enlarge

enlarge

enlarge

Clipper ships were extremely fast vessels developed in the United States. Clipper designers increased speed by keeping the hulls relatively narrow while maximizing sail area. The 251-foot Red Jacket, a clipper ship built in Maine and launched in November 1853, was one of the fastest sailing ships ever. On its maiden voyage, the Red Jacket, under the command of Capt. Asa Eldridge of Yarmouth, Mass., left New York for Liverpool, England, on January 11, 1854. Throughout the voyage, the ship plowed through gale-force winds, rain, snow and hail every day, but continued to run its full complement of canvas. Exactly 13 days, 1 hour and 25 minutes later the crew dropped its anchor in Liverpool Harbor, setting a record for a commercial sailing ship that remains unbroken. The Red Jacket was named for the Seneca Indian chief Sagoyewatha, who was often called Red Jacket because of the jacket he frequently wore. The jacket had been given to him by the British. To the end of its sailing days, Red Jacket was considered the most handsome of the large American clippers. -- Source: Penobscot Marine MuseumMAINE-BUILT CLIPPER SHIP MADE SAILING HISTORYAT THE LIBRARY

The Portland Public Library suggests the following books about Maine's shipbuilding history and clipper ships: "Snow Squall: The Last American Clipper Ship," by Robert, William A. Baker, and Benjamin W. Labaree "The Maritime History of Maine: Three Centuries of Shipbuilding and Seafaring," by William Hutchinson Rowe "Shipbuilding Days in Casco Bay: 1727 - 1890," by William Hutchinson Rowe "The Logbook of the Captain's Clerk: Adventures in the China Seas," by John Sewall

ON THE INTERNET

The Penobscot Marine Museum http://www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org Maine Maritime Museum http://www.mainemaritimemuseum.org//

Staff Writer

Maine is often viewed as a remote and rural state that is far from the center of the national economy. But Maine in the 1800s played a major role in international commerce. Its long coastline was dotted with protected harbors. Its numerous rivers provided access to virgin forests. It had an abundance of skilled shipwrights and mariners. And prior to the advent of railroads and highways, the ocean was the only viable transportation system for moving cargo. Maine had a competitive edge.

"A lot of people have the misperception of Maine in the 19th century," said Niles Parker, director of the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport. "In some ways, people were more connected and cosmopolitan in these ports than they are today."

In the late 18th and 19th century, Maine entrepreneurs joined the quest for fortunes to be made sailing to all areas of the globe. Maine-built ships could be found in the harbors of South America, India, the West Indians, Europe, the East Indies and Australia.

The most profitable and exotic destinations were Japan and China.

Although trade with the Orient was dominated by merchants from Salem, Boston and New York, Maine-built vessels formed a large part of their fleets, particularly after the Civil War, when Maine yards developed a new vessel type that would become internationally known as the "downeaster."

Although not as fast as clipper ships, the square-rigged downeasters were larger and could carry more cargo and be operated by relatively small crews. Maine led the United States in wooden shipbuilding, and many Maine men served as mariners and captains for ships financed by wealthy syndicates based in major East Coast cities.

But some Maine families -- in some cases groups of families from one town -- pooled their money and invested in building and outfitting vessels for the trade. The homes of Maine's wealthiest merchant families were soon filled with exotic goods from around the world. Oriental rugs covered plain wooden floors, and colorful silk became the fabric of choice for women's garments.

The China trade began in 1784 shortly after the end of the Revolutionary War. Because Britain had blocked the Americans from trading with the British West Indies, tea was scarce. A group of investors led by a Philadelphia merchant sent a ship to the Chinese port city of Canton to trade for tea. The Americans made such hefty profits that other ships soon followed. One of the earliest ships, the Portland, built in 1796, traveled first to Europe to trade salted fish and wooden staves for wine and cash, before preceding to the Far East.

In 1844, after the British victory in the Opium Wars, a treaty opened several more Chinese ports to American vessels, and tea and luxury products became more readily available for American traders. In 1854, United States Commodore Matthew Perry forced Japan to open its long-isolated country to trade.

The drive for profits contributed to the development of the clipper ship, which could out-sail the slower, higher capacity "English tea wagons." Back then, tea was difficult to ship because of its vulnerability to the elements and its seasonal availability abroad. The ship that arrived back in the United States with the first tea of the year made the highest profits.

Maine's yards built about 60 clipper ships, which accounted for only about 15 percent of the total fleet. One of the most famous, the Snow Squall, spent its career in the China Trade. Built in South Portland in 1851, the ship had an unusually sharp bow and posted near record runs between ports on all oceans.

In 1859, the Snow Squall sailed from Shanghai to New York in 91 days.

For some Maine ships, the cargo included Chinese laborers who were taken to Cuba to work on sugar plantations.

By the late 1860s, about 150,000 Chinese laborers had sailed to Cuba. About 15 percent died en route. The Penobscot Marine Museum has a collection of papers of a Rockland...