Fishermen's Memorial Monument, Gloucester

Gloucester Fisherman's Memorial is a historic memorial cenotaph sculpture on South Stacy Boulevard, near entrance of Stacy Esplanade in Gloucester, Massachusetts, built in 1925.DescriptionIt is an 8ft, bronze statue of a fisherman dressed in oilskins standing braced at the wheel on the sloping deck of his ship. The monument has a square base of sea green granite. It is positioned so that the fisherman is looking out over Gloucester Harbor. The fisherman in the sculpture was modeled after Capt. Clayton Morrissey, a prominent Gloucester fisherman, once the captain of the Effie M. Morrissey. The stone was purposely sculpted with a rough finish to make the fisherman look rugged. Craske posed the fisherman to look as if he was facing a windstorm and was headed toward dangerous rocks. His eyes are fixed on the water and sails, while every muscle is strained to hold the wheel with a firm grip. A small plaque on the north or street-facing side of the base reads, "Memorial To The Gloucester Fisherman, August 23, 1923". A larger recessed panel on the front or harbor-facing side of the base holds an inscription of bronze letters taken from the Bible's, which reads: "They That Go Down To The Sea In Ships 1623-1923".HistoryThe English sculptor Leonard Craske (1882–1950) designed the sculpture, and it was cast by the Gorham Company of Providence, Rhode Island, in 1925. According to the National Park Service: