Carriage Barn Talks: The Sea Took Its Due: Plymouth and the Perils of Whaling (Plymouth)

In this talk, Dr. Patrick Browne, Executive Director of the Plymouth Antiquarian Society, will explore a dramatic but often overlooked chapter in Plymouth’s maritime history. Though overshadowed by Nantucket and New Bedford, Plymouth built a respectable whaling fleet that completed roughly sixty voyages over twenty-five years, bringing home thousands of barrels of whale oil before a sudden run of disasters in the 1840s brought the industry to an end. Browne will examine the rise, achievements, dangers, and decline of Plymouth whaling, an enterprise where ambition, profit, and tragedy met on the open sea.