Montague Dawson R.S.M.A., F.R.S.A.

Corporate Collection, St. Paul, Minnesota

This atmospheric moonlit view shows the towering sail plan of the clipper ships which allowed them to reach up to twenty-one knots and cover four hundred miles a day in optimum conditions. Clipper design was developed in America in the 1840s and given a huge impetus by the discovery of gold in California in 1848. It became highly profitable to transport freight the 15,000 miles from New York to California, braving Cape Horn with strong masts and spars which allowed clippers to bear canvas in conditions which would have defeated earlier sailing ships.

 

The heyday of the clipper was from the 1850s to the 1870s, when British clippers raced to bring the new season’s cargo of tea from China to London; large wagers rode on the result. In the 1880s, clippers raced from Australia to London with wool for the textile industry. By the 1890s, the graceful clippers were being superseded by larger, steel-built sailing ships – windjammers – and by steamers.