<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 a cultural icon in the history of the United States, with its story of death and survival in the harsh New England winter environment . The culmination of the voyage was the signing of the Mayflower Compact, 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 square rig with a beakhead bow and high, castle - like structures fore and aft that served to protect the ship's crew and the main deck from the elements--designs that were typical with English merchant ships of the early 17th century . 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, and the voyage from England to America took more than two months as a result . The Mayflower's return trip to London in April--May 1621 took less than half that time, with the same strong winds now blowing in the direction of the voyage . </P> <P> No dimensions of her hull can be stated exactly, since this was many years before such measurements were standardized . She probably measured about 100 feet (30 m) in length from the forward end at the beak of her prow to the tip of her stern superstructure aft . She was about 25 feet (7.6 m) at her widest point, with the bottom of her keel about 12 feet (3.6 m) below the waterline . William Bradford estimated that Mayflower had a cargo capacity of 180 tons . Surviving records from that time indicate that she could certainly accommodate 180 casks of wine in her cargo hold . The casks were great barrels holding hundreds of gallons of Bordeaux wine each . </P>

Who led the pilgrims to america on the mayflower