Marco Polo (1851)

Type

Clipper

Period

19th Century

Nation

Canada

Overview: Marco Polo was a three-masted wooden clipper, built as a full-rigged ship with a medium-clipper hull, launched in 1851 at Saint John, New Brunswick, by builder James Smith. She became internationally famous as the fastest ship in the world after her celebrated Liverpool-to-Australia passages under Captain James "Bully" Forbes, and remains a landmark vessel in Canadian maritime history. Specifications: She measured 184 ft 1 in in length, with a 36 ft 3 in beam, 29 ft 4 in draught, and a 30 ft hold depth, registering 1,625 tons across three decks. She was square-rigged, with Cunningham's patent roller reefing topsails, and was reduced to barque rig in 1874. She was later re-bolted with yellow metal and coppered for her passenger-trade career. Service History: As was common with ships built in New Brunswick it was intended to sell the Marco Polo after her maiden voyage across the Atlantic, but her unusually fast 15-day crossing to Liverpool led instead to her purchase by James Baines' Black Ball Line for the Australia emigrant trade. The ship carried emigrants and passengers to Australia and was the first vessel to make the round trip from Liverpool in under six months. She continued in the Australian trade for some years under several owners, and in her latter years was employed in the timber trade between Quebec and Europe, before in 1883 being wrecked on Cape Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, and sold with her cargo of deals on board for £600. Notable Facts: During her difficult 1851 launch at the James Smith shipyard on Courtney Bay her keel stuck in a mudflat and her hull fell over on its side; she was refloated upright six days later, then soon grounded again in Marsh Creek, remaining stuck for two weeks before being freed and rigged — legend holds this twisted her keel and gave her the extra speed for which she became famous. Relics survive today, including her half-model held by The Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia, and, per Basil Greenhill's account in the Mariner's Mirror, "a carved and gilded figure and an anchor" preserved at the New Brunswick Museum, the figure likely being the stern carving showing Marco Polo resting on his elbow. A full-scale replica, Marco Polo II, has been built in Saint John, and the ship's wreck also inspired a story by a young Lucy Maud Montgomery, who grew up near the Cavendish wreck site.