The Living Experience on The Charles W. Morgan, America’s Oldest Commercial Ship
by Tiffany Cui
During our trip to Mystic Seaport, we boarded The Charles W. Morgan, a 124-foot-long whaleship built in 1841 and the oldest commercial ship still afloat in America. While on the ship, we were guided below deck and shown the living quarters of the crewmates.
In this first picture is the boatsteerer’s bunkroom. There are about 6 beds in the room, but more people shared the room, since whaling vessels often operated in shifts, and when one worker got up from bed to go on shift, another would be getting off from their shift and occupy the same bed. This was the same case for greenhands, the lowest rank in a ship’s crew, who shared a room of 24 beds (not pictured) located in the forecastle of the ship. However, it was not just a place to sleep for them but was also where they ate all their meals and spent their time when they were not on duty. Imagine sleeping and eating in a cramped room with 20 other people when the seas were rough, oh the stench that would come out of it. That goes to show how tough being a sailor was.
In comparison, the Captain’s Quarters looks like paradise (pictured above). Located in the stern of the ship, it is much wider and roomier, enough to fit a lounge and bed more than twice the size of the sailor’s beds. The location is significant because the stern of a ship is generally more stable than the forecastle, where waves did not hit as hard and there was less noise. Being shown the living quarters of the ship was interesting, because it shows just how important hierarchy was in a ship’s crew.
Plastic and the Ocean
by Kristi Flanigan
When we visited Mystic Seaport today, we were immersed in whaling history, and in maritime history in general. The thing about learning, though, is that it seems to involve reframing your thought process at every turn – so while I was expecting to learn a lot about the arduous process of whaling and the value of whale oil (which I did), I also found that there were a lot of interesting notes about our oceans and our history with plastic. I think we often try to categorize plastic as a now idea, something only modern technologies and innovations can help – but I think it’s worth considering that maybe there are answers deeply rooted in our history.
First, although not literally plastic is the point of baleen fibers. Nicknamed “the plastic of the 1800s,” this fiber became more valuable as whale oil started to lose momentum as the prime reason to catch a whale. It was prized for it’s unique sturdiness, and was used in items like corsets and horse whips – things that warranted a rare but sturdy fiber. In hindsight, though, we know that neither of these baleen fiber goods remained popular and in demand forever. This decline in demand as fashions and consumer needs changed contributed to the fall of whaling. I think the idea of baleen fibers brings up an interesting bit of food for thought, though – in today’s thinking, and this is a fair bit of paraphrasing, anything that isn’t plastic is often considered the better option. In the 1800s, a natural fiber was akin to plastic now. What if we move towards a natural replacement for plastic that ultimately loses its viability? And, alternatively, are there plastic alternatives (sustainable ones, so I’m not suggesting baleen fibers) that were used historically that we’re currently overlooking?
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| Figure 1. Raw Baleen on display. |
I think we sometimes overlook our history in our search for answers. For example, in the fishing industry today, plastic buoys are deployed on nets. Historically, though, glass buoys were used, and we saw some at the Special Collections vault. You might expect glass to break too easily, but there it was, good as new – and the glass buoys have been surfacing in Hawaii, probably after deployment in Japan. It does raise that question – are we simply overlooking better alternatives to plastic? The glass buoys have a history of working, and are much safer for the ocean than plastic. On the other hand, cost comes into play. When you want the food source for a massive percentage of the world to be sustainable, can every consumer afford an increase in price? History is a multi-faceted, complex thing, but so are the problems we face today. After all, history starts as soon as yesterday.
Whaling of the sperm and other whales
by Ana Noel
Sailors would stand in hoops on top of whaling vessels in order to look for breathing whales. One blowhole indicates an Odontoceti, or toothed whaled, whereas two blowholes indicate a Mysticeti, or baleen whale. This is because Odontoceti use echolocation, which replaces the second blowhole.
This is how they would cut a sperm whale after they captured it. The blanket is where the blubber is stored and gave the largest amount of oil: 60-80% oil by weight. The spermaceti was found in the case and was used to help the whale dive deep in order to locate giant squid. This feature was used to make finer oil and candles.
