Editing Clipper

{{Short description|Very fast sailing ship of the 19th century}}
{{About|the 19th century sailing ships||}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}

[[File:Taeping (clipper, 1863) - SLV H91.325-1033.jpg|thumb|350px|bottom|right|''[[Taeping (clipper)|Taeping]]'', a tea clipper built in 1863]]
A '''clipper''' was a type of mid-19th-century [[Merchant ship|merchant]] [[Sailing ship|sailing vessel]], designed for speed. The term was also retrospectively applied to the [[Baltimore clipper]], which originated in the late 18th century.

Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th-century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total [[sail]] area. "Clipper" does not refer to a specific [[sailplan]]; clippers may be [[schooner]]s, [[brig]]s, [[brigantine]]s, etc., as well as [[full-rigged ship]]s. Clippers were mostly constructed in British and American [[shipyard]]s, although France, Brazil, the Netherlands, and other nations also produced some. Clippers sailed all over the world, primarily on the trade routes between the United Kingdom and China, in [[transatlantic crossing|transatlantic]] trade, and on the New York-to-San Francisco route around [[Cape Horn]] during the [[California gold rush]]. Dutch clippers were built beginning in the 1850s for the tea trade and passenger service to [[Java]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Barnwell|first=R.G.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4BlJAQAAIAAJ&q=Dutch+clipper+ships&pg=PA262|title=Commercial Relations of the United States with Foreign Countries|year=1857|publisher=United States Department of State|pages=260–264}}</ref><!--This needs to be placed someplace in the body of the article as the lead is meant to summarize-->

The boom years of the clipper era began in 1843 in response to a growing demand for faster delivery of tea from China and continued with the demand for swift passage to gold fields in California and Australia beginning in 1848 and 1851, respectively. The era ended with the opening of the [[Suez Canal]] in 1869.

==Origin and usage of "clipper"==
The etymological origin of the word clipper is uncertain, but is believed to be derived from the English language verb "to clip", which at the time meant "to run or fly swiftly".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Arthur Hamilton |title=The Clipper Ship Era |date=1910 |publisher=The Knickerbocker Press |isbn=9781015965065 |location=New York |pages=57}}</ref>

The first application of the term "clipper", in a nautical sense, is likewise uncertain. The type known as the [[Baltimore clipper]] originated at the end of the 18th century on the eastern seaboard of the USA.  At first, these fast sailing vessels were referred to as "Virginia-built" or "pilot-boat model", with the name "Baltimore-built" appearing during the [[War of 1812]]. In the final days of the slave trade (''circa'' 1835–1850){{snd}}just as the type was dying out{{snd}}the term, [[Baltimore clipper]], became common. The common retrospective application of the word "clipper" to this type of vessel has caused confusion.<ref name="Chapelle 1930">{{cite book |last1=Chapelle |first1=Howard Irving |author-link=Howard I. Chapelle|title=The Baltimore Clipper, its Origin and Development |year=1930 |publisher=Bonanza Books |location=New York}}</ref>{{rp|62-62}}

The Oxford English Dictionary's earliest quote (referring to the Baltimore clipper) is from 1824.<ref>{{OED|clipper|id=34438}}</ref> The dictionary cites [[Royal Navy]] officer and novelist [[Frederick Marryat]] as using the term in 1830.{{efn|Marryat is generally considered by maritime historians to be a reliable source on nautical matters from his time.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Batchvarov |first1=Kroum |title=The Merchant Ship in the British Atlantic, 1600–1800: Continuity and Innovation in a Key Technology |journal=International Journal of Nautical Archaeology |date=3 July 2021 |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=403–406 |doi=10.1080/10572414.2021.1987716}}</ref>}} British newspaper usage of the term can be found as early as 1832 and in shipping advertisements from 1835.<ref>{{cite news |title=Westmeath Journal |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000858/18320614/004/0001 |date=14 June 1832 |page=1 |quote=and may be called an American Clipper}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0002088/18351222/001/0001?browse=False |access-date=13 May 2020 |date=22 December 1835 |page=1 |quote=The well-known Clipper ''Saguenay''}}</ref> A US court case of 1834 has evidence that discusses a clipper being faster than a brig.<ref>{{Citation | author1=Gibert, Pedro | author2=United States. Circuit Court (1st Circuit) | title=A report of the trial of Pedro Gibert, Bernardo de Soto, Francisco Ruiz, Nicola Costa, Antonio Ferrer, Manuel Boyga, Domingo de Guzman, Juan Antonio Portana, Manuel Castillo, Angel Garcia, Jose Velazquez, and Juan Montenegro alias Jose Basilio de Castro, before the United States Circuit Court : on an indictment charging them with the commission of an act of piracy, on board the brig Mexican, of Salem : containing a full statement of the testimony, and the arguments of the counsel on both sides, the charge of the court, pronounced by the Hon. Judge Story : and the verdict of the jury : with an appendix containing several documents never before published |year=1834 | publisher=Russell, Odiorne & Metcalf; Providence : M. Brown & Co.; Portland : Colman & Chisholm; Salem : John M. Ives | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/36470711 | access-date=15 September 2019 }}</ref>

