ISTORICAL SOCIETY
WINTER 2004-2005
Members, join us on an NMHS Sea Adventure on our 2005 Cruises! 8-Night Romantic Caribbean Cruise Aboard the Queen Mary 2 25 March to 2 April 2005 In January 2004 Queen Mary 2 made her debut as a Queen among Queens, a worthy successor to such great transAtlantic liners as Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, and today's Queen Elizabeth 2. Stylish, grand, and representing the pinnacle of maritime achievement, she is destined to become an icon of our time. She weighs in at over 150,000 tons, has a length of over 1,130 feet, and towers 14 decks high. Many of her Inaugural Season crossings and cruises are already sold out, so NMHS is making sure you don't "miss the boat." We have special group discounted space on her 25 March 2005 8-day cruise, round trip from New York to the Caribbean. We sail from New York for the beautiful islands of Puerto Rico, St. Kitts, and St. Maarten, with four full days at sea, returning to New York on 2 April. We will have special events planned exclusively for NMHS members with lectures on our seafaring heritage while at sea. Please reserve early as space is expected to sell quickly, and you'll want to receive your accommodation of choice. For full information and reservations contact Denise Bonnici at:
Pisa Brothers Cruise Service 45 Rockefeller Plaza, Ste. 2207, New York NY 10111 212 265-8420 • 800 SAY-PISA• Fax: 212 265-8753 e-mail: mgr@pisabrothers.com
Sample rates are as follows: Britannia, Standard Inside, $ 1,472 pp Britannia, Standard Oceanview, $1,862 pp Britannia, Balcony, categories start at $1,947pp Princess Grill, Suites, categories start at $3,657 pp Queen Grill, Suites, $5,699 pp
Tall Ship Caribbean Cruise featuring the 2005 Antigua Tall Ships Race 10-18 April 2005 St. Maarten • Anguilla/Prickley Pear • St. Barts-Iles des Saintes • Dominica • Antigua Experience the romance of the Golden Age of Sail on board a luxury sailing vessel in casual elegance. Passengers are encouraged to become actively involved in handling the ship or learning navigation, astronomy, seamanship, weather, knot tying and sail handling. Or you can simply relax on one of the most luxurious yachts ever to sail the high seas. Passengers on this cruise will have the unique opportunity to compete for the Tall Ship World Peace Cup in two races in the 2005 Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta. Sail against other tall ships and watch the beauty and grace of classic yachts competing under acres of canvas. Plus enjoy an incomparable week-long sailing experience aboard the 360-foot, four masted barquentine Star Clipper under 36,000 square feet of sail. An additional two-day pre-cruise program is also offered, with the unique opportunity to participate as crew on America's Cup veterans Stars and Stripes, Canada II, and True North in the thrilling St. Maarten 12-Metre Challenge yacht races. For full information and reservations contact Bert Klein at:
Orleans Tours 167 Rte. 6A, PO Box 2774, Orleans MA 02653 508 255-7763 •Fax: 508 632-0589 • 800 938-8820 e-mail: ortours@c4.net web site: www.orleans-tours.com
SEA HISTORY
No. 109
WINTER 2004-2005
CONTENTS FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE 8 Dear Husband, an extract from Whaling Letters, edited by Genevieve Darden wi th an introduction by Thomas Hale and Irving Post New Bedford whaling captain Francis Post spent most ofhis adult life at sea, separated from his wife and children. Letters from his wife describe a life and its everyday hardships that befell many a family who depended on a livelihood wrought from the sea. 12 North Carolina Maritime Museum: A CAMM Profile, by Jane Wolff In our second Council ofAmerican Maritime Museums member profile, learn the history of the North Carolina Maritime Museum's evolution from a collection of natural history specimens to a busy and popular maritime museum in Beaufort, North Carolina.
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15 Reconstructing a Periauger, by Michael B. Alford an d Lawrence E. Babits Alford and Babits share the process by which a vague description of vernacular watercraft in the Georgian and the Carolinian historical record fomented the research, design, construction, and actual sailing ofa periauger in 2004. 18 Maritime History on the Internet: Navigating Navigation on the Web, by Peter McCracken
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24 Carrying the Age of Sail Forward in the Barque Picton Castle, by Captai n Daniel D. Moreland No other maritime experience today can come as close to restoring the spirit ofa voyage from the Age ofSail, and the skills that come with it, as on the barque Picton Castle. 30 Historic Ships on a Lee Shore, by Ralph Johnson and John M. Rose Learn about USS Horner and fireboat Duwamish. Each has a long history of service and still serves in an educational role today. Nonetheless, maintaining them is a constant and expensive effort by private organizations dedicated to preserving their histories and keeping them available to the public.
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32 New England's Nineteenth-Century Sailmaker, by Deirdre O 'Regan An analysis ofthe numbers and a study ofthe individuals making sails in the nineteenth century identifies the typical sailmaker of that era. He was not necessarily the crusty old salt you might have imagined.
COVER: Barque Picton Castle underway in the South Pacific in 2002. See pages 24-27. (Photo used by permission of Topsail Entertainment Ltd.)
DEPARTMENTS 2
DECK Loe & LETTERS
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4
41
REVIEWS
20
A CAUSE IN MoTIO Sea History FOR Kms
48
PATRO
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SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS
NMHS:
CALE DAR
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SEA HISTORY (issn 0146-9312) is published quarrerly by rhe Narional Maririme Hisrorical Sociery, 5 John Walsh Blvd., PO Box68, Peekskill NY 10566. Periodicals posrage paid ar Peekskill NY I 0566 and add '! mailing offices. COPYRJGHT Š 2004 by rhe Narional Maririme Hisrorical Sociery. Tel: 914-737-7878. POSTMASTER: Send address changes ro Sea Hisrory, PO Box 68, Peekskill NY 10566.
NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY
DECK LOG Spain's Legacy in the Pacific
T
he Maritime Museum of San Diego (MMSD) held an important conference in late September attracting maritime scholars from around the world. The conference explored Spain's dominance of the Pacific Ocean during the Age of Sail. NMHS was honored to assist the museum with this conference by hosting a gala reception aboard "HMS" Surprise for attendees and our members. We were delighted when member Ed Germain brought nine friends dressed in nineteenthcentury period dress who danced for the 200 guests aboard the ship. They started with "The Female Saylor" from 1706, in thanks for being on the ship, and then danced "The Spaniard" from 1780, in honor of the conference theme.
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NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PUBLISHER'S C IRC LE: Peter Aron , Donald McG raw, W illi am H. W hite O FFI CE RS & TRUSTEES: Chairman , Walter R. Brown; Vice Chairman, Richardo R. Lopes; Executive Vice President, Burchenal G reen; Treasurer, Ronald L. O swald; Secretary, Marshall Streiberr; Trustees, Donald M. Birney, Tho mas F. Daly, Richard du Moulin , D avid S. Fowler, Virginia Steel e G rubb, Rodn ey N. H o ughton, Steve n W. Jon es, Ri chard M . Larrabee, Wa rren G. Leback, Guy E. C. Maidand , Karen M arkoe, Michael R. McKay, James J. McNam ara, Howa rd Slotnick, Bradford D . Smith , Wil li am H. W hite; Chairmen Emeriti, Al an G. C hoa te, G uy E. C. M aitl and , C raig A. C. Reyno lds, Howard Slotnick; President Emeritus, Peter Stanfo rd FOUN DER: Karl Kortum (19 17-1996) OV ERSEERS: Chairman, RADM David C. Brown; Walter C ronkite, Al an D . Hutchiso n, Jakob lsbrandtsen, John Lehman, Wa rren Marr, ll, Brian A. McAlli ster, John Stoban , W illi am G . Winterer
(I to r) San Diego M aritime Museu m Executive Director Raymond Ashley, Conference Coordinator Raymond Starr, NMHS Executive Director Burchenal Green, NMHS Honorary Trustee Fred Hawkins and NMHS Treasurer Ron Oswald on "HMS" Surprise with the English Country Dancers.
The MMSD , in cooperation with the Cabrillo National Monument and the Cabrillo Nat ion al Monument Foundation, is planning to build a reconstruction of San Salvador, in which Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo sailed into San Diego Bay in 1542, failed to find either the coastal route to China or the riches of the new world , and ultimately died in the Santa Barbara Channel. The ship would be available to attend the twelve Cabri ll o festivals held each year. A lack of sources of information about San Salvador have led scholars to question whether it was a galleon or a caravel. Presentations by Edward Von der Porten, Allen Rawl, and Melbourne Smith were fascinating in that their extensive research led to very different conclusions. Greg Bankoff from the University of Auckland gave an impressive presentation on Winds of Colonization: 1he Meteorological Contours ofSpanish lmperium in the Pacific, 1521-1898, which gave a meteorological explanation reiterating what Carla Rahn Phillips had asserted in her keynote address Spain and the Pacific Rim: A Cultural Legacy, that when Spain sailed west from New Spai n it took them forty years to discover the wind and current patterns so they could return east. The world-class conference delved into the histories of explorers Cristobal d e Villagra, Manuel Quimper, Don Lope Martin, and the impact of the Spanish exploration on native peoples, Spanish trade, and the discovery of shipwrecked Manila Galleons. BuRCHENAL GREEN
Executive Vice President 2
ADVISORS: Co-Chairmen, Frank 0. Braynard , Melbourn e Smith; D.K. Abbass, G eorge F. Bass, Fran cis E. Bowker, O swald L. Bren , No rman ). Brouwer, RAD M Joseph F. Call o, Fran cis J. Duffy, John W. Ewa ld , Timothy Foo te, W illi am G il kerson , Thomas C. G ill mer, Walter J. Handelman, Steven A. Hyman , H ajo Knuttel , G unnar Lundeberg, Joseph A. Maggio, o nrad Milster, William G . Muller, D avid E. Perkins, Na ncy Hughes Ri chardso n, Tim o thy J. Runya n, Shannon J. Wall NMHS STAFF: Executive Director, Burchenal G reen; Membership Director, Nancy Schnaa rs; D irector of Education, David All en; A ccounting, Jill Rom eo; F.xPrutivP Assistant, Janet Mi ll er; Mem bership Assistant, Jane M auri ce SEA HISTORY Editor : Deird re E. O 'Regan; Director of A dvertising: Steve Lovass-Nagy; Sea H istory fa r Kids Editor: Myka-Lynne Soko loff Address:
5 John Wa lsh Boulevard PO Box 68 Peekskill N Y 10566 Phon e: 914 737-7878; 800 22 1-N MH S Fax: 914 737-78 16 Web site: www.seah istory.org; NMHS e- mail: nmhs@seahistory.org; and Sea H istory e- mail : editorial@seahistory. org
MEMBERSH IP is in vited. Afterguard $ 10,000; Benefactor $5,000; Plankowner $2,5 00; Sponsor $ 1,000; Don or $5 00; Patron $25 0; Friend $ I 00; C ontributor $75; Fa mily $5 0; Regular $35 . All members outsid e th e USA please add $ 10 fo r postage. Sea H istory is sent to all members. Indi vidu al copi es cost $3 .75 .
SEA HISTORY 109, WINTER 2004-2005
LETTERS Rediscovering Antarctica In William W hi te's book review of Sea of Glory: America's Voyage of Discovery, 1838-1842 (Sea H istory 107) , he notes rhar Lieu~ C harles tenant ~ W ilkes is credi ted ~ 8 with discoverin g Antarctica. No r so! Thaddeus vo n Bell inghausen of Russ ia made rhe hisroric sighting of Antarctica in January 1820 . In January 1840 W ilkes sighted rh e continent, however, rhe published charts of the exped ition were rhe first ro use the rerm "An rarcric Co ntinent!" ] OHN
M . LEVJNSON
Rockland Mills, Delaware The credit for first sighting the Antarctic continent is still debated today. England holds that it was Edward Bransfield, the US oft claims it was Nathaniel Palmer, while Russia maintains it was von Bellingshausen. Of course, it was likely to have been one of the many sealers sailing and working in the region. Between 1180 and 1892 over 1, 000 sealers from different countries worked the Antarctic waters, while only 25 exploration expeditions were undertaken in the same time period. (Source: www.70south. com)
A Forgotten Cartographer Ir might be wo rthwhile for your readers ro take no re of rhe works of Bernard Romans, whose name does not appear in the otherwise excellent Straits of Florida article (Sea H istory 107) . Romans became a surveyo r in rhe British civil service in 1756. H e was assigned ro survey du ty in the Dry Torrugas, rhe Baham a Banks, and coastal Florida. According ro Lincoln Diaman t's biography of Romans, rhis surveyo r, botan ist, and engineer was rhe first carrographer ro complete a chart of rhe enti re Flo rida coast. In 1773, The Marine Society of the C ity of New Yo rk lent 50ÂŁ sterl ing without interest ro Romans ro help pay for the
SEA HISTORY 109, WINTER 2004-2005
publication of his Flo rida charts and sailing directions. Romans was ad mi tted ro the Society as a Member (No. 485) in 1774. The only NYC public library copy of Bernard Romans, Forgotten Patriot of the American Revolution can be fo und in rhe Science, Ind ustry, and Business Lib rary ar Madison Avenue and 34 rh Srreer. Several yea rs ago, I do nated my personal copy of the biography ro rhe M arine Society.
H istory of AWARD caliber. Some appropriate source sho uld be notified ro recognize its meri t. Also, this rebirth action should become encouraged reading for every midshipman durin g sea term with rhe US Merchan t Marine Academy. With alumni suppo rt, I wo uld ho pe that NM H S membership could be awarded ro every chapter of rhe US Naval Sea Cadets Corps.
GERALD ]. BARRY
Cleveland, O hio
W ALTER B OTTO
New Yo rk, New Yo rk
On the In ternet I thank yo u fo r rhe new recurring fea ture, Maritime H istory on the Internet, by Peter McCracken. The internet offers a whole new world of in fo rmatio n, and more and mo re archival data is being di gitized every day. Figuring our where ro start is a different marrer al rogether-especiall y fo r my ge neration. M r. McCracken's column is like a personal ru rorial-in fo rmarive about the internet itself and kn owledgeable about maritime hisrory as a who le. For yo unger fo lks just starting thei r studies in maritime to pics, Mr. M cCracken's advice pu ts them o n the right track. I enj oy his sense of humo r as well (an1bergris sites, indeed). ] AMES WILSO N
From the editor: We received a number ofLetters and calls regarding the new format of Sea History's last cover (1 08). M ost readers expressed great enthusiasm for the foll-page image on the cover and for more color throughout the publication. One caller raised concerns over printing costs, especially in light ofthe recent financial struggles N MHS has been overcoming. Rest assured, the pap er on which the magazine is p rinted has not changed in many )'ears-just the Look of the graphics p rinted on it. Regarding expenses fo r using more color overall our costs are the same once an)' color is printed on a given plate. Thank you to all those who wrote, e-mailed, or called in with feedback. It is the only way we can gauge how we move forward with the Society and with the issues of Sea History to come.
Eri e, Pennsylvania Sea History's New Look You mighr like ro know I find the new, vibrant, explosively captivating fo rmat of Sea
We welcome your letters! Write to: Edi to r, Sea H istory, 7 Timberkn oll Road, Pocasset, MA 0255 9; e- mail : ed itori al@seahistory.o rg.
Join Us for a Voyage into History Our seafarin g heritage co mes a live sea, rivers, la kes, a nd bays- if yo u in the pages of Sea Histo1y, from th e appreciate the legacy of those who sail ancient ma riners of G reece to in deep water and their workaday Por tuguese navigato rs opening craft, then you belong with us. up the ocea n wo rld to the Jo in Today ! heroic efforts of seamen in Mail in the form below, phone this century's conflicts. Each I 800 221-NM HS (6647), or visit issue brings new insights a nd us at: www.seahistory.org discoveries. If you love the (e-ma il: nmhs@seahisto ry.org) Yes, I wa nt ro joi n che Society and receive Sea Hisro ry quarrerly. My concri bucio n is enclosed. ($ 17.50 is fo r Sea Hisrory; any amounc above char is cax deductible.) Sign me up as: D $35 Regular Member D $50 Fa mily Member D $ 100 Friend D $250 Patron D $5 00 D o no r
109
Mr./ Ms. - - -- - - - - - - - -- -- - -- -- - - - - - -- -
----------------------~Z IP _ __ _ __ Recurn to: acional Maritime Historical Society, PO Box 68 , Peekski ll NY 10566
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NMHS: A CAUSE IN MOTION
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California Maritime Museums Interpret the Seafaring Legacy ofthe Pacifi,c Coast
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he maritime museum s, oceanograph ic and maritim e education centers, historic sites, ship building and resto ratio n centers, sail trammg and maritime studi es programs of Southern C alifornia offer not on ly an exemplary interpretation of the seafa rin g legacy of th e region but formidable programs that keep those skills alive. In September NMHS vis ited Southern Cali fornia and was impressed with the rich maritim e culture and talented peopl e co mmitted to perpetuating it. The trustees ofNMH S and the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum hosted a recep ti on fo r members in the area to visit this impressive faci lity. Of note is th e display on the wreck of the stea mship Cuba that has visitors push buttons that light the co rrespo nding ship parts both on an intact model and on a diorama of the shipwreck scattered o n the ocean Aoor. The museum is ho used at an active marina with histo ric ships and boats available for harbor tours. Robert Schwe mmer, the Maritime Heritage Program Regional Coordinato r for the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, gave a fascinating presentation on the shipwrecks in the Santa Barbara C hannel , most notably the Honda Point disaster of 1923 when seven US Navy destroye rs were wrecked in a fog, including the USS Chauncey (pictured below). Schwemmer has promised Sea H istory an article in the near future.
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NOAAs Robert Schwemmer, who spoke on shipwrecks in the Santa Barbara Channel, emerges from the submersible D el ta. Ventura Coun ty Maritime Museum boasts a formidable art collecti on , in additio n to magnifi cent models, scrimshaw, and di splays of local maritim e hi story. Mark Bacin, executive director, has long been a good friend to the Society, and it was encouraging to see the great job he is doing with the museum . Of all the support we received for a Southern California guidebook of m aritime sites for teachers, Mark Bacin was most enthusias tic and will coll aborate with us on this proj ect. Nancy Hughes Richardson, a longtime NMHS advisor and active ASTA supporter, is now wo rking to get students aboard the brigantines
Exy Joh nson and Irving Jo hnson at the Los Angeles Maritim e Institute, and we are ho peful of return ing to visit this program . The Maritime Museum of San Di ego is thriving under the direction of Executive Directo r Raymond Ashley. 1he muse um is based around the 1898 steam ferry Berkeley and includes a growing collectio n of historic vessels: the 1863 Star ofIndia, the topsa il schooner Californian, th e 1904 steam yacht M edea, the 1914 pilot boat Pilot, and now the Briti sh frigate replica "HMS" Surp rise, recently arrived from her starring ro le in the movie Master and Commander. The Newport Harbor Nauti cal MuseL1111 , housed in a riverboat, features an active education program, sports fi shing simulato r, ship model gallery, ships of the Pacifi c Ocean exhibits, and most exciting, a fascinating coll ection of 58,000 classic photographs. Glenn Zagoren, Pres ident and CEO , is contributing some of the best examples to share with yo u in a future issue of Sea H istory. We thank Program Chairman Ronald O swald and Honorary Trustee Capt. Fred Hawkins for fin ancial support of this visit. Kudos to the maritime museums in Southern Cali fornia for the exemplary job they are doing. B u RCH ENAL GREEN
Executi ve Vice President
SEA HISTORY 109, WINTER 2004-2005
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279 Greenwich Ave. Greenwich, CT 06830 (203) 629-8022 Rare Collection of Ocean Liner Paintings by James Flora including: "The Q. E. 2 Off Calshot Spit" Oil on panel, 18 x 36", $ 10,500.
