ing from 27 to 214 tons register, operating in the men- 

 haden fishery. Steamers were also tried out in the in- 

 shore fisheries — in the Long Island Sound oyster 

 fishery about 1876, in the Maine clam and herring 

 fisheries in 1880, and in the Connecticut lobster fishery 

 in 1883. In the 1880's steamers were also employed 

 at Tampa, Florida, in the Carolina Sounds, on the 

 Great Lakes, and on the Pacific Coast. Steamers en- 

 tered the American whale fishery in 1865; the first 

 steam whaling vessel to be built in the United States 

 was launched at Bath, Maine, in 1879. 



The adoption of steamers in the off'shore fisheries of 

 New England was delayed because at first the speed of 

 the schooners was great enough to compete \vith most 

 small steamers of the time and the cost of a steam ves- 

 sel was far greater than that of a schooner of similar 

 capacity. In 1885 Captain H. B. Joyce designed and 

 had built at Kennebunkport, Maine, the steam mack- 

 erel-seiner Novelty. She operated for about 4 years and 

 then was sold to Haitian revolutionaries. It is said she 

 was not a very profitable vessel. Captain Collins 

 made an effort to introduce steamers into the Ameri- 

 can fisheries and though his efforts met with some suc- 

 cess on the Pacific Coast and in southern waters, it 

 cannot be said he had much influence in New Eng- 

 land. The construction of the steam schooner Alice 

 M. Jacob!: at Essex, Massachusetts, in 1902 was the 

 ne.xt attempt to introduce steamers and though she 

 was reported to be very successful as a mackerel 

 seiner, she was a very expensive vessel to build and to 

 operate. 



In 1904-05 a group representing Boston interests 

 obtained plans of a steel steam trawler in England and 

 built the Spray, 136 feet 4 inches overall, 22 feet beam, 

 12 feet lOJ^ inches depth, 450 horsepower, and able to 

 make 1 1 knots in light weather. This vessel was so 

 successful that the owners built four more trawlers in 

 1910-11, and an additional four in 1912-13. During 

 the war years 1914-18, a number of large wooden 

 steam trawlers were built. The legal requirements as 

 to inspection and manning of steam fishing vessels 

 adversely affected operational costs and after the war 

 there was an increasingly great interest in diesel 

 engines; since these could be used in wooden as well 

 as steel vessels. In 1928-36 a number of steel diesel- 

 powered trawlers were built, and also a large number 

 of small wooden trawlers, or "draggers." No steam 

 trawlers were built after the 1914-18 war and no 

 large diesel steel trawlers after 1945, the trend being 

 toward wooden draggers 90 to 115 feet overall. 



Whalers and Sealers 



The whale fishery was V'ery important from colonial 

 days until about 1900, by which time petroleum and 

 steel had replaced the fishery products oil and whale- 

 bone. American whaling suffered disasters in the war 

 periods, particularly during the War of 1812 and the 

 American Civil War, when whaling in the Pacific 

 and South Atlantic were being rigorously prosecuted. 

 In earlier times much of the whaling was in Green- 

 land waters and alongshore, and so it had been pos- 

 sible to warn vessels of impending war soon enough to 

 prevent heavy losses from enemy cruisers. In co- 

 lonial times sloops were often employed, and later, 

 schooners, brigs, and ships. Much of the shore 

 whaling was done with large whaleboats, some as long 

 as 40 feet, fitted to row and sail. After the Revolution 

 there was a steady expansion in the American whaling 

 fleet. Relatively large ships were employed, and the 

 South Atlantic and the Pacific whaling grounds 

 became the scene of much American activity. The 

 Massachusetts ports of New Bedford and Nantucket 

 became important whaling centers, as did New Lon- 

 don, Connecticut. However, whaleships were owned 

 and operated out of many other ports, among which 

 were Philadelphia, New York, New Haven, Boston, 

 and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. 



Whalers in the Pacific after the War of 1812 em- 

 ployed ships, and after 1840 barks of moderate length, 

 90 to 120 feet on deck, but of great capacity. At 

 that time the fleet included some old ships, and packets 

 and freighters of large capacity, as well as vessels 

 built particularly for the fishery. Most were slow- 

 sailing, deep and full-ended, and with a moderate 

 spread of sail. 



By the 1850's the effect of the C!alifornia clipper 

 ships became felt, and the later whaling ships and 

 barks were designed for speed and easy rolling, 

 qualities which had been found highly desirable, 

 particularly in Arctic whaling, to escape ice packs. 



The result was a fine class of clipper-built barks and 

 ships. These were employed in the Bering Sea, 

 which by 1845 had been found a profitable whaling 

 ground, and by 1852-56 vessels were being built 

 with very raking stems to enable them to work more 

 effectively in ice under sail; the first of these appears 

 to have been the bark Gayhead built at Mattapoisett, 

 Massachusetts, in 1852. Vessels of her type were 

 usually about 110 to 115 feet long, about 30 feet 

 beam, and 11 to 13 feet in the hold. They usually 



174 



