For those unfamiliar with the Edward W. Kane and James Gubelmann IYRS Maritime Library, you may be surprised to learn that in addition to thousands of cataloged books, periodicals and A/V materials, its holdings also include a variety of rare, valuable, fragile, and scarce items. These include hundreds of charts, boat plans, letters, posters, brochures, press kits, typescript or handwritten histories, photographs, slides, films, and video tapes. Ephemera such as wearable items, burgees, flags and an impressive display of trophies, paintings, and models are also preserved, protected, and displayed among the Library’s Special Collections.
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Contents: Issue No. 8
FEATURE: Shipwright BROR TAMM: Polymath & Poet
NOW ON DISPLAY: Photos from the Collection Exhibit
DIGITIZATION PROJECT: Recent Archive Additions
VIDEO: J-Class Yachts Ranger & Endeavour II
LIBRARIAN'S UPDATE: Book Sale Re-Cap & Recent Donations
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Shipwright, BROR TAMM: Polymath & Poet |
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POLYMATH (n): a person who knows a lot about many different subjects
POET (n): a maker; one distinguished by imaginative power, insight, sensibility and facility of expression.
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So effusive and brimming with superlatives is the whopping 11-page send-off to Bror Tamm written by Llewelyn Howland III (See WoodenBoat No.46, May/June 1982: “A Farewell to Bror Tamm”) it seems impossible that “Tammy”—as he was widely known-- has not become a household name in the sailing community. A contemporary and frequent collaborator with L. Francis Herreshoff, Frank Paine, Irving Johnson, Henry Nevins, Starling Burgess, Clinton Crane, Philip Rhodes, Ray Hunt, Olin and Rod Stephens; his client list resembled a roll call of sailing’s foremost champions including Harold Vanderbilt who sought him out for his wide-ranging expertise, inventiveness and exemplary work ethic. Beyond the rarified air of the racing yacht arena, Tammy oversaw the construction of state-of-the-art military vessels, massive motor yachts, schooners and even Admiral Byrd hand-picked Tammy to build specialized “flying boat” hulls used for his expeditions.
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Below: Bror Tamm's sketches from his personal archive folder labeled "Sail Tracks"
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The Bror Tamm Archive within the IYRS Library Collection contains approximately 200 card folders holding magazine clippings, sketches and plans dating from 1907-1973 amassed by Tamm during his lifetime. Boxes of file folders (with titles written by Tamm himself) represent his lifelong curiosity and commitment to expanding his knowledge. The archive (still being cataloged) sheds light on the polymath’s wide-ranging areas of interest. Just a few of the folders that contain his original sketches are labeled: “Boom-Crutch”, “Tunnel Stems”, “Old- Fashioned Solid Spars”, “Mast Hoops", “Steering Gear” as well as the “Sail Tracks” sketches above. Click here to view the most updated catalog listing of Bror Tamm items.
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While deftly managing crews ranging in size from 800 (in peacetime) to 5000 (during WWII) men as foreman and superintendent of George Lawley & Son, Co. (Neponset, MA) from 1912 – 1962, he “laid down” (BT’s term for lofting) more than 260 yachts. These included VANITIE, HIGHLAND LIGHT, the 235’ motor yacht CAMARGO, and the great schooner MIGRANT while simultaneously supervising as many more through the building process. An unrivaled expert in the arcane craft of mast-making, Tammy was also in charge of the construction and rigging of 170’+/- hollow wooden spars for both WHIRLWIND and YANKEE. Concurrently fabricating the sky-scraping J-Class masts, designed by L. Francis Herreshoff and Frank Paine respectively, required him to develop unique production methods for each of the two dissimilar spars whose shear sizes made the logistics of their individual constructions equally challenging.
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According to Llewelyn Howland III, “No shipwright has had a greater capacity for understanding and appreciating the materials, human and otherwise, that were lent to his command.”
