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Contents
Quarterdeck
A B-M J
N / D 2015
FEATURES
06
Paul Garnett
Boston artist Paul Garnett reveals the his approach to
recreating history on canvas.
14
Recreating a Legend – The Birth of “Old Ironsides”
An essay by Paul Garnett
COLUMNS
03
Scuttlebutt
McBOOKS
press
Quarterdeck is distributed by
McBooks Press, Inc.
ID Booth Building
520 North Meadow Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
DEPARTMENTS
Editor’s Choice
Tipping Point by David Poyer
17
OPERATIONS DIRECTOR
Amy A. Jepson
aajepson@gmail.com
By George!
Nantucket – Away Off Shore
16
Quarterdeck is published bi-monthly by
Tall Ships Communications
6952 Cypress Bay Drive
Kalamazoo, MI 49009
269-372-4673
EDITOR & MANAGING DIRECTOR
George D. Jepson
gdjepson@gmail.com
News from nautical and historical fiction, naval and maritime
history, maritime museums and marine art
05
T S
C
Review
Martial Bliss by Margaretta Barton Colt
18
Sea Fiction
20
Historical Fiction
23
Naval History
24
Military and World History
25
The Nathan Peake Novels
PUBLISHER
Alexander Skutt
607-272-2114
alex@mcbooks.com
www.mcbooks.com
ART DIRECTOR
Panda Musgrove
panda@mcbooks.com
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR EMERITUS
Jackie Swift
ON THE COVER:
“Moby Dick” © Paul Garnett
2 | Quarterdeck | November / December 2015
© Tall Ships Communications
Scuttlebutt
New Book
Launches
2016
Courtesy of Warner Brothers.
US (United States)
UK (United Kingdom)
TPB (Trade Paperback)
PB (Paperback)
HB (Hardback)
EB (Ebook)
NF (Nonfiction)
NOVEMBER
An enormous whale strikes the whaler Essex (above) in the new film “In the Heart of
the Sea,” which is based on Nathaniel Philbrick’s best-seller (below).
The Perils of Command (UKHB)
by David Donachie
In the Heart of the Sea
A film adaptation of Nathaniel
Philbrick’s best-selling In the
Heart of the Sea will open in theaters on Friday, December 11. In
the winter of 1820, the New England whaling ship Essex was assaulted by something no one
could believe: a whale of mammoth size and will, and an almost
human sense of vengeance. The
real-life maritime disaster inspired Herman Melville’s MobyDick. Philbrick’s book was based
on first-person accounts of the Essex’s demise. Melville also used
these primary accounts, along with
his own experiences working on a
whaling ship, to develop the plot
for Moby-Dick.
William Martin
On November 18, William Martin,
author of The Lincoln Letter, will
honored as the 2015 recipient of
the Samuel Eliot Morison Award,
“the highest recognition by the
Board of Trustees of the USS Constitution Museum of a person
The Lone Warrior (UKHB)
by Paul Fraser Collard
The Big E (USHB)
New illustrated edition
by Edward P. Stafford
D
The Pyrate (USHB)
by Michael Aye
J
Kings and Emperors (USTPB)
by Dewey Lambdin
Warriors of the Storm (USHB)
by Bernard Cornwell
whose public service has enhanced the image of USS Constitution and who reflects the best
of Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison: artful scholarship, patriotic
pride, an eclectic interest in the
sea and things maritime, and a
desire to preserve the best of our
past for future generations." Pre-
Seamanship in the Age of Sail (USHB)
by John Harland
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Treachery in Tibet (UKHB)
by John Wilcox
F
A Hard, Cruel Shore (USHB)
by Dewey Lambdin
Courtesy of Mystic Seaport
Scuttlebutt
“Joseph Conrad End of Day” (Oil 8” x 12”) by James Magner, which was exhibited at the Mystic Seaport Gallery gathering of plein air
painters earlier this year.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
vious recipients includes historian
David McCullough, historian and
novelist James L. Nelson, marine
artist Patrick O’Brien, and historian Nathaniel Philbrick.
J. D. Davies
Welsh maritime historian and
novelist J. D. Davies recently
signed a contract with Seaforth
Publishing to publish his next nonfiction book, provisionally titled
Kings of the Sea: Charles II, James
II and the Royal Navy. It will overturn the widely held view of
Charles as a lazy monarch who
neglected the detail of government, at least as far as naval affairs were concerned. It will also
demonstrate that Charles’ Stuart
predecessors were far more directly involved in naval matters
than has usually been allowed;
will prove that Charles’ and
James’ command of ship design
and other technical matters went
well beyond the bounds of dilettante “interest;” and will reassess
James II’s record as a fighting admiral.
Davies also announced that the
fictional Journals of Matthew
Quinton will continue for several
more books, which will be published by Old Street Publishing.
The next and sixth title in the
Quinton series, The Rage of Fortune, is due out in 2016.
A new edition of John Harland’s
Seamanship in the Age of Sail will be
published in January by the United
States Naval Institute.
By George!
Photo by the author.
Nantucket
Away Off Shore
The Town of Nantucket from the harbor wharves.
A
STEAMER WHISTLE PIERCED
the early autumn morning air
in Nantucket Harbor and the
clock on the tower above the historic Old
South Church read 6:30, as the cobblestone
streets in the town slowly came alive.
It could have been the 1800s, but, as I
rolled over, the digital clock across our room
in the Veranda House Inn told me otherwise.
The previous morning, we had ridden the fast
ferry from Hyannis on Cape Cod across Nantucket Sound, bound for the “hillock and elbow of sand . . . away off shore,” which
Herman Melville immortalized in 1851 in Moby-Dick;
or, The Whale.
As the ferry gained speed
outside Hyannis Harbor,
the Kennedy Compound at
Hyannisport was visible
through the starboard windows. Sipping tea and
munching on a croissant, I
thought of Ishmael and
Queequeg, Melville’s fictional characters, sailing from New Bedford to
Nantucket aboard the schooner Moss. Ours
was a brief one-hour voyage, while theirs lasted
from early morning until late evening.
This was to be our first visit to the Little
Grey Lady of the Sea, and when a long smudge
appeared on the horizon my pulse quickened
with anticipation. Soon white church spires
and the iconic gray shingled structures on
shore hove into view. Within a few minutes,
we rounded Brant Point Light and disembarked on the wooden wharf.
