YOUR OWN HOME SUNDAY NEWSPAPER 
So Ends../ 
"Thar she blows!" came the call from the mast head. Crewmen scurried over the deck, boats 
were lowered and the centuries-old chase for the whale was under way. 
The action on Aug. 2, 1925, marked a milestone for New Bedford. The whale harpooned on 
the Hatteras Grounds by crewmen of the New Bedford whaler John R. Manta was the last ever 
taken by the once-proud city fleet. 
The city's glorious whaling era reached its peak more than a century ago. It ended Aug. 20, 
1925, when the Manta dropped anchor in home port. 
Here, in these never-before-published pictures, is recorded the story of that whaling voyage. 
Taken aboard the Manta by the late William H. Tripp, curator of Bourne Whaling Museum, pic¬ 
tures were supplied for publication through the courtesy of a niece. Miss Barbara Tripp of Mid¬ 
dletown, R. I. 
Another series of pictures taken on the same voyage is on exhibit at the museum 
LAST OF NEW BEDFORD'S WHALERS to complete a trip to the grounds was the 102-foot schoon¬ 
er John R. Manta. The craft anchored in New Bedford Aug. 20, 1925, after 3Vi months away from home. 
Her cargo: A poor 300 barrels of sperm oil. This picture of the Manta under sail was believed taken in 1922. 
HISTORY-MAKERS—The Manta's crew assembles in shore "togs" for photographer 
Tripp at the end of the voyage to the Hatteras Grounds off Virginia. 
STRAPPING IRONS (fastening the harpoon to its pole) is under¬ 
taken at sea by Raymond A. Buckley, left, and an unidentified crewman, 
part of the work in outfitting the Manta's starboard and larboard whale 
boats. 
A WHALE IS CAPTURED and aboard the Manta other crew¬ 
men are hard at work putting out the cutting stage on the star¬ 
board side of the ship. 
AFTER BEING CUT into "horsepieces" and minced into "bible 
leaves," the blubber is forked into the trypots where the oil is boiled out. 
Smoke rises from the stack of the heating unit in the forward part of 
the ship. 
WHALES ARE SIGHTED and down go the boats. Here busy 
stepping the mast is the small craft's crew. 
WHALE'S HEAD 
is hoisted 
aboard for 
processing. 
This one weighs 
about 6 tons 
and came 
from a 35-foot 
bull whale. 
DURING CUTTING-IN OPERATIONS a wide "blanket 
piece" is hauled aboard ship for trying out. The blubber 
is a layer of fat covering the entire body of the whale. 
ASAIL AND UNDER WAY after their prey go the 
whalers. 
THE VOYAGE IS OVER and three of the crew busy them¬ 
selves unbending the Manta's sails at dockside in New Bedford. 
RESULTS OF THE VOYAGE: Some 300 barrels of sperm oil. 
The cargo landed in theie huge barrels rests on Merrill's Wharf 
in this view looking east. 
