The Schooner Ernestina (ex. Effie M. Morrissey)
Grand Banks Fishing Schooner
Her career has ranged from the traditional Grand Banks fishing schooner to Arctic expeditions; from carrying medical supplies during World War II to carrying immigrants from Cape Verde, off the coast of Africa, to the United States; and she continues to serve as an educational vessel as both a floating museum and hands-on sail training. Her international story encompasses both sides of the Atlantic as well as several countries and languages. This article focuses on her story in the early years as a fishing schooner.
The Early Years in Gloucester
Effie M. Morrissey, as she was first known, was built during the winter of 1893-94 by the James and Tarr shipyard in Essex, Massachusetts for Captain William E. Morrissey and the John F. Wonson Company. She was designed by George McClain of Gloucester whose design created a combination of extra speed and stability against the North Atlantic gales. She was named after the daughter of Captain Morrissey.
The schooner was launched on February 1, 1894 in Essex and towed to Gloucester, where she was fitted out for salt cod fishing in the Grand Banks. Her maiden voyage began on March 14, 1894 with Captain Morrissey at the helm. Four months later, in late July, Captain Morrissey returned to Gloucester with a cargo of 250,000 pounds of salt cod. The Captain returned, again, in early November; this time with a cargo of 320,000 pounds of salt cod from the Grand Banks. This was during the heyday of the Gloucester fisherman.
Captain Morrissey continued to command the schooner until April, 1895, when he became ill during a banking trip. He turned the command over to another crew member, his nineteen-year-old son, Clayton, who took the schooner out on two more salt bank trips that year. During the winter of 1895-96, Clayton brought the Effie to Newfoundland, but returned to Gloucester on a different schooner. The Effie returned to Gloucester in late January, 1896, but under another skipper, and instead of salt cod, she carried 860 barrels of herring.
Over the next several years, Effie M. Morrissey was under the command of various captains and carried different kinds of fish that ranged from cod to herring, and halibut to haddock.
Nova Scotia and Maine Years
In March 1905, Ansel Snow of Digby, Nova Scotia, purchased the schooner. Even though she continued to be registered in the U. S., in Marblehead, Mass., she now sailed out of Digby with a Canadian captain and crew. Captain Snow was a hard task-master, but he expected as much from himself as from his crew. The written accounts of the weather conditions in which he sent his crew out in dories to fish included heavy snow, low visibility, rough seas, and winds lasting several days. But, Captain Snow was well-known for getting the job done, and during one such storm, before conditions made it impossible to continue, his crew had accumulated over 76,000 pounds of fish.
Captain Snow sold the schooner in 1909 to Frank Swett of Marblehead. Her license was renewed in 1911 in Portland, Maine for the fisheries and to unload fare. She was showing signs of wear and tear from the hard life in the North Atlantic. Her paint was peeling off and there were scars on the rails and planks as a result of seafaring.
In 1912, right before Christmas, the author Frederick Wallace was a passenger aboard Effie on a voyage from Portland, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia with Captain Harry Ross in command. Wallace saw the conditions of the ship and volunteered to repaint the elaborate scroll carved on her bow. He had his camera with him and wanted to photograph the schooner and crew in action. Once the mainsail went up, the captain was reported to have said, “We’ll make the old toothpick travel today and see what she can do.” With the wind behind her, the schooner made a record run on that December night, logging two hundred miles within twenty hours, averaging twelve knots, going up to sixteen knots.
New Life for a Fishing Schooner
In 1914, Harold Bartlett of Brigus, Newfoundland bought the schooner and converted her to a freighter where she was used for hauling salt and coal from Sydney, Nova Scotia and along the coast of Labrador. She was used as a freighter, and an occasional fishing vessel, for several years. Her days of being a Grand Banks fishing schooner were over, but she was about to embark on a new chapter in her life, one that would bring new challenges, set new records, and catapult her to new shores. She was about to become part of the Arctic expeditions.
Source:
Houston, Laura Pires and Michael K. H. Platzer, Ernestina / Effie M. Morrissey, Commemorative Edition, published by Friends of the Ernestina/Morrissey Committee, New York, 1982.
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