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Add your questions and comments to this topic.
If you need help transcribing see:
Albatross -- Reference: Transcription Example and Log Description (http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=3901.0)
Guides for US logs: drawing entry boxes, transcribing and editing (http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=3078.0)
Getting Your Sea Legs (http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?board=4.0)
The Logs and FAQ (http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?board=7.0)
Handwriting Help (http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?board=8.0)
Technical Support (http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?board=14.0)
If you are interested in the names of crew members see:
Albatross (1884) -- Crew Lists (http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=3902.0)
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Example of what a weather page might look like when transcribing the last line of data:
Page link (http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol009of055/vol009of055_011_0.jpg)
(http://imageshack.us/a/img202/9822/c1se.jpg)
Example of what an events page might look like after the data has been transcribed:
Page link (http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol009of055/vol009of055_008_1.jpg)
(http://imageshack.us/a/img197/6274/cdg7.JPG)
The date is required.
You may transcribe more or less other information than is shown here.
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"Extracts from the US Navy Regulations relative to Log-Book"
(http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol009of055/vol009of055_001_1_0.jpg)
"Directions
for Keeping the ship's log - page 1 of 3"
(http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol009of055/vol009of055_001_1_1.jpg)
"Directions
for Keeping the ship's log - page 2 of 3"
(http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol009of055/vol009of055_001_2_0.jpg)
"Directions
for Keeping the ship's log - page 3 of 3"
(http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol009of055/vol009of055_001_2_1.jpg)
"Armament" (includes ship's boats) (http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol009of055/vol009of055_006_1.jpg)
"Observations
for determining the Local Deviation of the Standard Compass"
(http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol009of055/vol009of055_007_0.jpg)
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About the armament, what exactly is a "1 3-inch B.L.H. (steel) 350
lbs"? Clearly not a warship here, which is fine, but what kind of
pop-gun were they given to cover unexpected circumstances?
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This is a fisheries survey ship ;)
Maybe it is a harpoon :-\
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That would cover the "H." but a 3" harpoon?
Found it, I think: Bomb Lance Harpoon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bomb_Lance_Harpoon_for_whales.jpg) (launcher) I believe. :)
This picture, patented 1870, shows a shoulder gun to launch it.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/75/Bomb_Lance_Harpoon_for_whales.jpg)
and this?
(http://cannonsuperstore.com/harpoon/90-22222.jpg)
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Note on first weather page:
All
observations of barometer in this log book are of the Aneroid
barometer. Seaton Schroeder Lieut, Navigator
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Marine Railway
The
patent slip or Marine Railway was invented[1] by Scot Thomas Morton[2]
in 1818 as a cheaper alternative to a dry dock for ship repair. It
consisted of an inclined plane, which extended well into the water, and a
wooden cradle onto which a ship was floated. The ship was then attached
to the cradle and hauled out of the water up the slip.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_slip
William Skinner and Sons Marine Railway (http://archive.mdhs.org/Library/Images/Mellon%20Images/Z24access/z24-01398.jpg)
...
Baltimore, which holds a notable place in shipbuilding history as the
birthplace of the world-famous type of vessel known as the American
"clipper ship," ... The first vessel of that type was built at Baltimore
in the yard which the late William Skinner established there about
1815...
The Baltimore Dry Docks Ship Building Co (http://www.marinelink.com/history/the-baltimore-dry-docks-ship-building-co)
Maps
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection: Northern Ports & Harbours in the United States.
1872
(http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~3447~390061:Northern-Ports-&-Harbours-in-the-Un?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=w4s:/when/1872;q:baltimore%2C%2Bmaryland;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=0&trs=1)
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection: Delaware and Maryland. Baltimore.
1874
(http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~206960~3003078:Gray-s-Atlas-Map-of-Delaware-and-Ma?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=w4s:/when/1874;q:baltimore%2C%2Bmaryland;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=2&trs=3)
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection: Baltimore.
1886
(http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~209692~5003637:Colton-s-Baltimore,-Maryland--Publi?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=w4s:/when/1886;q:baltimore%2C%2Bmaryland;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=1&trs=3)
Coast Survey's Historical Map & Chart Collection: CHESAPEAKE BAY FROM HEAD OF BAY TO MAGOTHY RIVER (includes Baltimore). 1877 (http://historicalcharts.noaa.gov/historicals/preview/image/LC00136_06_1877)
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This is the same page as before:
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol009of055/vol009of055_008_1.jpg
Can
anyone read what's in that box in the lower right hand corner? I
have "The record of this ~ ~ from January 1st to Feb 4th 2pm is ~
Z. F. T."
Carolyn
I
think it's "air wet-bulb" is "???" maybe un something or mis
something. I've come across similar notes on other ships, but
usually with a line through the questionable data. But it sure
looks like air wet-bulb to me.
Copied here for the science team ;)
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Punx, Scrappe3, Ladyinred, and katoto
welcome to the top 12 !
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T-M
welcome to the top 12 !
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leelaht passes the 10,000 mark!
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Temperatureless bottom - what? :o ;)
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol009of055/vol009of055_045_1.jpg
At
3.15 sounded in 2705 fthms yellow mud and fine shells. Took specimen of
water from bottom; No bottom temperature; thermometer fouled by Water
bottle.
(Ah! nothing worse than a foul water bottle. :D Why didn't they re-measure? :-\)
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol009of055/vol009of055_046_1.jpg
sounded in 2844 fms., chocolate colored mud.
(Oh if only it were the real thing! Mud no! chocolate.)
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Feb. 7, 1884
Instrument adjustment:
"At 3.15
sounded in 2705 fthms, yellow mud and fine shells. Took specimen of
water from bottom; No bottom termperature; thermometer fouled by water
bottle. At 3.25 compared aneroid Barom. with standard and set it ahead 12/100. "
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol009of055/vol009of055_045_1.jpg
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Thanks for the notice on barometer adjustment. The analysts read this forum. :)
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Thanks for posting it in the "Barometer" topic. I just ran
across a barometer reference for the Jamestown ! and have posted it to
that ship's discussion and the barometer topic.
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:)
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8 Feb, 1884:
"At Mid. a bright meteor passed from W. to E., bear-ing S x E. " (posted in Nat. Phenom. topic, too)
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol009of055/vol009of055_046_1.jpg
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FYI, Carolyn, if you get any northern lights or magnetic compass
notable deviations, the Solar Stormwatch
(https://www.zooniverse.org/project/solarstormwatch) scientists look at
our forum to note and use them in their data from this topic: Old Space Weather: sightings of aurorae and sunspots (http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=3670.0)
Also
of interest, but not with it's own topic, are volcanoes. Any time
a ship notices an eruption, we notify by email one of Philip's
co-scientists who is researching the effect of volcanoes on global
weather - please always note this in your ship's discussion
thread. If said eruption is in Alaska, we also notify by email the
AVO (https://www.facebook.com/alaska.avo); the state
office updates their historic records based on our ship logs. The
USGS also gets notified. And Kevin, our lead US climatologist, is
studying all remarks about sea ice. He is deeply involved in our
forum conversations and does not need special notification.
Our
weather data gets fed into 5 different global climate databases.
Our transcribed comments feed several science projects we did not
anticipate. It makes us feel our work is very much worth the
effort. :)
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Janet, I didn't realize that the weather data was used in soooo many
projects! That's great :D And how neat that the logs' first-hand
observations of historic volcanic eruptions can be shared with the AVO
so quickly!
I've posted about aurorae, meteors, and earthquakes,
but have yet to see references to volcanoes or sea ice. Both ships
I'm transcribing now are in the tropics, so I'm not expecting any sea
ice refs soon! ;D
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Kevin picked ship names that did spend time in the arctic sooner or
later. NARA then scanned all logs for that ship. So we are
still getting global coverage. :)
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For now, I'm enjoying my my vicarious trips to the tropics ;D
And did I say I hadn't seen any 'sea ice' references?! How
quickly I forgot the poor Jeannette!
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;D
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leelaht passes the 15,000 mark!
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Feb. 17, 1884.
Perhaps someone has listed this already, but
here's the first mention I have seen in the logs of the Tanner (captain
of the Albatross) sounding machine:
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol009of055/vol009of055_055_1.jpg
The
article linked below describes sounding techniques and mentions the
Albatross and its Caribbean work, Tanner and his machine, and the
Sigsbee sounding machine used on the Albatross:
http://www.history.noaa.gov/stories_tales/poletobeam.html
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It is mentioned in the Reference topic (http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=3901.msg70638#msg70638) under Other information and comments ;)
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camiller passes the 500 mark!
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:)
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leelaht passes the 20,000 mark!
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eikwar
welcome to the top 12 !
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jasony23
welcome to the top 12 !
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listritz
welcome to the top 12 !
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leelaht passes the 25,000 mark!
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27 Feb, 1884, off Santiago de Cuba:
The scientific crew plays tourist:
"At 9.10 got underway and stood out of Santiago de Cuba harbor. Stopped outside to take photograph of entrance."
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol009of055/vol009of055_065_1.jpg
I'd want to take a picture, too!
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/Castillodelmorro.jpg/300px-Castillodelmorro.jpg
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(http://pennymead.com/images/WINMP0845.jpg)
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8)
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leelaht passes the 30,000 mark!
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Go, Captain!
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Just in case the scientific team is keeping track of individual instruments:
March 11, 1884, off Kingston, Jamaica, in the 8 PM to Midnight paragraph:
"...ther-mometer 52,720 lost. "
If they're numbered sequentially, that's a lot of thermometers!
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol009of055/vol009of055_079_1.jpg
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The PTB do look when their data tells them they had a change - I
frequently see Philip's name at the bottom of the reading our stuff.
And
the serial numbers are engraved into the instruments by the
manufacturer. They may have made that many over time, or it might
be coded - 2 digits stand for year or plant, etc.
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:)
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muddgirl
welcome to the top 12 !
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leelaht passes the 40,000 mark!
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listritz passes the 500 mark!
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March 25, 1884, Aspinwall U. S. of Columbia
Well,
this location sent me into a couple of mini-history lessons, including a
local connection (there is an Aspinwall Drive in our town)
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol009of055/vol009of055_093_0.jpg
About the United States of Columbia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_of_Colombia
Aspinwall and its founder, William Henry Aspinwall, who was the brother of our local John Lloyd Aspinwall:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col%C3%B3n,_Panama
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Aspinwall
http://archive.org/stream/aspinwallgenealo00aspi/aspinwallgenealo00aspi_djvu.txt
http://books.google.com/books?id=rkA9AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA337&lpg=PA337&dq=john+lloyd+aspinwall&source=bl&ots=CFqt0yWC8M&sig=8nhtmQq-GDG7K1sSxqqCgfh1R98&hl=en&sa=X&ei=_UHcUqOmMILKsQTaroLwDQ&ved=0CEQQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=john%20lloyd%20aspinwall&f=false
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March 29, 1884, Still in Aspinwall, US of Colombia:
Mail S.S. City of Para came in from the n'd
The
City of Para
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/archive/5/5c/20090311172719!City_of_Para.jpg)
was built by Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delaware_River_Iron_Ship_Building_and_Engine_Works#Brazil_Line)
to operate a new mail line between the US and Brazil. It proved to be
too large to be competitive on that route, and it was sold to the
Pacific Mail Steamship company
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_President_Lines#Pacific_Mail_Steamship_Company)
in 1881. In 1898 it was briefly chartered as part of the Pacific Naval
fleet (http://www.spanamwar.com/cityofpara.htm) to transport troops to
the Philippines.
William Henry Aspinwall was the founder and first president of the Pacific Mail Steamship company.
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Welcome to the forum family, muddgirl!
Super first post!
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Thanks Randi! It's amazing how much history is contained in these terse logs.
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Yes!
I found
J.R. Sturley
Asst. Surgeon.
P.H. + M.H.S.
in a log book and spent hours trying to track P.H. + M.H.S. down.
It turned out to stand for: Public Health and Marine Hospital Service.
That
was only mildly interesting, but when I did more searching, I
discovered that it was the forerunner of NIH:
http://history.nih.gov/exhibits/history/index.html !
See
American: Health, Hygiene, Medicine, and Surgery
(http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=3538.msg59092#msg59092) for
more information.
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;D
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Here is a map that might be helpful:
http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~209784~5003672:Colton-s-Central-America---insets--?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:aspinwall;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=5&trs=17
I am at the other end of the Panama canal from Aspinwall - in Panama Bay, but on Jamestown in 1866 ;)
We just saw passengers from New York arrive and transfer to a ship (PMSS Montana) for San Francisco ;D
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egrody
Welcome back !
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leelaht passes the 50,000 mark!
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:)
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Keep up the good work, leelaht 8)
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There
are also 2600 photos taken of/on the Albatross (and many of the revenue
cutters, officers and men) in the still pictures branch of the National
Archives and in the Anchorage regional branch. If someone happens to be
in the DC area or Anchorage and would like to experience a different
sort of action on OW send me a PM.