Jawbone and teeth of a sperm whale. Unlike humans, whales only have teeth on the bottom part of their mouth as opposed to the top and bottom. Sperm whales would use their jaws and teeth to feed on squid and fish. Ambergris is a waxy substance found in the whale’s digestive tract to help it digest the squid beak. This substance was also used to make perfume. The teeth were extracted form the jaw and used to create scrimshaw.
Populations of sperm, humpback, and right whales over the years as an effect of whaling. In 1900, there was a large decline in whales because of the high-powered vessels and new technology. Today, the populations are beginning to recover because whaling is no longer legal in the US. However, the biggest threat to whales today are still human caused: entanglement in fishing nets, boat strikes, and noise disturbance, disrupting their ability to communicate and hunt via echolocation.
What makes the pizza so mystic?
by Joshua Whitehead
What do you do with a drunken sailor? You put him in the scuppers with a hose pipe on ‘im of course. Many people know the famous song, but not many know the origin. We had the opportunity to learn this along with other fascinating topics at Mystic Seaport last Friday during a long day of ferry rides, van rides, and harpoon throwing. The food from the night before along with video games and soda from the potluck the night before however, helped fuel us for the long and very cold day.
After touring the maritime museum, the vault (a place with thousands of artifacts) and the Charles W. Morgan we gathered into the church to learn about the history of sea shanties and sing some of them, we even got Tara to sing a little bit. When you think of a sea shanty you think of rough rugged pirates, singing and having a good time. The reality is that these songs were work songs and the age of shanties didn’t overlap with the age of pirates. These songs were used to make sailors work more efficiently, also helped morale while doing work. The idea of a shanty is that a song would have a certain rhythm or beat that the sailors would the follow based on the task at hand. Tasks such as raising the anchor by use of a capstan could take hours, so they would make a song with rhyming couplets that just kept evolving into different stories about a sailor due to the length of time. Raising the halyard and other sails they used the song drunken sailor. The songs chosen would be different lengths each time because the song stops once the work is finished. The shantymen would also communicate with the mates about when the work would be finished and communicate it by song with the sailors.
The sea shanty has the same lineage as Afro-American work songs such as blues, railroad, and chain gang songs. This is due to the idea of work songs being brought over by African traders as a means of dock working songs. Originally scholars didn’t think the work songs in America could be of African origin, mostly due to prejudice views, linking them to different European countries. Today however, it is agreed that the songs are clearly of African origins. Polynesian culture also influenced work songs, with many of their names not fitting on the records book, their names were shortened to Kanaka and given an English first name. This became a very popular character name in many shanties.
To end the day, we went to Mystic Pizza, where they were very shocked when a group of 22 people suddenly showed up. We all got great food that was hot, a necessity now that it was even colder without the sun, who would’ve guessed? We packed up got into the vans, took another ferry ride (Kurt stayed on the top deck the entire time again which is absolute insanity) and I managed to anger everyone with super confusing riddles. All in all another great trip in coastal cultural experience.
Whale Oil
by Lucas Wong
Mystic Seaport was once a whaling community that thrived from the whaling industry. Today, the Mystic Seaport Museum recreated what the town would have looked like back when whaling was at its peak. The Museum houses the Charles W. Morgan, the last wooden whaling vessel that was first built in 1841. Whales were caught for their blubber which was turned into oil or their baleen which was used for various everyday items. The blubber from these giants were put in giant pots and cooked to extract the oil. However, the blubber wasn’t the purest quality oil. The best quality of oil came from the head of the whale. It wasn’t uncommon for people to hunt whales for oil. People like the Inuit harvested whales for heating, cooking and lighting. It wasn’t until industrialization happened that the demand for whale oil skyrocketed.
Inuit populations used whales for heating, lighting and other purposes.
The push for oil started in the 19th century when industrialization kicked off. Some of the most hunted whales were the sperm whales, bowhead whales and the right whales. These whales were slow moving which made them the easiest to hunt. The whales were harvested for their blubber which was turned into oil. This whale oil was used for various purposes. The demand for light and lubrication drove the whaling industry. People found that whale oil burned brighter and smelled less than animal grease. With the rise of industrialization, people would use whale oil or lubrication for the big machines.
Oil was used for lighting since it burned brighter and smelled less than tallow.