==Definitions==
[[File:Clipper barque Spirit of the Age, PY0633.jpg|thumb|Clipper barque ''Spirit of the Age'' 1854 by [[Thomas Goldsworthy Dutton|T. G. Dutton]]]]
A clipper is a sailing vessel designed for speed, a priority that takes precedence over cargo-carrying capacity or building or operating costs. It is not restricted to any one rig (while many were fully rigged ships, others were barques, brigs, or schooners), nor was the term restricted to any one hull type. Howard Chapelle lists three basic hull types for clippers. The first was characterised by the sharp {{nautical term|deadrise}} and ends found in the Baltimore clipper. The second was a hull with a full midsection and modest deadrise, but sharp ends{{snd}}this was a development of the hull form of transatlantic packets. The third was more experimental, with deadrise and sharpness being balanced against the need to carry a profitable quantity of cargo. A clipper carried a large sail area and a fast hull; by the standards of any other type of sailing ship, a clipper was greatly over-canvassed. The last defining feature of a clipper, in the view of maritime historian David MacGregor, was a captain who had the courage, skill, and determination to get the fastest speed possible out of her.{{r|MacGregor 1993|pp=16–21}}{{r|Chapelle 1967|pp=321–322}}

{{anchor|fineness}}In assessing the hull of a clipper, different maritime historians use different criteria to measure "sharpness", "fine lines" or "fineness", a concept which is explained by comparing a [[rectangular cuboid]] with the underwater shape of a vessel's hull. The more material one has to carve off the cuboid to achieve the hull shape, the sharper the hull. Ideally, a maritime historian would be able to look at either the block coefficient of fineness or the prismatic coefficient{{efn|The block coefficient of fineness is a mathematical measure of sharpness used by naval architects, which compares the hull with a hypothetical block equal in length, breadth, and height to the immersed part of the hull. The prismatic coefficient makes a similar comparison to a prism with the immersed hull's dimensions, and is considered to the best indicator of potential speed. The lower the coefficient, the more material has to be removed from the hypothetical cuboid. Many commercial sailing vessels are unlikely to have had a prismatic coefficient less than 0.57.}} of various clippers, but measured drawings or accurate half models may not exist to calculate either of these figures.<ref name="Chapelle 1967">{{cite book |last1=Chapelle |first1=Howard I. |author1-link=Howard I. Chapelle |title=The Search for Speed Under Sail, 1700–1855 |date=1967 |publisher=Bonanza Books}}</ref>{{rp|pages=43–45}} An alternative measure of sharpness for hulls of a broadly similar shape is the coefficient of underdeck tonnage, as used by David MacGregor in comparing tea clippers. This could be calculated from the measurements taken to determine the registered tonnage, so can be applied to more vessels.{{r|MacGregor 1983|pp=87–88}}

An [[extreme clipper]] has a hull of great fineness, as judged either by the prismatic coefficient, the coefficient of underdeck tonnage, or some other technical assessment of hull shape. This term has been misapplied in the past, without reference to hull shape. As commercial vessels, these are totally reliant on speed to generate a profit for their owners, as their sharpness limits their cargo-carrying capacity.

A [[medium clipper]] has a cargo-carrying hull that has some sharpness. In the right conditions and with a capable captain, some of these achieved notable quick passages. They were also able to pay their way when the high freight rates often paid to a fast sailing ship were not available (in a fluctuating market).

The term "clipper" applied to vessels between these two categories. They often made passages as fast as extreme clippers, but had less difficulty in making a living when freight rates were lower.{{r|MacGregor 1993|p=16}}

==History==
[[File:Sovereignoftheseasdockedphoto.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Sovereign of the Seas (clipper)|Sovereign of the Seas]]'' set the record for world's fastest sailing ship in 1854.]]
[[File:Hornetclippership.jpg|thumb|''[[Hornet (clipper)|Hornet]]'' – an American clipper ship of the 1850s]]

The first ships to which the term "clipper" seems to have been applied were the Baltimore clippers, developed in the [[Chesapeake Bay]] before the [[American Revolution]], and reached their zenith between 1795 and 1815. They were small, rarely exceeding 200 [[Builder's Old Measurement|tons OM]].<ref name="clark" />{{Page needed|date=May 2024}} Their hulls were sharp ended and displayed much deadrise. They were rigged as schooners, brigs, or brigantines.<ref name="MacGregor 1993">{{cite book |last1=MacGregor |first1=David R |title=British & American Clippers: A Comparison of their Design, Construction and Performance in the 1850s |year=1993 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press Ltd |location=London |isbn=0-85177-588-8}}</ref>
In the [[War of 1812]], some were lightly armed, sailing under [[Letter of Marque|letters of marque and reprisal]], when the type{{snd}}exemplified by ''Chasseur'', launched at [[Fells Point, Baltimore]] in 1814{{snd}}became known for her incredible speed; the deep [[draft (hull)|draft]] enabled the Baltimore clipper to sail [[Close hauled|close to the wind]].<ref>Villiers 1973.</ref> Clippers, running the British blockade of Baltimore, came to be recognized for speed rather than cargo space.