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camiller passes the 1000 mark!
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:)
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April 19, 1884, Key West, Fla.:
"At 4. Coast. Survey Steamer "Bache" came in and an officer was sent on board with offer of services. "
Who
was the "Bache" and why did it need service? The second USGS
ship, charged with surveying the US east and Gulf coasts, the
Bache only served for about 30 years. The ship seemed to be in
constant need of repairs due to mechanical, structural, and
meteorological problems!
This ship would have sailed past the
street I grew up on when it did 'emergency' surveys of levee
breaks in the lower Mississippi River! Thanks OW and Wikipedia for
some history!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USC%26GS_A._D._Bache_%281871%29
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol009of055/vol009of055_118_1.jpg
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bootnecksbs
Welcome to the top 12 !
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egrody
Welcome back !
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29 Apr., 1884, Havana, Cuba:
"At 12.45 a magazine on shore
exploded There were two distinct reports, the second from two to
three minutes after the first, this was much the louder of the two,
debris was thrown into the harbor and a dense column of white smoke
arose several thousand feet above the locality. The command-ing officer
went ashore to make inquiries concerning the explosion. At the time of
the second report there was a dense column of white smoke seen over the
city to the westward."
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol009of055/vol009of055_128_1.jpg
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http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH18840430.2.9.3
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listritz
Welcome back !
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eikwar
Welcome back !
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An entry for the Albatross' "Boiler Problem Files" :(
"The cause of blowing down port boiler in mid watch was a leaky socket bolt."
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol009of055/vol009of055_140_1.jpg
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May 26, 1884 -
"Lieutenant A. E. Baker left the ship in
obedience to orders to report to Med. Insp. Suddards for physical
examination preliminary to promotion."
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol009of055/vol009of055_156_1.jpg
An interesting detail in the life of an officer...
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:-\
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camiller passes the 1500 mark!
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:D
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jwhavrilla
Welcome to the top 12 !
;D
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bootnecksbs
Welcome back ! ! !
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New log book for me: July 1, 1884 - December 31, 1884 Volume 10 of 55
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol010of055/vol010of055_001_0.jpg
"Observations for determining local Deviations for the Standard Compass" page
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol010of055/vol010of055_007_1.jpg
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jwhavrilla passes the 250 mark!
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jwhavrilla passes the 500 mark!
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amaryrose
Welcome to the top 12 !
-
listritz
Welcome back !
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kp_mushu
Welcome to the top 12 !
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kp_mushu passes the 250 mark!
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kp_mushu passes the 500 mark!
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kp_mushu passes the 750 mark!
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kp_mushu passes the 1000 mark!
WOW!
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Zovacor
Welcome to the top 12 !
We missed you ;)
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Thanks. I was working on Bear but not long enough to break into the Top 12.
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So I'm seeing lots of references to measurements taken at Stations.
Are these fixed points on the ocean? Seems like an awful lot of points
to measure.
I wonder if the sailors aboard the Albatross realized
people 130 years in the future would be poring over their handwriting
and going, "What is *that*?" :D
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Well, we haven't acquired a TARDIS yet, which is unfortunate - there are a number of things we would all like to fix. ;)
Can
you give us a link to a page taking readings "at Stations"? (See
Posting Links and Images (A Guide)
(http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=536.0) ) My instinct
is, "at Stations" usually refers to the crew's duty positions, but it
has a number of other uses.
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Hmm. I think I may not have phrased my question clearly. It's more
that the log will say something about taking a reading at "Station No
2251."
I've always associated dredging with clearing shipping
channels of silt, but now I know it's also a way to learn about the sea
floor. Pretty cool, reading these logs. :)
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That almost certainly needs to be a channel marker, or some kind of
fish trap to allow them to count fish types. Makes sense if they
are dredging or making navigational charts or measuring the quality of
sea life. This is a civilian science ship, after all. ;)
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That makes sense. The past few days' logs are full of hauling out
the trawl, heaving in the trawl, and changing course. Seems in a day
that's done several times. Saw mention of meteors, which is neat.
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If you want to, you can note the meteors in Natural Phenomena (http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=384.0) ;)
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Yep, the Albatross spent a lot of time dredging the sea floor and
seeing what came up - the ship is credited with the discovery of many
marine lifeforms. Depth data was also obtained at the same time.
-
Added mention of the meteors in the other thread. :)
I spoke
too soon about the logs being easy to read. Think they changed log
recorders a couple days ago and I'm having a much harder time reading
this person's handwriting. Nuts.
-
Don't be afraid to give us a link to the jpg of the page and ask for help reading it. :)
Posting Links and Images (A Guide) (http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=536.0)
-
...
I
spoke too soon about the logs being easy to read. Think they changed
log recorders a couple days ago and I'm having a much harder time
reading this person's handwriting. Nuts.
:'( We've all been through that ;D
Maybe the good guy will be back ;)
-
You are also free to jump to another ship, or alternate between ships. :)
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I get too confused when I alternate between ships ::)
You do get used to it :-X
-
I get too confused when I alternate between ships ::)
You do get used to it :-X
It's
getting better. I get used to reading a particular style of handwriting
and switching between ships messes up that learning curve for me. :)
Funny, but I think this is the only place I can see cursive with any
regularity. Everything at work is either electronic or printed.
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;D
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OK, Uncle! This one is making me cross-eyed with squinting.
Full log page is here (http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol010of055/vol010of055_100_1.jpg)
I
can pick out what looks like "bent S~s boat's sails" and "she then got
up agedor and steamed out," which doesn't make much sense.
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Hi kp_mushu -
wow - I'm not sure what they are doing with the ship's sails, but the word is anchor - the loop is actually coming from the letter R in the signature on the line below.
Good luck with this log - :o
-
bent basically means attached.
Looking at
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol010of055/vol010of055_006_1.jpg,
it shows that you have a Seine boat. I suspect that is it.
Sorry, but it is dinnertime here, I'll check back later.
-
Sometimes there is some very helpful information at the beginning of
the log and sometimes looking at the following pages can be helpful: How to look at log pages before and after the one you are working on (http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=3489.msg62863#msg62863)
The What Does THAT Mean? (http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?board=9.0) board is a pretty good place to look up new words.
Elsewhere
on the internet, The Sailor's Word-Book, by William Henry Smyth
(http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26000/26000-h/26000-h.htm) is a favorite
of mine.
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Sweet! I was banging my head on this one. "Anchor" makes a lot more
sense, Kathy. And I had never heard of that usage for "bent;" when I
hear "bent" I typically assume it's a Bart Simpson reference. Perhaps
that's why when two ropes are joined it's called a bend?
Randi, thanks for the great info and links. Both sections make a lot more sense (though not necessarily any easier to read!).
Will try again now that I've had dinner and am not (yet) ready for bed. :)
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jwhavrilla
Welcome back !
-
And it appears the "easy-to-read" logkeeper is back, at least for
most of the entries. Much easier. I came across an entry mentioning 3
folks who were AWOL. Then a later entry mentions that there's a $20
reward, each, for bringing them back on board. That was a fair chunk of
money in those days. :o
-
Very common practice on Revenue Cutter and Coast Guard ships back in
the day, since all their enlisted crew were civilians. Military
rules and punishments don't work. But the ransom or reward money
enlisted the entire local police department to search and return any
stray drunk sailors, saving the ship from having to hire a new crewman
and giving the friendly cops a little extra - legally obtained! -
cash. :)
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Looks like at least one of them returned, but is now in confinement. Wonder how long that will last?
So all these people on the ship are technically civilians and not part of the US Navy?
-
The Albatross was built for the US Fish Commission - the first
science ship of its kind and never a warship. She did have Navy or
Revenue Service officers to ensure safe seamanship (they didn't trust
scientists to know how to sail!) but the enlisted crew were civilian
sailors and the ship was not under the management of the Secretary of
the Navy. In common with all Coast Guard ships, in time of war she
was commissioned into the Navy, but they never kept her in peace time.
http://naval-history.net/OW-US/Albatross/USFCS_Albatross.htm
-
Are you sure? On Albatross (1900), AWOL crew members are "declared
deserters of this ship and the US Naval Service", and I've seen crew
members transferred to/from to the naval base at Mare Island or to other
US Navy ships. Additionally, Wikipedia states the ship was "a
Navy-manned vessel".
-
The
Albatross belonged to the Bureau of Fisheries, of what was then the
Department of Commerce and Labor, and also had a crew on her that was
loaned to that Department by the Navy.
...
The other man was a seaman and was on his second enlistment in the navy.
-
kp_mushu passes the 1500 mark!
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Huh. There's tons of history to learn by reading (and researching)
and just chatting with everyone here. :) Very cool. Today's log
mentioned issuing clean hammocks, for example. I guess it wouldn't have
been practical to do much laundry while at sea.
-
;D
I have seen "scrubbed hammocks" a number of times.
-
And that appeared in today's log. So I guess they received clean
hammocks first and then told the next day to start scrubbing the dirty
ones. :)
Seems since landing in NYC, they've had several folks
overstay their liberty and then get confined/discharged. Quite a lot of
turnover. I guess the nature of the job and I would assume the bright
lights of NYC are way too enticing.
-
In 1901 quite a lot left in SF (the record being 4 days from
enlistment to desertion) - at that point, contemporary news suggests
that commercial shipping companies offered better pay than the navy. I
wonder if that was a recurring theme?
-
kp_mushu passes the 2000 mark!
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kp_mushu passes the 2500 mark!
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odineagle
Welcome to the top 12 !
-
There's been a glitch in the software such that it added an extra 12
copies of the same page of weather reports, so it looks like I've been
"extra productive" lately. :o
And so many of the crew on
this ship have been going AWOL while in port, particularly CF and the
coal heavers. Guess they either weren't paid all that well and/or the
jobs were less than desirable. ;D
-
I wonder if CF could be CP for Coal Passer?
Sounds much more civilized than coal heaver even if it is the same thing ;D
Coal Heaver - Established 1842; changed to Coal Passer 1893.
Coal Passer - Changed from Coal Heaver 1893; changed to Fire 3c 1917.
(we've noticed that the official dates don't always correspond to use in the logs ;))
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kp_mushu passes the 3000 mark!
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Agreed, I prefer the name "Coal Passer" rather than "Coal Heaver." Still not a glamorous job, I suspect.
The
Albatross has been in port quite some time, with lots of painting,
cleaning, and other maintenance happening (and crew turnover, too). Saw a
reference to inspecting mattresses? I wonder what for?
-
There is strong evidence that when the Navy changed a rating title,
it changed only what was given to new men to that level. All "coal
heavers" in 1893 stayed that until they were promoted or
discharged. Younger men achieving that job would be "coal
passers".
-
I can't help wondering how they asked for things that were not within reach at the mess table... ;D
-
Perhaps they "heaved" things across the table? :P
Just
started a new log and there's a new list of crew, officers, armament,
all sorts of fun stuff like compass deviation checks. Where do I put
links to those pages? I assume I don't need to transcribe the deviation
values ...
-
Absolutely, you do not need to transcribe compass deviation
checks. These were critically necessary in real time to steer the
ship but totally useless to historians and climatologists.
Everything else on those pages is an optional comment.
The crew lists should be put in Albatross (1884) -- Crew Lists
(http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=3902.0), but it is your
choice to post what you transcribed or just the link for others to
read. (Transcribing onto an outside doc and the copy/pasting into
interface and forum is not unheard of.)
The weather
instrumentation is welcome in this board, for our climatologists - and
that is something they find very helpful both in transcriptions and
here.
Beyond that, include only what you find interesting.
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kp_mushu passes the 4000 mark!
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listritz
Welcome back !
(again ;D)
-
NynkS2
Welcome to the top 12 !
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NynkS2 passes the 500 mark!
-
AnnikaC
Welcome to the top 12 !
-
DavidErskine
Welcome to the top 12 !
-
ladiablo
Welcome to the top 12 !
-
Jo Clarke
Welcome to the top 12 !
-
aikidomorph
Welcome to the top 12 !
-
Hi Moderators,
Had a go at some easy reading (compared to
Patterson)- picked up June 1885. But the log keeper does not use a
decimal point in the barometer readings. The ordinal numbers are merely
separated by a small gap from the decimals. Please could you advise -
should we put the decimal in?
Here's an example page:
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol011of055/vol011of055_103_0.jpg
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/912/rK29cj.jpg)
Thank you oh wise moderators!
Joan
-
Transcribe as written ;)
30 34
30 32
...
-
Randi is faster than me - this one is in the Type What You See -
Yes, but ...
(http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=3191.msg51625#msg51625)
No Decimal Point in Pressure Reading
Normally
the pressure reading has a decimal point between the integer and
decimal parts. However, you may occasionally simply see four digits.
