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SEA HISTORY 116, AUTU MN 2006
No. 117
SEA HISTORY
WINTER 2006-07
CONTENTS
FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE 13 Escape Aboard Catalpa, by D eirdre E. O 'Regan Ships have smuggled contraband in and out of countries for centuries, sometimes with human cargo, as in the case ofillegal slave trading. People have used ships and boats to sneak in and out offorbidden shores for just as long. In 1876, the New Bedford whaler Catalpa provided the means for a daring escape for six Fenian political prisoners in Western Australia.
14 Benedict Arnold's Navy in the Battle ofValcour Bay, by James Nelson In the fall of 1776, all eyes were focused on the campaign in northeastern New York state, on the waters ofLake Champlain, as to which side would gain control of this strategic corridor. One of our nation's most notorious traitors, at that stage in history, was one ofour most reliable generals. H e led an ambitious effort to quickly build a fleet of naval vessels on the lake and go head-to-head with the mighty British navy.
13
20 Maritime History on the Internet: Sources for Maritime E-books, by Peter McCracken 22 Globalization and the Golden Gate: Maritime San Francisco in the Nineteenth Century, by T imothy Lynch, PhD Globalization is nothing new to San Francisco. From its beginnings as a gold rush boom town, the city has always assumed a vital role in the global maritime economy.
28 Historic Ships on a Lee Shore: Building an American Ship Trust, by Peter Stanford
14
NMH S President Emeritus Peter Stanford builds a case for a creating an American Ship Trust to check the flow of historic ships meeting the wrecking ball.
34 Black Hands, Blue Seas: Matthew Henson at the North Pole by Elysa Engelman, PhD When Arctic explorer Robert Peary met Matthew H enson, he was imp ressed by the former seaman's experience sailing on merchant ships across the world's oceans. So began a twenty-year relationship that ended when they reached the North Pole. Peary went on to fame; H enson faded to the background. Same feat, opp osite fa tes.
22
COVER: Sh ipp ing Out through the Golden Gate, photo by Sandra Cannon (www.sfbayimages.co m). The City ofSan Francisco has a rich history of maritime commerce with ports around the globe and within the Bay itself See page 22-25 to learn about the roots of this thriving port.
DEPARTMENTS 4 D ECK LO G 5 L ETTERS 8 NM H S : A CAUSE IN MOTIO N 30 Sea H istory FOR Krns
38 47 48
S HIP NOTES, S EAPORT & M USEUM NEWS CALEN DAR REVIEWS
34
52 PATRONS
Sea H istory and the National Maritime Historical Society Sea H istory e-mail: edirorial@seahisrory.org; NMH S e-mail: nmhs@seah isrory.org;
Web site: www.seahistory.o rg. Ph: 914 737-7878; 800 22 1-NMH S MEMBERSHIP is invited. Afrerguard $ 10,000; Benefactor $5,000; Plankowner $2,500; Sponsor $ 1,000; Donor $500; Patro n $250; Friend $ 100; Contriburor $75;
Family $50; Regular $3 5. All members outside the USA please add $ 10 for postage. Sea History is sent to al l members. Individ ual copies cost $3 .75 .
SEA HISTORY (issn 01 46-93 12) is published quarte rly by the National Maritime Histo ri cal Society, 5 John Walsh Blvd., PO Box 68, Pee kskill N Y 10566. Periodicals postage paid at Pee kskill NY 10566 and add'l mailing offices. CO PYRIG H T Š 2006 by th e National Maritime Historical Society. Tel: 9 14-737-7878. POSTMAST ER: Send address changes ro Sea History, PO Box 68, Peekskill NY 10566.
NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY
DECK LOG From the Chairman's Desk... A NEW PRESIDENT ... On behalf of the board of trustees, I am extremely pleased to announce that we have elected Burchenal Green the new president of the National Maritime Historical Society. Burchie joined the Society eleven years ago. Working for Norma and Peter Stanford, she learned the importance of the Society's work as a national voice for the maritime heritage. Following the retirements of Peter Stanford and Patrick Garvey, she has run the organization since 2002 as Executive Vice President. Under Burchie's leadership, we have advanced the Society's priorities and goals by furthering the excellence of Sea H istory, developing a web site with important maritime resources, working in close cooperation with organizations involved in promoting and preserving our seafaring heritage, bringing the resource of our 7,000 volume library to the NMHS President Burchenal Green public, and publishing more educational materials. Working closely with the NMHS board, Burchie has established a sound financial basis for the Society and has increased our membership to give us a more powerful voice. AND A NEW"WEB SITE ... We are also pleased to announce that the NMHS web sire at www.seahistory.org has been expanded and given a thoroughly new design, and we hope you will promote it to friends, schools and organizations. NMHS's Janet Miller and Julia Church spearheaded this project, working with webmaster Brigham Pendleton, ofBrigham Pendleton D esigns. You will find a wealth Burchie climbs aboard the USCG barque of information on the Society, historic Eagle from a Coast Guard cutter as Assistant ships that need preservation, a calendar Parade M arshall in the I 998 Parade of Sail of maritime-related events, and wonthe Society organized on the Hudson River. d er fiu1 items ¡ c th e h ol"d to b uy wr 1 ays. Encourage young people yo u know to visit the "Sea History for Kids" section for both play and study. WALTER R. BROWN, Chairman
CVS Demolishes New York Central No. 16 It is with a heavy heart I report that CVS Pharmacy destroyed New York Central No. I 6, the 1924 steam rug featured in our previous issue. No one could have worked harder than Charles Schneider to save the tug. The C ity of Bayonne had committed to preserving and displaying it in a park overlooking the harbor where it had toiled so long; McAllister Towing agreed to move it from Cape Cod to Bayonne; Gladsky Marine of New York offered to move it from the McAllister tow and place it in the Bayonne park. Thousands of dollars were pledged and checks arrived here at headquarters to pay for the one final part of the process-the move from the parking lot CVS had purchased for a new store in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, to the dock, just one mile down the road. In the week before the deadline, CVS allowed parts to be stripped and demolished the boar. We were sadly dismayed by this callous disregard of any effort to preserve our nation's heritage by one of America's well-known retailers. Not that anyone cared, but I took my CVS card and threw it unceremoniously into the garbage pail. The priorities of those who could have helped so easily are an outrage, but they will make us stronger in our resolve to win the next battle. BuRCHENAL GREEN, President
4
•
NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PUBLISHER'S CIRCLE: Wi lli am H. White
Peter
Aron,
OFFICERS & TRUSTEES: Chairman, Walter R. Brown; Vice Chairman, Richardo R. Lopes; President, Burchenal Green; Treasurer, Ronald L. Oswald; Secretary, Thomas F. Daly; Trustees, Paul F. Balser, David S. Fowler, Virginia Steele Grubb, Rodney N. Houghton, Steven W Jones, Robert Kamm, Richard M. Larrabee, Warren Leback, Guy E. C. Maitland, Karen Markoe, John R. McDonald Jr., Michael McKay, James J. McNamara, Howard Slotnick, Bradford D. Smith, H. C. Bowen Smith, Philip J. Webster, William H. White; Trustees Elect, Daniel Green, Philip ]. Shapiro, Captain Cesare Sario; Chairmen Emeriti, Alan G. Choate, Guy E. C. Maitland, Craig A. C. Reynolds, Howard Slotnick; President Emeritus, Peter Stanford FOUNDER: Karl Kortum (191 7-1996) OVERSEERS: Chairman, RADM David C. Brown; Walter Cronkite, Clive Cussler, Richard du Moulin, Alan D. Hutchison, Jakob Isbrandtsen, John Lehman, Warren Marr, II, Brian A. McAllister, John Stobart, W illiam G. W in terer NMHS ADVISORS: Co-Chairmen, Frank 0. Braynard, Melbourne Smith; D. K. Abbass, George F. Bass, Francis E. Bowker, Oswald L. Brett, RADM Joseph F. Callo, Francis J. Duffy, John W. Ewald, Timothy Foote, William Gi lkerson, Thomas Gillmer, Walter J. Handelman, Steven A. Hyman, Hajo Knuttel, Gunna r Lundeberg, Joseph A. Maggio, Co nrad Mi lste r, W illiam G. Muller, David E. Perkins, Nancy Hughes Richardson, Shannon J. Wall SEA HISTORY EDITOIUAL ADVISORY BOARD: Chairman, Timothy J. Runyan; Norman ]. Brouwer, Robert Browning, William S. Dudley, Daniel Finamore, Kevin Foster, John 0. Jensen, Joseph F. Meany, Lisa No rling, Ca rla Rahn Phillips, Walter Rybka, Quentin Snediker, William H. White
NMHS STAFF: Executive Director, Burchenal Green; Membership Director, Nancy Schnaars; Director of Marketing, Steve Lovass-Nagy; Marketing & Executive Assistant, Julia Church; Accounting, Jill Romeo; Membership Assistant, Jan e Maurice SEA HISTORY Editor, Deirdre E. O 'Regan; Advertising Representative, Wendy Paggiotta; Editor-at-Large, Peter Stanford; "Sea History for Kids" is edited by Deirdre E. O ' Regan
SEA HISTORY 117, WINTER 2006-07
LETTERS Decatur's Grave site enjoyed reading William White's "Heroes of the Sailing Navy: Stephen Decatur Jr." (Sea History 116, Autumn 2006). I was distressed, however, by the statemem that Stephen Decatur was buried in Washington, DC. I visited Decatur's grave site and that of his wife, Susan, in a church graveyard in Philadelphia. This obvious discrepancy in Mr. White's accoum leads me to ask if Decatur's remains perhaps were reinterred in the Philadelphia site after the burial in Washington. ]OHN E. BECK Leesburg, Virginia
I noticed Guy E. C. Maitland listed as a Trustee. Could he be related to an old shipmate of mine of the same name who
USS George Washington arrives in New York with President Wilson onboard, July 1919. served on the USAT George "Washington d uring World War II? Mr. Maitland and I were both senior engineers on the "GW," which was launched in 1908 as the German passenger liner, SS George "Washington. I presume that she was so named to attract the mass immigration from Russia, Poland, etc. The business of transporting immigrants across the Atlantic was a tremendous boon for shipping at the time and highly competitive. The story of the "Washington becoming a US troop transport is noteworthy. She transported President Woodrow Wilson to Europe at the end of World War I to the League of Nations' formative congress.
She was a fine vessel. As first engineer, I was in charge of the main engines-two giant reciprocating engines. Maitland was also classed first engineer, and he was responsible for all the auxiliary mach inery from the anchor windlass to the steering engines plus all the machinery in between. This req uired Maitland to spend a lot of time in the troop and passenger spaces. We carried a lot of the fair sex (i.e. nurses, USO performers, Red Cross personnel, etc.), and Maitland, being a personable individual, also saw to it that th ese passengers were properly entertained! GEORGE
T.
FITZGERALD
Clemons, South Carolina
From the Editor: As Mr. Fitzgerald noted, the story of USAT George Washington's "Lives" is worthy ofa Little more information. USAT George Washington (/!rmy Transport, 1919-21and1943-47) was originally named SS Geo rge Washington. She was built in Stettin, Germany, and could carry 2,700 passengers, many ofthem emigrants to the US. When World "War I broke out, the ship was in port at Hoboken, NJ. She stayed there, inactive, for nearly three years until the US entered the conflict and seized the ship. They converted her to a troop transport at the New York Navy Yard right away, and she began carrying troops to Europe early in December 1917. During the next two years, she carried some 48, 000 people to Europe and
Join Us for a Voyage into History snapped these photos ofDecatur's gravesite in ••liilllliilii.J Philadelphia. From the Editor: In this case, both are correct. Stephen Decatur's remains were temporarily deposited in the tomb ofJoel Barlow at "Washington, DC, and later were moved to Philadelphia. (Source: Stephen Decatur ZB file, Box 62, Navy Department Library.) USAT George Washington Shipmates A good friend sent me a copy of your most interesting magazine. I really enjoyed reading the articles and even the ads-please accept my "Well Done."
SEAHISTORY 117, WINTER2006-07
Our seafaring heritage comes alive in the pages of Sea Histo1y, from the ancient mariners of Greece to Portuguese navigators opening up the ocean world to the heroic efforts of sailors in modern-day conflicts. Each issue brings new in sights 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 workada y craft, then you belong with us.
Join Today! Mail in the form below, phone l 800 221-NMHS (6647), or visit us at: www.seahistory.org (e-mail: nmhs@seahistory.org)
Yes, I want to join the Society and receive Sea History quarterly. My contribution is enclosed. ($ 17.50 is for Sea History; any amount above that is tax ded uctible.) Sign me up as: D $35 Regular Member D $50 Family Member D $ 100 Friend D $250 Patton D $500 Donor
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We Welcome Your Letters! E-m ail: editorial@seahistory.org O r m ail to : Editor, Sea H istory 7 T imberknoll Rd., Pocasset, MA 0 2559
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returned 34, 000 to the United States. The ship was decommissioned in November 19 19 and turned over to the ~r Department. In 1921 she returned to commercial service as a passenger liner under the American flag for ten years. In 1941 she was briefly p ut back into naval service as USS Carlin (AP- 19) and operated as a British and US civilianmanned transport through 1942. The ship was then refitted with new oil-fired boilers to improve her performance and was again put in service as an Army Transport beginning in April 1943. Laid up in 1947, she was sold for scrap in 1951 . (Source: Naval H istorical Cen ter; www. history. navy. mil) Giving Credit Where Credit is DueECU's Frank Cantelas Dr. Bill Still's article o n the Maritime Studies Program at East Carolina University provided an ourline fo r the development of the program , of whi ch I am proud to have been a part. Such a quick overview, of course, cannot detail some of the factors that make a uni versity program succeed . In this case, I'd like to bring attentio n to m aritime archaeologist Frank Cantelas, who has recently left ECU afte r more than a decade of service to accept a new pos ition as Nautical Archaeologist/Scientist for N OAA's Office of Ocean Exploration . The O ffice of Ocean Exploration is probably best known to those involved in maritime archaeology because of their grants program. Each year, several million dollars in grant fundin g are awa rded to research and educati on projects that range from coastal sites to the deep sea. Fran k Cantelas and I collabo rated o n behalf of the ECU Maritime Studies Program on several successful Ocea n Exploratio n grant proposals. Amo ng these was the Ocracoke Shipwreck Survey, where 2, 000 shipwrecks were identified in the area between Cape H atteras and Cape Lookout, NC. Frank organized rem ote sensing expeditions that located som e of these sires. Frank was Principal Inves tigator on the 2004 expedi tion to Kodiak, Alaska, to identi fy what was identi fied as rhe Russian-American Company ship, Kad'yak, lost in 1870. H is re mote sensing skills proved invaluable to the joint project involving ECU, rhe O ffi ce of Naval Research , the NOAA Na tio nal M arine
Sanctuaries Program, rhe US Navy Subm arine Fleer Atlantic, and others, to search for rhe Navy's first submarine, USS Alligator, lose off Cape H atteras. As a graduate student, Frank directed the investigation of rhe C ivil War vessel Maple Leaf char sank near Jacksonville, Florida, and helped es tablish rhe program's reputation fo r rhe quality of its wo rk in black water. Designated a Natio nal Landmark, th e Maple Leaf wreck site yielded
approxi mately 30,000 artifacts for Flo rida museums-all recovered from a zero-visibili ty sire. Frank has used his scientific diving skills to dive to USS Mo nitor (240 ft. below the surface) and deep wrecks within the Thunder Bay National M arine San ctuary. His work o n an early schooner fo und in the U pper Peninsula of M ichigan contri buted to a national award by the American Associatio n fo r Stare and Local Histo ry. As a m ember of an academic program , perhaps Frank's greatest contribution was to rhe students. As staff archaeologist from 1995 to 2006, he provided behind-rhescenes support and instruction to countless graduate students in their research and in archaeological inves tigations for student thes is proj ects. While I served as director of the Program , there was a constant stream of students coming upstairs in Eller H ouse to see if Frank was in. No ne can rem ember him saying anything bur, "sure, I can help yo u."
SEA Hl STORY 117, WINTER 2006-07
The ECU Maritime Studies Program has, as Dr. Still noted, produced some of this country's leading professionals in the maritime heritage field. Many can thank Frank for helping to get them there. We wish him fair winds and expect to read, in future issues of Sea History, about the great wo rks he is abo ut to produce with NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration.
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1-800-448-5567 Corrigendum My article in Sea History 113 (Winter 2005-06) , "A French Spoliation Case: Not-Quite Justice After Never-Was War," suggested that the Netherlands never paid restitution for the illegal condemnation of the Baltimore schooner Mary and her cargo at Dutch C ura<;:ao in 1800. Further research estab lished rhar, in fact, they did. The serrlemenr derails were found in Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States ofAmerica (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1934, Documenrs 80-121: 1836-1846, Vol. 4: 179) . While rhe Durch and the US were negotiating a treaty of commerce and navigation in 1838, "the King of rhe Netherlands ... in further illustration of his character for justice and of his desire to remove every cause of dissatisfaction," ordered the spoli ation claim resolved. By then it had been an ongoing irritant between the two countries for nearly 40 years. His Minister of Fo reign Affairs, Baron Verstolk de Soelen, in discussions with Auguste Danezac, US Charge D 'affaires, offered the sum of $62,692. The Durch insisted on dealing only with the US governmenr, not rhe private claimants, and that rhe US rake responsibility for apportioning shares in rhe proceeds. The US divided rhe money among a Phi ladelphia claims agent (who received about a third in fees and expenses), two Baltimore insurance companies and another in New York, with a leftover 4/23 for the heirs of Mary's owner. The US government also agreed to indemnify the Durch against any remaining demandseither by rhe Americans, the French privateers (the corsair Renommee, Cap r. Joseph Rodnigan), or rhe French government. JOH N B. YELLOTT Charlorresville, Virginia
SEA HISTORY 11 7, WINTER 2006-07
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NMHS: A CAUSE IN MOTION Paying Homage to the History ofAmerica's Cup at the New York Yacht Club
A
m erica's cup, the oldest and most distinguished trophy in all sport, was the single absentee in a gala eveni ng of yacht designers, sailors, shipping magnates, historians, and guests, as the Society honored Olin ]. Stephens II, Gary Jobson, and Clay Maitland in a grand awards ceremony at the New York Yacht C lub. Richard du Moulin eloquently summarized the contributions of the award recipients in his presentation remarks. Looking around at the hundreds of models in the yacht club's Model Room, he noted how clear was the influence of O lin Stephens. Gary Jobson has evolved to become the spokesman for the sport and has been able to engage a large audience in keeping the sport of yacht racing alive and exciting, from the student level to experienced professionals. Clay Maitland's commitment to the maritime community is, of course, legendary, and Mr. du Moulin said he knew Mr. Maitland as someone on whom the community could always count. In their acceptance remarks, Clay Maitland, Olin Stephens, and Gary Jobson each expressed how critical history has been to them in their careers and applauded the Society's role in the dissemination of maritime history. Members and guests joined in the celebration from all over the country to honor the award recipients. Buck Buchanan, chairman of the Annapolis Maritime Museum planned for that city, brought a large contingent of Gary Jobson's Annapolis friends to
'
(above) The Model Room is always a spectacular setting/or the AnnualAwards Dinner. (right) Everyone wins! Capt. Brian McAllister purchased this original oil painting by artist William Muller, of which a portion of the proceeds benefits the Society. (l-r) NMHS Chairman Walter Brown, Olin Stephens, Brian McAllister, and William Muller.
fere his accomplishments in the very club where the adventure of America's C up first started in 1851. Annapolis's Weems and Plath donated magnificent presenration clocks to honor the occasion. So much of the even ing's best moments rook place in (left to right) Gary Jobson, Dinner Committee Co-Chair David individual conversaFowler, Richard du Moulin, Clay Maitland, Dinner Committee tions in the gathering Co-Chair John McDonald, Jr., Olin Stephens, Ron Oswald, NMHS of those who share Chairman Walter Brown, Tom Daly, Peter Drakos, Emery Harper. more than a casual interest in maritime hi story. " Running Tide," Olin Stephens answere d ro Dan Whalen's question, "What boat are you most proud of?"
"She was a little less beamy and yet had some of the same characteristics of safety of other yachts. Ir's not an easy answer-I guess I could also choose other boats too." Dan Green joined in with, "That was once Jakob Isbrandtsen's boat." Mr. Isbrandtsen, a legend in the field of ship restoration and education, was also present with his wife Marilyn and daughter Ellen Sykes, now Vice Chairman at South Street Seaport. -Burchenal Green, President
(right) Richard du Moulin asks Gary Jobson's daughters, Kristi and Brooke, to step forward and join their father at the podium.
8
SEA HISTORY 117, WINTER 2006-07
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Eighth Maritime Heritage Conference 9~12
N
October 2007
T
he 8th Maritime Heritage Conference will be held next fall in San Diego, California. Hosted by the Maritime Museum of San Diego, conferees will be wholly immersed in the maritime world-sessions will be held onboard the museum's fleet of historic vessels, as well as the nearby USS Midway. The Maritime Heritage Conference is a triennial event, bringing together hundreds of people representing all aspects of maritime heritage, from academia to museums to sail training organizations, historic ship preservationists to independent researchers-anyone with an interest and/or expertise in the field of maritime heritage. Over 500 people attended the 2004 conference held in Norfolk, Virginia. General information and updates on the conference program and accommodations can be found on the Maritime Museum of San Diego's website at: www.sdmaritime.org.
