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23 May 2023
Welcome back to our National Maritime Historical Society members and friends who share a love for naval history!
A belated Happy National Maritime Day. Ninety years ago, President Franklin Roosevelt and Congress declared 22 May National Maritime Day in recognition of the date in 1819 the hybrid steam/sail ship Savannah departed from Savannah, Georgia, for Liverpool—the first such crossing of a vessel possessing steam propulsion (though much of the crossing was wind-driven.)
Coincidently, last week the North American Society for Oceanic History (NASOH) held its three-day annual meeting in San Diego, concluding with an awards banquet on Saturday evening. With regard to naval history, Tuesday Tidings congratulates Thomas Sheppard for the John Lyman book award in naval history for Commanding Petty Despots: The American Navy in the New Republic, published by the Naval Institute Press. Our first feature salutes all of the authors who earned recognition in other categories. Our second feature salutes the winners of the annual NHHC New Year’s Eve Deck Log Poetry Contest.
Tomorrow the Gearing-class destroyer USS Orleck (DD 886) opens for public touring in what will hopefully be her final homeport—Jacksonville, Florida. A Bravo Zulu (Well Done) to the Jacksonville Naval Museum and the city of Jacksonville for welcoming this historic warship. A historical overview of this former American and Turkish destroyer is provided herein.
For this week’s “In Case You Missed It” article we offer a link to a May 11th presentation given by an-up-and-coming naval historian working at the Naval History and Heritage Command, Emily Abdow. Her monograph The Boxer Rebellion: Bluejackets and Marines in China, 1900-1901 (navy.mil) is her first of what we are sure will be many. Congratulations Emily!
Two deadlines are creeping up on us. For those living near the nation’s capital, registration for 4 June Battle of Midway Dinner at the Army-Navy Country Club will soon close out. See here. Also, the deadline for submissions for the CNO’s annual naval history essay contest is at the end of this month. Note a new Call for Papers deadline has been posted—for the 9th International Maritime Historical Association Congress in Busan, South Korea in August 2024. You have until the end of December on this.
Thank You Dr. Kolb and Captain Peerenboom for your reviews covering the McMullen Naval History Conference of 2015 and Rear Admiral Dur’s autobiography. Appreciate their observations below! Please check our updated list of books available for review and as always send your requests to [email protected].
Tuesday Tidings is compiled by Dr. David F. Winkler and Jessie Henderson. As always, comments are welcome at [email protected].
| ITEMS OF IMMEDIATE INTEREST | |
23 May 2023 - US Saudi Relationship and Israel’s Move to CentCom – VADM Mark Fox, USN (Ret.)
6 PM (CDT)
Pritzker Military Museum and Library, Chicago, Il.
Programs and Events | Pritzker Military Museum & Library | Chicago
24 May 2023 - Reopening of USS Orleck
Jacksonville Naval Museum, Jacksonville, Fl
https://www.jaxnavalmuseum.org/
25 May 2023 - Col James Holman, USMC Ret – The A6E Intruder – Up Close and Personal (YouTube Stream)
7 PM (EDT)
Continental Commandery - Upcoming Events (continentalcommandery-nous.org)
27 May 2023 - Walking Tour of the Washington Navy Yard
10:30 AM (EDT)
https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/nmusn/news-and-events/events/walking-tour-20230527.html
4 June 2023 - Battle of Midway Commemoration Dinner, Arlington, VA
6–9 PM (EDT)
Visit: Battle of Midway Commemoration Dinner - June 4, 2023 (airtable.com)
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John Lyman Book Award Recognition | |
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Canadian Naval & Maritime History
No award
US Maritime History
Winner
Gregg Andrews
Shantyboats and Roustabouts: The River Poor of St. Louis 1875–1930
Louisiana State University Press
Honorable Mention
Jane Hooper
Yankees in the Indian Ocean: American Commerce and Whaling, 1786–1860
Ohio University Press
Joshua M. Smith
Making Maine: Statehood and the War of 1812
University of Massachusetts Press
US Naval History
Winner
Thomas Sheppard
Commanding Petty Despots: The American Navy in the New Republic
Naval Institute Press
Honorable Mention
Trent Hone
Mastering the Art of Command: Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and Victory in the Pacific
Naval Institute Press
Michael A. Verney
A Great and Rising Nation: Naval Exploration and Global Empire in the Early US Republic
University of Chicago Press
World Naval & Maritime History
Winner
Ryan Tucker Jones
Red Leviathan: The Secret History of Soviet Whaling
University of Chicago Press
Honorable Mention
Simcha Jacobovich & Sean Kingsley
Enslaved: The Sunken History of the Transatlantic Slave Trade
Pegasus Books
See full list>>
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Bunker Hill Grabs Top Prize for Best New Year’s Deck Log Poem, courtesy NHHC
By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Abigayle Lutz
“As New Year’s bells ring out tonight/We celebrate our warship’s might/ In poetic form we must recall/Bunker Hill’s life before her 2023 mothball” wrote Lt. Artem Sherbinin on the first night of 2023 while aboard USS Bunker Hill (CG 52).
