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"Old
Baltimore At
Twilight" by Paul McGehee. The beautiful inner harbor of Baltimore
holds memories for many people...memories of the days when you could
go down to the "Long Dock" to buy watermelons brought in by the
Chesapeake Bay skipjacks and bugeyes...memories of the downtown
smells of roasting coffee and spices coming from McCormick's. In 1934,
the Baltimore Trust building towered over the port, witness to the
daily comings and goings of the passenger steamers that would dock
along Light Street, close to the end of the steamboat era. The
"President Warfield," built in 1928, carried people to Norfolk and back
for 14 years under the flag of the Old Bay Line. She was just one of
the many steamboats that sailed the Chesapeake carrying passengers and
freight, but she was later to distinguish herself in the pages of
history. As one of the "Honeymoon Fleet" of steamboats that the U.S.
Navy took overseas during World War II, she was used by the British in
the English Channel in preparation for D-Day. When the war ended, she
was acquired by Haganah, the Jewish Underground Organization, and as
the "Exodus 1947," was used in an attempt to ferry 4,554 Jewish
refugees from war-torn Europe to British-held Palestine. Even though
the vessel was met by the British Navy and all of the refugees were
returned to Europe, the story of the "Exodus," and her journey, echoed
around the world. She had become a symbol of the determination of a
proud people in the effort to reach their "promised land," the new
state of Israel. The former Baltimore steamer ended her days in 1952,
burning at Haifa, Israel. The port of Baltimore does indeed hold many
memories...and has many tales to tell.
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