history
Pregnant, 19 and facing down a mutiny: how did Mary Ann Patten steer her way into seafaring lore?
Finding herself in charge of her sick husband’s clipper, a self-taught working-class teenager overcame storms, icebergs and a disloyal first mate to get her ship to safety
TL;DR
- Mary Ann Patten, 19 and pregnant, took command of Neptune's Car in September 1856.
- She replaced her sick husband and successfully navigated through a storm and icebergs off Cape Horn.
- Patten quelled a mutiny by the crew, convincing them to accept her leadership.
- She arrived in San Francisco Bay 10 weeks later with her crew and cargo intact.
- Historian Tilar J Mazzeo has written a book, "To the Edge of the World," about Patten's story.
- Patten's husband had fallen ill due to tuberculosis, and the appointed first mate, William Keeler, was problematic.
- Patten used celestial navigation skills learned from her husband to guide the ship.
- Mazzeo retraced Patten's journey to better understand her experience.