Lightning (clipper) 1688444 209103490 2008-04-29T22:34:26Z Haus 976980 fix ibx {|{{Infobox Ship Begin}} {{Infobox Ship Image |Ship image=[[Image:Vonstetinalightning.jpg|300px|"Clipper Ship Lightning" by http://www.vonstetinaartworks.com/id1.html Bruce Von Stetina]] |Ship caption="Clipper Ship Lightning" by [http://www.vonstetinaartworks.com/id1.html Bruce Von Stetina] }} {{Infobox Ship Career |Hide header= |Ship country=UK |Ship flag=[[Image:Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg|60px|RN Ensign]] |Ship name= |Ship namesake= |Ship owner=[[James Baines & Co.]] |Ship operator= |Ship registry= |Ship route= |Ship ordered=[[1853]] |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=[[Donald McKay]] |Ship original cost=₤32,000 |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down=1853<br>Donald McKay shipyard, [[East Boston]] |Ship launched=[[3 January]] [[1854]] |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened=3 January 1854 |Ship completed= |Ship acquired=[[British Merchant Navy]] |Ship commissioned=[[18 February]] [[1854]] |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship maiden voyage=[[18 February]] - [[3 March]] [[1854]] to [[Liverpool]] |Ship in service=18 February 1854 |Ship out of service=[[31 October]] [[1869]] |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport=[[Liverpool]] |Ship identification= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship honors= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=sunk [[31 October]] [[1869]] at [[Geelong]] in [[Australia]] |Ship status= |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox Ship Characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class=full-rigged three-masted sailing ship (clipper rigging)<br>[[Clipper|cargo clipper ship]] |Ship type= |Ship tonnage=2,084 [[GRT]] |Ship displacement=<!--2,515 tons (2,500 tonnes) at 29 ft. draught (1.050 tons ship mass + 1.450 tons cargo mass)--> <!-- 1 ton = 1.016 tonne--> |Ship tons burthen=3.500 tons |Ship length=hull: {{convert|237.5|ft|m|abbr=on}},<br>{{convert|277|ft|m|abbr=on}} ([[Length overall|LOA]]) |Ship beam={{convert|44|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship height={{convert|164|ft|m|abbr=on}} main mast (deck to truck) |Ship draught={{convert|23|ft|m|abbr=on}} loaded |Ship draft= |Ship depth= |Ship hold depth= |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship ramps= |Ship ice class= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=Sails |Ship sail plan= |Ship speed=19 [[knot (speed)|kt]] (35.3 km/h); best 24-hour run: {{convert|436|mi|km}} [[sea mile|sm]] in 1854 |Ship range= |Ship endurance= |Ship test depth= |Ship boats=6 lifeboats |Ship capacity=1,450 tons cargo |Ship troops= |Ship complement=100 crew |Ship crew= |Ship time to activate= |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament= |Ship armour= |Ship armor= |Ship aircraft= |Ship aircraft facilities= |Ship notes= }} |} '''''Lightning''''' was a [[clipper|clipper ship]], one of the last really large extreme clippers to be built in the USA. She was built by [[Donald McKay]] for [[James Baines]] of the [[Black Ball Line (trans-Atlantic packet)|Black Ball Line]], [[Liverpool]], for the [[Australia]] trade.<ref>''Some famous sailing ships and their builder, Donald McKay'', by Richard C. McKay. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1928; Easton Press, 1988.</ref> ''Lightning'' was the most extreme example of a type of ship classified as an extreme clipper. Her builder was the famous [[Donald McKay]] of Boston, a follower of John Willis Griffiths and his principles of ship design. ''Lightning'' is a prime example of a change in thinking that turned builders away from shaping ships' hulls like cod's heads and mackerel tails. She had {{convert|16|ft|m}} of concavity in her bows and a beautiful fine run, yet she also had a moderate [[Glossary of nautical terms|deadrise]] and a good full midsection with [[tumblehome]], allowing her to be fast yet stable with good sail-carrying ability. == History == When ''Lightning'' was built in 1854 in Boston, America's extreme clipper boom was on the wane. The Australian gold rush was on, however, and McKay was building ships for James Baines of the "Black Ball Line" (house flag featured a black disk ("ball") on a red background) in Liverpool. Baines needed to transport passengers and cargo to Australia and had been impressed by the huge American ships. Lightning was powerfully and heavily constructed to handle the heavy seas and storms of the Australian run. Only the finest materials went into her construction. She cost ₤30,000 to build, and Baines put in another ₤2,000 in interior decoration, adding fine woods, marble, gilding and stained glass. It is said that her rooms rivaled those of the later ''[[RMS Queen Mary|Queen Mary]]''. An on-ship newspaper called the ''Lightning Gazette'' was published for the passengers and crew. After arriving in England, ''Lightning'''s hollow bow was ignorantly filled in by her captain Anthony Enright. McKay called the people who did it "the wood butchers of Liverpool". When her captain was changed to Bully Forbes, who drove her mercilessly, often running with the lee rail underwater, the fillings soon washed out. ''Lightning'' began to set records. Some examples of records are: she crossed from New York to Liverpool in 13 days, 19 ½ hours, she sailed {{convert|436|mi|km}} in 24 hours, doing 18 to 18 ½ knots. In 1854-55, she made the passage from Melbourne to Liverpool in 65 days, completing a circumnavigation of the world in 5 months, 9 days, which included 20 days spent in port.<ref>{{cite book|title=Along the Clipper Way|author=Francis Chichester|page=69|publisher=Hodder & Stoughton|date=1966|isbn=0-340-00191-7}}</ref> ''Lightning'' did a brief stint as a troop ship bringing British soldiers to fight an uprising in India. ''Lightning'' caught fire at around 01:00 on [[30 October]] [[1869]] at [[Geelong]] in [[Australia]] when fully loaded and ready to sail with 4,300 bales of [[wool]], 200 tons of [[copper]], 35 casks of [[wine]] and some [[tallow]]. Unable to control the fire the decision was taken at around mid-day to sink her and she was towed out to shoals. The initial attempts were by [[cannon]] fire from the shore to try and hole her below the [[waterline]] but this was unsuccessful. At about 16:00 some of the crew scuttled her by cutting holes on the waterline and she sank in {{convert|27|ft|m}} of water. The shoals became known as "Lightning Shoals". == References == {{reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.bruzelius.info/nautica/ships/Clippers/Lightning(1854).html Sailing Ships: ''Lightning''] *[http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/Maritime_History/Passages/USNM-3(1855)_p291.html Voyage of the Clipper Ship ''Lightning'' from England to Australia and Back] *[http://www.schoonerman.com/lightning_and_red_jacket.htm ''Lightning'' data] {{Clipper ships}} [[Category:Clippers]] [[Category:Sailboat names]] [[Category:Tall ships of the United States]] [[Category:Shipwrecks on the Australian coast]]