4
POTOMAC CURRENTS Oakland, California 2006 Volume 3 Number 4 Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Floating White House” Cont. on Page 2 ***HISTORY COMES ALIVE*** Student Cruises On the Potomac Are a Hands-On Experience Stan Jacobsen, Docent/Volunteer A rare educational opportunity awaits young people who participate in one of the Potomac student cruises and who experience its mission “To preserve and protect the Presidential Yacht Potomac for use as a classroom and museum dedicated to imparting to present and future generations the con- tinuing impact of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt era.” The tour of the entire ship is led by a team of knowledgeable docents. Students are provided with handouts, visual materials and self-reporting quizzes on the historical contents of the ship and the uses made of the vessel by President Roosevelt. That exercise helps them to turn their thoughts to the Great Depression and World War II and provides the historical context for the tour. Students soon realize that the study of American History can be more than memorizing lists of dates, presidents and battles. Their teachers report that this is one of the finest educational field trips available to them in the Bay Area as it attracts and holds the students’ attention in a manner that is very effective in promoting the learning of history. Students experience the sights and sounds of the Port of Oakland as well. As the Potomac navigates down the Oakland estuary they see first hand the enormous cargo handling facilities in action as they are loading and unloading containers from the numerous ships along the docks. The students are amazed at the variety of countries that are the ships’ homeports, and the amount of cargo they carry from all parts of the globe. It’s an exciting way to learn about the key role the Port of Oakland plays in the economy of the State of California and of the nation. The Potomac has become a floating museum that links history, education and commerce in a manner that the students can absorb and retain. The storytelling comes naturally since many of the docents who explain the working of the Potomac are former military personnel who served on U.S. Navy Ships and grew up during the presidential tenure of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. One such docent is Ray Mariolle who served on the USS Haven (AH-12), a Navy hospital ship that evacuated many of the wounded from Korea during that conflict. Volunteering for student cruises is a labor of love for this “old salt” who never misses an opportunity to ship out on history cruises. Ray reports how thrilled students are, who now see this era of history in a new light. It attracts and holds their attention as they explore the various compartments of the vessel and see how the sailors lived and worked. To climb into and stretch out in a sailor’s bunk or to tap out an SOS on the telegraph key holds their attention and is an exciting experience. It is an adventure that cannot be duplicated in the classroom. At the conclusion of their Potomac field trip, the students each receive a picture of the ship as a souvenir of this special occasion. I hope this sounds so interesting that you will want to volunteer as a docent on the next student cruise. He’s 93 and Still Cruising…… By Marti Burchell Howard Smith, the Potomac Association’s most senior volunteer (at a youthful 93), is a hometown boy born in 1913 and raised in San Francisco. Howard attended St. Ignatius High School in the SF Sunset District. His love af- fair with “salt water and sailing ships” started while he was growing up around the Bay. His dad would take him down to the docks, where Candlestick Park is now located, to see the ships coming in. As a result, he got to see all types of ships coming in to off-load cargo. His favor- ites (at least until he met the Potomac) were the Alaska Packets sailing ships. After high school graduation, Howard joined the National Guard and was all set to also join FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps. However, on July 5, 1934, the same day he was to report to the CCC, Howard was called out as Guardsman to be part of the security forces preventing vio- lence in the famous San Francisco dock strike of that year. “I spent 22 days on the waterfront packing a rifle.” The Long Shoremen’s Union and the Sailor’s Union went on strike for more equitable wages and working conditions. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, How- ard joined the Coast Guard in 1942 and served “three years, three months, three weeks and three days” (but who’s counting). Most Ameri- cans don’t know that the Coast Guard played a Photo by Bill Hodges

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Page 1: POTOMAC CURRENTS

POTOMAC CURRENTS Oakland, California 2006 Volume 3 Number 4

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Floating White House”

Cont. on Page 2

***HISTORY COMES ALIVE***

Student Cruises On the Potomac Are a Hands-On Experience

Stan Jacobsen, Docent/Volunteer

A rare educational opportunity awaits young people who participate in one of the Potomac student cruises and who experience its mission “To preserve and protect the Presidential Yacht Potomac for use as a classroom and museum dedicated to imparting to present and future generations the con-tinuing impact of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt era.” The tour of the entire ship is led by a team of knowledgeable docents. Students are provided with handouts, visual materials and self-reporting quizzes on the historical contents of the ship and the uses made of the vessel by President Roosevelt. That exercise helps them to turn their thoughts to the Great Depression and World War II and provides the historical context for the tour. Students soon realize that the study of American History can be more than memorizing lists of dates, presidents and battles. Their teachers report that this is one of the finest educational field trips available to them in the Bay Area as it attracts and holds the students’ attention in a manner that is very effective in promoting the learning of history.

