Effie M. Morrissey

Last updated
Effie M. Morrissey 1894.jpg
Effie M. Morrissey in 1894
History
Flag of the United States.svgUnited States
NameEffie M. Morrissey
BuilderJohn F. James & Washington Tarr, Essex, Massachusetts
Launched1 February 1894
RenamedErnestina
StatusTraining vessel
General characteristics
TypeTwo-masted Gaff rigged schooner
Tonnage120  GRT
Length
  • 152 ft (46.3 m) LOA
  • 112 ft (34.1 m) WLL
Beam24 ft 5 in (7.4 m)
Draft13 ft (4.0 m)
PropulsionSails and diesel engine
Sail plan8,000 sq ft (740 m2)
Ernestina (schooner)
USA Massachusetts location map.svg
Red pog.svg
LocationSteamship Wharf, New Bedford, Massachusetts
Coordinates 41°38′2.42″N70°55′14.22″W / 41.6340056°N 70.9206167°W / 41.6340056; -70.9206167 Coordinates: 41°38′2.42″N70°55′14.22″W / 41.6340056°N 70.9206167°W / 41.6340056; -70.9206167
Built1894
Architect George Melville McClain; James & Tarr Shipyards
NRHP reference No. 85000022
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJanuary 3, 1985 [1]
Designated NHLDecember 14, 1990 [2]

Effie M. Morrissey (now Ernestina-Morrissey) is a schooner skippered by Robert Bartlett that made many scientific expeditions to the Arctic, sponsored by American museums, the Explorers Club and the National Geographic Society. She also helped survey the Arctic for the United States Government during World War II. She is currently designated by the United States Department of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark as part of the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park. She is the State Ship of Massachusetts.

Contents

History

Designed by George McClain of Gloucester, Massachusetts to withstand North Atlantic gales, Effie M. Morrissey was the last fishing schooner built for the Wonson Fish Company. Built with white oak and yellow pine at the John F. James & Washington Tarr shipyard, she took four months to build and was launched 1 February 1894. Her hull was painted black and her first skipper was William Edward Morrissey, who named her after his daughter Effie Maude Morrissey. In 2014, the ship was given the green light by the Massachusetts Department of Recreation and Conservation to undergo a $6 million restoration project at the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. After months of waiting for the weather to cooperate, the ship was finally able to reach Boothbay Harbor in April, 2015 and was hauled-out later that month.

Grand Banks Fishing Schooner

Effie M. Morrissey fished out of Gloucester for eleven years. Considered a high liner, on her first voyage she brought in over 200,000 pounds (91,000 kg) of fish, enough to pay for her construction. One of Effie M. Morrissey's more notable skippers was Clayton Morrissey who went on to skipper the racing schooner Henry Ford. A statue to Clayton Morrissey by sculptor Leonard Craske entitled the Gloucester Fisherman's Memorial can be seen on Gloucester's Western Avenue.

In 1905 under a new owner, Captain Ansel Snow, Effie M. Morrissey began fishing out of Digby, Nova Scotia. In 1912, the Montreal journalist and photographer Frederick William Wallace sailed on the vessel as a member of Snow's crew. [3] His epic poem about his time aboard Effie M. Morrissey, "The Log of the Record Run," was widely read and adopted by east coast fishermen with such authentic results that the folklorist Helen Creighton mistakenly believed it to be a very old traditional song. [4]

Then in 1914, ownership moved to Brigus, Newfoundland where Harold Bartlett used her as a fishing and coasting vessel along the Newfoundland and Labrador shoreline.

Early 20th century: exploration

In 1925 Harold Bartlett sold her to his cousin, noted Arctic explorer Capt. Bob Bartlett, who installed an auxiliary engine and reinforced the hull so the vessel could be used in Arctic ice. In 1926 with the financial support of the well known publisher George Palmer Putnam, Bartlett embarked on two decades of Arctic exploration using this vessel.

