Maritime Monday for April 30, 2012

In former times, when war and strife
The French invasion threaten’d life
An’ all was armed to the knife
The Fisherman hung the monkey O !
The Fishermen with courage high,
Siezed on the monkey for a French spy;
“Hang him !” says one; “he’s to die”
They did and they hung the monkey Oh!
They tried every means to make him speak
And tortured the monkey till loud he did speak;
Says yen “thats french” says another “its Greek”
For the fishermen had got druncky oh!

— rest of the song —

Monkey hanger

During the Napoleonic wars, a French ship of the type chasse marée was wrecked off the coast of Hartlepool. The only survivor was a monkey wearing a French uniform (presumably to provide amusement for sailors on board the ship).

Finding the monkey after it had washed ashore, some locals decided to hold an impromptu trial on the beach. Since the monkey was unable to answer their questions, and many locals were unaware of what a Frenchman may look like, they concluded that the monkey was in fact a French spy. T he unfortunate animal was sentenced to death and hanged from the mast of a fishing boat on the Headland.

The term was originally derogatory, and is often applied to supporters of Hartlepool United Football Club by supporters of their arch rivals Darlington. It has since been embraced by many Hartlepudlians, and only a small minority still consider the term offensive; indeed, Hartlepool United F.C.’s mascot is a monkey called H’Angus the Monkey.

In 2002, Stuart Drummond campaigned for the office of Mayor of Hartlepool in the costume of H’Angus the Monkey and narrowly won. His election slogan was “Free Bananas for Schoolchildren”, a promise he was unable to keep. He has since been re-elected twice.

An alternative theory put forward is that the mascot counted as a member of the crew and that if it had survived they would not have been eligible for salvage rights under the terms of maritime law.

images:
Voici quelques minuscules extraits des planches 18 à 40 de la bd “Le singe de Hartlepool”

— This is a photo of the Old Heugh Lighthouse and its keeper —

The Lighthouse was the first of its kind in England to use coal gas
as a luminant and stood from 1847 to 1915.
Lighthouses and Lifeboats flickr set from Museum of Hartlepool (9 images)

The Lighthouse

HMS Trincomalee; from Intricate Ship Sterns: Art on the Ocean

from This is Hartlepool:

Britain’s oldest warship afloat! The wooden frigate – previously called HMS Foudroyant has become the symbol for Hartlepool and takes pride of place in the center of Hartlepool’s Historic Quay and Maritime Experience.

HMS Trincomalee 1817 is berthed afloat at Hartlepool Historic Quay, where a major award-winning restoration and interpretation of the Ship was completed in the early summer of 2001. You can read more about the restoration of HMS Trincomalee here, or read about her history here.

Brought to Hartlepool in 1987 as nothing more than a rotting hulk, the ship is now fully masted and attracting thousands of visitors every year and takes pride of place on the masthead of the Hartlepool Mail.

– View more images in our gallery –

— Hartlepool lifeboat Betty Huntbatch —
Original (2160 x 1440)

— Hartlepool Docks from the air —
Large (1024 x 683)

see also: Teesport Container Terminal 2 — Arrival of new cranes

— Suter, Hartmann & Rahtjen’s Composition Co Ltd —
on display in the Beamish Museum

— Victorian Hybrid: The Killingworth —

Photograph showing steam and sail ship, the ”Killingworth”, which was based in London, in harbour at Hartlepool Headland.

Ships wrecked on Haisborough Sands: SS Cambria after a collision with SS Killingworth on the 14 May 1891

from The Pattison Collection;

“This set holds a group of images taken by the Reverend James Whitehead Pattinson during the latter years of the 19th Century, in and around the Hartlepool and Bishop Auckland areas. Many show simple street scenes, or views from the beach at Seaton Carew, while others record the town’s diverse range of inhabitants and characters. Indeed, often picturing the poorer, even illiterate members of society, Pattison’s images enable us to gain a rare insight into the lives of Hartlepool’s working classes, whom history has often overlooked.

