NIGHTINGALE clipper
Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 9:07 pm
Built as a wooden extreme clipper by Samuel Hanscomb Jr., Portsmouth, NH for account of Captain A.F.Miller, Boston, Mass. USA.
February 1851 keel laid down. The intended name was SARAH COWLES, but at that time the Swedish soprano Jenny Lend got very famous in the USA, and her nickname was “The Swedish Nightingale”, the ships-name was changed to NIGHTENGALE.
16 June 1851 launched under the name NIGHTENGALE.
Tonnage 1.060 tons, dim. 56.38 x 10.97 x 5.79m.
Carried a figure-head of Jenny Hind.
It was also the intention of the owner to use her with passengers for a Grand Trans-Atlantic Excursion to the World Fair in England; she was designed to carry 250 passengers.
06 September 1851 sold at an auction after Capt. Miller refused to accept the ship and the builder was obliged to put the clipper up for auction, she was bought by Davis and Co. Boston for $43.000 and was managed by Sampon & Tappan’s Pioneer Line of Australia Packets.
18 October 1851 sailed from Boston under command of Capt. John H.Fiske with on board many miners for the new discovered goldfields in Australia, arrived Melbourne after a passage of 90 days.
From Melbourne she sailed against the monsoon to Shanghai, which she reached after a very long voyage.
Loaded there tea, for the London market.
31 July 1852 sailed from Shanghai and arrived at London on 11 December, it took her 38 days to Anjer and 112 days to London.
After arrival at London Capt. Fiske was so disappointed with her speed that he resigned and was relieved by Capt. Samuel W. Mather.
Made an other two voyages from the USA to Australia, then to China for a cargo of tea for the U.K.
1856 She made a voyage from Shanghai to New York with tea.
17 December1858 sailed from Boston under command of Capt. Peterson., around Cape Horn to San Francisco where she arrived on 18 May after a passage of 152 days.
After her return in Boston was she sold to Capt. Francis Bowen and she sailed to Rio de Janeiro, where she again was sold most probably to an accomplice of Bowen.
Bowen was well known as “the Prince of Slaves”, and the NIGHTINGALE was put in the slave trade.
In the night of 20-21 April 1861 when she was at anchor in the mouth of the Congo River near Cabinda, Angola. Two boats from the sloop of war USS SARATOGO boarded the NIGHTINGALE and found 961 slaves, men, women and kids chained below deck, the NIGHTINGALE was waiting for more slaves before she was getting underway bound for America.
Comdr Alfred Taylor placed a prize crew on the vessel, and she sailed on the 23d first to Liberia, a nation founded in 1852 by the American Colonization Society as a refuge for free slaves, during the voyage a fever raged trough the ship killing 160 slaves and 1 crew member.
Thereafter she sailed to New York which she reached on 15 June. Capt Bowen escaped with the help of Lt. James J. Guthrie the commander of the prize crew, who was also a slave owner.
06 July 1861 after she was condemned by the New York prize court, purchased by the navy for $13.000, she was fitted out as a coal and store ship.
Armament 4 – 32 pdrs.
18 August 1861 commissioned, and the same day she left New York under command of Acting Master David B. Horne and a crew of 186, loaded with coal sailed south towards Key West.
She mostly served in the Gulf of Mexico with occasional a voyage to the north for coal and supplies the first years of the Civil War.
12 October she was in the Mississippi River near Head of Passes together with other Union warships, when the Confederated ironclad ram MANASSAS and two steamers attacked the Union ships. During the action the NIGHTINGALE ran aground, but the southern ships did not more attack her.
A few days later she was refloated and sailed to New York with prisoners of war, and booty.
09 June 1864 arrived at Boston.
20 June decommissioned at the Boston Navy Yard.
11 February 1865 sold at a public auction to D.E. Mayo, Boston for $ 11.000.
Sailed from Boston to San Francisco were she was sold again.
1865 Sold to the Western Union Telegraph Co, San Francisco for $ 23.381 to be used for laying a telegraph cable across the Bering Strait under command of Capt. Dexter.
She made several voyages from San Francisco to Petropavlovsk.
September 1868 sold to Samuel G. Reed & Co. Boston and used again in merchant trade under command of Capt. M.E. Sparrow.
1876 Sold to George Howes, San Francisco for $11.500 and under command of Capt. Norres sailed with a cargo of casket oil for New York.
1878 Sold to S.P. Olsen, Kragerø, Norway for $ 15.000, she was then rerigged as a barque (as seen on stamp) and used in the timber trade across the North Atlantic from North America to Europe.
After she received bow damage, her deckhouse and figurehead were removed, (the supposed figurehead of the NIGHTINGALE was sold by Sotheby on 18 January 2008 for $120.000.)
17 April 1893 on a voyage from Liverpool to Halifax, Nova Scotia under command of Capt. Chr. Ingebritsen was she abandoned.
Benin 1996 75fr sg1384, scott852 and 2000 150f sg?, scott?
Source: http://www.bruzelius.info/nautica/Ships ... 1851).html http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/n5/nightingale-i.htm Ships of the World by Lincoln P. Paine.
