- Baltimore Clipper
Baltimore Clipper is the colloquial name for fast
sailing ship s built on the south-eastern seaboard of theUnited States of America , especially at the port ofBaltimore ,Maryland . It is most commonly applied to two-mastedschooners andbrigantine s.Baltimore clippers were first built as small, fast sailing vessels for trade around the coastlines of the United States and 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. The origins of the type are unknown but certainly hulls conforming to the concept were being built inJamaica andBermuda (the hull of theBermuda sloop , designed for the open ocean, was broader than the Jamaican and deeper than the American) by the late 1600s and by the late 1700s were popular both in Britain and the United States.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 ofAfrica . Similar vessels were built asprivateers during theWar of Independence and theWar of 1812 , and aspilot boat s. The famous yacht America, derived from the lines of a New York pilot boat, was conceptually not far removed the Baltimore clipper. Many such vessels went toAustralia during theAustralian gold rush , or after being seized as slavers and sold.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.A modern replica of an early 19th century Baltimore Clipper was the ill-fated "
Pride of Baltimore " and her replacement "Pride of Baltimore II".References
*cite book |last=Chapelle |first=Howard Irving |authorlink=Howard I. Chapelle |year=1988 |title=The Baltimore Clipper |isbn=9780486257655 |publisher=Dover Publications |location=New York |oclc=17728233 21231590
*cite book |last=Chapelle |first=Howard Irving |authorlink=Howard I. Chapelle |year=1983 |title=The search for speed under sail, 1700-1855 |isbn=9780393031270 |publisher=Norton |location=New York |oclc=13835078External links
* [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~fassitt/footner.html Rootsweb: Excerpt of "Tidewater Triumph", by Geoffrey Footner.] Describing development of the
Baltimore Clipper (large chapter on Bermuda sloops and role of Bermudian boatbuilders).
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