“Ordained in 1882, Pattison was posted to the Holy Trinity Church in Seaton Carew in 1885 in order to help its rector, the Reverend John Lawson, during his twilight years. Here, in 1887, he took up the hobby of photography and began to record the everyday lives of the townsfolk. A father of two, he appears to be a kind and generous man who was especially good with children, whom he even taught to use his camera and photographic equipment…”

— Seaton Carew, children and bathing machine —

Seaton Carew is a small seaside resort within the Borough of Hartlepool, in North East England with a population of 6,018 (2001). It is situated on the North Sea coast between the town of Hartlepool and the mouth of the River Tees. The area is named after a Norman French family called Carou who owned lands in the area and settled there, while ‘Seaton’ means farmstead or settlement by the sea.

more on wikipedia

— wreck of the Danish schooner Doris at North Gare, Seaton Carew —

On the coast to the north of Seaton is a promenade which allows visitors to walk from Seaton Carew to Hartlepool Marina. This promenade gives unrestricted views across the North Sea, and on a clear day all the way down to Whitby. Along the coastline is the Hartlepool Submerged Forest.

Further south is the bus station with renovated grade II listed art deco clock tower and shelters. South of this is a beachside car park overlooking Seaton Carew Wreck, the protected remains of a wooden collier vessel on the beach below the tide line.

— Seaton Carew Lifeboat and Crew —

During a northerly gale in the early hours of 31 January, 1907 the cargo steamship SS Clavering became stranded near North Gare breakwater in the mouth of the river Tees. During a 31 hour joint rescue the Seaton Carew and Hartlepool lifeboats removed a total of 39 people from the vessel—the RNLI subsequently awarded Silver Medals to coxswain Shepherd Sotheran and John Franklin, coxswain superintendent of the Seaton Carew Lifeboat.

First appearing in a1957 comic strip in the Daily Mirror newspaper, Andy Capp is a chauvinistic, flat-cap wearing lay-about, chronically unemployed pub-dweller from Hartlepool who spends most of his days perched precariously on or between the local watering hole with his mate Chalkie and his living room sofa in Number 37 Durham Street.

Scourge of his long suffering wife Flo, Andy also has a penchant for the bookmakers, avoiding Percy the rent collector, post pub fish and chips and booze related fistfights, both in and outside public houses. Reg Smythe, his creator, based Andy on the characters he saw whilst growing up in depression-era Hartlepool in the 1930’s.

The Andy Capp strip was accused of perpetuating stereotypes about Britain’s Northerners, who are seen in other parts of England as chronically unemployed, dividing their time between the sofa and the neighborhood pub, with a few hours set aside for violence at soccer games. Even his name is a perfect phonetic rendition of that region’s pronunciation of the word “handicap” (which the cartoonist chose because a handicap is exactly what Andy is to his hard-working wife, Flo).

Smythe had nothing but affection for his good-for-nothing protagonist, a fact which showed in his work. Since the very beginning, Andy has been immensely popular among the people he supposedly skewers.

In 1987, a computer game based on the Andy Capp comic strips was released to the Commodore 64 entitled Andy Capp: The Game. Players had to borrow money in order to replenish Andy’s beer supply whilst avoiding fights with either Flo or the police.

— Andy Capp World blog —

— Andy Capp Statue; Hartlepool —

— Sail and Steam: Changing Tides —
Museum of Hartlepool

SS Irish Elm – Capacity Plan

William Gray’s was the largest shipbuilding company in West Hartlepool. Dating from 1874 there are approximately 35,000 ship plans in the Gray’s Shipyard Archive. This collection is owned and managed by Hartlepool Cultural Services. Most of the plans date from the late 1920s to 1961 when the last ship was launched. The majority of plans were printed onto starched linen cloth and were stored rolled up in tubes.

left: Alarm clock with a piece of German shell embedded in the dial. The clock was damaged during the bombardment of the Hartlepools on 16th December 1914. It is said that the clock stopped at the time of the shell hitting it. The clock belonged to a resident at 14 Collingwood Road but is now part of the collections at the Museum of Hartlepool and is on permanent display. Ironically the clock was manufactured in Germany.  right: Bombardment damage to the Lighthouse Café with the lighthouse in the background.

Bombardment (Set: 50) – Museum of Hartlepool

more: Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby

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“Grimsby – the largest fishing port in the world”
postcard dated 21 Dec 1908 (see gallery)

Under-the-Bow
by Mike—Whittaker

Grimsby Docks
by John Gulliver

Grimsby_Town
by ArcticCorsair

Grimsby Docks

Grimsby developed around a small river called the Haven, which joined the Humber and provided a save haven for ships on the estuary. During the twelfth century, imports included coal from Newcastle upon Tyne, wine from France and Spain, and timber from Norway. The main export was wool.

