August | 2015 | Shenandoah Down Under

Shenandoah Down Under Episode 43

Posted on August 26, 2015 in css Shenandoah, Sea Shepard, Sea Shepherd, Whaling

As the Shenandoah continues through the Pacific on the way back to Liverpool, Captain Waddell’s behaviour grows increasingly erratic, and, to quote Surgeon Lining, things are going “from worse to worst”. First Lieutenant Debney Minor Scales is removed from his watch for the terrible crime of sleeping in, and then Lieutenant Cornelius Hunt is also removed from his command, because reasons. This leaves the ship so short of officers that the Captain takes a watch himself, a very bad state of affairs.

Rob and Mob then quote from Cornelius Hunt’s memoirs of happier times before the end of the war, when the Shenandoah captured the Abigail and it’s tremendous quantity of alcohol. On that occasion Captain Nye of the Abigail asked why the Shenandoah was so far north, and got the following reply:

“Why, the fact of the business is, Captain,” replied the officer, facetiously, ” we have entered into a treaty offensive and defensive with the whales, and are up here by special agreement to disperse their mortal enemies.”

What pretty sentiments from men now driven to bickering and fighting. Will the officers of the Ship pull themselves together? Find out in this weeks episode of Shenandoah Down Under.

Shenandoah Down Under Episode 42

Posted on August 19, 2015 in css Shenandoah

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After a brief hiatus, MOB and Rob return to find the CSS Shenandoah in the Pacific at the equator, still half the world away from Liverpool, their final destination. However there are none of the jolly japes of their previous crossing of the line: all of the crew are feeling ‘very blue’ as they contemplate their fate being branded pirates. To suit the sombre mood, there is a long discussion drawn from the journal of Midshipman Mason about the best way to be hung by the neck until dead. The conclusion is reached that, if it has to happen, a knot behind the neck is best. This further brings up the unfortunate case of the Lincoln conspirators, who did not have Mason’s up to the minute information.

With Mason’s diary retired hurt and depressed, some excerpts are given from the diary of Ship’s Surgeon Lining, including his account of reading “The Deerslayer” by James Fenimore Cooper, reviewed by Mark Twain as one of the worst books ever written. When Surgeon Lining has finished being transported by Cooper back to the wilds of upstate New York, he finds that Assistant Surgeon McNulty is once again giving trouble. Does this trouble involve alcohol? Find out in episode 42 of Shenandoah Down Under, the one with the drunk Assistant Surgeon!

Shenandoah Down Under Episode 41

Posted on August 7, 2015 in css Shenandoah

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As the Shenandoah cruises towards San Francisco, looking for intelligence before launching a frankly ambitious attack on that famous seaport, the worst of all possible news is bought to them by the English ship Barracuda. The American Civil war has been over for several months, during which time they have taken most of their prizes in the Arctic and Alaska. Oops. Worse, the news of the Shenandoah’s depredations have reached the Yankees, and as a result they are not the most popular of fellows. The Shenandoah is now a ship without a country, without a government, without a flag, and without any firm idea what to do next. As to the prospect of being hung for pirates? As Midshipman Mason says, ‘the prospect causes a certain choking sensation in the throat.’ What will the last surviving unit of the Confederacy do next? Find out on episode 41 of Shenandoah Down Under!