When gold was discovered in Australia in 1851 a number extremely
sharp clippers were constructed entirely in iron. Although some
were used in the tea trade they were viewed with suspicion as
it was suspected that lack of ventilation in the hold damaged
the quality of the tea. Two of the ships built in 1853, on the
River Clyde, were the Gauntlet and the Lord of the Isles considered
to be 'the most perfect clipper ship ever launched on the Clyde,
and she appears more like a yacht of large tonnage than a private
merchant ship'. (London Illustrated News) The LIN's accolade
applied to the Gauntlet but it equally applied to the Lord of
the Isles whose fastest passage from China to London was 90
days (87 to the Lizard) achieved in 1858-59. In those days the
measurement of a passage time was inconsistent. It could mean
either the time elapsed between losing sight of land and seeing
it again on arrival or the time between dropping the harbour
pilot on departure and picking one up on arrival.
In the 1860's the shipbuilder Robert Steele
& Sons of Greenock were to assert themselves as the builders
of more stylised clippers. Although long established, having
already built the Kate Carnie and Ellen Rodger, it was more
likely the building of the Falcon launched in 1859 which brought
the company to prominence as builders of tea clippers.
In 1860 the Fiery Cross, designed by renowned
naval architect William Rennie, had been built by Chaloner of
Liverpool and was fast and successful. 185 feet long, maximum
breadth 31.7 feet with a hold depth of 19.2 feet she was registered
at 695 tons and first ship home to claim the £1 per ton,
first to dock in London, premium in 1861, 1862, 1893 and 1864,
due in a lot of respects to the sailing skills of her first
two captains, John Dallas and Richard Robinson.
The success of the Fiery Cross
inspired other shipbuilders including Robert Steele & Sons
who went on to build the Taeping (1863), the Ariel (1865), the
Sir Lancelot (1865), the Titania (1866), the Lahloo (1867 and
the Kaisow (1868). These ships were fast and in 1866-67 the
Ariel took only 80 days from dropping the pilot in London to
picking up the pilot in Hong Kong; in 1869 Sir Lancelot took
84 days between Foochow and the Lizard and in 1871 the Titania
did the same voyage in 93 days. The success of these ships was
due to being able to maintain relatively high speeds in light
winds and being able to beat to windward in a stiff breeze.
A Painting of the "Titania" (PM Wood)
However, aside from the glamour
of winning the first home premium and constructing beautiful
ships the underlying consideration was always money, the ships
had to be profitable. The shipbuilders were competing against
each other for orders and, consequently, construction costs,
or control of them, was important. Robert Steele & Sons
were probably quoting no more than £18 per ton which would
have meant building a composite hull: iron frames with wooden
exterior planking. The Cutty Sark is a perfect example of this
type of construction which enabled extremely long lives as the
planking could be easily replaced.
Races between the 'full bloods', as the crack
clippers were affectionately called, were a regular event, the
most famous being in 1866 between the Fiery Cross, the Ariel,
the Serica, the Taeping and the Taitsing. The ships left the
Padoga Anchorage at Foochow, China, in that order, at the end
of May to race to the London Docks, a distance of some 16,000
miles. After 20 days the Fiery Cross arrived at Anjer first
having beaten down the China Sea. The Taitsing having left Foochow
a day later than the others made up some time as they caught
the favourable trade winds on the run down the Indian Ocean
to the Cape of Good Hope. At the Azores the first four ships
were within a day of each other but on the approach to the English
Channel the Fiery Cross dropped back. Logging 14 knots the Ariel
and the Taeping ran up the channel within sight of each other
for most of 5th September. The Serica, at this time was out
of sight near the French coast. At 8.00 am on the morning of
6th September the Ariel signalled her number to the signal station
at Deal, 98 days 22.5 hours after dropping the pilot at Foochow.
Ten minutes later the Taeping did likewise. Both ships docked
later the same day as did the Serica who just managed to squeeze
in before the lock gates closed. The tea dealers were furious.
While the rest of England celebrated the dealers had a glut
of tea which led to depressed prices. The first home premium
was later abandoned to prevent a repetition.
The
Ariel and Taeping racing for home
Contemporary lithograph by TG Dutton
The
Ariel and Taeping racing for home
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