~An Amalgam of Medical and Maritime History~

A medical student, an aspiring maritime historian, a man who always seems to find his passions in the most unorthodox of ways. I am all these things. Perhaps a bit of an overstatement, particularly the last part, however, my quest to find that which drives me has always led me down circuitous paths. Medicine and maritime history might seem a strange amalgam to some, however, the two are linked in the most extraordinary ways. Both have rich and multifaceted histories that are prime for exploration, discovery, and learning. I seek to learn about both; separately and together.

As a student of medicine, I am at once enthralled and inundated by the wealth of knowledge to be gained from such a course of study. Despite my passion for the subject, I have found that though we are more than sufficiently prepared for our roles as healers, we often times are left with little in the way of an historical perspective. How did we come to use the techniques and medications now endorsed by physicians, and what did it take to get to this point? These are questions that I seek to answer.

Though I have always been a history enthusiast, it was not until recently that I discovered my love of ships and the sea. I quickly gained a penchant for all things maritime. an historical subject that encompasses a broad range of topics from naval battles to the science of navigation. Recently, I came to find that surgeons at sea played an integral part in the orchestra of persons aboard a sailing vessel. They were to maintain the health of the sailors at all costs, despite the rudimentary tools and the unforgiving elements of wind and sea. This effectively bridges the topics, and provides a jumping point for my future knowledge and research.

Any feedback is welcome as I share what I have gained with you.
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A Forest of Masts: The Image of the River Thames in the 18th Century (National Maritime Museum collections blog)

Thought this was an interesting post (title is the link) from the National Maritime Museum of the UK’s blog.  I hope to write up some more of my own stuff soon; we were without internet for sometime…I’d like to think that qualifies as “roughing it” in this day and age.

More to come!

Turning bombs into...furniture?

Old Salt Blog just posted an interesting albeit slightly odd story about an Estonian sculptor named Mati Karwin, who is apparently creating furniture with the marine mine husks left behind by the Soviets when they pulled out of Naissaar Island area following the Cold War. Go to his site here.  Pictures from the website below.

A bit of the story, and the history, behind Karmin’s creations:

The Naissaar Island is situated in the Gulf of Finland, 15 kilometres away from Tallinn. As a military object, Naissaar has always interested the rulers of Estonia, which is the reason why the inhabitants have often been forced to leave the island. The area of Naissaar is 18,6 km2. Naissaar used to be a favourite spot for pirates and smugglers during the earlier times.

The first military object - a cannon battery - was erected on Naissaar by the Swedish rulers during the Great Northern War in 1705.

After the end of the Great Northern War, when Estonia was included in the Russian Empire, Russia continued militarising the Naissaar Island: a defensive building with five bastions was erected in 1720.

Russia started modernising the military objects of the Gulf of Finland at the beginning of the 20th century. The Naissaar and Mäkiluoto cannon batteries and a minefield connecting them were designed to be the priority in this system. The project was not completed due to the outbreak of WW I. When retreating from the Germans in 1918, the Russians blew up most of the defensive buildings. Naissaar was used as a fortified naval base also by the Republic of Estonia in 1918-1940. Naissaar was classified as a secret military facility during the Soviet times. There was a large factory for assembling marine mines in the centre of the island and a railway taking directly to the harbour. Mining the whole Gulf of Finland would have been a matter of hours.

When departing in the beginning of 1990s, the Soviet army burned the explosives out of the mines that were stored and in working order, leaving a multitude of cases scattered around. Lots of them were taken to the mainland as scrap-iron during the cleaning of the island. There is still an existing field of mines in Mädasadam as a sight for tourists to see.

He has created some very imaginative works with these former bombs (I might be worried that the Soviets did not diffuse them as carefully as one would hope) and the works have an undeniably steampunk/industrial look and (I imagine) feel to them. Though, as a future physician, the idea of having a baby rolling around in a metal, and possibly rusty, tube is not the first thing that jumps to my mind when considering the proprieties of parenting…but hey, to each his/her own.

On another note, and speaking of being a physician, this year (my third of four) has been (and likely will be) quite the workload…and of course posting my hit a sparse stretch here and there.  I try to post anything interesting and relevant to my fields of interest that I come across in my web browsing and reading, so any feedback or thoughts are welcome.  I hope to continue the book review of Six Frigates I began a couple months ago…it is an excellent book for anyone who has not yet read it!  I recently picked up a naval historical fiction work (the first one Ive yet to read) and plan on starting that soon…updates to come.

adventures-of-the-blackgang: US Sloop of War Hornet sinking the HMS Peacock; War of 1812 “…At the same moment another sail appeared, and proved to be HMS Peacock approaching the port. Clearing for action, Hornet quickly closed the distance and hauled up her colors. Peacock hauled up hers and at 5:25 pm the ships opened fire with full broadsides at a range of less than 20 yards. Passing each other, Peacock quickly came about only to find Hornet had maneuvered to a position close aboard on her bow, firing broadside after broadside into the British ship which was in turn unable to respond by virtue of Hornet’s position. Peacock, severely damaged, hauled down her colors at 5:39, just 14 minutes after the first shots were fired.”

adventures-of-the-blackgang:

US Sloop of War Hornet sinking the HMS Peacock; War of 1812

“…At the same moment another sail appeared, and proved to be HMS Peacock approaching the port. Clearing for action, Hornet quickly closed the distance and hauled up her colors. Peacock hauled up hers and at 5:25 pm the ships opened fire with full broadsides at a range of less than 20 yards. Passing each other, Peacock quickly came about only to find Hornet had maneuvered to a position close aboard on her bow, firing broadside after broadside into the British ship which was in turn unable to respond by virtue of Hornet’s position. Peacock, severely damaged, hauled down her colors at 5:39, just 14 minutes after the first shots were fired.”