The type existed as early as 1780. A 1789 drawing of {{HMS|Berbice|1780}}{{snd}}purchased by the [[Royal Navy]] in 1780 in the West Indies{{snd}}represents the earliest draught of what became known as the Baltimore clipper.

Vessels of the Baltimore clipper type continued to be built for the slave trade, being useful for escaping [[West Africa Squadron|enforcement]] of the [[Slave Trade Act 1807|British]] and [[Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves|American]] legislation prohibiting the trans-Atlantic slave trade.<ref name="Grindal 2016">{{cite book |last1=Grindal |first1=Peter |title=Opposing the Slavers. The Royal Navy's Campaign against the Atlantic Slave Trade |date=2016 |publisher=I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd |location=London |isbn=978-0-85773-938-4 |edition=Kindle}}</ref>{{rp|308}} Some of these Baltimore clippers were captured when working as slavers, condemned by the appropriate court, and sold to owners who then used them as opium clippers{{snd}}moving from one illegal international trade to another.<ref name="MacGregor 1988">{{cite book |last1=MacGregor |first1=David R |title=Fast Sailing Ships, their design and construction, 1775–1875 |date=1988 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |location=London |isbn=0-87021895-6 |edition=2nd}}</ref>{{rp|91}}

''[[Ann McKim (clipper)|Ann McKim]]'', built in Baltimore in 1833 by the Kennard & Williamson shipyard,<ref>Dear, I.C.B., & Kemp, Peter, eds. ''Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea'' (Oxford University Press, 2005).</ref><ref>Website [http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/Ships/Clippers/Ann_McKim(1833).html "Ann McKim" – details, at bruzelius.info] Accessed 30 March 2009.</ref> is considered by some to be the original clipper ship.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/AllAboutTeaV1|quote=Ann McKim clipper ship.|title=All about Tea|last=Ukers|first=William Harrison|year=1935|publisher=Tea and Coffee Trade Journal Company|page=[https://archive.org/details/AllAboutTeaV1/page/n109 87]}}</ref> (Maritime historians [[Howard I. Chapelle]] and David MacGregor decry the concept of the "first" clipper, preferring a more evolutionary, multiple-step development of the type.{{r|MacGregor 1988|p=72}}) She measured 494 [[Builder's Old Measurement|tons OM]], and was built on the enlarged lines of a Baltimore clipper, with sharply raked [[Stem (ship)|stem]], [[Transom (nautical)|counter stern]], and square rig. Although ''Ann McKim'' was the first large clipper ship ever constructed, she cannot be said to have founded the clipper ship era, or even that she directly influenced shipbuilders, since no other ship was built like her, but she may have suggested the clipper design in vessels of ship rig. She did, however, influence the building of ''[[Rainbow (clipper)|Rainbow]]'' in 1845, the first [[Extreme Clipper|extreme clipper]] ship.<ref name="clark" />

In [[Aberdeen]], Scotland, shipbuilders [[Alexander Hall and Sons]] developed the "Aberdeen" clipper bow in the late 1830s; the first was ''[[Scottish Maid]]'' launched in 1839.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aberdeenships.com/sb_alexander_hall.asp |title=Alexander Hall & Sons Ltd |publisher=Aberdeen Ships |date=2006-11-04 |access-date=2013-04-08}}</ref> ''Scottish Maid'', 150 tons OM, was the first British clipper ship.<ref name="clark" /> "''Scottish Maid'' was intended for the Aberdeen-London trade, where speed was crucial to compete with steamships. The Hall brothers tested various hulls in a water tank and found the clipper design most effective. The design was influenced by tonnage regulations. Tonnage measured a ship's cargo capacity and was used to calculate tax and harbour dues. The new 1836 regulations measured depth and breadth with length measured at half midship depth. Extra length above this level was tax-free and became a feature of clippers. ''Scottish Maid'' proved swift and reliable and the design was widely copied."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aberdeenships.com/related.asp?index=27234&shipid=100020 |title=Aberdeen Built Ships |publisher=Aberdeenships.com |date=2013-02-22 |access-date=2013-04-08}}</ref> The earliest British clipper ships were built for trade within the British Isles (''Scottish Maid'' was built for the Aberdeen to London trade<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mcjazz.f2s.com/AlexanderHallYard.htm |title=Alexander Hall & Son Shipyard |website=The Doric Columns – Aberdeen|date=1 September 2013|access-date= 6 June 2020}}</ref>). Then followed the vast clipper trade of tea, opium, spices, and other goods from the Far East to Europe, and the ships became known as "tea clippers".

From 1839, larger American clipper ships started to be built beginning with ''Akbar'', 650 tons OM, in 1839, and including the 1844-built ''[[Houqua (clipper)|Houqua]]'', 581 tons OM. These larger vessels were built predominantly for use in the China tea trade and known as "tea clippers".<ref name="clark" />{{Page needed|date=May 2024}}
Then in 1845 ''[[Rainbow (clipper)|Rainbow]]'', 757 tons OM, the first extreme clipper, was launched in New York. These American clippers were larger vessels designed to sacrifice cargo capacity for speed. They had a bow lengthened above the water, a drawing out and sharpening of the forward body, and the greatest breadth further aft. Extreme clippers were built in the period 1845 to 1855.

In 1851, shipbuilders in Medford, Massachusetts, built what is sometimes called one of the first medium clippers, the ''Antelope'', often called the ''[[Antelope of Boston]]'' to distinguish her from other ships of the same name. A contemporary ship-design journalist noted that "the design of her model was to combine large stowage capacity with good sailing qualities."<ref>''Boston Daily Atlas'', 29 November 1851</ref>  ''Antelope'' was relatively flat-floored and had only an 8-inch [[Glossary of nautical terms (A-L)#D|deadrise]] at half-floor.

The medium clipper, though still very fast, could carry more cargo. After 1854, extreme clippers were replaced in American shipbuilding yards by medium clippers.<ref name="clark" />{{Page needed|date=May 2024}}
The ''[[Flying Cloud (clipper)|Flying Cloud]]'' was a clipper ship built in 1851 that established the fastest passage between New York and San Francisco within weeks of her launching, then broke her own records three years later, which stood at 89 days 8 hours until 1989. (The other contender for this "blue ribbon" title was the medium clipper ''[[Andrew Jackson (clipper)|Andrew Jackson]]''{{snd}}an unresolvable argument exists over timing these voyages "from pilot to pilot").{{r|MacGregor 1993|pp=60–61}} ''Flying Cloud'' was the most famous of the clippers built by [[Donald McKay]]. She was known for her extremely close race with the ''Hornet'' in 1853; for having a woman navigator, [[Eleanor Creesy]], wife of Josiah Perkins Creesy, who skippered the ''Flying Cloud'' on two record-setting voyages from New York to San Francisco; and for sailing in the Australia and timber trades.

Clipper ships largely ceased being built in American shipyards in 1859 when, unlike the earlier boom years, only four clipper ships were built; a few were built in the 1860s. {{r|MacGregor 1993|p=14}}

[[File:The Composite Construction - 322.jpg|thumb|Composite Construction]]
British clipper ships continued to be built after 1859. From 1859, a new design was developed for British clipper ships that was nothing like the American clippers; these ships continued to be called extreme clippers. The new design had a sleek, graceful appearance, less sheer, less freeboard, lower bulwarks, and smaller breadth. They were built for the China tea trade, starting with ''Falcon'' in 1859, and continuing until 1870. The earlier ships were made from wood, though some were made from iron, just as some British clippers had been made from iron prior to 1859. In 1863, the first tea clippers of [[Composite construction#Ships|composite construction]] were brought out, combining the best of both worlds. Composite clippers had the strength of an iron hull framework but with wooden planking that, with properly insulated fastenings, could use [[copper sheathing]] without the problem of [[galvanic corrosion]]. Copper sheathing prevented [[Biofouling|fouling]] and [[Teredo navalis|teredo worm]], but could not be used on iron hulls. The iron framework of composite clippers was less bulky and lighter, so allowing more cargo in a hull of the same external shape.{{r|MacGregor 1983|pp=84–88}}<ref name="clark" />{{Page needed|date=May 2024}}

After 1869, with the opening of the [[Suez Canal]] that greatly advantaged steam vessels (see [[#Decline|Decline]] below), the tea trade collapsed for clippers.<ref name="clark" />{{rp|332}}  From the late 1860s until the early 1870s, the clipper trade increasingly focused on the Britain to Australia and New Zealand route, carrying goods and immigrants, services that had begun earlier with the [[Australian Gold Rush]] of the 1850s. British-built clipper ships and many American-built, British-owned ships were used. Even in the 1880s, sailing ships were still the main carriers of cargo between Britain, and [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]]. This trade eventually became unprofitable, and the ageing clipper fleet became unseaworthy.<ref name="clark" />{{Page needed|date=May 2024}}
{{anchor|Opium clipper}}

=== Opium clippers ===
[[File:"Water Witch" opium clipper 1831.jpg|thumb|"Opium clipper" ''Water Witch'', a British barque built in 1831]]Before the early 18th century, the East India Company paid for its tea mainly in silver. When the Chinese emperor chose to embargo European-manufactured commodities and demand payment for all Chinese goods in silver, the price rose, restricting trade. The [[East India Company]] began to produce opium in India, something desired by the Chinese as much as tea was by the British. This had to be smuggled into China on smaller, fast-sailing ships, called "opium clippers".<ref name="MacGregor 1983" />{{rp|9, 34}} Some of these were built specifically for the purpose{{snd}}mostly in India and Britain, such as the 1842-built ''Ariel'', 100 tons OM.<ref name="clark" />{{Page needed|date=May 2024}} Some fruit schooners were bought for this trade, as were some Baltimore clippers.{{r|MacGregor 1988|pp=90–97}}

