US America Clipper Ship Museum, Cherish the Sea

Clipper Ships, Cherish the Sea

I have drawn heavily from bibliography the book, Cherish the Sea to paint this picture. This section is as close to verbatim as possible. The book is a translation from the French and was published in 1952.

The Americans brought the same improvements to the big ship (as they had to schooners-dcs) and from this emerged the Clipper, a term that was also used to denote a winning race horse. The point of departure of this transformation was the end of the privileges of the East India Company in the tea trade. One then saw ships lining up to bring back the new harvest as fast as possible. The great master in speed building was John Griffiths, who changed his hulls into long, tapering fishes with no more of those comfortable tumbling-home sides on which the ships used to roll.

Here everything was trenchant. (sharp, keen-dcs) There were no upperworks: the Yankees sailed with their feet in the water so as to have no dead surfaces to offer resistance to the wind. At the same time they gave great length to the ship, often by the use of iron ribs.

In the great period, however, the sides were always wooden, for wood, sheathed in copper, gives the best gliding motion and also a certain elasticity which was probably the real secret of the Clipper: possibly a forgotten secret.

The appearance of these craft is a delight to the enthusiast. One can sense the speed, as though these strong yet fugitive lines had been moulded by the rapid embrace of the water. The bows are well protected but all the rest is flat and condensed. One can imagine the use of unconventional materials chosen for their lightness as well as their strength.

Soon, the three-master was replaced by the four-master. One of the most famous of these was the Great Republic, of 4,500 registered tons, built to weather storms in which, while others hove-to, she continued on her way with an almost full press of sail. She was a Boston bottom, 285 feet long, and for a long time was one of the largest ships in the sailing fleet.

The California gold rush also gave rise to a struggle for speed among American ships and instigated new and sensational improvements. Among the 'cracks' one must quote the Flying Cloud from the yards of Donald McKay of Boston, which, with the James Baines from the same yards, achieved speeds which have never been surpassed: 21 knots in 1856, and if one has any doubts on this point, one has to bow before the distances covered each day. The James Baines had a run of 420 miles which gives an average of 17 1/2 knots.

England, surprised as usual and slow to catch on, refused to be outstripped. She finally won the tea race and the records of that period have left behind them wonderful stories. The tree-master was still predominant but reduced to the very essentials, to the finest of the fine, and construction and handling had been brought to such a pitch of perfection that the Ariel and the Taeping, after a race half way around the world, entered the Thames within a few minutes of each other after a voyage of four months.

England has preserved as a relic the Cutty Sark, which was said to be the fastest of these sailing ships. A ship-owner bought and restored her to her primitive aspect and she is now to be seen at Greenwhich as a monument to the glorious tradition of the Clippers.

One cannot conceal, however, the risks that these ships ran at these speeds which had to be maintaineed at all costs. The excellence of captains and crews, their abnormal qualities, prevented worse disasters. The men who commanded these ships looke ddown on other sailors and there was the greatest possible rivalry among crews. There was nearly a riot when sail was reduced.

They withstood squalls which would have sent any honest ship to the bottom. To begin with, whatever the weather, they sailed with all the hatches and all the companion-ways closed under tarpaulins. It became a routine. Thus they did not fear to ride the sea. They bore the battering of the waves and shipped seas where everyone clutched on like grim death waiting for the storm to abate. Certain Clippers are said to have remained on their beam ends for more than five hours, without a drop of water entering, and since the masts were designed to stand up to anything, they were merely made heavier by the water in the sails, which took only about a quarter of an hour to dry out.

Among the skippers I must mention the famous Bully Waterman of the Howland Company who, whenever he went below, padlocked the topgallant halyards and sheets so that no one could take in any sail during the night.

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