390 The Story of the New England Whalers 



river openings were to be closed absolutely 

 against commerce. For this purpose three 

 naval steamers and sixteen ships of the sail 

 were available when the proclamations were 

 issued, and the number of merchant ships that 

 could be purchased and armed within reasonable 

 time was limited. In the emergency some one in 

 the Navy Department suggested that Charleston, 

 the leading port of the Atlantic coast, might be 

 closed by sinking stone-laden vessels in the chan- 

 nel. This plan having been adopted, Assistant 

 Secretary of the Navy, Gustavus V. Fox, con- 

 tracted with Richard H. Chappell, of New Haven, 

 to supply forty-five vessels of any kind that could 

 be floated to Charleston. As many old whale ships 

 were then at the piers of New Bedford, Mr. Chap- 

 pell went there and succeeded in buying twenty 

 four. The prices paid for these whalers ranged 

 from $3150 to $6500, a fact of some bearing upon 

 the estimated amount of capital invested in whale 

 ships during the Golden Era. The ships were 

 bought as they lay at the piers with their whaling 

 gear on board. This gear was sold, and many a fine 

 bargain was obtained by the town's speculators. 