Museum quality, handmade/painted, customized, personalized choi ce of image/lettering, size, style & co lors. Info packet, $2.00 refundable. Ould Colony Artisans P.O. Box 978, Farmington, ME, 04938 Tel: 800-4 14-7906
web si te: www.ou ldcolonyartisan.com
Celebrate the maritime heritage of the Hudson River with NMHS's 2004 greeting cards Created by di stinguished marine artist William G. Muller, these four sets of greeting cards capture the romance of a bygone era on the Hudson River-and help support the work of NMHS.
Rondout Creek. Hudson River. on a winter night in 1923.
CD3-The Come/I breaks a channe l through the upper
Greeting on CD l-CD3 reads "With every good wish for peace and good will for the Holidays and throughout the coming year." CD4 reads "Merry Christmas and best wishes for the coming New Year." Also available as blank note cards. Box of 10: $ 13.95, or $12.55 for NMHS members. Add $4 s/h for one box and $2 for each additional box. Please indicate your choice of card and specify greeting or blank cards. Send check or cred it card information to:
NMHS, PO Box 68, Peekskill, NY 10566 Or order by credit card by phoning: T. \Vetch rounds the lower tip of Manhattan.
SEA HISTORY 109, WINTER 2004-2005
Francisco on a winter's day in the 1890s.
1-800-221-NMHS (6647) ext. 0 5
Now Available from Sea History's Art Gallery
LIMITED EDITION LITHOGRAPHS by Paul Garnett A native of Boston, marine artist Paul Garnett releases two new limited edition images-one of the USS Constitution as she originally appeared in 1798 and one of His Majesty's Armed Vessel Bounty. Mr. Garnett's work has been seen in Nautical World magazine, Marine Art Quarterly, and Sea History magazine. His paintings have also been featured on A&E Sea Tales as well as the History Channel's series History's
Mysteries.
"Defeat at the Horn" HMAV Bounty puts about for the Cape of Good Hope, Africa, 22 April 1788 Image: 30" x 22"
Trim: 34" x 26-1/2"
$65.00
Paul Garnett's limited edition lithographs are signed, numbered and presented with signed and numbered parchments detailing the historic significance that inspired each painting. "Defeat at the Horn" depicts the Bounty in exactly the conditions that Bligh described so vividly in his Log; mountainous seas, a leaden sky and "lightening crackling down!" In "Shakedown Cruise," Paul Garnett
wanted to show the viewer what the USS Constitution looked like when first commissioned. This painting shows the ship on the evening of her departure from her mooring near Castle Island, Boston Harbor in the summer of 1798.
"Shakedown Cruise" Frigate USS Constitution leaves Boston Harbor by Castle Island, July 1798 Image: 25" x 20"
Trim: 19 3 I 4" x 30"
$65.00
TO ORDER BY CREDIT CARD CALL: 1-800-221-NMHS (6647), EXT., 0 BY CHECK OR MONEY ORDER TO: National Maritime Historical Society PO Box 68, Peekskill, NY 10566
(Please add $17.50 for shipping and handling charges)
OBITUARIES: NMHS Loses Three Valued Friends David Alan O'Neil, overseer of the National Maritime Historical Society, died of prostate cancer in July. Mr. O'Neil had served on the Executive Comm ittee and was the Society's Development Chair. In 2003 he received the Society's Founder's Sheet Anchor Award for his dedicated work and outreach to other organizations. Mr. O 'Neil, a graduate of the US Merchant Marine Academy at King's Point, New York, was Alumnus of the Year in 1997-98 and received the Academy's Admiral Eugene Morin Award, Admiral McCready Award, and Honorary Doctorate of Science. In 1973 he founded Seaworrhy Systems, Inc. David O ' Neil was an active leader in many of the country's professional maritime organizations. He served as president of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers and was awarded their Admiral Land Medal. He was honored by the American Merchant Marine Museum, where he had been Foundation Board Chairman, and the Connecticut River Museum, where he had been a trustee, and India House, where he had served as governor. Extrapolation, the 52-foor schooner he designed and built in his backyard in Essex, Connecticut, was launched just weeks before Mr. O'Neil died. He was able to sail her once with his family and friends. -Burchenal Green
F. Briggs Dalzell, former chairman and a long-time trustee of the Society, died in June in Southampton, New York. Mr. Dalzell was chairman between 1982-85 , when the Society reached the 10,000 membership mark, and he presided over a major restoration effort on Wavertree. Mr. Dalzell was president of the Dalzell Towing Company of New York for many years . In addition to his service to the National Maritime Historical Society, he served on the boards of numerous maritime related charities including: The Seamen's Church Insrimre of New York and New Jersey, South Street Seaport Museum, the American Seaman's Friend Society, and the New York Stare Maritime College at Forr Schuyler. H e was a member of the New York Yacht Club from 1947 umil his death. He served on the Yacht Club's race committee for many years and was co-manager of the second Intrepid and Courageous 12-meter syndicates that successfully defended the America's Cup. -Marshall Streibert
Edward Galland Zelinsky, vice chairman of NMHS , died of pancreatic cancer in September. He was an ardem maritime history emhusiast and a great ambassador for the cause of ship preservation , receiving the Society's Distinguished Service Award in 1995. He worked to bring the barque Vicar of Bray, the only ship still exram that is known to have called at San Francisco in 1849, back to that city from the Falkland Islands. He was active in the restoration of Balcfutha in 1954 and the lumber steam schoo ner Wapoma during the last decade. Mr. Zelinsky was a trustee of the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association and received a posthumous award from them in October. In 1997, the spring he hosted an NMHS Board ofTrustees meeting aboard the Wapama, the Blue and Gold Fleet christened a ferryboat Zelinsky in his honor. Mr. Zelinsky had been a vice president of the World Ship Trust since 1989. In addition, he was owner of the Musee Mecanique in San Francisco, one of the largest private collections of coinoperated mechanical amusemem devices in the world. He and his wife Laleh founded the Tiberon Children's Film Festival which benefited the pediatric unit of Marin General Hospital. He was also founder of the Museum of the City of San Francisco. -BG
SEA HISTORY 109, WINTER 2004-2005
7
ntil I read the book Whaling Letters, I thought I was pretty well acquainted with the whaling era in this country and, in particular, of whaling out of N ew Bedford and southern N ew England. I remember going aboard Charles W Morgan at Round Hill in the mid-1930s and watching the replica of Lagoda bein g built at the Whaling Museum . Yes, I knew a lot of whaling history, but it was all the history of ships and whales, cargoes of oil, faraway places, shipwrecks, vessels frozen in ice, and yes, mutiny. What I had never realized was the love and anguish between those at sea for years on end and the wives and children left at home. These letters gave me an insight into the emotional stress and strains that these lengthy voyages placed upon hundreds of marriages. A short whaling voyage might last a little more than a year, but this was the exception. Most ran three years or more (one, the whaling ship James A llen, lasted five years and four months!). Letters
U
Whaling Letters was compiled and edited by Genevieve D arden (1915-2003)
F
or men who went ro sea in search of whales and fo r fam ilies they left behind, the co rrespo ndence between them created links in a precious chain that bound them rogether through long periods of separation. Som e fa milies saved these letters for generatio ns, and th e sro ries within them gradually worked their way into family folklore. So it was with the exchange of letters between Captain Francis Post of New Bedford and his wife, Ruth (Barker) Post over a twenty-year span in th e earl y 1800s. In a letter ro his mother and sisters, written aboard the ship Hydaspe in 1841 , Captain Post wrote: '1 stopped at home so long to enjoy the advantages ofa water-level, that I found the smell of bilge-water, and the eternal tossing about at first anything but agreeable; though I soon learnt to regard the ocean as an 'auld acquaintance' . .. but I shall never regret the year spent at home; it passed very quietly and pleasantly and, I might add, speedily away. ... And moreover I was pleased with the thought that Ruth's time must needs pass more pleasantly away with her poor babe, if God spare its life, than has been the case with her while I have been absent on my other voyages. " The following correspondence between my great-grandparents illustrates the diffulities a seafarin g life, and whaling in par ticular, imposed on marriage and fam ily. Studying these letters has given me a connection with both my family his-
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rory and the broader hisrory of American whaling itself. We share these with yo u in hopes that their personal experiences will add ro yo ur understanding of a valuable era in our nation's hisrory. - Irving R. Post, Sharon, Massachusetts
"Everyone is asleep and it is so still I can hear my heart beat, it seems as if I must hear yo u speak, as Frank said last sabbath Morning when we was all raking a look at yo ur likeness, he said now let me take it, he looked at it very earnest for a moment and then raised his eyes, Ma, sa id he, pa is going ro speak ro me, he has go t his lips open now, I will put it ro my ear I can hear him whisper if he don't speak loud." Ir was early September of 185 0 and the bark Eliza Thornton , perhaps the first command of Captain Francis Post which was not a whaler, was lade n with cargo and bound for San Francisco. Many New Bedford ships, so me of them co nverted whaling vessels, fo llowed the same path in that decade. The greater part of the lure, hisrorians say, was gold, but gold or whales-the effect on families was the same. Especially, perhaps, on wives like Ruth Barker Post, who was left in New Bedford with three children, what seems ro have been a slim pocketbook, and the prospect of having ro give up her home. "I expect every day ro hear the summons ro move our of this house, the house
is up at auction , so yo u must expect ro find a house upon the fruit tree lot when yo u return , and I hope you will return soon not ro leave us again." Captain Post's whaling career had begun twenty-seven years before, when he reached the age of fifteen. By the rime he was twenty-four he was master of the whaler Huntress, recently married ro Ruth Barker, and well into a way of life which was of course renowned for keeping m en away from home. As his wife expressed it in the first of those 1850 and 185 1 letters: "Do yo u ever think of the number of years that has passed away since we was married and not but a few months of that time have we spent rogerher, and ye t I do not wish ro complain, bur I do hope we shall soon be permitted ro sit down and enj oy a few ho urs rogerher from this wearring anxiety." The "wearring anxiety" may have been rooted in money worries-Captain Post was on his ninth voyage our of New Bedford and his fortunes, like those of man y mariners, rose and ebbed during those risky m id-century years-in the loneliness endemic among wives of that period, or perhaps in concern for the health of her yo unger son: " ... the children have come in they have been up ro see Tom Th umb, and such a confusion I have seldom heard, and little Willie oh you should see him oh he is so cute and so good and we all love him dearly, I fear we think so much of him, he is affiicted with that SEA HISTORY 109, WINTER 2004-2005
between families, separated by thousands of miles for years on end, tell a story of love and anguish, dread and hope, expectation and disappointment, joy and excitement. Many brides were left only days or weeks after their nupruals, some never to see their husbands again. Some bore children who would not meet their fathers until they were three years old. Love and loyalty endured, and it is touching and reassuring co witness the constancy and devotion shown by so many couples. Wives kept their courage and hopes alive, scanned the horizon each day, hoped against hope, and dreaded the worst. Letters often took months to arrive, so a complete exchange could take six months to happen. The correspondence reprinted in Whaling Letters gives us a first-hand and very personal glimpse oflife ashore and life aboard a whale ship. When you absorb the letters as a whole, you will have learned a lot about whaling you probably never imagined. - Thomas Hale PORTRAITS
disease about his head as our other little boy was, but the doctor thinks he can work it our of his blood." The "other little boy," Humphrey, had died of an illness called "brain fever" in January of 1849, when he was a year and a half old, and Ruth was deeply worried abo ut the smaller of her surviving sons, Willie, who was then about fifreen months. It is one of the ironies for which life is famed that it was the older son Frank, the boy who had heard his father's picture "whispering" to him, who died on October 20, 1851, three months before what would have been his sixth birthday. Family records and research give no hint of the cause. Ruth Post may have sensed that 1851 would be anothe r harsh year for her, for she wrote on New Year's Day to San Francisco, where she hoped the letter would reach her husband: "I have waited a long time for news, as yet we have not heard a word, we know not what your situation may be at this time, whether you are in a dis tressed perilous situation, or whether you are as comfortable as you may be at present, God in mercy grant it may be the latter. I have not wrote this rwo momhs I have been waiting to hear of your arrival there, but I think I will send this by the first maile, hopeing to hear you have arrived by the next steamer. "after you had been absent five months I was verry anxious to hear of you there,
SEA HISTORY 109, WINTER 2004-2005
or
but since that we heard of the terrible disease, the destroyer of thousands raging there and we rejoiced to think you had not arrived there, truly God is merciful! and orders all things wisely. "there is much I should like to wright but my mind is so distracted by caire and anxiety that I cannot think of half... how I do wish you had sent that ship on a whailing voyage and you staid at home. "the manless portion of our citizens have been verry much annoyed by a band of robbers that has burrowed in the citty this winter they wen t to Nancy's the other night and frightened them verry much, he tried the door and windows for rwenty moments and Nancy up to the garret window screaming every thing she could think of, at last he started off. "January the 6. Another steamer arrived and no news for us, we must live on hope and patience rwo weeks more and then oh then I hope we shall hear of yo ur safe arrival there and if Josial1 is anxious to stay. (Josiah Bonney, Captain Post's brother-in-law, had been his companion on many voyages.) You leave the ship and cargo with him to sell and you come home. I know yo u wam to see dear little Willie, if you do not want to see me, so do come home. he is a pretty lovely little fellow as you can wish to see, you cannot disown him if you wam to, for he is the picture of his dady, the ch ildren wish you a happy new year.
RUTll 8. POST AND CAl'TA I N FRANCIS l'OST COURTESY OF T llE l'OST FAM ILY
"we shall move out of this house in three or four weeks and that is no small job." On January 26 Ruth's spirits rose when "this morning at nine o'clock we received our letters. words cannot express the one half I feel this day. and such a day of rejoicing as we have had for the assurance of your safety and healrh ... and yet your letter as it lays before me every word of it is laden with sadness. yet it is verry dear to my heart, oh how I wish I could rake dear little Will and fly to you, I could do a thousand things that would render your stay there more comfortab le. Do not my dear husband suffer your cairs to weigh to heavy upon you r mind. Trust in God and wait patiently and all may yet turn out for the best. I feel to rejoice that you had a pleasant passage, do let me know if your butter and cheese and dried fruit turned out well, and your Cake how did that taste like a chip I suppose. "oh pa, I wish yo u could of seen us rhe morning we received the letters the children danced abo ut as if they was wild and dear little Will as joyous as any of us he stoped in the middle of the room and jumped up and down and spat his little hands and sung our at the top of his voice, pa, pa, pa. aunt Sally came in to rejoice with us and Capt Wilcox and wife at the same time. Capt. Wilcox has been obliged to pay your tax whi ch was $71 rather more than you thought it would be. "I am looking for a tenement yet and
9
"there is very much I should like to wright but my mind is so distracted by caire and anxiety that I cannot think ofhalf .. "
>•
find it verry hard to find such a one as I stay in California to attend to the affairs of bub, dear little pratling bub he speaks all want Yet if I cannot find a small house I the Eliza Thornton, returned alone to New kinds of words and talks from morning shall take a larger house, I have lived so Bedford, and Ruth wrote to her husband: until evening, the children are delited with happily in this little house I find it quite "I did not think it would give me such un- their Dollars. Frank often gets up in the hard to be reconsil ed to taking my family pleasant feelings to see Josiah . I was glad to morning tells of dreaming about you. "Mother Barker has met with a verry into a house with another family of chil- see him, and yet I could not be reconsiled dren." to see him unaccompanied by you ... I re- sad acident She had a fit and fell from the There are no letters at all from Feb- joice to hear yo u enjoy such good health top to the bottom of the stairs and broke ruary of 1851 , possibly because Mrs. Post but it grieves me to learn that it will be her arms in three places and hurt her head was looking for a home, finally finding almost impossible for you to spend next verry bad indeed broke her ribs, and injured one and, as she reported to her husband winter with us, I cannot tell you what a her otherwise verry much. She is here with gloom has oppressed my mind the past me helpless as an infant. .. .! see by your last from New Bedford on March 8: "we are all in confusion everything winter. I feel so desolate, so lonely I almost letter that yo u have not received but one letter from us dated since your is turned top side down for the PHOTO BY ALBERT COOK C H U RC H ; COU RTESY NEW BEl) FO RD WHALI NG MUSEUM arrival, do not think hard of us want of a label this side up with as we have sent letters by every care, now dont laugh, I shall mail except two." not move again soon as I have taken a house for ten years, I In June she wrote that it have found a nice little house up had been "a verry long month to the west end of Allen St. it is so far as I have not received a letter from you," and added, "I rather lonely but I like a quiet place for meditation, it will be come far short of doeing my verry pleasant and healthy in the duty as I should, come home summer. my love and strengthen me to your strong mind, and I will try "a Mrs. Toby called here this afternoon to see if you had to do better.... your lot looks beautiful, and the trees are wrote anything about a box of looking finely except the peach clothing she had sent out by yo u trees and they are nearly dead, to her husband yo u will please to let me know in your next letJosiah is as busy as he can be. ter, she is left with four small "Our City never was in a children. more Aourishi ngcondition than at the present time, Ship build"now pa, I know you want ing and house building seem to to hear about dear little Will, he runs all about the house and go on as by some magic influence, as some seems to rise othspeaks verry many words plain, I ers sink down." Francis Post's wish you could enjoy his company now he is so good, his health interest in the city was strong; is good now, Francis (Frank) he served in 1847, from Ward 6, as one of New Bedford's first Whaling ship Canton ofNew Bedford bound for the whaling goes to school nicely now and grounds of the South Pacific in the early 1850s. school committeemen. learns quite fast and Lydia gets "Capt. Wilcox called yesalong verry well, the children think I am forsaken. Oh if I could fly to terday and wished me to say to you that wants to see you very much and I do too. "I hope yo u have been more successful yo u with my children and find shelter in he has received returns from the Gold you the last two weeks in disposing of some of yo ur bosom it seems to me it wo uld give sent and it has not turned out well, he reyo ur cargo, all though I see by the papers me more pleasure than all the wealth that quested me to enclose this paper that you there is verry little difference in the state can be obtained, forgive me for speaking may see for yourself." On September 12 she sent him news of the market, I fear for your health the of my feelings . comeing season, you have such a burthen "we have moved into our new home of "some verry fine Pears from your lot, on your mind. Do not suffer your caires to and I like it verry well so far, we was fortu- and their is some nice quinces but not so depress your spirits. I see our friends had nate in moveing our things as nothing was many as we had last year, the boys have become reconsiled to a loss on your cargo injured not in the least ... Lydia can now been troublesome this summer Mother some time before you arrived there." go into the forest to get May flowers often Post has watched them but somehow or Early in April Josiah Bonney, the this season, and Frank spends his leas ure other the fruit would walk off. "Dear little bub cannot realize that he brother-in-law Mrs. Post had hoped would moments sai ling boats in the ponds, and
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SEA H fSTORY I 09, WINTER 2004-2005
"how I do wish you had sent that ship on a whailing voyage and you staid at home." -Ruth B. Post to Captain Francis Post has any farher excepr your likeness, I am in such a hurry co see how he will acr, and whar he will say, when you do come home. .. he is relling scorys from rhe goose book as fasr as he can and he speaks his words verry plain. "I am now preparing for winrer and as I have no help I have co arrange my plans accordingly, rhe girl who has lived wirh us so long lefr us verry suddenly rhe firsr of summer, I do nor know whar ascenained her sudden deparrure, ir may be a prospecr of marriage, if so I do nor blame her if she can ger a man co sray wirh her. "Capr. Wilcox called co ler me have rwo bank Books I cold him I rhou ghr ir was verry dangerous for such a person as I am co have such a remprarion in my possession, he laughed and seemed co rhink I have nor gor much spunk I rold him I should have if you lived ro rerurn for yo u should never go away co leave any of your family behind you again, and whar do you rhink he said, I was righr. "Lydia goes ro rhe bush srreer school now, and Frank goes ro school bur he grows so fasr he is sick half rhe rime, and now my love, much love from all." In rhe same monrh of Seprember, 1851, afrer receiving from Caprain Posr a lerrer in which he had apparenrly regisrered a complainr, his wife responded," ... you may be sure I was nor a lirrle surprised when I read your lener, in rhe firsr place to rhink You should find cause to doubr my affecrion. "My dear, dear husband, ir grieves me saddly yer I hope yo u will believe me when I say I have been fairhfull in wriring to you, and in every orher way, if necessary I would give my life to save yours. and yer when I rhink of your siruarion, rhar you do nor receive your leners regular I do nor blame yo u in rhe lease if you do scold I wi ll love you rhe more dearly.... "I sreped down Srairs to ger rea and Capr. Wilcox called to rell us rhe unpleasanr news rhar yo ur lasr package of Gold Dusr was robbed of nine hundred dollars on rhe passage to rhe minr he has wrore rhe Express agenr in New York and he is going on tomorrow morning, how rhe affair will rum our we do nor know, ir is rruly unforrunare." 1he lasr ofRurh Barker Posr's lerrers of SEA HISTORY 109, WINTER 2004-2005
rhis series, despire her mulriple problems and rhe mosr painful one yer ro come is a glad one; Caprai n Posr had ar lasr sold his unidenrified cargo and had wrinen rhar he was abour "co ser sail for home." (Acrually rhe Eliza Thornton burned and he made rhe rrip overland.) "Oh, whar a joyful day ir wi ll be when I can hear your voice and your srep, and co know char you are wirh us once more, ir seems as ifI cannor realize ir, ir all appears to me like a happy dream, one of rhose dreams char I have enjoyed and wished rhey co uld lasr forever. "I did rejoice wirh exceeding grear joy when Josiah read his lerrer to me. How glad I was to hear you had so ld nearly all of your Cargo, and I hope when I ger your lener romorrow I shal find rhar you are on your way home bye rhis. "You perhaps can know rhe world of anxiery we poor crearures have endured for one year and a half . .. We are all in good healrh, whar a world of comforr does nor chose few words express, chis is rhe lasr lerrer yo u will be abl e ro ger from us unril by rhe blessings of a merciful God you arrive home." She could nor, of course, have known rhe cruel inaccuracy of "we are all in good healrh." Less rhan rwo weeks afrer rhar October 7 rh lener, and before his farher's rerurn, young Frank fell gravely ill; he died on October 20rh of whar may have been rhe congeniral condirion suggesred in his rnorher's wrirings. Thar Caprain Posr did nor know of rhe dearh of his elder boy is apparem in rhis closing lener from San Francisco:
Barke Eliza Thornron November, 1851 MydearSonYour mother and Lydia Ann have both had letters from me since I have been in California, and as I hear that you are quite a good boy I will write you a little Letter which your mother will read to you ... . Dont't you remember when I Left home little bub was only a baby, and could not even creep, or speak a word. Now he is big enough to run about and speak all kinds of words. I think you must love your little brother very much, he is such a good natured boy. I don't think the boys out in California have much fun. There is no snow winters to
run down hill on, nor ice to skate on. The boys don't play marbles, nor ball nor sail boats. But then they don't fall into a mill brook as a Little boy did I know of I have seen lots of them sitting in the sand making ovens to bake mud pies in and a dirty set of Little jeflows they are too. It would do them no harm to faLL into a mill brook. But water is not so plenty here. We have to pay 6 cents a pail fuLL for all we use. We have afl kind of people here after gold. There are Americans and Englishmen; Frenchmen and Dutchmen; Chinamen and Kanakas. Maybe when you are big enough you wifl come out here yourself to see this country and get more gold. I am coming home one of these days in the Eliza Thornton and you must come on board ofher before she gets up to the wharf .. Do you think you will know me, I shafl be gone so long. My son, be a good boy, mind your mother, and be kind to Lydia and bub and afl your playmates. Then your father will love you very much, and everybody else wifl love you too. From your father, Francis M. Post Caprai n Posr rerurned to New Bedford early in 1852, and did nor go to sea again. He had made ar leasr nine voyages o ur of rhar porr: one each on rhe ship Pacific and rhe brig Martha; rhree on rhe Columbus; one on rhe Huntress, his firsr rrip as masrer; one on the Hydaspe, also as masrer; possibly one o n rhe Pleiades, of which he was pan owner and listed as captain , and the final voyage West on the Eliza Thornton. In 1853 he builr a house ar 122 Washington Srreet, New Bedford, and in 1855 Mrs. Post bore a son who was given the name of his father, and of rhe second litde boy rhey had losr-Francis. Captain Post died in 1859 at rhe age of fifry-one. ,t Whaling Leners, formerly My Dear Husband, compiled and edited by Genevieve Darden (Descendants of Whaling Masters, Inc., New Bedford, MA, 130pp, photos, ISBN 0-9742693-0-1; $1695pb) For more information, write: Descendants of Whaling Masters, Inc., PO Box 326 New Bedford, MA 02741. 11
by Jane Wolff
A
museum that has been in operation for any length of time accumulates a histo ry of its own. The North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort, North Carolina, in a sense, has two histo ries. Its origins, or Phase One, can be traced to the turn of the 1900s and an asso rtment of natural history specimens, a collection which served as a basis for the museum for half a century. With its vast beautiful ocean beaches, expansive salt marshes, and large sounds, North Carolina's central coast attracts marine and coastal scientists, tourists, and sailors. Several universities have established marine laboratories here, as have the federal and state governments. Laboratory staff and communi ty leaders maintained the collection and kept it open to the public into the 1950s when the muse um came under the direction of the state government. (To-
day the museum is operated under the NC Department of Cultural Resources.) Phase Two of the museum's history began in 1975 with the late curator/director C harles R. McNeil!, a 1944 grad uate of the US Merchant Marine Academy with two decades of service in the maritime industry. McNei ll's vision of creating a maritime museum was soon adopted by the community and others around the state. This was a defining course for the museum and certain ly a logical one for a state with an enormous coastline and rich maritime heri tage. For the past thirty years, the museum's mission has been that of documenting, preserving, researching, and exhibiting North Carolina's maritime history and coastal natural history. Before 1985, the collection was housed in whatever space was avai lable, usually relegated to an area at one of the
North Carolina Maritime Museum 315 Front Street Beaufort, NC 28516
Hours: Weekdays 9AM to 5PM Saturdays 10AM to 5PM Sundays lPM to 5PM Admission is free.
