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''Witchcraft'' was a clipper built in 1850 for the California and China trade. She made record passages from Rio de Janeiro to San Francisco, and from San Francisco to Callao, Peru.
''Witchcraft'' was commanded by Captain William C. Rogers, a son of one of the owners.
In 1852, on a voyage from San Francisco to Hong Kong, she lost her main and mizzen masts with all sails and rigging attached during a severe typhoon in the China Sea.
Ports of call during her career included New York, San Francisco, Boston, Shanghai, Manila, Melbourne, and Mauritius.
On January 2, 1859, W.C. Rogers Company in Boston accepted the draft of Captain J.W. Booth in a letter sent from London for 358 pounds, paying for Captain J.W. Booth's appointment as captain of ''Witchcraft''.
In 1854, she "sailed from New York to San Francisco in 98 days" and "San Francisco to Callao in 32 days. This is the fastest passage on record."
Description of ''Witchcraft''
from the Boston Daily Atlas, January 20, 1851
The Era of the Clipper Ships {{coord missing, Atlantic Ocean California clippers Individual sailing vessels Age of Sail merchant ships of the United States Ships built in Boston Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Shipwrecks of the Carolina coast Maritime incidents in April 1861 1850 ships Extreme clippers
Construction
''Witchcraft'' was described as a very beautiful ship, with a figurehead of "a grim Salem witch riding upon her aerial broomstick".Voyages
''Witchcraft'' was commanded by Captain William C. Rogers, a son of one of the owners.
In 1852, on a voyage from San Francisco to Hong Kong, she lost her main and mizzen masts with all sails and rigging attached during a severe typhoon in the China Sea.
Ports of call during her career included New York, San Francisco, Boston, Shanghai, Manila, Melbourne, and Mauritius.
On January 2, 1859, W.C. Rogers Company in Boston accepted the draft of Captain J.W. Booth in a letter sent from London for 358 pounds, paying for Captain J.W. Booth's appointment as captain of ''Witchcraft''.
Records set between Rio and San Francisco, San Francisco and Callao
In 1851 she sailed from New York to San Francisco in 128 days, of which 21 days was spent in Rio de Janeiro to replace themizzen mast
The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, and giving necessary height to a navigation ligh ...
. "The continued voyage from Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
took 62 days which is the fastest passage on record." ''Game Cock'', a clipper "of similar tonnage" which had left New York for San Francisco one day earlier, was also pushing hard and spent 57 days in Rio for repairs to her mainmast, resulting in a 128-day passage.
In 1854, she "sailed from New York to San Francisco in 98 days" and "San Francisco to Callao in 32 days. This is the fastest passage on record."
See also
*List of clipper ships
The period of clipper ships lasted from the early 1840s to the early 1890s, and over time features such as the hull evolved from wooden to composite. At the 'crest of the clipper wave' year of 1852, there were 200 clippers rounding Cape Horn. ...
*Paul Curtis (shipbuilder)
Paul Curtis (December 26, 1800 – January 10, 1873) was an American shipbuilder who built ships in Medford, Massachusetts (up the Mystic River from Boston).
Background
Shipbuilding was one of the two big businesses at Medford in the mid-19t ...
*Samuel Hartt Pook
Samuel Hartt Pook (January 17, 1827 – March 30, 1901) was a Boston-based American naval architect and son of Samuel Moore Pook (1804-1878), the noted clipper ship naval architect.
Clipper ships
Pook designed several very fast clippers, ...
References
External links
Description of ''Witchcraft''
from the Boston Daily Atlas, January 20, 1851
The Era of the Clipper Ships {{coord missing, Atlantic Ocean California clippers Individual sailing vessels Age of Sail merchant ships of the United States Ships built in Boston Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Shipwrecks of the Carolina coast Maritime incidents in April 1861 1850 ships Extreme clippers