![]() Often, carpenters were called upon to do this. Wooden vessels required thousands of holes to be bored, both for iron rods to hold the knees–crooked timbers acting as braces–to the frame, and for treenails (pronounced “trunnels”) to fasten planking to the exterior. Ship joiners built cabins, stairs, doors, and furniture. When these seams were coated with tar, they became waterproof. Caulkers used special mallets and chisels to force oakum into the seams of the hull and deck. Some workers identified themselves as ship carpenters, a skilled trade, but not as skilled as that of the shipwright, who would often work in the mould loft, converting drawings into frames, and making sure those frames were set properly. ![]() Work in the yard, generally, was divided into three main categories: shipwright/ship carpenter, caulker, or joiner. The 19th century Boston directories, which list workers by occupation, provide a ready inventory of what skills were most utilized in East Boston shipyards. reprinted from Publication Number Thirteen of the Marine Research Society, 1926-27. Their memory endures in books, paintings, and models. And the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 favored steamships. Because the vessels carried such immense sail area, they required large crews, which added to operating costs. And so like the gold rushes themselves, the era of clipper ships was short-lived. Finally in the 1870s, with improved marine engines and boilers, steam-powered vessels broke clipper ship speed And no square-rigged ship has ever broken Flying Cloud’s record. No steamship of their day could beat them. ![]() The Seas 22 knots Champion of the Seas 465 nautical miles in one day. The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) and the Australian gold rushes of the 1850s spurred additional clipper ship construction.Ĭlipper ships set records: Flying Cloud–New York to San Francisco in 89 days, 8 hours Sovereign of In the China trade, an exceptionally fast clipper ship could beat the competition, bringing back tea from Guangzhou (formerly Canton to westerners) and fetching the highest prices. Trade routes where speed translated into significant profit. Swift, with long sharp bows and names like Chariot of Fame, Empress of the Seas, Flying Fish, Coeur de Lion, Staghound, and Lightning, “in every way clipper ships ranked among the most handsome vessels ever put afloat.” Three-masted and square-rigged, clipper ships were unusual merchant vessels because they were designed for great speed rather than capacity. ![]() Dozens more were built by other outstanding shipbuilders, earning East Boston the reputation as the birthplace of many of the fastest, most beautiful merchant sailing ships ever built. She used her knowledge and the latest scientific data to chart Flying Cloud’s course into maritime history.īetween 18, Donald McKay built 31 clipper ships at his shipyard located along Border Street. Recognizing her intellect, Eleanor’s seafaring step-father had taught her navigation. No square-rigged ship has ever beat it 135 years later a racing yacht did.Įleanor Creesy’s expertise in navigation and her role in Flying Cloud’s success were exceptional for the times. There a newspaper described Donald McKay’s most famous clipper ship as “a monument of Yankee talent in ship building.” Flying Cloud, her captain Josiah Creesy and his wife, Eleanor, the ship’s navigator, would surpass their achievement 4 years later by 13 hours. These same teas were being drunk in Boston in the colonial era, a century before the Cutty Sark was launched.The 1851 New York Tribune headline trumpeted Flying Cloud’s record-breaking sail: 89 days 21 hours from New York around Cape Horn to San Francisco. Every inch of space was filled tightly with 300-pound wooden chests bearing historic Chinese tea names such as gunpowder, hyson, congou, singlo or souchong. Tea clippers were designed to hold as many chests of Chinese tea as possible. Once those had been unloaded in Shanghai, the hold was repacked with 1450 tons of tea, which was landed in London later that year. I spent several hours exploring this great maritime treasure chest a few months ago.īritain’s most famous and only surviving tea clipper was built in Scotland in 1869 and set sail on her first commercial voyage to China in 1870, loaded with wines, spirits and beer. Her journey here was not without incident, and we are fortunate to have an opportunity to once again walk the decks of this proud ship. The iconic clipper ship Cutty Sark has come back to life in her new all-weather Greenwich dry dock on the eastern edge of London, not far from where tea clippers once brought cargos of tea into the warehouses of the East India Company. Unconditional Love: The Letters of John & Abigail Adams.250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |