Whaling Disaster of 1871 facts for kids
The Whaling Disaster of 1871 was a terrible event that happened off the coast of Alaska. In late 1871, 33 American whaling ships got stuck in the thick Arctic ice. The crews had to leave their ships behind. This disaster greatly hurt the American whaling industry, which was already struggling.
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The 1871 Whaling Season: Trapped in Ice
In June 1871, about 40 whaling ships sailed north through the Bering Strait. They were hunting for bowhead whales. By August, the ships reached an area near Wainwright, Alaska.
Then, a high-pressure weather system over Siberia changed the winds. This pushed huge sheets of ice toward the Alaskan coast. Seven ships managed to escape south. But 33 other ships got caught in the ice.
Within two weeks, the ice squeezed tightly around the ships. Three ships were crushed: the Comet on September 2, the Roman on September 7, and the Awashonks on September 8. Their crews moved to the other ships.
A Daring Escape: Saving the Crews
The remaining ships were spread out over about 60 miles (97 km). On September 12, the ship captains met on the Champion. They decided to leave their ships in the next few days if the weather allowed.
Each captain went back to their ship. They prepared small whaleboats by removing heavy gear. This made the boats light enough to slide across the ice between open water. The ships were about 50 miles apart, in groups of three to five, separated by ice but still visible to each other.
The signal to abandon ship was to lower the American flag. On the morning of September 14, scout boats brought good news. Rescue ships were waiting to the south!
After lowering their flags, 1,219 people left the trapped ships. They used small whaleboats and carried a three-month supply of food. They traveled about 70 miles (110 km) across the ocean and ice. Amazingly, everyone was rescued, and no one died. It was said that one sailor stayed on the Massachusetts through the winter, but his name is not known.
The Rescue Ships and Losses
Seven whaling ships that had escaped the ice helped with the rescue. They took on many people:
- The Europa rescued 280 people.
- The Arctic rescued 250 people.
- The Progress rescued 221 people.
- The Lagoda rescued 195 people.
- The Daniel Webster rescued 113 people.
- The Midas rescued 100 people.
- The Chance rescued 60 people.
To make room for all the rescued people, these ships had to throw their whale oil and most of their equipment overboard. They sailed back to Honolulu. The last rescue ship, the Chance, arrived on November 22.
The total value of the lost ships and their cargo was over $1,600,000 in 1871. That's like $39.08 million today! Twenty-two of the lost ships were from New Bedford, Massachusetts.
In 1872, one of the lost ships, the bark Minerva, was found still in good shape and was saved. But most of the other ships were crushed by the ice, sank, or were taken apart for wood by the local Inupiat. Some ships, like the Concordia, George Howland, and Thomas Dickason, were not insured, meaning their owners lost a lot of money.
Lost Whaling Vessels: A List
Here are the names of the ships that were lost in the disaster:
| Vessel | Homeport | Captain | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awashonks | New Bedford, MA | Ariel Norton | $58,000 | Crushed by ice on September 8, 1871. |
| Concordia | New Bedford, MA | Robert Jones | $75,000 | Abandoned and lost. Its wreck was later burned by Inuit. This was its first voyage. |
| Contest | New Bedford, MA | Leander C. Owen | $40,000 | Abandoned and lost. |
| Elizabeth Swift | New Bedford, MA | George W. Bliven | $60,000 | Abandoned and lost. |
| Emily Morgan | New Bedford, MA | Benjamin Dexter | $60,000 | Abandoned and lost. Its wreck was later found on shore. |
| Eugenia | New Bedford, MA | Daniel B. Nye | $56,000 | Abandoned and lost. |
| Fanny | New Bedford, MA | Lewis W. Williams | $58,000 | Abandoned and lost. |
| Gay Head | New Bedford, MA | William H. Kelley | $40,000 | Abandoned and lost. Its wreck was burned by Inuit. |
| George | New Bedford, MA | Abraham Osborn | $40,000 | Abandoned and lost. |
| George Howland | New Bedford, MA | James H. Knowles | $43,000 | Abandoned and lost. |
| Henry Taber | New Bedford, MA | Timothy C. Packard | $52,000 | Abandoned and lost. |
| John Wells | New Bedford, MA | Aaron Dean | $40,000 | Abandoned and lost. |
| Massachusetts | New Bedford, MA | West Mitchell | $46,000 | Abandoned and wrecked. One sailor stayed with the wreck all winter. |
| Minerva | New Bedford, MA | Hezekiah Allen | $50,000 | Abandoned. Found in good condition in 1872 and sailed south. |
| Navy | New Bedford, MA | George F. Bouldry | $48,000 | Abandoned and lost. |
| Oliver Crocker | New Bedford, MA | James H. Fisher | $48,000 | Abandoned and lost. |
| Reindeer | New Bedford, MA | B. F. Loveland | $40,000 | Abandoned and lost. Its sunken wreck was found in 1872. |
| Roman | New Bedford, MA | Jared Jernegan | $60,000 | Crushed by ice on September 7, 1871. |
| Seneca | New Bedford, MA | Edmund Kelley | $70,000 | Abandoned and lost. Its beached wreck was found in 1872. |
| Thomas Dickason | New Bedford, MA | Valentine Lewis | $50,000 | Abandoned and lost. Its wreck was found in 1872. |
| William Rotch | Honolulu, HI | Benjamin D. Whitney | $43,000 | Abandoned and lost. |
| Monticello | New London, CT | Thomas W. Williams | $45,000 | Abandoned and lost. |
| J.D. Thompson | New London, CT | Capt. Allen | $45,000 | Abandoned and lost. |
| Carlotta | San Francisco, CA | E. Everett Smith | $52,000 | Abandoned and lost. |
| Florida | San Francisco, CA | D. R. Fraser | $51,000 | Abandoned and lost. Its wreck was burned by Inuit. |
| Victoria | San Francisco, CA | Capt. Redfield | $30,000 | Abandoned and lost. |
| Comet | Honolulu, HI | "Capt. Sylvia" (possibly Joseph D Silva) | $20,000 | Crushed by ice on September 2, 1871. |
| Julian | Honolulu, HI | John Heppingstone | $40,000 | Abandoned and lost. |
| Kohola | Honolulu, HI | Alexander Almy | $20,000 | Abandoned and lost. Its wreck was later found on shore. |
| Paiea | Honolulu, HI | Capt. Newbury | $20,000 | Abandoned and lost. |
| Champion | Edgartown, MA | Henry Pease | $40,000 | Abandoned and lost. Its wreck was later found on shore. |
| Mary | Edgartown, MA | Edward P. Herendeen | $57,000 | Abandoned and lost. |
Finding the Wrecks: A Modern Discovery (2015)
In 2015, a research team went looking for the lost whaling ships. They used special sound equipment to map the ocean floor. They found the wrecks of two whaling ships that were "amazingly well preserved"!
They could see details like anchors, metal parts, heavy ballast stones, and brick ovens used for melting whale blubber. These details confirmed they were 19th-century whaling ships. The lead archaeologist, Dr. Brad Barr, believes these are from the 1871 disaster. This is because whaling ship planks washed ashore in this area for many years after 1871.
We don't know the exact names of these two wrecks yet. The area where they were found is shallow (about 28 feet deep). Experts think other wrecks might have been destroyed over time by the ocean.
This site is protected by United States history laws. NOAA has not shared the exact location with the public. Dr. Barr hopes that other marine archaeologists can explore the wrecks more in the future. Maybe they can even identify the ships!
