path: root/electra-background.txt

# Training In Sailing Vessels Carries On

By Commander Francis E. Clark, U. S. Navy
[View
Issue](https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1955/october){.btn

Training in seamanship under sail for young men is not dead, but is
still very much alive! We are aware that the age of nuclear power has
arrived and may, in the not too distant future, replace steam, but how
many realize that sailing vessels, even in our own country, provide
basic training which certain people believe cannot be adequately
duplicated in full-powered ships?

It has been over forty years since the U. S. Navy has provided formal
training in square-rigged sailing vessels for midshipmen and recruit
seamen, and there are probably very few, if any, officers on active duty
today whose personal memories include going aloft and laying out on a
yardarm. We, in the Navy, have lost direct contact with the "old" days
of sail for so long that it may be somewhat of a surprise that sail
training is still firmly believed in and *supported* by many of the
maritime nations of the world. USCGC *Eagle* (fully pictured in the
[October, 1954,
*Proceedings*](https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1954/october/eagle-spreads-her-wings-pictorial))
is not by any means an isolated example; in this year of our Lord 1955,
there are at least *fifteen* square-riggers engaged in training, all
operational and seagoing. There are a dozen or so more whose present
status is not known, mainly because they belong to countries behind the
Iron Curtain, but which are possibly operational. By "square-riggers" is
meant vessels rigged as ships, barks, and barkentines; in addition there
are a number of small sail-craft in service, topsail schooners, ketches,
and so on. Most, of course, have auxiliary power.

Although World War II appreciably reduced the number of these craft, the
survivors are not merely dying relics of a past era. Interest in this
type of training is continuing and is reflected by the number of sailing
vessels which were refitted after wartime damage and by new
construction. Since World War II, at least five (and possibly quite a
few more) *new* sail training vessels have been completed---several
barkentines and schooners, and one brigantine. Furthermore, most of the
older ones are receiving excellent material upkeep, including extensive
refits when necessary.

This writer does not intend to enter the controversy as to whether sail
training (as opposed to training on a vessel with only mechanical means
of propulsion) is necessary or desirable. Suffice it to say that
numerous persons in positions of responsibility and authority do believe
in sail training. The subject has been well aired by many writers and by
men of experience for years. Some of the remarks concerning *Eagle* in
the [October, 1954,
*Proceedings*](https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1954/october/eagle-spreads-her-wings-pictorial)
contain the essential reasons in favor of sail training; another example
is an article in the [September, 1938,
*Proceedings*](https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1938/september/why-training-sail).
No advocate attempts to argue that sail training is required to teach
the midshipman or recruit professional subjects; in fact, it is admitted
that in many fields, engineering, for example, a "modern" training
vessel is preferable from a technical standpoint. The proponents of sail
training place their emphasis on the more intangible benefits of
character building induced by life under sail. These benefits are
considered so valuable that sail training is still supported, not only
by governments, but also by hard- headed businessmen. For example,
Norway today has three sail training vessels supported primarily, to the
best of my knowledge, by private funds (merchant shipowners, *etc*.);
yet the last commercial square- rigger under the Norwegian flag (the
bark *Peltr Ugland)* made its last voyage in 1929. Certainly these three
vessels are not maintained to teach young men the technical details of
handling a ship under sail.

It may also be noted, as will be seen below, that facilities for sail
training are being increased in certain countries, although dying out in
others. Our own United States is one example; at least the U. S. Coast
Guard cadets are receiving more extensive sail training in the *Eagle*
than they did aboard the pre-World War II *Alexander Hamilton.* Brazil
now has two large sailers instead of one. Indonesia, a new nation, has
the newly constructed *Dewarutji.* And the USSR, instead of one large
sail training vessel, now has a sizable fleet!

