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Welcome to Sail Freighter Fridays! This article is part of a series linked to our new exhibit: "A New Age Of Sail: The History And Future Of Sail Freight In The Hudson Valley," and tells the stories of sailing cargo ships both modern and historical, on the Hudson River and around the world. Anyone interested in how to support Sail Freight should also check out the Conference in November, and the International Windship Association's Decade of Wind Propulsion.  The BUCKAU, the Flettner Rotor Ship, photographed in 1924. Library of Congress. The rotor ship Buckau was originally built as an auxiliary sailing schooner in 1920, she was converted in 1925 as the first rotor ship using Flettner Rotors. These modern sails are now being used as wind assist systems on dozens of ships, and are projected in some cases as the principal propulsion of a number of vessels currently in the design stage. Flettner Rotors work on the principle of the Magnus Effect, which is what causes baseballs to curve when thrown. Flettner Rotors also provide much more thrust from the same surface area when compared to traditional sails. The tests with Buckau were successful, and the idea caught on to a degree. While Backau was only 600 tons, thus a small ship, others were later launched after her tests, including the 3,000 ton Barbara. Anton Flettner wrote a book about his inventions which is now available on Google Books, and in it details that he had taken a sailing excursion as a young man to Australia, which inspired his maritime endeavors. There were a number of smaller experiments with Flettner Rotors in the early 20th century, but the collapse of shipping rates in the 1920s did not provide an incentive for building more ships. It wasn't until the Oil Crisis of the 1970s that more research was poured into the idea, and until the early 21st century not many Flettner Rotors were installed or used. However, they are now considered one of the best options for wind-assist retrofits on all kinds of modern vessels. Buckau proved that rotors are a viable form of propulsion nearly a century ago, and now they are being put to regular use in the pursuit of decarbonizing shipping. These types of pioneering efforts are not frequent, but they are capable of changing what the future of sail will, quite literally, look like. AuthorSteven Woods is a Contributing Scholar at HRMM. He earned his Master's degree in Resilient and Sustainable Communities at Prescott College, and wrote his thesis on the revival of Sail Freight for supplying the New York Metro Area's food needs. Steven has worked in Museums for over 20 years. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
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Welcome to Sail Freighter Fridays! This article is part of a series linked to our new exhibit: "A New Age Of Sail: The History And Future Of Sail Freight In The Hudson Valley," and tells the stories of sailing cargo ships both modern and historical, on the Hudson River and around the world. Anyone interested in how to support Sail Freight should also check out the Conference in November, and the International Windship Association's Decade of Wind Propulsion.  Voyage of the Experiment, by Len Tantillo. Courtesy of Len Tantillo. The Sloop Experiment was built in Albany in 1785, and was the second US-Flagged vessel to trade with the Qing Empire in China. Over the course of 18 months, Captain Stewart Dean and the crew of 9 sailed over 14,000 miles each way in a 59-foot, 85 ton sloop around the Cape of Good Hope. The return journey took four months and 12 days, a reasonably fast passage around the Cape and across the Atlantic. The Experiment carried a hold full of tar, Ginseng, turpentine, alcohol, tobacco, furs, and cash, which were traded in China and surrounding areas for the Chinese luxury goods which were in high demand in New York and Albany. Cargo brought back included silks, fine porcelain, tea, and other luxury goods. After finding that port fees in China were charged the same for all vessels, regardless of size, the Experiment never made another trip to China, but still turned a decent profit. With the economics of these port fees in favor of larger ships trading with China, the Experiment returned to the Hudson River Trade, carrying passengers and cargo between Albany and New York for a number of years. Captain Dean evidently made several other trips to China, but in other, larger vessels. It seems the Experiment went back to the Hudson River trade after her famous trip to China, and was unique on the Hudson for having the cabin outfitted and decorated in a Chinese style. It was remarked in 1789 that the Experiment's accommodations were quite comfortable, and the captain entertained guests with stories of the epic voyage he had taken in the vessel 5 years before. AuthorSteven Woods is the Solaris and Education coordinator at HRMM. He earned his Master's degree in Resilient and Sustainable Communities at Prescott College, and wrote his thesis on the revival of Sail Freight for supplying the New York Metro Area's food needs. Steven has worked in Museums for over 20 years. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
Welcome to Sail Freighter Fridays! This article is part of a series linked to our new exhibit: "A New Age Of Sail: The History And Future Of Sail Freight In The Hudson Valley," and tells the stories of sailing cargo ships both modern and historical, on the Hudson River and around the world. Anyone interested in how to support Sail Freight should also check out the Conference in November, and the International Windship Association's Decade of Wind Propulsion.  Courtesy of Maine Maritime Museum The Schooner Wyoming was built at the Percy and Small Shipyard in Bath, Maine, in 1909, becoming the largest wooden ship ever built. An engineless 6-masted schooner, she carried almost 40,000 square feet of sail, with a crew of only 16 to move up to 6,000 tons of coal at a time.  The Wyoming under construction. Note the diagonal iron reinforcements in the hull. Courtesy of Maine Maritime Museum Wyoming was launched at the tail end of the Windjammer era, and was adapted for moving fossil fuels in the form of Coal. These types of bulk cargoes, for fueling cities, railroads, and steamships were the last cargo carried in large volumes by the Windjammers, and generally proved economically viable into the 1920s. However, the only way to maintain that economic competition was to get ever larger and use fewer and fewer crew to get the job done. To bring crew numbers down to the remarkably low number of 16, the Wyoming had mechanical winches for the running rigging such as sheets and halyards, run by a steam powered Donkey Engine, which also powered the pumps and anchor windlass.  Undated photo of the Wyoming's Crew. Courtesy of Maine Maritime Museum Although originally intended for coastal trade as a Collier, Wyoming also crossed the Atlantic during the First World War, surviving the U-Boat menace which devastated the Atlantic Windjammer fleet at the time. She returned to US coastal trade after the war, and was in service moving coal until she foundered in a Nor'easter off the Massachusetts coast in 1924.  Schooner Wyoming under sail. Courtesy of Maine Maritime Museum Wyoming is important because of her late date of construction and the innovations built in for conserving crew. She is a good example of the type of ship which was able to compete not on speed, but cost in an era of increasingly inexpensive steam propulsion: Fore-And-Aft rigged, partly automated, and designed for a low crew requirement, she was also built for bulk cargo which did not rely on speed for its value. Such ships would be built into the 1920s, before the economic situation for shipping started to decline and hundreds of vessels were laid up and out of use due to a reduction in international shipping, and the expansion of railroads took over from the coastal shipping trade.  Wyoming under coal tips for loading. Courtesy of Maine Maritime Museum. For more information on the Wyoming and the other Schooners launched by Percy and Small, you can visit the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, Maine, or pick up a copy of "A Shipyard In Maine" by Ralph Linwood Snow and Douglas K Lee. AuthorSteven Woods is the Solaris and Education coordinator at HRMM. He earned his Master's degree in Resilient and Sustainable Communities at Prescott College, and wrote his thesis on the revival of Sail Freight for supplying the New York Metro Area's food needs. Steven has worked in Museums for over 20 years. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