Maritime Herita e s
Maritime Museum of San Diego
CALL FOR PAPERS
The Conference Program Committee invites abstracts for individual papers (15-30 minutes in length) and session proposals (three or four papers in 75 minutes). Papers may address a specific subject or aspects of the broader themes of the conference. Among the themes the conference will focus on are:
Maritime and Naval History - History of Hydrographic Surveys Oceanic Trade and Communications - National Marine Sanctuaries - Marine Art Shipbuilding - Ship Preservation - Small Craft - Lighthouses and Lifesaving Stations Historic Ships - Underwater Archaeology - Maritime Libraries and Museums Maritime Heritage Education
Conference sessions will be he/J onboartl the museum's fleet ofhistoric vessels, including the iron barque Star oflndia. ~
Abstracts should be typed and consist of no more than one single-spaced page. Each abstract must be accompanied by a CV of no more than three pages. Abstracts and CVs are due no later than 1 June 2007 and should clearly outline the paper's argumentation, its place within the broader themes in maritime history noted above, the umbrella organization to which the presenter belongs (if applicable), as welt as the paper's estimated time limit. Abstracts should be sent, preferably by e-mail, to the Conference Program Chair, Kevin Sheehan, at: The Maritime Museum of San Diego, 1492 North Harbor Drive, San Diego, California 92101; Ph. 619 2349153, ext. 118; fax: 619 234-8345; e-mail: librarian@sdmaritime.org. Organizations wishing to conduct their business meetings on Saturday, 13 October, may reserve facilities by contacting the Conference Coordinator, Robyn Wilner, Ph. 619 234-9153, ext. 106; fax: 619 234-8345; e-mail: rwilner@sdmaritime.org.
Conference participants include: The National Maritime Historical Society, the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum, the American Lighthouse Coordinating Committee, the Council of American Maritime Museums, the Historic Naval Ships Association, NOAA, the Museum Small Craft Association, the National Park Service, the Naval Historical Foundation, the North American Society for Oceanic History, the Nautical Research Guild, the US Life-Saving Service Heritage Association, and the US Lighthouse Society. 10
SEA HISTORY 117, WINTER 2006-07
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SEA HISTORY 117, WINTER 2006-07
By Deirdre O'Regan
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hips have long been used to smuggle had been members of the military at the and were transported overland to Rockingcontraband to unguarded shores. In time of their arrest were denied. In the US, ham. From there, Catalpa's whaleboat was 1875, an unusual cargo was smug- O'Reilly and other Fenian supporters began waiting to rake them to the ship. News of Out of one country and welcomed the escape reached the authorities, but by a covert campaign to help them escape. By 1875 the Clan na Gael, the Ameri- the time they arrived at the beach to interuother aboard an American whaler, barque Catalpa from New Bedford, can Irish Republican Brotherhood of which cept, the whaleboat was underway and out O'Reilly was a member, raised enough of range. SS Georgette, in port at Fremantle, chuserrs. Registered to whaling agen t John money to buy a cargo ship, Catalpa, and re- was imm ediately commissioned to help re!Richardson, Catalpa sailed from New fitted her as a whaling ship. When Captain capture the fugitives . rd in April of 1875, bound for the Anthony put in at the Azores to offload her As the crew and the six escapees tic whaling gro unds. As the ~------------------~ were rowing fo r Catalpa in the late cleared the harbor, only Captain rge Anthony, Richardson's son-inknew that the ship was embarkon a secret and dangero us mission - t o sail to Wes tern Australia effect the escape of eight Fenian 'tical prisoners, locked away in the ous Fremantle Prison.
hours of the day, a squall bore down on the open boa r and they lost sight of her. They did not reach the relative safety of the mo ther ship until the following day. O ver the next rwo days, SS Georgette, the whaleboat, and Catalpa played a dangero us game of cat and mouse. As Captain Anthony made for the open sea, eventually the steamer overtook them and fired shots across und society that was growing his bow, ordering him to heave to. • g the 1860s, both in Ireland in the US. Its activities included Captain Anthony claimed they had reached international waters and · ed rebellion against British rule land and a number of small, inpointed to the American ensign flying After her part in the daring rescue of the Fenians, overhead. Unsure about their position Catalpa returned to New Bedford and resumed whaling. and unwilling to create an internaerican branch of the organization. British authorities arrested dozens of legitimate cargo of whale oil, he rook on tio nal "incident," rhe police superintendent ners of the movement berween 1865 provisions and recruited a new crew after reluctantly let them pass. 1867 and shipped sixty-rwo of them to most of his whaling crew deserted. Word of the successful escape reached The ship made port in Bunbury, West- O 'Reilly and the rest of the world in June. penal colony in Western Australia. Among the detainees was John Boyle ern Australia, on 27 March 1876. Captain By the rime Catalpa arrived in New York · y, who eventually escaped and made Anthony immediately sailed to Fremantle rwo months later, her captain, crew, and way to Boston aboard an American aboard the coastal steamer Georgette, along the six Irishmen were received with great ship. O 'Reilly stayed in Boston with the Fenian age nt John Breslin. Breslin fanfare . The ship returned to New Bedford became a newspaper editor and a re- and his contacts got word to the eight Fe- and continued her career as a whaler uncitizen. In 1869 and again in 187 1, nian prisoners who were scheduled to join til 1884, when John Richardson sold her. Captain George Anthony could no longer British government granted conditional work parties outside the prison. Six of the eight Fenian prisoners suc- sail in in ternational waters without risk of ns to most of the Fenians still imprisin Western Australia, bur those who cessfully escaped from their work parties being caught by the Royal Navy. 1.
Boyle O 'Reilly helped organize the rescue ofeight Fenians incarcerated at the Fremantle Prison in Australia. Six successfolly escaped and to New Yo rk in 1876 onboard the New Bedford whaler, Catalpa. Pictured above (l to r): O'Reilly and fugitives Thomas Darragh, 'Itel Harrington, and Robert Cranston; the other three were (not pictured) Martin Hogan, Thomas Hassett, and James Wilson.
HISTORY 11 7, WINTER 2006-07
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by Jam es L. Nelson
"That the Americans were strong enough to impose the capitulation of Saratoga was due to the invaluable year of delay secured to them in 1776 by their little navy on Lake Champlain, created by the indomitable energy, and handled with the indomitable courage of the traitor, Benedict Arnold." -Alfred T. Mahan
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he Americans knew they were coming. For days the wind had bl ow n out of the south, and the Americans, huddled o n their a nchored ships, could relax just a bit, k nowing that the powerful British fleet could no t sail down the la ke in the face of that w ind. Then, on the morning of 11 October 1776, the wind backed aro und out of the north, fa ir fo r a fleet trying to wo rk south . It was a clea r day on Lake C hamplain, the fin est k ind of crisp Aucu m n weather, the leaves on the hardwoods brilliant with colo r. The m en in the boars could see snow on the wes tern Adi ro ndack mountains. The A merica n fleet, under the comm and of Bri gadier General Benedict A rnold, lay a nchored in Valcour Bay, where they had been since September 24th. Despite the fl eet's defensive "back against the wall " position, rheAmerica nswere unlikely to get trapped in a dead end. Arnold had chosen well ; the channel between Valcour Island and the m ainland was deep enough along its enti re leng th fo r ships to pass. His position was as close to holding entrenched hi gh gro und as one could get in a naval battle, with an escape route in the rea r. His fl eet consisted of eight go ndolas, three row galleys, two schooners, a sloop and a cutter. Most of the vessels had been built at the southern end of the lake over the summer and into the early fal l under Arnold's supervisio n. One of the few office rs in the no rthern army with maritime experience, fo r th e pas t yea r he had been ubiq ui to us in the fighting in that theater.
I twas betwee n 7 a nd 8AM when a guard boar appea red, which A rnold had sent out earlier, pulling hard for the fleer. The boar crew fired a gun as an ala rm a nd reported the news forwhi ch A rnold and his m en had been wa itin g over a month- the British were on their way.
The British Fleet Sails Benedict A rnold did not kn ow it, indeed he did not even think it, but after months of wo rk, the British were in possession of a fleet considerably superior to his. W hile Arnold and his men labo red on the American boats at Skenesborough (now W hitehall, New York), a contingent of the Royal Navy under Sir G uy Carleton, British Governor of Quebec and the overall military comm ander of Bri tish fo rces in the region, tra nsformed the fo rt at Sr. John's, Canada, into a shipya rd a nd had turned out an impress ive fl eet on the lake. In addition to the gunboats and smaller vessels they built on sire, they also reassembled a th ree-m as ted ship and two schooners, which had been dism antled and transported overland to the lake from the Sr. Lawrence River. 1he largest of the Bri tish vessels was the ship-rigged I nflexible, mounting eighteen 12-po unders. The fl at-bo ttom ed, kerchrigged radeau, Thunderer, mounted six 24-pounders and two howitzers. Rounding out the British fo rce we re two schooners, two gondolas, a nd nea rly two do zen gunboats, which mounted guns as large as 24 -pounders in their bows-firepower the A mericans could not hope to m atch .
(map, right) Lake Champlain, 1776, from Fort St. j ohn to the north to Fort Ticonderoga to the south; Valcour Island is located halfway down this map between the western shore ofthe lake and Grand Isle. Lake Champlain is a 12 0-mile-long navigable waterway separating what is now Vermont from New York State and reaching up into Canada. In the 18th century, it p rovided the only reasonable means for travel north and south in a region with no roads and surrounded by wilderness. Several military campaigns crossed its waters and those of Lake George on their way to Canada, and some battled on the lake itself In 1776, with the British entrenched in New York to the south and Canada to the north, control ofthis important corridor was critical to gaining and maintaining control ofthe northeast. Eighteen months into the war, the Americans, under the command of Benedict A rnold, built a "rag-tag" fleet at the southern end of the lake that would go on to check the British army's ability to divide the northeastern colonies. 14
SEA HISTORY 11 7, WINTER 2006-07
The British fleet mounted about eighty-nine guns on thirty-fo ur vessels. The Americans carried somewhat less, seventy-eight guns (not counting swivel guns) on fifteen vessels. These numbers by themselves are deceiving, however, because the cumulative weight of the shot fired , the "weight of metal," was a crucial factor in naval strength, and there the British were far ahead of the Americans. The British guns were bigger, and all together fired a weight of metal of over a thousand pounds, while the American fleet fired just over six hundred. The larger vessels of both sides, with their guns arranged in broadside, could only bring half their guns to bear at any one time. On the British side, however, the gunboats would bear the brunt of the fighting. With their single guns forward , which could always be brought to bear on the enemy, they had no disengaged side. Arnold's gondolas each mounted three
big guns. In their bows they carried 9- or 12-pounders, w ith a 9-pounder to port and one to starboard. Ir might have been possible for the bow gun and one broadside gu n to find a target at the same time, but never all three. Thus, more than a third of the American guns could not bear on the enemy during the fight, making the Americans' odds that much worse. The Americans, who for months now had assu med the Brirish would never be able to match their forc e on the lake, were about to find out how wrong they were.
The British Invasion from the North At first light the British fl eet weighed anchor and got underway. Captain George Pausch, a Hessian artillery officer commanding two of the British gunboats, kept out of the way as blue-jacketed sailors cleared away the running gear and set sail. The gunboats, like Arnold 's gondolas, were designed to move under sail or oar, but on the morning of 11 October, "with favorable wind," Pausch wrote, "got very early under sail. At 5 o'clock in the morning, we received orders to get in readiness for a n engagement." Around 9:30AM, the British fleet passed
Brigadier General Benedict Arnold Cumberland Head, just north ofValcour Island. Cumberland Bay came into view and, according to Dr. Robert Knox onboard Maria, " to our great mortification, we cou' d discover no ship." Nonetheless, they were just seven miles from the American fleet and less than an hour from coming to grips with them.
The Battle Begins Afrer hearing the report from the guard boat's crew, Arnold dispatched a scouting parry to the north end of Valcour Island to "See which way the fleet was a going," whether they would pass down the east side of Valcour Island, as he hoped, or swing around into the channel between the island and the mainland and come up astern of the Americans.
(left) The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum's full-sized replica gunboat Philadelphia II serves as a floating classroom, interpreting the Battle o/Valcour Island at the museum and in ports along the lake. The originalgunboat Philadelph ia (below) was raisedfrom the lake bottom in 1935 and is now displayed at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum ofAmerican H istory; she is aNationa!H istoric Landmark. The last gunboat from Arnold's fleet, Spitfire, was located on the bottom of Valcour Bay in 1997 during LCMM's remote sensing survey ofthe Lake. Nautical archaeologists are still at work surveying the underwater battlefield at Valcour Bay and bringing artifacts back the museum for conservation and exhibition. LCMM is open to visitors from fate May to mid-October; educational programs, research and conservation work continue year-round. (See www. LCMM.org)
SEA HISTORY 11 7, WINTER 2006-07
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from the schooner Royal Savage to the galley Congress, making the latter his flagship. Arnold sent Wigglesworth out in a yawl boat to track the enemy's movements. He
Arnold consulted with his chiefofficers, General David Waterb ury, second in command, and Colonel Edward Wigglesworth, third, who joined him aboard the schooner
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A British map made shordy after the Battle of Valcour Island shows the disposition ofthe British and American fleets on 11 October 1776 Royal Savage. Arnold asked for opinions on how the battle should be fought. Waterbury contended that the "fleet ought to Com to Saill," stand out of the harbor and meet the enemy, "Not Ly Where We Shold Be Surrounded." Waterbury wor ried that the British would divide their forces. One division might approach from the north, down the passage between the northern end of Valcour Island and the mainland and attack the American fleet from wi ndward, while another wo uld come the other way around the island and hit them from the south. The Americans would be trapped between them, caught in a crossfire with no escape route. It was a valid concern, and the British may well have contemplated such a move. James Hadden, a British army arti llery officer, complained that the British fleet's racing into battle "lost to us the opportunity of going in at the upper end of the Island and attacking the whole at once." On the American side, Arnold h ad to weigh that possibility again st the near certainty that his fleet would be crushed in a ship-to-ship duel on open water. Arnold declined Waterbury's suggestion and dismissed the war council. It was time to prepare to fight. Arnold transferred 16
ordered Royal Savage and the galleys Trumbull and Washington underway and formed h is gondolas up into a defensive line.
"One of the Enemies Vessels was discover'd ... " Why Arnold sent the schooner and galleys out is unclear, unless it was to lure the British into a fight and prevent them from simply bypassing the fleet. At lOAM Wigglesworth returned and reported the British fleet running down the east side of Valcour Island. The instant they spied the British fleet approaching, they hauled their wind and began to beat back to the American line of battle in Valcour Bay. " [A] t my return," Wigglesworth wrote, "the three galleys and two schooners were under sail standing across the lake, between the island and the main." Arnold 's counterpart, Commodore Thomas Pringle, RN, gave his subordinates no particular instructions regarding the
sailing order of his fleet; he also gave no orders regarding the manner in which his fleet wo uld attack. Rather, like a pack of hounds, they all took off in chase of the American. "The pursuit of this vessel was without order or regularity," Lt. Hadden, recalled, lending credence to Pringle's officers' later accusations of "neglect. .. proceeding from want of capacity or want of inclination." To get at the Americans, the British had to run past the southern end ofValcour Island, come about, and wo rk their way to windward in the face of the rebels' fire, m aking Arnold's position such a good one and so brilliantly chosen. The gunboats came in first. Since they could be rowed, they were not as h ampered by the strong northerly wind as were the larger ships, and they plunged into the fight with their bow guns blasting away. The American galleys, Congress, Washington and Trumbull, rigged with weatherly lateen sails, managed to get back to Valcour Bay and take their place anchored in the line of battle before the shooting started. Not so Royal Savage. The schooner had never been a good sailer, and she was struggling to get to windward, just like the British ships . Pascal DeAngelis, serving under his stepfather Seth Warner in the Trumbull galley, was three days shy of his fourteenth birthday. He watched as the schooner "Misstayed Several times and could not Git up to the Line." As she tried to gather way, British shot damaged Royal Savage's mast and cut up her rigging, making her even more unmanageable. Twelve- and twenty-four-pound round shot slammed into her hull-a hull not built to withstand that sort of abuse-and continued to cut her up aloft. Unable to get up with the rest of the fleet and being mauled by the gunboats, her captain ran the schooner hard aground on the southwestern tip ofValcour Island. It was still before noon when the fight devolved into a brutal slugfest between the American ships and the British gunboats and longboats. "Our attack with about 27 batteaux [gunboats]," wrote Pausch, "became very fierce; and after getting to close quarters, very animated." Arnold wrote, "the engagement, became General, &verywarm." As the gunboat fleet jockeyed around, the British found that
SEA HISTORY 117, WINTER 2006-07
their best strategy was to keep about seven hundred ya rds off the American line. Ar that distance their big guns were extremely effective. Any nearer and the American grape shot could sweep through the rightly packed crews on the open boars . For the moment, the fight was nearly even, in terms of firepower, entirely because Arnold 's positioning of his fleet had deprived the British the use of their most powerful ships-the ships that Carleton had insisted on spending his entire campaign season building.
"1he Battle was *rrey Hot"
muskets from both Valcour Island and from the mainland. The long range prevented them from doing any real damage, bur they may have wo unded or killed some of the ships' crews. Gunners onboard the galley Washington swept the woods with canister shot to drive them off. The larger vessels continued t heir struggle to reach the melee. Ar some point. Inflexible approached the line of gunboats close enough to fire "several broadsides with much effect," bur she could not maintain her position in the norrherlywind. For some reason they did not anchor, and soon she was out of the fight once again.
smoke. Feeling the "want of Seamen & Gunners," Arnold personally aimed most of the guns "with good execution." Ar the center of the line and more conspicuous than the gondolas, Congress was getting a beating. With each blas t of her broadside guns, the little ship shuddered along her whole length . British round shot gouged two sections in her mainmast and wou nded the main ya rd. Iron balls slammed into her sides, smashing holes through the green wood in at least a dozen places. Th e other ships in the fleet did not get off any easier. The gondola New York was swept by enemy fire until every one of her officers was killed, save for Captain John Reed. Despite the loss of leadership onboard, the crew fought on. One of the gondola's aging guns was run out, the gun captain touched his slow match to the touch hole, and the barrel burst, sending shards of thick, hot metal whipping through the closely packed crew. Sergeant Jonas Holden was injured in the arm and side; his shipmate, Lr. Thomas Rogers, was killed.
