''Flying Cloud'' was a

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. "Cl ...

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

that set the world's sailing record for the fastest passage between

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " 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 fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, 89 days 8 hours. The ship held this record for over 130 years, from 1854 to 1989. ''Flying Cloud'' was the most famous of the clippers built by

Donald McKay Donald McKay (September 4, 1810 – September 20, 1880) was a Canadian-born American designer and builder of sailing ships, famed for his record-setting clippers. Early life He was born in Jordan Falls, Shelburne County, on Nova Scotia's ...

. She was known for her extremely close race with ''

Hornet Hornets (insects in the genus ''Vespa'') are the largest of the eusocial wasps, and are similar in appearance to their close relatives yellowjackets. Some species can reach up to in length. They are distinguished from other vespine wasps by t ...

'' in 1853; for having a woman navigator,

Eleanor Creesy Eleanor Creesy (September 21, 1814 – 1900) was an American navigator, who was the wife of Josiah Perkins Creesy, skipper of the '' Flying Cloud'' which set the world's sailing record for the fastest passage between New York and San Francisco in ...

, wife of Josiah Perkins Creesy who skippered ''Flying Cloud'' on two record-setting voyages from New York to San Francisco; and for sailing in the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

and timber trades.

Construction

''Flying Cloud'' was built in

East Boston, Massachusetts East Boston, nicknamed Eastie, is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts annexed by the city of Boston in 1637. Neighboring communities include Winthrop, Revere, and Chelsea. It is separated from the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown and d ...

, and intended for

Enoch Train Enoch Train (1801 – 1868) was an American shipowner and merchant. He is known for establishing the White Diamond Line, that provided a packet service between Boston and Liverpool. Early life Enoch Train was born on May 2, 1801, in West ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, who paid $50,000 for her construction. While still under construction, she was purchased by Grinnell, Minturn & Co., of New York, for $90,000, which represented a huge profit for Train & Co."The Clipper ''Flying Cloud''", ''Era of the Clipper Ships'' (mirrore
here
. A reporter for the Boston ''Daily Atlas'' of 25 April 1851 wrote, "If great length 35 ft. sharpness of ends, with proportionate breadth 1 ft.and depth, conduce to speed, the ''Flying Cloud'' must be uncommonly swift, for in all these she is great. Her length on the

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

is 208 feet, on deck 225, and over all, from the knightheads to the

taffrail In naval architecture, a taffrail is the handrail around the open deck area toward the stern of a ship or boat. The rear deck of a ship is often called the afterdeck or poop deck. Not all ships have an afterdeck or poop deck. Sometimes taffrail r ...

, 235— extreme breadth of beam 41 feet, depth of hold 21½, including 7 feet 8 inches height of between-decks, sea-rise at half-floor 20 inches, rounding of sides 6 inches, and sheer about 3 feet." ''Flying Cloud'' is often called 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 clip ...

, as are many of Donald McKay's ships, even though her dead rise was only 30 inches.

Record voyage to San Francisco during Gold Rush

Within six weeks of launch ''Flying Cloud'' sailed from New York, rounded

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramí ...

and made San Francisco in 89 days, 21 hours under the command of Captain Josiah Perkins Creesy. In July, during the trip, she ran 284, 374 and 334 nautical miles, a total of 992 nautical miles over the three consecutive days. In 1854 she beat her own fastest by 13 hours, setting a record that stood until 1989 when a contemporary 60 ft racing

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

, ''Thursday's Child'', completed the passage in 80 days, 20 hours. In the early days of the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California f ...

, it took more than 200 days for a ship to travel from New York to San Francisco, a voyage of more than 16,000 miles, but clipper ships quickly cut that time in half. '' Surprise'' had set a record of 91 days, 21 hours on 19 March 1851, but ''Flying Cloud'' caused a sensation later that year, cutting a week off the record, and beating the three month barrier. Three years later, in 1854, she sailed the passage faster yet, setting a record that lasted for 135 years. FLYING CLOUD Clipper ship sailing card

''Flying Cloud'' vs. ''Andrew Jackson''

In newspaper accounts of the day, the clipper ''

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

'' was acclaimed as holding the record passage to San Francisco. After careful scrutiny of the logbooks, Cutler concludes that a case can be made for either ''Flying Cloud'' or ''Andrew Jackson'' holding the record. ''Andrew Jackson'' holds the record for fastest passage pilot-to-pilot, arriving at the San Francisco pilot grounds in 89 days and 4 hours. Because ''Andrew Jackson'' spent all night between the

