Charles II in the cartouche honors the Restoration monarch who ~he Royal Society, encouraging the study of the practical application of the sciences, navigation and

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•erton, "A New & Correct Map of the Trading Part of the West Indies . .. " [North America];

'1741. The cartouche on this map records that it is "A New and Correct Map ofthe Trading Part ofthe

The visual stories revealed in maps and charts come not just from the beauty of the images and the evidence they show of advances in technology and world-awareness, but also through evidence of where they took those who read them and how they were used. into his English Pilot series, whi ch instigated a century of p rivately pub I ished nautical charting based in Lo ndo n.

Early English charting was heavily bo rrowed, if not di rectly copied, from th e D utch masters. By the 1770s, however, the glorious Atlantic Ne ptune charts of the Atlantic and G ulf coasts ofAm erica bowed to no nation in the skill of their p resentation. In the 1800s, W illiam Heather's privately p ublished charts shared the market wit h Bri tis h Ad m iralty ch am, whil e Edmund Blunt updated American coastal charting with his American p ilot, whi ch was superseded eventually by US Coast Survey charts and p ilots. 1-

More than 100 ofthese items are currently on exhibit at the library (24 October 1998-20 March 1999), including nautical charts, manuals ofinstruction in the arts ofcompass use and oceanic navigation, and decorative maps produced for the commercial market or as cartographic illustration and documentation. They range from simple black-andwhite illustrations ofheadlands to elaborate maps engraved on copper plates, printed on handmade paper, and hand-colored to perfection. (New York Public Library, Fifth Avenue&42ndStreet, New YorkNY100182788; 212 221-7676; www.nypl.org)

s, including the Seat ofWar between Gt. Britain and Spain; lileewise the British Empire in America, with and Spanish Settlements adjacent thereto; Adorn 'd with Prospects of most considerable Towns, Ports, rte, therein contain 'd from the latest & best Observations. " Yellow tints link the British Isles with their he Americasfrom Canada to Jamaica and south to Tobago. Views ofprime commercial centers are shown, es of ships demonstrating the popularity and value ofsuch outports as (at left, top to bottom) Havana, 'the treasury ofye Gold & Silver ofPeru'), Porto Rico, Cartagena, Porto Bello ("taken by Ad. Vernon on 1739'), and (at right, top to bottom) Boston, New York ("inhabited by English and Dutch'), Mexico, and Chagre ("taken by Ad. Vernon on the 29th March 1740'). Despite the claims ofthe "latest and best •ns, "California continues to be shown as an island. p was dedicated to Admiral Edward Vernon, who captured Porto Bello in 1739. The capture was not too s the Spanish forts protecting the port were in disrepair. It is said that the victory "caused the people of Ms. Hudson is curator of the exhibit and ·go mad with excitement andjoy. "Vernon is mostfamous as the inventor of"grog, "the watered-down rum chief of the Map Division of The New York Public Library. y in partial payment to sailors.

I

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

25

MARINE ART NEWS Stellar Show in Bermuda The Atlantic island outport of Bermuda, goal of the famous Newport-Bermuda Race and a vital US and Royal Navy base in the wars of this century, is home to a burgeoning marine art colony. Notable works were on view in "Mas ters of the Sea," a mid-ocean show opening on 16 O ctober at H eritage H ouse in H amilto n, Bermuda. T he wo rk ofB ermuda artist Stephen Card was featured, with other painters. Card paints lively portraits ofocea n liners at sea or in bustling harbor scenes. These are usually commissioned by the ships' owners. "Steph en has been so busy that we haven't had a show of his for at least five years," sa id H eritage H ouse manager Greg Bluck, "so this is very exciting. " Also featured were exquisite rradirional yach r-racing scenes from rhe G ilded Age by British artist T im T hompson and a stunning renditi on by American artist W illiam G .

H ofland-America 's Rorrerda m meets sister N ieuw M uller of rhe early steamer Amsterdam about 1965. Painting by Stephen Card, MN!. Savannah bearing down on the viewer wirh all sail ser and padd lewheels churn ing on her Atlantic crossing of 18 18. O ther artists included Bermuda' s Mark Boden, Britai n'sJohn Finch, and Jim Karvelas and Donald Stoltenberg of rhe US. -PETER STANFORD

(H eritage H ouse, PO Box H M 547, H amil to n, H M CX, Be rmuda)

TERS WITH THE SEA I

Contemporary Scrimshaw Sells for World Record Price Scrimshander Robert W eiss recently sold an engraved sperm whale tooth depicting rhree of USS Constitution's battles and portraits of three of rhe vessel's captains. A private collector purchased the tooth, which was on display ar Mys tic Seaport Museum's 19th Annual M ys tic International Exhibition, for $40,000. T he tooth itself is 8" high and 4" wide and weighs 2.5 pounds.

M r. Weiss also received rhe Rudolf].

Schaefer Award, the exhibition's highest award, as judged

by Peter Su tto n, directo r of rhe WadsworthAtheneum in Ha rtford, Co nn ecticut, and J ames T aylor, curato r of pictures at the National Ma riri me M use um in G reenwich, England.

O. Russell]inishian Ga!Lery, Inc., Greenwich Workshop Ga!Lery Building, Upper Level, 1657 Post Road, Fairfield CT 06430; 2 03 259-8753;/ax: 203 259-8761)

I

I

FEST N ALS, EVENTS, LECTURES, ETC. • Christie's East: 17 February, Maritime Collection Auction (2 19 E. 67rh Srreer, New York NY 10021 ; 212 6060400; www.christies.com)

EXHIBITS

CAPTUR ING P O SEIDON: OVER 150 YEARS O F MAR INE PHOTOGR APHY

NOW ON E XHIBIT A T

PEABODY S S E X

-c--- E

THE

l #

~ :MUSEUM: SALE M , MASSAC HUSETTS • 1-8 00-745 - 4054 • w ww .p e m .org

• T h e Mariners' Museum: 24 O ctober 1998- 30 M arch1 999, "Skin D eep: T he Arro frheTattoo" (100 M useum Drive, Newport News VA 23606; 757 5962222; web site: www. mariner.org) • Los Angeles Maritime Museum: 6 November 1998-3 1Jan uary 1999, "Art and the Soul of Sail T raining" (Berth 84, Foor of 6rh Street, San Pedro CA 9073 1; 3 10 548-7560; e-mail: LAMM@ nercom. com) •Peabody Essex M useum: 7 November 1998-11 April 1999 , "Capturing Poseidon: Photographic Encounters with the Sea" (Easr India Square, Salem MA 01970-378 3; 978 74 5-1876; web site: www .pem.org)

Sponsored in port by Essex County Newspapers

26

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

T11.ALL SHIPS by J.A. KENDALL

SEPI A PEN & INK WASH DRAWINGS

l

John A Kendall developed the technique he calls "Sepia Pen & Ink Wash Drawings" wh ile completing his Masters project for San Francisco State College at the houseboat comm unity in Sausalito, California. Sepia brown ink seemed to capture the warmth and feeling of the area.

Kendall has specialized in Marine Art since 1980 and has a series of "Tall Ships" in print.

Wo rki ng from resea rch photographs he has taken at events such as Sail Amsterdam, Sail Boston , and Sail New York, the artist is able to obtain accuracy and detail in his scenes. An average of 200-250 hours each is spent on an original drawing.

"Old Ironsides - Sail 200" was done from resea rch photographs he took from the "USS Halyburton" (one of the two naval escort vessels to accompany the "USS Constitution" during its historic sail to Marblehead on July 21st, 1997).

Oth er ships in the seri es include Kruzenshtern , Danmark, Sir Winston Churchill , Eagle, Ame rigo Vesp ucci, Sea Cloud, Guayas , Dar Pomo rza, Gorch Fack II, Christian Rad ich , Balclutha, and Golden Hind II. All prints are hand s1gned by the artist.

KENDALL STUDIO PO BOX398

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

HEN NIKER, N.H. 03242 (603 ) 428-3 757

iZJ Old Iro nsides - Sail 200

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The Skipper & the Eagle ""

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•

164 Wolcott Street Brooklyn, NY 1123 l Tel: 718-625-3844

The Skipper &theEagle by

Capt. Gordon McGowan, USCG,

Ret.

In Janu ary 1946, soon after the end of World War II in bomb-shattered Bremerhaven, then-Comm ander McGowan, USCG, got his first look at his new charge, the German sail training ship Hor st Wessel. Awarded as a war prize to the US Coast Guard, she was destined to become "Am erica's Tall Ship," the USCG Eagle.

With minimal resources available on the ruined waterfront, Cdr. McGowan set about refitting the vessel for sea. He then sailed her to Madeira, across the Atlantic to Bermuda, and home to New York. On this last leg the ship met a hurricane which severely tested the ship and her crew of experienced German sailors and neophyte Coast Guardsmen.

They learned to pull together to sail and, ultimately, to save the ship.

With lively humor salting the narrative, McGowan brings thi s experience vividly to life for the reader, in a classic of sea literature.

Reissued by S EA HISTORY PRESS w ith a new introduction by Peter Stanford and a new afterword by Captain Robert J. Papp, skipper of the Eag le, 1996- 1999 . Hardcover, 220 pages, illustrated, $25 .

Order fro m:

NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY, PO Box 68 , Peekskill NY 10566.

Or call in your credit card order to:

SEA HISTORY 87 , WINTER 1998-99

1-800-221-NMHS (6647) 27

MARINE ART

'Ifie Sfoop 'Ezyeriment Leads the

Jiudson out into the Wider 'WorU art and text by Len Tantillo

Project Experiment, a committee of NMHS, is gathering support to build a replica ofthe Hudson River sloop Experiment, which in 1785 became the second vessel to voyage to Canton in China under the Americanflag. Much ofour interest in this vessel was inspired by artist Len Tantillo 's vibrant images of the sloop and his detailed research into her place in the stream of Hudson River history. The text is adapted from Mr. Tantillo's book Visions of New York State: The Historical Paintings of L. F. Tantillo (Wappingers Falls NY: The Shawangunk Press, 1996) or as long as hum an be in gs have inhabired irs banks, vessels have been built on the Hudso n River.

The Mahica ns built dugo ut ca noes, and the Durch built yachts. Brigs, fr igates, gunboats, passenger steamboats, rugs and everything in between slid in to the waters of this great rive r. N one, however, acco mplished a more daring feat than rhe 60-foor sloop from Albany, New Yo rk, named the Experiment.

:F

Stewart Dean, Merchant and Patriot T he man responsible for this voyage was Captain Stewart D ean, a Marylander who moved to Albany in the 1760s and sailed a small merchant ship in the cargo trade between the colonies. D ean was passionately committed to th e spiri t of independence and offered his servi ces to the fl edgling military forces of General Washington. Within days of th e signing of the D eclaration of Independence, Captain D ean was engaged in naval battles in rhe Caribbea n. In May 1782, whil e parrolling St. Christopher's H arbor in the Wes r Indies aboard the schooner Nimrod, D ean was attacked by two 20-gun British warships.

