Sea History 115 - Summer 2006

I No. 115

SEA

THE ART, LITERATURE, AD

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No. 115

SEA HISTORY

SUMMER 2006

CONTENTS FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE 8 Battle Off Flamborough Head: A Pivotal Victory for American Independence, by Joseph F. Callo j ohn Paul Jones may be one ofour greatest naval heroes, but the impact of his victory over HMS Serapis in USS Bonhomme Richard has gone Largely unrecognized as a major factor in the outcome of the Revolutionary Wtir.

Rear Admiral Callo examines the details ofthe engagement and exp lains how "it changed everything. " 8

12 Black Hands, Blwe Seas: Paul Cuffe and his Maritime Mission,

by Elysa Engelman O ur new series, in conjunction with Mystic Seaport, celebrates the contributions ofAfrican American mariners in our nation's history. This first installment takes a Look at Paul Cuffe, a free black who prosp ered as a master mariner and used his financial and societal clout to advance the abolitionist cause at the turn of the 18th century.

14 Wisconsin Maritime Museum, by W illiam Thiesen 14

Former curator of WMA1, William Thiesen gives a tour ofthis Great Lakes Maritime Museum in lvfanitowoc, host of this year's NASOH conference.

18 Historic Ships on a Lee Shore: USS Slater, by Tim Rizzuto 26 The Rediscovery of the Sea, by John Rousm aniere From Charles II to J oshua Slocum to today's amateur yachtsmen, the idea of the sea as a p layground, not just a setting for military and commercial enterprise, has taken hold ofanyone able to secure a berth on a boat and a p lace to sail.

31 Maritime H istory on the Internet: Sea Music, by Peter McCracken Cover: Fetching the Mark by John Mecray (22" x 24") ?his j ohn Mecray painting ofthe yacht Wescward crossing tacks with King George Vs Britannia in the mid-1920s embodies the spirit ofyachting and the idea ofthe sea as a playground. See j ohn ~'iiiiii~ Rousmaniere's essay (pp 26-29, "lhe Rediscovery ofthe Sea") for a reflection on the development ofthat concept from the days when the sea was usually thought of only as a setting for commercial =-- --= and military pursuits.

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DEPARTMENTS 2 D ECK Lo G & L ETTERS 6 NMH S : A CAUSE IN MOTION 20 Sea History FOR Kms 32 M ARINE ART NEWS

34 41 43 48

SHI P NOTES, SEAPORT & M USEUM NEWS CALENDAR REVIEWS

Sea H istory and the National Maritime Historical Society Sea Histo ry e-mail: edirn rial@seahistory. org; N MHS e-mail: nmhs@seahistory.o rg; Web site: www.seahistory.org. Ph: 9 14 737-7878; 800 22 1-NMHS MEMBERSHIP is in vited. Afterguard $ 10,000; Benefactor $5 ,000; Plankowner $2,500; Sponsor $ 1,000; Donor $500; Parton $250; Friend $ 100; Contributor $75;

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SEA HISTORY (issn 0 146-9312) is published quarte rly by rhe National Maritime Histo rical Society, 5 John Walsh Blvd., PO Box 68, Peekskill NY 10566. Periodicals postage paid at Peekskill NY 10566 and add'l mailing offices.

COPYRIGH T Š 2006 by the National Maririme H istorical Society. Tel: 914-737-7878.

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

NATIONAL MARITIME H ISTORICAL SOCIETY

DECK LOG Maritime Events Across the Country-Please join Us!

T

he North American Society for Oceanic History will hold its annual conference, June 1-4, at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, inspiring us to feature the museum in this issue. This year's theme is "Charting the Inland Seas: Recent Studies in Great Lakes Research." NMHS staff and trustees will be in attendance, and we'd be pleased to meet you there.

Program and registration information can be found at www.nasoh.org.

Father's Day weekend, June 16-18, NMHS will have a table at the Antique and Classic Boat Festival at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. The largest event of its kind in the midChesapeake Bay Maritime Atlantic region, it features 100 antique and classic boats, boatbuilding demonstrations, maritime craft vendors, sea chanteymen (and women), traditional Bay food, and boat rides. Remember that NMHS members who support the Society with $I 00 or more get in free to maritime museums with the CAMM card we send to you. This is a great time to stop by the NMHS table and talk to trustees and me about your vision for the Society's future course.

NMHS is delighted to be supporting the Frank 0. Braynard Commemorative Sail at South Street Seaport in New York City on July 26th, honoring a great leader in the maritime field as he celebrates his 90th birthday on the 30th anniversary of two of his great accomplishments. Frank Braynard was a founder of Operation Sail, which brought the world's tall ships and their crews together in one location. He was the founder of the Around Long Island Regatta and worked to make South Street Seaport Museum a reality. An expert on ocean liners and a remarkable artist and writer, Frank Braynard is the author of numerous well-respected maritime books. The July 26th event will be jam-packed with activities and opportunities. The dedication ceremony on the deck of Peking at Spm will feature NMHS President Emeritus Peter Stanford and NMHS Chairman Emeritus Howard Slotnick. For reservations on the planned observation boat or dinner cruise and for more information, visit www.alir.org.

November 5-7, NMHS will travel to Charleston, South Carolina, for the American Sail Training Association Conference. ASTA will feature presentations from professional mariners , educators, and port fes tival organizers from across the country, C anada and Europe. Details and registration materials can be found at www.sailtraining.org.

With maritime events like these being organized and well attended across the country, there can be no doubt that interest and enthusiasm in studying and preserving our maritime h eritage is on the rise. Now, more than ever, the nation needs Sea H istory as a national publication whose strong voice promotes the message of our seafaring legacy and brings the histories of our maritime past to life. Please try to join us at one event at least. It is by our members and their ongoing support that we maintain and develop our strength to pursue our mission.

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BuRCHENAL GREEN, Executive Vice President

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NATIONALMARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY

PUBLISHER'S C IRCLE: Peter Aron, Donald McGraw, William H. White O FFICERS & T RUSTEES: Chairman, Wal ter R. Brown ; Vice Chairman, Richardo R. Lopes; Executive Vice President, Burchenal Green; Treasurer, Ronald L. Oswald; Secretary, Thomas F. Daly; Trustees, Paul F. Balser, Donald M. Birney, D avid S. Fowler, Virginia Steele Grubb, Rodney N. Houghton, Steven W. Jones, Richard M. Larrabee, Warren Leback, Guy E. C. M aitland, Karen Markoe, John R. McDo nald Jr., Michael McKay, James J. McNam ara, Howard Slotnick, Bradford D . Smith, H. C. Bowen Smith, Philip J. Webster, W illiam H. Whire; Trustee Elect, Robert Kamm; Chairmen Emeriti, Alan G. Choate, Guy E. C. Maitland, Craig A. C. Rey nolds, Howard Slotnick; President Emeritus, Peter Stanford FOUNDER: Karl Kortum (191 7-1996) OVERSEERS: Chairman, RADM D avid C. Brown; Walter C ronkite, Clive Cussler, Alan D. Hmchison, Jakob Isbrandtsen, John Lehman, Warren Marr, II, Brian A. McAllister, John Srobart, William G. Winterer N MHS ADVISORS: Co-Chairmen, Frank 0 .

Braynard, Melbourne Smith; D. K. Abbass, George F. Bass, Francis E. Bowker, O swald L. Brett, RADM Joseph F. Callo, Francis J. Duffy, John W Ewald, Timothy Foote, William Gilkerso n, Thomas Gillmer, Walter J. Handelman, Steven A. Hyman, H ajo Knuttel, Gunnar Lundeberg, Joseph A. Maggio, Conrad Milster, William G. Muller, David E. Perkins, Nancy Hughes Richardson, Shannon J. Wall SEA HISTORY E DITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD: Chairman, Timothy J. Runyan; Norman J. Bro uwer, Robert Browning, W illiam S. Dudley, Daniel Finamore, Kevin Foster, John 0 . Jensen, Joseph F. Meany, Lisa Norling, Carla Rahn Phillips, Walter Rybka, Quentin Snediker, William H. White

NMHS STAFF: Executive Director, Burchenal Green; M embership D irector, Nancy Schnaars; D irector of M arketing, Sreve Lovass-Nagy; M arketing & Executive Assistant, Janet Mi ller; A ccounting, Ji ll Romeo; M embership Assistant, Jane Maurice SEA HISTORY: Editor, Deirdre E. O 'Regan; Advertising Representative, Wendy Paggiotta; Sea H istory for Kids Editor, Myka-Lynne Sokoloff; Editor-at-Large, Peter Stanford

SEA HISTORY 115, SUMMER 2006

LETTERS Discovering J enn y Lind At the ripe old marine age of 42, the clipper ship Nightingale was abandoned at sea in 1893. Here the story of the clipper seemed to end , but about 100 years late r, I was a fed-up schoolteacher and becam e an antiques dealer. As such, I stumbled upon a mys tery in the form of a grotesque scarecrow. When I cleared away the cobwebs and cleaned it, I discovered something quite d ifferent-a beautiful ship's figurehead of Jenny Lind, the famous "Swedish Nightingale." After years of research, I established that the figurehead had once graced the bow of the famo us clipper ship Nightingale. Ir is the finest tribute to Jenny Lind and her time in America and one of few artifacts saved from American clipper ships. It is also perhaps the only existing carving from the approximately 40,000 slaveships that transported cap rured Africans across the Atlantic in the days of the slave trade. Nightingale also sailed under the Union flag during the Civil War. The figurehead was on display at Mys tic Seaport between 2002-2005 and is now on exhibit at the South Street Seaport Museum in New York Cicy thro ugh 2006.

KARL-ERIC SvARDSKOG

Giiteborg, Sweden

USS Constitution vs . USS Chesapeake!

I am certainly enjoying the ongoing series in Sea History, "H eroes of the Sailing Navy." It is a shame that this history is more than likely NOT being taught in the public schools today (or may never have been). Those insrirurions, as well as the public, could certainly learn a lot about leadership, time-management, and all the aspects of being officers, whether in the m ilitary or the corporate world.

In yo ur recent issue (Sea History 11 4), I must point out an error in the naming of ship-to-ship engagements. On page 28, three sea d uels are m entioned, beginning with Chesapeake vs. Guerriere. I do believe this is a grievous error. We all know this sho uld be Constitution vs. Guerriere.

H aving enjoyed reading Mr. White's trilogy series, I'm sure this minor gaff is just that. His nautical novels are quire interesting to read.

HENRY

M.

STRUB

III

From the Editor: Mr. Strub is wholly correct. Rest assured, it was not the author's mistake but rather an error in copy-editing.

Hearty thanks to those who wrote in with their respectful criticisms and corrections.

Constitution vs. Guerriere

A Curious Result of the Chesapeake/Shannon Battle In acco rdance with custom , Shannon's First Lieutenant rook command of Chesapeake and bro ught her to H alifax. Brooke was unable, because of his wounds, to command Shannon, and most of her senior officers had been killed in the battle.

A junior LT took command and bro ugh t the ship to Halifax. Years later, Parliament wamed to reward the officers who had commanded post ships in the Napoleonic Wars, including the War of 1812, and passed a law declaring that such officers could not be put on half-pay unless they requested it. Like most such laws, it was too late to benefit the majority of the

m en who inspired it. Nonetheless, this junior LT, by virtue of those few days in command of Shannon, q ualified. Over the years he rose in rank to Admiral of the Beet. In the late 1800s, the Admiralty decided to force his retiremem to m ake way for someo ne else. Accordingly, they ordered him to sea d uty. He replied that he "would be h appy to go," however, he pointed out that he had "never been to sea in a steam ship," and because of his rank, he would automatically command any Beer or squadron to which he might be ordered. The Admiralty gave up and he cominued o n full pay until his death .

NORBERT ToczKo Addison, Vermont

Malcolm McLean and Containerization When I was 17 years old in 1934, I owned one truck and trailer, hauling for hire, and my own products before there was an Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to control trucking. I also owned a filling station- the only one in Roseboro, NC. Malcolm McLean ran a filling station in M ax ton, about 45 m iles from here.

He owned a truck and trailer and drove it himself, hauling out of Norfolk, Virginia.

We'd m eet at a truck stop in Virginia and bull with each other.

A lot of tim es the finance m an would tell me he was looking for Malcolm McLean. Later, he'd get up with Malcolm

Join Us for a Voyage into History Our seafaring heritage comes alive in the pages of Sea History, from the ancient mariners of Greece to Portuguese naviga tors openin g up the ocean world to the heroic efforts of sailors in this century's conflicts. Each issue brings new insights and discoveries. If you love the sea, rivers, lakes,

and bays-if you appreciate the legacy of those who sail in deep water and their workaday craft, then you belong with us.

Join Today !

Mail in the form below, phone 1 800 221-NMHS (6647), or visit us at: www.seahistory.org (e-mail: nmhs@seahistory.org)

Yes, I want to joi n the Society and receive Sea History q uarterly. My contribution is enclosed . ($ 17.50 is for Sea History; any amount above that is tax ded ucrible.) Sign me up as: 0 $35 Regular Member 0 $50 Family Member 0 $ 100 Friend 0 $250 Parron O $500 Donor Mr./Ms.

11 5

----------------------~ZI P _ _ _ _ _~ Return to: National Maritime Histo rical Sociery, PO Box 68 , Peekskil l NY 10566

Winston-Salem, North Carolina SEA HISTORY 11 5, SUMMER 2006

3

LETTERS and rell him he was gonna ger up wirh rhar DuBose boy. M alcolm was rhree years older rhan I, so he could have a truck in his nam e. I had to pur mine in an employee's name, being as I was underage.

When rhe ICC srarted in 1934, we had rhe m eerings in rhe old Opera House in Dunn , NC, and M alcolm and I would be rhe only ones who would go. There, he asked for-and gar-enormous righrs, which he used to his advantage to form the M cLean Truckin g Company.

I decided to buy and sell my own ca rgoes and starred rhe DuBose Lumber C ompany and DuBose Sreel. I'd haul lumber north and bring steel from New York home. That was the basis of DuBose Steel, which becam e the largest wholesale steel business in No rth Carolina.

CHARLES H. D u BosE, SR. Roseboro, North Carolina In the 1970s, I was the lead atrorney in a case against the M atson Navigation Co. fo r infringement of the basic patent o n containerships. The first inventor of rhese ships was a gentleman by the nam e of Smith who owned a shipyard in Sturgeo n Bay, W isconsin. Ir was his idea to put boxes into cargo holds by stacking them and install guides to allow the co ntainers to be positioned one atop the o ther. H e also cam e up with the idea of the separate holds fo r the containers. H e was an interesting individual who ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate and later died in a sailing accident on Lake Superior.

O ur firm represented John J. M cMullen, who had built up John J. M cMullen Associates in New York, one of the most successful marine architect firms in rhe country. At the time of the suit, John was President of US Lines out of N YC. Th e litigation was held in the Federal Distri ct Courthouse in San Francisco and las ted a week. The judge was an individual who had been menti oned as a Supreme Cour r pick by President Nixo n bur was larer criticized by the American Bar Associa-

tio n. The trial was hard fo ught and we all thought, including my opponent, rhat the judge would rule in our favo r. The judge ruled in favor of M arson on grounds that were not even presented in the case, nor at issue, thereby confusing all sides. My opposition even called to tell m e he could not understand the decision . We app ~ al ed and the case was later settled . Ir was a fascinating case, which got into the history of the containership. I believe we tried the case in 1973, and it wo uld have been entitled McMullen v. Marson . ] AMES HI NEY

Blacksburg, Virginia The Artist's Subject, Barque John Ena In Robert Webb's article on Charles Robert Patterson, "The Freshening Gale" depicts the four-mas ted barque j ohn Ena

j ohn Ena in the Panama Canal in 19 15

working in a heavy sea (Sea H istory 11 4, pl 4) . I used to know Ena Atlanta M adsen Sroat, daughter of Captain M adsen, who commanded John Ena. She had sailed on the barque as a sm all child.

In September 1934, the ship was dismantled at a shipyard in W ilmington, CA, and her scraps were sold and shipped to Japan to make tools of war.

FRANK

N.

SCHAEFFER

Mo ntello, W isconsin Editor's note: On 15 January 1915, the barque John Ena passed through the Panama Canal, thefirst large sailing ship to do so.

She was built in 1892 by R. Duncan & Co., Port Glasgow, Scotland.

The American Neptune and the Peabody Essex Museum An Op-Ed piece about The A merican Neptu ne by William S. Dudley (Sea H istory 11 4) co ntaining inaccurate info rmation leaves readers with a mistaken impression of the Peabody Essex M useum. PEM has not "opted to move away from maritime hisrory and into oth er fields,'' as the author claim s. The museum's collections have included Asian , O ceanic, African , and Na tive American art. In addi tion to its maritime art and history collections, PEM possesses large, distinguished collections of American art, textiles and costumes, photography, and architecture. Through a major transformatio n , the museum has created faci lities and p rogram s designed to advance all of its stren gths. The new maritime art and history galleries are widely recognized as am on g the fin est extant.

Furtherm ore, during the past decade, the museum has m ade unprecedented acquisitio ns of m aritime art through purchase, organi zed more maritime art exhibitions, and created m ore m aritime publications than in any equivalent period prior to the consolidation of the former Peabody M useum and Essex Institute that created the Peabody Essex Museum.

The claim that there is a fi nancial crisis at PEM is completely erro neous.

PEM has been am o ng the fastes t growin g mu se um s i n A m e ri ca over t h e last d ecad e. During th a t p eri od the budge t in c rease d fr o m $3. 7 milli o n to m o re th a n $2 0 milli on, a nd th e mu se um recently completed a $ 194 million camp aig n . A t th e sa m e tim e, th e e nd owment has increased from $23 million to mo re than $ 100 millio n.

The American Neptune has lo ng been an important journal in the field of maritime hisrory. H owever, anyo ne fa miliar with the general tre nd fo r scholarly journals recognizes that w ith the advent of the internet it has become increasingly difficul t fo r small journals of all ki nds to maintain their viabili ty. We have approached several

National Maritime Historical Society and Sea History

5 John Walsh Blvd., PO Box 68, Peekskill NY 10566 Ph: 914 737-7878; 800 22 1-NMHS NMHS e-mail: nmhs@seahisrory.o rg; Sea History e-mail: edi to ri al@seahistory.org; Web sire: www.seahistory.o rg.

