Romance of the Sea (clipper)
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Romance of the Sea (see note)[notes 1] |
| Owner | George B. Upton |
| Builder | Donald McKay of East Boston, MA |
| Launched | October 23, 1853 |
| Fate | Unknown; sailed from Hong Kong December 31, 1862 and was not heard from again |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Extreme clipper |
| Tons burthen | 1782 tons |
| Length | 240 feet (73.2 m) |
| Beam | 36.5 feet (11.1 m) |
| Draft | 29.5 feet (9.0 m) |
| Sail plan | Double topsails; fore and mizzen royals; main skysail[1] |
Romance of the Sea was a clipper ship launched in 1853.[1][2][3][4] She was "the last extreme clipper ship built by Donald McKay for the California trade".[3] Her original figurehead was "a small female figure, intended to represent Romance, with the name of [Sir Walter] Scott on one side, and [James Fenimore] Cooper on the other - the greatest romancers of the century".[4] She lost that figurehead during a storm on her third voyage. Some time later it was replaced by "a full-length figure of an ancient navigator, with head bent forward and right hand raised to shade his eyes as he searched for the land beyond the horizon."[5]
In her nine-year life, Romance of the Sea made six round-trip voyages from North Atlantic ports before being lost during her seventh voyage.
The Romance of the Sea's voyages are listed here. Sources disagree on some items; disagreements or ambiguities are individually cited. City names are as they were at the time.
| Voyage | Origin | Depart | Destination | Arrive | Days | Captain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston | December 16, 1853 | San Francisco | March 23, 1854 | 96 | Philip Dumaresq |
| 1 | San Francisco | March 31, 1854 | Hong Kong | May 16, 1854 | 45 | Philip Dumaresq |
| 1 | Hong Kong | May 9, 1854[3] | Deal, England[1][3] or London[2] | September 21, 1854[3] | 102[3] or 103[1][2] | Philip Dumaresq |
| 2 | Deal | Hong Kong | 99 | William H. Henry | ||
| 2 | Shanghai | November 1, 1855 | Deal | March 7, 1856 | 126 | William H. Henry |
| 2 | Deal | Boston | August 15, 1856 | William H. Henry | ||
| 3 | New York | July 3, 1856 | San Francisco | October 24, 1856 | 113 | William H. Henry |
| 3 | San Francisco | November 17, 1856 | Shanghai | December 22, 1856 | 113 | William H. Henry |
| 3 | Shanghai | February 16, 1857 | New York | May 27, 1857 | 100 | William H. Henry |
| 4 | New York | July 3, 1857 | Batavia, Dutch East Indies | September 28, 1857 | 88 | Eben Caldwell |
| 4 | See note[notes 2] | Eben Caldwell (see note)[notes 3] | ||||
| 4 | Shanghai | March 20[1] or 21[2], 1859 | New York | June 22, 1859 | 94 | |
| 5 | New York | August 11, 1859 | Hong Kong | December 6, 1859 | 109 | |
| 5 | Manila | June 23, 1860 | Boston | October 10, 1860 | 109 | |
| 6 | Boston | December 28, 1860 | San Francisco | April 13, 1861 | 105 | Ashman J. Clough |
| 6 | San Francisco | May 12, 1861 | Queenstown, Ireland | August 13, 1861 | 93 | Ashman J. Clough |
| 6 | Liverpool | September 29, 1861 | Boston | October 27, 1861 | 34 | Ashman J. Clough |
| 7 | New York | February 7, 1862 | San Francisco | May 24, 1862 | 106 | |
| 7 | San Francisco | June 7, 1862 | Hong Kong | July 24, 1862 | 46 | |
| 7 | Hong Kong (see note)[notes 4] | December 31, 1862 | San Francisco | Lost during voyage |
Artifacts
- Donald McKay's original half-hull working model is held by the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.[6]
- Sailing cards advertising Romance's first two voyages to San Francisco are held by the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Museum of MIT. The one for the first voyage is reproduced in Yankee Ship Sailing Cards.[7]