Ship profile for the sailing ship: "Mercantile"

Technical data of the sailing ship:

Name:Mercantile
Registered port:Camden, Maine
Nation:USA
Type of rigging:SCHONER
Year built:1916
Yard:Eggomogin Reach shore, Little Deer Isle, Maine,USA
Overall length:37.50 m
Length (hull):24.70 m
Breadth:7.15 m
Draught:1.80 m
Sail area:480 m2
Ship's hull:Holz / Wood
Engine:keine/none

Portrait of the sailing ship:

Last update: 30 Dec 2001

  • built during 3 winter seasons by the the Billings family on the Eggomogin Reach shore near the town of Little Deer Isle, Maine, USA, launched 1916 for owner Pearl F. Billings.
  • this shoal draft schooner often served well by being able to take on and discharge cargo in small out-of-the way places inaccessible to deeper vessels, carried barrel staves and firewood from Gouldsboro to Rockport, salted fish between the islands of the Maine district and Gloucester, timber from Bangor to Plymouth, lime from Thomaston to Boston, coal from Rockland to Deer Isle, boxwood from the Jonesport area to Quoddy, and lumber from Richmond for the construction of a can factory near Quoddy.
  • 1925 change of the hailing port from Little Deer Isle to Rockland
  • 1938 sold to a younger brother Walter D. Billings, who kept the vessel in the coasting trade.
  • between 1938-40 collision with a steamer, repair of the considerable damage of the bow area at the shipyard in Stonington.
  • 1940 sold to Arthur Billings, but there was only little business left in the Maine coasting trade.
  • 1943 sold to Captain Charles D. O’Connor of Warwick, Rhode Island, who used her in the coasting trade and the mackerel fishery, homeport became Providence, R.I. and she was probably employed in the Narragansett Bay area.
  • 1945 sold to Captain Frank Swift, she returned to Maine and since then she was used as a cruising schooner sailing out of Camden, together with a fleet of other former trading schooners belonging to Maine Windjammer Cruises.
  • 1961 she became the property of Captain Jim Nisbet, since 1985 owned by Leslie E. Bex and 1985 she was bought by Captain Ray and Ann Williamson, all from Camden.
  • 1989 totally restored maintaining her authentic atmosphere throughout while fitting her out with modern accommodations below decks, offers 3-day and 4-day cruises on the mid-coast of Maine, Maine Windjammer Cruises is a small business that offers sailing vacations to paying guests aboard traditional sailing vessels.
  • National Historic Landmark vessel of the United States.

Literature for further reading:

We recommend the following references for your further research of the ship. The references marked with have been included in the generation of the ship profile on this page.

Ollivier Puget, Jean-Noël Darde
"Partir sur les Grand Voiliers - Le guide pour embarquer"
Guides Balland 2000 ISBN: 2-7158-1277-9
Page: 118 Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data Quelle with contact

American Sail Training Association (ASTA)
"Sail Tall Ships! A Directory of Sail Training and Adventure at Sea"
2007 ISBN: 978-0-9799878-0-9
(17th Edition)
Page: 208 Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data Quelle with contact