4

MEMBERSHIP is invited. Afrerguard $10,000; Benefactor $5,000; Plan kowner $2,500; Sponsor $1,000; Donor $500; Parron $250; Friend $100; Co nrributor $75; Fam ily $50; Regular $35. All members outside the USA please add $10 fo r postage. Sea History is sent to all members. Indi vidual copies cosr $3.75.

SEA HISTORY 115, SUMMER 2006

We Welcome Your Letters! Write to: Editor, Sea History, 7 T imberknoll Road, Pocasset, MA 02559; e-mail: editorial@seahisrory.org. organizations w consider joint publication and are now engaged in a final analysis w determine whether w conti nue publication of the Neptune o r whether there are perhaps other ways to advance maritime art and hisrory scholarship by means that reach much larger audiences.

DAN

L.

MONROE

Executive Direcror and CEO Peabody Essex Museum

A View from Russia on the Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb In his article on Samuel Eliot Morison (Sea History 11 3), Peter Stanfo rd espouses the widely-accepted American view that the US had w use the aromic bo mb in August 1945 to avoid the heavy casualties expected during the invasion of]apan, which was planned for November. If we look at the Russian view, we get a rotally different perspective.

In his book, Russia at Wcir, the British writer and long-time Russian correspondent Alexander Werth describes his

experiences during the Big Three conference in Potsdam in July 1945 . W hen the US military inquired when Russia wo uld be able w join the war against Japan , Russian General Anronov replied, August 8.

Truman received the news on 17 July that the aromic bomb was ready for use.

He and Churchill realized that Russia's entry inro the war was no longer necessary, or desirable, yet they had w tell Stalin about the bomb. What w do? Truman told Stalin that the US had "a novel form of bomb," and Stalin suspected nothin g.

On 26 July Truman sent the "Potsdam Ultimatum" to Japan , dem anding unconditional surrender. Not having been consulted, the Russians were beginning w wo nder why the US was in such a hurry.

Uncertain ty still exists regarding the Japanese answer. Werth suggests that Japan was ready w comply but only wanted the status of the Emperor clarified.

The US dropped the aromic bomb on Hiroshima on 6 August, and Russia entered the war on the 8th, as promised.

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According to Werth: "Even ass um ing that. .. the saving of American lives was all that was at stake, then the dropping of the bomb could have been held up until September. .. the bomb, as is so clearly suggested by Truman, Byrnes, Stimson and others, was dropped largely in order to impress Russia with America's great might.

Ending the war in Japan was incidental, ... but stopping the Russians in Asia and checking them in Eastern Europe was fundam ental. ... The real irony of it all is that Japan was ready to capitulate both without the atomic bomb and without Russian intervention . But this suited neither the USA nor the Soviet Union, both of which had to strike the 'decisive' blow."

Werth claims the atomic bomb caused "anxiety and bewilderm ent" in Russia, then "acute distrust" of the West. Russia went on to develop the atomic bomb, and both sides spent years arming to the teeth during the many decades of the Cold War.

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NMHS: A CAUSE IN MOTION NMHS Annual Meeting

T

he National M aritime Histori cal Society is grateful to the US Coast G uard Academy for hosting our 43 rd Annual M eeting on April 29th. NMHS C hairman Walter Brown was pleased to ann ounce that the Society is in good shape and is facing its challenges with vigor. He welcomed three new trustees: John R. McDonald Jr., class of 2009, H. C. Bowen Smith, elected by the board to fill the vacancy of Marshall Streibert's term until

2008, and trustee elect Robert F. Kamm.

Mr. Brown announced that graphic artist Brigham Pendleton is designing a new N MHS web site, which should be ready this summer, and that D r. Joshua Smith, Asst. Professor at the US M erchant Marine Academy at King's Point, is producing a new N MHS textbook, The A merican Maritime

Attendees gathered for a p hoto on our tour after the m eetings. After the Society's business meeting, we heard M aritime H eritage Reports from local maritime organizations and institutions. Pictured lower right, (l to r), CWO Dave French, USCG; Capt. Ted Foster, Chairman, Charles Point Council; Chairman Walter Brown; Peter M ello, Exec. D irector, American Sail Training Association; Rear Admiral James Van Sice, Superintendent, USCG Academy; Brenda M ilkofsky, Curator, Connecticut River M useum; Dana Hewson, Vice President for Watercraft Preservation and Programs, Mystic Seaport; Peter Stanfo rd, NMHS President Emeritus; and William Borchers, USCG Academy Class of 1962.

I Reader, with support from the David M. M ilton C haritable Trust. Treasurer Ronald Oswald remarked , to everyone's joy, that the Society is fi nan cially stable, and D evelopment Chairm en Tom Daly and D ave Fowler beseeched m embers to support us to maintain that status. Dave Fowler reminded members of the inextricable role that maritime histo ry has played in American histo ry as a whole, and it is paramount that we fi nd beques ts and grants of suppo rt to furth er this message. Bill White remarked that Sea History has developed into a wo nderful vehicle for sharing wh at we are all about with both o ur membership and the publ ic at large.

"The Box That Changed the World"

O

n 26 April 1956, the converted tanker Ideal X sailed out of Port Newark, NJ , bound fo r H ouston carrying 58 containers.

Fifty years later, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey brought the leaders of today's shipping industry togeth er at Berth 50 in Port Newark to co mmemorate the 50th anniversary of co ntaineri zation. They unvei led a plaque to mark the milestone

anniversary of Malcolm McLean's innovative concept to move cargo in containers directly from truck and train to ship, streamlining th e entire process. At the ceremo ny, Port Authori ty C hairman An th ony Coscia gave credi t to many in the shipping industry for making McLean's idea a success. "The concept was revolutionary and embraced by people nationally, who were ready to do things in a better way." Port Authori ty Executive D irecto r Kenn eth Ringler Jr. reiterated that theme when he emphasized that the annive rsary events celebrate th e spiri t of entrepreneurship.

One person's ideas can make a difference, but it demands public and private cooperation to make it a reali ty.

N MHS trustee Richard Larrabee,

(left) A nthony Coscia, Chairman of the Port Authority of NY & NJ, speaks at the commemoration ceremony.

6

Directo r of the Po rt Commerce D epartment, and Lucy Ambrosino, O utreach and Legislative Affairs Manager of the Po n Authori ty, welcomed NM H S C hairman Walter Brown to the ceremony and introduced him to many shipping indus try leaders. Charles C ushing discussed plans to build the McLean Container Center at King's Point.

Today, the Po rt Authority of NY & NJ handles nearly three million containers each year. The process of transferrin g cargo fro m shore to sh ip to shore aga in is now so efficient that the p resen ce of a maritime culture- ports, ships, and sailors-is nearly gone fro m the docks. Containerization h as streamlined the industry and, by doing so, has transfo rmed the merchant marine. Ir is the Society's mission to preserve th e ri ch histo ry and traditions of commercial shipping and its mariners.

- Burchenal Green, Executive Director

SEA HISTORY 11 5, SUMMER 2006

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Now AVAILABLE FROM SEA H1sTORYs ART GALLERY ••• Limited Edition Giclee Prints By Paul Garnett Marine artist Paul Garnett celebrates the ships and achievements of John Paul Jones with a new series of three limited·edition images:

"Narrow Escape" Continental Sloop Providence Outruns the British Frigate Solebay-August J 776 Image: 7" x 10" •Matted to: 11" x 14" • $60.00 + $6.00 s/h The vessel Providence (ex Katy) was the first command of the legendary John Paul Jones and, in fact, the first American warship of the Revolution. A British spy in Philadelphia described her as "a sloop, all black, long and low with crane irons over the quarter for oars. " In this painting the Providence is being chased by the 28 gun frigate Solebay. The frigate carried more sail and, being a longer vessel, that made her faster in the stiff breeze, putting Jones and his vessel in danger of capture. The Solebay continued chase throughout the afternoon despite Jones ' attempts to exploit the advantage of his fore and aft sails which permitted Providence to bold closer to the wind. Jones then decided on a surprise maneuver as the ships closed to within musket shot.

The painting shows the Providence just mjnutes before Jones put bis helm up and, with all sails broken out, crossed the Solebay's bows. The British ship was unable to fire her guns and Jones escaped capture.

"Continental Corvette Ranger Off the French Coast"-February 1778 Image: 7" x 10" •Matted to: 11" x 14" • $60.00 + $6.00 s/h The Ranger was one of three vessels authorized by Congress in the fall of 1776. She was built at Hackett's Shipyard across from Portsmouth, NH on the Piscataqua River. She was launched as the Hampshire but renamed Ranger in honor of American riflemen.

John Paul Jones, the celebrated commander of Ranger, once described her as "the best cruiser in America" even though he found many problems in her masting and rigging. She was also classified as a ' corvette' meaning that, unlike a true frigate, she carried all her guns on one deck, not two. In this painting she is sailing off the French coast in the winter of 1778 on her voyage to meet up with the French fleet at Quiberon Bay. ALSO AVAILABLE:

(see image on Page 11): "Encounter OffFlamborough Head" Bo11homme Richard & Serapis- September 23, 1779 Image: 7" x 10" • Matted to: 11" x 14" • $60.00 + $6.00 s/h

To order call 1-800-221-NMHS (6647), ext. 0 or mail your order to NMHS, PO Box 68, Peekskill, NY 10566

Battle off Flamborough Head: A Pivotal Victory for American Independence

by Joseph F. Callo

Memorable Engagement ofthe Serapis and the Bonhomme Richard, (ar[iS[ unknown)

T

he impact of [he banle between Cap[ain John Paul Jones in the Continental ship Bonhomme Richard and Captain Richard Pearson in HMS Serapis on 23 September 1779 has gone largely unrecognized in most hisrnries of [he American Revolution. Jones's vicrnry was in fact very important. His success was rn the naval component of [he Revolution what the Battle of Sararnga in 1772 was to the land war-it changed everything. The contest's unlikely outcome sent a message ro the world: [he American Navy, which had little success against [he Royal Navy at tha[ rime, could figh[, could win, and could rake the war to Bri[ish shores. Tua[ message added ro Britain's anxiety [ha[ [he price for a milirnry victory over the American Colonies, if a clear-cut victory could even be achieved, would be exorbitant.

THE RUN-UP TO BATTLE

The showdown rook place within sight of Flamborough Head, a high, rugged promontory along England's Yorkshire coast.

8

Jones had reached that point toward the end of a deployment that left Lorient, France, on 14 August and rook his small squadron northwards toward Ireland. His orders were to attack Britain's maritime lifeline and keep its population off balance with raids against their homeland.

The squadron sailed along the west coast of Ireland, rounded the northern tip of Scotland, and then altered course ro the south and sailed down the east coasts of Scotland and England. As Jones navigated around the British Isles, he attacked British commerce and created turmoil asho re.

The London Daily Press of 21 September gave Jones's actions economic and psychological twists: "In consequence of the capture of so many colliers, and the intercep[ion of [he uade, [he price of coals will be enormous ... .Ins[ead of having the domain of the sea, it is now evident that we are not able ro defend our own coast from depredations." 1 As he made hi s way down the coast of England, Jones spied a large merchant convoy just south of Scarborough

(roughly twenty miles nor[hwest of Flamboro ugh Head). More than forty ships, fully laden with valuable cargos, would make a very lucrative prizeconsis[ent with the commerce raiding portion of his mission. As h e chased the convoy to the so uth on the 23rd, other ships from his small squadron, including the new, 36-gun frigate ALiiance and the 26-gu n small friga[e Pallas joined him . With those two ships and the 12gun brig Vengeance, Jones h ad regathered nearly all [he uni[s of the small squadron with which he had started his deployment.

By that afternoon Captain Jones had learned from local pilots [ha[ what he was chasing was a Baltic convoy. As he closed [he gap between his squadron and the convoy, his lookours could discern two warships escorting the merchant vessels.

One was the 20-gun former merchant ship HMS Countess of Scarborough, with a Brirish Navy captain and likely a civilian crew. The other was the imposing 44-gun frigate, Serapis.

SEA HISTORY 115 , SUMMER 2006

The British frilgate was relatively new and sheathed with a copper bottom-a recent advance in naval technology. Coppering prevented marine growth o n a ship's hull, making ships with this feature faster and more maneuverable than those, such as Bonhomme Richard, without it. Despite her rating as a 44-gun ship, Serapis actually had berween 46 and 50 cannons at the time she met the 40-gun Bonhomme Richard. Jones, in his older converted merchantman, was overmatched in critical ways against the new, more heavily armed, and more nimble

Serapis. Also, Serapis's captain, Rich-

smaller 12- and 8-pounders to fire doubleheaded shot at her rig. Armed with muskets and small swivel cannons, Bonhomme Richard's seamen and her complement of French Marines were positioned on the three small platforms of the ship's fore-, main-, and mizzenmast tops. First they were to clear the tops of the British ship of its marksmen and then sweep personnel from Serapis's exposed decks. Jones was not planning radical tactics.

colors was a common tactic of the time) answered, "Princess Royal," the name of a British East Indiaman. Lying at a difficult angle for determining Bonhomme Richard's nationality, Pearson shouted, "Where from?"

Then, he threatened, "Tell me instantly from whence you came and who you be, or I'll fire a broadside into you."

In the meantime, Jones's turn to port apparently confused Landais in Alliance and Pallas's French captain Denis Nicolas Cottineau. Landais hove to and Cottineau continued on a course taking him farther our to sea and away from

Bonhomme Richard.

r-,

Cott in eau wou ld ard Pearson, was a thirty-year veteran eventually redeem with considerab le himself, however, by capturing Seracombat experience, pis's consort, HMS and her crew was 0 likely somewhat Countess of Scarborbetter drilled in ough, in a separate single-ship action. gunnery than the Vengeance's captain men of Bonhomme Richard. NonethePhilippe Nicolas Ricot continued to less, Jones's squadsimply stand off, ron of four ships which was about all outnumbered the he could do with two Royal Navy '1 his small ship. 1he ships, and signifi:J'r~, 1~ confusion among cantly, Bonhomme tJ...,?-s (' I~ Jff ::t'$>'" LIBRARY OF CO NG RESS Jones's squadron Richard carried a , >--simplified the sitularger crew compleFlamborough Head is marked with a bullet on this 1780 map by Thomas Kitchin. The ation immensely ment than Serapis. battle took place within sight ofthis promontory, while the British merchant convoy success- for Pearson, and he As Jones made fully made it to safe harbor in Scarborough, the closest anchorage along the coastline. turned his full athis approach, Peartention to Bonhomson signaled for the merchant convoy ro alter course to the When Jones ordered his small squad- me Richard. The ships continued to close northwest and move into the protection ron to form a line of battle, Alliance's cap- the distance berween them. Heading in of Scarborough Bay and the guns of Scar- tain, Peter Landais, a former French officer the same direction, Bonhomme Richard's borough Castle. By 5:30PM of the 23rd, who had been commissioned in the Con- starboard side was facing the British ship's Serapis's consort, Countess of Scarborough, tinental Navy, simply ignored his commo- port side. had successfully positioned herself, with dore's signal, consistent with his behavior COMBAT ERUPTS Serapis, berween the convoy and Bonhom- from the beginning of the deployment.

A single musket shot from one of the me Richard. Pearson's decisions were driv- Pearson took advantage of the current and en by his circumstances and his primary turned roward the shore and onto a port American ships cracked and echoed off the mission-to protect the convoy he was tack. Jones also turned to port and Bon- 100-foot-plus cliffs ofFlamborough Head. homme Richard and Serapis continued to Simultaneously Bonhomme Richard ran up charged with escorting.

As the single-ship action berween draw closer in light winds. her American colors and the rwo ships Bonhomme Richard and Serapis lined up, Once in hailing range, Captain Pear- unleashed broadsides. A bridge of Bame, Jones planned to use his six 18-pound- son shouted, "What ship is that?" Jones, shot, and smoke suddenly linked the rwo ers to fire round shot at the hull and the who was Hying British colors (showing false adversaries.

__. , ., .__... - - =-=-- ....

111& ~1,,,.z.....- . 1

SEA HISTORY 115, SUMMER 2006

9

In the Age of Sail, victory frequently correlated with rates of fire, and it was not a good sign for the Americans when Serapis's second broadside ripped the air well ahead of their own second volley. Early in the exchange, several of Jones's old 18-pounders blew up, killing or wounding many in the gun crews.

Pearson, with the faster and more maneuverable vessel, raked Bonhomme Richard's stern several times with devastating broadsides. Knowing that he could not win a standoff gun duel, Jones put his ship across Serapis's quarter and attempted to board her. The American boarding party was thrown back, however, and Jones bore away.

Pearson attempted to cross Bonhomme Richard's bow to rake her stem-to-stern. He turned too soon, and Bonhomme Richard's bowsprit caught in the rigging on Serapis's starboard quarter. Clearly having the upper hand, Pearson shouted, "Has your ship struck?"-a logical question from a captain whose ship was demonstrating sailing superiority and a faster rate of fire. No captain in Jones's position could have been condemned for deciding to avoid additional bloodshed.

John Paul Jones's response, however, sprang from his iron determination and commitment to a cause. He shouted, "I have not yet begun to fight." (Some biographers claim that Jones's immortal words were spoken later in the battle; others claim that he never used those exact words. The prepon<lerance of evidence indicates that it was at this juncture in the battle that Jones shouted his now-famous defiance, and, when all is said and done, it was the idea, not the exact words, that has inspired generations of US Navy sailors.)

The battle roared on as darkness fell upon the two ships. Jones backed his topsails, and the entangled ships ripped apart; Pearson turned by wearing ship. Now on a parallel, reciprocal course with his adversary, Pearson backed his topsails, presumably to fall astern of Bonhomme Richard and rake her stern. Jones countered, turning to starboard, and the ships made contact for a third time, with Serapis's bowsprit entangled in Bonhomme Richard's starqoard quarter. Unable to clear his ship, 10

Pearson's advantages of speed and agility were negated. Bonhomme Richard pivoted, so the ships lay bow-to-stern, starboardto-starboard. Captain Jones worked to secure the two ships together with dozens of grappling irons from Bonhomme Richard.

