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Glory of the Seas (clipper)

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Glory of the Seas
History
United States
NameGlory of the Seas
OwnerDonald McKay (original)
BuilderDonald McKay of East Boston, MA
Laid downMay 1869
LaunchedOctober 21, 1869
FateBurned for her metal May 13, 1923
NotesThe last merchant sailing vessel built by McKay[1]
General characteristics
Class and typeMedium clipper
Tons burthen2102 tons
Length240 feet (73.152 m)
Draft22
Depth of hold28.5 feet (8.7 m)
Propulsionsail
Sail planDouble topsails, single topgallants and royals, and main skysail[2][self-published source] ; all sails totaled "about 8000 yards of cotton duck"[1]
ComplementComplement on maiden voyage in 1870: 35

Glory of the Seas was a medium clipper ship launched in 1869. She was the last merchant sailing vessel built by Donald McKay.[1][3][4]

Voyages

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On her maiden voyage, Glory of the Seas sailed from New York in February 1870 under the command of Captain Donald McKay, according to Custom House records. Donald McKay hired Capt.John Geit as sailing master per McKay family correspondence. She anchored at San Francisco on June 13 after a passage of 120 days. From there she sailed to Liverpool, England, under Captain William Chatfield. Donald McKay subsequently went bankrupt in 1870-1871. As a result, McKay's creditors sold Glory to J. Henry Sears of Boston, as managing owner, and a group of investors. Sears subsequently replaced Captain Chatfield with Josiah Nickerson Knowles who purchased an interest in the ship.

Details of her time between 1870 and 1885 are incomplete, but she "ran between New York and British ports and San Francisco almost exclusively" during those years.[1] She did make a fast voyage from New York to San Francisco between October 13, 1873 and mid-January, 1874 (see the table and note). In 1875 she set the record of 35 days for a passage from San Francisco to Sydney, Australia. According to McKay,[1] until 1885 under Captain McLaughlin Glory carried general cargo from New York to San Francisco and wheat from there to Britain, and was nearly wrecked in a storm when arriving in Britain in 1880. The Bruzelius timetable[2][self-published source] (below) differs and does not mention the 1880 event. Both agree that she was laid up at San Francisco between December 1882 and February 1885.

Glory of the Seas in Boston. McKay appears at the center of the photograph wearing a top hat.

After 1885, Glory of the Seas spent the rest of her long life on the Pacific coast, for a time sailing between San Francisco and Puget Sound, British Columbia, and made four voyages to Alaska.[1] In March 1906 she was sold in San Francisco for conversion to a barge but was repaired after the April earthquake and "put under sail again".[2][self-published source] She made a voyage to Callao in 1907-1908, hauled coal under tow from Nanaimo, BC, to Seattle from fall 1908 to spring 1909, and in September 1910 made a voyage hauling coal from Victoria, BC, to Unalaska. Under new owners in 1911, she was stripped of most of her spars and converted to a floating fish cannery and then to a floating cold storage plant. She remained in service as a reefer until early 1922. In December 1922 she was beached near Seattle and on May 13, 1923, was burned to recover her iron and copper fastenings.

Glory of the Seas' known voyages are tabulated below. Entries are from Bruzelius[self-published source] unless noted otherwise; disagreements or ambiguities are individually cited. City names are as they were at the time.

Origin Depart Destination Arrive Days Captain
New York February 13[2] or 14[1], 1870 San Francisco June 13, 1870 120 [a] John Geit[b]
San Francisco July 30[2] or August 4,[6] 1870 Queenstown, Ireland[2][8] (for orders), then London[9][10] November 24, 1870 (Queenstown)[8] 112 William Chatfield[b]
Saint John, New Brunswick[11] May 14, 1871[c] Liverpool June 8, 1871[13] 25 Sears[11][13]
Cardiff, Wales August 19, 1871 San Francisco December 16, 1871 120 Josiah Nickerson Knowles
San Francisco February 7, 1872 Liverpool May 28, 1872 112 Knowles
Liverpool July 27, 1872 San Francisco November 25, 1872 119 Knowles
San Francisco January 15, 1873 Liverpool May 23, 1873 128 Knowles
New York October 13, 1873 San Francisco January 16[2] or 18[1], 1874 96[2] or 94[1] [d] Knowles
San Francisco February 26, 1874 Liverpool June 23, 1874 117 Knowles
Liverpool August 13, 1874 San Francisco December 22, 1874 131 Knowles
San Francisco March 14, 1875 Sydney, Australia April 19, 1875 35 Knowles
Sydney June 4, 1875 San Francisco July 26, 1875 53 Knowles
San Francisco October 7, 1875 Liverpool February 17, 1876 133 Knowles
Liverpool May 2, 1876 San Francisco August 23, 1876 114 Knowles[14][15]
San Francisco October 24, 1876 Liverpool February 3, 1877 103 Daniel S. McLaughlin[16][e]
Liverpool April 2, 1877 San Francisco August 23, 1877 144 McLaughlin
San Francisco November 9, 1877 Liverpool February 24, 1878 107 McLaughlin
Liverpool April 27, 1878 Oakland, California September 29, 1878 153 McLaughlin
San Francisco 1879 Queenstown (for orders), then Le Havre, France McLaughlin
New York 1880 San Francisco McLaughlin
San Francisco May 29, 1880 Queenstown September 28, 1880 120 McLaughlin
Cardiff December 27, 1880 San Francisco May 3, 1881 129 McLaughlin
San Francisco July 11, 1881 Le Havre via Valparaíso, Chile February 17, 1882 220 McLaughlin
New York July 2, 1882 San Francisco November 7, 1882 128 McLaughlin
Laid up, San Francisco December 1882 February 1885
San Francisco February 22, 1885 Liverpool June 19, 1885 119 Joshua S. Freeman
Liverpool 1885 San Pedro, California 121 Freeman (?)

