 The opium clipper Red Rover (left) and the Streatham on the Hooghly river in the 1830s | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name | Red Rover |
| Owner | Captain William Clifton |
| Builder | Captain William Clifton, Howrah |
| Launched | 1830 |
| Acquired | Jardine, Matheson & Co., 1832 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Opium clipper |
| Tons burthen | 254 (bm) |
| Length | 97 ft (29.5656000 m) |
| Beam | 24 ft (7 m) |
| Draught | 11 ft (3 m) |
| Sail plan | Barque |
Red Rover was the name of two clipper ships.
Red Rover, built in 1829, was a 254-ton clipper "built, owned, and operated" by Captain William Clifton which was "one of the fastest" opium clippers running between Calcutta and Lintin in the 1830s. [1] Red Rover was modeled after an American War of 1812 blockade runner, Prince de Neufchatel , and was "the first clipper to sail to Canton against the wind." [2]
The well-known firm of Jardine, Matheson & Co. held shares in the ship beginning in 1832. [1] [3]
 United States | |
|---|---|
| Name | Red Rover |
| Builder | Fernald & Pettigrew, Portsmouth, New Hampshire |
| Launched | 1852 |
| Renamed | Sold to James Baines & Co., Liverpool, for $25.000 in 1861, renamed Young Australia |
| Fate | Wrecked on Moreton Island, May 1872 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Clipper |
A second clipper named Red Rover, active in the California trade, was built by Fernald & Pettigrew in 1852. [4] Between January 22 - May 2, 1854, the ship sailed from New York to San Francisco in 120 (122) days. The Seaman's Bride and Winged Racer which left New York one respectively two days after the Red Rover arrived at San Francisco on May 23. [5]
Red Rover was damaged in the December 26–27, 1853 fire which destroyed the clipper Great Republic . [5]
Later, the ship served in the guano trade, sailing "from Baker's Island with a cargo of guano to Hampton Roads in 99 days," between August 28 - December 5, 1860. [5]
A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th-century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "Clipper" does not refer to a specific sailplan; clippers may be schooners, brigs, brigantines, etc., as well as full-rigged ships. Clippers were mostly constructed in British and American shipyards, although France, Brazil, the Netherlands, and other nations also produced some. Clippers sailed all over the world, primarily on the trade routes between the United Kingdom and China, in transatlantic trade, and on the New York-to-San Francisco route around Cape Horn during the California Gold Rush. Dutch clippers were built beginning in the 1850s for the tea trade and passenger service to Java.
Champion of the Seas was the second largest clipper ship destined for the Liverpool, England - Melbourne, Australia passenger service. Champion was ordered by James Baines of the Black Ball Line from Donald McKay. She was launched 19 April 1854 and was abandoned 3 January 1877, off Cape Horn.
When launched in 1853, Great Republic was the largest wooden ship in the world. She shared this title with another American-built ship, the steamship Adriatic. She was also the largest full-rigged ship ever built in the United States. She was built by Donald McKay for trade on his own account to Australia.
Stag Hound was launched on December 7, 1850 in East Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by shipbuilder Donald McKay for the California trade, she was briefly the largest merchant ship in the world. She was in active service from 1851 until her total loss in 1861.
The barque Sea Witch was an 1848 British Opium clipper and tea clipper. She sailed in the First Tea Race in 1850.
Race Horse was an 1850 clipper barque. She set a record of 109 days from New York to San Francisco during the first Clipper Race around the Horn.
Golden West was an 1852 extreme clipper built by Paul Curtis. The ship had a very active career in the California trade, the guano trade, the coolie trade, the Far East, and Australia. She made a record passage between Japan and San Francisco in 1856.
Witch of the Wave was a long-lived extreme clipper in the California trade, with a sailing life of over 34 years. In 1851, she sailed from Calcutta to Boston in 81 days, setting a record. It was renamed the Electra in 1871.
Sylph was a clipper ship built at Sulkea, opposite Calcutta, in 1831 for the Parsi merchant Rustomjee Cowasjee. After her purchase by the Hong Kong-based merchant house Jardine Matheson, in 1833 Sylph set a speed record by sailing from Calcutta to Macao in 17 days, 17 hours. Her primary role was to transport opium between various ports in the Far East. She disappeared en route to Singapore in 1849.
Syren was the longest lived of all the clipper ships, with a sailing life of 68 years 7 months. She sailed in the San Francisco trade, in the Far East, and transported whaling products from Hawaii and the Arctic to New Bedford.
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.
Lahloo was a British tea clipper known for winning the Tea Race of 1870, and finishing second in the Tea Race of 1871. She sailed from Fuzhou to London with over a million pounds of tea in 1868.
Stornoway was a British tea clipper built by Alexander Hall and Sons in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1850. She was a further development by Hall on the clippers built in Aberdeen in 1848, being larger and more obviously suited to deep sea service. She was ordered by Jardine Matheson specifically for the tea trade. In the late 1840s, tea was available earlier in the season in China, so the first ships to load had to beat to windward against the north-east monsoon to get across the China Sea. The details of the hull shape designed by Hall had this requirement in mind.
Eamont was an opium clipper built in Cowes. It was the subject of an 1891 book, A cruise in an opium clipper, by Captain Lindsay Anderson.
Zephyr was an 1842 opium clipper built by Samuel Hall, East Boston that was known for its speed.
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".
Alfred Basil Lubbock MC was a British historian, sailor and soldier. He was a prolific writer on the last generation of commercial sailing vessels in the Age of Sail. He was an early (1911) member of the Society for Nautical Research, served on its council (1921–24) and contributed to its journal, The Mariner's Mirror.
Hercules was built at Calcutta in 1814. She acquired British registry and traded between Britain and India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC), before returning to Calcutta registry. She then traded opium between India and China, and became an opium receiving ship for Jardine Matheson. In 1839 she was one of the vessels that surrendered her store of opium to be burned at the behest of Chinese officials at Canton. This incident was one of the proximate causes of the First Opium War (1839–1842). Her owners apparently sold her to American owners in 1839.
Bald Eagle was a clipper ship launched in 1852 which made four round-trip passages from eastern U.S. ports before being lost on her fifth voyage in the Pacific ocean in 1861. She set the record, 78 days 22 hours, for the fastest passage of a fully loaded ship between San Francisco and New York.
Tea race — regatta, clippers with cargo tea along the trade route from China to England and with a cargo of opiuma from England to China. In the mid-19th century, the clippers which carried cargoes of tea from China to Britain would compete in informal races to be first ship to dock in London with the new crop of each season.