During the forty-five years that have elapsed since the close of the Civil War a large number of sailing ships have been built for the California trade, and it is a notable fact that only two of these vessels made the passage from an Atlantic port to San Francisco in less than one hundred days. The Seminole, built by Maxon & Fish at Mystic, Connecticut, in 1865, arrived at San Francisco from New York, March 10, 1866, in 96 days, and the Glory of the Seas, already mentioned as the last ship built by Donald McKay, made the same voyage, arriving at San Francisco, January 18, 1874, in 94 days.
The two most successful ships in after years were the David Crockett and Young America. Both were built in 1853, and both continued in the San Francisco trade until 1883, during which time the David Crockett made her best twelve passages from New York to San Francisco in an average of 109-7/12 days each, her best being 102 days in 1872. The Young America, during this period also made twelve passages in an average of 110-7/12 days each, her best being 102 days in 1880.
As these ships were by many years the oldest survivors of the California clippers, there was a good deal of rivalry between them, and their records show that they were very evenly matched. It should, however, be remembered that about the year 1860 their spars and canvas were considerably reduced and that they were fitted with double topsail yards, all of which hampered their speed in moderate weather. Indeed, they resembled two faded beauties who in their youth had been rival belles.
THE English system of measuring the tonnage of vessels in the eighteenth century is given in Falconer’s Marine Dictionary, 1780, as follows:
“To determine the burden, or, in other words, the tonage, of a ship, it is usual to multiply the length of keel into the extreme breadth of the ship within board, taken along the midship beam, and multiplying the product by the depth in the hold from the plank joining to the keelson upwards to the main-deck, and divide the last product by 94; then will the quotient be the burden required, in tons.”
This rule continued in force till 1819, when it was changed by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty as follows:
“Multiply the length of the keel by the breadth of beam, and that product by half the breadth of beam, and divide the last product by 94, and the quotient will be the tonnage” (Marine Dictionary, William Burney, LL.D., 1830). Dr. Burney remarks: “It appears from the general construction of merchant ships, that more attention is paid to evade the tax on tonnage than to their sailing well with the wind in different directions; and if the real tonnage of ships were taken, an alteration would soon be made in the construction for the better.”
This form of the rule continued until 1842, when by Act of Parliament the following method was adopted:
“Divide the length of the upper deck between the after part of the stem and the fore part of the stern-post into six equal parts. Depths: at the foremost, the middle, and the aftermost of these points of division, measure in feet and decimal parts of a foot the depths from the under side of the upper deck to the ceiling at the limber strake. In the case of a break in the upper deck, the depths are to be measured from a line stretched in a continuation of the deck. Breadths: Divide each of those three depths into five equal parts, and measure the inside breadths at the following points—viz., at one fifth and at four fifths from the upper deck of the foremost and aftermost depths, and at two fifths and four fifths from the upper deck of the midship depth. Length: At half the midship depth, measure the length of the vessel from the after part of the stem to the fore part of the stem-post; then, to twice the midship depth add the foremost and the aftermost depths; add together the upper and lower breadths at the foremost division, three times the upper breadth, and the lower breadth, at the midship division and the upper and twice the lower breadth at the after division, for the sum of the breadths; then multiply the sum of the depths by the sum of the breadths, and this product by the length, and divide the final product by three thousand five hundred, which will give the number of tons for register” (Young’s Marine Dictionary, 1846).
In 1854 this rule was changed by the Merchant Shipping Act, which provided that the actual cubic contents of a vessel’s hull should be measured, a registered ton being reckoned as 100 cubic feet. This is known as the Moorsom system, and is still in use and likely to continue. It was adopted by the United States in 1865; Denmark, 1867; Austria, 1871; Germany, France, and Italy, 1873; Spain, 1874; and Sweden, 1875.
The old practice of calculating tonnage in the United States was adapted from the English, and the mode of measurement was as follows:
The length was measured on deck from the fore part of the stem to the after part of the stern-post; the breadth from outside to outside planking at the broadest part of the vessel; the depth of the hold from the plank on deck to the ceiling of the hold. This last measurement was not used, the depth of a vessel for tonnage purposes being assumed to be one half of her breadth. In order to find the tonnage, three fifths of the breadth were deducted from the length and the remainder multiplied by the breadth, and this product multiplied by one half the breadth, or the assumed depth, the last product was then divided by 95, giving the formula:
| (L - ⅗ B) × B × ½ B |
| 95 |
Thus in a vessel measuring 100 ft. x 20 ft. x 18 ft.:
| Length of vessel | 100 |
| Subtract ⅗ breadth | 12 |
| Length for measurement | 88 |
| Multiply by the breadth | 20 |
| 1760 | |
| Multiply by half breadth | 10 |
| 17,600 |
| Divide 17,600 by 95 | and |
| the result is | 185 + 12/19 |
| Total tonnage | 185 + 12/19 |
This mode of measurement continued from colonial times until the Moorsom system was adopted in 1865.
The dimensions of ten representative American and British clippers were as follows:
| Length | Breadth | ||||||
| Nightingale (1851) | 178 | “ | 36 | “ | |||
| American | Oriental (1849) | 183 | ft. | 36 | ft. | ||
| Celestial (1850) | 158 | “ | 34 | “ | 6 in. | ||
| Stag-Hound (1850) | 209 | “ | 39 | “ | |||
| Flying Dutchman (1852) | 187 | “ | 38 | “ | 6 in. | ||
| British | Falcon (1859) | 191 | “ | 4 in. | 32 | “ | 2 in. |
| Taitsing (1865) | 192 | “ | 31 | “ | 5 in. | ||
| Titania (1866) | 200 | “ | 35 | “ | |||
| Spindrift (1867) | 219 | “ | 4 in. | 35 | “ | 6 in. | |
| Thermopylæ (1868) | 210 | “ | 36 | “ | |||
Although these British ships show less breadth than the American, yet they have more breadth in proportion to length than the earlier British clippers, such as the Stornoway (1850), Lord of the Isles (1855), etc.
Vessels not otherwise designated are American
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, Y, Z