Baltimore Clipper

Short description: Type of fast sailing vessel

For various sports teams, see Baltimore Clippers (disambiguation).

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (April 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

|

Replica of 1847 "Baltimore Clipper" Californian built in 1984

A Baltimore clipper is a fast sailing ship historically built on the mid-Atlantic seaboard of the United States, especially at the port of Baltimore, Maryland. An early form of clipper, the name is most commonly applied to two-masted schooners and brigantines. These vessels may also be referred to as Baltimore Flyers.

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Famous Baltimore clippers
* 3 In popular culture
* 4 Modern replicas
* 5 Citations
* 6 References

## History

Baltimore clippers were built as small, fast sailing vessels for trade around the coastlines of the United States and with the Caribbean Islands. Their hull lines tended to be very sharp, with a V-shaped cross section below the waterline and strongly raked stem, stern posts, and masts.[1] The origins of the type are unknown, but certainly hulls conforming to the concept were being built in Jamaica and Bermuda, with the hull of the ocean-going Bermuda sloop broader than the Jamaican and deeper than the American design. By the late 18th century, the Baltimore configuration was not only popular in the United States as merchant craft, but also in Britain.[2] The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, has a one-page drawing labeled "A DRAWING OF HIS MAJESTY'S ARM'D SCHOONER BERBICE, THE 5TH AUG 1789" that comprises a sheer plan, body lines, deck plan, lines, and a view of her stern. These drawings of HMS Berbice represent the earliest draught of what became known as the Baltimore clipper.[3]

The Royal Navy found the schooners of only limited usefulness during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars because they were unstable gun platforms due to their design for extreme speed compared to their size. Furthermore, the schooner rig does not allow sails to be backed, creating a disadvantage in maneuverability in battle. They were adopted after the wars to pursue slave ships.[1]

Drawing for the Flying Fish class, modeled on an American vessel, was sent to Bermudian builders by the Admiralty.

They were especially suited to moving low-density, high value perishable cargoes such as slaves, and in that trade operated as far afield as the west coast of Africa.

Similar merchant vessels were given letters of marque and served as privateers during the War of Independence. During the War of 1812, merchant schooners were too small and slow to escape the British blockade, and larger, faster, more heavily armed, purpose-built privateer Baltimore clippers were developed. The most famous of these larger vessels were the privateers Chasseur, Prince de Neufchatel, and General Armstrong. Prince de Neufchatel resisted an attack by a fourfold numerically superior force in the ships of HMS Endymion and Chasseur alone captured more enemy ships than the entire US Navy during the war. Nevertheless, most privateers during the war were of the smaller type and served as merchant ships despite being given letters of marque. As a result, more privateers were taken by the British blockade of 1813 than ever took a prize themselves.

While the Baltimore clipper's design had flaws, the biggest cause of its decline was public backlash to their functions, such as illegally importing slaves after the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves in 1807 and raiding in South America.[4]

One particularly famous Baltimore clipper, and one of the last of the type in commercial service, was the schooner Vigilant that traded around the Danish Caribbean islands for over a century before sinking in a hurricane on September 12, 1928. She was believed to have been built in the 1790s.

An original Baltimore clipper: These were used as privateers during the War of 1812.

## Famous Baltimore clippers

* Vigilant, 1794, one of the first and most famous Baltimore clippers. She sailed for over 130 years, bringing mail and passengers to ports in the Danish West Indies and around the Virgin Islands.[5]
* Chasseur was built in 1812 by Thomas Kemp and commanded by Captain Thomas Boyle, an American privateer during the War of 1812.
* Lynx was built by Thomas Kemp in 1812, also for the War of 1812.[6]
* HMS Black Joke (1827), a captured slave ship, ended up freeing several hundred slaves in service of the West Africa Squadron.

## In popular culture

Capt. Jack Aubrey uses a captured Baltimore clipper, the Ringle, as his tender in the Patrick O'Brian novels The Commodore and The Yellow Admiral. The ship is named after the American writer who brought the clippers to O'Brian's attention.[7]

## Modern replicas

Modern replicas of an early 19th-century Baltimore clipper type include the ill-fated Pride of Baltimore, her replacement, Pride of Baltimore II, Californian, La Amistad,  Shenandoah, and the Liberty Clipper and the privateer Lynx.

