''Challenger'' was a wooden

clipper A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "C ...

ship built in 1852 by Richard & Henry Green, in their

Blackwall Yard Blackwall Yard is a small body of water that used to be a shipyard on the River Thames in Blackwall, engaged in ship building and later ship repairs for over 350 years. The yard closed in 1987. History East India Company Blackwall was a sh ...

for Hugh Hamilton Lindsay, London. She was the 291st ship built by the yard and was a remarkable departure from the previous ships produced. In 1850 the American clipper ship ''Oriental'' visited West India Docks, the largest clipper ship to visit London and the Admiralty was given permission to take her lines, and this was done by Messrs Waymouth and Cornish, both Lloyd's Surveyors, in the dry dock at Green's Yard in Blackwell. This is probably the reason that it was said that ''Challenger''s design was inspired by and had a close resemblance to the ''Oriental''s. From ''The Copartnership Herald'', Vol. I, no. 8 (October 1931) On 8 August 1853 Captain James Killick commenced another race with ''Challenger'' against the American clipper ''Nightingale'' from Shanghai. ''Challenger'' reached Deal on the 26 November, 2 days earlier than ''Nightingale''. Under Captain James Killick's command ''Challenger'' took an average journey time from Shanghai and Hankow of 115 days. After he relinquished command this extended to an average of 129 days. Between 14 June and 20 October 1863 ''Challenger'' sailed from

Hankow Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers whe ...

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 128 days with a cargo of

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...

at £7 10s to £8 per ton. She measured 174'×32'×20' and tonnage 699 NM, 649,74 GRT & NRT, and 614,07 tons under deck. She was designed for the

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

trade. In 1865 ''Challenger'' was purchased by Killick Martin & Company and operated by them until 1868. Killick Martin & Company was founded by the former Captain of Challenger James Killick. In 1868 she was sold to William Stewart, London, but sold four days later to John Grice, Thomas Grice & James Septimus Grice, London. She was sold again in 1871 and transferred to Melbourne, but abandoned shortly afterward at 48°N, 13°W, southwest of the port of

Plymouth, England Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth' ...

. In July 1984 Killick Martin & Company were presented with a painting by artist Hugh Spink of ''Challenger'' by Ben Line Agencies to commemorate their 100th Anniversary of representing them as Liner Agents in London. During the 1980s until 1999, 42 Adler Street in Aldgate was occupied by ''Challenger''s former owners Killick Martin & Company Ltd and the building was named "Challenger House". The building is still there today, retains the name Challenger House and is leased to Qbic, who operate a 171-room hotel at the site.

Memorial

She is commemorated by a

bas relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

, on the side of the statue of Richard Green. The statue stands outside the

Poplar Baths Poplar Baths on the East India Dock Road in Poplar, London is a former public bath house and Grade II listed building that was constructed in 1933 and closed to the public in 1988. The Baths are adjacent to All Saints DLR station. A campaign to ...

in London, not far from where she was built.

External links

''Challenger'' 1852

References

* ''It Is Not Death to Die''; Jim Cromarty; OMF books 2001 * ''The China Bird: The History of Captain Killick, and the Firm He Founded, Killick Martin & Company''; David MacGregor; Conway Maritime Press. . * ''The Tea Clippers 1833-1875''; David MacGregor; * ''The China Clippers'';

Basil Lubbock Alfred Basil Lubbock MC (9 September 1876 – 3 September 1944 at Monks Orchard, Seaford) was a British historian, sailor and soldier. He was a prolific writer on the last generation of commercial sailing vessels in the Age of Sail. He was an e ...

; 1914. {{coord, 48, N, 13, W, source:enwiki-plaintext-parser, display=title Tea clippers Tall ships of the United Kingdom Individual sailing vessels Victorian-era merchant ships of the United Kingdom Ships built by the Blackwall Yard 1852 ships