While the British gunboats kept up their furio us duel with the Americans, the rest of The American Fleet the British fleet struggled to get their guns With the continuous, numbing blast of into play. No eighteenth-century vessel, nor heavy guns, the scream ofgrapeshot passing even a schooner, was particularly good at overhead, and the splintering, jarring crush clawing to wi ndward. Doing so was even of round shot striking home, the A merimore problematic for the square-rigged ship, can fleet was raking an awful pounding. Inflexible, and the problem was aggravated by Benedict Arnold paced the gun deck of the the confined space between the island and Congress galley, peering our at the enemy's the mainland in which they had to sail. line through the blinding, choking gun The ship least This painting by contemporary artist Ernest Haas depicts the gondola Philadelphia laying alongside the row galab le to work to ley Washington to ojfioad her crew and stores before she sank. The boat was pummeled with cannon.fire from the windward was also British guns. The cannonball that dealt the final blow was still in her hull when she was discovered on the lake bed the most powerful in 1935. In the historical record, the terms "gunboat" and "gondola" are used interchangeably. The type refers to a in the British fleer, flat-bottomed boat that could be rowed or sailed. They were square-rigged for downwind sailing. the radeau Thunderer. Lr.John Enys, on board the radeau, wrote, "o ur fleet ... were obliged to tack in order to get into the Bay. This rendered the Vessel I was on board totally useless ... We fired some few Shor at the rime we first Saw their fleer but believe it might have been just well !err alone." While the ships and boars barded eachotherwirh their great guns, a contingent of Indians fighting alongside the British began shootin g at the Americans wit h
SEA HISTORY 117, WINTER 2006-07
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As green as they were and inexperi- bored her th rew and threw." That incident probably did little to encourage the men working the rem aining guns. enced in combat, the Am ericans put up Not long after Carleton engaged , Lt. Philadelphia was struck again and a terrific fight. Pausch , a seasoned profes- D acres was wounded and knocked unagain until she began to sink at anchor. sional, was impressed . "The cannon of the conscious. The first offi cer, M idshipman Washington, like Congress, was p re tty well Rebels were well served," he wro te, "for, Robert Brown, had his right arm shot off, cut up, "hulled a N umber of Times, her as I saw afte rwa rds, our ships were pretty bur incredibly he survived. With both Main M as t Shot thro ... .bo th Vessells are well mended and patched up with boards D acres and Brown out of commission, the very leaky & want repairing." Washington's and stoppers." second officer ass umed command. Just a captain, John Thatcher, and the master were yo ung teenager at the time, Midshipman wounded ; her first lieutenant killed. Schooner Carleton Edwa rd Pellew would go on to become Trum bull came in for her sha re of the For two hours the British gunboats traded one of Engla nd 's greatest fri gate captain s enemy's shot. Round shot struck the galley's fire with the Americans before one of the during the Napoleonic Wa rs and end his m ainmas t about half-way up, sharrering British fleet's larger vessels could wo rk its days as Admiral Viscount Exm outh. As it th e w ooden spa r. _....~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~= co= u R=T= E s~ vE=RN~E= sT~H~ AAs happened, Benedict The top half leaned A rnold nea rly deover until the bits prived the British of standing rigging navy of one of their that had been holdgreatest officers. ing snapped under One of Pellew's the load. The m as t first acts was to stop plunged to the deck the men from throwbelow. The m as t's ing D acres, whom stump, still in place, they presumed dead, was badly smashed, overboard. He conth e shot h av in g tinued fighting from "shivered it almost the schooner, keepto peases ." ing the men at the Trum bull took gun s, d es pite the a twelve-pound shot intense fire from the in th e ste rn a nd Am erican s. With twe nt y or thirt y halfher crew killed or other hits aloft and wounded, Carleton's alow. The splinters deck looked like a of white oak blown The schooner Carleton was the only one of the large British vessels to seriously participate in slaughterhouse. Her from her sides proved the battle. H ere she is depicted engaged with one ofthe American gondolas and a row galley. battered hull was fillas dangerous as the ing with water, and enemy's sho t. According to yo ung Pascal way up. It was the schooner Carleton under Pellew knew that they could not rem ain D e Angelis, "our Wounded were Lieut. the command of Lt.James D acres (father of where they were. Camfield. Boatswain Cone. G unner Sim- James D acres, who, years later as a captain, The midshipman mos t likely ordered mons. James Timberlake a seaman Sarni. would surrender H MS Guerriere to USS the anchor cable slipped and the sail set. Anderson and 8 mo re Slightly Wounded Constitution). Tacking up to the fight, she Anyone who could be spared from working But Timberlake and Anderson are dead ." passed through the British gunboats near the guns sorted out the torn rigging a nd The crew continued to work the guns as fast the end of the line towa rd Valcour Island shattered gear and m anaged to hoist away as they were able. By the end of the fi ght, and most likely came to anchor about fi ve at the h alya rds. In her attemp t to get unTrumbull had emptied her magazine of or six hundred ya rds fro m the enemy. derway, Carleton hun g in stays. The badly round shot fo r her 12- and 18-pounders. Carleton opened up with her broad- damaged schooner pointed up into the wind The sloop Enterprise was being used as side of six 6-pounders and " immedi ately like a weather vane, un able to turn . Pellew a hospital ship. Boat crews pulled furiously received the Enemi es whole fi re which was dashed out onto the bowsprit, as exposed through the storm of gunfire, collecting continued without interm ission for about as he co uld possibly be to the enemy's fire, the wo unded and bringing them off to the an hour." The schooner was now closer to and hauled the jib over crying to get the sloop. Jahiel Stewart, onboard Enterprise, the Am erican line than the gunboats and schooner's head around. Even that was not enough. Luckily, later wrote, "they brought the wo unded a larger target, and the rebel gunners took abord of us the D ockters C ur of great m a ny full adva ntage of th at. " [OJ neof the Regular onboard Inflexible, Lt. Joh n Sch ank saw legs and arm and See Seven m en threw Skooners Ca me up ver rey bold ... " Stewart Carleton's predicam ent and sent two of his wro te, "we C ut her Rigen most all away & boats to tow her off. Am azingly, Inflexible's overboard that died with their wo unds."
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SEA HISTORY 117, WINTER 2006-07
boars passed through the line of gunboats and pulled through the crossfire to where they could rake up the schooner's row line. They made fast and pulled her bow arou nd, rowing the schooner southwards and our of direct fire. Before they could get entirely clear, American shot parred the row line. Pellew ran forward to pass down a new hawser. Ar last Carleton was rowed our of range. She was rhe only one of the big British vessels ro closely engage char day, bur she paid a heavy price for rhe honor.
"How do you like a sea fight?" By several accounts, the British flagship Maria m anaged to get off a few rounds at the rebel fleer, bur for most of the barrle Pringle kept her about a mile astern of the gunboats, near the western shore of the lake. Ar first she hove to under topsails. Then Com modore Pringle gave orders for Lr. Starke, her commanding officer, to anchor. Starke, furi ous abo ut being kept so far from the action, refused. Ir was shameful enough that rheywere making no effort to gee Maria into the fight, bur to actually anchor so far away was, according to Starke, "an act truly unbecoming on such an occasion." In his official report, Pringle wrote that "the Carleton schooner...by much persevera nce, at last got up to [the gunboat's] assistance," bur "none of the other vessels of the fleer could then get up." This excuse was horly disputed by rhe other officers, who insisted that they had joined in the fight and openly wo ndered why Pringle had nor. The flagship, they claimed, "was the best sailor" of all the ships in the British fleer. Thar is, perhaps, why Pringle chose her over the la rger and more powerful Inflexible, which would seem the more obvious choice for a flagship. Given that, it does seem odd that Carleton was able to work her way welI up in to rhe fight, while Maria never came even close. The disgrunrled officers reported that Pringle "was the only person in the fleer who showed no inclination to fight." The implications are clear-they deemed their leader a coward. The Hessian Captain Pausch recalled that at about lPM, "this naval barrle began to get very serious." Ir was around the sa me rime that General Carleton, sailing with rhe flagship , commented to Dr. Knox that
SEA HI STORY 117, WINTER 2006-07
The First Day's Fighting Ends By dusk the British gunboats were nearly our of ammunition. Both sides had been pounding away at one another for six hours. During that whole time, the British crews suffered on ly twenty casualties . Commodore Pringle, finding no reason to continue the fight, consulted w ith General Carleton, and the two officers agreed to withdraw the gunboats and the schooner Carleton. As rhe British withdrew, Carleton sent a parry on board the stranded Royal Savage to set her on fire, in case the Americans had any thoughts of rowing her off. Soon afterwards, the fire they had started reached her magazine and the ship exploded. What was left of her continued to burn through the night. Sir Guy Carleton Pringle ordered the boars and ships Carleton served Britain as the Governor of to "anchor in a line as near as possible to Quebec and the Governor General ofCanada the Rebels, that their retreat might be cur during the outbreak ofthe American Revoluoff .... " The Americans, he was certain, were tion. In this position, he served as the overall trapped in Valcour Bay by the cordon of military commander of British forces in the British vessels. At first light, he was certain, region. D uring the Battle of Valcour Is/,and, his powerful ships and boars would put a n he sailed aboard the flagship Maria. Carleton end to Benedict Arnold's navy. ,t was appointed commander ofBritish forces in North America in 1782 and then governor in James L. Nelson is a former professional chief ofBritish North America in 1786. sailor and the author offourteen works of Maria was nor close enough to the action. maritime fiction and non-fiction. Benedict With the words barely off his lips, an 18- Arnold 's Navy, the author's full account of pound round shot came wh isrling over the "1he Ragtag Fleet that Lost the Battle ofLake boom on which Knox and Carleton were Champlain but Won the American Revoluleaning. Carleton turned to Knox and asked, tion" was released in May 2006. For more "Well, Doctor, how do you like a sea fight? " information on James Nelson, visit www. The Maria never moved any closer. James/nelson. com. A monument to the Battle of Valcour Island stands on the New York shoreline of Lake Champ/,ain. To the left ofthe marker is Valcour Bay, where the battle took place.
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MARITIME HISTORY ON THE INTERNET
Sources for Maritime E-books-Both Free and Paid n the last year, Google has made headlines in the library community through their project of digitizing much of the collections of several major research libraries. Initially, people thought that the digitized works would then be available-and searchable-for free, by anyone with an internet connection. In fact, because of the United States' arcane and unnecessarily restrictive copyright laws, only a small portion of what Google digitizes can actually be made freely accessible. In addition, the release of the contracts Google signed with these institutions shows that, in fact, even the institutions loaning the books will have somewhat limited access to the digitized versions of the works they actually own. Despite this disappointing news, we can enjoy, for free, the many volumes that are available electronically, from old texts in the public domain to recently published works and even onlineonly books. Accessing books online offers some great benefits. The first is certainly searchability: now you can instantly search entire texts for mentions of specific locations, vessels, individuals, or concepts. The originator in offering online books is Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org), which has been putting electronic texts online since 1971-yes, for 35 years. Gutenberg's volunteer contributors scan texts with expired copyrights, proofread them, and post the results for anyone to download. Gutenberg now has over 19,000 texts available for download-all for free. While searching by subject can be tedious, one can quickly and easily locate specific texts, such as Two Years before the Mast, by Richard Henry Dana, or The Influence of Sea Power upon History, by A.T. Mahan. Works in Project Gutenberg are generally plain text, meaning that they can be viewed with almost any computer system, but they are not very enjoyable to read on the screen. Nevertheless, they can be easily copied and pasted into a word processing program for easier reading or even printing. More recent works can be viewed in HTML (HyperText Markup Language) or can be downloaded to handheld readers. The site
I
includes essentially all the classics of English literature not under copyright-including several editions of Moby-Dick. The Electronic Text Center at the University of Virginia (http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/) contains over 2, 100 free e-books, as well as resources for searching many additional collections they maintain, though not all offer unlimited access. The Online Books Page, hosted by the University of Pennsylvania (http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/) contains links to over 21 ,000 e-books. Bartleby.com (http://www. bartleby.com) , named after Melville's scrivener, also hosts classic texts online, plus many useful reference sources. Google, of course, offers book searching at http:/ !books. google.com, though there is a huge difference between what they have digitized and what one can actually view. Amazon's "Search Inside the Book" feature also offers a means to look for terms within a book. In many cases, the features from Google and Amazon are good ways of identifying useful titles, which you'll likely then need to purchase (from Amazon, they hope) or borrow from a brick-and-mortar library. Many sites offer access to recently published works via subscription, usually through a library, but occasionally to individuals as well. NetLibrary (http://www.netlibrary.com) , ebrary (http://www.ebrary.com), History E-Book Project (http:// www.historyebook.org) , and World eBook Library (http:// www.worldlibrary.net) each offer access to many thousands of texts. Check to see if your local library offers a subscription. While hunting for specific e-books can occasionally be taxing, once they're found, they can be valuable resources for research, analysis, or the occasional fact-checking-but rarely for curling up with in bed. Suggestions for other sites worth mentioning are welcome at shipindex@yahoo.com. See http://www.shipindex.org for a compilation of over 100,000 ship names from indexes to dozens of books and journals. -Peter McCracken
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21
by Dr. Tim Lynch During the last two decades, scholars have pointed to the phenomenon of globalization as among the most important trends in international politics and economies. In northern California, where today globalization is a term used in everyday speech, the concept is hardly new. From its beginnings, the city of San Francisco played an important role in the development of fledgling global trade networks. This was especially true during the nineteenth century, a period when maritime connections allowed the United States to establish hegemony in the Pacific Basin. Trends most commonly associated with recent globalization, such as multinational trade and multiethnic workforces, were at play in maritime San Francisco long before the twentieth century. ince the end of the Second World War, diplomats and political pundits orchestrated American foreign policy to deal with the spectre of international communism. Decisions, from economic arrangements to military commitments, were seemingly made with the defeat of the Soviet Union in mind. With the fall of rhar system in the late 1980s, rhe United Stares was lefr searching for a new paradigm through which to analyze the world. While terrorist threats have given American policymakers all they can handle in devising a new diplomacy, academics have tended to focus on globalization as rhe theoretical linchpin by which they can interpret the world. Seminal works, such as those by Thomas Friedman and others, have reduced rhe world to a series of marker-dominated peripheries controlled by multinational conglomerates, most of which are located in major American cities. While it is right to recognize the significant ways in which globalization has increased in recent years, on what basis can we say that the recent past has been more global than rhe distant past? While the intensity of capitalism's global reach has certainly intensified, San Francisco has always been part of a wide-reaching international economy. Since the early years of America's presence in the Pacific Rim, there have been global markers dominated by American businessmen, politicians, and military forces. Ar no rime was this more evident than in the nineteenth century, an era when maritime networks transformed the city from a sleepy colonial outpost to a global entrepor.
This San Francisco Bay view, as photographed from the International Space Station, shows how the natural geographic features made the Bay a perfect harbor for both deepwater ships and smaller coastal vessels.
Before California was American San Francisco Bay, heralded as rhe finest in the world, with "room enough to house all the ships in all the world's navies," was first visited by Europeans in 1769. Spanish missionaries, moving north from their bases in San Di ego and Monterey to establish a presence in Northern California (to prevent Russian promyshlenniki, or fur traders, from encroaching on their claims), came upon the bay via an overland expedition in early
costa allowed rhe bay to remain rhe exclusive territory of Miwok and Ohlone fishermen, who plied the rich waters from reed canoes, collecting shellfish and other foodstuffs. It was not until 1775 that the first Spanish ship entered the bay; the following year, Spain established a permanent settlement at the entrance to rhe Golden Gare, replete with a mission (San Francisco de A.sis) and small presidia to guard their claim; still, their presence in the bay remain ed small and unimportant through the last years of the
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November of rhar year. Ironically, this great harbor, fared to become the finest port in the Pacific, remained hidden from European view for nearly 150 years. Th e fog-shrouded entrance and the natural camouflage provided by the low-lying hills of the contra
eighteenth century. In keeping with mercantilisr proscriptions of the day, trade with the region could only be carried our in Spanish vessels and by Spanish merchants . Even in this restrictive atmosphere, globalized trade had begun, as distressed American whalers-allowed access to Spanish ports on humanitarian grounds-surreptitiously engaged in illegal commerce. With Spain's loss of Mexico (and, by extension, California) in 1821, these barriers to free trade were greatly reduced. The Mexican government needed cash and allowed Americans and others to trade for hide, tallow, and other agricultural commodities with few restrictions. The works of Richard Henry Dana, most notably his canonical Two Years Before the Mast, relate the story of American merchants in Alta California during this period. In modern parlance, California was then a "classic resource semi-periphery," dependent upon external markets and capital. At this rime, the principal landing at San Francisco Bay was moved from the presidia to the protected cove at Yerba Buena. Englishman William Richardson established a launch service from that base, and an American trader, Jacob Leese, established a business there in 1838. From then until 1846, the native Californios traded with the Yankee merchants, exchanging agriculrural products for manufactured items rhar arrived via Cape Horn. The outbreak of war with Mexico in 1846, interpreted by most historians as a subterfuge to add Pacific ports to the American dominion, seeded a larger American presence in the region. With the Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo ending that conflict, the United Stares added California to its domain. By 1848, the village of Yerba Buena had been renamed San Francisco; its few hundred residents, now nominally citizens of the United Stares, would soon see changes of dramatic proportions. While only four ships visited the bay in rhe year ending 1 April 1848, nearly eight hundred vessels, comprising converted whalers, merchantmen, and assorted flotsam averaging some 250
SEA HISTORY 117, WINTER 2006-07
¡San Francisco, 1850or 1851 . tons each, would arrive the following year. It would not be long before the "classic resource semi-periphery" would be transformed into a leading hub in a worldwide network of maritime trade.
Gold Fever The magic wand that transformed San Francisco from a sleepy cove to a busding metropolis was gold, discovered on the property of Swiss
Ships were abandoned by the hundreds in San Francisco Harbor as their crews deserted, headed for the hinterland to seek their fortune in gold.
immigrant John Sutter while the ink on the Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo was barely dry. Many interpreted this fortuitous event as a sign from the heavens that America was destined to play a leading role in the global arena. Immediately following news of the discovery, "the whole world rushed in" to the region. Ships by the hundreds came through the Golden Gate from Asia, from South America, and from the eastern seaboard (either sailing vessels that came around Cape Horn or steamships that ferried passengers from Central America), bringing gold-seekers to the region. Clipper ships, designed for speedy service to Asia and described by one contemporary as "virtually the creation of San Francisco," were known to make the journey from the eastern seaboard in fewer than 100 days. (In contrast, the average passage to San Francisco from the East Coast in 1849 was 189 days; of the estimated 10,000 sailing ship voyages made around Cape Horn ro San Francisco, only 26 made it in less than 100 days) . Forty-eight clippers arrived in San Francisco in 1851, and by the middle of that decade, more than 100 appeared in the bay each year. Often, ships' crews jumped ship, setting off to the Sierra Foothills, leaving captains looking for crews and entrepreneurs converting their hulks into floating saloons, inns, or restaurants. By 18 51 San Francisco was a thriving, multinational community. While the lure of gold transformed San Francisco-suddenly one of the ten most populous cities in the nation-into the commercial hub for the entire western
SEA HISTORY 117, WINTER 2006-07
US, its economy remained decidedly colonial, based on extractive industries and dependent upon external capital. In 1850, San Francisco ranked seventh of 28 American customs districts, with 130,000 tons of shipping entering the port; tellingly, foreign flags outnumbered American 355 to 140. (By comparison, the only other California port with any traffic was San Diego, with only a dozen annual arrivals.) While some 500 vessels lay neglected at anchor after the inaugural gold rush season, by the early 1850s vessel clearances began to challenge arrivals. After a peak of 1, 147 arrivals in 1852 (and a tonnage high of 640,000 the following year), 824 vessels (at 412,000 tons) arrived in 1855. Of these, 210 were US flagged, 135 were foreign, and the rest were registered as coasters. Most of the trade was carried in sailing ships (with the exception of some 57 steam coasters and 70 foreign steamers), and most of it was with the Atlantic seaboard. Nonetheless, foreign trade in this "pre-globalized" environment included exchanges with such exotic locales as Russia, Chile, Australia, Denmark, Holland, Brazil, Italy, France, Mexico, Peru, Nicaragua, Ecuador, China, and Great Britain. Clearly, while "the whole world rushed in," vessels launched from San Francisco were also rushing out into the world.
Post-Gold Rush Maritime Activity When gold subsided, California remained committed to export.
In the years after the Civil War, agricultural commodities such as wheat, barley, and citrus fruit flooded into San Francisco from California's Central Valley; by 1880 over 40 million bushels of grain were being harvested, with the vast majority being exported by sea. Many of these goods, which came into the bay by way of the Sacramento or San Joaquin Rivers, were transported via scow schooners such as the Alma, now
an historic vessel berthed at San Francisco's Hyde Street pier. By the mid- l 870s, nearly five hundred of these schooners plied the waters of the bay, ferrying wheat and barley from pons aro und the region to San Francisco. Not all maritime commerce was reliant on wind power; steam vessels appeared on the bay as early as 1850. By 1866, over sixty steam-powered vessels, including half a dozen ferries, scooted across the bay and its tributaries, bringing passengers and cargo to central locales. The pace of maritime activity was frenetic: in 1870, US Customs estimated that over 800 vessels, both steam and sail, were engaged in bay and coasting enterprises, bringing produce and passengers from Alviso or Petaluma and all points in between to the city. The commodities were then transferred to larger oceangoing craft that had brought general cargo to the region. In 1870, the San Francisco Customs Distrier tallied $22 million in imporrs and $32
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"Ship Building, South Beach, San Francisco" 1866 s
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million in exports. By 1881, no fewer than on an overhead wire to the cliffs, or board Coast Seaman's Union, in 1885. The CSU is 559 sailing ships, averaging some 1,250 by board, down a wooden apron chute. As a good vehicle to examine the multiethnic, tons, assembled at San Francisco to load rhe redwood forests of the California coast transnational nature of the maritime industhat year's grain harvest. were denuded, the base of operations shifted try in the nineteenth century. Founded by a Most of these grain ships loaded at the further north from Redwood City to the pair of immigrants, Irishman Frank Roney Carquinez Straits, a body of water in San Douglass fir forests of Coos Bay and Gray's and Pole Sigismund Danielwicz, it included Pablo Bay where oceangoing vessels, river Harbor. The management of far-flung !um- Finns, Danes, Swedes, and Germans among craft, and rail lines met. With 4-1/2 miles ber kingdoms, centered in San Francisco its first members. In later years, CSU merged of wharves, over half the ships clearing San and the Pacific Northwest, allowed for the wirh rhe Steamship Sailors Union to form Francisco for foreign ports departed from application of new management strategies: the Sailors Union of the Pacific, an communities like Vallejo, where the Sperry individuals like Asa Simpson soon parlayed organization that would be led for many mills were located, or across the -----------------;-;ullRAR>'==t:>1':r:co=11111:11 years by a pair of Norwegian Strait, where the Port Costa â&#x20AC;˘ nationals, Andrew Furuseth and warehouse could accommodate Harry Lundeberg. over 70,000 tons of grain. These Immigrants continued ships might anchor there for to pour into the region in promonths, waiting for favorable digious numbers. In 1870, San changes in international grain Francisco received some 18,000 prices. Once the ships cleared immigrants, mostly from Asia, the harbor, their holds carried which placed the city's populaaway 1.2 million tons of wheat tion fourth in the United States. and another 900,000 barrels of With 150,000 residents by 1870 flour. The priciest cargo ever and 350,000 by 1890, the city shipped out of California was held about one-fifth of the popnot gold, but California grain, ulace of the entire West Coast headed to drought-stricken and climbed to seventh largest (above) Balclutha, shown here sailing under the name Star of Alaska, England. A typical cargo of city in the country. In that year, carried very typical cargoes in and out of San Francisco, including grain, wheat in the 1870s and 1880s San Francisco was the nation's lumber, and salmon. Today, the ship is owned by the National Park Serearned roughly $150,000 in fourth largest market for foreign vice and is part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park. profit. The hearty California trade! The ocean-going steam (below) Mare Island Shipyard, 1911. (Library of Congress photo) crop kept well through the long passenger fleet plying in and voyage around the Horn and provided a this into considerable fortunes. out of San Francisco in these years numsteady return each year. Many of these grain Simpson, who arrived in San Francis- bered some fifty vessels, and they regularly carriers were British-built steel- or iron- co from Maine in 1849, built 65 vessels in ran to China, Latin America, Australia, the hulled vessels, which transported the annu- Coos Bay, Oregon, and quickly established Pacific Northwest, and numerous Southern al harvest to Liverpool or other ports. The an international business with customers in California ports. Welsh immigrant Charles technological innovations of Silicon Valley Chile, Hawaii, Australia, and New Zealand. Goodall began his seafaring career on the in the late twentieth century are often tout- Among the many vessels Simpson launched bay in 1850, ferrying fresh water from Saued as the birth of Bay Area globalization, were the Willie R. Hume (the first four-mast- salito to San Francisco; years later he was but it was really the maritime connections ed barquentine built on the West Coast), a founding member of the Pacific Coast of the nineteenth century that established the City of Papeete (which ferried mail and Steamship Company, linking Pacific ports San Francisco as a major player in global general freight to Tahiti), and the Western from San Diego to Vancouver. economies. Shore (the only clipper ship launched on the From 1867, the Pacific Mail SteamWhile most of the agricultural prod- West Coast). Recognizing the potential for a ship Company maintained a fleet of governucts being transshipped out of San Francis- vertically integrated monopoly, Danish im- ment-subsidized screw steamers, such as the co came from the rich agricultural regions migrant Charles Nelson founded the largest City ofPeking, which made 116 round-trips of California's central valley, other com- lumber conglomerate in the world, with sev- between San Francisco and Yokohama in modities flowed through the Golden Gate eral sawmills and a fleet of thirty steamers, twenty years, carrying passengers and mail from points throughout the Pacific Rim. which transported the cargo from the Pacific to Japan, China, Australia, and New ZeaGreat quantities oflumber were transported Northwest to the Bay Area. The work was ex- land. The PMSSC was soon rivaled by the from dog-hole ports north of the city to San ceedingly difficult; the frightful loss of men Oriental and Occidental line, maintained Francisco in coastal vessels, loading their engaged in this, "the most dangerous work by the Union Pacific railroad, employredwood cargo, sling by sling from a trolley in the maritime industry," led to the creation ing thousands of Chinese sailors at a time of the first Pacific Coast maritime union, the when employment opportunities for that
group were dwindling. With this level and diversity of maritime activity, it is not surprising that a significant shipbuilding and ship repair operation soon called the Bay Area home. Among the most notable were the Naval Repair Shipyard on Mare Island (established in 1853) and the Union Ironworks of San Francisco (1849).
