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QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

     Since my Scale Reproductions web site first appeared on the web in 1996 I have received many questions about ships in bottles.   Here are a few of them with my answers.   I will update this page occasionally as I receive more. Clicking on the following questions will take you to the answers. Last update 1 November 1999.
  

TOPICS COVERED

      Can you give me any suggestions for bottling ships?

      What kind of tool do you use to place the putty?

      Plans for Reliance?

      Have you seen any World War I ships in bottles?

      Do you laminate your masts?

      Is there an American ships in bottle association?

      Researching ships in bottles for a school project?

      How much is a print I have of the Thomas W. Lawson worth?

     Where can I get plans for a sardine carrier?

     Where can I obtain plans for Canada's 1877 America's Cup challenger?

     Where can I have an old ship in a bottle appraised?

     How difficult would it be to put an aircraft in a bottle?

     What other sea materials have you used?

     Where can I find a photo of this ship?

     What materials do you use for sails?

     Is the USS Corry in a bottle a kit?

      Can you tell me how to repair a ship with a broken bottle?

      What , and where, is the oldest ship in a bottle?

      Where can I find plans for ships in bottles?

       Where can I find plans for a Tribal Class destroyer?

      Can you tell me how to get the ship inside the light bulb?

     What is the name of the hobby of putting a ship in a bottle?

      What material do you use for your hulls?

Question      Where can I obtain plans for the Reliance?

     The reason for my writing is my wife works for the RELIANCE Insurance company. They have a beautiful painting of the 1903 Reliance. I'd love to put her in a vertical bottle and set her on my wife's desk. While browsing your site I noticed, in your questions and answers the mention of the Reliance. I've been looking for plans of her for about a year. Would you have plans of her? I would like both a plan view and an elevation plan, any scale.

             - Maurice Cornelis, South Jersey, USA

Answer
Maurice,
     I have quite a file that I've collected on Reliance over the years, photos, drawings (but not however complete plans). As these are all photocopies from various books none of them will reproduce very well a second time around. However, I'll be very happy to pass along the sources for the material and I would be very surprised if you are unable to build a very fine ship in a bottle from them! Your local library should have the books, if not you might be able to bring them in on inter-library loan - ask your librarian.
     The first book is "The Racing Yachts" in the Time-Life Seafarer's series. This has a fine set of drawings in color (large scale, across two pages) of Reliance by John Batchelor. ( Deck plan, longitudinal CL section, midship cross-section at mast, sail plan.) Should be able to build a beautiful model from that alone.
     The Second book is "An Introduction to Yachting" by L. Francis Herreshoff - this has 4 fine, large photos: 2 showing the underbody of the yacht and 2 showing it under sail.

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Question      Have you seen any World War I ships in bottles?

     A relative has a ship in a bottle made by a German prisoner of war in Amherst, Nova Scotia, 1919. It is a three masted schooner with the German flag and has a background of tiny wooden houses, trees and lighthouse embedded in some type of claylike substance on the inside of the bottle. It is inscribed with the name of the prisoner, place, date and the name of the person who it was made for on a little plaque inside the bottle.

     Have you ever seen or know of anything like this? Are these quite common as collectibles?
             - Carolyn Oxner, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Answer
Carolyn,
     With regards to your POW-built ship in a bottle, I can't say how common they are, but yours is the second Nova Scotian-built POW ship dating from WWI that I am aware of. The first one (which I refer to on my History Page) was built (according to the records at the National Museum in Ottawa - which has the ship in their collection) at Fortress Louisberg which was used as a WWI POW camp. It appears that this is the oldest ship in their collection and it is possible (based on the descriptions) that they may have been built by the same man - however not having seen photos of either I can't say.

     According to the description in the NM's records the ship is described as "ANTIQUE SHIP WITH RIGGING INSIDE A BOTTLE; ALSO SMALL VILLAGE ON HILLSIDE BY SEA INSIDE BOTTLE; CORK GLUED INTO NECK OF BOTTLE; BOTTLE IS HAND BLOWN GLASS. MADE BY POW IN FORT LOUISBURG 1914-1918. Catalogue Number 28-4-238" (I just searched the NM's very incomplete on-line database but none of their ships have been added to it yet. - I've been checking it for the last year waiting for them to add those ships!)

     Ships in bottles appear to have been a pastime followed by POWs since they had ample time on their hands - especially those in the merchant marine or naval service. I have read of at least four that came out of the WWII POW Camp No70 at Ripples N.B. (1939-42) (mostly German Merchant Navy there) and they are, or were, the prized posessions of ex-guards.

     Recently, four more WWII bottles turned up for sale on eBay: One from a camp in Jamaica; One from a camp in Ontario; and two from a camp in Alberta (both these, I think - based on their design - made by the same man). So if you are interested in collecting one or two, you might eventually find one again on eBay - though beware that there are many mass-produced Asian ships being sold there too.

     In addition, Susan Jones (see my links page) on her folk art in bottles website displays a German steamship in a bottle flying a swastika flag. The bottle appears American or at least North American in design and I am positive that this is another example of a POW bottle - though Susan seems a little reluctant to jump to that conclusion.

     If there are other Nova Scotian POW ships out there, I haven't heard of them. Emails to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax asking if they had any ships in bottles and the approximate age of them have gone unanswered.

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Question      PUTTY TOOL?

     I' ve completed 12 ships in bottles and the worst part is trying to put the sea in the bottle. Is there any tool that can be used to do this job quickly? I've tried to make my own tools, but everything that I try is messy. I am using a glazing putty (oil based) with oil paint. From cut off wooded spoons to a make shift metal gadget on a coat hanger, it seems that the putty sticks to each tool and is messy. I wonder if a teflon coated tool would work. Seems like there should be an easier way. I would appreciate any ideas. Thanks.
             -Ed Stroz, New Jersey

Answer
Ed,
     Well, I agree that it's difficult. Very difficult in fact. :) When I started, I used a scoop made from a split section of a CO2 cartridge soldiered onto a length of wire - but you're right, it stuck horribly. I found that if the putty was cold (ever try putting it in the fridge?) it worked better. Of course you have to keep the tool clean. Putty tends to stick to putty. Don't think Teflon would help much as in my experience, putty seems to stick to just about anything.

     Since then I've graduated to a simple tool that I designed to avoid the sticking problem by reducing the surface area of the tool. In layout it is something like the twisted wire handle of a fly swatter. Directions for making this are:

     Take 2+ feet of good stiff wire (I used 3mm high tensile steel wire.), bend it in the middle around a length of 5-6mm steel rod held upright in the vise, into a long "U" with parallel sides. Now clamp the first 75mm of the bottom of the "U" sideways in the vise. Grab the loose wire at the very ends in a pair of self-locking pliers (Vise Grips) and twist until you have a solid spiral of twisted wire. It will end up rather crooked so straighten by tapping with a hammer over an anvil or block of wood and mount in a short length of 12mm wood dowel for a handle.

     In practice, slice the putty into 12mm strips, lay it on the "stretcher" part, slide it through the neck, turn the tool over, and dump, shake or jar the putty off. Speed and the cleanliness of the tool help here, but it does work quite nicely. I also bend the tip of the tool downward at a 60 degree angle and use this to tamp the putty in place (before tooling up the waves) with light up and down tapping motions.

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Question      LAMINATED MASTS?

     Greetings from a few thousand miles away David! 1) Do you laminate any of your masts when making them, ie laminated maple etc or do you stick to the common toothpick?
2) Some models I've viewed are mounted on a stand inside the bottle requiring no putty or sea, please share your experience. (So great to see some other South Africans have been on your site) Regards,
             - Graeme Keehn, Somerset West, South Africa

Answer
Graeme,
     Greetings in return from Canada!
     I do not laminate masts, or at least have not laminated them yet. As for the toothpicks, I used ones made of maple or birch on the first few ships I built but soon found that the material was not strong enough. So I moved on to bamboo which easily handles sizes 0.25mm in diameter and smaller. I use the 12" long bamboo skewers that can be found around here in packages of 100 for $1 as the raw material and size and shape my masts and spars out of these. So far, at small scales, bamboo is the only material I've found that will stand up to the rough treatment of bottling.
     As for your second question. Regret no experience yet, since my aim is always been to produce an "active" rather than a "static" model: To capture a sailing ship under sail beating to the windward, or a container ship plowing through the seas. So sorry, I can't help you there.

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     "Is there a Bottle Ship Society anywhere in the USA?..... Being from the midwest - with land as far as one can see in any direction - a hobby of doing ships in a bottle would be quite a feat without a class or supervision.... Are there simple kits for ships in the bottle that maybe would be better since doing it the way you do are for the more talented?"
              - Donna Simard, Somewhere in the midwest.

