• Describe this ship. What is missing?
• What significance does the lone passenger have?
• Look at the shape of this ship. Does it remind you of anything else?

About the artwork
As a young boy Westermann was fascinated by ships and he spent many hours drawing and constructing models of them. For inspiration he visited the Long Beach naval yards near his childhood home and also read sea stories of abandoned or phantom ships such as the legend of the Flying Dutchman. Years later Westermann combined his maritime childhood fascination with his experience aboard ships and aircraft carriers as a marine. (See: Meet the Artist) This resulted in the imagery of the Death Ship, a theme that spanned Westermann’s entire career. (See the related artwork See America First (Untitled #16).)

Dismasted Ship features a masted schooner and a lone bronze figure that lays prostrate on its walnut deck. Without its sails, rudder, or a steering mechanism, it appears that this ship and its solitary passenger are metaphorically set adrift at sea. The shape of the ship, with its simple, unadorned structure, could also be seen as a coffin. Thus, one possible interpretation of Dismasted Ship is to see it as a tangible representation of Westermann’s vivid memories of World War II and Korean War vessels becoming floating coffins. 

Death Ship of No Port (Deathship of No Port, Red Deathship), 1967

Looking questions

• Describe the image. What appears to have happened?
• What do you think has happened to the sailors?
• What mood do the colors convey?

About the artwork
The fiery red, warm yellow, and charred black colors in this lithograph depicts a burning sea and a smoking, fire-hot vessel destroyed in combat. (See Looking at Printmaking) As the crescent moon sheds light on this eerie scene it becomes apparent that this ship is deserted. Presumably surviving sailors have left the vessel by means of the ladder that has been tossed over the side. Their fate is not promising; they may succumb to the blazing sea or to the ominous presence of sharks in the water below. 

Westermann’s Death Ship imagery also refers to popular literature and films—in particular, B. Traven’s 1934 novel The Death Ship (Das Totenschiff) and the 1959 film of the same title. Traven’s protagonist is an American sailor who becomes an outcast after losing his identification card. After being turned away by every American consulate and refused residency in several European countries, he is finally welcomed aboard the Yorikke—a vessel that fatefully becomes a Death Ship. In the film version, the Yorikke’s inscription is featured prominently: “He who enters here will no longer have existence; his name and soul have vanished and are gone forever.” Likewise, Westermann’s Death Ship of No Port depicts the same somber fate. 

Discussion questions

• Compare and contrast Dismasted Ship and Death Ship of No Port. What is similar? What is different? Discuss the mood(s) conveyed in both works of art. What details has Westermann used to create the mood(s)? 
• How are the effects of war portrayed in both images? Based on what you see in both images, how would you characterize Westermann’s opinions of war?
• Discuss the significance of Westermann’s titles for these two works of art. How do the artist’s titles references the images depicted and to the sources for the images themselves?
• In essence, ships are floating containers used to transport people, goods, and supplies on water. Westermann’s death ships have often been interpreted as another type of container—a coffin. Discuss how Dismasted Ship and Death Ship of No Port can be metaphors for coffins. Can you think of other metaphors for these vessels? 

Interdisciplinary activities
Grade level: Older students (9-12)
Objective: Create a two-dimensional work of visual art that conveys aspects of a literary work of art.
Have students read excerpts from a famous maritime tale such as Herman Melville’s Moby Dick (1851), Jack London’s The Sea Wolf (1904), Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea (1952), or Patrick O’Brian’s seafaring novels. Based on the plot, characters, and descriptive details, have students design works of art to convey an essential aspect of the story’s maritime nature. For example, have them create an illustration for one chapter of a selected work.

Grade level: Younger students (6-8)
Objective: Research, write, and deliver clear and organized oral news reports.
Beginning with the Japanese air attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, have students research other attacks on ships in the Pacific during World War II. Have students present their findings in the form of brief oral news bulletins to the class. 

Grade level: Older students (9-12)
Objective: Write descriptive letters that use concrete, sensory details to convey information from primary and secondary sources.
Have students view films about World War II that depict air-to-sea battles such as Midway (1976) and Pearl Harbor (2001). Next, have students read soldiers’ accounts of maritime battles (access www.execpc.com/~dschaaf/personal or www.memoriesofwar.com/veterans/vaughn.asp). Then have students assume the role of H. C. Westermann to write an imaginary letter to a friend describing the events and effects of the air attack as told by the soldiers and as re-enacted by Hollywood. Students should be sure to use descriptive language to accurately convey the horror, just as Westermann did in the following excerpt from a letter that recounts combat experiences (written in October 1966): 

I saw it (an unfamiliar plane) release its very little bomb and then the Franklin was engulfed in flames, smoke, and explosions from stern to stern. It went dead in the water & I counted 36 tremendous explosions before we finally moved way ahead & out of sight—I think there were 700 survivors out of a crew of 3000 & every Marine aboard was killed. Weeks later we saw the Franklin . . . it was still smoking & had a terrific list & the smell of death from her was horrible.