<Tr> <Td> Decks: </Td> <Td> Around 4 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Capacity: </Td> <Td> Unknown, but carried c. 135 people during the historical voyage to what they would call Plymouth Colony </Td> </Tr> <P> The Mayflower was an English ship that famously transported the first English Puritans, known today as the Pilgrims, from Plymouth, England to the New World in 1620 . There were 102 passengers, and the crew is estimated to have been about 30, but the exact number is unknown . This voyage has become an iconic story in some of the earliest annals of American history, with its story of death and of survival in the harsh New England winter environment . The culmination of the voyage in the signing of the Mayflower Compact was an event which established a rudimentary form of democracy, with each member contributing to the welfare of the community . There was a second ship named Mayflower that made the London to Plymouth, Massachusetts voyage several times . </P> <P> The Pilgrim ship Mayflower was a typical English merchant ship of the early 17th century, square - rigged and beak - bowed with high, castle - like structures fore and aft that served to protect the ship's crew and the main deck from the elements . Her stern carried a 30 - foot high, square aft - castle which made the ship extremely difficult to sail against the wind and unable to sail well against the North Atlantic's prevailing Westerlies, especially in the Fall and Winter of 1620 . This was the direct cause of the voyage from England to America taking more than two months . The Mayflower's return trip to London in April--May 1621 took less than half that time, with the same strong winds following . </P>

When did the mayflower first come to america