After a short and bloody batde, Nimrod was captured , and Stewart D ean, seriously wounded, was held prison er for 20 days.

His freedom was secured through the negotiarions of th e governor of Antigua and 28

D ean rerurn ed to his home in Al bany to convalesce.

After the wa r, D ean returned to the merchant trade and, requiring a new ship , had the sloop Experiment built on the banks of the Hudson Ri ve r in Albany. T his singlemasred vessel was a typ ical wo rk boat of its day. Th e deck was wide and low, 59' 11 " in length with a 19' 3" beam , and was registe red at 85 .5 to ns. Following several comm ercial ve ntures the Experiment sailed into m aritime history com pleting a voyage of one yea r and fo ur months and covering approximately 28,000 nauti cal miles.

The Voyage of the Experiment T he Experiment cleared Albany in July 1784 on its maiden voyage carrying grain across theAd anti c to Madeira. There D ea n loaded his ship with wine and a few head of catde. H e rhen sail ed to the West Indi es and traded his cargo for rum, which, in rum, was so ld in C harlesto n, South Carolina. T he Experiment returned to New Yo rk in D ecember, co mpl eting its first success-

ful commercial excursion.

T he ve ntures that fo llowed were less p rofitab le, an d Dean needed a new app roac h. W ith the support of investo rs from Albany and New Yo rk C ity, he organized an incredible voyage . In D ecember 1785, the Experiment, with a crew of seve n me n and two boys, set sail for Canton, C hina, a fo cal po int fo r in te rnational commerce.

O nl y one sh ip fro m the fledgli ng US had made the journ ey before, the three- masted square rigger, Empress of China.

Loaded with supplies and trade goods, the well-armed Experiment left M urray's Dock in New Yo rk C ity. Braving sto rms and ro ugh water and ever watchful fo r th e pirates of the So uth China Sea, Dea n arri ved in Canton in Jun e 1786. He remai ned there fo r six months and negotiated many lucrative transactions with the C h inese Hong merchants.

O n 10 December 1786, Dean left Canto n, ar riving back in New Yo rk C ity on 20 April 1787. T here, the Experiment was greeted by a jubilant crowd, canno n sa-

The quest for commercial success led the Dutch Jar up the North River to the site ofAlbany in the 1600s. A century and a halflater, the Dutch inspired sloop Experiment would leave that same city in pursuit ofcommerce. ("The Ferry: A View ofFort Orange, 1643 (Albany NY)"

by L. F. Tantillo, acrylic on canvas, 17.5 "x 26': 1998; Collection of Marie and Robert Dolfi)

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998- 99

Little is known ofDeans triumphant return to his home port ofAlbany. I decided to depict a scene that represented his return symbolically but in which all the imagery was rooted in fact. Two formidable problems presented themselves. This was the largest canvas I had attempted, and no one had painted the 18th-century waterfront ofAlbany. So, nobody knew what it looked like-and I was painting it eight feet long!

By examining city records, period maps and early drawings and paintings, I was able to establish the appearance ofsome ofthe buildings near the riverfront. The remaining structures were based on general descriptions of the area and assessed tax values.

It is impossible for an artist to accurately portray something as complex as a city ofanother era with no references. In such cases I build scale models. I based my layout on a 1770 map ofAlbany, which clearly indicated the location and arrangement ofmajor structures. These were followed by dozens ofhouses, barns and outbuildings. I also modeled the Experiment and other river craft. The layout needed to be large enough to produce sharp photographs. Consequently, the model grew to over twenty feet in length.

Once I had a way to study the old city, I started making sketches, eventually placing the viewer south ofCity Hall, at about rooftop height, looking north up the Hudson River. This placed the Experim ent in the lower right foreground, moving away from the viewer toward City Hall Dock. The canvas was twice as long as it was high, allowing me to paint the scene as a panoramic cityscape.

To create the atmosphere ofcelebration, a large crowd ofenthusiastic citizens along Dock Street was needed. Realistically depicting a crowd in a large-scale painting requires special attention. So my wife and I hosted a picnic in our backyard, to which all our guests were asked to wear 18th-century clothes.

"The Return ofthe Experiment " was completed after a year ofwork. The likelihood that Deans return to Albany actually looked anything like the scene depicted is small. For all we know, he could have arrived in the middle ofthe night or during a storm or even at a different time ofyear. I do believe, however, that the Albany I painted is close to what existed at that time. If Captain Dean had sailed up to City Hall Dock on a sunny late afternoon in June 1787, this is what we would have seen from our rooftop perch. (''The Return ofthe Experiment," by L. F Tantillo, acrylic on canvas, 48 "x 96''. 1994; Collection ofKeyBank)

â&#x20AC;˘ This painting depicts the sloop as it might have appeared somewhere in the I ndian Ocean on a moonlit night. The wind is rising, and the crew scrambles to take in sail. These were courageous sailors braving a variety of hazardous conditions on a very lonely sea, and it was my intention to portray that aspect oftheir amazing voyage. ("The Voyage ofthe Experiment," by L. F. Tantillo, acrylic on canvas, 20" x 30 ''. 1992; Collection ofKey Bank)

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

29

Project 'Ezyeriment: 'Bringing the Sfoop to Life The following are excerpted from remarks given by the late Basil F. Harrison, leader of the NMHS campaign to build a replica ofthe sloop Experiment, whenhe received the NMHS Distinguished Service Award in April 1998.

Two years ago General Patrick Garvey, city manage r of Peekskill, New York, picked up on NMH S' s proposal to build a replica of the sloop Experiment. The Experiment was built fo r the Hudso n River but also voyaged to Madeira and the West Indies. Ultimately, she made a voyage to Canton, C hina, beco ming the second ship to carry the flag of our new country in the C hi na trade.

T he China voyage was notable in several respects. T he Experiment was a small ship to undertake such a journey, the trip was fin ancially rewardin g and all the crew returned in good health.

After completing this noteworthy venture, the Experiment returned to ply the Hudson.

Hudso n Rive r interests would be critical to our project to build a new Experiment. O ur p rimary cri te rion fo r the project was that the shi p must perfo rm an educational role. To this end, we asse mbled a distinguished co mmittee with Ge neral Garvey sharing the chairmanship with RADM D avid C. Brown, president of State U niversity of New Yo rk Maritime College. Other members of the committee include educators, historians, co mm unications professionals and financial experts.

To meet the educational challenge, we conve ned a colloquy of school principals, college instructors, curriculum adviso rs and mem bers of Outward Bound. T he result of this colloquy, underwritten by Key Bank in Albany, was the direction to address trade, commerce and the economy of the towns up and down the H udson in p rograms encompassing students from grades K th ro ugh 12.

T he participation of the educational communi ty and the leaders of

Leading naval architect Melbourne Smith will design and build the Hudson River sloop Experiment. Here he outlines the research that has led to a set ofpreliminary lines for the replica.

T he fi nal development of the Hudson River sloops with long cutwa ters, single headsails and flush decks, as represented by the replica Clearwater, was first seen in the earl y 1800s. T he design was intended fo r sheltered river use, and it seems the model was well established by 1830. Prior to this, the sloops in contemporary paintings of the river and those described in early writings were of Durch origin . T hey appear to have had a bowsprit with great steeve, no gammoning head, two headsails, often with square topsails, an d a greater hold capacity. Passengers at the time wro te of the spacious stern cabin acco mmodations that acco unted for the large transo m and raised aft deck. T hey were not unlike the seago ing Jamaica and Bermuda sloops that also developed in the 1600s and 1700s.

T he register dimensions of the Experiment were 58' 11" length , 19'3" breadth and 8' 11 " dep th in hold. H er tonnage was 85 55 / 95 calculated at that rime by deducti ng th ree-fifths of the beam fro m the length to obtain an arbitrary keel length to be mul tiplied by the measured breadth and depth, the diviso r of the sum being 95. The

30

local government and business are necessary to achieve our ultimate goals. T herefore, we have solicited and received endorsement fro m over a dozen commun ities. \/./e con ti nue to enlist the support of every community.

The initial budget of $ 1,700,000 earmarks $ 1,000,000 fo r the design and construction of the Experiment. Melbourne Smith, the chosen designer and builder, plans to build the ship using both professionals and ap prentices and to build it in the open where visitors may watch the sloop's p rogress . W hile the ship could be built in a shorter period, we have designated a year for construction to allow time for everyo ne to become involved .

We expect to build the Experiment in Peekskill. T he Scenic Hudson Land T rust recently purchased 8 acres of formerl y industrial waterfront fo r public use, and the City has agreed to clean up the property and create a park, with plans to develop a maritime heritage center that will include a shipyard which can offer co nstruction and repair for wooden ships.

AJI of this costs money and we are wo rki ng towards develop ing fundin g fro m a variety of so urces. A decision was made at the beginning th at Project Experiment must stand on its own and be able to operate as a separate and distinct organization from N M HS. O ne of our committee members, Alexander Zagoreos, hosted a recep tion for members of the financial community who he fee ls might be in a position to develop ini tial fi nancing. W ith initial financing in place there is a possibility that th e State of New Yo rk will find the project of sufficie nt interest to make available substantial sums. T he designation of the Hudso n Rive r as one of the fi rst "American H eri tage Rivers" is of prim e im portance in gaining government fund ing as well. It is a mi ghty challenge but all indications are that we will be successful in meeting it.

W ill the Experiment sail to China? First we must establish the fo undation for Project Experiment and have it wo rking as a viable educational program locally. After that, we will consider voyages beyond the Hudson.

-BASIL F. HARRISON

illustrated hull is based on the Dutch-influenced model of the period and the known measured dimensions.

Acco rding to the records, modifications were made to th e Experiment for her voyage to C hina. Six inches were added to the keel to increase the d raft and windward ability, bulwarks were raised and the stern cabin enl arged . A jib boom and two yards were -MELBOURNE SMITH added, and she was armed.

SEA HIISTORY 87, WINTER 1998- 99

lutes, and all manner of fa nfare. M iraculously, all hands were safe and in good health and their cargo of teas, silks and chi naware was so ld for a substantial profit.

Little is known of the vessel's return to Albany, alth ough records seem to indicate that D ean may have arri ved in Jun e 1787.

T he newspapers in New York C ity describe in detail his ar rival there, but, un fortunately, Albany newspapers carried only reprints of that article.

W ith Captain D ean in command, the Experiment returned to ply the Hudso n Rive r trade. It was w ri tte n that, of all the sloops available fo r transit on the Hudson Rive r, the Experiment was by far the most interesting, fo r aboard that vessel travelers wo uld h ear the cap tain 's tale of adventure in C hina.

