Editorial Reviews
Book Description
Starting in 1916, Texans built seventeen four- and five-masted sailing ships out of East Texas pine, making a significant contribution in World War I. These ships hauled over 15 million board feet of lumber along with a large quantity of other cargoes and their careers carried them to ports in Europe, South America, both U.S. coasts, and even eighty miles up the Danube River.
In Wooden Ships from Texas, Richard W. Bricker brings to light this fascinating, but little-known, period in Texas maritime history. Henry Piaggio, the man behind this shipbuilding operation was an Italian born naturalized American with a lumber export business in Gulfport, Mississippi. Because he wanted ships to haul Mississippi and Texas pine timber to Italy for their war needs, he got a massive sailing ship construction program started two years before the traditional schooner yards of the East Coast woke up to the extreme shipping shortage caused by World War I.
The first ship built was the City of Orange, and her irascible captain provided a memorable maiden voyage from Orange, Texas, to Genoa, Italy. Official documents told a story of events like those found in sea fiction: shanghaiing, cruelty to seamen, excessive drinking, and pistol waving. A rare story is told, too: an order to jettison part of the cargo with no apparent good cause. Out of fourteen ships built at one shipyard, four burned and one was sunk by a U-boat off the coast of Spain. These losses did not spell total disaster for the fleet, however. Only three lives were lost, and a significant quantity of cargo had been delivered to Europe by some of these ships before tragedy struck.
Bricker has unearthed a considerable quantity of archival material, allowing him to describe the ships and make at least a partial track of the career of each vessel. In fact, all of them eventually ended up permanently outside of Texas. One became a New York City nightclub and then made a trip to the West Coast for use in motion pictures. Several of the ships became hulks at Bayonne, New Jersey, and were subjects for the renowned marine artist John A. Noble.
For each vessel, Bricker provides a description; narratives of the ship's career; and selected photographs of construction, launching, and anchored views. Because no known photographs of the vessels under sail survived, Bricker himself has painted these views. Bricker's engaging and informative text, which also covers a massive effort to build wooden steamships in Texas for the war, will interest Texas history, maritime history, and World War I enthusiasts as well as ship hobbyists.
Wooden Ships from Texas: A World War I Saga (Centennial Series of the Association of Former Students, Texas a & M University),Richard W. Bricker,Texas A&M University Press,0890968276,20th century,History,History - Military / War,Military,Military - Naval,Military - United States,Military - World War I,Naval History - World War I,Naval operations, American,Ships, Wooden,Texas,United States - State & Local - General,Water Transportation,World War, 1914-1918
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