Westward Ho

An extreme clipper ship built in 1851 by Donald McKay, East Boston, MA. Her dimensions were 210'×40'6"×23'6" and tonnage 1650 tons old measurement. The figurehead was a full-length Indian warrior.

1852 September 24: Launched at the shipyard of Donald McKay, East Boston, MA, for Sampson & Tappan, Boston.
1852 October 16 - January 31: Sailed from Boston to San Francisco in 107 days under command of Captain Johnson.
1853 November 14 - February 27: Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 105 days under command of Captain Hussey.
1855 January 12 - April 22: Sailed from Boston to San Francisco in 100 days and 18 hours from the Boston Light under command of Captain Johnson. The clipper ship Neptune's Car which left Sandy Hook, New York, the day after the Westward Ho arrived at San Francisco after 100 days and 23½ hours.
1856 February 4: Arrived at Callao from Swatow with 800 coolies on board as workers for the guano deposits.
1856 December 16 - March 26: Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 100 days.
1857: Sailed from San Francisco to Callao under command of Captain Jones. Here she was sold to Don Juan de Ugarte, Lima, to be used in the coolie trade. She was registered at Callao without change of name.
1864 February 27: Caught fire while at anchor in the harbour of Callao.

References:

Clipper ships, general references.
Duncan MacLean: The New Clipper Ship Westward Ho! of Boston.
The Boston Daily Atlas, September 21, 1852.

Updated 1997-10-18 by Lars Bruzelius

Sjöhistoriska Samfundet | The Maritime History Virtual Archives | Ships | American clipper ships