== China clippers and the apogee of sail{{anchor|Tea clipper|China clipper}} ==
{{redirect|Tea clipper|the pub in London|The Tea Clipper}}
[[File:Cutty Sark (ship, 1869) - SLV H91.250-164.jpg|thumb|''[[Cutty Sark]]'', a noted British clipper]]
[[File:Clipper Ship Southern Cross Leaving Boston Harbor 1851.jpeg|thumb|Clipper ship ''Southern Cross'' leaving Boston Harbor, 1851, by [[Fitz Hugh Lane]]]]
Among the most notable clippers were the China clippers, also called tea clippers, designed to ply the trade routes between Europe and the [[East Indies]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gH3uAwAAQBAJ&q=decline+of+sailing+ships|title=Clipper Ships and the Golden Age of Sail: Races and Rivalries on the Nineteenth Century High Seas|last=Jefferson|first=Sam|year=2014|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1472900289}}</ref> The last example of these still in reasonable condition is ''[[Cutty Sark]]'', preserved in [[dry dock]] at [[Greenwich]], United Kingdom. [[Cutty Sark#Conservation and fire|Damaged by fire]] on 21 May 2007 while undergoing conservation, the ship was permanently elevated 3.0 m above the dry dock floor in 2010 as part of a plan for long-term preservation.

Clippers were built for seasonal trades such as tea, where an early cargo was more valuable, or for passenger routes. One passenger ship survives, the ''[[City of Adelaide (1864)|City of Adelaide]]'' designed by [[William Pile (shipbuilder)|William Pile]] of [[City of Sunderland|Sunderland]]. The fast ships were ideally suited to low-volume, high-profit goods, such as tea, [[opium]], spices, people, and mail. The return could be spectacular. The ''[[Challenger (clipper)|Challenger]]'' returned from Shanghai with "the most valuable cargo of tea and silk ever to be laden in one bottom".<ref>{{Cite book | publisher = State Street Trust Co.  | last = Forbes | first = Allan |author2=Ralph Mason Eastman | title = Yankee ship sailing cards...  | year = 1952 }}</ref> [[Tea race (competitions)|Competition among the clippers]] was public and fierce, with their times recorded in the newspapers.

The last China clippers had peak speeds over {{convert|16|kn|km/h}},<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Dash |first1=Mike |title=The Great Tea Race of 1866 |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-great-tea-race-of-1866-8209465/ |access-date=2022-06-26 |website=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref> but their average speeds over a whole voyage were substantially less. The joint winner of the [[Great Tea Race of 1866]] logged about 15,800 nautical miles on a 99-day trip. This gives an average speed slightly over {{convert|6.6|kn|km/h}}.<ref name="Lubbock">{{cite book |last=Lubbock |first=Basil |orig-year=1914 |year=1981 |title=The China Clippers |location=Glasgow |publisher=Brown, Son and Ferguson Ltd |isbn=0851741096 }}</ref>{{rp|pages=269–285}} The key to a fast passage for a tea clipper was getting across the China Sea against the monsoon winds that prevailed when the first tea crop of the season was ready.{{r|MacGregor 1983|pp=31, 20}} These difficult sailing conditions (light and/or contrary winds) dictated the design of tea clippers. The US clippers were designed for the strong winds encountered on their route around Cape Horn.

Donald McKay's ''[[Sovereign of the Seas (clipper)|Sovereign of the Seas]]''  reported the highest speed ever achieved by a sailing ship of the era, {{convert|22|kn|km/h}}, made while running her easting down to Australia in 1854.  (John Griffiths' first clipper, the ''Rainbow'', had a top speed of 14 knots.) Eleven other instances are reported of a ship's logging {{convert|18|kn|km/h}} or over.  Ten of these were recorded by American clippers.
Besides the breath-taking {{convert|465|nmi|km|adj=on}} day's run of the ''[[Champion of the Seas]]'', 13 other cases are known of a ship's sailing over {{convert|400|nmi|km}} in 24 hours.
With few exceptions, though, all the port-to-port sailing records are held by the American clippers.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lyon |first1=Jane D |title=Clipper Ships and Captains |date=1962 |publisher=American Heritage Publishing |location=New York }}</ref>
The 24-hour record of the ''Champion of the Seas'', set in 1854, was not broken until 1984 (by a multihull), or 2001 (by another monohull).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sailspeedrecords.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=81&Itemid=21 |title=24 Hour Distance |publisher=Sailspeedrecords.com |access-date=2013-04-08}}</ref>

==Decline==

[[File:US clipper build graph.pdf|thumb|upright=1.75|A graph of the number of clippers built in the USA each year in the 1850s: This closely follows the economic situation.{{r|MacGregor 1993|p=14}}]]The American clippers sailing from the East Coast to the California goldfields were working in a booming market. Freight rates were high everywhere in the first years of the 1850s. This started to fade in late 1853. The ports of California and Australia reported that they were overstocked with goods that had been shipped earlier in the year. This gave an accelerating fall in freight rates that was halted, however, by the start of the [[Crimean War]] in March 1854, as many ships were now being chartered by the French and British governments. The end of the Crimean War in April 1856 released all this capacity back on the world shipping markets{{snd}}the result being a severe slump. The next year had the [[Panic of 1857]], with effects on both sides of the Atlantic. The United States was just starting to recover from this in 1861 when the [[American Civil War]] started, causing significant disruption to trade in both Union and Confederate states.{{r|MacGregor 1993|pp=14–15}}
As the economic situation deteriorated in 1853, American shipowners either did not order new vessels, or specified an ordinary clipper or a medium clipper instead of an extreme clipper. No extreme clipper was launched in an American shipyard after the end of 1854 and only a few medium clippers after 1860.

