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Mary A. Whalen 1966 from collection Dave Boone
1978 from collection Dave Boone
1980s photo by Barry Masterson
1968 Mary A. Whalen aground |
History of tanker Mary A. Whalen News Monday 2/24/09. Most of the parts needed to fix the Whalen’s engine arrived in Red Hook after being trucked from Seattle. The back story will roll out in installments on the blog We got 6 cylinders, 6 heads, 6 pistons, 1 connecting rod, a whole fuel pump assembly, the lower half of the engine block with a crank (to be inspected) and flywheel, and 2 davits. What we lack now are 5 connecting rods and 1 davit, and we need more research to determine the crank repair strategy. Our new acquisitions include stuff we didn't need, so we can sell some parts to defray costs. If you want to help us find more, we need 5 rods for a Fairbanks Morse 37E12, six cylinder, direct reversing engine. Fixing the Whalen's engine will happen down the road. Right now, we are focused on finding a home, program development and fundraising. Engine parts like these, however, need to be acquired when found (if cheap) as they are scarce as hen's teeth and disappearing fast when old boats get scrapped.
Ship plans The Whalen is Mathis hull #124. The F.A. Verdon was hull #125 and had 38' longer cargo tanks. During the 1940's, Bushey considered adding 30' to the Whalen's cargo tanks, and we have several blueprints from this period. The expansion was never completed. We'd like plans to the Whalen. The Verdon was scrapped in 1976.
Background
Bushey's was a shipyard and fuel terminal at the foot of Court Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn. They did not build the Whalen, though she appears to be one of their designs. She was built by Mathis in Camden, New Jersey, a builder of many fine yachts, naval vessels and workboats. Two Mathis links: ship list and history. The Whalen delivered fuel products up and down the Atlantic Coast, as far away as Maine and Maryland, and up many rivers. In her last years, she stayed close to home and often worked the Gowanus Canal or delivered fuel to ships. She went out of service in 1993. Eklof cannibalized the engine so competitors could not put her in service. In 1995, she came back home to Red Hook where she served in Erie Basin as a dock and office for Hughes Marine, a sixth-generation firm self-described as "the clearinghouse for marine difficulties." The
Whalen made history This 1975 decision overturned US maritime law in effect since 1854 and had the USA finally join maritime practice common in other nations. The ruling begins "The precise origins of the divided damages rule are shrouded in the mists of history;" and Judge Learned Hand dismisses U.S. admiralty law on this issue as an "obstinate cleaving to the ancient rule which has been abrogated by nearly all civilized nations." November 2008, during a cocktail party, we learned that Charles Cushing went aboard the grounded Whalen as a young naval architect to figure out how to get the boat afloat. The Whalen's grounding was one of the first jobs taken by C.R. Cushing & Co which subsequently grew into an international firm of note. Charles remembered the event well! More info to come from that quarter. Unusual
original name
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Other Bushey tankers
A.C. Dodge, collided, exploded & sank 1952, from collection Dave Boone
Bushey YO-4 trial photo from Gerry Weinstein, Archive of Industry
R.J. Perry, later John J. Tabeling 1966, Patricia N. Gellatly 1992, then Nemo and scrapped 2005, from collection Dave Boone
George Whitlock II, later Reliable II 1990, scrapped 2005, from collection Dave Boone |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hook%2C_Brooklyn