Flying Cloud was a clipper ship that set the world's sailing record for the fastest passage between New York and San Francisco, 89 days 8 hours. The ship held this record for over 130 years, from 1854 to 1989.
Donald McKay was a Canadian-born American designer and builder of sailing ships, famed for his record-setting extreme clippers.
USS John Hancock was an armed steam tug in the United States Navy during the 1850s. She was named for Founding Father John Hancock and saw action against rioters in Massachusetts, filbusters in Cuba, rebels in China, and Native Americans in the Washington Territory. She took part in a hydrographic surveying expedition to East Asia and the Pacific Ocean.
The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was founded April 18, 1848, as a joint stock company under the laws of the State of New York by a group of New York City merchants. Incorporators included William H. Aspinwall, Edwin Bartlett, Henry Chauncey, Mr. Alsop, G.G. Howland and S.S. Howland.
America was a 19th-century racing yacht and first winner of the America's Cup international sailing trophy.
USS Nightingale was originally the tea clipper and slave ship Nightingale, launched in 1851. USS Saratoga captured her off Africa in 1861; the United States Navy then purchased her.
Witchcraft was a clipper built in 1850 for the California and China trade. She made record passages from Rio de Janeiro to San Francisco, and from San Francisco to Callao, Peru.
Sea Serpent was an 1850 extreme clipper that sailed in the San Francisco trade, the China trade, and the transatlantic lumber trade. She was one of the longest lived clippers, with a service life of 36 years and 5 months.
The Memnon was the first clipper ship to arrive in San Francisco after the Gold Rush, and the only clipper to arrive in San Francisco before 1850. Built in 1848, she made record passages to San Francisco and to China, and sailed in the first clipper race around Cape Horn.
Antelope was a medium clipper built in 1851 in Medford, near Boston, Massachusetts. She sailed in the San Francisco, China, and Far East trades, and was known for her fine finish work and for her crew's escape from pirates. She is often called Antelope of Boston to distinguish her from the extreme clipper Antelope of New York launched in 1852.
Comet was an 1851 California clipper built by William H. Webb which sailed in the Australia trade and the tea trade. This extreme clipper was very fast. She had record passages on two different routes: New York City to San Francisco, and Liverpool to Hong Kong, and beat the famous clipper Flying Dutchman in an 1853 race around the Horn to San Francisco.
The schooner Anglona was the first American opium clipper. She sailed in the Chinese coastal trade in the 1840s, and had a famous race with the schooner Ariel around Lintin Island.
Shooting Star was an extreme clipper built in 1851 near Boston, in Medford, Massachusetts. She was the first "real clipper" to be built in Medford, and sailed in the San Francisco, China, and Far East trades. According to Howe and Matthews, she was known as "one of the fastest of the small clippers".
The Richard K. Fox, first named Lillie, was a 19th-century pilot boat built in 1876 for Boston Pilots. She was designed by model by Dennison J. Lawlor. She was one of the most graceful and attractive of the Boston pilot-boats and represented a trend toward deep-bodied boats. She was later sold to the New York pilots and renamed Richard K. Fox in honor of the famous sportsman and publisher of the Police Gazette. In the age of steam, she was sold in 1896 to the Marine Hospital Service.
The Varuna was a 19th-century Boston pilot boat, built by Montgomery & Howard at Chelsea, Massachusetts in 1890, for a group of Boston pilots. She was designed by yacht designer Edward Burgess, known for his America's Cup defenders. She was the first centerboard pilot-boat in operation in the Massachusetts Bay. The Varuna went out of service in 1912 because of the introduction of steam power into pilot-boats. She was later sold to Stephen Simmons to be used as a trading vessel between ports in the Spanish Main in 1913.
The Friend was a 19th-century pilot boat built by Daniel D. Kelley & Holmes East Boston shipyard in 1848 for Boston pilots. She helped transport Boston maritime pilots between inbound or outbound ships coming into the Boston Harbor. The Friend was one of the last of the low sided, straight sheared schooners built in the 1840s for Boston pilots. The second Boston pilot boat Friend was built in 1887. Her name came from the older Friend that was in the service in the late 1840s. Captain Thomas Cooper sold the Friend to New York pilots in 1893. Cooper replaced the Friend with the pilot-boat Columbia in 1894.
Dennison J. Lawlor, was a 19th-century Canadian-Irish shipbuilder and yacht designer. He apprenticed under shipbuilder Whitmore & Holbrook. Lawlor had his own shipyard, building and designing for 40 years some of the finest yachts, pilot boats, and 150 merchant vessels built from his designs. The most notable were the Hesper, Florence, and D. J. Lawlor. Lawlor died in Chelsea, Massachusetts in 1892.
The Dancing Feather was a 19th-century pilot boat, built in 1853 at the Dennison J. Lawlor shipyard in East Boston, Massachusetts. She went to San Francisco in 1853. The Dancing Feather met up with the wreck SS Yankee Blade in 1854 and was able to raise four boxes of treasure from the sunken vessel. In 1857, she went ashore on the beach north of Point Bonita in San Francisco Bay.
The Coquette was a 19th-century yacht and pilot boat, built in 1845 by Louis Winde, at the Winde & Clinkard shipyard in Chelsea, Massachusetts for yachtsmen James A. Perkins. Her design was based on a model by shipbuilder Dennison J. Lawlor. The Coquette was a good example of an early American yacht with a clipper bow. As a yacht, she won the attention for outsailing the larger New York yacht Maria at the second New York Yacht Club regatta in 1846. Perkins sold the Coquette to the Boston Pilots' Association for pilot service in 1848. She continued as a pilot boat until 1867 when she was sold as a Blackbirder to be used on the African coast.
The Caleb Curtis was a 19th-century two-masted Boston pilot boat, built in 1859 at Chelsea, Massachusetts for Boston maritime pilots. She well known for her speed. the Curtis was sold to the San Francisco Pilots' Opposition Line in October 1861 and sailed from Boston around Cape Horn and then to San Francisco to become a pilot boat with the San Francisco fleet. She was shipwrecked inside the Bonita Channel in 1867. The Caleb Curtis was repaired, and was able to continue as a pilot boat in San Francisco from 1867 to 1892. She was sold at auction 1892. From 1892 to 1899, she had different owners and sailed the waters of Japan, Socorro Island, Clipperton Island and Tahiti, Hong Kong and Klondike, Yukon. She was shipwrecked at Cape Nome, Alaska in 1899.
United States