The Charles W. Morgan launched in July 1841 from New Bedford. It is America's oldest commercial ship still afloat; only the USS Constitution is older (1797). The whaleship typically sailed with a 35-person crew. It measures 106 feet and 11 inches, and carries 7,134 square feet of sail when fully rigged. The ship was named for its first primary owner and agent, Charles W. Morgan. Under this ownership, the Morgan made its first two voyages, with its crew hunting mostly sperm whales. Edward M. Robinson owned the ship for its third voyage, 1848-1853; its crew hunted mostly right whales. Various owners oversaw the ship for its next 34 voyages, while its crew tracked mostly right whales in the Pacific. The ship is known as a "lucky ship." It successfully navigated Arctic ice, hostile natives, storms, Cape Horn roundings, and (after its whaling career) the 1938 Hurricane. The Morgan was used in the films Miss Petticoats (1916), Down to the Sea in Ships (1922), and Java Head (1923). After its whaling days ended in 1921, the Morgan was preserved by Whaling Enshrined, Inc. and exhibited at Colonel Edward H.R. Green's estate at Round Hill in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, until 1941. In November 1941, the Morgan sailed to Mystic Seaport where it has since been docked. The whaleship was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966. |
Last updated: August 16, 2018