In 1935 William L. Crothers started employment in the Design Division of the
Philadelphia Navy Yard (later named the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard). In the same year he
joined the Philadelphia Ship Model Society. These two maritime organizations formed his life
for the next 37 years until he retired from the shipyard in 1972. His membership in the
Philadelphia Ship Model Society, however continued.
In 1941 William, along with a friend, started to produce plans for the use of ship model
makers, using the logo SEA GULL PLANS. These plans, which are still available, were of
American naval and merchant vessels of both the age of sail and modern steel construction. His
interest in flag hoist signals and house flags originated as part of the plan production process. To
develop a complete picture of any vessel seemed to demand inclusion of her flags and signals.
After the death of his associate in 1974, William continued production of their plans but
slowly found himself drawn to the subject of flag hoist signaling in detail. Over the years he and
his wife visited many museums along the east coast ferreting out the far-flung information that
was tucked away in each facility. There was much to be found and, as is usually the case, the
subject kept growing as new information was found and collected.
Between 1990 and 1996, he partially shelved the project. In that period he gathered
together all the information accumulated over the course of fifty years and wrote a book titled
"The American-Built Clipper Ship, 1850-1856" which was composed to a great degree of data
used in the drawing of SEA GULL PLANS. Upon completion of the book, he turned again to the
flag hoist signal project and completed the subject of house flags to the fullest extent that he was
able. In 2001, the volumes were presented to Mystic Seaport Library in order to insure that they
would safely survive for posterity as a convenient source of reference on the subject.
Various copying restriction apply. Guidelines are available from the Manuscripts
Division. See also: Mystic Seaport's copyright notice.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the G. W. Blunt White Library. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
Coll. 282, Manuscripts Collection, G. W. Blunt White Library, Mystic Seaport Museum,
Inc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.
|
|
Maritime museum correspondence; 1984-1999
|
|
Box
|
Folder
|
| 1 |
1 |
|
Columbia River
Maritime Museum; 1999 |
|
2 |
|
Herreshoff Marine
Museum; 1999 |
|
3 |
|
Mariners Museum; 1995-1999 |
|
4 |
|
Maritime Museum of
Monterey; 1999 |
|
5 |
|
Maritime Museum
Association of San Diego; 1999 |
|
6 |
|
Mel Fisher Maritime
Heritage Museum; 1999 |
|
7 |
|
North Carolina
Maritime Museum; 1997-1999 |
|
8 |
|
Peabody Essex
Museum; 1984-1999 |
|
9 |
|
Penobscot Marine
Museum; 1984-1999 |
|
10 |
|
South Carolina
Historical Society; 1999 |
|
11 |
|
Thomas Cooper
Library; 1985 |
|
12 |
|
United States
Merchant Marine Academy; 1986 |
|
13 |
|
United States
National Park Service; 1995-1996 |
|
|
Miscellaneous correspondence; 1985-1999
|
|
Box
|
Folder
|
| 1 |
14 |
|
Individuals and
companies; 1985-1999 |
|
|
