Elissa (ship)

Career (United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, United States)
Name:	Elissa
General characteristics
Displacement:	620 tons.
Length:	141 ft (43 m)
Beam:	28 ft (8.5 m)
Draft:	10 ft 6 in (3.20 m) .
Capacity:	430 tons cargo
ELISSA
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Location:	Galveston, Texas
Coordinates:	29.30943°N 94.793601°W / 29.30943; -94.793601
Built:	1877
Architect:	Alexander Hall & Sons
Architectural style:	Three-masted Barque
NRHP Reference#:	78002930
Significant dates
Added to NRHP:	March 21, 1978
Designated NHL:	December 14, 1990

The tall ship Elissa is a three-masted barque. She is currently moored in Galveston, Texas, and is one of the oldest ships sailing today.

The Elissa was built in Aberdeen, Scotland as a merchant vessel in a time when steamships were overtaking sailing ships. She was originally launched on October 27, 1877. According to the descendants of Henry Fowler Watt, the Elissa's builder, she was named for the Queen of Carthage, Elissa (more commonly called Dido), Aeneas' tragic lover in the epic poem The Aeneid.

The Elissa also sailed under Norwegian and Swedish flags. In Norway she was known as the Fjeld of Tønsberg and her master was Captain Herman Andersen. In Sweden her name was Gustav of Gothenburg.

The Elissa has an iron hull, and the pin rail and bright work is made of teak. Her masts are made of Douglas fir from Oregon, and her 19 sails were made in Maine. She has survived numerous modifications including installation of an engine, and the incremental removal of all her rigging and masts.

The foremast of the Elissa in port.

The Elissa was rescued from destruction by ship preservationists who found her languishing in a salvage yard in Piraeus, Greece. She was purchased for $40,000, in 1975, by the Galveston Historical Foundation, her current owners. In 1979, after a year in Greece having repairs done to her hull, the Elissa was towed to Galveston. There the restoration process continued.

The Elissa made her first voyage as a restored sailing ship in 1985, traveling to Corpus Christi, Texas. A year later, she sailed to New York City to take part in the Statue of Liberty's centennial celebrations.

When she's not sailing, the Elissa is moored at the Texas Seaport Museum in Galveston. Public tours are available year-round-provided she is not out sailing. The ship is sailed and maintained by qualified volunteers, who come from various places in East Texas.

Recent News

In July 2011, the U.S. Coast Guard declared Elissa to be "not seaworthy."

Officials at the Texas Seaport Museum in Galveston where the Elissa is berthed were astonished when a Coast Guard inspection earlier this year revealed the rotten hull. The tall ship is inspected twice every five years, said John Schaumburg, museum assistant director. The latest inspection uncovered the worst rot since the tall ship was rebuilt in 1982, he said.

There is much speculation as to the cause of the rot, but the Texas Seaport Museum has hope they'll be able to raise the $3 million it will cost to replace the hull and tend to other long-overdue maintenance projects.

Honors

• National Register of Historic Places - first object granted this status while outside United States territory
• National Historic Landmark
• Named state Tall Ship by act of legislature in 2005
• Designated one of "America's Treasures" by the National Trust for Historic Preservation
• Escorted the Texas (SSN-775) into Galveston harbor to be commissioned

External links

• Elissa homepage
• Elissa InfoPage
• Elissa Handbook of Texas Online