The period of clipper ships lasted from the early 1840s to the early 1890s, and over time features such as the hull evolved from wooden to composite. At the 'crest of the clipper wave' year of 1852, there were 200 clippers rounding Cape Horn.[1] The age of clippers ended when they were phased out in favor of more modern Iron-hulled sailing ships, which eventually gave way to steamships. In the late 20th century, ships based on the 19th century designs of historical ships began to be built. These are used today as training ships and to promote tourism rather than for cargo or trade. The following entries are organized by their year of launch and alphabetically within each year.

List criteria

Among other characteristics which define a clipper is that they were usually ships in the strictest sense of the word. That is, they were three-masted vessels (though rarely four-masted) and were fully square-rigged on all masts.[2] Speedy contemporary vessels with other sail plans, such as barques, were also sometimes called clippers. Likewise, Baltimore clipper is a colloquial term most commonly applied to two-masted schooners and brigantines. The "Baltimore clipper" was actually invented before the appearance of clipper ships.[3] On the other end of the timeline are iron-hulled sailing ships which differ from clipper ships. The only iron-hulled examples present on this list are labeled as clippers by reliable sources.

Historical clipper ships

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

The list is presented first by year of launch and then alphabetically within each year.

1840s

Name Image Year of launch Build location Fate Length

overall Short summary

Houqua 1844 United States

(New York, NY) Disappeared in 1864 Un­known Laid down along lines designed by packet captain Nat Palmer of Stonington, Connecticut. Built by Brown & Bell of New York for the China merchants A.A. Low & Bro, she was launched in 1844, named after a Chinese merchant who had died the previous year. Dogged by ill luck during her career, she disappeared at sea after leaving Yokohama in 1864.

Rainbow 1845 United States

(New York, NY) Lost in 1848 159 ft (48 m) Rainbow was designed by John W. Griffiths and built by Smith & Dimon of New York for China merchants Howland & Aspinwall. Her design was heavily criticized at the time causing construction to be delayed, while rivals Brown & Bell (also New York based) launched the clipper Houqua for China merchants A.A. Low & Bro.

Tartar — 1845? United States

(New York, NY) Un­known — Tartar was a 573-ton ship built in Philadelphia that set a sailing record of 77 days from Holyhead, Wales, to Bombay, India, in 1845 (April 4—June 19), captained by Benoni Lockwood III.[4]: 115 

Sea Witch 1846 United States

(New York, NY) Wrecked in 1856 170.3 ft (51.9 m) She was built by Smith & DiMonte of New York for owners Howland & Aspinwall. Her 140 ft mainmast carried 5 tiers of sails, as did the shorter fore and mizzen masts. In 1849, she made a record-setting run from Hong Kong to New York in 74 days under Captain Robert "Bully Bob" Waterman. The previous record had also been set by the same captain with the Sea Witch two years prior with a time of 77 days.

Memnon 1848 United States

(New York, NY) Lost in 1851 170 ft (52 m)

Ticonderoga — 1849 United States

(New York, NY) Wrecked in 1872 169 ft (52 m) A 169 ft. 4-masted clipper displacing 1,089 tons, launched at Williamsburg, New York. The Ticonderoga was infamous for her "fever ship" voyage in 1852 from Liverpool to Port Phillip carrying 795 passengers. 100 passengers died during the voyage of what was later determined to have been typhus.