Students experience the sights and sounds of the Port of Oakland as well. As the Potomac navigates down the Oakland estuary they see first hand the enormous cargo handling facilities in action as they are loading and unloading containers from the numerous ships along the docks. The students are amazed at the variety of countries that are the ships’ homeports, and the amount of cargo they carry from all parts of the globe. It’s an exciting way to learn about the key role the Port of Oakland plays in the economy of the State of California and of the nation. The Potomac has become a floating museum that links history, education and commerce in a manner that the students can absorb and retain.

The storytelling comes naturally since many of the docents who explain the working of the Potomac are former military personnel who served on U.S. Navy Ships and grew up during the presidential tenure of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. One such docent is Ray Mariolle who served on the USS Haven (AH-12), a Navy hospital ship that evacuated many of the wounded from Korea during that conflict. Volunteering for student cruises is a labor of love for this “old salt” who never misses an opportunity to ship out on history cruises. Ray reports how thrilled students are, who now see this era of history in a new light. It attracts and holds their attention as they explore the various compartments of the vessel and see how the sailors lived and worked. To climb into and stretch out in a sailor’s bunk or to tap out an SOS on the telegraph key holds their attention and is an exciting experience. It is an adventure that cannot be duplicated in the classroom.

At the conclusion of their Potomac field trip, the students each receive a picture of the ship as a souvenir of this special occasion. I hope this sounds so interesting that you will want to volunteer as a docent on the next student cruise.

He’s 93 and Still Cruising……By Marti Burchell

Howard Smith, the Potomac Association’s most senior volunteer (at a youthful 93), is a hometown boy born in 1913 and raised in San Francisco. Howard attended St. Ignatius High School in the SF Sunset District. His love af-fair with “salt water and sailing ships” started while he was growing up around the Bay. His dad would take him down to the docks, where Candlestick Park is now located, to see the ships coming in. As a result, he got to see all types of ships coming in to off-load cargo. His favor-ites (at least until he met the Potomac) were the Alaska Packets sailing ships.

After high school graduation, Howard joined the National Guard and was all set to also join FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps. However, on July 5, 1934, the same day he was to report to the CCC, Howard was called out as Guardsman to be part of the security forces preventing vio-lence in the famous San Francisco dock strike of that year. “I spent 22 days on the waterfront packing a rifle.” The Long Shoremen’s Union and the Sailor’s Union went on strike for more equitable wages and working conditions.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, How-ard joined the Coast Guard in 1942 and served “three years, three months, three weeks and three days” (but who’s counting). Most Ameri-cans don’t know that the Coast Guard played a

Photo by Bill Hodges

Page 2: POTOMAC CURRENTS

“About that Pay Raise, Marti”

Someone asked me just the other day, how many staff does it take to run the Potomac Association. I quickly responded, “There are only two of us.” In retrospect I realized that state-ment was totally in error. There are not just two of us, there are more like 70 of us.

How can that be, you may ask, being such a small organi-zation with a budget of less than half a million annually? Let me elaborate.

Yes, there are two regular paid employees, myself and our Ship Keeper, who is part time. The Potomac regular cruis-ing crew of five rotates among a pool of 26 professionals in-cluding captains, engineers, first mates and deck hands, all of whom are paid when they are on duty for a cruise.

The rest of our “staff” are all volunteers. They are without a doubt the most professional “employees” any director could ask for.

First there is the Maintenance Crew, a group of 12 talented men; maintenance professionals, engineers, carpenters, electricians, retired military, retired captains of industry and a veterinarian. These able “employees” show up without fail each week to work on the ship. They keep the engines running smoothly, the decks painted and polished the woodwork and brass work shining and well tended. They build cabinets, rewire PA systems, fix plumbing, electrical goblins, and just about anything else that needs tending to on a 165 foot, 73 year old ship. By the way, we can always use more “maintenance guys”

Next is the Office Crowd, a dedicated handful of men and women who include the follow-ing: The Operations Manager makes certain we stay on budget and our books are impeccable. The Reservations Coordinator handles all of our cruise reservations, literally thousands over the course of a season. The Office Manager tracks our inventory and ensures we don’t run out of any-thing (especially binders). The Educational Cruise Coordinator books all of our student cruises and acts as our liaison with the public and private schools in the bay area. The Program and Event Coordinator makes certain all the details or our special event cruises are handled. The Member-ship Coordinator keeps track of our “Friends.”

