Ancient Ships: The Mayflower

The Mayflower was the ship that transported English and Dutch Separatists and other adventurers referred to by the Separatists as "the Strangers" to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620.

The Mayflower has a famous place in American history as a symbol of early European colonization of the future United States.

The main record for the voyage of the Mayflower and the disposition of the Plymouth Colony comes from the letters and journal of William Bradford, who was a guiding force and later the governor of the colony.

"Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor," by William Halsall, 1882 at Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

The seamen on the Mayflower had four devices to help them during their journey. They charted their course with a compass. They measured their speed with the log and line system. The log and line system was a board attached to a line, which was tossed over the stern. The line was marked with a knot at regular intervals related to the length of a nautical mile. Time was measured with hour glasses; for example, "when the hour glass had emptied at the top vessel, a sailor would strike a bell, and another sailor would count how many knots of line had run out". The speed of the ship in nautical miles per hour (still called "knots") would then be known.