Sunday, June 13, 2010

Seafaring Sunday: The Voyage Of Savannah

She was seen from the station at Cape Clear, on the south coast of Ireland and reported as a ship on fire. The admiral, who lay in the Cove of Cork, dispatched one of the King's cutters to her relief; but great their wonder at their inability, with all sail set, in a fast vessel, to come up with a ship under bare poles. After several shots were fired from the cutter the engine was stopped and the surprise of her crew at the mistake they had made, as well as their curiosity to see the singular Yankee craft, can easily be imagined.

~ Steven Rogers, navigator of the English revenue cutter Kite, June 19, 1819

The U.S. steamship Savannah arrived in Liverpool, England from her namesake in Georgia on the following day. She was the first of her kind to sail across the Atlantic.

2 comments:

Timmy! said...

Ahoy, Pauline! Technology continues to advance, but sailing ships still continue to be made and used (although not like they used to be obviously)... I like the picture, though.

Pauline said...

Ahoy, Timmy! There will always be a place in the world for a ship under sail. And that is a wonderful thing.