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Robert H. Waterman (March 4, 1808 – August 8, 1884), known as Bully Waterman or Bully Bob Waterman, was an American merchant sea captain. He set three sailing speed records; his time of 74 days from Hong Kong to New York City has never been bettered in a sail-powered vessel. He was reputed as a Martinet#in English terms, martinet, and was once convicted of assault against a crewman in a controversial California criminal case.
Unfortunately for all concerned, N. L. & G. Griswold had failed to provide ''Challenge'' with an experienced crew; the huge demand for sailors occasioned by clippers sailing for the California gold fields had left few competent seamen in New York. Half of the ship's 56-man complement had never sailed, and only three were able seamen; many were recent immigrants who could speak no English. Discipline, morale, and seamanship were predictably poor.#refWhipple1981, Whipple 1981, p. 90.
Waterman used considerable violence against this crew, personally slashing the cook's scalp with a carving knife, and beating at least two sick sailors for working too slowly.#refWhipple1981, Whipple 1981, pp. 83, 94. However, the focus of the crew's resentment was the new first mate Douglass, who dealt blows abundantly and with relish. As the ''Challenge'' neared Rio de Janeiro, several crewmen conspired to kill Douglass, inflicting 12 knife wounds on him. Waterman waded into the fray and saved Douglass, then personally flogged the mutineers.#refWhipple1981, Whipple 1981, pp. 90-91. The U.S. Congress had outlawed flogging aboard merchant vessels in 1850, but the prohibition was routinely violated, especially aboard the hard-driven clipper ships.#refWhipple1981, Whipple 1981, p. 92. After rounding Cape Horn, Waterman discovered another of the mutineers who had been hiding in the forecastle, had him dragged on deck, and broke his arm with a club, then had him shackled in the sick bay by the fractured limb.#refWhipple1981, Whipple 1981, p. 95.
Most of the violence that Waterman personally inflicted was directed at the mutineers who had tried to kill Douglass. However, Douglass himself continued to abuse the crew intensely, with Waterman doing little to restrain him and occasionally encouraging him.#refWhipple1981, Whipple 1981, pp. 93-95.
When the ''Challenge'' reached San Francisco after a 108-day passage, the crew's version of events aboard created an uproar in the city. One newspaper called for Waterman to be "burned alive," and he narrowly escaped lynching.
Waterman defiantly had eight of the alleged mutineers arrested, but only one was tried, and that one was acquitted.
Waterman and Douglass themselves stood trial for their conduct aboard the ''Challenge''. Waterman was convicted by a jury for beating one of the sick crewmen, but Ogden Hoffman, Jr., the judge refused to sentence him. Douglass was convicted of murder for beating a crewman to death, and for assault on another crewman, but no sentence is recorded, and he is known to have been released soon afterward, never again to serve aboard a merchantman.#refWhipple1981, Whipple 1981, pp. 98-100.
"The ''Challenge'' cases ... were the first 'hellship' trials, and by the very fact that they did occur, they made possible, many years later, the freedom of the American merchant sailor from the tyranny of masters and mates,"
paving the way for the Seamen's Act of 1915.
"Seagoing-labor litigation and cases relating to the defense of seamen's rights were heard by district courts with coastal jurisdiction, such as those in San Francisco and Honolulu ... the first 21 criminal cases [of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California] were connected with the murder or mistreatment of seamen by Captain "Bully" Waterman and other officers of the clipper ship ''Challenge.''"
Logbook of the ''Challenge,'' 1849-1850 voyage from Hong Kong to London
Mystic Seaport. The pumps were manned constantly on this voyage, and the ship put into Fayal for repairs. {{DEFAULTSORT:Waterman, Robert 1808 births 1884 deaths American sailors Sea captains American people convicted of assault People from Hudson, New York People from Fairfield, California People from Fairfield, Connecticut
Early career
Waterman was born in Hudson, New York, the son of a Nantucket whaling captain. His father died at sea when the boy was eight, and the family moved to Fairfield, Connecticut. Waterman first went to sea at age 12 aboard a China trader, and spent most of the next nine years aboard transatlantic packet (sea transport), packet ships. By 1829, at the age of 21, he had been promoted to first mate of the Black Ball Line (trans-Atlantic packet), Black Ball packet ''Britannia''. His captain aboard the ''Britannia'', Charles H. Marshall, later bought the packet ''South America'' and made Waterman the skipper. It was Waterman's first command.#refWhipple1981, Whipple 1981, pp. 31, 34. In 1836, Waterman accepted command of the cotton freighter ''Natchez'', owned by Howland & Aspinwall, a Manhattan merchant company. He guided the ''Natchez'' on several voyages around Cape Horn to Valparaiso. In 1842, Howland & Aspinwall switched the ''Natchez'' to the China trade, and Waterman sailed her to Macao. His return trip from Macao to New York took only 78 days, a new record.#refWhipple1981, Whipple 1981, p. 30.Captain of the ''Sea Witch''
During the late 1840s, Howland & Aspinwall gave Waterman command of the clipper ''Sea Witch (clipper), Sea Witch''. Waterman worked with the ship's designer, John W. Griffiths, designing much of the ''Sea Witchs rig and sail plan, specifying masts and more square footage of sail than a 74-gun warship.#refWhipple1981, Whipple 1981, p. 31. In 1847, he brought the ''Sea Witch'' from Hong Kong to New York in 77 days, beating his previous record by a day. In 1849, Waterman set his final record for the Hong Kong–New York trip. Leaving New York on April 27, 1848, he went to China by the unusual route of Cape Horn (most China clippers traveled by way of the Cape of Good Hope). Loading a cargo of tea at Hong Kong, Waterman took the ''Sea Witch'' out of harbor on January 9, 1849. Spending much of the voyage under full sail, he started the ''Sea Witch''s return voyage via the Sunda Strait, often covering over per day and once reaching . He reached the Cape of Good Hope February 16, logging a run for the day, his best of the voyage.#refWhipple1981, Whipple 1981, pp. 34, 36, 41. Waterman reached New York on March 25, a 74-day passage. Neither he nor any other captain of a sail-powered vessel would ever break this record.#refWhipple1981, Whipple 1981, pp. 18, 20.Voyage of the ''Challenge''
Handsomely rewarded by Howland & Aspinwall for his unequaled performance aboard the ''Sea Witch'', Waterman briefly retired from seafaring. However, the N. L. & G. Griswold shipping company was seeking a high-quality captain for its new clipper ''Challenge'', offering him a $10,000 bonus if he could get the ship to San Francisco within 90 days of departure. Waterman accepted the ''Challenge'', and took her out of New York on July 13, 1851. That very first day, Waterman quarreled with and dismissed his first mate, and replaced him with James Douglass, hired off the deck of a packet at Sandy Hook, New Jersey, Sandy Hook.#refWhipple1981, Whipple 1981, pp. 81, 86.
