Wordless Wednesday: Wildlife

One Hundred Fifty Years

New York 1862- The Chih Kiang was being built as a lighthouse tender for the Chinese Navy.  But because of the ongoing Civil War, it was purchased by the Union Navy June 22, 1863.  They renamed her the USS Tulip and she was refitted as a gunboat.  The Tulip became part of the Potomac River Flotilla in August of 1863 and served in operations against Confederate forces in the Rappahannock, Piankatank and Potomac Rivers.  She also carried Union troops and supported naval landing parties that went ashore for operations against the Confederates.

The USS Fuschia sister ship to the USS Tulip no images of the Tulip remain

Fast forward to November 1864.  The USS Tulip developed a defective starboard boiler.  She was ordered home to the Washington Navy Yard for repairs by Flotilla Commander Foxhall A. Parker.  The Tulip's Captain Smith was ordered not to fire up the damaged boiler.  Capt. Smith argued that without both boilers, his ship would be too slow thus making it a target for enemy canons and snipers.  Commander Parker was was firm- do not fire up the starboard boiler.

The USS Tulip left Saint Inigoes Creek at 3:00pm.  Once the ship was out of signal distance, Captain Smith fired up the starboard boiler against orders.  At roughly 6:00pm, steam began to fill the hatchways.

Twenty minutes later, the USS Tulip exploded.

James Jackson Pilot of the USS Tulip

At the time of the explosion, Captain Smith, the pilot James Jackson, Master's Mate Hammond and the Quartermaster were standing on the bridge directly over the boilers.  All that remained of them was Captain Smith's hat.  The boiler exploded with such force that the upper portion of the ship was "blown to atoms".  Men were scalded and thrown in all directions.  Those who escaped injury made their way to the lower gig or rowboat, but before they could launch it, the USS Tulip sank taking with her most of the men on board.

Some men managed to hang on to various pieces of flotsam to stay afloat until the tugboat Hudson came along and picked up ten men.  Though they searched, the Hudson's crew found no other survivors.  Of the 10 men they saved, only 8 of them survived.

The USS Juniper was sent the next day to search for bodies.  They found a trunk, a valise, some clothing, a lot of letters marked U.S.steam Tulip, large sections of the deck, the pilot house and the first cutter which was lying on the beach.

There were no bodies.

Eventually there were 8 bodies that washed ashore, all of them burned and broken beyond recognition.  They were buried at Cross Manor on Saint Inigoes Creek.  It is believed that the area of the graves has since eroded into the water, but a monument stands at the site commemorating those men who lost their lives.

General area where the graves were located

So on Veteran's Day, whether it's been 150 years or 150 days since they saw battle,  please remember those men and women who have served.

Oyster Festival

 

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend the annual 

Oyster Festival in Urbanna, VA.

It's been many many years since I've been to an Oyster Festival.

These dogs were probably one of the coolest things I saw.

We toured some boats including the Godspeed

(pictured above)

from Jamestown.

The Brat Child built a boat and sailed it in the "pond"

There were unique recycling opportunities

to help Save the Bay

(and oysters)

And of course a parade with Shriners driving smaller than normal vehicles

And marching bands.

Overall it was a nice afternoon

spent in a quaint town

on what was probably one of the last warmish days of the fall.

(And I intend to head back to Urbanna next year when it isn't packed with people)

shots from the water

So during my last trip to Aaron's Beach,

I spent most of the time floating around in the water.  

I enjoy having my feet firmly on the ground, 

or at least knowing I can put my feet firmly on the ground.

Big E tends to go out as far as he can, 

even if he can't touch the bottom.

(that's him in the above photo where the arrow is)

So he tries to take me out in the deep

with all those sharks and things in the water.

I broke free from his grip on my floaty screaming and running for shore

resisted at first

then I realized

1. I have a waterproof camera and

2. I could get some shots from the water

Can't say the cormorants were pleased with the invasion,

and I was extremely worried about the waves

bashing me against the pilings.

But I'm glad I ventured out in the deep.

Next time hopefully the waves won't be so big

and I won't have trouble taking shots while bobbing up and down.

Afternoon at the Beach

During my last visit, 

my mom and Big E and I all went to Aaron's Beach for the afternoon.

There was a strong gale brisk wind blowing in off the water,

and it had the waves so high it sounded like the ocean.

Despite that, we ventured in with our various floaties and chilled out.

My mom chillin with her noodles

Here you can see the top of Big E's head.

This demonstrates the height of the waves-

I was in the trough between two waves 

and Big E was on the downside of the next wave.

Having a waterproof digital camera is awesome.

Throwback Thursday

l-r: Kim (or Christie I don't remember which) me, my cousin Ty, his dad Uncle Ray and cousin Jeff

This photo is circa 1980-something.

Based on my look here, I'm thinking early 80's.

This is the sort of thing we did back in the day for fun-

rode in the dump cart of Pepop's lawn tractor

with my cousin Jeff driving.

Nowadays kids drive in their own golf carts

like it's Florida or something

(Read about my disdain for golf carts).

Seeing this photo reminds me of another fun past time

that involved the shell of a push mower. 

That is to say, it had the motor and blades removed

but still had the wheels and handle.

We'd take turns sitting on it while the others pushed us around as fast as they could.

I once took a tumble and ended up with a nice slice.

Seriously, I'm surprised we didn't get serious head injuries ended up keeping all our limps

didn't kill ourselves

didn't get tetanus.

Throwback Thursday

Since I haven't had much time for doing anything that resembles fun or not work blogging, 

I figured if I stick with the quick and easy typical daily prompts 

(the throwback Thursdays, the Wordless Wednesdays, etc) 

I'll at least be able to have something quick to share.

This photo is circa July 1985.

That's me on the left in the Bazooka T-shirt, 

my sister in the middle and my brother on the right.

I was nearly 10 in this photo.

That's Pepop's shed/trailer and house in the background

and our old green shed

that was a breeding ground for Black Widow spiders

(or so my grandmother would have me think).

The couch we're sitting on is actually sporting a lovely floral slip cover

to make the ugly couch prettier

or protect the beautiful fabric

depending on who you ask I guess.

You can see the tribute to the old couch here.