Before attempting to summarize recent and present sail training vessels,
mention should be made of the various types of training ships from the
standpoint of sponsorship, although the line of demarcation is not
always clear. First of all are those entirely government owned. Naval
training vessels are obviously in this category, used for the training
of midshipmen (or prospective officers by whatever term they are
designated), or enlisted personnel, or both. These functions are carried
out either in separate training vessels or sometimes together. *Eagle,*
for example, carries only cadets (prospective officers); the Portuguese
*Sagres* carries cadets, enlisted recruits, and also trainees of varying
grades preparing for advancement in rating, a program similar to our
class "B" schools. Most of the naval training vessels are associated
with a shore facility such as a naval academy. Second, there are
government training vessels primarily in connection with merchant marine
training, but some may also train naval cadets. These are similar to the
naval training ships and may or may not be associated with a shore
facility. Boys of different ages may be separately trained; for example,
the Danish *Georg Stage* trains younger boys on Baltic and North Sea
cruises, and many, although not all, then "graduate" to deep sea
training in the *Danmark.* The third type is primarily privately
sponsored, although there may be a government subsidy. These may be
operated by a large shipping company (primarily for its own benefit), by
an association of shipowners in a particular port, or by a "foundation,"
usually endowed originally by a wealthy man with an interest in shipping
and in the training of young men. Some of these foundations may be
considered charities in that applicants are limited to certain income
brackets. In this article, I use the words "private" or "foundation" to
designate these types of sponsorship; merchant marine training will be
understood.

Other forms of classification are whether the vessel is stationary or
operational, and whether the vessel does or does not carry cargoes as a
secondary mission. Obviously this latter class applies primarily to
those privately sponsored. The combined cargotraining scheme is favored
by large shipping companies, both to reduce the cost and to provide
training in cargo handling.

Another form of training (merchant marine), which is outside the scope
of this article, is the employment of cadets or apprentices in regular
commercial vessels as a prerequisite to "sitting" for an officer's
license. This form of training is well known and many countries, at
least before World War II, required varying amounts of this
apprenticeship to be served in sail. Therefore, when sailing vessels
were becoming scarcer, many firms had vessels which were designated
"cadet ships" and carried in their crews a high percentage of "boys" who
required this experience and were willing to receive minimum wages, or
even *pay* a premium for the privilege of so serving. The British firm
of Devitt and Moore in pre-World War I days, the German nitrate carriers
belonging to Herr Laeisz, and many of Gustav Erikson's fleet (Finnish)
in the years between wars were especially notable in this regard but
cannot be further described here. However, for these, profitable
operation was essential to their existence, and training was necessarily
a subordinate function, but the distinction between "cadet ships" and
privately sponsored cargo-training vessels is often very slight.

With this background, a summary of the sail training vessels of the
present and recent past is in order. I have grouped them roughly by
geographical area, for convenience; my information is obtained from
Jane's *Fighting Ships,* Lloyd's *Register,* and various books and
publications dealing with maritime history. Starting with our own
country, the U. S. Navy has had no formal sail training for many years;
USS *Hartford* in 1909 was the last sailing vessel to make a
midshipmen's practice cruise, and when the *Reina Mercedes* replaced the
USS *Hartford* as station ship in 1912, square rig disappeared forever
from the Naval Academy. (An excellent history of the Naval Academy
practice ships will be found in the May, 1934, Proceedings.) Since then
the only sail training, except for small boats, at the U. S. Naval
Academy has been on a voluntary extracurricular basis on board attached
yachts. Older officers will remember the *Argo* and *Robert Center;*
those more junior will be familiar with *Vamarie, Highland Light,
Freedom, Royono,* and the Luders yawls presently stationed at Annapolis.
Our Coast Guard, however, is still an adherent of sail training for its
prospective officers. In earlier days, the *Dobbin, Chase,* and *Itasca*
were successively the practice ships, and, until 1900, constituted the
whole Coast Guard Academy. In 1920 the gunboat *Vicksburg* (PG 11), an
auxiliary barkentine, was acquired from the Navy and renamed *Alexander
Hamilton,* and was based at New London until the late thirties. (There
were six gunboats in this 1895 class which included *Newport* (PG 12)
and *Annapolis* (PG 10), to be mentioned later.) During World War II,
the Danish *Danmark,* fortunately in this country when her homeland was
occupied, was volunteered by her master, and ship and crew served the
Coast Guard Academy throughout the war, making short cruises under sail
in Long Island Sound and nearby waters. Since then, the auxiliary bark
*Eagle* (the former German *Horst Wessel*) was acquired and needs no
further comment here. Another sailer in Coast Guard service from 1941 to
1947 was the three-masted schooner yacht *Atlantic,* which in 1905 won a
trans-Atlantic race with a passage of twelve days, four hours, from
Sandy Hook to the Lizard.

