<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> T H E B O S U N ' S C H R O N I C L E All the latest news/views for fans of Julian Stockwin ++ always sent in plain text: guarantees no virus/malware on your computer ++ <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> : Connect with Julian on Twitter and Facebook : All Shipmates are cordially invited to become Friends and Followers. Check out the special contests and prizes there, too... === September 2010 This issue is flying the Red Ensign as it's Merchant Navy Day in the UK on September 3. During the two World Wars the British merchant service suffered huge losses, both in ships sunk and seamen killed. Nearly 45,000 sailors lost their lives in those conflicts. It was actually in honour of the sacrifice made by merchant seamen during the First World War that King George V granted the title "Merchant Navy" to the service. And mercantile mariners are vital to the existence of Britannia to this day - over 95% of the UK's trade travels by sea! 1 DISPATCHES 2 BOOKSHELF 3 SHIPMATES, AHOY! 4 SALTY SAYINGS 5 SEA MUSIC 6 FEATURE 7 ASK JULIAN 8 CONTESTS ==================== 1 DISPATCHES + VICTORY Among the many wonderful recent tributes from readers on Amazon UK:- "I have to say I was stunned by the depth of feeling crammed into the book; it captured such an epic time in history, the fear, the excitement, the horror, the disappointments and finally the national sorrow. I had tears in my eyes by the end..." - R J Carter and from Julian's mailbag:- "The opening scene of VICTORY riveted me to my chair. I tasted the powder and cursed the damn French. It's another Stockwin blockbuster, a true tale and tribute to the British Tar!" - Joseph Zerbey "For the past couple of years I have been wondering how Thomas would get his flag post and how he would fit in to the whole Trafalgar tale... the way you dealt with it was superbly done. Your use of language of the era greatly added to my enjoyment, as has the maturing of Renzi as a foil to Thomas. His philosophical thinking has given the stories a secondary dimension without which I think the tale of Thomas would have been lessened." - Tom Anderson --- VICTORY is published in Australia, New Zealand and Canada this month and in the US next month. + Two recent important nautical discoveries * HMS "Investigator" has been found by archaeologists in the Arctic waters of Canada. The vessel was abandoned in 1853 while searching for Franklin's ill-fated expedition. With sea ice at record low levels, the hunt is now on for the Franklin expedition's two ships "Erebus" and "Terror". * And there's an eighteenth century brigantine at the World Trade Centre site! "It's one of the ships that helped build New York," Warren Riess, an archaeologist specializing in marine history says. + Major new maritime museum No. 1 Smithery at Historic Dockyard Chatham in Kent, southern England, features treasures from Britain's national maritime collection, many on show for the first time. The 19th century smithery once housed huge steam hammers, forges and anchor pits for the Royal Dockyard and the original architecture is a stunning backdrop for the exhibits. + Going to Greenwich? Been to the National Maritime Museum recently? Two exhibitions worth making the trip for... * Toy Boats (open until 31 October) Borrowing extensively from the collection of the Musee National de la Marine in Paris and some of Britain's foremost collectors, "Toy Boats" showcases over 100 colourful and imaginative toys which recall England's most-loved grand liners, submarines and battleships. * Boats that Built Britain (open until 21 November) This exhibition features six vessels filmed for the BBC Four television series of the same name. Each tells a particular story about Britain's relationship with the sea. ==================== 2 BOOKSHELF Echoing the theme of this issue we've some special book recommendations. We begin with the fourth title in Richard Woodman's monumental five-volume series on the history of the Merchant Navy, "More Days, More Dollars". Sub-titled "The Universal Bucket Chain", it covers the period 1885 - 1920. By the end of the nineteenth century the Merchant Navy was the world's largest carrier of people, manufactured goods and raw materials. Almost every British family had a member serving in merchant ships - from ocean liners to deep-sea tramp steamers. Woodman chronicles how this was achieved in the face of a ceaseless struggle against the elements as well as the impact of a feared new enemy after 1914, the German U-boat. Woodman spent almost almost forty years at sea and is a member of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Nautical Institute, and an Elder Brother of Trinity House. The earlier titles are:- "Neptune's Trident: Spices and Slaves 1500-1507" "Britannia's Realm: in Support of the State 1763-1816" "Masters Under God: Makers of Empire 1816-1884" (volume 5 is scheduled for publication next month) === Then we move on to some delightful little tomes from Whittles Publishing: "Mariner's Launch" and "Mariner's Voyage" by Roy Solly are the first two in a trilogy of the social and historical life in the Merchant Navy 1950-1970s, a golden age of British shipping, before globalisation and containerisation ushered in the modern era. It has been said that Solly does for seafaring what Mortimer does for law and Herriot does for vets - and indeed the books are a rich tapestry of life at sea in a bygone era. === "Sea Like A Mirror" - reflections of a merchantman - by Alan Jones The title refers to a scale to indicate by number the sea's state, cloud cover and force of wind. The calmest of seas is given a zero, meaning "Sea like a mirror"; for a seasoned mariner the opportunity to lean on the taffrail and contemplate a life of seafaring. Captain Alan Jones spent 42 years either at sea or ashore associated with ships. He worked his way up to become master of a number of vessels under different flags. The book is an honest and compelling account of a love/hate relationship with the sea, in which love ultimately won out. === And finally, a book about one of the most iconic warships in the Second World War and the pride of Hitler's fleet. "Killing the Bismarck" by Iain Ballantyne The mission of the German battleship "Bismarck" was to destroy convoys in transit between North America and Great Britain - but she was to have only one operation during her brief career following a relentless pursuit by the Royal Navy. Ballantyne's fascinating narrative gives new insights into this famous episode in naval history, focusing on eyewitness accounts of British sailors, marines and carrier aviators. We have a copy of this book to give away - see CONTESTS. ==================== 3 SHIPMATES, AHOY! Julian has a number of connections with the Merchant Navy, having worked as a shore-based shipwright for a commercial shipyard for a time and via his work on software development for NATO which was concerned with the strategic deployment of merchant shipping in time of hostilities. He has also been a guest speaker at the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool, which celebrates that city's strong mercantile marine heritage - and another aboard "Cutty Sark", one of the last clippers built. (Currently undergoing a major conservation she is scheduled to re-open for visitors next year.) He told the Bosun: "The Merchant Navy were war heroes equal to any; from the very first day right to the end of hostilities they were in the front line. I have a particular admiration for those in the Arctic convoys." --- Quite a few of Julian's readers can claim association with the Red Ensign. Mark Spice's father was chief engineering officer in the Merchant Navy, and he sometimes joined him aboard ship as a boy. "I remember being terribly seasick in the German Bight at the age of nine and praying for a German U boat to come and sink the ship! It put me off a career at sea (I'm definitely rated a 'Landsman') but I have always found the sea and ships interesting." John Devenish has happy memories of his time in 'the Black Gang' [Merchant Navy engineers]: "The ships, once they had their full complement of crew, developed their own character...When the engines burst into life and the winches on deck start winding in ropes and springs you can feel the life begin to surge through the ship. Sailors on deck securing the derricks, those on the bridge adhering to the commands of the officer of the watch, the familiar sounds of the telegraph bells clanging in the engine room, engineers at the control platform and firemen tending the fires and 'watching the blood', cooks preparing the meals and stewards going about making life comfortable for the officers and paying passengers. Special bonds drew us together, the excitement of different places, mateship, going ashore, experiencing the pleasures that were there for the asking and then being able to come home to the safety and security of the ship." John commissioned paintings of four of his ships by New Zealand artist Wallace Trickett. Mr Trickett has produced over 100 ship portraits to date, including Blue Star Line and Port Line vessels. We welcome suggestions for the special page in Julian's website ==================== 4 SALTY SAYINGS Today's English owes much to the language of the mariner. "Shipshape and Bristol fashion", meaning something is neat and in good order, definitely has salty origins. In the heyday of sail Bristol, in south west England, had a worldwide reputation of efficiency in shipbuilding and repair. As Bristol has a large tidal range ships had to be strong enough to withstand this buffeting and all the goods and equipment on board had to be very securely stowed to prevent accidents or damage. Admiral W H Smyth in his wonderful (1867) "The Sailors Word Book" defines it thus: "said when Bristol was in its palmy commercial days, unalloyed by Liverpool, and its shipping was all in proper good order." ==================== 5 SEA MUSIC Thank you for all your emails about sea music following Julian's picks in the last issue. We can't print them all but here's a small selection: Allen German chose Debussy's "La Mer", Sibelius's "Oceanides", Britten's "Four Sea Interludes" from Peter Grimes, and Uuno Klami's "Sea Pictures". Rod Redden enjoys salty folk tunes like "Captain Kidd", "The Shores of England", "The Banks of Newfoundland" and "Donkey Riding". Jim Parker loves "Barrett's Privateers". And he says whenever he hears "Pomp and Circumstance" it evokes an image of lines of grey warships leaving harbour in wartime. Austin Hawkins picked Edward McDowell's sea pieces, Opus 55 (which include such evocative titles as "To the Sea" and "From a Wandering Iceberg"). ==================== 6 FEATURE Tasmania's pride As John L Coombes writes in his book "Tall Ships, the Sixteen Square Riggers of Australia and New Zealand" - Lady Nelson is by no means the biggest ship nor the heaviest... but she must be one of the prettiest as she plies her way up and down the Derwent. One of the highlights of Julian's trip to Tasmania last year was being invited to take her helm. The original "Lady Nelson" was built in Deptford, England, in 1798. She was designed as a cutter with the innovation of sliding keels for shallow water survey work in Australian waters. Prior to sailing to Australia the ship was rigged as a brig. She was the first vessel to sail eastwards through Bass Strait, after it had been discovered by Bass and Flinders in "Norfolk" that Tasmania (then called Van Diemen's