Those lines, written in Bunker Hill’s deck log, are not a typical deck log entry, but rather one of
naval tradition.
The tradition of the Midnight New Year’s Day Poem allows sailors to write the first deck log entry of the New Year in verse. Naval History and Heritage Command encourages the preservation of this tradition through an annual New Year’s Day Deck Log Contest.
NHHC announced the 2023 New Year’s Deck Log Contest winners, which are as follows:
1st Place: Lt. Artem Sherbinin - USS Bunker Hill (CG-52)
2nd Place: Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Austin Canterbury - USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62)
3rd Place: Quartermaster 3rd Anthony Bentley - USS Farragut (DDG-99)
The purpose of the New Year’s Day Deck Log contest is to celebrate sailors’ voices and promote the tradition of the Midnight New Year’s Day Poem.
Read full article>>
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OTHER NEWS FROM THE FLEET | |
USS Orleck finds New Home in Jacksonville | |
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USS Orleck (DD 886) is reopening for public visitation along the bank of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida as the showpiece of the Jacksonville Naval Museum. Orleck had served in the US Navy from 1945 to 1982 and then was transferred to Turkey to be recommissioned as Yücetepe (D 345).
The Gearing-class destroyer, built at Orange, Texas, was commissioned two weeks following the surrender of Japan and named for Lt. James Orleck, the commanding officer of the ocean-going tug USS Nauset, who went down with his ship following an air attack in the Gulf of Salerno on 9 September, 1942 during allied landings to invade the Italian mainland.
Entering service too late to participate in World War II, Orleck spent most of her time with the Pacific Fleet, serving on the gunline offshore in both conflicts in Korea and Vietnam, providing gunfire support for ground forces ashore. An extensive FRAM I modernization in 1962 kept the venerable ship in service for another two decades with the US Navy and nearly two more with the Turks.
In 2000, the Turkish government transferred Yücetepe to the Southeast Texas War Memorial and Heritage Foundation based in Orange, Texas. Unfortunately, Hurricane Rita damaged the ship as well as her berthing infrastructure in 2005, and eventually the ship would spend nearly a decade at Lake Charles, Louisiana. By 2019, concerns about the condition of the ship were such that plans for disposal were being considered. Meanwhile, a group of DDG-2 class veterans based in Jacksonville, Florida, had sought to acquire the lead ship of the class, USS Charles F. Adams, through the Navy’s ship-donation program managed by Navy Sea Systems Command, for the northeastern Florida city. Entering service in the late 1950s, the ships of this class were considered one of the most attractive ever to be placed in service with potent anti-surface, anti-submarine, and anti-air capabilities.
With the failure of the Jacksonville group to acquire the Charles F. Adams, plan B turned out to be the Orleck. With an agreement made to transfer the vessel signed in 2019, the destroyer entered drydock at Port Arthur, Texas in 2021, and was found to be in better condition than anticipated. Maintenance and repair work performed while in dry-dock assured her new custodians that the ship should be displayable for at least 15 years. The Jacksonville Naval Museum has spent a year readying the ship, which arrived in March 2022, for visitation. We feel confident the wait will have been well worth it!
