Review of Sea Struck. By W.H. Bunting (Gardiner,Maine: Tilbury House, 2004. Pp. xvi+366.Maps, photographs, notes, index. $30.00)

Chaplin, David

Howe, Stanley R.

Maloney, W. Stanton

English

University of Maine

Maine HistoryVolume 43Number 1 Here Come the British! Article 91-1-2007Book ReviewsW. Stanton MaloneyUniversity of New EnglandStanley R. HoweDavid ChaplinFollow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mainehistoryjournalPart of the History CommonsThis Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Maine History by anauthorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contact um.library.technical.services@maine.edu.Recommended CitationMaloney, W. Stanton and Stanley R. Howe and David Chaplin. "Book Reviews" Maine History 43, no. 1 ( January 2007): 115-116.BOOK REVIEWSSea Struck. By W.H. Bunting (Gardiner, Maine: Tilbury House, 2004. Pp.xvi+366. Maps, photographs, notes, index. $30.00).John Masefield in his famous poem, “Sea Fever,” describes the spe-cial attraction that the sea holds for some people. Perhaps this fascina-tion explains why three young men of education and affluence wouldactively pursue berths on square-rigged sailing vessels at the end of thenineteenth century. W. H. Bunting, no stranger to the sea, has discovereda treasury of material, namely, the diaries of three young men, FrankBesse, Carleton Allen, and Rodman “Tod” Swift. The diaries describe thedaily activities and events that occurred on board four square-riggedsailing vessels. The recorded entries reflect “the good, the bad and theugly” while at sea and in port, for it was a time of “bully captains andbucko mates.” The strength of the stories lies in the fact that the menserved in different capacities on each ship.Frank Besse records his reactions from the cabin as a passenger onboard the full-rigged ship William J. Rotch, from July 2, 1881, to January19, 1883, on a voyage from New York to Dublin by way of Yokohama,Hawaii, and San Francisco with case oil, Chinese passengers, and grainrespectively. Early in the first voyage Besse observed the ill treatment ofone of the crew simply because he “did not move quick enough” to suitthe second mate (page 82). Besse was assigned special duty on board thevessel: “the captain has appointed me as a kind of overseer of the Chi-nese passengers, and I am to keep account of all the provisions they useon the passage” (page 111).Carelton Allen embarked on his adventure from the cabin as a pas-senger on board the three-masted wooden bark Guy C. Goss, fromMarch 18, 1898, to August 20, 1898, bound for New York from PugetSound with a cargo of spars. After finishing college Allen served as sec-ond mate on the four-masted steel bark Hawaiian Isles in 1904, boundfor Melbourne and Sydney with a cargo of general merchandise. Allen’sdiary is complemented by photos he took during the voyage. His initialreaction to the world of sail was indeed one of fascination, as he ob-served the process of getting underway and recorded his pride in climb-ing the rigging: “made my first voyage to the end of the jibboom….Maine History 43:1 January 2007Made my first trip to the top of the main top, Vessel looks narrow andthe top is higher up there than it is from down here” (page 166).Rodman “Tod” Swift speaks from the forecastle as an ordinary sea-man on board the four-masted steel bark Astral on a voyage fromPhiladelphia with a cargo of case oil to Kobe, Japan, and then to SanFrancisco by way of Hawaii with a cargo of sugar. His diary reflects thehighs and lows of the voyage and instances where his sense of accom-plishment was hard to contain: “I am getting to know the ropes andwhere each one belays. I think in a week I can lay my hand on any one inthe dark. There are hundreds” (page 250). The shipping articles stipu-lated that the crew was to receive their “daily whack” (food allowance).This, however, was a source of frustration: “food very bad today. Saltmeat hardly cooked at all. Potatoes rotten and bread very sour. Yesterdaywe got our whacks of butter” (pages 264-265). Sea Struck is a story ofsweeping adventure on the high seas, yet Bunting offers a wealth of inte-grating material on such topics as trade, shipbuilding, and whaling andsuggestions for further research in his comprehensive endnotes. Thebook contains personal letters and correspondence that shed light onthe concerns and fears expressed by ship’s agents, captains, and familymembers. The author has assembled an excellent collection of photo-graphs.Maine shipbuilders have a long and distinguished tradition ofbuilding vessels of a high quality, and this is no more true than in thecase of the Astral, the William J. Rotch, and the Guy C. Goss. The Astralwas built by Arthur Sewall and launched on December 8, 1900; theWilliam J. Rotch was built in the Goss, Sawyer, and Packard yard andlaunched on April 26, 1881; and the Guy C. Goss was built by Goss andSawyer and launched on Thanksgiving Day in 1879. The newspaper ac-counts of the launchings emphasized the high quality of workmanship.In preparation for these round-the-world voyages, some readerswould do well to equip themselves with an atlas of the world, a nauticalglossary, and the sail plan for a four-masted bark. The author offers thefollowing advice: “the successful reader will have remembered who waswho, minded the sailing directions, and kept an eye on the compass”(page xv). Bunting, an award- winning author, has written several otherbooks, including the classic Portrait of a Port: Boston 1852-1914.W. STANTON MALONEYProfessor Emeritus University of New EnglandMaine History

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