Maritime Notes and News

Congress authorizes privateers to attack British vessels (1776)

Congress authorizes privateers to attack British vessels (1776)

Because it lacked sufficient funds to build a strong navy, the Continental Congress gives privateers permission to attack any and all British ships on April 3, 1776. In a bill signed by John Hancock, its president, and dated April 3, 1776, the Continental Congress issued “INSTRUCTIONS to the COMMANDERS of Private Ships or vessels of War, which shall have Commissions of Letters of Marque and Reprisal, authorizing them to make Captures of British Vessels and Cargoes.” Read the complete article on History.com.

Inventor of the Naval Chronometer Born (1693)

Inventor of the Naval Chronometer Born (1693)

Born today 1693, John Harrison, the cantankerous Yorkshireman who would go on to invent the naval chronometer and solve the mystery of calculating longitude at sea. Read the complete article on Atlas Obscura.

“Bringing Shipwrecks to Life” Exhibit opens at Wisconsin Maritime Museum

“Bringing Shipwrecks to Life” Exhibit opens at Wisconsin Maritime Museum

March 16 – Nov 6, 2023 Experience spectacular Great Lakes shipwrecks brought to life by world-renowned underwater photographer, Becky Schott and Liquid Productions. Through Becky’s vivid photography, viewers are submerged into a world few can access while diving deeper with 3D shipwreck models and interactives. Numerous artifacts from these shipwrecks will also be exhibited for the first time at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum. The Wisconsin Maritime Museum is located at 75 Maritime Drive, Manitowoc, WI 54220 USA. Phone number +1 920-684 0218. The facility is currently open Thu-Mon 10am – 4pm.

Special Virtual Chantey Sing:Tribute to Don Sineti

Special Virtual Chantey Sing:
Tribute to Don Sineti

Celebrate the life of Don Sineti, renowned and beloved chantey singer, with a special virtual chantey sing from San Francisco Maritime National Park Association, in collaboration with San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park and the Maritime Music & Tradition Society. It will be held on Saturday, March 18, 2023 from 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM PST. Follow this link for more information.

U.S. Supreme Court rules on Amistad slave ship mutiny case

U.S. Supreme Court rules on Amistad slave ship mutiny case

At the end of a historic case, the U.S. Supreme Court rules, with only one dissent, that the enslaved Africans who seized control of the Amistad slave ship had been illegally forced into slavery, and thus are free under American law. In 1807, the U.S. Congress joined with Great Britain in abolishing the African slave trade, although the trading of enslaved people within the U.S. was not prohibited. Despite the international ban on the importation of enslaved Africans, Cuba continued to transport captive Africans to its sugar plantations until the 1860s, and Brazil to its coffee plantations until the 1850s. Read the complete article on History.com.

John Quincy Adams begins arguments in Amistad case

John Quincy Adams begins arguments in Amistad case

On February 24, 1841, former President John Quincy Adams begins to argue the Amistad case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. A practicing lawyer and member of the House of Representatives, John Quincy Adams was the son of America’s second president, founding father and avowed abolitionist John Adams. Although John Quincy Adams publicly downplayed his abolitionist stance, he too viewed the practice as contrary to the nation’s core principles of freedom and equality. After serving one term as president between 1825 and 1829, Adams was elected to the House of Representatives, in which he served until his death in 1848. During his tenure, he succeeded in repealing a rule that prevented any debate about slavery on the House floor. Read the complete article on History.com. For further reading, please see this article.

U.S. Navy stages daring mission during First Barbary War  (February 16, 1804)

U.S. Navy stages daring mission during First Barbary War  (February 16, 1804)

During the First Barbary War, U.S. Lieutenant Stephen Decatur leads a military mission that famed British Admiral Horatio Nelson calls the “most daring act of the age.” In June 1801, President Thomas Jefferson ordered U.S. Navy vessels to the Mediterranean Sea in protest of continuing raids against U.S. ships by pirates from the Barbary states–Morocco, Algeria, Tunis and Tripolitania. American sailors were often abducted along with the captured booty and ransomed back to the United States at an exorbitant price. After two years of minor confrontations, sustained action began in June 1803 when a small U.S. expeditionary force attacked Tripoli harbor in present-day Libya Read the complete article on History.com.

Captain Cook killed in Hawai’i – Happy Valentine’s Day!

Captain Cook killed in Hawai’i – Happy Valentine’s Day!

