2007

White Star’s Boston-Liverpool service, calling at Queenstown, is often overlooked in the broad range of ocean liner history. While secondary compared to other ports in the first two decades of the twentieth century, nevertheless, Boston was important in the scheme of things.

Disasters make headlines but are not the sum total of a ship’s life and the vessels serving Boston had interesting as well as some amusing stories. The ships are Canopic, Romanic, Cretic, Arabic II, Republic II Cymric, Zeeland and a handful of others that made enroute stops

Hoosac Tunnel Docks seems like an odd moniker for the wharf facility used by White Star, the name came from a great engineering feat in Western Massachusetts’ Berkshires. As you read the article, its background ties in to a fascinating period in transport history.

As many times we have traveled to Charlestown, Massachusetts to see the U.S.S. Constitution and the Bunker Hill Monument nearby, we did not see the remaining remnant of the White Star Line literally staring at us until Simon Mills and Karen Kamuda visited the famous frigate early in 2007. That photo is inside this issue and is a reminder how much fun there is discovering history.

Three ships involved in recovering Titanic’s dead are featured in this issue: Recently, Mr. and Mrs. Ian Victor discovered what might be historical information and brought an old ledger-style book to the Titanic Museum to be examined. It turned out to be a deck log from the cable ship Mackay-Bennett; the entries from April 13th – 30th 1912 are reproduced.

Angela De Carteret Million, daughter of Captain De Carteret describes her father’s work on the cable ship Minia. She also provided images of a recovery from Montmagny that included a Titanic victim picked up holding on to a life ring.

Sam Halpern, a systems engineer, private pilot and former yachtsman with a celestial navigation background who has done extensive analysis in navigation, naval architecture and wireless telegraphy begins another incredible piece of research with a four-part series on what the officers and crew on Californian saw on April 14 and 15 1912.

Contents in this Issue

White Star Service in Boston by Karen Kamuda.

Canopic

Romanic

Arabic II

Cretic

Republic II

Cymric

Zeeland

The Commander of the Cable Ship Minia by Angela De Carteret Million.

Retrieving Titanic’s Dead, Extracts From Mackay-Bennett’s Deck Log.

Light on the Horizon–What Did Californian See? Part 1, by Sam Halpern.

Book Reviews by Tim Trower: RMS Majestic, The Magic Stick; Titanic Hearts.

Front cover: Canopic was popular in White Star’s Boston services especially to the Mediterranean; a Real Photo postcard of the liner at a Mediterranean port of call. Kamuda Collection.

Back cover: “RMS Cymric at Boston” an official White Star Line publication. Postcards were a successful method of advertising and the Company hired maritime artists such as Charles Dixon while customers distributed colorful illustrations of White Star ships through the mail. Kamuda Collection.