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Book Review – Adrift

September 4, 2018 — Leave a comment

Adrift

Brian Murphy’s fourth book, Adrift, drops today and is a magnificently researched telling of the sinking of the John Rutledge and subsequent nightmare endured by her passengers and crew. Murphy is no stranger to chilling tales as illustrated by his prior book, 81 Days Below Zero, which narrates the survival of a World War Two bomber crew after their plane crashed in the Yukon Territory. Adrift is co-authored with Murphy’s wife, Toula Vlahou, and the pair weave a gripping narrative about the voyage, sinking and subsequent fight for survival of the John Rutledge and her crew and passengers.

Several elements combine to make the book a gripping and informative read. First, Murphy eschews quotation marks, but attempts to accurately infuse dialogue into the book based on his research into the story line. Second, the book contains numerous historical asides and anecdotes that help the reader understand the life and times of mid-19th century mariners, immigrants and shipping line owners. Third, and finally, readers don’t need to be able to discern a mizzen from a main or port from starboard to enjoy Murphy’s tale of Thomas Nye and his fight for survival.

Murphy’s use of the ever quotable Joseph Conrad at the beginning of the book is apt – “The most amazing wonder of the deep is its unfathomable cruelty.” Not to give too much away, but Murphy could just as well have quoted Conrad’s Heart of Darkness for lying within the book are indeed hearts of darkness and the sinful nature of man that can be revealed in the midst of toil and trial. As beach season comes to a close and hurricane season begins to come into full swing, there are few better books to remind readers of the power of the deep blue ocean than Brian Murphy’s Adrift.

In 19th Century, Age of Sail, American Shipwrecks, Atlantic Ocean, Book Reviews, Merchant Vessels

Book Review – Brilliant Beacons

July 11, 2016 — Leave a comment

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Eric Jay Dolin, whose previous work includes Leviathan and When America Met China, has generated yet another meticulously researched and well narrated piece of nautical history. Focusing on America’s lighthouses from inception to the current day, Brilliant Beacons is a sweeping, majestic piece that encompasses technology, material culture, engineering, personal histories and the strategic role lighthouses have played in America’s development and growth over the last three plus centuries.

Writing with the passion of someone who has long had a love affair with the sea and her incredible stories, Dolin draws the reader in with the origins of American lighthouse design and tirelessly waltzes through topics that lesser authors would render dry and boring. This is the second of Dolin’s books reviewed on this site and both have held particular meaning for me. The first being When America Met China, which, for someone who majored in Chinese language at America’s ninth oldest university, was of particular interest and is a phenomenal read. Having grown up in North Carolina, I have always had an affinity for lighthouses, especially given that I was a young teenager when the iconic Cape Hatteras light house was moved 1,500 feet to save it from being engulfed by the ravaging waves of the Atlantic. Thus, the subject of Brilliant Beacons more than intrigued me and, while I didn’t have the opportunity to read it at the beach, I read the first 25% from my home overlooking the Port of Tampa and the remaining 75% on a round-trip flight to New York City, a city forever linked with the sea.

Overall, Dolin’s narrative style enables the reader to make quick work of the book’s 400 plus pages. Saying Brilliant Beacons is the perfect beach read might sound a little cliche, however, the book is both illuminating and entertaining and the timing of its release at the height of the summer months could not have been better planned. Pick up Dolin’s latest and read away, you will be glad you did.

In 18th Century, 19th Century, 20th Century, 21st Century, American Shipwrecks, Atlantic Ocean, Book Reviews, Civil War Shipwrecks, Gulf of Mexico, Inland Seas, Museum Ships, Pacific Ocean, Revolutionary War, US Navy

Book Review – Voices from the Bottom of the South China Sea

March 25, 2015 — Leave a comment

Robert Wells, a retired US Navy captain, recently released his first book, Voices from the Bottom of the South China Sea | The Untold Story of America’s Largest Chinese Emigrant Disaster, an intriguing investigation into the tragic sinking of the SS Japan in the late 19th century. Leading the reader through a wealth of primary sources and photographs, Wells pieces together the origins of Chinese emigration to the US in the mid to late 19th century. Tales of the wealth of Gum Shan (Gold Mountain, aka the United States) lured thousands of Chinese residents of Guangdong province to the California coast as laborers for farms and the infant transcontinental railway system.

