COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE

Maritime Heritage
Part 1

Issue Date: 12 August 2005







INTRODUCTION

The Falkland Islands have a fascinating maritime history, primarily because of the Islands location, close to one of the great trading routes of the world, Cape Horn. More than 100 shipwrecks are known to lie around the Falklands' rocky shores and a number of historically significant vessels condemned and converted for use as storage hulks are still visible.

The Falkland Islands Museum & National Trust continues to work to record and conserve these wrecks and hulks - particularly those in Stanley Harbour which are now in urgent need of attention.

SeaBritain 2005 is an initiative aimed at promoting a greater awareness of maritime and coastal heritage and encouraging an appreciation of the sea, as well as celebrating Britain's historic, traditional and contemporary relationship with the sea - aims equally appropriate in the Falklands.

The Museum & National Trust is the co-ordinator for SeaBritain 2005 events in the Falklands, where the Year of the Sea has been an excellent opportunity to celebrate our island heritage.

SNOW SQUALL 24p

The third of four vessels built by Cornelius Butler at his yard in Cape Elizabeth in 1851, Snow Squall is often described as the last surviving American clipper ship.

Purchased by Charles R. Green after her maiden voyage, Snow Squall operated the Pacific and South American trades for her 13 year career, carrying general cargoes out and tea, spices and coffee home.

An extreme clipper, Snow Squall was described at her launch as "very sharp at the bows, with a lean but handsomely graduated run, but from her great breadth of beam, will be enabled to carry well, while at the same time she cannot fail of being a fast sailor." The ship lived up to her promise, making some very good times and posting near record runs between ports on all oceans.

On July 28th 1863 Snow Squall encountered CSS Tuscaloosa, which closed flying the American flag. When alongside, the Confederate raider showed her true colours and opened fire upon the clipper. Captain James S. Dillingham Jr. hauled close to the wind and Snow Squall showed her heels until Tuscaloosa gave up the chase about four hours later.

On February 24th 1864, bound from New York to San Francisco, Snow Squall ran aground near Cape Horn. Leaking badly, she put back to Stanley where she was condemned and later incorporated into the Falkland Islands Company's jettyhead.

In the 1980s a project was launched to save what remained of Snow Squall. After five years and four expeditions to the Falklands Dr. Fred Yalouris and the late Nicholas Dean achieved their dream - a 35-foot section of bow was transported to Spring Point Museum in South Portland, and eventually to the Maine Maritime Museum.

CHARLES COOPER 55p

Charles Cooper was built in 1856 at Black Rock, Connecticut, by William Hall and was historically important as one the last surviving North Atlantic packet ships.

The packets were vessels which revolutionised seafaring in the early 1800s by promising to sail to a fixed schedule, as opposed to sailing only when full (practice at the time). It was these ships which carried the "huddled masses" to America.

In 1866 Charles Cooper left Philadelphia on her last voyage, loaded with a cargo of coal for San Francisco. On September 25th she put in to Stanley, leaking and badly damaged. She was condemned as unseaworthy and bought for use as a floating storage hulk by Dean & Sons.

Dean's Stanley business was sold to the Falkland Islands Company in 1888 and several years later Charles Cooper was beached just off Ross Road and continued to be used as a warehouse until the 1960s.

In 1968 the hulk was purchased by the South Street Seaport Museum, who intended to transport her to New York, but in 1991 ownership was returned to the Islands.

The hulk's condition deteriorated quickly in the 1990s due to the insidious action of marine borers and continued stress from tide, wind and wave erosion. In 2002 the Museum & National Trust took the difficult decision to remove Charles Cooper from the harbour. This massive project, undertaken by local company Martech (Falklands) Ltd., was successful and a large section of the bow remains intact. The Trust hopes that this can be preserved for display purposes.

JHELUM 55p

Jhelum was built in Liverpool by Joseph Steel & Son and launched on 24th May 1849. A three-masted wooden barque of 466 tons, the ship traded chiefly between Europe and South America.

In August 1870 Jhelum arrived in Stanley harbour, distressed and leaking with a badly stored cargo of guano. Her crew had so little faith in the ship's ability to complete her voyage that they refused to put to sea in her again and in September Jhelum was pronounced unseaworthy. The ship was sold locally to Dean & Co. and scuttled to serve as a jetty head and workshop area.

The ship seems to have been unfortunate in her crews - her last master, Captain Beaglehole described two of his men as: "…the most useless and ignorant men, of an able seaman's duty, fit only for an ordinary rating and scarcely deserving that." The crew was replaced twice.

Not built to be particularly fast or glamorous, Jhelum was a workhorse and this is perhaps what has made her so fascinating, as a very real and evocative link to our past… "a ship that deserves to be famous for being ordinary." (Mike Stammers, John Kearon "The Jhelum")

Jhelum is believed to be the last surviving vessel of her kind and is an important feature of the Stanley shoreline, but age and erosion combined with the hidden damage caused by the marine borers, gribble and teredo, has left the hulk in a poor condition. The Museum & National Trust is trying to raise funds for conservation work without which the hulk cannot be expected to survive for many more years.

GUVERNOREN £1.20

On December 6th 1917, Imo made history when she collided with the French Line's Mont Blanc in Halifax Harbour, Nova Scotia, setting off what has been called "the largest man-made explosion… before the atomic bomb". (Paine's Ships of the World)

Owned by the South Pacific Whaling Company, Imo was leaving Halifax bound for New York when she encountered the 3,121 ton Mont Blanc. Laden with what was later described as a "devil's brew" of cargo destined for war use in Europe, Mont Blanc was carrying just over 200 tons of TNT, 2,300 tons of picric acid, plus 35 tons of benzol as deck cargo.

Seventeen minutes after the collision came the violent explosion which flattened much of the densely populated suburb of Richmond. At least 1,600 were killed in the explosion, approximately 9,000 injured and further 2,000 listed missing. More than 300 acres of the town were destroyed by the blast and the ensuing 13 foot tidal wave, leaving a further 25,000 temporarily homeless.

Mont Blanc was blown apart and Imo was lifted from the water and hurled ashore. Despite being badly damaged, Imo was re-built for use as a whaling factory ship and renamed Guvernoren.

On November 30th 1921, Guvernoren encountered heavy fog and was grounded on rocks at Cow Bay, two miles off Cape Carysfort on East Falkland. No crew were lost. Salvage attempts were halted on December 3rd and the Guvernoren abandoned to the sea.

This ship was built in 1889 by Harland and Wolff of Belfast as the White Star Liner, Runic (I). Sold on and renamed, the vessel had also been known as SS Tampican before becoming the infamous Imo.

Technical Details:

Designer: John Batchelor
Printer: BDT International
Process: Lithography
Perforation: 14 per 2cms
Stamp size: 28.45 x 42.58mm
Sheet layout: 50 (2 x 25)
Release date: 12 August 2005
Production Co-ordination: Creative Direction (Worldwide) Ltd
Liner text compiled by: Leona Roberts



Copyright: FI Philatelic Bureau Created and Maintained by: Cyberpoint Limited