Fishing and Whaling The dramatic population surge in the region placed pressures on the food supply industry. Indigenous persons, fishing from reed canoes or similar craft, had gathered abalone and other shellfish to supplement their diet. Later, Spanish and Russian fishermen hunted sea otter and other marine mammals in the waters of the greater Bay Area. During the frenzied years of the gold rush, Chinese shrimp-fishing communities sprang up to serve the booming local populace or to send their catch back to Asia. In later years, Italian and Portuguese fishermen, operating out of Fisherman's Wharf in "Monterey clippers" and traditional feluccas, superseded the Chinese. In 1893, a number of competing salmon canneries were merged into the Alaska Packers Association (APA). The APA maintained an impressive fleet of86 vessels, and it was, for a time, among the largest US-flagged sailing-ship fleets. Cruising to the Alaskan fishing grounds, the APA managed a far-flung empire that used the latest technology and groundbreaking management schemes that prefaced the business strategies that so mark today's globalized economy. With thirty vessels departing on seasonal runs, the APA could expect a typical profit of $425,000 per run, as the ships delivered canned salmon to consumers in Europe and Asia. American whaling fleets had called at San Francisco since they began hunting the Pacific whaling grounds in the 1820s, and there were a dozen such vessels that called the city home by 1857. Beginning in the mid-1880s, the port became home to America's whaling fleet. With other hunting grounds depleted, San Francisco's proximity to the Arctic Ocean was a key factor. A pair of established East Coast whalemen transferred their boatbuilding operations to the Bay Area, outfitting their ships with auxiliary steam engines for use in the Arctic. The whaling industry would remain an integral part of the Bay Area's economy for several generations, though
SEA HISTORY 117, WINTER 2006-07
Return of the Whaling Fleet by William Coulter, (oil on canvas, n. d., 38 x 54 inches) In this late 19th century painting, three whaling ships arrive offSan Francisco's embarcadero after a voyage to the North Pacific whaling grounds. Visible between Alcatraz (far right) and the whaler on the right is Arch Rock, a notorious hazard to navigation that was removed by blasting in 1901. by WWI, it was to decline from the important place it once held.
Shipping Companies From these assorted beginnings sprang some of the most famous shipping companies in American history. Swedish-born William Matson arrived in San Francisco in 1867 and was soon in command of scow schooners carrying coal from Mt. Diablo to the Spreckels sugar refinery in San Francisco. From there, Matson began transporting sugar from the Hawaiian islands to San Francisco. From this modest start, the Matson Navigation Company, founded in 1882, would grow to operate forty-two steamers and a number of transPacific luxury liners by the Second World War. Likewise, Scotsman Robert Dollar created a lumber empire in the Pacific Northwest and soon became the nation's largest shipowner, instituting around-the-world service after the completion of the Panama Canal. Perhaps no greater evidence of a "preglobalization theory global economy" can be found than in these examples of far-flung, multinational conglomerates. Ironically, San Francisco, so reliant on technological change today, was doomed by those same forces at the close of the nineteenth century. The completion of a transcontinental railroad, with its terminus across the bay at Oakland, doomed any chance of the city establishing an intermodal connection with the hinterland. With
the rise of the Port of Los Angeles in the 1920s and with the concomitant relocation of West Coast naval operations to San Diego, San Francisco lost its primacy in maritime operations. The end of the "long nineteenth century" did not presage an end to San Francisco's role in global economies; it would be more fair to say that the recent emphasis on globalization is more accurately a myopic view that fails to account for the city's long-standing, maritime-based role in international commerce. Far from dealing with a new phenomenon, San Francisco has a long history with world markets. The city served as the central hub of economic activity from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, and San Franciscobased merchants and shippers were actively engaged in international trade from an early stage. The spreading tentacles of globalization have long been at work in this city, and nowhere is this better observed than in the maritime history of the region in the nineteenth century. A multiethnic, transnational maritime community was largely responsible for the rise of San Francisco to global prominence, and it would be hard to imagine the city developing as it did without its maritime connections. ,!, Dr. Tim Lynch is an Assistant Professor of Maritime History at the California Maritime Academy. Additionally, he serves as editor of H-Maritime, an online listserve dedicated to all matters maritime.
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A tropical paradise awaits you aboard the legendary Queen Mary 2. Explore the sunny islands in unparalleled style. Calypso across the grandest ballroom afloat. Stroll white sandy beaches under the shade of swaying palms.
After strolling the charming colonial streets and shops of Basseterre, St. Kitts , take a drive to Brimstone Hill Fort. Its impressive co lonial construction is truly one of the wonders of the Caribbean.
NMHS members are eligible for special group rates starting at $1,471 on her 10 April 2007 8-day cruise , round trip from New York to the Caribbean .
Ivory sands, aquamarine seas , and a gracious welcome await you on Tortola. Road Town , the capital of the British Virgin Islands , will put you at ease with its genteel atmosphere.
We sail from New York for the beautiful islands of St. Thomas , St. Kitts and Tortola , with four full days at sea , returning to New York on Wednesday, 18 April. With its sparkling beach resorts and bustling duty-free treasure shops , Charlotte Amalie , St. Thomas , is a picture-perfect paradise. For quieter pleasures , take the ferry to the neighboring island of St. John .
Special events we have planned for NMHS members include a presentation on "Tall Ships into the Twenty-First Century" by Burchenal Green, President of NMHS , and a showing and discussion of "Ghosts of Cape Horn ," a film Walter Cronkite calls "... the true wine from man 's greatest sea adventure, the endeavor to get round Cape Horn under sail. "
Above all you can enjoy the special magic of the Caribbean , the ports of St. Thomas, St. Kitts and Tortola. You can join us as we explore our maritime heritage together , or relax in the splendor of this great ship. You can do it all or do nothing . Don 't miss the boat. Reserve early to receive the accommodation of your choice. ITINERARY DAY 1 2-3 4 5 6 7-8 9
PORT New York, New York Cruising the Atlantic Ocean Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas Basseterre, St. Kitts Road Town, Tortola Cruising the Atlantic Ocean New York, New York
To find out more about our special discounted rates for NMHS members, call Pauline Power at Pisa Brothers Travel, (212) 265-8420 or (800) 729-7472, or e-mail mgr@pisabrothers.com
Celebrate our maritime heritage this holiday season with NMHS greeting cards Created by distinguished marine artist William G. Muller, these three greeting cards capture the romance of a bygone era- and help support the work ofNMHS. Greeting on CD l-CD2 reads "With every good wish for peace and good will for the Holidays and throughout the coming year." CD3 reads "Merry Christmas and best wishes for the coming New Year." Also available as blank note cards. Box of 10: $14.95, or $13.46 for NMHS members. Add $4 s/h for one box and $2 for each additional box. Please indicate your choice of card and specify holiday greeting or blank cards.
NEW for 2006: CD I- The 142' Kaleen steam rugboar works through squall-roughened seas off Montauk Paine in 1948.
coz___.on the Rondour Creek on a winter night in 1923, the
C03-The Alex Gibson leaves New York for Sa n Francisco
shifter tugboat Rob chuffi our with a canal barge of Christmas trees.
on a winter's day in the 1890s.
Order by calling 1-800-221-NMHS (6647), ext. 0 or mail in your order to NMHS, PO Box 68, Peekskill, NY 10566 and enclose your check made out to "NMHS." Allow 2 to 3 weeks for delivery.
The NMHS Gift Store Satisfaction 100% Guaranteed!
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Prices include embroidery with our NMHS logo featuring our flagship Kaiulani in five colors. Burgee/Pennant Shipping included. #GFT-01 $10.00
100% Cotton Bucket Hat Colors available: White, Natural , Navy, Cactus , Blue Denim , Blue, Pink , Charcoal, Black. Sizes: S/M, L/XL. #484 $20.00 + $7.95 s/h
Men's Outerbanks Pique Polo Colors: Navy, Wine, Chino , Pine Green. Sizes: S-3X. #5011 $43.75 + ~-----~ $7.95 s/h Hanes Youth Hoodie Sweatshirt Colors: Red, Ash , Navy, Lt Pink, Lt Steel, Royal. Sizes: XS-L. #P473 $28.00 + $7.95 s/h
Adams Baseball Cap Still Available Colors available: Midnight Blue, Nautical Red, Forest, Cactus, Chamois, Khaki. #LPlOl $20.00 + $7.95 s/h Men ' s Tri-Mountain Sweater Colors: Navy, Sunflower, Forest Green, Natural , Red , Black, Grey. .~..... Sizes: S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL. #901 $58.00 + $7.95 s/h
Il l
Anvil Boat Tote Colors: Natural/ Navy, Natural/ Black, Natural/Red, Natural/Hunter. #301 $24.00 + $7.95 s/h
Tie, Men's. #G-01 $20.00 + $5.50s/h
The Tundra Anti-Pilling Panda Fleece Sizes : XS, S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL. Colors: Red , Imperial Blue, Navy, Khaki , Charcoal. #7600 $72.00 + $7.95 s/h
Port Authority Ladies 3/4 Sleeve V-Neck T-Shirt Colors: Banana, Black, Lilac, Red, Faded Blue, Lt Pink. Sizes: XS-XL. #L341V $36.00 + $7.95 s/h
NMHS Calendar for 2007 Based on popular demand, the 2007 calendar includes not only biographies of the artists featured, but also information about the ships compiled by NMHS President Emeritus Peter Stanford. Calendar sales benefit the Society. Calendar is wall hanging, full color, 11" x 14". $13.95 (or $11.50 for Sea History readers) + $4.00 s/h
Order by calling 1-800-221-NMHS (6647), ext. 0 or mail in your order to NMHS, PO Box 68, Peekskill, NY 10566 and enclose your check made out to "NMHS." Allow 2 to 3 weeks for delivery.
Historic Ships on a Lee Shore
Toward an American Ship Trust-
If We're Serious about Saving our
or nearly a quarter century, her jaunry srack, sweeping sheer and lofry pilot house carried a spirited maritime message to people en route to Cape Cod, as New York Central No. 16, a surviving steam tug of 1924, lay in a restaurant parking lot at the entrance to the Bourne Bridge. CVS bought the site to erect one of their chain pharmacies and ordered the rug removed within an unreasonably short time-frame for anyone to do anything about it. Nevertheless, Charles Schneider of Massachusetts rallied support and got the mayor of Bayonne, NJ, to commit to take on stewardship of the tug and create a waterfront park exhibit at the entrance to Newark Bay, where ships carrying the world's commerce sti ll pass by daily. McAllister Towing offered a free tow on a barge from Buzzards Bay to Bayonne, and others committed to getting the tug from the barge to the site. With one piece of the puzzle missing-the transfer from the parking lot to the dock one mile down the road-Schneider and supporters appealed to CVS for a deadline extension or assistance in any form to allow the tug to be saved. The corporate chain, one which brags on its web site about being the "the leading pharmacy and drug store in the United States, with over 5,400 retail stores," showed no interest in doing the right thing. So on 28 July, CVS had New York Central No. 16 destroyed.
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CVS allowed a tugboat bufffrom Kingston, New York, to scavenge New York Central No. 16's pilothouse and other parts before smashing through her with a wrecking ball. This individual vessel's demise is sadly indicative of the state of historic ship preservation in this country today. An ambulance service for historic ships to prevent this kind of avoidable loss was proposed by the World Ship Trust at its fou nding in London in 1979 by the late Frank G. G. Carr, with the active participation of NMHS, but we
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couldn't get this measure funded. The Ship Trust went on to other works. Until we get such a program funded, we'll continue to witness the destruction of the surviving ships that testify to the realiry of mankind's experience in seafaring. More than an ambulance service is required! Some of our most important historic ships are in serious jeopardy today. Many are closed to the public, a public that could be supporting them, because their physical conditions make them unsafe for people to board. We need an outfit able to mobilize skills and resources to run a recovery program to preserve the physical structures and, above all, garner public interest in such threatened ships. NMHS has made efforts to do these things on an ad hoc basis for a roster of historic vessels. Can we not join with others to establish a body devoted to this purpose and able to fund the seed-money programs to generate the public interest needed to assure the future of any historic ship? We're looking for more than just emergency salvage, vital though that is when a ship has deteriorated to the point that she's closed to visitation by the people she's there to serve. No, to make sense of any intervention, we must look to generate longterm investment in a ship's future. Mystic Seaport, The Museum of America and the Sea, has provided a model in this pursuit, organizing their ship-restoration projects in a way to actively involve people in the process, not just to adm ire the finished product. When people get involved, they invest themselves in ways that allow major funding sources to be asked to join them in supporting to preserve our heritage, so important to the history of all Americans. A national citizen-based force can build the case for saving a given ship- j ust as a case was made for building the ship in the first place. A vessel's career as a museum ship is a continuation of her working life, perhaps making the most important voyage of her life-to deliver her cargo of history to coming generations. We have a crude operating model of what can be done in how NMHS acted to help two ships which are now, again, in serious straits today-San Francisco's coastal steam schooner Wapama of 1915 and the Cape Horn sailing ship Wavertree of 1885, berthed in New York. Wapama, a distinctively West Coast rype, was built of stout Douglas fir, with planking up to eight inches thick and interi-
or ceiling thicker than that, in great lengths of board unprocurable today. A virtual symphony of carefully fashio ned wooden shapes to carry her burden of 95 1 tons, she is largely fastened with foot-long wooden treenails. She was driven by an 825hp triple-expansion steam engine, hefry enough to keep h er off the rocky coast in winter gales sweeping in from the vast reaches of the Pacific Ocean. The late Edward G. Zelinsky, past NMHS Vice Chairman, took a perilous journey to the South Pacific in WWII in one of her sister ships; that ship and all her consorts are now gone-except for Wapama .
Wapama, 1988
NMHS was called on to testify at a hearing on the National Park Service plan for the ships of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, a plan which condemned this mighry product of the northern forests to be cut up, saving but a few relics. My three-minute testimony was extended to a half hour at the request of a member of the review board. His request was granted because I represented a national organization concerned enough to testify for the ship-just that. At the end of my testimony, I asked if a committee could be created to save her. NMHS Honorary Trustee Admiral Tom Patterson (leader of the National Liberry Ship Memorial) and Ed Zelinsky resolved to form the Pacific Steam Schooner Foundation, which went on to raise funds and arouse public concern to halt the ship's destruction. Not all NPS personnel welcomed this "outside" interest, but others, like the master rigger Steve Hyman, found this intervention inspiring and spent nights and weekends leading work parties that stabilized the ship. When the government took on full responsibiliry for the ship, the Steam Schooner Foundation dissolved, but, in liquidation, they were able to provide a grant to publish Karl Kortum's manuscript history of the steam schooners of the West Coast-a lively compendium of lore and learning, which could raise steam to power the ship off the financial shoals to leeward
SEA HISTORY 117, WINTER 2006-07
Heritage in Historic Ships that once again threaten her very survival. Today Wapama is on hard times again. An American Ship Trust could publish that book, for example, and support onboard activities to get people involved in her story. You just don't know what people can do until you give them the chance to do it. Aboard the Wavertree, the big squarerigger in New York, volunteers responded to our 1981 appeal by learning to rivet, so they could rebuild her midship deckhouse authentically. Jakob Isbrandtsen revived this arcane and demanding art by enlisting a retired yard foreman to teach the young people how to do it safely and efficiently. The completed house was brought in at a cost of $27,000-where the shipyard had quoted $110,000 for a slapped-together welded job with dummy rivet heads to look the part. At home, Jakob sewed up flaxcanvas hatch covers by hand-at a cost of $1,500 (the price of the materials), where the professional estimate had been $6,000. It would be a grave mistake to think volunteers exist just to save money. They flourish, under the right conditions, because they build support for the ship by the strength of purpose and honesty of their labor. The South Street museum itself, in its early years, published books, ran hugely successful maritime festivals, revived schooner racing in New York Harbor, and mounted other extensive programs-not just using volunteers, but under volunteer leadership. They gave the ships the care they needed; people like Captain Bill Lacey, retired head of the Dalzell ship repair facility, worked patiently to train our staff in such arcane skills as testing for wealc plates in old iron ships. Howard Chapelle, head of the Smithsonian Institution's maritime history division, would show up to share his thoughts and talk to our crew whenever he found himself in New York. Seaman-author Alan Villiers went through an exhausting schedule of appearances to raise money for the Wavertree on two special visits to New York-and he, like the others, at the top of their professions, performed these tremendous services free of charge. Pete Seeger came to sing of the dignity of work. Again and again we found top-notch professionals ready to volunteer their services teaching our fledgling staff, leading from the front to get the most difficult jobs accomplished shipshape and Bristol fashion. Today, as Sea History's editor-at-large. I see a wellspring of multifarious experience
SEA HISTORY 117, WINTER 2006-07
by Peter Stanford, Sea History, Editor-at-Large at the Society's command, which could serve as a basis for an American Ship Trust. Tapping into the depth of the collected experience of our NMHS membership, this Trust would not just dole out money, but apply the talents, skills, and interests of our own members directly to setting these ships up to succeed. Out of this wide-ranging pool of experience, a truly effective Ship Trust can be formed. I suggest that it be organic in its approach-rooted in experience and ever-evolving to learn from the experience of others and from the results of its own actions.
Jakob Isbrandtsen led a crew ofvolunteers from the front, here seen getting down and dirty below decks on Wavertree in 1981.
