Commemoration

Mayflower Namesakes

by Stacy B.C. Wood, Jr., SMDPA

Over the years, the historic Mayflower that brought the Pilgrims to New England in 1620 has been honored by various namesakes. These have been other ships and boats (an America's Cup Defender/Winner), lighter than air craft (blimps), locomotives, hotels, a naval communications system, and probably many more objects. Here is a chronological list of some. If you know of others, please send information to the Webmaster.

Don't forget, the good ship Mayflower is a namesake of the flower also known as Trailing Arbutus.
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1866 — USS Mayflower
The first "modern" Mayflower was a screw tug built for the Navy in 1866 at Chelsea, Massachusetts. Duty in Norfolk Navy Yard, VA, until 1870 when it was sent to Annapolis, MD, for fitting out for service on the expedition to Tehauantepec, Mexico, to survey the isthmus for a possible interoceanic canal. Upon completion of assignment, it returned to Washington Navy Yard on May 25, 1871. It was next sent to Portsmouth, NH, for duty as a dispatch boat. Served at Norfolk, Annapolis and Washington until she was decommissioned on October 20, 1874. It was repaired in Camden, NJ, and recommissioned in 1876 and sent to Annapolis for duty as a Naval Academy training ship. There it was active until struck from the navy list on September 23, 1892 and sold to Thomas Butler & Co. of Boston, MA, on December 27, 1893.
[Extracted from Centennial History: General Society of Mayflower Descendants 1897-1997, Duane A. Cline, Compiler/Editor]

1886 — Mayflower
The America's Cup defender for 1886. Designed by Edward Burgess who had designed the Puritan which had successfully defended the Cup the previous year against Britain's Genesta, 2-0. This was the second consecutive beating of British designer J. Beavor Webb who this year entered the cutter Galatea. The result was the same: US 2-0. The Mayflower was 100' and had a broad beam and shallow draft that was referred to as a "skimming dish." Burgess won again in 1887 with his Volunteer with which he defeated the Scottish entry Thistle 2-0.

Date Unknown — Mayflower
What appears to be a paddlewheel steamship, probably dating from the late 19th or early 20th century is shown in a photo merely titled "mayflower." It appears to have only a single stack and the name on the stack appears to read "HOWBOAT" Can anyone provide further information about this ship?

1896 — USS Mayflower II (PY-1/WPG-183)
A luxurious steam yacht built in Scotland in 1896 that was purchased by the US Navy in 1898 and fitted out for the impending war with Spain. En route to take part in the blockade of Havana, Cuba, it took as a prize a British blockade runner that was also named the Mayflower! In 1902 it served twice as Admiral Dewey's flagship. In 1904 it carried Secretary of War William Howard Taft on a tour of the West Indies. In November 1904, it was decommissioned for conversion to a presidential yacht. President Theodore Roosevelt used it in 1905 as the site of the bringing together of the Russian and Japanese delegations in preparation for the Russo-Japanese peace conference. In 1907 it carried President Roosevelt to Provincetown, MA, for the laying of the cornerstone of the Pilgrim Monument. On August 1, 1921, accompanied by six torpedo boat destroyers and the battleships USS Delaware and North Dakota plus the HMS Cambrian, it carried President Warren Harding and his official party (including Vice President Calvin Coolidge) to the Plymouth Tercentenary Celebration. President Hoover had the ship decommissioned in 1929 as an economy measure. It was sold, repurchased by the US Government and named the Butte, recommissioned as USS Mayflower (WPE-183) and transferred to the Coast Guard in October 1943 and patrolled the Atlantic coast against German U-boats. It was decommissioned in 1946 and sold in 1947, refitted in 1948, and renamed the Malla to sail under the Panamanian flag. In September, 1948, she secretly sailed from Marseilles, arriving in Haifa, Palestine, with Jewish refugees of the ill-fated Exodus. Her later history is unknown.

