Had the Sovereign of the Seas not been dismasted, it is reasonable to suppose that she would have equalled the fastest run from 50° S. to the equator in the month of October, which is 19 days, made by the Ocean Telegraph in 1855. This would have reduced her passage to 93 days; still, as it stands, her passage of 103 days has never been equalled by a vessel sailing from New York for San Francisco in the month of August. Captain McKay received much credit for rerigging his ship at sea and not putting into Valparaiso, and was presented with a very beautiful silver dinner service by the New York Board of Marine Underwriters.
This was the only passage made by the Sovereign of the Seas between New York and San Francisco. She carried on this voyage 2950 tons of cargo, and her freight amounted to $84,000; a portion of the
The “Sovereign of the Seas�
cargo, consisting of flour, sold in San Francisco at $44 per barrel.
She cleared from San Francisco in ballast for Honolulu, and there loaded a cargo, or rather several cargoes, of sperm oil which had been landed by American whale-ships in the Pacific, and sailed for New York, February 13, 1853. She had light and variable winds to the equator, her day’s runs ranging from 80 to 302 miles, and she made this stretch from Honolulu in 8 days. On February 27th, she was off the Navigator or Samoan Islands, and one cannot help thinking of the delight it would have given Robert Louis Stevenson if he could have looked upon this giant clipper flying southward under her white cloud of canvas, and with what magic words he would have made her name immortal.
On March 4th, the Sovereign of the Seas sprung her foretopmast, and although it was fished on the 6th, it was a source of anxiety for the remainder of the passage, and Captain McKay, mindful of his recent experience in these seas, carried sail with a considerable caution. Nothing of special interest occurred until March 15th, when the first strong westerly gales were felt, and a series of remarkable day’s runs was begun. Up to noon on March 16th, she had sailed from her position at noon the day before, 396 miles; on the 17th, 311 miles; on the 18th, 411 miles, and on the 19th, 360 miles, a total of 1478 miles in four days. During these four days, she made 34° 43′ of longitude eastward, which with the difference in time gives an average of 15½ knots, or an average of a fraction over 378 miles for each twenty-four hours. In the 11 days from March 10th to the 21st, she made the remarkable run of 3562 miles, and as she made during this time 82° 24′ of longitude, her average allowing for difference in time, was 13¾ knots, or 330 miles each twenty-four hours.
During her great run on the 18th of 411 miles, she made 10° 30′ of longitude, which reduced her sea day to 23 hours 18 minutes, and shows an average speed of 17⅔ knots, or 424 miles in twenty-four hours. On this day her log records: “Strong northwest breezes and rough sea.� It seems extremely improbable that she could have maintained uniform speed of 17⅔ knots throughout the twenty-four hours, but at times her speed probably slackened to 15 or 16 knots. If this supposition is correct, it follows that her speed must at times have exceeded 17⅔ knots in order to account for this average. In the absence of any data on this point, which is much to be regretted, it seems probable that she must have sailed at a speed of not less than 19 knots during a portion of these twenty-four hours, and perhaps 20 knots. After rounding Cape Horn she had light and moderate winds, her best day’s run being only 286 miles, and she arrived off Sandy Hook May 6, 1853, after a passage of 82 days from Honolulu.
She sailed again from New York for Liverpool, June 18th, passing Sandy Hook at 6:30 P.M., sighted Cape Race in Newfoundland at 6 A.M. on the 24th, was off Cape Clear in Ireland at 6 A.M. on June 30th, took a pilot at 2 P.M. July 2d, and anchored in the Mersey at 10:30 P.M. that day, having made the entire run from dock to anchorage in 13 days 22 hours and 50 minutes. This must be regarded as a most remarkable passage for the season, and has never been equalled by a sailing vessel during the month of June. Her best day’s run was on June 28th, 344 miles, by the wind, under single-reefed topsails, and on the 30th, 340 miles with skysails and royal studdingsails set. The Cunard S.S. Canada sailed from Boston on the same day that the Sovereign of the Seas sailed from New York, and a comparison of their logs published at the time shows that in five days, June 25-30th, the ship outsailed the steamer by 325 miles, and that the best run of the Canada during this passage was only 306 miles.
On this voyage her builder, Donald McKay, was a passenger on board the Sovereign of the Seas, and he passed most of his waking moments on deck, watching her movement through the water and observing the various strains on her spars and rigging. When he returned home, Enoch Train asked him what he thought of the ship, and Mr. McKay replied, “Well, she appears to be a pretty good ship, but I think I can build one to beat her�; and eventually he did so.