Sea Serpent

An extreme clipper ship built in 1850 by George Raynes, Portsmouth, NH. Dimensions 194'6"×39'3"×20'8" and tonnage 1337 tons OM, 975 tons NM.

1850 November 20: Launched at the shipyard of George Raynes, Portsmouth, NH, for Grinnell, Minturn & Co., New York.
1851 January 11: Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 125 days after having had to put into Valparaiso eight days for repairs. Captain William Howland.
1851 October 16: Sailed from Whampoa to New York in 100 days.
1852 October 4: Sailed from Whampoa to New York in 88 days. This was the fastest passage of the year.
1853 February 11 - June 1: Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 110 days.
1853 September 10 - December 20: Sailed from Whampoa to New York in 101 days. The 29 days passage from Whampoa to Anjer was the fastest made that season.
1854 November 5 - February 15: Sailed from Shanghai to New York in 102 days.
1855: Captain J.D. Whitmore.
1856 January 3: Sailed from Whampoa to New York in 79 days.
1859 June 19: Sailed from Foochow with a cargo of tea for London where she arrived after 130 days.
1863: Captain Thorndike.
1864: Captain Winsor.
1868: Captain Jeremiah D. White.
1874 May: Sold to Chr. Christophersen, Norwegian consul in New York, for $ 19 000.
1875 May: Sold to Th. O. Olsen et al., Tønsberg, Norway for $22.500 and was renamed Progress.
1879 June 24: Sailed from New York to London and passed Gravesend on July 11, after 17 days.
1883: Sold to Lorentz Rafen, Holmestrand, for NOK 48 000,
1891 June 12: Abandoned at sea in 46° N, 40°W on voyage from Quebec to Dublin with a cargo of timber. The crew of seventeen, which has left the ship in the boats, was picked up by the bark Gulnare.
1891 October 8: The drifting wreck was reported having been sigthed in position 45°N, 24°W by the barque Ardgowan.

References:

Clipper ships, general references.
Brighton, Ray: Clippers of the Port of Portsmouth and the Men Who Built Them.
Peter E. Randall, Portsmouth, NH, 1984.
Burgess, Robert H. ed.: The "Sea Serpent" Journal. Hugh McCulloch Gregory's Voyage around the World in a Clipper Ship, 1854-55.
University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 1975.
Chapelle, Howard I.: The Search for Speed under Sail 1700-1855.
Norton, New York, 1967. 8vo, xiv, 451 pp, ill., 16 plates.
McGregor, David R.: British & American Clippers. A Comparison of their Design, Construction and Performance in the 1850s.
Conway Maritime Press, London, 1993. 4to, 192 pp, ill.
Howe, Octavious T. & Matthews, Frederick C.: American Clipper Ships.
1926. 8vo, xvi, 372 pp, 57 plates & x, pp 373-780, 57 plates.

Updated 2000-01-08 by Lars Bruzelius.

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