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Extracts from the Logs of the Thames
A Long Island Whaling Ship in Patagonian Waters, 1828—1832

[NOTE: Data tables have been lightly edited for improved comprehension
Abbreviation "bbls" stands for "barrels" .]

Whaler Thames: History

The whaling ship Thames was built in 1818 at Essex, Connecticut. Her home ports were: first, New London and New Haven, CT; then, from 1826, Sag Harbour (Suffolk County, Long Island, NY). Nathan Cook's Log for the 1829 season informs us that she carried three whaleboats. After a working life of 20 years, she was condemned at Sag Harbor in 1838, scuttled and used as a breakwater.

Her remains were discovered in 1968, embedded in the mud. The keel timbers have been re-assembled at Mystic Seaport Preservation Shipyard, where they are now on display at the Thames Keel & Shipbuilding Exhibit.

Whaler Thames: Voyage, 1829-30 Season

For the 1829-30 season, the Thames sailed in mid-July from Sag Harbour, carrying 23 men: master, 1st and 2nd mates, 4 boatsteerers (responsible for harpooning), 9 "Crew", a steward and a cook; separately identified were 4 coloured men, and 1 Portuguese (from the Azores). All the officers were local, from Suffolk County; the "Crew" included 1 Englishman, 1 Irishman, 1 Bostonian and 1 man from upstate New York.

The Thames's declared destination, like several other ships of that period, was "Patagonia". 313 days later, she returned to port, carrying over 1,700 barrels of oil (one barrel held roughly 35 US gallons) [details for 1830-31 season].

Ship's route in 1829-1830 season

Being sail-powered, whaling ships needed to coordinate their movements with the seasons: understanding the winds and whale movements were vital to success. The route followed by the Thames on this voyage was eastward to the Azores; then southward to the False Bank (off the River Plate) and later to the Main Bank (some 100 miles north of the Falklands).

Apart from a brief trading stop at Fayal (Azores), the 1828-29 voyage made no further contact with land until Recife (Brazil), on the return journey. Other seasons probably followed the same pattern.

Whaler Thames: Observed Route, 1829-30 Season

NOTE: This table contains "random" points - it does not portray the entire voyage.

Date	Latitude	Longitude
7/23/1829	39°50 N	-
8/13/1829	33°49 N	27°00 W
8/18/1829	23°28 N	25°07 W
8/19/1829	20°26 N	24°59 W
8/20/1829	17°55 N	25°17 W
8/28/1829	-	22°05 W
8/30/1829	6°48 N	-
9/9/1829	10°53 S	24°17 W
9/10/1829	13°34 S	27°34 W
9/11/1829	16°08 S	29°40 W
9/22/1829	35°32 S	42°15 W	arrived False Bank
9/23/1829	36°48 S	-
10/30/1829	39°12 S	44°58 W
10/31/1829	39°14 S	44°50 W
11/30/1829	40°18 S	41°13 W
12/2/1829	41°17 S	-
12/31/1829	39°10 S	46°40 W
1/1/1830	37°55 S	46°25 W
1/31/1830	41°27 S	48°36 W
2/1/1830	42°03 S	49°24 W	bound for Main Bank
2/22/1830	49°32 S	-	at Main Bank; 85 fathoms
2/23/1830	50°03 S	-	NHC furthest south; 84 fathoms
3/4/1830	49°11 S	60°31 W
3/5/1830	48°57 S	60°31 W
3/31/1830	44°38 S	-
4/1/1830	43°21 S	60°00 W	left for home; 70 fathoms
4/3/1830	41°18 S	-
4/17/1830	24°43 S	30°34 W
4/18/1830	24°21 S	29°45 W
5/9/1830	3°45 N	40°14 W
5/28/1830	39°42 N	71°52 W
5/29/1830	-	-	28 fathoms