Collecting our bags, we walked up Main
Street, which author Paul Theroux once described as “one of the most beautiful main
streets in America . . . If you delete all the
Jeeps and sport utility vehicles.” We were likely following in Melville’s footsteps. He traveled to the island by steamer for the first time
in July of 1852.
On that occasion, he met with Captain
George Pollard and Owen Chase, two survivors of the Nantucket whaleship Essex, which
was sunk by an angry sperm whale in the
South Pacific on November 20, 1820. Two
decades after the infamous incident, a young
whaleman named Melville read Chase’s account, which eventually led to Moby-Dick.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 26
Photo courtesy of Paul Garnett
© PAUL GARNETT
Feature
Paul Garnett in his studio with his recently-completed painting “From Hell’s Heart”
Marine artist
PAUL GARNETT
by George Jepson
A
Paul Garnett digs in
dusty archives and captains’ logs, gathering
details to recreate ships and specific events in
naval and maritime history. It’s his signature.
Over the years, the self-taught Boston-born painter
has brought USS Constitution to life in oils on canvas
several times, depicting the American icon as she would
have appeared two centuries ago.
As shipwright aboard the Bounty (from the 1962
Marlon Brando film) for seven years, Garnett
experienced first-hand the varying and often treacherous
moods of the seas, which are as important to the
authenticity of his paintings as the ships themselves.
In this interview with Quarterdeck, the artist discusses
MERICAN MARINE ARTIST
his work and current projects:
Growing up in Boston, you were exposed to ships and
the sea from a young age. Did you read maritime
literature, either fiction or nonfiction, as your interest
developed?
Growing up in Boston was a magical time for me. Ships
of all kinds would come and go, but the one constant
was the frigate USS Constitution. I remember taking the
rapid transit buses and trains into the North End of
Boston, then walking over to the ship berthed at what
was then the Navy Base. I would stay for hours enchanted by the smells of wood and tar and her miles of
© PAUL GARNETT
“U.S. Frigate Constitution - Eastern Seaboard, July 29, 1798” by Paul Garnett
standing and running rigging. It’s amazing to me that
this majestic symbol of America’s early navy is still with
us after over 200 years and is still the oldest commissioned warship in the world still afloat and, after much
restoration, sailing once more.
My interest in naval literature, believe it or not, came
from the world of motion pictures, I have had a passion
for movies all my life, but, back then in the 1950s and
60s, there was no cable television or the readily available
DVDs and Blu-ray discs we have now have at our fingertips. You had to wait for one of the three networks to
air Moby Dick or Mutiny on the Bounty. Being an artist,
I see our world in very visual terms, and because of this
I think it was these films and countless others like them
that drove me to my local neighborhood library to seek
out their literary counterparts, causing an intense interest in the truth behind the great sea tales that so affected
my early years. As the saying goes, “the devil’s in the
details” and these books, and others, continue to provide me with information that drives my work in painting marine art to this day.
When did sketching and painting become a serious
pursuit?
I’ve sketched and painted for as far back as I can remember and I can recall that people always wanted me
to draw something for them. I remember teachers
throughout my school years asking me to decorate portions of the classroom blackboards for various seasons
and holidays. I did covers for countless school newspapers and designed the cover of my high school graduation yearbook. Experiences with those projects made me
realize that I might be able to earn money with my art.
It took a lot of years to establish a name and reputation,
but I’m happy to say that my canvases provide a good
chunk of my income these days.
Over the years, have you been inspired by other marine
artists?
I have always been inspired by other artists. I honestly
believe that every generation passes knowledge down
through the centuries. Art is a thing, especially marine
art, that requires constant study and you never stop
learning and discovering. There is always something to
excite anew – the flame that drives us all. However,
head and shoulders above them all is the friendship I
have shared with John Stobart. Here is a man who
© PAUL GARNETT
Detail from “Eagle of the Sea” by Paul Garnett
USS Constitution off the coast of Le Gabriel, South America, September 29, 1799
worked hard and made it to the top – and what an inspiration he has given to us all. We all line up in back of
him. He is in his eighties now and still going strong. I’ll
never forget the day in 1997 when I met him at his studio on Lewis Wharf in Boston. He laid out the photos
of my paintings I brought to show him. Spread across
his table were about twenty pictures. John told me, as
he took them all in, that an artist’s most important asset
is a “signature” to his work – something that causes
people to look and say “Hey, that’s a Stobart!” John
looked up and told me that he could tell right away that
these were the work of a single artist. Thank you, John.
Where do you paint?
Three years ago, my wife, Barbara, and I purchased the
home of our dreams. It is a beautiful single-floor home
paneled with knotty pine, has a brick fireplace and is
surrounded with plenty of land. Best of all is the room
at the back, which is my studio. There is a skylight
above my easel, a large floor-to-ceiling window to my
left, with a smaller window to my right. The room is
flooded with natural light, which is a joy to paint under. In the fall and winter months, a pellet stove keeps
the room warm. All around me are bookcases filled with
a lifetime of collected research – an artist’s heaven!
A great deal of your work focuses on moments in
maritime history, such as the launch of USS
Constitution in 1797 or the iconic whaler Charles W.
Morgan rounding Cape Horn. What is your motivation
for recreating history on canvas?
Boston is a city nearly four hundred years old. You cannot grow up here and not have some sense of the past. I
have learned that it is not about the painting, but the
journey it took to get there. Wherever you go in Boston, there are alleys, streets and wharves that have seen
more history than you can imagine. Spending months
in research looking through ships’ logs, maps, local libraries and even the Internet, I have come to realize
how important it is to get the details right. Looking
through this material and seeing the resulting sketch for
a painting develop before my eyes is an exciting experience. An artist’s real motivation comes from the realization that with the talent we are blessed with we can give
others a window into a past place or event that would
otherwise not be possible. It also helps us all to remem-
© PAUL GARNETT
Detail from “HMAV Bounty Rounding the Horn” by Paul Garnett
ber how important it is to not lose sight of our beginnings.
How do you select your historical subjects?
The subjects I paint are selected on the basis of what is
exiting or interesting to me. I know this sounds a bit
self-centered, but I really feel that only if the artist finds
joy in his work will others find the same satisfaction.
