 | This article contains too many or overly lengthy quotations for an encyclopedic entry.(September 2017) |
 White Swallow | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | White Swallow |
| Owner | William Lincoln and Co., Boston |
| Builder | Hayden & Cudworth, Medford, MA |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Extreme clipper |
| Tons burthen | 192 tons [1] |
White Swallow was an extreme clipper built in Boston in 1853 for the California trade.
"She made three runs from Boston to S.F. and six from N.Y. to S.F. The fastest was 110 days and the slowest 150; average of the fastest 4, 122 days. She sailed from Boston April 18, 1860, and made land 40 miles south of the Golden Gate in 104 days." [1]
White Swallow left New York in 1865 under Captain Elijah E. Knowles in "rum shape with rag-tag rigging"—in poor condition. [2]
On February 2, 1866, the New York Times reported: "The crew of the clipper-ship White Swallow, just arrived from New-York, have been arrested for mutiny while off the coast of South America." [3]
"According to the story of the crew, they were put to unnecessarily hard and dangerous work, forced by brutal beatings with brass knuckles, belaying pins and the like. One grievance was that they were put over the side on stagings while the ship was going ten knots and rolling and pitching heavily. Two men were lost overboard." [1]
"The crew finally mutinied, seized the captain and mates and put them in irons, although the captain was allowed on deck to take observations and direct affairs, all his orders being fully obeyed. A written agreement was drawn up absolving the crew of all blame and promised good treatment. On arrival at S.F., however, six of the ringleaders were tried but were acquitted by the testimony of the passengers and admissions of the officers." [1] [2]
According to Dillon's Shanghaiing Days, “The name on everybody’s lips in 1865 on the embarcaderos of the world was White Swallow ... For a brief time, this enlightened attitude of the court was much remarked upon by seamen and landsmen alike. But it did not last ... In contrast to the White Swallow victory for sailors was a whole series of cases in which bucko mates and masters got off almost scot free.” [2]
However, Gleason sees the influence of this case differently, stating that "For many years the White Swallow was famous in legal circles." [1]
White Swallow left New York on June 20, 1868, and arrived in San Francisco on October 25 of that year, carrying Central Pacific locomotive CP 72. [4]
In 1868, Golden Fleece made a 44-day passage from San Francisco to Hong Kong, arriving three days before the White Swallow, which was known for her speed. White Swallow had left the Golden Gate with a two-day head start. [5]
“A Cargo of 1200 tons of guano, from McKean's Island, was brought into New London by the ship White Swallow on the 30th ult—the first importation from the Phoenix Guano Islands, discovered by C. A. Williams of New London a year ago. These islands lie in 170 West longitude 3½ south latitude, 2000 miles from the Hawaiian group. Mr. Williams took possession of them according to the law of 1856, and has since received a full title from the government.
"The islands are seven in number, and rich in guano deposits. Mr Williams is a member of the firm of C.A. Williams & Co. Honolulu, and Williams & Haven, New London. The Phoenix Guano Company was organized at New London, to work the guano beds, (which will prove a mine of wealth to the lucky owner) who has thirty or forty men permanently located there. Alfred Goddard is the squatter sovereign "governor" of the territory. When the White Swallow left, the Aspasia' of Mystic, and Bowditch of New London were loading at McKean's Island, the only one worked at present." [6]
"This name is the title of a guano from McKean's Island, situated in the neighborhood of Baker and Jarvis Islands and occupied with a similar deposit. A sample representing the cargo of the White Swallow, imported by the general agents, Messrs. Williams and Haven, into this State, at the port of New London, gave me on analysis 23¼ percent of phosphoric acid, equivalent to 50 percent of bone-phosphate of lime, and I have not hesitated to recommend it to our farmers, especially, as I learn that the price will be entirely reasonable, viz: $27.50 per ton, or in quantities over five tons $25 per ton." [7]
McKean Island is a small, uninhabited island in the Phoenix Islands, Republic of Kiribati. Its area is 57 hectares.
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.
The first USS Onward was a clipper in the Union Navy.
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.
Carrier Dove was an 1855 medium clipper. She was one of two well-known clippers launched in Baltimore that year, the other being Mary Whitridge.
Harriet Hoxie was an 1851 clipper in the California trade. She was known for carrying cargoes of whale oil from Honolulu, and for importing the first Brown Leghorn chickens to the United States.
Celestial Empire was a long-lived medium clipper ship built in 1852 for the San Francisco trade. She met with a variety of mishaps characteristic for ships of her era. A second ship by this name set a legal precedent regarding damage done by sailing ships coming in to dock.
Herald of the Morning was one of the few clipper ships with a passage to San Francisco in less than 100 days.
Mary Robinson was an 1854 medium clipper in the San Francisco, India, and the guano trades. She was known for having spent an entire month attempting to round Cape Horn in bad weather.
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.
Ocean Telegraph was a clipper ship that was built in Massachusetts in 1854 and was last known of in Gibraltar in 1923. She was in US ownership until 1863, when UK interests bought her and renamed her Light Brigade.
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.
Golden Fleece was an 1855 medium clipper in the California trade, built by Paul Curtis. She was known for arriving with cargoes in good condition, for making passages in consistently good time, and for catching fire with a load of ice.
The sailing ship Andrew Jackson, a 1,679-registered-ton medium clipper, was built by the firm of Irons & Grinnell in Mystic, Connecticut in 1855. The vessel was designed for the shipping firm of J.H. Brower & Co. to carry cargo intended for sale to participants in the California Gold Rush.
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.
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.
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".
Starlight was a medium clipper built in 1854 in South Boston, Massachusetts that made nine passages from New York City or Boston to San Francisco. The ship was known in its day for "making passages faster than average". Starlight is better remembered today as the subject of two paintings by artist Fitz Hugh Lane. Starlight was described as having "spacious staterooms" and a figurehead resembling "the representation of an antediluvian bird of Paradise spliced into a mermaid".
Golden State was an extreme clipper ship built by Jacob Aaron Westervelt in 1852 in New York City and launched on January 10, 1853. In 1883 she was renamed Anne C. Maguire.
Santa Claus was an American medium clipper ship built in Boston by Donald McKay in 1854. In the course of her career, she made three voyages from the East Coast of the United States to San Francisco, California, the fastest of which was a comparatively swift 128-day passage in the winter of 1857–1858. The ship was mainly engaged in the guano trade and in trade to the Far East. In 1858, she brought Chinese immigrants to California; according to one source, she was also at one time engaged in the coolie trade.
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