Information:
Ph: 252 728-7317 Director: Dr. David Nateman e-mail: maritime@ncmail.net; web site: www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/ sections/ maritime/
Membership Organization: Friends of the Museum Web site: www.ncmm-friends.org Branch Museums: On Roanoke Island 252 475-1750 At Southport 910 457-0003
Join Us 30 June- 5 July 2006 for Pepsi's Americas' Sail 2006! 12
laboratories aro und tow n. Its last temporary faci lities were storefronts along Beaufort's waterfront. In 1980 the museum received a generous donation of land from Mrs. Harvey W Smith. (Harvey W Smith was well-known in the North Carolina menhaden fish ing industry-one of the United States' largest fisheries since colonial times.) With the assistance of funding from the state, the museum moved into its first permanent home. When visitors enter the all-wooden building, they are instantly captured by the special tone of the space with its 20- and 30-foot high beamed ceilings, great white shark mount commanding attention , and the wide stairway leading to the wi dow's walk. There is no particular route one takes through the 18,000 square feet of exhibi t space. Adjacent to the exhibit area is th e audi torium, a multi-purpose room where temporary exhibits are displayed, curators conduct programs for school and Elderhostel groups, and receptions and seminars are held. No space is wasted in this facility; a portion of the auditorium contains half of the museum's worldwide shell collection. The relationship between natural history and maritime history becomes appare nt as a display of North Carolina's Working Wotercraft blends into the Commercial Fishing: America's First Industry exhibit in the main hall . An exceptionally fine collection of wood and cloth waterfowl decoys is displayed opposite an orange diving/o bservation bell. Seated inside the bell, visitors watch underwater SEA HISTORY 109, WINTER 2004-2005
Council of American Maritime Museums Profile video rhrough rhe porrholes and can imagine rh ey are descending ro rhe sea floor. In a building pracrically bursring ar rhe seams, a ren-foor wooden model of a menhaden boar is kepr from being losr
(left) Commercial FishingAmerica's Firsr Indusrry. 1his
exhibit highlights the state's historic fisheries including saltwater species, river fisheries, and shellfish.
Throw Away The Oars, an exhibit ofoutboard motors, includes an Elto Light Twin manufac-
tured in 1926 by the Elto Outboard Motor Co. in Milwaukee. 1his was the first ofa series using aluminum, making it lighter, and therefore expanded their appeal to women. What naturally follows outboard motors is an outboard engine repair shop, ofcourse. Exhibit staffreplicated an outboard repair shop circa the 1950s complete with vintage oil cans and spider webs.
among rhe orher exhibirs by irs sheer size and uniqueness. Builders ar Beaufort's Fish Meal Company consrrucred rhe North Carolina, was no ted for a wide Revenue C urter Service, Steamboat Inrange of marine consrruction-from rac- spection Service, and US Coast Guard model when foul wea rher kepr rhem from working on rhe full-si zed boars for rhe ing runabouts ro large naval and co mmer- in North Carolina is summarized in company. cial ships. They built navy minesweepers 1he Sea Shall Not Have 1hem. Artifacts All generations delighr in observ- during World War II and, unril the 1990s, and photographs represent each service ing li ve sea horses, shellfish, flound er, sea performed major repairs on government and the lives of the people who served. A urchins, and orher marine life-all spe- and privare vessels. Displayed in a retail diorama, Soldiers of Surf and Storm, co ncies fou nd in local waters-in rhe rains rools, equipment, and araquariums. Somerimes folks lose rifacrs rhar explain rhe operarion track of how long they have been and rescue procedures practiced engrossed in warching these "criralong the Outer Banks (known rers." Curaro rs use the small aquaras rhe "Graveyard of the Atlaniums ro insrrucr groups about the tic") in the 1800s and 1900s. A life hisrories of vario us organisms. Fresnel lighrhouse lens of a size Through educarional program s similar ro rhose used in inshore and exhibirs, the museum sraff sounds and bays completes rhi s tribute ro rhe courageous crews srrives ro demonsrrare ro visirors. th e close relationship the aquatic that served along North Carolienvironmem has with humans and na's Outer Banks. their acriviries in and on the water. The museum's small craft A perfect blending of rhese themes collection houses some sixty Volunteer crew at the Watercraft Center restore the 21-joot is found in rhe Coastal Marine boars. Some are exhibited in rhe Barbour inboard runabout. (Photo by George Denmark) Life exhibir, which surrounds the adjacenr boar shed and ar rhe aq uari ums. This exhibit features museum's Warercraft Center. A a diorama of a fouling community and showroom backgro und is a 1958 Barbour full-sized sprirsail skiff, built in 1910 and shows th e planrs and animals which arrach "Silver Clipper," a 16-foor runabout made resrored by the museum in the 1970s, is ro hard surfaces-like rhe borrom of your of mahogany. Nearby is a Simmo ns Sea prominenr in rhe exhibir area and repreboar! Phorographs illustrate adaprario ns Skiff model. These skiffs were designed sented in the museum's logo. Examples various marine animals use as camouflage, and built in W ilmingron beginning in the of the North Carolina shad boar are diswhile revolving panels show the effects of 1940s and were very popular for sport fish- played here, warercraft developed in the human acrivity on our ocean and riverine ing and recreation rhroughour rhe region. mid-1870s by George Washingron C reef The hisrory of the Un ited Stares and designated by the General Assembly environmenr. Barbour Boarworks in New Bern , Lighthouse Service, Life-Saving Service, in 1988 as rhe official North Carolina SEA HISTORY 109, WINTER 2004-2005
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State Boat. Navigating through the museum, visitors come face-to-face with one maritime treasure after another. Ir might be an air pump for a deep-sea diver, an engine room telegraph, fossil remains, a dugout canoe, or those ultimate treasures-artifacts from what is believed to be Blackbeard's flagship, Queen Ann/; Revenge. Navigational instruments used to determine a ship's position such as sextants and quadrants are suspended among a starlit sky in .. .And A Star To Steer Her By. The research library at the aft end of the building offers ward-room style comfort for transient boaters, students, boatbuilders, ship modelers, and others seeking information from the 1,500 volumes and magazines on maritime and natural history. In addition ro the museum's conventional role interpreting history, it also serves as a haven, which supports transient boaters-Beaufort is often a final coastal port and launching spot for vessels sailing to the Caribbean and elsewhere in the Atlantic. Across the street on the waterfront is the museum's Harvey W. Smith Watercraft Center. This boatshop had charisma almost from the day it opened. The huge double doors at either end frame Tay!ors Creek as the parade of boats from all over the world transit the harbor. Inside the wooden building, volunteers work to restore wooden boats as the smell of juniper permeates the air. From a platform above the work floor, visitors observe the construction and restoration projects as well as model builders working in the ship
model shop. On weekends students participate in boatbuilding workshops that include classes in boarbuilding carpentry, diesel maintenance, plane making, lofting, oar making, and orhers. Among the projects recently completed by Watercraft Center volunteers was a 30-foot replica of a colonial era logboar called a periauger (seepages 15-11). Nearly complete is the restoration of a 26-foot Coast Guard surfboar for display at the USCG Museum in New London, Connecticut. A volunteer crew is building seventeen new Optimist prams for the museum's widely-acclaimed Ju- The museum and Watercraft Center are visible downnior Sailing Program. In fall and town on the waterfront. At the top and just to the left of winter, there are the usual repairs, the marina is the 36-acres of Gallants Channelproperty. of course, resulting from a sumeight and older, learn basic and advanced mer of youngsters learning to sail. The museum's Wooden Boat Show, sailing in the Junior Sailing Program. scheduled the first full weekend in May, Adults learn to sail in traditional boats. is an annual tradition that began in 1975. TI1e museum's continued growth is A non-commercial event with workshops, heavily dependent upon the development demonstrations, launchings, and races, the of thirty-six acres of property acquired by boat show focuses on small crafr and the the Friends of the Museum organization amateur and professional builders who come together to share their boats and experiences. Many of the environmental field trips and other education programs conducted by museum curators have been a staple for thirty years. Programs have been added or expanded to serve the increasing desire of the public
In the early stages ofconstruction, the 30joot periauger commanded its share ofspace in the museum's Harvey W Smith Watercraft Center. (Photo by Diane Hardy)
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to learn while doThese spritsail skiffs are the traditional boats used in ing and to have the adult sailing classes. (Photo by Diane Hardy) fun while learning. The quarfor future expansion. Located less than a terly calendar of activities includes marine life colmile away, the future Gallants Channel lecting cruises, field trips Annex could prove to make this museum a to coastal habitats, fossil facility better able to reach a broader pubhunts, mushroom and car- lic in, perhaps, the spirit of that estimable nivorous plant excursions, museum in Connecticut. A lofty goal inkayaking trips, seafood deed, but for a state with such a rich mariworkshops and more. The time heritage and for a museum about to Summer Science School enter Phase Three of its history, an achievfor Children provides field able one. J, classes in natural and maritime history for school-age Jane Wolff is the Public Information Officer students. Youngsters, ages and Volunteer Coordinator for NCMM.
SEA HISTORY I 09, WINTER 2004-2005
Reproducing a Periauger by Michael B. Alford and Lawrence E. Babits Coastal Georgia and the Carolinas were made up of small isl.ands and inland waterways providing access to the hinterland. During the colonial period, roads there were few, poorly built, and rarely maintained. Woodlands and marshes made overland travel difficult, dangerous, and costly. Though too shallow for ocean-going vessels to navigate much beyond the coast, the inshore network of rivers, streams, and islands provided a protected inland waterway. Smaller, shallowdraft vessels, periaugers, were developed to transport cargo and defend territory along the inland streams. Below, Michael Alford discusses the design ofthe recently-completed reproduction of a periauger, built at the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort. Dr. Lawrence Babits explains the history of the craft and follows with an account of what can only be learned through the actually sailing of the vessel.
becween rhe cwo halves. The technique increased cargo capacity and stability. While Native Americans developed their dugout canoes long before Europeans arrived, rheir vessels were nor spliL Spanish settlers in rhe Caribbean and Florida used dugout vessels rhar did nor have splir hulls. Nor long after Lawson made his
H istory he periauger was probably rhe southeast's most common vernacular warercrafr during rhe eighreenrh and ninereenrh cenruries. Irs precise origins are obscured by rime, bur rhere is convincing evidence rhar a French ancestry is mosr likely. Our knowledge of rhe periauger
T
beg,ins wiJrhhrheLarravel di(aLaries of 1he exp orer o n wson wson co-founded Barh, NC, rhe srare's first incorporated rown). When he journeyed rhrough rhe Carolinas during 1701, he mentioned a unique boar rype: Ciprus-Trees, of which the French make Canoes, that will carry fifty or sixty Barrels. After the Tree is moulded and dug, they saw them in two Pieces, and so put a Plank between, and a small Keel, to preserve them from the Oyster-Banks, which are innumerable in the Creeks and Bays betwixt the French Settlement and Charles-Town. They carry two Masts, and Bermudas Sails. Lawson provided more derails, again in his accounr of cypress: Of these great Trees the Pereaugers and Canoes are scoop'd and made; which sort of Vessels are chiefly to pass over the Rivers, Creeks, and Bays; and to transport Goods and Lumber from one River to another. Some are so large, as to cary thirty Barrels, tho' of one entire Piece of Timber. Others, that are split down the Bottom, and a piece added thereto, will carry eighty, or a hundred. ' Lawson made a distinction by using borh canoe and periauger and drew rl1e baseline for terminology relating ro this vernacular water craft. According ro Lawson, periaugers were dugouts that were split down the middle with a keel log placed
used interchangeably wirh periauger 111 early Georgia.) 1he sketch marches a written description by Francis Moore, who accompanied Von Reck on rhe expedirion: "These petiaguas are long, flat-bottomed boats, carrying from 20 to 35 Tons. They have a kind ofa Forecastle and a Cabin; but the rest open, and no Deck. They have two Masts, which
nagging question has been, ''what did a periauuer look like?" Ci
SEA HISTORY 109, WINTER 2004-2005
observations, rerrirorial disputes erupted along rhe Arlanric coasL As rhe struggle conrinued, periaugers were built as scout boars in addirion ro rheir rradirional role carrying cargo and personnel. In 1744 German arrisr Philip von Reck sketched
they can strike, and Sails like Schooners. They row generally with two Oars only. " 2 Splir-dugour construction was nor confined ro rhe southeastern United States. Ir is known in sourhwesrern France and, possibly, Albania. From rhe record, ir appears rlrnr periauger (in irs thirty-plus , '~f fhf~. spelling variants) in its earliest form, was a generic nan1e for a particular class of vessel unique ro rhe wilderness areas and plantation culture of the southeastern Atlantic colonies: a split-dugout with a log backbone inserted down the middle, sometimes with srrakes added ro increase freeboard, partially decked, propelled by k' " ,, oars and sails, and cwo masts which could Von Rec s petiager be stepped when conditions for sailing were Tll E ROYAL LIBRARY, COPE......-HAGEN: NKS565 40: VON RECK ORAWJ!"GS, NO. J9 favorable . D esign a "periager" which ''one can control with sails and rudder. " Von Reck's is rhe only The periauger of rhe sourheasrern illustration of a periauger so designated Atlantic region has long been an enigma by rhe artisL (The term petiauger was ro hisrorians, despite the clearly ubiquirous
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(right) Periauger Odyssey crew hail Roanoke Island's Elizabeth II off their port bow in August 2004. (top left) Alford's sketch visualizes his estimate ofa colonial periauger's look and proportions.
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(below) The central structure to which the left and right shells are attached, the identifjing feature of the split dugout method, is evident in this photo.
Hull shell ready for fitting floor timbers and transverse frames . At this stage, the construction process reveals the evolution from simple dugout to a classic "shell first, frames inserted, "concept.