The same is true for the book covers I have painted for
marine historian, William H. White. Bill paints pictures
with his words and as I read through a manuscript, I’ll
find a half dozen things that will make a great and attractive cover. Again, they will be scenes that excite me
and also serve the needs of the book.
How do you research the history you depict in oils?
To use an example, painting of the whaler “Charles W.
Morgan Rounding Cape Horn,” my first intention and
the most important was to show the ship as she looked
when first built. She was different in many ways and
was rigged square on all three masts, not as she is now as
a barque. Detailed records remain in the archives at
Mystic Seaport, the Morgan’s home in Connecticut, so I
was fortunate in this respect. The hardest thing was
making the decision to show her at Cape Horn on her
first voyage to the Pacific, two days before she struck
her first whale.
The Horn is a treacherous place and has been a constant challenge for centuries to ships that have tried to
brave the mountainous seas that can be encountered
there. I pictured a brand new ship, her rigging still slack
and a crew that was new to the vessel. In order to get
the proper look of this area I used ships’ logs, which
described ink-black waters covered with spray and foam,
lightning playing all around the ship, and seas as high as
the crosstrees. Ships ran under much shortened canvas,
with the boats being stowed inboard to keep them from
being washed away by the huge waves.
I also referenced photos taken from weather ships to
capture the true feel of the water, sky and weather off
the Horn. Collecting as much detail as possible gives an
artist a myriad of possibilities in depicting subjects correctly. Ships’ logs are the best sources. When you read
these journals, which are unclouded by the passing of
centuries, you’re seeing events recorded as they happened by the people who actually lived them.
© PAUL GARNETT
“Clipper Staghound, South China Sea, September 26, 1851” by Paul Garnett
Do you have a reference library?
time before events were recorded on film?
I have a large reference library that is still growing and
includes everything from the Romans through the eighteenth century and up to the present-day tall ships. The
jewel of my collection is a copy of William Bligh’s original log of His Majesty’s Armed Vessel Bounty. It was
produced in the early 1980s from the original, which
resides in the Mitchell Library in Australia. It is one of
only five hundred produced world-wide. The book is
bound in leather with gold lettering on the spine, is
three inches thick and has end papers which feature
Bounty’s original hull drawings and her masting and
rigging. The entire log is in Bligh’s handwriting. Needless to say, only my hands touch it. Bligh recorded it all
every day: winds, currents, what sails were set and
when, how the men were dressed, and what they were
fed. This is indispensable to the historical painter of marine subjects.
The greatest challenge is really in little details that become extremely important. An example is USS Constitution. This ship has been with us for over two hundred
years, and has undergone many changes – not all of
them fortunate ones, in my opinion. When you are
called on to paint a ship like this at a point in her history, it can be nerve wracking. Constitution did not look
in 1812 as she did when first built, for instance. Changes were occurring by her third year. Once again, logs are
invaluable sources. An offhand remark in a journal may
reveal a long lost detail of a ship’s appearance that may
not have appeared in the ship’s construction draughts.
What is your greatest challenge creating an instant in
Your depiction of the sea’s various moods is extraordinary. A wonderful example is seen in the Morgan off
Cape Horn, where one can “hear” the ocean’s roar and
the crack of thunder, and “feel” the sizzle of lightning
on the horizon and spray from the tips of waves. How
do you create these conditions so realistically?
painted in one way or another. I think that to constantly be aware of the world we live in is an absolute must
and not to be taken for granted. The sense of our sight
is one of mankind’s greatest blessings.
You’ve recently completed the first of four paintings
taken from maritime fiction. Your dramatic painting of
Moby Dick – entitled “From Hell’s Heart” – which
appears on the cover of this issue and depicts the great
whale in a terrifying moment for the Pequod whalers.
What was the inspiration behind this scene?
Paul Garnett’s preliminary sketch for his painting “From Hell’s
Heart,” featuring Herman Melville’s great whale, Moby Dick,
which appears on the cover of this issue.
The seas of our planet are as different from one another
as its mountain ranges and rivers. From the foam flecked gray of the North Atlantic to the aqua and pearl blue
of the Caribbean and the cobalt of the Pacific. Oceans
in different parts of the planet all have their own magic.
Water at sea is always a product of its depth, the sky
above it and the light that illuminates it all. Flat, or
clam, seas will be more reflective than a running or
storm-tossed sea, which tend to break up the light and
bounce it around creating shapes and shadows.
My seven years aboard MGM’s famous replica of
HMS Bounty, which was built in Nova Scotia in 1960
for the Marlon Brando film, affects almost everything
about the water I paint. She was anything but a movie
prop and sailed to Tahiti for filming. Fifty years later
she was still sailing the world’s oceans until her terrible
loss in Hurricane Sandy in the fall of 2012. While
aboard, I experienced all kinds of weather and water,
observing what it does to the hull, sails and rig. This
experience has found its way into most everything I’ve
The inspiration behind the Moby Dick piece was the
desire to show the end result of Ahab’s almost diabolical
obsession with bringing about the death of this great
white whale that had maimed him in a past encounter.
Many times men in history have gone down a doomed
path that could only end in death and destruction. Was
Ahab possessed of something that drove him to this
end? Was the whale itself supernatural in a way that
whalers seemed to be unable to bring it to bay and kill
it? These are questions that I felt Herman Melville left
for all of us to answer in our own ways.
In my painting, the encounter has finally happened,
bringing together these two characters – a flesh-andblood man and a gigantic whale in a fateful,
predetermined meeting with destiny. Moby Dick is
breaching next to the boat, his ancient body covered
with scars, wrinkled with age, and bristling with old
harpoon lances from encounters with previous whalers.
He is pushing a massive wave of foam, which is tipping
the boat over on its side, as Ahab and the men try to
balance themselves and thrust their lances into the his
ancient hide. Seabirds, who constantly follow the whale,
wheel about him, while an almost apocalyptic sky
provides a background for this final battle, with the
lonely Pequod on the horizon.
What can you tell us about the remaining three literary
paintings you’re planning?