Whaler Thames: Ships spoken, 1830-31 Season

	Ships	Belonging	Masters	[...]
July 24	Cadmus	Sagharbor	Howell	38 [...]
July 24	Marcus	Sagharbor	Green	3 [...]
July 26	Columbia	Sagharbor	Hand	Nothing
July 30	Electra	N. London	Griffing	Nothing
Aug 15	Brig Berlin Packet	Bremen	-	bound to Valparaiso
Sept 11	Henry	Sagharbor	Topping	Nothing
Sept 23	Columbia	Sagharbor	Hand	Nothing
Sept 22	Electra	N. London	Griffing	Nothing
Sept 26	John & Edward	N. London	Allen	140 bbls Sperm
Oct 2	Com. Perry	N. London	Hoburn	Nothing
Oct 4	Columbia	Sagharbor	Hand	1 Whale
Oct 4	Leonidas	Fairhaven	-	1400 bbls. 2 Sea...
Oct 19	Marcus	Sagharbor	Green	2 Sperm & 2 Right w[...]
Nov 10	Columbia	Sagharbor	Hand	10 Right Whales
Nov 11	Marcus	Sagharbor	Green	7 Right, 2 sperm
Nov 13	Cadmus	Sagharbor	Howell	4 Right 2 sperm
Nov 16	Cadmus	Sagharbor	G. Howell	7 Right 2 sperm
[...] 24	Thorn	Sagharbor	C. Howell	3 Whales
[...] 24	Tuscan	London	-	Nothing, C, Ho[?]
[...]	Marcus	Sagharbor	Green	13 Whales, 850 bbls
	Electra	N. London	M. Griffing	700 bbls
	Cadmus	Sagharbor	G. Howell	1050 bbls
	Connecticut	N. London	Smith	8 Right Whales
	Harald	N. Bedford	Fisher	400 bbls
	Main	Boston	Mentor	400 bbls
[...] 6	Duchess of Berry	Nantes [France]	-	400 bbls
[...] 26	Mary Ann	N. Bedford	Swain	3 Whales
	Midas	N. Bedford	Luce	1200 bbls
	Stonington	N. London	Pierson	1200 bbls
	Stephania	N. Bedford	-	300 bbls
[...] 5	William Rotch	N. Bedford	Russel	1000 bbls
[...] 6	Acasta	Sagharbor	Harris	600 bbls
[...] 6	Henry	Sagharbor	Topping	1550 bbls
[...] 7	Com. Perry	N. London	Hoburn	900 bbls
[...] 10	Henry	Sagharbor	Topping	1650 bbls, 250 [...]
[...] 12	Falcon	N. Bedford	Barker	1 Right Whale
[...] 14	Milwood	N. Bedford	Eldridge	650 bbls
[...] 22	Phenix	Sagharbor	H. Green	1900 bbls
[...] 22	Geo. & Martha	N. Bedford	-	500 bbls
[...] 23	Columbia	Sagharbor	Hand	1550 bbls
[...] 23	Mancht. Packet	N. London	Fordham	750 bbls
[...]	Thorn	Sagharbor	C. Howell	[...] bbls
[...]	Potomac	Newbury Port	Bound to Batavia, E. Indies [Jakarta]

Whaler Thames: Oil stowed, 1830-31 Season

[October]	[...]	112 bbls	Fore hold	m
	[...]	90	Fore hold	202 bbls
	[...]	70	Maine hold	272
	22nd	65	Main hatch	337
	28th	115	Steerage hatch	452
	30th	115	Fore hatch	567
November	1st	108	Steerage hatch	675
	17th	100	Fore hatch	775
	19th	40	Steerage	815
	22d	110	fore hatch	925
December	1st	85	Steerage hatch	1010
	6th	85	Main hatch	1095
	11th	75	Fore hatch	1170
	15th	105	Fore hatch	1275
	16th	45	Steerage hatch	1320
	16th	75	fore hatch	1395
	18th	50	Main hatch	1445
	21st	68	Main hatch	1513
	27th	70	Steerage hatch	1583
	30th	42	Main hatch	1625
	31st	48	Steerage hatch	1673
Jan	9th	70	Steerage	1743
	21st	90	S & M hatch	1833

Whaler Thames: Ship's Company, 1829-30 Season

Master	Hunting Cooper	Southampton L.I.
Mate	David Hand	Sagharbour
2 mate	Austin Henick[?]	Southampton
B.Steerer	Chas[?] Barnes	Easthampton
Do.	Joseph Harris	North-Sea
Do.	Lyman Soper	Fire place [Brookhaven L.I.]
Do.	N H Cook	Sag Harbour
Crew	Albert Bennet	Fire place
Do.	Wm. F Dodd	Sag Harbor
Do.	Stafford Paine	Fire place
Do.	Darwen Hubbard	Batavia State N York
Do.	Horatio Newton	Boston Massachewsetts State [Massachusetts]
Do.	Robert Williams	London (England)
Do.	Wm. Highland	Ireland County of Wexford
Do.	John Babcock	Sag Harbor
Do.	Wm. Osborn	Bridgehampton
Colord [Colored]	Jason Cuffee	Fire place
	James Jones	Bridgehampton
	James Cuffee	Shinnecock [probably Suffolk Co.]
	Peter Coles	Easthampton
Steward	David Pearsons	Fire place
Cook	John Clark	Old Town (...iand)
Portugee [Portuguese]	Manuel Bartholomew	Fayal

Whaler Thames: Ship's Company, 1830-31 Season

Master	Hunting Cooper	Southampton
Mate	David Hand Jr	Sagharbor
2nd	Nathan H Cook	Sagharbor
3rd	Jonnathan Miller	Easthampton
Boat-Steerer	Joseph R Harris	North-Sea
Boat-Steerer	Jeremiah W Sayre	Sagharbor
Boat-Steerer	Emanuel Bartholomew	Fayal (Azores)
Crew	James Godbee	Sagharbor
Crew	Eleazar Latham	Sagharbor
Crew	Darwen Hubbard	Batavia N. York
Crew	Samuell Denniston	Sagharbor
Crew	Amon Tabor	Sagharbor
Crew	Nathan Cook	Bridgehampton
Crew	Willson King	Easthampton
Crew	Calvin King	Easthampton
Crew	Miller B King	Easthampton
Crew	Gurdon Miller	Easthampton
Crew	N. Richard Deering	Sagharbor
Crew	John Holston	England
Crew	Stafford Paine	Easthampton
Crew	Joseph Francisco	Flores (Azores)
Cook	John Clark (Colourd)	Nowhere
	Peter Coles (Colourd)	Easthampton
Steward	James Arch (Colourd)	Southampton
	Henry Beman (Colourd)	Easthampton