For example, 29.63 may also be written as 2963.
Philip has asked us to enter it as it is written. He says that his software treats all those variants in the same way.
-
Thank you ladies.
Wonderful! Turquoise Turtle and I are grateful for the clarity!
Joan
-
Hey! Why are you here, and not on the Patterson? Don't make me take away your dessert again, Joan!
-
She is just showing a new hand the ropes!
Welcome, Turquoise Turtle !
-
Oh. Well, that's OK!
-
Sorry Hanibal - should have dropped you a note. Frankly I do need to give up puddings - but won't stay with the Albatross just for that ;) ;D
Though
it has been awful coming upon the handwriting of Mr Joachims in the
Patterson June 1912 log...it's really horrid :o. Oh well - what must be
must be...we have a planet to save (exits merrily singing 'Che sera
sera') ;) 8)
-
Hello Everyone!
I now understand what Joan has been talking about... this is actually surprisingly good fun. :)
This is such a vibrant community, I can't wait to get to know you all
Ro
-
Let's hope you don't change your mind when you get to know your fellow
nutcases, err, dedicated transcribers ;D
-
Nice to have you here, Ro. Thanks for coming to help us. :)
-
Welcome aboard, Ro - I hope you're getting to get thoroughly hooked!
-
DavidErskine
Welcome to the top 12 !
-
bjoret
Welcome to the top 12 !
We hope you will join the forum and share anything you find interesting with us. Also, feel free to ask questions.
-
steeleye
Welcome to the top 12 !
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Steeleye passes the 750 mark!
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Steeleye passes the 1000 mark!
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Steeleye passes the 1500 mark!
-
... and Steeleye is quite appalled by the behaviour of the gentlemen of the Albatross on 7 July 1885 (
http://www.oldweather.org/transcriptions/54ade04e74f6ca56310004bf/edit (http://www.oldweather.org/transcriptions/54ade04e74f6ca56310004bf/edit)):
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol012of055/vol012of055_016_1.jpg
At
this station put over lines and exploded two eight pound torpedoes
placed on bottom. Caught 3 cod and 3 flounder with the lines and picked
up two cod and one haddock after the explosion of the torpedoes. The
dinghy was lowered to plant the torpedoes; also lowered dory, Capt
Collins and Mr Lee pulled from the ship and shot several gulls.
Try getting away with that behaviour now.
Changed url to .jpg JJ
-
Very expensive fish trap, among other ecological problems!!! Little boys will play?
-
The only difference between men and boys is the size of their toys.
-
I wonder if the explosion was for the fish (the lines seem to have worked better) or to test something else...
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Steeleye passes the 2000 mark!
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bjoret passes the 500 mark!
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eikwar passes the 500 mark!
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jd570b
Welcome to the top 12 !
-
Steeleye passes the 3000 mark!
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jd570b passes the 500 mark!
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Steeleye passes the 4000 mark!
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Not so loud, Randi !
There I was creeping up on kp_mushu,
down to leeward and hoping to sneak past some time next week, and you've
probably given the game away. Shhh!
-
;D
-
On leaving Woods Hole, Massachusetts, the Albatross makes reference to the 'Sow and Pigs light ship':
http://www.oldweather.org/transcriptions/54c456c574f6ca5fd90001af/edit
(http://www.oldweather.org/transcriptions/54c456c574f6ca5fd90001af/edit)
On
the other side of the world, there is a 'Sow and Pigs Reef' inside
Sydney Harbour. I'll bet they are both named after a pub of the
same name in an quaintly named English village somewhere.
-
That light ship is so old, I doubt anyone remembers why that is its calling name. According to the Coast Guard, it is supposed
to be titled "Vineyard Sound Lightship" built for that location in
1847. And Sow and Pigs is a reef just off of Cuttyhunk Island,
creator of multiple ship wrecks.
http://www.uscglightshipsailors.org/vineyard_sound_lightship_station_history.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuttyhunk_Island
(jpg link http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol012of055/vol012of055_111_1.jpg )
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Steeleye passes the 5000 mark!
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jd570b passes the 750 mark!
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michech
Welcome to the top 12 !
Welcome back to OW!
-
michech passes the 750 mark!
-
Hanibal94
Welcome to the top 12 !
-
bjoret passes the 750 mark!
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Hanibal94 passes the 750 mark!
-
Don't mind me - I just joined because of a sudden and very
irrational fear that this ship would get completed before I could join
in.
Now that my place in the top 12 is secure, I will turn my focus back to the Patterson.
-
Of course, some mean person could knock you off your secure place :P ;D
-
They're a happy bunch on the Albatross in the 1880s. Every
time they are in port, people go missing ashore, get brought back drunk,
abuse the officers, get clapped in double irons, given a week on bread
and water (probably better than some of the regular food).
How could you go past them, Hannibal?
-
Because I'm too impatient to read all the boring text! It does not interest me nearly as much as biggering my WR count!
(No offense to you, Steeleye. Do as you like, and I will do as I like.)
-
Steeleye passes the 6000 mark!
-
... and Steeleye dawdles along at the pace (but without the
stateliness) of a Clyde puffer. At my current rate of progress,
leelaht can worry about me coming up astern around early January 2016.
;)
-
But only if there enough logs left in your stream for that!
leelaht
started a good bit earlier than you did, therefore it is extremely
likely she started at an earlier point in the logs than you did, and
thus did more than you can possibly do now, even if you were to
transcribe at my speed.
Ah well, main thing is getting the ship done
(in my opinion). I think when I finish the Patterson, I will make this
vessel my new secondary target - the one where I do just 5 dates
(weather and events pages) per day.
-
jd570b passes the 1000 mark!
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Steeleye passes the 7000 mark!
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michech passes the 1000 mark!
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Steeleye passes the 7000 mark!
More likely that the 7000 mark passed me going in a negative direction,
???
-
Steeleye passes the 8000 mark!
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michech passes the 1500 mark!
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Steeleye passes the 9000 mark!
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jd570b passes the 1500 mark!
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Steeleye passes the 10,000 mark!
-
...
I
know from our assigned archivist that the Smithsonian definitely wants
our completed logs to be linked to both its specimen collection and
these Field Note Logbooks
(http://www.biodiversityheritagelibrary.org/subject/Marine%20biology#/titles).
Another case of a different science than climatology valuing our work
quite highly. ;)
Mark
said, "That [Albatross] is the ship the Smithsonian wants to link up
with, they still have the specimens and want the logs connected.
Can you get them soon?" 8)
-
soir d'hiver
Welcome to the top 12 !
Do drop in for a chat!
-
Hanibal94 passes the 1000 mark!
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jd570b passes the 2000 mark!
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Hanibal94 passes the 1500 mark!
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bjoret passes the 1000 mark!
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Hanibal94 passes the 2000 mark!
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You are starting to become a household name, Hanibal - or should I say shiphold name ;D
-
I do get around, Craig - and so do you! You've got unfinished business on quite a few ships too.
-
jd570b passes the 3000 mark!
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Hanibal94 passes the 3000 mark!
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soir d'hiver passes the 1000 mark!
Welcome back! ;D
-
soir d'hiver passes the 1500 and 2000 marks!
-
I have just done a couple of transcriptions in this log and the
barometer readings are well outside the range I have transcribed
before. Can these be correct?
A huge barometer fall during the day
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol015of055/vol015of055_062_0.jpg
Very high readings
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol015of055/vol015of055_069_0.jpg
-
I can't judge the values, but the corresponding events page for the first does keep saying Bar. falling.
Also, there don't seem to be sudden big jumps.
All I can say is Type What You See :-[
-
I agree. The comments confirm that the long fall is real and
not a writer's error, we just don't know if it is bad weather coming
near or a defective instrument.
-
Or evidence of a sudden rise in sea level? ;)
-
April 8, 1887 (http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol015of055/vol015of055_103_1.jpg)
Hampton Roads, Virginia
8 A.M. to Meridian
The
U.S.S. "Thetis" came down from Norfolk and anchored a short distance
from this vessel. Transferred to her: [long list of stores]. Her Com?d?g
Officer & several other officers came on board and were shown the
dredging apparatus and its practical use, this vessel getting underway
& working 2 hours for that purpose. At 11.50 came to anchor again.
Not sure if this meeting of OW ships has turned up elsewhere in the forum...
-
The lessons on River Navigation did not go so well though
6/4/1887
Standing
down the Potomac River, Com,d'g officer conning ship. At 12,
grounded in 10 feet of water off Maryland Point. Backed off a few
minutes later.
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol015of055/vol015of055_100_1.jpg
-
;D :-X
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jd570b passes the 4000 mark!
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Nice one jd570b! 8) :D
-
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You... ;D 8) ;D 8) ::)
-
I just found a seven letter weather code: bcutlqr, at 5 pm (and 6 pm, apparently) on this page:
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol015of055/vol015of055_151_0.jpg
-
:o
-
Sounds like a truly memorable isolated thunderstorm. Very
impressive events, those. At least they were in port, not on the
open sea.
(http://www.airphotona.com/stockimg/images/00921.jpg)
-
:o
-
Note:
Has anyone seen where the scientific staff is listed?
If
you see any of the scientific staff listed, please post a link to the
page in this topic or in Albatross (1884) -- Crew Lists
(http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=3902.msg108011#msg108011)
-
Note:
Has anyone seen where the scientific staff is listed?
If
you see any of the scientific staff listed, please post a link to the
page in this topic or in Albatross (1884) -- Crew Lists
(http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=3902.msg108011#msg108011)
I did some searching on this, reply at http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=3902.msg110314#msg110314
Thanks, Joan, for not letting it slide into oblivion.
-
I just came across a page where several entries for the dry bulb have been edited in red:
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol016of055/vol016of055_077_0.jpg
I decided to transcribe the red, because I noticed the overwritten values were identical to the wet bulb values next to them.
So
my conclusion is that the copyist wrote the values for Wet in the Dry
column by mistake, but spotted this and corrected it in time.
-
Sounds reasonable.
Note to those who haven't seen
this before: Sometimes people using the logbooks many years later make
"corrections". The science team does not want these corrections. On the
other hand, the science team does want corrections made by the log
keepers. It is tricky to decide which is which. Just make your best
guess - you can always ask on the forum.
It is very helpful to post a note for the scientists like Hanibal94 did.
-
Hanibal94 passes the 4000, 5000, 6000, and 7000 marks!
As a consequence, Hanibal94 is now on sick leave for RSI :'(
-
:'( :'( :'(
-
As a consequence, Hanibal94 is now on sick leave for RSI :'(
Sad, but true.
I
tried transcribing by using only my left hand for typing and my right
hand for just the mouse, but it took forever. I only got one page done.
So I will have to wait for at least 2 weeks, see how I'm feeling then.
-
Patience is very hard to come by for something like this. Take care of yourself. :)
-
May 10, 1887
Columbian Iron Works, Baltimore, Maryland
Meridian
to 4 P.M. At 1.40 Lt. W.S. Hogg, U.S. Navy, - left the ship
in charge of twenty one (21) men for Havre de Grace, Md. for the
purpose of assisting in shad hatching at that place.
This
was the random page that served up when I logged on this morning, and
the mention of a familiar place caught my eye. Havre de Grace is 40
miles from Baltimore, up at the head of the Chesapeake, not a short trip
in 1887. Not a short trip these days, either, depending on
traffic. ;)
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol015of055/vol015of055_135_1.jpg
-
I'd guess the shad hatching is happening where it is happening and
can't be moved closer to the ship. I'm assuming they went by rail,
as a 170 miles is not a quick day trip.
I'm glad the shad hatchlings got the manpower they needed to come into this world properly. :)
-
They might have used their steam launch for the journey. The
Shad were presumably being caught commercially at Havre de Grace as they
came into the river to spawn.
One of the missions of the
fisheries commission was to increase food fish production. There
were a large number of projects to increase dwindling fish stocks by
assisting in hatching large numbers of food fish and transplanting them
by rail to restock depleted stocks and also to start new populations
that could be exploited. Many species were also introduced from
the atlantic coast to the pacific including salmon, oysters and
shad.
-
Hanibal94 passes the 8000 mark!
But it is more important that you take care of yourself!
-
I just finished all of 1887 - only two years of logs left to go now! 8)
-
The crew have started having suspicions about the new ships cook :D
At 1.30 hauled ship under sheers and put donkey boiler on board after which hauled back to original position + secured
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol015of055/vol015of055_185_1.jpg
-
;D
donkey boiler (http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=3209.msg52132#msg52132)
-
Hanibal94 passes the 10,000 mark!
Don't hurt yourself!
-
Hurlock
Welcome to the top 12 !
-
Don't hurt yourself!
Don't
worry - I've been careful to hold my hands and forearms parallel to the
table when typing, and never do more than 1000 WR per day.
