Telegraph

An extreme clipper ship built in 1851 by J.O. Curtis, Medford, MA, to the design of Samuel H. Pook. The cost to buiod the ship was $ 70.000. Dimensions 178'2"×36'0"×21'6" and tonnage 1078 tons OM [Cutler: 1068,60].

1851 May: Launched at the shipyard of J.O. Curtis, Medford, MA, for Phineas & S. Sprague & Co., Boston, MA. In command of Captain Kimball Harlow.
1851 July 11 - November 15: Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 127 days.
1852 March 28/29 - Luly 20: Sailed from Whampoa to London in 118 days.
1852 November 15 - March 10: Sailed from Boston to San Francisco in 115 days under command of Captain George W. Pousland.
1853 June 20 - August 20: Sailed from Valparaiso to Boston in 58 days. This passage was announced as the shortest on record.
1853 December 1: Left Boston for San Francisco under command of Captain Harlow. She encountered bad weather off the Cape Horn and lost the bowsprit which forced her to repair at Valparaiso for 15 days.
1854 March 1 - April 16: Sailed from Valparaiso to San Francisco in 38 days. Was off the Point Reyes 34 days out which is the shortest time on record.
1854 October 13: Arrived at Boston, 76 days out from Anjer.
1854 December 20 - April 9: Left Boston for San Francisco. Collided with the ship Spark of the Ocean, on voyage from New Orleans to Europe, when three days out. In the collision the Telegraph lost her maintopgallant mast, foretop mast and jibboom. The damages were repaired at sea and the ship arrived in San Franciso 111 days out.
1855: Sailed from San Francisco to New York in 106 days.
1856: Sold for $ 34.000.
1857 January 26: Caught fire and had to be scuttled.
1857: Sold for $6200. Was renamed Henry Brigham after having been raised and repaired.
1858 July 27 - December 6: Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 131 days under command of Captain Dow. [Cutler: Captain Young]
1859 October 21 - February 25: Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 125 days under command of Captain Porter.
1861 ... - September 5: Sailed from Liverpool with a cargo of coal to San Francisco in 141 days. On arrival she was seised by the US authorities charged with being owned by the Confederate States.
1862 August 5: Sold by the US Marshal to C. Meyer & Co., San Francisco, for $ 15 250.
1865 ... - August 3: Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 168 days.
1865: Sold to Maritima Company, Peru, and was renamed Compania Maritima del Peru, No. 2. Was employed in the
1866: Renamed Galileo.
1867: Dismasted.
1868: Reported to have been burned at sea.

References:

Clipper ships, general references.
(McLean, Duncan): The New Clipper Ship Telegraph.
The Boston Daily Atlas, May 10, 1851.

Updated 2000-01-07 by Lars Bruzelius

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