Gershom Bradford of Naval Hydrographic Office + Kingston Mass.

Gershom Bradford 1879-l978 nautical author, Editor Notices to Mariners, U. S. Naval Hydrograhpic officer l935-l942. p 10 #76

.---Gershom Bradford 1879-l978 nautical author, Editor Notices to Mariners, U. S. Naval Hydrographic office l935-l942. p 10 #76 Born Kingston, Massachusetts May 10, l879, Gershom Bradford studied at a schoolship that was forerunner of Massachusetts Maritime Academy. In l900 he helped lay out a deepwater navigational test course off Provincetown Cape Cod, where in l927 the submarine S-4 surfaced without warning in front of the Coast Guard cutter PAULDING. The Submarine sank as a result of the collision, in which Jack Barrett and many others were sent to sea in rescue efforts. Gershom Bradford went to Naval Hydrographic office Washington D.C. 1908 and was a valued friend of Jack Barrett there l9l3-l9l6 and kept in touch with Jack and family thereafter.Gershom's wife Mary Lightfoot's family owned property at4701 Reservoir Road NW Washington D.C where the German embassy was their next door neighbor l970. She lived to age 103, and her niece Mrs. LaRoe of Toledo,Ohio gave the Barretts this photo. Gershom wrote several editions of "A Dictionary of Sea Terms" and many articles for American Neptune Magazine, published by his friend Walter Whitehill at maritime Peabody Museum, Salem, Massachusetts.More than twenty of these articles were colllected in two books published by Barre press "Yonder is the Sea" and "In with the Sea Wind."Gershom's father Gamaliel had been in whaling in California and Pacific l850's. Then he was active in fighting in Union Navy in Civil War.Gershom's uncle-by-marriage Frederick Knapp was assistant to Frederick Law Olmstead on Sanitary Commission, which cared for sick and wounded Union soldiers in Civil War - comparable to later American Red Cross. Sophie Barrett's l923 Mount Holyoke classmate Rebecca G.Smaltz of Phiadelphia got to know Gershom because her cousin Laura Wood Roper published some information from Gershom in "F.L. O." - her biography of Frederick Law Olmstead remembered primarily for his conservation work at Yosemite and Niagara Falls and landscape architecture at 500 parks and Arboreta.Both Gershom's parents were descendants of colonial Pymouth colony governor Robert Bradford, and he did a great deal of colonial history, also wrote about Admrial Horatio Nelson compelling a Cape Cod fisherman to pilot him through shallow waters l782 during the American Revolution - much about whaling, Cape Horn, seamanship, and the l872 disappearance of the crew of Mary Celeste New Bedford fishing boat near the Azores, which he attributed to a waterspout frightening the crew.Bradford's mother's family were Phipps of Bridgewater. Both his grandfathers were clergymen. Bradford in the l970's did research on his great-uncle General Edward Wild,his nother's mother's brother, who lost a leg at Antietam 1862 but commanded Negro troops with remarkable success in l864. Gershom also remembered seeing Mosby, of the l864 Confederate "Mosby's Raiders" of Virginia, who later was appointed to positions in the federal government and was still active when Bradford went to Washington l908.Gershom accepted honorary membership in Sons of Union Veterans l978. His second cousin Dr. Charles Bradford also writes history on Merimac-Monitor ironclads l862 and Lexington= Concord + Dorchester Heights in Revolution. Dr. Bradford's father was dean of Harvard Medical School near World War I and developed the Bradford orthopedic frame. Gershom wrote many articles for weekly Duxbury Clipper and the home of his great-grandfather in Kingston has become a historic site. - B-R-A-D-F-O-R-D chapter from 81- Fri, 6 Aug 1999 14:59:29 -0700 (PDT) 81-GERSHOM BRADFORD was a friend of Jack Barrett beginning 1913-1916 at Naval Hydrographic Office. He lived to 1978 and his letters cross-reference to many periods and chapters of "RED HEADED STEPCHILD." These include early Colonial Plymouth, Admiral Horatio Nelson 1782, Civil War Gamaliel Bradford, Sanitary Commission, Generals Benjamin Butler, and Edward Wild, the disappearance of MARY CELESTE 1872,Jack Barrett's 1926 project for an Antacrtic expedition, the December, 1927 sinking of submarine S-4 in collision with Coast Guard Cutter PAULDING near Provincetown, 1933 letter when Jack Barrett was assigned to survey ship HANNIBAL, 1939-1941 contacts with Felix Riesenberg and Charles Edey Fay when Jack was in charge of New York Branch Hydrographic Office, Bradford's American Neptune Magazine articles and books "A Dictionary of Nautical Terms" three editions and "Yonder is the Sea" and "In With the Sea Wind" Barre Press and Bradford's letters to Sophie and John Barrett 1970-1979.Bradford was editor of U.S. Naval Hydrographic office "Notices to Mariners" 1935-1942. His second cousin Dr. Charles Bradford Harvard 1926 also wrote extensive history including battles of Lexington and Concord and Dorchester Heights in Revolution and MERRIMAC and MONITOR Civil War ironclads. With narrative below appear 1926 and 1933 letters to Jack Barrett about Antarctica project and Hannibal Panama survey work,an April 1941 letter about problems of up-to-the minute Hydrographic radio Broadcasts from New York, Boston, and Washington DC offices during the U-boat crisis, and a group of letters to Sophie and John Barrett 1970 to 1975. Of this postwar group the earliest surviving letter is March, 1970:-"4701 Reservoir Road, Washington DC March 4, 1970 Dear Mr. Barrett, I have your letters of February 19 and 24th before me.Your father's activities are most impressive. I have no thoughts on THRESHER. I do feel that there are plenty of deep currents, especially when a "low" passes over. I was in "Sailing Directions" in "Hydro" [-graphic] from 1908 to 1917; in "Pilot Charts" from 1923 to 1935; in "Notices to Mariners" 1935-1942 - writing stuff for mariners in all. I retired for health in June, 1942, and after some recuperation, voluntarily held classes in Navigation in my home for Naval Reserve officers.I guess you know that. For Yangtze River information [find] an old copy of a China Sea Directory published by Hydrographic Office.-Of the Maldive Islands I know nothing. [Jack kept navigation notes from passing through Eight North passage spring 1920 en route Singapore to Suez on comercial ship WESTERNER with Captain Mal Richardson]. I have heard the "Nantucket Skipper" story [humorous poem by James T. Fields].