Farallon Islands The Farallon Islands, or Farallones (from the Spanish ''farallón'' meaning "pillar" or "sea cliff"), are a group of islands and sea stacks in the Gulf of the Farallones, off the coast of San Francisco, California, United States. The isl ...

and the

Golden Gate The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by t ...

awaiting a harbor pilot, some will consider this figure as the appropriate indicator of fastest sailing performance around

. However, ''Flying Cloud'' holds the record time for a completed voyage from New York to San Francisco, 89 days 8 hours anchor-to-anchor.

Woman navigator

''Flying Clouds achievement was remarkable under any terms. But, writes David W. Shaw, it was all the more unusual because her navigator was a woman,

, who had been studying oceanic currents, weather phenomena, and astronomy since her girlhood in

Marblehead, Massachusetts Marblehead is a coastal New England town in Essex County, Massachusetts, along the North Shore. Its population was 20,441 at the 2020 census. The town lies on a small peninsula that extends into the northern part of Massachusetts Bay. Attache ...

. She was one of the first navigators to exploit the insights of

Matthew Fontaine Maury Matthew Fontaine Maury (January 14, 1806February 1, 1873) was an American oceanographer and naval officer, serving the United States and then joining the Confederacy during the American Civil War. He was nicknamed "Pathfinder of the Seas" and i ...

, most notably the course recommended in his ''Sailing Directions''. With her husband, ship captain Josiah Perkins Creesy, she logged many thousands of miles on the ocean, traveling around the world carrying passengers and goods. In the wake of their record-setting transit from New York to California, Eleanor and Josiah became instant celebrities. But their fame was short-lived and their story quickly forgotten. Josiah died in 1871 and Eleanor lived far from the sea until her death in 1900.

Race with clipper ''Hornet'' in 1853

'' had a two-day head start on ''Flying Cloud'' in their famous 1853 race. She left New York for San Francisco, 26 April 1853, with ''Flying Cloud'' departing two days later. After the roughly 15,000-mile voyage around

, both ships arrived in San Francisco harbor 106 days later at almost the same time, with ''Hornet'' sailing in just 45 minutes ahead of the ''Flying Cloud''.

British clipper to Australia and New Zealand, New Brunswick timber trade

In 1862, ''Flying Cloud'' was sold to the Black Ball Line, Liverpool, sailing under British colors without change of name, and was soon traveling between the mother country and Australia and New Zealand. Her latter years were spent in the log trade between Newcastle upon Tyne, England, and

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of ...

, Canada.

Loss of the ship

On 19 June 1874, ''Flying Cloud'' went ashore on the Beacon Island bar, Saint John, New Brunswick, and was condemned and sold. The following June she was burned for the scrap metal value of her

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...

and iron fastenings.

Ballad

A well-known ballad about a ship named ''Flying Cloud'' tells the story of an Irishman who was pressed into sailing on the ship on a slaving voyage from Baltimore via Bermuda to West Africa, which led to another voyage as a pirate ship that resulted in the execution of the crew at Newgate. However, these events are nothing to do with the actual history of the clipper ship.Laws K28. No historical basis known. Horace P. Beck, 'The Riddle of "The Flying Cloud", ''Journal of American Folklore'', 66 (1953), pp. 123-33, is a thorough study of the ballad.

Novels and books

* * *

Notes

External links

Voice of America broadcast about the ''Flying Cloud''
voice and text transcript

Era of the Clipper Ships.com

''Boston Daily Atlas'', 29 June 1853

The Maritime History Virtual Archives
Model of clipper ''Flying Cloud''
Mystic Seaport Museum
Model of ''Flying Cloud'' Clipper Ship
Smithsonian
Currier & Ives print of ''Flying Cloud''
Museums and the Online Archive of California
''A Famous California Passage''
yarn by Capt. R.F. Coffin about a voyage aboard ''Flying Cloud'' {{Authority control California clippers Individual sailing vessels Ships built in Boston Ships designed by Donald McKay California Gold Rush Lumber ships Shipwrecks of the New Brunswick coast Maritime history of Australia Age of Sail merchant ships of the United States Merchant ships of the United States Victorian-era passenger ships of the United Kingdom Victorian-era merchant ships of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in June 1874 1851 ships