Welcome to Sail Freighter Fridays! This article is part of a series linked to our new exhibit: "A New Age Of Sail: The History And Future Of Sail Freight In The Hudson Valley," and tells the stories of sailing cargo ships both modern and historical, on the Hudson River and around the world. Anyone interested in how to support Sail Freight should also check out the Conference in November, and the International Windship Association's Decade of Wind Propulsion.  Schooner Thomas W. Lawson, by Thomas Willis. 1907. Valejo Gallery. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons. The Thomas W Lawson was the largest schooner ever built, at some 475 feet long and 5200 Gross Register Tons. She was made of steel, sported no engines, and had seven masts, one of the very few seven-masted schooners ever built. Launched in 1902, she started her career as a Collier, but was converted to an oil tanker in 1906, serving mostly on the US East Coast. After her retrofit to a tanker, she was one of the few sailing tankers ever in service. Like the slightly smaller Wyoming, the Lawson had modern winches, a donkey engine, and a small crew of only 18. With seven masts and only so much sail possible at a time, the Lawson was very much at the point of being too large to sail with the technology of the time: In GRT and displacement terms she was bigger than the Preussen, but carried only about two thirds the sail area. This made her ungainly to maneuver, and she was too deep of draft to enter many east coast ports. The Lawson did not have a long career. After launching in 1902, she served as a collier, though not at maximum profitability due to the small number of ports she could access. On a trip to London in 1907 she was wrecked in a gale off the Scilly Islands near the coast of Cornwall. This wreck caused the first large marine oil spill, and killed 16 out of the 18 crew. While the Lawson's story is mostly one of costly mistakes, it shows one of the same problems as the Preussen: You can only make a sailing vessel so large before it becomes hazardous to operate. While modern technology may increase the size of possible sailing vessels, these warnings from the past should be kept in mind for future windjammer developments. AuthorSteven Woods is the Solaris and Education coordinator at HRMM. He earned his Master's degree in Resilient and Sustainable Communities at Prescott College, and wrote his thesis on the revival of Sail Freight for supplying the New York Metro Area's food needs. Steven has worked in Museums for over 20 years. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
Welcome to Sail Freighter Fridays! This article is part of a series linked to our new exhibit: "A New Age Of Sail: The History And Future Of Sail Freight In The Hudson Valley," and tells the stories of sailing cargo ships both modern and historical, on the Hudson River and around the world. Anyone interested in how to support Sail Freight should also check out the Conference in November, and the International Windship Association's Decade of Wind Propulsion.  Currier and Ives print of the Fast Clipper (Packet) ship, Dreadnought, under Captain Samuel Samuels. Picture is circa 1860. Public Domain, via Currier and Ives Museum. This week's Sail Freighter is the Clipper Ship Dreadnought, one of the most famous of the 19th century on the Atlantic route. Built in 1853 for the Red Cross Line in Newburyport Massachusetts, she was a "Moderate Clipper" built for speed, but of larger tonnage and less racing-like lines when compared to the "Extreme Clippers" like the Cutty Sark. The Dreadnought was 212 feet long and about 1227 Gross Register Tons, and could carry about 2,000 tons of cargo. The Dreadnought had a reputation for fast passages, most only about two to three weeks, and she set a record between New York and Cork (Then Queenstown) Ireland of just 9 days and 17 hours in 1859. Besides being a fast ship, she was a famous one, and earned a reputation as one of the best packets on the Atlantic. She was fast enough to out-compete steamers of her era, and even carried specialty mails. The Dreadnought served in the Red Cross Line until she was sold in 1869. She was then assigned a voyage around Cape Horn to San Francisco from New York, and wrecked off the coast of Tierra Del Fuego. She had a relatively short career, if a famous one, of only 16 years, when most sailing vessels were in service for about 25. Despite this, she is still remembered in song and story to this day. Those interested in learning more about the Dreadnought can read the articles linked above which give a good review of her extensive career. AuthorSteven Woods is the Solaris and Education coordinator at HRMM. He earned his Master's degree in Resilient and Sustainable Communities at Prescott College, and wrote his thesis on the revival of Sail Freight for supplying the New York Metro Area's food needs. Steven has worked in Museums for over 20 years. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
