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Articles by Charles H. Lagerbom
An Example of Extraordinary Bravery and Coolness, Part 1
By May 1898, America was at war with Spain and the fighting off the Cuban coast was fierce. To tighten its blockade, U.S. naval authorities envisioned cutting the thick lead-cased undersea telegraph cables that ran from Cienfuegos, Cuba, to Spain. Cienfuegos was a key junction of communication. Northwest, the line stretched to Havana. Eastward it went to Santiago, where branches went to Jamaica, Haiti and Europe.
BMI Visits Darling Center
Belfast Area High School students in the Marine Institute program of Genna Black and Chip Lagerbom's Marine Studies course recently traveled to and spent the day touring the University of Maine's Darling Marine Center in Walpole. There they met and discussed scientific diving opportunities with the university's Chief Science Diver, learned about courses and careers in marine science and saw first-hand various aquaculture projects currently underway by University of Maine DMC students. kAm%@ =62C?
Half Seas Over: When the Falklands came to Maine
My family has been hearing me talk about the Falklands since my first visit there some 20 years ago. The place has long fascinated me — its maritime history and shipwrecks and wonderful people. After my latest visit, an Islander friend introduced me to some Facebook pages devoted to the Falklands. Shipwrecks, natural history, conservation…each page had a wealth of information and contacts. One that caught my eye was the Falkland Islands Yacht Club.
New name but still unlucky
Maine maritime history is filled with unlucky or unfortunate ships, often ending in tragedy or shipwreck. One I recently learned about has been called Rhode Island’s worst maritime disaster of the 20th century. Rhode Island? Well, the ship lost had been built in Maine. Sadly, so was the other vessel it collided with. This is the story of the side-wheel steamer Larchmont. Built of oak in Bath in 1885, it was originally named S.S. Cumberland and measured 252 feet long and 37 feet wide in the beam.
Given up for dead
The Rostellan was in trouble. In becalmed waters referred to as molten lead, the schooner watched helplessly as the nearby barkentine Hildegard was fired upon repeatedly by a German submarine. It was July 10, 1917, and the world was at war. Receiving word of Hildegarde’s sinking, the American consul in Plymouth, England, assumed Rostellan had been sunk as well and dispatched messages to crew families that the vessel was gone, probably with all hands.
Beluga Whales in Maine?
When you think of Maine and whales, Beluga do not readily come to mind, instead conjuring up images of sleek, ivory-white exotic whales that produce caviar for James Bond and the world’s elite. Maine connections are a bit more fleeting, usually a rare sighting or two over the years. They have been spotted in Somes Sound, off Mount Desert Island, in Penobscot bay and as far up the Penobscot River as Bangor! The Beluga’s main domain is Arctic waters off Canada, Alaska and Russia.
Sea Dogs in Maine
Early Europeans arriving in Maine — from Viking wanderers to Basque whalers — all came by sea. This was not the case with an illiterate Elizabethan Sea Dog named David Ingram. He actually walked here. Born in the 1540s in Barking, Essex, Ingram signed with English privateer John Hawkins in 1567 for a slave trading mission raiding the coasts of Portuguese Africa and Spanish Mexico.
The wonderful, versatile pogie!
Pogies go way back in Maine’s maritime history. They have long been part of the regional commerce and culture even before the Pilgrims. Even then, it is said Squanto advised those early colonists to use a pogie as fertilizer while growing corn. Known as Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus), pogies are also called mossbunker, fatback, or bunker fish. Members of the herring family, they’re a small fish no longer than 15 inches with a deeply forked tail and weigh about a pound.
Paul and Marshall Point Lighthouse
My mom’s favorite when visiting was Marshall Point Lighthouse. It was also where my good friend Paul Dalrymple lived. In fact, his mother had been born in the lighthouse, which overlooks both Muscongus and Penobscot bays. The light was installed in 1832 to help shipping traffic into Port Clyde harbor. The previous year, the federal government appropriated $4,000.
Pete Seeger and Maine maritime history
Folk singer Pete Seeger was a prolific songwriter famous for “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" and "If I Had a Hammer." He also wrote "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" and "Turn! Turn! Turn!” Pete also mastered the five-string banjo and combined his love of music with social activism, including joining the communist party for a time. He happily joined the fight for judicial, social and civil rights.
Finnegan the Flounder of Beauchamp Point
For about three seasons, a nice-sized flounder followed us around every time we dove at Beauchamp Point in Rockport. He would watch us enter, then tag along behind as we explored the marine life rich rock ledges. It was his home. We named him Finnegan and grew to enjoy his company. He was always in the same spot and seemed to like flitting along behind us. We even sported a sketch of him on one of our dive club T-shirts. But what kind of flounder was Finnegan?
