Maritime History Collection

This composite collection contains records such as ship logs, personal journals composed by captains and other crew members, and other miscellaneous documents including an Italian signal book, “protests” or documents that indicate that ship’s crew did not misperform duties when cargo was damaged, and correspondence. The collection spans from the late 18th century to the early 20th century, covering the transition from sail power to steam. Ships’ logs begin in 1797 and span the 19th century ending in 1859, recalling visits to certain islands, ship supplies, and details of journeys to India and China, as well as in the North Sea and Baltic. One log of the H.M.S. Sans Pareil recounts duty with the British fleet in the English channel off the west coast of Europe in 1795. Personal journals primarily belong to captains, officers, and one ship doctor, and span 1840-1926. Journals detail the exploration by the South China Sea and Southeastern Asia in the 1840s, the journey of James F. Smith to California via the U. S. S. Charles Carrol around Cape Horn and South America in 1849-1851, and the travels of Dr. Karl W. Vogel, a yacht physician, who traveled through Europe and South America via the Suez Canal in 1921-1922. The collection also contains miscellaneous documents such as list of ships owned by Royal Navy (1798), protests, and signals from the early 19th century.