News From Fort Schuyler

April 13, 2009 - Volume 9, No. 17

PRAYERS ANSWERED - The successful conclusion to the piracy incident involving the MAERSK ALABAMA engendered a great deal of email and press comment. Although over 25 Fort Schuyler alumni are listed as working for Maersk out of Virginia in the Alumni Association roster, none appeared to be on the crew list for that voyage. There have been some interesting articles relating to maritime schools, including a recent story about anti-piracy training at the Maritime College, 'Next-Gen Ship Captains Getting Piracy Training,' broadcast by the local CBS-TV affiliate. It featured cadets and CAPT. JOE AHLSTROM '82 and CAPT RICK SMITH '81, Master of the TS EMPIRE STATE. (http://wcbstv.com/topstories/marine.captains.piracy.2.981109.html) [The editor wishes to thank PAUL HOPSON '70,CHARLES BURNS '70, and Maritime parent JOAN BARNES, for their input to NFFS relating to this story.]

SOMETHING ELSE TO CELEBRATE - The Maritime Industry Museum will be celebrating Maritime Humanitarianism and honoring ADM. FLOYD "HOSS" MILLER '53 at its annual Gala on 25 April. Admiral Miller provided essential support for the founding of the museum during his years as president of the college. Institutional honorees at this event will be Project Hope and the Seamen's Church Institute in recognition for their many years of generous endeavors throughout the nation and world. Tickets are $50. More information at www.sunymaritime.edu/documents/2009/3/23/09fundraiser_090312.pdf

MUSICAL ANSWERS AND QUESTIONS - In answer to a query about the regimental band from JIM YAHNER '86, its director, WALTER NADOLNY '78, reports that, yes, the Maritime College band did march in last month's St. Patrick's Day Parade. Walter continues: "I do have a question, though. How many years has the band been in it? I remember them recruiting me from high school in 1972."

SIMPLIFICATION - Notifcation that the Cost Guard has issued regulations to consolidate credentials issued to merchant mariners into a single credential was sent to NFFS by RODNEY McFADDEN '75. According to a MEBA telex, the rule which becomes effective on 15 April, 2009, reduces "...the burden on mariners by limiting the number of times they need to appear in person to provide fingerprints and proof of identity. This is an end result that the MEBA and maritime labor has been working toward for years."

N/S SAVANNAH (CONCLUDING) - "My mother, Rita Wilson, had a bit of wanderlust," writes PAUL WILSON '69, "so somehow she found out about the SAVANNAH. She managed to take a trip on her with my father, Leonard, on Election Day, 1964, from NY to Philadelphia. That was almost a year before I started at Maritime. I remember driving to the ship in early evening. I can't remember if it was a Hoboken or North River pier. I got a tour of the engine room (not the reactor, of course.) I think I remember seeing big yellow DeLaval turbines."

"Anyway, I never gave much thought to that night again. When my mother decided to move ... to Maryland to be closer to my brother, Lenny, she decided to part with a lot of mementos. Lo and behold, out came two scrolls honoring her and my father as Nuclear Navigators. (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-9/54032/2080801) She even had the original mailing tube from American Export. She also lad lunch and dinner menus, 3 water glasses with the ship's name and nuclear symbol on them, and a luggage tag!" "She passed away a year ago at age 93, and had every marble she started with. She knew the maritime industry was very interesting, and that's how I wound up in it."

Retired San Francisco Bar Pilot, CAPT PAUL LOBO '69, writes that the late CAPT BILL MEYER '44, who was a fellow SFB Pilot, had also served as Master of the SAVANNAH.

JOHN ALBINO '56, who confirms that there is, indeed, a N/S SAVANNAH exhibit at our Maritime Industry Museum, writes that: "I was in the original crew of the N. S. SAVANNAH, serving as an engineer in training and operations from 1959 thru 1963. (I am a plank holder.) Have the first U.S. Coast Guard license issued with a nuclear endorsement. The following was printed on my Second Engineer's License: 'Certified by the Atomic Energy Commission to operate the reactor on the N/S SAVANNAH.' There were 12 of us and alphabetical order prevailed. The first crew was selected from the operating fleet of States Marine Lines, according to the contract awarded by the Maritime Administration to operate the ship."

"The original engineering crew included me, Class of '56, and BOB DUCLOS '49. The second backup engineering crew had no Fort Schuyler graduates. What happened after June of 1963 I am not sure, as I was no longer connected with the program after that date. Our training started early in 1958. It included assisting in the installation of the engine room systems and reactor compartment machinery at New York Shipbuilding, Camden New Jersey. Took her out of the shipyard ( We were towed to Yorktown Virginia). Although we took the reactor critical in Camden, we were not permitted to go to power due to the proximity to the populated Philadelphia area. Then months of testing at Yorktown."

"Sailed under nuclear power to Savannah Georgia for ceremonies. The crew were given Honorary Citizenship of Savannah Awards by the mayor and governor. Then through the Panama Canal and up the West Coast to the Seattle World's Fair, where we were on display and open to visitors. There were thousands of visitors. Then to Hawaii for a week, Los Angeles, San Diego and finally Galveston, Texas, our home port. It was there, during preparations for the first Atlantic crossing to Europe, that the ship's operating contract was canceled by MARAD and subsequently awarded to American Export Lines. They then embarked on a one year rush training course for a completely new crew." (All this is documented in the book 'The Story of The SAVANNAH' by David Kuechle. This is a classic recount of a historical U S maritime labor relations dispute. It covers the above information and much more, in great detail, including the original crew member names. It is still in print.)"

"JOHN CASHIN '53, I think was with Babcock&Wilcox (the reactor supplier), during the construction phase, and not a crew member. I do not recall RICHIE BRIGHT '56 being connected with the SAVANNAH. However, he could have taken us through the Panama Canal when he was a Panama Canal Pilot. All others were employed by the second operator of the SAVANNAH which was American Export Lines, the first being States Marine Lines." John also confirmed that "DOUG GRAHAM '53 was in the third engineering training program of 14, which started in February 1960, when it was decided that there would not be enough engineers to cover the manning scale. I was in the first engineering group of 12 that started in September 1958. At the time when he came aboard, as a trainee, I did not know he was from Fort Schuyler."

EBB TIDE - The death, on March 16 2009, of JAMES ALAN DUNAY '72 was noted in Florida and New Jersey newspapers. Dunay, a nuclear engineering major at Fort Schuyler, held a Chief Engineer's license. After he retired from shipping, he and his wife, Patricia "... owned and operated the Old Santini-Stewart House Bed & Breakfast on Beach Boulevard in Biloxi, MS until August 2005. The bed and breakfast was filled with a variety of treasures that James brought back from his many travels around the globe as a merchant mariner." The 2005 date noted in the obituary was, of course, that of Hurricane Katrina, which scoured most of the buildings on that section of the Mississippi Gulf Coast - leaving vacant lots where buildings once stood. After the loss of his business , he moved to Iverness Florida, where he spent his last years. He is survived by his wife, seven children, ten grandchildren and eight siblings.