The Clipper Ship Era

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...

The Clipper Ship Era is a fascinating book about American and British Clipper ships in the 19th century.

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