[Felix] Riesenberg was in the Revenue Cutter Academy but resigned when they raised the term. + I stood out half the night to see Halley's Comet, with no result [1910].- Caimanera is outside of Guantanamo.- [I] know nothing of Cooper River naval set-up in 1921 or now.- Yes, I got a card for research at Archives - they were most helpful.This was ten years ago.Your family has been here a long time.= [I have] nothing about SS ANDREW JACKSON.= Heard Island:Here I have some information. You will find it in my "Secrets of MARY CELESTE and other Sea Fare" under "Land Ho" - my last book - Library will have it - I hope.= Admiral Dewey was a hero of mine too. Mr. Keller [Kelly?] comes to mind as in "Hydro"[-graphic] and had been in sailing ships- a splendid gentleman. In the PENOBSCOT-CHEWINK affair [S-4 rescue attempt December 1927] the 'Canal' could not have been Cape Cod--I don't suppose so,but know of no canal in New York area [refers to radio messages as PENOBSCOT sought to contact CHEWINK] = The S-4 was sunk in collision off Provincetown, Cape Cod.I assisted in laying out that trial course in which she was lost.= - Yes - we [Hydrographic Office] were under Navigation [Bureau]; our appropriations came from the Bureau.= No remembrance of Harry Badt= In 1918 Riesenberg and I were in the Merchant Marine Reserve. [I] know nothing of people in the Regular Navy in 1927-1929. In 1927 I was asked to join here [District of Columbia], but was turned down physically. Riesenberg was in area [New York] but not in service that I know of. I can not think of a meeting with your father not already mentioned to you.= He certainly got around the world in his time and into a lot of things.- Best wishes- sincerely- Gershom Bradford." Gershom Bradford letters l972-5--- 4701 Reservoir Road NW Washington DC 20007 May 1972 Dear Mrs. Barrett and John,It was thoughtful of you to note my birthday.I had a pleasant day, but they come too fast. If I were of any help in compiling your manuscript, I am pleased.I know the work you are going through to get it in shape.If anyone thinks that getting copy ready for a printer is not work, I wish they would try it.Laying out the first draft is the pleasantest part.At the moment I am immersed in reading proof of my "Dictionary of Sea Terms."-it is the third edition.I am pleased to have it published because at ninety-three it will live some time after me.It is so concentrating that I can work only one hour at a time without tiring.Then I have to use a reading glass.I only hope for no bad errors.- In the fall or winter I will have a story of Daniel Webster's son Fletcher in the "New England Galaxy", published by Old Sturbridge Village. - I want to keep on doing a little of this work as one hates to drop out of sight entirely.However, it is inevitable. Brook Farm? Yes - I think it is a worthy project for the West Roxbury Historical Society. You can hardly believe I knew a Brook Farmer. - Not exactly.- Willard Saxton was the printer's devil there as a boy.He was a Major in the Civil War, and he went to our church.I knew him well until he was over one hundred years old. He remembered a kin of mine there, George Partridge Bradford.If that is the Reverend Samuel(?) Ripley related to Emerson,- he married Sarah Bradford, daughter of Captain Gamaliel Bradford l763 to l824 or l825. They lived in the Old Manse at Concord. (This was answer to Barrett letter- which probably spoke of George Ripley of Brook Farm, whose wife was Sophia.-not the same but related.) = I recently quoted a remark - with some acid in it- by Louisa Alcott."When it came harvest time Emerson packed up his Over Soul and went home." May not be an exact quote.That oversoul to me is his greatest essay.I am glad John's friend (Bob Wenger,who worked in delicatessen at Roche Brothers grocery, Centre Street West Roxbury)has been admitted to Massachusetts Maritime Academy. I cannot realize that this splendid institution has grown out of my schoolship, from which I graduated in l900. Yes - (and) a graduate was in the PAULDING in the S-4 accident.- We too have had a late, cloudy,drizzly spring, but better now.We stagger or dodder about,simplifying chores- some days better than others, but good friends help us with errands and such. Maimie (his wife) is ninety-eight! With best wishes- Gershom Bradford P.S. Helping to lay out that Naval Trial Course at Cape Cod in the summer of l902 was one of my pleasantest jobs. June 13, l973 Dear Mrs. Barrett and John,Today is a day to write a letter.For some ten days the humidity has been intolerable. All one desired was to find the least objectionable spot and do nothing.It is beautiful today - only eighty-five degrees and low humidity.- There is not much new with us. I plod along with the biography of my great-uncle- a colorful Brigadier General in the Civil War.His disposition was to be irked by restraints and as a result occasionally got into trouble.The Army does not condone too much freedom of action in subordinates, and one-star Brigadiers have two-star Major Generals above them.So this makes uncle Edward more interesting. He was a striking figure on his horse - empty left sleeve- arm lost at Antietam and right hand crippled at Fair Oaks in l862. - You mentioned the disappointing lowly place of the Red Socks.The Washington Senators were in the cellar most of their team's seventy years - all but once - l924. - One of the most remarkable years in baseball- Washington won the pennant and the series against New York.In the series the games zigzagged until three each and tied in the ninth I think. The excitement was at the highest pitch in my memory.President Coolidge made the remark that the United States Government had ceased to function. It came to the situation as I recall - Washington a run ahead and New York (Giants) coming to bat.We were electrified by the announcement, "Walter Johnson in the bullpen warming up." He had played heavily already - was our hero. He took his place on the mound and struck three men out!! The Watergate is the most remarkable situation I have seen here in my sixty-five years (he came to Naval Hydrographic office in l908 from Kingston, Massachusetts). It is unbelievable that men of position could be so involved in such business. The President will work magic if he succeeds in clearing himself of knowledge of what was going on.I guess you heard this in the hearings of the Senate.