I just
wanna get this ship out of the way so I can focus on Concord and
Patterson, and hopefully make good progress on both before the new
interface and stuff turns up.
-
OK ;D
-
On this page, it looks like the three temperature columns have been
moved up one row too high relative to the rest of the data,
but I entered it as literal TWYS because I didn't notice what was really going on until it was too late.
My apologies if I got it wrong - will fix it if necessary.
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol018of055/vol018of055_142_0.jpg
-
It is a borderline case. If you think the data was accidentally
started one row too high (that's what it looks like to me too) then the
ideal would be to put it in the right boxes.
It is up to you if you want to go back and change what you have already done.
One of the rare exceptions to TWYS (http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=3191.0)
-
Well, since I love to get everything just right, I went and corrected it.
-
(http://www.desismileys.com/smileys/desismileys_6524.gif)
-
The Dry temperature for 4 pm on December 18th 1888 looks a bit high
for this time of year in California, but I entered it anyway. Not my
fault if they messed up.
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol018of055/vol018of055_177_0.jpg
EDIT: I also noticed the 4 pm Air temperature for December 25th looks wrong - should be 57, not 75. But I followed TWYS.
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol018of055/vol018of055_185_0.jpg
-
You are absolutely right!
Maybe eliminating flogging was a mistake...
-
I just noticed the pages of January 1st - 4th 1889 have been logged
twice: Once in the July - December 188 logbook (which does not mention
them on the cover!), and once in the January-June 1889 logbook, where
they should be.
Example:
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol018of055/vol018of055_194_0.jpg
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol019of055/vol019of055_009_0.jpg
Since
it's just a few pages, and there are a few differences, I have decided
to transcribe both copies. At least I get 96 more WR out of this.
-
That would be great!
I know Philip had asked us to do that with
the RN ships so that he could see the error rate of the original log
keepers/copiers. It was just when started getting weeks of duplicate
logs that he said it wasn't worth doing.
-
On January 24th 1889, they used Polaris and Venus to calculate the 8 pm position! 8)
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol019of055/vol019of055_029_0.jpg
I entered that location as Observed, because it is based on a set of observations, even if they are a different kind than usual.
-
Perfect. Philip was clear, it doesn't matter if the
observation is based on sun, stars, or lighthouses - observed is more
solid than DR. :)
-
jd570b passes the 5000 mark!
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Hurlock passes the 1000 mark!
-
Good work, you two! We need more people in the third stream.
-
Cor! more great numbers! Well done jd507b & hurlock
-
Thanks All!!
Question....When we find a page that is
obviously flawed, should we report it somewhere, ask for expert advice,
or just post it here?
Case in point
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol016of055/vol016of055_055_0.jpg
(http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol016of055/vol016of055_055_0.jpg)
I entered everything in the spirit of TWYS.
The problems are:
- The
1 am barometer reading has 29 94 with a 2 written over the 4 (29 92) - I
entered 29 94 because the 2 seems to be a different style of writing
than the other twos on the page (The eye is not as pronounced and the
tail is different)
- The ship was hauled into dry dock at 1000
am. I entered "In dry dock" in the 10 am and 1 pm water temp
readings and left the spaces following those entries blank.
- In
the 6 pm "State of the Weather" space I entered Cum Str.
(TWYS) Which has had a very unusual affect on the weather column
of the weather-temp-temp-temp spreadsheet thingy................
Soooo..........
Now that I have made it snow in Baltimore in the middle of August....
and .......
Since
I just went back to "My Pages" to double-check the facts for this post
and found that order of the hours are now scrambled in said spreadsheet
thingy......(6pm....Mid....1pm....5am.....Noon.....9am.....8am.....etc.....etc.....etc.....)
I think I hear I glass o' Jack calling >:( ??? :-\ ;D :o :o :o :o :o :o
Good night all!!!
-
The log keeper was obviously having a very bad day.
You brought up several problems:
Question....When
we find a page that is obviously flawed, should we report it somewhere,
ask for expert advice, or just post it here?
In your example, the scan is fine - the log keeper was at fault - so reporting it at Faulty scanned and duplicate pages
(http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=3383.0) is out. Both
the others work well, asking for expert advice gets you a moderator
reading your actual transcription from the interface. (We can't
fix it tho, only you can edit in changes.) Very complete, but you
have to wait a little longer. Posting it here like this gets you
answers from almost everyone, much quicker. And a range of
solutions discussed. And sometimes a moderator answering it this
way instead. :)
The
1 am barometer reading has 29 94 with a 2 written over the 4 (29 92) - I
entered 29 94 because the 2 seems to be a different style of writing
than the other twos on the page (The eye is not as pronounced and the
tail is different)
Done
correctly - corrections made at the time of the log are to be treated
as the chosen original. And virtually all later edits and
additions are in blue or red pencil.
The
ship was hauled into dry dock at 1000 am. I entered "In dry dock"
in the 10 am and 1 pm water temp readings and left the spaces following
those entries blank.
This
is not a temperature reading on any level. It is a comment on why
it got left out. If you want to include it, give it its own box,
around the comment, and transcribe it as an event. Verbal
descriptions of weather can go into the appropriate box, but nothing
else.
In
the 6 pm "State of the Weather" space I entered Cum Str.
(TWYS) Which has had a very unusual affect on the weather column
of the weather-temp-temp-temp spreadsheet thingy................
This is covered in Type What You See - Yes, but ... Exceptions
(http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=3191.msg51628#msg51628).
This lovely document not only summarizes the answers to most TWYS
questions, it quotes the experts who were originally asked to give a
sense of context in using this info.
When the log keeper has CLEARLY entered the weather data in the wrong column, it should be put in the correct column.
Only
correct entries if it is absolutely certain that they are in the wrong
column - like 29.83 for wind direction or West for weather code.
... see link for whole answer.
And
the sidebar has always been wonky. First they send your data
solidly set in its matrix to Philip. Then they shunt some of it to
the sidebar for the editors to see, and that never worked right.
And since it doesn't affect what you type or what Philip gets, we've
never been able to bribe anyone to fix it. Reopening a page for
edit usually scrambles it, but does no harm to the real data.
-
Only one logbook left to go (July-Dec 1889) for me! Woohoo!
My drive to pass the global 400.000 mark certainly helped!
-
Take care of yourself!
-
Take care of yourself!
I appreciate the concern, Randi, but....
(http://cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/38584163.jpg)
I want to finish this ship before the end of the month, so I will not stop unless my arms, hands or wrists start hurting.
And right now, they are all fine, so I will continue.
Trust me. I know my body better than anyone.
-
Just wondering if this comment still applies:
...
And when my wrist has fully recovered, I will never do more than 1.000 WR per day. Never again. It's not worth it.
...
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Thanks Janet ;)
-
You are welcome, jd570b. 8)
-
Found an interesting entry from September 15th 1887:
"... At
10, when steering S by W 1/8 W (p.c.), ran aground abreast Thomas Pt
Light. Failing to get off by backing engines, planted stream anchor on
port quarter after taking sounding all around ship. At end of watch
waiting for water to rise. At noon there were 10 1/2 feet water directly
under bridge..."
They were stuck on the Thomas Point Shoal for
about 4 and a half hours... and there's little doubt in my mind that
there were cadets sneaking off to the West Road shoreline to watch them
try and get off the rocks.
-
The Albatross never passes up an opportunity to entertain and educate :)
They got stuck in the river last time they travelled down the Potomac too.
-
So first they get stuck on a shoal, then they lose a large beam
trawl; but our plucky crew gains some good Karma, and rescues a survey
ship that will later go on to make sailing in New England a much safer
endeavor!
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol016of055/vol016of055_088_1.jpg
9/21/1887:
the USC&GS "Eagre" breaks free of its moorings at Davis' Wharf in
Woods Hole. Adrift and near to running aground, orders are given to the
cutter and crew to take the "Albatross"' port bow anchor and a large
hawser to assist the "Eagre". The cutter and crew then pull the "Eagre"
into deeper water, where they can then safely transfer the anchor to the
distressed ship.
Three years later, the "Eagre" would join the
steamer "A.D. Bache", schooner "Scoresby", and steam tender "Daisy",
under the command of Lt. E.M. Hughes. These four ships then conducted
the first systematic survey of the notoriously dangerous Nantucket
Shoals. Prior to this survey, the Nantucket Shoals (situated to the
south, southeast, and east of Nantucket Island) were an area open for
navigation, near a major shipping lane, but with the shoals being as
near the surface as three feet in some places, numerous ships were lost.
Thanks to the efforts begun by the "Eagre" and her companion ships, the
Nantucket Shoals are now fairly well mapped, and the dangerous areas of
the shoals are marked in NOAA navigational maps as areas to be avoided,
and the entire area considered unfit for navigation.
Could the
Nantucket Shoals survey have been completed without the "Eagre"? Almost
certainly; but this single event on the part of our crew once more
illustrates how the actions of one day can echo into the future,
influencing events that the sailors aboard the "Albatross" would never
have imagined.
I thought I'd bring this up, not because it's just
an interesting piece of history, but because it illustrates a close
parallel between our ship and the "Eagre", and her and our project.
LtCdr Zera Luther Tanner was a great man with a brilliant mind, but I
highly doubt that he would have thought much of how important the
weather data from his ship's log books would be more than a century
later.
-
Fascinating and wonderful!
This is the heart of OW.
Greetings, fellow OWaholic ;D
-
Fascinating and wonderful!
This is the heart of OW.
Greetings, fellow OWaholic ;D
Truly welcome, fellow addict. :D
-
On this page, the 1 pm line has another wind direction above it.
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol020of055/vol020of055_147_0.jpg
I
decided this is simply human error - the copyist put the 1 pm wind
direction in the wrong row, and then put a ditto in the 1 pm row.
So I didn't bother making an extra WR - I just wrote SSW in the 1 pm wind direction box.
-
I have seen this a couple of times when there is no change in the
wind direction between AM and PM. I suspect the log keeper has simply
copied down the value that is being dittoed for clarity.
In any case, SSW or " in the 1 pm wind direction box are both fine since, here, they mean the same thing.
-
Hanibal94 passes the 20,000 mark!
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Hanibal94 passes the 20,000 mark!
Not only that - I also completed the whole ship! Woohoo!
This is my 12th victory on Phase 3 of Old Weather!
I
will do the Concord next - but not today. I did 4.5 months of logs in
the past 3 days, so I really need a rest. So does my right arm.
Think I'll go read Dragon Ball on the couch. An awesome manga, it is.
-
Enjoy your time off, make it long enough to be truly restful. Good work!!
-
10/19/1887
Albatross leaves Woods Hole (finally), and gets
under way. Along the way, they catch sight of the North Atlantic
Squadron, which, at the time, would have been under command of Rear
Admiral Steven Bleecker Luce, aboard the USS Richmond.
While it's
unfortunate that our crew appear to have been unable to obtain the
compass data that they were trying to get from the Richmond and the
Atlanta at this time, I thought it notable just on historical grounds.
Rear
Admiral Luce, at this time, would have only been in command of the
North Atlantic Squadron for a year, having spent the two years prior to
assuming command of the Home Fleet (as they're more commonly known)
founding and presiding over the Naval War College at Newport, Rhode
Island (along with Tasker Bliss, who would later become Army Chief of
Staff; James Soley, the first civilian faculty member at any United
States military college, and future Assistant Secretary of the Navy; and
most famously, then Captain, but future Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer
Mahan, who would go on to shape naval strategy still in use today).
I
could go into great detail over how influential Rear Admiral Luce was,
but I'll try to limit myself, if for no other reason than to not come
off like a raving fanboy. Shortly after leaving the Naval War College's
presidency, and while serving aboard the Richmond that our crew came
across, he also was instrumental in the founding, and became first
president of the US Naval Institute (the military think tank, not to be
confused with the US Naval Academy, although both are located in
Annapolis, Maryland) and its publication Proceedings. Luce's
legacy stretches even to this day, and beyond not only the borders of
our own nation (Former Lebanese President Emile Lahoud is a graduate of
the Naval War College) but has touched the stars, and walked on the moon
(Alan Shepard was *also* a graduate of the Naval War College).
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol016of055/vol016of055_116_1.jpg
It's
a shame that our crew weren't able to get the data they needed, but a
voyage at sea is hardly an adventure if everything works the way it's
supposed to.
-
8)
-
Little bit of action visible from the Perseid meteor shower before getting caught in a storm.
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol016of055/vol016of055_117_1.jpg
-
Landsman D. Rodges, I'll remember you always as my first deserter.
15 times AWOL is pretty impressive, even in the drunken glory days of
the Navy (i.e. pre WWI).
On a whim, I looked up our mister
Rodges, and discovered that he had remained in Norfolk, under an alias
of John Rodges. In 1897, he was arrested for carrying a concealed
weapon, but the case was dismissed. As far as I can find, there are no
more records, not even of his passing (although this could be for any
number of reasons).
