Lead Corrosion InExhibition Ship Models

BY DANA WEGNER

Introduction

HAS BEEN A POPULAR METAL for fabricating fit-tings for exhibition ship models. It has beenattractive because it is easy to obtain, it is soft

and easy to fashion, and it melts at a relatively lowtemperature. However, lead fittings frequently cor-rode.1' Corrosion may be so severe as to completelyconsume the piece, leaving behind a white or grayresidue popularly, and aptly, called "lead disease,""lead rot," "lead cancer," or "lead bloom."

In the ship modeling community, there has beenconsiderable speculation about what causes lead toseverely corrode, how to arrest the process in piecesalready installed, and how to prevent corrosion inthe future. This report compiles some of the techni-cal literature on the subject and relates that litera-ture, in practical terms, to ship modelers and to mu-seum staff who are unable to obtain the advice andservices of objects conservators. (Figure 1)

The Problem

Lead parts or solder might be found in models madeat any time. However, in quantity, ship models

made by twentieth century artisans dominate manycollections and these models are the focus of atten-tion here. Solder, commercially produced fittings,home-made castings, parts fashioned from oldtoothpaste tubes, and even air gun pellets, all madefrom lead, are commonly found on ship models. Byabout 1922, commercial exhibition ship model kitand parts manufacturers used lead for their cast-ings.2 Many of these early castings, seen on a num-ber of models in the Navy's collection, are todaythree-quarters of a century old and we observe thelead corrosion phenomenon frequently.

In addition to many full models, within the NavyDepartment's ship model collection are hundreds of1:500- and l:1200-scale ship identification modelsmade commercially between 1942 and about 1960.3

Some of these, especially those stored in contempo-rary wooden carrying cases, today show signs of leaddeterioration or have completely decomposed topowder. (Figure 2)

Cause of Lead Corrosion in Ship Models

Lead is an ancient material and has been used byman for many centuries. Many examples of anti-quarian coins, underground pipes, lead roofs on me-dieval churches, lead coffins, and lead bullets from

Figure 1. USS CHICAGO (Protected Cruiser). Department ofthe Navy model catalog number 181. Scale 1:96. Built bythe Boucher Company, 1922. Photograph taken February1996 showing advanced state of lead corrosion accruedsince 1974. Here, some, but not all, of the lead bitts and ven-tilators have corroded and littered the forward deck with agray corrosion byproduct. Portions of the port-side anchorhave also corroded despite a coating of black paint. Between1934 and 1994, this model was displayed in a large plywoodand plexiglass display case containing a number of othermodels. Some of the other models showed similar signs ofdeterioration. NSWCCD Curator's Office photograph,Michael Condon.

American Civil War battlefields attest that lead canbe nearly eternal.4 But why does lead sometimesturn to formless powder on our ship models?

The chief category of substances acting harshlyupon lead are organic compounds and acetic acid isamong the most destructive of these carbon com-pounds. Acetic acid acts upon lead and transforms itinto lead carbonate. Lead carbonate is the white,granular, powder we frequently see on lead shipmodel fittings. The museum objects conservationcommunity has been aware of the phenomenon forseveral decades and the chemical process that caus-es it is well-understood.5

The chemical process is this: Acetic and someother acids, in the presence of carbon dioxide, cat-alyze with lead to produce lead acetate and lead hy-droxide. Lead acetate and lead hydroxide togetherreact with carbon dioxide and form lead carbonate.Lead carbonate then releases acetic acid and the pro-cess becomes self-sustaining.6 It is important to rec-ognize that the formed lead carbonate is not just asubstance clinging to the surface of a casting, it isthe surface of the casting transformed to powder.For practical purposes, a portion of the lead is goneand lead carbonate is left in its place. The lead car-bonate releases acetic acid which can continue theprocess until the lead part is progressively con-sumed from the outside, inward. Acetic acid attacksnot only lead, but to a lesser degree, zinc, alu-minum, magnesium, brass, copper, nickel, and evensteel.7

During the nineteenth century, the artificial pro-duction of lead carbonate by using the "Dutchmethod" was a thriving commercial enterprise inthe United States and England. In order to createlead carbonate, known as white lead, a valuable pig-ment used in high-quality opaque paint, earthenpots were filled with vinegar and covered with sheetlead or with cast lead waffles. The pots were stacked

Figure 2. USS PC-461. Navy Department Ship model cata-log number 587. Scale 1:48. Upgraded drawing room mod-el by the Bureau of Ships, United States Navy, about 1940.Photograph taken March 1997. The anchors, the only leadfittings on this model, have been a recurring source of cor-rosion problems since 1963 when the model was mountedin a glass display case with a mahogany base finished withFabulon clear coat. The anchor previously had beencleaned and repainted in September 1978. NSWCCD Cu-rator's Office photograph, Michael Condon.

and then covered with a mound of tan — the barkfrom oak trees. The tan decomposed and heated thepots to about 180 degrees Fahrenheit. In about threemonths, the pots were recovered along with thedense white powder (lead carbonate) into which thelead had been transformed. In this process, carbondioxide was in the air and was also formed as the tandecomposed. Acetic acid came from the vinegar(usually about 3 to 5 percent acetic acid and about95 to 97 percent water) and from the oak bark. Heatgenerated by the decomposing bark accelerated theprocess.8

Micro-Environment of the Ship Model

Exhibit cases provide an artistic framework to visu-ally enhance the appearance of models and to pro-vide protection against physical damage and dust.Even though most display cases are not air-tight,they do provide some buffering against abruptchanges in temperature and humidity and tend tolimit the model's exposure to common airbornepollutants. Even relatively loose-fitted showcasescan support an internal atmosphere one hundredtimes more stagnant than the surrounding room.9

(Figure 3)Lead fittings can be exposed to acids through the

atmosphere within a ship model display case and bydirect contact with wood. To a lesser extent, manycommonly used paints and glues may also con-tribute to an acidic environment. Certainly, formany ship models, wood is the major contributor ofacetic acid. Concentrations of this acid as little ashalf a part per million can cause damage to leadcomponents.10

The interior surfaces of an exhibit case may havea significant effect upon the micro-environmentsurrounding what is inside. The materials exposedwithin the confines of the display case consist of the

Figure 3. USS CALIFORNIA (BB-44). Navy Department Shipmodel catalog number 151.Scale 1:48. "Builder's model"by the Mare Island NavalShipyard, about 1918. Re-splendent in its beautiful con-temporary mahogany andglass exhibit case, modelssuch as these did not employmuch lead in their construc-tion. They present modernconservators with few lead-re-lated problems. Perhaps thegreatest lead-related conserva-tion problem to be expectedhere is lead-bearing solderwhich might have been usedfor attaching parts together.The large glass plates of the ex-hibit case are set in a rabbetand simply are held in placewith slim mahogany stripmoldings. This relativelyloose-fitted constructiondoubtless allows the air with-in the exhibit case to exchangeat least once or twice a day,while still protecting the mod-el from most dust and buffer-ing the model from abruptchanges in temperature andhumidity. NSWCCD Curator'sOffice photograph.

interior surfaces of the case itself, the model and allof the materials used in it, and any other objectsplaced within the case — like simulated water, fig-ures, sails, background fabrics, cradles, name plates,and more. Other than glazing materials, probablythe most prevalent material within many exhibitcase interior environments is wood.

Sources of Acid in theShip Model Micro-Environment

Wood

By the 1890s, museum staff members were noticingthat some objects became corroded when stored forlong periods of time in wooden drawers. In the1960s, concerted scientific tests were conducted bymuseum professionals who specialize in the preser-vation of historic artifacts." They found that alltypes of wood release acetic acid and that certainwoods emit more than others. End grain releasesmore than edge grain. Some of the acid is naturallyreleased by the wood and some is released as a func-tion of age as the wood decomposes. In a few cases,seasoned or kiln-dried woods emit more acid thanthe same wood unseasoned. A secondary lead-cor-roding product, formic acid, is also produced bywood, but in quantities only about one-tenth asgreat as acetic acid.12

Wood exposed inside display cases with relative-ly stagnant atmospheres will create an acetic acid-laden micro-environment where lead artifacts willcorrode even without being in physical contact withthe wood. In addition to materials forming the sur-rounding exhibit case, the model itself may be madeprimarily from wood.

All woods will emit acetic acid to some measur-able amount, but woods sometimes used by model-ers that known to be harmful to lead are shown inTable 1. The woods listed have been tested by sci-entists primarily because they are occasionally usedin the construction of museum display cases, ship-ping crates, or storage units. Ship model buildersemploy many more types of woods than those test-ed. Nevertheless, a general rule of thumb can be ap-plied: Hardwoods emit more acetic acid than softwoods. But any wood will fall into at least the min-imally harmful category.13

Paints, Glues, and Miscellaneous Materials

Although wood is by far the major culprit, recentinvestigations have identified a large number ofmaterials which also add to the acetic and formic

acid exposure of lead fittings. Potentially destruc-tive materials used by ship model builders includethose in Table 2.14 The materials listed in the tableare not in any particular order. They are general innature and do not classify into groupings of high,medium, or low risk for lead corrosion. Somebrands of the same material may be more or lessharmful than other brands. As manufacturerschange their formulas from time to time, itemsmay fall into or out of the potentially harmful list.The creation of acetic and formic acids by thesematerials is a more complicated process than theemission of acids from woods and there is some dis-agreement among scientists whether some prod-ucts, latex paint for example, release acid or not.Types of plastics found not to produce acids includepolycarbonates, Mylar, and Nylon.15

Paint Vapors

Vapors from drying solvent-based paints like enam-els and lacquers, as well as paints containing com-mon drying oils have been found to produce acidsalso. After drying several weeks, the vapor levels areusually low enough to be considered not harmful tolead.16 However, tests also show that the dried sur-faces of these paints can also create acids.

