Cat-o-nine-tails, Gift of Captain I. Olch, US Naval Academy Museum Collection

The dreaded cat ‘o nine tails, also known as the “captain’s daughter”, was finally outlawed by the U.S. Navy 161 years ago today.   Weighing approximately 13 ounces and consisting of a baton handle and 9 cords, this small whip was designed to inflict severe pain and break even the toughest sailors.

The US Naval Academy museum explains however, that although the flogging of enlisted sailors ended in 1850, the “cat” was used at the Academy until much later. Naval cadets (Midshipmen) had the option of taking a few lashes instead of receiving a demerit, thus keeping their official records spotless.

According to Wikipedia:

All formal punishments—ordered by captain or court martial—were administered ceremonially on deck, the crew being summoned to “witness punishment” (although usually adults and boys separated, which was apparently not strictly observed in practice) and drama enhanced by drum roll and a whole routine, including pauses, untangling of the tails, a drink of water and so on, which it is believed were intended more for the benefit of the watching crew than for the actual participants. Informal “daily” punishments, usually without assembly, including canings, were often left unrecorded.

The thieves’ cat, to inflict punishment for theft, which was considered a particularly offensive crime aboard ship, had each of its thongs knotted three times to cause additional pain.

In the British Royal Navy,

This was carried out “according to the customs of the service”, namely at the gangway. The indicted was given twenty-four hours in which to make his own cat. He was kept in leg-irons on the upper deck while awaiting his punishment. When the cat was made the boatswain cut out all but the best nine tails. If the task was not completed in time the punishment was increased.

With heads uncovered to show respect for the law, the ship’s company heard read the Article of War the offender had contravened. The prisoner was then brought forward, asked if he had anything to say in mitigation of punishment, then removed his shirt and had his hands secured to the rigging or a grating above his head. At the order “Boatswain’s mate, do your duty” a sturdy seaman stepped forward with the cat – a short rope or wooden handle, often red in colour, to which was attached nine waxed cords of equal length, each with a small knot in the end. With this the man was lashed on the bare back with a full sweep of the arm. After each dozen lashes a fresh boatswain’s mate stepped forward to continue the punishment. Each blow of the cat tore back the skin and subsequent cuts bit right into the flesh so that after several dozen lashes had been inflicted the man’s back resembled raw meat. After each stroke the cords were drawn through the boatswain’s mates fingers to remove the clotting blood. Left-handed boatswain’s mates were especially popular with sadistic captains because they would cross the cuts and so mangle the flesh even more.
After the man was cut down he was taken to the sick berth, there to have salt rubbed into his wounds. This was done not so much to increase the pain as for its antiseptic qualities.

From 1750 into the 19th century twelve lashes were the maximum authorized for any one offense.

Painting of Commodore Uriah Phillips Levy (1792-1862), Oil on canvas, Artist unknown, US Naval Academy Museum Collection 1929.8

Commodore Uriah P. Levy was one of the principal officers responsible for ending the practice of flogging enlisted sailors. As commander of the U.S. Mediterranean Fleet, and the Navy’s first Jewish commodore, Levy promoted justice and human rights throughout his career.

On this day, 232 years ago, the 50-gun HMS Serapis engaged the Bonhomme Richard in the North Sea off Flamborough Head, England.  Skippered by Captain John Paul Jones of the Continental Navy, the Bonhomme Richard was devastated inthe initial broadside between the two ships, losing much of her firepower and many of her gunners.  Captain Richard Pearson, commander of the Serapis, called out to Jones, asking if he surrendered.  Jones’ famous reply: “

I have not yet begun to fight!”

With the wind dying, and the decks of both ships strewn with the carnage of battle, the two ships became hitched together with grappling hooks.  Sharpshooting sailors (Marines) in the rigging slowly picked off the the English sailors one-by-one.

Following a crippling broadside from the Continental Navy frigate Alliance, one that reportedly damaged the Bonhomme Richard as much or more so than the Serapis, Captain Pearson realized the futility in continuing the fight and tore down his colors, surrendering the Serapis.

Captain Jones and what was left of his crew transferred to the Serapis the next day and watched as the Bonhomme Richard burned and sank into the sea.

US Naval History Command describes Jones’ legacy:

[He] is remembered for his indomitable will, his unwillingness to consider surrender when the slightest hope of victory still burned. Throughout his naval career Jones promoted professional standards and training. Sailors of the United States Navy can do no better than to emulate the spirit behind John Paul Jones’s stirring declaration:

“I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast for I intend to go in harm’s way.”

Text extracted from Dudley Knox‘s “A History of the United States Navy,” page. 62. Sterrett reported that, “The carnage on onboard the Tripolitan was dreadful, she having twenty men killed and thirty wounded…Her mizzen-mast went over the side…We had not a man wounded and sustained no material damage in our hull or rigging.”

USS Entrerprise vs. Tripolitan Corsair Tripoli, 1 August 1801. Lieutenant Andrew Sterrett leaving USS Enterprise to board the Tripoli after the corsair’s surrender. Artwork by Orlando Lagman after Claudus, 1965. Courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, NH 54386-KN (Color).

The fight between USS Enterprise and the Barbary Corsair, Tripoli, 1 August 1801.

Photograph of a painting by G. A. Traver. NHHC Photograph Collection, NH 56709.

USS Enterprise, Captain Andrew Sterrett, paying tribute to Tripoli, 1 August 1801. Photograph of line engraving by M. Corne. Lieutenant Sterrett, Commanding the schooner Enterprise, captured the polacca Tripoli after a three-hour battle. From the publication, “The Navy Temple,” NHHC Photograph Collection, NH 56706.

By Lt.j.g. Jacob Beckelhymer, Navigator, USS Cole (DDG 67)

You can’t miss them.  The 17 gold stars running across the deck in front of COLE’s mess line.  They stand for our 17 brothers and sisters who made the ultimate sacrifice.  The Hall of Heroes, a shipboard memorial to the Sailors lost on the 12th of October 2000, prominently features a plaque with the names of the shipmates we lost that day.  The Chief’s Mess is named Costelow’s Cove in honor of Chief Electronics Technician Costelow, who fell in the terrorist attack.

The physical reminders that COLE has a special place in the Navy’s history, and our nation’s Global War on Terror, came as no surprise when I checked aboard.  Our organization prides itself on canonizing the heroic Sailors and heroic efforts that make up our proud Naval Tradition, and in recognizing them with the honors they earned.  The intangible legacy of COLE’s 17 who died and the nearly 270 who survived to save this ship took me a little longer to notice, but is every bit as much an indelible part of these frames and bulkheads.

It is the spirit and the solidarity of several hundred Sailors who have served here in the last ten years, and in the day-to-day efforts of the 240 men and women of the present crew.  It is in the tireless and unending effort of every technician, operator, engineer, and supporting crewmember to ensure COLE remains not a museum dedicated to a tragedy, but first and foremost a highly capable and successful war-fighting Destroyer.  It is a Logistics Specialist, a Fire Controlman, and a Deck Seaman in a man-lift at 1930, working hard and without complaint to preserve the side of the ship because they care.  It’s the Main Propulsion Assistant, a Corpsman, and a Career Counselor teaming up to replace a broken bridge window, because it has to get done and they were willing to help.  It is an all hands fresh water wash down that you might mistake for a block party, because everyone is smiling and happy to do their part.  It is the everyday commitment to the highest standard and finest effort.

We have the appropriate material reminders of this ship’s history; if you get a chance to take a tour aboard and you’ll see them.  But if you look a little harder, you’ll see what truly makes COLE special; it’s what those memorials stand for.  The best memorial to the men and women who faced terror a decade ago on the 12th of October is the pride and professionalism of every member of the crew, past and present.  COLE Sailors know who walked these passageways before them; just as then, today every one a Determined Warrior.  Proud.  Capable.  Ready.

USS Paul F. Foster (DD 964) moored at Everett Naval Station

Built by Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, MS in 1973/4, USS Paul F. Foster (DD 964) was the 2nd ship of the Spruance-class and is the only one left that hasn’t either been destroyed by missiles, torpedos, gunfire, or acetylene torch.

Since her decommissioning in 2003, her maneuvering and propulsion controls have been replaced by computerized systems that allow her to be remotely controlled.  Her new role as a Self Defense Test Ship requires that she be unmanned as it involves live-fire exercises at a barge towed 150-feet astern.  At 563 feet in length and 8,000 tons, she may very well be the world’s largest remote control vehicle.

As a newly frocked Ensign assigned to her between 2000 and 2002, my shipmates and I deployed to the Persian Gulf in 2001 in support of UN Security Council Resolution 687.  With the support of SEAL Team 2, we boarded over 100 ships bound for Iraqi waters.

