Kearsarge (1880): links, questions, comments, coordination, ...

[bohara]

Thanks, Randi. I'm never sure what to post to this thread so I tend not to post too much, but I think that other transcribers might enjoy reading about some of the less common, interesting, everyday things that happened onboard these ships.

[bohara]

A bad day on the Kearsarge, from the log book for November 22, 1880 (some paperwork will need to be filled out):

"Steam launch which was towing astern, swamped and sank. Sent 3 boats who picked up the crew with the exception of John Peters (cox.) [coxswain]. Came to anchor in 5 fathoms water."

[pommystuart]

Thanks, Randi. I'm never sure what to post to this thread so I tend not to post too much, but I think that other transcribers might enjoy reading about some of the less common, interesting, everyday things that happened onboard these ships.

Thanks, bohara, we do indeed look forward to interesting posts.
I worked for quite a while on the Kearsarge before moving onto a vessel that for a few weeks came to Australia where i live.
Michael and I know a lot about the Kearsarge.

[bohara]

Sad news about John Peters who was not rescued when the steam launch sank on Nov. 22:

$21.95 Proceeds of sale of effects of John Peters, cox. [coxswain] drowned 22 inst [instant - 22nd of current month].

[Michael]

[Randi]

Sad news about John Peters who was not rescued when the steam launch sank on Nov. 22:

$21.95 Proceeds of sale of effects of John Peters, cox. [coxswain] drowned 22 inst [instant - 22nd of current month].

From the OWpedia:

Auction of Personal Effects - "Sale of effects - started at least in the 18th century, and finished, I don't know when - during or after World War 2? When someone died or was killed, their personal effects - clothes etc. were auctioned off and the proceeds sent to their next of kin. I believe that if the man was popular, his mates or oppo's (opposite number) would sometime pay ridiculous prices for ordinary items just to make sure, say his widow, received a good sum." Quote from I question I had asked navalhistory [elizabeth/Gordon]
[AND]
Whilst it may seem impersonal, it would have been much easier to ensure the money got back to the relatives rather than their effects. A lot more opportunity for things to go missing in transit. As Gordon has said, there is plenty of evidence that depending on their circumstances, prices became inflated to help reduce immediate hardship. There was also the thought that one day it might be their belongings being auctioned to help their own dependents. [Haywain]

[bohara]

[bohara]

In the log book for Thursday, December 2, 1880, the USS Kearsarge got underway with the USS Tennessee and headed south on the way to St. Thomas, W.I. (West Indies). The U.S. acquired St. Thomas (along with the islands of St. Croix and St. John) from Denmark in 1917 and they now constitute the U.S. Virgin Islands.

As ships move south along the U.S. east coast (as my ship, the USS Briscoe (DD-977), did many times) they pass across the North Wall of the Gulf Stream as the Gulf Stream starts its eastward progression across the Atlantic Ocean. The shape of Cape Hatteras has much to do with this eastward shunting of the Gulf Stream. The North Wall is a sharp temperature gradient which separates the colder water north of the Gulf Stream from the warmer waters south of it.

As the USS Kearsarge steamed south on December 2, 1880, can you determine at about what time they crossed the North Wall of the Gulf Stream?

(We'll need to look at the sea surface temperatures from the next day (December 3rd) to make sure they actually crossed the North Wall instead of this just being a warm eddy that was cut off and isolated in the colder water north of the Gulf Stream.)

Time Sea surface temp.

1700 55
1800 56
1900 57
2000 58
2100 53
2200 57
2300 60
2400 75

[Randi]

[Michael]

I've seen that many times when I process the XML files. My verification checks flag those big hourly changes in the water temperatures. When I calculate the ships' positions, my software also flags "errors" in the calculated speeds, which can be 2-21/2 knots higher than the patent logs show once they're in the main Gulf Stream current. That current moves a lot of heat from the south to the north.

[Randi]

[bohara]

Yes, Michael, the Gulf Stream does move a lot of heat. Europe is thankful for that.

The verification step did flag the large sea surface temperature increase, but that is what was entered in the log so I transcribed it. And I also had confidence in the entry since I had seen that difference in temp across the North Wall while on board ship. Interestingly, as a sonar technician in the late 1970s, we were responsible for dropping expendable bathythermographs (XBTs) every 12 hours or so while underway so I had memories of seeing that. Those working in other parts of the ship probably had no idea (or even any interest) in such a change in water temperature like that.

[bohara]

In the URL list on LibreOffice Calc for 1880 Kearsarge (Indexes 21 and 22) I do not see an additional index for December 13 through 31, 1880. If it becomes available I can transcribe those remaining dates in December 1880.

On the Transcription Status page for the Kearsarge it looks like all of 1881 is available so I will go ahead and start transcribing those 12 months. Michael, could you reserve USS Kearsarge, Jan. through Dec. 1881, for me?

Thanks,
Brian

[Michael]

It looks like I missed those days when I set up the URL_List page. I inserted a new line on that page for those last days in December 1880. So, you will need to have this version of the spreadsheet. The 13th of December will be Index 23 and Image 11.

I also Reserved 1881 for you.

I'm sorry I missed adding the line for those last days in December. Luckily, it doesn't happen very often, I think only once before.

You'll notice that the version number has increased from g to h. The changes are very minor, I allow baf for baffling wind directions. (Seen sometimes in logs pre-1865.) I also adjusted the checks for bad pressures slightly. Just update the configurable values on the Setup Sheet of the new version to match the ones on your current version.

[bohara]

Thanks, Michael!

[bohara]

I've finished transcribing 1880. I'll now start on January 1881 for the USS Kearsarge.

[Randi]

[Michael]

I'll start processing it right away...

[Michael]

The voyage for 1880 has been processed with many thanks to bohara for his brilliant work! You can see a plot of the voyage here and, for more detail, you an download the KML file and view it with Google Earth. There were a few mentions of people here.

These are the weather statistics for this voyage:

Weather Element	Records
DirT	8,767
Kts	8,722
Baro	8,760
Attd	8,760
Dry	8,760
Wet	8,736
Water	1,234
Weather	8,748
Clouds	8,739
Clear	8,689
Total	79,915

Kearsarge travelled a total of 8,185 miles.

[Randi]

Great work
B O'Hara and Michael !