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It was with the greatest respect for the Herreshoff Mfg. Co., that Tamm deliberately chose to ply his skills at George Lawley & Son Co., where his work would not be micro-managed by Captain Nat in service to “the master’s creations.” With Tammy at the production helm, Lawley’s became widely-respected as a foreman’s yard that existed to serve the customer, not the reverse… this suited his clients down to the ground. Tamm eschewed reckless corner-cutting or questionable engineering admitting, “the line between experiment and folly is narrow indeed.” Each project he supervised benefited from his technical sophistication and superior work quality; they were also typically delivered promptly and on-budget.
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Lawley & Sons Co., Neponset, MA
No. 5153 Illustration from Lawley brochure, ca. 1930, showing the Lawley boatyard at the point of Port Norfolk., image source: Dorchester Atheneum
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On Tamm’s first day of work at Lawely’s, April 15, 1912, the RMS TITANIC was reported sunk. The tragedy sent shockwaves throughout the shipbuilding industry and claimed the lives of a number of wealthy yachting clients. Tammy’s hours-old career with Lawley glanced off of an iceberg that day too when he was fired /quit from his first assignment with a deck-laying gang after a heated dispute with the job boss. He was subsequently rehired after arbitration by another job boss. The self-professed Corinthian sailor and man of principle was quoted: “When some son of a bitch thinks he’s doing you a favor to let you work for him, that’s the time to get out.”
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Of his extraordinary lofting technique, Howland wrote: “To me, this translation from the second dimension into a template for the third dimension is nearly as awesome to contemplate as the passage from the third to fourth dimension must be.”
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How did this young, determined, Swedish-born, Danish immigrant to the U.S. come to be so confident? Like his contemporary colleagues, Francis Hereshoff and Frank Paine, Bror (Swedish for “brother) was the youngest of six children. Born into affluent families, all three enjoyed a childhood freedom that may have been the source of their shared unbridled imaginations. Sadly, Tamm’s fortunes shifted with the death of his father in 1904. Already passionate about sailing, he immersed himself in the study of all aspects of naval architecture mastering ships carpentry, mold-making and lofting. He worked in numerous Scandinavian shipbuilding concerns adding a plethora of skills to his expanding toolbox of talents. |
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In Howland’s estimation: “Tammy was by deposition an eclectic… at home with the language of ideas. All his life he was interested in new ideas, in the clash of ideas, in the ways old forms could be adapted to new purposes, new forms to old.” In addition to the extraordinary artistry, imagination, innovation and work ethic he brought to his prolific marine career; for his life-long pursuit of knowledge and excellence… Poet, Polymath & Shipwright Extraordinaire, BROR TAMM surely rates sailing household-name status.--SAS
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NOW ON DISPLAY:
Photographs From the Collection
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Our new exhibition, Photographs from the Collection, may currently be viewed on the 4th floor of the John Mecray Aquidneck Mill Building. With more than 40 photographs and albums, ranging from the 1880s through the 1960s, the display includes images of a wide variety of vessels - from 160-foot private yachts of the 1920s to Narragansett Bay ferries, from America's Cup defenders to the smallest boat to cross the Atlantic - as well as views of life on board ship, the Newport waterfront, and press and promotional photographs.
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Edward W. SMITH ~ Long Wharf, Newport
Modern print from the original glass negative, circa 1900
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A collection of cyanotype photographs taken circa 1900 by Edward W. Smith, whose family came from Philadelphia to spend summers on Washington Street in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, show working sloops in the harbor and details of nearby wharves. Modern prints have been made from four glass plate negatives by Smith, showing Long Wharf, Jamestown, and views of Newport's old waterfront.
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Ralph ARNOLD
Wreck of the ‘Beavertail’
Gelatin silver print, 1938
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Alfred John WEST (1857-1937)
‘Britannia’ Sailing in the Solent
Albumen print, 1894
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Other photographs from this era include a print of the English yacht Water Witch under very full sail, photographed by Alfred John West circa 1880, and albumen prints of Vigilant and Valkyrie competing in the 1893 America’s Cup, taken by the Brooklyn photographer Charles Bolles.
