Flying Fish

Type

Clipper

Period

19th Century

Nation

United States

Overview: Flying Fish was an extreme clipper launched in September 1851 from Donald McKay's East Boston shipyard, built for the California trade for Boston merchants Sampson & Tappan. She was effectively a running mate to McKay's more famous Flying Cloud, launched the same year from the same yard, and is considered one of the finest extreme clippers of the McKay fleet. Specifications: Wikipedia's registry figures list her tonnage at 1,505 tons, length 196.6 feet, beam 27.1 feet, and draught 22 feet, with a full-rigged sail plan. Other period sources give slightly different hull dimensions, including one contemporary register listing 198'6" x 38'2" x 22' and a deadrise of 25 inches, and another citing a length nearer 207 feet — a spread typical of "register" versus "overall" measurement conventions of the era, so modelers should treat exact beam figures with some caution and consult original plans where possible. Service History: Flying Fish became one of the hardest-worked clippers of the California trade, completing seven westward Cape Horn passages to San Francisco, more than any other extreme clipper built by McKay. Her record passage of 92 days and 4 hours from October 31, 1852 to January 31, 1853 came while she was victorious in a competition remembered as the "Great Deep-Sea Derby," in which she outsailed fourteen other clippers that left New York and Boston that season, including a close race against the John Gilpin. Only three clippers ever made four faster runs around the Horn, with the McKay-built Flying Cloud holding two of those records. The ship was wrecked in 1858 while coming out of Fuzhou with a cargo of tea leaves. Notable Facts: Her figurehead was a green and gold flying fish, and at full sail she could set 8,250 yards of canvas. Her average voyage time equated to a very fast 105.6 days, better than Flying Cloud and every other 1850s clipper. She was also the subject of a commissioned ship portrait, "The Clipper Flying Fish, Commemorating the Great Deep-Sea Derby," by marine painter James E. Buttersworth for her owners, Sampson & Tappan; she was also painted by other marine artists including Henry Scott.