Gann (Ernest) Collection, August - September 1955

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Summary

Title:
Ernest Gann Collection
Dates:
August - September 1955
Creators:
Gann, Ernest K., 1910-1991
Abstract:
Ernest K. Gann (1910-1991) was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, October 13, 1910. He lived in St. Paul, Minnesota as a child, graduated magna cum laude from Culver Military Academy in Culver, Indiana, and attended the Yale School of Drama. He later held a variety of jobs – general manager of Broadway plays, commercial fisherman, cartoonist, commercial pilot, barnstormer pilot, newsreel cameraman, and eventually author and screenwriter. Mr. Gann’s first novel, Island in the Sky, was published in 1940, and those that followed dealt with flying, sailing, or adventurous historical themes, many of them translated into successful movies and a television miniseries. In 1954, Gann purchased his 16th boat, the Albatros, a 117 ft metal schooner in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Albatros had been a pilot boat in the North Sea, a radio station ship for the Germans in World War II, and finally as a Dutch cadet training vessel. Along with his family and a few friends he sailed the boat across the Atlantic Ocean, through the Panama Canal to the San Francisco Bay. This collection contains material pertaining to Gann's ship the Albatros, including black and white photographs, ship blueprints, and copies of ship logs.
Extent:
1 archival box (Collected papers)
Language:
Preferred citation:

Ernest Gann Collection, Henry Meade Williams Local History Room, Harrison Memorial Library, Carmel, CA

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains material pertaining to Gann's ship the Albatros, including black and white photographs, ship blueprints, and copies of ship logs.

Biographical / historical:

Ernest K. Gann (1910-1991) was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, October 13, 1910. He lived in St. Paul, Minnesota as a child, graduated magna cum laude from Culver Military Academy in Culver, Indiana, and attended the Yale School of Drama. He later held a variety of jobs – general manager of Broadway plays, commercial fisherman, cartoonist, commercial pilot, barnstormer pilot, newsreel cameraman, and eventually author and screenwriter. Mr. Gann’s first novel, Island in the Sky, was published in 1940, and those that followed dealt with flying, sailing, or adventurous historical themes, many of them translated into successful movies and a television miniseries. In 1954, Gann purchased his 16th boat, the Albatros, a 117 ft metal schooner in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Albatros had been a pilot boat in the North Sea, a radio station ship for the Germans in World War II, and finally as a Dutch cadet training vessel. Along with his family and a few friends he sailed the boat across the Atlantic Ocean, through the Panama Canal to the San Francisco Bay. Albatros was put through a major overhaul and converted to a square-sailed brigantine. Gann then sailed it around the South Pacific over the next three years. He later leased the ship to a movie company to be used as the major prop in a movie based upon his book Twilight for the Gods. Soon after the production ended, Albatros was sold and became a school vessel. It was later lost in the Gulf of Mexico. The sinking of the boat is the topic of a 1996 movie named White Squall starring Jeff Bridges. He lived in Pebble Beach until 1965, until he moved to the San Juan Islands in Washington State, eventually passing away in 1991.

Acquisition information:
Donated by Steven Gann, Mary Louise Schneeberger, and Betty Jane Yates
Processing information:

Revised 7/1/2013, Inventoried 4/8/2022.

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid created by Harrison Memorial Library staff.
Date Prepared:
August - September 1955
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using Record Express for OAC5 on July 14, 2025, 2:54 p.m.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Materials are open for research.

Terms of access:

The Henry Meade Local History Room, Harrison Memorial Library does not hold copyright to these items. Permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder by the user.

Preferred citation:

Ernest Gann Collection, Henry Meade Williams Local History Room, Harrison Memorial Library, Carmel, CA

Location of this collection:
P.O. Box 800
Mission St & 6th Ave
Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 93921, US
Contact:
(831) 624-1615
hml.localhist@gmail.com
Website