Featured Books
Fighting Temeraire by Sam Willis
Live Yankees: The Sewalls and Their Ships by W. H. Bunting
His Majesty's Ship by Alaric Bond
Galveston's the Elissa: The Tall Ship of Texas by Kurt Voss
My River Chronicles - Rediscovering the America on the Hudson by Jessica DuLong
The Frigate Surprise: The Complete Story of the Ship Made Famous in the Novels of Patrick O'Brian by by Geoff Hunt and Brian Lavery
James Nelson's George Washington's Secret Navy
Defying Empire:Trading with the Enemy in Colonial New York by Thomas Truxes
Deadly Shoals, a Wiki Coffin Mystery by Joan Druett
Star Crossedby Linda Collison
The Privateer's Revenge: A Kydd Sea Adventure (Kydd Sea Adventures)
Peter Wicked: A Matty Graves Novel (The Matty Graves Novels)
The Jackass Frigate byAlaric Bond
Steady As She Goesby John Molloy
Voyages, the Age of Sail: Documents in American Maritime History, Volume I, 1492-1865
Expedition Whydah: The Story of the World's First Excavation of a Pirate Treasure Ship and the Man Who Found Her
Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean: How a Generation of Swashbuckling Jews Carved Out an Empire in the New World in Their Quest for Treasure, Religious Freedom--and Revenge
The Illustrated Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time
The Wyoming, Largest Wooden Sailing Vessel in the World, Launched
On December 15th, 1909, the six masted schooner Wyoming was launched at the Percy & Small shipyard on the Kennebec River, in Bath, Maine. She was the largest wooden or steel sailing vessel of her day. (She was smaller than the ill-fatted seven masted steel schooner Thomas Lawson, launched in 1902 but sold as barge a year later.) The Wyoming had a cargo deadwight of approximately 6,000 tons, sailed with a crew of 11-14, and was built for the East Coast coal trade. She was lost with all hands in a north-easterly gale off Nantucket in 1924.
I am struck by the irony that the impetus behind the last great rush to build sailing ships in the US, in this case, large schooners, was the increased demand for the fossil fuels. Most were built to carry coal. The Thomas Lawson spent the last year of her life, 1906, as an oil tanker owned by Standard Oil. The only surviving sailing oil tanker is the Falls of Clyde, now being restored in Hawaii.
From the New York Times, December 16th 1909:
BIG SCHOONER IS LAUNCHED.; The Wyoming, Largest Wooden Sailing Vessel in the World, Takes First Dip.
Falls of Clyde – Beauty, Like the Devil, is the the Details
Falls of Clyde at the Dock
Susan Yamamato has been posting some wonderful photographs from aboard the Falls of Clyde on her blog, Notes from the Wooden and Iron World. Beauty, like the devil, is often in the details. Click here to view the gallery.
Falls of Clyde is the only surviving iron-hulled four-masted full rigged ship and the only surviving sail-driven oil tanker in the world. She is currently berthed at Honolulu Harbor.
Read more
Update on FALLS OF CLYDE
The Friends of Falls of Clyde have issued a press release on her current status. As we reported previously, the movement of the ship was delayed by bad weather. They have now lost their drydocking window and will have to wait for a new availability as well as arranging all the other logistics for the move. More disturbing, “during the final preparations for the tow, some potential environmental hazards within the ship were identified and an investigation is being conducted” said Bruce McEwan, president of the Friends of Falls of Clyde… “Nothing of this nature was disclosed when we took ownership of the ship. We have communicated our concerns to Bishop Museum.”
The full press release: Falls of Clyde Drydocking Delayed
More information about the FALLS OF CLYDE and the efforts to save this important part of Hawaii’s maritime heritage can be found at www.friendsoffallsofclyde.org .
Falls of Clyde Update: Delay Due to Weather
Bad weather forecast for the south coast of Oahu has delayed towing of the Falls of Clyde to the drydock for inspection.
Save the Falls of Clyde
A nicely done Youtube video montage of photographs of the Falls of Clyde. So far the scheduled drydocking on 1/15 appears to be holding.
FALLS OF CLYDE – Update: Delayed docking and missing artifacts
Susan Yamamoto, Corresponding Secretary for the Friends of the Falls of Clyde, as well as moderator for the Sailing Navies Forum, has been kind enough to give us an update on the upcoming docking of Falls of Clyde.
For those just tuning in, Falls of Clyde is the only surviving iron-hulled four-masted full rigged ship and the only surviving sail-driven oil tanker in the world. She was in the custody of the Bishop Museum, who this summer announced plans to scuttle her. The Friends of Falls of Clyde, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit group formed to help save the ship, rushed in and arranged to purchase her the end of last September. Read more
Help Save the Falls of Clyde
Falls of Clyde is the only surviving iron-hulled four-masted full rigged ship and the only surviving sail-driven oil tanker in the world. She was launched in 1878 in Port Glasgow, Scotland, for the Fall Line . The ship was towed to Hawaii 1968 and opened as a museum in 1971. In 2008, the Bishop Museum, which had control of the ship, was preparing to tow her out to sea and scuttle her.
In an attempt to save her, the Friends of Falls of Clyde, a tax-exempt group was formed and purchased the ship in September 2008. They are currently working to raise funds to tow the ship to drydock at Kalaeloa by December 29th.
To learn more: Friends of Falls of Clyde works to preserve a historic ship
Friends of Falls of Clyde website
To donate to help save Falls of Clyde: Make a Donation
