The H. Lee White Maritime Museum is pleased to present “Operation Sail, 1964” with Bill Emerson as part of their History Lecture Series scheduled for Sunday, September 22nd at 1:30pm.
60 years ago, in 1964 the brigantine St. Lawrence II, out of Kingston, ON, participated in Operation Sail – the first gathering of sail training craft from around the world, held in New York Harbor. On her way there, St. Lawrence II sailed across Lake Ontario to Oswego. In Oswego, a waiting crane pulled the masts out and rigged them in a stand on the deck in preparation for making way on the New York State Canal System to Albany. There, the masts were put back in and the vessel sailed down the Hudson for New York Harbor. Bill Emerson was aboard for that event, and will be sharing his experience, photographs, and other memorabilia as part of the lecture.
Additionally, as the world commemorates the 80th anniversary of the D-Day, Emerson will discuss his scale model construction of Oswego’s own Elisha K. Henson, LT-5 – a veteran of Normandy, and one of the last remaining allied vessels from the invasion. Emerson’s model is currently on display.
Bill Emerson is a retired engineering manager and ship model enthusiast, who lives in Rochester, NY. His early interest in naval ships was fostered by his father, who worked closely with Admiral Hyman Rickover in the development of the first atomic submarines. His first ever visit to Oswego was when he passed through the city on the way to participate in Operation Sail 1964. Emerson’s ship models are researched using plans, photographs and even ships’ logbooks from such institutes as the National Archives and the Naval History and Heritage Center. His work has appeared in some twenty publications, including the yearly Warship, the magazine Warship International, and a variety of ship modeling magazines. Five of his models have appeared on the front covers of magazines such as Model Ship Builder and Scale Ship Modeler. The Maritime Museum’s LT-5 model and seventeen of his other models are in museums across America, including the Naval Academy Museum (Annapolis, M.D.), the National Museum of the U.S. Navy (Washington, D.C.), National Naval Aviation Museum (Pensacola, Florida), the National Civil War Naval Museum (Columbus, GA.), and the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum.
The Maritime Museum’s History Lecture Series is offered for free, and open to the public. The Museum and Treasure Chest Gift Shop are open daily, 1-5pm, on the West 1st St. Pier in Oswego’s Historic Maritime District. For more on this or other programs, contact the Museum at 315-342-0480 or visit hlwmm.org.