Episode 112 - CSS Alabama

In this episode we go back to the early days of RORO ferries for the tale of the MV Princess Victoria, lost on a crossing of the Irish Sea's North Channel in January 1953. 

Sources:

Bibby, Miriam. "The Loss of the Princess Victoria."  Historic UK. https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Loss-Of-Princess-Victoria-Ferry/

Cameron, Stephen. Death in the North Channel: The Loss of the Princess Victoria, January 1953. 

Jackson, John. “The Loss of MV Princess Victoria.” North Irish Roots, vol. 14, no. 1, 2003, pp. 6 - 12. 

Scannell, James. “The Loss of the MV Princess Victoria - January 1953.” Dublin Historical Record, vol. 66, no. 1-2, Spring/Autumn 2013, pp. 33 - 46. 

Though recorded in July it's technically supposed to be our June 2023 bonus episode - a discussion of an alternate route to freedom for those enslaved in the coastal regions of the American South. And our much-anticipated dive into John C. Calhoun's global race-war fantasy. 

**this episode was originally published in July 2023. We made some minor edits and clean-ups for release on the main feed**

Sources:

Bolster, W. Jeffrey. Black Jacks: African-American Seamen in the Age of Sail. Harvard University Press, 1997. 

Winsboro, Irvin D.S. and Joe Knetsch. "Florida Slaves, the 'Saltwater Railroad' to the Bahamas, and Anglo-American Diplomacy." The Journal of Southern History, vo. 79, no. 1, February 2013, pp. 51 - 78.

This is the story of a ship - the USS Princeton - but it's also the story of Robert F. Stockton and his most precious brainchild - a 12-inch wrought iron naval gun affectionately nicknamed 'Peacemaker'

Invite your friends, invite your co-workers, hell invite the President!

Sources:

Duke, Marvin L. “Robert F. Stockton Early U.S. Naval Activities in Africa.” Naval War College Review, vol. 24, no. 9, May 1972, pp. 86 - 94.

O’Connell, J. Harlin. “The U.S.S. Princeton.” The Princeton University Library Chronicle, vol. 1, no. 4, June 1940, pp. 12 - 15.

Pearson, Lee M. “The ‘Princeton’ and the ‘Peacemaker’: A Study in Nineteenth-Century Naval Research and Development Procedures.” Technology and Culture, vol. 7, no. 2, Spring 1966, pp. 163 - 183.

Shomette, Donald G. Shipwrecks on the Chesapeake: Maritime Disasters on Chesapeake Bay and Its Tributaries, 1608 - 1978. Tidewater, 1982. 

You've heard of Neo-Confederates, but what about Nepo-Confederates.

Here's the story of the USS Underwriter and her loss during a Confederate attempt to re-capture New Bern, NC in February 1864.

Sources:

Coddington, Ronald S. "Civil War Sailors: From the Collections Of Our Readers." Military Images, vol. 30, no. 3, Nov - Dec 2008, pp. 25 - 37.

Duppstadt, Andrew. "USS Underwriter." North Carolina History Project, 2016. https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/uss-underwriter/

Green, John B. "The Underwriter rises from the deep." The Kellenberger Room, 21 Mar 2015. https://kellenbergerroom.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-underwriter-rises-from-deep.html

Powles, James M. "John Taylor Wood, Hero of the Confederacy." June 2004, https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/john-taylor-wood-hero-of-the-confederate-navy/

Sullivan, David L. "The Few, the Forgotten: The Confederate States Marines." Military Images, vol. 3, no. 3, Nov - Dec 1981, pp. 16 -21.

"Underwriter I (Side-wheel Gunboat)." Naval History and Heritage Command, 20 Apr 2018. https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/u/underwriter-i.html

In our third episode of Season Four we tell the story of the Volga River cruise ship Aleksandr Suvorov, and her fatal run-in with the Imperial Bridge at Ulyanovsk in June 1983.

