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The ''Taeping'' was a
clipper ship
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. "Cli ...
built in 1863 by Robert Steele & Company
Robert Steele & Company was a shipbuilder based in Greenock, Scotland, formed in 1815 by Robert Steele (1745-1830) and two sons. It followed dissolution of an earlier shipbuilding partnership between Robert Steele and John Carswell, known as "S ...
of Greenock and owned by Captain Alexander Rodger of Cellardyke, Fife. Taeping participated in The Great Tea Race of 1866 and narrowly defeated the '' Ariel''. The ship's captain was Donald MacKinnon (Dòmhnall ’ic Nèill ’ic Dhòmnaill Ruaidh) of Heanish, Tiree
Tiree (; gd, Tiriodh, ) is the most westerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The low-lying island, southwest of Coll, has an area of and a population of around 650.
The land is highly fertile, and crofting, alongside tourism, and ...
. It was wrecked on 22 September 1871 by Ladd's Reef in the South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...
while traveling to New York.
Sailing performance
According to Basil Lubbock, the tea clippers ''Taeping'', '' Fiery Cross'', ''Serica
Serica (, grc, Σηρικά) was one of the easternmost countries of Asia known to the Ancient Greek and Roman geographers. It is generally taken as referring to North China during its Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties, as it was reached via the ...
'' and ''Lahloo'' performed at their best in light breezes, as they were all rigged with single topsail
A topsail ("tops'l") is a sail
A sail is a tensile structure—which is made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail- ...
s.
References
Clippers Individual sailing vessels Tall ships of the United Kingdom Ships built on the River Clyde 1863 ships Maritime incidents in 1871 {{ship-stub