The Many Lives of the Equator: Preliminary Structural Analysis (Part II)

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Although Equator was built as a two-masted schooner in 1888, it was significantly altered throughout its long career. In 1897, Equator was sold and converted to a steam tender: boilers and a steam engine were installed, the transom was rebuilt, and a new deckhouse was added with a pilot house and funnel atop. In 1915, a new engine was installed, and the ship was transformed again, this time to function as a tugboat. It remained in this service until 1956 when it was finally abandoned. As one of the last remaining ships built by Matthew Turner, Equator has provided critical information on the hull design of the late 19th-centiry Pacific traders. The many lives of the Equator has also demonstrated how well-built wooden hulls were adapted to new purposes as economic forces and technology changed the maritime trading environments of at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2024   •
• Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow