Mayflower Ship -- Facts
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Diagram Mayflower II
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Photos Mayflower II
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Passenger List & Other Ship Notes
Source Guide To Historic Plymouth, 1921, Boston
"The Mayflower could have been little larger than a canal boat . . . about
90 feet long and some 24 feet wide, and served by a crew of from 15 to 20 men.
Of her three masts those for and aft have been described as being
"square rigged and without jibs," while the "mizzen" mast carried a
"lateen"
sail. The body of the vessel included a high forecastle and a high poop
deck which left the middle of the ship low. History describes the
Mayflower as being "broad of beam, short in the waist, low between decks and not
tight in her upper works," She was, in other words, what seamen know as a
"wet" ship, and being heavily loaded as "low in the water."
The crew occupied the quarters fore . . . while the passengers (102) were placed
aft "in bunks and cabins."
William Bradford's classic account of the Mayflower's voyage does not
mention the ship by name, nor does it describe the vessel. In 1926, however, a model was
constructed by R. C. Anderson from general information about late-16th-century merchant
ships of its tonnage. This model, which is in Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth, gives the ship's
dimensions as 90 ft (27.4 m) long, with a 64-ft (19.5-m) keel, 26-ft (7.9-m) beam,and a
hold 11 ft (3.4 m) deep.
In 1957 a close replica of the Mayflower, the Mayflower II, was built
in 1957 by England as a gift to America and sailed from Plymouth, England,to
Plymouth,Mass., where it is now on view.
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(George Ernest Bowman, Mayflower Descendant, Pilgrim Notes)
" Between 1620 and 1630 a "Mayflower," or "Mayflowers,"
crossed the seas three times. One in 1620 carried the Pilgrim Fathers to New
Plymouth; one in 1629 carried Higginson's party to Salem; and one in 1630
carried Winthrop's party to Charlestown. It has generally been assumed that
these three voyages were made by the same ship; but the strong probability is
that
the voyages of 1629 and 1630 were not made by the ship that sailed in
1620."
According to Bowman the name Mayflower for ships was uncommonly common, with
numerous ships of that name trading from numerous ports abroad.
The Mayflower set sail for home on April 5, 1621, arriving back May 6. The ship
made a few more trading runs, to Spain and then to Ireland, and lastly to
France. However, Captain Christopher Jones died shortly thereafter, in
March 1622. The ship lay dormant for about two years, at which point it
was appraised for probate, and its value was determined to be £128-08-04, an
extremely low value (had it been in sailing condition, £700 could be expected).
This inventory is the last record of the Mayflower. The ship was not in
very good condition, being called "in ruinis" in a 1624 High Court of
Admiralty record (HCA 3/30, fo. 227). Ships in that condition were more
valuable as wood (which was in shortage in England at the time), so the
Mayflower was most likely broken apart and sold as scrap.
