SERICA (1863-1872)- TEA CLIPPER

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Anatol
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Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2009 2:13 pm

SERICA (1863-1872)- TEA CLIPPER

Post by Anatol » Mon Apr 26, 2021 8:40 pm

The Serica was a clipper ship built in 1863 by Robert Steele & Co., at Greenock on the south bank of the Clyde, Scotland, for James Findlay. She was the last-but-one wooden clipper built by Steele before the yard went over to building composite clippers. Dimensions: 185'9"×31'1"×19'6" and tonnage: 708 NRT. The under deck coffecient was 0.57. The lower masts and yards were made of iron.
Serica is Latin for "China"- the ship was built expressly for the China tea trade. She was one of the fast and beautiful tea clippers, which raced the new season’s teas from China back to the London market. The Serica participated in the annual "tea races" to bring the new season's crop to London; she won in 1864. In 1865 she was the leading ship off Beachy Head, but failed to get a tug to take her on to London, so was beaten by 12 hours by Fiery Cross finished second in 1865 and in The Great Tea Race of 1866 came in third, by a matter of hours. ] According to Lubbock, the tea clippers Serica, Fiery Cross, Lahloo and Taeping performed at their best in light breezes, as they were all rigged with single topsails. LOn her final voyage under Capt. George Innes, she left Hong Kong bound for Montevideo, 2 November 1872, and was wrecked on the Parcels, in the South China Sea the following day. Out of a crew of twenty-three that manned her, only one survived.
Grenadines of St.Vincent 2020;(4x3)$
Sources:https://shipsandthings.fandom.com/wiki/Serica; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serica_(clipper)
Attachments
Clipper SERICA.jpg

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