Executive Officer Whittle | Shenandoah Down Under

Shenandoah Down Under Episode 12

Posted on January 13, 2015 in css Shenandoah

Executive Officer Whittle and Captain Waddell are in great disagreement about Lieutenant Chew. Whittle sees Chew as having been appointed by the Senate of the Confederacy, and ultimately by Jefferson Davis himself. Captain Waddell does not respect Chew’s commission or his person, in those words and to his face, and does not trust him to take a watch in the raging southern seas. Perhaps Chew was wrong to give up drugs ( he used to be a chemist).

Will this bitterness and rancour be resolved in time for a very special Christmas? Naah. Will Whittle make things worse by stopping grog on Christmas eve? You betcha! Or, as we say in Australia, Ya think?

Once again Mob and Rob are joined by Hundred Years War enthusiast John Coleman, who feels that the Shenandoah’s mix of violent argument and corporal punishment sounds like a perfectly Jolly Christmas. Something there for all of us to consider…Merry Christmas!

Shenandoah Down Under Episode 11

Posted on January 8, 2015 in css Shenandoah, Sea Shepherd

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As the Shenandoah heads into the Roaring Forties (not to be confused with the Roaring Twenties) Executive Officer Whittle and Captain Waddell are still a feuding. Mob and Rob (joined by Hundred Years’ War enthusiast John Coleman) also discuss the various memories and echoes of the Shenandoah in modern day Melbourne, including the Steve Irwin, flagship of the Sea Shepherd, the closest modern equivalent as a whaler harasser.

Back in the nineteenth century Whittle orders the hog slaughtered for Christmas, but will it be a happy festive season? For the crew, that is. The hog is pretty much guaranteed a rotten time.

Shenandoah Down Under Episode 10

Posted on January 5, 2015 in css Shenandoah

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Good and bad fortune attends the Shenandoah after she leaves Tristan de Cunha. On the good side, the Yankee Captain Rogers, following in the USS Iroquois with intent to do the Shenandoah harm, heads off to completely the wrong part of the planet. On the bad side, the crew discovers that the propeller is cracked, and they must put into port for urgent repairs.

As if this is not enough, Executive Officer Whittle and Captain Waddell have a bitter disagreement about the dressing of the mizzen top-gallant sheet (whatever that is).

Shenandoah Down Under Episode 8

Posted on January 5, 2015 in css Shenandoah

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The Shenandoah sails towards Tristan da Cunha, the most isolated inhabited archipelago in the world. Executive Officer Whittle continues his enthusiastic experiments with naval discipline, most of which include tricing, the gentle art of hanging men from their thumbs. Captain Waddell also begins to show himself an autocrat and stickler, insisting that his officers wear the unflattering Confederate naval uniform (gray does show the dirt so).

Shenandoah Down Under Episode 7

Posted on January 5, 2015 in css Shenandoah

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As the Shenandoah continues it’s voyage towards the Southern Ocean, Mob and Rob dramatically foreshadow the dangers that await them there, along the great Australian Bight and the Shipwreck Coast. Elsewhere in 1864, the consequences of the Australian drought are laid out. These include an early example of climate scientists being ignored (with unfortunate results).

On the ship, Executive Officer Whittle survives his encounter with a rhubarb pie, and to give thanks to a merciful God decides to give up smoking. This is not good news for the men who he commands. The Shenandoah crosses the equator, and King Neptune comes aboard to extort his traditional tribute.

Shenandoah Down Under Episode 6

Posted on January 5, 2015 in css Shenandoah

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With the Shenandoah traversing the Atlantic, Rob and Mob fill in the previous biographies of the junior officers of the Shenandoah. These include Sydney Smith-Lee, nephew of the famous General Robert E Lee, and the splendidly named Debney Minor Scales. There is also Lieutenant Chew, who gave up drugs for the sea (he was a pharmacist, not a addict). On the action front, Executive Officer Whittle has a potentially fatal altercation with a rhubarb pie, and the Shenandoah captures it’s third prize in ten days.