Artifacts

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The figurehead of Glory of the Seas is a partially-clad female figure. It is pictured in a book, The Clipper Ships[1 Hanover Square|India House]].[17] The builder's purported half-model, four prints or paintings, and several relics are held by the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia.[18]

Notes

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  1. ^ February 13 to June 13 is 120 days, so the McKay date is wrong.
  2. ^ a b Shipping papers list the master as "McKay" for this New York-San Francisco voyage, and for the next one as far as Queenstown, then changes to Chatfield [5][6][7]
  3. ^ She initially departed on May 13, but struck on the bar; after refloating she was towed in and surveyed, then sailing on the following day.[12]
  4. ^ Neither passage length matches the stated arrival date. January 16 is 95 days out and January 18 is 97.
  5. ^ McKay wrongly states that McLaughlin began as captain in 1879.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i McKay, Richard C. (1928). Some Famous Sailing Ships and Their Builder Donald McKay. G.P. Putnam's Sons. pp. 322–327, 374, 376.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Lars Bruzelius (June 30, 1997). "Glory of the Seas". Archived from the original on 17 June 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  3. ^ Clark, Arthur H. (1910). The Clipper Ship Era. Vol. II. G.P. Putnam's Sons. pp. 258, 369.
  4. ^ Howe, Octavius T.; Matthews, Frederick C. (1926). America Clipper Ships 1833-1858. Vol. I, II. Marine Research Society. pp. 84, 714, 737.
  5. ^ "Shipping Intelligence". Shipping and Mercantile Gazette. No. 10141. London. 24 February 1870. p. 3. Retrieved 23 September 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive (subscription required).
  6. ^ a b "Shipping Intelligence". Lloyd's List. No. 17579. London. 20 August 1870. p. 5. Retrieved 23 September 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive (subscription required).
  7. ^ "Shipping Intelligence". Lloyd's List. No. 17664. London. 28 November 1870. p. 4. Retrieved 23 September 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive (subscription required).
  8. ^ a b "Shipping Intelligence". Shipping and Mercantile Gazette. No. 10376. London. 25 November 1870. p. 3. Retrieved 23 September 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive (subscription required).
  9. ^ "Shipping Intelligence". Shipping and Mercantile Gazette. No. 10378. London. 28 November 1870. p. 3. Retrieved 23 September 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive (subscription required).
  10. ^ "Shipping Intelligence". Lloyd's List. No. 17674. London. 9 December 1870. p. 3. Retrieved 23 September 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive (subscription required).
  11. ^ a b "Shipping Intelligence". Shipping and Mercantile Gazette. No. 10535. London. 31 May 1871. p. 8. Retrieved 23 September 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive (subscription required).
  12. ^ "Casualties etc". Lloyd's List. No. 17818. London. 27 May 1871. p. 9. Retrieved 23 September 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive (subscription required).
  13. ^ a b "Shipping Intelligence". Shipping and Mercantile Gazette. No. 10543. London. 9 June 1871. p. 7. Retrieved 23 September 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive (subscription required).
  14. ^ "Prize Cattle for San Francisco". Daily Post. No. 6490. Liverpool. 1 May 1876. p. 5. Retrieved 23 September 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive (subscription required.
  15. ^ "Shipping Intelligence". Lloyd's List. No. 19351. London. 2 May 1876. p. 4. Retrieved 23 September 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive (subscription required).
  16. ^ "Shipping Intelligence". Lloyd's List. No. 19513. London. 7 November 1876. p. 13. Retrieved 23 September 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive (subscription required).
  17. ^ Whipple, A.B.C. (1980). The Clipper Ships. Time-Life Books. pp. 62.
  18. ^ "Glory of the Seas". Mariner's Museum, Newport News, Virginia. Retrieved July 22, 2019.

Further reading

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  • Mjelde, Michael Jay (1970). Glory of the Seas (1st ed.). Middletown, CT: Marine Historical Association/Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 978-0819540164.(2nd edition (2000). Palo Alto, CA: Glencannon Press. ISBN 978-1889901183) reprinted |date 2000 | publisher=Glencannon Press |location=Palo Alto, CA and Mystic Seaport Museum. |Mystic, CT |isbn 889901-18-0
  • Mjelde, Michael Jay (1979). "The Medium Clipper Ship "Glory of the Seas"". Nautical Research Journal. 25. Washington DC: 111–118.
  • Mjelde, Michael Jay (1997). Clipper ship captain : Daniel McLaughlin and the Glory of the Seas. Palo Alto, CA: Glencannon Press. ISBN 978-1889901046.
  • Mjelde, Michael Jay (2023). From Whaler to Clipper Ship. College Station, Texas: Texas A & M University Press. ISBN 978-1-64843-112-8.
  • Mjelde, Michael Jay (2014). "Glory of the Seas, Last Voyage Under Sail". The Sea Chest. 48. Seattle WA: 4–22.
  • Jones, Richard (2023). "Reconstructing Donald McKay's clipper ship GLORY OF THE SEAS using many rare, historic, previously unavailable images". Nautical Research Journal. 68. Westmont IL: 50–72.

See also

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List of clipper ships

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