"The Charles W. Morgan" by John F. Leavitt - who knows the book?

I have a copy of it.  I haven't looked at it for years (my copy is at home, and I'm at the office now; I'll try to remember to take a look this evening), but I remember it as an excellent book - the best full-length story of the ship in print.  What I don't remember is what sort of illustrations it contains.  I'm not sure whether they include a set of plans for the ship.  (A set of plans is reproduced in another book from Mystic Seaport, Mystic Seaport Watercraft.)

I'm sure the book would be a valuable acquisition for anybody taking on the Revell kit - which, by the way, is an excellent one.  My only reservation about it concerns the whaleboats.  They're excellent, but only two of them (if memory serves - which it frequently doesn't these days) are molded more-or-less complete.  The others are hollow shells, with nothing in the way of interior detail.  The kit includes vac-formed "boat covers" that are supposed to be cut out and glued to the gunwales of the boats, concealing their empty interiors.  That's just not how whaleboats were stowed.

Otherwise, it's one of the nicest sailing ships Revell ever produced - and that, in my opinion, is saying a lot.

Hi John,

Thanks for the heads up on the book,  I was able to fins a good copy on eBay for $5.81 w/free shipping. I'll read it before I tackle my CWM.  BTW I just remembered that I had one completed on the shelf when the flood came, dame I hate that storm!  I still have not figured out all the books I lost.  I had been collecting for almost 20 years and even had all the titles written down on an excel spread sheet.

Jake

Glad to help.  Making a list of your books is a great idea.  I'm not sure I'd have the gumption to do it, but it sure would be a valuable thing to have in the event of something awful happening to the house.

With that spreadsheet on hand, did your insurance company help you out any with replacing the loss?  Around here, people who suffer losses in a flood are caught in a catch 22.  Normal homeowner insurance doesn't cover floods.  You can buy a separate flood policy, but it will only cover the house itself - not the furniture, belongings, etc. inside it.  Some friends of ours got caught in that mess after Floyd.  Their flood insurance paid for repairs to their house (and the bill for the motel they had to live in for several weeks), but they had to scrape up the money for new furniture, TV set, stereo, kitchen appliances, etc.  Their regular homeowner policy covered all that stuff - but not in the event of a flood. 

jtilley wrote:

I have a copy of it.  I haven't looked at it for years (my copy is at home, and I'm at the office now; I'll try to remember to take a look this evening), but I remember it as an excellent book - the best full-length story of the ship in print.  What I don't remember is what sort of illustrations it contains.  I'm not sure whether they include a set of plans for the ship.  (A set of plans is reproduced in another book from Mystic Seaport, Mystic Seaport Watercraft.) I'm sure the book would be a valuable acquisition for anybody taking on the Revell kit - which, by the way, is an excellent one.  My only reservation about it concerns the whaleboats.  They're excellent, but only two of them (if memory serves - which it frequently doesn't these days) are molded more-or-less complete.  The others are hollow shells, with nothing in the way of interior detail.  The kit includes vac-formed "boat covers" that are supposed to be cut out and glued to the gunwales of the boats, concealing their empty interiors.  That's just not how whaleboats were stowed. Otherwise, it's one of the nicest sailing ships Revell ever produced - and that, in my opinion, is saying a lot.

Thank you, Prof. Tilley, for this information. I would have bet that you will offer valuable information!

I ordered both: the book - and the ship-modell, which Revell Germany seems to produce and sell in March this year.

I once visited the old whaler in Mystic Sea Port - but unfortunatly I did not have my camera in those days - and I did not think about modeling it one day in those days! But it was a great experience!

Big Jake wrote:

Hi John, Thanks for the heads up on the book,  I was able to fins a good copy on eBay for $5.81 w/free shipping. I'll read it before I tackle my CWM.  BTW I just remembered that I had one completed on the shelf when the flood came, dame I hate that storm!  I still have not figured out all the books I lost.  I had been collecting for almost 20 years and even had all the titles written down on an excel spread sheet.

