Percy & Small Shipyard

Percy & Small Shipyard
Percy & Small Shipyard is located in Maine
Percy & Small Shipyard
Percy & Small Shipyard is located in the United States
Percy & Small Shipyard
Location451 Washington St., Bath, Maine
Area3.0 acres (1.2 ha)
Built1894 (1894)
NRHP reference No.71000043
Added to NRHPJuly 27, 1971

The Percy & Small Shipyard is a former shipyard and modern-day historic site located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine.[1] In 1909, the shipyard launched Wyoming, the largest wooden sailing ship ever built.[2]

History

Founders

Born in Phippsburg, Maine, on December 13, 1856, Samuel Rogers Percy Jr. was the child of his namesake father, a ship's captain, and Eleanor M. (Golder) Percy. After the death of Samuel Percy Sr., Eleanor married a shipbuilder named George M. Adams. At age 16, Percy left school to work at a steam sawmill for half a year, then joined his stepfather's shipyard Adams & Hitchcock, followed by a stint at another yard. At age 19 he went to sea, initially in California including a stint on a steamer based in San Francisco, before rising to first mate and officer on the ship Enos Soule built in Freeport, Maine. He received his first command in 1882, on board Normandy built by Adams & Hitchcock. Percy returned to Bath in 1893 after learning his stepfather was near death, and the following year created Percy & Small alongside Frank Small.

Frank Albion Small was born in Bath on April 17, 1865, as the youngest son of shipmaster Joseph Small. Graduating from Bath High School, Small worked initially for a shipbroker and insurance agent, then took a job with the Kelley, Spear & Co. shipyard in Bath. Small would serve as Bath mayor in 1911 and 1912.

Percy & Small's lead designer was Miles M. Merry, who was born in 1844 in Damariscotta, Maine and learned shipbuilding at Goss, Sawyer & Packard and two other shipyards. [3]

Founding and activities

Samuel R. Percy and Frank A. Small founded the Percy & Small Shipyard in 1894 to build coastwise schooners. The shipyard also operated a fleet of collier ships along the New England coast. Over an 18-year period, Percy & Small built 42 schooners, seven of which were stepped with six masts, including Wyoming. The shipyard is credited with building the ten largest sailing ships in Bath between 1890 and 1921.[4]

In addition to the Percy & Small Shipyard's tandem slipways which could accommodate two ships under construction simultaneously,[5] at least six buildings were known to have been built on the three-acre property: a sawmill and carpentry shop, a caulking shed, a blacksmith building, a mould loft to lay out ship designs, a paint and treenail production shop, and a generator building to furnish electricity.[6]

End

The last known surviving ship built by Percy & Small was a four-masted schooner launched under the name Annie C. Ross and later renamed Star of the Sea, which sank in 1955 while moored at Glen Cove, New York.

In 1971, the Percy & Small Shipyard was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[7] Prior owners donated the property to Maine Maritime Museum in 1975.[8]

Between 1980 and 1984, the Percy & Small Shipyard facilities were used for the restoration of Bowdoin, built in 1921 at the Hodgdon Brothers Shipyard in East Boothbay, Maine. Renowned for its voyages above the Arctic Circle, Bowdoin was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980; named Maine's official state vessel in 1986; and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989.[9]

Competition and Challenges

The Percy & Small Shipyard launched its shipbuilding operations four years after the introduction of steel steamship construction at Bath Iron Works,[10] a development that would eventually come to dominate shipbuilding.

According to its National Register of Historic Places application, the Percy & Small Shipyard also encountered challenges in sourcing wood for ship construction, with Maine logging supplies exhausted near the end of the 19th century from decades of shipyard demand and exports. Percy & Small relied on Carolina tamarack, Georgia pine and Virginia oak for shipbuilding, and mast timber from the Pacific Northwest which was shipped east on railroad flatbed cars.[11] The construction of Wyoming alone required 1.5 million feet of pine and white oak.[12]

Like other shipyards, Percy & Small used iron straps attached to wooden components of hulls to better reinforce ships against the punishment of waves, but ships were still prone to twisting and buckling that contributed to seams loosening between hull planking. Percy & Small ships were equipped with steam-powered engines to pump water from bilges, and hoist the massive schooner sails which allowed for smaller crews. That in turn helped ship owners cut costs on voyages to better compete with steamships for cargoes.[13]

List of ships

The Percy & Small Shipyard is believed to have built 42 schooners and a small number more of other vessels.