Answer
Donna,
     You asked:
      1. "Is there a Bottle Ship Society anywhere in the USA?"
     Yes, there is, George D. Villiers-Furze is the Membership Chairman. They don't have a web presence that I'm aware of but their postal address is:
          THE SHIPS IN BOTTLES ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
          Don Hubbard
          P.O. Box 16205, San Francisco, CA, USA 94116-0205. His e-mail is gdvf@msn.com
     2. [do] You think that a hobby of doing ships in a bottle would be quite a feat without a class or supervision?
     No, I don't. If you can get your hands on a copy of Don Hubbard's book you should be able to teach yourself. I did. All you need is a bit of patience and normal dexterity.
     3. Are there simple kits for ships in the bottle that maybe would be better since doing it the way you do are for the more talented?
     There are kits available, fancy laser-cut ones are anywhere up to $100, others cheaper. Often you can find (older) kits listed on ebay.com for a whole lot less. But personally, I'd avoid the 1970's versions with the plastic bottles that have a removable bottom. Takes all the mystique out of it! But then why do you need a kit? The general principles are all laid out in Don's book (details of the book will be found below. If you couldn't build a simple pilot boat from his instructions in less than 25 hours - I'd be very surprised. The book's worth the expense if you're serious - and cheaper that any course.

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      "I am an elementary school teacher who works with gifted children. One of my girls is trying to research "how to build a ship in a bottle" without much luck. Do you have any suggestions as to where she should look for information? Thanks,
            - Susan Laskey, Cheshire, Ct.

Answer
Susan,
     How to research ships in bottles... Well, I've been doing that for 15+ years now, and I agree there is not much out there... Anyway here are a few suggestions:

     One suggestion is to see if the local public library has a book on building ships in bottles. Common books to look for are:
     SAILING IN GLASS by Joop van Schoulten
     SHIPS IN BOTTLES by Donald Hubbard (The best of all the books that I've seen. If your student has any thought of bottling her own ship this is the book she should look for.)
     MODELLING SHIPS IN BOTTLES by Jack Needham
There are others but these are the ones you are most likely to find in a library. All are still in print. Under the Dewey system they are usually catalogued near 623 or 745 - depending, I guess, on the whim of the librarian?
     Another source is ( if your school has back issues of National Geographic World) you will find a 4-page article (mostly photos) on Maine bottler Gil Charboneau in the Feb 1991 issue. As far as I know that is the most recent article on the subject in the mainstream press. Before that, the last article on ships in bottles was in the now defunct Oceans magazine (Jan/Feb 1983). Unfortunately, ships in bottles have never been a very popular magazine topic.
     Then, if she wants to know some history, why not print out my history page? That should give her something to start with.
     Another suggestion, if she has questions, is to have you e-mail them up to me for her and I'll try to answer them and send the answers back to you.
     And finally, I am currently working on a model of the seven-masted schooner Thomas W. Lawson. As I'm going along, I'm taking step by step photos for the client with a CCD camera. When I'm finished, in a week or two, if your student is interested, I'll post the photos to an temporary page on my website and send you the url. The Lawson is not the simplest vessel in the world (two masters are FAR, FAR easier!), but it does show the process step-by-step.
     So there you go. Hope this helps

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      "My grandfather gave me an old print that was his fathers. It is of the Thomas W. Lawson and had an inscription on the bottom about the ship. Do you have any idea how much it is worth or who might have made it? There is no signature on it. Thanks!"
            - Scott Sanders, Somewhere, U.S.A.

Answer
Scott,
     Unfortunately I am not an expert on prints - far from it! So I can give you no idea as to its value or even who might have made it.
     However the value will be determined by supply and demand - i.e. how many copies were printed, how many copies remain, and how many people are after this particular print. Also the condition of the print itself (tears, scratches, creases etc.). A respectable dealer would be able to peg a price on it, but I certainly can't.
     As to who made it, I think it unlikely that the printer did not leave some sort of name, or mark on it. Look in the margin for words like "A&E Litho, Ltd." or words to that effect. Usually these words are in small unobtrusive type and you can easily overlook them. Once you find the name, a bit of research at the library should turn up the printer's address and particulars.
     As you realize, this print will certainly date some time after 1902 when the Lawson was launched. Any possibility it was on a calendar?

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Question      PLANS FOR SARDINE CARRIER

      "Do you build any other type of models. IE scale models. I am from Saint John andI liked your site... I am looking for a set of plans for a typical sardine carrier." .
            - Mike Powell, Saint John, N.B., Canada

Answer
Mike,
     So far, beyond the inevitable plastic ones in my teens, the only models (other than several large architectural ones) are a three foot, 1/6th scale framing model of a Cape Cod catboat that I once planned to build and a layered builder's half model, 1/32 scale, of the 1815 US revenue cutter Alert.
     I checked my research files. According to notes I have, the only plans I know of for a sardine carrier are printed in a back issue of Woodenboat, (May/June 1997, pp. 99 - 102). They are for the carrier Grayling out of Eastport, Maine but the ship appears very similar to local carriers. The article includes a full set of plans (lines as well as dimensions) and a color elevation drawing. If the NBCC library doesn't have this magazine, the Saint John Regional Library at Market Square has back issues upstairs in Reference which you can photocopy and work from there.
     There is also a 1952 photo of the Sardine Carrier Brunswick Maid (owned by Conner's Brothers) tied up at Market Slip in the Evening Times Globe newspaper for March 22, 1993. It's a very good reference photo and the lines appear very close to Greyling.

