Antiques

Magazine Antiques, August, 2002 by Wendell Garrett

ANTIQUES


There dwells a wife by the Northern Gate,
And a wealthy wife is she;
She breeds a breed o' rovin' men
And casts them over the sea.

And some are drowned in deep water,
And some in sight o' shore,
And word goes back to the weary wife
And ever she sends more.

Rudyard Kipling, "The Sea-Wife," 1893

The sea both separates the continents and provides the means by which the world's peoples have mingled. Precariously bridging the gap is the sailing ship, among the most successful inventions of human ingenuity, which both baffles and harnesses the wind, mimicking the mutability of the sea itself.

At first when sails triumphed over oars, a large square sail was rigged on the mainmast while two smaller sails fore and aft gave the ship maneuverability. With time, more sails were added to increase performance, and rigging was honed during ever longer voyages of discovery. By early in the sixteenth century, the sailing ship had reached such technical sophistication that little remained but tinkering to meet new demands. The introduction of heavy guns for naval warfare and the need to transport larger cargoes faster led to stouter hulls and more masts for more sails.

When Admiral Horatio Nelson defeated the combined Franco-Spanish fleet off Cape Trafalgar on October 21, 1805, Britain was assured a maritime supremacy that remained unchallenged for a hundred years. Pax Britannica cleared most sea-lanes of pirates and hostile navies, making them safe for trade. Merchant ships no longer felt the need to carry cannon for protection, and regularly scheduled sailings began to be instituted.

The first instance of steam adapted to propel ships dates to the late eighteenth century in France, where small boats with side-mounted paddle wheels were tested on rivers. By early in the next century, largely thanks to American innovations, steam came into its own. In 1807 Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat began regular commercial service on the Hudson River, and in 1819 the Savannah steamed away from its eponymous port in Georgia and arrived twenty-seven days later in Liverpool.

America's maritime greatness reached something of a peak on the eve of the Civil War. American flag vessels carried most of the foreign commerce of the United States, and whalers reached every corner of the Pacific. The American clipper ship marked a pinnacle of design for an extreme sailing ship. Maritime trade became the nation's first significant domestic source of capital.

Those whose workplace is the sea constantly struggle to maintain order amid the looming threat of chaos. However, even rigid discipline, hierarchical command, and the highest standards of maintenance may not be enough to survive an angry ocean. Americans have long admired risk-takers, so the mariner, like the frontiersman, has been raised to heroic stature in the American imagination.

Ultimately it is the mystery of the sea that so attracts us. It is an element we cannot inhabit, a frontier we can never reach, leaving us always to wonder what lies beyond the horizon and in the depths.

Wendell Garrett