The United States government has consistently supported \"merchant
marine training by the loan of suitable vessels from the Navy to the
various State Maritime Academies; the states of New York, Pennsylvania
and Massachusetts formerly had sail training vessels. The old sloop of
war *St. Marys* served New York until replaced by the *Newport* about
1907. *Newport* (which participated in the Naval Academy cruise of 1900)
was normally berthed at Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor (this was
prior to the acquisition of the Fort Schuyler site), and made her last
annual cruise in 1931 to Bremerton Navy Yard, where USS *Procyon*
(steam) replaced her. A sister ship, *Annapolis* (which participated in
the Naval Academy practice cruise of 1899), replaced *Saratoga* as the
Pennsylvania schoolship and served until shortly before World War II.
Massachusetts' first training ship was the USS *Enterprise,* loaned in
1892 and relieved in 1909 by the USS *Ranger* (PG 23), renamed the
*Nantucket* in 1918. *Ranger* was built in 1873-1876 at Wilmington,
Delaware, as an auxiliary bark, most of her naval career being on survey
and patrol duties in the Pacific. She was rerigged as a barkentine at
Mare Island in 1896-99, but the yards on her mainmast were replaced
during an extensive overhaul at Boston Navy Yard in 1932, and she
continued active until World War II threatened. All the other state
training vessels (including the present ones) were, and are,
full-powered.

The U. S. government took a direct hand in merchant marine training in
World War II. *Nantucket,* briefly renamed *Bay State,* was transferred
to the newly founded U. S. Merchant Marine Academy at King's Point N. Y.
in 1942 and again renamed, this time being christened *Emery Rice.*
Operational until 1944, she is now designated as a museum ship. The
three-masted auxiliary schooner (yacht) *Verna* was also at King's Point
at one time, but is there no longer. For the wartime school at St.
Petersburg, Florida, the Maritime Commission obtained the ship
*Tusitala* (built 1883 at Greenock, Scotland, as the British merchantman
*Inveruglas,* later *Sierra Lucena, Sofie,* and *Tusitala)* as a
stationary training ship, and also the little full-rigged ship *Joseph
Conrad,* built in Denmark in 1882 as the *Georg Stage. Joseph Conrad*
was employed under sail out of St. Petersburg until 1945. She is still
afloat, although not operational, and is owned by the Marine Historical
Association, Inc., of Mystic, Connecticut. The *Conrad* is used by Sea
Scout groups. *Tusitala* was scrapped in 1948 at Mobile, Alabama.

Among privately sponsored U. S. vessels, mention should be made of the
five-masted barkentine *Marsala,* operated in the 1930's by the American
Nautical Academy National Training School of Washington, D. C. Tabor
Academy, in Marion, Massachusetts, a boy's preparatory school and a
Navy- designated "honor" school, has had several yachts, usually named
*Tabor Boy.* The present one was built about 1915 in Amsterdam as "Pilot
Schooner No. 2" (there were twelve in all) and in use as such until
1926. Later she was renamed *Bestevaer* and used for training, at first
out of Rotterdam, and after 1943 by the German Navy in the Baltic. After
a brief sojourn in Soviet hands, *Bestevaer* was returned to the
Netherlands and in 1953 was purchased by Mr. R. C. Allen of Grand
Rapids, Michigan, and later presented to Tabor Academy, where she is now
in active service. Finally, in 1953 the Catholic Sea Cadets of America
acquired the four- masted schooner *Annie C. Ross* (built 1917). Renamed
Star of the Sea, she quietly sank to the bottom near Hempstead, New
York, on September 4, 1955.

