"End of an Era - The "President Warfield" by
Paul McGehee depicts the famous Old Bay Liner "President Warfield" in
July, 1942 docking at Old Point Comfort, Virginia for the final time.
The busy landing in front of the Chamberlin Hotel, overlooking the
waters of Hampton Roads, saw the docking of many steamboats through the
years, but none so important in the pages of history as the flagship of
the Old Bay Line, the "President Warfield". The gleaming white, 320'
long "Warfield" was launched in 1928 and spent 14 years running
passengers and freight from Baltimore to Old Point Comfort and Norfolk
and back...but as World War II loomed, the US Government needed ships,
and "President Warfield" was permanently pulled from passenger service
on the Chesapeake Bay after her July 11th run north to Baltimore
harbor. During the war she was used by the British in preparation for
the D-Day invasion, and with the United States Navy during the 1944
invasion off of Omaha Beach in Normandy. Decommissioned after the war
and destined to be scrapped, the "Warfield" was purchased by
representatives of Haganah, the Jewish Underground set on using her to
help populate the far-off shores of British-held Palestine. Renamed the
"Exodus 1947", the former "Warfield" entered the pages of history,
setting sail for the Promised Land across the Mediterranean Sea,
exactly 5 years to the day after her final passenger run as the
"President Warfield"...July 11, 1947. She met heavy resisitance from
the British Naval blockade, many were injured and some aboard the ship
perished in the effort to establish a Jewish homeland. The British
arrested and shipped the Jewish immigrants back to camps in post-war
Germany...some located right next to the death camps from which they
had been liberated just 2 years earlier by the allies. The outrageous
incident made it into the world press and helped to sway votes in the
United Nations...by the following year, the State of Israel was
officially recognized. For that reason, the "President
Warfield"/"Exodus 1947" is known as "the ship that launched a nation".
She met her end in a dramatic and mysterious fire while moored in Haifa
harbor in Israel in 1952. In 2017, on the 70th anniversary of the
Exodus voyage, a permanent memorial is to be placed in Haifa to the
"Exodus 1947" and the brave souls who, against all odds,
triumphed...like a modern day David felling the giant Goliath. More
about the Exodus Memorial placed by the Jewish American Society for
Historic Preservation may be found here.
"End of an Era - The "President Warfield" is faithfully reproduced from
Paul's original color pencil acrylic paint artwork as an archival
quality print issued in a strictly limited edition of only 2,000 pieces
each hand-signed by the artist.
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