''Lookout'' was an 1853
clipper
A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. The term was also retrospectively applied to the Baltimore clipper, which originated in the late 18th century.
Clippers were generally narrow for their len ...
known for her passages from New York to
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, and as an offshore and coastal trader in the
lumber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
and coal trades.
Launched at the height of the clipper boom
''Lookout'' was launched in 1853, just as the construction of clippers reached its peak. The day that ''Lookout'' loaded for her first trip to sea, 10 November 1853, there were ten other new clippers loading at the piers in New York for their maiden voyages: ''Chief of Clippers'', ''Edwin Forrest'', ''Electric'', ''David Brown'', ''
David Crockett'', ''Dreadnought'', ''Golden Fleece'', ''Lightfoot'', ''Pride of America'', and ''Quickstep''.
Voyages
''Lookout'' made 16 passages to San Francisco between 1854 and 1871. Her fastest was 108 days. On three voyages she met with unfavorable weather, her slowest trip being 157 days; however, her remaining 13 passages averaged 121 days, a very respectable showing.
She also called at the ports of Boston,
Shanghai
Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
,
Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
,
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
,
Callao
Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and Regions of Peru, region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists ...
, Chamala, Mexico,
Honolulu
Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
,
New Bedford
New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast (Massachusetts), South Coast region. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, New Bedford had a ...
, and
Port Stanley
Stanley (also known as Port Stanley) is the capital city of the Falkland Islands. It is located on the island of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2016 census, the city had a population o ...
, as well as making a voyage to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, before she was sold into the Pacific Coast lumber and coal trade in 1871.
In 1855, on a voyage from San Francisco to Hong Kong, ''Lookout'' was two days shy of Hong Kong when she encountered a British clipper, ''Invincible'', in distress and about to be abandoned. ''Invincible'' had collided with the ship ''A. Chesebrough'' and sunk it, but managed to save members of ''Chesebrough''s crew. ''Lookout'' received $25,000 in salvage money for its efforts in assisting ''Invincible'' to reach Hong Kong.
[
]
Locomotive transport

In September 1867, the three clipper ships ''Lookout'', ''Franklin'', and ''Haze'' delivered a total of four
locomotives
A locomotive is a rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for longer and heavier freight train ...
between them to San Francisco for the ''
California Pacific Railroad Company''. ''Lookout'' left New York on 26 April 1867, and arrived in San Francisco on 11 September 1867.
[
]
Loss of the ship
In 1878, Lookout was wrecked in the Japan Sea.
[
] She was en route to
Puget Sound
Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...
from Shanghai, and was partially dismasted in a typhoon on September 12. She went up on a reef near the island of Kutsonoshima. Three crewmen drowned attempting to land the ship’s boats; the rest managed to land with the help of local fishermen.
References
{{coord missing, Pacific Ocean
California clippers
Individual sailing vessels
Ships built in Warren, Rhode Island
Shipwrecks in the Sea of Japan
1853 ships
Maritime incidents in Japan