(above) The backbone, with beginnings of the bottom attached, created theframework upon which the layup ofblocks simulating the log "shells" was established.
status of the type in the Colonial Period and early nineteenth century. A humble freight and utility vessel closely associated with plantation culture, it is known only through numerous references in colo nial documents, particularly port and merchant vessel registries, court records such as estate inventories, newspaper advertisements, and a few eyewitness acco unts. Regrettably, descriptions are typically vague. The nagging question has been, "what did a periauger look like?" How then is it possible to produce a design for the construction of such an obscure vessel type? It is not so great a stretch as one might think. There is a di ctum in naval architecture that says form fo llows function. For over twenty years I researched the origins and development of boats in the southeastern Atlantic States. During this time I had the opportunity to examine information from many sources as well as archaeological remains of numerous types of vessels. As a trained naval architect, I recogni zed the potential of this data as design criteria. In the practice of naval architecture, yo u begin with the needs of the client. In this case, c:he "client's" needs were revealed, albeit piecemeal, in the historical record. We have come to understand that the term periauger refers to unconventionallyconstructed vessels, mostly log-built, on plantations-or at least not in shipyards-
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and used primarily by plantation owners and operators. Lawson's acco unt in his '.11 New Voyage To Carolina" is the best eye-witness description of periaugers that survives. In just a few sentences, he told us how the logs were used, where and how the boats were used, what their cargo capacity was, and how they were rigged. His brevity, however, proved a stumbling block for historians, who, lacking technical knowledge, have by speculation and conj ecture invented the enigma of the periauger. D espite c:he co nfusio n, it is Lawson whom we must rely upon for the key to the periauger. Nearly three hundred years afrer his book was published, physical evidence,
The 18th and 21st centuries meet as the new periauger sails against a backdrop of condominiums.
in the form of boats, fragments ofboats, and photographs of hulks, has been catalogued and analyzed. The basic truth of Lawson's description was confirmed. The puzzle was unraveled, and knowledge of what a periauger was and what itlooked like steadily grew. Port records and merchant vessel registration data contributed significant information. Records showed periaugers by nan1e and owner or master, with tonnage and dare of construction. In northeastern North Carolina they ranged between three-and-a-half and seven tons burrhen. Wilmington and C harleston vessels could be much larger. Records show that on the Savannah River and G ulf Coast tliey could be in the range of twenty to tliirty-five tons, suggesting a completely different style and construction. When all is taken into account, it becomes clear that what was called a periauger could cover a lot of ground. Knowing the limitations oflog construction methods, one can conclude that the vessels at the upper end of the tonnage range were most certainly plank-built and would be in the forty-foot and longer range. At the bottom of the tonnage range, the boars would have been shaped from a single log, split, and joined to a backbone structure in rhe exact manner described by Lawson. The smallest would measure less than thirty feet in length- basically large canoes. In the middle range, it is likely that two logs were
SEA HISTORY I 09, WINTER 2004-2005
used ro fashion rhe rwo halves of rhe hull. a mammoth expense and From rhe hisrorical record, we have complication, we devised a good informarion abour the waters rhe method of laying up chunks vessel operared in, how rhe vessel was used, of cypress wood oriented like and how much cargo it could carry. The rhe grain in a log. final key, and mosr difficult ro quamify, was how the vessel was built. This lase piece Sea Trials of rhe puzzle derermines overall size and nce the periauger was proportions, in particular, length, beam and built, resting irs seawordepth of hold. Herein lies the significance thiness became paramount of Lawson's acco unt, for he tells us how the in our understanding of rhe vessel and its use. Some iniboars of a given capacity were built. Dara accumulated over rhe years tial resting was conducted evenrually enabled us ro construct a table at Beaufort, bur rhe real rest Bert Felton in period clothing ponders his voyage back in time. that co rrelared capacity in barrels with rons came as the periauger voyaged burrhen and overall dimensions of vessels. to its new home in Perquimans County. The members stepping and unsrepping the rig. Inserting limiting facrors peculiar to log "Periauger Odyssey" spanned over three Sea trials proved tradition right, however, construction allowed us to predict the weeks in late summer 2004. The "Odys- when rhe light spars became problematic dimensions of log-built vessels based on sey" was essenrially a shakedown cruise and in heavy weather, and the traditional ones led to several rigging alterations-derails were srepped in port. Without an external either form or capacity. Owner and sponsor for the keel , the periauger drifred ro leeward on rhe wind. While rhis effect might periauger reproduction is the be reduced with lee boards, there is Perquimans County Restoration no historical evidence for their use. Association (PCRA), which manages the Newbold-White House-the Tacking proved difficult, bur crewoldest brick residence in North members rested a variety of techCarolina. A periauger was listed in niques char succeeded in getting the bow through rhe wind. the in venrories for rh is property. Ir was decided their boar should Tl1e learning process will go on be abour 5 tons burthen, yielding wirh continued use. The chance a length of thirty feet and a beam ro operate an actual vessel gets researchers our of rhe stacks and on of seven feet. The design process the water. Each step, from design to for the reconstruction project was initiated with construction of a construction to getting underway, gives us a better idea of whar it was half-model of a thirty-foot vessel, Charging out of Oriental Harbor at 6-112 knots. like ro operate and mainrain chis incorporati ng features characteristic of log construction. There are visual cues that only could be learned underway. Rig- common workhorse of the Colonial Period that result from the differences in hull ging adjusrmems involved both sails and and ultimately broaden our understanding geometry related to carved surfaces versus running rigging ro improve sailing quality, of a little-known, bur crucial, part of early planks sprung over frames, and it was viral whi le maintaining an eye for hisrorical ac- plantation life in the south. .t curacy. Because of the short gaffs, the origithat the vessel exhibit char quality. No res: The initial lines were transferred to rhe nal plan called for single halyards. With this 1 John Lawson, A New Voyage To Carolina, drafting table, where rhe science of naval arrangemenr, rhe crew had difficulty con(London: [s.n.], 1709) 16, 103. architecture was applied. In this manner a trolling the gaff. The single halyards were 2 Francis Moore, Voyage to Georgia (Lonlevel of performance could be assured. Ir was repeatedly adjusted ro properly position don: 1744) 115. essential rhar the final design be predictably the peak and throat. Other adjusrmems safe and functional. The prorotype, by were discussed, such as adding a boom ro Michael B. Alford is a naval architect and virtue of irs place in rhe historical record, rhe loose-footed foresail, bur ultimately dis- past curator ofthe North Carolina Maritime would certainly have been functional and missed-a boom would have hindered co- Museum. Dr. Lawrence E. Babits is a George manageable. Just how well it performed and lonial crewmen when loading and unloadWashington Distinguished Professor ofHistory what was involved in navigating rhe vessel ing cargo. Two sets of mases were fabricated. at East Carolina University and is an avid would be learned from experience in the Alford's original plan called for solid spars re-enactor of many historical periods. with traditional proportions. PCRA elected construction and through sea trials. Because acquiring and transporting logs ro sail with an additional set oflighrweighr, For more info, visit: www.newboldwhiteof appropriate quality and size presented hollow spars ro ease the srrain on crew- house. orglperiauger_info. html.
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SEA HISTORY 109, WINTER 2004-2005
17
Maritime History on the Internet: Navigating Navigation Online by Peter McCracken n this issue, we explore navigation online-not how to navigate from one web site to another, but rather exploring sites about navigation. The most remarkable resource this month is certainly NOAA's "Historical Map & C hart Project," but many other exciting resources are avai lable o n the intern et. Here's a look:
I
Celestial Navigation "Celestial Navigation," at http://www.celestialnavigation.net/, provides an overview of celestial navigation, wi th pages o n theory, practice, historical instruments, and more. "A Short G uide to Celestial Navigation," at http://home.t-online.de/home/h.umland/, is a more recently updated page that includes a great collection of information, including an entire book that one can download and read at one's leisure. The handbook serves as an introduction to celestial navigation and has been continually updated since its initial publication in 1997. In additio n, the site includes downloadable programs, data sets, and links to other sites of use to celestial navigators.
Traditional Navigation Traditional navigation sites offer a remarkable contrast to the celestial variety. Traditional navigation consists of navigating without the use of tools, records, books, or any written information. "Traditional Navigation in the Western Pacific" at http://www. museum.upenn.edu/navigation/Intro.html, hosted by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, presents the methods used by traditional navigators in the Central Caroline islands. This presentation of a 1987 article was posted in 1997 and is not the most technically impressive web site one might see. It has stood the test of time, however, and provides an excellent overview of traditional navigation in Micronesia by a Westerner who learned directly from islanders. The Polynesian Voyaging Society, at http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/pvs/ (mentioned in a previous column-Sea History 106, page 35), is a longstanding source of information on traditional navigation.
Modern Navigation Nathaniel Bowditch's American Practical Navigator is the standard work on navigation, and he is memorialized on the web pages of the Bowditch Society, with a brief biography at http://www.nathanielbowditch.org/nathaniel/. Text of the American Practical Navigator is ava ilable online; its introduction and early chapters provide a solid overview of navigation methods and history. The 2002 edition is available via a link fro m http://pollux.nss.nima.mil/pubs/, provided by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. The USCG Navigation Center, at http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/, offers information about all forms of modern navigation, from GPS and LORAN to Local Notices to Mariners. NOAA provides an equally impressive collection of reso urces at its site at http://www.noaa.gov/charts.html, with emphasis on current nautical charts and tide tables. NOAA also maintains the "Historical Map & Chart Project," at http://historicals.ncd.noaa. gov/historicals/histmap.asp. While quite diffi cult to use (yo u need to click "submit," rather than use the "enter" key, for instance), the collection is absolutely astounding. The web site states that it contains digitized ve rsions of some 20,000 maps and charts dating from the late eighteenth to the late twentieth centuries. Once a chart is located, yo u can zoom in on amazing details. For anyone interested in chans or cartography, this site is worth several hours of exploration . In addition to nautical chans, contents include city plans, C ivil War battl e maps, and more: by chance I found and explored an 1884 bird's eye view of the Mi ssissippi river. G iven its interface, it's hard to imagine that anyone wi ll find everything that they might want on a particular topic, but it's definitely worth trying. Of course, many more sites on navigation exist on the wo rld wide web-this is just a highlight. Many of these sites provide links to many other equally worthy sites, so start explo ring-there's lots to find out there! Suggestions for other sites worth mentioning are welcom e at shipindex@yahoo.com.Seehttp://www.shipindex.org for a compilation of over 100,000 ship names from indexes to dozens of books and journals. .t
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SEA HISTORY 109, WINTER 2004-2005
Newly Released! SEA HISTORYS Guide to Maritime Programs & Cultural Sites in the New York Region "If you are a teacher or parent with an interest in giving your children a learning adventure of a lifetime, this is the guide you've been looking for. Easy to use with information about shipboard programs." - Barbara Freidrich, Teacher, Rockland County
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SEA HISTORY I09, WINTER 2004-2005
s
This project was made possible by the generous support of The Henry L. and Grace Doherty Charitable Foundation, Inc.; The James A. Macdonald Fou ndation and the Port Authority of ew York & New Jersey
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Sea!pstory , whaling industry in the mid1800s. There Henry apprenticed as a sailmaker. Whaling was one of many seafaring businesses that were important in New England at this time. Others included shipbuilding and worldwide shipping of commercial products. The ships were powered by the wind, caught by numerous canvas sails. The ships might put to sea for months at a time, or even, sometimes, as long as five years. They carried goods the crew would need to survive for much of that time . Of course , they also carried the commercial cargo that was the reason for their existence. In a century before planes or trucks , sailing ships ca rri ed every imaginable product from one part of the world to another- raw materials and finished prod ucts-from furs to silk to slaves to rum and tea .
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~heavy load moved entirely under wind power. Many large
ships would travel with two or more full sets of sai ls. Each set might include 3/4 of an acre of canvas! (An acre is 4840 square yards or about 4046 square meters.) Sails were sewn by hand until the twentieth century. Not every one of these sailing ships had its own master sailmaker. Instead, an officer might teach sailmaking to the regular crew. These sailors commonly knew basic stitching, since they often had to make or repair their own clothes. A sailmaker who worked in a sail loft ashore would learn his trade as an apprentice, beginning at about age fourteen. For three years the apprentice received room and board , but no salary. Later, he wou ld earn an average of $10 a week . An enterprising sailmaker or factory owner might earn considerably more. On board ship , a sailmaker (usually known as "Sails") had many responsibilities . He might cut and sew an entire set of sails at sea for a new ship. He made sure the sails were hoisted in port for drying; otherwise, the cotton or linen sails could mildew and rot if they were put away damp. The sail maker was also in charge of storage of the sails. Without his watchful eye, rodents and insects might eat holes in the cloth . During the Civil War, sailmaking declined sharply as the war interfered with seagoing trade. Many sailmakers turned to making canvas tents for the Union army. Later in the nineteenth century, [1
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keeps a line from sliding out of an eye . <C"very sailor understands that knot making is an essential skill. Here are some practical knots for sailing and everyday use.
1. Make a loop with the BE over the SP.
The directions refer to a bitter end (BE) and a standing part (SP). The standing part is the fixed end of a rope. The bitter end is the loose end .
2. Bring BE under the SP.
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3. Bring the BE over the loop and out through the bottom.
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For animated direction on tying knots go to : www.tollesburysc .co. uk/ Knots/Knots_gallery.htm
4. Pull tight.
(bo' lin) commonly used to tie a boat to a cleat or loop over a piling.
1. Make a loop with the BE underneath the SP.
2. Place BE over the upper part and then under the lower part of the loop.
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~ry Bull Almy was not alone in his journey to New Bedford. This Massachusetts town was
a center of the whaling trade in the nineteenth century. The whaling industry slowed considerably around 1860 as kerosene replaced whale oil as a source of fuel for lamps.
Image Credits: Sperm whale tooth , fids , parasol handle , busk, courtesy of Brewster Historical Society Museum . Oil lamp, gaming pieces, jagging wheel , emery board , toothpick, perfume bottles , courtesy of William Wibel Antiques.
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W name of baby born aboard the Mayflower after the ship arrived in America 1s ship that arrived at Plymouth in November 1621 bringing 35 more Pilgrims to America 5 Mayflower captain in 1620 7 month in 1621 that Mayflower left 17 America to return to England 18 9 simple machine the Pilgrims used to brace up the Mayflower's damaged main beam 12 name of last male survivor of the Mayflower who married Priscilla Mullins 13 city from which Mayflower departed in September 1620 14 last name of woman who fell from Mayflower and drowned in December 1620 15 English captain who captured Squanto and took him to Europe in 1614 16 ship the Pilgrims left in England after it began to leak bad ly 17 small boat used by the Pilg rims to explore for a suitable village site 18 Mayflower II captain in 1957
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Down
1 explorer who returned Squanto to Cape Cod area shortly before the Pilgrims arrived 2 Cape Cod town where Mayfl ower first dropped anchor 3 last name of Mayflower passe nger who fell overboard and was rescued by oth ers onboard 6 length of the Mayflower in feet 8 cargo that the Mayfl ower had carried whose odor remained 10 United States moving company that helped sponsor Mayflower II 11 last name of Mayflower first mate 15 part of the sh ip where supplies and water were stored
To learn more about the Pilgrims, go to www.P.limoth .org www.pilgrimhall.or-g
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Sea History for Kids is sponsored by the
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SHFK # 109: Layout and Design by Domenico Petrillo
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Carrying the Age of Sail Forward in the Barqu by Captain Daniel D. Moreland oday the modern sailing school ship is typically an auxiliary-powered sailing ship operated by a charitable organization whose mission is devoted to an academic or therapeutic program under sail, either at sea or on coasrwise passages. Her program uses the structure and environmem of the sailing ship to organize and lend themes to that structure and educational agenda. The goal, of course, is a focused educational forum, and not necessarily one of strictly maritime education. Experiential education, leadersh ip training, personal growth, high school or college credit, yo uth-at-risk, adj udi cated youth, science and oceanography as well as professional maritime development are often the focus of school ships. These ships are typ icall y fine vessels producing often impressive results. In comrast to the modern sailing school ship, the sail training ship of yore was quite different. Originally these ships were owned and operated by commercial shipping compan ies to train their appremi ces, who hoped to become steam-ship officers. These ships were devoted to the infusion of practical maritime arts and leadership, discipline, and organizational skills as required of the accomplished professional seafarer in the course of ocean voyaging. It wasn't so much that seamen were "trained to sail" but that they we re "trained in sai l," o r "under sail ," as the phrase might have it. Toward the end of the age of sail, several steamship companies established their own cargo-carryi ng sailing ships for the purpose of training their future officers. The four-masted barque Port Jackson comes to mind, but there sailed quite a few others. These sailing ships were commonly typical cargo ships of the period with the addition of extra quarters for their apprentices. Proudly maintained, these vessels served as showp ieces for their steam ship compan ies. Cargo was king, however, so they had to pay their own way-often just barely. U ntil the mid- 1950s, a few European seafaring nations still required their merchant officer candidates acquire a portion of their sea-time under large-tonnage sail. In time, especially during the socializatio n of education in the 1920s and 30s, many gove rnments took over the ro le of education, particularly maritime.
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For example, in 1931 Denmark built the full-rigger Danmark as a merchant marine school ship whi ch sti ll sa ils in that role today. During this time, many other maritime nations comm issio ned school ships for naval training as well, this time without cargo and usually with significant academic and often ambassado rial roles, including most of the great classic sailing ships we see at rail ship events today. These sailing ships became boot camps and colleges at sea. Those "trained in sail" were valued as problem solvers and, perhaps more sign ifican tly, problem preventers. They learned the wind and sea in a way not avail able to the denizens of covered and heated pilot houses with a voice tube to the engine-room to call for increased or reduced RPMs depending on the weather. Sailing ship crew, from the captain to the cabin boy, we re the engineers (and stokers, wipers and plumbers) of the sa iling ship. Th e rig and the sails were their engine, and they had to keep it go ing with canvas, rwine, wood, wire, bits of steel and iron, plus their wits, determination, and know-how. They had to plan and think way ahead. These sailing-ship
Captain Arthur Kimberley making Picton Castle's first suit ofsails. Kimberley sailed as a young man on the ship Abraham Rydberg, a cargo-carrying sailing ship. Later, as owner and Captain of the brigantine Romance for 23 years, Kimberley and his wife Gloria made two circumnavigations and numerous voyages to the South Pacific in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s with paying apprentices-Dan Moreland was Mate on Romance's first circumnavigation.
