ECONOMIC SOCIAL 127 



did not exceed fifty tons burden, this was 

 substantially correct. Prior to 1812, the 

 largest tonnage employed in any one year 

 was 75,000 tons in 1807, which would 

 make the number of fishermen for that 

 year about thirteen thousand. 



The seamen employed in the whaling 

 industry of the United States were also men 

 of unusual intelligence. Besides being sail- 

 ors, they were coopers, carpenters, rope 

 makers and blacksmiths. The long voyages 

 to parts of the world where conveniences 

 for repairs were limited necessitated skilled 

 mechanics. 



The whaling fleet of Nantucket in 1775 

 is said to have amounted to 150 vessels, of 

 14,867 tons burden, manned by 2200 sea- 

 men. 1 This estimate allows one sailor to 

 every seven tons. In 1811 Nantucket is 

 said to have employed ten thousand tons 

 of shipping in the whaling industry. 2 If 

 the proportion between seamen and ton- 



1 Report of Commissioners of Fish and Fisheries, p. 22. 



2 Macy, History of Nantucket, pp. 167, 229. 



