Thomas W. Long was an American whaling ship master.

Whaling career

Long was captain of the ship ''John and Elizabeth'' (296 tons), of New London, in 1854; the ship ''India'' (433 tons), of New London, in 1855, 1856, and 1857; the barque ''Merrimac'' (414 tons), of New London, in 1858; and the ship ''Isaac Howland'' (399 tons), of

New Bedford New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast (Massachusetts), South Coast region. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, New Bedford had a ...

, in 1860, 1861, 1862, and 1863. He used the schooner ''Caroline'' (106 tons), of New London and then

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

, as tender from 1855 to 1858 and from 1860 to 1862.''Whalemen's Shipping List and Merchants' Transcript'', New Bedford, December 22, 1857, Vol. XV, No. 41. He sailed to the

Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk; Historically also known as , or as ; ) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, Japan's island of Hokkaido on the sou ...

each season. In 1854 he obtained 800 barrels of oil. In 1855, up to September 8, he had taken 39 whales, which produced 1,800 to 1,900 barrels of oil; and in three seasons from 1855 to 1857, he got 8,000 to 9,000 barrels of whale oil with the help of his tender ''Caroline'', mainly cruising in Tugur Bay and Academy Bay. He left the ''Caroline'' in Mamga Bay for the winter of 1856–1857. When he returned the following season three of the four men left with her had died, with the last expiring shortly after being taken aboard ''India''. In 1858 he caught 52 whales, which produced 1,600 barrels of oil. In 1860 he caught three

sperm whale The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the Genus (biology), genus ''Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the s ...

s outside of the Sea of Okhotsk as well as four

bowhead whale The bowhead whale (''Balaena mysticetus''), sometimes called the Greenland right whale, Arctic whale, and polar whale, is a species of baleen whale belonging to the family Balaenidae and is the only living representative of the genus '' Balaena' ...

s in the sea, which yielded 40 and 200 barrels, respectively. In 1861 he got 1,450 barrels of whale oil and 70 of sperm, and in 1862 he caught 32 bowheads – one of which yielded 250 barrels of oil – for a total of 1,700 barrels of oil. In 1863 he was only able to obtain 600 barrels of oil. Among his commands was the barque ''Nile''. In 1867, as captain of the ''Nile'' during a whaling voyage in the North Pacific Ocean, Long entered the

Chukchi Sea The Chukchi Sea (, ), sometimes referred to as the Chuuk Sea, Chukotsk Sea or the Sea of Chukotsk, is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is bounded on the west by the Long Strait, off Wrangel Island, and in the east by Point Barrow, Alaska, ...

and sighted

Wrangel Island Wrangel Island (, ; , , ) is an island of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia. It is the List of islands by area, 92nd-largest island in the world and roughly the size of Crete. Located in the Arctic Ocean between the Chukchi Sea and East Si ...

. He described its southern shores, deeming it was a bigger landmass. Long named it "Wrangel Land" after

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

seaman Ferdinand Wrangel (1797-1870). He also named Cape Hawaii and Cape Thomas on the same island.

Death

Thomas Long died at Tiksi Bay, then known as "Gorely Bay", in the

Laptev Sea The Laptev Sea () is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the northern coast of Siberia, the Taimyr Peninsula, Severnaya Zemlya, and the New Siberian Islands. Its northern boundary passes from the Arctic Cape to a point with ...

. There is a cross there marking the site where he perished.

Honors

Long Strait, connecting the

East Siberian Sea The East Siberian Sea (; ) is a marginal sea in the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the Arctic Cape to the north, the coast of Siberia to the south, the New Siberian Islands to the west and Cape Billings, close to Chukchi Peninsula, Chukotka, ...

and the Chukchi Sea, was named after him.William J. Mills
Exploring Polar Frontiers: A Historical Encyclopedia, vol. 1
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Thomas American people in whaling American polar explorers Wrangel Island 19th-century American people