PH OTO BY D AN IEi. 0. MORELAN D
seafarers not only had to make do with what they had at hand, but they had to succeed. The alternative was unthinkable. These characteristics are desirable in any position of leadership. These traits in a leader or team member save time, money, property and, most of all , lives. Not on ly were professional sailors trained in this manner. Many yo ung m en (and some women) ran off to sea in commercial sail , never intending to make a life of it. They sailed fo r many reasons, but we might lump the motivations under adventure. Their lives were richer for their experiences at sea. If they wrote of their adventures, as did Richard Henry D ana, H erman Melville, Alan Villiers, and even a yo ung Irving Johnson, then our lives ashore were made richer as well. As the age of sail wound down and berths on sailing ships dwindled, opportunities to sail cropped up in new capacities. A number of ships and enterprises developed to rake yo ung people to sea under canvas. The full-rigger Joseph Conrad, barquentine Cap Pilar, and schooner Wanderbird all made deep-sea passages with yo un g apprentices in the 1920s and 30s. Most famo us of all was the schooner Yankee under the visionary and enormously capable Captai n Irving Johnson and his wife Exy. After WWII the Johnsons
SEA I-I IS TORY I09, WINTER 2004-2005
converted another fi ne vessel into rhe ship that became known as the brigantine Yankee. That ship and the Johnso ns' voyages, as well as the wo rk of o thers, make up the bridge that links the age of sail to the modern sail training era in No rth Ame ri ca. Much of what the crew or trainees get out of sail training are simple tru ths absorbed during their new life at sea in the course of serving the ship and th eir shipmates-no t fro m fo rmal instruc rio n. These things are extrem ely difficult to quantify in o ur quarterly p ro fit-and-loss wo rld. O ver the lo ng term, however, these qualities m ake themselves cl ear. These values internalized at sea are often lumped under "characte r-building," it seem s for lack of a better term . Perhaps a te rm , fal len from currency of late, could be appl ied to that which the challenge discussed above attempts to describe: citiz enship. We don't have to like everybody, but for a sh ip to get across an ocean, getting alo ng and resolving pro blems are essenti al skills. Resources onboard are finite: co nserve them , husband them . Good sail training fos ters good citizens-in a ship, in a boat, in the hom e o r tow n, and in our greater community. Picton Castle Preserves the Legacy Much has naturally been made about prese rving the great histo rical ships of the wo rld that survive. The story of Picton Castle is abo ut one ship that, th ro ugh her voyages and even her renaissance, is preserving the historical skills and even a way of life. From the histo rical preservation perspecti ve, this m ay be no less signifi cant than saving historic ships themselves. Picton Castle is an 180-foor barquerigged vessel built of riveted steel in E n gland in 1928. In many ways Picton Castle wo uld have been typical of that class of small trading vessels that roamed the glo be in the latte r age of sail, but she is neith er a replica no r a resto ration per se. Conve rted fro m an old steam vessel with m edium SEA HISTORY 109, WINTER 2004-2005
clipper sailing lines, Picton Castle is no r simply a conversion. When the question is asked, "a power vessel into a sailboar, how can it be?", recall that the fam ous Tom Ward minds his helm in British clippership Tweed was conve rted from a steamer. Ri gged and refi tted fo r deep-water voyages in Lunenburg, Nova Sco tia, Picton Castle has made three voyages aro und the wo rld sin ce 1997. Th e shi p embarks on her next circumnaviga ti on in May of 2005-crew are signing up now. Picton Castle is a sail training ship of the old school. H er program is the ship and the voyage. She is a cargo-carrying square-rigger of abo ut 560 to ns displacem ent m aking long, transoceanic voyages,
Hands changing upper topsails at sea.
prin ci pally a wo rld circumnavigation m the tro pics. Sh e sails with a large crew of apprenti ces led by a sm all co re of experienced and dedi cated young profess ionals. This gang works the ship and handles the cargo of educatio nal supplies and trade goods fo r deli very ro rem o te tro pi cal islands. They face calm , storm, and heat, plus visit exo tic seaports toge ther and sail the trade winds o n passages crossing rhe wo rld's oceans . Picton Castle's anchor windlass and capstan are hand o perated.
rough weather on Picron Casrle' s first world voyage.
Al l hands live in open foc's'le-rype berthing areas and sleep in pilo t bun ks . There is neither air co nditioning nor private cabins-fresh wate r is limited. H er sails are cotton canvas hand sewn o n deck by her crew. Every wire alofr su pporting her m as ts and every length of manila line that trims her 12,5 00 square feet of sail is put in place and cared for by the ve ry hands that sail this shi p. If a yard needs to be replaced, or should the ship's launch require a new plank, it will be Picton Castle crew that does the job. Watches are fo ur ho urs on and eight off. In port, anchor watches are set so that much of our time is free to explo re, but th e security, safery, and well-being of the ship herself are always our param ount p ri o ri ties. If we don't rake care of the ship, the ship can hardly take care of us. The ship always com es fi rst. Always. O n Picton Castle's circumnavigarion our crew beco mes acquainted with islanders and villagers in the ports and islands we v1s1t. W indows into nearly inaccessible wo rlds are Aung open by the welcome of the people we meet along the way. Tradi tio nal dances, kava ceremonies, feasts, climbin g to waterfalls and volcanoes, trading fo r carvings, baske ts, and spears in the jungle, paddling dugo uts back to the ship- these things become almost routi ne. Life-long fri endships often develop. This voyage rums out som e true deep-wate r sailing shi p seafarers, wi th all that label that im plies. 25
Picton Castle has its ori gins in the old sailing ship apprentice system that developed in the late 19th century. Young would-be seam en signed aboard a big freight-hauling square-rigger, ofren paying a fee to the ship in re turn for the practical experience of wo rking alo ngs id e the seasoned professional sailo rs and receiving extra nautical instructio n fro m the officers. These apprentices no rmally got plenty of the former (work) and very little of the latter (instructi o n). Picton Castle's ambition is to live up to that old promise of experience, but with real instructio n actually carried o ut-with o ne significant variation-she sails the tradewinds in the tropic latitudes instead of rhe bitter Cape H o rn Road and the vicio us "Roaring Forties."
In the "old days," watch systems were typically fo ur ho urs on duty and fo ur off. In those few ho urs off, the seam an had to eat, atte nd to any personal requirements and sleep, with the guarantee of being called our to handle sail on his "off-wa tch ." This practice was only just humanl y bearable. His time in port was most likely spent o n a scaffold scaling rust from rhe ship's sides, o r facing day after backbreaking day of loading or discharging tho usands of to ns of cargo o r ballast. With rarely as much as an afternoon's run as hore, rhe seamen wo uld languish onboard for weeks o r even m onths while the ship swung at an chor in port. In those las t brutal days
26
aloft. Of course, there must be rime to complain abour rhe mate o r captain on the fore-deck on a dog watch. A cruise on this ship is not exactly glamorous.
Outward Bound for Around the World A co uple weeks prio r to sailing, rhe new crew of the barque Picton Castle converge on the wharf in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia-the ship's ho me po rt. There is much to be done to get the ship ready fo r sea and to start the business of learning to becom e a seafarer. Lunenburg can be cold and damp in M ay and is a long fe tch fro m the tropics. To ready fo r sea, rhe new hands must bend sail, reeve off all running rigging, send r' gallant and royal yards aloft, and pack the hold with supplies. This fills o ur days. Paint, canvas, cases o f foo d, boxes of books to be donated to island schools, bales of second-hand clothes and tons more all get stowed in the ship's 100-to n cargo hold. Ihis is a confusing and daunting period for the new trainee/ crew-member. Everything is unfamiliar. We also drill : yard bracing, setting sails a t the dock, launching and recovery of boars, boat handling, basic rope wo rk, worki n g aloft, heavy gear handling, cargo stowage, and basic safety drills. ~ Soon our barque has cast off, spread = her canvas to the wind, and we are underway in the cold No rth Atlantic. The first few weeks at sea are overwhelming fo r the green hand. Through the watch system and the normal wo rkings of the ship, we are immersed in the myriad derails of iron discipline that was his seafaring ex- becomin g capable and useful crew. The istence, he fantas ized abo ut a sailing life mates teach new crew to fill in the login the sun-drenched South Seas. Wouldn't book, estimate wind, weather, and ship's char wo uld be the life! This ship and her speed, plot a position, and generally gain voyages toge ther are the "old salt's dream" a sense of the sea. Ir is all pretty exciting bur it can be very cold and even miserable com e true. In a voyage aro und the world in Pic- at first. No netheless, all hold out for the ton Castle, we aim to do it all. Steer at the warm blue Cari bbean we know is ahead as big teak wheel with the ship running free we make way for the Panama Canal. After rransiring the C anal (a revelain the trade-winds, haul braces to wear ship in a gale of wind, tar down shrouds tio n in itself), we steer for the G alapagos high aloft in a bosun's-chair- nothing but Islands and cross the Equator fo r rhe first blue sea and sky all around, learn to wo rk rime. Rain squall drill, running rigging, rhe sextant and lead line. Our crew learn basic !mots and splices, and rotations to stitch up a new lower topsail of sriff cot- in the galley are drummed into the neoton duck with palm and needle and work phyte sailor. We visit only a short rime in of large worki ng sail, many a hard-bitten old sal t had a dream . While hauling frozen braces in violent sto rms, icy sea-water up to his waist, rounding Cape Horn in an under-manned full-rigger or beating across the N orth Arlantic in the teeth of endless winter gales with hard-as-oak cold salt beef passing fo r sustenance, he wo uld either swear to quit th e sea o r that his next berth would be in a nice copra schooner or small trading barque in the tropics. Far, far away from the physical hardship and
SEA HISTORY J 09, WINTER 2004-2005
(l tor): Ship's carpenter Kim Smith shapes a new plank with an adze; Rebecca Libby at the sailmaker's bench in 2004; Captain Moreland splices the boltrope for a new sail-a keen eye will notice the hand stitching on the sail. (Photos courtesy of Rigel Crockett, Daniel Moreland, and Kate Menser, respectively)
these famous "utterly barren and desolate" islands, but, then, we stay longer than Charles Darwin did, and that seemed to wo rk out okay for him . From Galapagos we sai l for lonely Pitcairn Island, about 2,800 miles away in the South Pacific Ocean. This takes about four weeks under sail , our first real trade-wind passage. This is what most of us signed up for. All hands ease into the rhythm of a sailing ship at sea . We fall into routine-helm, lookout, ship check, maintaining the hourly log. Night and day we reel off the miles. Crew are becoming shipmates, and we find that there is a difference between a fore-clew garnet and a main 'gants'l bun din' after all. Sextants are broken out to shoot the sun and to learn the night sky.
Pitcairn Island and the South Pacific The time rhat Picton Castle spends at far-off Pitcairn Island is a high point for her crew in many ways, not the least
Rowing back to the ship offAsanvari.
of which is pounding in and out of Bounty Bay with the Pitcairn Islanders in their 40-foot longboa[S. Decendents of HMS Bounty mutineers and theirTahirian wives, the islanders are good friends of the ship after our repeat visits every few years. The crew takes turns staying ashore with the islanders in their homes, while the ship either an chors in the lee or heaves-to. Sailing through Polynesia, Melanesia, and the East Indies, we learn piloting,
chart work, and small boat handling. In the lagoo ns of some of these islands we venture out in the ship's 23-foot doubleended longboat equipped with oars and sail for an overnight expedition with less than a dozen hands to some small motu. To sai l, row, and navigate a pulling boat no different than Captain Cook's or Bligh's away from the ship amo ng these same coral atolls and jungle-draped volcanic islands is an extremely rare adventure (and a lot of fun). Small boat handling is a skill we value o n Picton Castle, almost as much as large ship handling.
Deep Sea Passage-Making and Homeward Bound Leaving Bali astern, Picton Castle sails across the Indian Ocean and along the African coast. This is a 3,500-mile passage westward across one of the world's great oceans. It can rake a month or more for the sh ip to complete. By now the ship's company is working together well as a team. Srar navigation in rhe evening is taught for the navigators interested in advanced work. Sun sights are ongoing. Seamanship workshops are held several times a week in wire work, sail.making, engineering, SEA HISTORY I 09, WINT ER 2004-2005
27
''Mr. Mate, that will do the watches"
and ship handling rheory. Some of rhe crew have evolved into sailmaking and rigging assistams. The quaner-deck and main harch are covered wirh whire conon duck being sewn imo new r'gallams, royals, and flying-jibs. Under rhe rhe bosun's warchful eye, ochers will be wire-splicing, parceling and serving new pendams for use alofr. The rounding of rhe Cape of Good Hope, rhe Agu lhus Currem, and Cape gales provide no shonage of seafaring lessons. Afrer a good stay ar Cape Town, perfecr rrade-winds in rhe Sourh Adanric sreering nonhwesr cowards Brazil and rhe Wesr Indies are our reward for gening around sourhern Africa-chis is a long and predicrably scorm-free rrade-wind passage. 1he dedicared celesrial navigator can achieve masrery rhere in rhe gende Sourh Adamic Trades. For rhe momh-long passage, workshops are more frequem and focus is given co chose subjecrs char will round our rhe marin er (as well as prepare for any licensing examinarions crewmembers may be comemplaring: Rules of rhe Road, lighrs, buoys, safery regularions, modern convemions, and subjecrs of a rheorerical narure). Many hands break off rhe warch sysrem and rurn-to as "Day-men" or "Idlers" (so called in rhe old days In US because rhey were nor required co perform all rhe daily chores and could sleep rhrough rhe nighr) to wo rk on new sails, rigging, and carpemry, or in rhe engine-room. From rhe Caribbean onwards, rhe voyage end is only a few weeks away. Afrer a year, rhe ship is homeward bound and rhe crew are seasoned mariners. What a homecoming it is to sail imo Lunenburg again, take in the ship's canvas for rhe lase rime, and back her in
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alongside rhe crowded wooden pier. Sails Our voyage may begin on one day in are furled and rhen ir's "Mr. Mare, rhar Lunenburg and one day we will all sign will do rhe warches." off rhe ship, bur chis voyage of exploraNo finer plarform exisrs for acquiring rion will carry on rhe resr of our days for rhe experience and skills of rhe deep-sea sail- rhe ones who sailed as crew in chis barque. or rhan a ship like Picton Castle on bluewa- This spring we embark on our nexr voyage rer voyages. All hands work diligendy and arou nd rhe wo rld in Picton Castle. .!. swifdy co meer rhe rradirional definirion of an "Ordinary Seaman" (OS): one who can sreer, handle sails, be useful on warch and be an asser co his or her shipmares in fair wearher or foul. Once our uainees masrer rhe basic ski lls of an OS, we encourage chem co advance as far as rhey can. No one is spoon-fed rhe finer ans of rhe seafarer. To become an "Able Bodied Seaman" (AB) is a significandy higher achievemem rhan an OS. The crew must personally pursue such goals co gee rhe mosr out of rhe seamanship aspecr of rheir voyage; rhey get our of ir whar rhey pur imo ir. None of rhe above begins to speak of rhe powerful experience drawn from mastering rhe everyday tasks char keep rhe ship in good shape, safe, and properly navigared. This doesn'r eve n him ar rhe power rhar evolves as forry disparare souls become shipmares befo re rhe masc on chis voyage of a li fetime. Ir also doesn'r couch (top left and above) Underway in the Indian on rhe myriad challenges we face chat Ocean, bound for Mauritius and flying come from sailing around rhe world wirh new stuns'ls made by her crew. our shipmares in an ageless trade-wind square-rigged sailing ship. Desrinarion and Captain Moreland has spent the last 32 years scarring poim become one and rhe same. in traditional sailing ships and at sea. He Some of rhe crew find char rheir views of sailed as Mate in the brigantine Romance on rhemselves has been rransformed from a world voyage as a young man; served four coday's mosr commo n collecrive appella- years as Boatswain in the Danish Danmark; rion of "consumer" co char of a "cirizen ." restored, got certification, and established as A cirizen, firsr of rheir ship, rhen lacer of a sailing school vessel the Schooner Ernesrina (ex-Effie M. Morrissey) for which he rheir communiry. received the National Trust For Hiswaters, Picton Casrle enters Narragansett Bay in July. toric Preservation's National Hono r Award in 1987. Moreland holds a license as "Master of Steam, Motor and Sail vessels of Any Gross Tons, Upon Oceans, "first issued to him by the US Coast Guard in 1982 at the age of28.
.
For more information: David Robinson, Coordinator, Picron Castle Voyages, POB 1076; Lunenburg, Nova Scotia BO} 2CO CANADA; 902 634-9984; e-mail: info@picton-castle.com; web site: www.picton-castle.com and www. beworldwise.org. PHOTO BY JOHN MCNAMARA
SEA HISTORY I 09, WINTER 2004-2005
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the Navy awarded a salvage co ntract to scrap her. She was towed to the San Francisco Bay Area for scrapping in 1995. Before salvage work co uld begin , the Co mmanding Officer of Naval Air Srarion (NAS) Alameda, California, Captain Jam es Dodge, requested her presence as rhe centerpi ece for the celebration of the 50th anni versary of rhe end of\Vorld War II. Soon the ACH F was formed, $2.4 million raised, and the Navy was petitioned to overturn the scrapping order and release her to become a public museum. By October 1998, the Hornet Museum opened with its principal source of income co ming from gate admissions and store sales. With fantastic suppo rt from a wide array of volunteers, significant ship restoration work was accomplished and other programs were put in place. Many corporations chose to have private evems aboard Hornet an d remed her fo r an even ing. Hornet began community outreach programs: one was a youth overnight live-aboard experience, initially created for Boy and G irl Scours and now expanded to school and other yo uth gro ups; the oth er was quarterly Big Band dances to add a unique air of nostalgia to the swing craze. Then the "perfect storm" swept into Alameda. In 2000 the dot-com busin ess impl osio n sent the Bay Area into a steep recessio n, which still exists four years later. In September 2001, immediately following the World Trade Center disaster, tourism in San Francisco " plummeted. Lasdy, ~ the former Alameda 5 NAS was supposed ~ to be handed over ~ to the city for red e¡. ~ velopmenr starting -s~ ~ . :'!'t'- ~ 111 2004. Due to 8 a Navy-City issue 40mm quad gun mount and crew in concerning toxic action on USS Hornet, 1945 waste cleanup, this privatization has stalled and full redevelopment of the base area may not be com pleted until well beyond the original dare. Although restoration work and a variety of public and private events continue to rake place, the USS Hornet remains in an our-of-rhe-way location w ith litde ability to control its destiny (or even pur up signage showing its location) and fac ing a two-year decline in attendance due to me poor local economy and the rourism decline. The Hornet Museum obtained a loan ro maintain basic operations through the most difficult period bur cominues ro seek additional ben efacror or grant support to assist it until the economy rebounds and/or the Alameda redevelopment issue is overcome. .t
n 1998, the Aircraft Carrier Hornet Foundation (ACHF), a private non-profit organization, acquired rhe world-famous and highl y-deco rated USS Hornet (CVS- 12) from rhe US Navy and co nverted her in to a museum. She has been moored ar Pier 3 at the former Alameda Naval Air Station on San Francisco Bay sin ce October of rhat year. 111is 41,000-ton Essex-class carrier made significant contributions to the Un ited States throughout her history. During World War II, she earned nine barde stars and a Presidential Unit C itation for sustai ned combat operations. She spent fifteen continuous months in the thick of the island invasion campaign and was attacked fifty-nine times bur never seriously damaged. H er air gro ups destroyed 1,410 enemy aircraft and sank over 1.2 million tons of enemy ship ping. Her on ly significant damage was sustained near the end of rhe war when a typ hoon ripped up the fo1ward 24 feet of her Aighr deck. Hornet was convened to an anti-sub marine warfare (ASW) ship in 1958 and did three tours of duty on Yankee Station during me Viemam conAict. Hornet ga ined world fame in 1969 when, on July 24rh, she recovered Apollo 11 , m e first missio n to land humans on the surface of me moon. Over 500 million people worldwide watched live as she Aawlessly gathered up rhe crew, capsule, and soil samples, while President Nixon stood on rhe bridge intently fo llowing rhe operation. USS Hornet was decommissioned Ralph Johnson is the CEO of the USS Hornet Museum. For more in 1970 and lay dor- information, contact: USS Horner Museum, PO Box 460, Alameda, CA 94501; Ph. 510 521-8448 ext. 239; e-mail: ralph. Apollo 11 spacecraft Command Module johnson@uss-hornet.org; web site: www.uss-hornet.org. hoisted aboard USS Hornet
uwamish was launched in 1909 for service in Seattle's fire department. Designed by Eugene McAllaster, she was unique-McAllaster fitted h er w ith many more water monirors (or fixed water nozzles) than was rypical. They provided a ro tal capaciry of 9,000 gallons per minute at 200 psi. The fireboat was also built with a ramming bow ro enable firefighters ro ram and sink a vessel at the pier if a blaze could no t be extinguished quickly. D uwamish's riveted-steel hull measured 120 ft. long with a beam of 28 ft. In one of her first trials in 19 11 , the boat was called o ut ro douse a fire at the Eyers Srorage and Distributing Company. A crowd of spectarors gathered ro watch the fire, and when D uwamish rnrned on her forward monitor, the stream passed over the crowd and hit a series of power lines that instantly started ro arc and spark- not an impressive start for a vessel that ultimately served the ciry so well over the decades ro fo llow. N evertheless, Duwamish was not ro suffer from a bad repuration fo r lo ng. In 19 14, fire broke out at the Grand Trunk Pacific Dock- the larges t wooden dock on the west coas t, which supported a lumber warehouse, office spaces, and a large clock rower. The entire pier burs t into flames and D uwamish To the as ronishment of her crew, when they turned on the huge placed herself berween the Grand Trunk and the Coleman Dock ro forward moniror at 10,000 gallons per minute, they saw the water the south, where radiant heat had caused the roof of the Coleman ro stream evaporate before it ever reached the flames. D uwamish aimed ignite as well. D uwamish found herself figh ting flames on both sides, ro prevent the fire from spreading ro other areas of the waterfrontbut rogether with the US revenue cutter Unalga, the rwo boats were it was six hours before the fire was contained. Paint on the hull able ro save the Coleman pier. blistered and the firefighters' rubber boots melted. For rwenry-five In World War I, Duwamish served as a harbor patrol vessel. hours D uwamish and her crew fought this fire until only charred Throughout the 1930s, D uwamish provided protection for Elliott embers remained. Bay and extinguished innumerable blazThis was not the last of the great fi res es. By the time the Second World War Duwamish in 1909, p ump ing water fo r of Seattle that D uwamish would fight. broke out, D uwamish had aged, and her the first time Thro ugh our D uwamish's long hisrory, role as primary fireboat for downtown her greatest enemy had been the thouSeattle had been filled by a newer vessands of creosote-covered pilings that sel. 1 h e war brought new opportunities, dotted the waterfront. Eventually, her however, and she once again became a wear and a changing ciry rendered D uharbor patrol vessel with the US Coast wamish obsolete. With the rise in recreG uard. At the end of the war, many peoational boating, the ciry needed a boat pie argued that the vessel was at the end that was suitable ro both fire fighting of her serviceable life. Seattle Fire Chief c o u RTEs Y o ' sE.A:m• Mus•uM 01• 11 1STORY AN D I N D USTRY and marine rescue, something tlle D uWilliam Fitzgerald saw the advantages to havi ng such a large boat wamish could never accomplish with a rop speed of only fo urteen and argued that it wo uld be cheaper to rebuild her. H er hull was still kn ots. In 1984 D uwamish was replaced and the old boat was tied in excellent shape and new pumps and engines would make her a up at the government locks in Shilshole. Many found it hard simply very powerful roo l. In 1949, she was refitted wim a clipper bow and ro scrap the venerable lady, and various plans were put forward to three new Cooper-Bessemer 900hp supercharged diesels. Her stacks purchase and resrore her, In 1994 she was purchased by a small we re replaced by a single funnel , and her rwo new pumps each rated group of dedicated enthusias ts who saw her as an excellent platat 11 ,400 gallons per minute. This mad e the Duwamish the most fo rm fo r bui lding civic pride, teaching local hisrory, and as a center powerful municipal fireboat in the wo rld in terms of pumping capac- fo r yo uth development. Since 1997 she has participated in public iry. What emerged from the slips was practically a new boat- faster, events, greeting large crowds with her impressive water displays. The more maneuverable, and able ro blas t twenry-four streams of water wo rk of resrorin g this old heroine goes on, so that she can remain a with her various monirors and hose couplings. She once again be- symbol of Seattle well into the 2 1st century. .t came Seattle's premier fireboat. Duwamish is current/,y berthed at the south end of Lake Union In 1958 , the worst fire in Seattle's hisro ry since the blaze of in downtown Seattle. 7he city plans on building a maritime park on 1889 erup ted at the Seattle Cedar M ill, w here millions of board fee t this site within the next five years and hopes to include Duwamish. A of lumber were srored. D uwamish roared o ut of her slip, sirens wail- National H istoric Landmark, the vessel is owned by the Puget Sound ing. W hen she reached Shilshole Bay, the fl am es were already reach- Fireboat Foundation. Web site: www.fireboatDuwamish.org; e-mail: ing thousands of feet into the air and sending engulfed planks aloft. info@FireboatD uwamish.org.
