Nightingale
Extreme clipper designed and built in 1851 by Samuel Hanscomb Jr, Portsmouth,
NH, USA.
Dimensions: 185'×36'×19' and 1060 tons, or 722 tons new
measurements, later adjusted to 657 tons.
Griffiths gave a description of the ship in the U.S. Nautical Magazine Volume III (1855-56).
- 1851 February
- The keel was laid.
- 1851 April
- The original name Sarah Cowles was exchanged
for Nightingale in honour of Jenny Lind, "The Swedish Nightingale" who at the time was touring the United States.
- 1851 June 16
-
Launched a the shipyard of Samuel Hanscomb Jr,
Portsmouth, NH, for Captain A.F Miller, Boston, MA.
- 1851 September 6
- Sold at auction in Boston for $ 43.500 to
Davis & Co. Sailed for Sampson & Tappan's
Pioneer Line of Australian Packets.
- 1851 October 18
- Sailed from Boston for Sydney in 90 days under
command of Captain John H. Fiske.
- 1852 July 31 - December 11
- Sailed with a cargo of tea from Shanghai to London in 133 days under command of Captain Samuel W. Mather.
- 1853 August 8 - November 29
- Sailed with a cargo of tea from Woosung to London in 113 days.
- 1854 May 20 - August 2
- Sailed a general cargo and 125 passenger from New York to Hobson's Bay, Melbourne, in 75 days. The abstract log was reprinted in Volume III (1855-56) of the U.S. Nautical Magazine.
- 1855 February 16 - May 21
- Sailed with a cargo of tea from Shanghai to London in 94 days.
- 1856
- Sailed with a cargo of tea from Shanghai to New York in 88 days.
- 1858 December 17 - May 18
- Sailed from Boston to San Francisco in 152 days under command of Captain Peterson.
- 1860
- Sold to Salem, MA, and was sent to Rio de Janeiro where she was again sold.
- 1861 April 21
- Captured by boats from the USS Saratoga while engaged in slaving off Kabenda, Africa.
- 1861 July 6
- Sold to the United States Government for $ 13.000. Fitted out as a coal and store ship, the Nightingale was commisioned on August 18 with Acting Master David B. Horne in command.
- 1863
- Fitted out as an ordnance ship at Pensacola.
- 1864 June 9
- Returned to the Boston Navy Yard where she was decommisioned on June 20.
- 1865 February 11
- Sold at auction in Boston to D.E Mayo, Boston, for $ 11.000.
- 1865
- Sold to the Western Union Telegraph Co. in San Francisco
for $ 23.381 to be used for laying a telegraph cable across the Behring
Straits. [Fairburn has April 1866]
- 1868 September
- Sold to Samuel G. Reed & Co., Boston, MA.
- 1876
- Sold to George Howes in San Francisco for $ 11.500. Sailed from San Francisco to New York with a cargo of oil [?].
- 1878
- Sold to S.P. Olsen, Kragerø, Norway, for $ 15.000. [Howe & Matthews has 1876].
- 1882 June 19 - July 8
- Sailed from Quebec to London in __ days.
The old clipper ship John Bertram that left at the same time arrived to London four days later.
- 1885-86
- Reduced to barque rig during the winter, when also the deckshouse was removed.
- 1893 April 17
- Abandonded at sea en route Liverpool -
Halifax, NS, under command of Captain Chr. Ingebritsen, Kragerø.
[Brighton has April 5]
What is supposed to be the figurehead has surfaced in Sweden in 1994, where the Gothenburg antique dealer Karl-Erik Svärdskog bought the
figurehead in the neighbourhood of Gothernburg. The figurehead of the Nightingale was a bust of the singer Jenny Lind.
It has been possible to trace it back to Kragerø where according to a strong oral tradition the deckhouse and
the figurehead was taken off the Nightingale after she was bought to
Kragerø.
This figurehead was exhibited at the National Museum of Fine Art in Stockholm,
September 1-9, 1996, during the Royal Swedish Festival (Svenskt Festspel).
Images:
- Clipper Ship Nightingale - Getting Under Weigh off the Battery,
New York. Lithograph after painting by James Edward Buttersworth, published by N. Currier, 1854.
- At anchor off the Battery. Oil painting by James Edward Butterworth. Private
collection, Boston.
- At anchor off the Battery, New York. Lithograph after painting by Buttersworth, published by N. Currier, 1854.
- At anchor off the Battery. Lithograph by Emrik & Binger. 19x26 cm, fp to
Schokker, 1861.
- A lithograph of the Nightingale was also published in The U.S. Nautical Magazine, Vol. I (1854). This is presumably a small scale copy of the preceeding lithograph.
- At anchor in a Chinese harbour. Painting by an anonymous Chinese painter, Marine Historical Society, Mystic, CT.
- Barque rigged under Norwegian flag. P.C. Holm or W.H. Yorke.
References:
- Clipper ships, general references.
- Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol. V, pp 89-91.
- The U.S. Nautical Magazine, Vol. III (1855-56).
- Brighton, Ray: Clippers of the Port of Portsmouth and the Men who built
Them.
The Portsmouth Marine Society, Portsmouth, NH, 1985.
- Howe, Octavius T. & Matthews, Frederick C.: American Clipper Ships
1833-1858
Argosy Antiquarian Ltd, New York, 1967/1927.
- Pedersen, Einar: Karagerø Sjøfartshistoria fra 1850.
Bibliografisk forlag, Kragerø, 1980/1933.
- H.W. Schokker: Handboek voor de kennis van den scheepsbouw, voornamelijk met het oog op het amerikaansche stetsel, naar de geschriften van John W. Griffiths en andere bronnen.
Gebroeders Kraay, Amsterdam, 1861. p 349.
Updated 2000-01-11 by
Lars Bruzelius
Sjöhistoriska Samfundet | The Maritime History Virtual Archives |
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American clipper ships
Copyright © 1996 Lars Bruzelius.