Wells relates the travails a Chinese emigrant would endure from leaving his farm to boarding the vessel to finding work in Gum Shan as well as his return journey with, hopefully, a money belt full of silver coin. A notable discussion from the book is the shipping of the bones of Chinese who perished in the United States back to China for permanent burial in their native land. This practice was most recently in the news in November of last year when a documentary of the SS Ventnor aired in New Zealand. The Ventnor was carrying the bodies of 499 Chinese miners back to China when she sank in 1902.

Overall Wells has done historians and casual readers a great service by documenting a little remembered part of Sino-American history as the SS Japan was the deadliest maritime disaster of the 19th century Chinese emigrant wave. Readers will enjoy the numerous illustrations, tales of sunken treasure aboard the SS Japan and general machinations of the Chinese emigrant trade covered in Voices from the Bottom of the South China Sea | The Untold Story of America’s Largest Chinese Emigrant Disaster.

In 19th Century, American Shipwrecks, Book Reviews, Chinese Shipwrecks, Pacific Ocean

Skirmish of Ballast Point

October 17, 2014 — Leave a comment

View of Modern Day Tampa from Ballast Point
CC Image Courtesy of Matthew Paulson on Flickr

On the night of October 17, 1863, the sleepy town of Tampa was awakened by the blast of Union gunboats firing on Fort Brooke at the town’s edge. The Union gunboats had been in from their blockading stations offshore to create a diversion for the landing of a 100 man Yankee raiding party. Lying at anchor six miles up the Hillsborough River were the targets of the raiding party: a barge and two Confederate blockade runners, the schooner Kate Dale and the steamer Scottish Chief. The ships had braved the Union blockade multiple times to sail between Cuba and Tampa – exchanging cotton and cattle hides for arms, munitions, and Cuban cigars and wine. The raiding party made their way up the riverbank and set fire to the three vessels, ending their blockade running careers in a ball of flames. The Kate Dale and the barge sank at anchor while the Scottish Chief sustained serious damage but did not sink. The ship was later towed down the river where its machinery was salvaged and the hulk left to sink into the river.

A Confederate response force, having been alerted to the presence of the Yankee raiding party, pursued the Union soldiers to Ballast Point near the terminus of Old Tampa Bay. At Ballast Point, now a popular pier at the end of Bayshore Boulevard, a quick skirmish ensued. Three Yankees and twelve Confederates lost their lives before the Yankee raiding party was able to embark and escape harm’s way. In September 2008, nearly 145 years after the raid, marine archaeologists announced the discovery of the wreckage of the Kate Dale in the Hillsborough River. A year later, the Scottish Chief was discovered further down the river where she had been left to rot after having her machinery stripped.

In 19th Century, American Shipwrecks, Civil War Shipwrecks, Maritime Exploration, Merchant Vessels, US Navy, Warships

Cleopatra’s Needle

October 14, 2014 — Leave a comment

For nearly a century and a half, an Egyptian obelisk has graced the Victoria Embankment along the Thames River in London. Flanked by a pair of sphinxes, the obelisk was gifted to the United Kingdom by Muhammad Ali, the ruler of Egypt and Sudan, in 1819 in honor of two British victories in Egypt including Admiral Nelson’s victory at the Battle of the Nile. While the gift was a magnanimous one, the cost of transporting it to the UK proved prohibitive and the obelisk lingered in Egypt until 1877 when £10,000 was donated by a philanthropist to ship the monument to London.

