Frank L. McGuire Maritime Library of the New London Maritime Society

New London to New York by Night Boat: Ellery Thompson Recalls the Golden Age of Steamboats on Long Island Sound

An exhibit about the vanished era of steamboat travel between New York City and Boston and the intermediate ports of New London, Norwich, Stonington, and Fall River.

Curated by Brian Rogers - Online Exhibits Librarian, New London Maritime Society

Chester W. Chapin steamboat, City of Lowell steamboat, Ellery Thompson, Fulton Fish Market, New England Steamship Company, New London Line, Norwich Line, Priscilla steamboat, steamboats, Stonington Line

From Sheepshead Bay to Shanghai: The Training and Travels of a Merchant Seaman in World War II

This exhibition is drawn from the Herman R. Pederson Archive in the Frank L. McGuire Maritime Library. The chronological narrative has been created from the many licenses, certificates, letters, clippings, booklets, photographs and memorabilia saved by Herman Pederson during and after his wartime experiences in the U.S. Merchant Marine.

Brian Rogers, Online Exhibits Librarian

September, 2021

American Merchant Marine, Bayonne New Jersey, Frank L. McGuire Maritime Library, hospital corpsmen, Huangpu River, Liberty ships, merchant seaman, Mesabi, Military Ocean Terminal, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Noumea, Oregon Shipbuilding Corp., Papeete, Portland Oregon, purser, Qingdao, S.S. Elmer A. Sperry, S.S. Segundo Ruiz-Belvis, Shanghai Bund, Sheepshead Bay Training Station, Shepard Steamship Co., Shore Convoy for Merchant Seamen, Sydney Australia, Tsingtao, U.S. Marine Hospital, U.S. Maritime Service, U.S. Maritime Service Training Station Sheepshead Bay, United Seamen's Service, Veteran status, Victory ships, Virginia Minnesota, War Shipping Administration

Bringing the Ships to New London: A Tale of Two Piers

An exhibition about the origins and history of the Connecticut State Pier and the Central Vermont Railway Pier in New London, Connecticut. Best viewed in Full Screen mode. Use the chapter headings in sidebar to navigate the chronology.

Brian Rogers, Online Exhibits Librarian

Admiral Harold Shear, Central Vermont Railway Pier, East New London, Gregory Stone, Historic American Engineering Record, John Winthrop Jr, New London, New London Connecticut, New London Northern Railroad, Offshore wind industry, State Pier, Thames River New London, The Day paper New London, Waldo E. Clark

A Maritime Sampler: Annotated Selections from the Frank L. McGuire Maritime Library

Representative titles from the library's shelves displayed with cover art and brief accounts of their content. Originally published as separate "Books of the Month" in the Society's weekly email newsletters ("blasts") they are now presented as a single exhibit.

Voyage of the Whaler Merrimac

This exhibit is about the journal of the voyage of the whaler Merrimac of New London, Connecticut, covering a period from 1844-1847, followed by a journal of the General Williams, covering July-November 1852

Frederick Olney, General Williams, George Destin, journals, Merrimac, New London, whaling

A Conservator's Legacy: Gene MacMullan at the McGuire Library

An examples of book and paper conservation projects carried out by Eugene C. MacMullan between 2012 and 2019 for the Frank L. McGuire Maritime Library of the New London Maritime Society.

--Brian Rogers, Online Exhibits Librarian

book conservation, clamshell boxes, Daniel New-House, Daniel Newhouse, Electric Boat Co., Eugene MacMullan, Frank L. McGuire Maritime Library, Groton Connecticut, Ingoldsby Crawford, New London, New London Maritime Society, Ocean Beach Park New London, Robert Mills, S.S. Tasco, Treasury Decisions, U.S. Custom House New London, U.S.S. Flasher, War of 1812, Whole Art of Navigation. 1701

Rob Pittaway's Half-Hulls: The Modeling Process Described

Illustrated steps for making half-hull models by Robert A. Pittaway.

Edited by Brian Rogers, Online Exhibits Librarian

half hull models, Robert A. Pittaway

Remembering Ellery Thompson: Fisherman, Writer, Artist, Free Spirit

An exhibition of the life and times of Ellery Franklin Thompson (1899-1986), whose writings, published and unpublished, provide first-hand glimpses into the maritime history of southeastern Connecticut.

Brian Rogers, Online Exhibitions Librarian, April, 2020

Arethusa, Bernard Gordon, Block Island, Book & Tackle Shop, Come Aboard the Draggers, Custom House Maritime Museum, Daniel Merriman, Draggerman's Haul, Draggerman's Loot, Ellery Thompson, Ellery Thompson New Yorker magazine, fisherman, Fishers Island, Fort Rachel, Groton Connecticut, John Cleary, Joseph Mitchell, L. A. Dunton schooner, Larchmont steamboat, Long Island Sound, Morgan McGinley, Mystic Connecticut, Mystic Seaport, New London Connecticut, paintings, Prohibition, Stephen Jones, Stonington Connecticut, Thames River New London, The Day New London, Trawling, William McCoy, Yale fishery biologists

Down to the Shore: By Steamboat from Norwich to Block Island and Back

A memoir by Gerard E. Jensen (1884-1970) of his boyhood trips at the turn of the 19th century aboard scheduled steamboats connecting Norwich, Connecticut, and Block Island, Rhode Island, with stops at Montville, New London, Stonington, and Watch Hill.

Originally published in the Fall, 1967, issue of Steamboat Bill, the Journal of the Steamship Historical Society of America. Reprinted with permission.

Illustrated with images from the original article and vintage postcards from the collection of the Frank L. McGuire Maritime Library.

Edited by Brian Rogers, Online Exhibits Librarian

Block Island Rhode Island, Ella steamboat, Gerard E. Jensen, Gypsy steamboat, Long Island Sound, New London Connecticut, New London Steamboat Co. Block Island steamboat, Norwich Connecticut, Steamboat Bill magazine, Steamship Historical Society, Thames River Connecticut

S. S. Tasco: New London's Plucky Salvage Ship

The screw steamship Tasco was built in New London in 1907. In 1908 it was registered to the T.A. Scott Company (hence its name: TASCO), as a rescue and salvage vessel, based in New London. From 1908 to 1914 the Tasco took part in the rescue or salvage of nearly 150 wrecked ships along the east coast of the United States from as far north as Maine and south to Key West.

In 1914, it was sold to Mr. J. Shewan of Brooklyn, New York. In 1917, it was purchased from Mr. Shewan by the U.S. Navy and commissioned as the USS Tasco, SP502, a minesweeper and patrol vessel. It was decommissioned in 1919 and returned to Mr. Shewan. There are no further records of the Tasco after 1919.

The Tasco Collection in the Frank L. McGuire Maritime Library contains a variety of documents and photos related to the service of the Tasco. The collection was donated to the Custom House Maritime Museum in 2001 by Mr. David A. Allen of Groton, Connecticut. The collection includes about 190 photographs and postcards, the log book of the Tasco from December 15, 1908 to March 2, 1914, an edited version of the the log, and photocopies of newspaper clippings and other documents relating to the activities of the Tasco.

The records of the T. A. Scott Company, from 1889 to 1927, including many documents relevant to the Tasco, are held at the G.W. Blunt Library at Mystic Seaport.

To see all of the scanned images from the Tasco photograph album, click on S.S. Tasco Photographs.

--Laurie M. Deredita, Librarian

rescue vessel, S.S. Tasco, salvage vessel, T. A. Scott Company, Tasco logbook

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