-It would be nice if John could go to Ireland again.I suppose for many tourists the devalued dollar will make European visits more expensive.We never expected our dollar to be in trouble.We only travel thirty or forty miles from home now.With our best wishes- sincerely- Gershom Bradford October 14, l973 Dear Mrs. Barrett and John,The story of the Admiral and his two warrant officers out in Shanghai was very amusing. That Admiral intended to show that he was o.k. and called an "Admiral's inspection" to prove it.While it was funny to us, it was not to "Doc"the First Lieutenant who had to put up with the Admiral's changed disposition. -That was an interesting story of the Dahlquists' trip to Alaska. It helped me in my determination not to travel more than forty miles from our home.There is too great a chance of getting into a jam.Several of my friends have had disagreeable, even dangerous situations.- Professor Morison gave good advice,but to find a publisher is a tough job. "Yonder is the Sea" went to sixteen publishers. I was lucky I got several good breaks.Of course, if there is money to subsidize a book, that is another story. I expect my cousins are going to pay for publishing the biography I am still working on.I hope they realize what it would cost.My progress is very slow.The summer cut me down a lot, but I am coming back with this fine fall weather. Some of the biography has been difficult.The General was restive under the Army regulations and tradition, and - being of a free-lance disposition-got into trouble at times.My cousins tell me to"tell it as it was" - which helps, but still there are times when it is hard to handle.Professor Morison on his eighty-fifth said he could only write two hours a day. I find that is plenty - I tire so easily.The end is in sight, but there is Christmas coming, then Income Tax - two time-consuming periods. The old house in Duxbury, built by my great-grandfather, a sea captain, has been restored, and I hear it looks nicely inside and out.My brother ninety- a bachelor lawyer is very ill in Providence. He had a mild stroke and can talk but little.I have had to ask for a conservator to adjust his tangled affairs.He is my last relative of my generation. We both go monthly to the doctor for a look over and keep going on a limited scale.We do something and lie down; get up and do something else.I hope you too are enjoying good fall weather. Sincerely - Gershom Bradford. Letter from Gershom Bradford 3333 Wisconsin AvenueWashington D.C.200l6 April 2, l975 -So this makes the publication of the biography of General Edward A Wild that I worked on for two years much in doubt.That was my last work. It was my most difficult writing- I don't see how I did it, but then although I was over ninety I was much more capable than now - I tire easily. It was difficult because the General was an excessive advocate of the Negro (in the view of his superiors), so he got into lots of trouble.So when I and my cousins wanted to tell it as it was, it took many versions to arrive at what I thought was a fair appraisal. - Gershom Bradford - Regretfully my publisher the Barre Publishing failed a year ago.Mr. Johnson's fine idea took him into financial difficulties. From Gershom Bradford 3333 Wisconsin Avenue, Washington D.C.200l6 postmarked 23 July l975 Dear Mrs. Barrett and John, Life in a nursing home is dull, and if you allow it, depressing. Yet with us happily together and blessed with loyal friends, we enjoy breaks in the monotony. such as getting out to lunch and having callers drop into our little caboose. WE make these calls interesting and light if not really folly, so they will call again, - and they do. I think of you following the Red Socks ups and downs. A friend loaned me a SONY TV "as long as I wanted it" so I have watched one or two games.We do not use it much but like the news - big events like the space spectaculars and Sundays "Meet the Press" and Lawrence Welk. The food is not much like home, but doing so little we need less, and I believe we have enough, though I have lost much weight.I seem to crave fats.I have been interested in the wide publicity given to the "Bermuda triangle" so-called. It is an area of rough seas owing to the storm waves fighting the great flow up the Gulf Stream. Confused seas are the result, and occasionally a built-up tremendous wave.There are many disappearances, but no mysteries- all go down by the same natural cause.All seafaring men I know believe this.- yet by introducing mystical influences at least these authors have had best sellers. In l920 I got a blow-by-blow account of the foundering of a steamer down there from the sole survivor - the second mate.He launched a lifeboat - it immediately capsized. he clung to the keel, went unconscious- was hauled ashore on the coast of Florida, sent to hospital. In ten days he was able to travel to Boston, where he told me his story- no mystery - the story of scores of vessels where there were no survivors.- I hope, John, you got to Ireland- I know how much you enjoy it.Nothing moving with my General Wild (no E) manuscript,and I do not expect.The chance was lost when Barre publisher failed.I was their third book, and my Mariners'Dictionary Third Edition was near their last - very sad.Mrs.Bradford, past one hundred one is doing well considering the years- very well -goes out to lunch and enjoys it. With the hope that all goes well with you, we send our best wishes. Sincerely- Gershom Bradford." NOTE Among Gershom's writings was an article "The MARY CELESTE- no- not again!" He believed a waterspout was the most probable reason the five man crew abandoned their New Bedford-based fishing vessel November l872 apparently in good condition one morning near the Azores- they got into their small boats and disappeared. The region has frequent waterspouts at that season - local tornados that draw water and sometimes fish high in the air. Gershom grew up in Kingston, Massachusetts. His father Gamaliel had been a whaler l850's in Pacific, and was Union Navy Captain in Civil War.Both Gershom's parents were descendants of Plymouth colony first Governor Robert Bradford l620, and he wrote many stories about Squanto and the Plymouth settlement.. I believe both Gershom's grandfathers were clergymen, and his mother's surname