In 1796, an Act of Parliament was obtained, which authorised the construction of new quays and dredging of the Haven to make it deeper. By the middle of the century, a more radical solution was needed, and the foundation stone for the Royal Dock was laid by Albert the Prince consort in 1849. The dock covers 25 acres (10 ha) and was formally opened by Queen Victoria in 1854.

The dock gates and cranes were operated by hydraulic power, and the 300-foot (91 m) Grimsby Dock Tower was built to provide a head of water with sufficient pressure. Opening of the No. 1 Fish Dock followed in 1856. Further construction took place in the 1870s, with No. 2 Fish Dock opening in 1877 and the Union Dock and Alexandra Dock in 1879. The fishing fleet expanded, and No. 3 Fish Dock was built in 1934.

— A brief history of Grimsby on localhistories.org —

– Grimsby Docks on Flickriver —

BYGONES: The embryo that spawned the industryon This is Grimsby

A trawler on the slipways in the Grimsby Docks is being converted into a minesweeper

Grimsby Docks – August 1963 by J.C. Carter

see also – see also – see also – see also

Grimsby trawlers (more)

Grimsby Fish Docks; Centenary Exhibition – British First Day Covers

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The Queen re-opened the Cutty Sark on Wednesday
(25 April) after its six-year conservation project

Cutty Sark restoration an ‘honour and a joy’

A Suffolk craftsman has spoken of his pride at being involved in the restoration of the Cutty Sark.

Charles Le Sauvage spent six months restoring two lifeboats for the 19th Century tea clipper, which was almost completely destroyed by fire in 2007.

The lifeboats had already been removed from the ship but were damaged by rot.

Mr Le Sauvage, who restored the boats at his workshop near Framlingham, said: “It was an honour and a joy to work on the project.”

“The majority of the work was stripping it back to bare wood, repainting and applying wood preserver to the inside and revarnishing all the inside,” said Mr Le Sauvage.

Another Suffolk man, Hugh Leeper, produced canvases for the restored Cutty Sark.

— keep reading on the BBC —

Ahoy! Historic Cutty Sark clipper ship
set to open after restoration

— more on msnbc —

— A ceiling of tea chests in the lower hold —

We may be known as a nation of tea drinkers, but it’s difficult to imagine just how big the tea business was in the late 19th century. In 1849 Britain imported over 25 million kilograms of Chinese tea. That’s enough for 8 billion cups. And with customers keen to drink the freshest brew, using the fastest ships wasn’t just important, it made you more money. The first tea to arrive back home commanded a premium price, making ‘first to market’ everyone’s aim. The Cutty Sark didn’t disappoint. She may famously have been beaten by the Thermopylae in 1872, after losing her rudder off Indonesia, but she regularly got away from China before her rivals.

My other ship’s a clipper: inside the restored Cutty Sark
from The Beagle Project Blog

GIZMODO: Conservation of the Cutty Sark is among the most extensive ever taken on a historical ship. The ship suffered extensive damage in a fire that raged for hours before firefighters could bring it under control. The center of the ship suffered the most damage. However, over the course of six years the government completely restored her to spec, down to the 11 miles of rigging that keep the sails up…

Simply Stunning—The World Famous Cutty Sark After Its £50 Million Renovation

VIDEO: HM The Queen re-opens the Cutty Sark and Inspects Royal Barge

BBC News London:

“The 2007 fire was caused by an industrial vacuum cleaner which had been left switched on for two days while a conservation project was being carried out to repair Cutty Sark’s iron framework.

Fortunately, the ship’s masts, saloon and deckhouses had been removed and put into storage in Kent when the fire took hold.

more

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3I3G47t9QI&feature=related

VIDEO: Cutty Sark National Treasure (I HR)

Prince Philip – who helped save the ship for the nation back in the 1950s – has been to see the restoration progress for himself…

— BBC VIDEO —

— At a fair clip: an 1872 painting of the Cutty Sark by Frederick Tudgay —

Frederick Tudgay (1841-1921) was the youngest and arguably the most talented member of the prestigious Tudgay family of marine artists. Working occasionally in collaboration with his father, John, Frederick’s talent for portraying detail and his draftsman-like technique drew the attention of the maritime community.