The summer WWI came to Maine, Part 2
Kronprinzessin Cecilie‘s last voyage as a passenger ship began on July 28, 1914, when it departed New York for Germany. World War I broke out just a week later, when they were in the mid-Atlantic carrying 1,200 passengers and a cargo of $14 million in gold and silver. Germany declared war on France Aug. 3, then on Belgium Aug. 4. That same day, England declared war on Germany. Capt. Charles Pollack quickly realized the danger of Allied confiscation of his ship and turned westward. But go where?
A walk on the widow side
My mom loved reading gothic romance novels. Most covers showed a woman atop a Federal-style house on a storm-swept cliff looking out to sea. It seemed appropriate that that small area atop those houses were called widows’ walks, said to come from when mariner wives waited watching for their spouses’ return, often in vain. Pretty romantic, but there is little evidence these walks were intended or regularly used as such. I have a buddy long intrigued with New England architecture.
We’re so sorry, George and Albert
In 1867 when the two-mast schooner George and Albert was launched in Belfast, the shipyard of C.P. Carter & Co. was in prime production mode. C.P. Carter would eventually build a total of 116 ships in an impressive career spanning the years 1840 to 1903. His shipyard was located at the foot of Miller Street over to Pearl Street, just below the old Mathews Brothers factory, now Farmers’ Market, near present-day Hamlin’s Marine.
Kelping hands
Starting last spring, over the summer and into the fall, I (and many others) had the opportunity to help out with the Belfast Marine Institute kelp farm. It has been a great experience. BMI at Belfast Area High School embarked on an aqua-culture educational program and last fall was able to establish an actual working kelp farm off City Park. On three 400-foot lines, students transplanted Sugar Kelp (Saccharina latissimi) and Alaria Kelp (Alaria esculenta).
Don’t look back in anchor!
Second of two parts. By the 18th century, the anchor industry had become regulated and standardized, helped by the burgeoning British Royal Navy. Even their forging techniques, once protected secrets, were listed in the encyclopediae of the day. Anchors had also become huge in size to keep pace with the increasingly larger wooden sailing ships being produced by the European nations. With the larger anchors, the anchor cable, too, became an issue.
Hold on there! Let’s talk anchors!
At the Marine Institute at Belfast Area High School, our offshore kelp farm system is underway. There are lots of details, but one of the most important decisions was what kind and how heavy an anchor we wanted/needed to hold the kelp lines in place. It’s been an interesting learning process, including soliciting advice of local fishermen, boaters and ship captains. It also got me thinking about anchors in general and their history.
The Defence rests!
The disastrous 1779 Penobscot Expedition was conveniently forgotten by many, especially the general population and most certainly by Massachusetts officials. Over time, it became a localized memory; Mainers perhaps knew about the event but knowledge of any actual locations of wreckage or anything faded over time. This all changed in the 1950s when the General Chamberlain Bridge was built, spanning the Penobscot River between Bangor and Brewer.
Some book ideas for winter reading
Downeast Genius, From Earmuffs to Motor Cars, Maine Inventors Who Changed the World by Earl H. Smith; Islandport Press, Yarmouth, ME, 2021. 138 pp. $17.95 This breezy, fast-paced book tells the story of some of the Pine Tree State’s most creative inventors, whose products included an early diving suit, a better paper bag, the zig zag sewing machine, earmuffs, the prototype for an elevator, and more. Lots of great stories for cocktail conversations.
Camden Conference presents ‘Maine Whaling: To the Arctic and Beyond’
The Camden Conference, Penobscot Marine Museum, and the Belfast Free Library will present Charles Lagerbom speaking on “Maine Whaling: To the Arctic and Beyond.” This event takes place on Thursday, Jan. 28 and will be open to all on Zoom. Please register at: belfastlibrary.org/virtual-programs The history of American whaling is most frequently associated with Nantucket, New Bedford and Mystic.
Camden Conference presents ‘Maine Whaling: To the Arctic and Beyond’
The Camden Conference, Penobscot Marine Museum, and the Belfast Free Library will present Charles Lagerbom speaking on “Maine Whaling: To the Arctic and Beyond.” This event takes place on Thursday, Jan. 28 and will be open to all on Zoom. Please register at: belfastlibrary.org/virtual-programs The history of American whaling is most frequently associated with Nantucket, New Bedford and Mystic.
Tested Loyalties and Sense of Obligation: Two Maine Men and the American Revolution
What do an American Revolution prisoner of war accused of being a spy, a first born scion of an established wealthy New England family, and Machias Seal Island, a lonely, wind-swept chunk of rock in the Gulf of Maine all have in common?
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