Lifecycle of The Mayflower

As has become CR4 happenstance, I am one of the last ones to post before Thanksgiving. To be honest, I'm not in the office this Wednesday and haven't been all week. Similarly, traffic is usually a little bit down, and most people are focused on a day of delicious food and televised sports. All of this equates to a holiday-themed blog post.

When puritan refugees sought new opportunities of religious freedom in the New World 394 years ago, they did so on a boat known as the Mayflower. It was an unspectacular ship and was not intended as a passenger vessel. Records between 1609-1620 have it primarily as a cargo ship hauling hemp, spices, apparel, hops, vinegar and many, many types of alcohol. Its primary owner, Captain Christopher Jones, even used the ship for whaling. The ship was about 110 feet long and 25 feet at its widest. She had a cargo tonnage of 180 tons, as well as a gun deck of 12-14 cannons. This was unusual as the ship was classified as a fluyt, a type of shallow-water cargo ship innovated by the Dutch that maximized cargo space often at the expense of armament. The Mayflower had three masts and is likely an early example of a knock-off English-built fluyt, and the gun decks added so the ship could be impressed into naval service.

Where the ship was made and when are unclear, as complete records for the ship are scarce and more than 20 other ships are the time were also named Mayflower. What is clear is that the odds of the Mayflower making the Atlantic voyage were never that good. Originally two ships were chartered to carry the pilgrims across the Atlantic, the other ship being named the Speedwell, which had departed Holland with about 50 passengers. But the Speedwell sprung multiple leaks when the two ships rendezvoused off the coast of England in the summer of 1620, and was ultimately abandoned. As a result, the Mayflower was overloaded with more than 100+ passengers and 25-35 crew members. These passengers slept on the gun deck, a 1,200-square-foot space shared with artillery and tools.

The Mayflower was also at the end of her working life. The average lifespan for an English merchant ship of the time period was 15 years, and despite not knowing her exactly build date, that ship was at least 12 years old when it first departed across the Atlantic. This ship's superstructure also proved to be a disadvantage, as it was large and flat, a more suitable configuration for coastline and river commerce. Trade winds in the north Atlantic prevail west-to-east and the additional surface area significantly slowed the ship's transit.

So what was the result of an overcrowded, over-age and too-slow ship? Remarkably only two people died en route, despite bleak living conditions, severe storms battering the ship and heavy provision rationing. Perhaps this is a testament to the spirit of the pilgrims, who for two-and-a-half months had been on the open sea.

The pilgrims were originally planning to settle in Virginia (which was at the time a whole lot closer to New York City), but reached Cape Cod in mid-November and shortly realized winter weather, rough seas and a ship in need of repair meant continuing south was impossible. It was also too late in the season to establish a settlement, so the pilgrims lived on the Mayflower and robbed natives/traded with them for food. Disease spread amongst the voyagers during this time, and by the time the pilgrims could finally establish an onshore village in March 1621, half of the original passengers and crew had died.

Captain Jones had to delay his return to England by more than a year due to the sickness. The trip home took less than a month. Once he and the Mayflower returned England, one more trading voyage to the wine coast of France was made, but Jones' health was in quick deterioration. After Jones' death in March 1622, the Mayflower sat for two years at her berth in Rotherhithe, before being sold and scrapped for timber. Some historians feel the famous 1620 voyage was the ultimate end of both Jones and his historical vessel.

The remains of Mayflower were reputedly used to build a farmhouse and barn in Rotherhither which draws a significant tourist crowd today.

Resources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower