The Clipper Ships

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22305, 20 January 1938, Page 5 (Supplement)

The Clipper Ships

The most beautiful thing man ever made was the clipper ship, yet its life, was short on the ocean highways of the world. These sailing ships were called clippers on account of their shape and astounding speed. They were built of light wood, were long and narrow, with sharp bows and tall, raked masts. Under full sail they made a wonderful sight, leaving behind all other ships. Yet they were

doomed, for steam was taking the place of sail. Steamers were slow but regular and reliable. Clippers relied for speed on good winds, and were thus thought unreliable, and yet they made records which still stand, for the struggle for supremacy between steam and sail was long and bitter. The first true clipper was the Anne McKim, built at, Baltimore m 1832; but it was Donald McKay, a Boston shipbuilder, who made the first fleet of successful clipper ships.

(By L. W. Allott)

These ships astonished the world. One, the James Bain, once averaged during a storm 21 miles an hour, a record which still stands. Another, the Lightning, sailed 437 miles in 24 hours, a marvellous performance for a sailing vessel. About this time the English shipbuilders also started constructing clipper ships, and great was the competition between them and the Americans. All the pro-

spectors who went to California in 1849, during the gold rush, were carried in clippers, and record passages were made. Imagine a clipper in a storm, all hands on deck, two men at the wheel, and the captain wondering if his rival was ahead or behind, and not caring a whit for the sufferings of the wet, cold, unhappy gold seekers down below. With the development of the China tea trade the clippers came to be used a great deal. It was a long run, and coaling stations for

the steamers were few and far between, In December, 1850, the clipper, Oriental, with a cargo of tea, arrived at the West India docks from Hong Kong in. 97 days. Then, in 1866, the clippers Ariel, Taeping, and Serica left Foochow on the same day and docked at London 99 days later, and all within a few hours of each other. This achievement was a triumph for the English shipyards. We must mention the greatest clipper ships ever made, the Cutty Sark and the Thermopylae. Again and again these beautiful ships •raced out laden with tea, and spreading their white wings, sped home swift as the wind.

All this time steamers were improving in design and speed, and soon the clippers were withdrawn from the China service, only to shine gloriously on the Australian wool run. Then again, they were withdrawn, and now they are only memories of the past. Their achievements will live, for they put up a long and honourable fight for the command of the sea. And they have now given their name to the fast ships of the air in the American services.