THIS GREAT MARITIME ADVENTURE captured the world’s imagination when a group of underdogs came together to deliver an historic 20th century ship building achievement, Mayflower II. It was built to honor American sacrifice during World War II as well as the “just and equal laws” described in the 1620 Mayflower Compact.
The ship is a tribute to unsung heroes everywhere and was named a National Historic Site in 2020 by U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service.
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MAYFLOWER II sailed into New York Harbor on July 1, 1957 as the world cheered. Just nine months earlier a secret British Foreign Office memo called it as an “embarrassing ship” and American diplomats considered it a “publicity stunt.”
Then fate intervened as England started a “War of Choice” in the Middle East, the British pound collapsed and United States felt betrayed. Europe formed a Common Market that excluded Britain and the world’s two great democracies stumbled.
The wooden ship being built by a flamboyant Englishman and a team of underdogs was suddenly pulled to center stage of a drama about saving the “Special Relationship” between the U.S. and Britain. This story was hidden for more than sixty years but can now be told thanks to declassified government documents from the U.S. and U.K., access to a secret archive and good detective work.
There’s more to the true story of MAYFLOWER II than meets the eye and the ship continues to be an source of inspiration for millions of people worldwide.
By Richard Stone ©2021
Available in 2021.