CATALOGUE OF THE WATERCEAFT COLLECTIOaST. 77 



The Comet was celebrated for the swift passages she made, some 

 of which were very remarkable. Her first voyage was made from 

 New York to San Francisco in 103 days, thence to Hong Kong in 

 37 days. On her return voyage she ran 332 knots in 24 hours, and 

 1,512 knots in 120 consecutive hours. On two occasions she made 

 the passage from San Francisco to New York in 86 and 76| days, re- 

 spectively. She ran from New York to Liverpool in 19 days, and 

 from Liverpool to Hong Kong in 84 days. Such performances are 

 little less than marvelous for a sailing ship. 



Gift of William H. Webb. Cat. No. 76,072 U.S.N.M. 



Block model of clipper merchant ship. 



This model is fitted with deck houses, stub masts, keel, rudder, 

 stem, head, etc., and painted and mounted on a mirror to show both 

 sides of the deck. 



The famous clipper sailing ship Young America was built from 

 this model at New York by her designer, William H. Webb, in 1853. 

 She was employed chiefly in the California and Australia trades 

 in which she carried passengers and freight to the new settlements 

 and returned in ballast or loaded to Liverpool or New York. She 

 was a wooden keel, sailing ship, with long sharp bow, flaring 

 above, slightly concave at and below the water line; stem nearly 

 straight, and with little rake ; long head, decorated with American 

 flags; short floor; full midship section; long, well-shaped run; 

 nearly vertical sternpost; light round stern; moderate sheer. 



Dimensions of vessel. — Length, between perpendiculars, 236 feet 

 6 inches ; beam, 42 feet ; depth, keel to deck, 28 feet 3 inches ; regis- 

 tered tonnage, 1,962; angle of entrance, 45° ; angle of run, 55° ; dead 

 rise to foot, 2 inches. Scale of model, one-third inch equals 1 foot. 



The Young America was a very swift and popular ship, which 

 made man}' quick voyages. She made five passages from San Fran- 

 cisco to New York in from 83 to 92 days, and on one occasion the 

 voyage was made in 83 days, loaded; five trips were made in 

 from 97 to 101 days. Once she ran from New York to Liverpool in 

 18 days, and returned in 23 days. She ran from Liverpool to Mel- 

 bourne, Australia, in 81 days ; once from Liverpool to San Francisco 

 in 99 days, and from San Francisco to Liverpool in 102, 103, 105, and 

 106 days. 



The speed of these clipper ships was often phenomenal. " The 

 Red Jacket made 325 miles a day for a week; the Flying Cloud once 

 sailed 427|^ miles in 24 hours; the James Bains., an Australian 

 packet, built by McKay at Boston, once sailed 420 miles in 24 hours ; 

 and the Sovereign of the Seas, it is said, made 437 miles in 24 

 hours ! " ^^ 

 Gift of William H. Webb. Cat. No. 160.135 U.S.N.M. 



" Shipbuilding Industry of the United States, by Henry Hall. 



