Thursday, Sep 8, 2005
"The British are coming!” So read the bold notice on the staff bulletin board at Cape Cod National Seashore’s Province Lands Visitor Center. Had the year been 1775, the message would have held an ominous tone. However, on August 22, 2005, the tone was festive, as a dozen members of the Royal Navy stationed aboard the HMS Somerset IV and led by Commander David Burns, paid a visit to Cape Cod National Seashore in pursuit of the history of the HMS Somerset III. The Somerset III played a pivotal role in the American Revolutionary War. She rescued British troops after the battles of Lexington and Concord, and her guns bombarded Bunker Hill. Several years later, during a November gale, the ship wrecked off Provincetown, Massachusetts. According to the captain’s log, 21 men were lost in the wreck. Over 400 surviving officers and crew were marched to Providence, RI. Paul Revere later salvaged the ship’s guns and brought them to Fort Independence, Castle Island, to fortify Boston Harbor. Timbers from the wreck are in the national seashore museum collection. They were salvaged in 1973 during one of only two times the ship has been exposed since she wrecked. Accompanying the Royal Navy were ten Somerset re-enactors from the Boston area. Gifts were exchanged during a brief ceremony that included town officials and historians. “This is like the Holy Grail,” Commander Burns said softly, as Superintendent George Price presented him with an artifact from the Somerset III, which had been masterfully incorporated into a presentation plaque by park carpenter, Rich Fallon. Under international law, the Somerset III is the sovereign property of the United Kingdom. This paved the way for the park to even consider presenting the artifact. Superintendent Price accepted a large, fanciful ship’s badge, one of only two in existence. The other is mounted to the front of the Somerset IV near the bridge. The ceremony was not without its lighter moments, as Provincetown Town Manager Keith Bergman remarked that he was delighted that the crew was here, and that “We think enough time has passed where it’s safe for you to come back.” When Superintendent Price recited lines from Longfellow’s poem about the midnight ride of Paul Revere, in which Revere crossed right under the shadow of the Somerset III anchored in Boston Harbor, Commander Burns mused that as he knows quite a bit about sailors, he could imagine how Revere got past the Somerset undetected that night. Later, along the outer beach, the crew stood at the very spot where the ship is buried, according to those who saw her exposed in 1973. Beach-goers in swim suits abandoned their boogie boards, beach chairs, and fishing poles to visit and be photographed with the crew, who were dressed in their crisp, formal uniforms. The Somerset IV crew members came to the States while on five days’ leave. They had recently returned from the Persian Gulf, where they served alongside American forces. The visit by the Royal Navy, and the alliances formed on this day, offer a moving lesson in cooperation between old naval foes who now work together as allies. |