I’ve selected four varied pieces to provide a wide range
of subjects. The second painting features Billy Budd,
another tale by Melville about a young merchant
seaman in 1797 who is impressed onto a British manof-war. The third will be Captains Courageous, showing
a Grand Banks fishing schooner from Gloucester on the
© PAUL GARNETT
“Chariot of Fame Tows by Boston Light - August 26, 1853 ” by Paul Garnett
Grand Banks and the young boy who is rescued from
the sea. The fourth will be taken from Two Years Before
the Mast, Richard Henry Dana’s classic about life
aboard a hell ship on America’s Pacific Coast. I’m
hoping these will illustrate in some small way the
seafaring heritage that spans every ocean and nation.
You’ve completed three paintings depicting ships built
in Boston by Donald McKay, the famed designer and
builder of sailing ships, including, among others, the
famed clippers Lightning, Stag Hound and Flying Cloud.
How did this project come about?
The McKay series of paintings developed in my mind as
a way to show something of Boston’s great seafaring
tradition. McKay and his famous clippers, all built at
the foot of Border Street in East Boston, was a perfect
subject. It was important that I not fall into the trap of
doing just formal ship portraits, so I decided to learn
something about each one that would set them apart. I
started with Lightning, showing her on the day of her
record run – 431 miles in twenty four hours, with slack
rigging, her rail in the water and a blown out tops’l and
jib! The second is the brand new Chariot of Fame being
towed out of Boston by the steamship Rescue as they
pass Boston Light prior to casting off. The third is
Staghound – the very first large clipper built at the
McKay Yard – arriving off Canton, China. Last will be
the Flying Cloud on the day of her launch into Boston
Harbor.
What steps will you take to authentically recreate Flying
Cloud’s launch?
McKay was a native of Nova Scotia and his talents as a
ship designer were noted at an early age. Soon investors
provided the capital to set him up in his own yard and a
site was chosen on a naturally sloping piece of land that
ran from Border Street in East Boston down to the
waters of the harbor, just across from where Constitution
is berthed today. It was said that McKay would stroll
into his yard at days end, walk up to one of the ships
being built, and put his ear and hands against the hull
as if, in the words of one yard worker, “he was listening
© PAUL GARNETT
Detail from “Clipper Lightning – March 1, 1854 – Record Run 436 Miles” by Paul Garnett
to the very heartbeat of his creation.” Of all the ships he
built, none was more fabled in fact and legend than
Flying Cloud.
For this painting, I decided to show her on the day of
her her birth. Although she will be the center of
attention in the canvas, it was more important for me to
give an accurate portrayal of the setting in which she
was built. I was very lucky to lay my hands on an 1851
East Boston waterfront map. There, as plain as could
be, was the notation “McKay Yard,” with the shape of
the land and indication of slips and docks – all to scale.
A shipyard is a working environment. As such,
buildings and sheds, offices, sawpits, and a myriad of
other things must be in their proper place for an artist
to give a reasonable “impression.” As luck would have
it, I located a vast diorama of the McKay Yard at
Boston’s Science Museum. This model is so
exhaustively detailed that it even includes small figures
of children peeking through knotholes in the fence
running along Border Street, watching the ships in
various stages of their construction. The staff at the
museum opened the area for me to take many detailed
photos. I am deeply in their debt for their kindness and
patience.
I’ve also acquired a history of Flying Cloud and another about McKay, his yard and the vessels that sailed
from East Boston into history. I am waiting until next
April, which was the month that Flying Cloud was
launched, to complete the painting. I plan to visit the
spot on East Boston’s Border Street where the yard once
stood, where I’ll observe and photograph the sky and
water in the same light that was seen by the thousands
of people who made the journey there to view the
launching.
The ship was covered with flags and pennants when
she went into the harbor that day. I am now searching
for an inventory of the exact banners that were streaming from the three temporary poles rising from the mast
openings in her deck. The harbor was full of ships and
boats of all kinds, as she splashed into the water between Chelsea and Charlestown on the opposite banks.
It should be an exciting closing to the series of vessels
created by one of the greatest shipbuilders the world has
ever known.
Visit Paul Garnett online at
www.paulgarnett.com.
© PAUL GARNETT
Essay
“Launching of USS Constitution, Harrt’s Yard, Boston, October 24, 1797” by Paul Garnett
RECREATING A LEGEND
The Birth of “Old Ironsides”
by Paul Garnett
T
HE IDEA FOR THIS PAINTING came as a result of
the celebration of the Bicentennial of the War
of 1812, in which Boston’s storied frigate Constitution took a pivotal role. It seemed to me that many
artists would want to commemorate on canvas one of
her famous naval battles during this period. However, I
decided to call attention to this glorious frigate’s birth
in Boston on October 24, 1797.
Being a native of Boston myself, I have spent much
of my life observing Constitution at Charlestown, walking her decks and reflecting on her history during the
age of wooden ships and iron men.
A ship still with us after 200 years has naturally undergone many changes throughout her career. To learn
as much as I could about her appearance when first
launched was a formidable task.
My good fortune was that I lived in Boston and received much assistance and encouragement from the
curator at the Constitution Museum, Harrie Slootbeek,
who opened the museum’s vast collection on Constitution’s early years. Over the course of two years, he was
always available to answer my calls and emails, as well as
to meet with me, before I ever put brush to canvas.
Commander Tyrone Martin, former captain of Constitution and author of the highly respected A Most Fortunate Ship – a History of USS Constitution, offered
endless advice, especially details about her appearance
when she was first commissioned.
Martin also recommended a book entitled Constitution: Super Frigate of Many Faces, Second Phase 1802-07
by William P. Bass. It is a thoroughly researched anatomy of the ship’s appearance, including wonderful drafts
of her original configuration based on records of the
builders’ drafts and artwork done by Michel Corné,
who saw the ship during her early years.
Developing an accurate picture of what the North
End waterfront district and Edmund Hartt’s Shipyard
looked like the year Constitution was launched was a
major challenge. As luck would have it, I discovered a
map from Slough’s Atlas – a property owners map, to
boot – which was published in 1797.
The map showed the footprint outlines of every
structure in the North End, from Christ’s Church (now
the Old North Church) down to the various shipyards
on the waterfront. The color-coded map indicated the
material (wood, brick, etc.) with which each structure
was built.
A full layout of Harrt’s
Yard (“Harrt’s Ways,”as it
was known in Boston)
was included, minus the
yard’s buildings. Particulars for the buildings were
obtained from the Charlestown Historical Society,
detailing the structures
and the builders’ ramp.
