Charles W. Morgan, built in New Bedford in 1841 for merchant Charles Waln Morgan, is the world’s oldest surviving merchant vessel, the only surviving wooden American whaling ship of the 19th-century fleet, and one of the few historic ships still able to sail. Across an 80-year commercial career, she completed 37 whaling voyages, bringing home vast quantities of oil and whalebone with crews drawn from around the world. After surviving accidents, financial uncertainty, and near destruction, she was rescued in 1941 and preserved at Mystic Seaport. Restored several times, she returned to sea in 2014, remaining a rare, living link to the American whaling era.

Photo: Wikipedia

Photo: Wikipedia

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain