CATALOGUE OF THE WATEKCRAFT COLLECTIOX. 1^5 



ships of that period. She was first rigged as a ship, but in 1857, 

 after returning from her first voyage, was purchased at? New Bed- 

 ford and rigged as a bark. 



The Jireh Sioift was a wooden, carA-el-biiilt, keel vessel ; bow sharp ; 

 rising floor; easy round bilge: long, lean run; square stern; moderate 

 sheer. i 



Dimensions of vessel. — ^Length over all, 126 feet; molded beam, 

 27 feet; molded depth, 18 feet; capacity, 454 tons. Scale, one-half 

 inch equals 1 foot. 



The special object sought in tlie construction of whaling vessels 

 is speed, and at the same time to make them not too flat and stiff, it 

 being desirable to have an " easy cutting-in ship " — one that will 

 respond satisfactorily to the strain of the masthead tackles when a 

 whale is being stripped of its blubber in a seaway. 



On her third voyage, June 22, 1865, the Jireh Swift., while whal- 

 ing in the Arctic Ocean near Bering Strait, was captured and 

 burned by the Confederate cruiser Shenandoah. Her agents, Swift 

 & Allen, stated that " she came near outsailing the steamer, and had 

 the wind continued through the race as at the start she would have 

 kept clear of the steamer." 

 Gift of Swift & Allen. Cat. No. 76,323 U.S.N.M. 



Block model of whaling ship. 



The ship Cornelius Hoicland, of New Bedford, was built from 

 this model in 1859. She was specially designed for the whale fish- 

 ery, in which she was employed for many years. 



A wooden, carvel-built, keel ship; bow moderately full above 

 water, sharp at and below water line ; raking, convexly curved stem ; 

 long head; sharp floor; long, lean run; plumb sternpost; heavy 

 square stern ; medium sheer. 



Dimensions of vessel. — ^Length over all, 128 feet ; beam, 27 feet ; 

 depth, 14 feet; 333 tons. Scale of model, one-half inch equals 1 

 foot. 



The Cornelius Hoioland sailed on her last voyage August 4, 1874. 

 She was nipped in the ice pack of the Arctic Ocean north of 

 Bering Strait in 1876 and was abandoned. She had previously sent 

 home 600 barrels of sperm oil, 1,220 barrels of whale oil, and 10,000 

 pounds of bone, and when caught by the ice she had on board 1,400 

 barrels of whale oil and 8,000 pounds of bone. 

 Gift of New Bedford Board of Trade. Cat. No. 160,126 U.S.N.M. 



Model of ketch. 



This is a type of vessel employed in the American fisheries in early 

 colonial times, and prior to the invention of the schooner, of which 

 the first was built at Gloucester, Mass., in 1713. 



