''Mary Robinson'' was an 1854 medium clipper in the San Francisco, India, and the

guano Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. G ...

trades. She was known for having spent an entire month attempting to round Cape Horn in bad weather.

Voyages

''Mary Robinson'' made six voyages, from Boston to New York and then to San Francisco. In 1864, ''Mary'' ran her fastest run in 115 days. She was accompanied by '' Carrier Dove'' off Cape Horn on this trip, and beat ''Carrier Dove'' to San Francisco by 18 days. On her maiden run, ''Mary Robinson'' was not as fortunate. She spent 30 days rounding Cape Horn in "heavy gales and continual snow storms". During the commercial

panic of 1857 The Panic of 1857 was a financial panic in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Because of the invention of the telegraph by Samuel F. Morse in 1844, the Panic of 1857 was ...

, ''Mary Robinson'' was one of the many American clippers that was put into the more profitable British trade between India and England. ''Mary Robinson'' made a very fast passage in 1858. She made it in 58 days from San Francisco to Melbourne, continuing with 40 days from Melbourne to Honolulu.

Guano trade and loss of the ship

In 1858, ''Mary Robinson'' loaded

at Jarvis Island for New York. ''Mary Robinson'' was lost June 27, 1864, on a voyage from San Francisco at Howland's Island, in the Pacific (). She was loading

when a squall drove her up on the reef. The next day she slid off and sunk in deep water, with 1300 tons of guano aboard.

References

{{Clipper ships California clippers Individual sailing vessels Ships built in Bath, Maine Age of Sail merchant ships of the United States Guano trade Jarvis Island Howland Island Maritime incidents in June 1864 Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean 1854 ships