He even had his crew grab a forestay from Serapis that had parted and fallen across the American ship's deck and secured it around his own mizzenmast. Sharpshooters and seamen in Bonhomme Richard's

to board, but here the Americans' superior numbers drove the British boarding party back. By tl1en, water was steadily rising in Bonhomme Richard, and her master-at-arms released the British prisoners captured in previous actions to man the pumps. They could have bolted and potentially tipped the balance of tl1e battle against the Americans, but the British sailors set about saving the ship and themselves.

THE END APPROACHES

As the tide of battle was turning, a seaman from Bonhomme Richard dropped a grenade through a main-deck hatch of Serapis

John Paul Jones

by Charles Willson Peale, from life, c. 1781-1784, Oil on canvas. tops swept the enemy ship's exposed decks with deadly fire. Pearson let go his anchor; the complexion of the battle was rapidly changing.

Just past 8PM, the battle had been raging for slightly less than an hour. Bonhomme Richard had been blasted repeatedly by her enemy's rapid cannon fire. After the ships were grappled together, Serapis's crew took heavy casualties from the highly-accurate musket fire and grape shot from the American's tops and high poop deck. Both ships were on fire-the British ship burning mostly on and above her main deck and the American ship burning both above and below her main deck.

Now it was Pearson's rum to attempt

and onto the gun deck below. The explosion ignited large amounts of gunpowder that had been brought up from the magazine to supply the ship's main batteries. A series of secondary explosions neutralized Serapis's gun deck, silencing her main armament.

With most of his guns silenced, rigging wrecked, and main deck swept by enemy fire, at about 11: l 5PM, Captain Pearson made the decision to surrender and stop the carnage.

Nonetheless, he had successfully carried out his main mission-the British convoy had made it to the safety of Scarborough Harbor and lay at anchor.

More than 150 from the American crew of 322 lay dead or wounded, and more than 130 from the British crew of 284 were casualties. Later, Jones reported to Benjamin Franklin in Paris, "Humanity cannot but recoil from the prospect of such finished horror, and !amen t that war should produce such fatal consequences." 2 In the final analysis, John Paul Jones's victory proved mostly a matter of doctrine, the overarching mind-set that has the ability to transcend tactics. Like most good combat doctrines, it could be summed up in a single phrase, "I have not yet begun to fight." Jones was fighting for the cause of liberty, a factor that ultimately outweighed fear and his drive for personal glory. Thus, his victory at the Barde off Flamborough Head fit with something that would be written by Napoleon Bonaparte more than twenty years later, "In war, moral considerations account for three-quarters, the balance of actual force; only for the other quarter."

SEA HISTORY 115 , SUMMER 2006

THE AFTERMATH

Many deemed Captain Pearson the loser. Though he lost the ship-to-ship battle against John Paul Jones, he did succeed in his main mission. From the recognition that he successfully protected the merchant convoy, he was eventually knighted. Notwithstanding his knighthood, however, the ignominy of being captured

by John Paul Jones-universally despised by the British as a renegade and a roguecould not be expunged.

On the ocher hand, despite defeating his adverEncounter offFlamborough Head - Bonhomme Richard and Serapis - September 23, 1779 sary in dramatic single-ship

by Paul Garnett, Oil on canvas, 24" x 36" combat in their home wa(Prints of this Paul Garnett painting and others, each depicting John Paul Jones's ships Rangters, Jones failed to further er and Providence, are available from Sea History's art gallery. See information on page 7.) one important objective of his deployment-capture or Although he was not the first Ameri- Victory in 1804, "In Sea affairs, nothing is sink British merchant ships. Because of the fortuitous timing and overall strategic can to make naval raids against the coasts impossible, and nothing improbable."4 success of his deployment, however, he did of the British Isles, John Paul Jones was become the best-known American naval the first to mount sustained raids on those Notes: coasts with a squadron. 3 In less than two 1 Don C. Seitz, Jones-His Exploits in hero of the War of Independence. months, he circumnavigated the British English Seas During 1778-1780-ConIsles, threatened pons and captured and tempormy Accounts Collected from English THE STRATEGIC IMPACT As rhe news of John Paul Jones's victory sank a substantial amount of enemy mer- Newspapers (New York, E.P. Dutton and spread throughout England, there was chant shipping along his way. The military Company, 1917), 44. a high level of concern in rhe local area successes during Bonhomme Richard's de- 2 John Henry Sherburne, The Life and about rhe potential of his continuing the ployment came at a time when America Character of john Paul Jones (New York, raids he had been carrying our as he cir- had suffered a series of shattering naval Adriance, Sherman & Co., 1851), 117. cumnavigated the British Isles. In Lon- defeats at the hands of the British Navy 3 Two other Continental Navy captains, don, newspapers broadcast the mounting at home. With a dramatic win against un- Lambert Wicks in Reprisal and Henry concern over rhe implications of rhe out- favorable odds, rhe news of the Battle off Johnson in Lexington, had attacked British come of the action between Bonhomme Flamborough Head echoed, not only in merchant ships in British waters in 1777, America, but in Great Britain, France, and but neither raided ashore (as Jones did in Richard and Serapis.

London's Morning Post and Daily Ad- throughout the rest of Europe. Its message Ranger), commanded a squadron, or had a dramatic single-ship victory over a signifivertiser of 27 September tried to put the was and is heard in every US Navy ship cant British warship. best face on the situation: "[T]he Sera- that has subsequently taken to sea. pis and the Countess of Scarborough were John Paul Jones's achievements in 4 The Dispatches and Letters of Vice Admiobliged to strike .... There is the greatest Bonhomme Richard were a crucial psyral Lord Viscount Nelson, Vol. VI, edited reason however, to expect his [Jones's] chological boost in America and a correby Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas (London, squadron and prizes will yer fall into our sponding negative psychological blow on Henry Colburn, 1845), 133. ,!, hands as the Winchelsea, and three frigBritish public opinion and on their politiates of force are cruising offYarmouth for cal and military leadership. In retrospect, Rear Admiral Joseph Caffo, USNR (Ret.) that purpose." These ships were patrol- the Battle off Flamborough Head was a has written three books about British Admiling nearly 150 miles so utheast of Flam- fairly minor military victory that turned ral Lord Nelson, and he was the US Editor borough Head, and the American squad- out to have a disproportionate effect on for Who's Who in Naval History. H is biogron was al ready heading east, eventually history. It also was the kind of phenomraphy, John Paul Jones: America's First Sea towards The Netherlands and the Dutch enon that matched an idea expressed by Warrior, was published this spring. This arAdmiral Lord Nelson, writing from HMS island ofTexel. ticle is adapted from a chapter in that book.

SEAHISTORY 115, SUMMER2006

11

BLACK HANDS, BLUE SEAS

"Thy Adtared Friend'~¡ Paul Cuffe and Hu Maritivue MhYUJn

by Elysa Engelman

In this issue of Sea History, we join with Mystic Seaport Museum to introduce the first article of our new series celebrating the maritime heritage ofAfrican Americans. Mystic Seaport opened their new exhibit, "Black Hands, Blue Seas," last autumn, featuring art, artifacts and documents relating to the many famous black figures in maritime history. This first installment examines the life of Paul Cuffe and how he combined his experiences as a mariner with his strong personal philosophies to advance the cause of freedom and rights for all African Americans.

0

ne of the wealthiest and most promivessel was a small open boat, co-owned with nent American men of color before his brother John . Paul then expanded into the C ivil War, Paul C uffe was a the coastal cargo and cod-fishing trades Massachuserrs-born Quaker of mixed with his brother-in-law, whose six sons African and Na ti ve American descent. proved willing and capable crew. By During his lengthy career, Capt. Cuffe 1795, he and Cuffe had progressed succeeded in a wide range of maritime through three registered schooners: endeavors: from whaling to shipbuildthe 25-ton whaler Sunfish; the 42-ton ing, blockade-running to trading in Mary; and the 62-foot Ranger. When Europe and Africa. H e is well-rememfilling berths on this last vessel, C uffe bered as an ardent anti-slavery activist always insisted that the master and and philanthropist. In fact, his maricrew be men of color, preferably memtime successes enabled C uffe to leverbers of his fam ily. Over the decades, he age his social and economic capital in provided work for his sons, nephews, furthering a radical idea- the creation and dozens of other black mariners. of an American colony in West Africa Paul Cuffe was perfectly poised to to be settled by freed slaves. benefit from the ripe trade conditions The last decade of Paul C uffe's that followed the Revolutionary War. life, the period when he was m ost active , 0 ¡l H e also took advantage of the opportuin the African colonization movement-is ~l,;. nities that New England's maritime induswell documented, thanks to the survival of .,,./' try offered to free black men during this time, ~;;;;;;;;;;:;;;;::;;;;:::::::;;;.;, & hundreds of letters written by and to him. This ' considerably better compared to most shoreside correspondence berween Cuffe, his extended fam- Silhouette of Paul Cuffe and trades. By choosing fam ily members and other his brig Traveller in Sierra ily, business partners, and fellow members in the men of color as his early partners and employees, Leone, engraved by Mason & Cuffe wisely ensured that he maintained both Society of Friends (Quakers) provide a fascinating glimpse into how this successful entrep reneur op- Maas for Abraham Pennock. control of his business's decisions and received full erated his maritime ventures in a time when most credit for his successes.

African Americans were still struggling for their freedom and free C uffe's most ambitious maritime endeavors were driven blacks were struggling, not only for their basic rights as citizens, jointly by philanthropic and social motives, not just by the drive but, for their livelihoods. These papers also reveal that C uffe's for profit. By 1809, he had become involved in debates abo ut business affairs were inextricably mingled with his religious, famthe future of free blacks in the United States. When he learned ily, and philan thropic activities, to a degree that may be surpris- of th e British colony, Sierra Leone, in West Africa that was seting from our modern vantage point. His long-term success in all tled by freed slaves, he was intriqued and pondered the possibilfour areas (family, religion, business, and racial uplift) depended ity of creating an American colony there. Prominent American and English Quakers convinced him he could play an influential upon his deep and energetic commitment to the other three.

Born in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, in 1759 to a Wam- role in establishing that colony and transporting settlers there. panoag mother and an African-born father who had gained his In 1810-11, C uffe commanded his 109-ton brig Trave!!er and a freedom before their m arriage, Paul C uffe was the seventh of ten black crew on an explorato ry trading visit to Sierra Leone, with children. Raised on the islands of Cuttyhunk and Martha's Vine- an unexpected leg to England to meet wi th leading Q uaker aboyard, the teenage Paul naturally turned to the sea for employment litionists eager for his help. when his father died in 1772. He first shipped aboard a local Paul C uffe's lifelong adherence to Quaker principles made whaleship and later profited from ferrying supplies to Nantucket him especially receptive to appeals from that quarter. He had past the British naval blockade. been raised to follow the Friends' religion, despite being denied From the start, Paul Cuffe's business decisions were heavily full membership into the local Quaker m eeting until the wininfluenced by his racial identity and family ties. H e deliberately ter of 1808 when he was accepted into the Westport meeting of avoided taking on any white ship-owning partners until 1801, Friends. Quaker practices and beliefs appear in Paul C uffe's letters when building his fourth vessel, the 162-ton brig Hero. His first in both subtle and obvious ways. Cuffe often closed his letters 12

SEAHISTORY 115, SUMMER2006

charming phrase, "I am thy ashured Friend." W hile other supblack also. This, together with the cleanliness of his vessel, and porters of African colonization were intent on converting the nathe excellent order prevailing o n board, has exci ted very general tive Afri cans to a particular sect of Christiani ty (Baptist, Presbyattention. It has, I believe, opened the minds of many in tender terian, or Methodist), C uffe's w ritings reveal that he cared m ore feelings toward the poor suffering Africans, who, they see, are about them receiving moral guidance and self-governance than m en like themselves, capable of becoming, like Paul Cuffee, valua particular religious doctrine. This religio us tolerance aided his able and useful m embers both of civil and religious Soci ety." philanth ropic work, as he coordinated efforrs with English and Fo ur years later, afrer hostilities between the US and Great American ministers of vario us chu rches.

Britain had cooled and it was safe to attempt another transAtPaul Cuffe's Quaker beliefs also enhanced his reputatio n as lantic voyage, C uffe sent Traveller back to Sierra Leone on its an exemplary sea captain. H e not only ran a "dry" sh ip but also m ost famo us voyage. Instead of grai n, this time it carried a m ore enforced a strict code of conduct. As he info rmed a prospective precio us cargo, thir ty-eigh t free black m en , wom en, and children crewmember in 18 15 : "those who Sail in my imploy are wished from Bosto n who wo uld becom e the first African-American setto be temperate in all things, not [given to] Swearing, Tarl ing tl ers in Wes t Africa. Cuffe appears to have absorbed m os t of the [sic], drunkeness nor quarelsom [sic]. I indeavour [sic] to provide cost of this voyage himself, but he had tried valiantly to enlist help Sui tabel [sic] provisions onboard, but do not furni sh Spirituous from his personal and business co nnections. W riting to his close liquors." These rules were no t just spiri tual but also practical: fri end, p rominent black Philadelphia sailmaker Jam es Forren in during their freq uent cargo runs to Virginia and 18 15, Cuffe proposed that Philadelphia's caT41f'v/ "/If,, ~>n,,;;,J D//Ae.._,.,,. §A_,_ South Carolina, Cuffe and his crews Stuaboli tio nist society buy half of C uffe's d iously avoided giving southern autho ri- . VJrif J9p,,,d'<'l.r.f'"':P /"""' ~,,.,.,;,, /c-r•../.w~k 268-to n ship Alpha. The vessel could ties any excuse to arrest or harass them . /nA',t;;,,, <l't u:&.t / 'i /Vv#/c / J> /_,- (-.·~· "',.,,., then be used either to transport settlers C uffe's ethnicity, coupled with his faith, triggered his interest in African colonization, but it was the sal twater in his veins and his nose fo r a good business opportuni ty that drove him to act.

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to Africa or in the African whalefishery.

Thro ugho ut his letters, Cuffe reveals this 'Ji' ~; ,l'. re :.f/r sam e blend of compatible desires-to ~4,(,, .~ .,f, LM"''')',/2"';,,, 17,,.,.

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Th ough he was willing to be the catalys t . fa->t7 A .....-r; iY)1 ,He dreamed of starting a new "triangular --------fo r vario us philanthropic plans, he did ft,(""'Jlt/~· ·,m·:, .I d ,., _,,../ , \}/)f'7ir /,v//o."1d'A.. //PJt•1t not possess the unlimited wealth or natrade" linking Africa, the US, and G reat /,,.L,io/f _;,,,.,.,.;_, 4 ,?" - . cl'o<- ·~'='~ ,,_. ~;,,,Britain-one that wo uld replace the de- /.- ....4# ,A,..,..;.,•·- "!'""'°'' · l!l.f" ,,1£ ,... 11 <,i;c- li tu re to simply sign the bills. pendence on exporting enslaved Afri- .Jl-m1"",1,,_..,;,,,,,, y~~··' ,.<r. ..r,.,.,,,,1 ,,,<L;,,,~ .~ ·'· ~ The docum ents fro m Paul C uffe's last .. ,,,k.-;t...> Y.u'Nd / ' .•/r= C c~ -r~-)1a. u.dh;Jt- .. cans with raw m aterials harves ted by free . ,,,.,, ~.,, ,i(,,..;,,, !''- • . ~ . ~_,.;,, ,«flz4> .. f. ~ year oflife reaected his ongoing devotion blacks. The fo rmer whalem an was also . • ·,.,,,( ""' _,,,,,.,,,; / h '>;fo ./...,,,,.,,..1, ""-,;..,. ,.,,,,,,/#, ~ to the fo ur areas of his life: fam ily, race, kee n to develop the African whalefishery. ~11/0ll'I //,;.r.i;t. 9')",""..r" ~ religion, and business. In his fi nal letter 111 W hen Cuffe and his brig Traveller ...WM i'd~ ' ·•~' ~ to James Forren in March 18 17, the fiftyarrived in England in 18 11 , people lined , ~ nine year-old C uffe outlined another colthe river bank to see what the London 1 "";, "'"'" • •.,,, . ,,;:,,,,.(J)('-",Jr).',,,., iu-,..,,,,,,1} ~ onization plan : the US sho uld establish Times called "perh aps the fi rst vessel that P.,-,,,, ./ :, 9' "'........;. "'""' ~ ''"'~· ~..,~ - ~ two colonies fo r free blacks, one in Africa , 1 ..,1f';m_. !'/{( t iCt'l'i'//U <'t f /t'f.1,1'/t( ( /11;r4J t:;,,/;/;,.l)'u//,.u. if! Jf(~ ~ d h h h f h .l ever reac h ed E urope, [th at 1s enn re y c;,:p.J,,.4 . ,..., ~, ~< ,.. ;·.. ~<·-<- ,.(',,,,,....,.,, 9 .,., 8 an t e ot er wit in a remote part o t e US itself. He died the fo llowing Septemowned and navigated by Negroes." The ship carried an exotic cargo of palm oil, List of African-American families ber. In his estate, he generously p rov ided fo r elephant teeth, copal gum, and tro pigoing to Sierra Leone, 18 l 5. his children and grandchildren, distribu ting cal wood-all products of free African labo r. Cuffe hoped these his land, money, and ships am o ng them . sam ples would help him forge new trade agreem ents profiting Paul C uffe's nam e and the broad strokes of his rem arkable the African colonists and hi mself, instead of the white European career are well-known withi n the maritime history and African merchan ts in Sierra Leone, who kept a tigh t stranglehold on trade Am erican history communities . It is time to carry his story to going in and out of the colo ny. students of American history in general. H is wo rk to advance C uffe was kept busy meeting with English merchants, stratthe rights of African Am ericans, thro ugh his business practices, egizing with fe llow Q uake r abolitio nists, and arranging fo r the philanthro py, and progressive ideas, stro ngly im pacted the people release of his yo ung apprentice seaman, who had been illegally with whom he interacted, but it also furthered the aboli tionist im pressed by a Bri tish press gang on the Traveller's arrival. The cause as a whole on three continen ts. .1 people he encountered were imp ressed by the American captain.