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Question      PLANS FOR AMERICA'S CUP CHALLENGER COUNTESS OF DUFFERIN

     " I am interested and have started a few s-i-bs. I was wondering if you had any intentions of doing any or all of the America's Cup racing yachts. I personally am interested in the Madeleine or Madeline and her challenger the Canadian Countess of Dufferin but am having immense trouble locating accurate scale plans. In particular, deck fittings and gear and an accurate color scheme. I've been told Black above the boot top with green hull. I'm not convinced the "green" is not oxidation but can't find a definite answer either way. Do you have any definite answers to the above? Any and all info would be greatly appreciated! Thank you for your attention.
            - Kevin Lawson, Indiana, U.S.A.

Answer
Kevin,
     I've been gathering material on several Cup challengers and contenders. (I've had plans in the works for a long time of recreating a couple of the races inside a large bottle - Maybe Shamrock III vs. Reliance) but regret I have no material on the Countess of Dufferin . A few suggestions:
     I believe the Countess of Dufferin was built in Upper Canada which places it outside of the local building area I am familiar with. As for her particulars have you checked the on-line Canadian Ships Information Database? http://daryl.chin.gc.ca:8000/basisbwdocs/sid/title1e.html It should be there. Sometimes they also give references as to where the material on the ship came from - which might give you a starting point.
     As you say the problem is decent plans. I doubt very much you are going to find accurate scale plans of the Countess of Dufferin. Canada, unfortunately, has yet to produce a historian of the caliber of Howard Chapelle. Usually all I've seen of most of the early Cup yachts are photos and some mediocre sketch sail and lines plans. In cases like this I have to resort to digging up photos, illustrations and dimensions in the libraries and archives, and drafting my own. As for photos, 1877 is a bit early to expect a good one. Can you get your hands on a roll of microfilm (through your library) for the Illustrated London News for that year? Or some other illustrated magazine like Harper's Weekly? They might have illustrations of the race and/or the ships. They were using beautiful etchings back then and some of them are very detailed.
     Might also be worth a bit of research to see if there has been a book written on Canada's challengers. You can glean a lot from reading a book. You won't be likely to find plans in it, however. They are usually too expensive for publishers to re-draw - unless the author does them. You could also drop The Hobby Center in Ottawa a line and see if the Vanguard Plans Series has a set, or if they know of where you can get a set (see below, Tribal Class Destroyer). Chancy, I know, but still worth an e-mail. To bad it wasn't a naval ship. Easier to trace.
     I just checked amazon.com and found the following:
                 America's Cup Yacht Designs, 1851-1986 by François Chevalier
     No outline of the book, but from the title, it looks promising. They say it's out of print - but you might be able to find a copy in your local library or bring it in on Inter-Library Loan - ask your librarian.
     As for the deck fittings, if you can't find plans, they will have to be gleaned from photos or paintings. Fittings for the era would be very simple. America is well documented. Should be able to use data from her as a rough guide. Things didn't change much in those days with regard to fittings either. And as for hull color. Green was a common hull color in the latter half of the eighteenth century so it might have been paint, too (unless you know for sure it had a coppered hull). If you can find a painting of her that should give it to you.

     UPDATE 1/11/99:
     "I found your site while searching for information on the Countess of Dufferin. I am the great Grandson of Major Charles Gifford who was the owner of the vessel. I was particularly interested in your "question" section and the note from David Lawson who was looking for plans for the Countess. I, too, would love to get the plans, and for that matter, any other information on the 1st Canadian Challenger for the Cup.
     I was wondering if you had the e-mail address for Mr. Lawson so that I could follow up with him. I have some information about the Countess along with a photograph and some sources of historical interest."
            - Walter Gifford, Ottawa, Canada

     I have forwarded your e-mail to Kevin Lawson in case he is interested in corresponding directly with you. Last I heard he had not yet found plans but in my latest to him back in March I was able to tell him that I had found an undated and uncredited photo of a model of the ship in an old c.1920 book on the history of the America's Cup.
     Since you live in Ontario you might try finding out where the archives from the Collingwood shipyards ended up - as that is where the ship was built. Collingwood public library might be able to give you a steer on that. National Archives might also be a source, but I've never dealt with them so I can't advise you there. Too bad you grandfather didn't have an attic or an old trunk? Never know what you might find...

