''Shooting Star'' was an

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 ...

built in 1851 near

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, in

Medford, Massachusetts Medford is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States census, Medford's population was 59,659. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus on both sides of the Medford and Somervill ...

. She was the first "real clipper" to be built in Medford, and sailed in the

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 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, and Far East trades. According to Howe and Matthews, she was known as "one of the fastest of the small clippers".

Construction

The frames were made of

white oak ''Quercus'' subgenus ''Quercus'' is one of the two subgenera into which the genus ''Quercus'' was divided in a 2017 classification (the other being subgenus ''Cerris''). It contains about 190 species divided among five sections. It may be calle ...

, with planking of Southern pine. The ship was coppered and copper fastened. SHOOTING STAR Clipper ship sailing card

Voyages

''Shooting Star'' was partially dismasted on its maiden voyage was from Boston to San Francisco, and had to put in at Rio for repairs, completing its voyage in 124 days. The second voyage from Boston to San Francisco was faster, with a time of 105 days. Voyages in 1853 and 1855 from New York to San Francisco were completed in 123 and 116 days. Shooting Star's most notable run was a homeward passage from Whampoa, China, in which she made a passage from

Macao Macau or Macao is a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most densely populated region in the world. Formerly a Portuguese colony, the ter ...

to Boston in 86 days. After 1856, ''Shooting Star'' sailed in the Asia and China trade. ''Shooting Star'' made a 264-day circumnavigation.

Namesakes

* A second ''Shooting Star'' was built by Reed, Wade, and Co. in 1859. It was a 947-ton medium clipper. This ship was captured and burned by ''Chickamauga'', a Confederate privateer, on Oct. 31, 1864, when it was on a voyage from New York to

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

. * An extreme clipper built in 1851, the '' Ino'', was renamed ''Shooting Star'' after its sale in 1867. It was later re-rigged as a bark. * A 1518-ton Class A1 ship named ''Shooting Star'' was built in Quebec in 1853.

References

External links

Portrait of the clipper ''Shooting Star''
Royal Museums Greenwich Art Prints {{DEFAULTSORT:Shooting Star California clippers Individual sailing vessels Ships built in Medford, Massachusetts Age of Sail merchant ships of the United States Maritime incidents in 1867 1851 ships