Bruce Vail
Captain
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2015
As noted elsewhere by other posters here, it's a bit of a stretch to say the Confederacy helped kill off the American whaling industry.
Many American whaling interests simply transferred their vessels to British registry (British flag) and then continued business as usual. This reduced the number of whaling vessels in the U.S.-flag fleet, but didn't reduce the number of whales killed or impact the general business trends in the global whaling industry.
Much more important in the decline of whaling by American businessmen was the growing competition from coal oil and petroleum producers here at home.
Many American whaling interests simply transferred their vessels to British registry (British flag) and then continued business as usual. This reduced the number of whaling vessels in the U.S.-flag fleet, but didn't reduce the number of whales killed or impact the general business trends in the global whaling industry.
Much more important in the decline of whaling by American businessmen was the growing competition from coal oil and petroleum producers here at home.