On February 14, 1779, Captain James Cook, the great English explorer and navigator, is killed by natives of Hawaii during his third visit to the Pacific island group. In 1768, Cook, a surveyor in the Royal Navy, was commissioned a lieutenant in command of the HMS Endeavour and led an expedition that took scientists to Tahiti to chart the course of the planet Venus. In 1771, he returned to England, having explored the coast of New Zealand and Australia and circumnavigated the globe. Read the complete article on History.com.

American schooner Lyman M. Law is sunk (1917)

American schooner Lyman M. Law is sunk (1917)

The Austrian submarine U-35 bombs and sinks the American schooner Lyman M. Law in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Cagliari, Sardinia. The Lyman M. Law, captained by S.W. McDonough, had embarked on its final journey from Stockton, Maine, with a crew of 10 on January 6, 1917, carrying a cargo of 60,000 bundles of lemon-box staves. The schooner was traveling across the Atlantic bound for Palermo, Italy, when it was captured on the morning of February 12. The Austrians ordered the crew of eight Americans and two British sailors off the schooner before a bomb was detonated, setting fire to the 1,300-ton wooden vessel prior to its sinking. The crew was uninjured and transported to the coastal town of Cagliari, where they were released. [MMDI editor’s note: this incident demonstrates that tall ships continued to play a significant part in world events well into the 20th century.] Read the complete article on History.com.

Connecticut Sea Music Festival Announces 2023 Lineup

Connecticut Sea Music Festival Announces 2023 Lineup

Facebook 2/4/2023: We are excited to announce the musicians and demonstrators who will appear at the Second Annual Connecticut Sea Music Festival on June 9-12! It’s an international crew who will make the Festival a true celebration of the work and songs of sailors, boatmen, fishers, longshoremen, and all folk who labored on the world’s oceans and waterways. Make your plans now to join us in Essex, CT! 40 Degrees South from AustraliaThe Ancient Mariners ChanteymenBobaloo BaseyBob & Jeanne ZentzDan MilnerDavid IlerDavid JonesJeff DavisThe Johnson GirlsKen SweeneyNick AppolonioRick & Donna NestlerSkylarkStoutThe Dirty Blue Shirts: sailor arts, crafts, and chanteysAnd in a special showcase appearance: Pressgang Mutiny from Canada

First European explorer reaches Brazil (26 Jan 1500)

First European explorer reaches Brazil (26 Jan 1500)

Spanish explorer Vicente Yanez Pinzon, who had commanded the Nina during Christopher Columbus’ first expedition to the New World, reaches the northeastern coast of Brazil during a voyage under his command. Pinzon’s journey produced the first recorded account of a European explorer sighting the Brazilian coast; though whether or not Brazil was previously known to Portuguese navigators is still in dispute. Pinzon subsequently sailed down the Brazilian coast to the equator, where he briefly explored the mouth of the Amazon River. In the same year, Portuguese explorer Pedro Alvares Cabral claimed Brazil for Portugal, arguing that the territory fell into the Portuguese sphere of exploration as defined by the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas. However, little was done to support the claim until the 1530s, when the first permanent European settlements in Brazil were established at Sao Vicente in Sao Paulo by Portuguese colonists. Read the complete article on History.com.

Maritime Photographer Linda D. Anderson Dies After Lengthy Illness

Maritime Photographer Linda D. Anderson Dies After Lengthy Illness

February 29, 1952 – January 19, 2023 Linda D. Anderson was a skilled and popular nature and maritime photographer. She frequently photographed and vended at the many tall ship events on the Great Lakes. A Port Washington, Wisconsin resident, she was well known among the crews of the tall ships and the musicians that entertained at these events. A long-term chronic illness prevented her from promoting her work, particularly during the pandemic. She passed away in her home on January 19. Linda’s family discovered a considerable supply of prints that she normally sold at the tall ship festivals. Her daughter-in-law, Carolyn Paul, will be making Linda’s unframed prints available for sale, with the hopes that this income will offset the funerary costs. Carolyn can be reached through her Facebook profile. You can read Linda’s obituary here.

Captain Cook Reaches Hawaii

Captain Cook Reaches Hawaii

On January 18, 1778, the English explorer Captain James Cook becomes the first European to travel to the Hawaiian Islands when he sails past the island of Oahu. Two days later, he landed at Waimea on the island of Kauai and named the island group the Sandwich Islands, in honor of John Montague, who was the earl of Sandwich and one his patrons. In 1768, Cook, a surveyor in the Royal Navy, was commissioned a lieutenant in command of the H.M.S. Endeavor and led an expedition that took scientists to Tahiti to chart the course of the planet Venus. In 1771, he returned to England, having explored the coast of New Zealand and Australia and circumnavigated the globe. Beginning in 1772, he commanded a major mission to the South Pacific and during the next three years explored the Antarctic region, charted the New Hebrides, and discovered New Caledonia. In 1776, he sailed from England again as commander of the H.M.S. Resolution and Discovery and in 1778 made his first visit to the Hawaiian Islands. Read the complete article on History.com.