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     " My wife and I are in possession of the bottleship named Shamrock. According to the History the ship belonged to the Lipton Family in England. In the background there is a waterfront that looks like Seattle. The bottleship is dated around 1901. We have tried to have this bottleship appraised for insurance but appraisers in Calgary are not familiar with bottleships. Maybe you can advise us of an appraiser in Canada or even you might be able to tell us the value. Thank you
            - Maurice, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Answer
Maurice,
     Ships in bottles are notoriously hard to appraise. So much depends on supply and demand - i.e. who wants the ship and how much they are willing to pay. In addition the condition, workmanship, design, and age of the ship all play a part.
     By the way, if you are serious about getting it appraised you'll need very good photographs that you can submit to the appraiser (either via e-mail or mail) as well as a description of the ship (size, any damage, bottle size, bottle description, bottle markings, etc.)
     Photography is easy. Most of the photos on my website were shot with a standard 35mm camera. We shot them outside on a cloudless day in the full sun near noon hour. All you have to watch is that the bottle is clean and that you angle your camera so you don’t get too much reflection. A tripod also helps.
     Unfortunately, I'm afraid that many appraisals seem low to me. And, as it is usually the dealers who do the appraising, one sometimes wonders if they are looking after their own interests - i.e. If you want to sell it, this is what I'll give you. I contacted a friend of mine who is a collector and asked if she could recommend someone but the only one she trusted enough to ask, told her that they didn't do appraisals.
     Other than that, I don't know what to suggest. I doubt very much that a museum would want to become involved in appraising. But then, they must have to appraise items when they send them out with traveling exhibits. I wonder who they use? I suppose there's no harm in asking. What about e-mailing the National Museum in Ottawa? http://www.cmcc.muse.digital.ca/cmcchome.html will get you their home page.

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Answer
Joe,
     So far, I've only heard of two people who bottle aircraft - and they both use (or used, not sure if the math teacher is still around) commercial plastic kits. One was Don Ryder, a ex WWII pilot and math teacher in Georgia. He built 1/72 Revell WWI aircraft and had a whole squadron of them in big upright Gallo bottles. There was a news item on Don in an old 1970's Popular Mechanics with two photos of him and his creations.
     The other aircraft bottler is Ari Krupnik in Israel. He has a website with several aircraft in bottles on it. Unfortunately, the detail does not show up in the photos.
     The closest I came to building an aircraft was a planned model of the shuttle Enterprise in a large light bulb. As the series never got built, I only went as far as laying the ground in the bulb for the shuttle.

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Answer
David,
     Joburg, eh? Greetings from Canada!
     Well, as I said I can only recommend putty! Traditional materials are putty, plaster of Paris, plasticene, and carved wood - laid in strips and glued to the glass. The ones I've tried are:
     1. Auto body filler, tinted with artist's oil color. I sweat buckets with that stuff. Big mess - see my four-masted schooner for a description.
     2. Unical, a veneer plaster used in the building industry, tinted with dye. It fractures from the glass and doesn't adhere. Cracks and otherwise breaks up. And the condensing water streaks the glass. I used this for the HMS Grasshopper in a light bulb and laid a layer of putty over the top. Problem is I had to take the end off the bulb a few years later and epoxy the Unical to the glass so it wouldn't move (It was sliding all over the place!).
     3. Plaster of Paris. Similar to Unical. Personally, I don't know how the old-timers used this stuff with any success.
     4. Pre-mixed drywall crackfill. Better than 2 or 3 but still has the same problems.
     5. Latex caulking. Very, very messy. The bottle neck was a mess. Skims over fast, but a long drying time when it's deep. Never did figure out how to tint it.
     6. PL400 Flooring Adhesive (a special tube-packed adhesive used to glue plywood to floor joists). Dark honey-colored. Didn't bother trying it in a bottle. Just on a sheet of glass. Dries fast and hard. But won't stick to glass. Fractures off when it's dry.
     So take your pick! As you can see there hasn't been much success. And only the auto body filler and the Unical ever had a ship put in it. Never used plasticene. Problem I've always had with it is that is just what it looks like. Plasticene. You can spot it a mile away - even in photos. The tooling qualities are horrible.
     As far as I am concerned putty is worth the wait as it has such superior tooling qualities - far above all the other materials (discounting the other problems with them). And when you have something that works well, why change? Drying time can be sped up by forcing air through the bottle with a small compressor. Or, alternatively placing the bottle outside on sunny days with the wind blowing across the neck. Sometimes with this method you can get the sea dry enough to build the ship on in under 3 weeks. But there are still variables and I wouldn't want to ship a completed bottle anywhere in under 4 weeks. The putty has an annoying habit of sliding around the bottle before this time if the ship is not kept perfectly upright.
     Hope this helps. If it doesn't, experiment! :) And if you have success with something else, let me know. I wonder if any of the new oven-cured acrylic sculpting compounds that craft people use for dolls heads would work? i.e. Sculpey? Problem is, will it adhere to glass? And what are the tooling qualities like? Afraid I've had no experience with them and don't know anyone who has. Comments anyone?