In 1789, Hector St. John de C revecoeur published An Eighteenth Century Journey through Orange County. In it he comm en red on what an exh ilarating experience it was to travel aboard the Experiment. He described the sloop's unusually large cabin, decorated in C hinese fashi on with li ghted candles in glass bow ls. He was also impressed with D ean 's love and appreciatio n fo r the beauty of the Hudso n Rive r and his knowledge of its history.

T he C hina voyage, com bined with his distinguished war record, made Dean a living legend. In the years that fo llowed, h e lived a contented li fe in Albany. He m arried Margaret W hetten in 1787, b uilt a new house overlooking the river, and saw his passenger and cargo business flo urish.

H e enj oyed his 11 chil d ren and 3 1 grandchildren, and ma ny honors were bestowed on hi m, including th e renaming of Dock Street to Dean Street. It was a fitt ing reward for a lifetim e of service. O n 4 A ugust 1836, at th e age of89 , Stewart Dean d ied in th e company of his family.

Albany's Last Days as a Frontier Town Dean lived to see dramatic changes on his rive r. Sometime aro und 1790, th e first major al teratio n of the Al bany riverfront took place, the res ult of increased traffic and a demand fo r more wareh ouse sp ace, as well as a need ro p ro tect the piers from winter ice and spring flooding. A seawall was buil t connecting the ends of two d ocks and was extended south until it touched the shoreline. The area was filled in and the res ul ting new thorough fa re was named

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

The workday is winding down as a bright moon illuminates a mackerel sky, its silvery Light reflecting off a calm Hudson River. A group of merchants, relaxing after Loading a wagon, discuss the days events. Warm ribbons of Lantern Light catch the rounded cobblestones ofthe street. The sturdy sloops creak in the gentle breeze. A solitary crewman aboard a topsail schooner anchored in deeper water makes his final rounds, Lantern in hand, before coming ashore.

Evening has Long been an artistic metaphor for endings, and I wanted my work to symbolize the end ofthe colonial years in what was to become a bustling industrial age.

(Above: "Quay Street, "by L. F. Tantillo, Acrylic on canvas, 24" x 26'~ 1987; Collection of Patrick and Mary Ann Mahoney. Below: "Quay Street Study," by L. F. Tantillo, 1992; Collection ofDavid and Barbara van Nortwick)

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31

Ofthe hundreds ofbeautiful steamboats that glided up and down the Hudson Riverfrom 1807 into the 1960s, one vessel stands above all others. I t was not the Largest or the fastest. The title "Queen ofthe Hudson" was bestowed on the Mary Powell before she ever moved under her own steam. Built at Allison Shipyard in j ersey City, New jersey, in 1861, she was homeported at the Rondout Creek in Kingston, New York. Most ofher distinguished 57-year career was spent operating between Kingston and New York City with occasional excursions to Albany.

This painting depicts the Mary Powell at Rondout Creek shortly after sunrise in the summer of 1893 . ("The Mary Powell at RondoutCreek, "by L. F. Tantillo, acrylic on canvas, 11"x16''. 1992; Collection ofRichard and Ellen Whipple)

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Quay Street.

The painting and sketch of Q uay Street on the previous page depict the port of Albany in 1813, a period that marks the end of Albany as a frontier river town. T he age of sail was about to give way to steam power, a nd the Erie Ca nal would soon accelerate western d evelopment. T he pace of life was about to quicken.

By the mid- l 800s, Albany was a center of comm erce and immigration, primari ly due to the Erie Canal, which opened up the interior of the US . Schooners and sloops still carried cargo and passengers, but the great passenger steamboats brought a new dimension to river traffic as people journeyed from New York C ity to the picturesq ue pons of the upper Hudson River. .t

Trained as an architect at the Rhode Island School of Design, Mr. Tantillo turned his Love of his native Hudson Valley and his fascination with the past into a career as a Landscape and marine artist. He currently serves as vice president of the Hudson River Maritime Museum.

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SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

Announcing a new print from

WILLIAM

G. MULLER

New York Harbor Salutes America's Celebrated Tall Ship EAGLE The U.S. Coast Guard Academy's beautiful and historic square-rigged barque Eagle carries our nation's proud tradition of deep-sea sail into the 21st century.

â&#x20AC;˘

'

In anticipation of OpSail 2000, this lively painting by renowned marine artist William G. Muller captures the spirit of the tall ship fes tivals tha t have commemorated important dates in history.

The image, printed in colorfast inks, is 28" wide by 151 //'high on an acid-free sheet 33" x 21 1 Is".

The total edition size of 1,500 will be numbered and signed by the artist

To order your print today, send $140 + $10 shipping and handling to: NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY PO Box 68, Peekskill NY 10566 Or phone in your credit card order to

800-221-NMHS (6647)

USS Kearny and USS Reuben James Early Casualties of an Undeclared Naval War

by William H. Langenberg

I

n rhe earl y morning of 3 1 O ctober 194 1 convoy HX-156 slowl y steamed north from Newfoundl and toward Iceland . D espite the fact rhar it was almost six weeks before America's ent ry in to Wo rld War II , fi ve US Navywa rshi ps were escorring rhe convoy carrying war materials bound for Grea r Britain. One of th ese five escorrs, th e obsolescent Clem so n-class fo ur-piper destroye r USS Reuben James (DD-24 5), was stati o ned o n the port side of rhe convoy, abo ur 2,000 ya rds fro m rhe las t ship in the outboard column . Ar 0532 Reuben James received an order fro m rhe escorr co mmander to run down a radio direcrionfinder bearin g o n a poss ibl e submarine contact somewhere to po rt of the co nvoy.

Jusr as the destroye r bega n to add speed and turn towa rd the proper bearing, she was struck by a torpedo o n her po rt side below the bridge. Seconds later, rhe ship's fo rward magazin e bl ew up, snapping Reuben James in two. All of rh e hull and superstructure forward of the number-four stack disappeared beneath rhe sea. The remain ing afrer sectio n of the ship slowly serried in rhe icy No rth A tlantic, as survivo rs franti cally launched balsa life rafts from the bl azing hull onto th e oil-covered water.

Lucky survivors climbed aboard or clun g on precariously as the remainder of rhe ship slid beneath rhe sea with trapped o r wo unded m en. Just fi ftee n minutes after rhe torpedoing, silence serri ed over rh e sce ne. Bur nor for long.

When th e after secti o n of the hull sa nk, rwo d epth charges exploded at th eir prese t depth , ca usin g m o re ca rn age among th e survi vors o n rhe surface . Thus at 0708 rh a r m o rnin g o nl y 45 shocked , o il -co ve red, n ea rl y fr ozen survivo rs we re taken aboard two remainin g esco rt vessels from con voy H X- 156. A total o f 11 5 Reuben J ames crewmen, including all of th e office rs, perish ed .

Why was Reuben J ames escorting a co nvoy carrying war materials to G rear Britain nearly six wee ks before the US becam e a belligerent in W o rld W ar II? The answer to chis question illustrates a little- rem embered as pect ofAmeri ca n history, th e undeclared naval war between the U nited Scares and Germany which raged in rheArlantic O cean fo r several months before the US entered World W ar II .

34

An Undeclared Naval War In an effo rt to preclude Am erica n involvement should anoth er majo r wa r begin in Europe, Congress passed rhe Neutraliry Act in 1935, prohibiting expo rt of implements of wa r to belligerent states in America n ships. le also prohibited loa ns o r credits co such co untri es and granted the President power to bar expo rts of ocher than war materials to bellige rent nations. Foreign powers we re required to pay in advance fo r war materi als and tra nspo rt them to their des tin ation. This "cash-and-ca rry" clause govern ed trade with European nations up co the outbreak of WWII. Impending wa r in Europe m ade the Roosevelr adminiscra tio n apprehensive ch ar the Ne utrali ry Act might hinder G reat Britain and France from purchas in g war materials during rhe loo ming co nflict. Intern atio nal law permitted belligerents to purchase these supplies from a neutral state, but in 1939 the existing Ne utrali ry Act superimposed restri cti o ns on such Ameri can action . President Roosevelt sought an am endment to the Neurrali ry Act rhar wo uld permit the US to withhold arms from the perceived aggressor nations whil e sendin g war materi als to the perceived victims. The amended Ne utrali ty Act, passed

by Co ngress in 1939, co ntinued the "cashand-carry" prov isio n fo r belligerent nati o ns. T his actio n favo red G rear Britain and France, as they we re theo retically abl e to exercise sea co ntro l in rhe Arl an ti c. Partially to offset this perceived advantage, however, che 1939 Ne ucraliry Act sec up a European danger zo ne extending fa r out to sea from Britain and France into which no American m erchant ship co uld legally sa il.

American fea rs abo ut a Euro pea n war became reali ty in September 1939 when rhe German arm y invaded Poland. W ithin o ne year, th e Ge rm an military machin e had occupi ed Norway, the Low Co untri es and France. Italy had joined rhe conflict on the side of Ge rma ny. G rear Britain now stood alone, and man y Americans becam e concerned char, if Britain surrendered, irs powerful Navy would fall under Ge rman co ntrol , brin ging rhe US into danger.

Reflecting t he concerns of rh e Am erican people, President Roosevelt so ught ways to aid Britain shorr of decl arin g wa r.

T hus in September 1940, after p ro tracted

im portuning by British P rime M inister W insto n S. Churchill, Roosevelt traded 50 obso lescent four-piper des troye rs to G rea r Bri tain fo r eight nava l and air bases in rhe Atlan tic O cea n an d Caribbean Sea. T he Ge rm an s co nsidered this trade, accomplished by executi ve action without Congressio nal approval, to be an "openly hostile act. " I r was soon fo llowed by the defeat of the Luftwaffe in the Bartle ofBrirai n, thus endi ng German d reams of a cross-Channel invasion to conquer and occupy England.

Meanwhile, President Roosevelt becam e dete rmined to defend America by helping th e British, even while recognizing th e risk of open warfa re with the Ge rmans. In Nove mber 1940 he p ro posed to Co ngress that aid to Britain be facilitated by a "lendlease" program , in whi ch war materials wo uld be shi p ped to England at no extra cost, bur wo uld th eo reti cally be returned or replaced with equi valent suppli es at a lacer d ace. Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act in M arch 194 1.

Roosevelt's experi ence as Assistant Secretary of the Navy (1 91 3-20) under rhe W ilso n admi n istratio n during Wo rld War I surely alerred him to the face char Ge rman U- boacs would sink merchant ships carryin g "lend-lease" suppli es to G rea t Britain.

Furthermore, if th ese shipments were essential to the defense of the US , as Roosevelt repeatedly alleged, the President as Co mm ander-in-Chiefwould have to devise ways to esco rt these fo reign m erchant shi ps with US wa rships, potentially leadin g to combat betwee n Ge rman U- boats and Am erican esco n vessels. Such a scenario could resul t in overt wa rfa re in the Atlantic Ocean.

