Albatross , originally named Albatros , later Alk , was a sailing ship that became famous when she sank in 1961 with a group of American teenagers on board. The events were the basis for 1996 film White Squall .
40-517: Irving McClure Johnson (July 4, 1905 – January 2, 1991) was an American sail training pioneer, adventurer, lecturer and writer. Johnson was born in Hadley, Massachusetts , the fifth child of the writer Clifton Johnson and Anna Tweed McQueston. Johnson became a professional sailor, joining the Merchant Marine in 1926, working summers as crew and captain of various yachts including
80-599: A Certificate of Inspection (COI) which must be displayed on the vessel and spells out the requirements that vessel must maintain. Albatross (1920 schooner) The Albatross was built as Albatros , a schooner , at the state shipyard (Rijkswerf) in Amsterdam , Netherlands , in 1920, to serve as a pilot boat (named Alk ) in the North Sea . The ship spent two decades working the North Sea before being purchased by
120-459: A new crew and each taking approximately 18 months. The first Yankee , bought in 1933, was a Dutch North Sea pilot schooner. (Before becoming an actor, Sterling Hayden served as mate aboard the first Yankee .) The second Yankee , bought in 1947, was a retired German North Sea pilot schooner which the Johnsons rerigged as a brigantine. They then retired from circumnavigation and, in 1958-9, had
160-423: A premium to sail while being trained, some recruited for very modest salaries. The apprentices were considered trainees and were the first formalization of sail trainers with crew drawn from members of the public who just went for the adventure, as opposed to a career. With manning costs netted out on Erikson's balance sheet, the ships continued to return a paper profit . However Erikson was under no illusions as to
200-559: A purely educational endeavour with trainees as the cargo. From 1932 through 1958, Irving Johnson and his wife Electa circumnavigated the world seven times with amateur youth crews on board their vessels named Yankee . Over the years, their voyages were featured in books they authored, and in National Geographic magazines and TV specials like "Irving Johnson, High Seas Adventurer" . Their archives are at Mystic Seaport , Connecticut. Australian Alan Villiers purchased
240-507: A stable, "safe" ship, and that the crew of teenagers—who had already spent about eight months on board—were sufficiently trained, but that this rare weather phenomenon left the ship no chance. Critics of this view, however, have argued that refittings of the Albatross over the years by her various owners had made her top heavy, which affected her secondary stability , that is, her ability to remain stable or even right herself after tilting to
280-448: Is not a strictly defined type of vessel. The term is commonly used today to define a large, traditionally rigged vessel, whether or not is it technically a full-rigged ship . For example, USCGC Eagle is technically a barque . A tall ship is usually defined by the topmast and topsails she carries as opposed to the modern high-aspect-ratio rigs and marconi mains carried by the sloops and yawls seen in every harbor today. For
320-735: Is one such example of this, with visitors to the Bilbao Maritime Museum enjoying free entry to the ship during the winter months when she is moored nearby. As the crew of the Irving Johnson and the award-winning program at the Los Angeles Maritime Institute like to say "We do not train youth for a life at sea ... we use the sea to educate youth for life" . Tall ships have been found to be effective platforms for sail training as they combine many elements fundamental to sail training. A "tall ship"
360-600: Is the Association of Sail Training Organisations (ASTO) Founded in 1972, http://www.asto.org.uk Square rigged seamanship was in danger of becoming a lost art. As the 1997 restoration of USS Constitution neared completion, the United States Navy called on the crew of HMS Bounty to train her sailors to sail the vessel as originally intended. Many boats are historical vessels and replicas which require coordinated manual labor to sail, operating in
400-581: The Bay of Biscay to Lisbon in Portugal . Five square rigged school ships entered the race, Denmark's Danmark , Norway's Christian Radich and Sorlandet , Belgium's Mercator and Portugal's first Sagres . The vessels met again the following year and every year since in an annual series that would astonish its original organizers today. Old vessels were saved or repaired and new purpose built sail training vessels were commissioned. With renewed interest in
440-742: The Caribbean and Eastern Pacific Ocean . From fall 1960 to spring 1961, a crew of four instructors (including the Sheldons), a cook, George Ptacnik, and 13 students sailed the Albatross from the Bahamas through the Caribbean to the Galápagos Islands and back to the Caribbean; a fourteenth student had been on the ship for the first part of the voyage, but had left in Balboa, Panama . At
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#1732798020342480-525: The First World War saw a brief return to profitability as all ship types were in scarce supply due to wartime losses but that boom became bust as many new steam ships were built to replace the sailing ships that were lost. While many countries of the world operated sailing ships as training ships for officers in their merchant marine in the 1920s and 30s, several sailing ship owners such as Carl Laeisz and Gustaf Erikson determined that there
520-589: The Pacific Fleet on the tides , swells, currents , depths and shoals around the treacherous reefs and atolls of the South Seas. He was commissioned a Lieutenant Commander, and joined the USS Sumner , finishing the war as her commanding officer. On board they created and printed five-color charts, scouted out potential harbours for US Navy vessels, and conducted underwater demolition to improve