The Moonlight Battle at Sea (16 Jan 1780)

The Moonlight Battle at Sea (16 Jan 1780)

British demonstrate naval supremacy in The Moonlight Battle British Admiral Sir George Rodney, with 18 ships-of-the-line, engages an inferior Spanish squadron of 11 battleships commanded by Don Juan de Langara off the southwestern coast of Portugal at Cape St. Vincent, in what comes to be known as The Moonlight Battle. (Ships-of-the-line is the 18th century term for ships substantial enough to be used in a battle line, a tactic of war in which two lines of ships faced off against each other.) Read the complete article on History.com.

Don Sineti Dies 5 Jan 2023

Our beloved Don Sineti crossed the bar last evening. He leaves an unfillable void in our world of chanteys and maritime music, and much more. His heart was as big as his voice and who can count the numbers of souls he touched. As one who brought him onto the Chantey staff at Mystic Seaport Museum over thirty years ago and had the chance to do numerous performances with him over the years, particularly for the Williams/Mystic program, I will treasure those special times. May we all now celebrate who Don was and what he gave to this maritime music community. Assistance is being accepted for Don’s substantial medical bills here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/donald-sineti-fundraiser

Herman Melville sails for the South Seas (1841)

Herman Melville sails for the South Seas (1841)

On January 3, 1841, Herman Melville ships out on the whaler Acushnet to the South Seas. Melville was born in New York City in 1819. A childhood bout of scarlet fever permanently weakened his eyesight. He went to sea at age 19, as a cabin boy on a ship bound for Liverpool. Two years later, he sailed for the South Seas. The Acushnet anchored in Polynesia, where Melville took part in a mutiny. He was thrown in jail in Tahiti, escaped, and wandered around the South Sea islands for two years. In 1846, he published his first novel, Typee, based on his Polynesian adventures. His second book, Omoo (1847), also dealt with the region. The two novels were popular successes, although his third, Mardi Moby-Dick. The book flopped and was not recognized as a classic for many years. Click here to read the complete article on History.com.

Charter granted to the East India Company (31 Dec 1600)

Charter granted to the East India Company (31 Dec 1600)

On December 31, 1600, Queen Elizabeth I of England grants a formal charter to the London merchants trading to the East Indies, hoping to break the Dutch monopoly of the spice trade in what is now Indonesia. In the first few decades of its existence, the East India Company made far less progress in the East Indies than it did in India itself, where it acquired unequaled trade privileges from India’s Mogul emperors. By the 1630s, the company abandoned its East Indies operations almost entirely to concentrate on its lucrative trade of Indian textiles and Chinese tea. In the early 18th century, the company increasingly became an agent of British imperialism as it intervened more and more in Indian and Chinese political affairs. The company had its own military, which defeated the rival French East India Company in 1752 and the Dutch in 1759. Read the complete article on History.com.

USS Monitor Sinks (1862)

USS Monitor Sinks (1862)

On December 30, 1862, the U.S.S. Monitor sinks in a storm off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Just nine months earlier, the ship had been part of a revolution in naval warfare when the ironclad dueled to a standstill with the C.S.S. Virginia (Merrimack)off Hampton Roads, Virginia, in one of the most famous naval battles in American history–the first time two ironclads faced each other in a naval engagement.  (Note that while we try to limit these articles to feature tall ships from the Age of Sail, this development was signature to the end of the era.) Read the complete article on History.com.

Charles Darwin sets sail from England (27 Dec 1831)

Charles Darwin sets sail from England (27 Dec 1831)

British naturalist Charles Darwin sets out from Plymouth, England, aboard the HMS Beagle on a five-year surveying expedition of the southern Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Visiting such diverse places as the Galapagos Islands and New Zealand, Darwin acquired an intimate knowledge of the flora, fauna, and geology of many lands. This information proved invaluable in the development of his theory of evolution, first put forth in his groundbreaking scientific work of 1859, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.  Read the complete article on History.com.

War of 1812 Ends with the Treaty of Ghent

War of 1812 Ends with the Treaty of Ghent

On this date, December 24, 1814, the War of 1812 ends. The Treaty of Peace and Amity between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America is signed by British and American representatives at Ghent, Belgium, ending the War of 1812. By terms of the treaty, all conquered territory was to be returned, and commissions were planned to settle the boundary of the United States and Canada. Read the complete article on History.com.