Lightning (clipper)

"Clipper Ship Lightning"
History
United Kingdom
Owner	James Baines & Co.
Ordered	1853
Builder	Donald McKay
Cost	£32,000
Laid down	1854, January 3rd Donald McKay shipyard, East Boston
Launched	3 January 1854
Christened	3 January 1854
Acquired	British Merchant Navy
Commissioned	18 February 1854
Maiden voyage	18 February – 3 March 1854 to Liverpool
In service	18 February 1854
Out of service	31 October 1869
Homeport	Liverpool
Fate	Scuttled 31 October 1869 at Geelong, Australia
General characteristics
Class and type	full-rigged three-masted sailing ship (clipper rigging) cargo clipper ship
Type	Clipper
Tonnage	2,084 GRT
Tons burthen	3.500 tons
Length	hull: 237.5 ft (72.4 m), 277 ft (84 m) (LOA)
Beam	44 ft (13 m)
Height	164 ft (50 m) main mast (deck to truck)
Draught	23 ft (7.0 m) loaded
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	13,000 yards of canvas when under all plain sail
Speed	19 kn (35 km/h); best 24-hour run: 436 nautical miles (807 km) in 1854
Boats & landing craft carried	6 lifeboats
Capacity	1,450 tons cargo
Complement	100 crew

Lightning was a clipper ship, one of the last really large clippers to be built in the United States. She was built by Donald McKay for James Baines of the Black Ball Line, Liverpool, for the Australia trade.^[1][2]

It has been said^{[by whom?]} that Lightning was the most extreme example of a type of ship classified as an extreme clipper.^{[citation needed]}

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 16 feet (4.9 m) of concavity in her bows and a beautiful fine run, yet she also had a moderate deadrise and a good full midsection with tumblehome, allowing her to be fast yet stable, with good sail-carrying ability.