There are also the Speakers Bureau Coordinator, who books speaking engagements for our docent/speakers all over the Bay Area and the Speakers. The Data Manager keeps all of our records, mailing lists and docent hours. There are also the Editor and the Layout and Print Man-ager of our newsletter, the POTOMAC CURRENTS.

Finally, add into this marvelous mix of “employees” approximately 65 History Docents who staff all of our History Cruises, Educational Cruises, Dockside tours and private charters, and we have quite a crowd of talented dedicated and very professional “staff.”

“Hey, Marti, about that BIG pay raise you promised all of us………………………………….”

Marti’s Musingsvital role in international service during WWII. As a young “Coastie” Howard saw action in Australia, New Guinea, and East Indies and was part of the invasion of the Philippines on Octo-

ber 20, 1944.

The picture of Howard Smith and his fabulous mustache at the head of this article, was made famous throughout the world in December of 1943. It was picked up by United Press and dis-tributed as a Christmas photo. Stars and Stripes, the international military newspaper, picked up the photo as well, so distribution of Howard’s handsome face was truly worldwide. The story of the photo is a bit different than the holiday distribution might suggest. The photo was actu-ally taken in July of ’43 and was more the result of a couple of sailors “goofing around,” than as a planned publicity shot.

When Howard returned from the South Pa-cific he met his bride Elene Fiorani of San Di-ego (it was a set-up by his brother-in-law to be). Elene and Howard were married for 49 years. Howard was working for AAA at the time and continued with that company in a variety of po-sitions, for the next 40 years.

When his wife passed in 1999, Howard was looking for an opportunity to give his time to something related to his love of ships. Jim Mc-Cloud, one of the driving forces in the restora-tion of the Presidential Yacht, recruited Howard to be a volunteer docent. Howard has been with us ever since.

He is a mainstay of both our History Cruise and Student Cruise programs. He can be found with a group in rapt attention as he spins tales of FDR, the Potomac, and his amazing knowledge of the WWII era. When Howard is not spin-ning stories, he is masterfully practicing the art of knot tying. A self described “knot head,” Howard is responsible for much of the nautical knotting that can be found in the Pilot House and various other spots around the Potomac. As Howard says, “The Potomac is my love affair. As a Coast Guard man, I now have a beautiful former Coast Guard ship to call my own.”We are delighted to call Howard one of our own too, and we salute our most senior volunteer.

Howard cont. from Page 1

NOW HEAR THIS

Another year and another glorious day on the Bay with Potomac volunteers/docents, crew, family members and friends. Our annual “bash” (on Labor Day) is a wonderful way to meet those in the Potomac family we might not cross paths with because of the many activities we provide and our various schedules.

It was during a conversation with our own Stan Jacobsen and his wife, Emmy Werner, that I heard about Iron Cof-fins, a book written by Herbert Werner, one of the few U-Boat commanders who survived World War II. He also hap-pened to be Emmy’s uncle. The book was recently re-issued. Needless to say it is a hair-raising read. Consider that out of 38,000 men in the German submarine service, 28,000 perished and 5,000 were prisoners of war. I’m told that the movie Das Boot was based on this book. More WWII history but from a different and very personal perspective.

Angie Papastefan, Editor [email protected]

Page 3: POTOMAC CURRENTS

Page 3

LAGNIAPPECajun- A little something extra

,

What else can be as international as the sea? Many terms used by seamen and many in com-mon usage today have surprising origins as de-scribed below.

DECK Bet you didn’t know that what we now call deck formerly meant only a covering, or roof, not the modern sense of a platform. The term comes from the Middle Dutch word dec, mean-ing roof.

BERTH The word berth has several meanings. Earlier spellings were birth and byrth and could mean (1) Sea room, sufficient space to maneuver. (2) Living space assigned on board. (3) A duty as-signment. Origin is Old English.

HULK Hulk is an old unseaworthy vessel usually stripped of engines, rigging, etc. The word, seen in Middle English, Anglo-Saxon and Latin, goes back to Greek, elkas, a type of ship.