Empirical Evidence

Our Experiences

The staff of the Curator of Ship Models at the NavalSurface Warfare Center [NSWC] has long experiencein observing and treating the deterioration of exhi-bition ship models. We maintain the United StatesDepartment of the Navy's ship model collectioncontaining over 1,900 models built between 1813and today.

Museum professionals call the self-deteriorationof objects inherent vice and some amount of de-composition is expected to be seen in all things.17

General observation has shown that older ship mod-els made using a limited variety of materials are lesssusceptible to inherent vice than newer modelswhich employ a mix of many types of commercial-ly available products. For new models, it appearsthat if deterioration has not been observed withinthe first five to ten years, and if the climate is not al-tered, the model probably will be relatively stablefor many future decades.

We have found that even a low level of acetic acidinside an exhibit case can be detected by the humannose. When the display case is opened, the inside

smells like vinegar. The human nose can detect thevinegar smell with a concentration perhaps as lowas half a part per million. This amount also seems to

be the lower concentration threshold for acetic acidto damage lead. The coincidence suggests that if anexhibit case interior carries even a slight vinegarysmell, then acid is present in a harmful amount.18

We have noted that thin pieces of lead, such asmoldings made from toothpaste tubes cut intostrips, corrode faster than more solid shapes. For ex-ample, model anchor flukes tend to show the effectsof corrosion before the arms or shank. In general,lead corrosion is first observed along the thin edgesof parts. This is probably because of the large ratiobetween the surface area of sheet stock, and thinedges, to the total volume of the piece.

When we started our investigation we had longstopped using lead parts in new models and repairs.We now use parts made from lead-free britanniametal. Britannia looks and behaves similarly to lead.It is commonly called pewter today and originatedin the nineteenth century as a popular pewter sub-stitute when the ill-health effects of genuine pewter(much of which contains lead) was discovered.19

Simple Experiment

We decided to artificially create a corrosive micro-environment for lead parts so that we could watchthe process occur. We employed a surplus shipmodel dust cover 20 inches long, 12 inches wide,and 8 inches high made from 3/16-inch-thick plex-iglass and set it on an unpainted plywood sheet. In-side we placed two cereal bowls each filled with afew ounces of household white vinegar, labeled"5% acetic acid," and a paper towel wick. Fromour tackle box of old and reclaimed fittings, we se-lected about a dozen old lead items, none of whichthen showed any signs of corrosion. The fittingswere unpainted, from unknown sources, and atleast twenty years old, probably older. We arrayedthem in various locations within the case and theentire setup was placed near a window facingsouth.

All of the fittings were observed to tarnish dark-ly first, then eventually form a light surface coatingof white powder. The powder increased in thicknessand then showed small surface eruptions (blooming)as more of the metal was consumed. Some parts cor-roded faster than others. The first white corrosionwas seen on two parts after only seventy-two hours.Parts positioned in areas of the case occasionallystruck by direct sunlight corroded faster than partsin other areas probably because the sun's warmthaccelerated the chemical process.20 The parts con-tinued to corrode when the bowls of vinegar hadbeen removed from within the display case.

Impurities in Lead

We originally started our investigation of lead cor-rosion on the wrong track. A casual discussion in1980 with one of the Model Shipways Company em-ployees suggested that their lead castings were madeusing "type metal." We thought what he meant wasmost likely expended metal type from printingpresses. An examination of literature showed thattype metal should contain mostly lead and somemeasurable amounts of antimony, tin, and perhapscopper.21

Based on our experience and bolstered by obser-vations made during the simple experiment de-scribed in the previous section, we knew that underseemingly identical conditions, some lead parts cor-roded faster than others. We surmised that perhapslead corrosion was triggered by "impurities" like an-timony or tin in the lead used in the castings.22 Wewere wrong.

Recent tests done for us by the NSWC MaterialsLaboratory indeed confirm that there are minuteamounts of antimony and tin and other metals insome lead ship model castings which have corroded,but the amount of lead corrosion created appears inpositive proportion to the purity of the lead used inthe fitting. In other words, the purer the lead, themore readily the part was affected by acetic acid.23

Contrary to our first thoughts, antimony, copper,and tin in lead castings apparently tend to retard orreduce the formation of lead carbonate.

Empirical Mystery

Finally, our general experience over a two-decadeperiod is that lead fittings on models displayed inplexiglass (cast sheet acrylic) exhibit cases corrodemore rapidly than those displayed in glass cases.Oddly, our office seems to be the only museumgroup actually experiencing accelerated deteriora-tion of lead objects under acrylic. While polycarbon-ates have been rated as non-producers of acetic acid,there are some current conservational concernsabout acrylic sheet. We cannot yet explain whatcauses what we surely see, and more study needs tobe done.

Solving the Problem

Treatment of Corroding Lead Parts

The fact that lead carbonate combines with carbondioxide to form acetic acid demands that lead car-bonate powder frequently be removed from the

surfaces of affected castings and from inside theexhibit case or storage crate environment. Wehave found that brushing off the corrosive byprod-ucts and repainting the affected fittings only serveas a temporary and cosmetic repair. The parts willbegin to bloom again if they remain within thesame acid-laden micro-environment. A variety ofpaints, clear coatings, cyanoacrylate glues, andeven automobile battery terminal paint have beentried with no appreciable abatement found.24 In-deed, many of these coatings may actually con-tribute to the problem.

One treatment that was suggested on the Internetto modelers was to wash parts in vinegar to neutral-ize the lead carbonate. While this treatment may fa-cilitate cleaning the affected parts, obviously thevinegar wash itself may attack the lead until it isneutralized by liberally rinsing it in water. Thor-ough removal of lead carbonate from within themodel's micro-environment is recommended, butwe would suggest simply brushing it away.25 Al-though basic lead carbonate does not dissolve in wa-ter, mechanically rinsing corroded parts in runningwater would be preferable to applying more aceticacid to the piece. Wear a respirator when disturbingdry lead carbonate dust and be sure to wash yourhands after handling lead fittings or lead corrosionbyproducts.

The Gibbs & Cox Company ship model builders(1939 - about 1962) employed some lead castingsand lead-based solder in their exquisite models.They chose to electroplate those fittings with athin layer of copper, thereby effectively sealing thecasting surface from the atmosphere. Time hasconfirmed that electroplating is a good way to pre-vent lead corrosion. There are two drawbacks toelectroplating. Some superfine relief detail may belost, and the process is somewhat complicated andfraught with safety, health, and environmentalhazards.

Many model builders simply do not use lead fit-tings in new models and replace lead fittings on oldmodels with duplicates made from a more durablemetal. While brass, bronze, or copper is suitable, bri-tannia metal, which is usually composed of 89 per-cent tin, 7.5 percent antimony, and 3.5 percent cop-per, is frequently used to replace lead because it iseasy to cast. Replacement is a way around the prob-lem for hobbyists. However, for museums thewholesale substitution of new fittings for old would,or should, present a dilemma in conservationalethics.

There appears to be no known product currentlyavailable which can be applied to lead fittings to

Figure 4. USS OLYMPIA (Cruiser #6). Navy Department Model catalog number 188. Scale 1:48. "Builder's model" by theBureau of Construction and Repair, United States Navy, about 1891. Museums frequently store large artifacts like shipmodels in wooden crates for extended periods. Today we know that storage crates must be constructed from materialswhich will not adversely affect the contents. This photograph probably was taken in 1946 and shows the pine crate inwhich the model resided between 1945 and 1952. United States Navy models of this vintage usually were made from alimited list of materials which did not include lead. They have tended to be relatively stable. Here, some features of themodel are bright brass, nickel, and copper. NSWCCD Curator's Office photograph.

render them fully impervious to acetic acid.26 Otherthan electroplating fittings or replacing them withmore durable castings, probably the best way to pre-vent lead corrosion is to isolate ship models fromsources of acids.

Improving the Ship ModelMicro-Environment

Solutions Which Don't Help

One unrealistic way to prevent lead corrosionwould be to hermetically seal exhibit cases andreplace the interior atmosphere with one contain-ing no carbon dioxide. In an environment withoutcarbon dioxide, one key ingredient necessary tocreate lead carbonate would be missing and theprocess could not occur. Even for museums, thecosts of creating a large-scale controlled-gas envi-

ronment would be technically and financiallydaunting.