560-542: The Sailing School Vessels Act of 1982 . Narrations of the last voyage of the Albatross were published by two of the survivors: Charles Gieg, who had been one of the students on board the ship, and Richard Langford, who had been the English instructor. The 1996 film White Squall , starring Jeff Bridges and directed by Ridley Scott , presents a fictionalized version of the ship's loss. After
600-518: The Sea Education Association , serving as a trustee of both until his death in 1991. The Los Angeles Maritime Institute has honored the Johnsons by naming their twin brigantines for use in their Topsail Youth program after them, Irving Johnson and Exy Johnson . Exy Johnson oversaw the christening ceremonies of the vessels whose construction she was instrumental in until her death in 2004. Dr. Sheldon's experience on board
640-580: The "Charmian" for Newcomb Carlton (President of Western Union ), which led to the opportunity to sail on the Peking . He was an amateur filmmaker and his footage on the barque Peking in 1929 would become the film Around Cape Horn . While serving as mate on board the Wanderbird , Johnson met (Harriet) Electa "Exy" Search whom he married in 1932. The Johnsons circumnavigated the world seven times on two vessels, both named Yankee , each trip with
680-621: The 1958 film Twilight for the Gods (starring Rock Hudson and Arthur Kennedy ), whose script and the underlying novel by the same title were written by the Albatros ' owner Gann. In 1959, Christopher B. Sheldon's Ocean Academy, Ltd. , of Darien, Connecticut , acquired the ship to use for trips combining preparatory college classes and sail training. Over the next three years, Christopher B. Sheldon, Ph.D., and his wife, Alice Strahan Sheldon, M.D., ran programs for up to fourteen students in
720-567: The German government in 1937. She served as a radio-station ship for submarines during the Second World War . In 1949, Royal Rotterdam Lloyd bought her for use as a training ship for future officers of their company (Dutch merchant marine). The fact that she was small made her ideal for this kind of work, and the dozen trainees could receive personal attention from the six or so professional crew. While under Dutch ownership, she sailed
760-669: The International Fleet in 1974. A limited exchange between the East and West was initiated. One of the largest of the affiliate organizations of the STI is the American Sail Training Association (ASTA). Founded in 1973 with a handful of vessels, it has since grown to encompass an international organization with more than 250 tall ships representing 25 different countries. The UK National Member of STI
800-571: The North Sea extensively, with occasional voyages as far as Spain and Portugal . The American aviator, filmmaker and novelist Ernest K. Gann purchased the Albatros in 1954, re-rigged her as a brigantine , and she cruised the Pacific for three years. According to Charles Gieg ( The Last Voyage of the Albatros ), the Albatros survived a tsunami in Hawaii during this time. She was also used in
840-555: The age of sail, national sail training associations affiliated to Sail Training International (STI) (formerly "Sail Training Association") were organized and large summer events find upwards of 100 ships racing across the oceans. Crew exchanges allow young people from one country to sail with those from another. Long before the end of the Cold War , ships from Russia and Poland (which in some cases had been built in Germany) joined
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#1732798020342880-602: The beginning of May, the Albatross was en route from Progreso , Mexico , to Nassau , the Bahamas . On 1 May, skipper Sheldon decided that they would make a stop at one of the Florida Keys to refuel. Shortly after 8:30 am on 2 May 1961 the Albatross was hit by a sudden squall about 125 miles (200 km) west of the Dry Tortugas . She heeled over suddenly and sank almost instantly, taking with her Alice Sheldon,
920-497: The genesis of current modern sail training, using manually operated ships and the harsh discipline imposed by the sea to further personal development and taking those disadvantaged by circumstance to benefit from the experience. By the end of the Second World War, the numbers of traditionally rigged sailing ships left were dwindling and public interest waned. After the German school ship Niobe sank in 1932, killing 69,
960-542: The ill-fated brigantine Albatross served as the basis for the film White Squall (1996). Capt. Johnson also mentored yachtsman Jim Stoll, who became one of the directors of the Flint School . Sail training From its modern interpretations to its antecedents when maritime nations would send young naval officer candidates to sea (e.g., see Outward Bound ), sail training provides an unconventional and effective way of building many useful skills on and off
1000-649: The islands of the South Pacific , ports of call in Southeast Asia, around the Cape of Good Hope and home to Gloucester without incident 18 months later seven times. Upon the urging of Bill Donovan , soon to be the head of the predecessor to the OSS , Johnson joined the U.S. Navy in 1941, and was at Pearl Harbor on the day of the attack . His knowledge of the South Pacific made him a natural choice to advise
1040-720: The last Yankee built at Westhaven in Zaandam, the Netherlands. She was a steel ketch for sailing the inland waterways of Europe, designed by Irving Johnson and Olin Stephens of Sparkman & Stephens . Many of the Johnsons' voyages have been documented in their own books and many articles and videos produced by the National Geographic Society and others throughout their sailing career. With an amateur crew, they traveled hundreds of thousands of miles to
1080-464: The long term profitability of his venture, which depended on ignoring the depreciation on his ships and a shrinking supply of sound hulls and rigs . The company would use their profits to diversify into steam after the Second World War . While the shipping companies of Erickson and F. Laeisz gradually turned to steam , the next generation of captains were climbing up the hawsehole and taking command of their own vessels, redefining sail training as