Not so sneaky edit: forgot the link >.>
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol016of055/vol016of055_143_1.jpg
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http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol016of055/vol016of055_148_1.jpg
I can make out the name D. Regan, but I'm having a bit of trouble deciphering that rank abbreviation.
-
2'nd Class Fireman ?
Fireman
- Established 1842; pay grades 1c and 2c established 1847; pay grade 3c
established 1917. Re-established as Fireman 1948. Fireman 3c changed to
Fireman Recruit 1948; Fireman 2c changed to Fireman Apprentice 1948.
-
HatterJack
Welcome to the top 12 !
-
HatterJack passes the 1000 mark!
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2nd Class Fireman makes sense, just got scribbled together a little
too closely for me to really see it after burning through so many
entries lately. Eyes go a little funny after a while.
-
2nd
Class Fireman makes sense, just got scribbled together a little too
closely for me to really see it after burning through so many entries
lately. Eyes go a little funny after a while.
That's one of the Signs of OW Addiction (http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=1432.0)!
-
Step one in recovery is admitting it's a problem, which it isn't. :D Guess I won't be recovering any time soon.
-
Problem? What problem?
-
Step one in recovery is admitting it's a problem, which it isn't. :D Guess I won't be recovering any time soon.
Great decision, not to recover, very good decision indeed! ;)
As Hanibal94 says 'Problem? What problem?' ;D
-
Recover?!
Recover from WHAT?
I seem to be missing something here ???
-
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol016of055/vol016of055_163_1.jpg
As
a lifelong lover of the sea -particularly the Pacific, when a massive
arctic storm is raging to the north, while a typhoon/hurricane is
devouring all of the heat from the sea to the south, and your ship is
caught in the middle (I've only ever heard stories, but I've been caught
in some pretty gnarly weather myself), but I digress- any time I come
across references to bioluminescence/phosphorescence, I get giddy.
Sailing in dead calm seas at night, seeing nothing but blackness ahead,
but your wake lit up in blues and greens (and probably other colors too,
but those are the only ones I remember ever seeing) is just an
absolutely amazing sight. If only I had a time machine and could set
sail with ancient mariners (assuming I could keep up with them) and hear
the stories they come up with for why it happens, I'd be a very happy
man.
-
What lovely memory pictures you bring us. Thank you, HatterJack. :)
-
If you want to, bioluminescence/phosphorescence can be noted in: Natural Phenomena (http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=384.0).
Lots of animal life too! I'm jealous. I hardly ever get anything for the Animal tab :'(
-
I think one of my favorite things about having picked this ship is
when I contacted an acquaintance that works at the Smithsonian to settle
whether or not that this was *the* Albatross, built to go anywhere,
operate in any sea, and almost singularly responsible for what we know
of our commercial fishing grounds today (I hadn't looked at any of the
logs prior), and her reaction was, "If you had any idea how important
that ship was to science, you wouldn't even be asking. We haven't
actually counted the number of discoveries that Tanner and Moser and
Aggasiz and the rest made over the course of her 45 years of service,
but it has to be close to a thousand. If you guys ever manage to get
your hands on the 1906 logs, you'll be in for a treat, too."
I
don't know if we'll ever see the 1906 logs, but it turns out she was
right, because on the morning of April 18th 1906, Albatross was in San
Francisco, the day that California earned its reputation as the
earthquake state, and 80% of San Francisco burned to the ground.
-
You are then wanting the Albatross (1900)
(http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=3901.0), the reference page
indicates it extends to 1908. Our assigned NARA archivist says
the Smithsonian still has many of their specimens and field logs, and is
salivating waiting for us to give them access to the whole 45 year
transcriptions. I hope they are very patient.
8)
-
Oh man, if it goes out that far, I'm *really* looking forward to
reading that whole year, so much happened in the world and to the crew
of the Albatross in 1906 it's going to be a real emotional ride.
-
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol016of055/vol016of055_170_1.jpg
Last watch observes the Geminid meteor shower.
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HatterJack passes the 1500 mark!
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Found an entry about an Argentine warship that's got me scratching my head.
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol017of055/vol017of055_012_1.jpg
I can't for the life of me decipher the Captain of the Parana's surname.
Also, since we're on the subject of the Parana, I thought I'd bring up what I think is an interesting observation.
She's
referred to as a "man-of-war", but upon a bit of investigation, I'm not
really sure that she qualifies as such. Using the classic definition of
man-of-war (as opposed to Sir John Hawkings' Ships of the Line rated
man-of-war design), Parana is simply too small to even be a rated ship.
With only 7 guns and displacing only 500 tons, she's too small to be
even a Corvette.
I realize that the *modern* definition of the
term applies to literally any warship that's a part of an established
navy, but given that it had only recently been phased out by the British
admiralty (relatively speaking), and evokes, to me anyway, a class of
ship, rather than any boat that can put a hole in another boat without
ramming it, I simply find it curious that Albatross would have crew
referring to it in writing as a man-of-war rather than a warship or
gunboat, when either of the latter are shorter to write (and there's so
often little enough space in the single log book page to write on).
As
an additional, less nit-picky note, 2 years after this meeting between
Albatross and Parana, the Argentine brig was renamed Piedrabuena and
converted to a transport ship until she was wrecked in April of 1921.
Her sister ship, Uruguay, was reconstructed in 1954 (after having been
hulked in 1926) and now stands as a memorial at Puerto Madero, Buenos
Aires.
Sadly, there's very little I can find on Parana herself,
with all of the accomplishments of her sister ship Uruguay (which was
quite possibly the single most important ship Argentina has ever had in
its navy).
-
My best guess is "Lazara Y Tunieta" :-\
I have seen "man-of-war" a number of times, but I don't remember seeing "warship". Maybe something to do with tradition?
-
That's what I was seeing for his name as well, so hopefully we're correct there.
I'm
pretty sure it's tradition, it's just a little strange to me to see it
applied to a ship as small as Parana. At only 46.3 meters, Parana was
tiny even compared to Albatross, which wasn't a terribly large ship to
begin with. Albatross being 36% longer, 20% more massive, and hosting a
larger crew compliment, it just seems odd to me. It's really just a
semantic argument, though, and my opinion is largely colored by my
over-familiarity with British, Spanish, Portuguese, Ottoman and Dutch
line-of-battle ships.
And now I'm once again (this happens a few
times a year) struck by the sudden urge to build a seaworthy replica of
HMS Surprise (the real one, not the Aubrey-Maturin fictional one) and
sail her to Puerto Cabello, just for giggles.
-
I see your point. Maybe out of courtesy? :-\
-
It appears that it's just how they refer to any armed naval vessel.
If it weren't so modern, I suspect that they'd refer to a dinghy with a
breech loading bow gun and a half inch swivel as a man-of-war, and
honestly, that kind of makes me smile. After all, we do have some modern
examples of what a tiny boat can do against a battleship many times its
own size. It's not the size of the boat in the fight, but the size of
the fight in the boat and all that. If anything, it's more of a measure
of respect for both vessel and crew that I had forgotten existed in
ample measure not so long ago.
-
They are also looking at warships from the POV of a science
ship. Almost anything from gunboat up could out shoot them.
Showing - and feeling! - respect is probably very survival positive.
-
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol017of055/vol017of055_016_1.jpg
A
couple important visitors from foreign navies, and some meteors. Given
the date, it's pretty likely that these are part of the Quadrantid
annual meteor shower.
-
Sounds like a fancy morning coffee party was convened :D
-
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol017of055/vol017of055_025_1.jpg
Couple
days after the fancy coffee party, and we've got our crew sitting in
the Strait of Magellan, with a shooting party on Elizabeth Island, while
LtCdr Tanner lands a second party on Santa Marta (not Martha, no matter
how much he'd like it to be). While everybody's out playing, we get a
German ship with a famous name (not because of the ship... Cambyses II
was a Persian king who sent a 50,000 man army to conquer Siwa, that was
literally swallowed by the desert) steam past, and salute.
-
A very busy day!!
-
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol017of055/vol017of055_030_1.jpg
Strange
day aboard the old girl; sighting a ship from New York that was
probably named after a sailing legend that would have still been fresh
in the minds of sailors of the era, a Seaman being shipped for special
service, a Seaman thrown in the brig for being drunk (not really
anything new for our crew), and 6 crewmen AWOL after a liberty (one of
which is a junior officer, no less).
I can't imagine LtCdr Tanner being pleased overall by the day.
-
HatterJack passes the 2000 mark!
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Not really worth a blog post, but still worth mentioning:
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol017of055/vol017of055_034_1.jpg
Mention
of the German Steamer "Titania". Titania was a small arms transport
ship, which, only two years after this, was forced to offload her cargo
of 7000 rifles and ammunition for the Chilean government in Punta
Arenas, rather than Valparaiso under orders from the Magallanes colonial
governor. There was a civil war going on at the time, and had the
Chilean government had the desire to do so, they could easily have
blockaded the straits of Magellan. Considering the Panama Canal wasn't
opened until an additional 20 years later (in 1914). Thankfully they
didn't.
Alright, I lied... here's the blog post :D http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=4388.msg114119#msg114119
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http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol017of055/vol017of055_043_1.jpg
7 February, 1888 gives us a hat trick and something that reminds us how impressive the sea can be.
8 am to Meridian: ... three whales spotted during watch. [yeah yeah, no big deal, just a hat trick of whales]
And my personal favorite!
4 to 6 PM: ... stopped alongside of an iceberg and took aboard about six tons of ice
Literally
the first mention of ice (I know it's not sea ice, but still) I've seen
aboard Albatross, and it amounts to "oh hey, let's cut a chunk of it
out and bring it aboard, no big deal, just an iceberg". I suddenly can't
help but wonder how many icebergs and swaths of pack ice they've
steamed past without bothering to put it in the log.
-
Only glacier ice -- growlers and bergy-bits -- in those channels (so
not missing any sea ice : ) ). It is still a weird and wonderful
landscape...
-
FYI HatterJack.
Kevin is our US NOAA team climatologist and a master mariner who goes up into arctic waters. ;)
-
Only
glacier ice -- growlers and bergy-bits -- in those channels (so not
missing any sea ice : ) ). It is still a weird and wonderful
landscape...
I've
sailed all over the place, but never managed to make it to the Straits
of Magellan. Maybe next time I'm in a position to chart my own course
I'll have to make the voyage down.
-
Only
glacier ice -- growlers and bergy-bits -- in those channels (so not
missing any sea ice : ) ). It is still a weird and wonderful
landscape...
Not missing any sea ice, eh?
Well, that's a relief - because I never transcribed any for this ship!
I
guess I got too used to the Patterson (which NEVER mentions ice) and
the Concord (where Stuart and Michael P. look at the events pages, so I
can skip them).
-
I'm reasonably sure that someone eventually learned how to spell the
name of the country, but every time I see this in the log, it makes me
hungry.
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol017of055/vol017of055_051_0.jpg
I think I should whip up a batch of Chile after my next hunting trip ;)
-
Log keepers frequently can't spell names - places or ships.
Just TWYS and go with the flow. And maybe let it steer you for
your next supper menu. ;D
-
I always do, but this is seriously making me want...
a Lota, Chili.
8) *cue "Who Are You" by the Who*
I'll walk myself to the pungeon now.
-
:P :P :P
-
Well, what a coincidence - I'm making chili this weekend!
I
eat chili quite frequently because it's not that hard to make, is good
tasting and healthy and you only need to cook once, but have plenty
leftover for future meals - the last one is very good for a college
student like me!
-
;D
-
Heard back from AVO and USGS
Subject: Re: Mt. Akutan has erupted in 1895...
Thank you Janet!
I will get this added ? nice to see reports from a ?new? ship!
-cheryl
From: @usgs.gov
Thanks for your continuing sleuthing, Janet!
Tina
It may take a day or more for the new report to appear online.
-
(http://www.desismileys.com/smileys/desismileys_4547.gif)
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http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol017of055/vol017of055_057_1.jpg
Any time I see a vessel's namesake sighted by the crew, it makes me smile. I must be twelve years old.
"Meridian to 4PM... Saw several albatrosses during watch"
-
In later logs they usually refer to Albatross as Gonies.
-
That doesn't surprise me, really. The black-footed albatross, in
particular, is pretty well known for its lack of ground-based
coordination and grace, and has long been called a gooney (goony and
goonie are also also acceptable) bird as a result.
The more I
think on it, the more the name Albatross is incredibly fitting for the
role that the ship was meant to fill, as well as with some of the rather
clumsy way she would leave port from time to time. She needed to be
fast, and be able to range anywhere, so long as she was in her element.
She'd end up a bit banged up from some rather questionable helmsmanship,
but once she was in open water, the whole world was her playground,
much as when the gooney bird takes to the skies.