How can we bring this American Ship Trust into a real and enduring existence? Surely by the same means we've done everything else-by hauling together on the line to hoist it up and inviting the world to join us. NMHS membership has evolved ro become a unique repository of historic ship experience, with museum leaders, practical seamen, sail training people, scholars, artists, and researchers across this country and in 27 nations around the world engaged in support of our mission. All these skills and seafaring values are vital to restoring an historic ship authentically and to set up a means to deliver her cargo of history to the generations to come. Bringing together mixed generations and mixed types of seafaring professionals and non-professionals can yield newly learned enlightenment and lessons-some practical, some intellectual. I am reminded of an engineer from the Liberty ship Jeremiah O'Brien arguing out the proper set of the sails with Captain Richard Shannon onboard the square-rigger Sea Cloud. I felt privileged to sit in on the resulting discourse, as I believe Red Shannon felt too (once he'd recovered from the initial shock of a captain called on to defend the tradi-
tional corkscrew alignment of his sails from the courses through the royals). There is a sound reason for this, of course, which the engineer was delighted to learn. People at the top of their professions are usually glad to argue out the principles that guide them in what they do. You never know what new learning may come out of that exercise. A few policy questions remain, if we accept the principle of an organic and evolving role for the American Ship Trust. Let's start with the challenge of choosing ships to support. We must never, I believe, get into the business of triage, condemning one ship project to gather support for another. Rather, let's choose a ship that Trust leaders and members agree on as important, that needs help and has management capable of accepting help, and that has a message to deliver which will help attract support, not only to this ship, but the whole cause of historic ships. Surely we must strive to steer by the stars of principle rather than from headland to headland of local opportunity. Of these celestial beacons, none is more important than the principle of generosity. Let us not forget the sailorly principle of bearing a hand when a hand is needed-a principle society could certainly use ashore. Think of Einstein stopping in the streets of Princeton to explain relativity to neighbors' children. Finally, there's a principle closely related to the great virtue of courage, which Winston Churchill said redeemed all the other virtues. That is the matter of truth in the work, which alone can justify it. Barclay Warburton, founder of the American Sail Training Association, carried around a slip of paper in his wallet with these words on it: "Of all the living creatures upon land and sea, it is ships alone that cannot be taken in by barren pretenses, that will not put up with bad art from their masters. " -Joseph Conrad
It is rare to find the challenge and reward of any great project expressed in a sentence, but there it is. The American Ship Trust-can we (and I do not mean just we of the National Maritime Historical Society, though I believe our membership could be the nut and kernel of the Trust) address ourselves to this vital step for the national heritage in hisroric ships? Let me invite ideas, questions, and rebuttals-and see where we come out. ,t 29
SEA HISTORY for
kids
Sailing to the North Pole made it more likely that they could reach their destination. Peary was the expedition leader, but ._S_S_ R_o_o_s_e _ÂĽe_ c_ _...._ __ __ _ ____. getting to the pole was a team effort. Each member of his team, including the ship's captain, Robert Bartlett, played a crucial role. After he got the ship as close to the Pole as he could, Captain Bartlett led a dog sled team to leave supplies along their route so Peary and the others would have enough food to make it back from the Pole. (As most explorers know, it's usually better to be the first person to make it back from someplace than to be the first person to get there.) Peary and his team traveled more than 400 miles over the ice to make it from USS Roosevelt to the North Pole. When they came back to New York, someone else had claimed to 0 have reached the Pole first, bur scientists later confirmed that ~ Robert Peary onboard SS Roosevelt with his sled dogs. ~~----------------------' Peary's team made it there-and made it there first. bout a 100 years ago, Arctic explorer Robert Peary After her historic journeys to the Arctic, USS Roosevelt and his team became the first people ever to reach the had several owners. Six years after Peary's first trip, she was North Pole. His companions were Matthew Henson and sold to the US Bureau of Fisheries. In 1918, during the First four Inuits named Ootah, Ooqueah, Seeglo, and Egingwah. World War, she joined the Navy. After World War I, she was It was a very difficult journey. There is no land at the North sold again and converted to ocean tug service before being Pole, just ice with the Arctic Ocean underneath it. Peary abandoned in 1942. had tried to get to the North Pole before, but had always Since Peary and his team's historic journey, many exfailed. This time he came with a new ship built specifically peditions have gone to the North Pole-some have flown for Arctic exploration. USS Roosevelt wasn't very big-even there in airplanes and a number of submarines have gone by the standards of the time-but she was tough. They underneath the ice and then broken through it to mark their could have made her out of metal, but Peary decided to use arrival. In 1977, the Soviet nuclear-powered icebreaker Arkwood instead. Why? Because wood is more flexible than tika became the first surface ship to reach the Pole. What metal, and they wanted her to bend, not break or get stuck, would Admiral Peary have thought of that? !. when she smashed into the ice. They gave her an egg-shaped hull, so she would rise up over the ice rather than get trapped. No matter how tough you are, the pressure of an ocean full of ice can crush any ship. USS Roosevelt had sails on three masts, but she was more than just any sailing vessel. Inside, there was a highpowered steam engine designed to push her through the ice. The sails helped the explorers save fuel on the trip to the Arctic Ocean-because they would need every bit of fuel they had to push though all of that ice. USS Roosevelt couldn't get all the way to the Pole. All Peary needed her to do was get them close enough for his dogsled teams to make it the rest of the way. Once they left the ship, it would be bitter cold. Every extra mile the ship could travel north
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Ever~d~~ speecli from s~ilcrs of ~esterd~~ Posh "Oh, the posh posh traveling life, the traveling life for me, First cabin and captain's table regal company. Pardon the dust of the upper crust-fetch us a cup of tea, Port out, starboard home, posh with a capital P-OSH, posh. " -from the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang song, "P-0-S-H"
A popular, but highly debated, story about where the word "posh" came from dates back to the 19th century. Today, it means "high-class," fancy, or elegantsometimes even pretentious. At the height of the British Empire, the Peninsula & Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) started transporting passengers and mail between England and India. It was extremely hot during the passage across the Indian Ocean when the ship traveled close to the equator. Because the route nearly paralleled the equator, cabins facing that side were considerably more steamy than those on the other side of the ship. When heading east (or "out"), port side cabins were more desirable; heading
west (or "home") , first-class passengers tried to get cabins on the opposite (starboard) side of the ship. Contrary to popular legend, P&O never stamped POSH tickets or documents.
When My Ship Comes In is a term that was always used shoreside, but today it means when someone, anyone, might make his/her fortune. Back in the days when merchant ships were sent out on trading voyages around the world, investors in the voyage would not make any money until the ship returned and sold its cargo. Like today, people borrowed money to finance a commercial venture. Unlike today, the moneylenders allowed them to pay the debt back at an unspecified time. A borrower would sign a contract promising to pay "when my ship comes in."
Fro m D r. Marrin Davis, Traditiom and Tales of the Navy (Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publ ish ing Co., Inc., 2000)
WOJ<O SEAJ<CH:
S~ifors,
Sder1tists, Exptorers
\ B S E E G L 0 0 Y S S K
T A G E L R J C E Z J H B K X P 0 S R A U F 0 P J I Z N D V E A C F H C C K U G
W U K V E H E E Z D U D T
0 V M T E D J
T V D C K T
H V T E I S E Z P Z U P S
H I B L S K 0 M P M M P 0
R N 0 E WN J F R I R D A N 0 K E R Q R B E 0 Y R I
Q C
F 0 R E A N D A F T R 0 W
P T T E L T R A B 0 E I N
Y R A E P E T A T E L I
M B A E L V Z S I K 0 Y N
G G C M I B I N Z C P B V
Q H M E J
H S 0 0 U H D Q
A U K Y A T B S L G T B X G
T W C E E A F N C G R M C
A T S I G E K E J
G 0 A J
H H N K X R F H I J N I C
AIRFOIL ARKTIKA BARTLETT BECHE DE MER CARGO EINSTEIN FIJI FORE AND AFT HENSON NORTHPOLE PEARY POSH ROOSEVELT SEA CUCUMBER SEA HISTORY SEEGLOO TUMMLER
Albert Einstein, Sailor ong before people started writing things down, someone figured out that it was much less tiring to let the wind push a boat than it was to paddle or row it. The earliest sailboats were no more complicated than hoisting a bed sheet on a pole and letting the wind do all the work. But what happens if you want to go in a different direction than the wind is blowing? For a long time, seafarers hoisted their sails '~nyone when the wind was blowing in the right direction and pulled out their oars and paddled when it wasn't. It took centuries for mariners to figure out a way to work with the wind so they could sail any place they wanted to go no matter which way the wind was blowing. Even now, there is no way to sail straight into the wind, but sailmakers and boat builders did figure out a way to make boats that could sail at a close enough angle to the wind that you could zigzag your way in the direction you wanted to go-even if your destination was exactly where the wind was coming from. How all that works is a very interesting bit of science that we'll be doing a story about in the next issue. Not understanding the scientific principles behind how a sail works has hardly kept people away from boating (just check any seaside town on a summer Saturday afternoon!). Some sailors-even if they are great scientists-don't care where they're going. For them, just being in a boat gives them time to relax and
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You might think that someone whose scientific insights changed the world wouldn't have any trouble with something as simple as making a boat go in a particular direction. But in Albert Einstein's case, you'd have to think again. His friends said that when he got into a sailboat, Einstein would get dreamy and forgetful. Whenever he
who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." -Albert Einstein went sailing, his family was just plain terrified. Einstein didn't know how to swim, but he refused to wear a lifejacket. He was always running his boat aground because he was so busy relaxing that he didn't look to see where he was going. His family was convinced that if he didn't drown, he'd get his head smashed by the masts and spars he always seemed to be knocking down. Still, Einstein loved to sail and he sailed his whole life. What little he knew about sailing, he had learned in a borrowed boat as a teenager in Switzerland. When he turned fifty, his friends gave him a 23foot sailboat, which he named Tummlerwhich means porpoise in German. Einstein said he liked sailing because it gave him a chance to relax after all his hard work thinking up equations and theories in his study. Those theories won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921. So, whenever you go out in a sailboat and manage to avo i d crashing in to
~~!EE:::::::::::::~---~~~:;;
sailor Albert theEinstein think. That's kind of was. Manypeopleconsider Einstein to have been the greatest mathematician and physicist the world has ever known. His exploits as a sailor are not as well known and for good reason-Albert Einstein was a terrible sailor!
notsomething, to mention sailing your boat in the direction you want to go, you are doing something that Albert Einstein could not. And when you learn (as you will in our next issue) about how sails work, you'll have mastered a bit of science that one of the world's greatest scientists never seemed to understand. !,
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aptain Archer and his ship Glide sailed from Massachusetts in 1829, bound for Fiji to collect a cargo of sandalwood, tortoise-shell, and beche-de-mer. At that time, many Fijian tribes bristled with warriors and cannibals. When Archer arrived, so many "savages" hounded his ship that his crew had to rig tall nets over the rail to keep them off. During one surprise attack, a spear grazed the captain's neck, which set off a short battle. The captain would not be deterred. He stayed put and found some peaceful Fijians he could hire to help collect the beche-de-mer. His crew built a trading post on shore that included a building to clean and smoke the stuff and another for huge pots to boil it. They filled the ship's hold and sailed to Manila in the Philippines to sell their cargo. They made so much money that Archer decided to sail back to Fiji, but this time the islanders killed two of his crew members. He promised his crew that they'd return home but only afrer filling the ship up again. One sailor wrote, "Every boat load of beche-de-mer that came off the shore was greeted with joy." Finally, the ship's hold was filled. The sailors were getting ready to leave when a hurricane hit and wrecked Glide on a ree£ All hands survived, thanks to a friendly tribe that took them in. A few months later, Captain Archer and his crew were rescued when another trading ship came to the island. All of this trouble was over , beche-de-mer, the lowly sea cucum~ ber, also known as trepang. Chinese
and other Asian cultures value the sea cucumber as a specialty food, using it in soups and stews. Many think it has medicinal qualities and some even think it makes you more romantic! Sea cucumbers are echinoderms, re1.. . 1 ., ' ......... . lated to sea stars and sand dollars, •litlllf/ll .. ~.-s l38 11s336 ,,. with more than 1,400 species around ns168 ,.,.,, the world. They live in salt water, at all depths, but they particularly enjoy coral reefs. They are eyeless, legless, spineless, wormy blobs, but if you get a chance to watch them under water, you'll see beautiful branching tentacles that feather out of one end to gather food. Sea cucumbers breathe out of their anus. 11-m1~~ToR'( Tl'.E.E (foil B~EP>IKI~&) If you disturb INTESTINE. STOMAC" !>UCClll. rug€ f~£T \;tlOOSl<~l.l>TOt-l n ( ) them, they'll (S0'1E:-l.I\:£ ym:e:s) I TErlTACl.ES u1n•no•1tlU UIOh
....
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actually eject J their guts out. Some species are as small as '-'-'--··r - - . your fingernail, but most are about the length of a loaf of bread. Most sea cucumbers have tube feet, a leathery outer skin, and a muscled body to help them inch around the ocean floor. A few kinds can swim and one kind even has a sail-like extension to help it move. Nineteenth-century American ships traveled well beyond Fiji in search of sea cucumbers. The ~rJ..~~ northern tip of the Great Barrier Reef was also "----"<;;~--"';:---~~--=-=~-- ~- a popular spot. Indonesians had been harvest~ ing there them for hundreds of years, but these were also dangerous waters for sailors because of uncharted shoals and more hostile natives. Would you have been willing to sail to the South Pacific and fight off island warriors to gather sea cucumbers? If so, you'd likely have seen a small, ... mighty bird along the way-the famo us seafaring chicken-wh ich is the Sea "_'1---!1._ History animal for next issue.,!,
BLACK HANDS, BLUE SEAS
by Elysa Engelman
W
hen USS Roosevelt steamed into New York Harbor in 1909 carrying the Arctic exploring team home from their triumphant trek to the North Pole, she was greeted by a curious public. Robert Peary, the already famous Arctic explorer, and his crew disembarked and, once their feat had been confirmed, were honored with awards and celebrations. Most of his men, rhar is. While many Americans today are familiar with polar explorers such as Robert Peary and Richard Byrd, few know about rhe African-American explorer, Manhew Henson, an invaluable member of Peary's ream. An able-bodied seaman, skilled translator, and tireless worker, Henson was rhe only American to accompany Peary rhe entire way to rhe North Pole in 1909. In fact, some believe rhar Henson actually reached the Pole first, an acr rhar Peary could neither forgive nor forger. Henson discovered rhar barriers of prejudice were as difficult to surmount as the ice ridges of rhe Arctic. His struggle for recognition conrinued long after his death-only in rhe past few years has this remarkable man received rhe belated arrenrion and honors he so deserved. Manhew Alexander Henson was born imo a family of freeborn sharecroppers on 8 August 1866, in Charles County, Maryland. When he was a young boy, his parenrs moved closer to merropoliran Washington, DC, to look for work. Ar an early age, Man
Henson felt equally comfortable on land, at sea, or on top of the Arctic ice.
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Matthew Henson in 1909 Henson became fascinated wirh rhe romanric idea of a seafaring life, soaking up local sailors' stories of maritime advemure and enviously watching rhe men, black and whire, who worked rhe steamboats plying rhe Potomac River. Orphaned by age 13, he made his way to Baltimore, where he signed on as cabin boy aboard a merchant ship bound for China. The ship's Quaker captain took rhe young, inquisitive black boy under his wing-reaching him general subjects such as history, rhe classics, and rhe Bible along with practical lessons in mathematics, geography, and navigation. By rhe end of his first voyage, rhe cabin boy qualified as an able-bodied
seaman. Henson spem rhe next four years sailing rhe world, from China, Japan, rhe Philippines, and Russian Black Sea pons to North Africa, Spain, and France. Along rhe way he developed a knack for mastering foreign languages, a ralem rhar would serve him well during his travels later wirh Robert Peary. Seafaring had been a common trade for free black men earlier in rhe nineteenth cenrury; ir provided higher wages, greater personal freedom, and the chance to acquire more marketable skills rhan what they could find ashore. By rhe 1880s, however, American black mariners faced stiff competition from working-class immigranrs, and, ar rhe same rime, opportunities dwindled when many maritime trades unionized. When the captain of Henson's ship died, rhe eighteen-year-old mariner lost both his mentor and his protector. Concerned for his safety among a hostile white crew, he left rhe sea behind-at least for a while. After several years wandering up and down rhe eastern seaboard searching for steady employmem, Henson rerurned to Washington, DC. By 1888, rhe former seaman was employed as a clerk in a fur storage company, where many explorers, scienrisrs, and game hunrers stored their Arctic skins. 'lhere he mer a young Navy surveyor, Robert Peary, who was organizing a government expedition to Nicaragua to search for a porenrial canal route to link rhe Pacific and Adancic Oceans (ar rhis rime, rhe US government had nor yer embraced rhe French plan to build a canal through Panama). Peary needed a personal servant for the assignmem and, impressed by Henson's travel experience, offered him the job. So began a rwenty-rwo-year murually beneficial parmership. During their year-long sray in Nicaragua, Peary grew to respect Henson for his "intelligence, faithfulness, and bener rhan average pluck and endurance," quickly promoting rhe valet to his assistant. Henson, in rum, appreciated Peary's willingness to look beyond skin color and value him for his abilities. This whire patron could help him escape rhe routine of city living and return to a life of travel and advenrure. Two years later, when rhe Navy granted Peary a leave of absence to moum an
SEA HISTORY 117, WINTER 2006-07
1891 expedition to northwest Greenland, he sought out Henson, who had since secured a shipyard job with the navy. After giving up his $15-a-week job at the Philadelphia Navy Yard for the $50-a-year position as Peary's assistant, Henson threw himself wholeheartedly into whatever task needed to be done during the seven-week voyage and the construction of a base camp on Greenland's Wolstenholm Sound. Possessing more skills and experience than his teammates, he quickly established himself as the team's chief carpenter, mechanic, and supply officer. Between 1891and1909, Peary, Henson, and a rotating team of American physicians, geologists, teachers, and adventurers achieved many firsts during their Arctic expeditions. They discovered and mapped remote Greenland capes and crests, collected meteorites and other natural specimens for scientific study, and made important weather and ice observations. Peary's team confirmed that Greenland was an island and that the North Pole lay, not on land (like the South Pole), but under a shifting, frozen sea. By 1895, Peary had publicly announced his ambitious goal-to be the first man to stand at 90° North, the North Pole. Henson determined to join Peary-both for the personal challenge and to prove to a skeptical American society that black Americans could achieve great things for their country. The two men would spend the next fourteen years braving frostbite, starvation, exhaustion, and myriad funding and logistical hurdles to meet their shared goal. Henson proved instrumental to the success and survival of the expedition leader and his other teammates on a daily basis, in part because of his strength of character
and in part because of his close relationship with the Greenland Inuit. Peary himself was beholden to the black explorer for his very life. In January 1899, the two men were 250 miles from their base camp when Peary developed frostbite and gangrene in his feet. After loading his suffering leader onto his dog sled, Henson made a marathon, eleven-day run back to camp. Peary lost nine roes but survived. The American explorers relied heavily on the local Greenland Inuits for help surviving the harsh Arctic climate. While Peary's white assistants looked Henson aboard USS Roosevelt at Sidney, Nova Scotia, cl906 down upon the Inuit as uncivilized and inferior, Henson estab- skin trousers, and two layers of seal-skin lished an instant rapport with them. The mittens. The animal skin suits were so efInuit were immediately drawn to Matt fective at retaining body heat that the exHenson because his dark complexion re- plorers wore them for up two months at a sembled their own; they soon noticed time, removing their mittens only to light that, like themselves, Henson was treated camp stoves and repair sleds. The Inuit taught Henson how to hunt with hostility and condescension by many of his white teammates. The Inuit adopted walrus and deer, to build and drive the him and insisted he learn their language. dogsleds, and to read the ice and predict They called him "Maripaluk," which the weather. He, in turn, trained his teammeans "kind Matthew." mates how to handle a pack of eight to ten Henson's bond with the Inuit benefit- rambunctious dogs dragging the heavy ed Peary and his expedition immeasurably. sleds across the ice. Henson built all nineHe could converse with the Inuit women teen of the team's sleds, including the five who were making the fur suits the explor- that ultimately made it to the North Pole. ers would wear on their lengthy treks over A modification of the traditional Inuit dethe ice in temperatures as low as 40° be- sign, each sled carried up to 650 pounds of low. Henson's 1909 suit has survived and food, fuel, scientific instruments, cameras, consists of a parka made of blue and and supplies. The men typically did not white fox, polar-bear- ride, but walked or ran alongside. In difficult terrain, they would wedge their shoulders under the sled handles
(background photo) Henson built all nineteen ofthe team's sleds used on their succesiful run to the Pole. He Learned the skills to build and drive the dogsleds and how to read the ice from the Greenland Inuit, with whom he had developed a deep friendship. He, in turn, trained his American teammates.
