RecordModel, of whale catching boat< 1 of 1 > Back made in Edinburgh
Model, of whale catching boatThis wooden model represents a whale catching boat from around 1865. The boat is of the Peterhead type which was used in the days of auxiliary steam whalers. The model was built to a scale of 1:16 by Mr J Gray of Edinburgh. This type of whale boat was carvel-built i.e. the planks of the hull were fastened edge to edge. The boat would have carried a crew of six including a harpooner and a steersman and 1 kilometre of whale-line, made up of five lines of 219 metres each. The lines were carefully coiled so that they would not snag. When a whale was sighted, two boats like this one were lowered from the steam whaler to fire the harpoon into the whale's back. Possibly six other whale catching boats were then lowered to assist the capture, using more harpoons. Once the whale was exhausted, it was killed by lances and taken back to the whaler for further processing. Record detailsTo search on related items, click any linked text below.
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