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Photo Title: "The Effie M. Morrissey, 125-foot schooner of Captain Bob Bartlett, puts in at Brigus for supplies"
Image No.: PF-306.950.001
Image Location: Box41/pf306_950_001.jpeg
Date of Creation: [before 1945]
Physical Description: 1 photograph : b&w ; 12 x 9 cm
Biography/Admin History: Captain Bob Bartlett (1875-1946) was an Arctic explorer from Brigus, Newfoundland. He captained his own schooner, the "Effie M. Morrissey" from 1925-1945. The schooner "Effie M. Morrissey", official number 134855, gross tonnage 120, was built by James & Tarr at Essex, Massachusetts in 1894 for John F. Wonson and Captain William Edward Morrissey, from Lower East Pubnico, Nova Scotia, who fished out of Gloucester. The schooner was named after Morrissey's daughter, Ethel Maude. Engaged in the salt cod fishery on the Newfoundland Grand Banks and the winter herring (bait) fishery, illness in 1895 prompted William to hand over command of the vessel to his 19 year old son, Clayton. Captain Ansel Snow (later skipper of the "Bluenose") of Digby, Nova Scotia, bought the schooner in March, 1905, and he also used to prosecute the Grand Banks fishery. The vessel was transferred to Newfoundland in 1913 under the ownership of merchant Samuel Bartlett of Brigus. In 1925 he sold it to his nephew, noted Arctic explorer Captain Robert (Bob) A. Bartlett, who installed an auxiliary engine and had the hull reinforced. Over the next two decades, Bartlett sailed the vessel on many Arctic expeditions, carried out primarily for scientific research. During the Second World War, the "Effie M. Morrissey" was employed by the United States government undertaking survey work and carrying supplies to American bases in the Arctic. In this period with Bartlett at the helm, but he shared command of the vessel with Commander Alexander Forbes of the US navy. Shortly after Bob Bartlett died on April 28, 1946, the vessel was sold to an American buyer but, in December, 1947, while docked in Flushing, New York, a galley fire resulted in it being scuttled. Henrique Mendes, an American citizen of Cape Verde Island descent, bought the burned out hulk, had it towed New Bedford for repairs, and renamed it the "Ernestina" after one of his daughters. For the next decade the vessel operated as a packet boat, transporting people and cargo between Brava, Cape Verde Islands and New England ports. It was replaced by a steamship service in 1957 but sailed in the Cape Verde inter-island trade until 1973. In 1982 the "Ernestina" returned to the United States as a gift of the Cape Verde government, with the stipulation that it be used for educational and cultural purposes. Since then it has operated as a training ship under the auspices of the Massachusetts Schooner Ernestina Commission.
Collector: John Cardoulis
Source Donor: Donated by John Cardoulis, 13 February 1997
Collection Title: John Cardoulis Photograph Collection
Associated Material: John Cardoulis fonds
Restrictions on Access: Copyright expired.
Copyright: p
Physical Condition: Good
Notes: Title taken from caption in "Duty in Newfoundland" by E. Fred Miller, page 36. - Image is a reproduction of the original photograph.
Subjects: Effie M. Morrissey (Ship) / Brigus (N.L.).



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