Mini Review: Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum

There are a lot of shipwreck books out there and I have a teetering pile of them on my nightstand. I read and read but just can’t seem to make any headway–for every book I finish two or three more are published. Some are great, some are not. But all attest to the enduring lure of shipwrecks to readers, dreamers and bookophiles alike.

A few weeks ago I finished Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum by Edward T. O’Donnell, Associate Professor of American History at the College of Holy Cross. I had high hopes for this book, it being one of the few shipwreck titles written by an academic historian. In many ways O’Donnell did not disappoint. Thoroughly researched, Ship Ablaze tells the story of one of the worst maritime disasters in American history with intricate detail. O’Donnell situates the wreck, which claimed more than 1,000 lives, in the social and cultural context of turn-of-the-century New York City. We learn not only learn who the passengers on the steamboat were but also the repercussions of the disaster on the German community devastated by the fire. So too do we read about corrupt government agencies, the cutthroat news industry and the range of public, private and civic responses to a major disaster.  Indeed, Ship Ablaze is a fine example of what a shipwreck monograph can be. I only wish I could still watch the History Channel documentary.

But there are limits to this kind of shipwreck book (or any “disaster”-specific book for that matter). Yes, shipwrecks are fascinating topics. Yes, they offer a unique window onto the past. Yes, they sell. But few answer the “so what” question. Why, besides bearing witness, should we care about this or that particular wreck? Most shipwreck monographs, like Ship Ablaze, are “insular” texts; or, to borrow a phrase from my advisor, they are “conversation enders” rather than “conversation starters.” The former are important for populating the past with names, dates and trends, but they tend to swerve towards chronicle rather than history. Conversation starters, however, are the stuff of history–books that suggest new ways of conceiving the past, books that raise more questions than they answer, books that make an argument that grates against others’ conceptions of the past. When defending my dissertation prospectus I told my committee I wanted to write a conversation starter. Now I’m finding out just how difficult that is. I can see the appeal of writing a traditional shipwreck monograph.

Now Playing: “I Wish You A Boat, the story of a 19th-century shipwreck”

Philadelphia’s own Ward Studio is currently performing the intriguingly titled I Wish You A Boat, the story of a 19th-century shipwreck at St. Mary’s Chapel on Bainbridge street. Described as a “theatrical gem” about “a shipwreck as big as the Titanic, in the space as intimate as your living room,” I Wish You a Boat is sure to thrill. According to the show’s website:

I Wish You A Boat was originally created in our New York City studio and in 2006 received two nominations from New York Innovative Theatre Awards for outstanding acting.  The show has recently been re-worked for new performances in Philadelphia and Melbourne, Australia.

With its enchanting musical score and stirring accounts from actual shipwreck survivors, I Wish You A Boat is performed with both tenderness and nerve.  Audiences beware — the second act requires a strong heart and is best reserved for theatregoers over 13 years of age!

Intriguing to say the least! I Wish You a Boat runs through December 15th. I can’t make it to Philly by the 15th, but I’d love to read the screenplay. Anyone know where to find a copy?

New Shipwreck Brew

Last week Cottrell’s Brewing Co. (a personal favorite) announced the release of a new shipwreck-themed beer, Perry’s Revenge Ale. The dark Scottish-style ale with an 8.5 percent alcohol content will be sold on tap at a few local establishments and 22-ounce bottles will be available in a month or so. It joins a growing assortment of shipwreck-themed beers and cocktails around the world [see this earlier post for more].

Perry’s Revenge Ale celebrates the alleged discovery of the wreck of the Capt. Oliver Hazard Perry’s (of “We have met the enemy and they are ours” fame) schooner Revenge by Cottrell’s owner Charles Buffum. According to the New London’s The Day:

As the marketing guy, I said, this is a great opportunity to marry a real historical accomplishment with a beer,” said Chris Kepple, Cottrell’s sales and marketing manager. “We have a brewer who is also a discoverer, so we talked about how to celebrate the discovery with a beer. I got thinking about it and thought it would be a great idea to commemorate the wreck and Oliver Hazard Perry with a beer,” he said. Kepple described Revenge Ale as dark mahogany in color and full-bodied with a hint of chocolate and raisins. It will be sold on tap in 10- to 12-ounce glasses as opposed to the more standard 16-ounce glass because of its high alcohol content. “It’s more of a sipping beer for the cooler months,” said Buffum, who added that a Scotch ale made sense in part because Perry’s mother was Scottish.

