Clipper
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A model of a vessel of the clipper type, the four-masted barque named Belle Étoile |
A
clipper was a very fast multiple-masted
sailing ship of the
19th century. Generally narrow for their length, limiting in their bulk freight carrying capacities, and small by later 19th century standards, the clippers had a large relative
sail area. "Clipper ships" were mostly products of British and American
shipyards, though France, the Netherlands (the
Dutch-built "Telanak", built in 1859 for the tea and passenger trade to Java) and other nations also produced a number of them. Clippers sailed all over the world, primarily on the trade routes between Britain and its
colonies in the east, in the trans-Atlantic trade, and in the New York-to-San Francisco route round
The Horn during the
Gold Rush.
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"The Forteviot," 1896, by Antonio Jacobsen |
The often quoted derivation of the word, that the vessels "clipped" time off a voyage, is probably incorrect. However, the example of the other class of vessel built for speed, the cutter, reminds us that the cutting notion may have been seen as relevant. One of the meanings of clip, from the
seventeenth century onward, possibly from the sound of wings, is to fly or move quickly. The term
clipper was originally applied to a fast horse and most likely derives from the term
clip, meaning
speed, as in "going at a good clip". The term
clipper seems to be much the same as
flier. The Oxford English Dictionary gives its earliest English quotation as from 1830. Cutler reports that the first newspaper appearance was in
1835, but that by then the term was apparently familiar.
In the United States the term "clipper," described the Baltimore Clipper, a topsail
schooner that was developed in
Chesapeake Bay before the Revolution and was lightly armed in the War of 1812, sailing under Letters of Marque and Reprisal, when the type—exemplified by the
Chasseur, launched at Fells Point, Maryland, 1814— became known for its incredible speed; a deep draft enabled the Baltimore clipper to sail close to the wind (Villiers 1973). Clippers, outrunning the British blockade of Baltimore, came to be recognized as ships built for speed rather than cargo space; while traditional merchant ships were accustomed to average speeds of under 5 knots (9 km/h), clippers aimed at 9 knots (17 km/h) or better. Sometimes these ships could reach 20 knots (37 km/h).
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"The Prinz Albert," 1897, by Antonio Jacobsen |
Clippers were built for seasonal trades such as tea, where an early cargo was more valuable, or for passenger routes. The small, fast ships were ideally suited to low-volume, high-profit goods, such as
spices,
tea, people, and mail. The values could be spectacular. The "Challenger" returned from Shanghai with "the most valuable cargo of tea and silk ($2,000,000) ever to be laden in one bottom." The competition among the clippers was public and fierce, with their times recorded in the newspapers. The ships had low expected lifetimes and rarely outlasted two decades of use before they were broken up for salvage. Given their speed and maneuverability, clippers frequently mounted
cannon or
carronade and were often employed as pirate vessels, privateers, smuggling vessels, and in interdiction service.
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Clipper ship sailing card for the "Free Trade," printed by Nesbitt & Co., NY, early 1860s |
Departures of clipper ships, mostly from New York and Boston to San Francisco, were advertised by clipper ship sailing cards. These cards, slightly larger than today's postcards, were produced by letterpress and wood engraving on coated card stock. Most clipper cards were printed in the 1850s and 1860s, and represented the first pronounced use of color in American advertising art.
Relatively few (perhaps 3,500) clipper cards survive today. With their stunning appearance, rarity, and importance as artifacts of nautical, Western, and printing history, clipper cards are highly prized by both private collectors and institutions. See the links below to learn more about clipper ship sailing cards.
The most significant clippers were the so-called China Clippers, sometimes also known as Tea Clippers, designed to ply the trade routes between Europe and the East Indies. The last example of these still in near-perfect condition is the
Cutty Sark preserved at the
Royal Greenwich Observatory in
Greenwich,
United Kingdom.
The last of the 1890's China Clippers were literally the epitome of sail. The most complex sail plans had a total of four main masts and two auxillary masts, each main mast at full sail bearing six rectangular mainsails, and technically seven when bearing topgallants. These were trimmed with lateen spinnakers, as many as three to four at the bowsprit, and two auxillary stern lateen gaffs.
One of these clippers, when fully rigged and riding before a tradewind were acknowledged to be the fastest of all sail vessels, with peak average velocities approaching 35 knots for endurances over 12 hours.
When the last China Clippers were retired, they ended the age of the fastest commericla sailing vessels made by man. Their velcoties have been improved upon many times by modern ocean yachts, but never by any commercial sail vessel.
Decline in the use of clippers started with the economic slump following the
Panic of 1857 and continued with the gradual introduction of the
steamship. Although clippers could be much faster than the early steamships, clippers were ultimately dependent on the vagaries of the wind, while steamers could reliably keep to a schedule. The
steam clipper was developed around this time, and had auxiliary steam engines which could be used in the absence of wind. An example of this type was the
Royal Charter, built in 1857 and wrecked on the coast of
Anglesey in
1859. The final blow came in the form of the
Suez Canal, opened in 1869, which provided a huge shortcut for steamships between
Europe and
Asia, but which was difficult for sailing ships to use.
Although many clipper ships were built during the middle of the 1800s,
Cutty Sark is arguably the only survivor.
Falls of Clyde is a well-preserved example of a more conservatively designed, slower contemporary of the clippers, which was built for general freight in 1878. Other surviving examples of clipper ships of the era are not as well preserved, for example the
City of Adelaide (aka
S.V. Carrick)[
1].
*
Great Republic*
James Baines*
Lightning*
Sea Witch*
Cutty Sark*
Flying Cloud*
Summary details of further famous Clipper ShipsTrans-oceanic
flying boats, above all the
Boeing 314 were established under the name of "flying clipper", from the early
1930s. To send mail or goods by one of these flights was, in the 1930s,
to clipper it.
*
William Jardine*
Donald McKay*
Packet ship*
Sail-plan*
Famous Clipper ships*
The "Telanak"*
Clipper Ship cards*
Clipper Ship Cards (from The Trade Card Place)*
The Flying Clippers*
The Shipslist: Baltimore Clipper*
"Baltimore Clippers - Pirates of the Chesapeake": career of
Chasseur* Clipper Wind [
2]
*
Carl C. Cutler,
Greyhounds of the Sea (1930, 3rd ed.
Naval Institute Press 1984)
*Alexander Laing,
Clipper Ship Men (1944)
*David R. MacGregor,
Fast Sailing Ships: Their Design and Construction, 1775-1875 Naval Institute Press, 1988 ISBN 0870218956
index*Oxford English Dictionary (1987) ISBN 0-19-861212-5.
*Bruce D. Roberts,
Clipper Ship Cards: The High-Water Mark in Early Trade Cards, The Advertising Trade Card Quarterly 1, no. 1 (Spring 1994): 20-22.
*Bruce D. Roberts,
Clipper Ship Cards: Graphic Themes and Images, The Advertising Trade Card Quarterly 1, no. 2 (Summer 1994): 22-24.
*Bruce D. Roberts,
Museum Collections of Clipper Ship Cards, The Advertising Trade Card Quarterly 2, no. 1 (Spring 1995): 22-24.
*Bruce D. Roberts,
Selling Sail with Clipper Ship Cards, Ephemera News 19, no. 2 (Winter 2001): 1, 11-14.
*Villiers, Capt. Alan, 1973.
Men, Ships and the Sea (National Geographic Society)