     UPDATE 18/4/99 One supplier, when contacted concerning Sculpey replied:
      "Thank you for your inquiry... The Sculpey adheres fairly well to shaped glass by means of a vacuum when it is baked with the glass. There is slight shrinkage, almost 1%, when it is baked which creates this vacuum. The alternative for adhering the Sculpey is a super glue gel or a silicon glue. One of these types of glues would work well. The tooling properties of Sculpey are also quite good. Sculpey is actually recommended to art students at a local college. Once baked, Sculpey can also be carved, sanded and drilled."
            - Mike Symons, Customer Service, Lee Valley Tools

     UPDATE 14/5/99 Rolie Muise, a ship bottler in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia sends this regarding Sculpey:
      "I use Sculpey for the ocean and I have found that while it takes texturing well, if it is scratched while inserting the ship, it leaves a whitish mark. It is ,I found, necessary to seal with a clear acrylic sealer and then paint with Prussian blue acrylic paint. Since the Sculpey does NOT adhere to the glass, I first place a bit of 5 minute epoxy on the glass and then a good size piece of Sculpey on the epoxy. I continue to build up to the level of sea I want. And then into the oven. The epoxy doesn’t seem to be affected by the heat. The last ship I built, the HMCS Preserver, in a light bulb, required a great deal of fill. As Sculpey is quite heavy in large amounts, I mixed vermiculite and 5 minute epoxy in small batches and filled the bulb to the level I wanted. Packed well and was a lot lighter. I then put a thin layer of Sculpey and fashioned the sea. To hide the fill, I soaked the bulb up to sea level in a glass etching solution. Worked well."

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Answer
Jo Ellen,
     AO 98 U.S.S. Caloosahatchee was a fleet oiler, launched in 1945, extensively refitted in the 1960's and paid off sometime in the 1980's as it is no longer in the navy list. As the ship is classed as an auxiliary, you will have to look under the "auxiliary" warship classifications. Pity. Auxiliaries don't have the glamour of their gun and missile toting cousins so they are usually overlooked.
      The US Naval & Shipbuilding Museum has over 4500 ships from The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships now on-line. The auxiliary section is rather spotty but they are adding all the time, if you keep checking back you might eventually find the biography of the ship. (It's not there yet, I checked.)
      As for a photo... Well, that's going to be more difficult. For starters check the auxiliary section of The NavSource photo archive. Paul Yarnel has tons of photos of USN ships here and he's been asking for submissions of photos of auxiliaries. So he might have a photo. Unfortunately Official Navy sources won't list the ship as it is no longer in service.
      Another thing you might try is a search using the terms: "USS Caloosahatchee" + jpg This is the way I search for material on unknown USN ships. Try this search (as is, no periods between U.S.S., with quotation marks) on several search engines. (I regularly use Alta Vista, Google, Hot Bot, Excite, Infoseek, Lycos, Web Crawler - usually in that order.) Some engines will turn up sites that others don't find.
      Failing that, see if you local library has a copy of Jane’s Warships - not the small paperback handbooks that the bookstores carry but the big, heavy, hard-bound blue recognition manuals that all warships have on the bridge. It will probably be in reference. You won't find a photo of the ship but you will see a photo of an identical sister ship.
LATER
"I did as you said and went through the search engines. Yahoo had one listed where a CD-ROM of AO-oil tankers are pictured. The USS Caloosahatchee is one of the ships pictured on this cd. Thank you so very much for your help."
            - Jo Ellen