The Tradition and Innovation of Arctic Whaling
by Charlotte Brennan
At the Mystic Seaport Museum, we learned a lot about American whaling during the 18th and 19th centuries on ships using sail power. However, from the 1860s onwards, this industry slowly died due to the Civil War and the emergence of new foreign technologies for sailing. When petroleum was discovered in 1859, the United States was slow to adopt its use for whaling which directly lead to the ultimate demise.
On the other hand, Norwegian whalers began to use petroleum in their whaling efforts and developed new weapons and methods that helped the whaling business boom. These new weapons and methods helped them catch more whales and diversified the types of whales they could catch which was beneficial as to prevent the same species of whales from being overcaught. The American response to the whaling innovation going on in Norway was to move on to new businesses because they couldn’t keep up with the change.
While Americans left the whaling business, Norway and others started whaling more than ever and began to hunt with extreme efficiency and success. With vessels running on steam and diesel, the process of whaling could go much faster than in the past. Unfortunately, due to the successes of this new period of modern whaling, the numbers of some species of whales dropped to almost near extinction.
One interesting fact about modern whaling that I learned at the museum is that whaling still goes on in some places in the Arctic including Norway, Iceland and various Inuit tribes. However, these enterprises are not as bountiful as in the past, are done due to tradition, and don’t have a significant effect on the population of whale species globally.
In contrast to modern whaling, indigenous whaling is a sacred tradition and does not harm whale populations. One of the reasons it’s not impactful is because the process is very simple so they’re not able to catch many whales. This is a typical vessel that would be used to catch marine mammals and birds by indigenous people.
“When is history?”
by Katelyn Castler
Maritime history is a vast time period starting back when the first group of people started evolving waterways in their daily lifetime. However, the bigger question becomes “When does the history end?”. There is a big importance around the idea of what should be preserved and when. Back at the Mystic Seaport Museum, the associates talked highly about the person who took in consideration to preserve the Charles W. Morgan. The Morgan, for short, is one of the last American whaling ships and the oldest commercial ship still in use. Without the preservation of the ship, today’s society wouldn’t be able to learn or enjoy it today. It became an impressive artifact that is surrounded by a vast historical story.
Artifacts are any objects produced by humans that has interest and based on historical definition, artifacts can be dated anywhere from one second ago to millions of years ago. However, they are only valuable if the bigger story is known; aka their history. Back in the Mystic Seaport’s artifact vault, one noticeable item that stood out was a set of 1960’s water skis. The year 1960 is not a long time ago when you think about it. However, there is a historical event that is associated with the skis, the modern Environmental movement. The skis represent how people where actively using the waterways for recreational sport. Since these people were associated with water in their everyday life, they were driven to protect it. The drive lead to the Modern Environmentalist movement which aided in pollution through the push for Congress to pass an act promoting clean air and water.
Artifacts are important to learn from so historical scholars or other day to day people could interpret them into today’s world. At the Mystic Seaport museum there even was an exhibit about the plastic in today’s oceans and more modern shipping industries. Both which contained artifacts with wide age ranges from today’s time to a couple decades old. Artifacts are even added into their vault regularly. Each holding historical significance and their own stories. Preserving the artifacts, from any time frame, is the most important step in telling a historical story and their impact on today’s culture.
History and Evolution of Whaling Weapons
by Christian Rozenveld
1) The harpoon is the main instrument that was used around the world to hunt whales for hundreds of years. While there are many types of harpoon heads, the general ability for each is to hook into the flesh of the whale, so that the boat can be attached to it to tire it out. After the fight when the whale is exhausted, harpoons are used by experienced whalers to stab between the ribs and into the lungs.
2) With the advancement of technology came an easier method of whaling, this being a whale gun. These brass guns weighed much more than a harpoon and could kill a whale much faster, however they come with their share of danger. Due to the strength at which the gun fires, if the person firing was not balanced, they could be blown right off the boat, or even have the boat flip.
3) In current times, although whaling is illegal in most countries, some do not follow the rest of the world in protecting these species. Countries like japan use much more modernized weapons such as harpoon cannons. These cannons are mounted onto the heavy metal ships. They are fired using gunpowder or smokeless powder, and are tipped with explosives to quickly kill the creature.
Restoration on the Morgan at Mystic Seaport Museum
by Tessa Reynolds
Photo #1 (Credit to the Mystic Seaport Museum)
The columns on the Morgan were restored in the recent restoration project that spanned from 2006 to 2014. This restoration brought the Morgan back to sea worthy conditions and allowed for her to go on a 38th voyage in 2014. The columns in the cargo hold needed restoring due to the way barrels were stored on the ship.
Photo #2 (Credit to the Mystic Seaport Museum)
This is an original column that was left after the restoration project ended in 2014. Compared to the restored columns, the original column has curved indentations that look similar to the shape of the barrels displayed on the Morgan. The whalers wanted to fit as many barrels of oil into the Morgan’s cargo hold as possible to maximize the money they could make on the trip. The column’s indentations are the result of barrels being pressed against the column repeatedly over the years that the Morgan was used for whaling.
A Piece of American Whaling History
by Maxwell Bazante
The Charles W. Morgan is the oldest commercial ship that is still afloat in America. She was named after her original owner, whaling merchant Charles W. Morgan. She was built in 1841 and was launched out of New Bedford Massachusetts. When it launched it joined about 600 other American whaling vessels in search for whales to supply the worlds need for oil for illumination and lubrication for machines in factories. The Morgan is the last remaining American whaling boat and over time the fleet was compromised of about 2,700 vessels.
The Morgan is about 106 feet long and embarked on 37 whaling voyages in its 80-year whaling career. She could carry about 3,000 barrels or 90,000 gallons of oil when its hold was filled to capacity. Whaling was a very risky business and not every whaling ship came up with a profit on every voyage. But the Morgan was considered a lucky or a “greasy” ship referring to the abundance of whale oil collected on most voyages. She mostly hunted in the Pacific Ocean and usually spent over 3 years at sea per voyage. The ship usually needed a crew of about 35 men in order to sail, row the six-man whaleboats, and to render oil from whale blubber.
The Charles W. Morgan whaling vessels was declared a National Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic places in 1966. The Morgan also received the prestigious World Ship Trust Award. Her purpose is no longer for whaling but for education on our nation’s Maritime heritage and is a piece of history for our future generations. She now rests in Mystic Seaport, Connecticut in a restored state.
The Marvelous Mystic
by Julia Sweeney
For this week’s trip we went to Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. The day started very early because we needed to catch the ferry from Orient Point Long Island to Connecticut. The ferry ride was super fun and extremely cold. I think it was preparing me for what the rest of the day would be like. We stayed on the top deck for a little bit, looking out at the Long Island sound and the Peconic Bay.
Figure 1 View from the ferry
Once we arrived in Mystic we took a tour of the grounds and all of the different buildings that made up the seaport. We also took a tour of the whaling vessel that they have docked, which was pretty amazing. It is the last one of its kind. We got to go below deck to see where the crew would have slept and even the captains room.
Figure 2 The Charles W Morgan
The building that I found to be the most interesting though was one that showed a variety of figure heads. Figure heads are the figures placed on the front of the vessel for a variety of reasons and beliefs. Most of the figure heads on display were women but could also be men and even animals. The figures of people were almost always carved with the hands either by their side or to their chest. This is done to prevent the arms from breaking off at sea with the rough conditions. In some cases the arms would be removed when at sea and then fastened back on upon arrival to land. Another tell tale sign to show if a figure head is actually a figure head is based on the posture. Statues would be arced to fit the shape of the boat.
Figure 3&4 Left figure head and right description of specific figure head.
Mystic Seaport and the Charles W. Morgan
by Nancy Liang
I looked forward to our trip to the Mystic Seaport all semester because I heard so many wonderful things about the museum there. One of the highlights of our field trip was visiting the Charles W. Morgan, a nineteenth century wooden whaling vessel.
The Morgan was built in 1841 and made thirty-seven whaling voyages until it was retired in 1921. The Morgan completed eighty years worth of whaling trips, which is around four times the lifespan of the average wooden whaling ship. As a matter of fact, the Charles W. Morgan is now the only wooden whaling vessel remaining in the entire world and the oldest commercial vessel that is still afloat.