Unfortunately for all concerned, N. L. & G. Griswold had failed to provide ''Challenge'' with an experienced crew; the huge demand for sailors occasioned by clippers sailing for the California gold fields had left few competent seamen in New York. Half of the ship's 56-man complement had never sailed, and only three were able seamen; many were recent immigrants who could speak no English. Discipline, morale, and seamanship were predictably poor.#refWhipple1981, Whipple 1981, p. 90.
Waterman used considerable violence against this crew, personally slashing the cook's scalp with a carving knife, and beating at least two sick sailors for working too slowly.#refWhipple1981, Whipple 1981, pp. 83, 94. However, the focus of the crew's resentment was the new first mate Douglass, who dealt blows abundantly and with relish. As the ''Challenge'' neared Rio de Janeiro, several crewmen conspired to kill Douglass, inflicting 12 knife wounds on him. Waterman waded into the fray and saved Douglass, then personally flogged the mutineers.#refWhipple1981, Whipple 1981, pp. 90-91. The U.S. Congress had outlawed flogging aboard merchant vessels in 1850, but the prohibition was routinely violated, especially aboard the hard-driven clipper ships.#refWhipple1981, Whipple 1981, p. 92. After rounding Cape Horn, Waterman discovered another of the mutineers who had been hiding in the forecastle, had him dragged on deck, and broke his arm with a club, then had him shackled in the sick bay by the fractured limb.#refWhipple1981, Whipple 1981, p. 95.
Most of the violence that Waterman personally inflicted was directed at the mutineers who had tried to kill Douglass. However, Douglass himself continued to abuse the crew intensely, with Waterman doing little to restrain him and occasionally encouraging him.#refWhipple1981, Whipple 1981, pp. 93-95.
When the ''Challenge'' reached San Francisco after a 108-day passage, the crew's version of events aboard created an uproar in the city. One newspaper called for Waterman to be "burned alive," and he narrowly escaped lynching.
Waterman defiantly had eight of the alleged mutineers arrested, but only one was tried, and that one was acquitted.
Waterman and Douglass themselves stood trial for their conduct aboard the ''Challenge''. Waterman was convicted by a jury for beating one of the sick crewmen, but Ogden Hoffman, Jr., the judge refused to sentence him. Douglass was convicted of murder for beating a crewman to death, and for assault on another crewman, but no sentence is recorded, and he is known to have been released soon afterward, never again to serve aboard a merchantman.#refWhipple1981, Whipple 1981, pp. 98-100.
"The ''Challenge'' cases ... were the first 'hellship' trials, and by the very fact that they did occur, they made possible, many years later, the freedom of the American merchant sailor from the tyranny of masters and mates,"
paving the way for the Seamen's Act of 1915.
"Seagoing-labor litigation and cases relating to the defense of seamen's rights were heard by district courts with coastal jurisdiction, such as those in San Francisco and Honolulu ... the first 21 criminal cases [of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California] were connected with the murder or mistreatment of seamen by Captain "Bully" Waterman and other officers of the clipper ship ''Challenge.''"
Retirement
Waterman retired from the sea after leaving the ''Challenge'' and settled in California with his wife. There he founded the city of Fairfield, California, Fairfield in 1856, named after his former Fairfield, Connecticut, home in Connecticut. He raised poultry and cattle, and served as San Francisco's Port Warden and Inspector of Hulls.#refWhipple1981, Whipple 1981, p. 100. He died in 1884.See also
*''Carrier Pigeon (ship)#Steamer Sea Bird and the salvage of the Carrier Pigeon, Carrier Pigeon'', salvage operation by Capt. Waterman on an 1853 clipper ship wreckReferences
Bibliography
* - Total pages: 176 *External links
Logbook of the ''Challenge,'' 1849-1850 voyage from Hong Kong to London
Mystic Seaport. The pumps were manned constantly on this voyage, and the ship put into Fayal for repairs. {{DEFAULTSORT:Waterman, Robert 1808 births 1884 deaths American sailors Sea captains American people convicted of assault People from Hudson, New York People from Fairfield, California People from Fairfield, Connecticut