-
:)
-
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol017of055/vol017of055_070_1.jpg
Nothing particularly interesting, really, but a fine example that my birthday was a cursed day long before I was born.
Hove up trawl at 7:12, it having fouled upon a rocky ledge and been badly torn.
Netting hanging up on rocks is one of the reasons I don't trawl on my birthday anymore. Happens every time :'(
-
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol017of055/vol017of055_071_1.jpg
Some
time between 3:10 and 4 PM, an officer from a Columbian gunboat advised
that the port of Panama Roads was closed to Chilean vessels.
Interesting
to note that this would have been around the same time that Jose Manuel
Balmaceda was named president of Chile, and only three years after this
Chile would see itself torn asunder by an 8 month long civil war. Also,
this was just before Columbia's Thousand Days' War, which would
eventually see Panama secede from Columbia, thus the reason why a
Columbian gunboat would be addressing Albatross.
-
Sounds like rough times ahead. I'd be feeling a very alert about what was going on if I were the Albatross! :o
-
In later logs they usually refer to Albatross as Gonies.
hmmm
Just had a logbook sighting of 2 Albatross and several Gonies. Different species maybe?
-
Gooney or goney birds seem be applied to North Pacific albatrosses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albatross
The
albatrosses comprise between 13 and 24 species (the number of species
is still a matter of some debate, 21 being the most commonly accepted
number) in four genera. These genera are the great albatrosses (Diomedea), the mollymawks (Thalassarche), the North Pacific albatrosses (Phoebastria), and the sooty albatrosses or sooties (Phoebetria).
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gooney+bird
gooney bird
any
of several albatrosses, especially the black-footed albatross and the
Laysan albatross, occurring on islands in the Pacific Ocean, often near
naval bases.
-
That
doesn't surprise me, really. The black-footed albatross, in particular,
is pretty well known for its lack of ground-based coordination and
grace, and has long been called a gooney (goony and goonie are also also
acceptable) bird as a result.
...
-
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol017of055/vol017of055_097_1.jpg
I'm
not sure if I should be saddened by something logged in the 4am-8am
comment or thoroughly impressed. All in all a lot of animal mentions for
this day, but harpooning a porpoise in the early hours of the morning,
certainly isn't easy, but given their location, I can't help but wonder
how many of the animals seen by our crew have now gone extinct...
strangely sobering thought this early in the morning.
-
jd570b passes the 6000 mark!
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HatterJack passes the 3000 mark!
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http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol017of055/vol017of055_141_1.jpg
Sometimes
I wonder how the Albatross crew ever got any of their work done. I grew
up sailing in and out of the San Francisco bay (and Fiddler's Bay on
Coronado in San Diego), and I have no idea how anyone could manage to
get an anchor so fouled that it has to be dropped into the bay. There's
just nothing really down there to get hung up on.
-
I suspect that you did your sailing about 100 years later? :-\
-
Give or take a few years, yes. There's a bunch of junk along the
seabed now; bits of the few ships that have broken up in the bay over
the years (surprisingly few, considering how busy it's been
historically, and for how long it's been an active port). There are some
rocks, but these were well known, even back then (wreck reports for all
but 1 of the 9 ships lost in the general area of the SF Bay had the
rock formations named when there were rocks involved). There's a rock
pile near the Golden Gate that's kind of like a reef, but it's close
enough to the surface that it's hard to not see it unless it's dead calm
(which actually caused a wreck in 1901), so it's hard to imagine that
Tanner would have anchored anywhere near it.
All that aside,
though, it could have been a looser rock that they dislodged from the
mud, and got carried out to sea as the tide went out. Stranger things
have certainly happened.
I don't really have time to do it now,
but this has inspired a new post to the blog, about the 9 ships that
were lost. Some of the stories are pretty spectacular (looking at you SS
City of Chester).
-
It sounds interesting indeed. Between ordinary usage and
strong storms, I have to believe that the floor of the Bay has changed
significantly of a century - not to mention the massive change to the
shore line as the bay was filled in and the debris of the 1906
earthquake added. It only takes one strange object in the
right/wrong place to create a problem. :)
(Instinct says
this - after the 1871 Great Fire, the same thing happened in Chicago
when the fire debris was pushed into the lake. Modern-day Michigan
Avenue is a straight line approximation of the original shoreline.)
http://sfwater.org/index.aspx?page=625
(http://sfwater.org/modules/showimage.aspx?imageid=1746)
(http://sfwater.org/modules/showimage.aspx?imageid=1748)
-
I knew they filled in a lot of new coastline, but I never really
thought about just how far they pushed the coastline out into the bay.
It certainly does appear to be a lot more navigable now than it was in
1883, and 1915, without all the wrecks buried in the middle of the bay. I
wish they had marked their position in the bay... would be interesting
to know which wreck she fouled on. I was going to do my blog post about
City of Chester, but given the time of the fouling, I wonder if it might
not have been Caroline Amelia.
It's hard to say with any
certainty, given that it's estimated that nearly 150 ships have been
lost along the Bay Area coastline, although only 9 went down within the
boundaries of the Bay itself (and if I recall correctly, not all of the
~150 ships that went down near San Francisco were identified, although I
seem to remember that most of them have been in the years afterward).
-
I gets interesting when the very geography of a region is greatly changed. An interesting history indeed. :)
-
Zovacor
Welcome to the top 12 !
-
HatterJack passes the 4000 mark!
-
Here is a photo of the Albatross from the Library of Congress,
recently digitized by Robert Hanshew, Nat'l Museum of the US Navy.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127906254@N06/21173744410/in/album-72157658065235699/
-
Thanks!
-
Oh my, until now I'd only ever seen her with her hull painted white, and I think I much prefer this Albatross.
-
Its a black footed albatross! :)
Must be an early picture of the ship. Before the US ships became the white fleet.
-
I was planning on posting this on the anniversary of his passing,
but then I realized I won't be near a computer on that day.
So...
I was looking through the logs of late September 1888, admiring the
handwriting of Lieutenant Commander Tanner and Ensign Parmenter (and
cringing at the rest of the officers' signatures) so I took some
initiative and dug into the history of our Ensign Henry Earl
Parmenter.
I wasn't able to come up with much in the way of his
actual career in the Navy, although his grave site at Arlington National
Cemetery does list his rank as Commander, so he definitely continued to
move up the ranks after his contributions to the voyages of Albatross.
His personal life, however, I was able to find more information about, and find to be rather fascinating.
Ensign
Parmenter was born in Rhode Island on 10 April, 1861. He would grow up
to become a Navy man (obviously), and eventually marry one Grace Lee
Taylor, a niece of Rear Admiral John Irwin (Commander of both the
Asiatic and Pacific Squadrons, and great-great step-grandson of Benjamin
Franklin through his stepmother). So far, pretty tame stuff, but this
is where it really gets fascinating (to me at least)
In 1901,
Grace was found to have fallen or jumped from the window of their fourth
story apartment in Washington, D.C. She died an hour later. All of this
was after being treated for melancholia (or what would be diagnosed
today as clinical depression). As the granddaughter of a US Congressman,
this would have no doubt been pretty controversial for the time.
This
marriage also speaks to Parmenter's station in life, as the post-war
New England replaced its antebellum slave trade and racism with
classism. Henry would not have been allowed to marry Grace, with her
pedigree, unless he was equally established on his own merit (or
descended from reputable stock).
Regardless, after Grace's fall
(or suicide leap, as the coroner's report claims it was suicide, but
police interviews with friends and neighbors claim her death to be
accidental), Henry appears to have focused on his career while mourning
the loss of his wife, although he did remarry some time between 1910 and
1920 (it's unclear which, as there was no marriage license issued) in
California. His second wife being Helen Frances Bartlett.
Henry
eventually passed away on 29 September, 1941. His grave marker is
located in the West section of Site 519 at Arlington National Cemetery,
where he was buried beside both Grace and Helen (who lived until 1959).
He had no siblings, and no children, thus ending his direct lineage
(which is likely part of the reason why any information about the man is
so scarce).
(http://image2.findagrave.com/photos/2011/182/49348055_130966251547.jpg)
Helen's inscription on the monument is on the northwest side of it, facing the street, so it's not visible in this picture.
-
Not very helpful, but he is in this list:
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AMH/USN/Naval_Registers/1921.pdf -
number 48 on page 264.
I suspect that you already know about this
one:
http://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/organization-and-administration/historical-leadership/navy-and-marine-corps-officers-1775-1900/navy-officers-1798-1900-p.html
-
Seems he skipped a couple ranks. He must have been a fine sailor,
beyond the penmanship. I'm a bit curious as to what other vessels he
served on, and how he ended up not actually receiving a command of his
own, despite the rank. It's possible he just rode out his career aboard
Albatross, given that she was active until 1921, and he had retired by
then. Still would be great to pick a sailor and just kind of go with it.
As
an aside, I found a record of a guy named Charles Goldstein who was in
possession of a box of photographs and other stuff that belonged to
Henry and Helen, but it was dated 2002. I wonder what happened to that
box.
-
I'm
a bit curious as to what other vessels he served on, and how he ended
up not actually receiving a command of his own, despite the rank.
I
googled "Parmenter, Henry ships served on" and got stuff - there are
reports to congress every year of which officers are serving on which
ships. Some are digitized on Google Books just titled
"Congressional Serial Set" which is truly not helpful.
This news article says in 1902 he was in command of the the navy's only prison ship of all things.
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2249&dat=19020411&id=oqM-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=XloMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3934,1491862&hl=en
He was on Gunboat Wheeling, second in command, in 1903. And the following says he was retired by 1907.
His marriage to Helen is recorded in San Francisco County Courthouse.
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XLCG-63Y
Also, Army-Navy-Air Force Register and Defense Times, Volume 41 listed a death:
(http://s6.postimg.org/4rwpnyhrl/Parmenter_junior.jpg)
and this link says a sister before him also died in childhood.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=104580398
Not an easy life.
-
Seems he skipped a couple ranks.
The
confusion is because
http://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/organization-and-administration/historical-leadership/navy-and-marine-corps-officers-1775-1900/navy-officers-1798-1900-p.html
only goes to 1900.
After that you need
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AMH/USN/Naval_Registers/. I used that
but I only looked at 1921. 1900-1920 and 1922 on are available if you
are curious - and patient.
;D
If I am reading the 1921 entry correctly, he retired 30 June 1906.
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AMH/USN/Naval_Registers/1906.pdf
p 20 (#85) Lieut Commander - Navy-yard, Boston
p 172 on active list
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AMH/USN/Naval_Registers/1907.pdf
p 148 Retired list - Commander - Navy-yard, Boston
p 178 He seems to have retired as Lieut Commander :-\
-
I believe from novels, it may be a custom to promote with retirement
if they wish to offer honor and help, in order to be given higher
retirement pay. I think.
-
I have that impression too, but I also can't give any source ;)
-
I'm a bit curious as to what other vessels he served on
Thetis has an Ensign H.E. Parmenter who joined Nov 19th 1891 from USS Mohican
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/USS%20Thetis/vol013of024/vol013_004_0.jpg
and was detached July 9th 1892 and ordered home
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/USS%20Thetis/vol014of024/vol014_004_1.jpg
-
Henry was an Ensign at that point in time...
-
Given that the Navy at the time was fond of single year enlistments,
that would make sense. It would put him aboard Albatross in 1888, then
Mohican in either '89 or '90, before shipping to Thetis in '91. With the
additional finding that he retired in 1906 attached to the Boston Navy
Yard, I wouldn't be surprised if he served the 15 years between Thetis
and his retirement dockside. At a minimum, it would have been at least
the last 5 years, as he was in Washington DC when his first wife passed
away (although apparently he wasn't at home when she fell/leapt).
-
Zovacor passes the 2000 mark!
-
Escape from Al
catrazbatross!
15th November 1888 Union Iron Works, San Francisco
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol018of055/vol018of055_144_1.jpg
F.Smith (C.H) escaped confinement during the night, the lock on the Brig having been forced.
Frankie may still be at large.
-
Maybe that just makes the navy's jog easier -
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol018of055/vol018of055_142_1.jpg
says
he was confined for safe keeping "until he can be claimed as a
deserter." So he chose to desert!! Makes sense to me.
::)
-
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol018of055/vol018of055_159_1.jpg
8am
to Meridian: JJ Downs released from confinement... then placed right
back in confinement... I know being a Coal Heaver would have been
backbreaking, horrible work, but you'd think a man could go four hours
without getting tossed back into the brig.
-
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol018of055/vol018of055_174_0.jpg
Missing all the a.m Clear sky readings (should all be 0). Last 3 pm barometer readings should be 30.30 not 30.00
Transcribed as in log.
-
Somehow, I seriously doubt the 4PM temperature on this log
(http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol018of055/vol018of055_176_0.jpg).