English Friend Stephen Grellet no ted in his journal: Elysa Engelman, PhD , is an exhibit developer and researcher at Mys"During the ti me I have been at Liverpool, Paul C uffee, tic Seaport, The Museum ofAmerica and the Sea. She researched and a black m an, owner and mas ter of a vessel, has come into port put together the new "Black H ands, Blue Seas" exhibition, on display fro m Sierra Leone on the coast of Africa. H e is a member of our through March 2 007. ( POB 6000, 75 Greenmanville Ave., Mystic, Society, and resides in New England. The whole of his crew are CT 06355; Ph. 860 572-5315; www.mysticseaport.org) l../,J

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Wisconsin Maritime Museum:

by William Thiesen

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ounded rhirty-five years ago, rhe Wisconsin Maririme Museum was one of rhe firsr museums of irs kind established in the Great Lakes, and it still ranks as one of the largest maritime museums in the Midwest. This instirution has seen well over one million visitors pass through its doors, and it has won several stare and national awards for excellence for irs exhibi ts and educational programs.

The Wisconsin Maritime Museum is a recognized leader in its field, wirh one of the finest collections of archival and artifact ual maritime marerials on rhe Great Lakes. This includes the National Historic Landmark, USS Cobia, rhe nation's most completely restored World War II submarine. The museum also hosts rhe narion's longest-running annual model contest, the Midwestern Model Ship Contest, and a nationally recognized Submarine Overnight Program.

The Wisconsin Maritime Museum's primary mission is to educare rhe public abour rhe maritime history of W isconsin (right) 7his image, from the museum's archives, depicts the winter of 1891.

Skaters glide across the Manitowoc River near the docks of Goodrich Transportation. Today, the museum occupies the former location of Goodrich's dock. (below) Manitowoc, Wisconsin, hometown of the museum, is situated midway up the western shore ofLake Michigan.

With the new facility, completed in 2003, the museum created the state-of the-art "Children's Wtzterways Room, " an interactive watercourse model of the Great Lakes and locks system.

Children can navigate vessels along the mock-up locks system from one lake to another. and the Great Lakes. In order to accomplish chis, rhe museum offers a wide array of programs, events, and activities. On

/

average the museum sees 50,000 visitors pass thro ugh its gates every year. Of these, well over 3,000 are students of all ages that visit from over 120 different schools.

Seventy-five percent of rhese kids travel to the museum from outside of the local area.

The museum also hosts one of the nation's most successful overnight sleep-over programs. Tided the "Cobia Overnight Program," the program draws kids from as far away as Missouri to sray onboard rhe submarine for an evening. This program will have an arcendance of abour 4,000 kids and their chaperones in 2005.

W irh the opening of the new museum faciliry to rhe public in 2003, its ability to hose and run education program s has grown exponentially. The new faci lity supports a state-of-the-art compurerized classroom space called the "Learning Adventure Center." Many of the museum's 15 different educational programs make use of this facility or museum exhibits, such as the USS Cobia or the C hildren's Waterways Room. These maritime history and lake ecology programs include "A Sailo r's Life," "Fishy Friends," and "Shipbuilding on the Great Lakes." In addition to school programs, rhe museum supports summer school programs and a Saturday afternoon lecture series during the fall and winter months. Lasrly, the museum has a fu ll schedule of weekend activities

US GEOLOGICAL SU RVEY MAP

14

SEA HISTORY 115, SUMMER 2006

a CAMM profile

I for its members and visitors. These include bus tours (featured four times per year), the Midwestern Model Comest, USS Lagarto Memorial Ceremony, Lakeshore Festival for Boats , Riverwalk Festival, USS Cobia Reunion Weekend, Great Lakes Mariner's Memorial, and an annual Pearl Harbor Remembrance. In addition, the museum regularly hosts reunions for veterans' associations related to submarines and surface warships.

The Wisconsin Maritime Museum's collection of maritime artifacts and archival materials is considered one of the finest on the Great Lakes. The artifact collection includes items as large as the National Historic Landmark submarine USS Cobia and a 70-ton marine steam engine and as small as miniature ship models. Including the World War II parts kept on hand for submarine maintenance, the artifact collection numbers over 15,000 items and requires approximately 17,000 square feet of secured on-site and off-site storage.

The new m odel gaffery features exquisite ship models and halfmodels, which represent the evolution ofship construction and design on the Great Lakes.

The museum's archival collection has few rivals in terms of Great Lakes maritime history and World War II history. A new climate-controlled, state-of-the-art 1,500-square-foot library and archives

fac ili ty contains: 350 ship's logs and 200 maps; a photographic collection of 40,000 images; 2,000 blueprints; 8,000 books and approximately 2,000 periodicals; and one of the nation's largest intact collections of World War II submarine blueprints.

The Wisconsin Maritime Museum is celebrating ye t another significant achievement-the museum recently was invited to join the Smithsonian Institution's Affiliations Program. The Smithsonian Affiliations program offers museums and educational institutions the opportunity to have greater access to the Smithsonian's vast collections and reso urces, bringing the Smithsonian (Left) Although Great Lakes maritime commerce has been dominated by gigantic ships, the sma!Ler, Locally contructed boats, both fishing vessel and pleasure craft, represent an important aspect ofthe region's maritime heritage. In the Wisconsin-Built Boat Caffery, visitors can examine the diverse watercraft representing this aspect of their hertitage.

SEA HISTORY 115, SUMMER2006

15

and the world, Wisconsin boat builders have a proud tradition of craftsmanship that goes back well over 150 years.

The Wisconsin-Built Boat Gallery enhances several existing permanent exhibits, whi ch collectively chronicle the history of Great Lakes shipbuilding. The Special Exhibit Gallery houses temporary and traveling exhibits. Currently, it features, "Harvesting the Inland Seas-Commercial Fishing on the Great Lakes." ,t

The Great Lakes is known for its fantastic inventory of well-preserved historic shipwrecks. The museum's permanent gallery interprets the work that nautical archaeologists have documented on shipwrecks in Wisconsin's waters.

closer to all of America. As the national repository for collections previously held by the US government, the Smithsonian's collections are vast and unique. The toral number of artifacts, wo rks of art, and nature specimens is currently estimated at 142 million! There is n ot sufficient space in the Smithsonian Museums to display even a fraction of the treas ures of the

American people.

A 2003 building expansion program added 30,000 square feet of space to the museum. The expansion included the "Children's Waterways Room,'' a watercourse model of the Great Lakes and locks system, a model ship gallery, and the 5,000 square foot W isconsin-Built Boat Gallery.

Renowned throughout the Great Lakes

(Wisconsin Maritime Museum, 75 Maritime Drive, Manitowoc, WI 54220; Ph. 920 684-0218 or Toll free 866 724-2356; web site: www.wisconsinmari time.org) William Thiesen is a graduate of the Ma ritime Studies master's program at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC, and earned a PhD in the history of technology, specializing in ship construction and design, .from the University of Delaware. H e served as curator and assistant director at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum for the past five years; he recently left that position and is now the Atlantic Area H istorian for the US Coast Guard in Portsmouth, Virginia.

(right) USS Cobia-high-tech exhibits and a multimedia theater help visitors learn about the six war patrols of Cobia, the important role that US Navy submarines played in World \Vtir II, and how Manitowoc came to build 28 submarines during the war.

USS Cobia (SS-245) was launched in November 1943. The following June, it began the first ofsix war patrols in which it sank thirteen Japanese vessels for a total of 20,000 tons of enemy shipping. By July 1944, Cobia had established itself in the annals of WWII submarine history by attacking an enemy convoy bound for Japanese-held Iwo Jima. Cobia sank two vessels, including a troop transport carrying a battalion of 28 tanks. US Marines considered this sinking critical to their success in capturing the island six months later. Cobia's most colorful battle took place in February 1945, when it engaged and sank two armed Japanese sea trucks in a running gun duel Cobia was nearly lost that May, during an eight-hour depth charging by a Japanese minesweeper. The minesweeper attacked Cobia in 120 feet of water and blasted it more than 20 feet into the muddy seafloor ofthe GulfofSiam. Cobia escaped intact but heavily damaged. By 1959, the Navy transferred Cobia to the Milwaukee Naval Reserve Center, where it served as a training platform for the next eleven years. In 1970, the sub was decommissioned and towed to Manitowoc to serve as a memorial to submariners. In 1986, Cobia was incorporated as a p art of the Manitowoc Maritime Museum (n ow Wisconsin Maritime Museum), declared a National Historic Landmark, and placed on the National Register ofH istoric Places.

USS Cobia has become one of the museum's major exhibits, supporting tours and a variety ofovernight programs. Restored to its 1945 configuration, the torpedo rooms, wardroom, crew's quarters, engine rooms and decks are accessible to visitors.

16

SEA HISTORY 115 , SUMMER 2006

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17

Historic Ships on a Lee Shore

USS Slater (DE--766)

by Tim Rizzuto

0

nly one destroyer escort afloat is left in this country, out of the 563 that were originally built to defeat the Ge rman U-boats in World War II . It only makes sense to do everything possible to ensure the long-term survival of such a rare artifact. Over the past ten years, the members of the Destroyer Escort Historical Museum have been doing just that, as a lasting memorial to the 150,000 sailors and marines who served on these heroic little ships. In that time, these individuals have put more than a million dollars of their own money and 200,000 volumeer hours into a ship that they have come to love.

The destroyer's restoration work is done largely by a group of m en and women-average age is sevenry-five. With their labor, time, and money, they have taken a rusry hulk and transformed it into one of the premier historic naval ships in the country.

In the late 1980s, a movem ent began within the Destroyer Escort Sailors Association to secure a destroyer escort for posteri ry-before it was too late. By that time, the on ly available DEs were in Foreign Service. After several attempts, DESA found the ex-USS Slater DE 766, which was serving the Greek Navy as HNS AETOS FO l. Following a year-lo ng series of negotiations through the State D epartment, the Greek Navy agreed to donate the ship to DESA, and the veterans raised from their membership the $290,000 needed to pay for the expense of bringing the ship to New York Ciry. Initially, she was berthed as part of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum from 1993 to 1997. When the Intrepid Museum's management decided to downsize, Slater had to find a new home. The C iry of Albany offered a safe haven, donated pier space, and an enthusias tic corps of volumeers and supporters.

From a visitor's viewpoint, USS Slater's cosmetic restoration is 100% co mplete, and the ship looks ready in all respects to get underway. Having acco mplished this feat, the museum now is searching fo r funds to accomplish the o ne task the volunteers cannot acco mplish on their own, shipyard dry-docking of ship.

The D estroyer Esco rt Historical Museum is seekin g twelve pledges of $ 100,000 each from major sponsors as part of the effort to raise the $1.2 million needed for the overhaul. The shipyard work on her hull is essemial for her long-time survival. It will enable USS Slater to co minue carrying out her primary mission as an educational platform, teaching o ur yo uth and visitors the lessons of the histo ry, sp irit, and technology of these vessels and the men and wom en who built and sailed them.

Slater's volumeers have brought the ship back to life and each day keep that mission alive. A near-disaster last January

USS Slater volunteers muster on moving day, when the ship moved back to Po rt Albany from her winter berth in Rensselaer, New Yo rk, on the other side ofthe Hudson River. could not disco urage our crew from their task. Fire broke o ut in a forward compartment when stray sparks from a weldi ng project ignited a fire-retardant canvas that had been rigged to protect the adjoining area from dust and dirt. 1hankfully, the damage was contained to that compartment and insurance covered most of the repair cos ts. The repairs have been co mpleted and the undaun ted crew of volunteers once again rose to the challenge of cleaning and preparing the ship in time for her annual spring opening day to th e public in April.

Our educational program s include guided tours, you th gro up overnight camping, school outreach program s, and the development of books, and video presentations. An average of 15,000 visitors each year have visited and learned from this ship. 1he museum staff and volunteers eagerly · .·f · anticipate many more in the years to com e.

USS Slater measures 3 06 ft. long, 38 ft. beam, and 1,200 tons light displacem ent. Any parry interes ted in helping to fund (o r provide) the shipyard dry-dock work is urged to contact: Tim Rizzuto, Executive Director, Destroyer \ Escort Historical Museum, USS Slater (DE-766), 141 Broadway, Albany, ~ NY 12202; Ph. 518 431- 1943; e-mail: shipsde766@aol.com ; web site: www.ussslater.org. j:,

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SeaIIlstory FOR KIDS

Sea history is a quilt pieced together with the contributions ofpeople from many places and cultures.

In this issue, you'll meet four individuals-a Japanese sailor, an African American business man, a New England woman, and a Scots naval hero-whose stories help make up that quilt.

Manjiro's Twists and Turns of Fortune Imagine that your fishing boat has capsized. You have been shipwrecked far from home fo r 143 days. You would be pretry grateful to the people who rescued you, wouldn't you?

This was the condition of a 14-year-old Japanese boy named M anjiro in 184 1. H e was one of five fishers rescued by the crew of th e whaling ship john Howland in the Pacific O cean. At this time, Japan forbid its citizens to travel outside the co untry. Knowing that the boy would face punishment if he returned hom e, Captain William Whitfield and his crew invited him to stay onboard their ship as they finish ed their journey. When the ship arrived home in New Bedford, M assachuse tts, Captain Whitfield took M anjiro into his home and cared for him as his own son.

John M anjiro, as he was called by the Am ericans, went to school in New Bedford and then apprenticed as a cooper (barrel maker). In 1846, he joined the crew of the ship Franklin and advanced to first mate during the three years he was onboard. When he returned home to New Bedfo rd in 1849, news of the Califo rnia Gold Rush was sweeping the nation.

H e soon sailed aboard a schooner around Cape Horn to seek gold in Cali fo rnia. There, Manjiro succeeded in finding a few gold nuggets.

At that po int, M anjiro decided to return to his homeland.

H e wanted to see his mother and present h er with a large gold nugget he had found. As he had feared years earlier, he was indeed arrested when he returned to Japan . His go ld was stolen, and he was tossed into prison. In time, M anjiro was released and reunited with his mother in their village.

PACIFIC OCE AN

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For the previous two hundred years, Japan had traded only within its borders and refused to do business with most of the rest of the world. A treaty signed in 1854 changed all that. A fleet of American ships under the leadership of Co mmodore M atthew Perry sailed to Japan to work out a trade agreement with the Japanese government. Japan's ruler summoned M anjiro from his village because he could speak both English and Japanese and could translate between the American visitors and the Japanese officials.

W ith this service to his country, Manji ro's life took a new directi on. A boy born in to a simple fi shing village, he was made a samurai as a reward fo r helping with the nego tiations with Commodore Perry.

Soo n M anjiro opened a school to teach navigation. H e contin ued to travel and sailed as fa r as Europe. In 1870, M anji ro surprised his beloved foster family with a visit to New Bedfo rd. Finally, h e returned to Japan to live out his days until his death in 1898.

1h e M anjiro Sociery offers a student-exchange scholarship program between Japan and the U nited States. The sociery also presents an annual award to a Japanese ci tizen whose work in the U nited States helps foster relationships between th e two countries.

Life at sea was one of opportunity for African Americans in the days of sailing ships, a time when slavery still existed in this country and options ashore fo r freemen were few. Paul C uffe of Massachusetts (1 759-1817) was one man who took advantage of this opportuni ty.

Paul was the son of a Native American woman and an Ashanti tribesman from Wes t Africa. His father, Kofi Slocum, had been captured in Africa and brought to America as a slave. Later, he bought his own freedom, and his children were therefore born as free citizens. Slocum was the last name of his father's slave master. Paul refused to use rh at name and instead used C uffe (from Kofi) as his last name to honor his father.

Paul was an only teenager when his father died. To earn a living, he went to sea as crew on a whaling ship and cargo ships.

Eventually, Paul and his brother John started a business transporting goods in a boar they had built. The business was a great success, and soon the brothers owned a fleer of merchant ships.

The shipping business made C uffe one of the wealthies t men in the United Stares, and he used his earnings to help others. H e believed strongly rhar Afri can- and Native Americans should have rhe right to vo te, especially since they had to pay taxes. H e worked to change voting laws in Massachusetts.

C uffe also became active in the abolitionist movement, worki ng with other free African Americans to end slavery.

H e took free African Americans by ship to settle in Sierra Leone, Africa, to start a colony there-hoping also to end slavery on rhar continent.

For more o n Afri ca n Am ericans at sea, you m ay wa nr to visir Mysric Seapo rr's Exhibi t,

Black Hands Blue Seas: The Maritime Heritage ofAfrican Americans.

Th e exhib it runs through M arch 2007 .

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Throughout much of histo1y, women were not parrictuarly welcome onboard sailing vessels. In fact, in the old days, some men thought that simply having a woman onboard ship was . . unlucky. For them, the only welcome female was a figurehead in :, .: ~- the form of a woman attached under the bowsprit. Some believed . '. that the figure would calm the waters under the ship's hull. · · ;. ·. . ·•

Despite this prejudice, it turned out to be a good thing for the crew of the clipper ship Challenger that Hannah Rebecca Burgess was aboard in 1856. Hannah was the wife of Challenger's captain, William Burgess. On several previous trips, Hannah studied and practiced how to navigate a ship out of sight ofland.

Captain Burgess became sick on a trip around Cape Hom. · This point is the southernmost tip of South America, noted ~ for its ferocious sailing conditions. Hannah stepped in to navigate the ship toward the port of Valparaiso, Chile. Although Captain Burgess died on the three-week journey, Hannah remained in charge until the ship made it safely to port.

7'~~ in the World ... ~

/'I\

said "I have not etbe untoh

t ven if you have never heard of John Paul Jones, it's likely that you have heard of his famous quotation. Here is more about this famous sailor, who has been called the Father of the US Navy.

He was born John Paul, the son of a Scots gardener, on 6 July 1747.

