Dec 29th, 2019 : Oil, Whale Oil

♫ Got a whale of a tale to tell you lads
A whale of a tale or two ♪
♫ 'Bout the flappin' fish and the girls I've loved
On nights like this with the moon above ♪
♫ A whale of a tale and its all true
I swear by my tattoo ♪

Mermaid Minnie... Typhoon Tessie... Harpoon Hannah... sigh... but I digress.
It started when I found this picture of five types of whales their size and barrels of oil they produced.



I got curious as to what was the maximum barrels of oil those New Bedford whaling ships could haul home from a three or four
year voyage. Of course how much they actually had to bring home depended how much luck they had with the hunt.
And the ships varied in size but I just wanted a ballpark figure so I ask Google and as usual it took me everywhere but where
I wanted to go.

ME ~ Yo, Goog baby, how many barrels of whale oil could a whaling ship carry.
G ~ you can buy whale oil here... whale oil health benefits... buy whale oil soap...
No, I haven't forgotten when I had to trek to the library to find this shit. Yes, I'm spoiled.



Eventually I found the New Bedford Whaling Museum and the Whaling History sites.
After hours of reading(because it was interesting not because I like you) I picked up a few tidbits.

When the New Bedford whaler, Benjamin Tucker, returned to home port in 1851, she carried: 73,707 gallons of whale-oil;
5,348 gallons of sperm oil; 30,012 pounds of whalebone (baleen).

The standard unit of measure, the barrel, contained 31 1/2 gallons.

After expenses, the net profit of the Benjamin Tucker’s voyage was $45,320($1,513,853 in 2020).
The usual share for the owners of a ship was between 60 and 70 percent. In this case, between $13,596 ($454,156) and
$18,128 ($605,541) would have been left to be divided among the captain and crew for several years of work.

When the Ship Milton returned to port in 1836, the captain received a lay of 1/17th or $5,882 ($162,677); the first mate 1/22nd
or $4,545 ($125,700); the boatsteerer (harpooneer) 1/75 or $1,333 ($36,866); and the blacksmith 1/140th or $714 ($19,747).
The best paid seaman earned $800 ($22,125), while the worst paid received $571 ($15,792).
On another voyage of the Milton, one of the ordinary seamen earned only $10.10 ($279.33) for 4 years work.
But hey, they got room and board too... and a shower when it rained.

You've triggered my ADHD.

http://crookedtimber.org/2005/01/31/...haling-expert/

"The Bark CONCORDIA is shown under full sail departing New Bedford on her maiden voyage on December 7, 1867. At the time she was considered the ultimate in whaleship design. Unfortunately, the CONCORDIA never returned as she was caught in the Great Arctic Disaster of 1871 when 32 whaleships were trapped by ice on the Alaskan coast and abandoned." (flickr)

The unsigned painting is attributed to William Edward Norton and is titled 'Outbound Whaler, Dropping the Pilot." I'd say they picked a tough time to do it.

I love the stark clarity of early photographs:
https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/...alth:rr173546h

Click the zoom + for even greater detail.

And more

https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/whaling...shipwreck.html

After that 1871 disaster of 33 ships caught in the ice they would lay up in San Francisco for the winter.
Then about 1888 they discovered they could overwinter at Herschel Island, saving a long voyage south and back.

Attachment 69427

Of course that meant the ship owners were supplying room and board all winter.
A ship's captain bringing his wife and kids along, as most of them did, had to pay the owners $1,000 to overwinter at Herschel.
I don't know if that was for one winter or for the duration.