Land) was separate from Australia. The replica "Lady Nelson" was launched in 1987; she now is the flagship of the Tasmanian Sail Training Association. All maintenance, training and sailing of the ship is done by volunteers. Earlier this year the vessel was chartered by an Irish film crew doing a historical documentary on the Irish convict women transported to Tasmania. The documentary "Banished Women" will air around March 2011. The Bosun recently interviewed her master Brian Hodgson and began by asking him about his most memorable moments aboard. "Three come to mind. A dawn passage through the slot at Tasman Island; returning to Hobart in strong westerly winds abaft the beam doing nearly eight knots under five square, with dolphins frolicking in the bow waves - and coming back from Recherche Bay, needing only three long tacks to get back to Hobart 55 nautical miles away. Bosun. "And times of Apprehension?" "In Barnes Bay with a charter group of school girls aboard, under extreme NE winds we anchored in three different inlets dragging the anchor 8 times even with 40 fathoms of chain out. After the last drag, the anchor crew jammed the anchor in the hawse pipe so I had to get out of the bay looking for sea room. And there's always a little trepidation whenever I'm bringing 'Lady Nelson' in alongside the dock - because of her large windage in the rigging and turbulent winds around the dockside buildings." Bosun. "How did you get interested in the sea?" "My elder brother and I were in the Sea Scouts. The group had two naval gigs named Bass and Flinders. My Uni studies and then fulltime work took me away from the sea. Soon after marrying I helped my brother and a friend build a 30 feet Roberts sloop in fibreglass but only managed to sail intermittently. There was a big gap in sea time and then I became involved in building the replica 'Norfolk', learning about steaming timbers, and using trunnels to secure the planks and decking. On completion of the ship I had the privilege of being one of the crew of ten in 1998, to sail her on the Bass and Flinders Re-enactment from Sydney south, then westwards through Bass Strait and around the West Coast of Tasmania to Hobart following the route taken by the explorers 200 years before. Bosun. "And how did your involvement with Lady Nelson come about?" "In 2000 I was asked if I would help with the maintenance of 'Lady Nelson'. My involvement then led then to sailing as crew. I have been a Master of 'Lady Nelson' now for five years and have full open water endorsement. Being Master plus my involvement with maintenance and the training programme is very time intensive - I spend anywhere from 100 to 160 days per year on the vessel plus time at home on the computer organizing sailings and preparing updates to the manual and ship's systems. See Julian at the helm! Read the ship's logs from 1805 We have a splendid photograph suitable for framing of "Lady Nelson" in company with "Windeward Bound" to give away. See CONTESTS for details. (John L Coombes still has a limited number of author editions of his book for sale. Inquiries to ) =================== 7 ASK JULIAN Chris Teigeler in Belgium wanted to know; "Where does the term 'en flute' come from?" Julian replies: "A man-of-war en flute is a warship with some or all of its guns removed, usually to make room for cargo or troops, or to demonstrate peaceful intent. I believe the term, which is French in origin, derives from the fact that the empty gun-ports were said to look like the finger-holes of a flute. This is not to be confused with the Dutch fluyt, a small cargo ship of perhaps 300 tons, one of the most successful Dutch merchant ships of the seventeenth century. It had a barrel-shaped appearance with a prominent bulge in the lower stern and a tumble-home. The compact size and shape of the vessel reduced the duties that had to be paid to harbour authorities and they had a relatively small crew of one man for every 20 tons compared to one man for every seven tons on comparable English ships." Do you have a question you'd like to put to Julian? Emails to with "Ask Julian" in the subject line. =================== 8 CONTESTS Emails to . Please include your full postal address, deadline: September 15. + For a chance to win a copy of "Killing the Bismarck" - which prominent naval affairs news magazine does Iain Ballantyne edit? + Lady Nelson photograph Name the ship's home port to enter the contest. + VICTORY draw Following the popularity of the draw for review copies of the UK edition of VICTORY, Julian's U.S. publisher, McBooks Press is sponsoring a similar draw for American readers. Here's how it will work - just email us with your full postal address and "U.S. VICTORY draw" in the subject line. The first 50 names out of the hat on September 15 will be sent a copy of the book. All we ask is that each winner leave a review of the book on Amazon and/or a social networking site of their choice. This draw is restricted to residents of the United States. --- Congratulations to Jack Perry in New York, who was the first correct entry (there were 27 British ships-of-the-line at Trafalgar) in our contest for a choice of signed hardback of TREACHERY or QUARTERDECK. And the winner of our monthly draw of all subscribers to the Chronicle was Tony Glover in Lincolnshire, UK. Entry is automatic for all subscribers, new and old, each month so you might be lucky next time... =================== Yours aye, THE BOSUN Coming next month: A fascinating follow-up to the piece on the Devis Nelson portrait in the August issue. And "Royals to the Fore!" - Julian talks about the role of the Royal Marines in Kydd's day. If you have a connection with the Marines, do drop us a line! ++ Download back issues from the WebSite ++