John Paul went to sea at the age of twelve, a typical age for boys to start their careers at sea during that time in history. He sailed across the Atlantic to the colony of Virginia, where his older brother lived. As a young man, he was sailing home onboard a ship when both the captain and first mate died from fevers. John Paul took command of the ship and sailed it safely on to Scotland. It is believed that John Paul later added Jones to his name after fleeing trial for killing a man who had attempted mutiny on one of his ships.

During the American Revolution, John Paul Jones joined the new Continental Navy and commanded several ships, including the frigate A/jred and

John Paul Jones

by Geo rge Bagby M atth ews based on a paintin g by C harl es W illso n Peale (oi l o n canvas, c. 1890 , 44 x 32 inches)

the sloop-of-war Providence. Later, he commanded another sloopof-war, Ranger, which was one of the first ships to fly the Stars and Stripes. While most of the fighting took place on American soil and shores, Jones carried the war across the Atlantic Ocean to Great Britain where he succeeded in capturing the British warship Drake. This was the first time a Continental ship had done so.

In 1779, Jones took command of a slow, aging ship called Bonhomme Richard. He used this vessel to battle the larger British warship, HMS Serapis. In one of the most famous sea battles in Continental Sloop Providence Outruns the British Frigate Solebay, August 1776

by Paul Garn ett (o il o n canvas 16 x 20 inches)

history, two of Bonhomme Richard's cannon exploded, setting the ship on fire. The fighting was fierce and the two ships suffered heavy

damage. At one point, Bonhomme Richard got caught in the rigging off Serapis's stern and the British ship appeared to have gained the upper hand. When the captain of Serapis asked the Americans if they were surrendering, Captain John Paul Jones replied, "I have not yet begun to fight!"

Jones was true to his word. He succeeded in capturing the larger and more heavily armed British ship and watched from the deck of Serapis as his own ship sank. The battle with Serapis was the highlight of Jones's career. For the next decade, he lived mostly in Russia and France. He died in Paris in 1792 and was buried in that city. More than 100 years after his death, John Paul Jones's remains were moved to the United States and are now buried at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

12

ACROSS 4 Commodore who opened trade with Japan 8 Jones' ship that sank 10 Paul, son of Kofi 11 Where Jones is buried 12 Frigate commanded by Jones 13 John Paul's new last name 14 Flag carried by R anger

"Sea History for Kids" is sponsored by the

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DOWN 1 Manjiro's homeland 2 H annah's role on board 3 Captain who rescued Manjiro 5 H annah _ _ , captain's wife 6 Colony where John Paul's brother lived 7 Captain Burgess's ship Shipwrecked fisherman 9

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Th.e Rediscovery of the Sea

by John Rousmaniere leasure sailing, or, to use its traditio nal name, yachting, as fathe rless . .. . The ocean is o ur m auso leum, and few are the hearts we know it, turns one hundred years old in 2006. This is here which look upon its flood s without a shudder." 3 Nonetheless, at the mom ent those grim words were voiced, the centennial year for the Newport-Bermuda Race, the oldest regularly scheduled ocean race for amateur sailors in nor- men and women in G loucester were venturing out upon that mal, relatively small sailboats. So it is an opportune time to look mausoleum for the satisfaction and fun of it. Spreading around at the transformation of the sea's im age from a place suitable only North America, England, and Europe was the idea that the sea for warriors and co mmercial sailors to so mething far more hos- could be a place, not just for commerce o r co mbat or exploration, but for leisure and curiosity about pitable-the sea as playgro und. Among paradigm shifts, few may seem more the physical world and abo ut the spirit.

When D ay described the sea as "our radical. Yer as the founder of the Bergreat green mo ther" he was breaking muda Race, Thomas Fleming D ay, acthrough a conceptual barrier. Of course, knowledged on the eve of that first race, "Deep-sea racing was inevitable-it anybody who has been to sea knows that it is not always (or even sometimes) simply had to come." 1 For 250 years bea nurturing moth er. But the belief that fore the pioneer Bermuda Race, peo ple it is not always a murderer, either, had were beginning to look at the sea in an been erodin g for centuries. 4 entirely novel way.

Yachting's roots-and even its A ge neration ago, in his maritim e nam e-are found in the sevem eemh history The Discovery of the Sea, J. H. cemury. The word "yacht," an An glicized Parry told how European explo rers in vers ion of the Durch adjective jaght, the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries means "hunting" and implies speed and came to recognize rhat "all the seas are one." H e traced four motives for the agili ty. In Holland, a jaght hond was a dog bred for the chase, and a jaght schip bold labors that led to the insight that was a trim, maneuverable sai ling vessel. the world's great waters are linked by In time the adjective "jaght" was Anglinavigable passages. One was the search cized to the noun "yacht" and appli ed for commerci al gain. Another was stateto pleas ure vessels of all kinds. When craft, or what Parry called the "fear of Charles II left Holland in 1660 to remilitary threats and the hope of finding take the throne of E ngland, the Durch new allies." The third motive was spiripresem ed him with one of these sporttual zeal: the church blessed voyages ing vessels. C harles was quickly hooked, because it expected seamen to proselyand in his lifetime built twenty-six tize paga ns. 1he fourth was what Parry Gass 7 Starts the 2004 Newport Bermuda Race called, simply, "curiosity"-a human's more yachts. Samuel Pepys, the diarist innate passion to challenge boundaries and find new things. and Adm iralty official who knew C harl es well , remarked that h e Driven by these four very differem aims, the discoverers mapped "possessed a transcendent m as tery of all maritime knowledge" and that "two leagues travel ar sea was more pleas ure to him than the great sea.2 There were no illusions about the risk of the enterprise and twenty by land." Charles justified himself more light-heartedl y: th e dange rs of seafaring; sailors feared the sea for good reason . As "God," he once said, "would not damn a man for a little irregular recently as the middle of the nineteenth century, mortali ty rates pleasure"-in his case, a pleasure that allowed him ro flee nagamo ng New England fishermen were higher than those of Civil ging o bligations, religious tensions, and the co nstam reminders War soldiers. In 1892, at the 250th annive rsary of the fo und- that his peo ple had decapitated his fatl1er, C harles I, only a few ing of G loucester, Massachusetts, years earlier. A bad king, he was a a clergyman paused in the middle good yachtsman. of an upbeat hisrorical address to For a deeper contemporary acknowledge the darker side of experience of the profound rethe town's seafaring success: "The lationship with the sea, we can shadow of this picture of enter- look beyond the sybaritic escapist prise is that cast by the weeds of to the wo rldly Samuel Pepys. H e the widow, and the picture it- was a verirable engine of calculaself is marred by the tears of the tion and self-interest. Though he

P

(left) Thomas Fleming Day founded the Bermuda Race in 1906 with just three competitors. (right) Stuart King ChaJrles II made yachting a royal pasttime in the seventeenth centutry.

26

SEA HISTORY 115, SUMMER 2006

was not given to spiritual reflection, one day he was surprised to find him self conveyed into another wo rld. In the fall of 1683, Pepys was in Tangier to supervise the transfer of the Royal Navy base to G ibraltar. Taking a breather from his labors, he went for a row. As the little boat drifted, the sea-which until then had been for Pepys merely the agen cy for profit-suddenly took on a new meaning for him. Here is how he described this epiphany in his journal: "I know nothing that can give a better notion of infinity and eternity than the being upon the sea in a little vessel witho ut anything in sight bur yo urself within rhe whole hemisphere." 5 Pepys had been surprised by one of those moments of insight rhar COU RTESY JO H N M EC RAY are called "numinous,'' when awe Gloriana and Wasp, 1892 by john Mecray, 19" x 24" and joy, and nor a little dread, arise In a closely contested race on Long Island Sound, Herreshojfs breakthrough design Gloriana (1891) is simultaneously, and we feel in rhe shown crossing the bow ofthe newly launched Wasp (1892), another ofH erreshojfs revolutionary designs. presence of a power wholly outside o ur worldly experience. Wanting to escape may have been good sailor to write about it was the energetic, so me might think masochistic, Richard T. McMullen. A London stockbroker on sumenough for his king, bur nor for him.

There can be wo much meaning when visions are ungro und- mer holidays in his boars, McMullen first we nt cruising in 1850 ed by practi cal co nsiderations. Take, for example, one of rhe most and was still doing it forty-two years later. In his instructional, inept pleasure sailors in all of history-the English poet Percy and at rimes terrifying, book Down Channel, first published in 1869, he described these cruises and his approach to the sport, Bysshe Shelley. In rhe spring of 1822, Shelley acquired a catastrophically unseaworthy schooner and sailed it off Italy's wes t which he summarized in rhe phrase, "my hard sailing habits." coast. H e found rhe experience sublime and wrote: "We drive McMullen once compared sailing ro rhe struggle to pick roses alo ng this deli ghtful bay in the evening wind under rhe summer without bloodying rhe fingers on thorns. "Especially in strong m oon until earth appears another world." Of rhe technical as pects weather," he insisted, sailing "offers such an endless variety of of rhis venture, Shelley was content to be wholly and stubbornly problems for solution that th ere is always something fresh to enignorant. "Earth, ocean air, beloved brotherhood! " he exclaimed, gage the attention, as well as experience to be acquired." In short, true sailing is meant to be uncomforta bl e. careering aimlessly about wi rh rhe ri ll er in one hand, a book in rhe other, and rhe sails luffing madly. Seamanship played no part in Ar first he sailed with one or rwo professional seamen, bur, this vision. Shelley forged his relationship with rhe water enrirely because they could never meet his high standards, he rook up on enchanrmenr. In rhe end, he we nt sailing when he should nor singlehanding. In waters far more crowded rhan rhey are today, he routi nely stayed awake for days on end transiting rhe Enghave, was caught in a gale, was capsized and drowned. 6 In rhe mid-nineteenth cen- lish C hannel or circumnavigattury, yachting seamanship being the British Isles . In 189 1 he gan to catch up with yachting opined char if anybody co uld fly romance. The pastime gradually through the air, rhe experience gained a distinctive technology would be nowhere near so thrill as aggressive amateur sailors did ing as sailing a boar to windward daring things in relatively small in the open sea. McMullen wo uld boars. The first serious cruising have been pleased with his end. (left) Percy Bysshe Shelley would have been in good company on a summer Sunday today, much to the frustration of other boaters trying to navigate nearby waters. (right) Richard T McMullen took his seamanship very seriously. Though, in the end, they both met their maker at sea.

SEA HISTORY 115 , SUMMER 2006

27

"To go to sea for pleasure, at its best, is to attempt a voyage of discovery into one's truest self, warts and all."

O ne mo rning a fisherman cam e upo n a sailboat beating down the After all those years at sea, Slocum naturally had gathered English Channel, with her helmsm an , M cMullen , leaning back, plenty of expertise, but he declined to brag or lecture abour ir. sti ff hand on the till er and his sightless eyes starin g at the luff of Words like "proper" and "seamanlike" may appear regularly in the jib.

M cMullen's cruising books, but they are absent from Sailing Although he appeared never to have raced, McMullen per- Alone Around the World. Seam anship to Slocum was not a feat o f so nified the semi-m asochistic atti tude of the racing sailo r. To even adva nced technology but a natural o utgrowth of innate co mm o n sense and a li ttle time on the water. "I can better appreciate the relationship between one's o nly say here," he wro te, "that much comes character and the sea, we can look at his temto one in practice, and that, with such as love peramental opposite-an amiable, down-atsailing, m other-wit is the best teacher, after the-heels sea captai n in a clumsy fi shing sloop. experience." What Slocum was m ost interestA centu ry has passed since Joshua Slocum ed in was th at "bette r no tion of infi ni ty" that co mpleted the first singlehanded circumnavigation, yet the freshness of his achievem ent is moved Pepys so profo undly. Earl y in the voystill with us, thanks to his enchanting book age, as Slocum wres tled with the first pangs of loneliness, "During these days a feelin g abo ut his experi ence. His inAuence, widely of awe crept over m e. My m emory worked known as "the spell of the Spray," is as strong with star tling power. The ominous, th e insignow as it was when Sailing Alone around the nifi cant, th e great, the small, the wonderful , World was published in 1900. the commo nplace-all appeared before m y Altho ugh Slocum had been going to sea mental vision in m agical successio n. Pages of fo r forty years, th e spi ri t of adve nture was as fresh in him at age fifty-one as it was when he my history we re recalled which had been so was a boy Aeeing his abusive father and nalong fo rgotten that they seem ed to belong to tive Nova Scoti a in a fishin g schooner. With a previous existence. I heard all the voices of nothing better to do with his life in 189 5- he the pas t laughing, crying, telling what I had Joshua Slocum, 1888 could not find a captain's berth in the declin- Slocum was the first man to sail heard them tell in m any corners of the earth." ing American merchant fleet, and his wife had single-handedly around the world Long before he had found his profession a t th rown him out of the house-he decided to (1895-98); he sailed in a 36' 9" sloop sea, and now he fo und him self. give the sea a new kind of try, just fo r the fun At the end of his long voyage, Slo(re-rigged as ayawl during the voyage). cum wanted his readers to know that such a n ofir. Perhaps he could make it pay by writing, which he had taken on as a seco nd career. O nce Spray turned o ut adventure is the healthiest thing anybody can do. ''As for agin g, to have a near-m agical abili ty to steer herself fo r days o n end, the why, the dial of m y life was turned back till m y fri ends all said , adventure became technically possible.

'Slocum is yo ung again."' Toward the end of hi s book, Slocum Slocum's m essage is a kinder versio n of M cMullen's: skill is says with D ylanesque succinctness, "To yo ung m en contemplatimportant, bur what counts m os t is character. There was more ing a voyage, I would say go." 7 H ere is the spell of going to sea hobbit th an G andalf in Joshua Slocum . H e was the nautical twin voluntarily. Who can resist it? Certainly not Thomas Fleming of Bob Dylan's M1'. Tambourine Man, with one hand waving free D ay, whose fo unding of the Bermuda Race was in no small pa rt and no fen ces facing. inspired by the adventures of his fri end Josh Slocum.

If the long story of the rediscovery of the sea has a single m essage, it is this o ne: to go to sea for pleasure, at its best, is to attempt a voyage of discovery into o n e's truest self, warts and all. Jonathan Raban, the author of Passage to J uneau and o ther thoughtful sailing books, wo und together these various threadsromance, risk, seamanship, reflectio n-when he remarked that ocean cruising provides access to "the last unfettered, un tamed, undomesticated , and unpretry area of nature that COURTESY JOHN M EC llAY we can know at first- hand." 8 Atlantic by Joh n Mecray, (acrylic on Belgium linen, 19" x 24') Co nsider the immensely skilled The 185' yacht Adan tic is depicted charging through an ocean swell. In 1905, Charlie Barr long-distance racing sailor Ellen Mac- sailed her into the record books when he and his crew raced across the Atlantic Ocean in just Arthur. This yo ung woman, who over twelve days-a record not broken until 1980 (by Eric Taberly in a hydrofoil trimaran) . set a new aro und-the-world singlehanded record early in 2005, is at heart a romantic who first and something offering rewards and challenges far different from rook up sailing because she was entranced by Arthur Ransome's rhe land's. Thomas Fleming Day said as much in 1906 when Swallows andAmazons pressed to justify racing a few boars smaller than forty feet across seri es of children's the G ulf Stream to Bermuda; he explain ed, "Sailors wanted to gee sailing books. H ere is a smell of the sea and forge r for the rime being that there is such one of her log entries a thing as God's green earth in the unive rse." 10 j:, during a singlehanded trans.Atlantic race in Notes: a little boat: "I now 1 Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 26 May 1906. feel so wonderfully in 2 J . H. Parry, The Discovery ofthe Sea (New York, 1974), xi, xv. tune with the boat and 3 J. L. R. Trask, "The Gloucester ofYesterday & the G loucester of the sea that I know I Tomorrow," Memorial of the Celebration of the 250th Anniversary shall really miss this of the Incorporation of the Town of Gloucester, Mass., August 1892 o nce the race is over.

(Boston , 190 1).

At ni ght I watch the 4 Day's ideas first appeared in The Rudder berween 1900 and 1917 sun go down and in and are quoted in various secondary so urces, including my The the morning the sky Golden Pastime: A New History of Yachting (NY, 1987), 176. is there above m e, a 5 Claire Tomalin, Samuel Pepys: The Unequaled Self(NY, 2003), 330. wonderful feeling of 6 A. B. C. Whippl e, The Fatal Gift of Beauty: The Final Years of space and timeless- Byron and Shelley (New York, 1964). ness."9 Is such an ex- 7 Joshua Slocum, Sailing Alone around the World, passi m. pressio n a cliche? Of 8 Jonathan Raban interview with M ichael Upch urch, Glimmer Ellen MacArthur set a new around-theco urse it is. That's the Train , no. 8 (Fall 1993). world singlehanded record in 2 005. point. Cliches often 9 Ellen MacArthur, Taking on the World (New York, 2003), 137. express deeply and widely held co nvictions, often awkwardly or 10 Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 26 May 1906. tritely, but with feeling.

So it is that over the past fo ur hundred yea rs, we have found john Rousmaniere's books include Afte r the Storm, The Golden that the sea can b e something more than an inves tment and a bat- Pas time, The Annapolis Book of Seam anship, Sleek, Fasmet, tlefield, something other than the fri gh tening fathomless deep, Force 10, and, most recently, In a C lass by H erself: The Yawl Bolero and the Passion for C raftsmanship and A Berch to Bermuda: 100 Years of the World 's C lass ic Ocean Race. He is a contributor (left) The thrill of steering a sailing ship off the wind with a folto T he Encyclopedia of Maritime Histo ry, The Encyclopedia of lowing sea can still be experienced today by people from all walks Yach t D esigners, and The Oxford Companion to Ships and the of life on any of the ships that make up the growing fleet of sail Sea. H e is an active sailor and lives in New York. training ships. In this photo, Henry Moseley mans the helm A version ofthis essay was awarded the prizefor the best article for 2 005 with ease on the schooner Spirit of Massachusetts in 2004. by the Fellows ofthe G. W Blunt White Library at Mystic Seaport.