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s a teenager, Henry B. Almy left his recorded that the crew routinely unbent a Newport, Rhode Island, home to sail, repaired it as a group, and sent it back begin his apprenticeship as a sail- aloft during a single warch. 1 maker in New Bedford, Massachusetts. US Navy ships carried sai lmakers into In the 1850s, Almy alternated between the twentieth century. The Sailmaker's shoreside sailmaking and shipping our in Mate raring was established in 1775 and merchant vessels plying the waters betwe- extended in 1797 to petty officers aboard en New Bedford, New York, and the West their newly launched frigates. These first Indies. During the Civi l War, when many US Navy sail makers and sai lmaker's mares sail lofts closed or laid off emp loyees, Almy on rhe frigates United States and Constitujoined a group of sailmakers traveling to tion received comparable wages to the boPhiladelphia to make canvas army rents. atswain. Each frigate had a sai lmaker and Returning to New Bedford after the war, sailmaker's mate on board designated as he re-established himself as a sailmaker, warrant officers. Ashore, the navy replaced opening a sai l loft in partnership with all civilian sai lm akers with naval personObed Hitch. Henry Almy's story is neither nel in 1831. When naval ships no longer remarkable, nor particularly noteworthy; carried sai ls, the sailmaker's position was rather, he represents the typical sailmaker maintained to rake care of hammocks, working in New England during the ni- hatch covers, wind funnels, and any other neteenth century. While some sailmakers canvas work. The Sail maker's Mare's duties built personal fortunes, most, like Almy, were absorbed into the Boatswain's Mare's ventured our on their own, opening mo- duties in 1939. dest businesses after gaining training and Ashore, the marine artisan was respecexperience at an established loft or from ted as possessing valuable ski lls necessary in rime served aboard ship. Almy did both. a port town. W ith ski lled labor in demand The age of sai l came to an impressive in New England ports, these men could climax in the mid- l 800s and then dwin- expect a higher standard of living than dled to a few select trades by 1900. New their counterparts in English towns. Any England sailmakers had enjoyed steady experienced mariner would have known emp loyment; the volume of sails required how to stitch a sail, and many wandered to supply the American fleet during the age ashore finding short-term employment at of sail was incalculable. A frigate the size the local sail loft or on an individual basis of USS Constitution required at least two for a given vessel. Jobs needing more than full su its of sails, with each suit measuring basic stitching and repair, however, requi3/4 of an acre of canvas. By century's end, red substantial training and skill. Underdemand for sails dropped with rhe decline standing plans and measurements, advanin the number of sailing ships putting to ced marlinspike seamanship, and some busea with the transition to steam propulsion siness savvy we re essential to the shoreside and inland transportation. By 1900, only sa ilmaker's success. Afrer sewing machines specialized trades, such as fishing, bulk were adopted in to the industry at the end cargoes, and yachting, sustained the sailing of the 1800s, roping, gro m mers, cringles, ship, albeit in grearly decreased numbers. and splicing sti ll had to be done by hand. As a group, sai lmakers were getting older Individuality was nor encouraged as seveand some struggled to find work. Others ral men might work together to complete changed occupations entirely. a large sai l. The merchant ship's sailmaker was a To identify the typical southern New privileged crewmember, though usually England sailmaker of the nineteenth cenpaid only slightly more than able seamen. tury, I examined every sailmaker listed in He apprenticed under a master sai lmaker the federal censuses of 1850 and 1880 in either ashore or at sea. Nicknamed "Sails," eleven seaports. Through the analysis of he traditionally li ved in steerage with the these data, the ordinary sailmaker came to carpenter. On a ship with a full crew, he life. A number of changes in the demograworked as a "day man" or "idler," stood no phics of the southern New England sai lwatch, and worked at his trade all day. He maker occurred between 1850 and 1880. slept at night unless all hands were called. In 1850, the average sailmaker was 35 years Ar sea, if a ship suffered considerable da- old ; by 1880, that average had increased to mage to her sails, everyone on board who 42-a significant shift in just thirty years. cou ld be spared from other functions was No other srarisrical factors could explain sent to rhe sailmaker. During rhe clipper why this shift occurred, other than that, by ship Sea Serpent's circumnavigation in the rhe late nineteenth century, sailmaking was 1850s, seaman Hugh McCulloch Gregory a dying profession. Ar mid-century, nearly
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half the sailmakers were in their teens and twenties, while fewer than a quarter of 1880 sai lmakers were that young. In this sample, all southern New England sai lmakers we re white men, more than half married with children-with some excep tions: two sailmakers were listed as "mulatto" and two others were single women. Despite the popularity of maritime trades amongst blacks, both slave and freemen-particularly in Philadelphia and the Chesapeal<e, this trend was not in effect in southern New England. The 1839 Boston C ity Directory had no sailmakers listed under "People of Color," and, without exception, every sailmaker surveyed in 1850 was white. Throughout the century, unemployment was practically non-existent for established sailmakers. Proprietors of many sail lofts grew wealthy and rose to be prominent citizens. Charles Mallory of Mystic, John Kingsbury Pirner of New London, New Bedford's Simpson Hart, the sai l loft of Rhoades and Matthews in Boston, and the Ratsey's of Ratsey and Lapthorn fame represented very successful sailma!Gng firms throughout this century. These sailmal<ers were as much busi nessmen as working artisans. Although they paid their workmen real wages, proprietors often rook shares in a vessel in lieu of cash. These investm ents often realized impressive returns. TI1e typical sailmaker in 1850, however, was neither an investor nor a property owner. Sh oreside sai lmakers and their shipboard counterparts shared the same responsibilities in the construction and repair of working sai ls and other canvas work. Many sail loft workers had left the sea and serried ashore; some divided their time between sea and shore. In Maine, sailmaker Alexander Munro C url er explained that most of his business came from small, cargo-carrying vessels that laid up in the winter and sent their sails in for maintenance and repair. During the summer, when business was slow, Curler would go to sea. 2 Hisrorian Gary Nash noted that the factors affecting a sail maker's success were no different from any other trade-as were the reasons a sailmaker chose hi s trade in the first place. An artisan's prosperity depended upon "craft ski ll, business acumen, health, luck, and choice of marriage partner. ... Nonetheless, you ng men tended to base their choice of career far more on those of their fathe rs-o r uncles, older brothers, or cousi ns-than on a rational calculation of future material rewards." 3 Sailrnakers enjoyed high employment rares, bur setting up business was another
SEA HISTORY 109, WrNTER 2004-2005
matter. If a smaller porr already had an established sail loft, starting a new o ne required m ore patience and capital tha n possessed by m ost craftsmen. Sailmaker and ri gge r Ashley Bowen of M arblehead lam ented in his journal that with no loft, h e was fo rced to fix sails at half the go in g ra re and accept goods fo r pay because he could no t com pete with the local loft fo r wo rk. 4 In the larger cities with great dem and for sails, sailmakers could co mpete successfully with their fellow artisans. Fo r example, in 1858, Boston employed 220 sailmakers working in doze ns of independent sail lofts-many occupying adj acent addresses. Captains and shipowners p referred their favo rite sailmakers and wo uld often send fo r new sails even in different po rts. Corres pondence berween Captain Alfred Pinkham and E. A. Sawyer, his sailmake r in Portland, Maine, indicates work ordered fro m ports up and down the eastern seaboard, often sails delivered via ano ther coasting schooner. 5 While som e sailmakers may have specialized in larger vessels or smaller craft, wo rking or yacht sai ls, records show that most of them accepted nearly all types of marine- related canvas wo rk. The Mallory loft's daybooks document th at th ey wo rked on 228 diffe rent vessels: 13 ships, 2 barques, 17 brigs, 6 1 schooners and 106 smacks. A Newburypo rt sail loft, in mid-century, made sails for 25 0 square-riggers and many fo re-and-aft vessels-with aw nings making up a good portion of its wo rk. Deep-sea ships, carryi ng sa ilmakers o n their crew, often left pon with a fu ll wo rking suit and large sto res of cl o th and co rdage to replace and repair sails at sea o r in a fo reign po rt. Coastal trad ers often kept just enough supplies o n board fo r repairs bu r counted o n the services of sailmake rs in po rt to rake ca re of bigger jobs. If a sailmaker d id nor learn his trade at sea, he most likely starred as an apprentice working for an established sail maker-ofte n a relative or fam ily acquaintance, as in the case of H enry Al my. Ir was custo mary fo r master sailmakers to take o n o ne or mo re yo ung men fo r a three-year apprenticeship. Apprentices received roo m an d board , but little o r no cash fo r workin g. The mas ter sail make r wo uld determine after the fo urth mo nth whether the apprentice was go ing to wo rk out. If not, he was let go. Th e savvy sailmaker knew that m any of his clients had mo re po tential than cash and that the relatively modest am o unt of mo ney adva nced to a shipowne r in the fo rm of sails at the beginning of a voyage could prove extremely valuable a t its end. SEA HI STORY 109, WINTER 2 004-2005
Fo r those who could wait fo r the rewardand accept the risk that a ship might not make a p rofi t (or return at all)- inves ring in shipping co uld be a 19 th-century sail loft owner's ti cket to wealth . O utfitting a shi p with sails usually bo ught l/64 rh or 1/32nd of the ship's p ro fit. In addition , becoming an investing partner would also guarantee supplying that particular vessel with sails. Such an arrangement, of course, served the needs of the ship's other investors quite nearly by d ramatically reducing the am ount of cash it took to put a vessel to sea. Loft owner C harles Mallory ended up owning shares of sealers, whalers, and bo th coastal and transocea ni c merchant vessels. H e eventually ex panded into shipbuilding, brokerage, and salvage. John Kingsbury Pirner, also accepted shares in vessels as payment for sail work, but he did no t keep them for lo ng. As a m an who had trained his whole life to determine which way the wind was bl owing, he chose to make his long- term inves tments in railroads and real estate. Most people who worked in the lofts were skilled workers, not investors. The skills involved were co nsiderable and took years to learn . Sails we re a vessel's sole means of propulsion , and mariners reli ed o n them fo r their livelihood and their lives. Each step in the sailmakin g process required an understanding of des ign and m ateri als. No r until the introductio n of the sewing machine did th e demands o n the sail maker change. Altho ugh the sewing machin e was firs t patented in 1842, it was several decades later befo re sai l lofts acquired machines to do even part of their work. The sewing machine imp roved producti vity levels for a loft bur was no t always welcomed by sailmakers. W ith mechanizatio n, so me sailmakers became mo re like industrial
operatives . Machines, in any evem , could no r do much of the wo rk and we re o nl y useful for bas ic stitching of seams, reef bands, and rablings. Small lofts we re th e norm- Boston's 180 sailmake rs of 185 8 worked in forty different sa il lofts, averaging four or fi ve men per loft. Larger lofts, es pecially th ose with fin ancial shares in local shipping, could mono polize sailmaking work in th eir area, particularly in the smaller o utpo rts. As the 19th century drew to a close, fewer m embers of the younger generati o ns roo k up the trade. The number of sailmakers in these seaports fell by 13 percent fro m 1850 to 1880 , des pite an overall po pulation increase. New England sailmakers earned rwice th e wages of co mmon laborers. Som e, through good wo rk and effective busin ess practi ces, becam e quire wealthy. A handful of sailmakers we re abl e to attract wo rk and earn profits fro m inve mions and inn ovatio ns in sail des ign th ey patented . Mos t attracted jobs by their perso nal co nnecti ons and by the qual ity of their pro ducts. As the demand fo r sails decreased towa rds the close of the century, the profession witnessed a corresponding d ro p in numbers. Th e sailmakin g populati on was growing older, with fewe r yo un g men choosing to learn the trade. As the sailin g ship era drew to a close, there was still a moderate demand fo r sailing vessels plying the seas in the fisheries and specialized trades . Mos t ocean-go ing steam vessels carried auxiliary sails at that stage, and all types of vessels needed o ther canvas wo rk including hatch covers and awnings . 1l1e yachting popul ati on was grow ing after mid -century and this communi ty continues to empl oy sail make rs today. .t No tes: 1 Roberr H . Burgess, ed ., The Sea Serpent journal: Hugh McCulloch Gregory's Voyage Around the World in a Clipper Ship, 1854-1855 (Charl on es-
vill e: Un iv. of Virgini a Press, 1975), 48-67. Janet C utl er Mead, ed. , Bent Sails:A Sailmaking
2
Saga Written in the Worcls of a New England Craftsmen of Square Rigger Days (C in cinn ati: Mail It, fn c., 1962), 62 . Nas h, The Urban Crucible: The Northern
3Gary
Seaports and the Origins ofthe American Revolution (Cambridge: H arvard U niv. Press, 1986), 8. 4 Phil ip foster C hadwick Smim, The Journals of Ashley Bowen (1728-1813) ofMarblehead (Porrland , ME: Anthoe nsen Press, 1973), 142. H. Pin kh am Papers, Manuscrip t Collectio n 74, G.W. Blu nt W hite Library, Mys tic Seapo rt Museum , Inc.
5AJ fred
33
.SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS SPUN YARN In January 2005, the famous New York Fulton Fish Market is leaving South Street in Manhattan and moving to the Bronx. South Street Seaport Museum is conducting guided tours with the Market's unofficial artist Naima Rauam.
Catch it before it's too late! Tour includes a tour of Rauam's studio and breakfast at an authentic fish marker diner. Wear sturdy shoes and clothes that can get dirry. South Street Seaport Museum, 207 Front St., New York, NY 10038; 212 748-8600; web site: www.southstreetseaportmuseum. org. • .. Artist and singer Tony Bennett has donated to The Mariners' Museum a recently completed watercolor of the Battle of Hampton Roads between the ironclads USS Monitor and CSS Virgi.nia. Bennett presented his painting at ceremonies at the Museum on 1 September. The artist began formal instruction as a young art student at the School oflndustrial Arts (now known as rhe School of Art and Design) in New York Ciry and continued his studies over the years with private studios and teachers. (The Mariners' Museum, 100 Museum Drive, Newport News, VA 23606; 757 596-2222 or 800 581-7245; web site: www.mariner.org) ... In September, the Peabody Essex Museum suspendedpublication of The American Neptune for a period ofsix months. Productions costs ourweighed income from subscribers resulting in the museum having to subsidize its publication. The administration is using this period to explore options in either "reinvent[ing]" the journal and/or engaging other museums or organizations in taking over publication. (Peabody Essex Museum, East India Square, Salem, MA 01970; 978 745-9500; web site: www.pem.org) . . . SeaBritain2005 and the National Maritime Museum (UK) has created Connecting with 34
Schools, an innovative online resource to help maritime organizations develop high-quality, curriculum-relevant educational material. SeaBritain2005 wi ll be organizing the Trafalgar Festival next summer and fall (2005) ro mark the bicentenary of Nelson's death and the Batcle of Trafalgar. A toolkit is available on line. (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London SE109NF; 020 8312-6545; web sites: www.nmm.ac.uk and www.seabritain2005.com) . . . Clearing out your basement, attic, or bookshelves? Three organizations are looking for items for their collections. Sailors Snug Harbor is looking for artifacts, photographs, and personal stories from former residents or relatives of those who lived or worked there to add ro rheir collection. The Noble Maritime Co llection will provide a questionnaire to help you organize your thoughts and answer any questions. (The Noble Maritime Collection, Museum and Research Center, 1000 Richmond Trace, Bldg. D, Staten Island, NY 10301; 7 18 447-6490; web site: www.noblemaritime. org). Also, a new research collection of the Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve was established in 2003 with contributions of some 1,500 bound volumes of Great Lakes history, 50 linear feet of manuscript material, 60,000 ship photographs, and extensive files on ships, pons, cargoes, and maritime technology. The SancL MARI NE tuary is looking for a NATIONA SANCTUARI ES ™ d- Underwater ""1nwfull (or nearly full) set TH UNDER BAY of Sea History for donation to this collection . Interested parties should contact Marlo Broad at 989 3566188, ext. 17; e-mail: tbrc@northland .lib. mi.us; web site: www.thunderbay.noaa. gov. Finally, the Glencannon Collection is shy of two volumes to complete their Glencannon Series. Anyone willing to part with their copy of Scotch and mtter and Three Sheets to the Wind should contact The G lencannon Sociery, POB 633, Benecia, CA 94510; 800 711-8985; web site: www.glencannon.com. . . . A new version of the www.Jamestown2007.org web site, originally launched in 1999, debuted in August. The redesigned site reAects current 2007 program initiatives,
including proposed signature events, sponsorship and partnership opportunities, the statewide Communiry Program, and che 2007 Ambassador Speakers Bureau. • .. USS Oriskany (CVA34) has been donated by the Navy to the State of Florida to be made into an artificial reef off the coast of Pensacola. The ship is the first of the ships offered to coastal states for this purpose in lieu of scrapping them. "Three
USS Oriskany, 1959
other carriers, eleven destroyers, five cruisers, rwo frigates, a dock landing ship, a patrol gunboat, and a combat stores ship wi ll also be tendered as part of the program. • • • The Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in New York has given up stewardship of USS Edson (00946) in favor of a project to acquire a battleship or a cruiser. The Museum hauled out the ship and performed hull repairs before returning her to the Navy's Inactive Fleet faciliry in Philadelphia. All Edson artifacts and memorabili a are currently stored o n board Intrepid until another approved organization obtains USS Edson. If the ship is not donated, the items will be returned to the organizations or individuals who loaned or donated them. . . • Another Basque galleon has been found near Red Bay in southern Labrador. Parks Canada divers were checking on the condition of ocher previously-located wrecks when they spotted the ship's timbers, which were exposed when a cruise ship anchored close by. The wreck is preserved in the mud below the seabed. 'Th e Basques established whaling camps in Newfound land and Labrador during rhe 16th century. The wreck is the fourth Basque ship discovered in the region. The first was fo und near Red Bay in 1978, and two more were discovered in the 1980s. Parks Ca nada: web site: www. pc.gc.ca. . • . This summer, the schooner yacht Coronet became the first vessel in Rhode Island named to the National SEA HISTORY I 09, WINTER 2004-2005
~
Register of Historic Places. Coronet was hauled onto Newport's International Yacht Restoration School (IYRS) quay in April 2004 for her hull and deck restoration. The interior has been dismantled and archived. While historical research continues, IYRS does have a very extensive timeline of her ownership, voyages, refits, etc. Coronetwas donated to IYRS in 1995. Built in 1885, she was a luxury yacht used by some of the wealthiest Americans. She won the third-ever rransAtlantic race in 1887, beating Dauntless by thirty hours from New York to Ireland. Coronet circumnavigated twice, rounding Cape Horn both rimes. IYRS is building a shelter and workshop around the ship with an upper-story gallery so that the public can view the work-in-progress. Their current target dare for completing rhe hull and deck restoration is autumn 2007. 1he estimated dare to rig and relaunch the vessel is autumn 2009. (IYRS, 449 Thames Sr., Newport, RI 02840 ; 401 849-1995; e-mail: sdaly@iyrs.org; web sire: www.iyrs.org) ...
