Clipper

File:Portrait of an American Clipper Ship.jpeg

A late 19th century clipper ship

A clipper was a very fast sailing ship of the 19th century. The word "clipper" comes from a word meaning: "fast". Clippers had several masts and a square rig. They were quite narrow for their length. Clipper ships were mostly made in British and American shipyards, but France, the Netherlands and other countries also made some. Clippers sailed all over the world, especially on the trade routes between the United Kingdom and its colonies in the east, in trans-Atlantic trade, and the New York-to-San Francisco route round Cape Horn during the California Gold Rush. Dutch clippers were built beginning in 1850s for bringing tea to Europe and taking passengers to and from Java.

Clipper Media

• Taeping (clipper, 1863) - SLV H91.325-1033.jpg

  Taeping, a tea clipper built in 1863 by Robert Steele & Company.

• Clipper barque Spirit of the Age, PY0633.jpg

  Clipper barque Spirit of the Age 1854 by T. G. Dutton

• Sovereignoftheseasdockedphoto.jpg

  Sovereign of the Seas set the record for world's fastest sailing ship in 1854.

• Hornetclippership.jpg

  Hornet – an American clipper ship of the 1850s

• image name and page number from caption

• "Water Witch" opium clipper 1831.jpg

  "Opium clipper" Water Witch, a British barque built in 1831

• Cutty Sark (ship, 1869) - SLV H91.250-164.jpg

  Cutty Sark, a noted British clipper

• Clipper Ship Southern Cross Leaving Boston Harbor 1851.jpeg

  Clipper ship Southern Cross leaving Boston Harbor, 1851, by Fitz Hugh Lane

• US clipper build graph.pdf

  A graph of the number of clippers built in the USA each year in the 1850s: This closely follows the economic situation.

• StateLibQld 1 133053 Agamemnon (ship).jpg

  SS Agamemnon, the first steamer with the fuel efficiency to challenge sailing vessels on the long-distance route from Britain (or the East Coast US) to the China tea ports