Built in four months at a cost of $16,000 and launched on February 1, 1894 at the James & Tarr shipyard in Essex MA, EFFIE M. MORRISSEY was owned by Captain William E. Morrissey and the John F. Wonson, Co. of Gloucester, MA. The vessel was named after Captain Morrissey’s daughter. The ship’s illustrious career began that same year, when the 156-foot-long schooner carried Gloucester fishermen to the Grand Banks, Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland in search of cod, haddock, hake, halibut, pollock, and other species and to carry freight. (William’s son Capt. Clayton E Morrissey, who also commanded the MORRISSEY after his father, served as the model for the famous Gloucester fisherman’s statue.)

EFFIE M. MORRISSEY would become famous not only as a banks fisherman, but also as one of the great expedition vessels of arctic exploration, a venerable transAtlantic immigration packet, a symbol of Cape Verdean-American history and heritage, and as an active educational and cultural resource serving the New England region. However, the white oak and yellow pine hull of the Effie M. Morrissey slid down the ways of the John F. James & Washington Tarr shipyard not as remarkable individual ship, but as a fine example of thousands of similar, Essex-built schooners. It was the heyday of the Gloucester fisherman.

George McClain of Gloucester was one of the pioneer designers of a new type of fishing schooner whose fine lines offered extra speed to market for the best price and a deep, heavily ballasted hull for stability to withstand North Atlantic gales. McClain, a former schooner skipper and prominent public figure in Gloucester during the 1890s, designed the 112′ Morrissey with a 13′ draft and 8,500 square feet of sail. Ernestina’s one hundred years of active service attest to the quality of the McClain model.

Sources

Schooner Ernestina; ex Effie M. Morrissey: http://www.ernestina.org/

* Noteworthy

1865 – President Abraham Lincoln signs the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

1918 – Russia adopts the Gregorian calendar.

1953 – North Sea flood of 1953 was caused by a heavy storm which occurred overnight, 31 January-1 February 1953. The floods struck the Netherlands, Belgium and the U.K.

1964 – The Beatles have their first number one hit in the United States with “I Want to Hold Your Hand”.

1968 – Canada’s three military services, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force, are unified into the Canadian Forces.

1968 – The New York Central Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad are merged to form Penn Central Transportation.