Mayflower II

The Mayflower II is a replica of the 17th century ship Mayflower, celebrated for transporting the Pilgrims to the New World. ^[1] The replica was built in Devon, England, during 1955–1956, in a collaboration between Englishman Warwick Charlton and Plimoth Plantation, an American museum. The work drew from reconstructed ship blueprints held by the American museum with hand construction by English shipbuilders' using traditional methods.^[1] On April 20, 1957, recreating the original voyage, Mayflower II was sailed across the Atlantic Ocean,^[1] under the command of Alan Villiers. Afterwards, Villiers and crew received a ticker-tape parade in New York City.

Mayflower II at State Pier in Plymouth, Massachusetts, 2006

Built at the Upham Shipyard in Brixham and financed by private donations in England and the Plimouth Plantation, the ship represented the alliance between the United Kingdom and the USA for collaboration in World War II.^[1] Within a few details (electric lights added and ladder replaced with a lower-deck staircase), the ship is considered a faithful replica, with solid oak timbers, tarred hemp rigging, and hand-coloured maps. The ship is 106 ft (32 m) long by 25 ft (7.6 m) wide, 236 tons displacement, 4 masts (mainmast, foremast, mizzen, sprit), and 6 sails.

The ship is seaworthy and sailed to Providence, Rhode Island in 2002. It is open for tours near Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The ship is still owned by Plimoth Plantation.

History

In August 1954 Warwick Charlton conceived the idea to construct a reproduction of the Mayflower to commemorate the wartime cooperation between the United Kingdom and the USA. He had served alongside many American allies in the North African theatre during World War II. Project Mayflower was created in 1955 to build a replica of the Mayflower in England and sail the ship to the United States as a symbol of Anglo-American friendship.^[1]

The project's sponsors wanted to ensure proper siting of the ship after it reached the United States.^[1] They were aware that earlier reproduction vessels had rotted away after interest in their initial voyages faded. Project Mayflower learned of the Plimoth Plantation museum, and in March 1955, John Lowe of Project Mayflower came to the United States. He met with representatives of Plimoth Plantation to gain assistance in future berthing and exhibition of Mayflower II.^[1]

Plimoth Plantation had planned, years earlier, to add a replica of the Mayflower to its exhibits.^[1] In 1951, the museum had already commissioned plans for a Mayflower II from the naval architect William A. Baker of MIT. Baker's detailed plans had been finished by the time Project Mayflower announced its goals. A waterline model of the vessel's hull had also been built, but nothing more.^[1]

By the spring of 1955, the two organizations negotiated an agreement^[1]: in exchange for using Baker's design plans and advice, plus the Plimouth Plantations' guarantee to maintain and exhibit the vessel permanently, Project Mayflower agreed to build Mayflower II, and sail it across the Atlantic. After visiting various East Coast ports to exhibit the ship, the Project would release it to Plimoth Plantation.^[1]

The construction of Mayflower II was conducted at the Upham shipyard in Brixham, Devonshire, England.^[1] The ship's keel was laid on July 27, 1955, and ship architect William A. Baker was sent by Plimoth Plantation to advise the builders and view the progress of the ship's construction.^[1]

The ship was replicated as accurately as possible, with carefully chosen English oak timbers, hand-forged nails, hand-sewn linen canvas sails, hemp cordage, and the Stockholm tar of the type used on 17th-century ships.^[1] Based on analysis of the traditional colors and designs of English merchant ships illustrated in Dutch and English paintings, Mayflower II has the brown hull and the dark-red strapwork ornamentation of those 17th-century merchant ships. Carved into the stern of Mayflower II is a blossom of a hawthorne, or English mayflower. ^[1] In England, the skills of elderly traditional workmen were employed to build a vessel reflected Baker's detailed research and could sail the Atlantic as securely as the original ship.^[1]

The Mayflower II was launched on September 22, 1956, a rainy day.^[1] The ceremony was based on knowledge about christenings of 17th-century vessels. The ship was toasted from a gold loving cup that was afterward thrown into the water, and then quickly retrieved by an underwater diver, in the traditional manner.^[1] The ship slid gracefully down the ways to enter Brixham harbor with a large splash.

On April 20, 1957, Mayflower II began the solitary voyage across the Atlantic.^[1] For time and to avoid the risk of winter ice, the new ship took a more southerly route than the original Mayflower in September 1620, but otherwise, the voyage was an accurate replication of a period ocean crossing. The weather cooperated; Mayflower II first sailed calm seas and then met a violent storm off Bermuda, common weather for a transatlantic crossing.^[1]

The ship has been a popular attraction near Boston; it has become the site of national and state celebrations. On Thanksgiving 1970 (the 350th anniversary of Mayflower landing), members of the American Indian Movement (AIM), led by Russell Means, seized Mayflower II in protest of the United States government's failure to abide by treaties with American Indians and its historically poor treatment of them.

See also

• Ship replica (including a list of replicas)

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t} "Press Kit - Mayflower X" (with history of the Mayflower), Plimoth Plantation Museum, 2004, Plimoth.org webpage: PlimothOrg-MayflowerBG.

Note: The above article states that the Mayflower 2 was financed by private donations in England and by the American museum. One schoolboy in 1955 attending Boston Public Schools recalls that a collection was made of the students, asking for pennies to help finance the building of the Mayflower 2. They were told that it was part of a national drive to raise $50,000 to help build the ship. Much of the United States financing of the ship may have come from the school children across America and their contributions and participation should be recognized.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• Official Site
• All about the Mayflower and Plymouth, UK
• Mayflower II Tour - My Big Adventure (72 Images)
• Cooke, Alistair (12 June 1957). "The Mayflower lands again". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/1957/jun/12/1. Retrieved 2008-06-12.