Coronet hauled onto the !YRS quay in April. SEA HLSTORY I 09, WINTER 2004-2005
The Baltimore Museum of Industry (BMI), home of the 1906 steam tug Baltimore, is urgently seeking a new owner for the vessel. BMI has not budgeted any funds for insurance as of this fiscal year (July-June) and has removed the tug from its long range plan. BMI is seeking a 501 (c) (3) organization to acquire the rug as its new owner. The Maryland Historical Trust financed hull repair expenses and holds a preservation lien upon the rug, which will transfer with the vessel. The rug is the las t remaining operational steam rug on the eastern seaboard. Originally built as a VIP vessel for the mayor of Baltimore, it was eventually purchased by the Samuel DuPont fami ly. A 1978 storm sank the rug in 15 feet of wa-
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SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT AND MUSEUM NEWS
36
SEA HJSTORY I 09, WINTER 2004-2005
In September, The Fulton Project, Inc. in Fall River, MA, submitted a prospectus to the Massachusetts Department of Education for the Fall River Maritime Charter Public School. The full prospectus is available in PDF form a t o n the MA DOE C harter Schools web site at: http :/ /www. d oe. mass.edu/news/news . asp?id=2072. (The Fulton Project, Inc., The M arine Museum at Fall River, 70 Water St. , Fall River, MA 0 272 1; 78 1 784-8 7 10; web site: www.fultonproj ect. o rg. . . . Latest word on SS Nobska, reported in "Historic Ships on a Lee Shore" (Sea History 108, Autumn 2004) is that the National Park Service wants title to the boat so they can issue a contract to remove it. The New England Steam ship Fo undatio n, w hich owns the ship, has refused to sign off, so the case may end up in Admi ralry Court. SSNobska in dry dock at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Massachusetts, where she has been since 1997 NESF claims they can float Nobska with $5 00 ,000 to finish the hull repairs, bur that it will cos t $75 0,000 to cut it up. M assachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy's offi ce is pushing fo r a solution that will ultimately save the ship fro m the scrap heap. Representative Barney Frank is questioning the Park Service 's rimeline. Three million dollars have already been spent o n the hull res toration. (NESF, PO B 1642, Edgartown, MA 0 2539; 508 999- 1925 ; e-mail: nobska@fastdail.net; web site : wvvw.nobska. org) US Commission on Ocean Policy Recognizes Value of Maritime Heritage. In the final re port subm itted to the President and Congress, the US Commiss io n on Ocean Po licy included language that suppo rts the value of submerged cultural resources (see Final Report, p69). Several gro ups submitted statements asking for mari time cultural heritage ro be included in the report during the comment period fo llowing the release of the draft report by the commissio n. Sea H istory 108 (Autumn 2 004) included an article by D r. T imothy Runyan rhat called fo r this recognition . !- !,!,
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•Schooner Virgi,nia Christening Celebration, at 11 :45AM, Friday, 10 December in Norfolk, VA. Tugs, fireboars, sightseeing vessels, and private boats will line the route from Harbor Park to Otter Berth at Town Point Park on downtown Norfolk's waterfront. The Schooner Virginia project, administered by the Virginia Maritime Heritage Fdn., encompasses the recreation of a 191 7-era wooden ship that served as the last pure sailing vessel deployed by the Virginia Pilot Association from 1917 to 1926. 111e event is free and open to the public. (Schooner Virginia Project, 5000 World Trade Center, Norfolk, VA 2351 O; web sire: www.schoonervirginia.org) •New Year's Eve Encampment aboard the Battleship New Jersey, 31 December. Spend the last night of the year on a unique overnight. Tour the ship, ride the 4D Sim ulator, enjoy meals served from the Crew's Galley and sleep in the bunks that the crew of the USS New j ersey once did . Reservations required. (62 Battleship Place, Camden, NJ 0810 3; 856 966-1652 ext. 203; web site: www.bartleshipnj.org) •The John Carter Brown Research Fellowships application deadline for the June 2005 - July 2006 year is 10 January 2005. The Library will award approximately 25 short- and long-term Research Fellowships (Short-term fellowships are for two to four months and carry a stipend of $1,500 per month . Long-term fellowships are typically for five to nine months and carry a stipend of $4,000 per month.) The JCB Library's holdings are concentrated on the histo ry of the Western Hemisphere during the colonial period. For derails and thematic restrictions and app lications, contact: Director, John Carter Brown Library, POB 1894, Providence, RI 02912; 40 1 8632725; e-mail: JCBL_Fellowships@brown.
www.nhnm.org) •Maritime Museum of San Diego: Ships in Bottles: A Sailor's Craft. 111rough 5 Jan.
2005. (1492 N. Harbor Dr., San Diego, CA 92101; 619 234-9153; web site: www. sdmaritime.org) •The Whaling Museum: Finding Your Wtzy: Navigation at Sea. Through August 2005. (POB 25, Main Street, Cold Spring H arbor, NY 11724; 631 367-3418; email: cshwm@optonline.net; web site: www.cshwhalingmuseum.org) •Maritime Museum of the Atlantic: Shipwreck Treasures of Nova Scotia. New permanent exhibit. (1675 Lower Water St. , Halifax, Nova Scotia; 902 424-7490; web sire: www.museum.gov.ns.ca/mma; e-mail: lunnge@gov.ns.ca) •Heritage Museums & Gardens: Sea Dogs! Great Tails of the Sea, on loan from Mystic Seaport Mu- ~------~ seum. (67 Grove Street, Sandwich, MA 02563; 508 888-3300; e- mail: info @h er itagem useums.org; web site: www.heri ta gem use- " umsandgardens.org;) •The Noble Maritime Collection: Caddell Dry Dock, One Hundred Years Harborside. Through February 2006. (1000 Richmond Terrace, Building D, Staten Island, NY 10301; 718 447-6490; web site: www.noblemaririme.org) '--------~
EXHIBITS
•Museum of History and Industry: Finding Your Wtzy: Hu man Navigation. (McCurdy Park, 2700 24th Ave. East, Seattle, WA 98112; 206 324-1126; e- ma il: information@searrlehisto ry.o rg; web site: www.seartlehistory.org) •Newport Harbor Nautical Museum: Small Ships: The World of Model Ship and Boat Building. Through 13 February 2005. (151 East Pacific Coast Hwy, Newport
CONFERENCES
•"16th Annual Symposium on Maritime Archaeology and History of Hawai ' i and the Pacific," 19-2 1 February 2005, in Honolulu, HI. Sponsored by the Marine Option Program and Dept. of Anthroplogy at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and the Maritime Archaeology and History of the Hawaiian Islands Fdn. (MAHHI). Theme: "Pacific Connections
Through the Ages." Information: MAHHI, POB 8807, Honolulu, HI 968300807; web site: http://www.mahhi.org; email: froning@mahhi.org. •"The Classic Yacht Symposium," l -3 April 2005, at the HerreshoffMarine Museum. Sponsored by the HMM and 111e Society of Naval Architects. (HMM, POB 450, One Burnside St., Bristol, RI 02809, 401 253-5000; Fax: 401 253-6222; web site: www. herreshoff.org) •"Maritime Heritage 2005: 2d International Conference on Maritime Heritage,'' 18-29 April 2005 in Barcelona, Spain. Organized by Wessex Institute of Technology, UK. Conference wi ll be in English. The conference aims to bring together scholars and professionals to discuss a variety of topics related to maritime heritage. The meeting wi ll discuss the future of hi storic harbors, dockyards, and other similar maritime structures in today's world, as well as the function of historic vessels and their heritage value. CALL FOR PAPERS: electronic submissions encouraged. 1l1e deadline ASAP, but they wi ll accept papers up until March 2005. E-mai l: wit@wessex.ac.uk; web site: http://www.wessex.ac.uk/conferences/2005/mh05/index.html. •"North American Maritime History: the Southern Connection,'' 19-21 May 2005 in Savannal1, GA. North American Society for Oceanic History, 2005 Annual Meeting. Info: Joseph F. Meany Jr., Ph.D., 2005 Program Chair, c/o Sam'l Hutton Associates, 2830 Cornhill St., Annapolis, MD 21401 or by e-mai l ro NASOH2005@aol.com. Please identify "NASOH Progran1' in the subject line. Proposals by e-mail are encouraged. •"Frederick Douglass and Herman Melville: A Sesquicentennial Celebration,'' 22-26 June 2005 at the New Bedford Whaling Museum . Held on the occasion of the 150rh anniversary of the publication of both Douglass's My Bondage ana My Freedom and Melville's Benito Cereno, the conference will examine the works, lives, and contexts of these two writers who spanned most of the 19th century. Keynote Speakers: Henry Louis Gares, Jr.; Sterling Stuckey; Eric Sundquist. (18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA 02740; 508 997-0046; www.whalingm useum .o rg/ kendall/ mel_sociery/ mscp. html)
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SEA'\ HISTORY I 09, WINTER 2004-2005
Reviews The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy, 1815-1889, by David
the end of the great transition period, in 1889. The great strength of this book is the Lyon and Rif Winfield (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD, 2004, 352pp, illus, excellent o rganization and clear presentation of material about a wide variety of ship photos, gloss, notes, biblio , index, appen, types during a time of great change, which ISBN 1-59114-484-1; $95hc) included the move The Sail and THE from wood to iron Steam Navy List to steel for hulls, is the final work paddle to screw of David Lyon, resteam propulsion, nowned author of ALL THE SHIPS OF THE breech-loading naval history narraROYAL NAVY 1815- 188!) cannon, and the tive and reference Davi1l Lyott & Rif Winfield introduction of arbooks, who spent mor. This is an immuch of his life in portant, lavishly-ilthe plans and reflustrated reference erence areas of the work which has National Maritime been produced in Museum in Greena limited print run wich . He is known due to its expense. for his many works It is of tremendous on maritime history value to anyone including The Deninterested in ships ny List; Sea Battles In Close-Up: The Age of Nelson; The Ship: of the era, and will likely soon be just as Steam Steel and Torpedoes and several other difficult to obrain as its predecessor, The books co-written with others. This work Sailing Navy List. is a companion to his important Sailing KEVIN J. FOSTER Washington, DC Navy List, published in 1993. Ir was unfinished at the time of his death and was completed by his friend Rif Winfield, auThe Eagle and the Rising Sun: The Japathor of 50-Gun Ship. Andrew Lambert, nese-American Ular, 1941-1943, by Alan another leading expert on the period, in- Schorn (W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., New troduces the administrative, political, and York, 2004, 540pp, photos, notes, biblio, international background in which these index, ISB N 0-393-04924-8, $28.95 hc) In this survey of the war in the Paships were built and operated, fo llowed by a survey of technical developments and a cific, Schorn provides an imroduction to snapshot of Royal Navy vessels at the end Japanese politics and international relations from the 1920s to the outbreak of of the Napoleonic Wars. The book provides a co ncise design war with the United Scates in 1941. The and construction history and fare for ev- book then details the operational history ery ship in the British Royal Navy built, of the war from Pearl Harbor to victo ry captured, purchased or hired. Readers will on Guadalcanal in 1943. Individuals loom gain new understanding of ship design large in this history and Schorn begins his evolution as described in the text, richly survey of evem s with a derailed analysis illustrated from the collections of the Na- of Emperor Hirohito's role in the com ing tional Maritime Museum. The text is di- conflict. He characterizes Hirohito as "bavided into rwo periods, 1815-1863 and sically weak-minded, surrounded by the 1862-1889, describing the impact of the military from childhood, and determined leading naval surveyors upon sailing ships, to walk in the footsteps of his revered Meiji wood and iron paddle steamers, wood and ancestors." Schorn srates that Hirohito was iron screw steamers, and later of ironclads, complicit in such atrocities as the Rape of cruising vessels, frigates , corvettes, cruis- Nanking and Unit 73 1's biological/chemiing vessels, and auxiliaries. A postscript cal warfare experiments, and that his orfleet list provides a picture of the navy near ders resulted in the deaths of 2.7 million
SAIL &STEAM .n-='!<---EAVY LIST I
SEA HISTORY 109, WINTER 2004-2005
Chinese noncombatants during the war in China . Pearl Harbor is shown to have Hirohito's sanction of the final preparations for the attack, and Schorn does not mince wo rds in assigning blame to both Adm iral Husband E. Kimmel and Ge neral George C. Short for the success of the Japanese attack. General George C. Marshall receives his share of the blame for placing a "Purple" cipher machine in Manila with General Douglas MacArthur- not in Hawaii-which Schorn considers to be a "grave error of judgement" on the part of Marshall. Heroes loom large in this history as well. Admirals C hester Nimitz, Richmond Kelly Turner, William H alsey, John Towers, and Willis Lee along with Generals Robert Eichelberger and George C. Kenney are shown as highly competent, imaginative leaders at a rime when these qualities were in short supply. Isoroku Yamamoto, when asked what chance there was of Japan 's defeating the United States and Great Brirain, stated "I can raise havoc with them for one yea r or at most eighteen months. After that I can give no one any guarantees." This is the histo ry of that struggle written in a highly opinionated and lively manner that is sure to create its own havoc amongst scholars and readers! Highly recommended! HAROLD N. BOYER Folsom, Pennsylvania
Slaves, Sailors, Citizens: African Americans in the Union Navy, by Steven J. Ramold (DeKalb, Illinois, Northern Illinois University Press, 2002, 253pp, illus, biblio, notes, index, ISB N 0-8 7580-286-9; $32hc) In July 1861 an exchange of memos berween Navy Secrerary Gideon Welles and Commodore Silas H. Stringham, whose blockading squadron was short of both ships and personnel, heralded a seachange in the story of the manning of the 41
REVIEWS US Navy. Not only did Well es's decision to allow recruitment of Afri can A1n ericans lead to the integration of thousands of black sailors into the Union Aeet, but it entitled them to the sam e pay and treatment as their white shipmates. A s this very well-written, exh austi vely-researched book demo nstrates, it was not until much later that black seam en were relegated to the mess room and the galley. Ramold's acco unt is no t confi ned to the re markable achievem ents of black sailo rs in th e C ivil War, but is prefaced with the interesting stories of their participation in the Revolutionary navies and th eir surprisingly large invol vem ent in the G reat Lakes sphere of the War of 18 12. A concluding chapter explores the reasons for the reduction of their numbers as the century wo re on, as they were in creasingly replaced by Filipinos . ] oAN DRUETT W ellington, New Zealand
mus produced the Yankee iro nclad and proved that the long-do ubted screw propeller would wo rk. His inventio n was initially met with "an impress ive degree of indifferen ce" by the British Admiralty to whom he first tri ed to sell it. The effort bankrupted his company in England (where he first went from Sweden) and put Ericsson in debtor's priso n. Afte r an indeterminate time, he was released and met an American Naval Officer, Lt. Robert F. Stockton, who wo uld change his life and
Well annotated and with an extensive bibliography, Reign ofIron is a wo rthy read fo r anyo ne interested in the C ivil Wa r, maritime history, or the early days of what wo uld becom e a burgeoning industry. WILLIAM
H. WHI TE
Rumso n, New Jersey
Enigma, The Battle for the Code, by Hugh Sebag-M o nrefiore Qohn Wiley & So ns, Inc., New Yo rk, 2004, 448 pp, illus, glossary, appen, no tes, biblio, index, ISBN 0-47 1-49035-0; $ 16.95pb) Enigma is o ne of the latest, and certainly one of the most complete, acco unts of the breaking of the code in the World War II Ge rman Naval system of cl assified communicatio ns called "Enigma" by the Allies. An extensive body of literature co ncerning Enigma, the code, has emerged since the end of Wo rld Wa r II as m o re inform a tio n has been declassified and as the persons involved have becom e older and T H F.STORY OF T H E nArru NC. IRONC. t ADS. more w illing to talk. In fact, the present THE MON ITOR A N DTH E MERRIMACK ages o f th e people involved in this work 60 years o r more ago suggests that this may be JAMES L. NELSON the ultim ate, o r at least penultimate, treatm ent of the subj ect whi ch include firsthand acco un ts. The auth or begins with the chan ce discovery of a co mmercial Enigm a machine by th e Polish Army's C ipher Bureau bring him to An1erica. No netheless, it was in l929, then moves to a key figure in the not all easy sailing here; his dealings with Ge:m a n D efense Ministry Cipher Office the US government we re often as frustrat- in 193 1 and hi s involvement with the ing as they might be today and, in addi- Fre n ch Deuxieme Bureau. By 1938 a good tion , the Swede had to deal with supposed deal o f low-level effo rt by Polish, French, "supporters" whose primary goal was to and E nglish code experts had confirmed tha t E nigma was a very successful maoffer Ericsson's ideas as their own. During an attack o n the Norfolk chine-generated coding system that was Navy Yard, the Union auxiliary frigate exrren1ely difficul t, but probably not imMerrimack was burned to keep her from poss ible, to break. falling in to Confederate hands. AfterThe co nvoluted social and intelliwa rds, in respo nse to rumors and intelli- gen ce- related acti vities of a number of Eugence reports that the North was creating rop ean natio nals who had been involved an ironclad vessel, the South decided to in the Enigma business are explained in a turn the hulk of the Merrimack into their way that show how these previously unown ironclad , renaming her CSS Virginia. identified min o r characters played crucial N elson covers this side of the story in as ro les fro m rime to rime. After the fall of France, the British much derail as the other and interweaves the Confederate effort with that of the wo1 rked in earnest because they realized Unio n. His descriptio n of the actual battle rh att German U-Boats were sinking alarmis brilliantly derailed and reveals the frus- ing; quantities of British shipping with the tration of both sides in their efforts to even use of the Enigma code, and Germany wo1uld win the war if allowed to continue damage their iron adversary.
