Imagine an antique Victorian desk purchased for £30, that has a stuck drawer. A determined auctioneer, working on the drawer with a screw driver for around 20 minutes, managed to un-stick it only to find that the object blocking the drawer was a small bone cribbage board with a label on the back that read: ‘The cribbage board used by Victory Nelson & Admiral Quilliam.‘ The cribbage board had been hidden in the drawer for more than 70 years. The cribbage board will be auctioned and is expected to attract bids of several thousand pounds. Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing along the article.
The Internet is an odd place. There are writers who I feel that I know well and consider to be friends, and yet that I have never met in person. This evening, I will be leaving to attend the Historical Novel Society Conference in London and am looking forward to meeting many of the writers with whom who I have been conversing on-line, in some cases for years, but have never met in the flesh. I will also be participating in the “Ship’s Ahoy” Workshop with Linda Collison, JD Davies, Helen Hollick, and Margaret Muir. Should be great fun.
Thanks to those who have emailed asking when my novel, Hell Around the Horn, will be available in a print edition. It is now available on Amazon US and Amazon UK and should be available on Barnes & Noble and other other on-line retailers within the next few weeks.
Now that China has finally commissioned Liaoning, its first aircraft carrier, the discussion has focused on whether the ship is a meaningful addition to the Chinese Navy or merely a symbol of status and prestige. Some have pointed out that the Chinese are not believed to currently have enough carrier-capable fighter aircraft to make the ship operational. On the other hand, China does have a carrier based plane under development, so the question may be simply be how long it will take to produce the planes. Regardless, it may be that simply having an aircraft carrier provides sufficient prestige at a time when Western powers are cutting back their aircraft carrier fleets.
The New York Times reports that military experts say that “China does not have planes capable of landing on the carrier and so far training for such landings has been carried out on land.”
After ten sea trials and over 25 years of construction and refitting, China has put its first aircraft carrier into service. Long rumored to be named Shi Lang, the carrier has instead been named Liaoning, after the province where it was rebuilt and refitted. The ship started out as the Soviet aircraft carrier Varyag, whose keel was laid in 1985, but was never completed. Construction stopped in 1992. With the break-up of the Soviet Union, ownership was transferred to the Ukraine. The ship was laid up without engines, most machinery, electronics and a rudder. It was put for auction in 1998, when it was purchased by a Chong Lot Travel Agency for $20 million, with the stated intention that the ship would become a casino in Macau. The Varyag arrived at Dalian Shipyard in northeastern China on March 3, 2002. The Chinese military finally confirmed in June 2011 that the ship was being refitted to serve as the nation’s first aircraft carrier. See our previous post – From Varyag to Shi Lang – the Long Strange Voyage of China’s New Twenty Year Old Aircraft Carrier
USS Pittsburgh (SSN-720)
The American singer/songwriter, Paul Simon, had a hit in 1975 titled “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.” Sending an email to your mistress telling her that you are dead is definitely not on the list. Commander Michael P. Ward II was recently relieved of command of the Los Angeles-class submarine, USS Pittsburgh, after he attempted to end an affair with his mistress by faking his own death. The submarine commander, who is married with children, attempted to end the affair by sending an e-mail from an apparently fake co-worker named “Bob” telling the woman that Commander Ward had died unexpectedly. When the woman showed up at Ward’s previous residence in Virginia to express her condolences, she was told that Ward was indeed alive and that he had just moved to Connecticut to take command of the USS Pittsburgh. Ward was found guilty of dereliction of duty, unbecoming conduct and adultery, and received the punitive letter of reprimand.
Navy Cmdr. Michael P. Ward II Relieved Of Duties After Faking Death To End Affair With Mistress
Royal Clipper
We have posted about new ventures to return commercial sail to the seas, including the brigantine Tres Hombres and the ketch Irene. We have posted about new designs for large ships from rigid sails to the Dyna-rig, as well as smaller ship undertakings B9 and the Greenheart project. We have also posted about traditional sailing vessels still in service around the world, from the Bugis phinisi to Arab sailing dhows. Nevertheless, we were reminded recently by an article in the Washington Post, that we have largely ignored the largest commercial sailing vessel now in service on the world’s oceans and only the second five masted ship-rigged windjammer – the Royal Clipper. The ship was designed by Zygmunt Choreń and built by Star Clippers Ltd. of Sweden using an existing hull. The ship was inspired by the only other five masted ship-rigged windjammer – the Preußen, built for F. Laeisz in 1902.