Bue President Roosevelt pressed fo rwa rd with the "len d-lease" program , and the feared scenario un fo lded.

After rhe fa ll of Denmark in May 1940, the British army landed troops o n Iceland, ostensibly to prevent a possibl e Ge rman takeove r of the isla nd, whi ch wo uld have threatened th e No rth Atlanti c shipping lanes betwee n America and Euro pe. Great Britain established air and sea bases on Iceland and, by m id- 194 1, there we re over 27,000 British military personnel statio ned there. C hurchill had urgent need fo r these t roo p s elsew h e re, a nd h e e nrrea ted Roosevelt to replace chem with American forces. In ret rospect, one of Churchill's

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

.,

objectives was to involve the US more deeply in the war. After receiving grudging permission from that nation 's gove rnment, Roosevelt ordered US Marines to occupy Iceland in July 1941. U nder an alogous circumstances, US troops had occupied Danish-controlled G reenl and earlier the same year. Roosevelt apprised Co ngress of this move after it was a fait acco mpli , and in rhe same message he stated that rhe US wo uld provide escorts as far as Iceland for co nvoys sailin g to Britain. Thar step was expanded later the same month by his announcement that Iceland was now considered part of the Western H emisph ere and thus protected by the Monroe Doctrine.

President Roosevelt undertoo k these dramatic esca lations only after the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. Both Roosevelt and C hurchill be1ieved Germany wo uld become so involved on the Russian front rhat it would nor be able to counter American actions in Iceland effecti vely. As a stated policy, the President was anxious to bolster US defenses by protecting lend-lease shipments to Britain. Bur he still desired to achieve that goal, if possible, without becoming involved in a shoo ringwar with Germany.

His estimation of German reactions proved accurate. Preoccupied with massive warfare on its Eastern front, Germany exercised forbearance toward America's provocative occupations of Green land and Iceland. When, in July 1941, Roosevelt publicly announced the North America-toIceland co nvoy escort force to which Reuben James was assigned, it was clear to both sides that an undeclared naval war berween Germany and the US was underway in the Atlantic Ocean.

This esco rt force guarded co nvoys traversing rhe Atlantic Ocean from the US or Canada to Iceland, where they became rhe responsibility of British escorts. US Navy ships picked up a convoy off Newfoundland, relieving Canadian vessels from the task. They, in turn, handed over rhe British-bound co nvoy to Royal Navy escorts ar the Mid-Ocean Meeting Point (MOMP), located in rhe North Atlantic south of Iceland. When practicable, rhe US Navy escorts then picked up a westb o und convoy at the MOMP which they delivered to Canadian ships in the Newfoundland area.

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

Bottom: USS Kearny is shown alongside USS Monsse n in Reykjavik Harbor. The torpedo damage is clearly visible on her starboard side. Top: The repair crew is hard at work on the damage to USS Kearny. The Livermore class of destroyers had several significant improvements over WWI-era four-pipers, including a split engineering plant with two separate fire and engine rooms, compartmentalization to localize flooding, and a double bottom with a stronger keel. The Livermores 'armaments were also improved; they carried five 5-inch dual-purpose guns in enclosed turrets and modern antisubmarine warfare weapons.

(All photos courtesy ofElsilrac Enterprises)

A Shooting War The conAicr became a shooting war on 4 September 1941 when the American fourpiper USS Greer (DD-145) was steaming independently to Iceland carrying cargo and Army officers. Greer, like al l Atlantic Fleer destroyers, had orders to "trail and report" if it located a German submarin e.

British patrol aircraft alerted Greer to a submerging U-boat nearly ten miles away.

Proceeding to th e scene, Greer located and trailed the subm arine, bur did nor press home a depth-charge attack. The British patrol aircraft did so, however, before returning to Iceland to refuel. U-652 , proceeding at periscope depth , could not identify with certainry whether rhe aircraft or the destroyer had attacked. Furthermore, Greer presented a bow-on appearance and

could not be identified as an American destroyer. After being followed for over three hours, U-652 fired rwo torpedoes at Greerthar both missed. Greerrhen launched rwo unsuccessful depth-charge attacks. The destroyer then lost contacrwirh U-652 and proceeded into Iceland. Bur a line had been crossed. Greer became the first US warship to arrack a German submarine in rhe Atlantic.

Using the Greer in cident as an opportunity to intensify the undeclared war, President Roosevelt add ressed rhe American people one week later and publicly asserted rhe clash was an unprovoked arrack on an Amer ica n warship . Co nsequen tl y, he warned, German and Italian vessels of war enterin g Am erican waters would do so at their own peril. With these new "shoor-onsighr" orders, rh e US Navy was free to

35

Kearny depa rred Reykj avik on C hristmas D ay in com p any with Task Force 19 for permanent repairs ar Bosron Navy Yard. In April 1942 rh e destroye r rerurn ed ro the fl eet, where sh e served with distin crion in borh rh e Arlantic and Pacific unti l he r deco mmiss io ning in 1946.

Less rhan two weeks afrer th e Kearny arrac k, USS Salinas (A0- 19), an old armed ta nker first co mmiss ioned in 1921 , was proceedin g from Iceland to N ewfoundland wirh co nvoy ON-28. Salinas had discharged he r ca rgo of perroleum products in Reuben J am es was one of the 273 Clemson-class destroyers built for the US Navy between 191 7 and 1922. Properly known as flush-deckers because oftheir unbroken main deck, these Iceland and was remrning in ballasr rid ing ships were commonly called four-p ipers for their typical four smokestacks. The Clemson class light in rh e water. Tankers we re normally had a length ofapproximately 3 14 feet, with a narrow beam ofslightly over 31 feet. Normal srarion ed d ee p in th e middle of co nvoys for displacement was about 1, 190 tons, resulting in a relatively shallow draft of under 10 feet. max imum prorecrio n, bur because Salinas Design speed ofthese destroyers was 35 knots and they carried a peacetime crew ofsix officers was steaming with sea wate r ballasr, she was and 89 men. Standard armament includedfour 4-inch guns, one 3-inch gun and twelve 2 f- srarion ed as th e last ship in the outboard port column , th e dan gerous "windy co rinch torpedo tubes arranged in four triple mounts. ner. " Jusr after 0500 in the ea rl y morning arrack U-boars in rhe Arlanri c. ships were a significanr improvemenr over of 3 0 Ocrober, Salinas was stru ck on her Unril his ill-fared invasion of Russia in rh e WWI-era four-pipers. po rt side by two to rpedoes fired by U- 106.

June 194 1, Adolf Hider had rri ed ro keep a Afre r jo inin g convoy SC-48 , Kearny Prompt action by Salinas's watch team , ri ghr leash o n his imparienr U-boar fo rces and th e other fo ur escorts beca me engaged who fl ooded her cargo tanks with fl amerega rdin g arracks o n America n ships. T he in a barrl e aga inst the wolf pack. In pitch smorherin g ca rbo n d iox ide, prevented a German Navy was under stricr o rders ro darkn ess jusr afrer midnighr o n rhe morn- disas rrous fire , and Salinas d amage conrrol avo id incidenrs ar sea wirh rhem. Afre r rh e ing of 17 Ocrober, Kearny became mo- parties worked ex pedit iously and compeRussian campaign was launched , Hid er menraril y silhouerred againsr rh e roaring tenrl y to sho re bu lkh eads and stop flood becam e even more anxious ro delay Ameri- fire from a ro rp edo ed ranker. A lurking ing. By 0 53 0 Salinas stopped serr lin g in the ca n inrerve nrio ns. Afrer Roosevelt issued Ge rman subm arin e, identity sti ll d ebared ocean, but U- 106 returned on the surface his "shoor o n sighr" orders in September, but probably U-568, taking advantage of to sink the crippled tanker. T he subm arine howeve r, H irler racirly loosened his resrri c- this m o mentary illuminatio n, fired rhree laun ched two mo re to rpedo es thar passed rions on German U-boats. While nor di - torpedoes. T he middl e o ne in th e spread j usr ahead of Salinas, whi ch fired in reprisal recrly au rhori zi ng arracks on American ships, struck Kearny amidships o n her starboard ar U- 106 with her five-inch gun aft. Fo urhe ro lerated accidenral U-boat atracks on side, direcr o n rh e forwa rd fire room. Seven piper dest roye r USS D upont (DD- 152) unidenrifi ed vessels in the Germa n wa r men o n warch rhere beca me rh e first Ameri- rh en arrived on the scene and forc ed the zo ne. H e believed rhat ro do orherwise ca ns ro di e in co m bar under their own flag German U- boar ro submerge until Salinas. wo uld mean a weakening of the sea wa r durin g WWI I. Prom pt and effici enr action regained engine power. Ar 0955 Salinas againsr Great Britain, but he refrained from

by Kearny's damage co nrrol tea ms saved bega n ro stea m independenrl y roward St. making bell ige renr pronoun cemenrs or is- the ship from sinking. They immediately J ohn 's, Newfo und land , about 700 mil es ro suing provocari ve orders. shored up the weakened bulkh ead between the west. The plucky tanker arrived there on Th e "shoor-o n-s ighr" directive soon th e engine room and forward fire room.

3 November, aft:er exhibiting co mmendable res ul red in an escalation of th e undeclared With in minutes th ey had power resrored damage control perfor mance by her brave, naval wa r ar sea. On 15 Ocrober 194 1 ro rhe port engin e, permitring Kearny ro but inexperienced , crew.

Ir was wirh in thi s framework that rh e easrbound co nvoy SC-48, co nsisting of 49 steam slowly away from the co nvoy toward merchanr ships guard ed by o nly four Ca- the west. By the time Kearny limped into ill-fared destroyer USS Reuben Jam es was nadi an co rve rres, came under devas tating port at Reykj av ik harbo r in Iceland just escorting convoy H X- 156 roward Iceland attack by a Ge rman submar in e wolf pack. afre r dawn on 19 Ocrober, casualties among in rhe early morning of 3 1 Ocrober, on ly F ive Amer ica n d es rro ye rs, escorrin g rh e crew rora led 11 dead and 22 wo unded . one d ay after Salinas had been torpedoed wes rbound co nvoy ON-24 nearl y400 miles Damage contro l efforts by Kearny' screw and survived. Pursuin g convoy H X- 156 away, were derached ro assisr SC-48. Among drew admirarion from observers, particu- was U-552, commanded by Lieutenant rhese fi ve was USS Kearny (DD-432) , a larly British nava l officers, who were amazed Erich Topp. Both U-552 and Topp were modern d estroye r jusr pur inro service rh e rhar the desrroye r survived after suffering a barrl e-hardened vetera ns. It was rh e eighth previous year. Kearny was among the first torpedo hir a midships. Afrer receiving a war parrol for th e submarin e and rhe fifof 44 destroye rs in rh e Livermore class remporary hull patch from the newly com - reenth for hier skipper, a daring co mmander co mmiss ion ed durin g 194 0-43. These miss ioned repair ship USS Vulcan (AR-5 ), and one olf rhe few experienced U -boar

36

SEA HISlTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

cap rai ns to survive the wa r. Topp had fo ll owed co nvoy H X-156 for nea rl y three hours o n rh e surface before he arrived at a favo rable attack position .As he approached fro m the po rt side of the co nvoy, Reuben James beca me his nearest targe t. J usr befo re attacking, Topp sent o ur a co ntact report o n th e co nvoy, and it was rhe bea rin g of this radi o transm ission that Reuben James had bee n ordered to inves ri gare. U-552 was surface d about 1,000 yards to port of Reuben James when Topp ordered two torpedoes to be fired. T he first one struck the destroye r, ex plodin g rhe forward magazin e and sinkin g Reuben James within 15 minutes.

