Whaleship Peru (1818)

Date: 1818 to 1872
Location: Nantucket, Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States

Contents 1 Description 1.1 Summary of Whaling Voyages 1.2 Paintings of the Peru 2 References

Description

Whaling ship..

Bark/Ship-rigged, 257/221 (tons), built 1818, Hanover, Massachusetts.

Owners: Coffin & Macy, David Joy, Jr., Robert F. Gardner, David Thain, Zenas L. Adams, Williams & Haven, John McCullough.

Summary of Whaling Voyages

Voyage	Depart	Port	Master	Destination	Note
1818-20	29 Aug 1818	Nantucket, MA	David Harris	Pacific	1609 bbl oil
1821-24	4 Mar 1821	Nantucket, MA	Peter Veeder	Pacific	1763 bbl oil
1824-27	1824	Nantucket, MA	Samuel Joy	Pacific	1416 bbl oil
1828-29	1828	Nantucket, MA	Joseph Pease	—	718 bbl oil
1829-30	1829	Nantucket, MA	Joseph Pease	—	1216 bbl oil
1830-31	1830	Nantucket, MA	Joseph Pease	—	1557 bbl oil
1831-32	1831	Nantucket, MA	William Brooks, Jr.	—	1514 bbl oil
1832-33	1832	Nantucket, MA	William Brooks, Jr.	—	848 bbl oil
1833-35	1833	Nantucket, MA	William Brooks, Jr.	—	739 bbl oil
1835-39	1835	Nantucket, MA	Wm Felix Brown, Jr.	Pacific	825 bbl oil
1839-42	1839	Nantucket, MA	Joshua Coffin II	Pacific	1340 bbl oil
1843-46	10 May 1843	Nantucket, MA	Edwin Barnard	Pacific	966 bbl oil
1847-50	21 Aug 1847	Nantucket, MA	Consider Fisher	Atlantic, W. Indies, Pacific	960 bbl oil
1851-55	1851	Nantucket, MA	Charles E. Starbuck	Pacific	1744 bbl oil
1855-59	1855	Nantucket, MA	Frederick A. Easton	Pacific	893 bbl oil
1859-63	1859	Nantucket, MA	Elihu F. Turner	Pacific	1272 bbl oil
1864-69	1864	New London, CT	Hempstead, Hull, Smith	Pacific	2227 bbl oil, 19,560 lbs baleen
1870-71	1870	New London, CT	Robert H. Glass	—	1500 bbl oil
1871-72	1871	New London, CT	George D. Gilderdale	—	187 bbl oil
1875-78	15 Apr 1875	New Bedford, MA	Jasper M. Ears	Atlantic	940 bbl oil
1878-81	12 Nov 1878	New Bedford, MA	Anthony P. Benton	Atlantic	1410 bbl oil

Note : Broken up in 1882 or 1883.

With at least 21 whaling voyages spanning over 60 years, the whaleship Peru was one of the most successful whaleships sailing out of Nantucket or any other port. It also witnessed the peak and diminishing returns from whale fishing and the end of whaling from Nantucket after the Civil War.

Paintings of the Peru

The Nantucket Historical Association has two paintings of the ship Peru. The first, painted in 1880 by the Nantucket artist James Walter Folger, whose father, Joseph W. Folger, was a whaling captain, and the second was painted by R.R. Newell in 1966. Both have details such as the signal flags that identify the ship and her owners.

References

• “The Whaling History”, database, New Bedford Whaling Museum, entry for vessel Peru, WRI AS0555, https://whalinghistory.org/wri/AS0555 (accessed Oct 2023).