Ernestina's Many Lives

Ernestina is one of the oldest wooden sailing vessels afloat, one of the last surviving Gloucester fishing schooners, one of only two remaining vessels that explored the Arctic under sail, and the last sailing ship that carried immigrants across the Atlantic to the United States. Built in 1894 as Effie M. Morrissey, the schooner first fished on the Grand Banks for cod, mackerel, and haddock. From 1926 to 1946, the vessel explored the Arctic for museums, zoos, and scientific groups. In 1948, Cape Verdean native Henrique Mendes refitted and renamed the schooner Ernestina and ran supplies and passengers regularly between the Cape Verde Islands and the U.S. In 1982, the newly independent nation of Cape Verde presented Ernestina to the people of the United States in recognition of the longstanding ties between the two countries.

Fairhaven, Massachusetts · United States