Picture files on the
Bostonian Society’s website from the earliest days of
photography provided images of the buildings along the
waterfront. Matching them to building footprints on
the map enabled me to visualize and depict the waterfront in this area of the shipyard as accurately as had
ever been attempted.
To aid in the composition itself, I had the map with
elevations enlarged three hundred percent and Then I
constructed every building on the map in pink foam,
gluing each structure onto its own footprint. When
completed, I had a 3D map that I could view through
my camera, providing me with a vantage point of the
launching that would have otherwise not be possible.
Constitution was launched on a cold, blustery October day, so I waited for similar conditions in October
and took the map and foam buildings outside. I placed
it on a special tripod, setting it in exactly the right posi-
tion looking east to west. I photographed the scene
from the vantage point that I believed would provide a
dramatic view of the launch, without any artist invention.
The painting shows the ship just moments after entering the cold water of Boston Harbor on that chilly
autumn afternoon. Part of the cradle supporting the
hull can be seen entering the water. The beautiful carvings that were installed on her stern by Boston’s Skilling
Brothers are prominently in the painting.
Captain Nicholson and Captain Sever of Portsmouth
New Hampshire, who christened Constitution with a
bottle of Madeira wine, can be seen on the starboard
bow, along with newspaper men, French aristocrats displaced by the revolution, numerous Boston dignitaries,
and invited ladies are on board the ship. Shipyard workers can be seen on the roof of the wood shed, while the
waterfront is jammed with spectators. A 24-pounder
gun, which was fired in
the morning to announce
to the town that the ship
would be launched that
day, is visible on the end
of the pier on the far
right.
Constitution’s other
gun carriages are aligned
along the dock to be loaded later. The lifting mast
can clearly be seen on the
shipyard dock, The Old North Church’s clock shows
12:10, just as Constitution touches the water. Across
from the Yard were the offices of Edmund Hartt. His
sign appears over the Ship Street entrance to the right of
Constitution’s bow. A three-man militia unit is seen firing a salute, setting many gulls to flight with the loud
crack of their muskets.
Finally, one concession to the artist’s imagination is
included on the right – a small boat with a farmer waving his hat off and cheering the ship, while his son looks
over the rail at the country’s flag flying proudly from
the mast pole. With this painting of Constitution’s
launch, I hope I was able to capture the patriotic pride
that this great city must have felt at the launching of the
frigate, which joined the country’s infant navy as we as a
nation began to spread our commerce and influence
across the oceans of the world.
“Developing an accurate picture
of what the North End waterfront
district and Edmund Hartt’s Shipyard looked like the year Constitution was launched was a major
challenge.”
Editor’s Choice
A DANGEROUS WORLD
Dan Lenson Faces an Uncertain Future
by George Jepson
I
T’S NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE
to escape the bad news coming out
of the Middle East or anywhere
else in the world, for that matter.
Network and cable news, the Internet and daily newspapers – if you
can find one – see to that.
But what isn’t seen or heard for
the most part are the day-to-day
actions of our military, which we
too often take for granted unless a
family member or friend is serving
in uniform.
So picking up a David Poyer
novel featuring Captain Dan Lenson is an eye-opener when it comes
to understanding the pressures, sacrifices and, yes, mortal danger those
serving at sea face during their deployments around the world.
Not so long ago, we learned
about the Chinese military constructing man-made islands in the
South China Sea, observing a CNN
report as an American aircraft was
warned away from an area that is –
or was – considered International
waters. The threat of a confrontation suddenly seemed very real.
Tensions in the Middle East,
whether over the Iranian nuclear
program, Israel’s conflict with the
Palestinians, or the horrors perpetrated by ISIS are part of our daily
lives.
Tipping Point
by David Poyer
St. Martin’s Press, $26.99, U.S. Hardback / $12.99,
Kindle and NOOK
Opening Tipping Point, I soon
found myself out of my comfort
zone, living life in Dan Lenson’s
skin aboard USS Savo Island, America’s only antiballistic missile cruiser. At the outset, Lenson and his
wife, Congresswoman Blair Titus,
are dealing with a strained undercurrent in their marriage.
Then Lenson is summoned to by
Congress to defend his decision to
shoot down Israeli missiles targeting
civilians, a move he fears will end
his naval career. Back aboard Savo
Island, dealing with a damaged ship,
a life-threatening health issue, and
dissension among his officers and
crew, his future is anything but secure.
Shifted to the Indian Ocean off
East Africa to protect shipping lanes
against pirates, Savo Island’s mission
is imperiled from within when female crew members are assaulted by
an unknown assailant.
Matters ratchet further when India and Pakistan engage in a standoff that could lead to nuclear war,
with Savo Island in the middle,
without clear orders. With China
exerting its might to muscle the
American navy from the far Pacific,
war seems inevitable.
Poyer’s novels have been required
reading at the U.S. Naval Academy,
and with good reason. The scenarios presented to Lenson and the fleet
offer Midshipmen a view of the real
world for which they’re preparing.
Crisp prose, punctuated with
authentic operational naval details,
create a page-flipping thriller. David
Poyer continues his run as a master
of modern naval fiction.
Review
A Bookseller’s Dream
by Alex Skutt
“Breathes there the reader with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
‘I should open a bookstore.’”
I
MARTIAL BLISS
CreateSpace, $19.95,
U.S. Trade Paperback /
$8.95, Kindle
and it came true. I have had a fortunate life surrounded by books – both as a bookseller (I’ve had three bookstores)
and as a book publisher (McBooks Press). Margaretta Colt lived a
wonderful dream as a bookseller, working as an equal (maybe more than
equal) partner with her husband, Harris Colt. The Colts had a
specialty antiquarian bookstore for over a quarter of a century in a
brownstone building in the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
Their specialty is a subject of great interest to Quarterdeck
readers: military (including naval) history. Martial Bliss (be careful not to trip over the title pun) is a self-published book, but it is
cleanly written. The detail is amazing. Ms. Colt must have kept
voluminous diaries during her bookselling days. The sorts of material that are thoroughly covered in this excellent tale of mostlypre-Internet bookselling are customers, book sources (including
accounts of yearly buying trips to Britain and sometimes to continental Europe, employees (several of whom had to be dismissed
when that did not live up to Harris and Margaretta’s standards),
and the books themselves (described lovingly).