This image was taken while she was sitting pierside at Naval Station Everett, WA in 2002.  The USS Fife (DD 991) is moored in the background.

From the gCaptain archives…

Our friend Peter Mello at Sea-Fever, a must read maritime blog, brings us the model building obsession of William Terra. This one stopped me cold for a number of reasons. First Battleships have been a personal obsession of mine since childhood and were the subject of the weapons presentation during my plebe year at Annapolis. Second, these “manned models” are an excellent (some say superior) alternative to simulators for shiphandling training. Last, if it comes from Sea-Fever it’s bound to be interesting.

In the post titled “The Germans are coming! The Germans are coming! (by pickup and trailer)” Sea-Fever writes;

Four years in the making and a few more needed to “complete” the project, Mr. Terra built a 1:20 scale, 30′, navigating model of the World War II German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee. (Wikipedia entry) Per Bizmark & Tirpitz:

• The model is scratch built like a canoe using 2,54 – 10,16 cm (1 – 4 in) bass wood strips and then covered with fiberglass.
• Estimated weight 318 kg (700 lbs).
• The beam is 1,32 meter (52 in).
• The length is about 9,1 meter (30 foot).
• It can carry 2 persons.
• The model is powered by a 15 hp (11,2 kw) outboard engine under rear gun turret.
• It can sail 24 kilometer per hour (15 mph).
• Furthermore the model has a music system build in.
• While William Terra cruise the lakes of Maine he enjoys listening to Wagner.
• The Commander-in-Chief in the photographs is William Terra.
• William Terra would like to see more models build in this scale

Click HERE for photos and related links.

For those who are unaware, Port Revel in France and Massachusetts Maritime Academy both host shiphandling classes aboard diminutive versions of real life vessels. These classes are for Marine Pilots and senior maritime officers. BBC News tells us;

To the casual onlooker, it may look like a group of overgrown children sailing in rather extravagant model boats.

But, in fact, they are some of the shipping industry’s most experienced sea captains on one of the world’s most unusual safety training courses.

The lake in Marchwood, near Southampton, Hampshire, boasts a fleet of seven scaled-down model cargo ships on which veteran captains, pilots and senior deck officers can hone their skills.

The ships, which are big enough for two people to sit in, behave exactly like the real thing as they negotiate the 13-acre lake’s artificial channels and tides.

They range from a scaled version of a 300,000 tonne vessel that itself weighs in at six tonnes to a radio-controlled model tug.

So is this simply an excuse for taking some time off work to muck about on the water?

Having taken the class myself I can honestly say the answer is no.

Upon first arrival at the academy I was skeptical of the ability to learn advanced shiphandling techniques on a model that is a fraction the size and weight of the original, however, during my first “test drive” I quickly realized the value of this class. The reason it’s the best option for this type of training is two fold. First the alternative, bridge simulators, do not give you the “feel” of the water and fail to project the sense of emergency when things start to go wrong. This class however, uses real boats that happen to be very expensive and rare… knock one of these against pier and real damage will occur that you will feel it both in the seat of your pants and in your gut.

Second this training is valuable since, as Captain Clarke tells the BBC: “You cannot turn up at Fawley oil refinery in a ’150,000-tonner’ and say I just want to do a few practice turns.”

To be honest with our readers I originally took the class because Advanced Shiphandling Training was a U.S. Coast Guard requirement for receiving my Unlimited Master’s (captain of large ships) License and Mass Maritime provided the training in half the time (just 5 days) required by the simulator based schools. I learned to love the class because it provides a unique hands on experience that allows you to test shiphandling theory at in accelerated and valuable way.

Related Video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

I recently subscribed to and have been enjoying one of the top blogs in the political arena, The Huffington Post. The reasons are two fold. First, I enjoy the articles but more important is the second… I admire their model of collaboration, where every subject expert is given his/her own section and only the best articles of the day are promoted to the homepage. It, in fact, serves as guide for the next iteration of this blog’s design.

