My name is Jessica and I’ve been a volunteer at The Mariners’ Museum Library for just over a year now. I am transcribing a set of logbooks from a 1850s whaling voyage right now, which includes a log from the captain, his wife, and his ten year old daughter. The variety of perspectives in these logs gives a great insight into life at sea during the mid-nineteenth century. The logs, while slightly different in their content, all mention every day happenings on board the ship, whether it be fish that were caught, repairs that were made, or business affairs. In addition, they also mention the location of the ship whether anchored at a port, visiting an island, or even just passing a landmark.

As the logs mention these places, I have been charting their voyage and pinpointing where they were at a certain point in time. On December 10 or 11, 1854, the ship Alice Frazier passed the Sarah Anne Island. Both mother and daughter mentioned seeing this island, and I looked it up as usual to chart on my map. Unfortunately, the Sarah Anne Island does not exist. I could not find records for it anywhere, so I thought maybe it was a ship. No luck, because the mother’s log would have mentioned it being a ship instead of an island. I kept digging, and finally found out that the Sarah Anne WAS an island… one that had existed for a brief period of time between 1858 and 1932. Claimed by the Guano Islands Act in 1858, the island was used as a supply for guano, or bird dung, for fertilizer use.

Oceania, 1861, MSM1274, MSM1, Collection of Antique and Rare Maps, The Library at The Mariners’ Museum

The Alice Frazier passed the Sarah Anne on December 10, 1854, according to the mother’s logbook, four years before it was officially claimed in the Islands Act. The island appears on maps published in 1861 as well as in 1910, but does not appear on any maps after 1932. A solar eclipse in 1937 prompted researchers to search for the island in 1932 as it would have been the perfect location to view the eclipse, but the island was nowhere to be found.

The one iconic tradition that came to mind was the act of christening a vessel. Immediately, an image of a formally dressed individual, smiling and waving in a shower of champagne and confetti filled my mind. Upon further research, I found that this tradition was about more than a joyous photo opportunity.

The launching ceremony of the USS Houston.

In reading Robert McKenna’s article, Bubbly Baptisms, in the premiere issue of the Nautical Collector, one sees how the tradition has evolved over time. He explains in great detail that the christening tradition has ties to when the Greeks, Romans, and Vikings offered libations to their gods in order to protect their ships and crews. The belief was that without formally christening your vessel, you invite disaster for the ship, and all who ride in her. One infamous example that serves to perpetuate this belief is the tragedy of the RMS Titanic.

Although champagne has become the modern offering of choice for its explosive flair, it is interesting to note that, throughout history, water, wine, whisky, brandy, beer, cider, milk, turtledoves and even the blood of human victims has been used with the intention to safely send vessels off.

The Newport News Shipbuilding President christening the USS Houston at the launching ceremony.

Apart from the offering, the qualities of the individual chosen to christen the vessel have experienced transitions throughout history as well. McKenna explains that prior to 1811, when King George IV introduced the first female sponsor and set the new standard, christening officials were usually male royalty or senior naval officers.

It is tempting to believe that a vessel happened to meet misfortune because it was never formally christened, but traditions like this, in my opinion, serve to demonstrate the beliefs we hold in order to wish others well. If you have an opportunity to read McKenna’s entire article about the history of christening on your next visit, you’ll see how the tradition has evolved to suit the unique needs that each culture holds while staying true to the central theme.

Happy new year, readers!

We are winding down 2012 here at The Mariners’ Museum Library.

In a couple of short hours, the Trible Library on the Christopher Newport University campus is closing for winter break until January 4th, 2013. We will open our doors again at noon on Monday, January 7th, 2013. I look forward to the new year where I will continue to share interesting pieces from our collection, but I also look forward to any discussions that they inspire in the comments!

It’s a long break for us, so I understand if you just cannot wait for another blog. Fortunately, there are two other Mariners’ Museum blogs that may interest you:

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday. See you in January!

While assisting in a rare book project the other day, I came across something that caught my eye. It was a book called Specifications for Reconditioning of the SS “Leviathan” and the Conversion of the Vessel to Burn Oil as Fuel by the International Mercantile Marine Company.

I know, it’s a very heavy title that doesn’t immediately inspire the imagination, but give it a chance. Once you crack the book open, you’ll see that it features these wonderfully illustrated blueprints for things like armchairs, light fixtures and other decor that you would find in a suite today. Leviathan does not seem to be a fitting name for such delicate elegance, but you’ll find out why.

The blueprint for the mirror hanging in the bathroom of this first class stateroom.

The plan for the lights hanging along the wall.

Here is the plan for the ceiling light hanging in the lobby of deck B.

The Leviathan was previously named Vaterland and built in Hamburg, Germany as a passenger liner in 1914. Upon arrival in New York, the vessel was interned in New Jersey once World War I broke out. Later, the steamship was seized by the United States and re-purposed for use as troop transport in the war.

The Leviathan in use for troop transport during World War I.

In 1922, the Leviathan came to the Newport News Ship Building dock to undergo renovation and it emerged as the world’s largest and fastest passenger liner of its time. The blueprints in the book are from 1921 and I encourage you to view more of the bells and whistles that the International Mercantile Marine Company had in mind. I had great fun trying to search for images of the final products in the photographic collection of the library, as depicted in the carefully drawn plans. As always, there is more to the story so you are welcome to read on about some of the conflict that arose in terms of the renovation process in a previously posted entry here.

I’d like to take a minute to encourage you to view a great item that has just been posted on our Library website. It is a full-text, PDF version of a spec book from 1862! This item is usually restricted from public view due to its fragility, but, since we like you so much, we’ve made it accessible here!