The other American republics can be covered more quickly, and most of
the Latin American training ships are under naval sponsorship. Well
known is the Brazilian Navy's *Almirante Saldanha,* an auxiliary
four-masted barkentine which has frequently visited the United States.
This is the second vessel of that name, the first being a full- rigged
ship, the former British merchantman *Dovenby Hall* (built 1885) which
served Brazil's merchant marine during the twenties. The current
*Almirante Saldanha* was launched at Barrow, England, December 19, 1933.
In 1948 Brazil received a second seagoing naval training ship, the
auxiliary bark *Guanabara,* built in 1937 as the German *Albert Leo
Schlageter,* and a sister ship to USCGC *Eagle.* I emphasize the word
*second* since *Almirante Saldanha* received a major refit at her
builder's yard in 1950. To further emphasize Brazil's current interest
in sail training, the small schooner *Albatros* (formerly *Wishbone)*
was acquired from England about 1950 and attached to the Naval College.
The Argentine Navy has long had the auxiliary ship *Presidente
Sarmiento,* built at Birkenhead in 1898, refitted in the same yard in
1925-26, and again refitted 1940-41. She has also served as the
presidential yacht. Chile's *General Baquedano* was similar but
bark-rigged. She was also built in England in 1898 and extensively
refitted in the twenties, but has not been sea-going since before World
War II, and is now a hulk, no longer listed in *Jane\'s.* However, in
1941, Chile acquired the four-masted bark *Priwall* from Germany, one of
the finest of the Laeisz "Flying P" nitrate carriers. *Priwall* was
commissioned in the Chilean Navy as *Lautaro*, later fitted with
auxiliary diesels, and made several combined cargo-training runs to
California ---a rare example of a *naval* cargo-carrying training
ship---until she was lost by fire off the coast of Peru in March, 1945.
The present Chilean training ship is the *Esmeralda,* newly constructed
at Cadiz, Spain, and launched as recently as May 12, 1953. An auxiliary
barkentine (See page 1186), she was originally intended for the Spanish
Navy and is reported to be similar to *Juan Sebastian de Elcano.*
However, she was never commissioned in the Spanish Navy but transferred
directly to Chile upon completion. To complete the Latin American
roster, Peru had the four-masted bark *Contramaestre Duenas* (ex-British
*Vortigern)* for a period subsequent to World War I. Uruguay formerly
had the seagoing schooner *Aspirante* and the stationary barkentine
*Diez y Ocho de Julio,* but both of these were scrapped in 1953.
Colombia has the ketch *La Atrevida,* and the Dominican Republic has
*Duarte,* listed in *Jane\'s.*

The Pacific area can also be covered briefly. Australia and New Zealand
have not had underway sail training since World War I. Japan, however,
had a quartet of auxiliary four-masted sailing vessels for merchant
marine training, the barks *Taisei Maru* (1904), *Nippon Maru* (1930),
*Kaio Maru* (1930), and the barkentine *Shintoku Maru* (1924). The best
known was probably *Taisei Maru,* of the Tokyo Nautical College, which
several times visited the United States and once circumnavigated the
world. In 1929, for example, she commenced her fortieth training
voyage---to various Pacific Islands, Formosa, Hong Kong, and Manila,
returning to Tokyo in April, 1930. The sisters *Nippon Maru* and *Kaio
Maru* (as spelled by Lloyd's but also sometimes seen as *Kaiwo* or
*Kaimo Maru)* were built at Kobe and operated from Tokyo; the writer saw
them at Tsingtao in 1940. All three survived World War II, being
stripped of their sails and used as motor vessels; *Nippon Maru,*
however, was rerigged in 1952 and, again operational, visited Portland,
Oregon, in 1955. *Shintoku Maru* was formerly attached to the Kobe
Nautical College, but disappeared from Lloyd's *Register* in the
thirties. A newcomer in the Pacific is the Indonesian auxiliary
barkentine *Dewarutji,* launched at Hamburg on January 24,1953. Veteran
German school- ship personnel assisted the Indonesians with her trials,
shakedown, and delivery via Suez Canal.