By having a diverse set of columnists, each expert in a niche of our industry, we hope to broaden the perspective of this site and create an incubator for new ideas that solve the problems facing ocean transport today. There are, however, negatives to this model which become apparent after reading today’s front page article; “You Are Being Lied to About Pirates” by Johann Hari, Columnist for the London Independent. In the article Hari begins with a history lesson writing:

Pirates were the first people to rebel against this world. They mutinied against their tyrannical captains – and created a different way of working on the seas. Once they had a ship, the pirates elected their captains, and made all their decisions collectively. They shared their bounty out in what Rediker calls “one of the most egalitarian plans for the disposition of resources to be found anywhere in the eighteenth century.” They even took in escaped African slaves and lived with them as equals. The pirates showed “quite clearly – and subversively – that ships did not have to be run in the brutal and oppressive ways of the merchant service and the Royal navy.” This is why they were popular, despite being unproductive thieves.

In correlating historical record with with the situation in Somalia he writes:

The words of one pirate from that lost age – a young British man called William Scott – should echo into this new age of piracy. Just before he was hanged in Charleston, South Carolina, he said: “What I did was to keep me from perishing. I was forced to go a-pirating to live.” In 1991, the government of Somalia – in the Horn of Africa – collapsed. Its nine million people have been teetering on starvation ever since – and many of the ugliest forces in the Western world have seen this as a great opportunity to steal the country’s food supply and dump our nuclear waste in their seas.

Yes: nuclear waste. As soon as the government was gone, mysterious European ships started appearing off the coast of Somalia, dumping vast barrels into the ocean. The coastal population began to sicken. At first they suffered strange rashes, nausea and malformed babies. Then, after the 2005 tsunami, hundreds of the dumped and leaking barrels washed up on shore. People began to suffer from radiation sickness, and more than 300 died.

Now I would like to preface my editorial comments with a statement of agreement. He’s got the root causes right. In a recent article I listed the hardships of the local Somali fisherman as the primary root cause of the problem and share the words of someone who has intimate knowledge of the situtation, piracy hostage Fred Parle. He wrote:

Wake up and listen to those who ” have been there done that ” not listen to people in soft comfortable beds who wonder which paper to write to with inane and deadly suggestions. I’m angry , right ,as I see after all these years of chaos in the Horn of Africa and elsewhere that results to improve Safety at Sea have been a big ZERO. Pirates in Somalia are after CASH to feed their families only, no politics, no religion, just old fashioned gnawing empty bellies at home that drive most of these marine bullies to Piracy. I repeat its all about money and food , education, health , the lack of things we take for granted every day of our lives. There are agencies spending BILLIONS every year on wasteful items, WAKE UP and listen to the VICTIMS who will tell you the truth and the full story. A hungry family will not tell porkies they know it as it is in their homes .

While I agree with most of Hari’s statements and was impressed by his research into both the history of Somali bandits and piracy himself, his analysis is no longer appropriate to the events at hand and his title is dangerously misguided. A September article by the NY Times explains why:

Somalia’s pirates are typically former fishermen who have turned to the more lucrative work of plying the seas with binoculars and rocket-propelled grenades. They travel in light speedboats, deployed from a mother ship far out at sea, and they have attacked tankers as far as 300 miles from the coast. Pirates even tried to attack an American naval supply ship this week. The ship fired warning shots at them. The pirates sped away.

“These pirates are getting bolder ever day,” said Andrew Mwangura, the program coordinator of the Seafarers’ Assistance Program in Kenya, which tracks pirate attacks.

Somali officials say the pirates are growing in numbers, with more than 1,000 gunmen at their disposal, and they have evolved into a sophisticated organized crime ring, with their headquarters along the rocky shores of northern Somalia.

An official close to the Somali government described the pirates as an oceanic “mafia” and said they had netted millions of dollars, which they use to buy fancy cars and big houses.

As a vocal supporter of mariner rights this blog sympathizes with the plight of Somali fisherman and we are actively looking to promote possible solutions to the problem but we will not support the actions of pirates. Johann Hari’s article would have been a breakthrough and accurate piece of journalism if it had been written at the onset of the current situation but romanticizing an organized crime ring to support an anti-military point of view is going to keep actual fishermen from getting the help they most desperately need. It is also going to land significant numbers of my fellow mariners in the arms of these pirates.

While this point is significant on it’s own there is another troubling side of the article… these pirates are not our shipmates, they aren’t even mariners. Hari writes:

As you read this, the British Royal Navy – backed by the ships of more than two dozen nations, from the US to China – is sailing into Somalian waters to take on men we still picture as parrot-on-the-shoulder pantomime villains. They will soon be fighting Somalian ships and even chasing the pirates onto land, into one of the most broken countries on earth.