Another imperfect solution would be to foregoputting ship models in display cases. The free move-ment of air surrounding them would minimize theirexposure to concentrated airborne acetic and formicacids. However, the potential for mechanical dam-age, exposure to dust, abrupt changes in tempera-ture and humidity, not to mention aesthetic con-cerns and tradition make this a generallyunpalatable response to the problem.27

A simple way to prevent woods from off-gassingacetic acid would seem to be to seal the wood using anacid-impervious coating. But most kinds of wood seal-ers, paints, and clear finishes are not impervious to thepassage of acetic acid from woods, and indeed, thecoatings might further contribute to the micro-envi-ronment problem. To date, researchers have found noproduct which can be applied as a liquid and which

fully seals wood to suppress the emission of acids.Two-part epoxy and some urethane paints appear to of-fer a limited degree of barrier. Shellac, while not anacid producer, does not offer any protection. SheetMelamine does not release acids and might be used forcladding, but the adhesive used to affix the sheet ma-terial to the underlay may, indeed, be undesirable.28

A Partial Solution

In practice, the lead corrosion problem can be miti-gated by introducing a relatively small amount offree air into exhibit cases. Generally, the air shouldchange inside the case about once or twice a day.One rule of thumb suggests that a one-inch diame-ter hole in an exhibit case is enough to exchange theair in a case with a volume of about one cubic yard.Keeping the exhibit case interior and the model coolby avoiding direct sunlight, heat-generating lights,or other sources of warmth will retard the corrosionprocess, too. Air pollutant absorbers (sorbents) likeactivated carbon will sop acetic acid from the air butthese materials, placed in shallow trays to reveal alarge surface area, become saturated and must be re-placed periodically. Large-volume display caseswould require substantial areas of sorbent surface tobe effective.29 (Figure 4)

Lead is a Health Hazard

Lead is a toxic substance which may enter the bodyby breathing or swallowing lead dusts, fumes, ormists. If food, cigarettes, or your hands have lead onthem, lead may be swallowed while eating, drink-ing, or smoking. Once in the body, lead enters thebloodstream and may be carried to all parts of yourbody. Your body can absorb some of this lead, but ifthere is continued lead exposure, your body absorbsand stores more lead than it can eliminate. Thisstored lead may cause irreversible damage to cells,organs, and whole body systems. After exposurestops, it takes months or even years for all the leadto be removed from your body. One of the easiestways to control lead exposure is by following goodhygiene practices. Always wash your hands and faceafter being exposed to lead dust.30

Conclusions

The implications from our experience and our in-vestigation of relevant literature about the corrosionof lead and its prevention suggests that lead partscannot yet be treated with a coating which conve-niently will render them impervious to acids. How-

ever, models with lead fittings could benefit by thereduction and perhaps elimination of exposure tomaterials known to be highly destructive to lead.Considering that the model itself may be made ofsome acid-producing materials, perhaps not everyacid source can be eliminated. But at least majorsources, especially those sources not inherent in themodel itself and which affect the model's micro-en-vironment, should be avoided.

Models with lead parts should not be displayed orstored in cases made from oak or made from oth-er woods on the highly destructive list. Woodsnot on the list in this report, and there are many,may range from minimally to highly harmful.

Lead carbonate which has accumulated should beremoved from affected parts and from inside theexhibit case interior as frequently as possible.

For models with lead parts, exhibit case interiorsshould be kept as cool as may be practical.

Exhibit cases should exchange interior air abouttwice a day.

World War Two-vintage waterline identificationmodels should not be stored closed within theiroriginal wooden carrying cases.

Do not use lead fittings when constructing newmodels or refitting old models

Wash your hands after handling lead

Next, in declining order of risk, would be to reduceor eliminate the model's exposure to less harmfulwoods, then reduce its exposure to large amounts ofdestructive materials other than wood, and finallylimiting its exposure to even low-risk materials.Lead corrosion on ship models can be prevented orsignificantly reduced by eliminating or reducing theacidic environment within their exhibit cases orstorage units.

The author would like to thank these persons fortheir help in preparing this report: Michael Condon,David Erhardt, George Long, and K. Patrick McKin-ney. The opinions expressed in this report are theauthor's and not necessarily those of the Naval Sur-face Warfare Center or the Department of the Navy.Specific materials, products, and brands mentionedin this report are neither endorsed nor condemnedby the Naval Surface Warfare Center or Departmentof the Navy.

Figure 4. Rope made on the ropewalk. All rope is made ofthree strands, but the number of threads per strand increasesfrom left to right. A is a single polyester thread with a naturaltwist in it. B is a three-thread (three strands at one thread perstrand) right-hand rope. C is six-thread (three strands at twothreads per strand) rope. D is a twelve-thread (three stands atfour threads per strand) rope. E is twelve-thread (three strandsat four threads per strand), left-hand rope of heavier #18 but-ton and carpet cotton thread. Photograph by author.

For making rope with a model ropewalk,we use "yarns" that come to us in the formof manufactured linen, cotton, or polyesterthreads. The model ropewalk described inthis article is designed for three strands, butwe can vary the number of threads we incor-porate into each strand. Figure 4 shows sev-eral three-strand miniature ropes withstrands comprised of one, two, and fourthreads, making ropes with totals of three,six, and twelve threads, respectively. To getscale rope of varying weights, we twist vary-ing numbers of natural- or synthetic-fiberthreads into three strands, and the threestrands into rope.

On a ropewalk, the strain of twisting isneutralized because after the threads aretwisted together into strands in one direc-tion, the strands are twisted into rope in thereverse direction. Thus, the finished rope haslittle or no tendency to unravel. (It will stillfray at the ends like any rope, how-ever, and this problem is easily corrected byserving.)

Making a Hand-Powered RopewalkThe drawing and photographs show the de-sign basics of my ropewalk. The principalparts are: 1) a driving end (on the right in thephotos); 2) an idler/moveable end (on the

left); 3) a grooved top or guide, to obtain an even lay(placed within the strands); and 4) some weight (held ina bucket) attached to the movable idler end, to providetension.

Making the Driving End

Making a ropewalk is not difficult. The woodworking andmetalworking skills involved are basic, and the materialsare not hard to find (see Figure 5).

The Woodworking. Both the drive-end and idler-end as-semblies are mounted on wood supports resembling book-ends. I cut grooves (dados) in the wood bases to accept theupright pieces, and used both glue and screws to fastenthe uprights to their bases. (The dados make the joints ex-tra strong, but are not absolutely necessary.) The 3/4-inch-thick wood supports are hardwood—I used maple—so thatthe shaft bearing sleeves, described below, will not workloose in the wood.

Gearing. The only parts for a hand-powered machine thatmight be a little out of the ordinary for the ship-modelbuilder are the gears. They can usually be obtained athobby shops that sell radio-controlled cars. The larger gear(Traxxas item #3166), is a plastic, 66-tooth, 32-pitch gear,approximately 2 inches in diameter. The three smallergears (RRP item #0200) are metal, 20-tooth, 32-pitch gearsapproximately 5/8 inch in diameter. Gears cost about$3.00 each. There should be a large difference between thediameters of the large and small gears, and the pitch (teethper inch) of all the gears should be the same.

Figure 5. Cutaway of the drive end. Drawing by author.

Figure 6. The top in position. Note the thrust bearing on the left. Photograph by author.

You are not restricted to this design or these materials.I have even made a ropewalk from Lego™ pieces. This toyconstruction system includes various sizes of gears thatcan he purchased separately. Lego gears do not have thesmooth contact of remote-control-car gears, but that isnot critical. On the other hand, the cost of the remote-control gears is really not significant.

Shafts and Sleeves. For the shaft of the large gear, usebrass tubing that fits its center hole; and for the shafts ofthe small gears, use brass rod. Conveniently, the smallgears have setscrews to hold them to their respectivedrive shafts. However, I could not find a large gear withsetscrews, so I fabricated a mounting plate, soldered theplate to the tubing, and then screwed the plate to the faceof the gear. When soldering the plate, I took particularcare to be sure that it was square to the tubing to avoidany wobble in the large gear. I have since found thatepoxy will hold the large gear on the shaft if all surfacesare clean and abraded, thus eliminating the trouble of in-stalling a mounting plate.

Positioning the Gears. To position the gears, make a pen-cil mark on the vertical wooden piece to indicate the cen-ter of the large gear. This is near the top of the piece, toallow enough clearance for the handle. Align the largegear exactly to this center pencil mark, and temporarilyput a small gear next to it, ensuring a tight fit. To providea reference point for proper spacing, mark the center ofthe small gear on the wood. Remove the small gear, andadjust a compass so that it draws a circle whose radius isequal to the distance between the point marking the cen-ter of the large gear and the reference point just made, plus3/64 of an inch. (This additional space will permit freeturning of the gears and hopefully will compensate for anyerrors in drilling the wood.) Draw a circle with this radiusaround the center of the large gear. Conveniently, the ra-dius of any circle can be ticked off around its circumfer-ence, giving six evenly spaced marks and six arcs of equallength. Make these six marks with the compass, and usethree of them to locate and mark the centers of the holesfor the shafts for the small gears. Space the shaft holes for

the small gears equally around the large gear by using al-ternate marks as their center points.

The Driveshaft Sleeves. The driveshafts will fit insidebrass tubing bearing sleeves, which are inserted into thewood blocks to assure smooth operation. Use one sizelarger than the shafts so the shafts fit snugly in the tubingbut do not bind. The small gears have 1/8-inch shafts, sothe outside diameter of the bearing tubing is 5/32 inch.Using that size, drill the holes, and do not enlarge the holeafter drilling. Cut three lengths of tubing just slightlyshorter than the thickness of the wood, and, using a rub-ber mallet—or at least some protection on the tube ends—carefully drive them into the holes. The tubing needs tofit in the holes very snugly and not come out. The goal isa "press fit." If the sleeves are loose for some reason, ap-ply some epoxy to hold them in. Use the same method forthe bearing sleeve for the large gear.

Making and Installing the Driveshafts

The rod driveshafts for the small gears are long enough sothat about 1 inch protrudes out one side and 1/4 inch outthe other. Drill a hole on one end of each shaft, and soldera cup hook (screweye) into these holes. Slip each smallgear onto its shaft, position it near the hooked end, andtighten the setscrew. Then slip each shaft into its bearingsleeve. On the power side of the wooden upright, place awasher and a collar with a setscrew on the shaft to keep itfrom being pulled back through the upright when tensionis created. (These collars are for remote-control rods, andare available at hobby shops.)