References; 1856-1999
|
|
Box
|
Folder
|
| 1 |
15 |
|
Ref. 1 - "Flags
Through the Ages, a General Reference" |
|
16 |
|
Ref. 2 - "House
Flags of New York, 1800's". Booklet, Seaman's Savings Bank, NY; 1944 |
|
17 |
|
Ref. 3 -
"Greyhounds of the Sea" |
|
18 |
|
Ref. 4 - "House
flags of Boston", 1856. Litho by Kramer & Co., Boston |
|
19 |
|
Ref. 5 - House flags
described in "The Clipper Ship Era" by Capt. Arthur H. Clark |
|
20 |
|
Ref. 6 - House flags
from "The Lore of Ships" by Tre Tryckare |
|
21 |
|
Ref. 7, 8 - Ships
refs |
|
22 |
|
Ref. 9 - Yankee
sailing ship cards, Allen Forbes & Ralph Eastman for State Street Trust Co., Boston |
|
23 |
|
Ref. 10 - House flag
sketches by T. Hornsby, Cheltennam, Pennsylvania |
|
24 |
|
Ref. 11 - House flag
shown in oil painting by J. & F. Tudgay (British), Oliphant & Co. |
|
25 |
|
Ref. 12 - 19th
Century oil painting of the ship St. Mark |
|
26 |
|
Ref. 13 - "American
Sail" by Alexander Laing, flag and ship data |
|
27 |
|
Ref. 14 - House
flags of New York, 1800's poster in the "The Clipper Ships" |
|
28 |
|
Ref. 15 - "The
Atlantic Crossing" by Melvin Maddocks |
|
29 |
|
Ref. 16 - House
flags shown in "Ship Models Illustrated"; 1943 |
|
30 |
|
Ref. 17 - House
flags from painting in Independence Seaport Museum, Philadelphia |
|
31 |
|
Ref. 18 - House
flags on sailing ship cards, etc. Peabody Essex Museum, Salem |
|
32 |
|
Ref. 19 - Picture in
Maryland Historical Society, Monument Street, Baltimore, MD |
|
33 |
|
Ref. 20 - House flag
from a painting dated 1847 |
|
34 |
|
Ref. 21 - Copy of a
painting by S. Walters which is in the J. Welles Henderson Collection, Independence Seaport
Museum |
|
35 |
|
Ref. 22 - Painting in
CIGNA Corp, Philadelphia Pa. |
|
36 |
|
Ref. 23 - 19th
Century painting by Lai Sung, China. American Heritage, Vol. XIX, No.1 |
|
37 |
|
Ref. 24 -
"Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships" |
|
38 |
|
Ref. 25 - "Ocean
Life in Old Sailing Ships Days" by Whidder |
|
39 |
|
Ref. 26, 27, 28 -
Ship Refs. |
|
Box
|
Folder
|
| 2 |
1 |
|
Ref. 29 - Painting by
Frederick Roux, Marseilles, 1824 in Mystic Museum |
|
2 |
|
Ref. 30, 31 - General
refs |
|
3 |
|
Ref. 32 - Sailing ship
prints, Shelburne Museum. Library v. 27.6.3.1-1 to 27.6.3.1-58 |
|
4 |
|
Ref. 33 - House flags
of New York and other, Litho by Cowperthwait, Philadelphia; 1854 |
|
5 |
|
Ref. 34 - House flag
of ship JOHN RAVENEL, Charleston, SC. Charleston's Maritime Heritage, P.C. Coker III |
|
6 |
|
Ref. 35 - House flag
data from New Bedford Whaling Museum, Pennsylvania paintings, etc. |
|
7 |
|
Ref. 36 - House flag
taken from Michael Mjelde's plan of GLORY OF THE SEAS |
|
8 |
|
Ref. 37 - Oil painting
by Thomas Birch in possession of Norris S. Barratt, Jr., Philadelphia |
|
9 |
|
Ref. 38 - Oil paining
in possession of Norris S. Barratt, Jr. |
|
10 |
|
Ref. 39 - Manuscript
sketch of Marryat signal numbers, Norris S. Barratt, Jr. |
|
11 |
|
Ref. 40 - Oil
painting by M. Renault. Vessel entering port of Leghorn, 3 October 1857 |
|
12 |
|
Ref. 41 - Ship
owner list by T. Hornsby compatible with Ref. 10 |
|
13 |
|
Ref. 42 - "History
of the Confederate States Navy", by J. Thomas Sharf |
|
14 |
|
Ref. 43 - "Passenger
Liners of the Western Ocean." Applies to Grinnell, Minturn & Co. |
