AOWV records Capt. Fish as “Fish****+?”. The + signifies another name for this master. The ? means uncertain. None of the clues as to possible dates and places of birth and death that often appear in AOWV are present in this case. Without that information and with no first name and with a common last name, the author was unable to find information about Capt. Fish and his family.
Capt. Fish is listed in AOWV as a replacement master on ELECTRA (AS1261), home port New London): (ship, 348 tons, length 107’, built in Kensington PA in 1811, lost at Nunivak Island on July 1, 1863). William W. Clark (AM1021) was the original master when it sailed on June 1, 1850 for the NW Coast, returned on March 31, 1854. William left the ship under circumstances not discovered, to be replaced by Capt. Fish. Dennis Wood Abstract #2-212 shows “Clark” as master for this voyage. The crew list for this voyage in AOWV shows William W. Smith as original master, perhaps a misprint. Decker shows “Fish” as master. Further confusing this information, Whalemen’s Shipping List shows several entries in 1854 reporting “Fiske” (misprint for “Fish”?) as master of this voyage. Colby does not record this voyage. William & Barnes was the agent. AV04116.
Questions remain: (i) personal information about Capt. Fish; (ii) the identity of the initial (sailing) master: William Clark, William Smith, or Capt. Fish; and (iii) the identity of the replacement master: Capt. Fish or Capt. Fiske. The author concludes that the + and ? noted in the beginning are well justified.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text.
George Shaw
American Institute for Maritime Studies
Mystic Seaport Museum
June 2025