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Answer
Fred,
      The best material I've found so far seems to be a good grade of stiff bond paper. If this is too white, it is easily tinted. Don Hubbard (see below) suggested coffee. I've used weak tea and also watery mixes of latex paint. Of course you have to experiment with the mix to get the right tint. And the sails usually dry darker. Remember, too, that if there is a watermark in the paper, cut your sails around it so they don't have the mark on them.
      Also remember that the sails have to be pressed with a clean iron after tinting and drying to take the wrinkles out. For yachts, I've been using a good grade of onion skin paper which I color to suit. I'm still experimenting to find a suitable material for balloon spinnakers. I'm not satisfied with anything I've used so far. (By the way, if anyone has any suggestions, I'd be happy to hear.)
      As for cloth, I suppose if you were to use some of the new synthetics you could slice it with a hot knife. That should handle the edges. But the problem I've always had with cloth is that the weave - no matter how fine - is seldom to scale. (Even on large-scale display models it never looks right to my eye.) And they never seem to hang properly. Always looks as if the ship is drying her sails.
      For filling the sails, starch might work with cloth. I suppose the only way is to experiment. If the sails are paper, roll them around a pencil before gluing them to the yard or gaff. If a paper sail is large and flattens or creases during transit through the neck you can usually put the belly back in after the masts are raised by dampening the sail, rolling the bottle on its side, weighting the sail and leaving it to dry (of course this works best on fore and aft sails).
      As for fastening the sails to the yards, just use a line of good old carpenter's glue - the white variety as it doesn't show when it's dry. If there are sail hoops they go on the mast first. The scale is usually too small to show the sail lashings.

     UPDATE 1/11/99 Don Hubbard of president of the American Ships in Bottle association writes:
     "I do remember some Japanese made balloon sails made by gluing shaped strips together out of very thin rice or cigarette type paper. They did this using a light bulb as the base for forming the shape."
     Sounds interesting, Don. Might work nicely for the spinnakers! Have to try it when I have a chance. Thanks.

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Answer
Glenn,
     First off before you start, I think you'll have to go "back to school" for a bit and study up on the subject! :) As you have to learn a few basic skills first. An hour or two of reading, depending how handy you are, should give them to you. Then practice makes perfect. I suggest you get a copy of Donald Hubbard's book (see below) through your bookstore or library.
     Now some points that deal specifically with repairing your ship:
     By " snapping the front of the ship" I assume you mean breaking the bowsprit? If so, this will have to be replaced before attempting the job as you will never be able to glue it back together inside the bottle.
     I have repaired broken bowsprits (outside the bottle!) with epoxy and a tiny fish of bamboo let in on the top, bridging the crack, but I suspect this job is beyond most beginners. So use a bamboo skewer to fashion a new bowsprit using a sharp pocketknife and sandpaper. Use the old one as a pattern. Split the bamboo to size then scrape to shape with the knife and finish in a fold of sandpaper. Expect to make 2 or 3 before you get one that is suitable. If the bamboo is too light, darken it with a bit of shoe polish or stain to match the masts; if the masts are painted, paint to suit.
     The lines on which the jibs are fastened will also have to be replaced - leaving them 14 or 15 inches long (35-38cm) and tied only to the masts. Fine sewing tread, or fly-tying thread is best for this. Try to match the original in both size and color. Once you have them on, re-glue the sails to them. These lines or stays usually run through holes drilled in the bowsprit and are used to pull the masts up once the ship is inside the bottle. Then they are glued, allowed to dry, and the excess cut off.
     Hope this helps, Let me know how you make out.

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Answer
Charlene,
     The oldest ship in a bottle found so far was built by Gioni Biondo in 1784 and is in a museum in Lübeck, Germany. For a photo and more on the history and origin of ships in bottles see the history page.

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Answer
Taras,
     The best solution I have found for the sea is a mixture of putty and artist's oil color (Prussian blue). Very slow drying, but it's the only way I can get a sea that looks half decent. I have tried other materials but cannot recommend any one of them.
      As for the suggestions, I recommend the book Ships-in-Bottles, A Step by Step Guide to a Venerable Nautical Craft by Donald Hubbard, USN (Ret.)* - perhaps the best book in print on the subject. The second edition is still in print and any book store can order it for you. Hubbard also has a very good chapter on the preparation and scaling of plans for ship bottling. Many years ago, I began with Don's first edition, then went farther, as I learned by doing.

     * Hubbard, Donald, USN (Ret), Ships-In-Bottles : A Step-By-Step Guide to a Venerable Nautical Craft, Sea Eagle Publishing, Coronado, USA, 1988. paperback, 2nd edition (August 1988) Sea Eagle Pubns; ISBN: 0943665000 Amazon.com has it for $19.95. Or you can order it directly from Sea Eagle Publications