The Tea Clippers by MacGregor. Greyhounds of the Sea by Cutler.
February 1851 keel laid down. The intended name was SARAH COWLES, but at that time the Swedish soprano Jenny Lend got very famous in the USA, and her nickname was “The Swedish Nightingale”, the ships-name was changed to NIGHTENGALE.
16 June 1851 launched under the name NIGHTENGALE.
Tonnage 1.060 tons, dim. 56.38 x 10.97 x 5.79m.
Carried a figure-head of Jenny Hind.
It was also the intention of the owner to use her with passengers for a Grand Trans-Atlantic Excursion to the World Fair in England; she was designed to carry 250 passengers.
06 September 1851 sold at an auction after Capt. Miller refused to accept the ship and the builder was obliged to put the clipper up for auction, she was bought by Davis and Co. Boston for $43.000 and was managed by Sampon & Tappan’s Pioneer Line of Australia Packets.
18 October 1851 sailed from Boston under command of Capt. John H.Fiske with on board many miners for the new discovered goldfields in Australia, arrived Melbourne after a passage of 90 days.
From Melbourne she sailed against the monsoon to Shanghai, which she reached after a very long voyage.
Loaded there tea, for the London market.
31 July 1852 sailed from Shanghai and arrived at London on 11 December, it took her 38 days to Anjer and 112 days to London.
After arrival at London Capt. Fiske was so disappointed with her speed that he resigned and was relieved by Capt. Samuel W. Mather.
Made an other two voyages from the USA to Australia, then to China for a cargo of tea for the U.K.
1856 She made a voyage from Shanghai to New York with tea.
17 December1858 sailed from Boston under command of Capt. Peterson., around Cape Horn to San Francisco where she arrived on 18 May after a passage of 152 days.
After her return in Boston was she sold to Capt. Francis Bowen and she sailed to Rio de Janeiro, where she again was sold most probably to an accomplice of Bowen.
Bowen was well known as “the Prince of Slaves”, and the NIGHTINGALE was put in the slave trade.
In the night of 20-21 April 1861 when she was at anchor in the mouth of the Congo River near Cabinda, Angola. Two boats from the sloop of war USS SARATOGO boarded the NIGHTINGALE and found 961 slaves, men, women and kids chained below deck, the NIGHTINGALE was waiting for more slaves before she was getting underway bound for America.
Comdr Alfred Taylor placed a prize crew on the vessel, and she sailed on the 23d first to Liberia, a nation founded in 1852 by the American Colonization Society as a refuge for free slaves, during the voyage a fever raged trough the ship killing 160 slaves and 1 crew member.
Thereafter she sailed to New York which she reached on 15 June. Capt Bowen escaped with the help of Lt. James J. Guthrie the commander of the prize crew, who was also a slave owner.
06 July 1861 after she was condemned by the New York prize court, purchased by the navy for $13.000, she was fitted out as a coal and store ship.
Armament 4 – 32 pdrs.
18 August 1861 commissioned, and the same day she left New York under command of Acting Master David B. Horne and a crew of 186, loaded with coal sailed south towards Key West.
She mostly served in the Gulf of Mexico with occasional a voyage to the north for coal and supplies the first years of the Civil War.
12 October she was in the Mississippi River near Head of Passes together with other Union warships, when the Confederated ironclad ram MANASSAS and two steamers attacked the Union ships. During the action the NIGHTINGALE ran aground, but the southern ships did not more attack her.
A few days later she was refloated and sailed to New York with prisoners of war, and booty.
09 June 1864 arrived at Boston.
20 June decommissioned at the Boston Navy Yard.
11 February 1865 sold at a public auction to D.E. Mayo, Boston for $ 11.000.
Sailed from Boston to San Francisco were she was sold again.
1865 Sold to the Western Union Telegraph Co, San Francisco for $ 23.381 to be used for laying a telegraph cable across the Bering Strait under command of Capt. Dexter.
She made several voyages from San Francisco to Petropavlovsk.
September 1868 sold to Samuel G. Reed & Co. Boston and used again in merchant trade under command of Capt. M.E. Sparrow.
1876 Sold to George Howes, San Francisco for $11.500 and under command of Capt. Norres sailed with a cargo of casket oil for New York.
1878 Sold to S.P. Olsen, Kragerø, Norway for $ 15.000, she was then rerigged as a barque (as seen on stamp) and used in the timber trade across the North Atlantic from North America to Europe.
After she received bow damage, her deckhouse and figurehead were removed, (the supposed figurehead of the NIGHTINGALE was sold by Sotheby on 18 January 2008 for $120.000.)
17 April 1893 on a voyage from Liverpool to Halifax, Nova Scotia under command of Capt. Chr. Ingebritsen was she abandoned.
Benin 1996 75fr sg1384, scott852 and 2000 150f sg?, scott?
Source: http://www.bruzelius.info/nautica/Ships ... 1851).html http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/n5/nightingale-i.htm Ships of the World by Lincoln P. Paine.
The Tea Clippers by MacGregor. Greyhounds of the Sea by Cutler.