If anyone knows of a Somalian Pirate Ship, please contact us because this would surely be breaking news. He continues:

Pirates have never been quite who we think they are. In the “golden age of piracy” – from 1650 to 1730 – the idea of the pirate as the senseless, savage thief that lingers today was created by the British government in a great propaganda-heave. Many ordinary people believed it was false: pirates were often rescued from the gallows by supportive crowds. Why? What did they see that we can’t? In his book Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age, the historian Marcus Rediker pores through the evidence to find out. If you became a merchant or navy sailor then – plucked from the docks of London’s East End, young and hungry – you ended up in a floating wooden Hell. You worked all hours on a cramped, half-starved ship, and if you slacked off for a second, the all-powerful captain would whip you with the Cat O’ Nine Tails. If you slacked consistently, you could be thrown overboard. And at the end of months or years of this, you were often cheated of your wages.

Pirates were the first people to rebel against this world. They mutinied against their tyrannical captains – and created a different way of working on the seas. Once they had a ship, the pirates elected their captains, and made all their decisions collectively. They shared their bounty out in what Rediker calls “one of the most egalitarian plans for the disposition of resources to be found anywhere in the eighteenth century.” They even took in escaped African slaves and lived with them as equals. The pirates showed “quite clearly – and subversively – that ships did not have to be run in the brutal and oppressive ways of the merchant service and the Royal navy.” This is why they were popular, despite being unproductive thieves.

This is a severe journalistic miscalculation and shows a deep misunderstanding of the current situation. The pirates noted by Hari were professional mariners well versed in the operations of the ships they hijacked. Cruel treatment broke them down and gave reason to commit acts of mutiny and desertion but once conditions aboard ship improved the situation improved. The bandits in Somalia have no coloration to these pirates, instead they are closely related to the less well know Barbary Pirates of Tripoli. This group of pirates did not take in escaped slaves and treat them as equals but, in fact, captured free men and forced them into slavery. Like their modern day counterparts the Barbary Pirates find their origins in desperation after misguided exile by European powers. In their case it was Spain’s expulsion of the Moors followed by invasions into their new territory of Northern Africa. Depending on your point of view with regard to Europe’s treatment of Muslim minorities and North African countries (related problems of which continue to this day) there came a point when motives switched from retaliation and survival to opportunity and profit.

The similarities between modern day pirates and those of the Barbary Coast continues with these points:

• The involvement of local government.
• The involvement of organized crime.
• The payment of large ransoms.
• Lack of action by world naval powers.
• A failure of Imagination ( via Kennebeck Capt) in solving the problem.

Most convincingly is that neither know how to operate ships. Should we allow them to be elevated to the “rank” of Pirate or refer to them as simply as bandits? The more important question is will history repeat itself from this point forward?

Early in the problem pirates attacked ships without considering the vessel’s flag or crew nationalities, MT Svitzer Korsakov and S/V La Ponant serving as examples, but today the pirates are attacking vessels whose mariner’s come from the world’s emerging economies, most notably China and India. To date not a single US Flagged vessel has been captured.

Today the US Navy sits relatively idle as the Indian Navy takes the offensive and, in the first ever global show of force, the Chinese navy has sent warships to the area. Will they be the ones to find a military solution to the problem? They certainly are the ones most effected by the events at hand.

Those familiar with US history will know that an emerging country pushed aside global inaction and was ultimately responsible for ending the Barbary Pirate’s reign of terror. In a biography of Thomas Jefferson the author Christopher Hitchens writes:

One of the historians of the Barbary conflict, Frank Lambert, argues that the imperative of free trade drove America much more than did any quarrel with Islam or “tyranny,” let alone “terrorism.” He resists any comparison with today’s tormenting confrontations. “The Barbary Wars were primarily about trade, not theology,” he writes. “Rather than being holy wars, they were an extension of America’s War of Independence.”

Let us not call this view reductionist. Jefferson would perhaps have been just as eager to send a squadron to put down any Christian piracy that was restraining commerce. But one cannot get around what Jefferson heard when he went with John Adams to wait upon Tripoli’s ambassador to London in March 1785. When they inquired by what right the Barbary states preyed upon American shipping, enslaving both crews and passengers, America’s two foremost envoys were informed that “it was written in the Koran, that all Nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon whoever they could find and to make Slaves of all they could take as prisoners, and that every Mussulman who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise.” (It is worth noting that the United States played no part in the Crusades, or in the Catholic reconquista of Andalusia.)

