Whaler's Fluke Lance
date: label: Date made
content: ca 1880-1889
name: label: authored whaling reference material
content: Brown, James Temple
label: maker
content: Driggs, James D.
notes: label: Description
content: 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.
label: Description
content: 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 <I>Sea Fox</I>.
place: label: Place Made
content: United States: Massachusetts, New Bedford
topic: label: used
content: Whaling
label: related event
content: The Development of the Industrial United States
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
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content: Cultures & Communities
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content: Work
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content: Industry & Manufacturing
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content: Natural Resources
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content: Transportation
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content: On the Water exhibit
label: Exhibition
content: On the Water
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Brown, James Temple. The Whale Fishery and Its Appliances
label: Related Publication
content: National Museum of American History. On the Water exhibition website
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: U.S. Fish Commission through James D. Driggs
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.056358
label: catalog number
content: 056358
label: accession number
content: 012298
objectType: label: Object Name
content: lance
label: Object Name
content: Fluke Lance
label: Other Terms
content: lance; Fluke Lance; Maritime
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: iron (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: 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