I’m looking forward to tasting a bite-sized pint next time I’m up!

Salvage Yard Lithograph ca. 1912

”]It’s amazing what you can find these days on the internet! The amount of historical materials on the web continues to explode; it’s gotten to the point where you have to re-search topics every few weeks. Take my current research target–T.A. Scott. I’ve been researching him on and off for almost seven years (I know, hard to believe). I’ve done more internet searches than I care to count, visited archives upon archives and endured mountains of microfilm. But just yesterday, while trolling for images to help me write the introduction to Scott’s chapter, I came across this lithograph. I’ve never seen before–pretty sweet!

The original is held at Mystic Seaport. Here is the object description from cthistoryonline.org:

View of the T.A. Scott Company complex, New London. Docks and wharf buildings can be seen, including a building with the nameboards [quarterboards] of wrecked vessels, visible at center right. Signs on buildings fronting on the street to the left read, from left to right: “TASCO/MEAT AND GROCERIES,” “TASCO” and “THE T.A. SCOTT COMPANY.” Automobiles and and a wagon are visible in the road. The Neptune Line sidewheel steamer Rhode Island can be seen at dock behind the buildings to the left. Other vessels visible in the water in the vicinity of the yard include tugboats, floating derricks, a schooner and dredges. New London Harbor and Thames River water traffic can be seen in the background. A vignette portrait of Capt. Thomas A. Scott is visible at upper left. Printed at bottom “PLANT AT NEW LONDON, CONN” and “THE T. A.SCOTT COMPANY/ FOUNDED 1872/ WRECKERS and CONTRACTORS”, and lower left “NEW LONDON, / CONN.” and lower right “BOSTON, MASS.”

The 21.5″ by 29″ lithograph was probably published soon after the T.A. Scott Company acquired the Boston Tow Boat Company in 1911. Important features not mentioned in the above description include the 200′ wireless antenna and the large coal bunker at the end of the main dock (Scott had been selling coal since the 1870s). Here are closeups of my favorite vessels.

dump scow and pile driver

seagoing steam derricks

dredge

wrecking steamer Tasco

For more on Thomas A. Scott and turn-of-the-century marine salvage see this post).

Shipwreck Poetry: ‘Patroling Barnegat’

What was the visceral experience of a coastal shipwreck during the the mid nineteenth century? Newspaper accounts, sermons, customs records and court transcriptions give a sense of the particulars of the experience–the weather, the place, the people, the sequence of events and vessels involved. But what about the intangibles–the terror, fury and fear–of a shipwreck? This is an important question for my dissertation research and I’ve increasingly relied on poetry (and fiction) to answer it. As I see it, Plato had it right: “Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history.” Fortunately, there is much shipwreck poetry. [See this or this earlier post for more.]

Here’s the text of Walt Whitman’s “Patroling Barnegat,” first published in 1880. [Yes, Whitman spelled it  patroling not patrolling.] The poem was eventually added to the Sea Drift section of Leaves of Grass.

Patroling Barnegat

Wild, wild the storm, and the sea high running,
Steady the roar of the gale, with incessant undertone muttering,
Shouts of demoniac laughter fitfully piercing and pealing,
Waves, air, midnight, their savagest trinity lashing,
Out in the shadows there milk-white combs careering,
On beachy slush and sand spirts of snow fierce slanting,
Where through the murk the easterly death-wind breasting,
Through cutting swirl and spray watchful and firm advancing,
(That in the distance! is that a wreck? is the red signal flaring?)
Slush and sand of the beach tireless till daylight wending,
Steadily, slowly, through hoarse roar never remitting,
Along the midnight edge by those milk-white combs careering,
A group of dim, weird forms, struggling, the night confronting,
That savage trinity warily watching.