The reader shares with Margaretta and Harris the thrill of
finding and buying a book and then offering it to just the right
customer who needs it for his – very narrowly focused advanced
collection. Over the years, many customers became friends. Others appeared, bought vigorously, and then disappeared.
The 1980s and 1990s were times when antiquarian bookstores issued
catalogs. The Military Bookman compiled four or five catalogs a year.
When the catalog went out, the phones lit up as customers reserved
books that they have long been searching for, and books that they had
never heard of, but they suddenly wanted with all their heart! American
Wars were popular categories as were the Napoleonic Wars. But there
were collectors for books on nearly every military subject.
Some staff members stayed for many years. “Ish” was the book packer
HAD THAT DREAM
CONTINUED ON PAGE 26
Sea Fiction
Available Now
Available Now
I P S
T T
by Victor Suthren
by Richard Woodman
(CreateSpace, $9.99, U.S. Trade Paperback / $2.99, Kindle and NOOK) 1747: Now captain of a frigate, Paul
Gallant’s orders are to shepherd a convoy of merchantmen from the West Indies to France, evading privateers
and the British Navy and guarding the person and dowry of Marianne de Poitrincourt, Marquise de Bézy.
There is treachery in high and low places, and Marianne
and dowry are taken hostage. Gallant once again lives
up to his name against terrific odds (including a nasty
Spanish noble, a vicious Dutch pirate, a British warship
and the Carolina coastal waters). Victor Suthren is a
Canadian writer and historian with a special interest in
maritime history. A former Director General of the Canadian War Museum, he has written seven adventure
novels about the sea, as well as histories including The
War of 1812 and biographies of James Cook and de
Bougainville. This is the third title in Suthren’s popular Paul Gallant saga.
(Endeavour Press, $3.99, Kindle) The year is 1652. General George Monck has been through an awful lot since
he sat as a prisoner in the Tower of London eight years
before. He has campaigned through Ireland and Scotland, the agonies of spotted-fever and being separated
from his beloved Anne whom he is desperate to wed. As
war with the Dutch looms, matrimonial intentions
must be put on hold and Monck must use his artillery
expertise and engage in a dangerous naval conflict. Will
the great general find his sea legs and overcome his
greatest challenge yet? In The Tempering, the second
book in the Sword of the State Trilogy, award-winning
author Richard Woodman recreates the true story of
George Monck, a giant of the 17th Century. Monck is
all but forgotten today, yet his legacy is nothing less
than the British monarchy and a famous regiment – the
Coldstream Guards.
Sea Fiction
Available Now
Available Now
R Y
T G G
by Victor Suthren
by Victor Suthren
(CreateSpace, $8.99, U.S. Trade Paperback / $2.99, Kindle and NOOK) 1747: Between 1739 and 1748, Britain
fought the Spanish and then the French, their fleets and
armies clashing in almost every theater of war from
America to the Indian Ocean and the battlefields of Europe. "Royal Yankee" introduces Edward Mainwaring, a
young seafarer destined to be caught up in this war —
in its violent combat, its rough camaraderie, its acts of
courage, and its feats of strategy. Mainwaring is a “provincial,” born in Massachusetts, and a Lieutenant in the
Royal Navy. The year 1739 finds him and the crew of
his fast Bermudan schooner Athena in the Caribbean,
preparing to join Vice-Admiral Vernon’s attack on the
massively defended harbor of Porto Bello. Royal Yankee
is the story of Mainwaring’s part in a great battle, of his
duel of wills with the implacable Frenchman Roche
Bourbon, of his love for the beautiful Anne Brixham,
and his daring leadership of a loyal crew. This is the first
title in the Edward Mainwaring series.
(CreateSpace, $8.99, U.S. Trade Paperback / $2.99, Kindle and NOOK) It is 1741, two years since Edward
Mainwaring sprang to fame in the action at Porto Bello
described in Royal Yankee. Now he has been ordered
back to the Caribbean, in command of a sloop-of-war,
and uppermost in his mind is the thought of a reunion
with Anne Brixham, the beautiful planter’s daughter
who fought beside him in his earlier adventure. But
Anne, he learns, has been kidnapped by his ruthless enemy, the Chevalier Rigaud de la Roche-Bourbon. On his
own initiative, the headstrong Mainwaring sets off in
pursuit, making a dangerous journey across Panama
that leads not only to Anne’s savage captors but also to
the prospect of the greatest prize of all – the fabled Manila Galleon. Culminating in a desperate battle among
Pacific islands, The Golden Galleon is a truly superb
novel of high-seas adventure. Written with a terrific
verve and a historian’s eye for detail, Victor Suthren’s
fine novel sings with the sense of sea and sail.
Historical Fiction
Available Now
Available Now
V   S
T F L
by Ralph Peters
by Jeff Shaara
(Forge, $26.99, U.S. Hardback / $12.99, Kindle and
NOOK) In the Valley of the Shadow, they wrote their
names in blood. From a daring Confederate raid that
nearly seized Washington, D.C., to a stunning reversal
on the bloody fields of Cedar Creek, the summer and
autumn of 1864 witnessed some of the fiercest fighting
of our Civil War – in mighty battles now all but forgotten. The desperate struggle for mastery of Virginia’s
Shenandoah Valley, breadbasket of the Confederacy and
the South’s key invasion route into the North, pitted a
remarkable cast of heroes in blue and gray against each
other: runty, rough-hewn Phillip Sheridan, a Union
general with an uncanny gift for inspiring soldiers, and
Jubal Early, his Confederate counterpart, stubborn,
raw-mouthed and deadly; the dashing Yankee boy-general, George Armstrong Custer, and the brilliant, courageous John Brown Gordon, a charismatic Georgian who
lived one of the era’s greatest love stories.
(Ballantine Books, $28.00, U.S. Hardback / $13.99, Kindle and NOOK) November 1864: As the Civil War rolls
into its fourth bloody year, the tide has turned decidedly in favor of the Union. A grateful Abraham Lincoln
responds to Ulysses S. Grant’s successes by bringing the
general east, promoting Grant to command the entire
Union war effort, while William Tecumseh Sherman
now directs the Federal forces that occupy all of Tennessee. In a massive surge southward, Sherman conquers
the city of Atlanta, sweeping aside the Confederate army
under the inept leadership of General John Bell Hood.
