Irving McClure Johnson
Irving McClure Johnson (born July 4, 1905 in Hadley , Massachusetts - † January 2, 1991 ) was an American author and sailor .
Life
Early on, Johnson was influenced by the novels Jack London and Joseph Conrad . A number of private film recordings show him training for a life at sea, e.g. B. when climbing telegraph poles or wrestling.
After his first experiences on smaller ships on the coast of his home country, Johnson joined the American merchant navy in 1926 and served on various steam and cargo ships. During his time as a helmsman on board the Wanderbird , he met Electa "Exy", whom he married in 1933. Together with her and the rest of the new crew, he circumnavigated the earth seven times. Johnson owned three different boats over the years, all of which he named Yankee :
- He bought the first boat in 1933, a Dutch pilot schooner built for the North Sea . On one of the circumnavigations of the world with the first Yankee , the then seaman and later Hollywood star Sterling Hayden was the first officer .
- In 1947 Johnson acquired the second Yankee , again a Dutch pilot schooner built for the North Sea, which he rigged as a brigantine . The second Yankee also led Johnson around the world; the crew included Christopher B. Sheldon, the later owner and skipper of the Dutch pilot schooner Albatross , which was also converted into a brigantine , whose sinking made headlines with a group of young people on board (based on the film White Squall - Tearing Current , 1996).
- The third Yankee had the Johnson built in 1958/59 in Zaandam, the Netherlands, as a steel ketch and sailed with her on the inland waterways of Europe and Africa.
The Johnsons reported on their numerous sailing trips in articles, books and videos published by National Geographic , among others . With a crew of amateur sailors, they sailed through the Panama Canal , into the South Pacific , to Southeast Asia , around the Cape of Good Hope and back to Gloucester .
At the urging of Bill Donovan , the head of the OSS (forerunner of the CIA ), Johnson joined the US Navy in 1941 shortly before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and saw it there. His extensive knowledge of the tidal and wave conditions, currents and shallows of the countless reefs and atolls of the South Pacific made Johnson the first choice as a consultant for the American Pacific Fleet. He held the rank of Corvette Captain ( Lieutenant Commander ) and began his service on the USS Simnen . Irving created five nautical charts there and explored possible ports and landing sites for the US Navy. He also went to scuttled Japanese ships in search of secret documents that the Japanese could not destroy before the sinking. A map with Japanese minefields around various Japanese ports was secured.
Like Alan Villiers , Johnson's goal in life was to educate the public about the majestic age of the tall ship . His best-known document of this kind is his film (16 mm) Around Cape Horn (1929) with original commentary, which he shot on board the Peking , which is now a museum ship in the South Street Seaport in New York City . Until his death in 1991 he worked as a curator for the Maritime Museum Mystic Seaport ( Connecticut ) and the Sea Education Association .
The Los Angeles Maritime Institute hired two brigantines for their sail training program in 2002 and named them after Irving and Exy Johnson. Exy Johnson was able to bring decades of experience to bear in the construction of the ships and ultimately attend the ship's christening. Exy Johnson died on November 19, 2004 in Holyoke, MA.
Books
- Irving Johnson: Round the Horn in a Square Rigger . Milton Bradley, 1932 (Reprinted as The Peking Battles Cape Horn . Sea History Press, 1977, ISBN 0-930248-02-3 )
- Irving Johnson: Shamrock V's Wild Voyage Home . Milton Bradley, 1933
- Irving and Electa Johnson: Westward bound in the schooner Yankee . Norton, 1936
- Irving and Electa Johnson: Sailing to see. Picture cruise in the schooner Yankee . Norton, 1939
- Irving and Electa Johnson: Yankee's wander world; circling the globe in the brigantine Yankee . Norton, 1949
- Irving Johnson, Electa Johnson and Lydia Edes: Yankee's people and places . Norton, 1955
- Irving and Electa Johnson: Yankee sails across Europe . Norton, 1962
- Irving and Electa Johnson: Yankee sails the Nile . Norton, 1966
Books in German translation
- Carsten Petersen, Morten Planer: With the Beijing around Cape Horn: Irving Johnson's diary & Laeisz captain Jürgen Juer's biography . Oceanum Verlag, Wiefelstede 2018, 2nd edition 2020, ISBN 3-8692-7552-9
items
- Irving and Electa Johnson: Westward Bound in the Yankee . In: National Geographic Magazine . January 1942
- Irving Johnson: Adventures with the Survey Navy . In: National Geographic Magazine . January 1947
- Irving and Electa Johnson: The Yankee's Wander-world . In: National Geographic Magazine . January 1949
- Irving and Electa Johnson: South Seas Incredible Land Divers . In: National Geographic Magazine . January 1955
- Irving and Electa Johnson: The New Yankee . In: Yachts and Yachting . October 10, 1958
- Irving and Electa Johnson: Lost World of the Galapagos . In: National Geographic Magazine . May 1959
- Irving and Electa Johnson: New Guinea to Bali in Yankee . National Geographic Magazine . December 1959
- Irving Johnson: The Ketch Yankee . In: Yachting . August 1960
- Irving and Electa Johnson: Inside Europe Aboard Yankee . In: National Geographic Magazine . August 1964
- Irving and Electa Johnson: Yankee Cruises the Storied Nile . In: National Geographic Magazine . May 1965
- Irving and Electa Johnson: Yankee Sails Turkey's History-Haunted Coast . In: National Geographic Magazine . December 1969
- Electa Johnson: Yankee Cruises Inland Italy. Part I . In: Yachting . July 1973
- Electa Johnson: Yankee Cruises Inland Italy. Part II . In: Yachting . August 1973
Movies
- Yankee Sails Across Europe . National Geographic Society, 1967
- Voyage of the Brigantine Yankee . National Geographic Society, 1968
- Irving Johnson: High Seas Adventurer . National Geographic Society, 1985
- Around Cape Horn . Mystic Seaport, 1985; Material from Irving Johnson's 16mm amateur film, 1929
swell
- Portions of this article have been translated from the English version (July 15, 2008) of this page.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Johnson, Irving McClure |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American author |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 4th July 1905 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hadley |
| DATE OF DEATH | 2nd January 1991 |