Frederick worked as a painter of ship interiors for the Green Shipyard in Blackwall, giving him direct access to study ship design and construction techniques.

Working in London during the last half of the nineteenth century, the Tudgays painted almost exclusively on direct commission from owners and captains, producing accurate ship portraits known for their fidelity to vessel design. Today, their works are considered important examples of British marine painting, sought after by knowledgeable collectors the world over.

— industrial artifacts review —

The Guardian: Up From the Ashes

Not since retreating German troops torched a museum containing two of Caligula’s imperial barges, near Rome in 1944, has fire destroyed such an important vessel. The blaze that reduced the Cutty Sark to a blackened iron core yesterday was cruel in many ways…

The Cutty Sark was the one of the most refined of all ships, the Concorde of her day, fast, delicate and elegant. Her curved lines showed she was not some salt-crusted carrier but a whippet of the seas, designed to race from China with tea. Never quite the fastest, or happiest of ships – beaten for speed by the Thermopylae, the greatest clipper of all – she was nonetheless the last to survive.

— keep reading —

Cutty Sark restoration: A Clucking, Grade A, Bernard Matthews-Class Turkey

Today’s Weekend cover story in the printed paper is my take on the heartbreaking vandalism of the Cutty Sark, and Greenwich in general, in the name of witless, bungled, and unnecessary “restoration.”

Odd: I didn’t realise they had shopping–centre–style glass lifts in their ships in 1869. The new Cutty Sark has three. One entire side of the vessel is now dominated by a 30–foot high steel tower to hold two of the lifts, rearing up above the ship’s open main deck like a small block of flats. The tower also contains an air–conditioning plant. In another conspicuous nod to the mall experience, the Cutty Sark will be the first Victorian sailing vessel in the history of the world to be fully air–conditioned. The new “steelwork lower deck, of contemporary design, incorporating an amphitheatre feature” in the main hold might come as a surprise to 19th–century seafarers, too.

— keep reading on The Telegraph —

— 1957 booklet —

— Cigarette card on NYPL —

Last voyage of the Cutty Sark
The Cutty Sark leaving Greenhithe for Greenwich 1958
marine artist Anthony Blackman

Cutty Sark is a range of blended Scotch whisky produced by Edrington plc of Glasgow whose main office is less than 10 miles from the birthplace of the famous clipper ship of the same name. The whisky was created on March 23, 1923, with the home of the blend considered to be at The Glenrothes distillery in the Speyside region of Scotland. The name comes from the River Clyde-built clipper ship Cutty Sark, whose name came from the Scots language term cutty-sark, the short shirt prominently mentioned in the famous poem by Robert Burns – “Tam o’ Shanter”. The drawing of the clipper ship Cutty Sark on the label of the whisky bottles is a work of the Swedish artist Carl Georg August Wallin. He was a mariner painter, and this is probably his most famous ship painting. This drawing has been on the whisky bottles since 1955.

Cutty Sark homepage

Gangsters like Al Capone made a fortune from the illegal trade in whiskey that was smuggled into the US via Canada and the Bahamas.

The most famous whiskey-smuggler was Captain McCoy, known for his excellent contraband. His name became a synonym for good quality whiskey. In the speakeasies people started asking for ‘The Real McCoy’ when they wanted some of the Captain’s finest uncut whiskey.

Ultimately, Prohibition only caused the opposite of what was intended. People actually drank more than ever during those dark years.

For the Scots it wasn’t dark at all, because they overthrew the Irish and American whiskey monopoly by shipping huge quantities of blended whisky to Canada and the relatively safe Bahamas. One of the brands Captain McCoy became famous for was Cutty Sark…

— Keep Reading on Whiskey in America —

Hartlepool Town Wall: dating from the late 14th century, the limestone wall once enclosed the whole of the medieval town. The ancient houses overlook the entrance to Victoria Docks, which can be seen in the background.

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Monkey Fist

Monkey Fist is a smack-talking, potty mouthed, Yankee hating, Red Sox fan in Baltimore, Maryland. In addition to compiling Maritime Monday, she blogs about nautical art, history, and marine science on Adventures of the Blackgang.

Submit story ideas, news links, photographs, or items of interest to her at [email protected]. She can also out-belch any man.