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Author Talk: Emily Abdow on “The Boxer Rebellion: Bluejackets and Marines in China, 1900–1901” | |
NAVAL HISTORY BOOK REVIEWS | |
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Between Land and Sea: A Cold War Warrior’s Log
By Rear Adm. Philip Dur US Navy (Ret.), Lioncrest Publishing (2022)
Reviewed by Capt. William Peerenboom, USN (Ret.)
...Dur finished his naval career at the Pentagon, where he continued creating plans and strategies in the post-Cold War decade where the Navy faced tremendous pressures to downsize. There he contributed to the Navy’s strategic concept titled: “Forward From the Sea.”
The book is well-written, easy to read, and offers insights on the critical role the US Navy played in shaping American foreign policy during the latter decades of the Cold War. It is also a great read for understanding how military officers are selected, trained, and promoted, and how they work with senior leadership in the military and government. The book offers a unique perspective on how to achieve success in the US Navy, and the importance of mentorship, education, and dedication to duty.
Read full review>>
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New Interpretations in Naval History: Selected Papers from the Nineteenth McMullen Naval History Symposium Held at the US Naval Academy, 17–18 September 2015
James C. Rentfrow, editor, Naval War College Press, (2022)
Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, PhD
The Nineteenth McMullen Naval History Symposium took place at the US Naval Academy on 17–18 September 2015. In what was yet another record for attendance, more than 250 scholars representing eleven countries shared 126 papers in forty-two panel sessions. The historical monographs in this series are book-length studies of the history of naval warfare, edited historical documents, conference proceedings, and bibliographies that are based wholly or in part on source materials in the Historical Collection of the US Naval War College.
This volume, Historical Monograph no. 29, published by the US Naval War College Press in 2022, has ten papers selected from that symposium. These papers (Roman numerals I-X) focus upon varied topics over the past 250 years, mostly on the United States Navy or Marine Corps, with others on British, Latin American, or Chinese-Soviet issues. I shall discuss each of these in turn and provide a few words about their authors; their biographical information is abstracted from a longer, more detailed “About the Authors” in the published book (pp. 125–128). The editor, James C. Rentfrow, served as director of the National Museum of the US Navy and was the director of the 2015 McMullen Naval History Symposium. The ten selections provide thoughtful essays, many of which are relevant to current American history.
Read full review>>
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NAVAL HISTORY BOOKS AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW | |
Steamship Savannah - The first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean
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Originally built as a sailing vessel, SS Savannah was the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean in 1819. SS Savannah was constructed as a sailing ship and sidewheel steamer in 1818. While it was still on the boat ramp, the ship’s captain, Captain Moses Rogers, purchased the vessel to begin its conversion to an auxiliary steamship. In addition to its original sails, the auxiliary steam engine and paddlewheels were installed under the captain’s supervision. His cousin, Steven Rogers, oversaw the installation of the rigging and sails. Between the two of them, they kept eyes on the ship’s progress, knowing full well that their intent for this steamship was for it to be the first to complete a transatlantic voyage.
The interior of the Savannah was fitted with thirty-two bunk beds in its 16 state rooms. They were separated into men’s and women’s quarters, and were spacious enough to be regarded as more of a pleasure cruise design than a steamboat. The interior was outfitted with elegant carpets, curtains, and furnishings adding to its overall style.
After its construction, word spread that SS Savannah would be undertaking a transAtlantic voyage. The public response was that of doubt and uncertainty, and Rogers struggled to gather a crew to board the ship for the trip. The vessel underwent a series of trials in New York Harbor to test its engine two months prior to its departure. The trials were successful, and upon the vessel’s return to port, it would prepare to head down south to its home port in Savannah.
Read full article>>
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Logbook for First TransAtlantic Steamship Savannah, 1819
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The 1818 steamboat Savannah was the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. It was built as a sailing vessel in New York, measuring 98 feet in length and 320 tons. During construction, sidewheel paddle steam propulsion machinery was added under the oversight of the ship's captain, Moses Rogers. Savannah was purchased by a shipping company in Savannah, Georgia.
While it was in Georgia awaiting its first ocean voyage, President James Monroe excursioned aboard the vessel and was so impressed he asked the owners to send it to Washington, DC, for inspection and possible purchase by the US Government.
