by Frank Shrimplin and Betty Jane Wilson
An intense interest in things nautical, specifically knot tying, proved not for naught for an ambitious young seaman volunteer in 1942.
The 19-year-old Merchant Marine graduate was assigned to convoys going to North Africa. The long tedious journey afforded the sailor time to study from books he purchased and learn to make knots.
The results of his skill and handiwork he mounted on a 30-by-40-inch nautical board roughly 100 examples of types of knots tagged with their identification.
Simple names, such as square knot, granny’s, shoelace knot, and catspaw may be found along side a curiously labeled “four strand inverted turk’s head.”
A frame work 4 inches or more in depth enclosing the knot collection is a unique work of art employing slender strands of ship’s rope or hemp threaded or knotted tightly together occasionally embellished by thickly woven replicas of types of knots.
The enterprising sailor responsible for the nautical board master piece was Howard Irvin Shrimplin, an Oskalooa farm boy who volunteered for military service soon after the Dec. 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor disaster.
One of the four nautical boards he made is on permanent display at the Valley Falls Historical Society Museum. Sharing honors with the three others given to museums in Haifa, Israel, South Africa, and the Maritime Museum, Newport News, Va.
Biographical and historic facts for this “knotty” story were provided by Frank Shrimplin, brother of the seaman and society historian.
Roz Jackson and Betty Jane Wilson will be museum hosts from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5.
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