There is no hook on the tubing used for a driveshaft forthe large gear. And, since a remote-control rod setscrewcollar with a large enough diameter is not available, weinstall another piece of brass tubing over it to rest againstthe shaft bearing sleeve and hold the gear in position. Thistubing becomes part of the handle assembly, which is de-scribed below. The driveshaft tubing for the large gear andthe handle tubing that slips over it need correspondingholes drilled through them to accept a small bolt that fas-tens them together.

Making and Installing the Drive-Handle AssemblyTo make the drive-handle assembly, drill a hole near oneend of a piece of brass plate, and solder the tubing men-tioned above into the hole. Slip the tubing with the plateattached over the shaft on the power side; it should justslip over the driveshaft, and its hole should align with ahole in the driveshaft. Use a nut and bolt through the tub-ing and driveshaft to fasten the handle assembly to thedriveshaft. Drill a hole in the other end of the handleplate, and screw on a wooden dowel to use as a grip. Thiscompletes and installs the handle assembly.

Making the Idler/Moving EndThe shaft on the idler end of the ropewalk (Figure 6) has ahook on one end and a handle on the other. These aremade and installed like the driveshafts and handle on thedrive end, with one difference. I have found that for longerropes it is convenient to have the idler end turn morefreely, so I modified this assembly by placing a thrustbearing (used for model race cars) on the outside end of theshaft.

An eye or hook on the idler base is used as a fasteningpoint for a rope attached to the weight bucket that hangsover the side of the table. Note: Although this point ofattachment is seen at the bottom of the base in the pho-tograph, a better location would be close to the idlershaft.

The final item is the top, the purpose of which is tokeep the strands separated until there is enough twist tostart the rope layup process, or closing, and to make thestrands come together evenly. I turned my top on a lathefrom a piece of dogwood that had been curing in my shopfor several years. (The stub visible in some of the pho-tographs is just leftover material. It does make the top alittle easier to handle, but is not absolutely necessary.)Make your top into the shape of an elliptical cone, and cutor file three longitudinal grooves, equally spaced aroundthe circumference. The exact shape is not critical, but thegrooves should be filed and sanded smooth and coatedwith varnish and wax.

Operation of the RopewalkWhat intimidates modelbuilders most about ropewalks isthat there are no set rules for their operation. It wouldseem that the size of thread, the number of strands, andthe amount of twisting related to the finished rope sizecould all be set out nicely in a mathematical table, butthis is not possible due to the many variables involved.While watching the 1,135-foot-long ropewalk at ChathamDockyard in England, I asked an operator if such a tableexists. He told me no, they lay the rope based upon expe-rience—more than one hundred years of experience. Afterpracticing with various thicknesses of thread and variousnumbers of threads per strand, and after gaining experi-ence with the amount of twist required, you can createand record data that works for your own particular rope-walk.

For practice, clamp both wood bases to a table, about 5feet apart. Experiment with common thread. Starting atthe hook on the idler end, lead the thread out and back, toand from each of the three hooks at the drive end, until

there are two or four strands running between the hook atthe idler end and each of the three hooks at the drive end.There needs to be tension on these threads, and it shouldbe equal among all of them. Then, with a separate lightline, tie off all the threads together where they convergeat the single hook on the idler end.

Tie a bucket to one end of a length of line, and tie theother end of the line to the screw eye in the idler. Hangthe bucket from the edge of the table, and put someweight in it. Place the top among the three sets of threads.Remove the clamp from the idler base and start turningthe handle on the drive end.

Practice teaches what amount of twist and weight arerequired, but do take quite a few turns initially. Due tothe gearing, the hooks will turn in the direction oppositeto that of the handle. As you turn the handle, the idler endwill move, since the threads are shortening as they twistaround each other. Let the idler base move, but do not letthe rope go slack; be sure there is enough weight to main-tain tension in the threads. If there is not enough tension,they will bunch up as they are twisted. If this happens, donot throw away the layup—just reverse the twisting untilthe threads are back to normal, then add more weight, andcontinue. Too much tension, however, will break thethreads.

After a while, you will have lengths of three individ-ually twisted strands. When you think you have enough,turn the handle on the idler counterclockwise, whenlooking at the ropewalk from the side, so the strands layup into a rope. (A few trial turns will quickly make thecorrect direction obvious.) As the rope lays up, thelength will again become shorter. Be sure to keep tensionon it, and control the top by hand as it moves along therope, so that an even twist is achieved. (Do not let thetop move freely, as is done in some ropewalks that usemodel railroad tracks and wheels to permit free move-ment.) The top performs the critical layup, and it mustbe well controlled. Also, as the rope lays up, it is neces-sary to provide more twist to the individual strands withthe drive handle. Alternate turning the left and righthandles.

When finished, the laid-up rope will be as much astwenty percent shorter than the length of the originalthreads. Neutralize the twisting of the rope by alternatelyapplying and relieving tension, while also rubbing yourfingers along the rope. There might still be a little un-twisting when the rope is removed from the ropewalk. Be-fore you remove it from the machine, it is best to tie offthe ends with a piece of thread or a knot to prevent thethreads from unraveling.

Cautions and ConcessionsWhen Laying-up Scale Rope

After some practice, you are ready to use good material,such as linen, to lay up the required rope for a model.Model rope laid up on a ropewalk will have an appearancesimilar to full-scale rope, and will be much better thanlarge-diameter single-thread material available in sewingshops. Even much of the old, out-of-production, andhighly coveted Cuttyhunk fishing line does not alwayshave a nice laid-up appearance to it. Some that I have fromseveral years ago looks squashed and flattened.

Figure 7. Drive end close-up with the motor mounted. Photograph by author.

On the other hand, we do need to make a few conces-sions to the limitations of eyesight and simple technologywhen using a model ropewalk to make small-scale ropes.First, the number of turns in the rope is about half of itsfull-scale counterpart. In other words, if the full-scale ropehas fourteen strands per foot, the model rope might haveonly seven per scale foot. This difference is not notice-able, and the discrepancy is far outweighed by its fine ap-pearance. However, when splicing with model rope—when making an eye splice, for example—a three-tucksplice will be about twice as long as its counterpart in full-scale rope. This will look odd, and to correct it, take fewertucks in the scale rope.

Second, in full-size rope making, right-hand rope isusually three strands, and left-hand rope is nine strands,being made up of three three-strand right-hand ropes. Al-though both right-hand (or "hawser-laid") and left-hand("cable-laid") rope can easily be made with this ropewalk,three-strand left-hand laid rope, rather than nine strand, isusually adequate for the small scales involved in shipmodelbuilding.

With this ropewalk design, turning the drive handlecounterclockwise produces right-hand laid rope. Mostthread you can buy has a right-hand twist; therefore thelayup of right-hand rope requires single threads to betwisted in a left-hand direction. This takes the originaltwist out of the thread, and then twists it backwards. Theresult is a rope that is not as smooth as it would be if laidup left-handed. When more than one thread per strand isused, the threads twist upon themselves, and the originaltwist is not affected. But if you use only one thread perstrand, take care to ensure the direction of twist does notunravel the thread. Some threads can be untwisted, whileothers will fall apart.

Making a Motor-Driven RopewalkThe addition of a motor drive permits making muchlonger rope, because the operator does not have to be ableto reach the drive end and therefore can stand at the topposition to control the closing process. A motor-drive unitis shown in the foreground of Figure 1. I replaced the handcrank with an old 6-volt Dumas Pittman model-boat mo-tor, mounted on a hardwood support. The additional drivegears I use, one on the large gear driveshaft and one on themotor driveshaft, are the same kind as those I used earlierfor the hand-driven ropewalk (Figure 7).

Wiring is straightforward. The motor is run off foursize D batteries—two sets connected in series, and thesesets connected in parallel. This provides 3 volts and suffi-cient current to make a lot of rope. Control is providedby a wire-wound potentiometer and a reversing switch(double pole-double throw, center off) mounted in a util-ity box (Figure 8). All these supplies are available fromelectronics stores. Two short extension cords, cut in half,plus extension cords to suit your rope length require-ments, provide all the wiring, plugs, and receptaclesneeded, as shown in the wiring diagram (Figure 9).

The control box can be kept near the idler end of theropewalk so the operator can monitor and adjust the layupof the rope at the top. Using a motor-driven ropewalk, thebucket with the weight may have to be reset as the ropeis formed because it may come all the way up to the topof the table. Starting with 50-foot threads, for example, 5to 10 feet could be lost in the forming of the rope, and thisis the distance the weighted bucket must travel. One ad-ditional improvement would be a motor at the idler endto assist the layup. Because there is a significant amountof tension and friction on the thrust bearing, the extrahelp might be desired.

Figure 8. The control box and battery holder allow the manufacture of any length of rope. Photograph by author.

Figure 9. Wiring a ship-modeler's ropewalk. Diagram by author.

Although linen line is certainly the best for scalerope making, it is difficult to find. It is sold in bulkto linen mills, but small bobbins are usually notavailable. As a last resort, polyester, poly/cotton, andcertain types of cotton will do. Also look for carpetand upholstery threads. Phil Krol (Wheaton, Illinois)states:

A good alternative [to linen] is Egyptian cotton,which differs from regular cotton in that it haslong fibers. Two good brands of tatting thread inthis material are DMC Cordonnet Special and An-chor Cordonnet Crochet (made in Germany), gen-erally available in stichery stores—especiallythose catering to the bobbin-lace folks. Both DMCand Anchor come in ten diameters from #10through #100. Three strands of #100 yield .018-inch to .020-inch [rope], depending on [the] coun-terweight used in twisting. They also have finerEgyptian cotton such as 80/2, three strands ofwhich will twist into .010-inch [rope]. That is as

small as I go in twisted line, as any smaller, youcannot see the twist so there is no point in trying.Just use the finer material as is. This Egyptian cot-ton I speak of takes dyeing beautifully, producesfirst-rate rope, and is readily available.