Pushing through northern Georgia, Sherman’s legendary “March to the Sea” shoves away any Rebel presence,
and by Christmas 1864 the city of Savannah falls into
the hands of “Uncle Billy.” Now there is but one direction for Sherman to go. In his way stands the last great
hope for the Southern cause, General Joseph E. Johnston.
Historical Fiction
Available Now
Available Now
W M H
U  B
D
by Sebastian Faulks
(Hutchinson, ₤20.00, UK Hardback) There was a time
when Cicero held Caesar’s life in the palm of his hand.
But now Caesar is the dominant figure and Cicero’s life
is in ruins. Exiled, separated from his wife and children,
his possessions confiscated, his life constantly in danger,
Cicero is tormented by the knowledge that he has sacrificed power for the sake of his principles. His comeback
requires wit, skill and courage – and for a brief and glorious period, the legendary orator is once more the supreme senator in Rome. But politics is never static and
no statesman, however cunning, can safeguard against
the ambition and corruption of others. Riveting and
tumultuous, Dictator encompasses some of the most
epic events in human history yet is also an intimate portrait of a brilliant, flawed, frequently fearful yet ultimately brave man – a hero for his time and for ours.
This is an unforgettable tour de force from a master storyteller.
(Hutchinson, ₤20.00, UK Hardback) On a small island
off the south coast of France, Robert Hendricks, an
English doctor who has seen the best and the worst the
twentieth century had to offer, is forced to confront the
events that made up his life. His host, and antagonist, is
Alexander Pereira, a man whose time is running out,
but who seems to know more about his guest than Hendricks himself does. The search for sanity takes us
through the war in Italy in 1944, a passionate love that
seems to hold out hope, the great days of idealistic work
in the 1960s and finally – unforgettably – back into the
trenches of the Western Front. The recurring themes of
Sebastian Faulks’s fiction are brought together with a
new stylistic brilliance as the novel casts a long, baleful
light over the century we have left behind, but may never fully understand. This complex novel is daring, ambitious and, in the end, profoundly moving.
by Robert Harris
Historical Fiction
November
Available Now
T L W
G L
by Paul Fraser Collard
by Wilbur Smith
(Headline, ₤19.99, UK Hardback) Jack Lark, once the
Scarlet Thief, has fought hard for his freedom. But will
he risk it all to do the right thing? Bombay, 1857. India
is simmering with discontent, and Jack Lark, honorably
discharged from the British Army, aims to take the first
ship back to England. But before he leaves, he cannot
resist the adventure of helping a young woman escape
imprisonment in a gaming house. He promises to escort
Aamira home, but they arrive in Delhi just as the Indian
Mutiny explodes. As both sides commit horrific slaughter and the siege of Delhi begins, Jack realizes that despite the danger he cannot stand by and watch. At
heart, he is still a soldier. The Lone Warrior is a scintillating tale of battle and courage from the author of The
Scarlet Thief.
(Mysterious Press, $28.99, U.S. Hardback / $12.99, Kindle / $15.99, NOOK) He saw his father executed in battle. He spent his youth avenging that death. And now
Henry “Hal” Courtney is a man with a ship – and a
family – of his own. But fate has not finished with Hal.
On a voyage along the eastern shore of Africa, a powerful enemy abducts his wife, the fearless warrior Judith,
and with her, Hal’s unborn child. For Hal, a man all
too familiar with loss, there is only one way forward: he
must track his nemesis across desert and ocean, through
the slave markets of Zanzibar and the dangerous waters
of the coast, in pursuit of the woman he loves, the child
he sired, and the glorious destiny that awaits him.
Bursting with action and suspense, heroism and heartache, this unforgettable novel proves once more that
Wilbur Smith is one of the world’s greatest adventure
writers.
Naval History
Available Now
December
L   B
HMS V P
M 1805
by Stanley L. Quick with Chipp Reid
(Naval Institute Press, $32.95, U.S. Hardback) The story
of Fort McHenry’s defense during the War of 1812 is
well known, but Lion in the Bay is an intimate look at
the events leading up to the battle that inspired our national anthem. As the War of 1812 raged on the high
seas and along the Canadian border, the British decided
to strike at the heart of the United States, the relatively
undefended area of the Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake was a fertile farm region, a place of renowned
shipbuilding, and an area politically divided over the
war. Plus, if the British succeeded in taking the bay, the
nation’s capital was not far away. Admiral George
Cockburn led the British into the bay following a failed
attempt to take Norfolk, Virginia. Originally intended
to relieve pressure on other fronts, the Chesapeake theater became a British campaign of retribution for the
burning of York (present day Toronto) by the Americans in 1812.
by Peter Goodwin
(Naval Institute Press, $24.95, U.S. Hardback) In the
HMS Victory Pocket Manual, Peter Goodwin adopts a
fresh approach to explain the workings of the only surviving "line of battle" ship of the Napoleonic Wars. As
Victory was engaged in battle during only two percent of
her active service, Peter Goodwin also provides a
glimpse into life and work at sea during the other ninety-eight per cent of the time. As technical and historical
advisor to the ship in Portsmouth for over twenty years,
he is in a unique position to investigate and interpret
not only the ship's structure but also the essential aspects of shipboard life: victualing, organization, discipline, domestic arrangements, and medical care. In his
role as keeper and curator of the ship, the author was
asked thousands of questions by visitors and historians
alike. This volume presents answers to the most important and telling questions. Sixty black-and-white illustrations.
Military History
World History
Available Now
Available Now
I W  S!
T M W
by Edward P. Stafford
by Marjo Nurminen and Juha Nurminen
(Pool of London Press, ₤12.99, UK Hardback) With her
medical studies cut short by the 1914 German invasion,
her house burned down and her father arrested for suspected “sharpshooting,” multi-lingual Marthe Mckenna
(née Cnockaert, codename “Laura”) was recruited by
British Intelligence. At the time she worked as a nurse
tending the wounds of occupying soldiers, and as a
waitress in her parents’ café in the Belgian border town
of Roulers. I Was a Spy! is McKenna’s vivid narrative of
these breath-taking adventures as she, aided by a gallant
band of loyal locals, goes undercover to sabotage enemy
phone lines, report suspicious activity and train movements, and even instigate an aerial attack on a planned
visit by the Kaiser. This thrilling account explains how,
in 1916, the young nurse was caught by the Germans
placing dynamite in a disused sewer tunnel underneath
an ammunition dump. She was sentenced to the firing
squad and only survived due to the Iron Cross honor
received as a result of her earlier medical service.
