and an African-American Sailing Ship Captain.
The square-rigged sailing ship Balclutha lies securely fastened to the Hyde Street Pier of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. The Balclutha was constructed in Scotland and launched in 1886. In her time, the ship carried cargo from far-flung ports of call, around Cape Horn and into San Francisco bay on voyages that commonly lasted for years. Today her capacious interior holds cargo of a different sort. Scores of Park Service interpretive displays are distributed throughout the hold, which serves as a floating museum to San Francisco's nautical heritage and the history of sailing ships in general.
The rigging of the Balclutha (above) is similar to the mast and sail arrangements of ships William Shorey would have sailed in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.
Among the many intriguing displays found below deck, an enlarged copy of an article from an unidentified San Francisco newspaper, dated November 26, 1907, stands out. The interpretation tells the story of the whaling bark John and Winthrop, commanded that fall and winter by an African American captain named William T. Shorey. In February of 1907, the John and Winthrop sailed from San Francisco to the Sea of Okhost, a voyage that took the ship more than 40 days to complete. Captain Shorey and his crew took four whales before setting a course back to the bay area.
On the return trip, however, the John and Winthrop encountered not one, but two typhoons. The first storm, encountered in mid-October, racked the ship for thirty hours, forcing the crew below deck and washing a variety of goods and equipment overboard. According to the newspaper, "The wind and sea increased in fury, smashed the davits and carried away one of the boats."
In November, the John and Winthrop ran into a second typhoon. This storm, fiercer than its October counterpart, battered the ship for 48 hours, during which time it was too rough for the crew to prepare or eat meals. The violent seas tossed crewmen about like toy soldiers and stripped the vessel's sails. Nonetheless, both captain and crew weathered the storm and returned to San Francisco without any loss of life. The crew of the John and Winthrop credited their survival of the ordeal to the "coolness and clever seamanship" of Captain Shorey, then the only "colored" captain employed on the California coast.
Shorey was born in Barbados in 1859. As a young man, he served as an apprentice seaman for several years before learning basic navigation techniques from an English captain. Shorey became a junior officer and in 1880 sailed aboard the Emma F. Herriman on a three-year cruise that ended in San Francisco. Shorey became a captain during his time on the west coast, and in 1887 married Julia Ann Shelton, the daughter of a prominent African-American family. The couple lived on Division Street in San Francisco and had two daughters. Shorey retired from duty in 1908, the year after his adventures on the John & Winthrop. He died in 1919.
The Balclutha is moored off the Hyde Street Pier along with several other historic ships spanning decades of maritime history. Admission is $5 for adults and the park is open daily. Ranger- guided tours are available, and both the pier and the ships are handicapped accessible. For further information please call 415-556-3002.