SEA HISTORY 117, WINTER 2006-07
COU RTESY THE EXPLORERS CLUB R£Sl!ARCl-I COLLECTIONS
35
to help lift it over tumbled ice ridges or mates; he alone among them would stand hundred miles away. Setting our with across deep chasms. Only Peary rode on a triumphant with Peary and their four Inuit many sleds and two dozen men, he sent individuals back to camp as the group regular basis. The loss of his toes ten years guides at the North Pole. before left him unable to walk far or keep After fourteen years of toiling side-by- used up another sled's cargo of supplies. the pace. side to achieve their shared dream, Robert Each man hoped to stay with Peary to the Between Greenland trips in the mid- Peary and Matthew Henson were middle- end, but they also understood that the 1890s, Henson sweated under stage lights, aged men when they set off for Greenland expedition's success depended upon Peary's donning his fur Arctic suit, while touring for the final time in 1908. Leaving New ability to travel light and not be held back by extra men, dogs, or sleds. One with Peary on a national lecture cirLIBRARY OF CON GRESS by one, they were ordered to turn cuit. He also toured in a one-man around until April 1, when only play Peary had written to raise monPeary, Henson , the ship's captain, ey and increase publicity. Back in Newfoundlander Robert Bartlett, Greenland, when the 1895 expediand the four Inuit guides, Ootah, tion teetered on the verge of failure Seegloo, Oqueah, and Egingwah, because of bad weather and weak remained. It was then that Peary ice, Henson suggested that they inmade his most respectful, generous, vestigate Inuit reports of giant meand ultimately controversial gesture teori res nearby. After returning to toward Henson, allowing him to New York with two of the smaller stay while sending Bartlett back to (but still massive) meteorites on the base camp after having reached latiship's deck, Peary was greeted with tude 87° 47' North. The six remainmuch fanfare by his sponsors and ing men would spend the next week the public. New York's Natural Histoi ling to reach the long-elusive goal tory Museum paid enough for the of 90° North. When they finally specimens that the team had sufmade it on 6 April, Peary snapped ficient funds for another try at the a photo of Henson and the guides Pole. on an ice hill, beneath a flapping Henson's promotion to chief American flag. assistant created mixed reactions The racism Henson encounamongst his fellow teammates. 6 April 1909: "Ooqueah, holding the Navy League flag; tered from his fellow expedition Some respected Henson for his skills Ootah, holding the D.KE. fraternity flag; Matthew Henand character. Donald MacMillan, son [center}, holding the polar flag; Egingwah, holding members was nothing compared to who accompanied Peary and Henthe D.A.R. peace flag; and Seegloo, holding the Red Cross the cold indifference he faced upon son on their last expedition, later flag. " 1his famous photo shows five ofthe six discoverers of returning home. White society defended Peary's decision to place a the North Pole. Ironically, the only one whose name would had no interest in acknowledging black man above the others: "With be honored and rememberedfor the feat was the sixth, not the accomplishments of any black explorer. Many outspoken critics years of experience equal to that of pictured because he was the photographer, Robert Peary. considered Henson a liability to the Peary himself, an expert dog driver, a master mechanic, physically strong and York harbor aboard the custom-built, expedition and could not understand why most popular with the Eskimos, talking three-masted auxiliary schooner USS Roos- Peary had chosen to make the last push for the language like a native, clean, full of evelt, they stopped in Oyster Bay, Long the Pole in the company of a black man grit, [Henson) ... was easily the most effi- Island, to receive a warm send-off from instead of Bartlett, an experienced navigacient of all Peary's assistants." When Hen- the vessel's namesake, President Theodore tor and dogsled driver in his own right. son needed to convalesce from a severe case Roosevelt. The 182-foot vessel was built Matthew Henson at the North Pole added of snow blindness, the team doctor, Fred- with an extra-strong hull to withstand fuel to the firestorm of controversy over erick Cook, treated him and even arranged the pressures of being iced-in during the whether Peary's team had actually made it for him to be a guest at his mother's New winter and was fitted with a high-powered all the way there. Frederick Cook, the team York City apartment. Others were un- steam engine to muscle the ship through doctor who had nursed Henson following the 1891 expedition, claimed that he had able to leave their prejudices behind. They the ice floes in Baffin Bay. criticized Henson for being "uppity" and In late February 1909, the team left reached the Pole a year earlier than Peary's grumbled that Peary allowed his "man-ser- the ship and, with their Inuit guides, team. Cook's charisma, contrasted against vant" to boss them around. Henson always trekked inland for a week before estab- Peary's aloof and arrogant reputation, did refused to back down when faced with such lishing Camp Crane on the edge of the not help their case. Racists argued that irrational personal hatred. In the end, he ice. Peary had devised an efficient plan Peary had deliberately chosen the black outworked and outlasted most of his team- to reach the Pole, still more than four man and the four Inuit as his companions
36
SEA HISTORY 117, WINTER 2006-07
wheff
Pearys ma-Mr£ UjliWtj reveaLed t!uy 1uuJ., already trrwd,ed !J-e;'rmd tfu Pde1
M /Jectuue MW~ed.
on the final leg because they, being men of Henson was duly embraced by his Neither Matthew Henson nor Robert color, lacked the intelligence or ability to fellow African Americans, receiving invi- Peary could have predicted that their biogcontradict his claims. rations to speak about his travels at many raphies would continue to take new twists Matt Henson was personally hurt most black schools and colleges. In 1912 he pub- long after their deaths. In 1986, Harvard by Peary's abandonment after more than lished an autobiography, A Negro Explorer neuroscientist S. Allen Counter traveled two decades of living and ~--------------------~ ~ to Greenland to investigate rumors that working side-by-side. Hen~ Matthew Henson, then a bachelor, had fason later wrote that after their o thered a son in 1906 with an Inuit woman Polar conquest, "Command~ named Akatingwah. Eventually, Counter er Peary has ignored me ever ~ met Henson's elderly, dark-skinned son since .... It nearly broke my g Anaukag, born on board USS Roosevelt 8 and raised to be a hunter and expert dogheart on the return journey from the Pole that he would ~ driver. To his surprise, Counter discovered ~ that Peary had likewise fathered two sons slip away on the homeward trail without rapping on the ~ with an Inuit woman named Ahlikahsing~ wah. In time, Counter made arrangements tent for me as was the estabg lished custom .... On board § for these men and their family members to ship, he addressed me a very travel to the United States, visit the birth(/ tor) Robert Peary and Captain Robert Bartlett aboard few times. When we left the places and graves of their ancestors and Roosevelt, Labrador, cl 909. Bartlett became a well-known to meet some of their American relatives. ship he did not speak. I wrote Arctic expedition leader in his own right. In 1913 he walked him twice and sent him a Counter reclaimed a place of honor for 700 miles across the ice to send help to his stranded shipHenson as co-discoverer of the North Pole. telegram, but received no remates when their ship was crushed in the ice and sank. ply from him." Thanks to his efforts, Matthew Henson's Peary never explained this sudden at the North Pole, with an introduction by body was re-interred at Arlington National change, but Henson and others later sus- Booker T. Washington. Unable to get a Cemetery. The black seaman who stood at peered that Peary felt bitter that Henson good job or government pension without the top of the world finally achieved the had probably reached 90° North first. By Peary's help, he had to settle for a low-pay- recognition so long overdue. ..t the time of their final trek across the ice, ing government position as the older and hobbled Peary had been re- a messenger clerk in the US duced to playing catch-up. Each morning, Customs Service. Henson would leave camp first to break a It would take another trail for Peary to follow. On the final leg, twenty years before mainHenson overshot their target. When Peary's stream American society sextant sighting revealed they had already acknowledged Henson for traveled beyond the Pole, he became en- his role in discovering the raged. Henson later suspected that Peary, North Pole. In 1937, the perhaps, had planned to grab all the glory prestigious Explorers Club for himself and leave Henson behind dur- of New York extended ing the final stretch. him lifetime membership. Peary received his share of honors. The Soon after, the Navy honCook-Peary controversy continued for sev- ored Peary's 1909 team eral years, and some doubt still lingers to and rightly included the this day, but, by 1910, a number of inter- long-ignored Henson. In Henson (bottom row, 2nd from left) with other national scientific organizations had exam- 1954, President Eisenhower members of the Explorers Club in 1947. ined Cook's and Peary's records and con- hosted the elderly black excluded that Peary's team had made it first plorer and his wife, Lucy Ross Henson, at Elysa Engelman, PhD, is the exhibit developto the Pole. While Peary was feted with the White House. er and researcher at Mystic Seaport. For more parties, awards, and speaking invitations, When Henson breathed his last in details on other African-American mariners Henson continued to be ignored by the 1955, at age 88, he had achieved a certain who made important contributions to our white establishment. When the National degree of public honor and recognition. history, visit the exhibition, "Black Hands, Geographic Society awarded Peary its gold Still, his widow could only afford a humble Blue Seas" at Mystic Seaport: The Museum medal, it skipped over Henson and offered burial plot above her mother's in Wood- of America and the Sea, on display through the second to Captain Bartlett, who by his lawn Cemetery in the Bronx, a far cry from April 2008. (75 Greenmanville Ave., Mysown admission had never made it closer Peary's massive monument in Arlington tic, CT 06355; Ph. 860 572-5315; www. than 130 miles to the Pole. National Cemetery. mysticseaport. org)
SEA HISTORY 117, WINTER 2006-07
37
AsHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS ff!i1 Pensacola, FL, residents voted in September to approve the development of the Community Maritime Park, a public/private venture planned fo r 30 acres of publicly owned property on Pensacola
.••,,,,.
~"~
ADMIRAL JO H N H . FETTERMAN STATE OF FLORIDA MARITIME MUSEUM AND RESEARCH CENTER
Bay. The C ommunity M aritime Park will include a multi-purpose stadium, a conference center, a m aritime museum, University of West Florida con tinuing education center, a m arina and fishing pier and mixed-use development, including retail and commercial space. The park is tentatively scheduled to open in 2009, depending o n the progress of the site preparation. Th e Admi ral John H . Fetterman State of Flo rida Mari time M useum and Research Center will display artifac ts recovered by UWF's na utical archaeology teams, contain interactive teaching exhibits and an aquarium fo cusing on regional ecosystems. The UWF Marine Support C enter will be relocated there along with their Beet of research boats. For m o re details, co ntact D ean Van Galen, UWF Vice President fo r D evelo pment, Ph. 850 4743306; e-m ail: dvangalen@uwf.edu. • • • Timothy J. Sullivan, the former president of the College of William and Mary, has been chosen as the new CEO of the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, VA. The current president and CEO, John B. Hi gh tower, will retire in D ecember. In 1998, Hightower aligned the museum with the Navy and N OAA in their expedition to recover U SS Monitor's pro peller, the first of several missions that have bro ught, literally, to ns of artifac ts to the museum. 1 h e trustees hope the new Mo nito r Center, scheduled to open in March , will in crease the number of visitors to the museum . Trustees also hope Sullivan will bring so me of the sam e fundraising acumen he displayed at William and Mary. In 2002, he launched a fundraising campaign there to raise $5 00 million in five years. The campaign is currently within $3 0 million of achieving that goal by
38
SPUN YARN the projected date of]un e 2007. Sullivan's
plans fo r the museum include a new building to house its extensive maritime library of books, logs, and charts. (MM, 100 Museum Drive, Newport News, VA 23606; Ph . 757 596-2222; www.mari ne r. org) ... USS Or/eek (DD 886) , the subject of Sea History's "Historic Ship on a Lee Shore" (Spring 2006, #114) , has landed in federal court, accused of trespassing and impeding marine traffic in the Sabine River (Texas) . The suit seeks to have Southeast Texas War Mem o rial and H eritage Foundation, the ship's owners, remove the vessel and pay for repairs . While the cause of the damage she sustained dur-
USS Or/eek in 2002
I
ing Hurricane Ri ta when a barge sm ashed into her hull is not in dispute, the question of who is liable is. Al though the barges did break loose duri ng the storm, the barge owners claim that USS Or/eek had also broken loose from her mooring and is thus not an innocent victim. Even if the owners can find a m eans to move the ship, her fo rmer berth in Orange, T X, is no longer available, and a new hom e fo r her has not been identified. Orange C ity council m embers have vo ted no t to allow the ship to re turn there. . • • The International Yacht Restoration School (IYRS) has secured a new funding source for the restoration of the 1885 schooner yacht Coronet. In July, the Newport, RI, school signed a "Letter of Understanding" with Robert M cNeil of San Francisco, whose background restoring the steam yacht Cangarda makes him well qualified to take on the proj ect. In 2005, the IYRS board of trustees placed the Coronet Project o n hold
to redi rect fundraising efforts to the restoration of the Aqu id neck mill building to expand their camp us and to better foc us on their core educational programs. With the signing of the agreement with McNeil, a classic boat enthusias t and accomplished maxi racer, full-scale resroration on the hull and deck can move fo rward. In addition to Cangarda, McNeil has also restored and owns the H erreshoff P-Boat ]oyant, frequently seen in New England waters and at classic yacht regattas. As much of Coronet's restoration as possible will occur at IYRS, consistent with the institution's vision of providing employment to IYRS grad uates and an attraction fo r visito rs. The yacht and restoratio n materi als will be conveyed to M cNeil. IYRS will maintain ownership of the research, building, equipm ent, and any m aterials that are not used during the hull and deck phase of the restora tion . When completed, the yacht will serve as a Boating museum, sailing to other ports for educational purposes and will ...
Coronet c. 1891-93
frequent majo r classic yach t regattas in M aine, Antigu a, and St. Tropez. (IYRS, 449 Tham es Street, Newport, RI 02840; Ph. 401 848-5777; e-m ail : info@yacht coronet.org; www.yach tcoronet.org) ...
SEA HISTORY 11 7, WINTER 2006-07
Hollywood has once again proven to benefit ships and maritime organizations. Proceeds from the new movie, "The Guardian,'' a drama about Coast Guard rescue swimmers (starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher) will benefit the Coast Guard Foundation. The Coast Guard
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GUARD!.".!! Foundation's fund-raising efforts satisfy equipment, training, and education needs not met through government sources. . .. The Fall River Maritime Charter School in Massachusetts is seeking an Administrator/Teacher to assist the lead founder with pre-operational planning requirements for the school, a maritime-focused learning environment for students in grades 5 - 8, which will open in September 2007. Qualified individuals will have the opportuniry to direct and plan che educational curriculum and all aspects in the creation of the new school and its programs. (For information , co ntact Roger Bourassa, Lead Founder, POB 88, Fall River, MA 02722; e-m ail: rogerbo urassa@fultonproj ect.org; www.fultonproject.org) . . . The War on Terrorism has taken many forms, many to the detrim ent of the freedoms we have taken for gra nted fo r so lo ng. In this case, the ramifications of our current political situation will impact th e Great Lakes. Earlier this year, the United States Coast Guard started training exercises on the Great Lakes with live .30-caliber machine guns attached to several small boats, ending the pride many Americans and Canadians have felt sharing the world's longest undefended border for over 200 years. (The International Bo undary has actually been defended all alo ng, but by law enforcement and not milirary personnel). The practice was temporarily suspended afte r (continuted on page 41)
SEA HISTORY 117, WINTER 2006-07
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r his summer, che National Maritim e Historical Society, Ocean C lassroo m Foundation, and Mystic Seaport collaborated on che second OceanBound for History, a continuing-education program for high school and middle school teachers of American history. Twen ty-one teachers joined chree maritime historians and the crew of che schooner Westward for a week of sailing, classes, and cocal immersion into maritime life and cradicions. Onboard, classroom teachers discovered che fundan1ental importance of maritime history in che teaching of American history as a whole and were introduced co experiential learning. The program cakes place aboard che schooner Westward, and chis year chey sailed from Myscic Seaport co New Bedford, MA, and aro und che waters of southern New England. Pore scops in New Bedford and Sco ningco n, CT, were specifically chosen as examples where maritime history and local history are inextricably intertwined and whi ch can easily demonscrace how che history of che development of our nation as a whole is also intertwined wich che m aritime scary.
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Parcicipacing fully in che life and operation of che ship, chese ceacher-parcicipancs gained personal insight inco shipboard culture, hierarchy, and work. Under che command of Captain Caroline Smith and wich guidance of che professional
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crew, teac h ers learned che skills and arcs of cradicional seafaring, while maincaining a cwentyHAMILTON MOORE four hour wacch system. Teachers goc co hand, reef, and steer and cry their hand ac navigational methods used in che age of sail. H andson accivicies combined wich formal readings and class discussion co give teachers a unique and powerful understanding of maritime history and culture. This program is produced by a coalition of America's leading organizations in m aritime history, shipboard education, and experiential learning. The academic program was developed and led by G lenn Gordinier, PhD, (Robert G. Albion Historian, Co-Director, Munson Insci cuce ac Myscic Seaport), Richard King (of Myscic Seaport and a PhD candidate ac Sc. Andrews University in Scocland), and Deirdre O'Regan (Editor, Sea H istory, National Maritime Historical Society) . Schooner Westward is a 125-fooc sceel stays'! schooner. Owned and operated by Ocean Classroom Foundation, the ship is inspected by che US Coast Guard and che American Bureau of Shipping as a sai ling school vessel. OCF programs have received natio nal recognition and awards, including che NMH S Walcer Cronkite Award for Excellence in Maritime Education. Up co 24 ceacher-parcicipants are accepted through a competitive application process. The program is fully funded , so teachers need only co gee them selves co che shi p and home again. Parcicp ants are asked co develop and submit a mini-curriculum co show how chey will incorporate some aspect of maritime history in co cheir classrooms d uring che school year. Curricula are collected and evaluated and chen becom e available for inceres ced teachers co use as a guide in cheir own classrooms-even if chey never gee anywhere near che waterfront. Look for details abo uc che 2007 program in che nexc issue of Sea History. In che m eancime, for more information, contact Ocean C lassroom Foundation, 23 Bay Screec, Wacch Hill, RI, 0289 1, Ph. 800 724-7245, e-mail: mail@oceanclassroom.org . .t
SEA HISTORY 117, WINTER 2006-07
SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT AND MUSEUM NEWS (continuted from page 39) some Canadian citizens and politicians complained that the move violated a treaty signed after the War of 1812. The commandant of the USCG said it has become necessary to protect the border that runs through the lakes and that the old treaty no longer applies. In 2003, the US and Canada each signed an agreement that allows armed boats on the Great Lakes, but not in Canadian waters. The Coast Guard wants to establish 34 permanent zones where they can practice firing at floating targets. A USCG spokesperson said that safety measures are in place to protect nearby boaters. Warnings are broadcast on maritime freq uencies before the exercises, and the Coast Guard will have boats on the water monitoring traffic. . . . The 27,100 ton Essex-class aircraft carrier Intrepid, the centerpiece of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City, went "on leave" for 18 months in October. Funding for the shipyard maintenance work comes from federal, state, city, corporate, and private sources. The muse um also received $31 million in federal funding to go towards the refurbishment of the pier. The Intrepid will initially be in dry dock in Bayonne, NJ, for the first part of its leave. It will then be moved
USS Intrepid, 1966
to another location in New York for renovations and improvements. Concurrently, Pier 86, which has been home to the carrier for 23 years, will be closed and completely rebuilt. Established in 1982, the Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space M useum complex is comprised of the 900-foot-long aircraft carrier Intrepid with rwo full decks and four theme halls; the guided miss ile submarine, Growler, and an extensive aircraft collection including the A-12 Blackbird, the fastest spy plane in the world, and now the British Airways Concorde, the fastest commercial aircraft in the SEA HISTORY 117, WINTER 2006-07
world. Plans are to reopen the museum in time for Fleet Week in fall 2008. (Pier 86, W 46th St. & 12th Ave., New York, NY 10036; Ph. 2 12 245-0072; www. intrepidmuseum.org) ... The American Society of Marine Artists is seeking to partner with maritime museums and art galleries across the country on a regular basis to develop exhibits and programs. The Cape Museum of Fine Art in Dennis, MA, the Vero Beach M useum of Art in Florida, and the Portland Art Museum in Oregon have each participated thus far wi th positive results for all involved. (ASMA, POB 369, Ambler, PA 19002; e-mail: asma @icdc.com; www.americansocietyofmari neartists.com) . . . An MIT researcher may have hit upon the solution to quell the fighting between those who support and those who oppose the concept of offshore wind farms. Imagine four hundred huge offshore wind turbines providing onshore customers with enough electricity to power several hundred thousand homes-all out of sight from shore. Offshore wind turbines usually stand on towers driven deep into the ocean floor, but they need relatively shallow depths to build them, thus, the proximity to land. Paul D . Sclavounos, an MIT professor of mechanical engineering and naval architecture, is working on developing floating wind turbines, mounted on platforms a hundred miles out to sea, where the winds are strong and steady. In 2004, he and his MIT colleagues teamed up with wi nd-turbine experts from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to integrate a wind turbine with a floating platform. Their design calls for a system in which long steel cables connect the corners of the platform to a mooring system on the ocean floor. Their research indicates the floating wind turbines could operate in water depths ranging from 30-200 meters. (77 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02139; www.mit.edu) ... In August, the three sons of Lt. Cmdr. Mannert Abele, commander of the lost submarine USS Grunion, announced they may have discovered the location of the missing sub that took their father and all hands to the bottom in 1942. For years, Bruce, John, and Brad Abele have been searching for the wreck site using side scan sonar, in
NMHS Appeals For Your Support Gifts of Stock... Many of our rrn:mbl'.rs would likl'. to make larger charitable gifts to support our work. We ask you to consider a gift of an apprl'.ciated assl'.t--stocks, bonds or mutual funds. ' lhl'. combinl'.d brnefits of bypassing tax on the capital gain of your apprl'.ciated assl'.t, recl'.iving an incoml'. ta x (kduction, and making a charitabk gift provide an excdlent way to send your support.
Sustaining Gifts ... Considl'.r bl'.corninga Sustaining Mrn1 bl'.r to support the Society at a h ighn level than might orl1l'.rwi sl'. bl'. convl'.nient. Your su staining gift may bl'. at any level or amount you choosl'., and it will be chargl'.d each month or quartl'.r from your crl'.dir card account dirl'.ctly to NMHS. for l'.Xample, $62 .50 given l'.ach quarter will make you a Parron of the Socil'.ty; $4 l .(17 l'.ach month will makl'. you a I )onor. "!his dqm1dable income will lowl'.r our administration costs and rnakl'. your contribution rhar much more valuable to NMHS . A rl'.cord of l'.ach gift will appGtr on your credit card statement, and you lll<ly increase, dcCITasc, or suspend your gift at any riml'. by contacting us at 800-221 -6(14 7. ' ' I(> enroll as a Sustaining Member call us at this number with your gift amount , how oftl'.n you want to con tribute (monthly or quarterly}, and providl'. us with your crl'.dit card in formation . Sustaining Ml:mhl'.rs at the $250 a year level or highl'.r gu listl'.d on thl'. Patrons Pagl'. in Sctl History. rl'.cl'.iVl'. a CAMM card for frl'.l'. admittance in maritiml'. musl'.ums around the coun try, and gl'.t an NMHS pin.
