Clipper Ship Days

"A diary kept during a long voyage in a fast-sailing clipper ship in the days before steel ocean liners when the United States was first on the list of maritime nations. The book reflects the customs and ideas of the people and vividly describes the countries as they then appeared"--Dust jacket.

First volume of invaluable, fully illustrated, encyclopedic review of 352 clipper ships from the period of America's greatest maritime supremacy. Introduction. Total in set: 109 halftones. 5 illustrations. Index.

Excerpt from A Sea Trip in Clipper Ship Days On a chill gray afternoon in December, the good Ship, National Eagle, left the wharf in East Boston, bound for New Orleans. A group of relatives and friends, a few minutes before had filed down the gangway, and were still standing on the wharf, waving hats and handkerchiefs, as the ship, her moorings loosened and cast off, began to move slowly and majestically away from the pier. On board of her, as she glided away, in the waning light of the short winter afternoon, were the Captain; three officers or mates, designated as first, second and third; a carpenter; a steward; a cook; a crew of twenty or more men, known as "sailors before the mast"; and four younger men, called boys to distinguish them from the men of the crew. There were also two passengers, my sister and myself - daughters of the Captain. The Era of the Clipper Ship was the most picturesque, and perhaps the most profitable period, in the maritime life of the United States. It began about 1843 because of the growing demand for a quicker delivery of tea from China. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Describes the clipper ships and gives a history of their use.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1910 edition. Excerpt: ...and famous Typhoon, a ship more than double her size. It should, however, be remembered with regard to the Sea Witch, that she was at that time over five years old, and had led a pretty wild life under Waterman, while she had known no peace with Frazer in command, and had been strained and weakened by hard driving. Moreover, a wooden ship, after five or six years, begins to lose her speed through absorbing water, and becomes sluggish in light airs. In her prime and at her best with Waterman in command, the Sea Witch was probably the fastest sailing-ship of her inches ever built. The California clippers were, of course, racing all the time, against each other and against the record, aDd the strain upon their captains in driving their ships against competitors whose relative positions were unknown, was terrific. It became a confirmed habit with them to keep their ships going night and day in all weathers and at their utmost speed. In order to appreciate what a passage of 110 days or less from an Atlantic port to San Francisco really means, we must take a few of the long passages of 1851, made by ships that were not clippers: Arthur, from New York, 200 days; Austerlitz, Boston, 185 days; Barrington, Boston, 180 days; Bengal, Philadelphia, 185 days; Capitol, Boston, 300 days; Cornwallis, New York, 204 days; Franconia, Boston, 180 days; Henry Allen, New York, 225 days; Inconium, Baltimore, 190 days. The logs of these vessels tell of long, weary days and nights of exasperating calms, and dreary, heartbreaking weeks of battle with tempests off Cape Horn. Some of the vessels built in 1851 did not take part in the races of that year, as they were not launched until too late; and did not arrive at San Francisco before 1852. Those among them which...

Originally published in 1930, this is a wonderfully detailed look at the history of the Sailing Ship in the nineteenth century. Packed with photos and anecdotes, every major ship and Captain of the day is examined in depth. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Home Farm Books are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. Contents Include : Types of Ships The East Indiamen American Superiority and Atlantic Packets Navigation Laws, Utility Ships Opium and Tea Clippers Rushes To Californian and Australian Gold Fields, Some Fast Passages Wool, Wheat and Emigrant Ships Roaring Forties, Icebergs, Slow and Fast Passages, Etc Disasters, Rescues, Etc Life On A Sailing Ship