The Surprise proved one of the most successful American clippers in the China trade. After her first voyage she was for a number of years commanded by the captains Charles Ranlett, father and son, and in their hands made many fine passages—she made eleven consecutive passages from China to New York in 89 days or less, six from Hong-kong, and five from Shanghai, the best being 81 days from Shanghai, in 1857. Among other fast passages from Canton to New York may be mentioned those of the Stag-Hound 85, 91, and 92 days; Flying Cloud, 94 and 96 days; N. B. Palmer, 84 days; Comet, Panama, and Hurricane, each 99 days; Sword-Fish, 80 days; Sea Serpent, 88 days; Vancouver, 96 days; Mandarin, 89 days; but I am unable to find that Captain Waterman’s passage of 77 days in the Sea Witch in 1848, and 78 days in the Natchez in 1845, from Canton to New York, have ever been beaten. In 1854 the Comet made a record passage of 84 days from Liverpool to Hong-kong, an average of 212 miles per day, and in the same year the Typhoon made the run from the Lizard to Calcutta in 80 days.
In Great Britain the Cairngorm, of 1250 tons register, was built in 1853 by Alexander Hall & Co., and owned by Jardine, Matheson Co. Between 1853 and 1856 came the Crest of the Wave, Norma, Flying Dragon, Formosa, and Spirit of the Age, built by John Pile of Sunderland, and the Lord of the Isles (iron) by John Scott & Co., of Greenock. The ship last named registered 770 tons, measured: length 190 feet 9 inches, breadth 27 feet 8 inches, depth 18 feet 5 inches, and was an extremely sharp and handsome, though a very wet ship. It used to be said that Captain Maxton, her commander, drove her into one side of a sea and out the other; at all events, she was generally known among sailormen as the “Diving Bell.�
The British clippers of this type, which was extremely sharp and narrow, very nearly held their own against the American ships, and it is much to be regretted that there never was a fair and square race between them; for no British and American clipper ships ever sailed from China near enough together to afford a satisfactory test of speed.
The Lord of the Isles made the remarkable run from Shanghai to London in 1855 during the northeast monsoon of 87 days. In 1856 she sailed against the American clipper barque Maury, commanded by Captain Fletcher, from Foo-chow to London, both carrying new teas. In this year a premium of £1 per ton on the freight was offered for the first ship home during the season. The reward was offered without regard to the length of the passage, and was intended to encourage quick despatch in loading as well as fast sailing. The Lord of the Isles finished loading and sailed four days ahead of the Maury. Both vessels arrived in the Downs on the same morning and passed Gravesend within ten minutes of each other, the Maury leading, but Captain Maxton, having the smartest tug, succeeded in getting his ship first into dock, and so won the prize. The Maury was an exceedingly pretty barque of about 600 tons, built by Roosevelt & Joyce, and owned by A. A. Low & Brother. She was a very similar vessel to the barques Fairy, Penguin, and Benefactor, by the same builders, all engaged in the China trade. The Lord of the Isles was the only tea-clipper built of iron at that time. It was found that she sweated her tea cargoes, though otherwise they were delivered in excellent condition, and she was certainly a very fast vessel.
At this period (1853-1856) British iron ships, both sail and steam, were coming into favor for other trades, but their introduction had been slow. It is not easy at the present time to realize the difficulties attending the building of the first iron vessels. The rolling of iron plates to a uniform thickness was a matter requiring great care and skill, and a number of years elapsed before plates exceeded or even reached ten feet in length; then bending the frames and riveting the plates were difficult processes, only learned through much trial and experiment. In the early days, when an iron ship was completed, her owner’s troubles had only begun. Finding a composition that would prevent fouling and at the same time not destroy the plates; the adjustment of compasses, and devising effective means of ventilation, were all matters that required years of investigation and labor, to say nothing of the prejudice against iron vessels, which time and experience alone could overcome. Yet it was the skilful use of this stubborn metal in the construction of ships, together with wise legislation, that enabled Great Britain to regain her empire upon the sea.
CHAPTER XIII
CALIFORNIA CLIPPERS OF 1852—THE “SOVEREIGN OF THE SEASâ€�
AS one by one the California clippers came home from Asiatic ports or round Cape Horn from San Francisco in 1852, it was found that almost all of them needed a pretty thorough overhauling aloft. The masts, spars, and rigging of the Flying Cloud were fine examples of the skill of her sailors in clapping on fishings, lashings, stoppers, and seizings, while her topmast fids, crushed and broken, were taken up to the Astor House and exhibited to the admiration of the town. Her owners, Grinnell, Minturn & Co., had her log from New York to San Francisco printed in gold letters on white silk for distribution among their friends, and Captain Creesy fled to his home in Marblehead in order to escape notoriety.
The Sea Serpent, Eclipse, and Stag-Hound were in much the same condition aloft as the Flying Cloud, while the Witchcraft, on the voyage from San Francisco to Hong-kong had lost her main and mizzen masts with all sails and rigging attached, during a severe typhoon in the China Sea. The Tornado, commanded by Captain O. R. Mumford, bound from San Francisco to New York, had lost her bowsprit with the foremast and sprung her mainmast, when to the westward of Cape Horn. It required fourteen days to complete the jury rig at sea, after which she sailed to New York, a distance of 8000 miles, in 51 days. In acknowledgment of Captain Mumford’s services on this occasion, the New York, Sun, Astor, and Mercantile Insurance Companies presented him with a costly solid silver service, which was made by Ball, Black & Co., and exhibited in the window of their store on the corner of Murray Street and Broadway.
All of these ships were rerigged in New York with stouter spars and rigging than they originally carried, and much valuable experience was gained by sparmakers and riggers as to the requirements aloft of these large, powerful clippers, while their captains had at the same time become better acquainted with their peculiarities. The great difficulty was to get a large ship, say from 1600 to 2000 tons, that would sail fast in moderate winds. If she had canvas enough to drive her along in a light breeze, the chances were that in a gale something was bound to carry away aloft. The utmost skill and judgment were required to rig and to handle these heavily masted ships with wooden spars and hemp rigging.
The great race to San Francisco in 1852 was between the Sword-Fish of New York and the Flying Fish of Boston, both extreme clippers and built respectively by William H. Webb and Donald McKay. The Flying Fish sailed from Boston November 11, 1851, and on the same day the Sword-Fish passed Sandy Hook. Large sums were wagered upon the result. Captain Nickels of the Flying Fish and Captain Babcock of the Sword-Fish were both young and skilful commanders, and it was believed by their friends that each would send his ship along at her utmost speed. The Flying Fish made an excellent run of 19 days to the equator, leading the Sword-Fish by four days. From the equator to 50° S., the Flying Fish was 26 and the Sword-Fish 22 days, so that they passed that parallel on the same day. They raced round Cape Horn, part of the time side by side, the Flying Fish making the run from 50° S. in the Atlantic to 50° S. in the Pacific in 7 and the Sword-Fish in 8 days. From this point the Sword-Fish came up and steadily drew away. She made the run to the equator in 19 days, leading the Flying Fish by 3 days, and from the equator to San Francisco in 20 days, gaining on this stretch another 3 days, and arrived at San Francisco February 10, 1852, after a splendid passage of 90 days 16 hours from New York. The Flying Fish arrived on the 17th, or 98 days from Boston. The Sword-Fish was regarded by many as the fastest and handsomest ship built by William H. Webb; and her passage of 90 days, the second best ever made from New York to San Francisco, and within one day of the record, together with many other fast passages, among them her record run of 31 days from Shanghai to San Francisco in 1855, an average of 240 miles a day, certainly places her at or very near the head of the list of clippers launched from this famous yard.