T he acceleratin g attacks and casualti es o n Kearny and Reuben James sparked a public-and then congress ional- res ponse.

At the urging of Pres ident Roosevelt, Co ngress amended the Ne ut rality Act to remove the "cany" porrion of" cash and cariy."

T he rev isio n permirred armin g American merchant ships and al lowed them ro ca rry war mate rials in to com bat zo nes . On th e Ger man side, Hitl er at first fea red rh e sinking of Reuben James migh t provo ke wa r, bur he soo n became reassured th at it wo uld not.

H e th en authorized previously proscribed U- boar operations offNewfou ndl and. T he existence of the heretofore undeclared naval wa r in the Arlamic co uld now hardl y be disguised. Al l p retense disappea red on ly six weeks late r, afre r the J apanese arrack o n Pearl H arb o r, whe n Germany and the US mutuall y declared war o n 11 D ecembe r 194 1. In his bombas tic speech th at day declaringwa ron the US, Hider condemn ed, amo ng other things, Pres ident Roosevelt's "shoot-o n-sight" order to the A rlan tic Fleer and the illegal A merica n occupati o ns of Green land and Iceland.

Most co ntemporary Americans recall the 7 D ece mber Japanese attack o n Pea rl H arb or as the beginnin g of WWII for the US . Bur for American sail ors engaged in esco rtin g No rth Atl antic convoys, a wa r betwee n Ger many and th e US had already been ragin g fo r several months. And crew members killed in action aboard Kearny and Reuben James paid the ultim ate pri ce befo re Wo rl d War II legally began. ,t

William H. Langenberg is a retired Rear Admiral ofthe US Naval Reserve. H is writing on military history has appeared in Na val War Co ll ege Rev iew, Sea C lass ics, Naval Histo ry and many other periodicals.

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

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SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS WESCO: Lest We Forget-the Effort to Bring an LST Home

by Jere A . Beery M an y stories of oursranding naval service during the co ntroversial Vietnam W ar have gone untold . T his is one such sto ry: the extraordin ary saga of a ship, her crew and their singular valor and sacrifi ce.

In the thick earl y morning darkness on the M ekong D elta in Vietn am, 1 N ovember 1968, USS Westchester County (LST1167) was anchored on the M y Tho Ri ver with several other support ships of Rive r Assault Flotilla One. A Terrebonne Parish-class rank landing ship launched in 1953 and kn own as WES C O throughout the fleer, LST-1167 was actin g as a temporary base for the 9th D ivision's 3rd Banalion and provided berthing fo r some 25 0 US Army personnel, along with her own crew of 140 sailors and officers. In her belly, she carried supplies for the entire flotilla, including 350 tons of ammuniti on and explosives. She was a "sining" bomb!

At 0322 hours, with only the midnight watch awake, 1167 was wracked by rwo

stared, "J usr fo r a fl eeting mo mem , I thought she might keep on going over." He wo uld later credit his fo rwa rd pump room perso nnel with stabilizing th e ship .

T he dange r of flash fires igni ti ng rhe co ns of explosives on the tank deck was an ominous threa t, as the ship had become enveloped in a cl oud of aro mized diesel fue l. Any miscal cul ations at all co uld have resulted in a catastrophic explosion rhar wo uld have meant death and destruction fo r people and ships within a very large radius sur ro unding the WESCO. Barde stations remained at-the-ready fo r many h ours: ir was fea red rhis might be the beginning of a much larger arrack, with the possib ili ty th at m ore unexp loded charges were an ached to the hull. Exhausted damage control teams wo rked to co ntrol rhe flooding, while an emprs were made to free trapped crewmen. Most of those killed were crushed berween the deck and the overhead while still in their bunks, making rescue and body recovery difficult and hazardous. Rescues and repairs were hampered because it was feared that curring rorch es or welding equipm en t wo uld trigger explosions.

As d am age reports made their way to the b ridge, the names of rhe dead and missing began to add up : 17 shi p 's crew dead or missing, five US Army WESCO rides at anchor near My Tho just hours before the mines went perso nn el killed, one offon 1 N ovember 1968. (US Navy photo) U S Navy rive rin e explosions. Sappers had an ached and ex- sailor killed, rwo Vietnamese mili tary perploded rwo magnetic mines ar her waterline. sonn el killed, 22 others wo unded. T he 25 In the chaos crewmen tri ed desperately me n killed rhar morn ing became the "US to find ways to their battl e stations through Navy's grea test loss of life in a single incithe dark, steam -fill ed, d iesel-soaked w reck- dent as rhe resul t of enemy ac tion during age. Five of rhe ship 's first-class perry offic- th e entire Vietnam War. " ers had bee n killed instantl y. W ithout hes iSince 14 D ecember 1942, of 1,200tation, lower-ranked personnel manned plus LSTs co mmiss ioned into service, only damage co nt ro l stations and assumed rhe three ea rned 15 Engagement Stars. In its responsibili ties of their miss ing superiors. 19 years of service, WESCO achi eved th is There was no panic. unique distin ction.

The co ncern of the ship's co mmanding In 1974, LST-11 67 was turn ed over to offi cer, LC DRJohn W . Bra nin , was stabi - the T urkish Navy, where she serves today lizing the shi p, rapidly listin g to srarboard as L-402 Serdar. In 1990, a gro up offormer due to massive fl ooding below decks. Branin officers, crew and fa mily members fo unded

38

th e USS Westchester Coun ty, LST- 11 67 Association. T h ro ugh their efforts, di splays a b o ut LST-11 67 can be see n in the Wes tchester Co unty (NY) O ffi ce Building and the US Navy Memorial M useum, Washingro n DC. Fo rmer crew me mbers co n tinue to do nate unique artifac ts fo r rhese rwo projects .

Their most ambitious proj ect is to reacquire Serdar fro m T urkey and return USS Westchester County to the US, where she wo uld be preserved as a museum ship .

Al Carson, President, USS Westchester County, LST-1167Association, 24646Shylo Lane, Pueblo CO 8 1006; 719 544-2822; e-mail: miabi@prodigy.net Jere A. Beery, historian for the USS Westchester County, LS T-1167 Association, served on WESCO and aboard a P BR during the Vietnam War. H e was awarded a Bronze Star with Combat V and three Purple H earts.

America's Brown-Water Navy f rom its inceptio n and throughout rh e more th an 200 years of its storied history, the blue-water sa ilors of the U nited States Navy have, in wa r rim e, been complemented by ru gged brown-wa ter sailors. On e foo t on land, the other in rh e water, th ese sa ilors have se rved with proficiency, pride a nd distin ction. The crew and officers of USS Westchester County, LST - 1167 are in this elite group .

Indeed, Am eri ca's indomitab le brownwa ter sailors have always been th ere: creatin g a navy on th e sho res of Lake C hamplain in the Am eri can Revolution; dogged ly battling Indi ans and mosq uitoes in th e Flo rida swamps during rhe Seminole W ars (1 83542), where riverin e warfare m ade its debut; o n the C umberl and and Miss iss ippi ri vers in th e C ivil Wa r, ca using Abraham Lin coln to observe rh ar, " no r o nly on the deep sea, t he broad bay and th e rapid ri ve r, but also up th e narrow muddy bayou and wherever th e ground was a little damp, " Uncl e Sam 's web-footed sail o rs "have been th ere and made their tracks."

Al l vo luntee rs, servin g in sh all ow-draft cockl e shells created fo r the uniqu e dem ands of th eir oft- forgotten campaigns, th e sa il ors of Am eri ca's littoral navy dese rve to be cited fo r "acti o ns above and beyo nd the call of du ty," not, as too often hap pe ned , ove rl ooked in a cobwebbed corner ofAmerican naval histo ry.

- H ERB SAXE

SE A HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

REPORT FROM "AMERICAN RlvERS"

BRINGING RlvERS TO LIFE

Rivers must have been the guides which conducted the footsteps of the first travelers. They are the constant Lure, when theyflow by our doors, to distant enterprise and adventure. ...

-

H ENRY D AVID THOREAU

For us at American Rivers th ere are few more reward in g experiences than wo rking to defend and repa ir this country's 3.5- million miles of rivers and streams. But we have had our wo rk cut out for us in the 25-year life of th is organization.

Fo r 100 years prior to our founding, th is co unt ry had mindlessly trashed and blocked its rivers, sq ueezin g the life from them in o rder to command the glo rious resources they have to offer.

O nl y in the last two decades have we made notable headway in reversing the worst damage to our waterways, thanks to seve ral key Co ngress iona l acts that protected the li fegivin g role of rivers.

A great friend to American Rivers, T im Palmer, said recently, "Our society has matured so we now th in k of ri ve rs not as pipelin es, but as lifelin es." A nd that is happenin g more and mo re as people discover that rivers sustain the natural wo rld while co ntributing to health, welfare and quali ry of life.

Sadly, rivers are still terribly endangered. Sprawling develop ment crea tes ch ro ni c damage as polluted runoff from farms and ciry streets washes into ri ve rs. Excess ive amo ums of water are di verted out of rive rbeds to irrigate large far ms and serve exp lodin g popu lations. Human and livestock sewage overflows into rive rs. Dams and levees destroy ri ve r ecosystems. Industrial toxins threaten water quality.

Yet, we at American Ri ve rs hold fas t to ou r co mmitment to protect th e few remaining wild pristine ri vers and restore the rivers that run through our communiti es . We invite you to join us in our efforts.

-REBECCA R. WODDER, President To join the fight for river conservation, become a member ofAmerican Rivers. CaLL toLl-ftee, 1-877-amrivers or visit our web site at www. am rivers. org.