Carefully ensconced in an enormous iron cylinder outfitted with a rudder, deckhouse and dubbed Cleopatra, the 69 foot, 224 ton red granite obelisk began its long journey to London from Egypt. Tragedy struck the needle and its tow vessel Olga on October 14, 1877 when a storm struck in the Bay of Biscay. As the towed cylinder began to buck and roll amidst the storm’s swells, six crew were dispatched from the Olga to steady the Cleopatra. Sadly, their boat capsized and the men were all lost. The Olga was able to rescue the six men aboard the Cleopatra and the needle was abandoned to the vagaries of the storm in a sinking state.

Four days later the Cleopatra was discovered adrift by Spanish trawlers and was salvaged by the steamer Fitzmaurice out of Glasgow. After paying off the salvage claim, the Cleopatra finally arrived in the UK on January 21, 1878 after a harrowing and deadly journey. The needle was erected on September 12, 1878 and has attracted tourists and Londoners alike ever since.

Cleopatra’s Needle Arrives

In 19th Century, Ancient Shipwrecks, Atlantic Ocean, UK Shipwrecks

The Bombing & Sinking of the Training Ship Cornwall

September 23, 2014 — Leave a comment

As bombs rained down on London, Liverpool and other British cities during the dark days of the Blitz, one bomb not only made waves, but also revealed that truth is often stranger than fiction. Floating on the River Thames on the night of September 23, 1940 was the training ship Cornwall, a former British wooden hulled ship of the line converted to training duties for youngsters. During that night’s Luftwaffe raid, though, the ship was severely damaged and eventually sank to be refloated and broken up for scrap in 1948. In sinking, the ship became the last Royal Navy ship of the line to be lost to enemy action as well as the only one to be sunk in an air raid.

Although the Cornwall met a rather ignominious end at the bottom of the Thames, the ship was once a jewel in the British fleet. Laid down in 1812 and commissioned in 1815 as HMS Wellesley, the ship was built out of teak which made her incredibly resistant to rot. The ship spent much of her time in active service in the Indian Ocean and Far East. In 1839, the Wellesley led the successful attack on and capture of Karachi and was subsequently heavily involved in the First Opium War. By 1854 the ship was retired to guard duty and was opened on May 5, 1859 as a reformatory ship for 260 boys under the School Ship Society. The next 80 years saw her continue in this role as she bounced between ports in the UK. Sadly, the ship was the subject of some scandal when, in 1903, seven boys contracted typhoid from cheap blankets that had been sold to the ship unwashed and infected by army hospitals.

TS Cornwall Bombed Out By Luftwaffe

In 19th Century, 20th Century, Indian Ocean, Riverine, Royal Navy, Salvage, Warships, WWII

SS Austria Engulfed in Flames

September 13, 2014 — Leave a comment

The 19th century witnessed a wave of emigration from Europe to the Americas and the creation of an entire industry focused on catering to the needs of European emigrants. The sailing of the SS Austria on September 1, 1858 should have been just another trans-Atlantic voyage, however, twelve days later one of the worst maritime disasters of the 19th century would strike the ship and her passengers and crew. Departing from Hamburg with 548 passengers and crew, the ship was only a year old and one of the most modern steam ships in the service of the Hamburg American Line.

Around noon on September 13, the crew began to fumigate the steerage passenger area. A handling mishap of the fumigation equipment by a member of the crew led to a mariner’s worst fear – fire aboard the vessel. The vessel was a veritable tinderbox between its wooden construction and highly varnished and flammable décor. The fire quickly spread throughout the Austria and when the helmsman abandoned the bridge, flames raced down the entire ship as the ship turned into the wind. With nowhere to go but the sea, the passengers and crew flung themselves to the mercy of the waves. Two vessels, the Maurice and Catarina picked up 65 survivors, but, sadly, the remainder of the 538 original passengers and crew perished.

