Deck Log Mayflower Sails 2020—400 Years Since that Fateful Voyage
plimoth plantation
In the United States, our history is recent enough that we see few anniversaries of events past 250 years, making the quadricentennial of the Mayflower’s arrival in the New World this year a big deal, with events planned on both sides of the Atlantic. The full-sized replica Mayflower II, owned and operated by Plimoth Plantation in Massachusetts, was relaunched last September after almost three years on the hard at the Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard at Mystic Seaport Museum, where a combined workforce of Mystic Seaport and Plimoth Plantation crewmembers conducted a full restoration of the ship. Over the winter, her crew is completing restoration projects with the ship in the water. By spring, her rig and equipment will be installed and she’ll be ready for sea. In May, under the command of Capt. Whit Perry, Mayflower II will return to Massachusetts for a once-ina-lifetime event, when USS Constitution will escort her from Boston Harbor to the Charlestown Navy Yard for a six-day maritime festival. At the festival’s conclusion, Mayflower II will set sail for home in Plymouth, where scores of wellwishers will be able to see the ship from shore as she approaches the harbor on 21 May and Plimoth Plantation will host its own commemoration. See page 29 for details and a list of websites that will update information on events and activities as they become available. The Mayflower Sails 2020 and Plymouth 400 events provide a great opportunity to learn more about this Mayflower II pivotal moment in history beyond what most of us were taught in grade school. Who were the Mayflower Pilgrims, and why did they brave danger and hardships to venture across a barely charted ocean and settle in a territory they knew next to nothing about? While you are waiting for warmer weather this spring, perhaps prepare by tucking into a good book on the subject. There are some excellent selections to choose from: Nathaniel Philbrick’s Mayflower is a must-read; Mayflower and Her Passengers, by Caleb H. Johnson, and The Mayflower: The Families, the Voyage, and the Founding of America, by Rebecca Fraser, are relatively recent books covering different aspects of the story. A handful of contemporary accounts are still in print: Of Plymouth Plantation, by William Bradford; Mourt’s Relation (anonymous), or Good News From New England, by Edward Winslow, are all available by major booksellers. You can also go online to find out about the programs scheduled both here and abroad (groups in England and the Netherlands are also organizing major events to commemorate the voyage)—we will provide a list of many of these programs at www.seahistory.org/Mayflower2020. Mayflower II may not be the original ship that carried the Pilgrims to the New World, but at 63 years old she is, perhaps, old enough—and her role in maritime heritage significant enough—to qualify as a historic ship in her own right. Plimoth Plantation is to be congratulated for taking such care of this vessel, which has helped keep the maritime aspect of this early part of our American history alive for visitors young and old. —Burchenal Green, NMHS president 4
NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY PUBLISHER’S CIRCLE: Peter Aron, Guy E. C. Maitland, Ronald L. Oswald OFFICERS & TRUSTEES: Chairman, Ronald L. Oswald; Vice Chairman, Richardo R. Lopes; President, Burchenal Green; Vice Presidents: Jessica MacFarlane, Deirdre O’Regan, Wendy Paggiotta, Nancy Schnaars; Treasurer, Howard Slotnick; Secretary, Jean Wort; Trustees: Charles B. Anderson; Walter R. Brown; Christopher J. Culver; William S. Dudley; David Fowler; William Jackson Green; Karen Helmerson; Denise Krepp; Richard M. Larrabee; Guy E. C. Maitland; CAPT Sally Chin McElwreath, USN (Ret.); Michael W. Morrow; CAPT James A. Noone, USN (Ret.); Richard Patrick O’Leary; ADM Robert J. Papp Jr., USCG (Ret.); Timothy J. Runyan; Richard Scarano; Philip J. Shapiro; Capt. Cesare Sorio; William H. White; Chairmen Emeriti: Walter R. Brown, Alan G. Choate, Guy E. C. Maitland, Howard Slotnick; Trustee Elect, Capt. Jeffrey McAllister FOUNDER: Karl Kortum (1917–1996) PRESIDENT EMERITUS: Peter Stanford (1927–2016) OVERSEERS: Chairman, RADM David C. Brown, USMS (Ret.); RADM Joseph F. Callo, USN (Ret.); George W. Carmany III; Clive Cussler; Richard du Moulin; Alan D. Hutchison; Gary Jobson; Sir Robin Knox-Johnston; John Lehman; Capt. Brian McAllister; Capt. James J. McNamara; H. C. Bowen Smith; John Stobart; Philip J. Webster; Roberta Weisbrod NMHS ADVISORS: George Bass, Francis Duffy, John Ewald, Timothy Foote, Steven A. Hyman, J. Russell Jinishian, Gunnar Lundeberg, Conrad Milster, William G. Muller, Stuart Parnes, Nancy Hughes Richardson, Joyce Huber SEA HISTORY EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD: Chairman, Timothy Runyan; Norman Brouwer, Robert Browning, William Dudley, Lisa Egeli, Daniel Finamore, Kevin Foster, Cathy Green, John Jensen, Frederick Leiner, Joseph Meany, Salvatore Mercogliano, Carla Rahn Phillips, Walter Rybka, Quentin Snediker, William H. White NMHS STAFF: Executive Director, Burchenal Green; Director of Development, Jessica MacFarlane; Comptroller, Anjoeline Osuyah; Membership Associate, Andrea Ryan; Membership Coordinator, Nancy Schnaars; Senior Staff Writer: Shelley Reid; Executive Assistant, Heather Purvis; Membership Assistant, Irene Eisenfeld SEA HISTORY: Editor, Deirdre E. O’Regan; Advertising Director, Wendy Paggiotta Sea History is printed by The Lane Press, South Burlington, Vermont, USA.
SEA HISTORY 170, SPRING 2020