**a very small part of conversation was cut when Tanner was talking about The Others of Edenwell by Verity Holloway. The missing portion was something like 'books that are set during WWI but not in the trenches on the Western Front' 

Sources:

Жуковскуй, Иван. "'Сверху сплошным потоком лилась кровь': 40 лет жуткой катастрофе на теплоходе Александр Суворов." Газета.ru, 5 June 2023. https://www.gazeta.ru/science/2023/06/05/17091698.shtml?updated

Лысенко, Яков. "Смертельный круизЬ крушение советского Титаника." Газета.ru, 5 June 2018. https://m.gazeta.ru/social/2018/06/04/11786569.shtml

Николаева, Екатерина. "Тайна крупнейшей речной катастрофы в СССР: как лайнер Александр Суворов на полном ходу врезался в мост." Tech Insider, 31 Aug 2023. https://www.techinsider.ru/popmem/1610813-taina-krupneishei-rechnoi-katastrofy-v-sssr-kak-teplohod-aleksandr-suvorov-na-polnoi-skorosti-vrezalsya-v-most/

"Трагедия теплохода Александр Суворов." Mil. Press Flot, https://flot.com/news/dayinhistory/?ELEMENT_ID=1559

Шишкин, Олег. "Почему четверть века назад погибли пассажиры теплохода Александр Суворов?" Первый Канал, 5 June 2008. https://www.1tv.ru/news/2008-06-05/190340-pochemu_chetvert_veka_nazad_pogibli_passazhiry_teplohoda_aleksandr_suvorov

Fade out music: Вечная память (Eternal Memory) from Pavel Chesnokov's Requiem No. 2, Op.39 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0-kpytNA-0

In May 1944,  during the buildup to Operation Forager, another shocking disaster rocked Pearl Harbor.

Sources:

Barger, Mel. "LST Memories: The Second Pearl Harbor Disaster." LST Scuttlebutt: The Official Website of the United States LST Association. https://www.uslst.org/memories/27-articles/17-lst-memories-the-second-pearl-harbor-disaster

Oral history of the experience of Paul E. Cooper, “Farm Boy from Oklahoma,” in Saipan: Oral Histories of the Pacific War, compiled and edited by Bruce M. Petty (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2002), 105.

"Pearl Harbor Ablaze Again: The West Loch Disaster, 21 May 1944." Naval History and Heritage Command. https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and-operations/world-war-ii/1944/west-loch.html

Samuel Eliot Morison, History of the United States Naval Operations in World War II, vol. 8: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944 to August 1944 (Boston: Little, Brown (1953), 171.

Footage of the West Loch Disaster

To kick off Season Four we are telling the story of the destroyer USS Reuben James, the first US Navy loss of the Second World War.

Sources: 

Benson, Olver. “The Changing Patterns of the War.” Current History, vol. 1, no. 4, Dec 1941, pp. 297 - 302. 

Blower, Brooke. “From Isolationism to Neutrality.” Diplomatic History, vo. 38, no. 2, Apr 2014, pp. 345 - 376. 

Guerlac, Henry and Marie Boas. “The Radar War Against the U-Boat.” Military Affairs, vol. 14, no. 2, Summer 1950, pp. 99 - 111. 

Kaufman, Will. “Woody Guthrie’s ‘Union War.’” Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies, vol. 16, no. ½, Spring-Fall 2010, pp. 109 - 124. 

Norton, Douglas M. “The Open Secret: The U.S. Navy in the Battle of the Atlantic April - December 1941.” Naval War College Review, vol. 26, no. 4, Jan-Feb 1974, pp. 63 - 83. 

“Outbreaks of Food Poisoning Recently Reported in the Navy.” Public Health Reports (1896 - 1970), vol. 42, no. 18, 6 May 1927, pp. 1254 - 1256. 

Schuessler, John M. “The Deception Dividend: FDR’s Undeclared War.” International Security, vol. 34, no. 4, Spring 2010, pp. 133 - 165. 

Wright, Quincy. “The Lend-Lease Bill and International Law.” The American Journal of International Law, vol. 35, no. 2, Apr 1941, pp. 305 - 314.

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/neutrality-acts

This is Part Two of the tale of the Mavi Marmara and the Gaza Freedom Flotilla of 2010. This part of the episode details the raid itself, the aftermath, and where the flotilla fits in the long story of Palestine.

This will also serve as the main feed finale for Season Three of the show. We will be back in the new year with a brand new season of old favorites, new fixations, and everything in between.

فلسطين حرة

Outro Music: Mohammed Assaf - Dammi Falastini (محمد عساف - دمي فلسطيني)

Sources: 

Bayoumi, Moustafa. Midnight on the Mavi Marmara: The Attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and How It Changed the Course of the Israel/Palestine Conflict. Haymarket Books, 2010. 

