Nantucket shipbuilding

Short Trees and Short Timbers

Nantucket, Massachusetts island lies 30 miles off the southern coastline of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In 1775, Nantucket was the largest whaling Port in the world, and the third largest port in Massachusetts. However, dominance in this most adventurous, dangerous and potentially lucrative of all maritime trades was not supported by an extensive, local, ship building industry. Early Nantucket Forests were unusual and determined the scope of indigenous and colonial wooden ship building on Nantucket Island. Nantucket island has not been home to forests of tall trees for at least 4,000 years. Continual salt spray and the absence of a rich loam soil forced an unusual dwarf morphology on trees such as oak, beech, cedar and pine. Architectural and ship building timbers of large size were not available to the early European and American colonists of Nantucket island nor to the indigenous Wampanoag who made canoes and used offshore waters, rivers and streams to hunt and fish throughout the year.

Shipbuilding at Brant Point

By the late 17th century, the few groves of forest trees on Nantucket were gone except for small numbers of isolated oak and beech trees. These relatively few Nantucket forest trees were cut for firewood, fence posts, and short boards for diverse construction projects. Land was taken for agriculture and stock raising. Reforestation and 'tree farming' would have to wait for the 20th century. Within this historical context, it is surprising that any large ships were built on Nantucket because wood of the required dimensions would have to be imported. There was a thriving ship building industry in New Bedford, Massachusetts, a town whose prominence in whaling and maritime commerce equaled that of Nantucket. Nonetheless, two 'small' clipper ships and several whalers were built on Nantucket Island. Their circumstances provide an interesting footnote to the history of wooden ship building in New England, and the whaling trade in particular.

Brant Point on the north side of Nantucket harbor still has the sandy beach that was a good site for building large wooden ships and it is the locality for the famous Brant Point Light. This historic lighthouse has been destroyed and rebuilt 7 times since first established in 1746 and is still in operation. "Brant Point was lined with ship-yards, and there were shipways, where we took up ships for repairs. Some famous vessels we turned out – stout, oak-bowed whalers, clipper ships, and fleet Schooners that would run down to Havana and be back with a cargo of fruit in less than no time."

Confirming the Brig 'Dolphin' / America, England

The first ship of notable size recorded as built on Nantucket at Brant Point was the brig Dolphin, launched in 1723 and of 30 to 40 tons (bm) burthen. This Dolphin is mentioned in the small exhibit about Brant Point shipbuilding in the Egan Marine Institute on Nantucket but following her history is extremely difficult. A Captain Thomas Prince, baptized on August 3, 1658, in either Hull or Scituate, Massachusetts, is recorded as Commander of the Brig 'Dolphin'.

In several genealogical records, there is mention of a brig Dolphin that saw action in the Revolutionary War for the American Navy. However, these events are more than five decades after the launch of the brig Dolphin at Brant Point. The US Navy published maps and charts from a brig Dolphin in 1854, but this is 131 years after the launch of the brig Dolphin at Brant Point. The online edition of the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships cannot confirm a brig Dolphin that was built at Brant Point, Nantucket in 1723, nor a fighting ship of this type and name that subsequently fought in the Continental Navy. Although, there is no Dolphin in US Naval Records for the 18th century, the possibility exists that the Nantucket brig Dolphin never saw official service in the Continental Navy.

Records for the Royal Navy document several war ships carrying the name Dolphin in the 18th and early 19th centuries, but none were built in America at any locality, Brant Point Nantucket or elsewhere.

Clipper ships

In 1801, the 'small' clipper ship 'Mars' was built at Brant Point for the Old China Trade. Captained by Uriah Swain, 'Mars' set sail for China in 1802. "In 1800, Captain Uriah Swain (1754–1810) took the ship 'Mars' to China, initiating a direct economic relationship between Nantucket and the Far East. Trading in sealskins allowed the ship to load a cargo of Tea and other Chinese goods and souvenirs." There is a discrepancy in dates between those in the Egan Maritime Institute Exhibit and those in the timeline published by the Nantucket Historical Society. There is a trading barque Mars in several late 19th century photographs (albumen prints) in the collection of the New Bedford Whaling Museum. of New Bedford, Massachusetts, but it is unlikely this is the clipper ship built at Brant Point in 1801.

