Mayflower. The true story of a voyage

Written by Rory Thornfield

In 1620, a small merchant ship set out from England to the New World with a hundred passengers aboard. The voyage lasted over two months, and its consequences changed American history. The Mayflower became a symbol of colonization’s beginnings, but the reality of the journey was brutal – half the people didn’t survive until spring.

A Ship at the Limit of Endurance

The Mayflower wasn’t built to transport emigrants across the Atlantic. This old merchant vessel, just under thirty meters long, usually sailed much calmer waters, transporting goods between English ports. By 1620, the ship had seen better days and was being prepared for scrapping. The decision to use it for a transatlantic voyage was dictated by economics, not concern for safety.

Over a hundred people found themselves aboard in a space barely twenty by eighty feet. The ceiling height didn’t exceed five feet – adults couldn’t stand upright. In such conditions, people spent ten weeks without the possibility of movement, with limited access to fresh air. By comparison, modern passenger ships provide several square meters of space per person.

The ship departed Plymouth in mid-September. Autumn on the Atlantic is a time of storms and high waves. The Mayflower wasn’t adapted to such conditions – its construction was suited to calm coastal waters, not oceanic tempests. Captain Christopher Jones knew the risks, but the contract was signed and the passengers determined to leave.

Hell on Water

Storms appeared quickly. Huge waves flooded the deck, and wind threatened to break the masts. During prolonged storms, people locked below deck lived in darkness, dampness, and fear. There was nowhere to escape from water seeping through cracks in the old hull. Food grew moldy, drinking water became increasingly stale.

William Butten, a young physician’s assistant, died during the voyage and was thrown into the sea. This was the first loss, but not the last. In one storm, passenger John Howland fell overboard – he was saved only because he managed to grab a rope hanging from the deck. Most castaways in such conditions had no chance of survival.

The cramped quarters facilitated disease spread. People breathed the same stale air for weeks. Vitamin C deficiency led to scurvy, dampness and cold to pneumonia. In such conditions, an epidemic was only a matter of time. The Puritans sailed to the New World seeking religious freedom, but the journey proved a severe test of their faith and endurance.

Winter at Cape Cod

In late November, the ship anchored in a bay near present-day Cape Cod. This wasn’t the planned destination – the Puritans wanted to reach further south, to the area of today’s New York. However, the late season, crew exhaustion, and ship damage forced them to change plans. They found themselves in a place about which they knew nothing, without maps and without preparation.

Before anyone went ashore, a document later called the Mayflower Compact was written aboard the Mayflower. This simple text established rules for governing the colony together. In times when power derived from birth or force, the Puritans created a system based on voluntary agreement. This document later became one of the foundations of American democratic tradition.

Most people didn’t leave the ship for the winter. There was no time to build proper houses before the frosts arrived. The ship became winter shelter for exhausted, sick emigrants. In December and January, temperatures dropped below freezing, and there was no fuel aboard. The epidemic that had begun during the voyage now spread with full force.

The Price of Survival

Of the hundred and two passengers who sailed from England, only fifty-three survived until spring. The crew suffered equally – half the sailors died during the winter. People essential to the ship’s functioning perished: the boatswain, gunner, helmsmen, cook. Christopher Jones watched his crew fall apart before his eyes, without any way to help.

In March 1621, those who survived moved permanently ashore. They built the first simple houses and began cultivating the land. Contact with the local Wampanoag people proved crucial to survival – Native Americans taught the newcomers how to grow corn and where to catch fish. Without this help, probably no one would have survived another winter.

In mid-April, the Mayflower sailed back to England. The return voyage was faster – the ship no longer carried passengers, and spring winds favored sailing. Captain Jones reached London in mid-May. He never led another voyage to America. He died a year later, probably from diseases that had weakened his health during the tragic winter at Cape Cod.

The Mayflower’s story became a founding myth of the United States. The Puritans are portrayed as heroes who overcame adversity through faith and determination. The reality was more prosaic – they survived thanks to help from indigenous inhabitants and an enormous dose of luck. Most of them paid the highest price for this dream of freedom. The ship returned to England nearly empty, leaving in the New World half its passengers buried in frozen ground on the shore of a foreign continent.

Rory Thornfield

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Rory's grandfather left behind a wartime diary filled with accounts of a minor Burma skirmish that history books never mentioned. Reading it, Rory realized: behind every famous battle are dozens of forgotten struggles, each with its own human drama.

His preferred topics: The overlooked corners of military history – secondary campaigns, shadow battalions, local conflicts that never made headlines. From medieval sieges to twentieth-century expeditions, he focuses on the soldiers, not the generals. The people who faced impossible choices and carried those experiences forever.

Rory strips away the romanticism without losing respect for those who served. He combines tactical analysis with personal stories, examining human endurance and moral complexity rather than celebrating warfare. His writing is balanced, thoughtful, and deeply researched.

Outside work, Rory visits forgotten battlefields (now quiet farmland), photographs war memorials nobody tends anymore, and interviews veterans' families.