Notable voyages captained by Robert Bartlett aboard Effie M. Morrissey include:

  1. 1926 Greenland Expedition to Northwest Greenland for the American Museum of National History with George Palmer Putnam and University of Michigan Professor William H. Hobbs.
  2. 1927 Voyage to Western Baffin Land for the American Geographical Society, Museum of the American Indian and the Heye Foundation with George Palmer Putman and Robert E. Peary Jr. (son of Robert E. Peary).
  3. 1928 Stoll McCracken Siberian Arctic Expedition to the Aleutian Islands, Bering Strait, and Arctic for the American Museum of Natural History with Charles H. Stoll and Harold McCracken.
  4. 1929 Labrador Motion Picture Expedition along the Labrador Coast with Maurice Kellerman.
  5. 1930 North East Greenland Expedition for the Museum of the American Indian.
  6. 1931 Norcross-Bartlett Expedition to Northeast Greenland for the Smithsonian Institution, Heye Foundation, American Museum of Natural History, and the New York Botanical Garden to gather flowering plants for Botanical Gardens; specimens of wild fowl for the Museum of Natural History and narwhal and seals for the Ocean Hall of Life. In addition to this they carried out oceanographic, hydrographic and meteorological work for the US Navy, Smithsonian Institution, and others.
  7. 1932 Peary Memorial Expedition as a monument to Robert E. Peary, co-chartered by Peary's daughter Mrs. Marie Peary Stafford and Arthur D. Norcross. Peary's grandchildren, Edward and Peary Stafford, accompanied their mother. [5]
  8. 1933 Bartlett Northwest Greenland Expedition through the Hudson Strait, Fury Strait and the Hecla Strait for the American Museum of Natural History, Museum of American Indian, American Geographical Society and the Navy Department.
  9. 1934 Expedition to Greenland and Ellesmere Land making scientific collections for the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences.
  10. 1935 Northwest Greenland Expedition for Field Museum and the Smithsonian Institution. On this expedition was Dr. Lamar Soutter, founding dean of the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
  11. 1936 Bartlett Northeast Greenland Expedition for the Smithsonian Institution, American Geographical Society, Chicago Zoological Society and the Field Museum.
  12. 1937 Bartlett Northwest Greenland Expedition for the Smithsonian Institution and the Chicago Zoological Society.
  13. 1938 Northwest Greenland Expedition for the Smithsonian Institution, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and the United States National Museum.
  14. 1939 Northeast Greenland Expedition for the New York Zoological Society and the Smithsonian Institution.
  15. 1940 Greenland Expedition where Effie M. Morrissey set a record for furthest north at 80 degrees 22 minutes North Latitude, a mere 578 nautical miles (1,070 km) from the North Pole. Pathe Newsreels had filmed this incredible effort, among those in attendance was Fred Littleton, Austen Colgate, John Pitcairn, Jim Pond, David Nutt, Reggie Wilcox and George Hodge.
  16. 1941 Greenland Expedition into the Arctic regions sponsored by Louise Arner Boyd of San Francisco into the Baffin Bay region. It was the first opportunity by National Bureau of Standards for an extensive study of the ionosphere at Arctic latitudes.
  17. 1942 Voyage to Ungava Bay and Frobisher Bay to conduct survey work for air bases Crystal One and Crystal Two for both the US Army Air Forces and the US Navy.
  18. 1943 Voyage to Frobisher Bay for supply and survey work for US military bases.
  19. 1944 Voyage to southern and eastern Greenland to supply and service US weather bases.
  20. 1945 Voyage to northwest Greenland to supply and service US military bases.
Ernestina was depicted on the 2005 200 Cape Verdean escudo banknote Cape Verde - 2005 200CVE note - front.jpg
Ernestina was depicted on the 2005 200 Cape Verdean escudo banknote

Mid 20th century: packet ship Ernestina

When Captain Robert Bartlett died on April 28, 1946, Effie M. Morrissey was sold to the Jackson brothers to carry mail and passengers in an inter-island trade in the South Pacific. On their voyage to the Pacific she developed problems at sea, forcing the crew to return to New York City. On December 2, 1947, the boat caught fire of undetermined origin while docked at the Boat Basin in Flushing, New York.

The schooner was repaired and sold to Louisa Mendes of Egypt, Massachusetts. She entered the packet trade in a trans-Atlantic crossing to Cape Verde with a cargo of food and clothing. Upon reaching the islands, Captain Henrique Mendes reregistered the schooner under the name Ernestina, after his own daughter, and used her in inter-island trade. Ernestina made many transatlantic voyages and fell into disrepair at Cape Verde, where she remained until the late nineteen sixties when interest arose in the United States to save the historic vessel. Harry Dugan and the Bartlett Exploration Association of Philadelphia made several offers to buy the ship for the South Street Seaport Museum in New York. In 1977 the people of Cape Verde agreed to give Ernestina to the people of the United States. The Foreign Minister, speaking on behalf of President Aristides Pereira said:

The Government of Cape Verde offers the Ernestina as a gift to the United States of America as an expression of the high regard of the people of Cape Verde for the people of the United States and we deliver the vessel to the State of Massachusetts as a representative of the people of the United States.