And W. Kelley Hannan (Dedham, Massachusetts)says:

While linen is the standard, I have used surgicalsilk because it is available in smaller diameters.One source is Deknatel, Inc., 600 Airport Road,Fall River, MA 02720; phone: (508) 677-6600. Thelast time I ordered, size 6/0 was the smallest avail-able. I measure that at 0.005 inch. It comes inblack or white in spools of 100 yards. It lays upvery nicely. Rigs as easily as linen.

Sources of materials for rigging are numerous.Some of them are listed on the Guild's Web site:www://Naut-Res-Guild.org.

HMS BeagleSurvey Ship Extraordinaryby Karl Heinz Marquardt

London: Conway Maritime Press, 199710" x 9-1/2", hardbound, 128 pages

Drawings, photographs, index,references. £25.00/$42.95

one who has attempted to winkle out the details ofthe ship that carried Charles Darwin on the

1831-1836 voyage that shaped modern biology, I waspleased, absorbed, but in the end disappointed by thisbook, the latest in Conway's Anatomy of the Ship series.Karl Heinz Marquardt has done a thorough and masterfuljob in searching out and merging the sparse and occasion-ally contradictory information available on the appear-ance of HMS Beagle on the best known of her three surveyvoyages. Although Admiralty drafts of the Cadmus-class10-gun brigs exist at the National Maritime Museum inGreenwich, there are only verbal descriptions and somecontemporary artwork to show the extensive modifica-tions made to Beagle for her surveying duties. The deckand probably the bulwarks were raised, a forecastle andpoop were added, and a small mizzenmast and large foreand main trysails were fitted for better maneuvering inthe difficult waters off Tierra del Fuego.

The book begins with a twelve-page history of Beagle,from her launch in 1817 to her sale to a ship breaker in1870. Marquardt then gives us seventeen pages of narra-tive about the construction and modifications of all partsof the ship and her equipment. He seems to have readeverything, and tells us the sources of his facts and thereasoning behind his reconstructions in twenty-nine ref-erences, a bibliography, and a list of contemporary draftsand art work. He follows this text with seven pages ofphotographs of the 1:64 model that he built for theDeutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum in Bremerhaven.

The heart of the book is seventy-nine pages of sharp,detailed orthographic and perspective drawings (to vary-ing scales, mostly about 1:40 or 1:80) of every visible andinvisible part of the ship. Each spar, line, sail, boat, gun,

and hatch is clearly depicted in more than one view. Sev-eral pairs of drawings contrast Beagle's appearance whenbuilt with her revised configuration as a survey barque.Several halftone renderings and a rigged drawing nearly 24inches long printed on the backside of the jacket completethe visual treat.

Of course, a few details of Marquardt's reconstructionsare arguable. The split spritsail spreaders on the bowspritare not visible to me in the contemporary illustrations, thewindlass crank handles are too short for useful leveragewith any load at all, and the beagle figurehead (which ispresent on my model, too) is charmingly improbable on asmall Royal Navy ship of this period. However, the shortspars tabulated in Keith S. Thomson's book and the errorsof Lois Darling's early reconstruction are convincingly cor-rected. A reviewer is expected to find printing errors, andthere are indeed a few (Thomson's middle name is mis-spelled and part of Figure G6/3 is missing.)

But to me the largest disappointment in this book isthat I no longer have any reason to continue collectingtidbits of fact and inference about HMS Beagle, but mustput my knife to wood and finish my model according toMarquardt's most complete description.

—RICHARD LINDSTROM

Constructing the Munitions of WarThe Portsmouth Navy Yard Confronts the Confederacy,

1861-1865by Richard E. Winslow III

Portsmouth, N. H.: Peter E. Randall Publisher, 19957-1/4" x 10-1/4", hardcover, xix + 432 pages

Sparsely illustrated with photographs and facsimiles,extensive notes, bibliography, and index. $35.00

indicated by the title, this book relates the history ofPortsmouth Naval Shipyard during the Civil War,

but there is much more and much less contained in thisvolume than is implied.

First, let us establish which Portsmouth Naval Ship-yard it is that this book concerns. It is the yard that

occupies an island in the Piscataqua River that separatesPortsmouth, New Hampshire, from Kittery, Maine. If youare a citizen of the latter state, you very likely refer to thefacility as "the naval shipyard at Kittery." In fact, the is-land on which the shipyard is located lies on the Maineside of the river and is connected to Kittery by a bridge.But it is called "Portsmouth" because when the shipyardwas founded in June 1800 (making it the oldest govern-ment shipyard in this country), there was no post office inKittery but there was one in Portsmouth, New Hamp-shire. The postal address became confused with the loca-tion, and thus began a lengthy and continuous interstatefeud. (The other "Portsmouth," i.e., Norfolk Naval Ship-yard in Portsmouth, Virginia, at least has the advantagethat the rival cities are located in the same state.)

Being established early did not result in fast growth ora great amount of important work. Portsmouth NavalShipyard (at Kittery) remained for six decades a backwaterfacility used mainly for repair work. The yard did not evenlaunch its first ship, USS Washington, until 1814, and pro-duced only thirteen more ships by 1860. One of these ves-sels was the ill-fated frigate USS Congress, burned atHampton Roads, Virginia, by the Confederate ironcladCSS Virginia on 8 March 1862, the day before the lattervessel had her historic battle with USS Monitor.

Though Portsmouth Naval Shipyard was expandedinto a first-class navy yard during the Civil War, insuffi-cient events of great importance took place at this facilityto justify a whole book. So Mr. Winslow wisely includesother information connected to the general area, shipsthat were built there and people who lived there, to fleshout the story.

During the course of the Civil War, Portsmouth NavalShipyard completed construction of twenty-six ships forthe Union Navy. One of the ships, USS Alabama, was ac-tually laid down in 1818 as a 74-gun ship of the line, buther construction was halted for more than forty years due

to lack of funds. She was finally launched in 1864 as astoreship, with her name changed to USS New Hampshirefor obvious reasons. Likewise, USS Franklin, originallythe prototype for the Merrimac class of steam frigates,was begun in 1854, but due to various delays and designchanges was not completed for ten years. Portsmouthcontributed one ironclad ship to the war effort at sea. Thisship was the USS Agamenticus, a double-turreted moni-tor of the Monadnock class. The ship was completed toolate to see action and was not placed in commission until1870, at which time she was given the name USS Terror.

Without doubt, the most famous product of the yardwas the steam sloop USS Kearsarge. Along with her un-known sister, USS Mohican, Kearsarge was begun in 1859and completed in early 1862. She became a U.S. navalicon by sinking the Confederate raider CSS Alabama offCherbourg, France, in June of 1864. Though this book issparsely illustrated, it does feature some unusual and in-formative contemporary photographs, including two gemsthat I had never seen before: The first is an 1861 view of amarine steam engine of the type installed in Kearsarge asit was assembled at the firm of Woodruff and Beach inHartford, Connecticut. Since this company was thebuilder of Kearsarge's machinery, there is a good chancethat the engine shown actually was installed in Mohicanor Kearsarge. The other view is of Kearsarge herself takenin 1877. Because it was taken from a very elevated posi-tion looking down onto the ship's deck, it shows detailsnot usually seen in photographs of ships.

In 1865, the end of the war brought serious cutbacks tothe yard. From a high of 2,563 employees in May 1865, theworkforce was reduced to 876 workers in less than a year.Many of those who stayed on had to take cuts in rank andpay in order to remain employed. Postwar decline and de-cay were exemplified in a way by the fact that one of theUnion Navy's most redoubtable sea dogs, Admiral DavidG. Farragut, died in one of the yard's officers' quarters dur-

ing a visit in 1871. But the war and the many improve-ments and expansions that had been carried out duringthose four years also guaranteed the yard's future. Eventoday—against heavy odds—Portsmouth Naval Shipyardhas avoided becoming a victim of government downsiz-ing, while other notable but younger government ship-yards, such as Philadelphia, Mare Island, and Long Beach,have gone on the auction block.

Though this book is in a specialized niche due to itsnarrow focus, it does shine a spotlight on a whole com-munity and its people during a great national conflict. Lo-cated far from the battle lines, war nevertheless affectedthis bucolic locale in many and varied ways, which areclearly laid out by the author. As is frequently true withsuch books, the author's source list is a gold mine of ma-terial, and a road map for future research in this area ofhistory.

Unfortunately, Mr. Winslow does step into a few trapsalong the way. For example, he notes that USS Constella-tion, "the oldest [U.S.] warship afloat," docked at theshipyard for repairs in 1861. Although the facts were dis-puted for decades, by the time this book was publishedmost historians had accepted that the frigate Constella-tion built in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1797, was broken upat Norfolk Naval Shipyard in 1854 and a year later a com-pletely new ship, a corvette bearing the same name, wasbuilt in that same yard. Even the present-day custodiansof USS Constellation in Baltimore have come to acceptthis fact. Thus, the ship that was repaired at Portsmouthin 1861 was only six years old. But she did have the dis-tinction of being the last vessel powered only by sailsbuilt by the United States Navy.