Ambassador Abd Al-Rahman did not fail to mention the size of his own commission, if America chose to pay the protection money demanded as an alternative to piracy. So here was an early instance of the “heads I win, tails you lose” dilemma, in which the United States is faced with corrupt regimes, on the one hand, and Islamic militants, on the other—or indeed a collusion between them.

Today the situation in Somalia is one of Trade and profit not, as Hari noted, the plight of fisherman. Some of the other issues of the day:

Questions of nation-building, of regime change, of “mission creep,” of congressional versus presidential authority to make war, of negotiation versus confrontation, of “entangling alliances,” and of the “clash of civilizations”—all arose in the first overseas war that the United States ever fought. The “nation-building” that occurred, however, took place not overseas but in the 13 colonies, welded by warfare into something more like a republic.

Sound familiar? I do not know enough about military operations on the ground to support or oppose the invasion of Somalia but I do think one justification is clear;

In The Federalist No. 24, Alexander Hamilton argued that without a “federal navy . . . of respectable weight . . . the genius of American Merchants and Navigators would be stifled and lost.”

The outcome is historic, US Marines invaded Tripoli and effectively stopped piracy in the region.

I can provide no solutions to the problems facing commercial mariners and fisherman in the area but do wish reporters would contact maritime professionals prior to writing articles that has the potential to block any particular action to solve the problem. My final comment to Johann Hari: Take a good look at the headline image of a ship that fell victim to pirates then ask yourself who we should be romanticizing, the mariners transiting the region or the Somali bandits?

This article began with some insight into our redesign and offers a glimpse into the questions we face prior to moving forward. On one hand magazines like the Coast Guard’s Proceedings effectively manage and publish expert articles with great success but it’s a closed system. In the blogosphere no one wears a uniform. As we move forward with publishing articles from individual contributers there are bound to be mistakes and differing opinions. As our readership grows so will the number of parties visiting to find answers. The question is how do we approve, edit and publish articles in areas we are not expert in? How will we separate solid ideas from those that arise out of misinformation? In the end it will come down to working as a team. The keyword is work, as it’s not going to be easy, but if we are going to launch this new format it’s going to be up to you, the reader, to identify fault and write the comments and articles to rebut misguided statements. This is your task for 2009…. any questions?

-John

UPDATE

An anonymous reader contacted us to say we are not the first to see the link between Somalia and Tripoli. Click HERE to read a recent article by Robert Manning of the Atlantic Council. We were also able to find similar mentions on the following sites:

• Mark Hasara.com
• OregonLive
• Comments On The Task Force Blog
• Associated Press Article (Dated 2007!)

And the Saudi Gazzete had the following counterpoint to this theory:

Said Farah, 32, a shopkeeper in Garoowe, said the pirates seemed to have money to burn. “If they see a good car that a guy is driving,” he said, “they say, ‘How much? If it’s 30 grand, take 40 and give me the key.’ ”

Somalia’s seafaring thieves are not like the Barbary pirates, who terrorized European coastal towns hundreds of years ago and often turned their hostages into galley slaves chained to the oars. Somali pirates are known as relatively decent hosts, usually not beating their hostages and keeping them well-fed until payday comes. “They are normal people,” said Mr. Said. “Just very, very rich.”

Last Friday, the Chinese Navy set off on an historical mission: the first modern deployment of battle-ready warships beyond the Pacific.  What was the task?   An anti-piracy mission that will provide escorts and patrols in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden.  It is reported that the naval forces that set sail from southern Hainan on Friday afternoon included a supply ship and two destroyers (Luyang II-Class 171 Haikou and Luyang-Class 169 Wuhan) – armed with guided missiles, special forces and two helicopters.   AFP tells us:

It marks a new chapter for the modern Chinese navy, which has focused on the defence of coastal waters, combined with the occasional friendly port call. Only in 2002 did it circumnavigate the globe for the first time.

Indeed, a Chinese fleet has not fired a shot in anger near Africa since the 15th century, when a Ming Dynasty armada sailed to the continent and back.

The navy has been drawn back to Africa by an escalation of pirate attacks on merchant ships, including Chinese vessels, plying the crucial shipping route linking Asia and Europe.