Bisharat, George, Carey James, and Rose Mishaan. “Freedom Thwarted: Israel’s Illegal Attack on the Gaza Flotilla.” Berkeley Journal of Middle Eastern & Islamic Law, vol. 79, 2011. 

Berkowitz, Peter. “The Gaza Flotilla and International Law.” The Hoover Institution, 1 Aug 2011. https://www.hoover.org/research/gaza-flotilla-and-international-law. 

De Jong, Anne. “The Gaza Freedom Flotilla: Human Rights, Activism, and Academic Neutrality.” Social Movement Studies, vol. 11, no. 2, April 2012, pp. 193 - 209. 

Neureiter, Michael. “Sources of media bias in coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid in German, British, and US newspapers.” Israel Affairs, vol. 23, no. 1, 2017, pp. 66 - 86. 

“Palestine Our Route - Humanitarian Aid Our Load: Flotilla Campaign Summary Report.” The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief. https://web.archive.org/web/20110727065115/http://www.ihh.org.tr/uploads/2010/insaniyardim-filosu-ozet-raporu_en.pdf

“Report of the international fact-finding mission to investigate violations of international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law, resulting from the Israeli attacks on the flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid.” United National General Assembly - Human Rights Council, 15th Session. 

Steinberg, Philip E. “The Deepwater Horizon, the Mavi Marmara, and the dynamic zonation of ocean space.” The Geographic Journal, vol. 177, no. 1, March 2011, pp. 12 - 16. 

Wajner, Daniel F. “‘Battling’ for Legitimacy: Analyzing Performative Contests in the Gaza Flotilla Paradigmatic Case.” International Studies Quarterly, vol. 63, 2019, pp. 1035 - 1050. 

In this two-part episode we  discuss the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla,  which was raided by Israeli forces resulting in the deaths of multiple participants. 

Part One looks at the history and context in which the Freedom Flotillas occurred, and leads into the raid itself. 

Part Two will deal with the details of the raid in the early morning of May 31st, 2010 and the aftermath of the attack, including the international response and connection to the current Israeli assault on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. 

Sources: 

Bayoumi, Moustafa. Midnight on the Mavi Marmara: The Attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and How It Changed the Course of the Israel/Palestine Conflict. Haymarket Books, 2010. 

Bisharat, George, Carey James, and Rose Mishaan. “Freedom Thwarted: Israel’s Illegal Attack on the Gaza Flotilla.” Berkeley Journal of Middle Eastern & Islamic Law, vol. 79, 2011. 

De Jong, Anne. “The Gaza Freedom Flotilla: Human Rights, Activism, and Academic Neutrality.” Social Movement Studies, vol. 11, no. 2, April 2012, pp. 193 - 209. 

“Palestine Our Route - Humanitarian Aid Our Load: Flotilla Campaign Summary Report.” The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief. https://web.archive.org/web/20110727065115/http://www.ihh.org.tr/uploads/2010/insaniyardim-filosu-ozet-raporu_en.pdf

“Report of the international fact-finding mission to investigate violations of international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law, resulting from the Israeli attacks on the flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid.” United National General Assembly - Human Rights Council, 15th Session. 

https://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/12session/A-HRC-12-48.pdf

**this episode was originally released a Patreon-exclusive bonus episode in December 2022**

Here is an extra special Patreon bonus episode wrapping up our discussion of the Lusitania. We talk about the legal aspects of Britain's blockade and the German U-boat campaign, the Lusitania Riots of 1915, and cover a few other bits of miscellanea. 

Thanks so much for supporting the show, and we look forward to bringing you more next season. 

Sources:

Dedering, Tilman. “‘Avenge the Lusitania’: The Anti-German Riots in South Africa in 1915. Immigrants & Minorities, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 256 - 288.

Gullace, Nicoletta E. “Friends, Aliens, and Enemies: Fictive Communities and the Lusitania Riots of 195.” Journal of Social History, Winter 2005, pp. 345 - 363.

Nelson, Robert J. and Christopher Waters. “Slow or Spectacular Death: Reconsidering the Legal History of Blockade and Submarines in World War I.” University of Toronto Law Journal, vol. 69, no. 4, Fall 2019, pp. 473 - 496

Thompson, Paul. “The Lusitania Riots in Pietermaritzburg 13-14 May 1915.” War & Society, vol. 36, no. 1, 2017, pp. 1-30

Watts, Jarica. “Submerged By Fear.” Conradiana, vol. 49, no. 1, 2017, pp. 17 - 42