was Phipps.His great-grandfather was also named Gershom, and his home in Kingston or Duxbury has been preserved at a historic site.A uncle by marriage Frederick Knapp was an assistant to Frederick Law Olmstead on the Sanitary Commission, which treated sick and wounded Union soldiers in the Civil War. Laura Wood Roper [cousin of Becky Smaltz, Mount Holyoke 1923] interviewed Gershom about the Sanitary Commission, and the material appears in a footnote in the Olmstead biography "F.L.O." Olmstead is principally remembered as America's leading landscape architect, who designed more than five hundred parks including Boston's Arnold Arboretum and New York Central Park. A native of Connecticut, Olmstead managed a California goldmine and persuaded President Lincoln to give Yosemite Valley to the state of California for a park,which later was made part of Yosemite National Park l890.Gershom Bradford worked at the Naval Hydrogrphic office l908 to l942 and was editor of their "Notices to Mariners" l935-l942, when he retired for health reasons.He was very kind to Jack Barrett l9l3-l9l6, when Jack worked primarily on revision of Bowditch Navigational tables and also answered "Inquiries from Mariners."They continued correspondence about mutual friends and nautical and scientific and weather topics for more than fifty years.Around l9l9 Gershom married Mamie Lightfoot of an old District of Columbia family, and they lived on the Lightfoot property at 4701 Reservoir Road NW until about l974 - the German embassy was next door in the l970's. Mamie lived to age one hundred three, and Gershom, born May 10, l879, lived one month short of age ninety-nine to April l978. He accepted honorary membership in Sons of Union Veterans from James Marley not long before he died. Gershom studied and taught at a Massachusetts schoolship that was forerunner of Massachusetts Maritime Academy. He helped lay out in l902 a Naval trial course at Provincetown, where in December l927, the Navy submarine S-4 collided with the Coast Guard cutter PAULDING and sank.Around World War I Gershom was also an instructor at some sort of Maritime School in New York State.Gershom was well acquainted with Walter Whitehill of Boston, many years editor of American Neptune Magzine, published at Peabody Museum of Salem, Massachusetts.Gershom wrote many articles for American Neptune Magazine, and some were included in two books "Yonder is the Sea" and the sequel "In with the Sea Wind."He also published three editions of "A Dictionary of Sea Terms" Third edition Barre press l972.Gershom was a friend of Felix Riesenberg senior and junior - author of "Under Sail", "Cape Horn", "The Pacific Ocean". In later years Gershom wrote many articles for the weekly "Duxbury Clipper." Until advanced years Gershom usually spent some time in the summer in Duxbury or Kingston,and Jack Barrett visited him there about l948. in letters Gershom mentioned an article about Daniel Webster's son he wrote for Old Sturbridge Village magazine. Daniel Webster lived in Marshfield some years. Bradford's last research was on his mother's uncle, Brigadier General Edward A. Wild, who commanded black troops in the Civil War and was commended by General Butler.My recollection is that Gen. Wild hanged a Confederate for atrocities against black Union soldiers,though he may have exceeded his authority. Mrs. Bradford's niece Mrs.LaRoe of Toledo Ohio gave the Barrett family a photo of Gershom Bradford, which appears on the memoir website at http://www.ccilink.com/photobook among barrett photos. Any further information on Gershom and his writings and family will be appreciated. The Barrett family became acquainted with Gershom's second cousins Dr. Charles Bradford and his brother Robert and sister Elizabeth. Dr.Charles Bradford, son of a dean of Harvard medical School who invented the Bradford orhthopedic frame, has written many historical articles including "Battle Row - Lexington-Concord" - "Dorchester Heights", and an account of the Civil War ironclads MERRIMAC and MONITOR. ---Gershom Bradford l926 on Antarctic project== Letter from GERSHOM BRADFORD to JACK BARRETT Dec. 31, 1926- In 1926 Jack Barrett and a friend Jack Fradd on In l926 Lieutenant Jack Barrett and a friend on the Light Cruiser MARBLEHEAD were hoping to get backing for an Antarctic expedition such as Richard E. Byrd later took.Jack had worked l9l3-l9l6 at the Naval Hydrographic Office and wrote his friend Gershom Bradford, who worked there starting l908 and was editor of Notices to Mariners l935-l942. He received this reply dated New Year's l926-l927 from "4701 Reservoir Road, Washington,D.C." (Gershom called Jack "Doc"]: "Dear 'Doc', Well- well it was good to hear from you again.Your expedition sounds most interesting, and you ought to get a kick out of it. I feel complimented that you would consider taking me along, but fear my physique is not up to a strenuous proposition like that. It would be the high water mark of a man's life to cruise the Antarctic ice pack.--I have not looked over conditions there as completely as I shall, but - here are the high points I have in mind as valuable for hydrographic scientists: If possible when in on the land get all tidal data that you can. A controversy is breaking out again on the tidal thing. It has been the subject of disputes for centuries, and finally [l9l0] Dr. R.A. Harris an estimable gentleman whom I knew, combating all European theories, brought out a new proposition known as the stationary wave. He ideas were most generally accepted- the Germans among them. Now came our office with a pamphlet- by a Captain Lee USN espousing the ideas of Whewell, an Englishman, - advanced long ago and from my knowledge rather generally discarded, I thought. This thing is that all tides originate with the westward moving tidal wave of the Southern Ocean. I feel it a bit too bad to throw an American's work into dispute in favor of a foreigner's after he had practically won a valiant struggle single handed and without the aid of financial power, social prominence or high position.He got $1800 (a year) in the Coast Survey when I knew him. So you see tidal data might prove valuable in the Southern Ocean. Next I suggest a careful study of ocean currents.This is the subject they know very little about.Some say winds- some rotation, some differences in ocean heat and some barometric pressure. I line up with