Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-11-23
SHIPS END LIVES.
Unique industry Carried on In the
Cradle of Shipping.

to be known as The Clyde of Ameri-
ca is now The alpha and the omega
of shipbuldng on the Western Hem
lsphere. Mary queens of the sea have
had their beginning on its historic
waters and others return to ii in their
old age and pass out of existence as
junk. Within plain sight of the great
shipSafds where modern leviatRians
are prepared for their initial dips OBJ
selete craft of every description are
transformed to serve out their last
days as targes and hulks While others,
which have passed through their vari-
Gus stages of usefulness, are disman-
tied and destroyed.
just across Pettys island from
Cramps shipyard. on the Jersey side
of the river. there are now two nota-
BILE vessels which are undergoing this
transformation process. They are the
old United States cruiser Detroit.
which was recently condemned and
sold by the Navy Department, and the
former NicaTaugan gunboat Maxine
Jerez, originally a steamer of the
United Fruit company, which was
seized by the Costa Rica government
and sold for the on-payment of Gus
toms duties.
Both of these vessels are in COM
parativcly good condition and could be
put into service IN few weeks. Tile
present owners, who purchased them
for merely nominal sums. have eX-
pended large amounts in overhauling
them and replacing worn-out parts of
their machinery, and negotiations are
now in progress for their sale. the for
mer as a warship and the latter as a
cargo boat.
Among the prospective buyers who
have been looking over the Detroit are
several agents who are said to repre-
sent some of the smaller foreign gov
ernments who desire to add the old
fighter to their naval forces Two of
the highest bids We're said to have
teen made by agents of the Greek and
Turkish navies. While others are be-
lieved to have been made in the inter
est of South American governments.
These negotiations are still in prog
ress.
According to international law the
sale of war ships or other contraband
of war by neutral government to a
belligerant, after war has been de-
elared, is prohibited, but there is moth
ing to prevent such property from
changing hands between private in
.dividuals. The purchaser of the De-
troit is at perfect liberty to sell the
vessel to whomsoever he chooses if he
succeeds in getting it out of the juris-
diction of the United States and the
sanction of the Government, and il
therefore should cause no surprise if
the old cruiser should soon turn up in
foreign waters bearing the flag of
Turkey or Greece.
The Detroit would prove a valuable
acquisition to either of those nations,
neither of which has much better ves-
sells in its fleet. The Detroit is not so
old as some vessel still doing duty in
the American navy.
Her two sister-ships, the Marble
head and Montgomery. having been
built in 1890, are still doing duty with
our fleet. She is over 1000 tons
displacement and originally had a
speed of 10 knots. Her cost was
s612.00 The old guns on the YES
sci have been removed, but new bat
terry of the same strength could be
Of 10 5-inch rapid-fire guns, six O.
FOUNDERS. two 1-pounders, two auto
matte Colt machine guns and two field
guns.
The Maxine Jerez which is newer
vessel than the Detroit. is probably III
better condition than the latter al
though she is not well adapted as a
man-o- war Her old refrigerator ma
chinery is now being remover and her
compartments changed to better fa-
cilitate the leading and discharging
of cargo. She is of 1000 tons and has
a speed of IA knots. She was pur-
chased by the Nicaraguan government
at time when that nation was pre-
pairing for war with one of her neigh
boring Central American states and
figured in several exciting incidents in
isthmian waters.
Another vessel which will soon be
added to the group now in the upper
Delaware is the old frigate Santee.
which recently sank in her dock at
the Annapolis Naval academy. The To-
cal firm purchased the vessel from the
government and is now engaged in the
work of floating her and preparing her
for the trip to this port. The old ship
lies in II feet of water and over seven
feet of mud, and it will be no easy task
to raise her She is 1850 tons displace-
ment and is built of wood. She is of
no commercial value and will proba-
bly, be buried some time next spring in
order to get the metal out of her hulk.
One other old man-o-war has been
purchased from the government by the
local firm-the old frigate jamestown
which is now at the Norfolk Navy
Yard. That vessel will also be burned
in order to get the metal out of it.
Both the jamestown and the Santee
have many historical associations con-
nected with them having served
throughout the Civil War
Other notable vessels recently bro
ken up on the Delaware are as fol-
lows: The Norwegian bark Ingrid.
which was damaged by fire in New
York harbor the Italian bark Fortu-
ia. which foundered on the beach near
Ocean city, Md; the English frigate
Hotspur which WAS wrecked off Ber-
muda: the Hamburg american liner
Altenhurg the old frigate st. Louis,
which for years was the headquarters