Page 30: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 2004)

2004 World Yearbook

The image shows a late spring morning in 1952 at the Port of New York. The Queen Elizabeth, having set sail earlier that morning, has now progressed down to the lower bay, abeam of Staten Island and Arthur Kill. A traditional oil tanker, cruising on the Queen Elizabeth's starboard side, has just made its turn out into the open bay from Arthur Kill fairway, a tributary that gives access to Newark bay and many oil refineries. On her port side steams one of the colourful old tugboats from the thirties. These tugboats were steam powered and relatively quiet in operation. Their handsome build and tall funnels were part of New York Harbor s charm from the turn of the cen- tury until the late fifties. In the distance, the brand new S.S. United States, which has just captured the Blue Ribbon, steams against the backdrop of downtown Manhattan and Governor's Island.

Appropriate, isn't it, that a man name Flood made his mark on the world painting nautical scenes. Born on the fourth of July in Philadelphia, James Flood has been sketching and painting from the time he was four.

His early years embody the stereotypical mold of the artist type — restless and distracted at school, dogged- ly pursuing his craft and developing his talent, often to the dismay of family. His dedication to the subject was instilled in him at a young age, and was a passion that had outlets beyond the paintbrush and canvas. Flood recalls with joy memories of a young boy who would meticulously create and "sail" his very own fleet of motorized ship models. "I've had a lifelong fascination and attraction to water," he said. As a young man he served in the military, joining the Navy in 1967. Flood first served on Laffey, then aboard Wright, and then as quartermaster on the U.S.S. New Jersey. The latter, he admits, was his dream come true. "I felt as though I had been let loose on one of my model ships," he said.

Captured on film from a recent visit to the U.S.S.

New Jersey, a reminiscent Jim slouches against the wall of the fifth deck room where he had formerly spent much of his free time painting and playing the piano. Apparently, not even a war could deter Jim from his passions, and the image from one of his works painted during this passage was used as the end covers for the U.S.S. New Jersey history book. The painting itself remains at the naval Historical Museum in

Washington, D.C. Following the Navy, Flood enrolled in college on the GI Bill to study art, but ironically, it was this experience that drove him away from art for some time. "They told me I was trite because I painted ships," he said, noting that the political and hippie movements of the time inspired an abstract brand of art that simply was not to his liking.

Flood finds inspiration among his colleagues, and specifically notes the works of Carl G. Evers, Bill

Muller. Van de Velde and Stephen Card. "Carl Evers is my 'sea daddy' ... I've always been fascinated with how he handled the sea: there was nobody like him."

He counts Van de Veld's "HMS Resolution in a Gale" as one of his favorite paintings of all time. His work is on display at the Naval Institute in Annapolis, the

Wiley Post Museum in Oklahoma City, the Olympia

Memorial in Philadelphia, the battleship Alabama in

Mobile, the Biscayne Bay Harbor Pilots Association in

Miami, the Washington Historical Museum, the Queen

Mary, the Mystic Seaport. The U.S.S. Texas, the U.S.S.

New Jersey, and the Historical Museum of South

Florida, as well as on the bridges of many cruise liners.

His art has appeared in the Naval Institute's Naval

History Magazine. Steam Boat Bill, the Journal for the

Steamship Historical Society of America. Pictorial

Histories, Sea Classics Magazine, Preston's, and

Military History Magazine. Flood's clients include the former governor of New Jersey, Christie Todd

Whitman, as well as actor Sylvestor Stallone and ten- nis champion Gardner Mulloy. Singer Rod Stewart has collected most of Flood's works in either giclee or lith- ographic format. His paintings have been used in the sets of a 20th Century Fox film. Speed Two and at a

Memphis Exhibition on the Titanic in 1997, as well as on the set of Frasier. For more information, e-mail him at [email protected] Titanic deck scene painting

Maritime Reporter & Engineering News

Queen Mary 1936 Speed Trials, Arran Mile

Displayed in QM2's Onboard Gallery

Queen Mary 1936 Speed Trials, Arran Mile This painting shows the brand new RMS Queen Mary shortly after her release from the King George V Graving Dock, running her speed trials off the coast of the Island of Arran. Her hull is freshly coated with anti- fouling paint, crews having removed the accumulation of growth and barnacles that had developed during the time between her launch and final completion date. She has proceeded up the

Irish Sea to the coast of Scotland, to the measured mile just off the coast of the Island of Arran. Here the Queen Mary is con- ducting her speed trials, as well as other tests, to determine her efficiency before being turned over to Cunard. The Queen Mary will pass her tests effortlessly, and continue on to a magnificent career both in war and peace. Today she is permanently berthed in the Port of Long Beach, California, open to visitors

Britannia and Other Yachts Off Cowes 1912

This view shows his majesty's yacht Britannia, owned by King

George V, racing with other yachts off Cowes around 1912. In the background steams the RMS Olympic, while further in the distance looms the royal yacht Victoria and Albert. Designed by

G.L. Watson, the Britannia was built in 1893 at Henderson's yard on the Clyde. She immediately proved herself a success, becoming a champion yacht in her first year. King Edward VII and his son George V regularly enjoyed sailing the Britannia.

King George V requested that, after his death, the Britannia be scuttled rather than scrapped. Commissioned to be displayed in the Commodore Lounge on the Queen Mary II