Bradley G. StevensRecensioni

An interesting tale of three historic figures from Alaska. The author interweaves the history of Alaska’s commodity of ice, fish and one of the religious settlers of the territory into a well-researched story of
the finding of the Kad’yak. Part history, part archeology, part contemporary fishing, part legal battle of rights, and what it takes to successfully discover and manage a shipwreck. My interest was in the story
of the ship itself and what Stevens and his crew went through during their journey to find the Kad’yak. With a light background in Alaskan history and fishing I found some of the surrounding story repetitive. However, for the person new to these studies this is a well an enjoyable written book.

“The Ship, The Saint, And The Sailor” is really two stories in one. One is a history of an iconic vessel and legend in Alaska and the other is an account of the discovery and recovery of its wreckage.

The Ship is the Kad’yak, the three-masted barque built in Lubbock, Germany in 1851 and purchased by the Russian-American Company in 1852. In 1861 it sailed from its home port of Kodiak bound for San Francisco with a cargo of ice.

The Saint is Father Herman, the Russian Orthodox priest who arrived at Kodiak in 1794. His service to Russian settlers and natives spawned a reputation reflected in his recognition as St. Herman of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Sailor is Captain Illarion Arkhimandritov, a Russian mariner well known and experienced in Alaskan waters who, after failing to keep his promise to hold a Te Deum for Fr. Herman during his visit to Kodiak, ran Kad’yak onto a rock in front of Fr. Herman’s grave, leaving the topgallant spar horizontal slightly tilted, forming the shape of a Russian Orthodox cross.

In addition to the saga of Kad’yak and its captain, this narrative introduces the reader to the history of the settlement and economy of Russian Alaska in an era when the territory was managed by the Russian American Company and its main export was, no joke, ice.

The second story is author Bradley G. Stevens’ account of the discovery and exploration of Kad’yak and the recovery of its artifacts. The location of the wreck from Captain Arkhimandritov’s journal and other records has the makings of a mystery or a puzzle. In this portion Stevens introduces the reader to the equipment and methods used in marine archeology. Unlike higher profile explorations the Kad’yak opened a link to Russian Alaskan history but not major commercial success. Because of its non-commercial nature, it attracted a different type of researcher: volunteers, donated vessels, historical grant requests and dives squeezed in between paying duties. The interplay of state and federal laws and competition between researchers that led to legal battles and broken trusts and friendships.

Although I found the exploration to be fascinating, I was more interested in the history reflected in Kad’yak’s tale and artifacts. I found the writing style to hold my attention even when the topic was less interesting. This work packs a lot of information in a short book. I recommend it for anyone with an interest in Alaskan history or marine archelogy.

I received this book as part of LibraryThing's Early Reviewer's program in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book and I feel that those who would consider themselves "armchair scuba divers" or "armchair shipwreck hunters" would as well. There was some technical jargon that was a little difficult to follow in some parts, but it did not detract from the total understanding of the book.

Those interested in Alaskan history or Russian-Alaskan history may also find parts of the book interesting, but I feel that the title is a little misleading in that regard. In The Ship, The Saint, and The Sailor: The Long Search for the Legendary Kad'yak, I expected to read more about "the saint" and "the sailor". While the author, Bradley G. Stevens, does delve into the history of the ship (and its captain - "the sailor") and what is known about its sinking, I would have liked to have read a little more. "The saint", referring to Saint Herman, was buried in an area of Alaska where the Kad'yak was reported to have sunk. He was an important person to many of those who lived in the area at that time. Depending on your beliefs, the lack of a prayer by the Kad'yak's captain when sailing by the saint's grave was speculated to have even been a possible reason for the ship's sinking! So even though Saint Herman and the Sailor/Captain are discussed in the book, I think the title is a little misleading. Much more of the book is devoted to the attempt to locate and dive the ship's wreck site. I understand that that is important work and should be explained thoroughly in the book. Understandably, modern-day historians, archeologists, scuba divers, shipwreck enthusiasts, and others will find this the main part of interest in the book. But because so much less was discussed about the saint and the sailor, it leaves me feeling like the title was created as a clever use of alliteration, when they could have been covered some more.

For those interested in shipwreck diving, this book does a fairly comprehensive job of covering many of the steps involved, from start to finish. I've seen several documentaries and regular tv programs about the topic and still had no idea how complex the process could be, particularly when a new and historic wreck is discovered. The Kad'yak is the oldest shipwreck discovered in the waters of Alaska. This gave it much historical significance and also got many different "parties" interested in diving the site. The legalities involved and permissions from various organizations can be quite complex. The care that must be taken when diving on such a site is also of paramount importance, which obviously also includes the safety of all those involved, both the divers and those who remain above sea level. The proper documentation of anything found at the wreck site must be very precise. The author does a very good job of explaining how all of this was done. Sometimes we see how it can also be a learning process of trial and error. This is especially true in the case of the author, who although was an experienced scuba diver, most of his professional experience underwater had been working as a marine biologist studying crabs!

The first and final chapters of THE SHIP, THE SAINT, AND THE SAILOR are the best parts of the book. The first chapter outlines how the ship, Kad'yak, came to be wrecked in the early spring of 1860 in Alaskan waters. The final chapter tells of the loss of a crab fishing boat in the winter of 2005, 145 years later than the Kad'yak wreck. Called Big Valley, it had played an important part of the search for the remains of the Kad'yak. All chapters in between the two are basically the memoirs of author, Bradley G. Stevens, a marine biologist who worked for many years for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Kodiak, Alaska while studying king crabs and other kinds of crabs sold on the commercial market.