By contrast, British trade recovered well at the end of the 1850s. Tea clippers had continued to be launched during the depressed years, apparently little affected by the economic downturn.{{r|MacGregor 1993|p=15}} The long-distance route to China was not realistically challenged by steamships in the early part of the 1860s. No true steamer (as opposed to an auxiliary steamship) had the [[fuel efficiency]] to carry sufficient cargo to make a profitable voyage. The auxiliary steamships struggled to make any profit.

[[File:StateLibQld 1 133053 Agamemnon (ship).jpg|thumb|SS ''Agamemnon'', the first steamer with the fuel efficiency to challenge sailing vessels on the long-distance route from Britain (or the East Coast US) to the China tea ports]]
The situation changed in 1866 when the [[Alfred Holt]]-designed and owned [[SS Agamemnon (1865)|SS ''Agamemnon'']] made her first voyage to China. Holt had persuaded the [[Board of Trade]] to allow higher steam pressures in British merchant vessels. Running at 60&nbsp;[[Pounds per square inch|psi]] instead of the previously permitted 25&nbsp;psi, and using an efficient [[Compound steam engine|compound engine]], ''Agamemnon'' had the fuel efficiency to steam at 10&nbsp;knots to China and back, with coaling stops at Mauritius on the outward and return legs{{snd}}crucially carrying sufficient cargo to make a profit.<ref name="Jarvis">{{cite book |last=Jarvis|first=Adrian|editor1-first=Robert|editor1-last= Gardiner|editor2-first=Dr. Basil|editor2-last= Greenhill
|title=The Advent of Steam – The Merchant Steamship before 1900 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press Ltd |year=1993 |pages=158–159|chapter=Chapter 9: Alfred Holt and the Compound Engine |isbn=0-85177-563-2}}</ref>

In 1869, the Suez Canal opened, giving steamships a route about {{convert|3000|nmi}} shorter than that taken by sailing ships round the Cape of Good Hope. Despite initial conservatism by tea merchants, by 1871, tea clippers found strong competition from steamers in the tea ports of China. A typical passage time back to London for a steamer was 58 days, while the fastest clippers could occasionally make the trip in less than 100 days; the average was 123 days in the 1867–68 tea season.<ref name="clark332" /><ref name="Greenwich" /><ref name="MacGregor 1983" />{{rp|225–243}} The freight rate for a steamer in 1871 was roughly double that paid to a sailing vessel. Some clipper owners were severely caught out by this; several extreme clippers had been launched in 1869, including ''Cutty Sark'', ''Norman Court'' and ''Caliph''.{{efn|Caution is needed in interpreting Basil Lubbock's count of the number of extreme clippers launched in 1869. He states there were 25, but apparently without evidence such as having sight of reliable plans or half models. MacGregor stated that at least five of those in Lubbock's list were medium clippers, thereby calling into question the categorisation of the others.<ref name="MacGregor 1998" />{{rp|253}}}}[[File:SV City Adelaide Dutton Lithograph.jpg|right|thumb|''City of Adelaide'' (1864)]]

== Surviving ships ==
Of the many clipper ships built during the mid-19th century, only two are known to survive. The only intact survivor is ''[[Cutty Sark]]'', which was preserved as a [[museum ship]] in 1954 at [[Greenwich]] for public display. The other known survivor is ''[[City of Adelaide (1864)|City of Adelaide]]''; unlike ''Cutty Sark'', she was reduced to a [[Hulk (ship type)|hulk]] over the years. She eventually sank at her moorings in 1991, but was raised the following year, and remained on dry land for years. ''Adelaide'' (or S.V. ''Carrick'') is the older of the two survivors, and was transported to Australia for conservation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cityofadelaide.org.au/condensed-history.html |title=City of Adelaide website – Condensed History |publisher=Cityofadelaide.org.au |access-date=2013-04-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Future of the S.V. Carrick|author=Jim Carrick|publisher=History Scotland magazine|url=http://www.historyscotland.com/features/svcarrick.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060208111227/http://www.historyscotland.com/features/svcarrick.html|archive-date=8 February 2006}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
The clipper legacy appears in collectible cards and in the name of [[Los Angeles Clippers|a basketball team]].