On May 24 1819, Savannah cleared port under steam for Liverpool, England. However, its owners had so little faith in the success of the voyage that not a single passenger or cargo item was aboard. Over the next 29 1/2 days to Liverpool, the engine was deployed for only about 80 hours due to the limited amount of coal the ship could carry. Savannah’s engine was removed in 1820, and the ship served as a coastal packet ship until 1821, when it ran aground at Long Island, NY and was lost.
Heavily restored, Savannah’s logbook recorded the vessel’s travel from 28 March, when the steamboat left New York for Savannah, to 17 December 1819, when it was in Washington, DC. The logbook is covered with stained sailcloth—a heavy, stitched canvas believed to be from the original sails of the famous steamship.
See logbook>>
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Brass Gunpowder Measure for 32 Pounder Naval Gun
By John L. Morris
This gunpowder measure was made at the Washington Navy Yard in 1851 and inspected by John A. Dahlgren. It measures the volume of powder needed to fill a cloth “cylinder” with 5 ½ lbs. of loose black gunpowder. These cloth cylinders made powder handling and cannon loading relatively simple, and many cylinders were filled and stowed in copper “powder tanks” in the magazine to be ready for action. For firing, the cylinder was loaded into the gun prior to the projectile. In 1851 there were many different models of 32-pounder gun and a set weight of powder was specified for filling the cylinders for each. Unfortunately no reference available to the author at this writing lists a 5 1/2-pound powder charge for the guns tabulated, but the information should be contained in the 1850 edition of Ordnance Instructions for the United States Navy. The outside dimensions of this item are about 7 3/4 inches in both height and breadth. This example is more distressed than the typical cast-brass antibellum Navy powder measure. The separately-cast brass handle was attached by copper rivets. A brass “powder knife” was once used in the Navy to level the top of the powder, but those may have been discontinued in the early 19th century. The author has only seen one which is in the Fort Ticonderoga collection.
See full article>>
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NAVAL HISTORY CALLS FOR PAPERS | |
UPCOMING NAVAL & MARITIME HISTORY GATHERINGS | |
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4 June 2023: Battle of Midway Commemoration Dinner, Arlington, VA
16–18 June 2023: Fairwell DESA Reunion, Albany NY
23–24 June: North Carolina Naval History in the Age of Sail and Steam Symposium, Kinston, NC (See here for more details)
18–21 September 2023: Historic Naval Ship Association Conference aboard USS Slater
21 September 2023: Navy Memorial Lone Sailor Award Dinner, National Building Museum, Washington, DC
21–22 September 2023: McMullen Naval History Symposium, US Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD
17–22 October 2023: Naval Order of the United States Congress, San Diego
25 October 2023: US Naval Institute Conference – Critical Thinking – Our Greatest Weapon to Winning Tomorrow’s War
| Click here to watch Dr. Michael A. Verney’s presentation of his book: A Great and Rising Nation: Naval Exploration and Global Empire in the Early US Republic. | PREBLE HALL NAVAL HISTORY PODCAST | |
A naval history podcast from Preble Hall – the United States Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, Maryland. Preble Hall will interview historians, practitioners, military personnel, and other experts on a variety of naval history topics from ancient history to more current events.
Click here for the latest episode: 190: Craig Symonds: Nimitz at War>>
Click here for all Preble Hall Podcasts >>
| NAVAL HISTORY & HERITAGE COMMAND H-GRAMS | |
H-Gram 078: 20 March 2023 >> The Revolt of the Admirals, Ship Renaming
| DRACHINIFEL YOUTUBE CHANNEL | INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NAVAL HISTORY | |
The International Journal of Naval History (IJNH) provides a preeminent forum for works of naval history, researched and written to demonstrable academic standards, with the goal of stimulating and promoting research into naval history and fostering communication among naval historians at an international level. IJNH welcomes any scholarly historical analysis, focused on any period or geographic region, that explores naval power in its national or cultural context. The journal is independent of any institution and operates under the direction of an international editorial board that represents various genres of naval history.
Click here to read the February 2023 edition and archived issues on the IJNH website >>
| SUPPORTING US NAVAL HISTORY & HERITAGE | |
With the 250th anniversary of the US Navy on the horizon, NMHS seeks your support as we plan to honor those who have provided for our maritime security.
Click here to donate today >>
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