Table I

Dates of Building, Period of Service as Whalers, Age at Joining Fleet, Number of Voyages and Years of Whaling of Vessels in the Mystic Fleet

Below is given an alphabetical list of whaling vessels which sailed out of Mystic, Connecticut between 1832 and 1862. The list is based upon Alexander Starbuck’s History of the American Whale Fishery, with two exceptions. Starbuck lists a ship ANTARCTIC as having been lost in 1847. No such vessel can be located in the records of the New London or Stonington Customs Houses. Probably Starbuck confused the name with the ship ATLANTIC which was lost in 1847. Second, Starbuck failed to list the schooner PLUTARCH under her own name. He mentioned in remarks under the ship GOVERNOR ENDICOTT that the former was a tender to the latter.

All other data in this table, except the date of building, also comes from or is based upon Starbuck’s monumental work. The building date comes from extracts, registers, enrollments and licenses of the port of New London and/or from microfilm copies of the original documents for the port of Stonington. All these copies or extracts are in the G. W. Blunt White Library.

Name Date of Building Dates of Service Age No. of Voyages Years of Whaling
AERONAUT (ship)
1822
1834-1854
12
10
20
 ALIBREE (bark)
1826
1844-1849
18
2
5
 ATLANTIC (ship)
1825
1844-1847
19
2
3
 BINGHAM (ship)
1804
1832-1848
28
6
16
 BLACKSTONE (ship)
1827
1833-1846
6
7
13
 CONGRESS (bark)
1824
1842-1849
18
3
7
 CORIOLANUS (ship)
1827
1844-1861
17
7
17
 CORNELIA (schooner)
1841
1857-1862
16
3
5
 ELEANOR (ship)
1842
1845-1846
23
1
1
 FRANK (schooner)
1854
1858-1859
4
1
1
 GLOBE (bark)
1827
1845-1849
18
1
4
 GOVERNOR ENDICOTT (bark)
1819
1838-1840
19
2
2
 HELLESPONT (ship)
1829
1845-1855
16
3
10
 HIGHLANDER (bark)
1833
1845-1849
12
1
4
 HUDSON (ship)
1822
1848-1854
26
2
6
 LEANDER (brig)
1825
1841-1860
16
9
9
 LION (schooner)
1849
1852-1854
3
2
2
 METEOR (ship)
1819
1834-1856
15
9
22
 PLUTARCH (schooner)
1826
1838-1841
12
1
1
 ROBIN HOOD (ship)
1824
1845-1861
21
6
16
 ROMULUS (ship)
1830
1842-1860
12
6
18
 SHEPHERDESS (bark)
1825
1842-1860
17
6
18
 TAMPICO (brig)
1824
1838-1841
14
3
3
 TRESCOTT (ship)
1825
1845-1848
20
1
3
 UXOR (brig)
1827
1838-1841
11
4
3
 VERMONT (bark)
1831
1843-1847
12
2
3
 WASHINGTON (schooner)
1828
1848-1854
20
2
6
 WILMINGTON (schooner)
1846
1853-1854
7
1
1

Edited by Library Volunteer Thomas L. Zane, January, 2000.