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Sea History readers have been following the schooner’s journey since the very early years of the magazine; in our fourth issue (July 1976), the vessel appeared in no fewer than three different places, including an article by Daniel Durrell called “Saving the American Schooner” and a status report proffered by Charles F. Sayle. As of press time back in ’76, the government of Cape Verde planned to send the schooner, then sailing under the name Ernestina, to the US to salute this country’s bicentennial. She was dismasted underway and unable to complete the transit, but the next issue of Sea History carried news of developing plans to bring her permanently to the United States. The online index to Sea History will lead you to many fascinating stories from Ernestina-Morrissey’s past and present.
Launched in 1894 in Essex, MA, as the Effie M. Morrissey, the Grand Banks fishing schooner was purchased in 1926 by Captain Bob Bartlett of Newfoundland for a series of Arctic scientific expeditions. After Captain Bartlett’s passing in 1946, the schooner was purchased by Captain Henrique Mendes; he renamed her Ernestina, after his daughter. She carried immigrants and cargo from the Cape Verde Islands to the US and back until 1965, making her the last sailing ship in regular service to carry immigrants across the Atlantic to the United States and the last of a series of Cape Verde packets to carry on this trade in the middle years of the 20th century. In 1982 the government of Cape Verde presented Ernestina to the United States in recognition of her remarkable history; she served as a sail training and living history vessel, reaching tens of thousands with her story. Her name was officially changed to Ernestina-Morrissey in 2014 to pay tribute to her full history. Today she is part of the fleet of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, supported by the fundraising Schooner Ernestina-Morrissey Association.
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