Extent:
212 EA (185 photographs in 199 physical forms (1 photograph album containing 185 black-and-white photographic prints and 14
copy negatives) and 13 clippings).
Scope and Content Note
Items 001-198. The album contains photographs taken in the South Seas, many aboard Zane Grey's yacht FISHERMAN (built 1919;
schooner, 3m: yacht) between 1925 and 1927. There are several photographs and clippings of Captain and Mrs. Klebingat newly
reunited and newlywed; coastal landscapes; activities on board the vessel, including fishing and entertaining visitors; and
indigenous people living on South Seas islands. Although there are many South Seas locations documented in the photograph
album, most of the photographs depict New Zealand and French Polynesia.
Several crew members, family and friends of Klebingat's, and passengers on vessels are identified, notably: Fred's wife Phyllis
Reid Klebingat, her parents and sister; Zane and Romer Grey; Mr. C.W. Aidney; FISHERMAN crew members, including Ed Mitchell,
Smithy, George Quady, and photographer Thomas Middleton; Herman Swenson; and German motion picture director Friedrich Wilhelm
"F.W." Murnau, owner of BALI (yacht). There are three photographs of Ernest Aderman, a longtime friend and shipmate of Captain
Klebingat (Items 071, 095, and 096).
Other vessels that are depicted in the album are fishing launches associated with Grey's expedition, PROWLER and ZANE GREY;
BALI (yacht), circa 1929; VISON (yacht); and CLANSMAN (ship).
Other Items of particular note are photographs of Rapa Ocean indigenous culture, depicting people at work, at leisure, and
with crew members of FISHERMAN (Items 108-116).
Additionally, there are 13 clippings from unidentified periodicals: an article regarding a voyage of VISION (yacht), the family
yacht of Phyllis Reid Klebingat; an article regarding FISHERMAN arriving in Auckland, New Zealand; a photomechanical print
of seagulls on the boom of FISHERMAN; a photomechanical print of a photograph of Zane Grey's fishing party netting piper in
Whangoroa Harbour, New Zealand; articles regarding Klebingat's marriage; and a photomechanical print of an illustration of
indigenous people, most likely from Rotorua, New Zealand. These clippings have been assigned Item numbers 017-018, 029-030,
066-068, 080, 151-153, 197, and 198.
Item 196 is a photograph mounted on black paper or card stock; this photograph was found loose during processing in 2013.
It matches the content and style of the photographs in the album, but it did not match the empty photograph corners on album
pages where photographs had been removed; furthermore, there was no evidence found that the page had been removed from the
album. Its origin is unknown. There are photographs missing from the following album pages: 2, 11, 13, 14, 15, 46, 86, 121,
127, 132, and 139.
History:
The photograph album in this File Unit is comprised mainly of photographs from the South Seas fishing voyage of Zane Grey,
an American author, best known for his adventure stories of the American West. Captain Klebingat was the master of the primary
ship used in this expedition, which took place between 1925 and 1927.
Zane Grey began an active interest in sport fishing around 1924 or 1925. He bought the 190-foot coal schooner MARSHAL FOCH
(built 1919; schooner, 3m: yacht), renamed her FISHERMAN, and installed a twin-screw Fairbanks-Morse engine. The vessel underwent
numerous renovations and repairs during her conversion into a fishing schooner.
Grey made plans for an excursion to New Zealand and the South Pacific, including hiring Fred Klebingat as captain. The crew
shipped out around November 15, 1925, without Grey, who never traveled on the vessel.
For the duration of the expedition, FISHERMAN served as a floating bunk house and store ship. It took a crew of approximately
seven men to run the vessel: captain (Fred Klebingat); two mates (Ernest "Shorty" Aderman, first mate; Henry Kruse, second
mate); engineer; cook; cabin boy; and a radio operator. Passengers also included a photographer named Thomas Middleton. The
vessel had three launches accompanying the fishing party when they set out: RED, LAURIN G., and GLADIATOR. A fourth launch
named ZANE GREY was added later.
The expedition spent a great deal of time in northern New Zealand, where Grey primarily sought black marlin, striped marlin,
blue marlin and the broadbill swordfish, carefully documenting each catch, and then releasing it.
While working on FISHERMAN, Captain Fred Klebingat was reunited with Phyllis Cramond Reid in Whangaroa, New Zealand, after
having met several years earlier. They were married on April 1, 1927, while Klebingat was still employed with Grey's fishing
expedition. Mrs. Klebingat consequently traveled with the crew on the remainder of the voyage.
Sources:
- Kester, Marin Coombs. 2008-2012. Zane Grey - A Short Biography. The Zane Grey West Society and Zane Grey Collections. Retrieved
on June 6, 2013. http://www.zanegreycollections.com/Local/bio.htm
- Klebingat, Captain Fred K. in a letter to Mathilda Dring, February 22, 1973. From the collection file of P78-265a (SAFR 19209),
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.
- Klebingat, Fred letter to Karl Kortum. June 7, 1978." Falls of Clyde (ship)," compiled by Karl Kortum. San Francisco: San
Francisco Maritime Museum (VM 311 S7 F3 v.1).
- Zane Grey, a visionary angler. August 23, 2012. BD Outdoors: Tournament News, Zane Grey Invitational. San Diego: Catalina
Classics. Retrieved on June 1, 2013. http://www.catalinaclassic.com/tournament-news/zane-grey/zane-grey-a-visionary-angler/
Related Material
Items 071, 095, and 096, are all photographs of Ernest Aderman, and are the same images as black-and-white photographic prints
found in the Captain Fred K. Klebingat collection of Ernest Aderman photographs, 1912-1974, bulk 1930-1945. SFMNHP, (SAFR
23377, P77-015). It is likely that other photographs in this collection (P80-050) were both taken by Ernest Aderman and given
to Captain Klebingat by Aderman. P77-015 (SAFR 23377) and the SFMNHP Classified photograph collection contain additional photographs
of Klebingat and Aderman on board FISHERMAN (built 1919; schooner, 3m: yacht); they are generally not duplicative and they
complement this photograph album, providing another perspective of the voyage.