“It is a huge breakthrough in China’s concepts about security,” said Li Wei, director of the anti-terrorism research centre at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, according to the China Daily.

“(It) sends a strong political message to the international community that China with its improved economic and military strength is willing to play a larger role in maintaining world peace and security.”

So when was the last time the Chinese Navy travelled this far?  Well, my searches led me to Zheng He, a Hui Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who made the voyages collectively referred to as the travels of “Eunuch Sanbao to the Western Ocean” or “Zheng He to the Western Ocean”, from 1405 to 1433.    Wikipedia explains these voyages:

Between 1405 and 1433, the Ming government sponsored a series of seven naval expeditions. Emperor Yongle designed them to establish a Chinese presence, impose imperial control over trade, and impress foreign peoples in the Indian Ocean basin. He also might have wanted to extend the tributary system, by which Chinese dynasties traditionally recognized foreign peoples.

Zheng He was placed as the admiral in control of the huge fleet and armed forces that undertook these expeditions.

Zheng He’s fleets visited Arabia, East Africa, India, Indonesia and Thailand (at the time called Siam), dispensing and receiving goods along the way.  Zheng He presented gifts of gold, silver, porcelain and silk; in return, China received such novelties as ostriches, zebras, camels, ivory and giraffes.

Zheng He generally sought to attain his goals through diplomacy, and his large army awed most would-be enemies into submission. But a contemporary reported that Zheng He “walked like a tiger” and did not shrink from violence when he considered it necessary to impress foreign peoples with China’s military might. He ruthlessly suppressed pirates who had long plagued Chinese and southeast Asian waters. He also intervened in a civil disturbance in order to establish his authority in Ceylon, and he made displays of military force when local officials threatened his fleet in Arabia and East Africa. From his fourth voyage, he brought envoys from thirty states who traveled to China and paid their respects at the Ming court.

In 1424, the Yongle Emperor died. His successor, the Hongxi Emperor (reigned 1424–1425), decided to curb the influence at court. Zheng He made one more voyage under the Xuande Emperor (reigned 1426–1435), but after that Chinese treasure ship fleets ended. Zheng He died during the treasure fleet’s last voyage. Although he has a tomb in China, it is empty: he was, like many great admirals, buried at sea.

Zheng He, on his seven voyages, successfully relocated large numbers of Chinese Muslims to Malacca, Palembang, Surabaya and other places and Malacca became the center of Islamic learning and also a large international Islamic trade center of the southern seas.

His missions showed impressive demonstrations of organizational capability and technological might, but did not lead to significant trade, since Zheng He was an admiral and an official, not a merchant. Chinese merchants continued to trade in Japan and southeast Asia, but Imperial officials gave up any plans to maintain a Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean and even destroyed most of the nautical charts that Zheng He had carefully prepared. The decommissioned treasure ships sat in harbors until they rotted away, and Chinese craftsmen forgot the technology of building such large vessels.

MS Wilhelm Gustloff, 9,000 lives lost in 1945

With a death toll six times greater than the Titanic, new light has been shed on MS Wilhelm Gustloff, as a result a TV series that aired on Germany’s ZDF Channel last night.

The Independent is reporting:

“There was this sea of adult heads floating all around me, but alongside them there were hundreds of children’s legs half sticking up in the air. Their heads were under water,” Mr Schön, now 82, said. “They all drowned. Nobody realized that a child’s head is heavier than its legs.”

The Independent post is here.

An estimated 9,000 passengers and crew, fleeing East Prussia, perished (5,000 children) as a result of the the sinking of MS Wilhelm Gustloff back in January, 1945. Gustloff was carrying 10,000 refugees packed into every corner of the ship. Struck by three Soviet torpedoes, she took only 70 minutes to sink.

During her life, MS Wilhelm Gustloff saw many incarnations: Cruise ship, Hospital ship, Navy ship, and Rescue ship.

The sinking (from the Wilhelm Gustloff website) Sometime before 8PM , the first officer on the S-13 spots lights in the distance. Marinesko promptly makes his way to the conning tower. When the snow clears for a moment he spots in his words “the silhouette of an [enormous] ocean liner, even [with its] lights showing”. Over the next two hours, Marinesko shadows the Wilhelm Gustloff, fine tuning his plan of attack. His crew on board begin to sense that their luck is about to change.

MS Wilhelm Gustloff in better days

Her history is well chronicled here.

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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd

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