''Comet'' was an 1851 California clipper built by William H. Webb which sailed in the Australia trade and the tea trade. This
extreme clipper
An extreme clipper was a clipper 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. In the United States, extreme clipp ...
was very fast. She had record passages on two different routes:
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
to
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, and Liverpool to
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
, and beat the famous clipper ''Flying Dutchman'' in an 1853 race around the Horn to San Francisco.
In 1863 the ''Comet'' was sold to the Black Ball Line and renamed the ''Fiery Star''. She was lost at sea on 12 May 1865 after a fire had broken out in her cargo of wool.
Ship history
As the ''Comet''
Her first Captain was E. C. Gardner, previously of the ''
Celestial
Celestial may refer to:
Science
* Objects or events seen in the sky and the following astronomical terms:
** Astronomical object, a naturally occurring physical entity, association, or structure that exists in the observable universe
** Celest ...
''. Her first voyage was from New York to San Francisco, departing on 1 October 1851 and arriving on 12 January 1852 in 103 days. She made a return journey to New York arriving back in San Francisco on 18 January 1853. From there she sailed to Whampoa, where she loaded a cargo of tea and silk for New York. She arrived in New York on 6 May 1853, an 83-day journey.
Record passages
In February 1853 she raced the ''
Flying Dutchman
The ''Flying Dutchman'' ( nl, De Vliegende Hollander) is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the seven seas forever. The myth is likely to have originated from the Dutch Golden Age, 17th-century Gold ...
'', another William H. Webb-built clipper, from San Francisco to New York, beating her by 30 hours in a time of 83 days and 18 hours. She returned to San Francisco on 10 December 1853. Sailing to New York again on 27 December, she reached Cape Horn in 35 days 7 hours, which was a record for the route. She reached New York on 14 March 1854 in 76 days (pilot to pilot). She then sailed across the Atlantic to Liverpool. From Liverpool she sailed to Hong Kong arriving there in 83 days 21 hours (pilot to pilot) on 9 September 1854, a record time. Her best days run on the voyage was 350 miles.
Arriving back in New York from Bremen on 19 August 1855 Captain Arquit replaced Captain Gardner. She made further journeys to San Francisco, New York, and Wampoa through 1856 to 1858. On 15 December 1858 Captain Todd took command of her. In 1859 she sailed to Manila and Anjer. Further trips were made between New York and San Francisco in between 1859 and 1862, as well as journeys to Hong Kong and Macao.
Damage
On her journey from New York to San Francisco on 2 October 1861 her bowsprit was badly sprung off at Cape Horn. This was followed by her rudderhead being sprung in her 1862 journey from Macao to New York when she encountered a typhoon in the South China Sea.
As the ''Fiery Star''
On 11 March 1863 she sailed from New York for the final time as the ''Comet''. Arriving in England she had been acquired by T. M. McKay & Co. of Liverpool for the Black Ball Line. She sailed out of
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, England, on 11 April 1863 in the Australia trade, with voyages to Queenstown,
Moreton Bay
Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are ...
, and
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
.
Loss of the ship
The ''Fiery Star'' left
Moreton Bay
Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are ...
, Queensland, Australia, for Liverpool on April 1, 1865 with a crew of 42 under Captain W. Hunter Yule. She had a cargo of wool and 63 passengers. On 17 April she encountered a severe gale and two days later, on 19 April when she was 400 miles north west of the
Chatham Islands
The Chatham Islands ( ) ( Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about t ...
a fire was discovered by one of the crew, James Adams, in the cargo of
wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool.
...
in her forward hold. Her position at the time was given as being in latitude 46 degrees 10' south and longitude 170 degrees west.
She changed course for Lyttleton while efforts were made to put out the fire. However, the wind changed and a gale rose forcing her to change course for the
Hauraki Gulf
The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,Mercury Islands, Mercury and
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...
were sighted. Another gale struck the ship on 4 May and drove her back out to sea. The wind again changed and by 11 May the ship was thought to be about 25 miles from shore. At 10 p.m. on 11 May lights of another ship, the barque '' Dauntless'' was sighted and rockets and cannon were fired, and blue lights shown to attract its attention. The ''Dauntless'' sent a lifeboat over and this remained alongside overnight.
At daylight the Chief Officer invited Captain Moore from the ''Dauntless'' to come on board to assess the situation. Captain Moore agreed with the Chief Officer's decision to abandon her as the fire was worsening and the ship badly damaged. After transferring as much that was salvageable she was abandoned at 4 p.m. and the crew transferred to the ''Dauntless''. Her position was given as being off
Great Barrier Island
Great Barrier Island ( mi, Aotea) lies in the outer Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, north-east of central Auckland. With an area of it is the sixth-largest island of New Zealand and fourth-largest in the main chain. Its highest point, Mount Hobso ...
in latitude 37 degrees 5' south and longitude 175 degrees 42' east. The ''Dauntless'' remained near the ''Fiery Star'' until it sank at about 10:30 p.m. (11:30 p.m. in some accounts). The origin of the fire was undetermined.
Seventeen of the eighteen survivors were John Ormond - passenger; W. C. Sargent - Chief Officer; William Marshall - quarter-master; George Maber - engineer; George Strickland - chief steward; John Sutton Palmer - second steward; Charles White - boatswain's mate; David Hariot - sailmaker; James North - carpenter; Knight Stevens, Charles Applequist, John Hargett, Charles Smith, David Payne, John Bullin, Richard Breton - seamen; Richard Herdman - butcher.
A search was mounted on 16 May of the Chatham Islands for the passengers and crew who had left in the lifeboats by under Captain Charles Webley Hope. The ''Brisk'' arrived in the Chathams on 20 May and a search of the island and neighboring Pitt Island found no trace of the missing crew and passengers. Given their distance from the Chathams when they left the ''Fiery Star'' and the bad weather in the intervening period, they were presumed to have perished.
Australian National Maritime Museum
The Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) is a federally operated maritime museum in Darling Harbour, Sydney. After considering the idea of establishing a maritime museum, the federal government announced that a national maritime museum wou ...