It is with great sadness that I write about the fate of one of my early inspirations as an artist. We moved to Camden, Maine in January of 1990. Right around the same time Captain Kip Files and Captain Paul DeGaeta purchased a 190 year old three-masted schooner that had been restored by the owner of Domino’s Pizza. At the time the ship was named the Domino Effect. The new owners changed her name back to Victory Chimes, and started sailing her out of Rockland, Maine as a passenger ship.

There was and still is a fleet of Maine wooden schooners of which a number of them are national historic landmarks. Painting them became my passion. Much of my early success as an artist came from painting these beautiful vessels that have defied the test of time. One particular schooner stood out as what I call the Grand Dame of the fleet, and that was the three-masted, 128 ft Chesapeake Ram schooner Victory Chimes.

One of the things I loved about living along the Maine coast was how it felt like a step back in time. Maritime history was being carefully preserved. Seeing a huge wooden schooner like the Victory Chimes that was 190 years old, 128 feet long, with three wooden masts that were 21 inches in diameter made from 110 ft tall Douglas fir trees, with flags flying from atop each mast was a magnificent sight to behold sailing out on the open waters of the Penobscot Bay. Up close, in port, the Victory Chimes was impressive in every way. The ship had no engine, just a large 19 ft yawl boat to help it maneuver into and out of harbors.

It fascinated me that the Victory Chimes was used as a cargo ship carrying lumber, grains, soft coal and fertilizer for 45 years! It was built in Delaware on the Chesapeake in 1900. The original name was Edwin & Maude, named after the children of their first captain, Robert E. Riggin.

In the early 1900’s thousands of wooden schooners used to move cargo up and down the east and west coast of North America. Two thousand three-masted schooners were built of which the Victory Chimes was the last of the Chesapeake Ram schooners and the last of the large cargo schooners. She was special.

I was inspired and compelled to paint portraits of these historic wooden treasures to immortalize them for posterity, knowing that some day they would meet their fate like all of the others. I loved the fact that people like Captain Kip Files and Captain Paul DeGaeta appreciated the significance of keeping the Victory Chimes afloat. Sharing their National Historic Landmark ship with the public, enabled us all to experience first hand a significant part of our maritime history.

Sadly, during Covid, the operating standards of the Coast Guard were changed significantly and the Victory Chimes couldn’t meet the new standards. The Grand Dame was sold to a couple of New York restauranteurs that bought the old lady for $75,900 at auction, hauling her to the dock at the Henry Street Basin with the intention of converting her into a floating restaurant.

With obvious deterioration of the hull, she remained seemingly uncared for leaving her vulnerable to bad weather. On the night of July 3rd as New Yorkers were celebrating New York City’s Sail 250, of which the Victory Chimes had sailed for 126 of those years, a bad squall sunk her to the bottom of the basin.

With only the top of the masts sticking out of the “polluted” dirty water identifying her watery grave, the Victory Chimes lay with little hope of being salvaged. In my mind she is a sunken treasure, worthy of being raised, restored and admired for another 100 years!

To think of all the storms at sea that she weathered. All the cargo she hauled. All the people that were her passengers. All the eyes that she dazzled. All of the crew that cared for her. All of the captains who sailed her. All of the artists and photographers that tried to capture her beauty.

I feel blessed to have seen her in her glory days. I painted her many times. She was a great inspiration to me. Here are a few of my paintings depicting the Grand Dame of the Penobscot!

***Victory Chimes*** by William R. Beebe, SOLD

Victory Chimes 1992. This was my very first painting of the Victory Chimes. I was relatively new to painting the Penobscot schooners and maritime art, but it was the beginning of a love affair with the Victory Chimes and all of the other Maine Windjammer Fleet. We used to take the ferry out of Rockland Harbor to some of the neighboring islands, passing Rockland Lighthouse along the way. Seeing her going by the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse really highlighted just how big a ship she was. With all of her sails full and her flags flying she was grand as they come.

***The Victory Chimes*** by William R. Beebe, SOLD

The Victory Chimes 1998. After studying many museum maritime paintings at the Penobscot Marine Museum and The Maine Maritime Museum, I wanted to paint the Victory Chimes in a traditional, realistic style similar to some of the old masters. This painting was purchased by a major maritime art collector. I was told that when he asked the famous American artist Andrew Wyeth which painting he liked best out of the collection, Andrew Wyeth pointed to this painting. It was a proud moment for me.

***Last of the Three Masters*** by William R. Beebe, SOLD

Last of the Three Masters 2001. I decided I wanted to paint the Victory Chimes from the stern, heading into Camden Harbor, in a looser, more impressionistic style.

***Victory Chimes Rounding Curtis Island*** by William R. Beebe, SOLD

Victory Chimes Rounding Curtis Island 2004. This was a commissioned painting by a collector that loved the Victory Chimes and Curtis Island Light in Camden Harbor. Two of my favorite subjects.

***Low Tide*** by William R. Beebe, SOLD

Low Tide 2005. The Victory Chimes was as beautiful and impressive in a calm harbor as she was under sail. We were driving by Owls Head Light in Rockland and saw this amazing sight. It was the golden hour and the Grand Dame was lit up with a warm glow. It was the only time I ever saw her moored in that particular harbor.

***Day Dreamers*** by William R. Beebe, SOLD

Day Dreamers 2009. It seems fitting that my last painting of the Victory Chimes depicts her alongside the dock, putting her sails down. The two little boys were dreaming of sailing on a big ship one day like the beautiful green and white one in Rockland Harbor.

Thank you for reading my blog and for your interest in my art. I am currently working on a number of commissioned paintings.

“One of the joys of being an artist is having the freedom to follow my passion….”

— William R. Beebe

The Victory Chimes Schooner ~ A Sunken Treasure!