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Additionally, the library has a small collection of prints and negatives by Newport photographer Ralph Arnold and his friend and co-photographer Edward Smith Jr, as well as photographs they collected by other photographers. Notable items from this group include a print of a young man standing in front of the wreck of the Beavertail ferry on Jamestown, after the hurricane of 1938, and an appealing image of a model of the Mount Hope ferry by an unknown photographer.
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Dorsett Plastics Dorsett 15’ Cobra Runabout
Gelatin silver print, 1965
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Among the more recent photographs in the exhibition are a selection from the library’s collection relating to the construction and racing of Constellation (US-20) in the 1964 America’s Cup. Images range from the 12 metre under construction at Minneford Yacht Yard, City Island, to trial races at Newport, as well as photographs of her designer Olin Stephens, with his brother Rod, and skippers Eric Ridder and Robert Bavier (IYRS also has film archives of these trials and races that can be viewed in the library).
The exhibit is rounded out with a group of promotional and press photographs, including a holiday card proposal from Morris Rosenfeld to a yacht owner, a print of Raytheon's latest radio in the early 1960s, and Dorsett Plastics' 15' Cobra Runabout from 1965 (above).--FF
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Digitization Project: Recent Archive Additions |
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The IYRS Maritime Library has completed the first phase of its film digitization project and now has 14 separate films from the 1920s through 60s available to be viewed on-site. These include unique color footage from 1937, showing America’s Cup trial races in and around Narragansett Bay and footage filmed onboard Yankee; unique film of Constellation’s practice and trial races in 1964; commercial film from the 1950s including historical footage of Sceptre, Endeavour II and Ranger (see below); and copies of films of the launching of Bolero in 1949; possibly the last interview with Olin Stephens in 2008; and more. Another aim of this project is to provide access, to students and others, to visual records of boat restoration projects, and the digital archive which also includes a series of 21 photos of the construction of American Eagle in 1964, and 90 images of the restoration of Bolero in 2010.
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Featured VIDEO: Raising Sail Aboard Yankee
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Recent Donations & Acquisitions |
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The summer book sale was very successful and the Library was able to sell a large number of duplicate copies and works that do not fit into the scope of the collection to the more than 70 people that attended. Another book sale is planned for early December.
An interesting group of practical books has recently been donated to the Library, many of which should be of interest to the new students starting this month. [see photo]
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IYRS MARITIME LIBRARY COLLECTIONS |
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About IYRS Maritime Library |
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Mission Statement: The IYRS Maritime Library is an educational and cultural resource, committed to the mission of IYRS and to making its collections available to students, staff and faculty as well as to scholars, researchers, and members of the general public.
IYRS Library Committee is comprised of founder James Gubelmann, interested IYRS Board members, the IYRS librarian, IYRS staff members, and qualified individuals from the surrounding community.
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Location: 4th floor of the historic 1831 John Mecray Aquidneck Mill building on the IYRS campus at 449 Thames Street, Newport, Rhode Island.
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Open to: Students, Researchers and Armchair Sailors
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Hours: Wednesday-Friday ~ 12-4pm & Saturday ~ 1-5pm
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Search: Online Catalog anytime
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Items in the library's Special Collections have been acquired through donations by private individuals and families as well as by esteemed organizations including the Redwood Library & Athenaeum, the National Sailing Hall of Fame, Salve Regina University and of course the Museum of Yachting. In addition to IYRS's searchable online catalog, which utilizes the Library of Congress system, the IYRS Maritime Library was selected to join RIAMCO-- the prestigious online gateway to the Rhode Island Archival and Manuscript Collections.
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About Navigating the Stacks |
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Exploring the Collections of the IYRS Maritime Library
This newsletter was envisioned by IYRS Maritime Library co-founder and contributor James Gubelmann in order to illuminate the depth and richness of the Special Collections contained within. Gubelmann said, “Together with Editor, SallyAnne Santos, former Creative Director of the Museum of Yachting, we will provide insight into the library’s holdings, specifically highlighting contents of the Special Collections.”
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Miss An Issue of Navigating the Stacks?
Click to Read Archived Issues:
No 3. May 2022: Vanderbilt Collection, Lloyd's Registers, Walter Cronkite's Bookshelf
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