The New Clipper Ship Water Witch.

This vessel was built at Portsmouth, N.H., by Messrs. Fernald & Pettigrew, and is unquestionably one of the most beautiful clippers ever built at that port. She is 173 feet long on the keel, 182½ between perpendiculars on deck, and 192 over all; has 38 feet 3 inches breadth of beam, 21 feet depth, including 7 feet 9 inches height of between decks, and registers 1204 tons. Her dead rise at half floor is 3 feet, rounding of sides 6 inches, and sheer 3 feet. She has long, sharp ends, but rounded load lines, and is without head boards. A female figure, in flowing vestments, tastefully bronzed, ornaments the bow, and on either side of the cutwater the angles are filled with gilded carved work, embracing her name. Although her bow rises gently, yet her sheer is graduated her whole length, and is true as the curve of a circle. Her stern is oval in outline, and is elaborately ornamented with carved work, embracing a sea scene with three water witches in the center. The run is beautifully formed, and blends with her general outline in true proportions. She is coppered up to 19 feet forward, and a foot higher aft, and is painted black above.

Her bulwarks are 5 feet 4 inches high, including the monkey-rail, and are built solid, like those of a ship of war; are clamped inside and out, between the rack rail and main rail, and are painted buff color. She has a topgallant forecastle, and abaft the foremast a large house, which contains accommodations for the crew, the galley, quarter for the boys, and other apartments. Her cabin is built into a half poop deck, and has two entrances, one forward and the other aft, the latter leading to the poop, where she is steered. The after cabin contains 5 state-rooms, and other apartments, and is beautifully wainscotted with mahogany, rosewood and bird's-eye maple, relieved with gilded mouldings and flowers. The forward cabin has 4 state-rooms and the pantry, and a recess amidships between the cabin doors, and is tastefully painted and grained. Both cabins are well lighted and ventilated, and elegantly furnished.

The ship herself is built of the best materials, in the first style of workmanship. Her keel is of rock maple in two depths, with scarphs 12 feet long, bolted with copper, and the depths are also bolted together with the same metal. The keel is sided 15 inches and moulded 32, and the floor timbers are 18 by 12 on the keel, and over them are 3 depths of midship keelsons, each 16 inches square, and she has sister keelsons of 12 by 14 inches, and 2 bridge keelsons over the floor heads, of the same size. All these are scarphed, and every through bolt is of copper, clinched on the outside. Her floor ceiling is 4 inches thick, and above the bilge keelsons the ceiling is 7 inches in thickness, and under the hanging knees is a lap strake of 5 inches over the ceiling. She is square bolted throughout, and all her thick work extends fore and aft. Forward she has 4 hooks and pointers, of oak, which cross all the cants and completely span the angle of the bow, and aft she is equally well secured. All the hanging knees in the hold are of oak, and the lodging knees of hacmatack, and the lower deck beams are of hard pine, 16 inches square, with oak stanchions under them, kneed above and below.

The between-decks waterways are 15 inches square, with two strakes of 9 by 14 inches over them, and one of nearly the same substance inside of them, let into the beams below, the whole bolted together vertically and horizontally. The ceiling above is 5 inches thick, and her upper deck beams are 9 by 15, with hacmatack hanging and lodging knees, and turned oak stanchions. In this deck is a breast hook, which extends 36 feet on each side of the apron, is sided 14 inches, and strongly bolted. She is also strongly kneed aft.

The upper deck waterways are 10 by 12 inches, with two thick strake inside of them, and the lower deck is of hard pine, 3½ inches thick, and the upper one of white pine of the same substance.

She is kneed above and below the bowsprit, and as already stated, has solid bulwarks. Her garboards are 7 inches thick, let into the keel, and are bolted through it and upwards through the timbers, and the bottom planking is 4 inches in thickness, and the wales 5½ by 7, all square fastened, and butt and bilge bolted with copper. Her frame is of New Hampshire white oak, well seasoned; her upper wales, and also her chain bolt strakes, are of oak, and the rest of her planking and ceiling are of hard pine. She is seasoned with salt, has Emerson's patent ventilators, and brass ventilators between her frames and in her bitts.

Below she has an iron water tank of 3500 gallons capacity; she has also patent hold pumps, a force pump, a patent windlass, two patent capstans, and will have Crane's self-acting chain stoppers, without which no ship can be considered complete in her outfits. She has plenty of good boats, and the best of ground tackle. In a word, no ships is more complete in her outfits; but we regret to add, like all our other fine ships, she has no lightning conductors. For this omission, we hold the underwriters alone responsible.

She has made fore and mainmasts, and a single spar for a mizzenmast. Her masts rake 1, 1½ and 1¾ inches to the foot. Her rigging is of 4 stranded patent rope, wormed and served over the eyes and ends. It is of the best Russia hemp, was made in Portsmouth, and was fitted by Mr. Harret, of that place. The fore and main rigging is of 10¼ inch, and the other rigging in proportion. She is rigged in the usual style, and looks well aloft. The following are the dimensions of her masts and yards.

The bowsprit is 30 inches in diameter, and 24 feet outboard; jibboom 16½ inches in diameter in the cap, and is divided at 14 and 13 feet for the inner and outer jibs, and the flying jibboom is 12 feet outside of the wythe. The spanker boom is 46 feet, the gaff 34, and the main spencer gaff 25 feet long, with 3 feet end, and the other spars in proportion. As may be seen by the dimensions of her spars, she has very snug mast-heads, and as a whole, looks beautifully aloft.

She was built and equipped under the superintendance of her commander, Capt. Benj. Tay, and it is but doing simple justice to state that he has done his work well. Her builders are well known as among the most through and experienced mechanics in the country, and the faithful manner in which they have built her, shows that they merit their high reputation. She is not only beautiful and well built, but we believe will prove a remarkably fast sailer. She is owned by Messrs. Stephen Tilton & Co., Sweetser, Gooking & Co., the captain and others, and is now loading in Gliddin & Williams's line of San Francisco clippers. All who have inspected her, speak of her in the highest terms, including our old friends Capt. Gifford and B.C. White, Esq. She lies at the south side of Lewis wharf -- call and see her.

Transcribed by Lars Bruzelius.

Sjöhistoriska Samfundet | The Maritime History Virtual Archives | The Boston Daily Atlas. Search.

Copyright © 1997 Lars Bruzelius.