Friendship of Salem

Friendship of Salem is a full-size, fully operational replica of Friendship, a cargo ship built in Salem, Massachusetts in 1797 for merchants Jerathmiel Peirce and Aaron Waite. Friendship was an East Indiaman built for international trade, and the original ship made 15 voyages around the world, exchanging local products such as dried cod fish and timber for pepper, spices, sugar, coffee, silk, tea, and other exotic goods. Today, Friendship of Salem sails to nearby ports to help bring the region's maritime heritage to life. Its hull was constructed at Scarano Shipyard in Albany, New York, between 1996 and 1998, and the ship's rigging was built and is maintained by National Park Service staff with assistance from the Naval Historical Center Detachment, Boston, Don's Yacht Yard of Salem, and a dedicated crew of NPS volunteers. On the 'tween deck are the crew's bunks and the cabins of the captain and officers. The modern Friendship of Salem measures 171 feet from jib boom to spanker boom, has a beam of 27 feet, a draft of 11 feet 3 inches, a main mast rising 106 feet from deck and 120 feet from keel, a gross tonnage of 342 tons, 17 sails, and 9,409 square feet of sail area, or .216 acres.

Salem, Massachusetts · United States