Schooner · United States
A. J. Meerwald
A Delaware Bay oyster schooner launched in 1928, today a floating classroom.
Technical data
- Rig
- Schooner
- Flag
- United States
- Home port
- Bivalve
- Built
- 1928
- Shipyard
- C. H. Stowman & Sons, Dorchester
- Hull material
- Wood
- Length
- 35 m
- Beam
- 6.8 m
- Sail area
- 340 m²
- Sailing area
- Delaware Bay
Built in 1928 at C. H. Stowman & Sons in Dorchester for the Meerwald family of South Dennis, who fished oysters with her in Delaware Bay until 1942. Her hull and rig were shaped by that trade.
During the war the Navy and Coast Guard took her over and converted her into a fireboat, stripping away most of her sailing gear. She returned to the Meerwalds in 1947 and was soon sold to Clyde A. Philips, who worked her as an engine-driven oyster dredge until 1957, when a parasite appeared in the bay and the oyster industry collapsed. From 1959 another owner used her for surf clamming.
In 1989 she was bought by the Delaware Bay Schooner Project and in 1995 added to the National Register of Historic Places. Today she sails as a classroom, teaching the ecology and history of the Delaware Bay region.