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PREFACE

As I worked through the voluminous files in writing my last book, Sentinel of the Seas, I became curious about the vessels used in the building of the St. George Reef Lighthouse—and especially with one man who owned the ships in the construction. Starting in 1883, Captain Thomas P. H. Whitelaw leased out the schooner La Ninfa as the building crew’s quarters, as well as the steamer Whitelaw that towed it and supplies to the reef. I wondered, what kind of a man would rent out good ships in such a risky venture? In answering this question, I discovered a new world: the adventurous times of Captain Whitelaw and the master wreckers.

The premier ship salvager of his day, T. P. H. Whitelaw watched as ships and their designs changed. He and his crews pulled tall-masted ships from reefs, refloated steamers whose hulls had been slashed by rocks, and salvaged schooners from the bottom of bays. I discovered that over time, Whitelaw had become a large shipowner, in addition to owning huge maritime used-parts lots.

Whitelaw had arrived in San Francisco at age sixteen with a quarter in his pocket. By age forty-five, he was extensively engaged in mining and real estate ventures, operated a stock ranch of 43,000 acres, and had accumulated substantial holdings of land. Internationally recognized, Whitelaw had become regarded as “The Master Wrecker” and “The Great Wrecker of the Pacific.” His world encompassed the other important ship salvagers that operated across the United States, and his career spanned the era from sailing ships to steamers and from wooden to steel-hulled vessels.

Wrecking as a livelihood originated along the rugged coastlines of Europe, which had been a haven for wreckers and smugglers, and immigrants to the United States brought along the traditions. Wreckers in the nineteenth century built the town of Key West, Florida. When ships foundered, the first mariner on the scene—from a flotilla of streaking schooners—was designated the master of that wreck and ran the operation. Salvors later received their cut as a share of the auction proceeds, a part of the saved goods, or some “in kind” payment. Abuses and calls for reform led to this rough-and-tumble world becoming regulated and eventually maturing into a competitive business for hire.

The United States had its share of standout salvors starting in the late 1860s, including the East Coast’s Captain E. R. Lowe and Israel J. Merritt, as well as Captain Thomas A. Scott and William Chapman. Like Whitelaw, they were about salvage—not plunder. They saved ships and people, putting together ventures to refloat sunken or beached ships for a fee. Or they might buy the salvage rights to what could be saved. However, the wrecker who stood out with success, respect, and publicity was Captain T. P. H. Whitelaw.

Whitelaw came from a poor Scottish family, and at age twelve apprenticed himself to a British vessel that traveled the East India trade. When this ship docked a few years later in 1863 in San Francisco Harbor, he decided to stay. With charisma, persistence, and brilliance, Captain Whitelaw started and built up his operations. He was an avid reader of the Greek classics, a self-taught philosopher, and a literary genius. And he worked on different nationally recognized efforts to save wrecked ships. One of his most noteworthy was the raising of the steamship Umatilla, which sank in Esquimalt Harbor, British Columbia, in 1884. This feat resulted in the British Admiralty giving international accolades to Captain Whitelaw.

“A terrible, always hungry monster, with long white teeth is the sea,” observed the Captain. “It is a smiling witch one day—a terrible monster the next.” He understood the incredible, combined powers of the winds, waves, currents, and tides that reduced the sturdiest vessels to piles of splintered wood and shards of steel plates. For Whitelaw, “Ships have individuality, each leading its own life, sometimes against the will of man. Some ships survive almost incredible disasters, as do some men, while others leave their wood and steel bones on the first reef.”

For decades, ships of all sizes and shapes dominated the movement of goods and people. Before railroad networks and airplanes or trucks and buses crisscrossed this country, these were the times when ships ruled the transportation world. Owing to inadequate charts, lack of warning lighthouses, and limited weather forecasting, however, vessels continually slammed into reefs, were thrashed by storms, and rendered helpless by strong currents. I became awed by the stories of these shipwrecks, the courage of the men and women, and the epic salvage efforts of the wreckers.

Using pontoons, powerful tugs, and strong steam engines on huge wreck ships, salvagers saved sunken ships—and under terrifying conditions. When performing their work, they were confronted by the same capricious seas and frightening winds that had caused the disasters in the first place. The accounts of the most memorable incidents—and the bravery the salvagers showed in the face of death—are detailed here.

Operating from his San Francisco base, Captain Whitelaw’s ventures took him to Mexico and then north along the lengthy West Coast to British Columbia and the Bering Sea. Countries overseas and the U.S. government alike called upon him for his expertise. His counterparts on the East Coast, such as Merritt, Chapman, and Scott, also rose in importance as they steamed into savage waters to save ships and passengers. Their experiences and operations are part of this story as well.

This book is about the era when shipping was the dominant form of transportation throughout the world. It pictures the savage seas and times that Whitelaw and other wreckers faced, their human failures, and their triumphs. The stories are about courage, achievement, and the historical challenges of these times.

Excerpted from TAKING THE SEA by Dennis Powers. Copyright © 2009. Published by AMACOM Books, a division of American Management Association, New York, NY. Used with permission.

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