JIBE Jibe is a maneuver while sailing down wind that shifts the sails from one side to the other. The British spellings are gibe or gybe. The ori-gin is Dutch, gijbe.

DUFFEL Duffle – or duffel – refers to a sailor’s person-al effects and to the seabag in which he carried and stowed it. The term comes from the Flem-ish town of Duffel, near Antwerp, and denotes rough woolen cloth made there.

DUNGAREES Dungarees, a modern sailor’s work clothes, is not a modern term. It is XVIII century and comes from the Hindi word dungri, a type of Indian cotton cloth.

NAUTICAL Nautical, anything pertaining to ships and the sea. It came from the Latin nauticus, and that came from the Greek nautikos.

OFFICER Officer comes from Old French, official, and goes back to the Late Latin officiarius, for leader.

MACRAME Macrame is often called “fancy work” by seamen and covers knotting and braiding of ba-sic and ornamental objects. The origin could be Turkish, makrame, or Arabic, megrama.

The above was gleaned from ORIGINS OF SEA TERMS by John G. Rogers, Editor.

SWING - ON THE POTOMAC

Big Band Swing Music, that is.Angie Papastefan

If you have been on the vessel recently you may have noticed that the sounds emanating from the speakers are very clear and static-free. You can actually hear and understand all announcements made and the wonderful sound of big band music. The reason: Installation of a totally new sound system.

The challenges in getting to this state (including budget concerns) were many, as described by Bogen, suppliers of the new system. The new system:

1. Must withstand salt air, rain and wind. 2. Must provide lifelike sound for safety announcements and music during history cruises and at dockside for the 165-foot long vessel. 3. Must facilitate clear communication to the ship’s crew so they can react quickly in case of emergency while sailing. 4. Must meet Coast Guard Specifications and Certification.

Ship Keeper Craig Newton and some Potomac volunteers selected the system with an additional condition: that the crew and technically-minded volunteers would install the system. Les Marks, one of those volunteers describes the installation process.

MORE ON THE SOUND SYSTEMBy Les Marks

The planning for the new sound system started in the early part of 2006 with our Ship Keeper, Craig Newton, drawing single line diagrams of the existing system using AUTOCAD. This became our baseline and allowed us to project where we wanted to be at the end of the project.

It was determined that for the speaker system, we would replace old ones with new speakers hav-ing a higher fidelity. We then walked the ship with a new Bogen speaker, trailing a long wire to de-termine where we needed to augment the system with new speakers that would fill in the dead spots, where little or no sound could be heard. This survey resulted in our doubling the number of speakers on the ship, with most of the new ones necessary in the open areas on the exterior of the ship.

It was desirable to have all the equipment components located in one cabinet, which was ulti-mately installed in the Commanding Officer’s cabin. The only component that is not in the cabinet is the Mixer, which is located on the bridge and gives the Captain and mates full control over the entire system.

The installation required about a thousand feet of new speaker and signal wire circuits to be pulled into various areas of the ship. Exterior areas needed about a hundred feet of conduit to keep the wiring out of the weather. Holes had to be drilled to mount the speakers; no easy task as the Potomac has some of the hardest steel that you will ever have to drill through. Two new electri-cal circuits were installed, so the entire sound system is now powered from the Emergency Power Panel, ensuring that in the event of a main power failure, the system will still operate so the Captain can give emergency orders to crew and passengers.

A summary of the system is as follows:

1. The Captain has a microphone on the bridge that overrides the entire sys-tem to allow him to give emergency information to all on board. 2. There is a Wireless Microphone system that allows a narrator to roam the ship and override the background music at will, to inform our passengers about points of interest along our cruise route. 3. The main components of the system are the Output Amplifier and Mixer, which takes the input from the above-mentioned microphones and all of the fol-lowing inputs: AM/FM Tuner, CD Disc Player, Cassette Player and MP3 Player. With a few patch cords we could input from an IPOD or even an FDR era pho-nograph turntable.

Although we did not keep score, it is estimated that over 500 volunteer hours went into the plan-ning and execution of this installation, resulting in the crystal clear sound now heard on the USS Potomac.