Late 20th century: National Historic Landmark

In August 1982 her hull was completely rebuilt in Cape Verde and she sailed to the United States with a Cape Verdean and American crew.

In August 1988 the schooner made a return trip to Brigus, Newfoundland, home of Capt. Bob Bartlett on the 113th anniversary of his birth. Ernestina was designated by the United States Department of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark in 1990, [2] [6] with restoration being completed in 1994, and in 1996 became a part of the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park. She is owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Built in 1894, the schooner ERNESTINA is the oldest surviving Grand Banks fishing schooner; the only surviving 19th century Gloucester-built fishing schooner; one of two remaining examples of the Fredonia-style schooners (the other being LETTIE G. HOWARD, also a National Historic Landmark), the most famous American fishing vessel type; the only offshore example of that type; and one of two sailing Arctic exploration vessels left afloat in the United States (the other being BOWDOIN, also a National Historic Landmark). Today, ERNESTINA regularly sails the New England coast on educational cruises. [2]

NHL designation

As of 2016, Ernestina is undergoing a multi-year restoration in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

See also

Related Research Articles

Robert Peary American Arctic explorer (1856–1920)

Robert Edwin Peary Sr. was an American explorer and officer in the United States Navy who made several expeditions to the Arctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best known for, in April 1909, leading an expedition that claimed to be the first to have reached the geographic North Pole. Explorer Matthew Henson, part of the expedition, is thought to have reached what they believed to be the North Pole narrowly before Peary.

<i>Charles W. Morgan</i> (ship) American whaling ship built in 1841

Charles W. Morgan is an American whaling ship built in 1841 that was active during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Ships of this type were used to harvest the blubber of whales for whale oil which was commonly used in lamps. Charles W. Morgan has served as a museum ship since the 1940s and is now an exhibit at the Mystic Seaport museum in Mystic, Connecticut. She is the world's oldest surviving (non-wrecked) merchant vessel and the only surviving wooden whaling ship from the 19th century American merchant fleet. The Morgan was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966.

Robert Bartlett (explorer)

Robert "Bob" Abram Bartlett was a Newfoundland-born American Arctic explorer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Donald Baxter MacMillan American explorer and sailor

Donald Baxter MacMillan was an American explorer, sailor, researcher and lecturer who made over 30 expeditions to the Arctic during his 46-year career. He pioneered the use of radios, airplanes, and electricity in the Arctic, brought back films and thousands of photographs of Arctic scenes, and put together a dictionary of the Inuktitut language.

New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park United States historic place

New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park (NBWNHP) is a United States National Historical Park in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and is maintained by the National Park Service (NPS). The park commemorates the heritage of the world's preeminent whaling port during the nineteenth century.

William Bradford (painter)

William Bradford was an American romanticist painter, photographer and explorer, originally from Fairhaven, Massachusetts, near New Bedford. His early work focused on portraits of the many ships in New Bedford Harbor. In 1858, his painting New Bedford Harbor at Sunset was included in Albert Bierstadt's landmark New Bedford Art Exhibition.

John Bartlett Angel, born in St. John's, Newfoundland, was the recipient of the Order of Canada for his work in the improvement of education and welfare in Newfoundland through his voluntary service to the province.

Brigus is a small fishing community located in Conception Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Brigus was home to Captain Bob Bartlett and the location of his residence Hawthorne Cottage.

Louise Arner Boyd American explorer (1887-1972)

Louise Arner Boyd was an American explorer of Greenland and the Arctic, who wrote extensively of her scientific expeditions, and became the first woman to fly over the North Pole in 1955, after privately chartering a DC-4 and crew that included aviation pioneers Thor Solberg and Paul Mlinar.

<i>Adventuress</i> (schooner)

Adventuress is a 133-foot (41 m) gaff-rigged schooner launched in 1913 in East Boothbay, Maine. She has since been restored, and is listed as a National Historic Landmark. She is one of two surviving San Francisco bar pilot schooners.

<i>Bowdoin</i> (Arctic schooner)

The schooner Bowdoin was designed by William H. Hand, Jr., and built in 1921, in East Boothbay, Maine, at the Hodgdon Brothers Shipyard now known as Hodgdon Yachts. She is the only American schooner built specifically for Arctic exploration, and was designed under the direction of explorer Donald B. MacMillan. She has made 29 trips above the Arctic Circle in her life, three since she was acquired by the Maine Maritime Academy in 1988. She is currently owned by the Maine Maritime Academy, located in Castine, Maine, and is used for their sail training curriculum. She is named for Bowdoin College.

