Whaler's Hand Lance
date: label: Date made
content: 1880s
name: label: maker
content: Cole, Luther
notes: label: Description
content: After harpoons fastened the whale and whaleboat together, a whale was given plenty of time and rope to dive, try to swim away, and otherwise wear itself out. Once the exhausted animal returned to the surface to breathe, the whaleboat approached it, and a hand lance, also known as a killing iron, was used to actually dispatch the animal.
label: Description
content: Hand lances had long shafts, to allow the point to penetrate deep into the whale’s body in search of the thick neck arteries. The tips of the killing irons were leaf or oval shaped and extremely sharp, so that they cut on the way in and on the way out, and were easier to remove and stab repeatedly. Cutting the neck arteries prevented the animal from deep diving and hastened its bleeding to death.
label: Description
content: This nickel-plated example was manufactured and donated by Luther Cole of Fairhaven, Mass.
place: label: Place Made
content: United States: Massachusetts, Fairhaven
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: Fisheries
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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 Luther Cole
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AG.056357
label: accession number
content: 012326
label: catalog number
content: 056357
objectType: label: Object Name
content: harpoon, spear-type
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: iron (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: nickel-plated (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 70 3/8 in; x 178.7525 cm