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Chapter NewsDelaware Valley ChapterThe Delaware Valley Chapter will hold its next meeting on Sunday, March 18, 2012 at 2:00/1400 at the Seaman's Church Institute, 1st Floor meeting room, 475 North 5th Street, Philadelphia. The March program will feature Bart Malone, who is Curator of the Museum of New Jersey Maritime History. For more information about this meeting, please contact the Chapter secretary Marsh Miller at (610) 259-8049. Southern California Chapter NewsThe Southern California Chapter of SSHSA will be holding Centennial Commemorative events in remembrance of the 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. On April 14th a luncheon will take place onboard the Sapphire Princess in Los Angeles Harbor, followed by a Titanic film festival and candle light vigil. For full details on the Luncheon including reservations, please click here. For full details on the entire Centennial Commemoration, please click here. Golden Gate Chapter NewsMinutes of Meeting - February 11, 2012 A meeting of the Golden Gate Chapter of the SSHSA took place on Feb. 11, 2012 at the Elks Lodge in Alameda, California. Nine members of the chapter attended the meeting. During the first part of the meeting official chapter business was discussed. The three officers of the chapter (president Norm Freitag, treasurer Dick Rutter, and secretary Norbert Ulbrich) were re-elected unanimously for another one-year term. Annual chapter dues were collected from the members ($5 for 2012). During the second part of the meeting chapter members listened to two interesting presentations. First, Captain Ben Kuckens talked about the life of his father, the late Captain Bernhard G. Kuckens. Captain Bernhard Kuckens was born in northern Germany in 1898. He sailed as a deckboy and later able bodied seaman on the German sailing vessels RIGEL and HANS. He came to San Francisco in 1917 and subsequently sailed in the American merchant marine. In 1930 he received his Master's License. During WWII he sailed on freighters and Liberty ships. He also was 2nd Mate on the Matson freighter LAHAINA when it was sunk by a Japanese submarine in December 1942. In the late 1940s Captain Kuckens was Master of the Liberty ship PERE MARQUETTE. His son reported that he had spent many a happy summer on this ship as a child. Finally, Andy Kilk, veteran cruise ship passenger, photographer, and observer, showed slides from his Nile River cruise on the cruise ship VIKING PREMIER. The 7 day cruise took place in the spring of 2009 and started in the ancient city of Luxor. Andy showed images of different ancient temples and tombs that he visited during the cruise. From Luxor, the VIKING PREMIER sailed upstream to the Aswan dam. The Aswan Dam is an embankment dam situated across the Nile River in Aswan, Egypt. It is of vital importance for Egypt's economy. The dam helps to regulate the annual river flooding, provides storage of water for agriculture, and generates hydroelectricity. Andy told us that close to 300 cruise ships sail on the Nile River. No two ships look alike and most of them were built in Egyptian shipyards. Some chapter members were surprised to hear that Andy observed very little commercial shipping traffic on the Nile River. His observation can be explained by the fact that Egypt's main economic revenues come from agriculture, tourism, and the Suez Canal tolls. Andy also pointed out that currently only about one-third of the Nile cruise ships are in operation because of the great reduction in tourism caused by last year's domestic turmoil. The chapter members greatly enjoyed Captain Ben Kuckens' presentation on his late father and Andy Kilk's slide presentation on his Nile River cruise. Captain Kuckens' talk reminded everybody of the hardships that many sailors had to endure. In addition, Andy Kilk is both an excellent observer and knowledgeable narrator which always makes his slide presentations a highlight of the Golden Gate Chapter's meetings. Norbert Ulbrich, Menlo Park, California Chapter Secretary, February 2012 Minutes of Meeting, December 3, 2011
Ten members and guests of the Golden Gate Chapter of the SSHSA met at the Elk's Lodge in Alameda, California, on December 3, 2011. The chapter was honored by the presence of SSHSA President John Hamma of San Diego County. At first, President Hamma talked briefly about the current situation of the Society and future plans. He also mentioned the upcoming national SSHSA Annual Meeting in Baltimore next May. Chapter President Norm Freitag handed President Hamma a write-up listing ten proposals for a Fundraising, Membership, and Identity Growth Program for SSHSA. President Hamma assured that he and the SSHSA Board of Directors will take a close look at all suggestions as feedback from the Society members is always welcome. Meeting Minutes - October, 2011 On October 29, 2011, three members of the Golden Gate Chapter took part in a narrated tour of the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet. A total of 31 vessels remain in the Reserve Fleet. Most of the vessels are scheduled to be scrapped by 2017. The ships are located approximately 1 hour by car east of San Francisco. The narrated 2-hour tour of the reserve fleet was organized by Bay View Yacht Charters of Benicia, California. Bay View Yacht Charters offers tours of the fleet on the last Saturday and Sunday of each month (phone: 800-817-8774, website: www.bayviewcharters.com). Tours of the reserve fleet depart from the Martinez Marina which is located about 45 minutes by car east of San Francisco. The anchorage of the ships is reached after a short 15 minute boat ride. The reserve fleet consists mostly of freighters, tankers, and similar types of ships that were used by the U.S. Navy or the U.S. Coast Guard in the past. The oiler USS MISPILLION (AO-105) is probably one of the oldest vessels of the fleet. She was built at Sun Shipbuilding, Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1945 and decommissioned in 1974. She has been a part of the reserve fleet since 1999. She has a displacement of 35,000 tons (fully loaded) and a length of 644 ft. Her crew consisted of 111 civilians and 21 enlisted men. Historically significant vessels like the icebreaker GLACIER and the USS HOGA are also a part of the fleet. The USS HOGA was a Navy tug named after the Sioux Indian word for "fish." She is the last operational survivor of the Pearl Harbor Attack. After World War II she was known as the PORT OF OAKLAND and then the CITY OF OAKLAND when she was a fireboat in that city. The battleship USS IOWA also used to be anchored in Suisun Bay for about 10 years. On October 27, 2011, she was towed from Suisun Bay to Richmond, California, where she is currently being prepared for her final voyage to Southern California. She is destined to become a memorial and museum ship in San Pedro. The members of the Golden Gate Chapter greatly enjoyed the narrated tour of the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet. The tour offered a rare opportunity to get a close-up view of interesting and unique ships that will disappear in the next few years. Shortly after the meeting the Golden Gate Chapter learned that former SSHSA Member Ken Gillespie had passed away. He and his wife attended the chapter meetings consistently until health and old age got to Ken several years ago. Ken, a native of Scotland had relatives in the maritime trades, and as a child, he watched the launching of the famed RMS QUEEN MARY.
Norbert Ulbrich Below: Images from the Chapter's trip to the Reserve Fleet. All photos by Norbert Ulbrich. |
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