Mr. Winslow also states that after the sinking of theConfederate raider Alabama, her captain, RaphaelSemmes, "never again commanded a Confederate war-ship." After the defeat, Semmes managed to return to theConfederacy through the Union blockade, and he was pro-moted to the rank of rear admiral and given command ofthe James River Squadron assigned to defend the Confed-erate capital at Richmond, Virginia. In early April 1865,Semmes was forced to burn his ships when the Confeder-ates abandoned Richmond. So in the strictest sense, it istrue that Semmes never commanded another ship afterAlabama, but the imputation that he was viewed withdisfavor by his superiors is false. These and a few other er-rors are relatively minor, however, when compared to thecornucopia of information found in this book.

This book is number twenty-one in a series of publica-tions of regional interest published by the PortsmouthMarine Society, Box 147, Portsmouth, NH 03802; phone:(603) 431-5667.

—J. R. MCCLEARY

Ocklawaha River Steamboats, 2nd editionby Edward A. Mueller

De Leon Springs, Fla.: E. O. Painter Printing Co., 19978-1/2" x 11", paperback, 156 pages

Illustrations, 135 photographs, maps, vessel plans, listsof vessels, footnotes, photo credits. $20.00

he Ocklawaha River is a tributary of the St. JohnsRiver in northeastern Florida. This history of steam

navigation on the Ocklawaha begins with a description ofthe limitations of the watercourse, which, to a large ex-tent, determined the character of the vessels that used it.The book includes plans—reductions from the HistoricAmerican Merchant Marine Survey plans in the Smithso-nian Institution collection—for two vessels: Okahumkeeand Hiawatha, These plans, sufficient for modelbuilding,show the typical "wheelbarrow" paddlewheel configura-tion, the one most commonly used on Ocklawaha vessels.Overhanging branches, which would have tangled withconventional open sternwheels, made this the preferreddesign. Cabin windows were also shuttered because ofshoreline hazards. Shallow water made flat bottomsmandatory for the larger steamboats. While none of thesteamboats could be described as "handsome," theywould make interesting models. And, because of theirroomy and very stable design, these vessels are easilyadapted to operation by remote control.

Settlers came to the area following the Second Semi-nole War (1835-1842), when the government made landgrants to those who had served in the war. Early river traf-fic consisted mostly of barges and log rafts, which werepoled laboriously upstream and floated downstream on ariver that supposedly had 999 bends in its approximately109 miles. The earliest known attempts to improve theriver for navigation were made in 1835, but applicationsfor federal funding for this purpose were rejected.

The historical narrative continues with the develop-ment of Silver Springs as a tourist attraction, which pro-vided the initial stimulus to steamboat operations shortlybefore the Civil War. Then it takes the reader througheach development over time: the war period; the latterpart of the nineteenth century, when tourism grew; theperiod after 1910, when gasoline-powered craft emerged;and the early 1920s, when commercial navigation ended.

In the article "A Trip Over Crooked Water," whichoriginally appeared in 1883 in Harpers Weekly (Volume27) and is reprinted here, Kirk Monroe describes a typicalsteamboat journey—a trip from Palatka to SilverSprings—complete with nighttime operation using firepans located atop the pilot house! The author later givesdetails of how this was done without setting fire to thevessels. Eventually, more conventional means of illumi-nation were used.

The book also includes a second trip narrative, "Cap-tain Howard and the William Howard," by Captain J. Hat-ten Howard II. This article, which originally appeared inthe January 1942 issue of Motor Boating, contrasts the

complete lack of river traffic in the early 1940s with theearlier, busier days of steamboat operations. When, as of-ten happened at the height of the steamboat era, vesselsheading in opposite directions needed to pass each other,this was a major event requiring the vessel heading up-stream to stop at a wide place on the river to allow theboat heading downstream to slide by.

Modelers will find the many photos in this book veryuseful. They illustrate the many modifications vessels un-derwent over their years in operation. The book also in-cludes photographs of conventional steam launches,ships' boats, and rental rowboats, including the unusualglass-bottomed, canopied boats at Silver Springs. Forthose considering building a diorama, various scenes ofSilver Springs—the landing, hotel, and railroad station—provide interesting material. A fine model of Okeehum-kee is on display at the Jacksonville Maritime Museum.

The author, who has also written books about steamnavigation on other Florida rivers, gives us a charmingglimpse of an era when railroads and steamboats were theprimary means of travel for both tourists and freight innortheastern Florida. This is a new, completely revisededition of the book originally printed in 1977 andreprinted sometime in the 1980s. It has twenty morepages and eighteen more photographs, and is desktop pub-lished. It is available from the author: Ed Mueller, 4374Empire Ave., Jacksonville, FL 33207-2136 ($3.00 postageand handling).

—FORTIN POWELL

Old Whaling Daysby Captain William Barron

London: Conway Maritime Press, 19965-1/2" x 8-3/4", hardbound, viii + 211 pages. $24.95

reat Britain's Arctic whale fishery is sparsely repre-sented in published literature in comparison to its

eighteenth-century voyages of exploration or the manySouth Seas whaling narratives published in the nine-teenth century. Captain William Barron's Old WhalingDays, originally published in London in 1895, is the rem-iniscences of a whaleman with seventeen years of almostcontinuous Arctic experience—in several famous Britishwhaleships—in the middle of the nineteenth century.

Other books that document the British Arctic fisheryinclude William Scoresby Jr.'s two-volume work, An Ac-count of the Arctic Regions With a History and Descrip-

tion of the Northern Whale-Fishery (Edinburgh 1820), andAlbert Hastings Markham's A Whaling Cruise to Baffin'sBay and the Gulf of Boothia (London 1875). Together,these three authors offer a solid introduction to BritishArctic whaling. Scoresby's ranks as one of the most influ-ential whaling narratives of all time. It is broad in scope,yet detailed in the particulars of Arctic geography and nat-ural history, and how British whaling fits into that historyin the high northern latitudes.

Barron's Old Whaling Days does not have the focus onscience that one finds in Scoresby, but Barron takes up thehistory twenty-nine years after Scoresby leaves off. Itserves as an in-depth look at this man's whaling and seal-ing experience in the Davis Straits region, including DiscoBay, Melville Bay, Cumberland Sound, and the navigablewaters around Greenland, from 1849 to 1865. This is a pri-mary source that becomes especially valuable in docu-menting the mid-nineteenth century transition from sailto steam, and what that change meant to whalers in theArctic.

Much of the material in Old Whaling Days first ap-peared in Barron's earlier book, An Apprentice's Reminis-censes of Whaling in Davis's Straits: Narrative of theVoyages of the Hull Barque Truelove (Hull 1890). OldWhaling Days consists of text reprinted verbatim fromthis book, plus eleven new chapters and an appendix called"History of the Barque Truelove." The backmatter also in-cludes a glossary, a very brief chronology of British Arcticwhaling, and a list of ships from Hull engaged in the fish-ery from 1754 to 1869, with a detailed list from 1811.

The book begins in 1849 with the author's completionof maritime training at Trinity House School, Hull, afterwhich he immediately shipped aboard the whaling barkTruelove as cabin boy and apprentice in the whaling trade.Captain J. Parker had him go in a Malamauk boat, in ad-dition to his shipboard duties. (As stated on page 5, Mala-mauk was the name for the "two boats laid alongside thewhale, and used for the harpooners to place their weaponsin during the process of flensing.")

He recounts his experiences of forty years aboard vari-ous vessels, including the bark Truelove, in which hesailed as master in the season of 1861; the steam-assistedship Diana of Hull; the Dundee steamer Polynia; the barkEmma of Hull; and the brig Ann[e] of Hull. He discussesthe wreck of the ship McClellan of New London, as wellas many other shipwrecks caused by accidents in the ice.He describes the wrecks of the Peterhead ships Gipsy andUndaunted, and the manner in which ice docks werebuilt, which seems not to have changed since Scoresby'stime.

Barron seems haunted by ice, and his descriptions be-come more illuminating and insightful as the book goeson. Relative to safety in the ice, he repeatedly commentson the advantage of steam-powered vessels over sail-driven; he also notes that observations of natural phe-nomena were essential to successful sailing in the Arctic,and how "meteorological instruments" replaced directhuman observation. He tells of shearing off propellers inthe ice and obtaining new ones at St. John's, Newfound-land, and the manner in which propellers were jury-riggedat sea.

The book is relatively light on actual whaling technol-ogy, gear, and economics, but it is easy to gather that theuse of harpoon guns was commonplace, blubber was

placed in barrels raw in chunks, and whalers did not re-ceive a lot of pay.

The hardships of the fishery, evident throughout, arestated objectively and without melodrama, very much inthe style of John A. Cook in Pursuing the Whale (Bostonand New York, 1926). Encounters with bad weather, ice-bergs, frigid waters, and polar bears are routine occur-rences for William Barron. There are some passagesrelating to the whalers' interaction with the Nugumut Es-kimos in Cumberland Sound. These include descriptionsof overwintering, diet, and fauna, and rudimentary de-scriptions of Eskimo architecture.

My only real complaint about this facsimile reprintedition has to do with the dust jacket illustration. Itshows a painting by Abraham Jansz Storck (1644-1710)entitled "Fishermen Whaling at Sunset off an ArcticCoast," which depicts Dutch fluytships in the Arctic,probably around Spitzbergen or Jan Mayen Island, morethan one hundred years before Barron ever even sailed.Why this picture was selected when the Town Docks Mu-seum in Hull actually has period paintings of the very ves-sels mentioned in the text, engaged in whaling in theDavis Straits, is a complete mystery. For an accurate andengaging illustration of British Arctic whaling, see the1829 print by William John Huggins (1803-1882) entitled"Northern Whale Fishery: A representation of the ShipHarmony, of Hull, & Other Vessels with their Boats &Crews in the various processes of attacking and killingthe Whale in Davis' Straits and Greenland, with the modeof Flinching & taking in the Blubber" (London 1829).While it is still somewhat earlier than the time in whichBarron is writing, it is consistent with almost everything

he writes. [A part of this image is shown on our cover.—Editor]

Considering that there is such a dearth of publishednarratives about British Arctic whaling, this book servesas a valuable introductory primary source document anda good supplement to Scoresby.

—MICHAEL P. DYER

This book was first published by Conway Maritime Pressin Great Britain in 1970; this edition was published in1996 by Conway Maritime Press in the Conway Classicsseries. Conway Maritime Press is an imprint of Brassey's(UK) Ltd., 33 John Street, London WC1N 2AT; phone:0171-753-7799; fax: 0171-753-7794. Available in theUnited States from Brassey's, P.O. Box 960, Herndon, VA20170; phone: 800-775-2518; fax: 703-689-0660. —Editor

The History of English Sea Ordnance1523-1875

Volume II, The Age of the System 1715-1815by Adrian B. Caruana

Rotherfield, England: Jean Boudriot Publications, 19979-1/2" x 12-1/2", cloth, xii + 500 pages

205 illustrations, 94 tables, bibliography and sources,general index, index of ship names. £70/$120.

his is the second volume in Adrian Caruana's trilogyabout British smooth-bore muzzle-loading ordnance.

The first one was reviewed in NRJ 40:2 (June 1995). Whilethe first volume covered a nearly bewildering array of

cannon types from two centuries of experimentation anddevelopment, this one describes the three much morelimited "systems" or patterns of cannon that were usedduring a century of English-French wars, and the efforts tocreate "establishments" of armament for each class ofwarship. The earlier work concentrated on the cannonbarrels themselves, but this volume deals with the can-non and everything associated with them: ever-more-powerful gunpowder; the difficult art of gunfounding incast iron, which had largely replaced much costlier brass;ammunition, which was much simplified from earliertimes; gun carriages; the equipment needed to serve theweapons; specialized weapons like howitzers and mortars;the introduction of the carronade; the nearly outmodedfire ships; various forms of infernal machines; and boatguns and their mountings. The book is nearly twice thelength of its predecessor, and the amount of detail is al-most overwhelming. But this is a book to be read in smallsegments, browsed through for its excellent illustrations,and treasured as a reference.

There are many highlights, but, sadly, the fine cannondrawings that are central to the book are not among them:Forty-two of the long-gun plans are printed across the gut-ter of this otherwise handsomely produced book. Themodeler will have to photocopy them, cut the copy inhalf, glue the halves to another sheet, then fair the dis-torted middle sections, which often include the trun-nions. Fortunately, the cannon are less ornate than theirpredecessors. Perhaps a separate book will be issued con-taining all the (undivided) cannon and carriage illustra-tions from all three volumes in uniform scale. The manycarronade, mortar, and howitzer drawings do not sufferfrom this problem. Modelers should note the differentproportions of iron and brass cannon of similar lengthsand bores.

In addition to the official "establishments" of guns forship classes and for individual ships, which might ormight not reflect reality at any given moment, the gunsactually carried are discussed in detail, often based onrecords of contractors' bills for painting the carriages.While many gun lists are printed in this book, a separatevolume listing the guns of 2,500 eighteenth-century RoyalNavy ships is planned. There will never again be an ex-cuse for arming an English sailing warship model with"generic" guns.

Many technological innovations of interest to model-ers are discussed and dated. Among them are the change

from "bracket and bed" to "bracket and transom" car-riages in 1724 to 1725, and the addition of the breastpieces at the turn of the nineteenth century. Carronadetypes and carriages are dealt with thoroughly. The intro-duction of separate train tackles (a side tackle was ledamidships as needed in earlier times), the switch from fir-ing by slow match to cannon locks, the tackle and equip-ment to be found around each gun, the number of menand their positions in the gun crews, and many other de-tails are discussed and illustrated from many sources.How many modelers know that gun tackles in the ward-rooms and officers' cabins were not tarred in Nelson's day,while those on the gun decks were? Or that the reason fornot doing so was probably economy rather than officers'dislike of stained uniforms?

Finding obscure sources is one of the author's strongpoints, and this leads to his repeated warnings about thewell-known printed books about gunnery, which are oftenbadly outdated, opinionated, or just plain wrong. Caruanauses such sources as gunnery cadets' manuscript note-books, which reflect practical reality at the moment theywere produced.

Caruana's discussion of eighteenth-century design the-ory shows that scientific experimentation was virtuallyunknown and that experience, driven by the unfortunateresults of using better gunpowder in old iron cannon, re-ally drove design. The new designs were not necessarilysignificantly better than the old, however, and many poorideas, such as decorative mouldings that weakened thecannon, survived throughout the period. Many experi-ments are covered, including the persistent attempts tocreate lighter guns, development of spectacular rockets("the rockets' red glare"), and Fulton's mines, but most ofthem proved impractical and they were rarely mounted onthe ships.

As in Volume I, the author makes some assumptionsabout the reader's ability to understand conventionalplans and understand eighteenth-century nomenclature,but these are not likely to create problems for members ofthe Nautical Research Guild.

The price for this massive volume is steep, but thebook will prove essential for anyone seriously interestedin warships of the eighteenth century and the Napoleonicera. The final volume, to cover the changes created by theindustrial revolution in the nineteenth century, is eagerlyawaited.

—EDWARD P. VON DER PORTEN

Second Opinion:

Paasch's Illustrated Marine Dictionary

lthough it is essentially a polyglot marine dictionary(three languages in the first three editions, and five

in the fourth edition), the value of Paasch today is mostlyin the numerous and incredibly detailed engraved plates,which, in my fourth edition of 1908, include wood, com-posite, and iron ship structures of steam and sail ships;different types of steam ships; engine types (What, for in-stance, is a "grasshopper engine"?); early turbines; boilers;condensers; winches; steering gear; anchors; boats; cap-stans; pumps; rigging; sails; masts and spars; and smalltools and parts. The fourth edition includes excellent def-initions and numerous cross-references.

Although the turn-of-the-century period is not afavorite of many modelbuilders, it is good to have thisbook easily available to those interested in that era, andmany others will find it a pleasure to browse through andhandy to have when that odd term or unusual piece ofhull or machinery needs to be looked up. As ChristopherMorrison's review (NRJ 43:1, 54) indicated, it will not helpmuch with Patrick O'Brian novels, which are set long be-fore the period covered by Captain Paasch's masterpiece.But, the reprinting of From Keel to Truck, to use its origi-nal title, should be warmly welcomed by anyone inter-ested in turn-of-the-century ships, even if the reprint is ofthe first edition of 1885, rather than the more developedlater editions. The cost of an original, if it can be found, isusually $200 or more.

—EDWARD P. VON DER PORTEN

Books listed here are new or recently published. The Nau-tical Research Journal welcomes written critiques of newpublications from qualified reviewers. Please apply to theeditor.

Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor by Darcy Lever. DoverPublications. Very nice reproduction of the second edition(London: John Richardson 1819), with a new introductionby John Harland. 252 pp. + xi, $14.95.

Henry B. Hyde: Downeaster by R. W. Bragdon. Privatelyprinted. The most detailed record of this great ship; a de-scription of her hull, deck furniture, masts, spars, and rig-ging; useful for building a model. Drawings, photos. 161pp. plus four fold-out scale drawings, $23.95.

Tidewater Triumph: The Development and WorldwideSuccess of the Chesapeake Bay Pilot Schooner by Geof-frey M. Footner. Mystic Seaport Museum. A surveyoverview of this type's "family tree" in text and illus-trations; includes hull lines. Most of the seventy illus-trations are archival images. Extensive notes, andappendices. 300 pp., $39.95.

The Charles W. Morgan by John F. Leavitt, second edition.Mystic Seaport Museum. A completely revised and aug-mented edition of the history of the only survivingwooden sailing whaleship. Profusely illustrated, includingeighty photos and twenty drawings (ten of structural de-tails). Five 8" x 10" plans. Great resource for model-builders. 124pp., $19.95.

Twilight on the Bay: The Excursion Boat Empire of B. B.Wills by Brian J. Cudahy. Cornell Maritime Press. A manbuilds a small entertainment and transportation con-glomerate on the East Coast in the waning days of thesteamship. Maritime history with a business twist. Ves-sels are well documented. 242 pp., $29.95.

A New Voyage Round the World: The Journal of an En-glish Buccaneer by William Dampier. HummingbirdPress (London). Reprint of the classic account of a scien-tist and explorer who, from 1679 to 1691, unintentionallycircumnavigated the globe on a series of pirate ships.Black-and-white illustrations and ten color plates. Beauti-fully produced. 320 pp., £19.95.

Searching for the Franklin Expedition: The Arctic Jour-nal of Robert Randolph Carter edited by Harold B. Gill Jr.and Joanne Young. Naval Institute Press. The author wastwenty-four when he served in the brig Rescue during hersearch for the lost Franklin Expedition in 1850-51; hewrote this private daily account, never before published,of the voyage. Informative introduction, epilogue, andnotes. 201 pp., $28.95.

More Scrimshaw Artists by Stuart M. Frank. Mystic Sea-port Museum. A new study of 139 practitioners, includingAlaskan native artists, and a discussion of faked scrim-shaw. Thirty-one illustrations, appendices, bibliography,index to vessels, taxonomic and geographical index, cu-mulative index of artists. 189 pp., $45.00.

