The Ernestina-Morrisey, a historic tall ship built in the 1890s, arrived in Greenport Harbor Tuesday evening ahead of the annual Maritime Festival. The official vessel of Massachusetts, the schooner is designated by the Department of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark and one of only six remaining historic schooners built in Essex, Mass.
The Maritime Festival is the premier annual event hosted by the East End Seaport Museum. “We have a lot of opportunities for programming going on. One of them is keeping maritime, ‘maritime,’ ” said Tracey Orlando, executive director of the East End Seaport Museum & Marine Foundation. “It’s a balance, because it is a big tradition, but you also have to breathe life into it all the time.”
Built in 1894 and originally christened the Effie M. Morrissey, the schooner began its service as a fishing vessel, sailing first out of Gloucester, Mass., and then Nova Scotia, catching herring, cod and haddock.
In 1924, the Morrissey changed careers. Under the command of Captain Robert Bartlett, the refitted schooner embarked on a series of explorations of the Arctic. “Capt. Bartlett was with [Arctic explorer Robert] Peary when Peary went up to the North Pole. He was a captain, I believe, of the ship to get them that far,” said Tiffany Krihwan, current captain of the Ernestina-Morrissey and a director at Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay. “And so he bought Ernestina-Morrissey — her name back then was Effie M. Morrissey — seeing that she was a high-quality boat and would be great for Arctic exploration.”
During World War II, the ship then served as a supply and survey vessel for the U.S. Navy. “She was taking supplies up to the air bases in Greenland and Iceland, and also serving the waters in that area. And then, of course, relaying any intel that they might have noticed of German U-Boats and ships,” Capt. Krihwan said.
The ship was sold in 1948 and renamed the Ernestina and began a third career in the Cape Verde Islands, off the coast of West Africa, carrying passengers and goods between Africa and the U.S.
“She was sailing back and forth from Cape Verde to the United States, all the way to the late 1960s. And she was bringing actual immigrants with her from Cape Verde to the U.S. So she’s one of the last known recorded vessels doing that under sail,” Capt. Krihwan said.
In August 1982, as a symbol of friendship, the Ernestina-Morrissey was given by the people of Cape Verde to the American people, with the stipulation that the ship be used for educational, cultural and community development purposes.
“She’s part of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy now, so the students will have experiences on board teaching more traditional maritime skills, the maritime arts of days ago,” said Capt. Krihwan. “It’s a great asset for anybody who’s thinking about attending the academy.”