Despite setting 56,000 square feet of sail, the crew required is relatively small. The square sails furl within the yards and are set and furled hydraulically. The staysails and jibs are raised using electric winches which are still hand-tailed by the crew or passenger volunteers.
HMS Spiteful
In our post about the passing of Bill King, we originally referred to him as the last surviving World War II submarine commander. Apparently, that is not the case. We learned from Pat Barnhouse on the MarHist list that “Lieutenant Commander Fred Sherwood DSC & Bar RCNVR is still alive here in Ottawa.” We believe that Lcdr Sherwood is 97.
From Living History: Lieut. Commander Fred H. Sherwood DSC & Bar RCNVR – his first submarine command was “P556”, a very old ex-US Navy submarine he nicknamed ‘The Reluctant Dragon’ because frequently, she didn’t want to dive!
From The Perisher Club: Lcdr Sherwood was the first Canadian Officer to command a British Submarine during WWII, HMS Spiteful. Under his command, Spiteful totalled the three longest patrols for an S-Boat at the time, sinking multiple Japanese ships. By April 1945, Spiteful had bombarded installations on the Andaman Islands and Christmas Island.
Bill King, one of the last surviving World War II submarine commanders and a single-handed circumnavigator, died yesterday at his home at Oranmore Castle in County Galway, Ireland. His family issued a statement which reads, “Commander Bill DSO, DSC submariner and yachtsman set off on a new voyage on September 21st, 2012 aged 102 years. He was surrounded by the loving care of his daughter Leonie and son Tarka…”
Oldest War submarine commander dies at 102
From our previous post, Belated Happy 100th Birthday Wishes to Bill King, World War II Sub Commander and Adventurer of June 2010:
Scientists have said that global climate change will bring us severe and unusual weather. That would be a hard point to argue. Here are two recent, apparently somewhat contradictory or perhaps merely odd, news stories about the sea and the global climate. The ice on the Arctic Sea has melted to record low levels while it has reached record highs in the Antarctic.
As Dr. Jeff Masters puts it – “Earth’s attic is on fire.”
The extraordinary decline in Arctic sea ice during 2012 is finally over. Sea ice extent bottomed out on September 16, announced scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) on Wednesday. The sea ice extent fell to 3.41 million square kilometers, breaking the previous all-time low set in 2007 by 18%–despite the fact that this year’s weather was cloudier and cooler than in 2007. Nearly half (49%) of the icecap was gone during this year’s minimum, compared to the average minimum for the years 1979 – 2000.
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The first word one associates with speed under sail is probably not barge. Nevertheless, Thames River barges are no slackers when the wind is blowing. Recently, the folks at Cambria Trust posted a photo of a GPS screen on restored Thames River barge Cambria that reads 14.2 knots. Apparently the Cambria later reached 15.9 knots. As this was the speed over the bottom we do not know whether she had any help from the current. Nevertheless, that is a very impressive performance. Cambria is the last British registered vessel to carry commercial cargo under sail alone. She did so until 1970. She has since been totally rebuilt and is now back sailing. (See our previous post on the relaunching of the Cambria in March of 2011.)
Cambria is truly the Cutty Sark of Thames River barges and Thames River barges are probably the clipper ships of coastal working craft. Why? Like the Cutty Sark, Cambria had a long and productive working life. Both have been recently rebuilt and both are, or in the case of the Cutty Sark, were, very fast under sail.
