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29-543: Flying Cloud may refer to: Flying Cloud (clipper) , an 1851 clipper built by Donald McKay Flying Cloud (log canoe) , a 1932 log canoe built by John B. Harrison Flying Cloud Airport , an airport in Eden Prairie, Minnesota REO Flying Cloud , a car produced by the REO Motor Car Company SS ; Flying Cloud , either of two type C2 ships built for

58-630: A British-Indianman of 1500 tons with a crew of 125, and sail half again as fast." Most owners wanted ships that could do all kinds of work and the "finest type" then being built was the Medford or Merrimac East Indiaman . An example would be the Columbiana built in Medford in 1837, or Jotham Stetson’s ship the Rajah , 531 tons, 140 feet long which was constructed in the previous year. Ships built in Medford "have more fast California passages to their credit, considering

87-480: A contemporary 60 ft racing sloop , Thursday's Child , completed the passage in 80 days, 20 hours. In the early days of the California Gold Rush , it took more than 200 days for a ship to travel from New York to San Francisco, a voyage of more than 16,000 miles, but clipper ships quickly cut that time in half. Surprise had set a record of 91 days, 21 hours on 19 March 1851, but Flying Cloud caused

116-443: A pirate ship that resulted in the execution of the crew at Newgate. However, these events are nothing to do with the actual history of the clipper ship. Extreme clipper Arthur H. Clark, in his 1910 book The Clipper Ship Era , explains the history leading up to the construction of the first extreme clipper: In 1841, John W. Griffeths , of New York proposed several improvements in marine architecture, which were embodied in

145-468: A sensation later that year, cutting a week off the record, and beating the three month barrier. Three years later, in 1854, she sailed the passage faster yet, setting a record that lasted for 135 years. In newspaper accounts of the day, the clipper Andrew Jackson was acclaimed as holding the record passage to San Francisco. After careful scrutiny of the logbooks, Cutler concludes that a case can be made for either Flying Cloud or Andrew Jackson holding

174-562: A ship of 750 tons, named the Rainbow . This vessel, the first extreme clipper ship ever built, was therefore, the direct result of Griffeths's efforts for improvement. Her bow with its concave waterlines and the greatest breadth at a point considerably further aft than had hitherto been regarded as practicable, was a radical departure, differing not merely in degree but in kind from any ship that preceded her. One critical observer declared that her bow had been turned "outside in," and that her whole form

203-490: Is therefore doubtful whether another clipper, having 40 inches dead rise, will be built." Further understanding of what was happening in clipper ship construction at the time can be obtained from reading the whole section from which the last sentence above was obtained. "Our first large clippers had rounded lines and 40 inches dead rise at half floor; but now nearly all new clippers have hollow lines, and only 30 or 18 inches dead rise. The upright stem, too, has been modified into

232-713: The Australia and timber trades. Flying Cloud was built in East Boston, Massachusetts , and intended for Enoch Train of Boston , who paid $ 50,000 for her construction. While still under construction, she was purchased by Grinnell, Minturn & Co ., of New York, for $ 90,000, (~$ 2.62 million in 2023) which represented a huge profit for Train & Co. A reporter for the Boston Daily Atlas of 25 April 1851 wrote, "If great length [235 ft.], sharpness of ends, with proportionate breadth [41 ft.] and depth, conduce to speed,

261-499: The Boston Daily Atlas between April 1850 and March 1857, defined an extreme clipper as "clippers of 40 inches dead rise at half floor ". By his definition extreme clippers ceased to be built after early 1852. In the midst of the great clipper boom, in early 1851, he wrote "Nearly all the clipper ships which have been built recently, have had 40 inches dead rise at half floor." This was followed in late 1852 by his comment "It

290-547: The Flying Cloud must be uncommonly swift, for in all these she is great. Her length on the keel is 208 feet, on deck 225, and over all, from the knightheads to the taffrail , 235— extreme breadth of beam 41 feet, depth of hold 21½, including 7 feet 8 inches height of between-decks, sea-rise at half-floor 20 inches, rounding of sides 6 inches, and sheer about 3 feet." Flying Cloud is often called an extreme clipper , as are many of Donald McKay's ships, even though her deadrise

319-493: The Beacon Island bar, Saint John, New Brunswick. After she was refloated, it was discovered that her back was broken. The following June she was burned for the scrap metal value of her copper and iron fastenings. A well-known ballad about a ship named Flying Cloud tells the story of an Irishman who was pressed into sailing on the ship on a slaving voyage from Baltimore via Bermuda to West Africa, which led to another voyage as

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348-675: The United States Maritime Commission WS-124A Flying Cloud , a Cold War balloon bomb project of the United States Air Force See also [ edit ] All Sail Set: A Romance of the Flying Cloud , a children's book by Armstrong Sperry Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Flying Cloud . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

377-438: The clipper related: "...a fine class of ships, known as medium clippers, was constructed, some of which proved exceedingly fast, and remarkable passages continued to be made. Many of these medium clippers would be considered very sharp and heavily sparred vessels at the present time." Extreme clippers remained in vogue only a few years. Owing to the depth and sharpness of their floors they lacked stability , and in consequence of

406-557: The forward body, bringing the greatest breadth further aft. Another improvement which he proposed was to fine out the after body by rounding up the ends of the main transom , thus relieving the quarters and making the stern much lighter and handsomer above the water-line. This proposed departure from old methods naturally met with much opposition, but in 1843, the firm of Howland & Aspinwall commissioned Smith & Dimon , of New York, in whose employ Griffeths had spent several years as draughtsman, to embody these experimental ideas in

