SSHSA Past Award Winners

2012 SSHSA National Award Winners

Ship of the Year Award: This was awarded to the the NS Savannah.  Savannah is the first nuclear-powered steam merchant ship, the only such vessel built in the United States, and one of only four such ships ever built worldwide.  This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of Savannah’s completion and entry into service.  Steamship Historical Society of America is proud to observe N/S Savannah’s golden anniversary by naming her the 2012 Ship of the Year. SSHSA also recognizes the ongoing efforts by the NS Savannah Foundation and MARAD in preserving this extraordinary vessel.

SS Lane Victory - Museum Ship
The 2012 Museum Ship Award is bestowed on the SS Lane Victory in recognition of her significance as one of only two operational World War II era Victory Ships. Recognized as a National Historic Landmark and restored by hundreds of volunteers, she continues to steam under her own original power today as a living, breathing link to America's past.

Special Recognition
Tug Delaware on its 100th Anniversary; RMS Segwun on its 125th Anniversary; Steamboat Mississippi Queen remembered.

Jay Allen Award for Distinguished Editorial Service: This award was awarded to Mr. Skip Gillham of Vineland, Ontario for serving more than 37 years as a dedicated volunteer and Editor of the Great Lakes/Seaway Regional Column in Steamboat Bill and PowerShips.  He has faithfully covered the region in rich detail and his work has always been of the highest quality.

H. Graham Wood Award Award for Distinguished Service to SSHSA:  In recognition of CDR John Williams his long-term dedication and service to the Steamship Historical Society of America as a member and Board member, Treasurer, historian, supporter, and friend.  He will be missed but not forgotten.

2011 SSHSA National Award Winners

C. Bradford Mitchell Award-2011: Robert C. Smith for his Guide to Maritime Museums of North America

H. Graham Wood Award-2011: Robert C. Cleasby

Samuel Ward Stanton Award-2011: Dr.Robert Ballard

Jay Allen Award-2011: Skip Gillham

Ship of the Year Award-2011: Cruiser Olympia

Tugboat of Distinction Award-2011: Luna

2010 SSHSA National Award Winners

C. Bradford Mitchell Award-2010:  This award was given to Christopher Winters in recognition of his publication Centennial:  Steaming Through the American Century.  This full color book documents and chronicles the history of the freighter St. Mary’s Challenger.  In April 2006, St. Mary’s Challenger became the first Great Lakes ship to reach 100 years of age and still in operational service.  Mr. Winters, a marine photographer, spent five seasons capturing this vessel for the book.  Thanks to him, the future of maritime history will always have a record of this historic vessel.

Samuel Ward Stanton Award-2010:  This award was given to Frank P. Manwell in recognition of his long and productive association with SSHSA, which includes his significant contributions to recording and preserving the legacy of the United States Merchant Marine, emphasizing the shipping and maritime activities of the Southeast and Gulf coasts.  At the age of 15, Mr. Manwell began working in the deck department aboard B.B. Wills’ Nantasket, which operated between Boston and Nantasket.  Later, he worked on Wills’ Holiday and the Wilson Line’s Boston Belle on the Boston-Provincetown route.  Mr. Manwell also served on the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute’s research vessel Bear.  Later he was a journalist in the Navy on the battleship New Jersey and he also attended the U.S. Navy School of Journalism and the College of Advanced Traffic.  Mr. Manwell’s particular maritime interests are cruise ships and excursion vessels.  He has been a member of SSHSA since 1958, and has been the editor of the Southeast and Gulf Ports since the Spring of 1960.  This alone makes him a very deserving recipient of the Samuel Ward Stanton Award for Lifetime Achievement.

H. Graham Wood Award-2010:  This award was given to Francis J. Duffy in recognition of his contributions and work with SSHSA, with strong emphasis on recording and preserving the legacy of ships, New York shipping and the United States Merchant Marine.

Mr. Duffy, who grew up in New York, is a professional writer and photographer specializing in the maritime industry.  He was a special correspondent for the publication The National Fisherman and from 1984 to 1993 he served as director of public relations for Moran Towing & Transportation Company, where he was also editor of Moran’s Tow Line magazine.  Mr. Duffy is also a principal in Granard Associates, a firm serving the maritime industry.  With William H. Miller, Mr. Duffy co-authored The New York Harbor Book.  Various articles and photographs by him have appeared in The New York Times, Journal of Commerce, Long Island Newsday, Cruise Travel, U.S. Coast Guard Magazine, Battery Park Broadsheet, Staten Island Advance and many others.  He is also one of the founders of the Maritime Industry Museum at SUNY Maritime College, Fort Schuyler, New York and is currently its executive vice-president.  Mr. Duffy is also a founding member of the Society’s Long Island Chapter and has been Steamboat Bill’s New York editor since 1982, retiring with the Fall 2010 issue of PowerShips.  Additionally, he has also been vice chairman of the World Ship Society’s Port of New York Branch and is active in numerous other maritime organizations.  Mr. Duffy’s commitment and passion to maritime affairs and history have indeed helped to advance the mission of SSHSA.

Ship of the Year Award-2010:  The first Ship of the Year award was given to the S.S. United States, in recognition of her significance as the flagship of the American Merchant Marine from 1952 to 1969, and also for ongoing efforts to showcase and preserve the extraordinary design and engineering that made her the fastest and yet safest ocean liner built to date.  She was built in the years 1950-1952 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, and was constructed according the U.S. Navy specifications.  The United States entered service with a top speed of 38 knots.  Her maiden voyage took place in July 1952, during which she broke both east and westbound transatlantic speed records, records that have yet to be broken by any other commercial vessel.  Withdrawn from service and laid-up in 1969, her future was, for a time, uncertain.  Over the past 40 years, many attempts had been made to secure a future for the United States.  She had been berthed in Philadelphia since 1996, and under a steady threat of scrapping.  However, recently a $6 million gift was given with the intent of preserving the United States for years to come.  This award recognizes her historical significance, but also the hard work and dedication of her supporters and fans, which have helped give the United States a more positive outlook.   

Ship of the Year Award-2010:  The second Ship of the Year award was given to the steam yacht Cangarda in recognition of her significance as a rare example of an operational American steam yacht, as well as to honor the perseverance and vision required to complete a historically accurate restoration of the 100 year old vessel.  Cangarda had a very successful career, like the United States, and also spent considerable time in disrepair.  She was built in 1901at the Pusey and Jones Shipyard in Wilmington, Delaware, after which she had a very successful private career through World War II.  During the war she was a Royal Canadian Navy training ship.  After the war ended, she spent much time on the Great Lakes, and was then sold to owners from New England.  There, her steam engine and various fittings were removed for the purpose of restoration, a project that fell to the wayside and almost ended with her ultimate demise after she capsized at a pier in Boston in 1999.  Her hull had been successfully raised but was determined to be beyond repair.  Her owners then used advanced 3-D laser technology to scan the hull and produce a digital blueprint of her original lines, which were used to create a new welded steel hull.  This new hull was launched in 2007, and between 2007 and 2010 her restored steam plan, original deckhouse and interior joinery, among other original fittings, were installed.  Cangarda’s rebirth is a true testament to the dedication and perseverance of her owners to keep maritime history alive for the coming generations.  This is a sure example of what the mission of SSHSA strives for.

SSHSA Award Winners 1945 to 2009

Click here to read about past Award winners over the course of SSHSA's history.