When we toured the vessel, we learned a bit about what it takes to keep this historical ship afloat and functioning. An estimated 15% to 40% of the Charles W. Morgan is comprised of restored material, which is not surprising for a wooden ship of this age. Restoration involves fixing and repairing the ship while preserving as much of the original material and form as possible. Items or materials that have been added to the ship during restoration efforts have to be easily distinguishable from the original pieces as well. On the ship, we saw many examples of restoration, such as a restored column in a different color of wood compared to the original column. The original column was also dented inwards from years of whalers propping barrels of whale oil against it. Our tour guides pointed out that doors that were cut out of the original ship to allow visitors easy passage between sections of the ship were cut with wavy doorframes to signify that they are new modifications to the vessel. In this picture, you can see the original wooden peg holding two sections of the ship together. On the outside of the peg is a metal ring that was fastened on during restoration to help keep the older wooden peg in place.
There is a clear difference in materials used from the original wood peg to the new metal fastener so that people will not be confused as to what was part of the original boat and what is a modern addition.
Aside from regular maintenance and restoration, the Charles W. Morgan underwent a major restoration effort starting in 2008 to make it seaworthy again. The ship had to be outfitted with new wooden planks, new copper sheathing, and a new mast hoop among other materials to make it fit for sailing again. Even though the Morgan is a tall ship and sailed using traditional methods, the crew installed an engine system and modern technology into the ship to abide by US Coast Guard regulations.
Once the restoration process was finally complete, the Charles W. Morgan set sail in May of 2014. During the sailing process, people around the world were able to follow its progress into various New England ports. The voyage gave historians first-hand experience on what life was like aboard a tall ship and how maneuverable a whaling ship such as the Morgan was.
The purpose of this 38th voyage of the Morgan was to celebrate and recognize the importance of America’s maritime past and the way that whaling impacted America’s history and development. When the ship sailed into Stellwagen Bank, a humpback whale nursing ground, whales came up to inspect the ship and interact with the whale boats in the water. The 38th voyage of the Charles W. Morgan was a way to emphasize the connection between America’s past and present maritime communities and to recognize the impact that our activities have on marine life such as whales.
Mystic Scrimshaw
by Tyler Rodriguez
The Mystic Seaport Museum is home to one of the largest collections of scrimshaw in the United States. Scrimshaw is a form of art common among whalers where the art is carved into whale’s teeth.
In the above image, an unpolished whale tooth is shown. Making scrimshaw is labor-intensive, as the tooth needs to be polished to a smooth surface before any carving can be done. This process of polishing a tooth can take upwards of 100 hours to complete. Once the surface is smoothed, a design is sketched on it, and then it is carved. Common themes among scrimshaw art include national symbols, ships, and homes. Scrimshaw can be as simple as a sketch, and as detailed as what is seen in the image below.
As a historian, I would view scrimshaw as a primary source (which I have written about in a past blog post), as it can tell us about the lives of whalers; stories that would otherwise go untold and lost to time. Scrimshaw can reveal what was most important to whalers, which is clearly revealed by the images carved. Whalers who made scrimshaw featuring national symbols such as flags and soldiers would have most likely felt a very strong connection to their nation and have a strong sense of national pride. Those who carved ships could have been very proud of the work they did as a whaler, and those who carved home were most likely homesick. Scrimshaw was a way for whalers at sea to reconnect to what was most important to them through artwork. It is also a primary historical source that can be used to better understand the people onboard these whaling vessels.
Mystic Seaports history of Ship Models
by Arthur Cody
On our trip we went to the Collection Vault, a storage warehouse and research center that housed many different Models of ships in varying scale and size. This collection housed over 200,000 items including the ship models, with some of these models being over 250 years old.
One of the displays within the vault plaques of ship models, often seen hung in someone’s home. As it was explained to us, these are a part of maritime history as well and therefore belong in the vault as a showcase of how maritime traditions have an effect on how we even choose to decorate our homes.
This is a display of a clipper ship, a cargo ship used around the mid 1800’s. This type of ship design was later out classed by the “Down Easters” design of ships like the Benjamin F. Packard, which had an exhibit on display during our trip which gave a detailed layout of the ships cabin. These clipper ships became obsolete due to “Down Easters” being able to carry larger cargo, as businesses were demanding larger drop offs of cargo over a longer period of time, rather than less cargo over a shorter period of time.
Often, these ships would only be half models instead of full models. This was due to how most half models were used as not only display pieces, but also as 3-D models of plans for a full-scale ship. Often, they would draw up the plans for the ship, then create a half model to detail the inner and outer design of the ship in full 3-D, then finally begin construction. Overall the use of ship models is varied and widely a practice among both architects of ships as well as the avid boat enthusiasts.
