Phenomenal Feminist Friday
The First American Woman to Command a Ship
One hundred years after her death she was called the “Florence Nightingale of the Ocean,” and honored by the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.
Pregnant, nursing an incapacitated husband, Captain Joshua Patten, and fighting a mutiny at the tender age of 19 Mary Ann Patten (nee Brown) commanded a merchant vessel for 53 days.
Early Life & Proving Her Salt
Little is known about Mary’s life prior to her marriage and later command. Given her take-charge attitude, it is likely that Mary was quite the spitfire as a young woman.
She married a young captain named Joshua Adams Patten in Boston on April 1, 1853; 5 days before her 16th birthday.
In 1855 the ship she would command needed a new Captain; Joshua was offered the post. He did not want to leave Mary; they had barely been married for two years.
By Currier and Ives
Shortly before the ship was due to leave the owners granted permission for Mary to join her husband. The two had less than 17 hours to get their affairs in order before the Car was due to leave.
For the next 17 months, they sailed to San Francisco, China, London, and back to New York. Mary spent the time studying, teaching herself medicine and how…
