model, in the long, narrow, and deep ship form that 

 became popular in burdensome vessels in this period, 

 represents the class of large ships built in Maine for 

 the cotton trade, which demanded very large under- 

 deck capacity without pretensions to fast sailing (it 

 was not until well into the 1850's that many fast- 

 sailing ships were built for this trade). 



The half-model represents a large, ship-rigged, 

 wooden vessel, burdensome and full ended, having a 

 moderate sheer, straight keel with little or no drag, 

 rather upright stem rabbet with small rounded fore- 

 foot, upright post, round tuck, light and rather shallow 

 square stern with upper and lower transoms, short 

 and bluff entrance with much flare in the bow sections, 

 long parallel-sided body, and short and full run. The 

 midsection is formed with a slightly rising straight 

 floor, round and rather hard bilge, and is wall sided 

 above, with slight tumble-home. 



Painted and mounted, with the short heavy head 

 and cutwater typical of these Maine-built cotton ships 

 until well into the 1850's. 



The model scales 183 feet 4 inches moulded length 

 at rail, 33 feet moulded beam, and 25 feet moulded 

 depth. Scale of model ],i inch to the foot. 



Given by William P. Pattee, shipbuilder, Bath, 

 Maine. 



PACKET SHIP, 1850 



Decorative Half-Model, usnm 311307 (Griffiths' 

 Collection) 



Universe 



This small decorative half-model of the clipper- 

 packet ship Universe was made by the ship's designer, 

 John W. Griffiths, of New York. It is not an actual 

 builder's model. The lines and sail plan of this 

 vessel are in Griffiths' Treatise of Marine and .Naval 

 Architecture, London, 1857 (new ed.). 



The Universe, built in 1850 by Smith & Dimon at 

 New York for Williams and Guion's Liverpool Line, 

 was a 1,297-ton (old measurement) packet. She was 

 the first of the American packet ships that might be 

 classed as a "clipper" ship. Her registered length 

 was 186 feet, her beam 38 feet 7 inches, and her depth 

 28 feet 6 inches. The model, which is only about 20}^ 

 inches in length at rail, is apparently on a scale of Jin 

 inch to the foot. 



The half-model shows a sailing ship hull having 

 moderate sheer, straight keel with little drag, a raking 

 and flaring stem rabbet with very small round at fore- 

 foot, a nearly upright post, raking transom, round 



tuck, the entrance sharp and slightly hollow at the 

 forefoot and rather short, and the run short but fine. 

 The midsection shows a slightly rising straight floor, a 

 full and round bilge, and some tumble-home in the 

 topside. The model is mounted with keel, rudder, 

 and cutwater; channels are indicated. 



Received from Marion H . \irnelson, granddaughter 

 of the designer. 



CLIPPER SHIP, 1851 



Builder's Half-Model, usnm 76072 



Comet 



The noted American clipper ship Comet is repre- 

 sented by this decorative half-model presented by the 

 builder and stated in the Museum records to be a 

 duplicate of the builder's half-model. The Comet was 

 built at New York City by William H. Webb in 1851 

 for the California and China trades. Noted for her 

 speed and beauty, the Comet made many fast passages, 

 such as: 



New York to San Francisco 103 days (maiden 



voyage) 



San Francisco to Hong Kong 37 days 



San Francisco to New York 86 days 



San Francisco to New York 76;^ days 



New York to Liverpool 19 days 



Liverpool to Hong Kong 84 days 



On one voyage she sailed 332 nautical miles in 24 

 hours and 1,512 nautical miles in 120 consecutive 

 hours. 



The lines and sail plan of this ship are in William 

 H. Webb's Plans of Wooden Ships. 



The half-model shows a moderate and graceful 

 sheer, straight keel with very slight drag, raking and 

 flaring stem rabbet, upright post, and a short, round, 

 and light counter. The entrance is long, sharp and 

 slightly hollow at forefoot; the bow sections have much 

 flare; and the run is very long and fine. The mid- 

 section has slightly rising straight floors carried well 

 out, a well rounded and easy bilge, and a slight 

 tumble-home above. This clipper, like many of her 

 t\'pe, has a large midsection combined with ver\' fine 

 ends. 



The model, mounted on a mirror to show the 

 deck arrangement of the ship complete with bulwarks 

 and deck furniture, is illustrated on p. 9. The figure- 

 head, mouldings and cutwater, keel, post, and rudder 

 are shown, and the stern carvings are also represented. 



The model is for a ship 229 feet l)etween perpendicu- 

 lars, 42 feet extreme beam, 24 feet 10 inches depth, 



57 



