tampico

Harbor of Vera Cruz (LOC)

from The Library of Congress

• In Memoriam: budderflyman said:

  horrible from a technical POV. Horizon line is crooked, rule of thirds ignored, etc

• Wystan said:

  Info from an internet page: "When Victoriano Huerta seized the Mexican presidency in 1913, the United States refused to recognize him. Early in 1914, when Tampico was under martial law, some U.S. Marines were arrested there, but they were quickly released, with apologies. Admiral Henry T. Mayo insisted that Mexico fire a twenty-one gun salute to the American flag, and President Woodrow Wilson supported this demand. When Mexico refused to comply, Wilson ordered a fleet to Veracruz. Troops landed on 21 April 1914 and, aided by bombardment, took the city, with an American loss of seventeen killed and sixty-three wounded. American political pressure forced Huerta out in July; he fled to Jamaica."

• aware health said:

  Looks like it was taken from the deck of a ship in the water, so the horizon was probably moving. It's tricky enough to keep a level horizon with an SLR, let alone the shoeboxes they were using then.

• Kristi (LOC P&P) said:

  Wystan: Thanks for the information and the date speculation. It does seem this photo is dated 11/10/1913, so we will add that to the record when we update it.

• swanq said:

  warandgame.com/2009/08/18/the-veracruz-incident/ says that "Wilson had sent a squadron of the Atlantic Fleet to Mexico in October 1913 to show the flag and support American interests. By April 1914, there were two main units off Mexico’s east coast." So, this could have been taken from a US naval ship in November 1913. As a sailor, I agree with rjones0856. I very seldom get a perfectly level horizon with my point-and-shoot. The Vera Cruz tag will find pictures from the Spring of 1914.