Whaler's Fluke Lance

Description:

The most dangerous act in the dangerous business of whaling was “spading flukes.” The whaleboat drew up close alongside a desperate, unpredictable whale on the water surface, and a crewman used a boat spade or fluke lance to sever the whale’s tail tendons. This effectively immobilized the prey, for the whale couldn’t swim without its tail.

According to James Temple Brown, who wrote the 1883 catalog of the Smithsonian’s whaling collection, the fluke lance was exceedingly rare and was regarded as “a monstrosity by all the fraternity”. This rare inscribed example was used aboard the starboard whaleboat of the bark Sea Fox.

Date Made: ca 1880-1889

Authored Whaling Reference Material: Brown, James TempleMaker: Driggs, James D.

Place Made: United States: Massachusetts, New Bedford

Used: WhalingRelated Event: The Development of the Industrial United States

Subject:

See more items in: Work and Industry: Maritime, Cultures & Communities, Work, Industry & Manufacturing, Natural Resources, Transportation, On the Water exhibit

Exhibition: On the Water

Exhibition Location: National Museum of American History

Related Web Publication: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater

Related Publication: Brown, James Temple. The Whale Fishery and Its Appliances, On the Water online exhibition

Credit Line: U.S. Fish Commission through James D. Driggs

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: TR.056358Catalog Number: 056358Accession Number: 012298

Object Name: lanceFluke LanceOther Terms: lance; Fluke Lance; Maritime

Physical Description: iron (overall material)Measurements: overall: 3 1/2 in x 59 3/4 in x 1 1/2 in; 8.89 cm x 151.765 cm x 3.81 cm

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a6-7eca-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_844207

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