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dynamite johnny o'brien alaska's sea captain
dynamite johnny o'brien alaska's sea captain Author:edward a herron few men lead lives so full of adventure that they become legendary figures in their own lifetime. johnny o'bien whose remarkable career as a man of the sea began when he was shanghaied at the age of 16 is one of those rare men. from his first voyage, which took him to the far corners of the world, until he retired from the alaskan seas at the ag... more »e of eighty he was a true pioneer.
as a boy in ireland johnny and his people suffered poverty and british oppression. along with other youths who fought for freedom. he joined a raiding party and dynamited a jail in which irish patriots were imprisioned to avoid capture he took passage on a ship sailing for america hoping to return home when freedom was won. but the british captured him and after a daring escape he fled to alaska. this was a remote and wild country in 1874 and he barely survived his first year there.
johnny loed the sea. as a captain of his own ship he welcomed the challenge of matching his courage and wits against teh uncharted waters along the west coast, infested with dangerous reefs and shoals. he bcame expert at guiding his ship over the 1500 mile journey to and from alaska, carrying valuable cargoes of food equipment and gold. ships and lives were lost every year trying to make this voyage but johnny proved to be indestructable time and again he saved the live of others shipwrecked in these waters but he never lost a ship of his own« less