I grew up in the bay area and have a really hard time believing that
- 1) the temperature jumped 17 degrees in an hour,
- B)
That it ever got up to 77 degrees in December (after some research, the
hottest it's ever been in San Francisco in December was 76 degrees in
1958),
- III) that 10 degree difference between the wet and dry bulbs is a bit suspect,
- and
Blue) Fun fact, it's only ever been below freezing in San Francisco a
total of 10 times, ever. (I found this out while doing the
aforementioned research)
Also, my apologies for the oddball
numbering of the bullet points... I get a little goofy after a third
energy drink (it's been a long night)
edit: The next day
(http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol018of055/vol018of055_177_0.jpg)
has similar massive jumps followed by a 17 degree drop over the course
of an hour. I'm not sure if the log keeper is mixing up pruno somewhere
below decks, or if we've got some faulty thermometers aboard ship.
-
Link to a post about one of our crewmen being rather bad at performing his duty.
http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=4426.msg116278#msg116278
-
What are the chances that where the ship is moored it is letting
direct sun coming thru a window to bake the thermometer for 50 minutes
before that hourly read? A narrow sunbeam that moves away quickly?
-
That sounds quite plausible - especially since it repeats!
-
Odds are, given the time, that it's entirely possible that it's
related to being heated by the sun, although it's strange that it only
seems to have occurred on those two days. That said... it's hard to
really have a definite answer, because Albatross was listed as being at
anchor in the bay, rather than moored at a dock somewhere, but there are
no mentions on the events page of the ship swinging with the tide so
there *is* a chance that they could have been bearing southeast by east,
so that only one of the thermometers in the psychrometer would be
exposed to direct sunlight at the time. I bring that up, by the bye,
because my understanding is that the meteorological instruments were
mounted in the after deck of the wheelhouse rather than actually *in*
the wheelhouse.
All of that aside... I did the math (probably
incorrectly, I'm not a math guy) and if I'm calculating it correctly,
it's basically saying rather simply that there's a relative humidity of
~65% (a little less, but for simplicity's sake), which is actually
pretty accurate for San Francisco in the December, so *apparently* I
jumped the gun on that one. Or I should just stick to history and leave
the meteorology to meteorologists.
-
Mounted on the side of the boiler?
-
They are
anchored off foot of Washington St in 12 fathoms water with 30 fathoms on starboard chain. on 12/12/1888
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol018of055/vol018of055_171_1.jpg
-
Just started what I think is the last logbook- Jan 1, 1889 to June 30, 1889.
-
That you are finishing that voyage is good - we are breaking up the
long service voyages of ships into bits of 10 years or less, so we can
feel success and send finished chunks of data to Philip faster.
This one will be done very soon.
Next is Albatross (1890) and
after that Albatross (1900). The years between 1910ish and 1921
are coming later I think, maybe.
http://naval-history.net/OW-US/Albatross/USFCS_Albatross.htm
-
Kevin, looking at a picture of Albatross as she was at the time,
they'd have been mounted on the outside of the wheelhouse aft wall,
between the wheelhouse and the smokestack, putting it a bit fore of the
boiler.
Edit: the wheelhouse, in the pictures I've seen of her,
was directly aft of the foremast, about ten yards fore of the stack,
which was nearly on the beam (it may have actually been directly on the
beam, but all the pictures I've seen of her are angled slightly and make
it appear that the stack is close to, but a bit abaft the beam.
-
I came across something similar when sat in Sausalito in the logs
from 1901 - every day like clockwork, the temperature would shoot up
between 10am and midday, before dropping to more believable
temperatures. I put that one down to sunlight as well.
AI think
we can say fairly definitely that the instruments weren't inside, or at
least in the same room as the barometer, given the incident with the
barometer being unreadable due to wet paint, whilst the other
instruments were still accessible! I also have a vague recollection of
an entry about the instruments being moved to allow the wall to be
painted, but I can't remember any details.
-
Just started what I think is the last logbook- Jan 1, 1889 to June 30, 1889.
Actually, that's the second to last logbook. The very last one is July 1st - December 31st 1889.
Sorry
to disappoint you, but you're VERY close, and this is the third stream -
so once it's done, the whole ship is done. Keep it up!
-
April 12th 1889 San Bartolome Bay (aka Turtle Bay)
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol019of055/vol019of055_110_1.jpg
Brought 42 turtles on board from yesterday's seining.
-
It seems our newest log keeper is a bit lazy
(http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol019of055/vol019of055_140_0.jpg).
As a skipper, I get it, writing log entries isn't the most exciting
thing you can do aboard, but it takes more pen strokes to scribble a
ditto than to just write down the number "0".
-
I'm not quite sure where on the page you are referring to, but in
older logs I have seen a lot of zeros that looked like dittos. I have
also seen sixes that looked like an l followed by an i without a dot...
See: http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=3534.msg58942#msg58942
-
There's a few spots where, when it's zoomed in on the page, there's
gaps in the top and bottom of the zero. At it's native size it does look
a lot more like a zero than a ditto, but when it's zoomed in it looks
more like a ditto than a zero. Kind of quirky, although it does speak to
being in a hurry to write it down (as opposed to trying to write in
rough seas and nasty weather).
Addendum: On my next trip out,
whenever that is, I think I'll amuse myself by keeping a log more
similar to these ones in addition to my usual logbooks and see if I end
up suffering similar handwriting quirks.
-
I wonder if it is simply the style (double down stroke) - like the "p" for a double s also in my example-link above :-\
-
There's a few spots where, when it's zoomed in on the page, there's gaps in the top and bottom of the zero.
This
style is common in the Jamestown 1844 logs. I've always attributed it
to being easier to make a pair of down stroke arcs with the old style
pen nibs, versus pushing it upwards to complete the circle. You've got
both styles here, though, even on the same line.
-
Well... after doing a little bit of research on the double s thing,
I'm wondering if that's not just the last vestiges of the old "long s"
that fell out of favor right around the time that our crew here would
have been first learning their letters. They're most certainly not using
it correctly if that's the case, but after looking at so many examples
of it being used in the positions where a long s would have been taught,
perhaps they forgot exactly how it was intended to be used.
Honestly,
I'm just glad we're dealing with English logs, and not German ones...
modern Germans handwriting can get pretty atrocious when eszetts get
involved. I'm not really sure why they got to have an actual letter for
it whereas we used the concept of an eszett, but instead of wrapping the
long s over the top of the minuscule s we just kind of jumbled them
next to each other leading to an abomination of handwriting that gave
rise to the rather hilarious "Greenfleaves" or my personal favorite, "In
the perfuit of happinefs".
Aaaaand now I'm actually boring myself so I'm going to cram some chips in my face and think about what I've done.
-
And to Bob: I hadn't even thought about that. I'm too spoiled with
my fancy ball points and whatnot. Maybe I should bring a fountain pen
along with my logbook.
That's probably exactly what's going on.
-
Honestly,
I'm just glad we're dealing with English logs, and not German ones...
modern Germans handwriting can get pretty atrocious when eszetts get
involved. I'm not really sure why they got to have an actual letter for
it whereas we used the concept of an eszett, but instead of wrapping the
long s over the top of the minuscule s we just kind of jumbled them
next to each other leading to an abomination of handwriting that gave
rise to the rather hilarious "Greenfleaves" or my personal favorite, "In
the perfuit of happinefs".
Are you talking about this (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwabacher)?
From
what I've seen, modern German handwriting depends on the person. Some
are very good at writing clearly and neatly, some are not.
But Schwabacher is terrible, as are some other old German fonts.
The
small s looking like small f is well known to me - in fact, I don't buy
used books that use such fonts, because it's just so hard to deal with.
-
He's talking about this (http://s1.postimg.org/qt7fz094b/Eszett.png) for a double 'ss'.
The
last time I saw fraktur was some time ago when we were going thru my
grandparents papers after their deaths. They still had their
baptism certificates, printed out in fraktur calligraphy fit to be
framed and hung on the wall. I swear, the only words I could read
on those papers were the hand lettered names and dates of baptism.
Those were fraktur also, but at least decipherable.
-
jd570b passes the 7000 mark!
-
HatterJack passes the 5000 mark!
-
Zovacor passes the 4000 mark!
-
Hurlock passes the 2000 mark!
-
kimma001 (Bob)
Welcome to the top 12 !
-
Five people working on one stream? Wow!
-
I was only trying to break into Top 12, it's 'just' four now. ;)
-
Just 6 1/2 months to go with this voyage. I think I'll stick around
with these ships to allow time for the bugs to be worked out in OW
Whaling.
-
A bunch of us need to spend time over there or we won't know what
problems to report and therefore the devs won't know what problems need
fixing. Nor will we know when to thank them for fixing
stuff. My hope is that we will continue to visit there and do a
bit every so often before coming back home.
-
I've been working on this ship for a few days now, so I'll post some logs I found interesting.
This
first one is from May 29 1889. Towards the bottom, it looks like it
says "Enlisted M Lynch (1CF) for one year." I think I got the rating
right, but I'm not positive.
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol019of055/vol019of055_157_1.jpg
This
second one is from June 2 1889. Sometime between 8 AM and 12 PM, J
Binney (can't make out his rating) was released from confinement. I
wonder what he did?
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol019of055/vol019of055_161_1.jpg
June
3 1889 must have been a cleaning day, because they had to scrub their
hammocks.
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol019of055/vol019of055_162_1.jpg
There
were a few other old logs I transcribed that were interesting to me,
but I guess they were more than 10 logs ago. I remember one mentioned
someone being placed on bread and water, and another mentioned a
Senatorial party. I just remembered one more, that mentioned they
lowered the colors to half-staff because a funeral party passed by. I
wish I could get access to those logs.
-
M Lynch is probably a First-class Fireman:
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol019of055/vol019of055_004_0.jpg
I read J Binney as C.H. - Coal Heaver
According
to
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol019of055/vol019of055_155_1.jpg
it was for disobedience of orders.
If you want to look at other
log pages, see: How to look at log pages before and after the one you
are working on
(http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=3489.msg62863#msg62863).
That is how I discovered why J Binney was being punished.
To look at
log pages that you have transcribed, in the transcribing interface click
on your name at the top right and select "My pages" from the list. Then
click on View logs for the ship.
-
When I was first transcribing the log, I kept staring at M Lynch's
rating and just couldn't figure it out. Now I looked at it and it looked
so much clearer. It's interesting how much easier it can be to read
something when you have a clear mind. Now that you mention it, I agree
it looks like J Binney's rating is CH. It's funny that you posted that
last log, because that is one of the ones I transcribed that I could no
longer find.
-
If you transcribed it, it will be in My Pages ;)
Sorry,
I updated my previous post just after you posted your comment. Take
another look at:
http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=3903.msg118163#msg118163 ;)
-
I hadn't noticed that tab before. Thanks for pointing it out.
-
Looks like July 1 1889 was a good day for N. B. Miller. He was
appointed as an Assistant in Laboratory by Col. Marshall McDonald. It
also says Y. Mi~ and M. Essova(?) were shipped for one year. Note that
the question mark is only for this post, I didn't transcribe it.
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol020of055/vol020of055_006_1.jpg
-
Give it your best guess when presented with names for the first
time. These science ships tend to have Navy officers (do NOT trust
scientists to know how to sail or navigate!), scientists keeping their
own field logs on what they are finding and samples of what they are
dredging up (in the Smithsonian now) and civilian mariners for crew -
which means there is no official register of their names outside of
these log books.
Names look to me like Y. Mezumma and M. Enova, but there are other possibilities.
-
Names are always hard, but some people (not me) have a remarkable talent for them.
The first might be Mezumura or Mizumura?
I think Janet is right with Enova on the second.
-
Names are always hard, but some people (not me) have a remarkable talent for them.
The first might be Mezumura or Mizumura?
I think Janet is right with Enova on the second.
I
copied the image, and really enlarged it in another viewer. It
definitely looks like Enova on the second one, and most likely Mezumura
on the first. (I notice that the log writer is good about dotting his is and there is no dot over Mezumura. And his r looks like the one in light airs.
-
As you can see, lots of people are willing to help!
-
Here's yet another example of crew disobedience. On July 2 1889, W.
Stilwell was absent from the ship without permission. I wonder if he
will return?
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol020of055/vol020of055_007_1.jpg
As an aside, I'll go back and change the names to Enova and Mezumura. Those seem like they might be the best guesses.
-
It looks like on July 4 1889 between 4 and 8 PM the crew got a visit
from a captain. I can't make out the first name (Ron? Ken?), but the
last name appears to be Pilot.
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol020of055/vol020of055_009_1.jpg
-
I checked both the list of Navy and Coast Guard (Revenue Cutter
Service) and there are no 19th century officers of any grade named
"Pilot". (See our Helpful Links to Outside Information
(http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=1054.0) in the Library
Reference Desk, in its 'Officers and Personnel' section for resources of
historic officers.)
