U. S.Patents for Whalecraft

The first U.S. Patent was issued in 1790. Between 1790 and July 13, 1836, patent numbers were not assigned. During this period, 9,957 patents were issued. A fire at the Patent Office on July 13, 1836, destroyed most of these early patents, though not all. My search through the early records (pre-1836) did not uncover any surviving patents for harpoons or other whalecraft. Starting in 1836, following the fire, patents began to be assigned numbers, as indicated in the tables that follow.

The list below encompasses all U.S. Patents for whaling implements from 1836 to 1925. While there were additional patents after 1925, that year marked the last whaling voyage from a U.S. port by the wooden-hulled, sailing whaleship, John R. Manta. Where available, pre-1836 patent information is also included, although no copies of those patents are known to exist.

All patents listed here are described on this website, with examples shown where possible. The original patent drawings illustrate each patent (sometimes cropped to reduce graphic size and load time). Patents are organized into categories based on the type of whalecraft, rather than U.S. Patent Office categories, to simplify searching. Patents currently described on this website are underlined; clicking on an underlined name will take you to the detailed description and illustration of that item. Use your browser's BACK button to return to this patent list.

Click on a topic below for a list of patentees, dates, and patent numbers, then click on an underlined patentee name in the subsequent table to view a detailed description and illustration of that item:

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