Race Horse
Article
Talk
Read
Edit
View history
Tools
Appearance hide
Text
Small
Standard
Large
Width
Standard
Wide
Color (beta)
Automatic
Light
Dark
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the ship. For other uses, see Racehorse (disambiguation).
History
United States
Name Race Horse
Owner J.M. Forbes, I. Goddard & Co., Boston
Builder Samuel Hall, East Boston
Launched June 1850
Fate Vanished early 1865
Notes Designed by Samuel Hall; sometimes attributed to Samuel H. Pook
General characteristics
Tons burthen 512[1]/530 tons
Length 128 ft. LOA
Beam 30 ft. 6 in.
Draft 16 ft.
Notes 1 deck and hold beams partially decked[2][3]
Race Horse was an 1850 clipper barque. She set a record of 109 days from New York
to San Francisco during the first Clipper Race around the Horn.
Construction
Race Horse was similar to a barque built by Samuel Hall a few years earlier,
Coquette. The design of Race Horse has been credited to both Samuel Hartt Pook and
to Hall. According to a letter written by Hall to the "Boston Daily Atlas", he
asked Pook to make the models and molds for Race Horse based on Coquette, with a
few modifications, in order to help Pook to "get his name before the public".[4]
First Clipper Race Around the Horn, 1850
Race Horse performed well in the First Clipper Race Around the Horn, which took
place in 1850. Race Horse sailed from Boston to San Francisco in 109 days (or 94
days, 14 hours land to land). She made Cape Horn just 52 days out on this trip, 20
miles offshore.[3]
"The keen rivalry between clippers led to races over thousands of miles of seas;
and upon the result thousands of dollars were often wagered."[5]
The new clippers Race Horse, Celestial, and Mandarin challenged Hoqua, Sea Witch,
Samuel Russell, and Memnon, which were old rivals in the China trade.
"Large sums of money were wagered on the result, the four older vessels having
established high reputations for speed. The Samuel Russell was commanded by Charles
Low, previously of the Hoqua, while the Hoqua was now commanded by Captain
McKenzie; Captain Gordon was again in the Memnon, and Captain George Fraser, who
had sailed with Captain Waterman as chief mate."[6]
Samuel Russell knocked eleven days off the record, arriving first in San Francisco
after 109 days from New York. Race Horse would also make a 109-day passage, but it
was Hoqua that arrived next, having made a 120-day trip from New York. The
following day Sea Witch arrived after a 97-day passage, knocking an additional 12
days off the record. The performance of Sea Witch was particularly astonishing
because she had rounded Cape Horn during the Antarctic midwinter.
"The remaining ships arrived in the following order: Memnon, 123 days, Celestial,
104 days, Race Horse, 109 days from Boston, and Mandarin, 126 days from New York--
all 'exceptionally fine passages,' average passages of the time being 159 days."[6]
Voyage to Turkey
On August 8, 1851, Race Horse sailed from Boston to Smyrna, Turkey under the
command of Captain Searles, with several passengers who were en route with their
wives to work as missionaries in Armenia: Sanford Richardson, Edwin Goodell, and
Benjamin Parsons.[7]
References
Clark, Arthur (1911). The Clipper Ship Era; An Epitome of Famous American and
British Clipper Ships, Their Owners, Builders, Commanders, and Crews, 1843-1869.
New York & London: G. P. Putnam's Sons. p. 179.
Crothers, William L. (1997). The American-Built Clipper Ship, 1850-1856:
Characteristics, Construction, Details. Camden, ME: International Marine. pp. xv.
ISBN 0-07-014501-6.
Bruzelius, Lars (2000-01-08). "Clipper Ships: Race Horse (1850)". Race Horse. The
Maritime History Virtual Archives. Retrieved June 25, 2010.
Bruzelius, Lars (1997). "Clippers, The Boston Daily Atlas, May 10, 1851".
Clippers. The Maritime History Virtual Archives. Retrieved June 25, 2010.
Ships and shipping of old New York: a brief account of the interesting phases of
the commerce of New York from the foundation of the city to the beginning of the
Civil War. New York City: Walton Advertising and Printing Company (Boston, Mass.);
Printed for Bank of Manhattan Co. 1915. p. 56. clipper memnon.
Clark, Arthur H. (1910). The Clipper Ship Era, An Epitome of Famous American and
British Clipper Ships, Their Owners, Builders, Commanders, and Crews, 1843-1869.
Camden, ME: G.P. Putnam�s Sons. pp. 145�146.
"Western Asia. Mission to the Armenians". Annual Report of the American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions. 42. Boston, MA: American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign Missions: 71. 1851.
vte
Clipper ships
vte
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1865
Categories: Shipwrecks of the Georgia (U.S. state) coastBarquesCalifornia
clippersIndividual sailing vesselsShips built in BostonMissing shipsMaritime
incidents in 18651850 shipsShips lost with all hands
This page was last edited on 28 August 2023, at 08:26 (UTC).
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License;
additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and
Privacy Policy. Wikipedia� is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation,
Inc., a non-profit organization.
