Great Republic (1853 clipper)

For the steamship, see SS Great Republic (1866).
Clipper barque Great Republic, painting by James E. Buttersworth
History
United States
NameGreat Republic
NamesakePoem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Owner
Ordered1852
BuilderDonald McKay (designer & builder)
Cost$ 450,000.00 (1853)
Laid down1852
LaunchedOctober 4, 1853
ChristenedOctober 4, 1853 by Capt. A. Gifford
Maiden voyageFebruary 24, 1855 to Liverpool, England
In service1854
Out of service1872
RenamedDenmark in 1869
HomeportBoston (1853); New York (1855); Yarmouth, Nova Scotia (1866), Liverpool (1868)
Identification
  • Code letters L 2 T 5
FateSunk in storm off Bermuda on March 5, 1872
Badgefigurehead: gilded eagle and a second gilded eagle with outstretched wings across the stern board
General characteristics
Class and type
  • four-masted medium Clipper barque
  • three-masted full-rigged ship from 1862
Tonnage
  • 4,555 GRT, 4,100 NRT
  • 3,357 GRT, 3,100 NRT, from 1855
Displacement~6,600 tons (5,000 tons cargo plus 1,600 tons ship's mass)[citation needed]
Length
Beam53 ft (16 m)
Height
  • 247 ft (75 m) keel to masthead truck,
  • 216 ft (66 m) deck to masthead truck
  • (original measures)
Draught25 ft (7.6 m)
Decks4 continuous wooden decks, after rebuilt: 3 (with additional poop and forecastle decks)
Deck clearance8 ft
PropulsionSails
Sail plan
  • Original plan: 50 sails (6,400 m²):
  • 17 square, 10 stay sails, 5 jibs, spanker & spanker top sail, 16 studding sails;
  • Reduced sail plan: 42 sails (5,400 m²):
  • 15 square, 8 stay sails, 5 jibs, spanker & spanker top sail, 12 studding sails;
  • sail area (full-rigged ship): 29 sails (5,200 m²):
  • 18 square, 5 stay sails, 5 jibs, 1 spanker sail, 12 studding sails
Speed19 kn (35.2 km/h)
Capacity5,000 tons max.
Complement60; originally planned: 120

When launched in 1853, Great Republic was the largest wooden ship in the world. She shared this title with another American-built ship, the steamship Adriatic. She was also the largest full-rigged ship ever built in the United States.[2] She was built by Donald McKay for trade on his own account to Australia.

Just as she was completing loading in New York for her first commercial trip, she was involved in a disastrous fire. She was scuttled to try to save the hull, with only limited success. McKay decided to abandon the wreck to his insurers, who sold the damaged hull to new owners, who rebuilt her with three decks instead of four. She was employed on trans-Atlantic and California routes, with a period under contract to the French government for the Crimean War. She was never used on Australian routes.[3]: 124–129 

Even in her rebuilt form, Great Republic had difficulty accessing many ports when fully loaded, due to her great size. She regularly had to partially unload into lighters so that she could then enter locked basins to finish unloading. She did make the fast passages expected of her by McKay – so vindicating the design concept.[3]: 124–129 

  1. ^ Great Republic
  2. ^ Essex Institute historical collections. Vol. LXIII. Essex Institute. 1927. p. 193. OCLC 6140167.
  3. ^ a b MacGregor, David R (1993). British and American Clippers: A Comparison of their Design, Construction and Performance. London: Conway Maritime Press Limited. ISBN 0-85177-588-8.