& Bequests Pleas'-'. also consider a gift to the Socil'.ty through your living trust or will. Your plan1wd giving or bequl'.st will provillc conrinul'.d income to thl'. Society and a way for I )onors to be rl'.mcmbcrcd and hon<>rl'.d in pl:rpctuity. Picas'-'. let us know that you have rl'.mcmbered us in your will. Your bequest helps ensure that tlw next grnnarion will b1rn about our seafaring hl'.ritagl'.. 41
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CLASSIFIED ADS SMALL SHIP OR TALL SHIP. Cruises or corporare charrers. Visir us on rhe web: www.SmallShipCruises.com. Custom Ship Models . Free Caralog. Spencer, Box 1034, Quakerrown, PA 1895 1.
SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT AND MUSEUM NEWS warers near rhe Aleutian Islands. In 2002, a man who had heard about rhe search sent them a report wrirten in rhe 1960s by a Japanese milirary officer, Seilchi Aiura, who served in rhe Aleurian Islands. In rhe reporr, he recorded rhar rhe sub launched several torpedoes at his ship, rhar he returned fire and believed rhe sub had been hir. Also included in the Japanese reporr was a diagram showing the respecrive parhs of rhe Japanese ship, rhe sub, and rhe shors fired berween rhem. Wirh that informario n, rhe Abeles hired a marine survey
U S M E RCHANT SHIPS WW2 , Naurical Arr/Books, over 400 rides covering rhar which is naurical, www.mari ners internarional.com. F R E I G H TE RCRUIS E S.COM . Mail ships, conrainerships, rrampers ... Find rhe ship and voyage rhar's perfecr for you. Ph. 1-800-99-Maris. Model Restoration/Construction, Captain Norman Smith, Great Island Model Shipyard , 106 Lo mbos Hole Road, Harpswell, ME 04079; Ph. 207-833-6670; e-mail: dysmirh@gwi. ner.
1812 Privateer FAME of Salem , MA Sails Daily May - October. Ph . 978-729-7600; www.Schoo nerFame.com. EXPERIENCED MODEL BUILDER. Ray Guinta, PO Box 74, Leon ia, NJ 07605; www.models hipsbyrayguinta.com. Art Prints. NYC Fireboats 16x20," $18 each. Also available for commissioned work. Call Sreve Whire, Phone: 7 18-31 75025; e-mail: fdarristny@aol.com.
North to California: The Spanish Voyages of Discovery 1533-1603. History book by Paul A. Myers. Corres and Ulloa explore Baja, exciting new info on Cabrillo, Alarcon, Vizcaino, Manilla galleons. $22.95 from inrerner booksellers or Llumina Press, Ph. 866-229-9244. ATOMIC 4 parts, carburetors, Oberdorfer pumps, Fearherman Enterprises, www. fea rh e rm an en re rp rises. com, Ph. 717-432-9203 To place your classified ad at $1.60 per word, mail your complete message along with payment, to Sea History, Advertising Desk, PO Box 68, Peekskill NY 10566.
42
firm, Searrle-based Wi lliamso n and Associares, to mo unr an expedition in August to Kiska. The sonar picked up a 290-foorlong objecr wedged into a rerrace on rh e slope of an undersea volcano. The Abeles are hopeful enough to be planning a second survey nexr summer, bur unril furrher investigations can verify the target, they are ~-----~ mindful of jumping to conclusions. USS Grunion (SS-216) was a Gato-class submarine. Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut, and she was launched in December 1941. On duty off Kiska Island in the summer of 1942, Lr. Cmdr. Mannert L. Abele was ordered to bring the sub back to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, after reporting intense anti-submarine activity in the area. USS Grunion was never heard from nor seen again. (www. ussgrunio n.com) . . .
The New York Yacht Club (NYYC) recently celebrated the launching of the first NYYC 42, the ninth one-design class created by the dub since 1900. The boat is designed by Frers and built by Nautor's
NYYC 42
Swan. The concept behind the des ign was for a Corinth ian one-design m ul tipurpose yacht that can be very competitive as a onedesign racer but also under IRC. The yacht is capable of racing and cruising locally as well as offsho re. NYYC Rear Commodore David K. Elwell Jr., who spearheaded the project, said the boat was designed to address growing concerns by Corinthian owners abo ut the dominarion of professionals in the sport. The NYYC 42, know n as the "Club Swan 42," is a state-of-the-art yachr, showing a high-aspect-rario rig and T-keel. The LOA is 42.6 feet, the LWL is 37feet, beam 12feer,sailarea l,1 75square feet, and displacement is less rhan 13,986 lbs., of which 48 percenr is ballasr. Next summer, rhe NYYC will host the first NYYC 42 Nationals, where 20 boats are expected ro compete. . . . Plans are underway for the construction of a n ew schooner to replace the 43-year-old Bluenose II, the Canadian historical and cultural icon. A new organizarion was formed to raise the $15 million to build the new ship. Included in the many upcoming fund drives will be National Dime Day, where schoolchildren are asked to support the â&#x20AC;˘ project by donaring a dime. The Province of Nova Scotia owns Bluenose fl bur the "intellectual properties," including construction rights for rhe plans and designs of rhe vessel belong to Joan Roue, rhe grear-granddaughrer of William Roue who designed rhe original Bluenose. If all goes according to plan, Bluenose III will be launched in 2010. Projecr information is avai lable at www.SchoonerBluenose.ca.
;t, J, ,t
SEA HISTORY 11 7, WINTER 2006-07
Pioneer in Ocean Technology: Fred N. Spiess (1919-2006) Dr. Fred Spiess, a world-renowned deep-sea ocean explorer and inve ntor at Scripps Institution of O ceanography, died on 8 September in La Jolla, CA. Spiess was widely kn own fo r his comributions to the developmem of innovative ocean technology. H e designed and built instrumems, took them to sea for deploym ent, and led numerous expeditions to inves tigate the deepest pan s of the world's oceans. received Spiess his BS in physics from U C Berkeley in 1941 and a commission in the US N avy at the same time. During WWII he completed 13 war patrols in submarines in the Pacific Ocean. He held the rank of captain in the Naval Reserve until his d eath. After the war, Spiess attended H arvard U niversi ty before returning to Berkeley for graduate study in physics, completing his PhD in 1951. In 1952 he joined the Marine Physical Laboratory at Scripps, beginning a career with the institute that spanned more than four decades. Spiess was a co-designer of FLIP, a 355-fr., non-propelled research vessel, which "flips" from a horizomal to a vertical position to form a steady platform for research at sea. In 2002, FLIP marked 40 years in active service. Spiess was a seago- .------qo.,.----, ing scientist, leading an average of rwo expeditions a year during his long career. His research inrerests included studies of longrange propagation of sound and related underwater c ommuni ca tion systems, ocean-going stable platforms and deep-towed instrument systems, fine-scale properties of the deep seafl oo r, phenomena associated with plate tectonics and seaflo or spreading and seafloor geodesy. Spiess wo rked o n the development of seafloor search technology and in 197 1 led a successful expedition that located and mapped the wreckage of five ships previously scuttled by the US Navy. j,
SEA HISTORY 11 7, WINTER 2006-07
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OWNER'S STATEM ENT Statement fil ed 9/l 9/06 requ ired by th e Act of Aug. 12, 1970, Sec. 3685, Title 39, US Code: Sea History is published quarterly at 5 Joh n Walsh Blvd., Peekskill NY 10566; minimum subscr iption price is $ 17 .50. Publisher and ediror-in-chief: None; Ediror is Deirdre E. O ' Rega n; owner is Na rional Maritime Hi stori ca l Society, a non-profit corporation; all are located at 5 John Wals h Bl vd. , Peekskill NY I 0566. Duri ng rhe 12 rnonrhs preced ing O ctober 2006 the average number of (A) co pi es printed each issue was 25,443; (B) paid and/or requested circulat io n was: ( I} outside county mail subsc riptions 7,877; (2) in -counry subsc rip ci ons O; (3) sales through dealers, carrie rs, counre r sales, other non USPS pa id di str ibution 450; (4) orhe r classes mail ed ch rough USPS 530; (C) total pa id and/or req ues ted circulat ion was 8,857; (D ) free distribution by mail , samples, comp lim entary and ot her 14,984; (E) free distribution outside the ma ils 776; (F) cora l free d istribution was 15,760; (G) tota l distriburion 24,61 7; (H) copies not di stributed 826; (I) tota l [of 15G and Hl 25,443; (J) Perce nta ge paid and/or req uested circulat ion 36% . Th e acrual numbers for th e sin gle issue p receding O ctober 2006 are: (A) to ral number printed 25,383; (B) paid an d/or requested circul ation was: ( I) outs id e-county mail subscripdon s 8, 132; (2) in-coun ty subscr iptions 0; (3) sales through dea lers, ca rriers, co unter sa les, ot her non -US PS paid di stribution 450 ; (4) orhe r classes mail ed through US PS 454; (C) total paid and/or requ ested circu lacion was 9,036; (0 ) free distr ib utio n by mail , sa mpl es, comp lime ntary and oche r 14 ,779; (E) free di stribution outside the mails 1,000; (F) total free dist ribution was 15,779; {G) total d istr ibucion 24,815; (H) copies nor disrribured 568; (I) total [of 15G and H ] 25,383; (J) Perce ntage pa id and/o r requested circu lation 36.4% . I ce rtify that the above statements are correct and co mp lete. (s igned) Burchenal Green, Executi ve Director, National Maritime Hi sto ri ca l Society.
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43
Sea Historians Salute Frank Braynard at South Street Seaport "The best thing is that we're meeting aboard a ship! " said Frank 0. Braynard at a gathering held on 26 July in New York C ity, which paid tribute to his leadership in the seafaring cause. Sponsored by HFB Productions, we met aboard the four-m as ted barque Peking to celebrate Frank's 90th birthday and to honor the 30th Anniversary of Operation Sail 1976, of which Frank was the impresario. The Aro und Long Island Regatta, a race Frank launched in the wake of OpSail 76 to encourage sailors to m eet in friendly competition on a local scale, also celebrated its 30th anniversary at the event. Ellen I. Sykes, Vice Chair of South Street Seaport Museum , presented Frank with the museum's Distinguished Service Award, and New York State Historian Emerims Joseph F. Meany led representatives of the National M aritime Histori cal Society, the Around Long Italy's Amerigo Vespucci in New York Island Regatta, the American Merchant M arine Museum at Ki ngs Point and the MariHarbor during OpSaiL 1976 time Industry Museum at Fort Schuyler, in speaking of Frank's contributions in numerous books, endless m agazine articles and public events, as well as his leading role in fo unding the National Maritime Historical Society in 1963 and South Street Seaport Museum in 1967. Everyone spoke of his good cheer and encouragem ent of worthy efforts in maritime history and education . Others, including T V anchor Walter Cronkite and Captain Brian McAllister of McAllister Towing, saluted Frank in letters, which were presemed to him, as did his former smdent Bill Miller, a distinguished author on ocean liners, who spoke for many in no ting Frank's broad hum ane sympathies which "made the wo rld a better, kinder, friendlier place." Frank's own words about his feeling for the seafaring heritage make a finin g conclusion to this festive occasion : "It is a feeling of good will, a sense of communal happin ess, a simple awareness of one's fellow man, and the feeling of old fashioned love of homeland, and awareness (L-r) Peter Stanfo rd, Capt. James McNamara, Frank Braynard, Capt. Charles that we are all brothers, all sailors, together, on spaceship Earth." .t Renick, Joseph M eany, Ellen Sykes, Doris Braynard and Howard Slotnick.
Ulavertree Reunion- ''Dirty Work, Long Hours, No Pay" On 9 September, over a hundred people gathered aboard Peking to celebrate the 25 th anniversary of their coming together as volunteers to work in the restoration of Peking's elder teammate, the ship Wavertree of 1885. The great iron hull full-rigged ship had been acquired by the Seaport in 1968, but by 1981 , the ship was slated for removal under the Seaport developer's plan, based on the principle: "When you've seen one redwood, you've seen 'em all." While their hands-on work helped save the ship in a physical sense, their efforts also drew fresh attention and public suppo rt to the cause and were hailed in a major story in the New York Times as "A Restoration of Spirit" in 1981. That spirit was much in evidence as volunteers and guests saluted Jakob Isbrandtsen , volunteer chairman (also founding chairman of South Street Seaport) and Lars H ansen, mas ter rigger, with awards Peter Stanford heading for for their leadership of the volunteer effort. Neil Flaherty, one of the hard-wo rking volunteers that earned the ship in the Times accolade twenty-five years ago, served a red-hot "riveters' chili," am ong o ther refreshments or1981. ganized by Susan Fowler, another early volunteer. $8,200 was raised for the museum's work to m aintain their ships and for a re tirem ent gift for Lars, who could not attend the m eeting. The group met aboard Peking because Wavertree's decaying decks are unsafe. Support is urgently needed to restore the ship so that she can be made safe and can re-open to the public. Ir is cri tical to get the wo rd out- invite people to pitch in and help. The reunion was a step toward this goal-a small step, but surely in the right direction. NMHS was involved in setting up the 1981 restoration effort with the slogan, "Dirty Work, Long Hours, N o Pay." This attracted the marvelous (and the right kind of) volunteers who came together to save the ship. Their wo rk showed that the ship mattered to people, inspiring the major gifts needed for shipyard work, while bringing fresh life and energy to the old Cape Horner. -Peter Stanford, Editor-at-Large
(Left) Volunteers Jim Bising and Biff Shephard onboard Peking with Wavertree to port.
44
SEA HISTORY 11 7, WINTER 2006-07
The National Maritime Historical Society presents
Join us as we visit the most fascinating and beautiful cities in the world on our quest to uncover the hidden wisdom behind the Northern European lineage of ship development and its impact on the modern world! From the ancient Hjortspring Boat exhibited in Copenhagen to Brunel's masterpiece, SS Great Britain, preserved in her construction dry-dock in Bristol, we will travel through the early dark ages, the Viking era, the days of the great oceanic empires, and the maritime industrial revolution; we will walk the decks of ships-of-the-line, actually sail in a Hansa Cog, and view the implements and personal artifacts of Viking kings, Tudor seamen, and polar explorers. Be part of our maritime delegation and reap the benefits: remarkable tour-price savings, knowledgeable curator guides, expert ship historians, first-class accommodations and superb cuisine. Plus, a comprehensive, all-inclusive sightseeing program; including, visits to the Vasa Museum, Stockholm; Viking and Fram Museums, Oslo; Roskilde Viking Ship Museum and National Museum, Copenhagen; Schloss Gottorp Museum, Schleswig; Maritime Peter Tamm Collection, Hamburg; Bremerhaven Schiff Museum; Netherlands Maritime Museum, Amsterdam; Bremerhaven Cog Cruise and much, much more ...
EX ERT MARITIME GROUP HOST! Dr. Raymond E. Ashley, Ph.D., Executive Director, San Diego Maritime Museum • Experienced in all facets of ship preservation, conservation, and shipbuilding. • Licensed shipmaster with 60,000 miles of open ocean experience . • 1994 Lothrop Award recipient from The American Neptune . • Eminent author and co-author of historical books and publications.
Special offer for NMHS Members 12 days, November 4 - 15, 2007 Panama Canal Crossing •Tobago Cays Los Roques • Curacoa • Cartagena Blue Water Sailing Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Bridgetown, Barbados Tobago Cays At Sea Los Roques Archipelago Willemstad, Curacoa At Sea At Sea Cartagena, Colombia At Sea San Blas, Panama Panama Canal Crossing Panama City
Join fe llow NMHS Members and other international voyagers on this spec ial sailing from Barbardos to Panama C ity aboard the tall ship Star Flyer. Enj oy clear blue water, white sandy beaches & much more. The 360 ft. mega-yacht's size allows access to the smaller, out-of-the-way anchorages no rmally accessible to only cruising yachts. Days may be spent sa iling, snorkeling, windsurfing & beachcombing. Evenings ashore for the loca l entertainment. The elegant 2ccomodations aboard Star Flyer are limited to 170 Passengers fo r this exclusive c ruise.
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CONFERENCES •Society of Historical ArchaeologyConference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology, 10-14 January 2007 in Williamsburg I Jamestown, VA; Theme: "Old World I New World: Culture in Transformation" (www. sha.o rg) •America's 400th Anniversary: Voices From Within the Veil, 22-23 February 2007, Norfolk State University, VA. The conference seeks to foster a multi-disciplinary dialogue among scholars on the issue of African American rights within rhe context of US history. (www.nsu.edu/ jamestown2007) •"Charting a New Course: New Models for Times of Change," 2007 Cal ifornia Association of Museums Conference, 21-23 February, Long Beach, CA (CAM, Ph. 831 471-9970; e-mail: admin@calmuseums. org; www.calm useums.o rg) •"Sea Literature, History, and Culture," 4-7 April, Joint Conference with the National Popular Culture and American Culture Associations 2007 at Boston Marriott Copley Place, Boston, MA. CALL FOR PAPERS deadline just passed on 1 Nov., but contact Prof. Stephen C url ey, Ph. 409 740-4501 or via e-mail: curleys@tamug. edu immediately if interested in presenting a paper on one of the following topics: early maritime literature; contemporary works on seafaring; maritime themes in film, music, and television; sea sagas from non-western cultures; historical events. (PCA/ACA, www.h-net.org/ ~pcaaca) •Naval History Symposium, 20-22 September 2007; CALL FOR PAPERS deadline, 19 January 2007. Resumption of the US Naval Academy History Depr.'s annual symposium, which was temporarily suspended afrer 9/11. Proposals dealing with any aspect of naval and maritime history welcome. For more information regarding proposals, contact Or. Maochun Yu via e-mail at yu@usna.edu. (For more derails and updates on the conference itself, visit www. us na. edu/Histo ryI Symposi um.h tm) •Joint Conference-North American Society for Oceanic History (NASOH) and the National Maritime Historical Society Annual Meeting, 17-20 May 2007, at rhe US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, NY. (NASOH info: Josh Sm ith, smirhj@usmma.edu; also Pro-
gram chair, Channing Z ucker via e-mail at chanz@cox.net; www.nasoh.org. NMHS annual meeting info: POB 68, Peekskill, NY 10566; Ph. 800 221-NMHS; WWW. seahistory.org) •8th Maritime Heritage Conference, 9-12 October 2007 (see notice on p. 10) •Historic Naval Ships Association, annual meeting, 9-12 October 2007 (in conjunction with the 8th Maritime Heritage Conference, see page 10), in San Diego, CA. (Info: Jeff Nilsson of HNSA, POB 401, Smithfield, VA, 2343 1; Ph. 757 3569422; hnsaO l @aol. com; www.hnsa.org) EXHIBITS •North Atlantic Seas, Schooners and Fisherman: Thomas Hoyne's Paintings of the Grand Banks, through 31 March at the Ventura County Maritime Museum, Oxnard, CA; Opening in spring 2007 at Mystic Seaport. (VCMM, Ph. 805 9846260. Mystic Seaport: Ph. 888 973-2767; www.mysricseaport.org)
Morning Launch by Thomas Hoyne •Salt Mountain, now through 2007, Noble Maritime Collection , Staten Island, NY. Salt Mountain explores the substance of salt, its harvesting, distribution, and uses. An array of artists interpreted Salt Mountain, and their collective works include paintings, prints, sculptures, and photographs. Works by Malin Abral1amsson, Nancy Bonior, Dove Bradshaw, Nancy Brooks Brody, Christopher Clark, Arlene Cornell, Michael Falco, Kathy Krantz Fieramosca, Griselda Healy, Patricia Melvin, Kristi Pfister, Ann Marie McDonnell, and Michael McWeeney are featured. The museum on the grounds of
the famous old sailors' retirement home, Sailors' Snug Harbor. Open Thurs-Sun, l5PM or by appointment (1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 1030 1; Ph. 718 447-6490; www.noblemaririme.org) •Black Hands Blue Seas: The Maritime Heritage of African Americans, Mystic Seaport, through April 2008 (75 Greenmanville Ave., Mystic, CT 06355; Ph. 888 973-2767; e-mail: info@mysticseaport. org; www.mysricseaport.org) FEsTIVALS, .EvENTS, LECTURES, ETC. •Moby-Dick Marathon Reader Call-In Day, November 15 . New Bedford Whaling Museum. Official call-in day to reserve a reading slot for the 11th Moby Dick Marathon, 3-4 January. (18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA 02740; Ph. 508 997-0046; www.whali ngmuseum.org) •Lantern Light Tours, 1-3, 7-10, 14-1 7, 20-23 & 28-29 Dec., Mystic Seaport. Advance reservations recommended. (75 Greenmanville Ave., Mystic, CT 06355; Ph. 888 973-2767; e-mail: info@mys ticseaport.org; www.mysticseaport.org) •Christmas Flotilla, 2 December, Morehead City to Beaufort, NC. (NCMM, 315 Front Sr., Beaufort, NC 28516; Ph. 252 728- 1638; e-mail: info@NCMMFriends.org) •An 1890 Holiday at the Lighthouse, Ponce de Leon Inlet Light Station, 16 December. G uided tours, crafts, entertainment. Hours: 10am-7pm, free admission 5-7pm. (4931 South Peninsula Or., Ponce Inlet, FL 32 127; Ph. 386 76 1-1821 ; www.ponceinlet.org) •John Carter Brown Library Research Fellowships, 2007-2008 DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS, 10 January 2008. Shorrand long-term fellowships available for research conducted between 1 June 2007 and 30 June 2008 at the library on the campus of Brown University. (For details and applicatio n forms, write to: Director, JCBL, Box 1894, Providence, RI 02912; www.JCBL.org) •Ghost Ships Festival, Milwaukee, Wl, 23-24 March (www.ghost-ships.org) •"The Evolution of the Ship," 3-20 September 2007. Trip touring sites in Northern Europe and Scandinavia, hosted by Ray Ash ley, director of the Maritime Museum of San Diego (see ad on p. 45)
Reviews Pioneers of the Pacific: Voyages ofExplo- Viking to Victorian; Exploring the Use of ration, 1787-1810 by Nigel Rigby, Pieter Iron in Ship Building by O laf T. Engvig van der Merwe, and Glyn W illiams (Univ. of Alas ka Press, 2005 , l 44pp, illus, maps, biblio, ISBN: 1-889963-76-3; $26 .95h c) The commanders of the expeditio ns "in the wake of Cook" sailed with orders that we re ambitio us and multi-faceted and which placed extraordinary burdens on these individ uals . Pioneers of the Pacific profiles six of these men: Arthur Phillip, Jean-Frarn;:ois Galaup de Laperouse, W illiam Bligh, Alejandro Malaspina, George Van couver, and Mathew Flinders. Most of these explorers wished to resume mapping the Pacific and spend m ore time in areas where Cook had little time to investigate fully (continuing the search for the Northwest Passage, for example). The governments for whom they sailed were particularly interested in further scienti fic study, especially botanical collections and astronomical calculations, as connected to commerce. These commanders were also charged with laying the groundwork and claims fo r future colonies and trading partners-a delicate business after Cook's murder, which had slashed their 'noble savage' idyllic vision of the Pacific islands. The expeditio n leaders had to keep all of this in mind, while crying ro keep their crews healthy and content, despite the ambitions of offi cers, shifting political clim ates at home, and the influence of powerful men ashore. Pioneers of the Pacific does not seek ro delive r the detail or intrigue of a text like Alexander's The Bounty or Hughes's The Fatal Shore, no r does it aim ro develop new theses. It is simply a well-wri tten, beautifully illustrated reference book ro accom pany an earlier volume entitled Captain Cook in the Pacific (2002). Both were published by the National Maritime Museum, Lo ndon, and serve ro highlight their extraordinary collectio n. Pioneers of the Pacific includes a useful bibl iography, a tim eline, and references th ro ughout, so chapters can be read out of order. For anyone beginning studies of the regio n and the genre of the great explorers, it is an excellent starting point, suitable beside wo rks like America and the Sea and other secondary-source textbooks on maritime hisrory. RICHARD Kr NG
St. Andrews, Sco tland
48
(Themo Publishing, Los Angeles, 2006, l 76pp, illus, biblio, index, ISBN 978-09655451-6-7; $49.95hc) In this engrossing wo rk, Captain Engvig recounts his personal voyage of exploration, pursui ng the use of wro ught iron in shipbuildi ng fro m its introd uction as a faste ning in V iking ships thro ugh to the iron ships, bo th sail and steam, that closed out the srory in the 1800s. By 1900, steel had replaced wro ught iron as a shipbuilding m aterial, but ships built wi th iron hulls proved rem arkably durable, witness the survival of Brunel's great iron steamer Great Britain (1843), now preserved in
Brisrol, England, and San Diego's do ughty immigrant barque Star of India (1 863), which still periodically ventures our under sail. Engvig's quest led him fro m sailing his own N orse longboat of 1863, grateful fo r the tough, resilient wrought-iron rive ts that held the flexing wooden hull together in cresting seas, to resto ring the iron schooner-rigged steamer H ansteen, built in 1866, which makes regular trips in Norway roday. Engvig takes us with him in his discoveries, from cleaning the bottoms of old ships in drydock to the adventuro us sailing of his own longboat in the No rth Sea, unfo lding the seafaring story of the las t thousand years as he goes. Alo ng the way, he befriends NMH S fo under Karl Kortum in San Francisco, and in the book pays tribute to Karl's work in old iro n, including the rediscovery of both Great Britain and Wivertree and his leadership in saving these and o ther iron ships aro und the wo rld. As this issue of Sea H istory goes to press, Engvig is
Norway, overseeing the restoration of the iron steam sch ooner Vaedalen of 18'9 l , which he reports never had a plate replaced in her 85 years of active service. The guiding principle th at info rms his wo rk is o ne he and Karl agreed upon: "O ld ham mer iron and salt sea seem to work well together." 111
P ETER STANFORD
Yorktown H eights, New Yo rk
The Fish and the Falcon: Gloucester's Resolute Role in America's Fight for Freedom by Joseph E. Garland (The H istory Press, C harleston, SC, 2006, 3 l 4pp, illus, notes, bibJio, ISBN 1-59629-007-2, $34.99pb) Joseph Garland's The Fish and the Falcon is a revision of his 1975 book Guns Off Gloucester. In his current work, Gloucester's historian added newly fo und data, which clarifies some of the late eighteenth-century evem s chat occurred in or near Cape An n, and improved his presentation of the historical context. 1he book's title cam e from an August 1775 battle in Gloucester harbor in which local fish ermen attacked the British naval vessel Falcon. The text presents a history (political, economic, social, and religio us) of the American Revolution as seen from the shores of a strategically located seapo rt. Garland's writing style can be brilliantly alli terative, onomatopoetic and metaphoric, for exam ple: "The boats surged on, hardly a sound save fo r the click-clacking of the sweeps in oarlocks, the gurgle of the hulls, the swish of dripping blades on the backswing." Or, ''A pungent gro und fog of gunsmoke crept over the water and enveloped the wharves, insinuated thro ugh the alleys and into the open wi ndows of summer, and the wa terfront reeked and sneezed with the sharpness of it." The m any lo ng tedious (yet still worthy of no te) tran scripts from the historical record and a m yriad of references to local m inor figures tend to detract fro m the book's mai n foc us, and The Fish and the Falcon is unabas h edly parochial in its approach toward rhe history of America's War of Independen ce. No netheless, it provides a unique persp ecti ve and a thus a val uable contribution to the historiography of the co nflict. I recommend it to those imerested
SEA HISTORY 11 7, WINTER 2006-07
in the maritime history of the American Revolution, particularly that which took place along New England's shores.
Announcing a New Bridge Resource Management Textbook
Shipboard Bridge Resource Management
LOUIS ARTHUR NORTON
West Simsbury, Connecticut
No Tombstones In the Sea: A Voyage Back to Hell by Dan Keough (RoseDog Books, Pittsburgh, PA, 2005, 550pp, gloss, ISB N 08059-9827-6; $41 pb) When asked to review this book, I was excited, as it represents itself to be a story of a squadron of Fletcher-class d es troyers operating in Korean waters during 1952-53. Having personally spent six years in Fletchers during the Viet Nam conflict, I looked forward to a wonderful tale of these great "tincans," derring do, and ho t action. Keough did not disappoint m e! Taking a fictitious naval reserve trainer as his stage, Keough peoples it with sailors and officers (some reserve, some "regular navy") and adds to the mix their loved ones as hore, romantic involvements, and, in some cases, business exploits. We get to know these men as the story progresses and they move through their pre-deployment training exercises, screw-ups, and infrequent triumphs. The ship and crew then head west to join the Seventh Fleet off Korea. There, our stalwart crew and officers spend time in screening duty for the aircraft carriers, all the while champing at the bit for duty on the gunline, slugging it out with the North Korean batteries. When the Charles P. Field gets her chance to show off the prowess of her "gun gang," new tensions develop between crew m embers and, in some cases, her officers. Despite the internal strife, the ship and her crew must perform the missions assigned to the satisfaction of the squadron commander and his superiors. All this makes for a fine story. Detracting from this potentially great tale is Keough's somewhat heavy-handed dialogue, several "naval cliches ," punctuation errors, and occasional misuse of words. The services of a good editor would have helped enormously with this effort, and I hope that, should Mr. Keough take on another proj ect, he will be able to secure the services of a quality publisher and co py editor. WILLIAM
H . WHITE
Rumson, New Jersey SEA HISTORY 117 , WINTE R 2006-07
by Michael R. Adams A Study of Human Factors Aboard Ship
www.noreasterpress.com/books/SBRM.php Di stributed by Pathway Book Serv ice: 1-800-345-6665
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THE ALEXANDER B. COOK 2006 HOLIDAY CARD For the past 38 years, Alexander B. Cook, ASMA has painted a watercolor holiday greeting card to benefit The Great Lakes Historical Society. This year's scene features a traditional Great Lakes tugboat, a wooden steamer, and for the first time ever, a steam locomotive. The inside reads "May This Holy Season Bring You Hope and Peace." The cards measure 9" by 4" and include envelopes.
10-packs are available for only $11.00 plus shipping . Sea History subscribers receive a 10% discount! To order: • Call (800) 893-1485, extension 1, or •Visit www.inlandseas.org/ cook to view a downloadable form. THE GREAT LAKES
The Great Lakes Historical Society is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to
HISTORICAL SOCIETY preserving and making known the rich history of the U.S. and Canadian Great Lakes.
49
REVIEWS
New&Noted
Who's Who in Ne"5on's Navy: 200 Naval Heroes by N icholas Tracy (Chatham Publishing, London, and MBI Publishing, Minnesota, MN, 2006, 388pp, illus, index, notes, biblio, ISBN: 1-861 76-244-5; $49.95 hc) Britannia didn't rule the waves by way of a single naval hero, despite the volume of literature produced on this one individual. Readers of naval history know the story of Horatio Lord Nelson in the grand history of the Napoleonic Wars to some degree. The topic appears to have no bounds, and many a fiction writer has capitalized on the time period and genre to attract readers who can't seem to get enough of it. There are those who know the basic history, enough to put the Admiral and rhe events during this era in context for understanding naval history, and there are those who know the subject through and through. This new book identifying the other naval heroes of the Royal Navy overshadowed by Nelson's legacy is for the former. Historian Nicholas Tracy has assembled a thorough collection of short biographies of these historic figures in British naval history. The book can serve as a
•
valuable reference when you are trying to identify a name you've read bur can't place. For those of us in the ADD generation or who fall asleep with bedtime reading in just a few pages, this book is perfect for
the times when yo u need to have a book yo u can pick up and put down agai n. Although each entry is short and thus can only cover a sweeping overview of each individual, a surprising amo unr of detail was included so that it comes off as a good read and no t just a listing of basic facts. DEIRDRE O'REGAN Cape Cod, Massachusetts
NAVAL HISTORICAL FOUNDATION
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NAVY HERITAGE • NAUTICAL GIFTS
• LONE SAILOR STATUE
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Six Frigates: 1he Epic Story ofthe Foundation of the US Navy by Ian W. Toll (W.W Norton & Co., New York, 2006, 592pp, ISBN: 0-393-05847-6; $27.95hc) Clyde Built: Blockade Runners, Cruisers, and Armoured Rams of the American Civil Uiar by Eric]. Graham (Birlinn Ltd., Edinburgh , UK, 238pp, 2006, ISBN: 1-84158-424-x; $3 l. 50hc) Brutality on Trial: "Hellfire" Pederson, ''Fighting" Hansen, and 1he Seaman's Act of1915 by E. Kay Gibson (University Press of Florida, Gainesville, 2006, 225pp, ISBN 0-8130-2991-0; $26.96hc) Commodore john Rodgers: Paragon of the Early American Navy by John H. Schroeder (University Press of Florida, Gainesville, 2006, 320pp, ISBN 0-81302963-5; $59hc) Don't Give Up the Ship: Myths of the W'ar of 1812 by Donald R. Hickey (University of Illinois Press, 376pp, ISBN: 0252-03 179-2; $34.95hc) Borderland Smuggling: Patriots, Loyalists, and Illicit Trade in the Northeast, 1783-1820 by Joshua M. Smith (Uni versity Press of Florida, Gainesville, 2006, 160pp, ISBN 0-8130-2986-4; $55hc)
Old 6 Rare Maritime Books Bought and Sold
• Exploration and voyages by sea • Shipbuilding, seamanship and navigation • Naval history •Whaling •Yachting and Cru isi ng • Commercial fisheries • Lighthouses, pirates and shipwrecks • Logbooks, documernts and manuscripts • Sea charts • Books relating to ma rin e art, antiques and ship models
We are eager to purchase single volumes or entire collections in these subject areas.
Ten Pound Island Book Co. Visit our web site at www.navyhistory.org or contact the Navy Museum Gift Shop in Washington, DC Phone: 202-678-4333 Fax:202-889-3565 Email: nhfwny@navyhistory.org 50
76 Langsford Street, Gloucester, MA 01930 (978) 283-5299 e-mail: tenpound @shore.net web: www.tenpound.com
Catalog available on request.
SINCE 1976
SEA HISTORY I I 7, WINTER 2006-07
Tempests and Romantic Visionaries: Images ofStorms in European and American Art edited by Hardy S. George (Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, OK, 2006, 134pp, ISBN 0-911919-04-x; $35pb)
T
he title alone should send readers of Sea History running to their local bookstore. The book catalogues a recent exhibit (of the same title) at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art in glorious full-color reproductions. W hat an exhibit it was! The usual suspects are here: J. M. W Turner, Winslow Homer, Thomas Moran as well as a surprising range ofless well-known painters. Credit to the museum's chief curator, Hardy S. George, for these provocative juxtapositions, as well as the catalog organization. Anyone wanting a quick rimeline of arr/maritime history will be disappointed. Those who prefer to relish discovery and possibility will find visual and intellectual stimulation enough to while away many a winter evening, as storms rage outside your window. The five critical essays that accompany the paintings are rich in anecdote and interpretation and blessedly free of obscure academic references. Words and pictures complement each other-a bonus is the inclusion of black and white reproductions of paintings and prints discussed in the book bur not in the exhibition. An extensive bibliography serves as an invaluable research source. Thematically, the show ends in the early twentieth century, but the themes are still familiar. Hurricanes and tornadoes hold their dread fascination today, witness the popularity of the Weather Channel. fu every sailor knows, the relation of man and nature is fluid, and arr is capable of expressing that relationship beyond the literal. The past is often revelatory, as Tempests proves. Ir can also be inspirational, a "restoration of hope in the storm's aftermath." AR.DEN ScoTT, artist Greenport, New York "\V,7hile writing a book about a killer storm in which I sailed off the coast of Britain some W time ago, I found myself in desperate need of sources of both solace and wrirerly inspiration. Two autobiographical novels about to ugh times afloat did both tricks: Joseph Conrad's Typhoon and Nicholas Monsarrat's The Cruel Sea. Besides offering good writing and fine judgment, each confirmed four conclusions that I'd drawn from my experiences near Fasrnet Rock. One is that the sound of a storm usually is more frightening than its appearance. Another is that while bad weather always threatens to come between people ("a great wind," Conrad wrote, "isolates one from one's own kind") , well-led crews unite rather than fracture. A third conclusion is that finger-pointing is usually wrongheaded after stormsdirty weather needs no human cooperation to beat up ships, thank you very much. Finally, every storm presents at least one moment of astonishing beauty that can change lives. During those five hectic weeks in London following the Fasrnet disaster, this last point drove me several rimes to an exhibition of stormscapes by]. M. W Turner, Phillipe-Jacques de Louthgerbourg, and other artists at the Tate Gallery. Those huge, magnificent canvasses presented storms both factually and spiritually. Tempests and Romantic Visionaries is a vivid reminder of those hours I spent with mouth agape. Ir is a gathering of superb paintings made mostly of dangerous seascapes (a handful are threatening landscapes). The 66 color plates, including many classics and some surprises, reproduce well on glossy paper. The accompanying text consists of five papers by art or cultural historians, some of whom express themselves in a scholarly jargon that the rest of us have to penetrate. Ir's usually worth the effort. For this sailor historian, the best paper is by Daniel Finamore of the Peabody Essex Museum. He writes not of genres and "sublime transcendance," bur of documents showing real ships and real sailors upon a real sea. A good painting is as much historical source material as a thoughtful novel. The section on what Finamore calls the "great disaster" of 1802, when a storm blew three ships onto Cape Cod, is superb. Paintings by Michele Felice Corne brilliantly show ships about to be (borrowing a phrase from another writer) "melted like a lump of sugar" by the surf. I have used one of those factual yet heartrending gems to illustrate a part in another book of mine about an exhausted captain who mistook one light for another and piled up on Fire Island. Perhaps the most curious things about Tempests are the name and place of its publisher. This is a catalog for an exhibition put on, not in Salem or Mystic or San Francisco, but in Oklahoma City. Here is excellent historical evidence of the universal significance of ships and JottN RousMANIERE, historian the sea. New York City SEA HISTORY 117, WINTER 2006-07
Tell them you saw their ad in Sea History!
Anne T. Converse Photography
Neith, 1996, Cover photograph
W001>, W'l'lf1> 'A'lf1> W'A 'T'!E'll A STORY OF THE OPERA HOUSE CUP RACE OF NANTUCKET Photographs by Anne T. Converse Text by Carolyn M. Ford Live vicariously through the pictures and tales of Classic Wooden Yacht owners who lovingly restore and race these gems of the sea. lO"x 12" Hardbound limited edition 132 pages, 85 full page color photographs For more information contact: Anne T. Converse P&F.508-748-0638 anne@annetconverse.com www.annetconverse.com
Historic, antique U.S. Coast Survey maps ~ from the 1800s ; Original lithographs, most American seaports and shores. Reprints , too . Unique framed, great gifts. Catalog, $1.00. Specify area.
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CAPTAl1 GLEN R. CHEEK, US
C HRISTIAN E. C RETEUR, MD
M R. & MRS. JOHN DARM IN
DIB ER MARITIME ASSOCIATES LLC
CHARLES FICHTNER
TERRENCE B OGARD
RADM D AVID C. BROWN
HENRY T. CHA 1DLER
MR. C. W. CRAYC ROFT
JAMES M. CLARK
MR. & MR S. WI LL IAM HAMMOND
MRS. PAU L MELLON
DONALD M. B IRNEY K ARL L. B RIEL
RADM JOSEPH F. CALLO, USN R ( RET)
C HARLES D. CLA RK
CAPT . JAMES S . CU NINGHAM, USN PETE R J. FIN ERTY
CE BEHR
RI CHARD M. BRESSLER
SPIRIT & SANZONE D ISTRIBUTORS, INC .
T AWANI FOUNDATION
M ART IN T OY EN
RALPH
R OBERT J. TYD
. TH OMPSON
T HOMAS L. STARK CARL W. TIMPSON JR.
US NAVAL ACADEMY LI BRARY
MR. & MRS. ALEXANDER W. V IETO R ALFRED J . WILLIAMS
RI CHARD S. WAKEF IELD JOHNS . WI GFIELD
ALEXA DER E. ZAGOREOS
SEA HISTORY I J 7, WINTER 2006-07
A MosT C1v1uzEo AovENTUREM Queen Victoria commences her maiden world cruise from Brooklyn, NY on the grandest journey of them all, around the world in I05 days. Enjoy festive celebrations as you visit exotic ports. For the crossing back to New York, you will transfer to Queen Mary 2 and enjoy all her special amenities crossing the Atlantic, combining two of the world's greatest oceangoing adventures.
Queen Elizabeth 2 will embark on a South America, Pacific and Far East Odyssey from New York on that very same day, January 13, 2008. The legendary Queen Elizabeth 2 will also depart to explore the North and South Atlantic Ocean as well as the North and South Pacific. Queen Mary 2, like her fellow Cunarders, will also sail from New York on January 13, to explore the Caribbean's charming towns and gorgeous beaches for ten luxurious days. Be one of the lucky few who join these vessels for this historic day of truly special departures. Queen Victoria
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Queen Elizabeth 2
7-Day Tandem Crossing Southampton - New York Southampton - New York New York - Sydney 42 Days New York - Sydney 41 Days New York - Los Angeles 77 Days Los Angeles - Dubai 60 Days New York - New York 90 Days New York - New York I05 Days
Another first historical moment will be when both Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth 2 rejoin each other in Sydney Harbor on February 24, 2008 where you have a choice to switch vessels to continue your Grand Voyage. For more information about these and other voyages contact: Pisa Brothers Travel Service (212) 265-8420 (800) 729-7472 mgr@pisabrothers.com fares are per person, non-air, based on double occupancy, and apply to the fim two passe ngers in the 11ateroom. Fares do not apply to single, shares and upper-berth passengers. Fares are capacity controlled and based on space availability. Government fees and taxes are additional. Offer may not be combinable with other discou nts, promotions or shipboard credits. Fares are quoted in U.S. dollm. lee applicable Cunard brochu re for terms and definitions that apply to your booking. Other restrictions may apply. Ship's registry Great Britain. Š2006 Cunard.
PUSSER'SÂŽ "The single malt of rum and the father ofgrog"
Forbes writes, "Pusser~ 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 rum available anywhere".
The original Navy Ru m and t he father of grog as the rum of Great Britain's Royal Navy and Royal Marines for more than two centuries.
Gold Medals, London, 21J01
San Francisco, 21J03 & 2f)()5
usser 's isn't for everyone. Some people prefer rums that are almost flavorless when compared to the intensely rich flavor of Fusser's. But if you want a rum that you can enjoy sipping, or still taste through the mix of your favorite cocktail, then Pusser 's is for you. Try a Fusser's and Cola sometime and taste the difference.
P
Fusser's is not always easy to find but your local retailer can order it for you. Or take a look at HOW TO FIND IT on our web site at
www.pussers.com
~~ Charles Tobias, Chairman