Category: History

Amy Johnson and the Boswell family go sailing

The Boswells sailing with Amy Johnson – photos from the Boswell family archive, with thanks to Richard Boswell

Regular readers may remember a post about a sweet little 1934 Harry Feltham-built cruising yacht that was up for sale in Oare Creek last year.

There was a story that it had once been sailed by the famous woman aviator Amy Johnson, and some very observant types may have noticed the comments that followed its publication (to see them, follow the comments link at the bottom of the story), which included a note from Richard Boswell saying that he had some family photos of his family sailing with Johnson.

Well, these are the photos. I think they’re a charming glimpse into another era, on a day that looks an idyllic one for a picnic and a swim (those these may of course have been taken on different days).

I love the elegant clothes that we’d now think inappropriate and inconvenient, perhaps particularly the gentleman’s dinky white cap. But these were much more formal times.

The big question for is whether it’s the same boat… I gather Johnson referred to sailing a boat named Margaret, and previous owner Peter Mitchell reports that the boat was called Margaret in the past.

And I think it may be the same boat, allowing for the deck having been replaced, but that it would be difficult to be conclusive. What do you say?

These photos will be of particular interest to current owner Russell Thomas, who aims to return her as far as possible to the way she was in the 1930s.

PS – See the comments via the comment link below.

The astonishing whaleback steamships

Whaleback-Steamships-3

Whaleback steamship – photo courtesy of Retronaut

Imagine a steam ship designed with minimum superstructure to allow seas to slip over it… and there you have the whaleback, a type originally developed by a Scottish-born Great Lakes seaman and ship’s master Captain Alexander McDougall (1845–1923).

Some 44 of these striking half-submarine-half-ship vessels are said to have been built between 1887 and 1898. Some 42 were built for use carrying freight on the North American Great Lakes, some for towing but many were steamships with their own propulsive power.

In use, it’s said they were both handy and quick, and they certainly an example of shipbuilding’s quickly forgotten mistakes.

One example, was built at Sunderland, in England, apparently without the designer’s permission, though this seems to be an area of doubt. I wonder what her story might have been? I’d guess that a vessel designed for the short sharp waves of the Great Lakes might also make sense in the similar waves of the relatively 0shallow North Sea.

Another, the SS Christopher Columbus was built to carry passengers on the Great Lakes instead of freight. This had a considerable amount of superstructure and seems quite at odds with the whaleback principle – though it was designed by MacDougall himself.

The whaleback SS Meteor built in 1896 remained in service until 1969 and is now a museum ship – she’s the only surviving example of this strange and remarkable series of vessels.

Read more about the whalebacks at the Wikipedia pages Whaleback, SS Christopher Columbus and SS Meteor. There are also outstanding photographs at the Retronaut website and at the Sunderland Site pages here and here.

My thanks to Malcolm Woods for tipping me off about there striking vessels.

The story of the Mary Celeste, as told by the Smithsonian

The Mary Celeste

‘The British brig Dei Gratia was about 400 miles east of the Azores on December 5, 1872, when crew members spotted a ship adrift in the choppy seas. Capt. David Morehouse was taken aback to discover that the unguided vessel was the Mary Celeste, which had left New York City eight days before him and should have already arrived in Genoa, Italy. He changed course to offer help.

‘Morehouse sent a boarding party to the ship. Belowdecks, the ship’s charts had been tossed about, and the crewmen’s belongings were still in their quarters. The ship’s only lifeboat was missing, and one of its two pumps had been disassembled. Three and a half feet of water was sloshing in the ship’s bottom, though the cargo of 1,701 barrels of industrial alcohol was largely intact. There was a six-month supply of food and water—but not a soul to consume it.

‘Thus was born one of the most durable mysteries in nautical history: What happened to the ten people who had sailed aboard the Mary Celeste?’

Read all about it at the Smithsonian website.