| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Sea Witch |
| Owner | Taylor & Co, London |
| Port of registry |  United Kingdom |
| Launched | 1848 |
| Fate | Sold to Capt. R. McCully for the South America trade |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Opium clipper |
| Tons burthen | 401 tons |
| Length | 121.5 ft |
| Beam | 26.7 ft. |
| Draught | 16 ft. |
| Sail plan | Barque [1] |
The barque Sea Witch was an 1848 British Opium clipper and tea clipper. She sailed in the First Tea Race in 1850.
Sea Witch sailed from Gravesend to Shanghai in 95 days.
The First Tea Race from China to England took place in 1850. The first ship to load tea was "the barque Sea Witch, commanded by Captain Reynell of Waterwitch fame." [1]
Astarte, an 1846 brig of 328 tons finished close behind the Oriental, which made a passage from Anjer to West India docks in 97 days. Reindeer, and Countess of Seafield both finished in less than 110 days, John Bunyan arrived in 99 days, from Shanghai.
"This the first of the international tea races, over-shadowed every other event in China in 1850. ; at the end of the sixties Taylor & Co sold the Sea Witch to Captain R. Mc Cully, who took her into the South American trade." [1]
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.
Thermopylae was an extreme composite clipper ship built in 1868 by Walter Hood & Co of Aberdeen, to the design of Bernard Waymouth of London. Designed for the China tea trade, she set a speed record on her maiden voyage to Melbourne of 63 days, still the fastest trip under sail.
Sir Lancelot was a clipper ship which sailed in the China trade and the India-Mauritius trade.
Challenger was a wooden clipper ship built in 1852 by Richard & Henry Green, in their Blackwall Yard for Hugh Hamilton Lindsay, London. She was the 291st ship built by the yard and was a remarkable departure from the previous ships produced. In 1850 the American clipper ship Oriental visited West India Docks, the largest clipper ship to visit London and the Admiralty was given permission to take her lines, and this was done by Messrs Waymouth and Cornish, both Lloyd's Surveyors, in the dry dock at Green's Yard in Blackwell. This is probably the reason that it was said that Challenger's design was inspired by and had a close resemblance to the Oriental's.
Sea Witch was an American clipper ship designed by naval architect John W. Griffiths for the China trading firm of Howland & Aspinwall. She was launched at Smith & Dimon in Manhattan on December 8, 1846.
Robert H. Waterman, known as Bully Waterman or Bully Bob Waterman, was an American merchant sea captain. He set three sailing speed records; his time of 74 days from Hong Kong to New York City has never been bettered in a sail-powered vessel. He was reputed as a martinet, and was once convicted of assault against a crewman in a controversial California criminal case.
Flying Spur was a British tea clipper, built of teak and greenheart in 1860.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Lord of the Isles was the first iron-hulled tea clipper, built in Greenock in 1853. She served in the tea trade until 1862, and also made voyages to Australia. She is known for a record passage between Greenock and Shanghai, and for her close finish in the 1856 Tea Race from China to England, docking in London just ten minutes before Maury. This race was the basis for the plot of a 1927 movie by Cecil B. DeMille The Yankee Clipper.
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.
Kaisow, a composite clipper, was built by Robert Steele & Company at Greenock and launched on 19 November 1868.
James Killick was a British sea captain, shipowner and entrepreneur. He founded Killick Martin & Company with James Henry Martin.
Wylo a composite clipper was built by Robert Steele & Company, Greenock, and launched on 15 April 1869. Robert Steele & Company also built the famous clippers Ariel and Taeping who took part in the great tea race of 1866, and Sir Lancelot another renown clipper ship.
The Thermopylae and Cutty Sark Race — regatta, held in 1872 between two «tea» clippers «Cutty Sark» and «Thermopylae».
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