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Letters
Wyatt Earp's propeller Mac I am trying to establish the truth or otherwise of the following excerpt from a handwritten page held at the Newcastle Maritime Museum, written by a retired shipwright. It is titled 'Recollections of Duncan McIntosh' an 'old Scotch Shipwright' and contains memories from the early 1950's. Maybe by changing a ship name or Shackleton's name, the mystery may be solved. "On that job he told me about the time he went to the south pole to search for Shackleton, went down in an old Norwegian built steamer 'Wyatt Earp', when they got into the ice they had the misfortune to knock a blade off the prop, to get around the problem of fitting a new prop all the supplies they were carrying had to be moved as far forward as possible as all her machinery was right aft and her stern had to be lifted enough to get at her tail shaft. When this was accomplished the ice was allowed to form around and used as a platform to work off, the prop was changed stores moved aft and the voyage continued." Minimum research has shown me that the reference to the 'Wyatt Earp' and Shackleton is an obvious flaw as it belonged to a different era in Antarctic exploration. I believe that this memory is based on fact though. Duncan McIntosh was a man of few words and didn't need to fabricate stories to embellish his seafaring days. In fact he never mentioned his past to any of his three children other than vague references to Antarctica, Alaska etc. I have established he spent one year (Sept 1916 - Aug 1917) aboard the four masted barquentine 'Sound of Jura' during a visit to South Georgia. 'Sound of Jura' was owned by the Southern Whaling and Sealing Co. and used to transport stores and product to and from their Prince Olav Harbour whaling operation. On this particular voyage it appears they were involved in the construction of the shore station at Prince Olav Harbour. (entry in Frank Hurley's diary 29th March 1917). This particular time period also could not co-incide with the ice - propeller incident, but should give some credibility to what he may have said. Can you help? Glenn, Thank you for your E-mail, I have never found any report about Wyatt Earp, knocking a blade from her propeller, Ellsworth's aircraft Wasp engine broke a connecting rod, and no spare was carried, and Wyatt Earp was sent off on a 1,000 mile journey for a replacement. You are right that Shackleton's exploration in the Antarctic was in an entirely different time frame. I have attached the URL for a lengthy description of Ellsworth's time in Antartica, and his attempts to fly down there, and again you will find no mention about Wyatt Earp having propeller problems. I am sorry I am unable to unravel your query any further, but tend to doubt the veracity of Duncan McIntosh's story, but I cannot really disprove it. Best Regards, Glenn McIntosh Mac Thank you sincerely for your research and conclusions regarding the broken propeller. One day the mystery will be solved!! ?? I have just had a quick browse through your online articles - Mac there is heaps of interest here to me. 1. Yukon Alaska - Duncan McIntosh related stuff - Letter from the Yukon 1929 |
