By The Red Hook WaterStories team
PortSide NewYork posted this question (as Mary Whalen) September 19, 2025: Tug n tanker old timers, what are these old porthole inserts (screen with bonnet) called? They keep out hot sun and rain dripping down the tumblehome and make for new, fun...
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
Captain Tom Smith was interviewed over lunch in the galley of the MARY A. WHALEN in 2016. For part of his long career, he worked for the same company that owned The MARY, then a working oil tanker, now the flagship of PortSide NewYork....
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
"I have so enjoyed painting the fabulous Mary Whalen and her surroundings." So says artist Janet Pedersen. “When a scene strikes me, I want nothing more than to set up my easel and paint. Through bold color and loose brushwork, my goal is to...
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
April 21, 2013 This is PortSide NewYork's hurricane Sandy story. A personal report by Carolina Salguero, Director of PortSide, speaking as Shipkeeper of the MARY A. WHALEN. This installment covers PortSide's time in port preparing...
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
The names of things on ships are different than buildings on land. Here are some key words using PortSide New York's MARY A WHALEN as the example. Ship parts: beam: width of the boat bow: front end bulkhead : wall bunk: bed cabin:...
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
Here's a story about a color that involves our oil tanker, high fashion, interior design and Egypt. Yes, we said that. The MARY A WHALEN, originally the S.T. KIDDOO, was launched in 1938. In the many years since, her walls (bulkheads in ship...
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
“So little opportunity have women had hitherto for demonstrating their capability for business, that it can only be indicated by the success of some particular woman in some unusual and exceptional pursuit; and I know of no better illustration...
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
"Reliable was owned by Harold Tabeling of Brooklyn, N.Y. and he named the vessel after his Mother." from Carl E. Eklof, Sr. The short answer is Mary Agnes Whalen was Captain John Tabeling’s wife and mother of James Harold. James and John ran the...
By The Red Hook WaterStories team
A cheat sheet for the bell and jingle code hangs in the fidley of the MARY A. WHALEN. It can be seen in the related entry Bells are Direction, Jingles are Speed which lays out the system. The bell and jingle code was used by the captain...
