Whaling Disaster of 1871


The Whaling Disaster of 1871 was an incident off the northern Alaskan coast in which a fleet of 33 American whaling ships were trapped in the Arctic ice in late 1871 and subsequently abandoned. It dealt a serious blow to the American whaling industry, already in decline.

The 1871 whaling season

In late June 1871, forty whaleships passed north through Bering Strait, hunting bowhead whales. By August the vessels had passed as far as Point Belcher, near Wainwright, Alaska, before a stationary high, parked over northeast Siberia, reversed the normal wind pattern and pushed the pack ice toward the Alaskan coast. Seven ships were able to escape to the south, but 33 others were trapped. Within two weeks the pack had tightened around the vessels, crushing four ships. The vessels were spread out in a long line, some south of Point Franklin.
By mid-September all 1,219 people aboard the ships evacuated in small whaleboats with a three-month supply of provisions, crossed of ocean, and were eventually brought to safety by the seven ships which had escaped the ice to the south. Amazingly, there were no casualties.
The seven whalers that escaped were forced to dump their catch and most of their equipment overboard to make room for passengers on the return trip to Honolulu. The total loss was valued at over $1,600,000. Twenty-two of the wrecked vessels were from New Bedford, Massachusetts. In 1872 the bark Minerva was discovered intact and subsequently salvaged, but the rest were crushed in the ice, sank, or were stripped of wood by the local Inupiat.

Lost whaling vessels

The lost vessels were as follows:
VesselHomeportCaptainNotes
RomanNew Bedford, MAJared JerneganCrushed in the ice on September 7, 1871.
ConcordiaNew Bedford, MARobert JonesAbandoned and lost. Wreck burned by local Inuit.
Gay HeadNew Bedford, MAWilliam H. KelleyAbandoned and lost. Wreck burned by local Inuit.
GeorgeNew Bedford, MAAbraham OsbornAbandoned and lost.
John WellsNew Bedford, MAAaron DeanAbandoned and lost.
MANew Bedford, MAWest MitchellAbandoned and wrecked. One lone sailor remained with the wreck through the winter.
J.D. ThompsonNew London, CTCapt. AllenAbandoned and lost.
ContestNew Bedford, MALeander C. OwenAbandoned and lost.
Emily MorganNew Bedford, MABenjamin DexterAbandoned and lost. Wreck later found ashore.
ChampionEdgartown, MAHenry PeaseAbandoned and lost. Wreck later found ashore.
Henry TaberNew Bedford, MATimothy C. PackardAbandoned and lost.
Elizabeth SwiftNew Bedford, MAGeorge W. BlivenAbandoned and lost.
FloridaNew Bedford, MAD. R. FraserAbandoned and lost. Wreck burned by local Inuit.
Oliver CrockerNew Bedford, MAJames H. FisherAbandoned and lost.
NavyNew Bedford, MAGeorge F. BouldryAbandoned and lost.
ReindeerNew Bedford, MAB. F. LovelandAbandoned and lost. Sunken wreck found in 1872.
SenecaNew Bedford, MAEdmund KelleyAbandoned and lost. Beached wreck found in 1872.
George HowlandNew Bedford, MAJames H. KnowlesAbandoned and lost.
FannyNew Bedford, MALewis W. WilliamsAbandoned and lost.
CarlottaSan Francisco, CAE. Everett SmithAbandoned and lost.
Paiea or PaiaHonolulu, HIAbandoned and lost.
MonticelloNew London, CTThomas W. WilliamsAbandoned and lost.
KoholaHonolulu, HIAlexander AlmyAbandoned and lost. Wreck later found ashore.
EugeniaNew Bedford, MADaniel B. NyeAbandoned and lost.
JulianHonolulu, HIJohn HeppingstoneAbandoned and lost.
AwashonksNew Bedford, MAAriel NortonCrushed in the ice on September 8, 1871.
Thomas DickasonNew Bedford, MAValentine LewisAbandoned and lost. Wreck found in 1872.
MinervaNew Bedford, MAHezekiah AllenAbandoned. Discovered intact in 1872; manned and taken south.
William RotchNew Bedford, MACromwell MorslanderAbandoned and lost.
VictoriaSan Francisco, CACapt. RedfieldAbandoned and lost.
MaryEdgartown, MAEdward P. HerendeenAbandoned and lost.
CometHonolulu, HICapt. SylviaCrushed in the ice on September 2, 1871.