Europe has been, and is, the stronghold of sail training, However,
rather surprisingly, Great Britain is not the leading European country
in this regard. For the Royal Navy, the only recent name I know is the
yawl *Amaryllis,* formerly attached to the Royal Naval College at
Dartmouth. For the far- flung merchant marine on which Britannia
depends, I know of no large sea-going vessels since Devitt and Moore's
"cadet ships" were dispersed by World War I, except the round-the-world
cruise of *Joseph Conrad* in 1934---36. Although square-rig experience
was required until recently for certain licences, such as Thames River
Pilot, there was no vessel under the British flag where this experience
could be obtained after the *Walerwilch,* a small coastal barkentine,
was sold in 1939! However, the British government has in the past
supported the stationary training ships *Conway, Arelhusa,* and
*Worcester,* at least to the extent of providing aging men-of-war for
the purpose, although these schools are better described as "private"
rather than "government." The latest *Conway* was originally the
ship-of-the-line HMS *Nile,* laid down in 1827, but not initially
commissioned until 1852; moored in the Mersey as the third *Conway*
since about 1875, she was taken to Menai Strait for safety during World
War II. In 1953 while being towed through the Swillies en route to
Birkenhead for drydocking, the towline parted and she went aground,
breaking her back. The school will carry on ashore. *Worcester* was also
originally one of England's "wooden walls" but for many years was moored
near London as part of the Thames Nautical Training College. She was
joined in 1938 by the former British clipper ship *Cutty Sark.* The
"old" *Worcester* has now gone, but a new *Worcester* training hulk was
recently fabricated to replace her; *Cutty Sark* is being preserved as a
relic. The Shaftesbury Home and Arethusa Training Ship, near London, is
similar. The original *Arethusa,* an 1849 frigate reportedly the last
Royal Navy vessel to go into action under sail, was moored in the Medway
for sixty years until scrapped in 1933. Her replacement was the
four-masted bark *Peking,* another smart Laeisz "Flying P" vessel, which
is still afloat (now crossing yards only on the fore) and, of course,
renamed *Arethusa.* Operational British sail training vessels are all
small, privately sponsored, and largely former yachts. Between wars they
included the barkentines *St. George* and *Lady Quirk* and the schooners
*Maisie Graham* and *Exmouth II* and, since\' World War II, the
*Warspite, Moyanna,* and *Garibaldi.* A 1955 addition is the former
Danish three-masted schooner *Peder Most,* now being refitted and
renamed *Prince Louis II.* The Antarctic exploration bark *Discovery,*
used by Sea Scouts for many years, is still moored in the Thames.

France is largely uninterested. *Jane\'s* lists several small training
vessels for the Navy, but the largest are the 227-ton sisters *L'
Etoile* and *LaBelle-Poule,* topsail schooners built at Fecamp in 1932.
For the merchant marine, the four-masted bark *Richelieu* (former German
*Pola*) was placed in service after World War I, but she sank after a
cargo explosion at Baltimore in 1926. Since then the bark *Charles
Danielou* was bought in 1930 but quickly faded from the scene. The
Netherlands are more interested. The Royal Netherlands Navy has the
small schooner *Urania,* commissioned in 1938, and *Hobein,* a
post-World War II acquisition (ex-German). For the merchant marine there
are the stationary school ships *Nederlander* at Rotterdam, and *Pollux*
(bark) at Amsterdam. *Bestevaer,* previously mentioned, was privately
sponsored prior to World War II. And Belgium has been a steady provider
of sail training for the merchant marine. In 1906 the ship *Comte de
Smet de Naeyer* (built 1877 as the British *Jeanie Landles,* but best
known as *Linlithgowshire)* was acquired and used as a stationary
training ship at Antwerp until she was scrapped in 1934. Seagoing
training was provided by the four-masted bark *L'Avenir,* built
specially in Germany in 1908. *L'Avenir's* primary mission was training,
but she also carried cargoes, her last one for the Belgians being
phosphate from Fernandina, Florida, in 1932. Both of these were replaced
by *Mercator; L'Avenir* was sold to Gustav Erikson of Finland and will
be mentioned again. *Mercator* is a three-masted auxiliary barken- tine,
built for Belgium at Leith, Scotland, in 1932, specifically for training
purposes. She cruises extensively in the Atlantic each year and at least
once in the Pacific. World War II found her en route from Rio to St.
Helena, but she made her way safely to Freetown. *Mercator* visited New
York in 1953, and Philadelphia and Boston in 1954. Under private
sponsorship was the ketch *Strombank,* in the thirties, at Zeebrugge.

For a nation as devoted to sail training as Germany, it is unfortunate
that she has had such bad luck. Twice in this century she lost her best
training ships as "reparations." And she has had most of the tragedies
for this class of vessel: *Niobe* foundered, *Bohus* and *Pommern* were
lost in heavy weather, and *Admiral Karpfanger* went missing with all
hands. The republic of West Germany is still interested but presently
has no government sponsored deep-sea sail training vessel. *Deutschland*
is still afloat but laid up in poor condition; *Seute Deem* is now a
youth hostel ship in the Netherlands. One post-war attempt by private
capital ran into economic difficulties; the four-masted barks *Pamir*
and *Passat,* whose last grain voyages around Cape Horn were described
in the May, 1950, Proceedings, were acquired, fitted with auxiliary
power, and made two cargo-training voyages to Rio de Janeiro in 1952.
Both were then laid up, but 1955 reports are that *Pamir,* supported by
German shipowners, has resumed voyaging to South America and that
*Passat,* after overhaul, will soon join her.