The story goes that around 1856, a man from Missouri named Thomas built a “windwagon,” a “prairie clipper” to sail the Western plains. Unfortunately, despite sailing around 100 miles down the Santa Fe trail, his “Prairie Clipper Company” was not a commercial success. Now a team of Swedish tall ship sailors, riggers, carpenters, filmakers and engineers have built designed and built the windwagon Astrakan, to “sail.. in the wake of Wind Wagon Tomas.” Recently they posted a video of the Astrakan sailing in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. Thanks to Tom Russell on the Linked-in Traditional Sail Professionals group for pointing it out.
Photo: Portland Press Herald
Susan Clark, who died after a short battle with cancer at 48, was a remarkable woman. In high school, she was valedictorian and class president. At Maine Maritime Academy, she was first in her class. She was the first female captain for Exxon and captained tankers for several years before returning ashore to attend Seton Hall and the University of Maine School of Law. She practiced law for a time before deciding to return to working on the water. In 2001, Susan Clark become the first female harbor pilot in Portland, Maine. She was also the first female member of the Portland Marine Society, founded in 1796 by ship captains. She is survived by her her husband, Glenn Daukas, and their two sons, Louis and Rigel. Thanks to Christina Sun for passing along the sad news.
Susan Clark, Portland Harbor’s first female pilot, dies at 48
Today is the official “Talk Like a Pirate Day.” Time to celebrate murderous thugs and to imitate characters from Disney amusement park rides. Oh goodie. Or maybe not. Today is also an excellent time to consider the very real human cost of piracy and to remember the more than 1,200 merchant seafarers who were captured and held hostage off the Horn of Africa last year.
Four years ago today, one of the first posts on this blog was “Thank You for Not Talking Like A Pirate.“: I have a rather good sense of humor and some might say a quick wit. (And some might say half-wit, but be that as it may.) Nevertheless, I am revolted by those who confuse piracy with cute colloquialisms, funny hats and the occasional parrot. Piracy is about murder and theft, not so unlike terrorism.
It is highly gratifying to have my work reviewed favorably by an author that I admire. Alaric Bond, author of the Fighting Sail Series, is indeed such an author. (See our review of his latest, The Patriot’s Fate, here.) Bond recently reviewed Hell Around the Horn for Historical Naval Fiction.
Alaric Bond Review: Hell Around the Horn by Rick Spilman
Richard Spilman’s Hell Around the Horn is set at the turn of the twentieth century in one of the last windjammers to make the perilous passage about Cape Horn. It follows the progress of the Lady Rebecca as she takes on cargo and crew at Tiger Bay, before setting out for her eventual destination in far away Chile. The subsequent story is one of peril and hardship, brought about by the atrocious weather conditions and a fair degree of human mischief, and is told through the eyes of all on board, be they fresh or seasoned hands, young “brassbounders,” senior officers, or even the captain’s family. It is a gritty tale: no blue wave lapped sandy beaches here, just an excellent recreation of what is takes to round the Horn under sail, along with a better understanding of those who chose to do so. This is true historical fiction: a genuine “feel” for the time is portrayed, with interesting nuggets of information about the social conditions and descriptions of the contemporary sailing methods and gear.
ELISSA entering drydock, click for larger image
Thanks to Kurt Voss for this post on the repairs to the Tall Ship ELISSA. Over thirty years ago Kurt became one of the original stateside volunteers for the 1877, 150-foot sailing vessel ELISSA. He has been a member of the ship’s sailing crew and has served as vice chairman of the ELISSA Committee and was the past director of the Texas Seaport Museum and 1877 Barque ELISSA. He is also the author of the GALVESTON’S THE ELISSA: THE TALL SHIP OF TEXAS.
1877 Barque ELISSA to Sail Again Soon by Kurt Voss
When Jamie White took over as director of the Texas Seaport Museum and 1877 barque ELISSA, he thought most of his time would be spent on the “cocktails and khakis” circuit. Instead, less than three months after taking the helm, he discovered the ELISSA’s future as an active sailing vessel faced profound challenges. During her routine dry-docking early in 2011, White and his staff found that electrolytic corrosion caused by Hurricane Ike had attacked 16% of the ship’s hull plates, nearly all of which were part of her original 1877 iron fabric. Last week, after a year and a half of planning, using experts from around the globe, the ELISSA entered dry-dock to begin repairs that will allow her to sail again.