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Answer
Dave,
      Where do you get plans for ships in bottles? Well, that as they say, is the $64,000 question!
     First off, I keep a file drawer full of ship photos, drawings, and sketches to which I add material (photocopies, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, etc.) as I find it. Often it takes years of searching before I turn up enough material to build a specific model. That aside, here are a few suggestions:
           1) Most of the "How-To" books on ships in bottles contain plans for generic ships designed to fit in bottles.
           2) Any of the books on ship design history by that dean of American Naval Architecture, Howard I. Chapelle (History of American Sailing Ships; History of American Sailing Navy , etc.) All of his books are full of plans.
           3) Also, many books on nautical history contain plans that you can easily scale up or down to fit inside a bottle. Search your library shelves and flip through the books to find them.
           4) If you are interested in Yachts, the yachting magazines publish excellent study plans, which if you use the photos that come with the article, will produce a very good model. Books show-casing the works of eminent Naval Architects who specialize in yachts are also helpful.
           5) Books on model ship building often contain plans. Some, like those of the late Charles G. Davis, have plans in the appendix (Dover Books has inexpensive reprints of his books).

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Answer
Alan,
     The plans I used for the Tribal Class, HMCS Iroquois I (1942-1963) were a combination of miniature (less than 75 mm) sketch plans from Jane's Warships and photographs (many, many photographs!) which are fine for building a seven inch model but would hardly do for a remote controlled version. For large scale plans I suggest that you contact VANGUARD MODEL MARINE as they specialize in Canadian government plans. They should be able to help you as I know that they were preparing a set of HMCS Haida plans back in 1990. Their address is VANGUARD MODEL MARINE, 2446 Bank Street, Unit 113, Ottawa, Canada KIV 1A4 Catalog $2.00 (A plans list is also available, I believe, through The Hobby Center Website at: http://www.hobcen.com )

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Question       LIGHT BULBS
     "I have done 3 SIB's so far and am fascinated by the light bulbs. If you don't mind me asking, how do you get the bulb open and what chemical do you use? I'd really like to try it. Thanx."
          - Blake Wilkerson, Somewhere, U.S.A.

Answer
Blake,
     So you would like to put a ship in a light bulb! And want to know the chemical you use...
     Hate to disappoint you but there is no magic solvent that dissolves all that gobby cement! I have however worked out a method that guarantees to get you inside the bulb and I am sending this by separate e-mail as it is too complicated (for safety reasons) to summarize in a few words. ( Anyone who wants these instructions, by the way, is welcome to them; just drop me an e-mail.)
      Please remember: Working with light bulbs can be a little dangerous. Not only are they made of very thin glass, some bulbs are vacuum sealed while others are pressurized. So when you attempt the job please wear safety glasses and gloves at ALL times. I do.

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Answer
     Scott,
      The name of the hobby of putting ships in bottles? Well, you have me there. Frankly I have never heard of one (in English or any other language) besides "Ship in Bottling" or "Bottling Ships". Norwegian seems to come closest with: Flaskeskuteforeningen - Think this means something like: Bottle + [something] + engineering but I am not sure.
      [ Update: 9/3/99 Ivar Knutsen, of Norway informs me that I am mistaken here. The correct translations is "The Bottle Ship Society". Oh well, so much for on-line dictionaries... :) ]
      I suppose we could coin our own? (like Stamp Collecting which is called Philately - lit. "loving" + "tax exemption" - a pseudo-Greek word coined by a French stamp collector back in the latter half of the nineteenth century.) How about: "Ampulnautica" From "Ampulla" (a Roman flask) + Nautica a from the Latin from the Greek, "nautilos" - sailor - i.e. "Sailing in a Bottle"?
       Comments anyone?

UPDATE, 1/11/99:

      HI ! F.Y.I. We at the SHIPS-IN-BOTTLES ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA INC. and the EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF SHIPS IN BOTTLES call a person that puts ships in bottles a "CARAFOLOGIST". I just thought you'd like to know.

          - Maurice Cornelis, South Jersey, U.S.A.

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Question       HULL MATERIAL
     "What kind of wood do you typically use for the hulls? For my first couple of ships I followed the guidelines of a book on the subject (by Joop van Schouten) which recommended beech. Nice enough, but it seemed difficult to carve and shape. "
          - Mike Imken, Austin, Texas

Answer
     Mike,
      What do I use for my hulls? Usually white pine, pinus strobus - the same material that the World's Navies once used for making masts. Soft. Easy to carve and sand. But any soft pine - one of the soft Southern Yellow Pines, for example - should do. Just make sure the grain is fine and straight and there are no knots.
     In choosing wood practice makes perfect. Keep your eyes open for scrap wood, too. I've made a few excellent hulls from old pine, single-glazed window sashes that had the glass broken out. Sometimes old pine boards yield better wood than you can find today. Basswood might work but I suspect it might be lacking in strength when it comes to drilling holes in the bulwarks. Good luck and happy bottling!

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