Cape Horn, Panorama of a Whaling Voyage: (Roll 3, Section 1)
The Panorama Rounds the Horn, Where Treacherous Waters Make for a Perilous Journey
"The Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World" Roll 3, Section 25/44 (1848) by Benjamin Russell and Caleb Pierce PurringtonNew Bedford Whaling Museum
In this section of the "Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World", the longest painting in North America, created by Benjamin Russell and Caleb Pierce Purrington in 1848, you'll experience a portrayal of a whaling voyage that spans the globe.
Watch as ships prepared to "round the Horn" of Cape Horn, facing treacherous waters. Some ships struggled, with a few forced to abandon their journey. You’ll also witness the diverse local wildlife that thrives in this harsh environment.
Voyage MapNew Bedford Whaling Museum
"Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World"
This highlighted section of the voyage is depicted here on this line. Scroll through this story to continue the voyage.
"The Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World" Roll 3, Section 25/44 (1848) by Benjamin Russell and Caleb Pierce PurringtonNew Bedford Whaling Museum
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Beginning of Roll Three
In this scene two ships are passing each other. Captain Harvey Shearman, master of the ship James Allen of New Bedford, flying the house flag of merchant Gideon Allen, uses his speaking trumpet to “speak” the ship Zephyr of New Bedford.
The South Atlantic around the region of the Falkland Islands was mostly a right whaling ground. These types of whales had marketable “whalebone” or baleen similar to the “true whale” of ancient European commerce, the bowhead whale.
Russell specifically identifies a right whaler hove-to with main topsail and stay sails set, and a freshly killed Southern black whale (Eubalaena australis) secured by a flukerope prepared to tie up alongside for cutting-in.
"The Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World" Roll 3, Section 26/44 (1848) by Benjamin Russell and Caleb Pierce PurringtonNew Bedford Whaling Museum
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Cape Horn
Perhaps Russell’s finest achievement in “formal” marine painting in the whole Panorama is the full-rigged whale ship under close-reefed topsails and reefed fore course sailing into the wind and heavy seas off Cape Horn, the large mountainous prominence at left.
Ships are shown here under reduced sail making the Cape Horn passage from the Pacific towards the Atlantic. Note the large, jagged iceberg in the center background. Such icebergs that drifted north from Antarctica were hazards to navigation.
"The Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World" Roll 3, Section 27/44 (1848) by Benjamin Russell and Caleb Pierce PurringtonNew Bedford Whaling Museum
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The crew of a foundering American whaler abandons ship and takes to the whaleboats while a passing ship heaves-to to offer assistance. While most of Russell’s scenarios in the Panorama can be verified, this particular event remains unidentified.
The ship Lyra of New Bedford passes seals and icebergs and enters the sixty two million square miles of the Pacific Ocean after safely “rounding the Horn.”
"The Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World" Roll 3, Section 28/44 (1848) by Benjamin Russell and Caleb Pierce PurringtonNew Bedford Whaling Museum
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The Southern Ocean is home to a great many species of birds, seals, and other marine mammals.
The first scene after rounding Cape Horn is a whale ship flying the house flag of Charles R. Tucker among a pod of sperm whales with her boats fast to a hard-fighting animal.
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