Sovereign of the Seas
In 2010, the headline read, Modern cargo ships slow to the speed of the sailing clippers. The article was subtitled, “Container ships are taking longer to cross the oceans than the Cutty Sark did as owners adopt ‘super-slow steaming’ to cut back on fuel consumption.
“The world’s largest cargo ships are travelling at lower speeds today than sailing clippers such as the Cutty Sark did more than 130 years ago.
“A combination of the recession and growing awareness in the shipping industry about climate change emissions encouraged many ship owners to adopt “slow steaming” to save fuel two years ago. This lowered speeds from the standard 25 knots to 20 knots, but many major companies have now taken this a stage further by adopting “super-slow steaming” at speeds of 12 knots (about 14mph).
“Travel times between the US and China, or between Australia and Europe, are now comparable to those of the great age of sail in the 19th century. American clippers reached 14 to 17 knots in the 1850s, with the fastest recording speeds of 22 knots or more.”
Similar stories were reported via various news outlets and blogs. Earlier this month in an article about rate wars among container lines, the author made the statement, “Just to put that into context: the tea clippers of the 19th century normally averaged around 16 knots. Shipping is now officially slower than in the age of sail.”
This is all really interesting, but is it true? Unfortunately, not really.
Ships have a finite lifespan, usually not more than 20 years, often much less. When a ship reaches the end of its economic life, there needs to be a place to recycle the steel, the other valuable metals and equipment. In a perfect world this recycling would be done safely and cleanly. Unfortunately, this is far from a perfect world. Alang beach in India’s Gujarat province is one of the world’s biggest shipbreakers, which the Voice of America calls “an access-restricted, mafia-controlled funerary ground for hulking steel-container vessels marooned for demolition.” The operations are both dirty and dangerous. A 2004 documentary directed by Micheal Kot on the shipbreakers of Alang, India is now available on-line. Disturbing, but worth watching.
Photo: FILIPPO MONTEFORTE / AFP / GETTY IMAGES
Not long after the Costa Concordia struck Le Scole Rock off the island of Giglio, Italy at 9:45 pm on January 13, 2012, Captain Francesco Schettino’s voice can be heard on a voice-data recording muttering, “Madonna, what a mess I’ve made…”
A 270 page report issued by a team of court appointed experts agrees fully with the captain. The report blames Captain Schettino for action and inaction leading up to and following the collision that resulted in the deaths of 32 passengers and crew on the ill-fated cruise ship. The report also faults the crew and ship owner for a series of blunders, delays and safety breaches that contributed to the disaster.
In addition to causing the grounding by steering far too close to known reefs, the report also charges that the captain delayed issuing the order to abandon ship for almost an hour after the casualty. Rather than issue the abandon ship order at around 10 pm, fifteen minutes after the collision, the order to abandon ship was finally issued at 10:43 pm. When the order was given, it was not given by the captain, as required by regulations, but by a subordinate officer. Captain Schettino also failed to alert port authorities about the accident and left the ship the evacuation of passengers was completed.
Tomorrow, September 15, a Maritime Ghost Conference will be held on the Steam Ferry Berkeley at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. The conference is sponsored by the San Diego Ghost and Paranormal Group and is also a fundraiser for the Maritime Museum. In addition to presentations by experts on various haunted ships, there will be investigations aboard the windjammer Star of India and the Steam Ferry Berkeley, both of which are said to be haunted.
If you can’t make the conference here is an episode of Ghost Hunters, courtesy of You Tube, investigating reports of ghosts and the paranormal on the Star of India and the Berkeley.
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I have been a fan of Sailor Twain for some time. Sailor Twain, or The Mermaid in the Hudson is a webcomic by Mark Siegel. He has been posting pages online every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the tale unfolding in the tradition of a 19th century novel. For those of us who haven’t always kept up, the graphic novel is being published in its entirety on October 2, 2012.
Sailor Twain author video from Mark Siegel on Vimeo.