The Boats At Mystic Seaport

Mystic Seaport, located in eastern Connecticut near the Atlantic Ocean is billed as "The Museum of America and The Sea"...and it's all about America's maritime history.

In this entry, we'll just post a number of the ships we saw yesterday when we visited. There are 500+ vessels, from 1824-present!!

The entry pass is good for two days which is a good thing...too much to take in in one day. Talks are given every half hour on maritime subjects such as navigation, whaling techniques, rope making, copper plating on the ships, building the masts...and much, much more. So...today we're heading back out to see and experience the rest. For now...here's some of the historical ships:

L.A. Dunton.

This Gloucester fisherman, 123 feet, 3 inches over all, is one of the few remaining vessels of her type in the country. Sailing schooners were forced from the Grand Banks off Newfoundland and Georges Bank outside of Cape Cod more than 50 years ago, despite the fact that their design made them the fastest and ablest fishing vessels in the world.

http://www.mysticseaport.org/locations/vessels/l-a-dunton/

Charles W. Morgan being reconstructed. 

The Charles W. Morgan is the “crown jewel” of the Mystic Seaport collection and has outlived all others of her kind. During her 80-year whaling career, the Morgan escaped cannibals and Confederate raiders, and avoided entrapment in the frozen Arctic. In 37 whaling voyages between 1841 and 1921 she survived fire, storms, Cape Horn roundings and, after she finished her whaling career, even the Hurricane of 1938.

http://www.mysticseaport.org/visit/explore/morgan/

Joseph Conrad
The veteran training ship Joseph Conrad sailed under three flags before mooring permanently at Mystic Seaport in 1947. Built in Copenhagen in 1882 and named Georg Stage as a memorial to the young son of Frederik Stage, a prominent ship owner, the 111-foot vessel, one of the smallest full-rigged ships built in modern times, was designed to accommodate eighty boys in training for the Danish merchant service. From her launching until her sale in 1934, more than 4,000 cadets sailed in her for six-month training courses in the Baltic and North seas. Run down by a British freighter in 1905, the Georg Stage sank, taking 22 young men with her. However, she was raised and repaired and soon resumed her career.

http://www.mysticseaport.org/locations/vessels/conrad/

Small boat being constructed in the shop.

Whaling boat that took the whalers out to harpoon the whales. Held six men.

KINGSTON II: Harbor tugboat
Mystic Seaport’s beloved tugboat Kingston II was among the earliest all-welded vessels. Built to train apprentice welders before they qualified to work on U.S. Navy submarines, she was made of scrap steel in just four months. Today, she is stationed at the main entrance as a proud ambassador of the Museum’s watercraft collection and a symbol of this region’s important maritime contributions.http://www.mysticseaport.org/locations/vessels/kingston/

There were many more ships...like those below.

From the USS Hartford...a monster!

So many more ships were here...too many to post. If you're interested their website shows all the details and more photos.

http://www.mysticseaport.org/locations/vessels/

and...

http://www.mysticseaport.org/