<i>Adventure</i> (1926 schooner) 1926 schooner

Adventure is a gaff rigged knockabout schooner. She was built in Essex, Massachusetts, USA, and launched in 1926 to work the Grand Banks fishing grounds out of Gloucester. She is one of only two surviving knockabout fishing schooners – ships designed without bowsprits for the safety of her crew.

<i>Lettie G. Howard</i>

Lettie G. Howard, formerly Mystic C and Caviare, is a wooden Fredonia schooner built in 1893 in Essex, Massachusetts, USA. This type of craft was commonly used by American offshore fishermen, and is believed to be the last surviving example of its type. She was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1989. She is now based at the South Street Seaport Museum in New York City.

<i>American Eagle</i> (schooner) United States historic place

The American Eagle, originally Andrew and Rosalie, is a two-masted schooner serving the tourist trade out of Rockland, Maine. Launched in 1930 at Gloucester, Massachusetts, she was the last auxiliary schooner to be built in that port, and one of Gloucester's last sail-powered fishing vessels. A National Historic Landmark, she is also the oldest known surviving vessel of the type, which was supplanted not long afterward by modern trawlers.

<i>Roseway</i>

Roseway is a wooden gaff-rigged schooner launched on 24 November 1925 in Essex, Massachusetts. She is currently operated by World Ocean School, a non-profit educational organization based in Boston, Massachusetts, and is normally operated out of Boston, Massachusetts and Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. She was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997 as the only known surviving example of a fishing schooner built specifically with racing competition as an objective. In 1941, Roseway was purchased by the Boston Pilot's Association to serve as a pilot boat for Boston Harbor, as a replacement for the pilot-boat Northern Light, which was sold to the United States Army for war service.

George Comer American whaler and explorer (1858–1937)

Captain George Comer was considered the most famous American whaling captain of Hudson Bay, and the world's foremost authority on Hudson Bay Inuit in the early 20th century.

Gloucester Fishermans Memorial United States historic place

Gloucester Fisherman's Memorial is a historic memorial cenotaph sculpture on South Stacy Boulevard, near entrance of Stacy Esplanade in Gloucester, Massachusetts, built in 1925.

Lamar Soutter, MD was an American academic. He was the son of Helen Elizabeth Whiteside and Robert Soutter, a noted Boston orthopaedic surgeon. He graduated from Harvard College in 1931, with an AB in History, and from Harvard Medical School in 1935. He served residencies in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Thoracics. He was awarded the Silver Star for actions at the Battle of Bastogne in World War II, and went on to found the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts.

SS <i>Roosevelt</i> (1905) American steamship

SS Roosevelt was an American steamship of the early 20th century. She was designed and constructed specifically for Robert Peary′s polar exploration expeditions, and she supported the 1908 expedition in which he claimed to have discovered the North Pole.

Thomas F. McManus American yacht designer

Thomas Francis McManus was a fish merchant who became a naval architect, responsible for introducing the shortened bowsprit and long stern overhang to give speed to his vessels. He was well known for revolutionizing the Gloucester fishing schooner. He made the fastest vessels of their type in the world and was honored on two continents for his skill as a naval architect. He became known as the "Father of the Fishermen's Races." 500 fishing schooners used his designs to improve speed. He was a friend of Sir Thomas Lipton and President Theodore Roosevelt.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 "Ernestina (Schooner)". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2008-05-03. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  3. Photographs and documentation of this voyage are contained in M. Brook Taylor, A Camera on the Banks (2006) Wallace's July 1921 article for National Geographic, "Life on the Grand Banks" also contains photographs of the vessel, though it was not named.
  4. Wallace, F. W. "Roving Fisherman". Archived from the original on March 20, 2008.
  5. ""Marie Peary Stafford's Journal"". The History of the Schooner Ernestina. Schooner Ernestina Commission. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  6. Delgado, James P. (18 April 1990). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Ernestina / Schooner Ernestina (formerly Effie M. Morrissey)" (pdf). National Park Service . Retrieved 2012-08-29. and
    Delgado, James P. (18 April 1990). "Accompanying 12 photos, from 1894, 1913, 1930, 1965, and 1990" (pdf). National Park Service . Retrieved 2012-08-29.