Dates: 1877 -

The tall ship Elissa is a sailing ship originally launched on October 27, 1877. This iron-hulled, three-masted barque, currently moored in Galveston, Texas, is one of the oldest ships still sailing. The pin rail and bright work is made of Teak, The masts(3) are made from whole Douglas-fir from Oregon, and Sails she has 19 sails (made in Maine). The Elissa was built in Aberdeen, Scotland as a merchant vessel in the time when the use of steamships was overtaking sailing ships. The ship survived numerous ownership changes, renamings and modifications, including the installation of an engine and the incremental removal of all her rigging and masts. According to the descendants of Henry Fowler Watt, the Elissa’s builder, she was named for Aeneas’ tragic lover the Queen of Carthage, Elissa (more commonly called Dido), in the epic poem The Aeneid.

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