(Pool of London Press, ₤50.00, UK Hardback) The Mapmakers' World illuminates the fascinating cultural history of European world maps: what do historical world
maps tell of us, of our perception of the world, and of
places and peoples that are foreign to us? Who were the
makers of these early world maps? How were the maps
created and for whom were they drawn and printed?
For what purposes were they used? What kind of information did they pass on? The answers to these questions
open up a fascinating narrative of discovery and cartography relating not only to ideology and political power
but also the histories of art and science. Rigorously researched and informed by latest academic findings, the
book is beautifully illustrated presenting some 300 maps
from the world’s finest museums, libraries and private
collections. The book gives us a revealing and captivating perspective on the development of European world
maps from the Early Middle Ages up until the modern
period.
McBooks Press Naval Fiction
THE NATHAN PEAKE NOVELS
by Seth Hunter
Unicorn in an epic duel.
1 - T T  T
(McBooks Press, $24.95, U.S. Hardback / $9.99, Kindle /
$8.99. NOOK) In 1793, British navy commander Nathan Peake gets his chance for action when France declares war on England and descends into the bloody
madness of the Terror. Peake is entrusted with a mission to wreck the French economy by smuggling fake
bank notes into Paris. His activities take him down Paris streets patrolled by violent mobs and into the sinister
catacombs beneath the French capital.
2 - T T  W
$8.99, NOOK) Newly-promoted Captain Nathan
Peake has been dispatched to the Caribbean to take
command of the British frigate Unicorn, a ship with a
tragic history of mutiny and murder. While Peake settles in, Revolutionary authorities in Paris send out the
44-gun Virginie on a secret mission to spread war, rebellion, and mayhem from the shores of Cuba to the
swamps of the Mississippi Delta, eventually facing the
3 - T P  G
$8.99, NOOK) Captain Nathan Peake’s adventures
continue as he charts a perilous course into the dangerous waters of post-Revolutionary Paris. There, he encounters two of the most beautiful and scandalous
courtesans in history and their playmate, laughingly
dubbed Captain Cannon, who is about to win enduring
fame as Napoleon Bonaparte. Back at the helm of Unicorn, Peake joins Captain Horatio Nelson in a bid to
wreck Bonaparte’s plans for the invasion of Italy.
Coming from McBooks Press
in 2016 and 2017:
new titles in the Nathan Peake
naval adventures.
McBooks Press offers all titles on its website at 30% off list prices:
www.mcbooks.com.
By George!
Visiting historic places, I have been able to mentally
set aside the here and now to visualize another era. Nantucket’s cobblestone streets and uneven red-brick sidewalks, with homes dating as far back as the 1600s,
enhanced this process. It wasn’t much of a stretch to
imagine the same streets covered in sand and bordered
by wooden sidewalks in the early nineteenth century.
The Essex story had intrigued me for some time after
reading In the Heart of the Sea by award-winning author
Nathaniel Philbrick, who resides on Nantucket. On
December 11, a major feature film entitled “In the
Heart of the Sea,” starring Chris Hemsworth as Owen
Chase and directed by Ron Howard, will open in theaters across America (see Scuttlebutt on page 3).
So it was no surprise to learn that the Nantucket Historical Association is embracing new interest in the Essex
story. The world-class NHA Whaling Museum, which
houses an extensive collection of whaling artifacts in its
galleries, is celebrating the release of the feature film
with a series of related programs, where visitors also
learn about Nantucket’s legacy as the world’s leading
whaling port during its prime.
Museum docents relate the Essex saga in front of a
full-size whaleboat and the skeleton of a full-grown
sperm whale. “In the Heart of the Sea” walks, led by a
various interpreters, wind from the harbor along the
Orange Street bluff, where prosperous ship captains
built their homes overlooking the harbor and the sea
beyond.
Highlights of our tour were stops in front of the residences in which George Pollard and Owen Chase lived,
after returning to Nantucket. The personal stories of
these men are told by Philbrick in his book, while Owen Chase relates his experiences, along with Essex survivor Thomas Nickerson and others, in Nickerson and
Chase: The Loss of the Ship Essex, Sunk by a Whale.
On our own, Amy and I strolled up Main Street
from the town center into the residential area where
merchants built their large ornate homes, with beautiful adjacent gardens, as far away from the harbor as possible. Though they made their fortunes on whale oil,
the stench from the harbor and the ships steeped in oil
and blood was too much for their delicate noses.
In many ways, Nantucket’s rich history is a microcosm of the American experience. The whaling period
certainly brought it worldwide attention, but it has been
the people – past and present – who have defined the
character and spirit of this lovely island, which drew us
to its shores. On occasion, that steamer whistle still
beckons us to the Little Grey Lady in the Sea.
– George Jepson
Review
for ages, but he also became an excellent self-taught
bookbinder, who repaired many broken down leatherbound volumes.
Margaretta reveals that she was not above bearing a
grudge. She could never really forgive slow payers or the
freight consolidators and bankers who managed to mess
up The Military Bookman’s multi-source purchases
from UK buying trips.
While operating the bookstore (she seemed a bit
more practical and perhaps a bit more hardworking
than her husband, Harris) Margaretta also wrote Defend
the Valley: A Shenandoah Family in the Civil War. She
got a taste of being an author with this well-received
book gleaned from the family papers of her ancestors
from Virginia. It was first published by Crown in hardcover, then in trade paperback by Oxford University
Press.
The reader will have a difficult time not lusting after
the books filled with color plates of military uniforms
and the hundreds of other books that are vividly described. Sometimes you learn a little more than you
need to know about Harris’s love of postage stamps
from Malta or his European relatives and the side trips
the couple made to visit them or the pub meals that followed vigorous UK buying sessions. However, if you
ever thought about running a bookstore – especially in
the era when a bookstore could be, if well run, both a
profitable and intellectually stimulating business – here
is an exquisitely detailed chronology of that way of life.
– Review by Alex Skutt

Here - McBooks Press

Transcription

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