Welcome to Sail Freighter Fridays! This article is part of a series linked to our new exhibit: "A New Age Of Sail: The History And Future Of Sail Freight In The Hudson Valley," and tells the stories of sailing cargo ships both modern and historical, on the Hudson River and around the world. Anyone interested in how to support Sail Freight should also check out the Conference in November, and the International Windship Association's Decade of Wind Propulsion. NOTE: This week we have a guest post from the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park about the Schooner C A Thayer a uniquely West Coast sail freighter. You can find more on their website.  C.A. Thayer sailing along the West Coast with a load of lumber. Image credit - SF Maritime NHP: J07.05134 How often do we hear phrases such as “The last of its kind” or “One of a kind”? With a cultural resource, how or should we evaluate the value of such a statement? And what constitutes the truth of such a statement? Built in 1895, the C.A. Thayer is a bald-headed, three-masted West Coast lumber schooner, and yes… she is the last of her kind. Constructed in the yard of Hans Bendixson in Fairhaven, California (near Eureka, in the far northwestern part of California), she is both typical and atypical. She is typical in that she was a common type of vessel built for lumber service on the U.S. West Coast. She is atypical in that she survives when hundreds of her kin have rotted away or were otherwise lost. Vessels with her hull and elements of her rigging design were not to be found anywhere else in the country, and these elements, though not solely responsible, played a key role in the decision for a rebuilding that has left her in practically new condition. She was, in fact, a highly specialized West Coast maritime product, designed for both the environment in which she was meant to sail and the cargo she was meant to haul.  C.A. Thayer loading lumber at Hoquiam, Washington for Honolulu, broad port quarter view of vessel, 1912. Image credit - SF Maritime NHP: F01.6375n With lumber hauling along the West Coast as her intended mission, the design of the Thayer reflects the contours of the West Coast as well as economy. Large, protected harbors such as San Francisco Bay are rare along the western seaboard. The majority of the California coast is a sailor’s nightmare. Whereas San Francisco Bay is a large and sheltering anchorage, most of the coast is rocky with many cliffs, and exposed. Big Sur, south of San Francisco, is majestic, beautiful, and breathtaking… if you are on shore looking out to the ocean. But upon the deck of an engineless sailing vessel, it could be completely frightening. And if wrecked, there are no obvious ways to get safely ashore. So, it was wise to have a handy maneuverable rig. Thus, the fore and aft schooner rig was very popular, especially for the trip north into the prevailing wind and ocean currents. As this rig evolved on the West Coast, the bald-headed schooner became common, particularly in three masted designs, in which there were no separately attached topmasts. Given the tall Pacific lumber available for mast timbers, this simplified her sail and rigging arrangement.  C.A. Thayer, looking forward, showing details of rigging when she was equipped with a West Coast square-sail. Image credit - SF Maritime NHP: J09.23813 On occasion, one might also see a peculiar sail addition. This was the West Coast square sail (and sometimes surmounted by a raffee). Found on the forward mast, a yard was crossed and so arranged that a sail could be laterally set on one or the other side. So, instead of setting this square sail from the top down, it was set from the center line of the vessel outboard, one side at a time, since the foresail would block the wind of the other/leeward side. The Thayer did not carry such a sail for most of her career, but is documented as carrying one during some of her voyages south to Australia, so as to take better advantage of any following winds on the long trans-Pacific voyage. Combine all of the above with a steam donkey engine (not something unique to the West Coast) mounted within the deckhouse, the primary sails could be made in incredibly large size, yet the vessel sailed with a small, and a correspondingly cheaper to employ, crew. This engine, therefore, had the same effect that automation technology does today, and allowed the C.A. Thayer to be sailed with as few as eight crew members: four sailors, one cook, two mates, and a Captain.  Credit: Chris Edwards, NPS The Columbia River in Oregon, the site of many of the Douglas Fir loading ports, influenced the Thayer’s hull form. A ship with a single deck and relatively flat bottom was what was called for. The C.A. Thayer and the rest of her West Coast kin had to be built to pass safely over the sand bars at the mouths of such rivers. Though not explicitly flat-bottomed herself, the Thayer has very little dead rise and is much wider (36’4”) than she is deep (11’8”). One result of this shallowness is that about half her load of 575,000 board feet of lumber was stacked up on deck. Due to this, there was a second set of pin rails mounted high on her shrouds to provide accessible belaying points for her running rigging when a full load was carried. The sailors merely used the deck load top as a line handling deck. But with the resulting broad beam and shallow depth of hold, she was able to safely mount the sand bars. This hull design, incidentally, also provided stability when sailing empty. When northbound, it was often unnecessary to load ballast.  Credit: Chris Edwards, NPS The building material with which all this was achieved was the same as that which most often formed her cargo, old growth Douglas fir. Given her wide beam, but shallow depth of hold, her upper ceiling planking played a critical role is resisting hogging tendencies. Therefore, when visiting the vessel and entering her hold, one can spy individual planking 8 inches thick and up to a shocking 80 feet long. Her clamps too are of major size, though her restoration team was unable to obtain pieces of original (10 inches thick and 110 feet in length) size. Due to her being designed for immense deck loads, her hanging knees, supporting her deck, are huge and especially interesting as they cannot be cut to shape. To have the necessary strength to support deck loaded lumber cargoes, they have to be of a naturally curved grown shape. This was a particular challenge, especially when considering the lack of natural curves in Douglass Fir. In other parts of the country where other types of trees were more common, these natural curves (referred to as compass timber) were often acquired where large branches grew in a curving outward arc from the trunk. With Douglas Fir trees, branches grow out from the trunk at nearly 90 degrees. So in order to get the natural curved shape needed, effort was made to make use of the stumps and roots of the tree. In particular from trees that grew on the side of a hill where the curving roots would have an especially sharp angle.  Credit: Chris Edwards, NPS Though not unique along the West Coast, there were many features that made these ships totally distinctive compared to the Gulf Coast, East Coast, or Great Lakes practices. These design features, and the fact that she is now the last of her kind, were important factors why the decision was made to proceed with her massive reconstruction. Today, the C.A. Thayer has a largely “new ship” feel about her. Though longevity is something all wooden structures aspire to, wooden vessels/ships, given the marine environment they live in, are particularly vulnerable to entropy. With her reconstruction now nearly complete, visitors will have access to a unique West Coast historic maritime resource for a long time to come.  Credit: Chris Edwards, NPS Bibliographic References Books: Olmsted, Roger. C.A.Thayer and the Pacific Lumber Schooners. Los Angeles: Ward Ritchie Press, 1972. Unpublished Works: Cleveland, Ron. The Rigging of West Coast Barkentines & Schooners. Unpublished manuscript, Maritime Research Center, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, no date. Myers, Mark Richard. “Pacific Coast-Built Sailing Ship Types: 1840-1921.” B.A. Honors Study Thesis, Pomona College, 1967. Official Reports: Architectural Resources Group. “Historic Structure Report: Schooner C.A. Thayer.” National Park Service, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, 2022. Delgado, James P. & Gordon S. Chappell. “National Register of Historic Places Inventory, Nomination Form: C.A.Thayer (Schooner).” National Park Service, Western Region, 30 June 1978. Periodicals: Andersen, Courtney J. “Exciting Times in the Life of C.A. Thayer. Re-rigging and Old Sailing Ship: A Maritime Detective Story.” Sea Letter 72 (Fall 2015), 2-12. Canright, Stephen. “Born of the Lumber Trade: An Historical Context for the C.A. Thayer.” Sea Letter 50 (Summer 1995), 3-11. Canright, Stephen. “Preserving the C.A. Thayer: What is to be Done?” Sea Letter 50 (Summer 1995), 20-25. Canright, Stephen. “Rebuilding the C.A. Thayer.” Sea Letter (Summer 2007), 6-24. Cox, Thomas R. “William Kyle & the Pacific Lumber Trade: A Study in Marginality.” Journal of Forest History 19:1 (January 1975), 4-14. Cox, Thomas R. “Single Decks and Flat Bottoms: Building the West Coast’s Lumber Fleet, 1850-1929.” Journal of the West XX: 3 (July 1981), 65-74. Dennis, D.L. “Square Sails of American Schooners.” The Mariner’s Mirror 49: 3 (August 1963), 226-227. McDonald, Captain P.A. “Square Sails and Raffees.” The American Neptune V (1945), 142-145. Miles, Ted. “The Later Lives of the C.A.Thayer.” Sea Letter 50 (Summer 1995), 13-19. AuthorChristopher Edwards is a National Park Ranger at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