the latter, though it has few adherents. That sounds egotistical, but after watching thousands of current reports - coupled with a small amount of practical experience - I find the currents run any and every way - shift without apparent cause in a few hours - two currents running in opposite directions infringing on each other in the open ocean is not uncommon. Even the Gulf Stream stops occasionally - not in the Straits of Florida - at least on the surface. Such things all point to very transient changes, and the only element of course that changes quickly is barometric pressure.I am preparing an article on this subject - if it ever gets completed, I will send you a copy.Another feature of Antarctic conditions which would be interesting to study is the size of icebergs. We have the most extravagant estimates from merchant masters and others,-and you know how prone we all are to overestimate such things.To take a log distance and establish distance,then measure with sextant would be simple and sufficiently accurate.This study could be carried further.I am not very contented with my work in the office, but I should be, for they are paying me three thousand dollars (a year],and I own my own home.They have me on the simplest routine stuff, and I feel after twenty-five years of living with ships and nautical stuff I ought to be using my time better.However, I want to stay a few more years- then I dream of getting out and doing more what I want to. In the meantime I enjoy my home and friends, have a car,and really am most fortunate. I have a little nautical dictionary coming out in March.I have worked on it for a long time."Yachting" Publishing is bringing it out.I must send the last of the page proof today.Mrs. Bradford joins me in New Year's greetings to you and yours. Sincerely,as ever - Brad - P.S. "Plum" (Plummer) is in the Coast Guard, but have not heard from him for a long time." [Copied by Sophie Barrett notebook #5 pages 134-136 surviving in photocopy] NEXT LETTER 1933 RELEVANT TO H-A-N-N-I-B-A-L P-A-N-A_M-A H-Y-D-R-O-G-A-P-H-I-C . p 5- 173 to Lt [Cdr] J.B. Barrett USN,- USS EAGLE 19, Navy Yard, Boston Mass. -- [from] Gershom Bradford 4701 Reservoir Road, Washington D.C. August 29, 1933-- Dear "Doc".- Your letter was forwarded from the Office to Duxbury where I was on leave. I was sorry not to be able to get up and see you at the Yard, but my time was too much taken up.I am glad that you have the assignment to the [survey ship] HANNIBAL, and feel it is a good duty. = Here in Pilot Charts, of which McManus is civilian chief, we are greatly interested in the new dynamic method of determining ocean circulation. It is used by the Coast Guard on the [Grand?] Banks in their estimation of probable drift of [ice] bergs and by other scientific organizations. McManus got the Admiral interested and procured considerable equipment for use on the HANNIBAL last winter. I expect that there will be considerable work along this line that will be laid out for the next season. = This dynamic sounding makes a lot of work for the "exec." [Executive Officer] , and I guess it will not prove very popular with that officer. However, it is work we should keep abreast of, if we are going to amount to anything at all in a scientific way. = You are obliged to stop the ship and take soundings to a great depth, and it requires a great deal of care as there is from three thousand dollars worth of equipment, or more, on the line. I guess you know about it.= The office is not the same as it used to be. There are twenty-two officers, I believe, now, and we naturally are submerged with supervision. I have more of it after twenty years than I did then on one-third the money.However, no one is disagreeable, and I work for the money, not for fame. I am better known to the maritime community than to the officers in the office, so I get some satisfaction in that. The money is vastly better-'..." end page 173 Notebook Five Sophie Barrett- letter incomplete from Gershom Bradford. -1941-Problems of getting up-to-date information from New York and Boston branches into widely disseminated Washington D.C. Hydrographic radio broadcasts {Jack was in Charge of NewYork Branch Hydrographic Office, and Gershom was then Editor of 'Notices to Mariners'] Black Notebook 2 -p 157 Gershom Bradford Letter:"April 10, 1941 - 4701 Reservoir Road, Washington DC To. Commander John B. Barrett, Branch Hydrographic Office, New York, N.Y. Dear Doc: It was very kind of you to call attention to the discrepancies between the New York and Boston broadcasts. This matter does not come under my section, but I was glad to bring it to the attention of Watt, who is in charge of Pilot Charts. = He explains to me that the first broadcast, either New York or Boston, is used as a basis for the Washington broadcast. It is considered here that the mailgram would be too late for a radio broadcast from here. It seems that errors in transmission occasionally creep in, for recently the latitude of one of these submarine areas was given as twenty-one degrees --the requested repeat still came twenty-one degrees - which was, of course, an obvious error. = In the case of forty degrees thirty minutes instead of forty degrees fifty minutes the larger area was chosen for the reason you advanced - for being on the safe side. Watt emphasizes the fact that he takes either your broadcast or that of Boston, - whichever comes first into the office, - and the mailgram is too late. The Coast Survey has placed these areas on their charts at our particular request,and what we are looking to do is to be able, after a time,to simplify the broadcasts by using the letters. This, I think, will be done as soon as the new charts beome thoroughly disseminated in the Navy and merchant marine. = The office is very busy here, as you may well imagine, but the work is increasingly interesting. I keep going pretty well and hope to see you if you make a trip this way. Be sure I appreciate your letter. Sincerely, s/Brad --P.S. Watt has just shown me a radiogram from Branch Hydrographic Office New York ... "between Latitudes forty - fifty northward and eight North and twenty-one twenty North. " We sent for a report, and it came back o.k except 'Latitude twenty-one". In the spring of 1941 not long before the Barretts left for Hawaii Jack Barrett and Charles Edey Fay interested GERSHOM BRADFORD in MARY CELESTE