Belle Hoxie

A medium clipper ship built in 1855 by Irons & Grinnell, Mystic, Co, USA. 220'0"×41'2"×22'3" and tonnage 1679 tons [OM]. Rigged with a main skysail.

1855 March: Launched at the shipyard of Irons & Grinnell, Mystic, CO.
1855 April 4: Arrived at New York and was sold soon after to John H. Brower & Co., New York, and was renamed Andrew Jackson. Captain John E. Williams was given command of the ship.
1855: Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 128 days.
1855: Sailed from San Francisco to New York in 88 days.
1856/1857: Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 101 days.
1857: Sailed from San Francisco to New York in 101 days.
1858 January 16 — April 27: Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 101 days.
1858: Sailed from San Francisco to New York in 87 days.
1858/1859: Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 103 days.
1859: Sailed from San Francisco to New York in 101 days.
1859 December 25 — March 24: Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 90 days 12 hours (anchor to anchor), which is the third fastest passage. This is the passage which has been heralded as having been only as little as 89 days and 4 hours.
1860: Sailed from San Francisco to New York in ballast in 106 days.
1860: Captain Johnson took over the ship after Captain Williams.
1861: Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 103 days.
1862: Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 114 days.
1862 October 6 — January 12: Sailed from Port Townsend, WA, for Ferrol, Spain, with a cargo of spars.
1863 March 17 — April 11: Crossed the Atlantic for New York in 25 days.
1863: Sold to Great Britain. Chartered to Messrs. Potter and Wilson, and put in command of Captain J.McCallum.
1864 April 14 - July 17: Sailed from Glasgow to Port Chalmers with emmigrants. The time from the line to the final destination was 47 days. During the voyage she had made 330 and 340 miles on two successive days.
1865 May 18 - August 24: Sailed from Gravesend to Auckland with 269 passengers. The passage-time from Dover was 96 days. On June 19 she had lost five sails during a heavy squall. During the voyage she made day's runs of 296, 311, 306, and 321 miles on July 13-15 respectively, or 1234 miles in four successive days.
1868 December 4: Wrecked on a reef in the Gaspar Straits.

References:

Clipper ships, general references.
Brett, Henry: White Wings. Founding of the Provinces and Old-Time Shipping Passenger Ships from 1840 to 1885.
The Brett Printing Company, Aukland, 1928.
Cutler, Carl C.: Flying Cloud versus Andrew Jackson.
The American Neptune Vol. 8 (1948), pp 325-326.
Cutler, Carl C.: Old Light on the New Light.
The American Neptune Vol. 8 (1948), pp 328-330.
Lyman, John: Flying Cloud versus Andrew Jackson.
The American Neptune Vol. 7 (1947), p 318.
Lyman, John: New Light on the Flying Cloud versus Andrew Jackson.
The American Neptune Vol. 8 (1948), pp 326-328.
Lyman, John: Bright Light on Flying Cloud vs. Andrew Jackson.
The American Neptune Vol. 9 (1949), pp 148-150, ill.

Updated 1999-07-23 by Lars Bruzelius

Sjöhistoriska Samfundet | The Maritime History Virtual Archives | Ships | American clipper ships | Search.