New Plaque Commemorates Builders of Iconic Whaling Ship Model

Anyone who has walked down Water Street has seen it: The ship’s bow sticking out of  the side of MBL’s Candle House building. The ship is a model of the whaling ship Charles W. Morgan, the only surviving 19th-century wooden whaling ship in the world. She is docked in Mystic, Connecticut as an educational vessel and museum ship.

Now, a new bronze plaque on Candle House commemorates the MBL employees who were instrumental in building the iconic Charles W. Morgan replica in the 1960s

Left: Robert Hampton, former head of the MBL boat shop, stands next to the new plaque. Right: The model of the Charles W. Morgan attached to the MBL Candle House building. Credit: Emily Greenhalgh, MBL

In the 1960s, Homer Smith, MBL general manager, and Robert Hampton, head of the MBL boat shop, took up the cause to create a replica of the Morgan to attach to the street-facing side of Candle House. Years of harsh Woods Hole weather took its toll on the wooden model and in 2018, it was taken down for repairs and repainting. The new plaque sits directly underneath the model of the Morgan.

The plaque reads:

In recognition of MBL employees Robert Hampton and Homer Smith,
who were instrumental in the construction of this model
of the American whaling ship Charles W. Morgan in 1966

Candle House was built in 1836 during the whaling era in Woods Hole (1815 to 1860), when nine whaling ships made port at the Bar Neck wharf. Candle House served as a place to store whale oil used in the manufacture of spermaceti candles. The Marine Biological Laboratory purchased the building in 1903 and it was used by the Supply Department. It now serves as administrative offices.

Left to Right: Valerie Harding (niece of Robert Hampton), Arthur Hampton (brother of Robert Hampton), Robert Hampton, Dick Smith, son of Homer Smith, Paul Speer, and Tammy Smith Amon, daughter of Homer Smith. Credit: Emily Greenhalgh, MBL

About the Charles W. Morgan

According to the Woods Hole Historical Museum, the Charles W. Morgan was built in New Bedford in 1841 and is the only surviving 19th-century wooden whaling ship in the world. In her over 80 years of service, she sailed the South Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans and brought home a total of 54,483 barrels of sperm whale and other whale oil and 152,934 pounds of whalebone. Learn more about the Charles W. Morgan here.