La flota de la sociedad ballenera de Magallanes: Historias y operaciones en los Mares Australes (1905-1916)

Abstract

Sociedad Ballenera de Magallanes, a leading Chilean whaling company, formed as a limited company in 1906 and dissolved ten years later. During this period the company will use in whaling nine ships, five catchers, two factory ships, and two pontoon ships, i.e. deposits of coal and oil. Sociedad Ballenera de Magallanes used two systems for the processing of carcasses of whales, the first represented by the bahía Águila land station and the second by factory ship Gobernador Bories. Whaling was carried out by the "catchers", the "admirals" of the whaling fleet. In this paper we want to show the origins of the fleet, the most significant technical features of ships, the operations developed for the Sociedad Ballenera de Magallanes between 1905 and 1916, and the individual histories of each ship after the sale.