Schooner Ernestina
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The Schooner Ernestina was launched in 1894 in Essex, Massachusetts under the name Effie M. Morrissey, and spent its original existence as a Grand Banks fishing vessel and arctic expeditionary vessel. The ship was damaged in 1947 and renamed Ernestina for its service as a trans-Atlantic Cape Verdean packet ship carrying goods and passengers between the two countries.
As the last ship to bring immigrants to the United States under sail from the Cape Verde Islands, it was given to the United States by Cape Verde in 1982.
In August of 1982 its hull was completely rebuilt and it sailed to the United States with a crew of Cape Verdeans and Americans.
The Ernestina was designated by the United States Department of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark in 1986, with restoration being completed in 1994, and in 1996 became a part of the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park.