Soviet Russia, as previously mentioned, has shown a greatly increased
interest in sail training since World War II but not too many details
are available. I know of no large training vessels in the Baltic in
prewar years, but there were probably some smaller craft such as
schooners, *etc.-,* the barkentine *Vega* being one shadowy name. In the
Black Sea, however, there has usually been a larger vessel. Prior to the
Revolution, there was the *Grand Duchess Maria Nico- laevna* (ex-Devitt
and Moore "cadet ship" *Hesperus*), but she was never in Soviet hands.
However, in 1925 the U.S.S.R. acquired the former British four-masted
bark *Lauriston;* renamed *Tovarisch,* she made one or two deep-sea
voyages, sinking the Italian steamer *Alcantara* with heavy loss of
life, prior to proceeding to the Black Sea in 1928. The first
*Tovarisch* was sunk by German air action in 1944, but a second
Tovarisch (ex- German *Gorch Pock*) and the ex-Italian *Cristoforo
Colombo* (renamed ?), acquired as reparations, have replaced her. In the
Baltic, the Soviet Union reportedly now has the training ships given on
page 1147.

Lastly, for the U.S.S.R., an auxiliary training barkentine named
*Sekstan* called at Singapore and Hong Kong in September, 1948, en route
to Vladivostok.

Turning southward, we find Spain and Portugal both active in the sail
training field. The Portuguese Navy makes good use of the auxiliary bark
*Sagres* for many phases of training, cruising extensively. Built in
1896 as a German merchantman, she carried various names before being
purchased for naval use in 1924. Auxiliary power was fitted in 1931, but
is still little used at sea. *Sagres* will be remembered for her visits
to New York and various New England ports in 1948. There is also an old
frigate-type stationary schoolship in the Tagus named *Dom Fernando II E
Gloria.* The Spanish Navy's *Juan Sebastian de Elcano* is also well
known and has frequently visited the United States. Built in 1927-28,
she is usually called an auxiliary "barkentine," although her foremast
is not square-rigged in the traditional manner (this applies also to
some other "barkentines" so termed in this article), and some insist she
is a "topsail schooner." Her cruises are lengthy, usually in the North
and South Atlantic, but at least twice to the Pacific. For example, her
1953-54 cruise lasted 270 days, covered 21,800 miles, and included
visits to ports as distant as Cape Town, Buenos Aires, Savannah, and
Boston. As previously noted, a running mate for the *Elcano* was built
(tentatively named *Don Juan de Austria)* but was sold to Chile and is
now *Esmeralda.* This may have sparked more extensive use of the
auxiliary bark *Galatea,* built in 1896 and on the Spanish Navy list
since 1922, but long seen only in local waters; she is now in active
deep-sea service, visiting New York in December 1953. However, the small
schooners *Estella* and *Virgen de la Caridad* were "discarded" in 1953.

Obviously, the status of sail training is quite healthy. And even where
World War II inflicted serious wounds, as it did to navies and merchant
marines throughout the world, sail training is showing a remarkable
recovery. Though commercial sailing vessels are a thing of the past with
a few very localized exceptions, the belief in the value of this form of
training is still strong. For some time to come, many youths who feel
the lure of the sea will receive their early indoctrination aboard a
vessel where the motive power is provided by the free winds, and where a
seaman's character is molded by the tall masts and tapering spars.
Although what is learned in these ships will be applied aboard vessels
with other---possibly even nuclear---forms of power, these youths will
never forget the basic respect for nature which they learned under sail.
And as long as one of these vessels remains at sea, the eyes of sailors
everywhere will appreciate their beauty and their usefulness.

(Editor's Note: Data concerning sailing vessels used for training will
be found in tabulated form according to nationality on the following
pages.)
[Commander Francis E. Clark, U. S.
Navy](https://www.usni.org/people/francis-e-clark)
Graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy in the Class of 1937, Commander
Clark is currently attached to Headquarters, First Naval District,
Boston, Massachusetts. Since World War II he has served as Commanding
Officer of USS *Whitewood* (AG 129), USS *Redbud* (AKL 398), and USS
*Shadwell* (LSD 15). This is his first article to appear in the
Proceedings.

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**Digital *Proceedings* content made possible by a gift from CAPT Roger
Ekman, USN (Ret.)**

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