Product Description
The fast, agile pilot schooners of Chesapeake Bay – employed not only for piloting but for cargo-carrying – began to build their legend in the eighteenth century, becoming blockade runners during the American Revolution, privateering vessels during the War of 1812, armed dispatch and policing vessels for European navies, and a favored type for the activities of pirates, smugglers and slavers. Variations on the final “clipper” model of the Baltimore schooner continue… More >>
Tidewater Triumph: The Development and Worldwide Success of the Chesapeake Bay Pilot Schooner
In the Shadow of the Pines; A Tale of
An American Geological Railway Guide,
Rural depopulation in certain Tidewater
Fly Fishing the Tidewaters
Reaching Tidewater: Life on the
#1 by M. Kei on June 10, 2010 - 9:18 am
_Tidewater Triumph_ is an important addition to the books on the Baltimore clippers — a name which Footner rejects. Footner’s thesis is that the Baltimore clipper did not arise from the traditional Anglo-American vessels of the colonial period, but were instead enlarged versions of the Virginia pilot boat; he prefers to call them ‘pilot schooners.’ He analyzes numerous vessels and provides copies of their plans, contemporary illustrations, and other data, including some foreign sources not previously pulled together in a single place. This volume is densely packed with information and citations which make a strong case; academians and serious naval history buffs will enjoy it but casual readers will probably be bewildered.
However, I feel compelled to update my review; after more research and reading I would only give the work 4 stars. I have been able to identify some gaps and errors in his work that I missed before so I no longer find his argument as persuasive. Nonetheless, although Footner may not prove his theory of the origin of the Baltimore clipper, nobody else can prove their theories either, and it remains a good presentation of the case for a purely American origin for our beloved Chesapeake schooners.
Rating: 5 / 5