(Photo by Christopher Hamilton, In the Wild Productions) SEA Hl STORY 115, SUMMER 2006

29

MARITIME HISTORY ON THE INTERNET

Hear, Take My Database: Finding Resources

by Pecer M cCracken

S

earching for informacion abouc sea shancies (or chanceys) is an incerescing experience, because several of the larges c dacabases are available for che caking, liceral ly: if yo u wanr co have yo ur own copy of che dacabase, yo u can download ic and inscall ic on your own machine. Ocher sires include impressive bibliographies. On che whole, while chere are noc a loc of web pages abouc sea music, some of che ones ouc chere do have a loc of informacion, and ic's yo urs for che caking.

When scarcing a search for informacion abouc sea music, a greac source is The Mudcac Cafe, ac h ttp: //www. mudcat.org.

M udcac has been online for ar lease a decade, and irs Digical Tradicion D acabase concains aro und 9,000 songs, including !ors of sea shancies. Unforcunacely, ic hasn'c been updaced in a few years, buc yo u can acrually download yo ur own copy of rhe encire dacabase as ic scood in Spring 2002. The folks ac Mudcac classified each sec of lyrics, so yo u can do limiced searching by genres or subjeccs. You'll find m any differenr versions of a lot of songs, and simple recordings of che cune for som e seleccions.

The "Forum" seccion of Mudcat is even more val uable: ic provides a concinually expanding wealch of resources, as locs of fo lk song aficionados posr commenrs, lyrics, and responses co quescions chere. Searching eicher che Digical Tradicion dacabase or che Forum isn'c easy-ic can be slow, can cime ouc, and isn't all chac incuicive. One good way co search che Mudcac is accually rhrough Google-jusc add "sice: mudcac.o rg" co yo ur search cerms in a Google search. The resulrs aren'c as extensive as if yo u use che Mudcac search incerface, hue they will gee yo u to rh e informacion you probably wane much more quickly.

A sire ar h ttp://www.Snotes.co m has caken works from che Mudcac colleccion and has presenred many of che songs as recordings and in sheec music form ac. So, if yo u're looking for che cune to "Leaving of Liverpool," you can go to 8noces.com, scroll down and selecc "Folk Songs," chen selecc the "L" list. From chere, yo u'll

*

J. P. URANKER WOODCARVER

find an image of che sheec m usic, and a downloadable midi file of che cune.

The Tradicional Ballad Index is an impressive ballad bibliography, including shancies. For any given cit!e it lisrs a descripcion of the song, references, recordings, and other interesting daca. Ic's accessible ac http://www.csufresno.edu/folklore/BailadSearch . h tml, and like Mudcac, you can download yo ur own co py of the dacabase. The sice ac http://www.songtext .n et offers lyrics, as well, hue yo u need co regiscer co view che lyrics and ch e sice is completely in German. Regisuacion is free. You can find which albums concai n various songs wichouc regiscering, but ics focus is more on popular music chan folk music.

Of course, rhere are ocher ways co find lyrics. If you're looking for che complece lyrics to a song, often che besr thing co do is type in one line to a search engine, and revel in whac is recurned. As you wander, yo u'll find web pages for modern-day shanty singers, from well-known o nes like Tom Lewis (http:// www.tomlewis.n et) or Lee Murdock (http://www.leem urd ock. com), co some slighdy more comical groups, such as ARRR!!! , the "Pirates of Brown University," at http://www.arrr.n et, or The Bilge Pumps, at http://www.th ebilgep um ps.com. Finally, http://www.sh anty.o rg is the home of che Ducch-based Incernarional Shanty and Seasong Associacion.

For background on the hiscory of shancies, there's a very nice sire at http://sh anty.rendance.org/, which discusses many aspects of sea shanries. "Songs of the Sea," at h ttp://www.co ntemplator.com/sea/ (part of a larger folk music sire), has a lot of informacion on a collection of songs, buc consider curning down the volume on your speakers before you visic!

Suggescions for ocher sices wo rch mencioning are welcome ac shipindex@yahoo.com. See h ttp://www.shipindex.org for a compilacion of over 100,000 ship names from indexes co dozens of books and journals. 1,

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MARINE ART NEWS

T

exas Seaport Museum has named Anthony Blackman, of England, their 2006 Artist in Residence. Blackman has chronicled Galveston's maritime history through his art for more than 25 years. Also at rhe TSM, the Galveston Historical Foundation has plans to reconstruct an adjacent building for the museum. The new museum will rhen have proper exhibit space for a permanent exhibit of m arine art depicti ng Galveston from 1895 to present. (TSM, Pier 2 1, No. 8, Galveston, TX 77550; Ph. 409 763- 1877; e-mail : elissa@galvestonhistory.org; web si re: www.rsm-elissa.org

(left) Elissa enters Galveston Harbor with the pilot boat Texas, by Anthony Blackman, 2005

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inona, Minnesota, is soon to be home to a new marine art and river history museum. The Minnesota Marine Art Museum, w hi ch will be run by the Maritime Heritage Society (MHS) will feature rhe Mary Burrichter and Robert Kierlin Collection of marine art-focusing on 19th century, photographs by Henry Bosse (famed photographer who documented on film the Upper Mississippi in rhe late 1800s), and rhe folk art collection of Leo and Marilyn Smith. The marine art collection emphasizes rhe work of eight artists, with a goal of 10 to 12 paintings from each, and includes 50 American, Canadian, British, French and Durch artists. The museum is on track for its scheduled autumn opening. In the future, the river dredge William A. Thompson will join their collection.

The museum staff is seeking volunteers to serve a variety of roles; we all know that a museum cannot survive wirhour them!

(MHS address during construction phase)- 360 Vila Sr., Winona, MN 5 5987; Danielle Ben den, Exec. Director, Ph. 507 47 4-6626; e-mail: dbenden@minnesoramarineart.org; www.minnesotamarineartmuseum.org)

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oos Art Museum is holding their 13th Annual Maritime Art Exhibit, 21 July - 23 September, with featured artist Sylvia Waters (see pamnng, left). Opening weekend activities include a 'plein-air wet paint' event. Also on exhibit will be selections from rhe museum's Victor C. West Collection, historical photographs of Oregon's Coast.

(CAM, 235 Anderson Ave. Coos Bay, OR 97420; Ph. 54 1 267-3901; email: info@coosart.org; web sire: www.coosart.org)

(left) The North Bend, by Sylvia Waters, depicts a Coos Bay-built lumber schooner in rhe earl y 1800s

arly in the morning of 18 April 1906, a massive earthquake and subsequent fire destroyed the city of San Francisco. One hun dred years later, rhe San Francisco Maritime Na tional Historical Park commemorates rh e disaster with an exhibition of William Coulrer's works in "W.A. Coulter: An Artist's Brush with the Sea." Marine painter William Co ulter was San Francisco's most esteemed artist at rhe time and personally wi tnessed rhe disaster from rhe deck of a ferry; he later painted what has become hi s most famous work, San Francisco Fire, 1')06, o n a 10-foo r-long window shade he pulled from the burning rubble of a building. This painting and ap proximately one hundred others comprise the exhibition, whi ch reaches far beyond the fire, showing glorious paintings of San Francisco's maritime com1nerce.

(The exh ibit is free and runs through 31 October at the SFMNHP Visitor Center, 499 Jefferso n St., Ph. 4 15-447-5000 ; www. nps.gov/safr. For more info on Coulter, see: www.kahnfoundarion.org.)

E

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SEA HISTORY 115, SUMMER 2006

Arthur Moniz has painted the New England maritime history from whaling ships to present day fishing boats for over 35 years.

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9smP NOTES, SEAPORT &MUSEUM NEWS As a result of a deferred prosecution deal

by CT US Attorney Kevin O'Connor, the US Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association received a $1 million donation from a private corporation this spring. The agreemem berween the donor and the Al umni Association earmarks the funds to begin the process of endowing a Chair in Environmental Studies at the Academy, under the auspices of the newly-created Institute fo r Leadership. (USCG Academ y, 3 1 Mohegan Ave. New London, CT 06320; Ph. 800 883-USCG (8724) ; www. uscga.edu) ... This summer, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is opening the doors of its Hooper Strait Lighthouse to the general public who would like to stay a weekend night, m uch like the keepers of a century ago.

Several evenings throughout the sum mer have been reserved fo r wo uld-be keepers, who will be given a special tour of the 19th-century wooden structure, perform the tasks of a traditional keeper, enjoy a picnic dinner, and sleep inside the historic building overlooking the M iles River. Built in 1879, the lighthouse once lit the way past H ooper Strait, some 39 miles sou th of St. M ichaels, M D. Known as a screwpile, cottage-style lighthouse, H ooper Strait resembles a small home that was built on iro n pilings that were screwed into the Bay's soft bottom . Slated for demoli tion in 1966, the museum purchased the building and moved it to the museum gro unds in St. M ichaels. The lighthouse was restored and opened to the public in 1967 . It is one of only three such lighthouses still in existence on the Chesapeake. D ates currently available for this program are Friday, June 30; Friday, July 14; Saturday, July 15; Saturday, August 5 and Saturday, September 2. Fo r more details go to www.cbmm. org/ lighthouseovernight.html or contact

34

Education Coordinator Rachel Rebert via e-mail at rrebert@cbmm.org. (CBMM, Navy Point, PO B 636, St. M ichaels, MD 2 1663; Ph. 4 10 745-29 16; www.cbmm. org) ..â&#x20AC;˘ Ben Lexcen (1936-1988), born Robert Miller, New South Wales, Australia, and Stephen A. Van Dyck of Clearwater, FL, have been named as the 2006 inductees to the America's Cup Hall of Fame. The inductees, who exemplify the best in both the design and tactical aspects of racing fo r the C up, will be honored at the Rolex America's C up H all of Fame 14th Annual Induction Ceremony to be held Thursday, 26 O ctober in N YC. Ben Lexcen oversaw the design of the 12-Meter yacht, Australia Il that was the fi rst to lift the C up from America. Steve Van Dyck sailed in rwo America's C up matches and was particularly significant to the close, hard-fought match of 1970 aboard Intrepid. (America's C up H all of Fame, O ne Burnside St. , Bristol, RI 02809; Ph. 401 25 3-5000; www. herreshoff. org) ..â&#x20AC;˘ The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) has released an invaluable resource in the form of a CD containing over 300 papers on small craft. The selections were made by the SNAME Small Craft Committee from the Society's Transactions, journals, conferences, symposia, and section meetings as most likely to be helpful to the small craft communi ty in the pursuit of their professional endeavors. The C D is sold through

the SNAME website (www.sname.org) for $ 100 list and $75 fo r SNAME members. . . . Just when things were looking bleak for rwo established college shipboard semester programs, each has risen fro m near sinki ng. Two issues ago, we reported that SEAmester, created and run by Southampton College of Long Island University fo r the last 30 years, was shutting down

SEAmester onboard Spirit of M assachusetts. (below) Students study coastal geology at the Piffars ofH ercules in A ntigua.

when LIU closed the entire Southamp ton campus. We are happy to report that the program has a new home. The University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, has adopted the program and will run its first semester in fall 2006. SEAmester is a 9-week program that has been recently onboard the schoo ners Sp irit of Massachusetts, Harvey Gamage, and Californian and also the brigantine Irving Johnson. Program coordinator and lead professor Chris H amilton will continue to run the program and Ocean Classroom Foundation has retained the contract with U Mass, D artmouth, to provide the ships. Naturally, a full complement of students will ensure the program's survival, so spread the word! (Contact Nancy Vanasse, UMD PCE, Attn: Study Abroad Programs, 285 Old Westport Rd. , N orth D artmouth, MA 02747; Ph. 508 999-8778; e-mail: nvanasse@umassd. edu; www.umassd.edu/ seamesterl). We are also pleased to report that "Semester at Sea," run by the Institute for Shipboard Education, has a new university affiliate. Dumped by the Univ. of Pittsburgh last year, ISE has partnered with the Univ. of Virginia for its academic accreditation. (ISE, 8 11 W illiam Pitt Union, Pi nsburgh, PA 15260; Ph. 800 854-0 195; www.semesteratsea.com) ...

SEA HISTORY 115 , SU MMER 2006

In recognition of World Ocean Day on June 8, guests and crewmembers from all 14 Maine windjammers will scour the beaches for trash that's washed ashore over the winter. (Maine Windjammer Assoc., POB 1144P; Blue Hill, ME 04614; Ph. 800 807-WIND; WWW. sailmainecoast.com) ... The JamestownYorktown Foundation (VA) is a flurry of activity as it prepares for the 400th anniversary of the founding ofJamestown next year. In February it announced that retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor will serve as the Honorary Chair of America's 400th Anniversary Commemoration. In March, Rockport Marine in Maine launched a new replica (the third built to date) of Godspeed; sails and rigging by Nathaniel S. Wilson. Godspeed will tour the east coast this summer with stops in Alexandria, VA,

Ocean Classroom Foundation

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Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and Newport, RI. (visit www.Americas400thAnniversary.com for details) ...

The Naval Historical Center is joining the Ocean Technology Foundation in spearheading an expedition this summer to search for the remains of John Paul Jones's ship Bonhomme Richard, which sank after the Battle off Flamborough H ead in England (see article pages 811 of this issue). One of the search team members, Peter Reaveley, is considered an expert on the battle between Bonhomme Richard and Serap is. Reaveley has spent more than 30 years compiling and analyzing eyewitness accounts, deriving the historical weather, wind, and tidal data, and determining damages inflicted on the ship in the course of the battle. OTF has also created a computer model of the ship to simulate its drift after the battle. The US Naval Historical Center is the official (continuted on p age 31) SEA HISTORY 115, SUMMER 2006

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OceanBoundfor History: a Continuing Education Program for Teachers of American History

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he National Maritime Historical Society is collaborating with Ocean Classroom Foundation for a second year in offering OceanBound for History. This year, Mystic Seaport-The Museum of America and the Sea joins the team in developing and running a continuing education program for middle school and high school American history teachers onboard the schooner Westward, 7-13 August 2006.

Teachers will sail the coastal and offshore waters of southern New England, departing from historic Mystic Seaporr. Through hands-on activities, formal readings, class discussions, and port visits, teachers will discover the fundamental role maritime history and the maritime experience played in the overall dev-

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Exploration and voyages by sea Shipbuilding, seamanship and navigation Naval history Whaling Yachting and Cruising Comm ercial fish eries Li ghthouses, p irates and shi pwrecks Logbooks, docum ents and manuscripts Sea charts Books relating to marine art, antiques and ship models

We are eager to purchase single volumes or entire collections in these subject a reas.

Ten Pound Island Book Co. 76 Langsford Street, Gloucester, MA 01930 (978) 283-5299 e-mail: tenpound@shore.net web: www.tenpound.com Catalog available on request.

elopment of the United States. Concepts in experiential education will be examined, enabling teachers to apply these insights in their own classrooms.

Teachers will fully participate in the life and operation of the ship, gaining personal insight into shipboard culture, hierarchy, and work. Under the guidance of the professional Schooner Westward crew, teachers will learn the skills and arts of seafaring, discovering the life and mystery of the ocean world as only a sailor can.

OceanBound for History is offered FREE OF CHARGE.* Room, board, and instruction are included. Participants will board and disembark in Mystic, CT. (*There is a $95 processing fee due upon acceptance.)

Ocean Classroom Foundation owns and operates the schooners Westward, Spirit ofMassachusetts, and Harvey Gamage.

For more information or to request application materials, please contact Ocean Classroom Foundation. Ph. 800 724-7245; OCF, 23 Bay St., Watch Hill, RI 02891; e-mail: mail@oceanclassroom. org; www.www.oceanclassroom.org.

Picton Castle If yo u have fantasized about selling yo ur wo rldly possessions and running off to sea on the barque Picton Castle, you may get yo ur chance to sail on her without making such a life-changing commitment. 1his summer, she'll be sailing to the Great Lakes as part of the American Sail Training Association's Tall Ships Challenge and berths are available to the public. Sailing from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, in late June and returning in early September, Picton Castle will transit the Sr. Lawrence River and sail through the Lakes, visiting several ports each way, and return via Prince Edward Island and N ewfoundland.

One- to 10-week legs available. Picton Castle trainees experience sailing as an apprentice deckhand on a square-rigged ship. It's no cruise ship, so make sure you're ready to work. (Inquire: D avid Robinson, Voyage Coordinator, Barque Picton Castle, POB 1076, 132 Montague St. , Lunenburg, Nova Scotia BOJ 2C O Canada; Phone: 902 634-99 84; e-mail: info@picton-cas tle.com; www.picton-cas tle.com)

SINCE 1976

36

SEA HISTORY 115, SUMMER2006

SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT AND MUSEUM NEWS (continuted from page 35) history program of the Dept. of the Navy.

Its Underwater Archaeology Branch advises the Navy in matters related to historic preservation of US Navy ship and aircraft wrecks. (For details on the project, visit: www.bonhommerichard.org) Interested in preserving the arts of the sailor? Consider this news. The Chief of Navy Personnel, Vice Adm. John C. Harvey, Jr. , released a message in April clarifying the Navy's regulations regarding tattoos and "body art." The message underscores Navy policy that already prohibits any body art deemed "prejudicial to good order, discipline, and morale or of a nature to bring discredit upon the naval service." Four criteria were issued to commanders to assist in determining whether a tattoo, body art or brand should be permitted: content, location, size and whether the item is required for cosmetic purposes. . . . If you've ever sailed up Narragansett Bay or traversed the bridges from the east on your way to Newport, RI, then you are familiar with the old Jamestown Bridge, just 400 feet to the so uth of the newer bridge, which was completed in 1992. The old bridge, spanning more than 6,800 feet, was RI's second longest bridge until 18 April, when it was finally demolished. Before the bridge, the mainland and Conanicut Island (and later Aquidneck Island, home to Newport), were connected by ferri es across Narragansett Bay. The bridge was opened in 1940 and served as a vital link between the US Navy base in Newport and the Quonset Naval Air Station in North Kingstown during WWII. Jamestown Bridge demolition

In 1969, the Newport bridge opened, linking Newport to Jamestown and thus to the mainland. When the new Jamestown bridge opened in 1992, maintenance on the old bridge stopped, and it was later declared a hazard to navigation by the USCG. In his first State-of-the-State address, RI Gov. Don Carcieri had promised to take down the old Jamestown Bridge. J,

SEA HISTORY ll5 , SUMMER 2006

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37

2006 Classic Yacht Symposium, Bristol, Rhode Island trendees at the second Classic Yacht Symposium, held 31 March - 2 April in Bristol, RI, co-sponsored by the Herreshoff Marine Museum and the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME), were enthralled when Olin Stephens started the Saturday presentations on the history of model testing.