Art Deco Ferry Returns to Seattle In the 1930s, '40s and '5 0s, a peculi arl y sleek and streamlin ed ferry carried commuters across Puget So und. She was 1iamed Ka/aka/a, "fl ying bird" in the C hin ook language, although some refe rred to her as the "silver slug." For the past decade she has been gro unded o n a beach in Kodiak, Alaska, where she se rved as a fish-p rocessin g p lant. In October, ge nerous donations made it possible to tow her to Seattle. The mayor a nd port comm issioner are co nsid erin g makin g Seattle Kalakala's new perman ent ho me. (The Kalakala Foundatio n, 154 N. 35th Street, Seattle WA 98 103; 888 823- 1935; web: www.kalakala.org)

SEA HrSTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

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SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS

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O ne of the marit ime wo rld's legendary awa rds, the H ales T roph y, will return to the Ame ri can Me rchant Marine M useum , if o nl y in replica fo rm. T he elaborate replica is one of two co mmiss io ned by Carni val C rui se Lines at a cos t of $20,000 each. T he o ri gin al H ales Troph y was awarded to the holder o f th e fa mo us " Blue Ribband of the Atl anti c," symboli call y bestowed on the passenger li ner making th e fastes t rransArl anti c cross in g between New Yo rk and G reat Britain.

One of rh e tro phy replicas will grace Carni val's MS Paradise, bui lt at the F innish Kvae m a Masa shipya rd, w hich also helped fund the rep li cas. T he other was presented to M useum offi cials in a cerem o ny aboa rd the Paradise in New Yo rk o n 18 N ovember.

T he last passe nge r liner to capture the H ales T rophy was the SS United States in 1952.

T he vessel 's owner, U nited States Lines, loaned the troph y to the US M erchant M arine Academy in rhe late 195 0s and d es ignated th e Academy as the trophy's guardi an in 1971. ln 1990 the tro phy was claimed by the Briti sh o perato r of a high-speed aluminum-hull ed fe rry boar that sped across the Atlanti c in reco rd rime. Although Museum o ffi cials and most maritim e historians argued th at the H ales Trophy was intended for large ocean lin ers in regul ar service, a British court uph eld the ferry ow ner's cl aim. T he prize remains in England to this day.

Carnival's Joe Fa rcus said "Tr is fi tting that the H ales T roph y be returned to its ri ghtful place at the Am eri can Me rchant Marine M useum in honor of the last passenge r ocean li ner to win the Blue Ribband, the SS United States. Carni val C rui se Lines and Kvaerna M asa-Yards are proud to have recreated this important pi ece of our rich maritime histoty ."

Competi tio n fo r the symboli c Blue Ribband began in 1838 . In 1935 Haro ld Keates H ales co mmiss io ned the tro phy "to serve as a stimulus to the craft of speed and mechanical perfectio n." T he H ales Trophy is made o f sol id sil ve r and heavy gilt, and stands almost fo ur feet tall , weighing nearly I 00 pounds.

- LI NDA FAS BACH, Directo r AMMM, US Merchant Marine Academy, King• Point NY 11024; 5 16 773-5515

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SEA

HI ~STORY

87, WINTER 1998- 99

INVENI PORTAM BASIL F. HARRISON (1925-1998)

Basil Harrison, leader of the proj ect to build and sail a working replica of the Hudso n River sloop Experiment (see pages 28-32), grew up in Rochester, N ew York, where he was drawn to the wider world of seafa ring opened by the waterborne traffics along the E rie Canal. Enlisting in the Navy in World War II, Basil served in the Pacific aboard the "jeep" carrier Casablanca. H e came back to earn a degree in business administration at the University of Rochester.

Thus equipped, he went to work for the then-fledgling Xerox company. As promotion directo r, he helped introduce the strange new process of xe rography. H e went on to becom e vice pres ident and advertising director for Gro li er publishing house.

In 1979, he set up shop as H & H Associates, working from his home in Westchester County, New York. On one ofhis frequent trips to N ew York City, hespotred the NMHS pin in my lapel and commented on its seamanlike design. From then on, he and his spirited wife Phyllis becam e co-co nspirators in the plans of the Society, including the laun ch , just rwo years ago, of the proj ect to build the Experiment. To this Basil brought all the fire and precision that sparked his career in promoting sophisticated products, all the feeling for seafaring that he had shown in our 1991 campaign to save the Regina Maris (aboard which his son Alex had served), and all the urgency of his constant search for ways to make NMHS a more active force in educational sea experience.

Basil's fami ly-Phyllis and hi s so ns Scott and Alex-are carrying on his work. The rewarding feeli ng Basil brought to everyone he involved in the Experiment was reflected in so mething the finan cier and sailor Alex Zagoreos said o n learning of Basil's death in Sep tember: "I feel I've lost a fri end I've only just met. " But we have not lost the message of the Hudson River sloop Experiment and of the gall ant so ul who championed her, even as a fatal illness ove rtook him. T hat we can never lose or forget.

- PETER STANFORD

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SAMUEL R. THOMPSON (1917-1998)

Samuel R. Thompson, a trustee ofNMHS from 1990 to 1993, graduated from Florida A & M University in 1940 and joined the army soon after, attending the Officer Training schoo l at Fort Benning before being sent to Italy. Sam, with his background as journalist for the National Maritime U nion and Masters, Mates & Pilots, did much to bring NMHS into a more active ro le in the concerns of the US merchant marine of today and tomorrow, and with his wife Mary Lou, who survives him , did wo nders to light the way in the present active role our Society plays in maritime historical education .

PS

RICHARD W. SCHEUING (1923-1998) Richard Scheuing, w ho served NMHS as trustee and vice chairman from 1994 to 1997, was second mate on the Liberty ship William N Pendleton at Normandy on 0-Day and served as pres ident of th e E mpire Region of the Navy League of the US. Under his guidance, NMHS estab lished a growing endo wment fund , and he initiated our scholarship memberships - JUSTINE AHLSTROM for cadets in the m aritime academies.

Historic, antique U.S. Coast Survey maps , from the 1800s , Original lithog raph s, mo st Am eri ca n seaports and shores.

Reprints, too . Unique framed , great gifts. Catalog, $ 1.00 .

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"The Chronometer Specialists" Bought Sold

CAPT. GEORGE SALVESEN (1907-1998)

I had always admired Captain George Salvese n. H e was among the first to take Allied ships to Murm ansk USS R during W\VII . As skipper of the SS Troubado r, he camouflaged his ship with white paint and bed linens to hide from Nazi bombers and fo ught his way into Archa ngel as one of 11 surviving ships of the infamous PQ-1 7 in Jul y 1942.

It would be more than 50 years before I had the pl easure of meeting him, as a fellow survivor of PQ- 17, at a gathering of Murmansk Run veterans at th e National Maritime Historical Society. I found him to be a still vigorous, witty, lucid son of Norway-who was disappointed that stronger potabl es were not being offered!

George survived 9 1 years with a sense of hum or, an attentive daughter, a "girlfriend, " and his afternoon vodka martinis. The last of a gall ant breed of Vikings, a gen uine deepwater shipmas ter.

- ] ACK M CCUSKER

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998- 99

Antique Modern Marine Chronometers

J.P. Connor & Co. PO Box 305 , Devon PA 19333 (near Phil adel phi a) tel: 610-644-1474 fax: 610-993-0760

41

SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS CALENDAR Conferences • Atlantic History Study Centre: 5-9 April, "The Impact of European Expansion: Histo ry and Enviro nm enr," Fun chal, Made ira, Portu ga l (Ru a dos Fe rreiros 165, 9000 Fun chal, Madeira; 35 1 9 l -229635;fax: 35 1 9 1-23034 1; e- mail : avie ira@ mail .telepac. pt) • National Maritime Museum, UK: 20 Ma rch, "Georg ian Dockya rds, 17 14-1837," (Greenwich, Lo ndon SE lO 9 F, UK; Ann Coars MA, 44 Lindley Ave nu e, Sourhsea, P04 9 U, UK; 1705 787263) • Royal Military College of Canada: 18- 19 March 1999, 23 rd M ilitary H isto ry Symposium , "20rh Cenrury W ar: An Interdi sciplinary Perspective from th e Fin de Siecle" (Histo ry D ept., PO Box 17000 ST N FORCES, Kings ton ON, K7K 5LO, Ca nada; 6 13 54 16000 , x6607; fax: 6 13 536-480 1; e- mail: henn essym@rm c.co) • Society for Historical Archaeology: 6- 10 Janu ary 1999, "Crossroads of the Wes r: l 9rh Ce ntury T ransporrar ion, Mi ning and Co mmercial D evelopmenr in th e Inrerm ounrain West," Co nfe rence on Histo ri cal and Underwa ter Archaeo logy in Salt Lake C iry UT (Michae l R. Polk, Program Coo rd inator, Sagebrush Archaeo log ica l Co nsul ra nrs, 3670 Q uincy Ave., Ste 203, Ogden UT 84403; 801

394-00 13, fax: 801 394-0032) • University of Hawaii Marine Option Program: 13- 15 February, Symposi um on Maritim e Archaeo logy and Histo ry of Hawa ii and rhe Pacific at the Hawa ii Ma ri time Center, H onolulu HI (School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, 2525 Correa Road, H!G 2 15A, H onolulu H I 96822; 808 9568433; fax: 808 956-24 17; e-ma il : mop@ hawai i.ed u; www2.hawai i.ed u/mop) •Vasa Museet: 16-20 May 1999, 4rh International Conference on "Techni cal As pecrs of Ma in ta ining, Repair ing & Prese rving Historicall y Signifi ca nr Shi ps in Stockholm , Sweden (Birgirra H afo rs, PO Box 27 13 1, 10252 Stockho lm , Swe d e n; e- ma il: birg irra .h a for s @s tockh olm .mail. re lia.com)

Exhibits • Drents Museum Assen: 13 February-9 May I 999, "The Mysrery of a Durch Merchantman in rhe Balric" (Brink 1, 940 1 HCAssen; (0592) 3 1 274 1; fax: (0592) 31 71 19) • National Air & Space Museum: fro m 17 October, "And a Sta r to Steer H er By" ar the Al ben Einstein Planeta ri um (S mi thso ni an Institution, Wash ingto n DC) • Naval War College Museum: 20 Ma rchAutumn 1999, "T he Legacy of rhe Langley,