Welcome to Sail Freighter Fridays! This article is part of a series linked to our new exhibit: "A New Age Of Sail: The History And Future Of Sail Freight In The Hudson Valley," and tells the stories of sailing cargo ships both modern and historical, on the Hudson River and around the world. Anyone interested in how to support Sail Freight should also check out the Conference in November, and the International Windship Association's Decade of Wind Propulsion.  "Hobah Falmouth. C. Lamey, Master" Unknown Artist, C. 1879. Royal Museums Greenwich, via Wikimedia Commons. The West Country Ketch Hobah was an English vessel built in 1879, and is typical of her class: Ketch rigged, relatively small at around 80 feet and 60 Net Register Tons, and built with a wide flat bottom, she was designed for use in the South of England. She served as late as 1945, moving coal, general cargo, manure, and stone.  Unloading coal from a collier on East Beach in the town of Cromer. Norfolk, England. 8 March 1912. Kolforn Collection, via Wikimedia Commons. The ketch's wide, flat bottom allowed for loading and unloading from beaches where no developed port was available, a common practice with small vessels. The photo above shows this process in action, with the Ketch tied up to the stake on the left, the tide was allowed to recede, while the ship settles into the sand and stays stable while discharging cargo. When high tide returns, the lines can be cast and the ship sails away unharmed.  Map of Coastal Trading Routes from: Dunn, Oliver. “A Sea of Troubles? Journey Times and Coastal Shipping Routes in Seventeenth-Century England and Wales.” The Journal of Transport History 41, no. 2 (August 2020): 184–207. While very typical of her class, the Hobah's career is especially long, spanning 66 years. She was engaged on trade routes which were fully developed by the 17th century, and active through the early 20th. Those routes have been mapped by Oliver Dunn and a team of historians, and span the entirety of the British coast. Like many other late sail freighters, she carried mostly bulk cargos around areas with underdeveloped land transportation networks before the introduction of fossil-fueled trucks, and was quite successful. AuthorSteven Woods is the Solaris and Education coordinator at HRMM. He earned his Master's degree in Resilient and Sustainable Communities at Prescott College, and wrote his thesis on the revival of Sail Freight for supplying the New York Metro Area's food needs. Steven has worked in Museums for over 20 years. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
Welcome to Sail Freighter Fridays! This article is part of a series linked to our new exhibit: "A New Age Of Sail: The History And Future Of Sail Freight In The Hudson Valley," and tells the stories of sailing cargo ships both modern and historical, on the Hudson River and around the world. Anyone interested in how to support Sail Freight should also check out the Conference in November, and the International Windship Association's Decade of Wind Propulsion.  Postcard of the "Preussen" under sail. Photo by Allan C Green. State Library of Queensland, Australia. Today's Windjammer is the Preussen, the only five-masted full rigged cargo ship ever built, and the largest of the early 20th century windjammers. 482 feet long and carrying up to 8,000 tons of Nitrates from Chile to Germany per voyage, she was designed to round Cape Horn and return at great speed, making up to 20.5 knots under up to 73,000 square feet of sails. She was the pinnacle of the sailing vessel, and was in service for 8 years carrying nitrates and general cargo.  An undated view looking forward on the "Preussen" from the aft deck house, published by Bain News Service. Library of Congress Collection. As part of the very large era of sail freighters, where crew were expensive, the Preussen had no engines for propulsion, but two "Donkey Engines" which powered winches, pumps, and ship's gear, meaning she needed a crew of only 45. Steel had been used throughout her construction, making her a strong and steady ship, able to take the stresses involved in running at high speeds in heavy weather. She circumnavigated the globe, and went around the Horn at least a dozen times.  