6/23/2023 0 Comments Cruising by L.D. BlakeleyAt that time, one of the dominant features of the waterfront in Mobile was the schooner Chiquimula, then lying at Bodden’s Dock on Blakeley Island across the river from the city. My assignment was to the office of the Supervisor of Shipbuilding (Chickasaw) as hull and ordinance officer in charge of mine sweep and destroyer construction at Gulf Shipbuilding Company’s yards. In the summer of 1941, I was a naval ensign. On a low tide, one can still see the remains of her hull just before starting up the hill to Spanish Fort. Many older Mobilians will recall this ghostly schooner looming on the north side of the Causeway for years. In the box with them was the brief history of the old Chiquimula schooner as it had been written by my grandfather, a terrific historian and storyteller who passed away when I was 14 years old. When I was in my early 20s, my father presented me with a set of strange looking checkers. ABOVE Watt’s grandfather, Hobart Key Jr., left this set of antique checkers along with the incredible story of the vessel on which he found them during World War II.
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