John Teofilo Gonsalves

Between 20 and 40 percent of whalers were black, and the danger and difficulty of the business produced the opportunity for 64 of them to become captains, beginning even during the days of slavery and continuing to the end of the industry. They included Provincetown’s John T. Gonsalves, who embarked on the last-ever whaling trip aboard the Charles W. Morgan in 1922. These black captains’ skills allowed them to return with whale oil valued at over $100 million in today’s dollars.

Source: https://provincetown.wickedlocal.com/article/20151210/NEWS/151219328

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The first date I looked at was June 10, 1918, which marked the final whaling voyage of the bark Wanderer (the Wanderer continued to sail but not as a whaler after this date). Much to my delight and surprise, I came across a story about the schooner A.M. Nicholson and its encounter with a German U-boat during World War I. The ship was under the leadership of Capt. John Theophilo Gonsalves, who is credited with saving not only the lives of his crew but also the lives of the crew of the schooner Ellen A. Swift.

As you may know, Gonsalves was the captain on the last voyage of the Charles W. Morgan when it sailed back into New Bedford Harbor. He began his whaling career as a cabin boy in 1869 at the age of 11 and continued whaling until 1922. He is said to have sailed on 29 vessels and to have captained approximately 15 voyages throughout his career. Of course, I had heard of Capt. Gonsalves but had never heard of his experience with the German submarine in 1918.

I read with fascination the firsthand account of the adventure told to the reporter from the Evening Standard. It was 4 o’clock on the morning of June 5, 1918, when a submarine suddenly came up alongside the A.M. Nicholson. The ship’s crew had been whaling the day before and was nearly ready to go home, having already on board a catch of 600 barrels of sperm oil estimated to be worth approximately $30,000 at the time. At first, Capt. Gonsalves thought it was an American submarine, but it wasn’t long before he discovered his mistake.

According to Capt. Gonsalves, the submarine glided alongside the ship and shot across the bow. “I gave him the American flag but he didn’t answer and submerged,” Capt. Gonsalves is quoted as having said to the reporter. “I thought he was an American craft, but when he submerged without answering my flag, I grew suspicious, and when he went down, I went to the soth’ard to try to get out of his way.”

Before he could move his ship away, the submarine re-emerged and Capt. Gonsalves showed the American flag again. This time the submarine showed the German flag and another flag underneath that was not identified in the article. “He gave us a gun across our bows to emphasize the fact that he wanted us to stop, and we were not long in going into the wind and dropping our boats,” Capt. Gonsalves continued. “We put all our crew, some 25 men, into two whaleboats and, according to instructions, pulled alongside the submarine. ... We didn’t take time to let the sails down, thinking we might get shot or a torpedo at any moment.”

An officer from the submarine asked Capt. Gonsalves what he and his men were doing and they responded that they were catching whales. The Germans asked if they were catching any other type of fish &

anything more valuable than whales. Capt. Gonsalves told him they were not and then responded with the line that is credited with helping to save their lives and their vessels. He said, “For God’s sake, Captain, don’t sink this vessel. I am a poor man and it will ruin me, as I am a big owner in her.”

It was then that the German captain noticed the schooner Swift and questioned Capt. Gonsalves about its cargo, as well. Satisfied when Capt. Gonsalves said that it also was a whaler, the officer waved his hand at Capt. Gonsalves and told him to leave the waters as soon as possible and not come back there again. Capt. Gonsalves and his crew wasted no time returning to their ship and sailing back to New Bedford.

Upon their return to New Bedford, Capt. Gonsalves’ story was treated with suspicion. Naval officials wondered whether the German captain had spared Capt. Gonsalves’ life and those of his crew because he was Cape Verdean. It was suspected at the time that Cape Verde was an “innocent location of a German submarine base.” These allegations were never proved and Capt. Gonsalves and his crew stood by their story.

Source: https://www.southcoasttoday.com/article/20060226/News/302269987