The “Lightning.”
The Lightning was built by Donald Mackay to the order of James Baines in the winter of 1853-4 at a cost of £30,000, and on her arrival in Liverpool was furnished and decorated below at a further cost of £2000.
“LIGHTNING.”
From a painting.
[Larger image] (206 kB)
![[Larger image]](#6242537029064317809_i_p060a_large.jpg.id-6211052671842187356.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}
Her measurements were:—
| Tonnage | (builders) | 2096 tons. | |
| (register) | 1468 „ | ||
| (burthen) | 3500 „ | ||
| Length | 244 feet. | ||
| Beam | 44 „ | ||
| Depth | 23 „ | ||
| Dead rise at half-floor 20 inches. | |||
Her poop was 92 feet long and her saloon 86 feet, whilst she had 8 feet under the beams in her ’tween decks, a most unusual height for those days.
With regard to design, she was one of the sharpest ships ever launched. Her model is thus described by Captain H. H. Clark:—“She had long, concave water-lines and at her load displacement line a cord from her cut-water to just abaft the fore rigging showed a concavity of 16 inches. Her stem raked boldly forward, the lines of the bow gradually becoming convex and blending with the sheer line and cut-water, while the only ornament was a beautiful full-length figure of a young woman holding a golden thunderbolt in her outstretched hand, the flowing white drapery of her graceful form and her streaming hair completing the fair and noble outline of the bow.
“The after-body was long and clean, though fuller than the bow, while the stern was semi-elliptical in form, with the plank sheer moulding for its base, and was ornamented with gilded carved work, though this really added nothing to the beauty of the strong sweeping outline of her hull.”
The Lightning’s spar and rigging measurements were tremendous:—
| Mainmast, deck to truck | 164 feet. |
| Foremast „ „ | 151 „ |
| Mizenmast „ „ | 115 „ |
| Mainyard „ „ | 95 „ |
| Lower stunsail booms | 65 „ |
She spread 13,000 yards of canvas when under all plain sail. Donald Mackay had her rigged as a three skysail yard ship, but later Messrs. James Baines fitted her with a moonsail on the main by lengthening the skysail mast. This was also done in the case of James Baines. And these two ships had the proud distinction of being perhaps the only two ships afloat which regularly crossed a moonsail yard.
The Lightning was provided with iron water tanks holding 36,000 gallons of water—a novelty at that date. And in various other ways her accommodation for passengers was an improvement on anything attempted before.
The great Bully Forbes was sent out to Boston to superintend her outfit and take command of her, and he was lucky in finding a valuable friend and adviser in Captain Lauchlan Mackay, who made the trip to Liverpool in her as builders’ representative.