In 1803, the China clipper 'Rose' was built at Brant Point and quickly attained a reputation for speed. On her last voyage under the United States flag, the 'Rose' was captured by the British and finished her days as a dispatch ship for the Royal Navy.

'The Charles Carroll'

In 1832, the whaler 'Charles Carroll' was built for captain and 1/32 share owner Owen Chase the first mate and survivor of the Essex tragedy. This history is confirmed by other references to Capt. Owen Chase. .

Whaling Voyages of the 'Charles Carroll'

The 'Nantucket'

At 350 tons, the 'Nantucket' was the first Nantucket Island ship built of Live oak with copper fastenings. See also Quercus virginiana. Construction cost for the 'Nantucket' was $52,000 and the boss carpenter H. G. 0. Dunham came over from the Hillman Shipyard of New Bedford, Massachusetts. The Nantucket (ship)'s short life ended when she was wrecked in 1859.

Whaling Voyages of the 'Nantucket'

The 'Lexington'

Also built in 1838 of live oak and copper fastenings was the whaler 'Lexington' at 399 tons. She was valued at $24,000 and ended her life when wrecked in 1859. Mrs. Eliza Spenser Brock wrote a detailed and important history of a whaling voyage when she accompanied he husband, and Lexington's captain, on a Lexington whaling voyage in 1853.

Whaling Voyages of the 'Lexington'

The 'Joseph Starbuck'

In 1838, Joseph Starbuck built the last whaler constructed at Brant Point and named it after himself – the 'Joseph Starbuck'.

Whaling Voyage of the Joseph Starbuck' –

Business model

Perhaps the highest barrier to a thriving, wooden ship building industry on Nantucket was the whaling industry business model. Nantucket had dominated the American whaling trade for many years and occupies a premier position in the History of whaling. During 1771–1775, Nantucket was the largest whaling port in the world and the third largest seaport in Massachusetts. One hundred and fifty (150) whalers were outfitted in these four years, 20,000 seamen had been employed and 30,000 bbls of Whale oil were brought to Nantucket from successful voyages, almost all of which came from Sperm Whales. Each crew member on a successful Nantucket whaling voyage was paid about $200 upon return, but often they walked away with very little cash as a large bill owed the ship's store had accumulated. Crew on unsuccessful voyages received no substantial payment, if anything.

The most valuable whale product was, and still is, Ambergris. Used as a perfume stabilizer, ambergris derives from a secretion initiated by whale physiology when the beak of a giant squid is ingested and then severely irritates the whale's digestive system. During 1771–75, 900 lbs of Ambergris brought in $120,000, which calculates to $133.33/lb or $0.294/gram. Today raw Ambergris sells for about $10/gram and the trade is not illegal as the sperm whale expels ambergris naturally. The Profit/Loss business model required ~60 whales to be killed so that enough barrels of whale oil (~$3,000/bbl) and ambergris could be brought home to Nantucket and ensure a good profit to the ship owners.

Twilight for Nantucket whaleships

The first American whaling ship entered the Pacific whaling grounds in the 1790s but whaling on a large scale in the Pacific Ocean had dwindled rapidly by the mid 19th century. Stocks of the large whales, particularly sperm whales, had been rapidly depleted. In 1846, a catastrophic fire burnt much of Nantucket town and destroyed the harbor. Men began to leave for the California gold rush in 1849. Petroleum was discovered in Pennsylvania in 1859. The last rigged whaling ship to leave Nantucket was the 'Oak' in 1869.

How long could wooden hulled whaleships continue to hunt for Leviathan? The 'Wanderer', whose home port was New Bedford, Massachusetts, is a well-known example of a wooden-hulled, full-rigged whaleship that was active into the 20th century. Anchored off Cuttyhunk Island (Massachusetts) while her captain went looking for crewmen, she was dragged onto rocks and abandoned in 1924. But many years previously, the ship building activity at Brant Point, Nantucket, had come to an end. Although few in number, the clipper and whaling ships built on Nantucket played important roles in the China Trade and whaling history of Nantucket.