Mary Patten, The Captains Wife

by Lutz Roland Lehn

Title

Mary Patten, The Captains Wife

Artist

Lutz Roland Lehn

Medium

Digital Art - Digital Painting

Description

Mary Ann Brown Patten (April 6, 1837 – March 18, 1861) was the first female commander of an American merchant vessel. She was the wife of Joshua Patten, captain of the merchant clipper ship Neptune’s Car. The ship was bound around Cape Horn from New York towards San Francisco when Joshua Patten collapsed from fatigue in 1856. His wife took command for 56 days, faced down a mutiny, and successfully managed to navigate the clipper ship into San Francisco. At the time she was 19 years old and pregnant with her first child.
The ship departed from New York for San Francisco on July 1, 1856 along with two other clipper ships, the Intrepid and Romance of the Seas. This made speed a greater priority than usual, as it was common practice to place bets on which vessel would arrive first. Neptune’s Car was at the foot of Cape Horn when Joshua Patten developed tuberculosis and lapsed into a coma.[6] Under usual circumstances the first mate would take command. However earlier in the voyage Captain Patten had caught him sleeping on watch and losing important time by leaving sails reefed. The mate had likely placed bets on one of Neptune’s Car’s competitors, and so Captain Patten had confined him to his cabin. The second mate was illiterate and unable to navigate, which left Mary Patten the most qualified person on board to bring the ship safely into port.
The former first mate wrote Patten a letter warning her of the challenges ahead and imploring her to reinstate him, but she replied that if her husband hadn’t trusted him as a mate she couldn't trust him as a captain. He then attempted to incite a mutiny by trying to convince the crew that they would be better off putting into the nearby port of Valparaiso rather than continuing on to San Francisco. Patten knew that putting into port in South America would mean a loss of crew and quite possibly cargo. She responded by making an appeal to the crew, and in the end won their unanimous support. Patten later claimed that she didn’t change her clothes for 50 days, instead dedicating her free time to studying medicine and caring for her husband, who had been struck blind by the time they passed Valparaiso. She is credited with keeping him alive during the voyage although he never fully recovered his health.
I am deeply impressed by this incredible woman. So I portrayed her on deck with a sextant. At a time when women were still considered less powerful, she prevailed against all resistance from the men and navigated the ship to San Francisco in a very fast time. I would like to remind you of this heroic woman with my picture and hope you like it.

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July 8th, 2019

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