435-570: The inclined, and the length and sharpness of the ends have also been much varied."..."though very sharp and clipperly in the ends, has only 20 inches dead rise at half floor, experience having demonstrated, that great length with sharp ends do not require extreme sharpness of floor. Buoyancy is of more importance, and the speed obtained, especially running free, is more satisfactory. It is therefore doubtful whether another clipper, having 40 inches dead rise, will be built." This narrower definition has not been accepted by history. The term "extreme clipper"

464-424: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flying_Cloud&oldid=814816276 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Flying Cloud (clipper) Flying Cloud was a clipper ship that set

493-554: The middle of the ship's length, and the vessel was made to float substantially on an even keel. That style of vessel remains in use to the present day [1884], although capacity is now the chief aim in American sailing ships rather than speed. Duncan McLean, the marine reporter who wrote at least 161 more or less detailed descriptions of ships launched in Boston and elsewhere in New England for

522-596: The model of a clipper ship exhibited at the American Institute, in February of that year. Later he delivered a series of lectures on the science of ship-building which were the first discourses upon this subject in the United States. Griffeths advocated carrying the stem forward, in a curved line, thereby lengthening the bow above water; he also introduced long, hollow water-lines and a general drawing out and sharpening of

551-616: The number they built, than those of any other place." Two early examples of the medium clipper are the Antelope of Boston (1851): "The design of her model was to combine large stowage capacity with good sailing qualities"; and the Golden Fleece (1852): "In the form of her ends she is of the medium model." The medium clipper, though still very fast, had comparatively more allowance for cargo. After 1854 extreme clippers were replaced in shipbuilding yards by medium clippers. A 1910 history of

580-457: The record time for a completed voyage from New York to San Francisco, 89 days 8 hours anchor-to-anchor. Flying Cloud' s achievement was remarkable under any terms. But, writes David W. Shaw, it was all the more unusual because her navigator was a woman, Eleanor Creesy , who had been studying oceanic currents, weather phenomena, and astronomy since her girlhood in Marblehead, Massachusetts . She

609-580: The record. Andrew Jackson holds the record for fastest passage pilot-to-pilot, arriving at the San Francisco pilot grounds in 89 days and 4 hours. Because Andrew Jackson spent all night between the Farallon Islands and the Golden Gate awaiting a harbor pilot, some will consider this figure as the appropriate indicator of fastest sailing performance around Cape Horn . However, Flying Cloud holds

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638-522: The same time, with Hornet sailing in just 45 minutes ahead of the Flying Cloud . In 1862, Flying Cloud was sold to the Black Ball Line , Liverpool, sailing under British colors without change of name, and was soon traveling between the mother country and Australia and New Zealand. Her latter years were spent in the log trade between Newcastle upon Tyne, England, and Saint John, New Brunswick , Canada. On 19 June 1874, Flying Cloud went ashore on

667-401: The sharpness of the ends those parts did not have buoyancy enough to sustain their own weight—a fact which led to the straining and weakening of the vessel. A change was made in 1855 by joining to the clipper top, bow, and stern the fuller bottom of the old-fashioned freighting ship. The midship section, or widest part of the ship, was also moved farther aft, so as to be only a trifle forward of

696-506: The world's sailing record for the fastest passage between New York and San Francisco , 89 days 8 hours. The ship held this record for over 130 years, from 1854 to 1989. Flying Cloud was the most famous of the clippers built by Donald McKay . She was known for her extremely close race with Hornet in 1853; for having a woman navigator, Eleanor Creesy , wife of Josiah Perkins Creesy who skippered Flying Cloud on two record-setting voyages from New York to San Francisco; and for sailing in

725-413: Was applied to the clipper ships built by Donald McKay during 1851 even though their dead rises were less than 40 inches. It has also been applied to clipper ships he built from 1852 to 1854, and to similar clipper ships built by other shipbuilders in the same period. It has been applied to clipper ships built with a lengthening of the bow above to water, a drawing out and sharpening of the forward body, and

754-544: Was contrary to the laws of nature. The Rainbow was designed and built with great care and was not launched until January, 1845. From 1851 or earlier another type of clipper ship was also being built, the medium clipper . In the mid-1800s, shipbuilders in Medford, Massachusetts began building what would become the medium clipper ship. They "quietly evolved a new type (of ship) of about 450 tons burden which, handled by eighteen officers and men, would carry half as much freight as

783-509: Was one of the first navigators to exploit the insights of Matthew Fontaine Maury , most notably the course recommended in his Sailing Directions . With her husband, ship captain Josiah Perkins Creesy, she logged many thousands of miles on the ocean, traveling around the world carrying passengers and goods. In the wake of their record-setting transit from New York to California, Eleanor and Josiah became instant celebrities. But their fame

812-432: Was only 30 inches. Within six weeks of her 1851 launch Flying Cloud sailed from New York, rounded Cape Horn and made San Francisco in 89 days, 21 hours under the command of Captain Josiah Perkins Creesy. In July, during the trip, she ran 284, 374 and 334 nautical miles, a total of 992 nautical miles over the three consecutive days. In 1854 she beat her own fastest by 13 hours, setting a record that stood until 1989 when

841-438: Was short-lived and their story quickly forgotten. Josiah died in 1871 and Eleanor lived far from the sea until her death in 1900. Hornet had a two-day head start on Flying Cloud in their famous 1853 race. She left New York for San Francisco, 26 April 1853, with Flying Cloud departing two days later. After the roughly 15,000-mile voyage around Cape Horn , both ships arrived in San Francisco harbor 106 days later at almost

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