In 19th Century, American Shipwrecks, Atlantic Ocean, German Shipwrecks, Passenger Liners

Great Lakes Explorers Discover Early 19th Century Shipwreck

September 8, 2014 — Leave a comment

Underwater imagery by Jim Kennard

Great Lakes shipwreck explorers Jim Kennard, Roger Pawlowski and Roland Stevens recently announced the name of their latest shipwreck discovery. Back in July, the three explorers discovered a wooden dagger board schooner in the depths of Lake Ontario and have been working to identify the wreck in the intervening weeks. The wreck has now been identified as that of the Three Brothers, lost in 1833.

Traveling from Pultneyville, NY to Oswego, NY, a journey of only an hour by car, the ship was laden with a cargo of apples, cider and 700 bushels of wheat. The ship, her captain, two crew and a passenger never arrived in Oswego and it was assumed the ship was lost when flotsam and jetsam from the ship washed ashore several days after she set sail. The ship isn’t the only Three Brothers to rest at the bottom of the Great Lakes – a timber steamer by the same name sprang a leak and sank on September 27, 1911 and was re-discovered in 1996 after shifting sands uncovered her wreckage. The Three Brothers is yet another feather in the cap of Kennard, Pawlowski and Stevens who have discovered multiple wrecks in the Great Lakes. Ranging from a USAF plane to wooden schooners to British warships to steel steamers, the team has racked up an impressive number of discoveries.

In 19th Century, American Shipwrecks, Inland Seas, Maritime Exploration, Merchant Vessels, Underwater Exploration

Book Review – Glorious Misadventures

August 21, 2014 — Leave a comment

Glorious Misadventures, by Owen Matthews, is a fascinating glimpse into a little remembered aspect of American history – the Russian colonization of what is now Alaska and California. Matthews details how, spurred on by eccentric Russian nobleman Nikolai Rezanov, the Russian-American Company established outposts throughout the American Pacific coast. Flowing between America and Russia, the book weaves a tragic tale of initial success but ultimate failure as Rezanov’s dreams are undone by his own flaws and environmental conditions. For history buffs looking to learn more about the settling of the American West or Russia’s colonial history in the western hemisphere, Glorious Misadventures is a great read.

In 18th Century, 19th Century, American Shipwrecks, Book Reviews, Maritime Exploration, Pacific Ocean, Russian Shipwrecks

Yet Another Bottle of Baltic Alcohol…

August 19, 2014 — Leave a comment

Present Day Bottle of Selters CC Image Courtesy of Travelswiss1

Earlier this year, maritime archaeologists working a wreck in the Baltic Sea discovered a 200 year old stoneware bottle that they recovered to the surface. Surprisingly, the bottle, marked “Selters,” still contained its liquid contents from when the vessel sank. Selters, a mineral water found in Germany’s Taunus mountains, is still bottled today, however, scientists at the lab facility J.S. Hamilton Poland revealed last week that the liquid contents was most likely a vodka or gin and that the alcohol was still drinkable. The discovery makes a total of three edible items pulled from this Baltic Sea shipwreck, dubbed F53.31, as a stoneware jar of butter as well as a bottle of beer were found on the wreck in 2009.

Due to its chemical and biological environment, the Baltic Sea has acted as a surprisingly good preserver of organic (especially edible) material and has given up some of her secrets over the past few years. In 2011 and 2012, several bottles from a collection of 168 bottles of champagne were auctioned in the Åland Islands. The champagne had been recovered from the wreck of an 1840’s era schooner discovered by diver and brewery owner Christian Ekström. Another wreck off the Åland Islands revealed several bottles of beer that were analyzed by scientists and found to have been made from unroasted malt in the mid-1800s. Perhaps the most noteworthy recovery, though, is recovery of $8,000,000 worth of World War I era champagne and cognac from the wreck of the Jonkoping in the late 1990s. Thousands of miles south of the Baltic, another form of shipwrecked alcohol was revealed in 2010 when three newly discovered bottles of whisky were used to create a limited 50,000 bottle run of the whisky that accompanied Sir Ernest Shackleton on his 1907 British Antarctic Expedition.

In 19th Century, Baltic Sea, Maritime Exploration, Salvage

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