US Navy Airc raft Ca rri ers through rh e Years" (Fo und ers H all , Newport RI 0284 1-1207; 4 01 84 1-4052; e- mail: muse um @nwc . navy.mil) •Netherlands Maritime Museum Amsterdam: 13 Feb ru ary-9 May 1999, "Ri ch Cargo, D urch Pros perity" (Karrenburgerpl ein 1, 10 18 KK Amsterd am, T he Ne th erlands; (020) 52 32 2222; fax: (020) 52 32 2 13; www.genera li.nl /scheepvaa rrm use um) •New Bedford Whaling Museum: from 12 Nove mbe r 1998, "The Story of th e Factory Ship Ulysses and th e Co ntro versy of 20thCe ntury W haling" (18 Johnny Cake Hill , New Bedfo rd MA 02740-6398; 508 997-0046; www.whalingmuseum .org) • San Diego Ma.r itime Museum: from 30 Septe mber, "Charrin g the Seas," (1306 No rth H a rbor D ri ve, Sa n D iego CA 92 101 ; www.sdma ri time.co m) • South Street Seaport Museum: from 26 October, "The Sea befo re T ime: Discove rin g Longitude" (207 From St., New Yo rk NY 10038; 212 748-8600; www.so urhstseaport. org) •Texas Maritime Museum: Janu ary- February 1999, "La Bell e: The Mys tery of La Sall e" (1202 Nav iga ti on C ircle, Rockport TX 78382; 512 729- 127 1)

WORLD MARINE MILLENNIAL CONFERENCE November 10-14, 1999, in Salem, Massachusetts Co-Sponsored by The National Maritime Historical Society and The Peabody Essex Museum

CALL FOR PAPERS

•• •• ••

The committee invites abstracts for individual papers ( 15- 30 minutes in length) and sess ion proposal s (three to four papers in 11/2 hours) on subjects related to all aspects of salt and fresh water maritime hi story. Abstracts and proposals may address particular aspects of broader themes of the conference or a specific subject of interest to the comm ittee:

China Trade, 1799-1999 The Seagoing Ex perience The Slave Trade Whaling

Laws of the Sea The Shore Establ ishments Ship Models and Modeling Piracy and Privateering

Underwater Archaeology Women at Sea Pax Britannica Navigation

Electron ics at Sea Propulsion Technologies Adventure and Recreation Restorations a nd Replicas

Abstracts of indi vidual papers should be typed on no more than one page, accompan ied by a Curricul um Vitae. Sess ion proposals should provide a brief summary of each paper and include a CV for each of three or fo ur presenters. Abstracts and proposals are due by Janu ary 31 , 1999, addressed to: Publi sher, The American Neptune, Peabody Essex Museum , East India Sq uare, Salem MA 01970.

Indi vidual and externa l gro up ini tiatives are welcome. Thi s is a prime opportunity to propose creative approaches to the study of maritime hi story. Over 60 papers can be sched ul ed in afternoon and evening breako ut sess ions.

•• 42

•• • I

Questions may be add ressed to Don Marshall or Jack Bishop at 978 745 -9500, x3 I 72; fax at 978 744-6776 .

SEA HI.§TOR Y 87, WINTER 1998-99

IEWS Stern wheelers and Steam Tugs: An Illustrated History of the Canadian Pacific Railway's British Columbia Lake and River Service, Second Editio n, by Robert D. T urner (So no N is Press, Victoria BC, 1998, 288pp, illus, notes, index, ISBN 1553039-089-9; $39.95 pb) T his second edition returns a classic reference back to print. Originally published in 1984, Sternwheelers and Steam Tugs was one of a trilogy of works-The Pacific Empresses and The Pacific Princesses being the other rwo-on the Canadian Pacifi c Railway's Pacific fl eet by Turner, then with the Royal British Columbia Museum and now a heritage consultant.

The 16,000-mile coas tline of British Columbia has a significant history of va rious settlements- logging camps, canneries, mining camps and their surrounding com munities-linked by sail and steam.

T hat is th e story Turner told in large m easure with The Pacific Emp resses and The Pacific Princesses. But the coastal story is matched by that of British Columbia's rivers, notably the upper Columbi a, the Fraser and th e Stikine, and its numerous lakes. It is the saga of the steamboats that wor ked those interior waters that Turner documents in SternwheelersandSteam Tugs.

T he C PR and its predecesso rs -the Co lumbi a and Kootenay Steam Navigation Company, for example-as well as its competitors, like the Grand Turk and Great Northern, are covered. The person aliti es, th e ships and boats, the routes, the communiti es and their stories, both mundane and unusual, fill the pages in a well-written, well-documented and exceptionally illustrated sryle.

Wh ile the scholarship and writin g help set T urner's works apart, the des ign and layout of th e book is another tremendo us asset. Color and black-and-white photos, lin e drawings, fleet lists, timetables, and advertisements lavishly illustrate Sternwheelers and Steam Tugs. The first edition had 300 illustrations; the second has an additional rwenry images.

The other major addition is a section on rwo histo ric CPR vessels, SS Moyie and SS Sicamous, wh ich have been saved and restored as histo ric sites. Turner worked closely on the restoration of Moyie. The new sections-a nd the entire book, th erefore-have the benefit of both his handson expetience and his scholarly research .

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

Sternwheelers and Steam Tugs is highly recomme nded, not only for those interested in the maritime history of British Columbi a, but for anyone who delights in the sto ries and particulars of river and lake steamers everywhere. ]AMES P. D ELGADO, Director Vancouver M aritime Museum Vancouver, British Co lumbia

Nelson and the Nile: The Naval War Against Bonaparte, 1798, by Brian Lavery (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD, 1998,3 18pp, illus, notes, index, ISBN l 55750-640x; $42. 95hc) Brian Lavery, whose knowledge of the ships and ways of the Nelson era is unparalleled, offers an extraordinarily insightful and nuanced acco unt of the critical year 1798, in which Nelson put period to Napoleon's ambitious plans to conquer Egypt and threaten England's position in India. T his effectively confined the aggressive dictator to Europe, setting the stage for the war that raged on more or less con tinuously until 1815 , when Napoleon's army was decisively defeated and his empire dismembered.

"Why and how did the destruction of a dozen warships have such wo rldwide repercussions?" asks Lavery at the outset of Nelson 's story-and he traces the co nsequences of the Battle of the Nile on the world since with a sure hand. Lavery's work gives us a lively picture of the wider sweep of the war and th e changing currents of world politics in this tumultuous era, which makes for fascinating reading. He reads Nelson's genius accurately, and the allco nquering spirit of the people of the ships who sailed under his flag. If one had to choose just one book on Nelson and the Napoleonic wars, this would be it.

PETER STANFORD Tidewater Triumph: The Development and Worldwide Success of the Chesapeake Bay Pilot Schooner, by Geoffrey M.

Footner (Tidewater Publishers, Centrevill e MD , 305pp, illus, notes, appen, gloss, index, ISBN 0-8 7033-511-1; $39.95 hc) Many naval architects have given technical reasons for the remarkable success of the schooners first built on Chesapeake Bay but this is the first serious work that addresses the social and economic backgro und for their development. Better known today as "Baltimore clippers," their builders simply described them as pilot schooners from colonial times up to the War of 1812. Sometimes rigged as brigs, their swiftness continued to be in demand to carry perishable and illicit cargoes. They became slaver ships, revenue cutters, opium clippers, pilot boats, and racing yachts.

The last resemblance of the class co uld be found in the comely pungy schooners that worked well into the 1900s.

When Footner discusses the builders, owners, and historical so urces, he's on solid ground. He is unflagging in his search of every available snippet and, after a promising acknowledgment of sources, there is an abundance of footnotes for each chapter.

Alas, when it comes to technical exp lanations of design and function , Foomer is at loose ends. Dimensio ns and stabiliry are discussed in no meaningful way. Overall lengths, register lengths and lengths on deck are mistakenly considered to be all the same.Tonnage weights and tonnage spaces are confused. C redibiliry is lost with a theory that, by calculating ratios from lengths or beams with arbitrary internal depths, stab ili ry can be identified.

A naval schooner with a pronounced sheer is praised for having a "more balanced deckline" giving "greater buoyancy" to her ends (p. 88). More likely the added weight in the extremities above the waterlin e was a detriment, and the great sheer of her deck would be a difficult platform for the gunners near the bow and stern . The schooner Patapsco is reported to have loaded over 104 tons of sugar, coffee and cotton and 3 tons oflogs. Not satisfied, the author adds that only the logs were "dead-weight cargo," which leaves the bulk of the cargo up in the air. These are just a few of many lubberly descriptions.

Many historical illustrations are included in the work; some I believe appear in print for the first time. Fo r these, and an opus of useful research into social history, the author deserves commendation. However, if

43

TAKING THE STARS: Celestial Navigation From Argonauts to Astronauts

by Peter If/and

Orig . Ed. 1998 240 pp . ISBN 1-57524-095-5 $59 .00 Produced in partnership with The Mariners' Museum of Newport News, Virginia, this book traces the development of celestial navigation instruments. In addition to a well written and interesting text it contains 198 photos and illustrations.

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NAUTICAL RESEARCH Gu IL D

yo u' re looking to lea rn anything abou t the design a nd sailing characteristi cs of those celebrated schoo ners, I wo uld liken it to reading abo ut wo nderful fo ods and being given th e wro ng recipes.

MELBOURNE SM IT H

Annapolis, Maryland

The Winning Edge: Naval Technology in Action, 1939-1945, by Kenn eth Poolman (Naval Institu te P ress, Annapolis MD, 1997, 256pp , illus, no tes, bib lio, index, ISBN 1-5575 0-687-6; $32.9 5h c) "Desperatio n is the moth er o f in ventio n" co uld have bee n the subtitl e fo r this book . A u thor Poo l man, a Brit, describes in so me dera il how backward the Al li ed powers we re in techn ology at the beginning of Wo rl d Wa r II . T he aggressor forces of the Axis had bro ugh t subm arines, di ve bo mbers, ra iding cruisers, pocket battleships and magn etic mines, fo r example, to a high degree ofoperatio nal perfec tion befo re their o nsla ugh t bega n. T he Allies literall y had to perfect radar, so nar, antiaircraft weapons, large and sm all aircraft carriers and their aircraft co mplem en ts, better to rp ed oes and heavier depth charges in order to survive, m uch less wi n .

T he author describes the engineers' and scientisrs'-"boffins" in Britspeak-soluti o ns to these needs and then goes on to ch ron icle som e ryp ical naval actio ns w here the new weapo ns we re triumphant. T he Graf Spee acti o ns, the N orwegian campaign , the Bismarck hunt, the Taran to to rpedo attack and actio ns off Maira, som e of which may be less fa mi liar to American read ers, are covered. T hen th e scene shifts to th e Pacific with carrier battl es includin g M idway and the sin gular successes of our sub ma rines. A good deal ofhisto ty is reto ld w itho ut anythin g particularly new added , but t he viewpo in t of the technologist and how his weapo ns were used to make the di ffere nce is an in te resting va rian t.

O ne can' t put d own books o f this sort with o ut concluding how ve ry lucky th e Al lies were to have been fac in g a gro up of deter mi ned bur very linear- thin ki ng adversaries wh ose earl y successes prevented th em fr om openly examining their ultimate m ateri al needs for victo ry. If Hitl er h ad allowed Adm iral D i:i ni tz to build enoug h submarines, o r if th e J apanese Navy had t ra ined m o re pilots early on when they had the rim e, and had worked harder to

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

perfect better radar ... who knows? Ar rhe least ir wo uldhave been a much longer wa r.