The undisputed dean of yacht design,

A

The Landing School's Jamie Houtz and Designer Olin J Stephens II the 98-year-old Stephens discussed the beginnings of tank model testing when yacht design took on a highly scientific approach. Among the yachts he discussed, from personal experience, were: Courageous, Intrepid, Freedom, and Gimcrack.

Stephens was followed by six presentations on restoration projects around the country including: the New York 30, Alera, in Boothbay Harbor, Maine; Cangarda, a 126-foot steam-powered Edwardian yacht, to be launched later this year in San Francisco; the 40-foot cruiser Peggy Bawn, as well as a presentation by Nakomis Nelson on the philosophical and practical challenges in how best to maintain a fleet of One Designs. A panel of five leading boatbuilding/ restoration schools in the US led an informative and lively discussion with the audience on the current state and practice of education for the classic marine trades.

Saturday was capped with a dinner in the Herreshoff Museum's Hall of Boats.

Sailing commentator Gary Jobson finished the day with video clips of yacht races and a talk about famous yachts he has known.

The Symposium is inval uable to the classic yacht community in both the papers presented and the opportunity for open communication between yacht builders, owners, restorers, designers, museums and schools. Kudos to the organizers

HerreshojfMuseum's Hall ofBoats for providing the bound Proceedings with registration. Copies of the Proceedings are available through the Herreshoff Marine Museum.

The next Classic Yacht Symposium will be held in April 2008 , alternating years with the SNAME-sponsored Chesapeake Sailing Yacht Symposium.

The Herreshoff Marine Museum and America's Cup Hall of Fame are dedicated to preserving and exhibiting the accomplishments of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company and demonstrating the influence of America's Cup Competition, for the purpose of education, research, and the inspiration of excellence. For more information , visit www.herreshoff.org, or contact the Museum at POB 450, One Burnside St., Bristol, RI 02809; Ph. 401 253-5000; www.herreshoff.org.

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SEA HISTORY 115, SUMMER 2006

OP-ED

CLASSIFIED

Is New York City Turning its Back on its Maritime Roots?

by Chris O'Brien

In my work I have faced one comIr is the people of New York who are mon obstacle-securing usable pier space missing out. Last year a fleet of rail ships for large visiting vessels of interest. What sailed past New York because of its lack of is a vessel of interest you ask? To me, a pier space. This year, "Fleet Week" nearly vessel of interest wo uld include tall ships, took place in Red Hook, Brooklyn. In military vessels of all shapes and sizes, as 2007, another fleet of tall ships will probwell as other vessels that bring some sort ably sail by New York, bound for Boston, of cultural/social enrichment to the City if no berths are to be had. of New York with their visits.

New Yorkers have made extraordiTrying to find pier space for a visiting nary efforts to revitalize their waterfront vessel of interest in NYC is like shopping with the construction of parks and open for diamonds in the pickle district-you areas-even the rebuilding of some piers. pro bably aren't going to find any dia- These efforts have stopped short, however, monds and, if yo u do, they're l' H OT O COURTES Y OF N YC .GOV likely to look something like a pickle. Some say it all started as our waters began to recover from the effects of decades of pollution and the return of the marine borer, a small creature that loves to eat wooden pilings. Although welcomed by the naturalists, the marine borer helped drive the final Abandoned city piers in New York nail in the coffin of most of the old city piers. Since their return, the disap- of bridging the gap and actually embracpearance of our piers has been remarkable. ing the waterfront. Instead, they have sysManhattan shores, once lined with work- tematically erected a barrier berween New ing piers, now yield only a small handful, Yorkers and New York's waters. These efwhich are in extremely high demand by forts are making no provisions to receive our ever-growing cruise industry and tour- vessels of any kind. ist/commuter ferry industry. These are our If New York City continues to ignore the need for maritime uses of these few only remaining working piers.

New York City was built on trade and piers that remain, we will have seen the its robust maritime industry that enabled end of the grand spectacle of OpSail tall it. As the trade industry transitioned out ship events, Fleet Week events, and historof the city, its piers were abandoned and ic ship visits of all kinds. We must lobby condemned. My greatest concern is that for the few remaining piers, slated for reNew York C ity is abandoning its maritime building, to be rebuilt with maritime uses roots-its piers; it has turned its back on in mind. We must insist that New York the great ships that built it. not turn its back on its maritime roots.

Rail-Marine Information Group Documenting the transportation of railroad freight and equipment over water Publi shing Transfer featuring: â&#x20AC;˘ Car Ferrie s Car Floa ts Railroad Tugboats Li ghters & Barges Terminals Histories Reviews of Literature and Products Geographical Bibliographies For more in fo rmati on including a complete list of back issues and index to Transfer go to: www.tra inweb .org/rmig E-mail : rmi ghpr@comcast.net

SEA HISTORY 115 , SUMMER2006

Chris OBrien is the former Executive Director of OpSail. He served in the Coast Guard as a Marine Inspector in New York Harbor; he also served with the Navy as the Director ofFleet Week N ew York.

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39

OBITUARIES: Off to Fiddler's Green Edward du Moulin (1 914-2006) Sailor, yach tsman, manager, mentor, fam ily man-Edward du Mo ulin of Sands Point, New York, passed away in late March at the age of 9 1. An inductee of the America's Cup H all of Fame, he was involved in the management of more America's C up campaigns (seven) than anyo ne in the history of the C up.

As a yo ung man, he witnessed the 1937 America's C up races when the American yach t Ranger troun ced Britain's Endeavor II, and his interes t in internatio n al yacht racing began . H e served in the US Coast Guard on North Atlantic convoys in Wo rld War II . W hen he returned to civilian life, he embarked on a Wall Street career, where he stayed until his retirement at age 60 as Vice Chairman of Bache, H alsey, Stuart, Shields. He spent the next 3 1 years involved in the America's Cup competition an d community affairs. In 1977, he took over management of the yacht Enterprise, which was defeated in the trials by Ted Turner, who went on to successfully defend the C up . In the 1980s, he managed several more Cup campaigns where, with D ennis Conner, they lost and regained the America's C up to and from the Australians.

H e was a founder and first chairman of the America's C up H all of Fame in Bristol, RI . In 2001 , he published The America's Cup and Me with all proceeds going to the H erreshoff Museum in Bristol. Edward du Mo ulin was a member of Knickerbocker, New York, and Storm Trysail Clubs.

W ith his family (son Richard and grandchildren) he raced a series of Lady Del's and Blaze to Bermuda Class wins, D eCo ursey Fales Trophy, and many awards. He is predeceased by his wife Eleanor and daughter Cathy Morea.

Desmond Nicholson (1924-2006) The charismatic historian, sailor, amate ur archaeologist, and fo under of the Museum of Antigua and Barbuda and the D ockyard M useum in English H arbor, Antigua, Desmond N icholson, 8 1, died in January in Antigua after a prolonged illness.

He was the son of Commander V.E .B. N icholso n wh o, with his wife and two sons, sailed into English H arbor, Antigua, in 1949. The now-famous yacht haven at English H arbor was then nearly in ruins.

The family dropped anchor there and, not long after, began chartering their boat for people to travel the W indward Islands of the Caribbean.

The concept caught on and soon they were running a successful yacht charter business.

H is family's business at English H arbor bro ught interest and inves tment to N elson's D ockyard. D esmond was passionate about his interest in the history and archaeology of An tigua. H e was instrumental in the res toration of the D ockyard as a heritage site, maki ng sure the historic buildings and naval structures were preserved . H e lived by his motto : "Knowledge to be of any value m ust be communicated," and worked with black Antiguans to look at the positive side of their history. When many his age shunned the advent of the electro nic age, in his late 70s he created the web site www.antiguamuseums.org and added to its content regularly. N icholson wrote several books on the country's history and was also one of the pioneers behind the Antigua Sailing week, which is now one of the wo rld's leading yachting regattas.

H e is survived by his wife Lisa Nicholson, their children and grandchildren, and brother, Rodney.

40

SEA HISTORY 11 5, SUMMER 2006

•Saving Our Ships: The Sea-Paintings of Charles Robert Patterson, Herirage Museum and Gardens, Sandwich, MA, rhrough !are Ocrober 2006; Guesr Curaror Roberr Lloyd Webb (67 Grove Sr., Sandwich, MA 02563; Ph. 508 888-3300; www.heri ragem useumsandgardens. o rg) •Tall Ships, Oil Paintings by Paul H ee, rhro ugh 6 Augusr, Norrh Carolina Maririme Museum, Beauforr, NC (315 Fronr Sr., Beauforr, NC 28516; Ph. 252 72873 17; e-mail: maririme@ncmail.ner) •Women in the Fisheries: A Contemporary View, rhrough June 2006 ar rhe Maine Maririme Museum (243 Washingron Sr., Barh, ME 045 30; Ph. 207 4431316; www.mainemaririmemuseum.org) •13th Annual Maritime Art Exhibition, 21July-23 Sepr., Coos Bay, OR (Coos Arr Museum, 235 Anderson Ave., Coos Bay, OR 97420; Ph. 54 1 267-390 1; e-mail: info@coosarr.org; www.coosarr.org) • "Boatloads of Ben: Franklin's 'Strong Inclination for the Sea'," rhrough 24 Seprember ar the Independence Seaporr M useum in Philadelphia (2 11 Sourh Columbus Blvd. & Walnur Sr., Philadelphia, PA 19106; Ph. 215 4 13-8658; www.phillyseaporr.org) •The Yachting Photography of Willard B. Jackson, rhro ugh 19 November 2006, Peabody Essex Museum (Easr India Square, Salem, MA 01970; Ph. 978 7459500 or 866 745-1876; www.pem.org) FESTIVALS,EvENTS,LECTURES,ETC. •ASTA Tall Ships Challenge, Grear Lakes pons berween 12 July and 9 Augusr. (See www.tallships.sailrraining.org for specific pons and dares) •Charleston Maritime Heritage Festival, 9-11 June, (SC Maririme Herirage Fdn ., POB 22405, Charlesro n, SC 29413; Ph. 843 722- 1030; www.charlesro nmaririmefesrival. com) •Scrimshaw Collectors Weekend, 9-11 June, New Bedford Whaling Museum, advance regisrrarion recommended (NBWM, 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA 02740; Ph. 508 997-0046 exr. 101 ; www. whalingm useum.org) •Christening of the USS Monitor Replica, 11 June, The Mariners' Museum, Newporr News, VA. Free admission, guesr

speaker Clive Cussler (100 Museum Dr., Newporr News, VA 23606; Ph. 757 5962222; www.mari ner.org) •Antique and Classic Boat Festival, 1618 June ar rhe Chesapeake Bay Maririme Museum (See derails in "Deck Log," p. 2) •Pepsi's Americas Sail 2006, 30 June - 5 July, Beauforr, NC; feawring rhe ships A.].

Meerwald, Ada Mae, and Alliance; Class B Race on 3 July (Info: Cynrhia Barber, Ph. 252 728-747 1 or 800 637-8 158; e-mail: info@pepsiamericassail.com; www.pepsi americassail.com) •Camden Windjammer Weekend, week of 28 Augusr, Camden Maine (Maine Windj ammer Associarion, Ph. 800 807WlND , www.sailmainecoasr. co m)

PHOTO BY FRED LEB LANC, CO URTES Y MAIN E W INDJAr.!.\IERS ASSOCIATIO N

•Lakeside Wooden Boat Society Annual Antique and Classic Boat Show, Lakeside, Ohio, 2 July (e-mail : bill@drackerr. cc; www. lakesidewoodenboarsociery.com) •Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival, 1-4 July, Searde, WA, (Cenrer fo r Wooden Boars, 1010 Valley Sr., Searde, WA 98 109; Ph. 209 382-2628; www.cwb.org) •Michigan Maritime Museum Classic Boat Show, 8 July, Sourh H aven, MI, (MMM, 260 Dyckman Ave., Sourh Haven, MI 49090; Ph. 269 637-8078; www. michiganmaririmemuseum.org) •Frank 0. Braynard Commemorative Sail, July 26 ar Sourh Srreer Seaporr in NYC. (See derails in "Deck Log," p. 2) •Antique & Classic Boat Festival, 1920 Augusr, H awrhorne Cove Marina, 10 Whire Sr., Salem, MA (Info: Ph. 617 6668530; www. by-rhe-sea.co m/bacbfesrival) •WoodenBoat Show, 25-27 Augusr, Newporr Yachring Cenrer, Newporr, RI, (WoodenBoar Publicarions, POB 78, Naskeag Rd., Brooklin, ME 046 16; Ph. 800 273-7447; for info rmarion on exhibiring, conracr jackie@woodenboar.com or call 207 359-4651)

•The Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race, 11 -15 Ocrober, Balrimore, MD ro Ponsmourh, VA; enrry is open ro all schooner-rigged vessels. (Race Office, POB 8176, Norfolk, VA 23503; Ph. 757 480-4402; www.schoonerrace.org) •22nd Annual Gloucester Schooner Festival, 1-4 Seprember in Gloucesrer, MA (www.capeannvacarions.com/schooner) CONFERENCES •North American Society for Oceanic History (NASOH) Annual Conference, 1-4 June, Manirowoc, Wl, at rhe Wisconsin Maririme Museum (WMM, 75 Maririme Dr., Man irowoc, Wl, 54220; Ph. 866 724-2356) •Mystic Seaport Museum's 27th Annual Symposium "Music of America and the Sea," 10 June (75 Greenmanville Ave., Mysric, CT 06355; Ph. 860 572-07 11 ; e-mail: glenn.gordinier@mysticseaporr. org; www. mys ricseaporr.org) •International Conference on Caribbean Studies, November 2-5, an inrerdisciplinary conference sponsored by rhe Universiry of Texas-Pan American, Edinburg, TX. (Info: Dr. Hecror R. Romero, UTPA, e-mail: hrromero@panam. edu; www.panam. edu/ depr/ modlang/) •American Sail Training Association Annual Conference, 5-7 Nov. in Charlesron, SC, (See derails in "Deck Log," page 2) •Society of Historical Archaeology 2007 - Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology, 10 - 14 Jan uary 2007 in Williamsburg I Jamesrown, VA; Theme: "O ld World/New Wo rld: Culrure in Transformarion," CALL FOR PAPERS deadline: 1 June; !are submissions deadline-30 June; www.sha.org) •"America's 400th Anniversary: Voices From Within the Veil," 22-23 February 2007, Norfolk Srare Universiry, VA. NSU has been selecred by rhe Federal Jamesrown 400rh Commemorarion Commission as one of rhe srare insriwrions rhar will collectively honor rhe anniversary of our narion's beginnings in 1607. The conference will seek ro fosrer a mulri-disciplinary di alogue among scholars on rhe issue of African American righrs wirhin rhe conrexr of us hisrory. CALL FOR PAPERS DEADLINE 15 June. (e- mail : e-mail: chford@nsu. edu; www.nsu. edu/jamesrown2007)

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SEA HISTORY 11 5, SUMMER 2006

Reviews Command at Sea: Naval Command communications and even computerand Control since the Sixteenth Century driven data systems, technological imby M ichael A. Palmer (H arvard Univer- provements have not eased the dilemma. siry Press, Cambridge, MA, 2005 , 377pp, In fact, the impact of steam-driven ships, maps, notes, index, ISBN 0-674-0168 1-5, heavy armor, steam torpedoes, breechloading guns, gas turbine engines, and $29.95hc) W ithin these pages, in a mas terful ship-launched missiles have accelerated control of subj ect matter, Dr. M ichael the need fo r rapid command decisions Pal mer analyzes the evolution of naval and greatly reduced the time required to flee t command and control fro m the An- make them. By the same token, the advent co..-..-.-Al-M-..~ of the telegraph, submarine glo-Spanish battle in the ~-----.-.English C hannel in 1588 cables, wireless telegraphy, to the Persian G ulf War. and satellite communicaThe essence of the book is tions have only induced the naval commander's worst the struggle of two opposing philosophies of naval nightmare-the tendency (and military) command, of headquarters staff, out that of the centralizers verof touch with local condisus the decentralizers. H e tions, to micromanage the rakes as his benchmark the battle space. guidance and techniques This wo rk is deeply reused by Rear Admiral Sir searched, written concisely and with fl air, and the H oratio Nelson in his classic action at the Barde of author's opinions are not the N ile in 1801, where he waged a battle hidden. This is an essenti al book for the of annihilation against the fleet of French libraries of Navy officers, policy makers, Vice Admiral Francois Paul Brueys. naval scholars, and military history buffs.

In that contest, the prevailing (and WILLIAM S. D UDLEY, PHD H arwood, Maryland conflicti ng) theories of battle came headto-head. The Frenchman favo red tactics scientifically co ntrolled fro m above, using Sailor-Painter: The Uncommon Life pre-planned maneuvers and controlled by of Charles Robert Patterson by Robert the commander using a well-developed set Lloyd Webb (Flat H ammock Press, Mysof signals in which subordinates would ex- tic, CT, 433pp, photos, plates, notes, bibecute the plan in obedience to orders. The lio, index, ISBN 0-9758699-1-4; $55hc) captains of the British fleet, having ab"I know of no marine artist who could sorbed Nelson's carefully taught doctrine approach him," said Karl Kortum, a Cape emphasizing the initiative of the subordi- Horn sailorman himself, "in the matter of nate, knew they should nor expect to see the fall of light upon the sea-upon the flags signaling what they were to do. Nel- ship ... " That sea-magic, in which Charles son was willing to accept a certain amount Robert Patterson (1 878- 1958) caught the of confusion and chaos in battle because very heft and sway of the tall square riggers he trusted his commanders to do what was he painted, was distilled from the travails expected of them . N elson maintained that of a seafaring career that began at age 13. if trained ship commanders knew what to So much was known about this ramrodexpect, they could prevail, even in the "fog straight, reserved, haugh ry individual-for of war," where uncertainry is a constant. In he made no secret of his youthful seafarPalmer's view, this is still the central prin- ing. Indeed, he exaggerated his seven-year sea career fo r visito rs, perhaps as a rebuff ciple for success in battle.

