The New Clipper Ship Whirlwind, of Boston.

This a noble vessel of about 925 tons register. She is 155 feet long on the keel, 166 between perpendiculars on deck, and 175 over all; her extreme breadth of beam is 35 feet, depth 21½ feet, including 7 feet 9 inches height of between decks, dead rise at half floor 18 inches, swell of sides to the planksheer 9 inches, and sheer 3 feet. Her sheer, however, is principally in the rise of the bow, for abaft the fore channels, her outline varies but little from a straight line; but is, nevertheless, remarkably true and beautiful. Her lines are slightly concave up to the load displacement line, but above there they are boldly convex, and on the rail her outline is true as the spring of a steel bow. She has two stems, or, inother words, her cutwater branches from the main stem outwards, and the bow planking is bolted through both. Forward, therefore, she is wedgelike in form. The goddess of the wind, with extended wings of gold, and robed in flowing vestments of white, fringed with gold, and bearing a torch in her left hand, ornaments the bow. The pedestal from which she seems to fly is beutifully ornamented with flowered carved work, tastefully gilded. On each bend of the bow is a representation of a blue flag hung in curved folds from a gilded staff, and her name in gilded letters is on the flag. Her catheads are also tastefully ornamented; and on the stern is a beautiful spread eagle covered with gilding. The stern is rounded from the quarter timbers across, and from the arch-board to the rail, and is light, and perfect in form. She is planked smooth to the planksheer, is sheathed with yellow metal up to 17½ feet forward, and to 18½ aft, and is painted black above.

Her bulwarks, including the mokey rail, are about 5 feet 3 inches high amidships, and nearly 6 feet high forward. She has a topgallant forecastle, a large house amidships, which contains the galley, accommodations for the crew, &c., and a half-poop deck, with a trunk built into it for her cabins. The poop is protected by brass railings around the stern and along the sides.

Her gangway boards, gangway ladders, and poop ladders, are of carved mahogany, inlaid with brass, and her main rail and the combings of the hatchways, are covered with yellow metal. Her waterways are blue, and the rest of her paintwork buff color, relieved with white. She has two cabins, and an ante-room. The after cabin contains four state-rooms, and is wainscotted with satin, rosewood and mahogany, set off with papier maché cornices, and other ornamental work. The forward cabin also contains 4 state-rooms, and is pure white, set off with flowered gilding. Both cabins are well lighted and ventilated, and together with the state-rooms, are elegantly furnished and most admirably adapted for the accommodation of passengers. The ante-room contains the pantry on the starboard side, and a spacious state-room for the officers on the opposite side. The front of the house which forms the cabin is protected by the projection of the deck above.

She is built of oak, and is throughly copper-fastened. Her keel is sided 15 inches and moulded 30; the floor timbers on the keel are sided from 11 to 12 inches, and moulded 15½ and she has two keelsons, each 15 inches square, and all are bolted with 1¼ inch copper and iron, the copper driven through the keel and rivetted. The floor ceiling is 4 inches thick, and on the bilge, commencing below the first futtocks, she has 4 strakes of 9 by 12 inches, then 4 of 8 inches thickness, and the rest of the ceiling, up to the deck, is all of 6 inches thickness, and she is square fastened throughout.

The between-decks waterways are 15 inches square, with two strakes of 8 by 12 inches over them, and one of 9 by 12 inside of them, all closely cross-bolted. The ceiling above is 15 inches thick. Her upper deck waterways are 9 by 12 inches, and the covering board and main rail are each 6 inches thick. The lower deck is of hard pine, 3½ inches thick, and the upper deck is of white pine, the smae in substance. The garboards are 6 inches thick, the bottom plank 4 inches, and the wales 5 by 7, and all are square fastened with treenails, and butt and bilge bolted with copper. Her sides are smooth as glass, and every line and moulding swells truly, fore and aft. The mouldings of the planksheer and main rail terminate in a point abaft the head, and she is smack-smooth forward, without head or trail boards.

She has seven hooks forwards and five aft, all of oak, and all the knees and stanchions in the hold are also of oak. The lower deck beams are 15 inches square, and those under the upper deck are 8½ by 15, with oak turned stanchions under them, and hacmatack knees. The hold stanchions are 10 by 12 inches square, kneed in the wake of the hatchways, and elsewhere are clasped with iron. Two of the hooks in each end cross the cants diagonally and fay to the knees under the beams, and the hook on the between decks is very massive, and spans the angle of the bow completely. The thick work in the between decks is painted blue, the rest of the paintwork is white. She has seven transoms, the main one of which is 16 inches square, and forward and aft her ends are bolted with copper, up to 18 feet draught. She is seasoned with salt, has brass ventilators along her planksheer, and Emerson's patent ventilators forward and aft. She has two beautiful capstans, brass mounted, one on the forecastle and the other on the quarter deck; a powerful patent windlass, with chain lockers in the between decks, forward, Crane's self-acting chain stoppers, a force pump forward, a patent steering apparatus, four good boats, and an iron tank, capable of holding 3000 gallons of water. She has also two long sixes, brass guns, and an excellent stand of small arms.

She looks splendidly aloft. Heer fore and mainmasts are made and hooped with iron, the mizzenmast is of a single spar. Her lower masts, commencing with the fore, are 75, 80, and 72 feet long; the main yard 72 feet square, and her other spars in proportion. She has the best of rigging, well fitted, and from the trucks to the waterline, no ship appears to better advantage. She looks the clipper to a charm. She was built at Medford, by Mr. James O. Curtis, and is owned by Messrs. W. & F.H. Whittemore, of this city. Capt. Burgess, formerly of the ship Herbert, and excellent sailor, commands her. She is now loading in Messrs. Thimothy Davis & Co's line of San Francisco packets, and will sail about the latter part of this month. Those who wish to see a beautiful, well built ship, and one too, that must sail very fast, ought to inspect her. She lies at the north side of India wharf. "Success to her".


The Boston Daily Atlas, October 14, 1852.


Transcribed by Lars Bruzelius.


Sjöhistoriska Samfundet | The Maritime History Virtual Archives | The Boston Daily Atlas. Search.

Copyright © 1997 Lars Bruzelius.