=== Sailing cards ===
[[File:Free trade.jpg|thumb|right|Clipper ship sailing card for the ''Free Trade'', printed by Nesbitt & Co., New York, early 1860s]]

Departures of clipper ships, mostly from New York and Boston to San Francisco, were advertised by clipper-ship sailing cards.  These cards, slightly larger than today's postcards, were produced by letterpress and wood engraving on coated card stock.  Most clipper cards were printed in the 1850s and 1860s, and represented the first pronounced use of color in American advertising art. Perhaps 3,500 cards survive.  With their rarity and importance as artifacts of nautical, Western, and printing history, clipper cards are valued by both private collectors and institutions.<ref>{{cite web
| url        = http://www.americanantiquarian.org/clippershipcards.htm
| title      = Clipper Ship Cards
| last       = Neale
| first      = Jane
| publisher  = American Antiquarian Society
| access-date = 2014-07-11
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131008132854/http://www.americanantiquarian.org/clippershipcards.htm
| archive-date= 2013-10-08
}}</ref>

=== Basketball team ===
The [[Los Angeles Clippers]] of the [[National Basketball Association]] take their name from the type of ship. After the [[Buffalo Braves]] moved to [[San Diego|San Diego, California]] in 1978, a contest was held to choose a new name. The winning name highlighted the city's connection with the clippers that frequented [[San Diego Bay]]. The team retained the name in its 1984 move to Los Angeles.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Behind The Name – Clippers |url=https://www.nba.com/clippers/news/behind_the_name.html |access-date=2023-03-15 |website=nba.com}}</ref>

=== Airliners ===
The airline [[Pan Am]] named its aircraft beginning with the word 'Clipper' and used Clipper as its callsign. This was intended to evoke an image of speed and glamour.
===Space probe===
The [[Europa Clipper]] is a NASA probe that is currently on a mission to explore [[Jupiter]] and its moons; it was launched in 2024 and is expected to reach Jupiter in 2030.

== See also ==
{{Portal|Transport}}
* [[List of clipper ships]]
* [[Clipper route]]
* [[Packet boat]]
* [[Sail plan]]
* [[Windjammer]]
* [[Clipper card]]
* [[Europa Clipper]]

===People associated with clipper ships===
* [[List of people who sailed on clipper ships]]
* [[Joseph Warren Holmes]]
* [[Samuel Hartt Pook]]
* [[William Jardine (surgeon)|William Jardine]]
* [[Donald McKay]]
* [[Jock Willis Shipping Line|John (or "Jock") "White Hat" Willis]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|refs=

<ref name="clark">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/clippershiperaep00claruoft |quote=The Clipper Ship Era. |title=The Clipper Ship Era: An Epitome of Famous American and British Clipper Ships, Their Owners, Builders, Commanders, and Crews, 1843–1869 |last=Clark |first=Arthur Hamilton |year=1912 |publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons}}</ref>

<ref name="clark332">{{cite book |last=Clark|first=Arthur H |year=1911 |title=The Clipper Ship Era 1843–1869 |url= https://archive.org/stream/cu31924020891416#page/n5/mode/2up |place=New York |publisher=[[G. P. Putnam's Sons]] |pages=332}}</ref>

<ref name="Greenwich">{{cite web |title=Agamemnon (1865); Passenger/cargo vessel |work=Ship models |publisher=[[National Maritime Museum]] |url=http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/66013.html}}</ref>

<ref name="MacGregor 1983">{{cite book |last=MacGregor |first=David R. |title=The Tea Clippers, Their History and Development 1833–1875 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press Limited |isbn=0-85177-256-0 |edition=Second |year=1983}}</ref>

<ref name="MacGregor 1998">{{cite book |last1=MacGregor |first1=David R. |title=Fast Sailing Ships, their Design and Construction, 1775–1875 |year=1988 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press Ltd |location=London |isbn=0-87021-895-6 |edition=Second}}</ref>

}}

==Further reading==
* Carl C. Cutler, ''Greyhounds of the Sea'' (1930, 3rd ed. [[Naval Institute Press]] 1984)
* Alexander Laing, ''Clipper Ship Men'' (1944)
* David R. MacGregor, ''Fast Sailing Ships: Their Design and Construction, 1775–1875''  Naval Institute Press, 1988 {{ISBN|0-87021-895-6}} 
* Oxford English Dictionary (1987) {{ISBN|0-19-861212-5}}.
* Bruce D. Roberts, ''Clipper Ship Sailing Cards,'' 2007, Lulu.com.  {{ISBN|978-0-9794697-0-1}}.
* Bruce D. Roberts, ''Clipper Ship Cards:  The High-Water Mark in Early Trade Cards,'' The Advertising Trade Card Quarterly 1, no. 1 (Spring 1994): 20–22.
* Bruce D. Roberts, ''Clipper Ship Cards:  Graphic Themes and Images,'' The Advertising Trade Card Quarterly 1, no. 2 (Summer 1994): 22–24.
* Bruce D. Roberts, ''Museum Collections of Clipper Ship Cards,'' The Advertising Trade Card Quarterly 2, no. 1 (Spring 1995): 22–24.
* Bruce D. Roberts, ''Selling Sail with Clipper Ship Cards,'' Ephemera News 19, no. 2 (Winter 2001): 1, 11–14.
* {{cite book|author=Chris and Lesley Holden|title=Life and Death on the Royal Charter|publisher=Calgo Publications |isbn=978-0-9545066-2-9|year=2009}}

===Overview and introduction===
* {{cite book |last=Knoblock |first=Glenn A. |title=The American Clipper Ship, 1845–1920: A Comprehensive History, with a Listing of Builders and Their Ships |location=Jefferson |publisher=McFarland |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-7864-7112-6}}
* {{cite web | url=http://www.eraoftheclipperships.com/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330192639/http://www.eraoftheclipperships.com/ | archive-date=2010-03-30 | title=Era of the Clipper Ships Web Site | access-date=3 September 2011| author=Ross, Donald Gunn III}} – Beautifully illustrated introduction, by a member of Donald McKay's family
* {{Cite book
  | last = Clark
  | first = Arthur H.
  | title = The Clipper Ship Era, An Epitome of Famous American and British Clipper Ships, Their Owners, Builders, Commanders, and Crews, 1843–1869
  | publisher = G.P. Putnam's Sons
  | year = 1910
  | location = Camden, ME
  | isbn = 978-0-7222-0657-7
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=HVYuAAAAYAAJ&q=the%20clipper%20ship%20era%20clark&pg=PR1
  }} – Basic reading, a favorite of [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]]
* [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award99/mymhihtml/mymhihome.html Westward by Sea: A Maritime Perspective on American Expansion, 1820–1890], digitized source materials from [[Mystic Seaport]], via [[American Memory|Library of Congress American Memory]]
* {{Cite book
  | last = Currier & Ives
  | author-link = Currier and Ives
  | title = American clipper ship prints by the Curriers
  | publisher = The American Neptune
  | series = [[American Neptune]]
  | year = 1959
  | location = Salem, MA
   }}

===American clipper ships===
* {{Cite book
  | last = Cutler
  | first = Carl C
  | title = Greyhounds of the sea: The story of the American clipper ship
  | publisher = Naval Institute Press
  | year = 1984
  | edition = 3rd
  | location = Annapolis, MD
  | isbn = 978-0-87021-232-1}} – The definitive narrative history, useful for checking discrepancies between sources
* {{Cite book
  | last = Crothers
  | first = William L
  | title = The American-built clipper ship, 1850–1856 : characteristics, construction, and details
  | publisher = International Marine
  | year = 1997
  | location = Camden, ME
  | isbn = 0-07-014501-6}} – The comprehensive reference for design and construction of American-built clipper ships, with numerous drawings, diagrams, and charts. Gives examples of how each design feature varies in different ships.
* {{Cite book
  | last1 = Howe
  | first1 = Octavius T
  | last2 = Matthews
  | first2 = Frederick C.
  | title = American Clipper Ships 1833–1858. Volume 1 and 2
  | publisher = Marine Research Society; Dover Publications
  | orig-year = First published 1926–1927
  | date = 1986
  | location = Salem, MA; New York
  | url = https://archive.org/details/americanclippers0000howe
  | isbn = 978-0-486-25115-8
  | url-access = registration
  }} Articles on individual ships, broader coverage than Crothers

===Clipper ships by type===
* {{Cite book
  | last = Lubbock
  | first = Basil
  | title = The China clippers. The Century seafarers
  | publisher = Century
  | year = 1984
  | location = London
  | isbn = 978-0-7126-0341-6
}}
* {{Cite book
  | last = Lubbock
  | first = Basil
  | title = The Colonial Clippers
  | publisher = James Brown & Son
  | edition = 2nd
  | orig-year = 1921
  | year = 1968
  | location = Glasgow
  | pages = [https://archive.org/details/colonialclippers00lubbrich/page/86 86]–87
  | oclc = 7831041
  | url = https://archive.org/details/colonialclippers00lubbrich
  }} – British and Australian clippers
* {{Cite book
  | last = Lubbock
  | first = Basil
  | title = The Nitrate Clippers
  | publisher = Brown, Son & Ferguson
  | edition = 1st
  | year = 1932
  | location = Glasgow
  | pages = 86–87
  | isbn = 978-0-85174-116-1
  }}
* {{Cite book
  | last = Lubbock
  | first = Basil
  | title = The Opium Clippers
  | publisher = Charles E. Lauriat Co
  | orig-year = 1933| year = 1967
  | location = Boston, MA
  | isbn = 978-0-85174-241-0
}} – One of the few comprehensive books on these ships

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|clip}}
{{Commons category|Clipper ships}}
* [http://cityofadelaide.org.au ''City of Adelaide'' Clipper Ship], one of the few surviving clippers
* [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mymhiwe&action=browse&fileName=c112//mymhiwec112.db Westward by Sea] [[Library of Congress]] collection of sailing cards.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051018172408/http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/descriptions/baltimore.htm The Shipslist: Baltimore Clipper]
* [http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/nyhs/clipper/index.html The Clipper Ship Card Collection] at the New-York Historical Society

{{Clipper ships}}
{{Sailing Vessels and Rigs}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Clippers| ]]
[[Category:Vehicles introduced in the 18th century]]
[[Category:Merchant sailing ship types]]
[[Category:Sailing rigs and rigging]]
[[Category:Gilded Age]]
[[Category:Victorian era]]