Stevens comes across as a totally affable fellow, one with whom a reader might sit over a cup of coffee or a beer and listen to his stories. He seems to be a passionate man with lots of interests: maritime history, shipwrecks, diving, local Alaskan culture and music, and the fisheries industry among others. He was not only active with his job, but active in the community of Kodiak (he now lives in Maryland), and while living there became seduced by the story of the wreck of the Kad'yak.

The basic story is that Captain Arkhimandritov promised to honor Saint Herman on a visit to Kodiak Island. The promise was made to the wife of the Chief Administrator of the territories. She wanted him to go to Saint Herman's grave, say a prayer, and perhaps leave an offering. The Captain promised to do so, but broke his promise. As the story goes, his ship - the Kad'yak - was then wrecked, and sunk into the depths, although all men aboard were saved. Well over a century later, Bradley G. Stevens became obsessed with finding the wreck of the Kad'yak. Chapters two through twenty outline his interest in finding the Kad'yak, those he worked with to accomplish this task, and the long time it took for the project to come to fruition.

If one is interested in diving and shipwrecks, Stevens' memoir will at least hold one's interest. However, despite its catchy title, THE SHIP, THE SAINT, AND THE SAILOR, seems to lack a lot of the drama of sea adventure and a lot of the methodical research of the usual maritime history book. As a memoir, however, it certainly conveys a man's passion and interest, and brings up interesting points regarding salvaging a shipwreck vs preserving it. Several of the men who started searching for the Kad'yak with Stevens decided they wanted to file a claim on the wreck, thus causing friction on the team, the rest of whose members were more into preserving and documenting the wreck rather than taking any possible gain from it. The odd part is that this is the main tension in the story, but about halfway through, Stevens allows those men to disappear from the narrative, leaving the reader wondering exactly how all those problems and conflicts were resolved.

Stevens is a marine biologist, not a maritime historian. He did a fairly good job with his story, but it is definitely not a page turner. One simply meanders through his words, thinking that the man had good intentions, and feeling mildly happy for him that he was able to accomplish what he did. If the story of Captain Arkhimandritov had been woven throughout the narrative or if the fate of the Big Valley had been explored a bit more, Stevens' book might have been more readable. What stands out most, though, is how ethical Stevens is, and his words and actions certainly allow the reader to think about and analyze the ethics of maritime discovery.

I received a free copy of Bradley G. Stevens' book "The Ship, The Saint, and the Sailor: The long search for the legendary Kad'yak" from LT's early reviewers program. Unfortunately, I can't overstate how much I disliked this book.

The author comes across as a fairly egotistical guy -- he appears to want a lot of credit for essentially having a map translated from Russian to find an old shipwreck off the coast of Alaska. He uses government property -- when his boss explicitly says not to -- and grant funding that is not for the project when he gets interested in the idea-- which he tries to justify in a "everyone does this" sort of way.

I like the portion of the book about the Kad'yak itself, but otherwise I found the book was way to bogged down in excruciating detail about the search for the ship -- from grant proposals to actual search trips. The story really wasn't all that interesting to me. There is probably enough material here for a good magazine length piece, but not a book.

The author of this story about finding the wreck of the Russian ship Kad'yak in Alaskan waters possesses a skill set that was uniquely appropriate for the adventure he embarked on: marine biologist, SCUBA diver, historian, amateur archeologist, etc. And to all of this he added persistence and determination. It all makes for a very interesting dive - pun intended - into a bit of Alaskan history from the mid-1800s wedded to modern day sleuthing and technology, culminating in a remarkable discovery. But not without difficulties. Bradley Stevens had been interested in the history of the Kad'yak for decades before he undertook a careful analysis of available, but not always clear, historical documents concerning the ship wreck. He consulted with others who could add to what he was putting together, despite their skepticism about some of his assumptions and conclusions. And there was the very real possibility of some less scrupulous helpers exploiting his efforts to their own advantage. All of this is told in a very direct and forthright fashion. This is not literature with frills and fancy jargon. There are ample illustrations that help the reader understand the challenges involved in making this discovery. And there is a bit of religious mystery mixed in to make the reader stop and wonder.

Back in 1860, a Russian sea captain lost a ship named the Kad'yak off the coast of Kodiak Island while carrying ice to California. One hundred forty three years later, a marine biologist studying king crabs in Alaska decides to try and find it. They do, but not without drama.

Stevens' memoir of the search for the Kad'yak, the players involved, the legal fights over ownership and salvage was certainly interesting, and I enjoyed learning about the history of Russian trade in 19th century Alaska and the legalities of shipwrecks. Is it "captivating" and "poetic" as claimed on the back? Not really - but for those interested in the subject it'll be a nice read.½

I was initially totally captivated, but I then got thrown off by the change in storytelling. I was also lost by some of the unfinished story as well. I found myself unable to follow in some spots. Overall, I really did enjoy the story itself. I liked the pictures provided for reference very much, however, I would have liked to see each photo individually and/or in color where possible because it's difficult to make out even with the text. This was a wreck that I was mostly unfamiliar with and ultimately learned an awful lot about. I'm definitely keeping this one on the bookshelf to display and read again.

Totally enjoyed the first three chapters which provided the history and background for the ship, Saint and sailor. After that I got bogged down in the gory details of the hunt. This book is really for a specific audience, those who want to understand underwater discover and excavation. I admire the author and his team's dedication to the search and acquiring the resources to conduct it. I was just left thinking it could have been more interesting than it was.

Thanks to LibraryThing for sending me a copy of this book for my honest review. I totally enjoyed the book, and loved learning the history. I did get lost sometimes with the technicalities, but I am not a diver or scientist. The pictures were small and grainy, but they were taken under water. It's hard to see what they saw. It was a little dry reading at times, but then, he IS a scientist, and not an author. Still, in my opinion, an enjoyable read.