born or Canadian trained — Eckford, Donald McKay 

 and Lawlor are examples. During the last quarter of 

 the 19th centiuy ship design was taught at a small 

 trade school at Charlestown, Massachusetts, and the 

 graduates of this school included many Nova Scotian 

 and New Brunswick shipbuilders as well as many New 

 Englanders, some of whom became prominent in their 

 business. 



During the last quarter of the 1 9th century the ship- 

 builders of eastern Canada built many fine coasting 

 schooners and also some sharp-model 2-masters to 

 carry salt fish to Europe. In the early 20th century, 

 and particularly during the first World War, the 

 Nova Scotia builders launched for this trade some 

 sharp, fast .sailing 3-niasted, or ''tern" schooners on 

 yacht-like lines. While most of these schooners re- 

 tained the traditional "clipper bow" quite a number 

 were designed with the round bow profile of the con- 

 temporary sailing fishing schooner. The Nova Scotia 

 3-masted "fish carriers" were the last fast-sailing com- 

 mercial vessel type to be launched in North America, 

 and in this respect they may be said to be the "last of 

 the clippers" as some of these vessels were extreme 

 models for sharpness of form. 



Ocean Freighters 



Of far greater economic importance than North 

 Atlantic packets and clipper ships in the development 

 of the American sailing merchant marine were the 

 ocean freighters, the regular traders and transients of 

 the late 18th and 19th century. They included brigs, 

 snows, and ships, and later barks, brigantines, and 

 barkentines, and a few large, square-topsail schooners. 



HuDSo.\ Ru'ER Brick .'5cuu<j.\lr uf about 1890. 

 (Smit/uonian photo 4578^-b.) 



These ocean freighters carried on the bulk of the sea 

 trade of the American colonies and, later, of the 

 United States. The popular type of vessel varied with 

 the times, and with the state of the times. When there 

 was peace they were full-ended and slow sailers, for 

 economical operation required large cargo capacity 

 in relation to hull size, rather than speed and handi- 

 ness. In times of unrest, the sea trader was often a 

 Baltimore clipper, or at least a fairly fast sailer for 

 her size, with cargo capacity limited by the necessity 

 of sailing fast in order to have any cargo to deliver at 

 all. This is not to say that such changes were univer- 

 sal, for there was always some use for the two extremes. 

 The full-lined ship could be used in convoys in war- 

 time, and so we find the pre-Revolutionary merchant 

 ships of the colonials relatively full-ended vessels 

 during the French wars because they had naval pro- 

 tection, whereas earlier, in the last years of the 17th 

 century, and later, in the 18th century, fast ships had 

 been built because of the lack of this protection. After 

 the Revolution, insofar as a generalization may be 

 made, the average merchant ship had lines fairly good 

 for swift sailing. The unprotected state of most of 

 the American merchant marine in the period 1786- 

 1815, as has been explained, had made popular the 

 Baltimore clipper model, and even the hull design of 

 merchant ships, in which cargo capacity was thought 

 most desirable, had felt the influence of this design. 



As early as 1760, and before 1818, American mer- 

 chant ships were commonly built in lengths of 75 to 

 100 feet on deck; and brigs were 60 to 90 feet. These 

 vessels had a large midsection with some slight rise 

 in the floor. As early as 1800 there was a difference 

 of opinion among American shipbuilders as to the 

 desirability of rising floors in square-rigged vessels, 

 as has been mentioned. Before 1815 the stem and 

 sternpost were usually well raked but there was no 

 uniformity in proportion; in this there was also a 

 difference in opinion as to what was most desirable 

 in square-rigged vessels, and as early as 1760 many 

 were built with nearly upright posts. The entrance 

 was commonly very short and full and the run long 

 and fine. Some sharp-built vessels were launched, as 

 we have seen (p. 19), at least as early as the American 

 Revolution and there can be little doubt that such 

 ships were iiuilt much earlier. By the time of the 

 Revolution, American ships no longer had high quar- 

 terdecks of more than one level, or deck. The fashion 

 of having low raised decks at bow and stern lasted 

 until about 1780; thereafter it gradually went out of 

 style and, by 1790, flush decks were becoming in- 



47 



