The ''Young America'' was built by

William H. Webb William Henry Webb (June 19, 1816 – October 30, 1899) was a 19th-century New York City shipbuilder and philanthropist, who has been called America's first true naval architect. Early life William Henry Webb was born in New York on June ...

of New York. She was launched in 1853, at the height of the

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 ...

construction boom. She sailed in the California trade, on transatlantic routes, and made voyages to Australia and the Far East.

Fast passages and records

“Among her many fine passages may be mentioned: from New York to San Francisco, 103, 107, 110, 112, 117, and, 116 days, and from San Francisco to New York, 92, 97, 85, 101, 103, and 83 days; San Francisco to Liverpool, 103 and 106 days; Liverpool to San Francisco, 117, 111, and 99 days; and twenty consecutive passages from New York to San Francisco averaging 117 days. Her best performance, however, was from 50° S. in the Atlantic to 50° S. in the Pacific, in the record time of 6 days.” Youngamericaclipperblackandwhite

She set a record for the passage from Liverpool to San Francisco in 1872, of 99 days. She set a record for a loaded sailing ship between San Francisco to New York in 1870, 83 days: "the record for a loaded sailing ship."

Passengers and cargo

In 1857, ''Young America'' transported 800 Chinese

coolie A coolie (also spelled koelie, kuli, khuli, khulie, cooli, cooly, or quli) is a term for a low-wage labourer, typically of South Asian or East Asian descent. The word ''coolie'' was first popularized in the 16th century by European traders acros ...

s from

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

via Guichon. She sailed from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

to Melbourne under Captain D.S. Babcock with 289 passengers in 1858. In 1865, she brought a cargo of sugar and hemp from Manila to New York in 100 days.

Dismasted and run aground

''Young America'' was dismasted three times. The first dismasting took place in 1859, on a voyage from New York to San Francisco, and repairs were made in Rio de Janeiro. A tornado in in 1862 carried away the masts a second time, and forced her to put in at

Plymouth 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 ...

, England. The third time she lost her masts, in a pampero off

Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (, "river of silver"), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and fo ...

in 1868, she was

jury-rigged In maritime transport terms, and most commonly in sailing, jury-rigged is an adjective, a noun, and a verb. It can describe the actions of temporary makeshift running repairs made with only the tools and materials on board; and the subsequent r ...

at sea and continued to San Francisco, where she incurred $18,000 in repair costs. In 1870, she went aground on a reef near Cabo São Roque, Brazil, and had to jettison part of her cargo.

Disappearance

“1886 February 17. Passed the

Delaware Breakwater The Delaware Breakwater is a set of breakwaters east of Lewes, Delaware on Cape Henlopen that form Lewes Harbor. They were listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 12, 1976. The original and breakwaters were built in 1828 ...

outward bound from Philadelphia for

Fiume Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

under command of Captain Vlassich and was never heard of again. The cargo consisted of 407.306 gallons of crude oil in 9700 barrels at a total value of $26.965.” Another source states that "the ''Young America'' was last seen lying off

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

as a

coal hulk A hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. Hulk may be used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, an abandoned wreck or shell, or to refer to an old ship that has had its rigging or internal equipment ...

References

External links

{{1886 shipwrecks Clippers Age of Sail merchant ships of the United States Passenger ships of the United States Merchant ships of the United States Ships built by William H. Webb Ships of Austria-Hungary Maritime incidents in 1859 Maritime incidents in 1862 Maritime incidents in 1868 Maritime incidents in February 1886 Coolie trade Coal hulks Missing ships 1853 ships Ships lost with all hands Shipwrecks