Hello Jake,

such a loss is a pity!  I hope I never have to experience such a desaster! And I hope you can "restore" your collection in a way. Maybe electronic/digital books will help in some years. I just discovered Prof. Tilley´s hint for the 1882 digitial book about the viking-ship some threads ago. And I know that there are some books in preperation for digital publishing. This will become a growing market - and hopefully some of the older books will be available for free or low cost.

Although I believe that many (including me) would miss to hold a good book out of real paper in your hands. Reading on a screen is simply not the same!

Best wishes!

The only coverage I got was from claiming the loss on my income tax.

BTW what is the Viking book you are mentioning? Can I get a copy?

Jake

Hello Jake,

 I mentioned THIS Thread with a link at the first post by Prof. Tilley.

 Click me

Its very interessting - although this are ships from a period, which does not interest me from the modelst point of view ... nevertheless fascinating history!

Marcus -

I agree completely.  The internet has opened up countless wonderful resources to us, but there's nothing like having an old-fashioned book in your hand.  Several members of our model club have reached the age where they're talking in terms of getting rid of their books.  From the club's standpoint that's great.  (We now have a club library, which lets members take those books home with them for a month at a time.)  But I suspect I'm going to be buying and collecting books till the day I take my last breath.  I guess I am (in this one respect - if no other) like Thomas Jefferson:  "I cannot live without books." 

Jake -

Marcus has given us the link to the thread where I mentioned the digitized Viking ship book; the link to the book itself is in the first post of that thread.  The thread also mentions the very fine Osprey book on the Viking ships.  I also recommend The Viking Ships:  Their Ancestry and Evolution, by A.W. Brogger and H. Shetelig.  It's probably the standard work on the subject, and contains good plans of both the Oseberg and Gokstad Ships.  It was originally published back in the sixties or thereabouts, and some of the research in it shows its age, but it's a book any Viking ship enthusiast ought to have.  Used copies tend to be kind of expensive, but sometimes reasonably-priced ones do show up.  I think I paid about $15.00 for mine - an ex-library copy complete with dust jacket.  Here's another one for a decent price:  http://search.barnesandnoble.com/used/product.asp?EAN=2693454529098&Itm=1 .

Highly recommended to builders of the Revell kit.  I rather suspect, in fact that the Revell designers made use of the drawings in it; they would have been stupid if they didn't.

I live in southern CT, will get myself to Mystic sometime in the Spring. Part of my "plan" is to take plenty dig pics of the CWM;I will post some here and email more to whoever is interested. I will make sure I take pics of the whaleboats ;)

On the "flood" topic, I got a set of heavy duty plastic shelves at Home Depot... and used them as "pallets" (each shelf) on the floor of the basement, my kit boxes and other stuff on top. Gets everything off the ground 2-3 inches. Not enough to fend off a massive flood, but enough to have saved my bacon twice.

If the flood waters would have drained out in a day or so, most of the items may bave been saved. but the water stood in the house 13+ days then Rita brought another wave in because the levee's were still full of holes. I was able to save all 99% of the CD and DVD collection, no covers of course, and all of the plastic model less instructions. The other problem was that when the water came it was salt marsh and very brackish - man even the plastic cases of the DVD smelled after cleaning them, no gettin getting it out.

We got some pictures saved after cutting out the edges but thats all.

Oh and by he way the 250,000 gallons of crude oil that covered the area did not help matters any.

What Seamac says about flood insurance (a subject about which, I'm happy to say, I've never had to become knowledgable) is consistent with my friends' experience in Hurricane Floyd.  Their house was a one-story structure on a lot that was entirely below grade level.  (Why it was built that way I don't know - but the sidewalks surrounding the yard are a foot or two higher than the yard itself.) 

That particular story got worse.  My friends managed, by scrimping, saving, and doing a lot of the work themselves, to get the house back into reasonable shape in about six months.  It's located within a block of the university where I work.  Within a few weeks of the completion of the work, the university announced in the paper its latest expansion plans.  The map on the front page of the paper showed a big, glorious parking garage on the site of the house.

There was a massive neighborhood protest, and the university shelved the plan.  But at that time my friends decided it would be a good idea to move - a good long way from the river.

