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:

 Harpoons, Hand Darted, Non-Explosive  Harpoons, Hand Darted, Explosive & Electric  Harpoons Fired From Shoulder Guns
 Rocket Harpoons  Darting Guns  Shoulder Guns
 Swivel Guns  Mincing Machines & Blubber Cutting Device  Bomb Lances
 Fuses for Bomb Lances Cartridge for Bomb Lances Tryworks

Harpoons, Hand Darted, Non-Explosive

 J. Sizer II

Oct. 16, 1829

-----------------------
 D. H. Chamberlain

Aug. 17, 1835

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 W. Carsley

July 29, 1841

2195
 J. Holmes & A. West

Nov. 24, 1846

4865
C. Randall

Dec.3, 1846

4872
C. F. Brown

Sept. 3, 1850

7610
J.D.B. Stillman

Apr. 6, 1852

8862
J.Q. Kelly

Oct. 20, 1857

18458
H.W. Harkness

Feb.16, 1858

19363
G. Doyle

Nov. 2, 1858

21949
T.W. Roys

June 3, 1862

35476
M. Adams

Apr. 21, 1863

38207
W. Taylor

Aug. 6, 1878

206694
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Harpoons, Hand Darted, Explosive

 A. Moore

Mar. 16, 1844

3490
 C. Burt

May 6, 1851

8073
T. Briggs

Dec. 11, 1860

30869
S. Barker

Feb.21, 1865

46437
Z. Kelley

June 9, 1868

78673
 C. Freeman

May 7, 1872

126388
D. Kelleher

Mar. 26, 1878

201794
E. Pierce

May 3, 1881

241060

Harpoons, Hand Darted, Electric

 Sonnenburg & Rechten

Mar. 3, 1852

8843
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Harpoons, Fired from Shoulder Guns

 O. Allen

Dec. 5, 1848

5949
R. Brown

June 4, 1850

7410
R. Brown

Aug. 20, 1850

7572
W. Albertson

Nov. 19, 1850

7777
N. Scholfield

Aug. 24, 1858

21278
R. Brown

June 14, 1859

24371
R.E. Smith

Apr. 23, 1867

64045
Z. Kelley

Dec. 3, 1867

71763
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Rocket Harpoons

T.W.Roys

 Jan. 22, 1861

31190
 T.W.Roys

 June 3, 1862

35474
 Roys and Lilliendahl

 Apr. 24, 1866

54211
 T.W.Roys

 Apr. 22, 1879

214707
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Darting Guns

 E. Pierce

Aug.22, 1865

49548
 J.P. Rechten

Dec.7, 1869

97693
 D. Kelleher

Mar. 26, 1878

201793
 E. Pierce

 Jan. 28, 1879

211777
 E. Pierce

 Aug. 24, 1880

9356 (Reisue)
 E. Pierce

 Apr.4, 1882

256041
 P. Cunningham

Apr. 18, 1882

256548
 E. Pierce

 Oct. 9, 1883

 10392 (Reissue)
 P. Cunningham

 Feb. 26, 1884

294017
 E. Pierce

 Oct. 7, 1884

306098
 F.W. Luscomb

July 17, 1894

523289
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Shoulder Guns

 H. W. Chapman

May 15, 1877

190820
 Pierce and Eggers

 Feb. 12, 1878

200338
 E. Pierce

 Mar. 21, 1882

255330
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Swivel Guns

 Mason & Cunningham

 Dec. 12, 1882

269080
 J.J. Haviside

Aug. 25, 1885

324935
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Mincing Machines

 B. Taber

Aug. 11, 1821

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 W. Ball

Apr. 25, 1822

  -----------------------
 G. and J.J. Kilburn

 Nov. 16, 1841

2368
 Sowle and Carsley

Oct.6, 1843

3290
 J.M. Hunter

May 8, 1860

28179
 P. Cunningham

 Sept. 28, 1880

232691

Device for Cutting Blubber

 H.H. Ricketson

Dec. 14, 1852

9478
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Bomb Lances

 O. Allen

Sept. 19, 1846

4764
 C.C. Brand

June 22, 1852

9047
 N. Scholfield

 Aug. 19, 1856

15577
 C.C. Brand

 Aug. 26, 1856

392 (Reissue)
 Scholfield & Wright

 Mar. 10, 1857

16819
 R. Sibley

Apr. 28, 1857

17173
 C.C. Brand

 May 19, 1857

17312
 Grudchos & Eggers

 May 26, 1857

17370
 R. Sibley

 May 26, 1857

17407
 N. Scholfield

July 7, 1857

478 (Reissue)
 H. Bates

Nov. 10, 1857

18568
 N. Scholfield

 Dec. 8, 1857

18824
 R. Sibley

 Aug. 17, 1858

21219
 A.F. & J.H. Andrews

 Nov. 16, 1858

22054
 P.B. Comins

May 3, 1859

23827
 I. Goodspeed

Aug. 9, 1859

25080
 Cranston & Bates

Aug. 14, 1860

29573
 Goodspeed & Crawley

 July 16, 1861

32830
 J. N. Smith

 Aug. 18, 1863

39593
 O. Allen

Oct. 27, 1863

40387
 E. Pierce

June 1, 1869

90868
 P. Cunningham

Dec. 28, 1875

171553
 E. Pierce

Jan. 28, 1879

211778
 J. A. Brand

Nov. 25, 1879

222003
 E. Pierce

June 16, 1885

320393
 A. Schneider

Jan. 5, 1886

333552
 E. Pierce

July 20, 1886

345803
 Luscomb & Corey

July 3, 1888

 385416
 D. Kelleher

Apr. 12, 1892

472889
 F. E. Brown

 June 21, 1904

763147
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Fuse for Bomb Lances

 N. Scholfield

Dec. 15, 1857

18866
 F. Alger

Sept. 2, 1862

36329
 J. A. Brand

Jan. 6, 1880

223312
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Cartridge for Bomb Lances

 Pierce & Eggers

Jan. 2, 1877

185835
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Tryworks

 J. M. Hunter

Nov. 6, 1860

30575

© Website originally created by Thomas G. Lytle.

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