## Citations

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Gardiner 1999
2. ↑ Chapelle, Howard Irving (1988). The Baltimore Clipper. New York: Dover Publications. ISBN 978-0-486-25765-5. OCLC 17728233.
3. ↑ Karl Heinz Marquardt F.A.S.M.A.: H.M. Armed Schooner BERBICE 1789.
4. ↑ Klima, Jennifer. "The Baltimore Clipper". https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/stagser/s1259/121/6771/html/essay95.html.
5. ↑ "BALTIMORE SCHOONER VIGILANT". http://www.blytmann.com/vigilant.htm.
6. ↑ Brown, Daniel M. (2010). "The Need for Speed: Baltimore Clippers and the Origin of the First American Ship Type" (in en). Academia: 19. https://www.academia.edu/14330732.
7. ↑ Ringle, Ken (8 January 2000). "Appreciation". Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/feed/a19768-2000jan8.htm. "when I happened on a new book on Baltimore clippers, I picked up a copy to send him. … He [O’Brian] said "That and the revelation of the Baltimore Clipper completely reversed my tide of fortune.""

## References

* Chapelle, Howard Irving (1983). The search for speed under sail, 1700-1855. New York: Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-03127-0. OCLC 13835078.

Template:Clipper ships

* v
* t
* e

Types of sailing vessels and rigs

Overviews|

* Age of Sail
* Maritime history
* Age of Discovery

Sailing rigs|

* Bermuda rig
* Crab claw
* Fore-and-aft rig
* Gaff rig
* Gunter rig
* Junk rig
* Lateenrig
* Ljungström rig
* Lug rig
* Pinisi rig
* Square rig
* Tanja rig

By sailing rigs|

* Barque
* Barquentine
* Brig
* Brigantine
* Catboat
* Cutter
* Full-rigged ship
* Jackass-barque
* Ketch
* Lugger
* Mistico
* Schooner
* Sloop
* Yawl

Multihull vessels|

* ʻalia
* Amatasi
* Baurua
* Bigiw
* Camakau
* Catamaran
* Drua
* Guilalo
* Jukung
* Kalia
* Karakoa
* Kora kora
* Lakatoi
* Lanong
* Outrigger canoe
* Pahi
* Paraw
* Pentamaran
* Proa
* Quadrimaran
* Takia
* Tongiaki
* Trimaran
* Ungalawa
* Vinta

Naval and merchant
sailing ships
and other vessels
(by origin date)|

| Ancient|

* Balangay
* Boita
* Borobudur ship
* Dhow
* Fire ship
* Galley
* Penteconter
* Bireme
* Trireme
* Quadriremes
* Tessarakonteres
* Dromon
* Junk
* K'un-lun po
* Lepa
* Mtepe
* Uru

|

Post-classical|

* Balinger
* Benawa
* Birlinn
* Bomb vessel
* Cog
* Hulk
* Jong
* Knarr
* Koch
* Kondura
* Longship
* Malangbang
* Shitik
* Tongkang
* Zabra

15th c.|

* Carrack
* Chinese treasure ship
* Caravel
* Ghurab
* Lancaran
* Hoy
* Trabaccolo

16th c.|

* Crommesteven
* Galiot
* Galleon
* Galleass
* Ghali
* Flyboat
* Fluyt
* Full-rigged pinnace
* Lorcha
* Man-of-war
* Manchua
* Panokseon
* Patache
* Speronara
* Square-rigged caravel (round or de armada)
* Xebec

17th c.|

* Bermuda sloop
* Corvette
* Frigate
* Galeas
* Koff
* Pink
* Polacca
* Ship of the line

18th c.|

* Bilander
* Chialoup
* Chinaman
* Baltimore Clipper
* East Indiaman
* Gallivat
* Garay
* Grab
* Gundalow
* Lanong
* Padewakang
* Post ship
* 74-gun
* Ship of the line
* Sloop-of-war
* Toop
* Trincadour
* Slave ship
* West Indiaman

19th c.|

* Blackwall frigate
* Clipper
* Down Easter
* Golekan
* Iron-hulled sailing ship
* Warship
* Janggolan
* Lambo
* Leti leti
* Palari
* Tamar
* West Country
* Windjammer

20th c.|

* Montagu whaler

Fishing vessels|

* Bago
* Falkuša
* Felucca
* Herring buss
* Jangada
* Jukung
* Masula
* Mayang
* Patorani
* Nordland
* Sixareen
* Sgoth
* Smack
* Tartane
* Well smack
* Yoal

Recreational vessels|

* Dinghy
* Pocket cruiser
* Sailing hydrofoil
* Sailing yacht
* Sportsboat
* Trailer sailer
* Wharrams
* Windsurfer
* Yacht

Special terms|

* Inflatable
* Lashed lug
* Razee
* Sewn
* Tall ship
*   * ULDB

Other types|

* Bristol Channel pilot cutter
* Fusta
* Mersey flat
* Norfolk punt
* Norfolk wherry
* Pausik
* Pinnace (ship's boat)
* Pram
* Scow
* Sneakbox
* Thames sailing barge
* Wherry

Related|

* Nautical operations

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore Clipper. Read more

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Engineering:Baltimore_Clipper&oldid=4200259"
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template