The Albatross

The Albatross

The U.S. Brig Niagra operates as a school ship.  Students learn the art of sailing a square-rigger while, at the same time, serving as ambassadors of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and interpreters of Perry's 1813 victory in the Battle of Lake Erie. While touring the Niagra, I asked a crew member what it was like to sail such a vessel in rough seas.  After all, the Great Lakes have their moods, some of which are distinctly violent.  He said the captain was careful not to venture out in too-foul weather.

The U.S. Brig Niagra under sail.

That led me to mention the School Ship Albatross, which sank in the Gulf of Mexico in 1961.  This guy recognized the name, but could not place it.  He asked a fellow crewman: "Why is the name Albatross so familiar?"  "White Squall," the other replied, "the movie."

Then I told him that one of the students on the Albatross was a friend and schoolmate of my older brother, and that Chuck's book was the basis for the film.

The Albatross was built as a schooner in 1920.  After several owners, including the German Navy in World War II, the ship was bought by novelist Ernest K. Gann who sailed her around the Pacific.  In 1954 she was re-rigged as a brigantine and used in 1958 as the "set" for the film Twilight for the Gods, starring Rock Hudson and Cyd Charisse.  The movie was based on Gann's novel of the same name.

Soon thereafter it was bought by Ocean Academy, Ltd., of Darien, CT.  Christopher B. Sheldon PhD and his wife Alice Sheldon MD, wanted to operate the Albatross as a school ship.  The faculty would offer a college preparatory curriculum and, at the same time, train young people how to handle a real sailing ship.  To this end the Albatross sailed in the fall of 1960 with the Sheldons, two instructors, a ship's cook, and thirteen students.

On May 2, 1961, after several months in the Pacific, the Albatross was en route to Nassau, the Bahamas.  At 8:30 in the morning the ship was about 125 miles west of the Dry Tortugas when, without warning, it was struck by a white squall.  A white squall is a violent windstorm, possibly a microburst or sudden downward movement of air, which is not accompanied by dark squall clouds, hence the term "white."  Such storms occur in tropical waters and apparently are common on the Great Lakes.  The Albatross heeled over, filled with water, and sank, all in less than two minutes.  Alice Sheldon, the cook, and four students perished.

Survivors spent a day at sea in lifeboats before being rescued by a passing freighter.  Several months later my brother's friend, Charles "Chuck" Gieg Jr., published The Last Voyage of the Albatross, his account of the voyage and disaster.  In 1996 director Ridley Scott turned Chuck's book into the movie White Squall, starring Jeff Bridges.  The film is a somewhat fictionalized account, but griping nonetheless. •••