BOOK

Project Mayflower : building and sailing a seventeenth-century replica

Stone, Richard A., author, Baker, James W., writer of introductory text

2024

Overview

\"The never-before-told story of Project Mayflower--the building of the replica ship docked in Plymouth, Massachusetts--from the origins of the idea, through the financial and political influences that nearly scuttled her, the seven-week ocean voyage from England in the skilled hands of Alan Villiers, and finally her lasting impact on America. Today, the Mayflower II--the replica of the 1620 ship that brought the Pilgrims to America and launched a nation--is seen by some 2.6 million visitors to Plymouth annually and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. But there is much more to the replica's story than meets the eye. In fact, the origins of Project Mayflower began in the 1950s not with an American, but with a British World War II veteran named Warwick Charlton who had what seemed an impossible dream: build an historically accurate replica, sail her across the Atlantic, and present the finished product as a thank you to his country's wartime ally. What Charlton didn't know was that the son of a powerful New England financier had the same idea. Henry (\"Harry\") Hornblower II wanted a replica just as badly, though for a different reason: as a tourist attraction for a new museum he was building in Massachusetts, soon to be known as Plimoth Plantation, where the original Mayflower had landed centuries before. Despite different personal motives, Charlton and Hornblower agreed to join forces when they met by chance in 1955. Charlton would be responsible for financing, construction, and the vessel's safe passage across the Atlantic, while Hornblower promised mooring, maintenance, and exhibition. Neither man could imagine what would happen next. Project Mayflower recounts the never-before-told story of a grand adventure, from the origins of the idea, through the financial and political influences that nearly scuttled the ship, and the challenges of building an accurate replica based on a single known mention: William Bradford's reference in Of Plimoth Plantation describing his craft simply as \"180 tons of burden.\" From there, Stone traces the Mayflower II's dramatic seven-week ocean voyage from Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, in the skilled hands of Alan Villiers and a crew of thirty-three bold men, and finishes by exploring the legacy of praise for the achievement, the skullduggery to tarnish the reputation of the project's creator, and finally the Mayflower II's lasting--and ongoing--impact on America.\"--Amazon.com.

• Publisher: Lyons Press
• Subject: Charlton, Warwick M. J., 1918-2002. / Villiers, Alan, 1903-1982 Travel. / Mayflower II (Ship) History. / Mayflower II (Ship) Design and construction. / Project Mayflower, Ltd. / Sailing ships Reproductions. / Historic ships Massachusetts Plymouth. / Ships, Wooden Great Britain Design and construction. / Transatlantic voyages History 20th century. / Historical reenactments. / Navires à voiles Reproductions. / Navires historiques Massachusetts Plymouth. / Voyages transatlantiques Histoire 20e siècle. / Reconstitution historique.
• ISBN: 1493084364, 9781493084364

Item info:

1 item available

1 item total in all locations

Holdings :

Call Number	Copies	Material	Location
VM17 .S76 2024	1	BOOK	AUTOSTORE