TOWNSEND H ORNOR

Osrerville, M assachuse tts

...

./

Q u arterdeck and Bridge: Two Centuries of American Naval Leaders, edited by James C. Bradford (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD, 1997, 455pp, index, ISBN 1-55750-073-8; $22.95hc) This collection of biographical essays aims to "trace rhe history of rhe US Navy from irs roots in rhe War for Independence to rhe posrnuclear present." Twenty American naval leaders are depicted in interpretive essays by academic and professional historians, including well-known au thors such as C lark G. Reyno lds, William N. Srill, Jr. and D avi d Allen Rosenberg. Each essay co mbin es biographical information with rhe author's interpretation of rh e subject. The lasr page or so of each essay summari zes rhe significance of rhe subj ect followed by a short bibliographical essay and endnotes .

These essays are nor exercises in h agiography. The personal side of these naval officers is displayed rime and again rhroughour rhe book. Whether one is readin g the poignant descripti on of John Paul J o nes dying alone and imp ove ri shed , Alfred Thayer Mahan as an officer afraid of the sea and a poor shiphandler, or E rnest ]. King's perso nali ty being described as "not a pleasing one," rh e reader co mes away with a view of these men as being borh pan and parcel of their rimes and having rhe humani ty to overcome many obstacles on the way to success.

Inreres ringly, rhree essays deal wirh naval officers whose conrribu rion was nor fighting an d winning barrles bur in m ore prosaic areas of naval trainin g and education, naval hi sto ry and nuclear power.

Stephen B. Luce is cha racte rized as a "reacher, w riter, o rganizer, administrato r, and leader" and is credited with organ izing borh rhe Srare U nivers ity of New Yo rk Maritime College and the Naval War College. Mahan 's The I nfluence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783 and his 20 orher books and 137 articles brought him fam e as an author and historian. Hyman G. Rickover's nuclear revolution changed naval operations, strategy and racrics for all rime.

While rhe reader may not agree with rhe choice of subjects nor the authors' conclu-

SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99

sio ns, rhis collection of essays will nor fail to stimulate rhoughr and discuss ion about our Navy's histo ry and future prospects.

H AROLD N. BOYER Florence, So uth Carolina Pirates and Privateers: New Perspectives on the War on Trade in the Eighteen th and Nineteenth Centuries, edited by Dav id J. Starkey, E. S. van Eyck van Heslinga, and] . A. de Moor (University of Exeter Press, Exeter UK, 1997, 268pp, illus, index, notes, ISBN 0-85989-48 1-9; $70hc) T his scholarl y effort co nsists of a dozen and more essays by noted European and North American educators and historians delivered to a meeting held in the Netherlands in May 199 1, rhe subject of which was, quire naturally, pirates and privateers.

The work explores in some derail, bur without significanr revelation, the political, social and eco nomi c mores of pirates, buccaneers (there is a difference) and privateers who opera red in vario us geographical theaters between 175 0 and 18 50. As a reference work, rhis volum e would provide val uable derai l to scholars of such trivia as eco nomic moti vation , social "pecking orders," and government influence/intervention. More importanr, ir will provide to rhe same scholars a listing of so urce documents, essays, and other books from which the presenters drew much of rhei r mate rial.

For rhe histo rian wishing to explore, say, rhe pi rares who opera red in rhe Philippines in 1800 , there is a significant vo lume of wo rk, much ofir listed here. H owever, rhe concenrrarion is on obscure pirates, operating everywhere but rhe Caribbean, and lirrle attention is paid to privateers, who were prim arily British, Canadian and American.

Ir was surprising ro learn rhar th ere is indeed a forum for scholars who delve into such matters. Ir is difficult to imagine serious schol ars raking o n such a subj ect as pirates and privateers-colorful, exciting, daring, an d outrageo us with marvelous tales, both anecdotal and documenredwi rhour rurnin g ir into a dry and decidedl y soporific lecture. Pirates and Privateers does nor disappoint in rhar regard as rhe fourteen scholars represenred here live up to and, in some cases, exceed rh e expected degree of dryness, lecturing rhe reader wirh a pedantic sense of scholarl y duty.

T he conrin ual references to obscure

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Astral Publishing Co., Dept H, PO Box 3955, Santa Barbara CA 93 130-3955 See: hnp://members.aol.com/wveigele/pcraft/pcraft.htm Statemenr filed I Oil 198 required by the Act of Aug. t 2, 1970, Sec. 3685, T id e 39, US Code: Sea Hisrory is published quarterly at 5 j o hn Walsh Blvd. , Peeksk ill NY I 0566; minimum subsc riptio n price is $17.50. Publisher and editor is Peter Stanford: man agi ng ediror is Justi ne Ahlsrrom ; ow ner is Nar io nal Mari rim e Hisrorical Sociery, a non-profir co rporatio n; all are loca ted at 5 John Walsh Blvd. , Peekskill NY I 0566. During rh e 12 monchs precedin g Ocrober 1998 the average number of {A) copies printed each issue was 28,879 (B) paid and /or requested circularion was ( I) sold rhrough dealers, ca rri ers and co unrer sales 68 1; (2) mail subscriprions 15,989; (C) rocal paid and/o r requesced circulati o n was I 6,670; (D) free disrribution , sa mpl es, co mplimentary copies we re 11 ,575; (E) rocal distributi on was 28,245; (F) co pies not d is rributed (I) office use 507; (2) return from news agencs 127; (G) ro ral = 28,879. The acrual numbers fo r the single issue preced ing Ocrober 1998 are (A) roral number printed 25, I 25; (B) paid circulation was (I ) sales rhrough dea lers, ca rri ers and co unrer sales 683; (2) mail subscriptions 15,379; (C) total paid an d/ o r req uested circulatio n t 6,062; (0 ) free d istribution , sa mples, co mplimenrary cop ies were 8,500; (E) toral disrribution was 24,562 (F) copies nor distribu ted were ( I) office use 443; (2) rerurn from news age nts t 20; (G) to tal = 25, t 25. I cerrify that the above srare mencs are co rrect and complete. (s igned) Perer Scan ford , Pres. , Na cio naJ Maritim e Hisrori cal Society.

46

papers (some unpublished!) pander ro an audience more scholarl y rhan mosr and seem ro demonsrrare a grasp of esoterica ro which the rest of us can only aspire. Indeed, upon reaching rhe conclusion of a laboriously presenred essay, the reader is frequently inspired ro say "so whar? " WILLIAM H. WHITE Rumson , New Jersey The Portuguese Empire, 1415-1808, A World on the Move, by A. J . R. RussellWood Qohns Hopkins Universiry Press, 1998, 290pp, illus, biblio, index, ISBN 0-818-5955-7; $ 16.95pb) Wirh rhe 1998 World's Fair havin g focused global artenrion on th e importance of Portugal's leading role in exploring the wo rld's oceans, it is propitious that rhis scholarly work was reprinted ro inform us that "discoveries are not measured by landfalls alone." The maritime enthusiast tends ro concenrrare on the importance of ships and ocean voyages, on who first set foot in what country, and how they got there. Whil e Russell-Wood does give us a wealrh of derail on rhe many advenrures ro foreign shores of rhe brave Portuguese navigarors, nei rher rhe ships nor the voyages are the main subj ecr of rhis book.

Rather, it takes the theme of global movement ro tell us rhe fasc inaring srory of how the Portuguese came ro influence the world, as "migrants and settlers, servants of rhe Crown , of Christ and of Mammon, as individuals and gro ups, and carriers of disease." Wirh spheres of influence in Asia, India, Africa, Madeira, rhe Azores, Cape Verde and Brazil, the Portuguese played a major role in the "ebb and flow of commodities, in the dissemination of flora and fa una, and the rransmission of sryles, mores and ideas ." As the aurhor notes, lirrle recognirion has been given ro rhe achievements of rhis small counrry rhat changed the world so empharically. Perhaps rhis is because few of rhe copious reports, itineraries, charts, lerrers, rreaties, and above all sai ling directions have been rranslated from rhe Portuguese.

T he challenge of pulling rogether the wanderings of a nation over four centuries leads rhe reader at times ro beco me lost in the unfamiliar places, often in the company of never-before-heard-of people. In this co nrext, the reader easily gras ps the results of these missions, whether in the

spreading ofChristianiry, or the transportation of slaves from Africa, or the introduction ofstrange new foodsruffs and co mmodities from Brazil ro Africa (as manioc and maize) or Africa ro Brazil (as coffee).

All rhis and much more is carefull y derail ed and ann orared in rhis seminal hisrory of a leading colonial narion, whose langu age is now spoken by nearly 190 million people worldwide, and who we re rhe firsr ro rhink and acr globally.

CAPTA IN J EAN W O RT

Fort Monrgomery, New York Recollections and Other Writings, by Caprain Narhanael Green H erreshoff, edired by Carlron J. Pinheiro (H erreshoff Marine Museum, PO Box 450, Brisrol RI 02809-0450, 1998, 126pp, illus; $29.50hc) Also available in a limired deluxe boxed edirion for $ 150.

Halsey H erreshoff observes rhe rradirion rhar his grandfarher, one of rhe grearesr yachr design ers and builders of all rim e, was a man devo red ro his work who, as ide from his boars, lefr a very sli ghr public record. Th is volume, nine chaprers of previously unpublished marerial , is all rhar is availab le. Each chaprer is a freesranding rrearise on irs own: local Brisrol hisrory, rh e development of rhe Herreshoff works, rhe boars Caprain Narowned, sail ed, des igned or found of parri cular interesr, are all here and, raken rogether, rhey give a wonderful overview of rhe man and his mind. As exact, bri ef and direcr as he was by repurarion, so is hi s wriring. The revered genius of rhe H erreshoffs comes forth very clea rl y, as H alsey suggesrs, in rhis man who wo rked "wirhour disrracrion of facr or mind. " My favorire chaprer is enrirled "Some of rhe Boars I Have Sailed in" and covers a liferime of experim entarion and experi ence srarring wirh his brorh er James's renfoor skiff Tadpole(l 854-55) rhrough Sprite (1860) , Kelpie(l863), a cruise in rhe Medirerranea n derailed in a furth er chaprer, and on ro some of rhe grear names such as Gloriana(l89 l ), Vigilant(l 893), Defender (1894), wirh a deep drafr keel, bron ze and aluminum plaring, cross-cur sa ils-all firsrs, Reliance (l 902), rhe largesr currer ever builr, Mariette (1916) , anorher bi g sreel schooner rhar was in rhis year's transArl antic race, and numero us others.

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