USS Constitution Museum

Phone: (617) 462-1812; Web site:www.ussconstitutionmuseum.org

8 February-13 March: Annual Exhibitof the USS Constitution Model ShipwrightGuild of New England.

9 February: "No Common Lot: An African-American'sHalf-Century at Sea." Julie Winch, professor of history atthe University of Massachusetts, Boston, will discuss herrecent research on the merchant and naval career of JamesForten Dunbar, who served aboard "Old Ironsides" from1848 to 1851.

10 March: "Ann Hull Abroad and on the Homefront."Elizabeth T. Kenney presents her recent research on theexperiences of Ann Hull while aboard "Old Ironsides"with her husband, Captain Isaac Hull.

Both lectures: 12 noon, bring a bag lunch; sign languageinterpreted.

Maritime History Symposium in MaineThe Maine Maritime Museum's springMaritime History Symposium is along-standing weekend tradition—anannual event eagerly anticipated byprofessionals and enthusiasts alike. If you are "fromaway," it is well worth the trip. The next one will be 30April-2 May 1999; an information and registrationbrochure will be mailed to those who request it. Contact:Nathan Lipfert, library director, Maine Maritime Mu-seum, 243 Washington Street, Bath, ME 04530; phone:(207) 443-1316, extension 328; fax: (207) 443-1665; E-mail:lipfert@bathmaine.com.

Endeavour's West Coast TourThe replica ship Endeavour will be settingsail on the second half of her North Amer-ican tour shortly after the first of the year,beginning in San Diego in February and

ending in Vancouver in October. This visit will includemore than a dozen ports of call. Contact: StephanieRecord, H M Bark Endeavour Foundation, 164 East 37thStreet, Apt. 3B, New York, NY 10016; phone: (212) 679-5457; fax: (212) 679-8944; E-mail: srecord@ibm.net; Website: www.greenwichuk.com/endeavour.

Professional Mariner: Working ModelsSee the article about the shiphandling training facility atGrenoble, France, in the August/September 1998 issue ofProfessional Mariner. Trainees in the program there use1:25 scale working models, about 35 feet long, in their ex-ercises. The article gives several specific scaling factors re-lated to the performance of models versus the actual ships.Contact: P.O. Box 569, Portland, ME 04112-0569; phone:(207) 772-2466; fax: (207) 772-2879; E-mail: subscrip-tion@ProMariner.com.

Women and the Sea Network

The goal of the international Women andthe Sea Network, based at the NationalMaritime Museum in Greenwich, England,

is to promote and publicize research in the field of inquiryafter which it is named. The network welcomes newmembers, seeks proposals for hosting seminars, and solic-its contributions to its newsletter. The network will soonhost a discussion group on the World Wide Web. See theNational Maritime Museum's Web site for details:www.nmm.ac.uk/rcs/index.html. Contact: The Womenand the Sea Network, c/o Research Department, NationalMaritime Museum, Greenwich, London SE10 9NF Eng-land; E-mail: jo.stanley@dial.pipex.com.

WoodenBoatSee the December 1998 issue of Wooden-Boat for articles about three vessels ofhistoric interest: a medieval cog (hull ZO36) recovered near Kampden, Holland;Amistad America Inc.'s new topsailschooner under construction at Mystic Seaport; and Ef-fort, a turn-of-the-century Monhegan Island, Maine,packet schooner.

The Photograph from NRJ 43:3, p. 192.

The Photograph

continued from page 256

Fay proposes that there has beena near miss on the target as it wasbeing towed and, somehow, the tow-line got fouled in the tug's propellerand is being cleared. Williams pro-poses that the tug is under tow "be-cause under its own power it wouldbe late" for target practice. Becauseof the hawser's gauge and its leadover the tug's bulwarks, Blevinsdoes not believe the tug is undertow, but he agrees with Williamsthat the target is being deployed be-cause it shows lack of damage fromsuccessful shooting. Wilterding andGeyer agree the tug is helping ar-range the target for towing andGeyer thinks it will later help theschooner; he thinks the hawser isfor towing the target, not for towingthe tug, and the target towing vessel,not in the frame, actually has the photographer embarked.Herrick agrees and suggests there may be another target inthe tow, and Wilterding says this is because the numeral7 is painted on the one in The Photograph. This opinionis supported by Von der Porten, who sent a xerographiccopy from Reynold's book that shows another targetclearly numbered "8."

Geyer thinks the target "looks a little small for thelong-range targets" needed for a battleship's big guns andguesses it "was designed for cruisers and destroyers."However, Von der Porten writes that "the lightly builttarget portion is about 30 feet high and 60 feet long. It ismade of a wood grid covered by coarse net that is later re-trieved for analysis. The lower portion is a solid timberraft." In one of the photocopies Von der Porten sent, thebulk and cage masts of what could only be a U.S. battle-ship are clear behind a target of similar size, and thecaption tells us that "the area of the target is about one-tenth that of the broadside of a modern battleship." Wil-terding tells us that "the target was either towed or keptin a stationary position. Practice ranges varied from2,000 to 3,000 yards in 1903, to 5,000 to 6,000 yards in1905 and 8,000 yards in 1908. Visual spotting was suit-able up to 3,000 yards," and spotters estimated the loca-tions of splashes. A direct hit would hole the latticework. He also suggests the target is being used by sub-marines for practice with dummy-warhead torpedoes.Von der Porten observes that the gunnery exercise pho-tographs in Reynold's book bear the credit, "copyright,F. Muller, Jr." Williams thinks Muller may have madeThe Photograph.

Glenn N. Wright of Carrollton, Georgia; Blevins;Geyer; Herrick; Von der Porten; Williams; and Wilterdingare obviously able to count better than I, for they foundsix masts in the schooner where I only saw five. Beyondthis, concord regarding the schooner's presence beyondthe tug and target fades. Herrick sees a slight bone in herteeth and says this indicates she is already "being towedoutside before raising sail" with a cargo of coal she loadedat Norfolk or Newport News and will carry to New Eng-

land. Blevins thinks she is anchored outside, awaiting atow into port that Fay guesses might be Portsmouth, NewHampshire. Geyer also thinks the schooner, which he ten-tatively identifies as Fort Laramie, awaits a tow that willbe provided by the tug when she's finished with the target,but he suggests the schooner carries timber for San Diegoand is "probably caught unexpectedly in the venue of thenavy's battle practice plans." Wilterding writes that she"is probably being used as a range ship. All sails are furledand she was probably towed to the target site." Accordingto Von der Porten, the "schooner probably has no rela-tionship to the event, although what she is doing in thepractice zone is a good question, and why she has no sailset is puzzling." Williams thinks her "passage may [be]restricted by the maneuvers planned by the navy on thisoccasion."

Wright says the six-masted schooner "is one of the tenships of her type," and that this places her and The Pho-tograph on the American East Coast in the first quarter ofthis century. Blevins agrees. Fay's broader dating from the1880s to the 1940s is outside the reign of the great six-masters. Herrick and Williams limit dating to a collectivebut narrow span from 1914 to 1917, the years prior to U.S.entry into World War I, and Wilterding implies this periodby stating the tug is of that war's vintage. Von der Portenfavors "the end" of the war. Geyer's dating is 1924 or1925, based on the tug, the schooner, and his memories ofWest Coast naval gunnery drills.

—ROB NAPIER

ere we have a remarkably crisp image of a sailing ves-sel underway. The poor state of the paint on the top-

sides makes it difficult to see the false, painted ports. Whyis the vessel so weathered? Is the condition of the paintnormal or extreme? Why is there more streaking belowthe after-most mast's rigging screws and chains? Is all thedeterioration a result of rust? Is there a way to identify the

vessel's age, name, nationality, or specific rig? Why isthere a cover on the cowl vent? Most of the running rig-ging is taut or hangs in smooth catenaries; why are a cou-ple of pieces of gear so squiggly? Answers received by 24January will compiled in the next issue of the NauticalResearch Journal. Send them to Rob Napier, The Photo-graph, 62 Marlboro Street, Newburyport, MA 01950.

Last Issue's Photograph

We have a record number of replies on our desk for ThePhotograph in the September issue. The consensus of Al-bert C. Blevins of East Greenbush, New York; Dudley B.Fay of Marblehead, Massachusetts; Robert L. Geyer ofTulsa, Oklahoma; George C. Herrick of Exeter, NewHampshire; Edward Von der Porten of San Francisco, Cal-ifornia; Peter Williams of Boston, Massachusetts; andJohn H. Wilterding Jr. of Algoma, Wisconsin, is that thevertical lattice structure is a floating gunnery target. Faysuggests the target is for training field artillery or fortsalong the U.S. eastern seaboard; the others believe it is fornaval use.

Geyer thinks the steam-powered tug is civilian and thescene is set on the West Coast, where he rememberswindow-rattling naval target practice off the Coronado Is-lands, which are "south of San Clemente Island and 30 to

40 miles southwest-by-west of San Diego." Blevins, Vonder Porten, and Wilterding say the steamer is a UnitedStates Navy tug. Wilterding continues that the image wasmade off a major navy base like those at San Diego, Nor-folk, or Boston. Herrick suggests the tug is from the Nor-folk Navy Yard or Naval Base and the image was made atHampton Roads. Fay favors a New England location. Vonder Porten refers to a series of photographic images in abook entitled The United States Navy From the Revolu-tion to Date by Francis J. Reynolds. The same tug andschooner are shown, although not the same photograph,and the location is identified as the "Southern DrillGrounds," which he presumes are in the Caribbean Seaoutside of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, or near Puerto Rico.This site name is supported by Williams, who thinks thearea may be off Norfolk. —continued on page 255