''She Floats!'' The Launch of the Charles W. Morgan
21 July2013
by D eirdre O 'Regan
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n rhe exacr dare rhat th e whaling ship Charles W Morgan was launched fro m a New Bedford, Massachusetrs, shipyard 172 years ago, the same vessel, albeit in as good shape-in fac r berter-rhan she was on rhar day, was gently lowered into rhe Mysric River on 21 July after m ore than fo ur years on the hard. When the Morgan was launched in 184 1, she was just one of hundreds of her kind then in service, as New Bedford and nearby Nan tucket were rhen ar the height of their reign as whaling capitals of the world. So much of our heri tage com es from this era and fro m rhis industry-som e call it a fi shery-that we don't even realize it. O n rhe day of rhe launch , Mystic Seaport sraff and supporters were o ut in force. 1h e event fell on a Sunday in the middle of rhe summer hear wave we used to know as July. Storm clouds rolled in during the m orning ho urs, eirher rhrearening to !er loose and break rhe srifling h ear, if ir cam e early in rhe day, or to douse rhe crowds who had com e to wirness and parricipare in rhis historic event if ir came in rhe afrernoon. 1 h e skies rhrearened bur no rhing wo uld come of it. As the sun rose high in rhe sky, rhere wasn'r a parking space to be had ar any of the !ors or srreets o utside rhe museum, nor rhe secondary lots rhey ran shuttle buses to and from, nor rhe ones
beyond that. No marte r, once yo u m ade ir on to rhe museum gro unds, the m ood was fes tive ... and relaxed. I ran into Dana Hewson abo ut a half h our before the progran1 was scheduled to srarr, which would conclude with rhe Morgan's launch. Dana is Mystic Seaport's C lark Senio r C urato r for Warercrafr and Vice President for Watercraft Preservarion and Program, which in translation means he has everyd1ing to do wirh rhe physical restorario n of rhe ship. He and the museum's shipyard di rector Q uentin Snediker have overseen the projecr fro m rhe beginning and together bore the bulk of the responsibility of rhe work conducred . (We
were honored to award Dana and Q uenti n with the NMHS D istinguished Service Award in 2010 for rheir leadership on rhe Morgan res torati o n project. ) I was surprised to see him milling about, chatting with guests who we re arriving. He couldn'r have been m o re relaxed and composed. The sam e goes fo r rhe many, many others who wo rk at the Seaport. They had invired rhe wo rld, rhe wo rld showed up, and everyrhing was riding on the success of the launch . If th ey were anxious, then they hid it well. Mind yo u, the Morgan was cradled in a specially built shiplift at the m useum's H enry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard.
The Morgan shull a year ago. 38
SEA HilSTORY 144, AUTUMN 201 3