The German steel-hulled five masted ship-rigged windjammer Preußen at New York City in April 1908. Library of Congress Collection. Preussen served until November of 1910, when she was rammed by a Steamer in the English channel. The collision caused significant damage, nearly tearing the bowsprit off the ship and flooding the forward compartments. Luckily, the ship had been constructed with watertight bulkheads, otherwise she may well have sunk. Three tugs attempted to tow her into Dover, but a storm drove her on the rocks and she ran hard aground, flooding with up to 16 feet of water in the holds. She was deemed unsalvageable, cargo was pulled off onto barges, and the Preussen's career ended far earlier than anyone anticipated.  Photo of the "Preussen" stranded on the Dover coast, November 1910. The collision damage to the foremast and bowsprit are clearly visible. An account of the collision from the Preussen's Helmsman is available here. It includes a detailed description of the ship's equipment and accommodations, as well as the account of the collision and grounding. AuthorSteven Woods is the Solaris and Education coordinator at HRMM. He earned his Master's degree in Resilient and Sustainable Communities at Prescott College, and wrote his thesis on the revival of Sail Freight for supplying the New York Metro Area's food needs. Steven has worked in Museums for over 20 years. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
Welcome to Sail Freighter Fridays! This article is part of a series linked to our new exhibit: "A New Age Of Sail: The History And Future Of Sail Freight In The Hudson Valley," and tells the stories of sailing cargo ships both modern and historical, on the Hudson River and around the world. Anyone interested in how to support Sail Freight should also check out the Conference in November, and the International Windship Association's Decade of Wind Propulsion.  Fresco from Pompeii depicting a merchant vessel under sail. Via wikimedia Commons. For today's Sail Freighter Friday, we're going to go back a ways further historically than last week, but only about 2,100 or so years. This week, we'll be looking at the type of sailing cargo vessels of the Mediterranean Sea which built much of the ancient Greek, Roman, and Carthaginian empires of the classical world. They were advanced sailing craft plying well developed trade routes, and supplying some of the largest cities of their time with food, stone, metals, ceramics, timber, wool, cement, firewood, glass, charcoal, livestock, and more from all over the Mediterranean basin. In tonnage and fleet strength, they were likely unsurpassed from the decline of the Roman Empire until the Renaissance, a period of nearly 1,000 years. Ships in this period, roughly 2300-2000 years ago, were wooden, constructed in what we would now call a mortise-and-tenon, shell-first construction, with frames added second. They usually also had an additional layer of planking on the inside of the frames. This is rarely used today, but was stronger than "stitched" or "sewn" construction of previous eras, and allowed for much larger vessels of up to 600 tons to be built routinely. Their wide, relatively shallow hulls were reasonably stable, and propelled by up to three square-rigged masts.  Eric Gaba, "Mortise tenon joint hull trireme" via Wikimedia Commons. The size and number of ships on the Mediterranean Sea in this period began to increase, as cities grew in population and trade increased. Grain, wine, and olive oil from Egypt and Syria, as well as Spain and North Africa, were essential to keeping Rome fed, and the voyage could take weeks against contrary winds, resulting in the need for a large fleet with seasonal availability. It also meant that the ships had to be tough and seaworthy, which they were, but they weren't necessarily fast: Some made an average of barely 2 knots per hour when sailing against the wind. Downwind, they could make average speeds of just over 6 knots. These sailing craft were the result of many generations of development and cultural exchange between the Greeks, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Iberians, Romans, and Latins, ideally suited to their environments and available materials. Without them, the cultural and material exchange which allowed these cultures to flourish would have been impossible, as would many of the future developments in navigation and shipbuilding which are discussed in this series. Unfortunately, they also had a profound ecological impact: Despite their being built of wood, a renewable resource, the demand for ship timbers and fuel was higher than the forests growth rates at many points, and led to deforestation and desertification which still has effects on the local ecosystems today. With a modern understanding of forest management, this can be avoided, but there is a limit which must be worked within to keep both a healthy forest, and a healthy fleet. If you're interested in these ancient ships, their construction, and use, I recommend starting with Sailing From Polis To Empire, available free as an E-Book at the link. AuthorSteven Woods is the Solaris and Education coordinator at HRMM. He earned his Master's degree in Resilient and Sustainable Communities at Prescott College, and wrote his thesis on the revival of Sail Freight for supplying the New York Metro Area's food needs. Steven has worked in Museums for over 20 years. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
Welcome to Sail Freighter Fridays! This article is part of a series linked to our new exhibit: "A New Age Of Sail: The History And Future Of Sail Freight In The Hudson Valley," and tells the stories of sailing cargo ships both modern and historical, on the Hudson River and around the world. Anyone interested in how to support Sail Freight should also check out the Conference in November, and the International Windship Association's Decade of Wind Propulsion. .jpg) James E. Buttersworth: "Hudson River Sloop Phillip R. Paulding" via Wikimedia Commons. The Morning Star was a sloop based out of the Rondout Creek in the 1790s, and many of her records were included in Paul Fontenoy's 1994 study of Hudson River Sloops. As a result, we can do some analysis of not only this one sail freighter, but her cargos and the exports of the Rondout Creek in her era, without spending dozens of hours in archives. This is a good thing, because there's a lot of lessons to be taken from her records. As a Hudson River Sloop, she was designed for our specific waters, with a shallow draft, drop-keel to make sailing upwind easier when enough water was available, and a simple fore-&-aft rig. These elements made the Hudson River Sloops ideally suited to the shifting mudflats and variable winds of the Hudson. In addition, they required relatively few crew members to handle the two or three sails. As for cargo, while the records aren't listed in tons, we can see a lot of patterns in her bills of lading. Passenger and cargo business was essential for the Sloops, and most passengers were headed North. Most of the cargo, however, was headed South to New York City and beyond. The cargo was principally agricultural goods, which were either used in the city or traded on in the West Indies Provisions Trade. The Hudson Valley was the breadbasket of the West Indies and parts of Southern Europe, but this trade to the West Indies allowed for the constant mono-cropping of sugar on those islands. New York and the Hudson Valley made much of its money off the Slave Trade both directly and indirectly through the provisioning trade. The agricultural trade profit which motivated the settlement and agricultural growth of the Hudson Valley in the 17th and 18th century is inseparable from the Slave Trade.  Cargoes for 1793 carried on Sloop Morning Star. Returning to the technical side of the discussion, we can also see the sailing season and voyage times from the records of Morning Star. With a 258 day sailing season and 11 voyages, the average duration of a round trip is about 24 days. March must have coincided with the river ice clearing, and December with the ice becoming enough to discourage sailing. The other thing to notice is how profitable the Sloops were. With a nearly 75% return over expenses, this is a very encouraging business. Profits were boosted by the lack of competition from steam propulsion, in the form of either trains or steamships. As that changed over the next 100 years, the profit margin of sloops declined, but in 1793 they gave a very significant return. Anyone interested in the technical details of the Hudson River Sloops should find a copy of Fontenoy's book, as it contains a well researched and easily read account of their development and operations for over 200 years. AuthorSteven Woods is the Solaris and Education coordinator at HRMM. He earned his Master's degree in Resilient and Sustainable Communities at Prescott College, and wrote his thesis on the revival of Sail Freight for supplying the New York Metro Area's food needs. Steven has worked in Museums for over 20 years If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
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