The 74-page book, handwritten by Warren E. Hill, includes the specifications of the ironclads of the Passaic class. As a draftsman and engineer, he documents the specifications in a lengthy narrative, so I won’t go into too much detail there.

For those who are interested in some of the nitty-gritty, the book mentions the specifications for vessels like the Passaic, Montauk, Kaatskill, Patapsco, and Weehawken, as it is noted in the last two lines of the image below:

Apart from the technical nature of this book, at 150 years old this piece holds a lot of charm in things like the script, and for this plan of a Passaic-class hull line and armor belt illustrated on a piece of linen:

The script, as I mentioned, is interesting for its beauty that slowly transforms towards the end of the document. The letters are a bit more scrunched together, the characters are smaller and the ink is applied with less consistency, as you can see in this comparison:

Hey, we’re all human so let’s give Warren E. Hill a break. It is a wonderful resource that will soon have a transcript, courtesy of our wonderful library volunteers. I’ll be sure to keep you posted, but in the mean time, see if you can decipher it yourself!

For every photograph, book or document featured in my posts, dozens more exist in the archive. I could spend a lifetime documenting, organizing and analyzing the sources available here – nevertheless, I’m grateful for the six months I HAVE had. It has truly been a pleasure to work on the Library blog. The staff members have been universally kind and helpful, and I am still surprised at how much I learned. My deepest thanks go out to Jay, Jenn, Tom, Bill, Patti, and all the rest of The Mariners’ Museum Library family that made me feel welcome and helped me discover a whole new world hidden in the archives. Thanks for reading, and farewell.

A new voyage awaits. From The Mariners’ Museum Library collection.

This service medal, issued during the Korean War, shows the insignia of the United Nations. From The Mariners’ Museum Library collection.

The fact that this is the first time piracy has ever been directly discussed and debated in the United Nations Security Council is an indication that, sadly, piracy is not on the decline. Rather, the debate reinforces the notion that piracy still is, and will continue to be, a powerful hostile force that the nations of the world need to unite against. Although many recent steps taken off the Somali coast have given us hope that piracy can eventually be defeated, it will likely be a long, hard journey to reach that conclusion. Perhaps the nations of the world can unite and crush this scourge in the near future. However, until that happens our maritime workers must live under an ever-present threat of harm and death from piracy, and consumers around the world will have to pay a little extra for many of the products we take for granted.

From Thomas B. Hunter’s “The Growing Threat of Modern Piracy,” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings 125 no. 1 (July 1999), 72-74. From The Mariners’ Museum Library Collection.

For the past few months, this blog has dedicated itself to the discussion of piracy not only in the modern world, but also in our cultural memory and consciousness. Too often the public remembers pirates as the swashbuckling adventurers of legend, when the reality of piracy is one of violence, fear and heavy economic costs. Piracy still costs the maritime industry a staggering $6.6 billion per year, and only 20% of that is absorbed by national governments. The rest comes out of the pocket of the maritime companies themselves, leading to higher prices on any commodity shipped over the ocean. Pirates still held hostage some 224 people as of September 2012, and some hostages have been brutally tortured and murdered to put pressure on shipping companies to pay their ransom (source HERE.) Make no mistake – the pirates of today, like the real life pirates in the days of Blackbeard, are not the hollywood adventurers of legend. While fictional pirates may serve as a popular form of entertainment, one must remember that in real life they were criminals who murdered innocent people and stole their ships and cargo: I doubt anyone would root for Jack Sparrow if they saw him do that.

The event will be held in The Mariners’ Museum Concourse area near the admissions desk. It will feature a lecture by Mr. Wooldridge himself and a display of some of his finest and rarest maps, followed by a light reception and a book signing. Remember, it starts at 7pm tonight, so bring your books!

The HMS Bounty, circa 1967. From The Mariners’ Museum Library collection.

What makes the HMS Bounty so special is that she was created out of period-correct materials, with the same tools they would have had back then and with the original building plans from the first HMS Bounty. The modern ship was not just a replica: it was an authentic rebuilding of the same ship, right down to the hand-bend nails in her keel. Constructed for the 1962 movie “Mutiny on the Bounty,” the tall ship HMS Bounty has since served in many motion pictures and as a unique piece of living history for the coastal cities of Britain, Europe and the United States. 

While the chain of events that lead to her sinking are under investigation, it appears that she took on too much water after she lost power for her bilge pumps. She went down some distance off of Cape Hatteras, commonly known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic due to its high concentration of shipwrecks and treacherous maritime conditions. The same waters that once claimed the USS Monitor in 1862 have now taken the HMS Bounty as well.

The HMS Bounty‘s last moments. Picture taken by the Coast Guard.

In the wake of this loss, one might ask why the HMS Bounty’s crew chose to sail through the hurricane instead of sailing in a different direction or staying in port. Although the matter is still under investigation, it seems that at the time of their departure from Connecticut Hurricane Sandy was not nearly as developed as she was when the ship reached Cape Hatteras. While some have argued that they should have remained in port, the crew believed that had they done so, the HMS Bounty would have almost certainly been damaged or even destroyed. The crew chose to try and save the ship by sailing it around the hurricane, and when the hurricane grew in size and strength they were already too far along to divert course. The brave crew members of the HMS Bounty risked their lives to save their ship, their home, and a great piece of living history. Although the ship was lost in the end, we shall always remember the courage, the sacrifice, and the legacy of the salwart HMS Bounty and her crew.

For more information on the HMS Bounty, click HERE.