''Westward Ho!'' was an 1852 clipper that made two very fast passages to

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 17th ...

; 100 days from

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 ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. She had a very close race with ''Neptune's Car'', and ended her days in the

coolie trade 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 ...

Construction

''Westward Ho!'' had long, very sharp ends, with concave lines. Her frame was of white oak, and planking of hard pine. She was copper fastened, with

yellow metal Muntz metal (also known as yellow metal) is an alpha-beta brass alloy composed of approximately 60% copper, 40% zinc and a trace of iron. It is named after George Fredrick Muntz, a metal-roller of Birmingham, England, who commercialised the all ...

sheathing. The hull was painted black, the inside

buff Buff or BUFF may refer to: People * Buff (surname), a list of people * Buff (nickname), a list of people * Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955) * Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional ...

relieved with white, the waterways blue. The finish work below decks was quite fancy, with rosewood, mahogany, carvings, gold ornamentation, and paneled mirrors. Some of the cabins had stained glass windows with Venetian blinds. The figurehead was a Native American warrior giving chase.

Voyages

''Westward Ho!'' made a very fast passage to San Francisco between January 12 and April 22, 1855, under Capt. Johnson. She arrived in San Francisco just 100 days and 18 hours from Boston Light. One day later, the clipper ''Neptune’s Car'' left

Sandy Hook Sandy Hook is a barrier spit in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The barrier spit, approximately in length and varying from wide, is located at the north end of the Jersey Shore. It encloses the southern ...

, New York. She arrived in San Francisco one day after ''Westward Ho!'', after a passage of 100 days, 23½ hours. In 1856, ''Westward Ho!'' brought 800

coolies 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 ...

from

Swatow Shantou, alternately romanized as Swatow and sometimes known as Santow, is a prefecture-level city on the eastern coast of Guangdong, China, with a total population of 5,502,031 as of the 2020 census (5,391,028 in 2010) and an administrative ...

to Callao, for work in the guano deposits. ''Westward Ho!'' caught fire on , at anchor in Callao.

References

External links

Description of coolie trade in Peru in the time of ''Westward Ho!'' and ''Winged Racer''
{{1864 shipwrecks California clippers Individual sailing vessels Age of Sail merchant ships of the United States Ships built in Boston Ships designed by Donald McKay Ships of Peru Guano trade Coolie trade Maritime incidents in February 1864 1852 ships History of San Francisco Ship fires Shipwrecks of Peru