Dundee Whaling Industry

Dundee’s whaling fleet expanded during the nineteenth century as whale oil and baleen supplied urban and industrial markets. The trade supported shipowners, sailors, shipbuilders, rope makers and the city’s textile economy.

Steam power and reinforced vessels extended the season and range of Arctic voyages, but crews faced ice, storms, shipwreck, poor conditions and uncertain returns. The industry declined as catches fell and substitutes replaced whale products.

This context supports maritime fiction about Dundee docks, Arctic voyages, industrial capitalism and the lives of sailors and their families.