|
15 |
|
Refs 44, 45 -
American merchant ships by Howe & Matthews |
|
16 |
|
Ref. 46 - Painting
by D.A. Teupken, Amsterdam, 1840, in Penobscot Marine Museum, Searsport, Me. |
|
17 |
|
Ref. 47 - House flag
flown by Bark LINCOLN. Painting by Rafael Corsini, mid 1800's |
|
18 |
|
Ref. 48 -
Unidentified newspaper articles from Mid-1800's, subject ship ALLIANCE, 1777, owned by
U.S. government |
|
19 |
|
Ref. 49 - "The
Search for Speed Under Sail" by Howard I. Chapelle |
|
20 |
|
Ref. 50 - Clipper
EAGLE WING, 1853, photo negative 10396B, Peabody Museum, Salem |
|
21 |
|
Ref. 51 - "Shipping
House Flags" by H. Percy Ashley |
|
22 |
|
Ref. 52 - "Shipping
House Flags" by Capt. H. Percy Ashley |
|
23 |
|
Ref. 53 - "House
Flags of the Merchants of New York, 1800-1860" by Frank Gray Griswold; 1926 |
|
24 |
|
Ref. 54 - House
flags books unpublished, Penobscot Marine Museum, Searsport, Maine |
|
25 |
|
Ref. 55 - House flag
info from Mystic Seaport Museum Library |
|
26 |
|
Ref. 56 - "South
Street: A Maritime History of New York" by Richard C. McKay |
|
27 |
|
Ref. 57 - House flag
in oil painting, artist unknown. Richard A. Bourne & Co., Hyannis port, MA. |
|
28 |
|
Ref. 58 - House flag
in oil painting, artist unknown. Richard A. Bourne & Co. Hyannis port, MA. |
|
29 |
|
Ref. 59 - House
flags in paintings by Antonia Jacobsen |
|
30 |
|
Ref. 60 - Bark J. E.
DONNELL, 1844. Owned by John E. Donnell, Boston, 1840 |
|
31 |
|
Ref. 61 - Ship
AMERICAN CONGRESS, 1850. Owned by Grinnell, Minturn & Co., NY. Oil painting by
unknown artist |
|
32 |
|
Ref. 62 - "The
Shipbuilders of Essex" by Dana A. Story, published 1995 by Ten Pound Island Book Co.,
Gloucester |
|
33 |
|
Ref. 63 - Wm H.
Webb, shipbuilder |
|
34 |
|
Ref. 64 - Signals
belonging to the port of New London |
|
35 |
|
Ref. 65 - House
flags of Baltimore, Maryland Historical Society |
|
36 |
|
Ref. 66 - Private
signals of the merchant of New York and San Francisco, South Street Seaport Museum |
|
Box
|
Folder
|
| 3 |
1 |
|
Ref. 67 - House flags
- Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore Observatory |
|
2 |
|
Ref. 68, 69, 70, 71,
72, 73, 74 - Baltimore House flags |
|
3 |
|
Ref. 75 - Norfolk
house flags from Mystic Seaport Library |
|
4 |
|
Ref, 76 - House flags
from Mystic Seaport Library (Part 1 of 2 - part 2 is in Mystic) |
|
5 |
|
Ref. 77 - Hargous -
Special house flag |
|
6 |
|
Ref. Material not
used |
|
|
House flag articles; ca 1995
|
|
Box
|
Folder
|
| 3 |
7 |
|
House flags - Ships
and merchants of Salem; 1800-1860 |
|
8 |
|
Articles from "Flags
and Funnels" |
|
|
A Directory of Private Signals Flown by American Merchant Sail:
One Thousand House Flags of Ship Owners, Shipping Merchants and Shipping Agents; 2001-2002
|
|
Volume
|
|
1 |
|
Illustrations and
identification flags |
|
2 |
|
Illustrations and
identification burgees, swallowtails, pennants |
|
3 |
|
Index of owners,
reference |
|
4 |
|
Index of vessels |
|
5 |
|
Index of plates, ship
historical data |
|
6 |
|
House Flags required,
names of owners, and vessels arranged alphabetically |
|
|
Flag Hoist Signal Systems Pertaining to American Merchant Vessels; 2001-2002
|
|
Volume
|
|
7 |
|
Volume I |
|
8 |
|
Volume II |