1120-473: The loss of Pamir in 1957 and Albatross in 1961 drew further ill will and seemed to signal the end of an era. In what was conceived to be last great gathering of square-riggers under sail, Bernard Morgan and Greville Howard persuaded a number of ship owners to join together in a sort of farewell salute in 1956, organizing a race from Torbay on the South Coast of England to race informally across
1160-469: The old school ship George Stage from Denmark in 1934. Renaming her the Joseph Conrad , he sailed her round the world with no paying cargo and a crew of youth who had paid to be there. He also took as many non-paying youth as he could afford to fit in the budget, those he considered at risk on the streets of their inner cities and in need of what was then called "character building". These trips were
1200-551: The original tradition proposed by Alan Villiers and Irving Johnson such as the Picton Castle while others are purpose built educational platforms carrying out scientific research under sail such as Robert C. Seamans and Corwith Cramer of the Sea Education Association . Another new direction is the development of floating maritime heritage centres, connected to a sail training organisation, and often in co-ordination with land based maritime museums. Tall Ship Atyla
1240-458: The purpose of classification and race rating, the STI divides tall ships into the following classes : The United States Coast Guard classifies vessels based on their intended use and structure, prescribing requirements for captain and crew manning, waters the vessel may operate in, number of passengers allowed and minimum safety equipment required. With the exception of uninspected vessels, all such vessels are inspected annually and issued
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1280-488: The ship's cook George Ptacnik, and students Chris Coristine, John Goodlett, Rick Marsellus, and Robin Wetherill (John Goodlett was on deck in the last minutes, but probably became entangled in some of the lines or a sail of the sinking ship while freeing a lifeboat, and Christopher Coristine reportedly went below deck in an attempt to save someone else). As there had not been time to send out a radio distress signal before she
1320-413: The ship's impaired stability, even a "normal" squall could have sunk her; according to him, only the expert handling of the ship and the habitual prudence of the ship's captain(s) to reduce sail area early had prevented the refitted Albatross from capsizing in previous strong wind conditions. In 1932, the German sail training ship Niobe suffered a similar fate, killing 69. Parrott draws parallels to
1360-446: The side, as opposed to capsizing . In her times as North Sea pilot schooner, the ship had had a far smaller and lower sail area , which means that the force of the wind did not have as much power and as powerful an angle as it did the day she sank. Almost 40 years after the loss of the Albatross , Daniel S. Parrott reanalyzed some of the documents about the ship and comparable ships in his book, Tall Ships Down . He suggested that due to
1400-693: The sudden losses of the Marques (1984) and the original Pride of Baltimore (1986), which were similarly affected by large sail areas; in the case of the Marques , this was likewise the result of refittings over the years of her existence. The loss of the Albatross prompted the United States Coast Guard to undertake a thorough review of the instantaneous stability —i.e. the ability of ships to remain upright—and design requirements for sailing school ships. The new rules were codified in
1440-529: The suitability of some of the harbours. Johnson also dove on recently sunken Japanese vessels, searching for classified Japanese documents. One success was a chart of the minefields surrounding Japanese harbors. Johnson educated the public about the age of sail throughout his life, personally narrating showings of Around Cape Horn on board the Peking (docked at South Street Seaport in New York City from 1974-2016) and working with Mystic Seaport and
1480-424: The water. By 1900 most commercial sailing vessels were struggling to turn a profit in the face of competition from more modern steam ships which had become efficient enough to steam shorter great circle routes between ports instead of the longer trade wind routes used by sailing ships . Ships were built larger to carry bulk cargoes more efficiently, their rigs were simplified to reduce manning costs and speed
1520-454: Was lost, the remaining crew used her two lifeboats to make way towards Florida. Around 7:30 a.m. on 3 May, the two boats were found by the Dutch freighter Gran Rio , which took the survivors to Tampa, Florida . According to Sheldon, the squall hitting the Albatross was a white squall , i.e. an unpredictably sudden, very strong squall. His opinion was that the Albatross was essentially
1560-545: Was no longer a premium. Owners shipped cargoes that were non-perishable so that their dates of arrival (which steam ships had started to guarantee) were of less importance. Finally as the Panama Canal was opened, sailing ships were used in parts of the world where steam ships still found it hard to operate, mainly on: Both Chilean and Australian ports were difficult to supply with coal for steamships to refuel. Also, both routes to Europe went round Cape Horn . The end of
1600-457: Was still a profit to be made from the last of the sailing ships. Erikson purchased existing ships that required the minimum of capital investment and repaired them with parts cannibalised from other ships. Identifying the bulk cargo routes that would still offer paying freights, he manned the ships with a smattering of paid experienced officers. Some of the deckhands were apprentices from steamship lines and other adventurous youth who had paid
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