Ships built by Percy & Small Shipyard[14]
Name Launched Type Ton. Len. Beam Depth Notes
Charles P. Notman August 29, 1894 Schooner 1,518 219.3 42.5 20.5 Sunk in June 1900 off Delaware after rammed by steamer Colorado in fog.[15]
William H. Clifford August 6, 1895 Schooner 1,594 221.6 43.5 19.6 Sunk September 8, 1917, in U-boat attack off France.[16]
S.P. Blackburn June 24, 1896 Schooner 1,757 233.7 43.9 20.1 Shipwrecked January 26, 1917, off Cape Hatteras.[17]
Alice E. Clark January 24, 1898 Schooner 1,622 227.4 43 20.1 Struck ledge July 1, 1909, in Penobscot Bay.[18]
M. D. Cressy May 11, 1899 Schooner 2,115 264.4 43.9 21.6 Sunk in storm April 9, 1917, in transit with cargo of coal from New York City to Le Havre, France.[19]
Helen W. Martin March 3, 1900 Schooner 2,265 281.6 44.8 20.9 Renamed Fenix after sale to new owners, ran aground on sand bar off Denmark during storm on January 20, 1920, and broke apart.[20]
Eleanor A. Percy October 10, 1900 Schooner 3,401 323.5 50 24.8 Foundered off Ireland on December 26, 1919.[21]
William C. Carnegie 1900 Schooner 2,664 289.2 46.3 22.4 Shipwrecked May 1, 1909, after going aground on sand bar off Long Island, New York.[22]
Oakley C. Curtis January 19, 1901 Schooner 2,374 265 46.2 22.9 Converted to barge in 1930.[23]
Martha P. Small April 20, 1901 Schooner 2,178 264.6 45.7 21.5 Scrapped in 1923 in Montevideo, Uruguay after damage from 1921 storm.[24]
Cora F. Cressey April 12, 1902 Schooner 2,499 273 45.4 27.9 Spelled "Cora F. Cressy" in some historic accounts. Converted in 1929 to floating nightclub; scuttled in 1938 in Bremen, Maine. Hulk added to National Register of Historic Places in 1990.[25]
Cordelia E. Hayes August 17, 1901 Schooner 1,281 202.5 40.3 18.7 Shipwrecked January 15, 1905, after going aground at Diamond Shoals off Cape Hatteras.[26]
Miles M. Merry November 14, 1901 Schooner 1,589 215.2 43.2 20.1 Stranded February 17, 1909, off Long Island coast at Moriches, New York.[27]
Addie M. Lawrence December 17, 1902 Schooner 2,807 292.4 48.3 22.2 Went aground off France during storm on July 9, 1917.[28]
Margaret Ward August 9, 1902 Schooner 1,074 191.5 38.7 20.7 Sunk April 13, 1903, after collision with steamer El Rio off Galveston, Texas. [29]
Florence M. Penley April 2, 1903 Schooner 1,154 195.5 40.9 20.6 Foundered in storm off Barbados on September 8, 1908.[30]
Elizabeth Palmer August 26, 1903 Schooner 2,065 300.4 48.3 28.3 Sank January 26, 1915, after colliding with steamer SS Washingtonian off the coast of Delaware.[31]
Grace A. Martin July 16, 1904 Schooner 3,129 302 48.1 28.6 Foundered January 14, 1914, south of Matinicus Rock in the Gulf of Maine.[32]
Ruth E. Merrill November 23, 1904 Schooner 3.003 301 48.2 23.7 Sank in calm weather off Martha's Vineyard on January 12, 1924, after seams compromised in prior storm.[33] Film footage captured of swamped schooner and crew members.[34]
Evelyn W. Hinkly January 19, 1905 Schooner 698 179.4 37.1 12.5 Lost after leaving New York on December 9, 1917, bound for La Rochelle, France.[35]
Davis Palmer November 28, 1905 Schooner 2,965 305.4 48.4 27.2 Sank after striking Finn's Ledge off Boston during blizzard, on December 26, 1909.[36]
Robert P. Murphy December 16, 1905 Schooner 697 175.3 37.1 13.5 Destroyed by fire in 1924 at Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.[37]
Alice M. Lawrence December 1, 1906 Schooner 3,132 305.1 48.2 22.6 Went aground on Tuckernuck Shoal in Nantucket Sound on December 5, 1914.[38]