1897 — Mayflower (LHT)
The third Mayflower was a lighthouse tender built in 1897. It was transferred to the US Navy when the U.S. entered World War I and was commissioned in 1917. She patrolled off the Atlantic coast during the war and was returned to the Lighthouse Service by executive order.

ca. 1912 — Mayflower
Although we cannot produce an image of the scow Mayflower, we can see the inn Hudson House in Combermere, Ontario, Canada, once owned by Capt. John Hudson who was drowned in the sinking of the scow on 12 November 1912. Combermere is approximately two hours west of Ottawa.

1925 — Mayflower Hotel
Washington, DC's famous hotel. The site of presidential inaugural balls for more than sixty years, and guest home for royalty, world dignitaries for generations.

1927 — Mayflower Transit
This household goods transportation company was founded by Conrad M. Gentry, an Indianapolis, Indiana grocer, and his friend Don Kenworthy, in 1927. In 1940 they obtained the first nationwide household goods authority certificate issued by the Interstate Commerce Commission. In 1995 the company was acquired by UniGroup, Inc. and in 1997 the corporate headquarters was relocated from Indiana to St. Louis, Missouri. Their website has a two page history of the good ship Mayflower.

1928 — Mayflower
Theatre Built in 1928 in the center of Southampton, this is the largest theatre in the south of England. It presents touring musicals from the West End (London's theatre district), opera, ballet, etc.

1929 — Mayflower
One of the Goodyear Rubber Company airships (lighter than air craft or "blimp"). It was christened on May 22, 1929 and was one of the five blimps named for America's Cup defenders, the first being the Puritan, which had been the first commercial non-rigid airship to use helium. The other blimps named for the yachts were Volunteer, Vigilant and Defender. During World War II the blimps were used to patrol the US coasts against German U-boat attack. Photo shows the Mayflower moored to the original Flexible/Buick ground crew bus November 12, 1930. Photo courtesy Lighter-Than-Air Society Library.

1941 — HMCS Mayflower (K191)
This Mayflower, one of the Flower Class of Corvettes built during 1939-1940 for the Canadian Navy, was built at the Montreal, Quebec yards of Canadian Vickers Ltd. The keel was laid on 20 February 1940 and she was commissioned on 15 May 1941. She had a displacement of 950 tonnes, a length of 205.1', breadth of 33.1' and draught of 11.5'. In February 1944 her focsle was extended in Baltimore, MD. Her top speed was 16 knots. Her armament consisted of 1-4" gun, 1-2 pdr, 2-20mm, and Hedgehog. She had a complement of 6 officers and 79 men.

1948 — Mayflower
English B1 Class, 4' 8.5" gauge, steam locomotive No. 1306, previously BR no. 61264, LNER no. 1264. Built by the North British Locomotive Co. Ltd. in 1948. Has 4-6-0 wheel arrangement. Preserved in 1967. Originally part of Great Central Railway. Currently (1999) reported to be undergoing a major overhaul at the Nene Valley Railway at Wansford Station, near Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The Nene Valley Railway currently makes a 15 mile trip between Peterborough and Yarwell Junction.

1957 — Mayflower II
A gift to the American people in 1957 by the English as a gesture of Anglo-American friendship. It was a result of the cooperation between the English Project Mayflower and the Plimoth Plantation to achieve a common goal. The keel was laid in 1955, it was launched in 1956, and arrived following a 55 day voyage across the Atlantic with Captain Alan Villiers and a crew of 33.

1963 — Mayflower
A second blimp by Goodyear of the same name made its debut in 1963. It was later fitted with an electric light advertising display. It was retired in the 1980s and replaced by the Enterprise.

1996 — Mayflower III
Yet another attempt in England to recreate the Mayflower, this one was to begin construction at Chamber's Warf in Southwark on the Thames in the summer of 1996 with the launching and departure for America in 1999. It apparently failed to materialize due to inadequate funding.

1997 — Mayflower/Merlin
Mayflower is a High Frequency Report Back Communications Channel from Automatic or Manually Launched Buoys. As Merlin, it is used by Trident submarines (SSBNs) to report "in extremis" conditions to the National Command Authority (NCA).

Undated — Mayflower College
There is even a Mayflower College in Plymouth, Devonshire, England, that is designed to teach the English language, including General English, Academic English, English for Professionals, and Specialized English (i.e., for Aviation, Football and even Horse Riding!).