History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | Witchcraft |
Owner | S. Rogers & W.D. Pickman, Salem, MA |
Builder | Paul Curtis & Taylor, Chelsea, MA [1] [2] [3] |
Launched | 21 December 1850 [4] |
Acquired | "Sold to T. Magoun & Sons, Boston, for $66,000", 1854 [2] |
Fate | Lost, 8 April 1861, "en route to Hampton Roads, VA, from Callao, Peru. Went ashore on Chicamanconic in sight of Cape Hatteras and Bodie Lights and was pounded to pieces." [4] |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Clipper |
Tons burthen | 1310 tons OM [5] |
Length | 193 ft. OA |
Beam | 39 ft. 4 in. |
Draft | 22 ft. |
Notes | 2 decks [4] |
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.
Witchcraft was described as a very beautiful ship, with a figurehead of "a grim Salem witch riding upon her aerial broomstick". [5]
Witchcraft was commanded by Captain William C. Rogers, a son of one of the owners.
In 1852, on a voyage from San Francisco to Hong Kong, she lost her main and mizzen masts with all sails and rigging attached during a severe typhoon in the China Sea. [5]
Ports of call during her career included New York, San Francisco, Boston, Shanghai, Manila, Melbourne, and Mauritius. [2] On January 2, 1859, W.C. Rogers Company in Boston accepted the draft of Captain J.W. Booth in a letter sent from London for 358 pounds, paying for Captain J.W. Booth's appointment as captain of Witchcraft.
In 1851 she sailed from New York to San Francisco in 128 days, of which 21 days was spent in Rio de Janeiro to replace the mizzen mast. [6] "The continued voyage from Rio de Janeiro took 62 days which is the fastest passage on record." [2] Game Cock, a clipper "of similar tonnage" which had left New York for San Francisco one day earlier, was also pushing hard and spent 57 days in Rio for repairs to her mainmast, resulting in a 128-day passage. [6]
In 1854, she "sailed from New York to San Francisco in 98 days" and "San Francisco to Callao in 32 days. This is the fastest passage on record." [2]
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Hurricane was a large extreme clipper of 1608 tons burthen built in Hoboken, New Jersey, United States in 1851. Reputedly the most extreme clipper ever built, Hurricane proved a very fast vessel, reportedly capable of speeds of up to 18 knots (33 km/h) in ideal conditions, and establishing a number of record passages in the early years of her career.
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.