Little is known about Andrew. A family tree for his father, also Andrew, shows his father born in Ireland in 1786, died in New London in 1849. The tree shows “Birth of son Andrew Hagan Capt 1816-1898 New London”. In April 1838 he was awarded Seaman’s Protection Certificate #172 in New London showing him born about 1819. A census report for New London in 1850, apparently for the crew of PHOENIX, lists Andrew and F.R. as well as others. He was a private in the 6th Connecticut Regiment in the Union Army from 1861-1865.
AOWV records Andrew serving as master for one voyage on one ship, home port New London:
PHOENIX (AS2188): (ship, 404 tons, length 110 ft., built in Philadelphia PA in 1811, ending its day by being sunk in Savannah harbor as part of Stone Fleet #1). PHOENIX sailed on August 6, 1846 for the Indian Ocean, returned on September 3, 1856. Andrew left the ship, to be replaced by F. R. Bloomfield (AM0489). N. & W .W. Billings was the agent. AV11626.
AOWV and Colby shows Andrew as master of the 1846 voyage. The identity of the master is not as clear as AOWV reports. Decker records that “Bloomfield” was the master, not Andrew. Starbuck and Thomas Adams’s Whaling Vessels show that the master for this voyage was “— Skinner” [James Skinner (AM4383]. The ship register for PHOENIX issued on June 4, 1844 showing James T. Skinner as master shows on its back side: “New London – Aug 5, 1846 – Andrew Hogan having taken oath required by law is at present master of within vessel in lieu of Jas T Skinner late master”. Dennis Wood Abstract 2-562 adds to the confusion by showing “Higgins Master” and later recording the circumstances around the change of command: “At St. Catherine’s, March 2, 1848…had been lying there these three weeks in difficulty with his crew…Reported April 15, 1849 [latitude/longitude position just below St. Helena] in charge of 1st officer, Capt. Higgins having left at Tristan d’Cunha…Bloomfield Master”. [Bloomfield was listed below the master’s name on the crew list for this voyage]. Whalemen’s Shipping List shows that “Higgins” was master of PHOENIX in its weekly reports from September 29, 1846 until July 10, 1849 with “Bloomfield” as the master in subsequent weekly reports. AOWV shows several masters with the last name “Higgins”, none of whom is shown to have been a master of PHOENIX. These sources show three possible masters: Andrew, Skinner, and Higgins.
Prior to becoming a master, Andrew served as crew member for seven voyages on four ships plus PHOENIX, all ships with New London as home port: JOHN & EDWARD (AS0235) for it 1829-1830 voyage; FLORA (AS1369) for its 1830-1831 voyage; SUPERIOR (AS 2448) for its 1833-1837 voyage. CHELSEA (AS1047) for its 1838-1839 voyage; PHOENIX for its 1841-1842, 1842-1844, and 1844-1846 voyages.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text.
George Shaw
American Institute for Maritime Studies
Mystic Seaport Museum
January 2026