PROBLEM 1941: first part from p 39 caption of Jack photo of NY Branch Hydrographic Office-- Jack was stationed at New York Branch Hydrographic Office September 1939 through June 1940 and replaced retiring Captain Baggaley in charge spring l940. He considered his promotion to Commander an "Irish promotion." as he was scheduled for retirement June l940, but all retirements were cancelled June 1940 because of World War II emergency. Charts and weather information were made available not only to Navy ships to to commercial ship captains of all nations, who in turn submitted information the Branch Office collected on winds, weather and hazards to navigation, including wartime mines and military operations, which were forwarded to the Hydrographic office in Washington, where Jack's old friend Gershom Bradford was editor of Naval Hydrographic Office "Notices to Mariners." In the spring of 1941 Jack was consulted by Charles Edey Fay of Connecticut,who had access of Atlantic Insurance Company records of the disappearance of the five man crew of the New Bedford fishing schooner Mary Celeste November, 1872. Fay wanted Jack's interpretation of certain navigational notes of the MARY CELESTE near the Azores. He suggested the crew suddenly abandoned ship and got into small boats because they feared AN EXPLOSION OF ALCOHOL VAPORS FROM CARGO. Jack called the problems to Gershom's attention, and he did considerable research on weather history in the area near the Azores. Gershom Bradford published in American Neptune magazine his theory that waterspouts are frequent near the Azores in November - local severe tornados that draw water and sometimes fish high in the air and threaten small ships.Jack kept four of Fay's letters from around the time the Barretts left for Pearl Harbor mid-l941. The Branch Hydrographic office was in the New York Customs House but had to be relocated - Jack helped obtain an accessible new location where sea captains would continue to find visits convenient, as their information was often useful to the Navy.Jack's former teacher at Revenue Cutter School Captain Dempwolf US Coast Guard considered the issue important and wrote letters supporting many commercial shipping companies in keeping the office at a convenient location. This was one of many contacts Jack Barrett maintained all his life with friends from Revenue Cutter School l909-l911, which became modern Coast Guard Academy.The motto of the Coast Guard was "Semper paratus" - Jack applied this motto in his efforts to avert the Pearl Harbor disaster December 7, l941. --May1971 Gershom Bradford Gen.Wild,S-4,Baylis PAULDING w1284 B-R-A-D-F-O-R-D p 79 On May 6, l97l Mr. Gershom Bradford, Jack's lifelong friend from Naval Hydrographic Office days l9l3-l9l6 a prolific writer of sea stories, wrote from Washington DC,"Dear Mrs. Barrett & John: You surely have done a splendid job in canvassing "Doc"'s old shipmates & in the process turned up some good stories.I liked the last about the wounded sailor aboard the sinking YORKTOWN with Dahlquist cutting him adrift & later meeting him.Also the Lieutenant (Brantingham) who ran for the last plane out of Mindanao with unofficial clothes. He was lucky to meet an officer like "Doc".It was singular that John should reach into my writing for the NEPTUNE- all ten of them apparently.But most of all that somewhat critical review of "MARY CELESTE". I was taken to task for not expanding my stories.That's just what I try NOT to do. One celebrated writer said 'to say what you have to say in the simplest manner possible.I got my first lesson from Captain Felix Riesenberg, who, who Christopher Morley thought the best sea writer of his time.Only once or twice have I asked for assistance. Not that I did not need it, heavens knows- but I feel it an imposition. But I had a story back in l9l8 & asked Riesenberg if he would read it. He said, "Come in my cabin at ten."I did. He placed it on the table in front of him saying, 'Now we'll cut out twenty-five per cent of this'.- 'Why I've said-'when you have not looked at it!' - 'Because', hhe replied 'You tend to be redundant, so we may take out more.' he struck out paragraphs- sentences, saying they added nothing to the story- words that did not strengthen.From there I tried to be concise, & no less a person that Walter Whitehill has complimented the clarity of my work.So that fellow was off base.When one writes for so much a word, that is different. I want to write a good story English-wise if I can.The American Neptune magazine pays no compensation. I am not writing much now at (age) ninety-two- have lost the zest to work at it- largely because all the editors who used to take my stuff are gone.Only I do something occasionally for the local paper in Duxbury (Duxbury Clipper).That was a nice family snapshot you sent- splendid of your Jack- thank you.Unhappily we have lost our household helper who has been such a help to us. It is not easy to get one who is what you want, even at good pay & easy job. Perhaps we shall have good luck again.Our niece (Mrs. LaRoe of Toledo, Ohio) will be with us for a little while. My wife is ninety-seven-Gershom Bradford." In l977 Mr. Bradford worked on recollections of his great-uncle Gen. Wild, who commanded Black troops in the Civil war. He lived to April l978 one month short of age ninety-nine & his wife lived to age one hundred three & his brother in Rhode Island over age ninety.Shortly before his death he talked with James Marley of Sons of Union Veterans and accepted honorary membership in the organization in recognition of his writing about many Civil War topics, - nautical battles, experiences of his father Gamaliel Bradford in the Union Navy, his uncle Frederick Knapp on the Sanitary Commission working with Frederick Law Olmstead (now remembered as landscape architect) on care of Civil War sick & wounded) & on General Wild.He wrote extensively about the Plymoth colony & Duxbury & Kingston. At one time around or during World War I he ran a maritime schoolship in New York state.His second cousin Robert Bradford was governor of Massachusetts l947-8, & the governor's brother Dr. Charles Bradford was an orthopedic physician many years at Faulkner Hospital Jamaica Plain in Boston. Dr. Bradford played football Harvard l926 served in World War @ & after retirement also wrote history & poetry - he wrote pamphlets on Lexington & Concord "Battle Road" -battle of Dorchester Heights South Boston March l776 & the MERRIMAC & MONITOR l862 ironclads.Dr. Charles Bradford opposed the transfer of the Gilbert Stuart painting of George Washington from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts to Washington DC, & he served on a commission on statutes in Boston.The father of Governor Robert & Dr. Charles Bradford was dean of Harvard Medcial School areound l9l5 & made orthopedic inventions including the "Bradford frame".