Page 4: POTOMAC CURRENTS

Board of Governors and StaffMichael Roosevelt, Chairman

Carla Betts, PresidentAl Groh, 1st Vice President

Tom Morehouse, 2nd Vice PresidentArt Haskel, CFO

Willis Deming, SecretaryRick AndersonMary BerganJoe Brennan

Curtis DaviesDavid ConnollyVirginia Furth

Buzz GibbJudy Goff

Doug HigginsJames McCloudDenny McLeodKirk Rowlands

Ron ParedesRichard Zampa

Marti Burchell, Executive DirectorCraig Newton, Shipkeeper

The Potomac Association540 Water Street

P.O. Box 2064 Oakland, CA 94604 Telephone: 510-627-1215

e-mail: [email protected]

The Potomac Newsletter is published by the Association for the Preservation of the Presidential Yacht, Potomac, Inc.

Printed courtesy of the Port of Oakland’sREPROGRAPHIC DEPARTMENT

Editor: Angie Papastefan

Layout and Design: David McGrawEditorial Board: Les Marks, Marti Burchell,

and David McGraw

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: No part of this publication may be reproduced

without written permission by the publisher

Page 4

POTOMAC SCHEDULE SPECIAL CRUISESVeteran’s Day, November 11

Angel Island; Cruise, Tram Tour and Lunch. November 15.

Call for reservations and pricing

DOCKSIDE TOURSThe Potomac is open for docent-led dockside tours from mid-January to mid-December. Tours

are approximately 45 minutes and include a 15 minute video shown in the Visitor Center.Wednesday and Friday 10:30am to 2:30pm

Sunday 12 Noon to 3:30pmDockside Ticket Pricing:

$7/Adult • $5/Seniors • 12 and under/Free

SPRING 2007 HISTORY CRUISESEnjoy a two-hour narrated History Cruise with our knowledgeable docents. Complimentary coffee, tea and water will be available. Tickets must be purchased by contacting Ticket Web at www.tick-etweb.com or by calling 866-468-3399. Spring cruising season resumes in May 2007. Reservations are highly recommended. Groups of 20 or more must make reservations by calling the Potomac Association at 510-627-1215.

All Cruises Depart Jack London Square at 11amHistory Cruise Ticket Pricing:

Adults $40.00 / Seniors (over 60) $35.00Youth 6-12 / $20.00, Under 6 Free

Groups of 20 or more $30.00 For further dates and information: www.usspotomac.org

Note: if you have any questions or comments about the above listing, please e-mail: [email protected] or write to Friends of the Potomac, Attn: Gordon Seligson, P.O.Box 2064, Oakland CA 94604

CONTRIBUTIONS and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS • January to October 2006CORPORATE PARTNER

Buchanan Street PartnersPATRONBuzz Gibb

Stanley Jacobsen and Emmy WernerPG&E

COMMANDER IN CHIEFCarla and Ken Betts

Jim BolenWillis Deming

Denny and Ruth McLeodTom and Carol Morehouse

Gary PfeifferBeverly Voelker

Richard Zampa (Ironworkers International)ADMIRALAlbert GrohELEANORRuth Adar

Dale HansenDouglas HigginsAngie Papastefan

CAPTAINMary Bergan

Johnson BogartRonald and Libi Cape

George FraserLinda Huber

Carol JohnstonBill and Mollie Kinney

James McCloudStuart and Vallyn Proffitt

John RovedaGordon SeligsonJohn UnderhillFIRST MATE

Bruce and Gail AdairMiriam and Leon Bloomberg

Roland BrandelWindy and Jerry ButlerAlice and Vern Carrier

Fred CunninghamLester and Elaine Dropkin

Olaf ElanderBill and Marie Ewing

Dorothy and Julie FiliceRobert Eakin and Avis Hendley

Norman and Nancy ForrestSalley Beck and David Brossard

Bonnie and Earl HamlinBill and sue HodgesRay and Robin Hunt

Earl JensenKenneth and Margo Kingsbury

Rich Knowles and Merlyn Uhlenberg

Neal and Nancy LamblyDaniel LameyJack Lapidos

Sandra LundgrenE. Richard Martin

David and Myrna McGrawBob McMillanJim O’ConnorDavid Shaw

Wanda VivianoJohn WellandBrian Withiam

FALADonald Andrews

Don BonneyJohn BradleyGus Dorough

Joseph EchelberryGeorgia Edlund

Leroy and Marlene HintzmanWalter Jaffee

Lucy JohnFrank McConville

Terry and Carolyn MorelandDawn Muller

Ann PapastefanJohn Papastefan and Family

Herbert PlochMary Rudser

Robert WoodruffSTUDENT/TEACHER

Ted BrownElizabeth Hannon