Blue Jacket

A clipper ship built in 1854 by Robert E. Jackson, East Boston, MA. Dimensions 220'×41'6"×24' and tonnage 1790 tons. The figurehead was "a man from the waist up, in old sailor's costume, a blue jacket with yellow buttons, the jacket open in the front, no waistcoat, loose shirt, and a large knotted handkerchief round the neck; with a broad belt and large square buckle and cutlass hilt at the side. On either side of the figure-head was a scroll, saying: - 'Keep a sharp lookout!'".

1854 August 7

Launched at the shipyard of Robert E. Jackson, East Boston, MA, for Seccomb & Taylor, Boston. Captain Eldridge.

1854 October 2

Sailed from Boston to Liverpool in 12 days 10 hours.

1854

Sold to James John Frost for his Fox line of Australian packets.

1855 March 6 - May 13

Sailed from Liverpool to Melbourne in 68/69 days. Captain Underwood.

1855

Sailed from Madras to London in 92 days.

1856

Sailed from Lyttleton, New Zealand, to London in 63 days. Captain James White.

1869 February 13

Left Lyttleton with a cargo of flax and general cargo.

1869 March 5

The flax cargo caught fire while off the Falkland Islands.

1869 March 9

The ship was abandoned.

1869 March 16

The crew was rescued by the German barque Pyrmont of Bremen.

Lubbock mentions that the figurehead of the Blue Jacket was found washed up on the shore of the Rottnest Island, off Fremantle, Western Australia.

References:

• Clipper ships, general references.
• U.S. Nautical Magazine, Vol. I (1854-55), p 253.

Copyright © 1997 Lars Bruzelius.