If I'm not mistaken, the instruction books for Model Shipways kits - but not the actual plans - are available for free download via the Model Expo website (www.modelexpo-online.com ).  (I think Model Expo can be talked into selling the plans separately - but I'm not sure.)  Those instructions probably would be a big help in building a model of the Morgan as she appears now - with a bark rig.  The Revell kit was originally released (according to Dr. Graham's fine book about the company's history) in 1968.  At that time she had a full ship rig, and had phony gunports painted on her sides. 

Generations of Americans had grown up thinking of her in that color scheme (and I personally think she looked better in it).  Research established, however, that she had never had painted ports in her active whaling career.  (They apparently were added after her retirement, when she was being used as a prop for the silent movie "Down to the Sea in Ships.") 

Some time after the kit was released, the Mystic authorities did some additional research and decided to restore her to a later configuration.  They'd originally been aiming at her "as-built," 1850s appearance.  I believe they settled on the 1870s or 1880s configuration - mainly because they could nail it down pretty precisely with photographs.  At any rate, she now looks quite a bit different than she did the first time I saw her (in, I think, 1966, when I was in high school). 

The Revell kit is (or so my none-too-reliable memory tells me) one of the company's best sailing ships.  The modeler should be aware, though, that there are some conspicuous - and completely legitimate - differences between the kit's appearance and what the real ship currently looks like. 

As I understand it, the Morgan currently is undergoing, or is about to undergo, a major overhaul/restoration project.  (This will be, I think, at least the third time her hull planking has been stripped and replaced in the 30+ years I've been visiting her.)  I imagine she'll come out of that experience looking a little different in some ways than she does now.

I got the book - and its beautiful and very interesting.

At the end there are drawings made in 1971 (with the stern-windows - just as at the Revell kit). They are in about 1/100 I would guess (I did not check precisely).

Everything Prof. Tilley writes about is accordingly described in the book.

There seems to be "evidence" for the existing of stern windows which was found in 1957 - and then the windows have been added to the ship in 1961. This studies seem to have influenced the Revell Kit 1968 and the drawings in the book 1971. But later it was decided to rebuild the ship with every refit into a configuration which is better documented - which is about 1900 - 1918. There are many photos existing and shown in the book. And as far as I can see the acutal design looks a lot like the old pictures. Great job! I personally like the black sides with the two thin white lines. Looks not as martial as with gun ports

Interesting maybe: the "afterhouse" (the white cabin on the deck at the ships end) was not existing when the ship did its first voyages beginning 1840. This feature began be fashion on whalers in 1860.

Anyway: thank you for describing the book and the model. I did not regret ordering it - and I too would recommend the beautiful little book for anyone interested in the ship or the model!

Seamac,

I had what I thought was enough flood coverage 20K on contents and 50K on struture. Our home never flooded even in Hurricane Besty 1965, so a lot of folks could not comprehend the levels of 8-26 ft. when the levees' failed, I was one. I figured I would only get about 3-4 feet, and if so the coverage I had would have been good enough.

Late last year I sued my insurance Co. and won another 30K becasue they dramatically shorted us in the first appr..  What the insurance company failed to understand was that the cases get tried in your town and no jury in the world would side for them.  The only issues we had was that the mortage company gets first dibs on the any money you get because thats that way your loan is written. Unles you work out a agreement and move back to the home they will hold the money is ecsrow and you have access to it to rebuild.  we deided to move to a better home. BTW the new home is out of a flood plain 12 ft. ABF and I have complate and max coverage on contents and structure. 380K.  IF this ever happens again, they'll have to mail the check to the mountains of Tenn. ;)

But Back on the topic of ships.  On the books and models I was able to claim them on the the tax as a loss of about 20K so I think I did OK.

I'm not sure if this has been posted before, but some very good news is that Revell Germany will be re-issuing the Charles W. Morgan kit this year: link to catalogue page

Hopefully you modellers in the USA will also be able to get hold of this reissue! Revell Germany kits often take a while to get across the Atlantic (has the 1/144 Fletcher arrived yet?)

