Whaler

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Dutch whalers near Spitsbergen, painted by Abraham Storck.
Charles W. Morgan was a whaleship built in 1841

A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales.

Terminology

The term whaler is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japan, still dedicates a single factory ship for the industry. The vessels used by aboriginal whaling communities are much smaller and are used for various purposes over the course of the year.

The whale catcher was developed during the

whaling station, a settlement ashore where the carcasses could be processed, or to its factory ship anchored in a sheltered bay or inlet. With the later development of the slipway at the ship's stern, whale catchers were able to transfer their catch to factory ships operating in the open sea.[1]

Previous to that was the whaleship of the 16th to early 20th centuries, driven first by sail and then by steam. The most famous example is the fictional

try-pots set in a brick furnace called the tryworks. Spermaceti was especially valuable, and as sperm whaling
voyages were several years long, the whaling ships were equipped for all eventualities.

There have also been vessels which combined chasing and processing, such as the bottlenose whalers of the late 19th and early 20th century, and catcher/factory ships of the modern era.

In wartime

The crews of whaling vessels fought small skirmishes for the control of the Spitsbergen whale fishery between 1613 and 1638. The Dutch were the first Europeans to visit Svalbard, and this gave a head start to whaling in the Dutch Republic.

In the late 18th and early 19th century, the owners of whalers frequently armed their vessels with cannons to enable the vessels to protect themselves against pirates, and in wartime, privateers. Weapons were also carried on vessels visiting Pacific islands for food, water, and wood in order to defend themselves from the sometimes hostile inhabitants. At the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793, British privateers captured several French whalers, among them Necker and Deux Amis,[2] and Anne.[3] Dutch privateers captured Port de Paix and Penn.[4] At the time, many French whalers transferred to the American flag,[citation needed] the United States being neutral in the Anglo-French war.

Some whaleships also carried letters of marque that authorized them to take enemy vessels should the opportunity arise. In July 1793 the British armed whaleship Liverpool, of 20 guns, captured the French whaleship Chardon. However, the French crew succeeded in retaking their vessel.[5] Also that year, an armed British whaleship captured the French whaleship Hébé in Walvis Bay.[6]

During the War of 1812, the U.S. Navy captured two British whaleships, Atlantic and Seringapatam, and used them as warships.

During World War II, the Norwegian and later British Royal Navies requisitioned a number of whalers for use in a variety of functions such as minesweeping, search and rescue, and anti-submarine warfare.[7] Ten Allied vessels categorized as whalers were lost in the war.[8]

Modern era

Harpoon ships of the Icelandic whaling fleet in port.

Since the 1982 moratorium on commercial whaling, few countries still operate whalers, with Norway, Iceland, and Japan among those still operating them. Of those, the Nisshin Maru of Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) is the only whaling factory ship in operation.

As compared to whaling before and during the 19th century, which was executed with handheld harpoons thrown from oar-powered

rorquals such as the fin whale
, that would have been impossible for the muscle-powered rowboats to chase, and allow whaling to be done more safely for the crews.

The use of grenade-tipped harpoons has greatly improved the effectiveness of whaling, allowing whales to be killed often instantaneously as compared to the previous method in which whales bled to death, which took a long time and left the whale to thrash around in its death throes. These harpoons inject air into the carcass to keep the heavier rorqual whales hunted today from sinking. However, the harpoon-cannon is still criticized for its cruelty as not all whales are killed instantly; death can take from minutes to an hour.

Japan is currently the only country that engages in whaling in the Antarctic, which is now under the protection of the International Whaling Commission as the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. The area formerly saw large scale commercial whaling operations by numerous countries before the moratorium. The three Japanese harpoon ships of the ICR serve a factory ship that processes the catch on board and preserves it on site in refrigerators, allowing the long endurance whaling missions. These whaling operations, which are claimed by Japan to be for research purposes, sell the meat from these operations on the market, allowed under the current moratorium to defer research costs. They are highly controversial, and are challenged by anti-whaling parties as being merely a disguise for commercial whaling. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has clashed with the Japanese whalers in the Antarctic in confrontations that have led to international media attention and diplomatic incidents.

Specific ships

Anchor from whaling ship wreck site

The most famous fictional whaling ship is the Pequod from the novel Moby-Dick.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ "Southern Pride HMS (K 249)". wrecksite.eu.
  2. ^ Demerliac (1996), p. 201, №2019 & №2020.
  3. ^ Demerliac (1996), p. 203, #2032.
  4. ^ Demerliac (1996), pp. 203–204, №2038 & №2044.
  5. ^ Demerliac (1996), p. 200, №2008.
  6. ^ Demerliac (1996), p. 201, №2017.
  7. ^ "Kos". warsailors.com.
  8. ^ "MS Whaler". uboat.net.

Bibliography

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