But, at 4pm there is a notation on the
weather page "standing in for anchorage". It is possible they took
on board the pilot for the Ca~t Run entering Port Townsend.
Modern NOAA chart for PT is at
http://www.nauticalchartsonline.com/chart/zoom?chart=18464 - they do not
seem to have an older chart among their historical collection.
-
Thanks for trying to help figure this out. There's so many different
links, it's hard to keep track of them. I guess this Mr. Pilot is one
mystery we just won't be able to solve.
-
It
looks like on July 4 1889 between 4 and 8 PM the crew got a visit from a
captain. I can't make out the first name (Ron? Ken?), but the last name
appears to be Pilot.
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol020of055/vol020of055_009_1.jpg
I think it might be Capt. Keen Pilot.
As a long shot it might be Captain James W Keene an Alaskan pioneer
-
Hurlock, I think you got it. http://www.explorenorth.com/library/yafeatures/bl-Keene.htm
...
from
1869 to 1879 was in the employ of the Government, five years of that
period having been spent on the revenue cutter Lincoln.
...
He afterward served as master or pilot on the steamers ...
Since
1889 he has made frequent trips to Alaska in the government service,
his last employment having been with the Richard Rush, on which he was
stationed in Bering Sea during the season of 1894.
He was a qualified ship's captain and pilot in government employ.
-
I guess I'll go with Capt Keen Pilot. I'm amazed at how all of you
can figure these names out. And not only that, but you can find so much
information about some of these people.
-
We all had trouble in the beginning.
I asked lots of questions!
As people answered my questions I learned where the information is in
the forum and accumulated my own list of information sources.
The Reference topic for Albatross (http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=3901.0) includes a basic list of sources ;)
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And having ocd helps ;D :P
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;D
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And having ocd helps ;D :P
Or, in my case, just being plain crazy.
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That's MY excuse! ;D
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July 4 must have been a party day for the crew, because one crew
member was drunk, and another was absent from the ship on July 5.
Sometime between 4 and 8 AM,
Placed J Douglas (CH) in confinement for safe keeping, he being drunk and disorderly by order of the Commanding Officer
Then at 12:15 pm, one of the crew members was brought back on board the ship. John Dunn (2.CF) brought on board at 12:15 by a Police Officer.
In addition, another crew member never returned from liberty. Peter Dow (CH) absent from the ship not having returned from liberty
I wonder if I will get to find out if Peter Dow ever makes it back to the ship?
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol020of055/vol020of055_010_1.jpg
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By the way, in your troublesome crew you might run across people
being reduced one class. That is generally Conduct Classes
(http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=4198.msg102526#msg102526).
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I haven't come across those terms yet, but thanks for the heads-up.
July
7 1889 seems to have been another interesting day. At 9:00 AM, a number
of important visitors boarded the ship. They were mostly Senators. The
record-keeper seemed to have a tough time with spelling today, because
there seem to be a number of errors in this log (unless I'm having a
tough time with reading) 8
A.M. to Meridian Clear and pleasant. Calm to light breeeze from NW. At
10:00 got underway and stood out of harbor and northward through Puget
Sound. Put over log at 10:30 reading 40.1 Steam 70. Rev 72. Log at noon
54.4. The following passengers ^came aboard at 9:00 Senator H. L. Daws,
Mrs. H. L. Daws, Senator J. K. Jones, Mrs. J. K. Jones, Senator C. F.
Manderson, Mrs. C. F. Manderson, Senator F. M. Stockbridge, W. P.
Canaday, Sergent at Arms US. Senate. W. M. Olin Clerk of Committe on
Indian affairs of US. Senate, J. H. Marshalt, Messenger, A. Smith Supt.
Dockument Room US. Senate, N. Packer, Servant, and Capt. P. H. Ray U.S.
Army.
Looks like Peter Dow hasn't made it back to the ship, because he was declared a deserter, along with W. F. Stilwell. Declared W. F. Stilwell (1CF) and Peter Dow (CH) deserters from this date
It looks like Stilwell was missing since July 2, and Dow was missing since July 5. I wonder if they will ever return?
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol020of055/vol020of055_012_1.jpg
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At this point in time, the US Navy had big problems with deserting
sailors. As a Fish Commission science ship, the crew are
apparently representative.
http://www.historynet.com/the-u-s-navys-sea-change.htm
Between
1900 and 1908, the U.S. Navy lost an average of slightly more than 15
percent of its enlisted force each year to desertion.
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Wow, that is quite an impressive desertion rate. It's amazing how
much I am learning by transcribing these logs. I'm actually starting to
get attached to the crew, also. I love seeing what is happening to them,
who is getting drunk, and who is deserting.
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I know. The ships and and crews become real and are "ours". Welcome to OW addiction. :)
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And this is precisely the reason why a smart captain keeps a stock
of booze on hand to provide a ration for the crew. An occasional swallow
of rotgut keeps crews on an even enough keel that they don't feel the
need to get blind drunk whenever they go ashore...
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol020of055/vol020of055_020_1.jpg
At
3:30 Marine Guard brought aboard W. Douglas (C Hr) and J. Dunn (2nd
C.T.) they being drunk and disorderly. At 3:45 J. Binney came aboard
drunk. By order of Commanding Officer placed W Douglas, J Dunn, and J
Binney in confinement in single irons for safe keeping.
I
find it hard to believe that Commander Tanner was a teetotaler, but he
appears to have had little tolerance for drunkenness even if the ship
was in dry dock. I get this feeling that the old man was equal parts
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, Lord Nelson, and George Carlin... except with
both hands, and far more flamboyant facial hair. He would almost have to
be this maritime Frankenstein, as sailors of the day (who am I kidding,
we're still every bit as bad as ever) were notorious for jumping ship
at every opportunity unless there's something that needs to be shelled
into oblivion within range of the guns.
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They weren't in confinement very long. The next day (July 16 1889) all 3 were released.
8
A.M. to Meridian. Overcast with rain. Calm and light variable airs. By
order of Comd'g Officer released John Dunn (2.C.F) W. Douglas ^(CH) and
John Binney
(CH) from confinement. Senatorial Party visited Indian Village.
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol020of055/vol020of055_021_1.jpg
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http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol020of055/vol020of055_039_1.jpg
If
memory serves, this is a day off the mark, but all these references to
it being smoky may be regarding the Spokane Fire of 1889. If it's not
the Spokane Fire, I wonder if there was a wildfire burning somewhere
around Garibaldi that I can't find records of.
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I don't it was Spokane.
First, the fire started at 18:00 pm on August 4th, but this is August 3rd.
Second,
Spokane is about 500 km away from Departure Bay, British Columbia - so
it would take something like a volcanic eruption for the smoke to go
THAT far!
Therefore, my guess would be some obscure wildfire that ain't recorded anywhere that we know of.
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Therefore, my guess would be some obscure wildfire that ain't recorded anywhere that we know of.
Yeah,
I doubt people will have much luck in pinning smoke reports down to any
specific fire - BC has about 1100 natural wildfires per year, e.g.
2014: http://bcwildfire.ca/History/FireAtlas/?year=2014&type=L
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10 August 1889
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol020of055/vol020of055_046_1.jpg
A near collision in the fog?
At 12.30 heard Cape Flattery fog whistle bearing NE 1/2 E (mag)
At 1.00 sighted Duncan Rk. bearing ENE (mag) distant 3/10 miles log 21.0. Stopped and backed engines.
Can you really get a bearing on a whistle?
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I could believe NE, but that 1/2 E seems a bit much :-\
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http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol020of055/vol020of055_039_1.jpg
If
memory serves, this is a day off the mark, but all these references to
it being smoky may be regarding the Spokane Fire of 1889. If it's not
the Spokane Fire, I wonder if there was a wildfire burning somewhere
around Garibaldi that I can't find records of.
There
are regular mentions of it being smoky in the logs for weeks
afterward. They seem to have seasons of forest fires in this
region. I am also transcribing Albatross 1890 which is
experiencing a similar thing in this area in October 1895.
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http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol020of055/vol020of055_086_1.jpg
Placed
JW Douglas (CH'r) prisoner at large in confinement in double irons by
order of commanding officer for committing an assault with a deadly
weapon.
Oddly enough, I went through a couple weeks worth of the
"Daily Morning Astorian" which was the local paper at the time, and find
no mention of an attack by a crewman. In fact, the only mention of the
Albatross at all is from their arrival, in a fluffy piece of propaganda.
Given that the paper seems to have been used as a recruiting tool for
the Navy (multiple articles on various days going on about the
luxuriousness of the accommodations aboard ship), I'm not really
surprised, but I still find it odd that in a small port town like
Astoria that something like this wouldn't have been front page news (or
rather third page news, since the front page was advertisements, and the
second page was for national and international news).
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25th October 1889 Mare Island Navy Yard
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol020of055/vol020of055_122_1.jpg
Transferred James W.Douglas (C.Hr) to the prison at Marine Barracks for safe keeping
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safe keeping - sounds like a very precious item. Presumably he's been a very bad boy... ;) ;) :D
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The progress bar has hit 100% - but we all know that really means 99.5%. The last day is Dec 31st 1889.
Keep it up, people! The end is in sight!
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I just did October 31, two months to go!
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21st November 1889
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol020of055/vol020of055_149_1.jpg
By
order of Comd'g Officer released from confinement John Dunn (2CF) and
discharged him from the Naval Service by reason of drunkeness
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27th November 1889
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol020of055/vol020of055_155_1.jpg
J.W.Parker
(oil) alias Wm Padgett (1CF) was received on board from the U.S.R.S.
Independence, as a deserter from this vessel and he was confined in
double irons by order Comd'g Officer. By authority of Commodore
A.E.K. Benham, Commandant, J.W.Parker (oil) alias Wm Padgett (1CF) was
transferred to the Marine Barracks for safe keeping, to await trial by
Court Martial.
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I hope you are not going to pick up any bad habits from doing this ship!
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I don't think he will - Stuart and Michael P. have been through way more on the Concord, and they're both doing fine!
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Seems like more than one of us is working on it (December 22, last
page I did) so I will bow out and let it roll into the new year!
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That's me, I thought you were done for the day.
Seems
like more than one of us is working on it (December 22, last page I
did) so I will bow out and let it roll into the new year!
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December 23, 1889
Mare Island Navy Yard
4 to 8 P.M.
About
7.05 the collecting boat was swamped while making a passage from the
ship to Vallejo and the following men were drowned: R.S. Padgett (Mach)
J. Enright (Sea) W.W. Lee (Sea) and Phillipi, a citizen newspaper
peddler. The survivors were picked up by the whale boat of the U.S.S.
Thetis. The collecting boat was picked up and towed ashore by a boat
from Vallejo.
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol020of055/vol020of055_181_1.jpg
(http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/Albatross/vol020of055/vol020of055_181_1.jpg)
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This write-up in the
San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, California) 25 Dec 1889, Wed - Page 6
gives more detail on the events and the people.
(https://img0.newspapers.com/img/img?id=27592962&width=557&height=3678&crop=1019_2898_622_4183&rotation=0&brightness=0&contrast=0&invert=0&ts=1446521151&h=83f2a22e9a066f5c9890a5df79e88051)
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Great find, Janet!
Here is the entry from Thetis's log: http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/final/USS%20Thetis/vol009of024/vol009_153_1.jpg
(about halfway the 8am-midnight entry starting "At 7.10")
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Yay! So I tried to transcribe a log and it jumped me over to the
Yorktown. Looks like its truly finished. Good job everyone.
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True - I tried and no newbie has access to transcribing that voyage.
Albatross 1884 is COMPLETE!!
(https://breaaire.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/confetti_canon.gif)
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Hooray! Another victory for us!
Great job, 3rd stream team - you really picked up speed towards the end there!
P.S. Will someone please ask the PTB to manually set it to Complete?
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Congrats to all the crew!!
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P.S. Will someone please ask the PTB to manually set it to Complete?
Done - but they are on Chicago time. Have patience, Hanibal. :)
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So the British team does not have the power to do this? That's a pity.
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Both Oxford and Adler have the power to do it all - but only half
the manpower and time to do it in. This kind of necessary clerical
work goes solely to our project manager, who happens to be part of the
Adler team. It avoids inefficient interruptions to other work
while we explain our explicit needs to a stranger.
I was serious
when I said to have patience so the right people can do their job well,
Hanibal. It makes life easier for everyone. 8)
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And it's done - she's now VAL. Thanks project manager!
I've
already done all the clerical work here - Dockyard indexes updated, my
guestimations and the program that makes them updated, OW's Wiki page
updated, and the usual glass of victory grog passed round to all the
crew. Very nice!
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A unexpectedly tragic end to the logs with those drownings. It
does not get a mention in other literature I have read on the
Albatross.
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well said Hurlock - very very sad :'(
Well done the 1884 Albatross team! ;D