Clipper Ships, Majestic Racehorses of The Sea
A Brief look at the Evolution, Rise and Fall of Clipper Ships
Jun 21, 2009
The Origins of Clippers
These Baltimore Clippers were characterized by small size, relatively shallow draught and sharply raked masts. Most were rigged as topsail schooners ( two masted) and were renowned for their speed and manouverability. These two qualities made them popular with privateers in the the American Revolution, as well as slavers and smugglers. Their relatively shallow draught enabled them to enter anchorages denied to larger ships.
They were named clippers because of their speed, and the manner in which their sharp bows 'clipped' through the ocean waves. The design was picked up on by shipbuilders in Europe, although most clippers were built in England and America.
From the early 1800s to the early 1850s, clippers developed into many different variations, although all possessed sharp, in-swept bows, narrow hulls and clouds of sails. Most clippers were unarmed, although some carried carronades to protect themselves against piracy.
Classic Clippers
Clippers were built with speed as the foremost consideration, and consequently, they were best suited to carrying luxurious goods that fetched high prices for small quantities. Thus, different 'classes' of clipper emerged, and some of these classes included tea and opium clippers, that brought cargoes from China: California clippers, that carried passengers from the western United States seaboard, around Cape Horn (the southern tip of South America) and on up to California: and wool clippers, which carried wool from Australia.
Competition between clippers in achieving the shortest possible voyage times led to clipper races making news headlines. Fortunes were gambled on the outcome of a single voyage, and some people were driven to suicide when the ship they had bet on lost a race.
Clippers consistently logged incredible speeds, with 16 knots ( 30 kph) being fairly normal. Speeds of up to 20 knots were recorded. The clipper 'Flying Cloud' once sailed from New York to San Francisco in 89 days, a voyage that usually took around 200 days to complete. Flying Cloud was unusual in that she was navigated by a woman, Eleanor Creesy, who shared command with her husband, Josiah Perkins Creesy.
Thermopylae once sailed from Gravesend in England to Melbourne, Australia, in 63 days. Thermopylae is usually considered the fastest clipper ever built, although her chief rival, the Cutty Sark, once logged 360 nautical miles ( 666 kilometres) in 24 hours. The outstanding speed of the clipper ship led to high wastage in rigging, masts and spars, as captains drove their ships to the limit, in all kinds of weather.
The Clipper Swan Song
The heyday of the clipper was very brief. The increasing use of steamships - not as fast but more reliable - and the opening of the Suez canal contributed to the gradual decline of these superb sailing ships. Thermopylae was eventually sold to the Portuguese navy, who used her for target practice in 1906. The Cutty Sark went through a number of different owners before finally coming to rest in Greenwich, London, where she may still be viewed today. She suffered fire damage in 2007 and is currently undergoing restoration.
Clippers are acknowledged as the fastest commercial sailing vessels ever built. Although they faded from mercantile shipping, the sailing cargo ship lived on in the form of the windjammer, mighty vessels with steel hulls, masts and rigging, that owed much of their design to clippers. Windjammers persisted well into the twentieth century: they were tough, robust, had large cargo space, and were relatively cheap to build, sail and maintain.
It is said that old seamen, who had sailed on clippers, remarked that the clipper ship was 'about as close to God as man was ever likely to come'.
Sources:
The Sailing Ship, Jan de Hartog Odyssey Press, Inc. 1964