-Material concerning Bradford's great uncle from Butler's Book"-"place, which was held only by two regiments of Negros under General Wild.Accordingly before he began, he sent a summons to surrender, informing the commanding officer that if he surrendered, the officers and Negro troops should be treated as prisoners of war, but if they did not and he captured the place, he would not be answerable for their treatment. That treatment was stated in David's proclamation to be that the Negros should be returned to their masters, and the officers sent to the governors of their states, to be there tried for inciting Negro insurrection.. The noble answer of General Wild to these propositions was, "We will try that. "Thereupon Fitzhugh Lee did his best. The Negroes held firmly, and Lee retired beaten, in disgrace,leaving his dead on the field. It will be observed from the instructions which I gave General Hinks who commanded the troops holding Fort Powhatan, that I was exceedingly anxious for the safety of that point, because that was the weak point of my whole position for although it was some twelve miles below City Point on the James (River)- yet if it were once in possession of the enemy, it would be impossible to get any troops up the river, as the channel ran close under it.My experience with Vicksburg, which is on a bluff high above the possible range of the guns of the fleet- which were not mortars- told me that if Fort Powhatan were once captured by the rebels, it could be easily held against the naval vessels. I was anxious lest it should be taken by surprise and therefore almost from day to day I persisted in... (see page 299A) cautioning Major General Hinks,who was in command. He was a very excellent and able officer with but a single drawback -and that was very infirm health arising from the wounds received in the Army of McClellan before Richmond. It may be asked why if it was of so much importance, I entrusted its defence to a garrison of Negro troops. I knew that they would fight more desperately than any white troops, in order to prevent capture, because they knew - for at that time no measures had been taken to protect them- that if captured they would be returned into slavery under Davis's proclamation, and the officer commanding them might be murdered, so there was no danger of a surrender. Wild's answer to Fitzhugh Lee, and the gallant fight of his Negroes at Fort Pocahontas, Wilson's Wharf, when threatened that this should be done to the Negroes if they did not surrender- made me cartain that nothing but a surprise would get that position - and nobody ever did get it." (From Butler's book") 13'' Sophie Barrett notes on l3 Dec. l927 S-4 sinking & rescue effort #13 NY l927-l929- S-4 (p. 371) Commodore Baylis who was at the Revenue Cutter School with Jack invited John l970 to his home in New Jersey to see his Coast Guard records and paraphenalia.They had a good opportunity to discuss the S-4 disaster that occurred off Provincetown on December l7, l927. At the time Jack was on shore duty in New York City, and lived at the Knights of Columbus hotel where he had no real sea-going clothes, such as rubber boots and a good raincoat and warm gloves.He received a telephone call late at night to go aboard the tug PENOBSCOT in New York Harbor and proceed aboard to the rescue effort for the sunken submarine S-4. The PENOBSCOT worked with the CHEWINK to try to recover pontoons lost by another ship (the IUKA?) which we thought needed to refloat the S-4 from very deep water.But the PENOBSCOT was short of food and fuel and had not enough space for the crew, so rescue efforts were hampered. Also the coastal waters were very rough,and the weather very cold. The rescue attempt was unsuccessful, with the greatest loss of life in peacetime in the Navy's history. Every available craft was sent to assist, and messages came for days from the men trapped in the S-4 until their oxygen ran out. Even in l963 when the submarine THRESHER sank near Boston,no technology existed to raise survivors from great depths.Since the PENOBSCOT was only a harbor tug, we are told no ship log would be available from it.Jack discussed the tragedy and lack of planning and equipment with Boston Post newspaper reporters at the home of his friend Joe Hurley when we returned to Boston from China in l932.On his New Jersey visit John discussed the event with Commodore Baylis, and learned to his surprise and some embarassment that Commodore Baylis had been in command of the Coast Guard ship PAULDING,which collided with the S-4 when the submarine unexpectedly surfaced= close in front of his ship.After exhaustive inquiry Commodore Baylis and the PAULDING were completely exonerated as the S-4 had no flag showing and no submarine tender. Forty men were lost on the S-4. Understandably Baylis was the subject of some questioning and grumblings, as the following letter from Gershom Bradford of Kingston and the Naval Hydrographic Office recounts: "March 31, l970, Dear Mrs. Barrett...There are a lot of questions that I cannot answer, but I can give some details of the loss of the S-4. was attached to the Coast Survey steamer BACHE and ordered to Provincetown to assist a Captain Marinden, who was to lay out the Naval Trial Course. It lay between Woodend and Race Point Lighthouse; over a vein of deep water.It was one of the nicest details I ever had.It was summer of l902 and Provincetown was really interesting then.After we had the course all set up, I was sent in a little schooner to take current observations on the course. My next connection with the course involved the S-4. I was at a Massachusetts Schoolship Alumni meeting, and Commander Henry Hartley USN was the speaker.He had worked up from an apprentice boy. He got the Navy Cross or the Distinguished Service Medal for his work in raising the S - 4. He also was involved deeply in the raising of the SQUALUS (spelling?). He was my chief in the Hydrographic Office in l939. He made the mistake of saying (from my memory). "That Coast Guard Destroyer (PAULDING) came at full speed with the Captain down below and a young fellow on the bridge not dry behind the ears." We held our breaths, for "that fellow not dry behind the ears" was present - (then) Commander Morrill. Our Chairman came to the rescue by saying that Commander Morrill was present.Then Morrill, fine officer that he was, quietly said (again from my memory) "Commander Hartley, I shall have to correct you. Captain Baylis was down on the main deck and not below." - Hartley simply said without turning a hair, "I'm glad to hear that." ....Gershom Bradford." On l6 April l970 John received a letter from Commodore Baylis; "Thanks for your interesting and informative letter of 9-l0 April enclosing a letter of Captain Leo C. Mueller. Don't forget I'm expecting you to peruse my files at your convenience. Kindest regards - Jack Baylis." When we were researching the disaster of the S-4 sinking in December l927 (577) we wrote to many Naval officers for their recollections.Commander Miles Finley wrote that he had no first hand information but suggested I write to an experienced submarine man, Vice Admiral McCann, whose daughter was the wife of Finley's Navy Captain son. I wrote to Admiral mcCann who like so many other senior Naval officers sent a careful reply.At the time of the S-4 disaster he was in submarines on the West Coast. But later he developed the Submarine Rescue chamber and used it to save the lives of thirty-three men on the SQUALUS (check spelling) sunk near Portsmouth New Hampshire -I relate this to stress the whole-hearted and careful response we received to our many inquiries. Even Admiral Rickover replied when John wrote him about his father's meeting with him at Cavite in l939, though he added no details- when Captain Holmes wanted the tanker TRINITY fumigated p 580 When Jack was trying to help rescue the S-4 om December l927 he sent a message on December 20, l927 to the Commander of the Central Force: "will start back at once to try to assist CHEWINK (minesweeper- but need food, probably fuel soon.PENOBSCOT ( New York harbor tug Jack was aboard- has been used forharbor duty only, has no proper communication books or call, only one very small anchor, food for only one more day, poor charts, poor compass, other defects, only one unreliable feed pump and emergency crew without proper bedding or quarters.Will do all we can.What is call for CHEWINK? Will try to reach (Cape Cod)canal about 9:30 tonight. Please ask pilot to meet us there. Our radio very weak. Sent to Mohave nto and forwarded to Commander control force but no acknowledgement has been received."The attempt to rescue the S-4 is written up in more detail in the chapter on the Revenue Cutter School, as the Coast guard cutter PAULDING collided with the S-4. Jack on the PENOBSCOT was trying to help the CHEWINK recover pontoons lost from the IUKA as they were needed to refloat the S-4. Picture Caption from web p 10- Born Kingston, Massachusetts May 10, l879, Gershom Bradford studied at a schoolshhip that was forerunner of Massachusetts Maritime Academy. in l900 he helped lay out a deepwater navigational test course off Provincetown Cape Cod, where in l927 the submarine S-4 surfaced without warning in front of the Coast Guard cutter PAULDING. The Submarine sank as a result of the collision, in which Jack Barrett and many others were sent to sea in rescue efforts. Gershom Bradford went to Naval Hydrographic office Washington D.C. 1908 and was a valued friend of Jack Barrett there l9l3-l9l6 and kept in touch with Jack and family thereafter. Gershom's wife Mary Lightfoot's family owned property at 4701 Reservoir Road NW Washington DC where the German embassy was their next door neighbor l970. She lived to age 103, and her niece Mrs. LaRoe of Toledo,Ohio gave the Barretts this photo. Gershom wrote several editions of "A Dictionary of Sea Terms" and many articles for American Neptune Magazine, published by his friend Walter Whitehill at maritime Peabody Museum, Salem, Massachusetts.More than twenty of these articles were colllected in two books published by Barre press "Yonder is the Sea" and "In with the Sea Wind."Gershom's father Gamaliel had been in whaling in California and Pacific l850's. Then he was active innfighting in Union Navy in Civil War.Gershom's uncle-by-marriage Frederick Knapp was assistant to Frederick Law Olmstead on Sanitary Commission, which cared for sick and wounded Union soldiers in Civil War - comparable to later American Red Cross. Sophie Barrett's l923 Mount Holyoke classmate Rebecca G.Smaltz of Phiadelphia got to know Gershom because her cousin Laura Wood Roper publioshed some information from Gershom in "F.L. O." - her biography of Frederick Law Olmstead remembered primarily for his conservation work at Yosemite and Niagara Falls and landscape architecture at 500 parks and Arboreta.Both Gershom's parents were descendants of colonial Pymouth colony governor Robert Bradford, and he did a great deal of colonial history, also wrote about Admrial Horatio Nelson compelling a Cape Cod fisherman to pilot him through shallow waters l782 during the American Revolution - much about whaling, Cape Horn, seamanship, and the l782 disappearance of the crew of MARY CELESTE New Bedford fishing boat near the Azores, which he attributed to a waterspout frightening the crew.Bradford in the l970's did research on his uncle General Edward Wild, who lost a leg at Antietam 1862 but commanded Negro troops with remarkable success in l864. He also remembered seeing Mosby, of the l864 Confederate "Mosby's Raiders" of Virginia, who later was appointed to positions in the federal government and was still active when Bradford went to Washington l908.Bradford accepted honorary membership in Sons of Union Veterans l978. His second cousin Dr. Charles Bradford also writes history on Merimac-Monitor ironclads l862 -Lexington= Concord in Revolution. Dr. Bradford's father was dean of Harvard Medical School near World War I and developed the Bradford orthopedic frame. Gershom wrote many articles for weekly Duxbury Clipper and the home of his great-grandfather in Kingston has become a historic site.Dorothy Wentworth later continued Gershom's writing in Duxbury Clipper and worked on some of his materials.