Rf}GN IRON F I R~T
Reign of Iron: The Story of the First Battling Ironclads, the Monitor and the Merrimack, by James L. Nelson (William Mo rrow, an Imprint of H arperCollins Publishers, New Yo rk, 2004, 432pp, illus, photos, index, ISBN 0-06-0 52403-0; $25 .95 hc) "The legacy of Monitor and Virginia does no t res t on the ships that wo n, but rath er o n the ships that lost. And the ships that lost were the wooden walls, the Aeets of the world, the end product of thousands of years of developm ent." Thus ends, fittin gly, the saga of the first clash of the iro nclads, Monitor and Virginia (Merrimack). James Nelson, well known fo r his seafarin g fi ctio n, has taken on a daunting task fo r a novelist and recreated the start of the "reign of iron" -the memo rable first battle of the two ships which made obsolete, not o nly the wooden ships of the pas t tho usand years, bm fun ctionally, sail as a means of p ropulsion in warships. Bo th were propelled solely by steam engines and carried no mas ts or sails. Like most of Nelson's novels, this first effort at non-fiction is emin ently readabl e, and the author does a credible job of bringing the players in this mmul tuous drama to life. Characters like John Ericsson, Swedish immigrant whose ge42
S EA HI STORY 109, WINTER2004-2005
"Brilliantly told ... among the best nonfiction books of this or any other year." -William Goetzmann, L os Angeles Times Book Review
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AMERICA'S VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY SEA 'J+ GLORY The U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 0
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REVIEWS unchecked. Bricish analyses concluded char capturing one or more Enigma machines, or code books, or ocher codegenerared material was the only way to accelerate the reading and decoding of the Enigma messages. An amazing series of boardings of German U-Boars and surface craft resulted in some successful seizures of Enigma marerial carried out by incredibly gallant and brave junior officers and enlisced men under rhe mosr difficulr cond irions. The aurhor recounts detail down to rhe level of conversarions between chief engineers and caprains of sinking German submarines over whether th e secret material has been adequarely protected , backed up with copious notes and references. And so the story reaches rhe end of the war as the British successfu lly decode more and more Enigma messages and che Germans become quire concerned abour communication security-but not quite enough to adm it the real truth-that their coded communicarions were being rourinely read. TOWNSEND HORNER Osrerville, Massachuserrs
The Forgotten Heroes: The Heroic Story of the United States Merchant Marine, by Brian Herbert (Forge Books, New York, 2004, 320pp, illus, appen, biblio, index, ISBN 0-765-30706-5; $24.95hc). There is no question that the US Mercham Marine gor the shore end of the stick when it came to recognition for its viral role in rhe war efforr in World War II. Compared to the benefits extended to the uniformed military, merchant mariners received shamefully lirrl e compensation for their service to the nation. This book illuminates that national embarrassmenr, but despite its tide and its frequenrly-foornored formar, ir should not be mistaken for a serious work of history. Written by a journalist, it is replete wich emotio nal, unsubsranriared, and undocumented allegations. When sources are cited, they are predominantly secondary and tertiary works, rhe vast majority of which were written twenty or more years after the events they address. The author's ignorance of nautical terminology (e.g., "knots per hour" and confusing "list" and "heel") is compounded 44
by weak editorial oversight (punctuation, capiralizarion). He seriously undersrares the financial inequali ty between military and merchant marine compensation in the 1940s, but most of all this acco unt suffers from repeated lamentations about the inequity of treatment received by merchant mariners during and after the war. The author keeps returning to the same old complainrs, bur that is nor surprising since the book's real purpose seems less rhe recording of history than rhe solicirarion of support for redress of rhe wrongs. At heart, this book serves as an impassioned pl ea for a package the author describes as "Just Compensation"-a plan that confers benefits upo n surviving merchant marine veterans and also their families. Finally, a warning to bookstore browsers-rhe intriguing photo on the dustcover (crew of brigantine Carnegie, ca. 1920) bears no relationship to the subject of the book. CAPTAIN HAROLD J. SUTPHEN Kilmarnock, Virginia
Charles Benson: Mariner of Color in the Age of Sail, by Michael Sokolow (University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, MA, 2003, 234pp, map, illus, appen, notes, biblio, !SB 1-55849-409-X, $34.95hc) "When Charles Benson rook his last step off the gangplank of rhe Glide on a chilly December day in 1864, he had little intention of ascending it ever again," states Michael Sokolow. In poor health, missing his wife and family and very uneasy about his place and role in his own household, he was determined to drop the anchor for good. Benson was then 34 years old. His feelings and estrangements co uld probably be ascribed as universal amongs t mariners in any period. Of course, a significanr difference from rhe typical life-at-sea experience was the fact that Benson was a black man. Today, we are ben efi ciaries of another difference-unlike most seamen, regardless of ethnicity, Benson kept a journal. In many respecrs, ir was W. Jeffrey Bolster's Black jacks in 1997 thac drew wider public and scholarly actention to rhe African-American experience and conrributions to maricime history. Bolsrer's work predictably inspired further research for a further "drill down" of rhe subject to the
specific individuals involved. Sokolow's
Charles Benson: Mariner of Color in the Age of Sail fills the bill admirably. (It is noceworrhy rhac research for both books was made possible-a c leas t in pan-by Munson Instituce Paul C uffe Memorial Fellowships for che Study of Minorities in American Maritime Hiswry. Ir is refreshing to witness financial support to scholarship result in visible public benefirs.) Wirh few job opporruniries ashore, Benson spent almost 25 years at sea serving aboard commercial vessels as a steward, a position of responsibility and handsome compensation . Nonetheless, it was a pose traditionally relegared to ethnic minorities. Stewards found rhemselves isolared physically and socially from both the worlds of rhe fo'c's'le and the aft cabin and, as all career mariners were, from society ashore altogether. Ir is through his journal wrirings rhar Benson becomes real to the reader as he candidly wrore about his life afloat. An important element in this book is his portrayal of rhe 18rh- and 19th-century Framingham and Salem communiries and the position of African-Americans wirhin those milieus. Faced wirh unemployment ashore, Benson shipped our again in 1875 afrer eleven years asho re. "Oh dear! This going to sea, ic will kill me," he wrote, and ir did. In July of 1881 Charles Benson died of rheumatism on board ship and was buried at sea. We live in a time during which the field of American maritime history is ever w idening. Sokolow and ocher scholars are succeeding in putting human faces on individuals formerly mere srarisrical numbers. PETER SORENSEN O ld Mystic, Connecticut
Gallant Lady: The Biography ofthe USS Archerfish, by Don Keirh and Ken Henry (Forge Books, New York, 2004, 352pp, photos, nores, index, ISB 0-765-305682; $25.95hc) Archerfish had an illustrious history, stretching from her construcrion in 1943 to when she was deliberately sunk as a target submarine in 1968. This book is wellwri tten and guaranteed to absorb anyone
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45
REVIEWS interested in submarines, especially the details of the wo rkings of a sub, anti cs of the crew, and naval language used. The description of the sinking of the Japanese carri er Shinano, alth ough it was the highlight of Archerfish's career, is slightly drawn out. C rewed by o nly bachelors, A rcherfish became known as "the Playboy of the Pacific." In this capacity, her reputation and the camaraderie am ongst the crew proves an essential part of the story. Perhaps a little too mu ch attentio n is focused o n the crew's shenanigans when Archerfish rraveled ro all parts of the globe to undertake a scientific expediti o n. No netheless, the autho rs, one of who m served on board, tell it like it was. Readers with an interest in li fe at sea will find Gallant Lady enjoyable to read . (Incidentally, I was in G uantanamo in consulting days . We were go ing out on destroyers in ASW (anti-subm arine warfa re) exercises. Perhaps Archerfish was one of our targets. According to the book, she was down there at the tim e, 1952, and o ne of her fun ctio ns was to serve as a target submarin e for ASW exercises 1952). ARTH U R KELL ER
Roseland , New Jersey
Naval Ceremonies, Customs, and Traditions, by Royal W. Connell , Cdr. , USN(Ret) and W illiam P. Mack, Vice Adm., USN (Ret), 6th ed., (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD , 2004, 403 pp, appen, biblio, photos, index, ISBN 1-5 5750330-3; $29 .95hc) In current times where ceremony, custom, and tradition are tho ught to be both old-fashion ed and unnecessary, C ommander Co nnell and V ice-Admiral Mack (deceased) provide a timely reminder of the value of such actio ns. Stating that "in order to understand and appreciate who you are and where yo u are, you must first understand where yo u came fro m and from where yo u d raw yo ur legacy," they oudine the use of ceremo ny, custom, and tradition in the United States sea services (Navy, Marine Corps, Coast G uard) in a guide design ed for junior officers. First published in 1934, this book serves as an auth oritati ve guide to conduct and an historical reference o n naval history and traditions going back to the early
46
days of sail. The authors explain this development from an historical perspecti ve that clearly shows the debt owed by th e US Navy to Britain's Royal N avy. Ou r navy developed its own legacy and traditions thro ugh successful operations and the actio ns of early naval offi cers. The o rigin and development of naval law are o udined, SIXTH EDITION
Naval Ceremonies, Customs, and Traditions BY ROYAi. W. CONNELL AND WILLIAM
r.
MACK
'
de mo nstrating how the Articles for the Government of the Navy, pro mulgated in 1798, served the Navy until 195 1! C hapters detail ho no rs, salutes, social customs, dining-in and dining-out, and accepted social usages in the sea services . The US fl ag, naval uni fo rms and their insignia are covered in satisfying detail. This new edition features indi vidual chapters on the M arine Corps and Coas t Guard. Readers interested in naval history and the tradi tio ns of the sea will nnd this book indispensable. Fo r junio r officers of the sea services, it should be required reading, alo ng with the Naval Officers' Guide and the Watch Officers' Guide. HAROLD N. B OYER Folsom, Pennsylvania
The Liberty Ships From A (A.B. Hammond) to Z (Zona Gale), by Walter W. Jaffee (Glencanno n Press, Palo Alto, CA, 2004, illus, photos, appen, bibl io, index, ISBN 1-889901 -25-3; $ 125hc) Captain Wal ter W Jaffee's lhe Liberty Ships From A ( A. B. Hammond) to Z (Zona Gale) is an encyclopedi a of Liberty ships, the mainstay of the wo rld's merchant fleet fo r over twen ty yea rs. W ithin the pages of this oversized book, Jaffee in-
troduces briefl y these important ships and then discusses in some detail th e different types and their co nstruction with drawings th at ill us crate this material. The au th or has provided entri es for each ship with specific in fo rm a ti on o n the builder, type, date they laid the keel, and its launching and delivery da tes . Entries also include the o rigin of each ship's nam e and informati o n o n the ships' careers. Jaffee incl uded a section o n Wo rld Wa r II losses and a short narrati ve of the acti o n that occurred. His chapters o n co mm ercial ships and foreign-owned vessels are particularly valuable because they list th e companies the ships sailed for as well as when they we re sold and scrapped. H e devo tes a chapter to discuss th e ships that b eca me artificial reefs, and two chapters address John W Brown and Jeremiah O'Brien, whi ch each serve as full y-fun ctio nal museum ships. Jaffee's book is a useful and handsome work replete with num erous photographs of the ships. The ind ex is s uperb and makes the book more useful as a reference. Ir is disco ncerting, howe,er, that rh e author's bibli ography did not list the m any primary sources and so me if the seco ndary sources that he used to conpile much of the inform ati o n in his entric:1. Since som e of Jaffee's fac ts co ntradict a h er reference works, the lack of attributon may leave readers unclear abo ut his ac uracy. While this will not con cern most, i t mars what otherwi se would have been m even more useful and impo rtant work. RO BERT B ROWN ING
Dumfries, Virginia
Sea Power in the Medieval Mediterranean: The Catalan-Aragonese Fleet in the "\%r of Sicilian Vespers, by Lawrence V Mott (Unive rsity Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 2003, 337pp, illus, maps, appen , biblio, notes, index, ISBN 08 130 2 6628; $59.95 hc) In 128 5 the Catalan fl eet defeated a French n aval force, which paved the way fo r a Catalan-Aragonese naval domination of the M edi terranean until 1302. Tho ugh this fleet was never manned by mo re than 7, 000 men , it regularl y defeated stronger forces. Mott argues that Roger of Lauria, the admiral of the Catalan-Aragonese, was
SEA HISTORY 109, WINTER 2004-2005
a tactical genius and chie8y responsible for the Catalan -Aragonese naval empire during his thirteen-year command. The author maintains that the u nderrated Roger managed victories over larger Aeets because he skillfully deployed a network of spies and knew how to integrate Sicilian rowers, Muslim cavalry, Catalan crossbowmen and marines from various parts of the M editerranean. Roger's men were volunteers and not conscripts forced into service. They fought under Roger's banner with zeal and excelled, not only in tradition al set naval combats, but in amphibious operations and long distance miss ions as well. While the title of this book specifies the War of the Sicilian Vespers, Mott deals with a wider range of naval engagements and maritime matters. Despite Roger's sacrifice of sturdy defensive vessels for speed, his operations ranged throughout the Mediterranean. To understand the complexities of such, Mott provides a thorough analysis of medieval naval warfare ranging from types of ships, methods of warfare, and logistics. Mott's discussions on ship construction, particularly the high forecastles and bulwarks of Catalan ships, which provided protection against missiles, are supported by excellent illustrations. The most interesting aspect of Roger's career was his 1292 raid into th e Aegean. Why did he take his horse transports to the Aegean? There are precious few places for cavalry warfare on these islands. Not only does the author elevate Roger to the ranks of the great military figures of the medieval world, he enriches maritime studies. Furthermore, h e gives a boost to the besieged Mahanian thesis by demonstrating that Roger deployed sea power to prevail over states with greater land forces. This magisterial study is intended more for the pinpoint specialist than the general reader. Among the items in the large bibliography are unpublished accounts from the Cathedral of Valencia from 1288-90 and 1291-92 that provide detailed information about the CatalanAragonese Aeet and m edi eval m aritime matters.
A Pirate Of Exquisite Mind-Explorer, Naturalist, and Buccaneer: The Life of William Dampier by Diana and Michael Preston (Walker & Company, New York, 2004, 372pp, illus, maps, notes, biblio, index, ISBN 0-8027- 1425-0; $27hc) William Dampier was born in 1651, the son of a tenant farmer. H e received a basic education and could read Latin and do arithmetic. When orphaned at age fourteen, Dampier's guardians sent him to sea. This fortuitous set of circumstances, education and sea-faring, created one of th e most imporLanL exp lorers and naturalists of the Age of Exploration . Established explorers such as James Cook and naturalists such as Charles Darwin would pore over Dampier's writings (Dampier visited Australia eighty years before Cook), absorbing his observations and using them as the basis for much of their own work. Diana and Michael Preston meticulously researched his career and have brought to light the man and events behind Dam pier's observations about the biology and botany of the Caribbean, South Pacific, and Australia, and, importantly, his oceanographic data on currents, winds, and tides. In A Pirate ofExquisite Mind the Prestons present a view of the rough and often harrowing seafaring life that Dampier and seafarers of that era experienced. D ampier spent part of his career as a pirate in the Caribbean and Pacific. He eventually lefr their company to set sail across the globe. In his lifetime, he circumnavigated three times and wrote extensively about his observations and experiences. Back in England, his books and writings became bestsellers, influencing scientists and explorers who followed. As part of their research, the Prestons retraced D ampier's voyages. While they did not recreate his physical suffering, illnesses, and periods of near starvation, their travels to the places he sailed added to their understanding and their ability to convey the sheer enormity of Dampier's accomplishments. The Prestons achieved their goal. A Pirate Of Exquisite Mind illuminates one of the most pervasive footnotes in the literature of the Age of Exploration.
ANTHONY]. PAPALAS
CINDEE HERRICK
Greenville, North Carolina
New London, Connecticut
SEA HISTORY I 09, WINTER 2004-2005
New and Noted Adventures of a Sea Hunter: In Search of Famous Shipwrecks, by James P. Delgado (Douglas & Mcintyre, Vancouver, BC, 2004, 230pp, illus, bib lio, index, 1-55365-071 -9; $25hc) Caliban's Shore: The Wreck ofthe Grosvenor and the Strange Fate of Her Survivors, by Stephen Taylor (W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 2004, 320pp, illus, appen, notes, biblio, index, ISBN 0-393-05085-8; $24.95hc) ISBN
Compass: A Story of Exploration and Innovation, by Alan Gurney (W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 2004, 320pp, ill us, appen, notes, biblio , index, ISBN 0-393-05073 -4; $22.95hc)
Eugene O'Neill and Dat Ole Davi/ Sea: Maritime Influences in the Life and Works of Eugene O'Neill, by Robert A. Richter (Mystic Seaport, Mystic, CT, 2004, 2 l 5pp, photos, notes, biblio, index, ISBN 0-939510-97-9; $24.95hc) Fair Wind and Plenty of It, by Rigel Crockett (Alfred A. Knopf Canada, Toronto, 2004, 392pp, photos, map, illus, ISBN 0-676-9 7634-4; $34. 95hc) O\XINE R"S STAT EMENT Srnremf" nr fil ed 11 / 12/0 4 required by ch e Acr of Aug. 12, 1970 , Sec. 3685, ¡ni1e 39, US Code: Sm History is published quarterl y at 5 John Walsh Blvd. , Peekskill NY 10566; minimum subscripti on price is $17.50. Publisher and edi to r-in-chi ef: Non e; Edirnr is Deirdre E. O ' Regan; owner is Natio nal Maritim e Hisrorical Soci ety, a non-profit corporation; all are locared at 5 John \Xfalsh Blvd. , Peekskil l NY 10566. During rhe 12 months precedin g O crnbcr 2004 the ave rage number of (A) copies printed each issue was 25,5 12; (B) paid and/ or requested circulation was: ( I) outside-co unty mail subscriptions 8, 119; (2) in-counry subscriptions O; (3) sales th rough dealers, carriers, counter sales, oth er non -USPS paid disrribll(ion 448; (4) orher classes mail ed throu gh US PS 369; (C) torn! paid and/or requested circulation was 8,936; (D) free d isrribution by mail , samples, co mpli menrary and oth er 15, 108; (E) free distri bution outside the mai ls 844; (F) toral free di stributio n was 15 ,952; (G ) rornl disrribmion 24,887; (H ) copi es not di stribmccl 625; (I ) total {of J 5G and H ] 25,5 12; U) Percentage paid and/o r requested circulation 36%. The actual numbers fo r the sin gle iss ue preceding O cwber 2004 are: (A) toral number prim ed 25.539; (B) paid and/or requested ci rculation was: ( I) ourside-coum y mail subscriptions 8,000; (2) in-coun ry subscriprions O; (3) sales throu gh dealers, carriers, counter sales, other non- USPS paid distributi on 448; (4) ocher classes mailed through US PS 350; (C) total paid and/or requested circulation was 8,798; (0 ) free distribution by mail, sa mples, complimenrary and other l 5,350; (E) free distributio n o utside the mails 1,000; (F) total free distributi on was 16,350 ; (G) roral discriburi on 25, 148; (H) copies not dis1ribmed 39 1; (I ) cotal (o f I 5G and H ] 25,539; U) Percentage paid and /or requesred circul ati on 35%. I ce rti~' that rh e above sratemcnts are correct and co mp lete. (s igned) Burchenal Green, Executive Direcror, Narional Maritime Hi srorical Society.
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SEA HISTORY PRINTS
The Black Ball Line's packet ship Yorkshire passes Castle Garden and the lower tip of Manhattan's Battery Park as she sails out of the East River on her way to sea under the moonlight in 1854.
Night view from the Battery, New York City, in 1854 BY WILLIAM
G. MULLER
An exclusive limited edition of 250 signed and numbered giclee prints from the original oil painting at $150 each. (Add $15 s&h in the US.) Image size: 13" x 20"; Sheet size: 16" x 22" Printed on 300 lb. 100% cotton rag stock using archival inks. A Certificate of Authenticity accompanies each print.
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