covediver
Contributor
I have just finished reading the book, ŵaking the Sea: Perilous Waters, Sunken Ships and True Story of the Legendary Wrecker Captains by Dennis M. Powers. The book explores the life of renowned wrecker Captain Thomas Whitelaw of San Francisco whose career spanned seven decades that of an ordinary teenaged seaman in the early 1860s to that of a well respected salvage master upon his death in the early 1930s. Starting with young Tom landing in San Francisco at the height of the age of ÅÊron men and wooden ships the story recounts how he became a diver and then parlayed meager earnings into a sizeable fortune through successive wrecking ventures and other maritime endeavors only to lose it all to the Great Depression. Along the way, we are give rail-side seats at the salvage of some of the West CoastÃÔ most famous shipwrecks such as the Umatilla, Pomona, and the U.S. Navy destroyers that went on the rocks at Point Pedernales.
The book provides insights into the techniques of salvage diving of the day. I especially found intriguing the description of the process of constructing cofferdams around sunken vessels to affect their repair and refloating, a technique that was used in the salvage of a Great Lakes steamer on which my great grandfather had served. The book also recounts the dangers to divers and salvors from the giant octopi that seemed to take up residence in submerged wrecks.
The story of WhitelawÃÔ wrecking business and other maritime endeavors is also the story of the maritime development of the West Coast in general and San Francisco in particular. The book describes the location of the CaptainÃÔ storage yards and operations along the San Francisco waterfront, areas drastically changed by events and the passage of time. The book also relates how those operations ranged from the sealing by various ships in the Bering Sea and the CaptainÃÔ successful challenge to government policy that resulted in the seizure of one of his vessels, a case that eventually went to a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court after several decades. The text also describes how, prior to the entry of the United States into World War One, the warships of various nations patrolled the waters three short miles off the west coast, at the time the limit of a nationÃÔ territorial waters. The story is brought home by the fascinating description of the salvage of a Japanese warship from a Mexican cove.
While the book concentrates on the life of Captain Whitelaw, it does divert to describe wrecking operations on the Great Lakes and East Coast carried out by others. This change in location adds little to the story and is something of an irritating departure for the reader from the main character of the story, and a character Captain Whitelaw turns out to be. The shortcoming of changing geography by the author is overcome by PowerÃÔ story telling ability, complimented by an excellent bibliography. This is definitely a recommended read for anyone interested in maritime history or salvage.
The book provides insights into the techniques of salvage diving of the day. I especially found intriguing the description of the process of constructing cofferdams around sunken vessels to affect their repair and refloating, a technique that was used in the salvage of a Great Lakes steamer on which my great grandfather had served. The book also recounts the dangers to divers and salvors from the giant octopi that seemed to take up residence in submerged wrecks.
The story of WhitelawÃÔ wrecking business and other maritime endeavors is also the story of the maritime development of the West Coast in general and San Francisco in particular. The book describes the location of the CaptainÃÔ storage yards and operations along the San Francisco waterfront, areas drastically changed by events and the passage of time. The book also relates how those operations ranged from the sealing by various ships in the Bering Sea and the CaptainÃÔ successful challenge to government policy that resulted in the seizure of one of his vessels, a case that eventually went to a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court after several decades. The text also describes how, prior to the entry of the United States into World War One, the warships of various nations patrolled the waters three short miles off the west coast, at the time the limit of a nationÃÔ territorial waters. The story is brought home by the fascinating description of the salvage of a Japanese warship from a Mexican cove.
While the book concentrates on the life of Captain Whitelaw, it does divert to describe wrecking operations on the Great Lakes and East Coast carried out by others. This change in location adds little to the story and is something of an irritating departure for the reader from the main character of the story, and a character Captain Whitelaw turns out to be. The shortcoming of changing geography by the author is overcome by PowerÃÔ story telling ability, complimented by an excellent bibliography. This is definitely a recommended read for anyone interested in maritime history or salvage.
