Stern-Slipway Pelagic Factory Ship

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The machine that made the Antarctic blue whale catchable at industrial scale. Before it, whales had to be towed to a shore station or processed alongside a moored factory in sheltered water. The stern slipway - a ramp from a hole in the stern up to the working deck, patented in 1922 and first taken south in the factory ship Lancing in 1925 - allowed whales to be hauled aboard and flensed in open, rough water. The fleet no longer needed a coast. Within six seasons the Antarctic catch reached its all-time peak, and by the 1930/31 season 41 factories with about 200 catchers were operating. The migration route and the hunting range became the same thing.