Despite revolutionary improvements to the over-inquisitive. in communications, the central crisis of His paintings delighted the "sea lovcom mand remains. From the firin g of ers" who celebrated deepwater sail as it signal guns, rhe lowe ring of a to psail, the vanished fro m the seas in the 1920s and hoisting of elaborate flag signals, to the ad- 30s and, above all, the sailormen among vent of continuous wave radio and voice them . Seaman-author Felix Riesenberg SEA HISTORY 115, SUMMER 2006

instantly recognized Patterson's work as the true wine of the experience under sa il. The San Francisco historian John Kemble sought out the man who breathed such life and meaning into the deep waters and wide skies through which his ships made their way. The Australian artist O swald Brett used precious hours ashore in New York C iry from Atlantic convoys in World War II to visit the mas ter whose work he'd admired since childhood.

The yo ung artist John N oble apprenticed himself to the aging Patterson to help him complete the epic series of paintings now at the US Naval Academy.

Webb notes that Noble is considered the only artist of Patterson's school-and curiously, both painted ships at sea in their early careers, rough-hewn in sryle and expressing Solomon's sense of the wonder of the way of a ship at sea. Each focused on port scenes in later years, Noble becoming the great artist of N ew York Harbor, while Patterson's "South Street, New York, 1894" caught the massive bows of the Down Easter A. G. Ropes at rest, suffused with the spirit of a spear-carrying goddess in the Parthenon.

Webb, who has put in his own time at sea under sail, put in years of research to tell the story of Patterson's life, digging deep into the artist's family roots in Britain to learn that he we nt to sea because his mother, having left his shipbuilder fa ther, was hard pressed to put food on the fam ily table-a story no one knew. H e talked with Patterso n's daughter at age 90, fr uit of a wes t coast marriage his friends never knew about (but which he supported by mail). Webb brings these scenes vividly to life, particularly among the ship lovers who provided the real family in Patterson's life. Surely, on the strength of this lively, utterly authentic biography of the seaman-artist who was also the seamen's artist, Webb has earned an honored place in that rather special company. To readers who want to join the continuing company of ship lovers, I recommend starting with Sailor-Painter.

PETER STANFORD Yorktown Heights, N ew York

43

REVIEWS Saving the World by Jul ia Alvarez (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill , C hapel Hill, NC, 2006, 368 pp, ISBN: 1-565 -1 2 510-X; $24.95hc) The Maria Pita sailed from La C oruna, Spain, in November 1803, before a favorable easterly wind, embarking on a voyage to end sm all pox. The voyage was the brainchild of a visionary, Dr. Francisco Javier Balmis, and aboard were 22 orphan boys, living carriers of the vaccine to the New W orld and the beginnings of a chain of human carriers around the world.

Rem arkably, a single wo man , Isabel Sandales y Gomez, the rectoress from the orphanage, accompanied the expedition to care for the little boys, ages three to nine years.

This germ of a true story roots Julia Alvarez's new novel, Saving the World.

T h e novel is con structed in laye rs, m oving in and o ut of historical p as t and fi ctio n al present. In the fi ction al present is Latina writer Alma who is mesm erized by the idea of Isabel w rangling unruly little boys at sea in an ali en , un certain world. Alma is m etaphorically at sea also , wrangling fea rs of irrelevan cy in h er ow n uncertain world . Each struggles fo r h er identity as the idealisti c men in their lives increasingly co nfuse vision and ambitio n .

The maritime atmosphere of Isabel's world is as palpable as the claustrophobic life of Alm a in liberal Vermont. Stories become their salvation, and this is the triumph of Julia Alvarez's own storytelling.

She accomplishes what Joseph Conrad asserts is the mission of fiction : "to present an unrestful episode in the obscure lives of a few individuals out of all the disregarded multitude of the bewildered, the simple and the voiceless." Sounds like a lo t of us in today's world. Storytelling carries the future. The world m ay not be saved, but it will endure.

First Shot: The Untold Story of the Japanese Minisubs that Attacked Pearl Harbor, by John C raddock (M cGraw-

"bragging rights in the next wo rld." Craddock appears to have little sympathy and even less respect for the culture and sacrifices of Japan's submarine warriors. The acco unt of the search and discovery of the midget submarine by underwater explorers is fascinating, but other than that, the stories contained in First Shot: The Untold

Hill, New York, 2006, 255pp, illus, m aps, bibli o, index, ISBN 0-07- 1437 16-9; $24.95hc) At 6: 53AM on 7 D ecember 194 1, the crew of the destroyer USS "Ward, on patrol at the entrance to Pearl H arbor, Story ofthe Japanese M inisubs That Attacked claimed to have spotted and sunk a Japa- Pearl Harbor, were better left untold.

KAREN B ELMORE nese midget submarin e. The crew Wakefield, Rhode Island then radioed a repo rt and warning to headquarters mo re than an hour before the surprise aerial Historic Ship Models: The Musee de la attack began . Discovery of the Marine Collection, by Jean Boudroit submarine wreck by Terry Kerby (with the collaboration of Hubert Berti), and Chris Kelley in August 2002 English translatio n from French by D avid confirmed the crew's acco unt. Roberts (Pier Books/Dupont CommuniAuthor John Craddock attempts cations, Florence, OR, 2004, 254pp, color to amplify the event's significance photos, ISBN 0-9755 772-2-0 ; $95hc) in his book, suggesting that a For anyone with even a modest appredifferent response to the "Wards ciation of fine ship models and the details m essage could have changed the of naval archi tecture they convey, this book course of history. Craddock looks is nothing short of astonishing. The book, at many such actions and asks: in 250 photo-packed pages, is a visual and "what if that had not happened?" This ap- descriptive exploration of the French naproach makes for an overly complex tale, tional collection , which includes 18th- and leading as tray examination of what really 19th-century designs for a fri gate, a threedid happen. The author en twines the his- deck ship-of-the-line, a M editerranean xetory of this deadly weapon with an analy- bee, and others that are equally exquisite sis of the life story of Isoroku Yam am oto, as anything produced fo r the British adthe mentality of the Japanese military and miralry. The author explores the collection their suicide squads, and the politics of from multiple angles with dexteri ty, invesunderwater explo ration. ...â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘" ' tigating the m odIn addition to frequently elers construction wandering fro m its stated fo cus, tec hniqu es, d ethe book contains obvious ersc ribin g a r ca n e rors. M ost historians of technoland little-known ogy would be surprised to learn features of the that Robert Fulton invented the ships they represteamboat, and the crew of the sent, extrapolating Confederate submarine H. L. from the models Hunley did not blow themselves to address facets up while sinking the Housatonic. of French naval The m ost disappointing feahistory, and even ture of the book is C raddock's engaging in tradisparaging portrayal of the di tional connoisJapanese, which builds as the book wears seurship to assess the artistic qualities of the on . The author describes the experience figureheads, sterns, and other decorations. of a captured midget submarine pilot Author of a fo ur-volume series on the 74who washed up on the beach after fail- gun ship, Boudriot is clearly a man of wideing to die during his attack as "no From ranging curiosiry and sufficient comfort Here to Eterniry m oment." In his analy- with this complex subj ect to describe what sis of suicide squads, he employs flipp ant he sees, interpret what it might mean , and phrases such as "onward and upward" and question what he doesn't understand.

JULIA ALVAREZ

A RDEN SCOTT

G reenport, New York

44

SEA HISTORY 115 , SUMMER2006

Lengthy entries on each model are rhe product of intensive research on borh rhe history of rhe model and rhe ship ir represents. Though highly derailed and carefully wrirren, rhe descriptions require rhe derailed photographs ro clarify rhe points being made, while ar rhe same rime perusal of rhe phoros raises many questions, sending readers ro rhe rexr ro find rhe answers. The book wo uld nor be a success wirhour rhe unconventional phorographic techniques of museum sraff member Patrick Dantec, who describes his process in a shorr bur inreresring passage in rhe back. Luckily for rhe English-speaking world, D avid Roberts has rranslared rhis technically challenging rexr (firsr released in French in 1998) into eloquent prose.

Boudriot's unexpurgated text lets the reader know exactly what he thinks, not only of the models but also of how they have been handled over the years. H e minces no words to point our an example of "very regrerrable and irreparable damage" rhar he calls "a deplorabl e example of rhe incompetence of rhe people respo nsible for rhe upkeep of rhese models."

His language of praise for rhe modelers is equally colorful.

There is one significant problem wirh rhis book for which a complaint is justified. After rhe undoubtedly arduous work of rranslarion, ir does nor seem ro be disrribured in rhe US beyond rhe publisher's website. Ir doesn't appear on Amazon .com or Barnesandnoble.com, which rhese days, is a sign of rrue obscurity. The publisher should remedy rhis, because rhis riveting combination of models, phoros, and rexr wo uld be of interest well beyond rhe narrow modeling community, if only ir were available ro rhe greater public.

D AN IEL F I NAMORE

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Silent Steel: The Mysterious Death of the Nuclear Attack Sub USS Scorpion

by Srephen Johnson (John W iley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ, 2006, biblio , index, phoros, 292pp, I SBN 0-47 1-26737-6; $25.95hc) In rhis popular study of rhe loss of USS Scorp ion on 22 May 22 1968, veteran journalist Stephen Johnson provides a detailed survey of rhe events before and after rhe unexplained loss of rhe SEA HISTORY 115 , SUMMER 2006

*

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45

REVIEWS Skipj ack-class submarine. Q uestio ns remain today regarding the reaso n fo r the loss of the sub. Johnson spent over two decades inves tigating the disaster and has used documents obtained under the Freedom of Info rmation Act, letters wri tten by crewmembers, and interviews with concerned parties to try to answer these questio ns.

Johnson o pens with a descrip tion of Scorpion and her officers and crew du ring her fi nal voyage. H e explains construction m ethods used in the 195 0s and 60s ro build these nuclear sub marines and describes som e of the problems peculiar to USS Scorpion . Among these were deferred and poor m aintenance, low m orale am ongst the crew, and pressures on the co mmanding officer by the Navy heirarchy to have the boat ready to sail to meet fleet commi tments.

To get to the actual reason Scorpion sank, Johnson analyzed all the existing theo ries, such as a torpedo explosion onboard, a fa ul ty trash disposal unit, a Soviet attack, or any combinatio n of the above abetted by the above-mentioned pro blem s peculiar to Scorpion. Additionally, he worked to untangle the bureaucratic wra ngling between the Navy and civilian heirarchy in their search for an explanation (an all too-familiar ring to it in these post-Katrina days!).

Jo hnson has fully inves tigated this tragedy and his thir ty-six page bibliography is testimony to his dedication, energy, and tho roughness. W hile a true answer to this mystery m ay never be known, this study will long remain the definitive wo rd on what has been uncovered to date.

HAROLD

N . B OYER

Folsom, Pennsylvania

Beneath the Seven Seas: Adventures with the Institute of Nautical Archaeology edited by George F. Bass (Tham es and Hudson, London , 2005 , 256pp, illus, index, sources/illus, ISBN 0-500-0 5136-4; $39.95 hc) If yo u have visited the U nderwater Archaeology M useum, ho used in medieval St Peter's Castle in Bodrum, Turkey, this book will likely bring back pl easant m emories . The Turks's pride in the histo ry recovered from their waters is expressed in 46

their enthusiasm to talk with visito rs, attack th eir work, and consider the results of the next project. This flows from m ore than three decades of work in the eastern M editerranean by the Institute for Nautical Archaeology.

Editor George Bass fo unded INA in 1973. H e resigned a tenured position at the University of Pennsylvania to pursue the excitement that he and others fo und in doing archaeology underwater. Richard Steffy, an electrical engineer who was fascinated by the challenges of deciphering ship construction techniq ues of histo ric wrecks, sold his business to become an

ancient ship reconstructor. Archaeologist Frederick van Doorninck signed on, as did Michael and Susan Katzev, who encouraged the study of a shipwreck on Cyprus.

Advised to affiliate with a university that could provide a base of support th ro ugh teaching positions, a to ur of interested sch ools ended at Texas A&M U niversity.

The administration was willing to establish a graduate program in nautical archaeology and agree th at INA rem ain independent with its own board. That board initially provided fundin g fo r projects at modest am o unts but now helps generate an annual budget of $ 1-2 million.

Readers will be impressed at the dive dep ths for some of the INA projects using basic scuba. Bass's first project was at 92 feet with Peter Throckmorton in 1960 at Cape Gelidonya, Turkey. The 13 th-century BC shipwreck was the fi rst ancient wreck excavated on the seabed. Between 1984

and 1994, over 22,5 00 dives between 135 and 200 feet were made on the 14th-century BC shipwreck at Uluburun, Turkey.

The platform fo r much ofI NA's work was the 66-foot Virazon, a fo rmer US Army Tboat. The submersible, Asherah, was buil t to discover wrecks at greater depths, an d today an array of underwater vehicles and ROVs is available. Saturation diving was employed for the La Secca di Capistello site in Italy where th e third-century BC wreck lay at 195-264 fee t.

There is no t eno ugh space here to enumerate th e hi sto ric shipw recks investigated by the INA team . Bass and his 26 contribu to rs offer brief chapters that fo rm a litany of significant contribu tions to our understanding of history, archaeology, m aterial cultu re, and conservation .

D espite the encyclopedic appearance of the text, Bass and company have injected a sense of humor that m akes reading the book a joy. For example, the ninth-century shipw reck at Bozburun contained a cargo of wine in jars with pine bark sto ppers. A tas ting of the wine residue by Fred H ocker and crew determined that 874 "was not a good year."

The search for shipwrecks in deep wa ter led Bass, Cheryl Ward, and others to team with explorer Robert Ballard to search the Black Sea where there is little oxygen and few wood borers. The discovery of a number nearly intact early ships resul ted from surveys in 2002 and 2003.

INA's foc us on Turkey and the eastern Mediterranean changed by design soon after the move to Texas A&M, when conservato r Do nny H amilton joined the staff.

H e began a ten-year study of Port Royal , Jamaica, a notorious pi rate lair and the richest English colony in the New World.

The city fe ll into the sea fo llowing an earthquake in 1692. A pocket watch was fo und during the excavations with the hands stopped at 11:43, m arking the even t. Other Caribbean sites investigated include the Cayman Islands and D ominican Republic.

Ameri can sites stretch from Penobscot Bay to Lake C ham plain, Virginia, South Carolina, the Red River in O klahoma, Hawaii, and Texas . In Texas, LaSalle's shi p La Belle, was lost in 1686 in Matago rda Bay; INA excavated the hull and m oved it to College Station to undergo conservation . It will be SEA HISTORY 11 5, SUM MER 2006

the centerpiece of the LaBelle exhibit in the Bullock M useum of Texas History in Austin.

The book is organized in chronological order acco rding to the age of the shipwrecks investigated, and, in it, the reader is treated to a beautifully illustrated journey that truly explores the Seven Seas.

TIMOTHY J. RUNYAN Greenville, North Carolina

America and the Sea: Treasures from the Collections of Mystic Seaport, introduction by Stephen S. Lash; essays by Daniel Finamore, N icholas Whitman, Erik Ronnberg Jr., William Fowler, Michael McManus, Llewellyn Howland III, and Ryan M. Cooper (Yale University Press, New H aven, CT, 2005, 159pp, illus, photos , ISBN: 0-3001-1402-8 $39.95hc) One of our most renowned maritime museums has published a lovely coffee table book, America and the Sea: Treasures from the Collections ofMystic Seaport, presenting selections from the museum's remarkable maritime collections. While not as large in format as many other "picture" books, the value of Mystic's latest offering is its elegant presentation and refreshing diversity of maritime themes: paintings, photographs, ship models, library holdings, scrimshaw, ship plans, and figureheads.

Poignant essays by distinguished experts introduce each section and explain the hisrorical and cultural importance of the fine art, folk art, and original documents featured within. Some of the items will seem familiar, but there are also gems hidden in Mystic's collection that may have escaped notice.

Don't expect America and the Sea to give yo u the "Mystic experience" (and it sure would be nice to give it a more original title). The Seaport's setting on the Mystic River with its vessels, period and historic buildings, and highly qualified staff arraying the campus hold much of the magic of the visitor's experience. Nonetheless, if you are enchanted by that magic, yo u will enjoy this bound collection of many of its more hidden treas ures-treasures yo u probably wo uld not have access to or time to investigate while you're there.

CATHY GREEN Alpena, Michigan SEA HISTORY 115, SUMMER 2006

Two books by L. Peter Wren ..

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Science, technology, history, sea lore, heroism, corruption and intrigue combine in nine tales of underwa ter forensic investigations

Deep-Sea Detectives: Maritime Mysteries and Forensic Science

by Peter R. Limburg "It's Sherl ock Holmes with bubbles .... These fascinating tales of scoundrels and submersibles make for terrific adventures in the little-known world of undersea forensics ."

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DENNIS MEREDITH , DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS , DUKE UNIVERSITY

"If yo u are intrigued by the sea or w recks, yo u will thoroughly enjoy this book. ... Peter Limburg h as put togeth er, in o ne p leasant read, an excellent selection of ch allenges caused by the all-powerful waters of the world and m an's effo rts to deal with them .

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ECW Press, Toronto, Canada â&#x20AC;˘ $17.95 US 277 pages, 8-page photo insert Available from online booksellers and fine bookstores

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Double Gold & Gold, San Francisco Wirld Spi,rits Competition, 2iJ03 & 2iJOS

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Forbes writes, "Pusser s is still made in the same way it was at the time of Trafalgar - in wooden pot-stills as opposed to modern industrial column-stills. This results in the most full-flavored, intense rum available anywhere ".

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