"The Charles W. Morgan", von John F. Leavitt Paperback - 123 Pages Puplisher: Mystic Seaport Museum; Edition: 2nd reworked Edition 1998 (1st was in 1973) ISBN: 0-913372-10-2 Size: B x H x d = 22,8 x 20,4 x 1,1 cm Fouldout plans: 5 sheets, about 40 x 20,4  Prize: According the printing on the book: 24,95 $, at Mystic Seaport and Amazon about 19 $  Amazon: Charles W. Morgan bei Amazon Content - Foreword - Preface - Acknowledgements 1 "Build me straight, O Worthy Master" 2. A Typical Ship and Service 3. The most Profitable Voyage 4. The Morgan Rerigged 5. The Longest Voyage 6. Through the Golden Gate 7. The Troubled Voyage Home 8. The Second Broken Voyage 9. The Wings Sell out 10. A Life After Whaling Afterword, by Roger Hambige, Shipwright Appendix 1. Charles W. Morgan Logbooks (List of found Logs) 2. Summary of Voyages 3. CWM Crew Lists Glossary For Futher Reading Index Fouldout plans of the CWM - Outboardprofile and Rigging, - Deck Plan and Bulkwards , - Construction Plan, - Square Sails and Rigging, - Cuttaway views Describtion This nice little book would be the ideal inspiration for anyone building the 1/100 Revell-Kit, which Revell Germany wants to to offer in March 2009 - Charles W. Moragen - Its the last American sailing whaler. The book is a narrative history of the ship - beginning with its building, and an overview about the times and circumstances in which waling was handled in those days. There are many information about the tools whalers used and the book is full with sketches and pictures discribing those days Boat with equipment How to get the blubber Sketch: How to cut out the blubber from the body Typical in those days: Captain James Earle with wife and son Jamie - who joint the journey of their husband and father. The book describes, that Captn. Earle had a Newsealand harpooner, which stood modell for the shown statue in front of the New Bedford Free Library - which I could find in the interne: the Titel: a dead whale or a stove boat The author described the fate of the ship until its restoration 1973. He died 1974 - and the Afterword explains every change in the 1977 and 1983 rework. This will be the most interesting part for modelists: The ship was rebuild after photos which were taken between 1895 and 1905. Therefore the four windows and the ornamental bow at the stern (which were added in the sixties) had to be removed again. They might have been part of the ship in its earlier configuration - and do not fit to the 1900er design. The "hurricane house" or "afterhouse" which seem to be so typical for the Charles W. Morgan - or the whaler of those days is an added attribute from the 1860s - since in 1841 - when the ship was launched such a detail was not in use - and came into "fashion" in the 60s.  At the beginning of the 80 year career, the ship had only for boats on the left (what is the BLOCKED EXPRESSION and one boat at the starbord stern side. The boats were smaller at the beginning. As already mentioned: the boats were usually prepared for quick launch - in case of discovered whales. Therefore the Revells Kit Configuration with sheltered boats is only thinkable for the weeks in which Cape Hoorn was passed. But then as much as possible boats where stowed on deck or the beams - and not at the davids. 1974 the ship was painted black outside - the painted gunports having been a relict of the movie-star-times of the ship in 1922. Only two small white stripes were added. Inside the ship was painted in white and some part in "electric blue" (how does this colour look like?). The 1983 restoration led to a different paint scheme on deck. There were proofs that most of the painted surfaces on deck were ocre (except mast, yards, and boats which really were white). Therefore this is the colour from then on again. Foldout plans, by Leavitt designed in 1971 show the ship with the four stern-windows - just like the Revell-Kit.   These plans will be a help for anyone trying to build the revell-Kit - but they will be too small for a scatch-builder.  Plus and Minus +++ Very interesting story about a commercial ship - unusual. ++ interesting introduction into Melvilles heros world + Information concerning the ships appearane for anyone interested into the  Revell-Kit + not very expensive - fould outs are too tiny - difficult to read  Sources: https://shipwiki.wikispaces.com/Charles+W.+Morgan http://www.mysticseaport.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewPage&page_id=2107D43A-65B8-D398-7E75E1340789338E http://www.ericjaydolin.com/book_detail.cfm?id=1 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/29/books/review/Barcott-t.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss