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“The Voyage of the Mayflower Ii” Pilgrim's Ship Replica Arrives in Plymouth Film Xd6010 (1957)

1957 · Short film · 8 min

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Synopsis

This 1957 black-and-white historical film produced by Castle Films shows the journey of the Mayflower II, a replica of the original Mayflower ship that brought the Pilgrims to the New World in 1620. The Mayflower II was built in Devon, England in 1955 in a collaboration between Englishman Warwick Charlton and the Plimoth Patuxet living history museum. It is currently housed at the Pilmouth Patuxet in Plymouth Harbor, Massachusetts. The film begins with a view of the Mayflower II sitting in the harbor, then zooms in on the prow and tiller (0:44). Men are shown raising the sails, and the camera then pans to spectators watching from shore (0:50). Plymouth’s Lord Mayor bids the Mayflower II crew godspeed as it sets sail from the port 337 years after its namesake. Crew wearing Pilgrim-style belt buckle hats board a rowboat and sail to the ship (1:23). The Mayflower II first set sail in 1957, and recreated the original voyage from England across the Atlantic Ocean, taking 54 days. Crewmen handle the rigging, made of more than 50 ropes, to raise and lower the sails (1:54). The Mayflower II was 90 feet long and 25 feet at the widest point. Captain Alan Villiers, who commanded the ship, peers through a sextant at the horizon (2:28). Captain Villiers and another crewmember kneel to look at a map on the ship’s deck (2:47). Crewmen swab the deck (2:51). A man pulls chunks of salted beef out of storage (3:00). The ship’s doctor harvests watercress from the watercress garden, which was…

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Details

Running time
8 minutes
Collection
Ephemeral Films

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