A Baltimore Clipper is a fast

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships ...

historically built on the mid-Atlantic seaboard of the

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, especially at the port of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. An early form of clipper, the name is most commonly applied to two-masted schooners and brigantines. These vessels may also be referred to as Baltimore Flyers.

History

Baltimore clippers were built as small, fast sailing vessels for trade around the coastlines of the United States and with the Caribbean Islands. Their hull-lines tended to be very sharp, with a "V"-shaped cross-section below the waterline and strongly raked stem, stern posts, and masts.Gardiner 1999 The origins of the type are unknown but certainly hulls conforming to the concept were being built in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

and

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

, with the hull of the ocean-going

Bermuda sloop The Bermuda sloop is a historical type of fore-and-aft rigged single-masted sailing vessel developed on the islands of Bermuda in the 17th century. Such vessels originally had gaff rigs with quadrilateral sails, but evolved to use the Bermuda ri ...

broader than the Jamaican and deeper than the American design. By the late 18th century the Baltimore configuration was not only popular in the United States as merchant craft but in

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as well. The

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, Greenwich has a one-page drawing labeled "A DRAWING OF HIS MAJESTY'S ARM'D SCHOONER BERBICE, THE 5TH AUG 1789" that comprises a sheer plan, body lines, deck plan, lines, and a view of her stern. These drawings of represent the earliest draught of what became known as the Baltimore Clipper. The Royal Navy found the schooners of only limited usefulness during the

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and

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because they were unstable gun platforms due to their design for extreme speed compared to their size. Furthermore, the schooner rig does not allow sails to be backed, creating a disadvantage in maneuverability in battle. They were adopted after the wars to pursue slave ships. Flying Fish Baltimore clipper

They were especially suited to moving low-density, high value perishable cargoes such as slaves, and in that trade operated as far afield as the west coast of

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. Similar merchant vessels were given letters of marque and served as privateers during the

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. During the

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, merchant schooners were too small and slow to escape the British blockade, and larger faster more heavily armed purpose built privateer Baltimore clippers were developed. The most famous of these larger vessels were the privateers ''

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'', '' Prince de Neufchatel'' and '' General Armstrong''. ''Prince de Neufchatel'' resisted an attack by a four fold numerically superior force in the boats of HMS '' Endymion'' and ''Chasseur'' alone captured more enemy ships than the entire US Navy during the war. Nevertheless, most privateers during the war were of the smaller type and served as merchant ships despite being given letters of marque. As a result, more privateers were taken by the British blockade of 1813 than ever took a prize themselves. The famous yacht ''America'', derived from the lines of a New York pilot boat, was conceptually not far removed from the Baltimore clipper. Many such vessels went to Australia during the Australian gold rush, or after being seized as slavers and sold. One particularly famous Baltimore Clipper, and one of the last of the type in commercial service, was the schooner ''Vigilant'' that traded around the Danish Caribbean islands for over a century before sinking in a

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

on September 12, 1928. She was believed to have been built in the 1790s. Clipper Built Privateer Schooner

Famous Baltimore Clippers

*'' Vigilant'', 1794, one of the first and most famous Baltimore clippers. She sailed for over 130 years, bringing mail and passengers to ports in the Danish West Indies and around the Virgin Islands. *''

'', 1812, a fine example of Baltimore Clipper built by Thomas Kemp. She was commanded by Captain Thomas Boyle, an American privateer during the

. *'' Lynx'', 1812, an excellent example of a Baltimore clipper built by Thomas Kemp for the War of 1812. * ', the captured

slave ship Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea coast ...

, originally built as a slave ship, but ended up freeing several hundred slaves in service of the

West Africa Squadron The West Africa Squadron, also known as the Preventative Squadron, was a squadron of the British Royal Navy whose goal was to suppress the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa. Formed in 1808 after the British Parliam ...

. * '' Ann McKim'', 1833, one of the first "true" clippers. She was built by Kennard & Williamson.

In popular culture

Capt. Jack Aubrey uses a captured Baltimore Clipper, the ''Ringle,'' as his tender in the

Patrick O'Brian Patrick O'Brian, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and cent ...

novels '' The Commodore'' and '' The Yellow Admiral.'' The ship is named after the American writer who brought the clippers to O'Brian's attention.

Modern replicas

Modern replicas of an early 19th-century Baltimore Clipper type include the ill-fated '' Pride of Baltimore'', her replacement, ''Pride of Baltimore II'', '' Californian'', ''

La Amistad ''La Amistad'' (; Spanish for ''Friendship'') was a 19th-century two- masted schooner, owned by a Spaniard colonizing Cuba. It became renowned in July 1839 for a slave revolt by Mende captives, who had been captured and sold to European slave ...

'', '' Shenandoah'' as well as the Liberty Clipper and the privateer ''Lynx''.

References

* {{Sailing Vessels and Rigs Merchant sailing ship types +Baltimore Clipper +Baltimore Clipper Transportation in Baltimore Age of Sail ships of the United States Tall ships