News From Fort Schuyler

June 20, 1998 - Volume 2, No. 32

VACATION TIME - You get a respite from NFFS as your editor heads off today for San Diego and points north to attend a conference and enjoy some vacation. Stay tuned for the next issue sometime in July. Who would have thought that NFFS would have had forty-one issues since Vol.1, No.1 last September?

LIFE MAGAZINE ARTICLE WITH A SCHUYLER CONNECTION - There is an interesting article on pp. 106 -111 in the June 1998 of Life Magazine recounting the disastrous June 15, 1904 fire and stranding of the GENERAL SLOCUM on the East River below Throgs Neck and the fort. All the historical illustrations for this article, entitled, "The Survivor," were provided by the Maritime Industry Museum at Fort Schuyler according to the (very) fine print credit line on the side of page 110.

LAST MINUTE NOTICE, LITERALLY - The Maritime Industry Museum is hosting a special "Solar Eclipses at Sea" presentation on Saturday June 20" by Dr. FRED C. HESS. Dr. Hess, Professor Emeritus, did the shows at the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium for many years. The program, which includes a cocktail reception, runs from 5:00 - 8:00 and costs $25. Call the Maritime Industry Museum for details and reservations at: 718-409-7218.

NEWS FROM DOWN EAST - The peripatetic Chairman of the Maritime Industry Museum, CAPTAIN JEFFREY W. MONROE, who is currently Deputy Director for the Port of Boston, has been named Director of Transportation for the City of Portland, Maine. Jeff will be in charge of the Seaport and Portland International Jetport. He will assume his new position at the end of the summer. Congratulations, Jeffrey.

HEADING FURTHER SOUTH - Completing his government service in July will be PETER E. BACI, Class of 1964. Peter will be heading down to the Jupiter area of Florida for his retirement. Is the Florida chapter of the Alumni Association is experiencing a population boom ?

DIG OUT THOSE "TSES I" TRACINGS AND PHOTOS ONE MORE TIME - A recent e-mail from BARRY MARSH, Class of 1986, seeks research help:

"I'm scratch-building a model of the USMSTS AMERICAN PILOT (ex-EMPIRE STATE) for Fort Schuyler's Maritime Industry Museum. The model will depict the ship in her 1945 wartime configuration - dark gray, with armament and extra boats and rafts. There are no known detailed plans showing the ship as she appeared in 1945 (or are there - Do YOU have them? How about deck tracings some Mate or Engineer made you draw?). I'd appreciate any help with the following:

1. When the Navy acquired the 1919-built Hog Island Type A freighter SS SHAUME in 1921, they renamed her USS PROCYON, then modified the center section of the house and added a lifeboat platform just forward of the Poop Deck. These modifications remained when PROCYON became the EMPIRE STATE in 1931 and AMERICAN PILOT in 1941. What did these areas look like?
2. What was the AMERICAN PILOT's armament - gun type and caliber, and number of each type of gun? Where were each of the guns located?
3. What boats and rafts (type, length, and number of each) did she carry during the War? Where were they stowed?

Pictures are worth a million words to a model builder. Does anyone have pictures, or even good photocopies of pictures, you could lend me to help answer any of the above questions? Are there any color pictures of the ship? If no pictures, what tracings, drawings, or memories do you have regarding the guns, boats, and modified structures? Please respond by e-mail (marsh_barry@georgesharp.com) or phone (home at 301-782-4068); work at 703-548-4400). Thanks !"

LIBRARY REMINDER - Take advantage of your Alumni Association membership by registering at the library Information Desk for a free library borrowers card. This Stephen B. Luce Library Associate card, which normally costs $30 per year, is now available to all current members of the Alumni Association at no cost. It entitles Alumni Association members to basic reference assistance, access to the book stacks, in-house borrowing privileges for reserve, controlled circulation, maritime history, and "ready-reference" materials, access to many electronic databases from library Internet and CD-ROM workstations, and limited 5-week borrowing privileges for items from the regular circulating book collection.

Use this great Alumni Association benefit. The library is open seven days a week when classes are in session, otherwise hours are Monday through Friday, between 8:30 and 4:30, so come in and register. Not a current member of the Alumni Association? Not to worry. The Library Information Desk has membership forms available.