Fannie Palmer II May 25, 1907 Schooner 2,233 263.7 45 21.3 Foundered December 24, 1916, about 500 miles west of Gibraltar.
Edward J. Lawrence April 2, 1908 Schooner 3,350 320.2 50 29 Sunk off Portland, Maine, after fire on December 27, 1925.[39]
Governor Brooks October 22, 1907 Schooner 2,628 280.7 45.8 21.5 Abandoned and destroyed by dynamite in 1921 while en route to Uruguay.[40]
Edward B. Winslow November 24, 1908 Schooner 3,424 318.4 50 23.7 Destroyed by fire in 1917 off coast of France.[41]
Fuller Palmer November 10, 1908 Schooner 3.060 309.4 48.9 27.4 Foundered southeast of Cape Cod in storm on January 15, 1914.[42]
Wyoming December 15, 1909 Schooner 3,730 329.5 50.1 30.4 Sunk in March 1924 in storm southeast of Cape Cod.[43]
Dustin G. Cressy July 12, 1912 Schooner 862 182.3 38.2 15 Capsized on February 19, 1917, after colliding with steamship Valeria in New York Harbor.[44]
Carl F. Cressy January 6, 1915 Schooner 898 189.1 38.3 15.5 Sunk by U-boat torpedo on August 23, 1917, after captain attempted to outrun the submarine in heavy weather.[45]
Charles D. Loveland April 6, 1916 Schooner 776 179.6 37 15 Renamed Esther Melbourne;[46] shipwrecked off Haiti in 1928.
C. C. Mengel, Jr. August 3, 1916 Schooner 844 184 38 15 Shipwrecked January 7, 1922, off Morant Cays and Jamaica.[47]
Sam C. Mengel January 13, 1917 Schooner 915 186.9 38 15.7 Scuttled by U-boat crew on June 3, 1918, off Delaware.[48]
Dunham Wheeler July 2, 1917 Schooner 1,926 254.5 44.2 23 Sank in November 1930, during storm off Cape Canaveral, Florida.[49]
Annie C. Ross October 3, 1917 Schooner 791 175.5 38 14 Sank September 4, 1955, while moored at Glen Cove, N.Y., having been renamed Star of the Sea.[50]
St. Johns, N.F. May 9, 1918 Schooner 2,046 254.1 43l3 23.9 Renamed Edward B. Winslow II; foundered December 12, 1928, en route from Norfolk to Bermuda.
Lieut. Sam Mengel September 5, 1918 Schooner 907 187.7 38.4 15.2 Converted to barge in 1933; sank in storm October 16, 1935, off Boston. Hulk came to be known as "Bone wreck" in diving community due to whale skeleton scattered throughout wreckage.[51]
Joseph S. Zeman March 28, 1919 Schooner 1,956 253.2 43.2 23.7 Shipwrecked February 3, 1922, on Metinic Island Ledge in Penobscot Bay.
Miriam Landis September 25, 1919 Schooner 904 187.4 38.4 15.3 Abandoned January 30, 1935, while sinking off Brava, Cape Verde.
Cecilia Cohen February 9, 1920 Schooner 1,102 199 38.4 19.2 Sank August 7, 1921, off Cape Hatteras.[52]

Present Day

Today, the Percy & Small Shipyard remains a part of the exhibits of the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath. It is believed to be the last intact shipyard in the United States that built wooden sailing ships,[53] with a former blacksmith shop at the site reconstructed with a contemporary design.[54]

An outdoor sculpture at the Percy & Small Shipyard museum provides a visual of the scale of Wyoming, with minimalist steel shapes for the bow and stern and six flagpoles standing 134 feet tall to evoke the masts.[55]

References

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  2. ^ "Largest wooden sailing ship ever". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
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  4. ^ Fairburn, William Armstrong (1945–1955). Merchant Sail, Volume V. Lovell, Maine: Fairburn Marine Educational Foundation. pp. 3276–3280. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
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