During the era of the clipper ships many of the most noted were.. built in Newburyport, including the ” Racer,” ” Highflyer ” and ” Dreadnought.”
The most famous of all these was the ” Dreadnought,” nicknamed ” The Wild Boat of the Atlantic.” She was built in 1853 by Currier and Townsend and
was of fourteen hundred and thirteen tons register and two hundred and ten feet in length, being owned by David Ogden and others of New York.*
The actual site where she was famously launched is still there in the present shipyard across from the foot of Ashland Street.
She was commanded by Captain Samuel Samuels who is authority for the statement that she was never passed in anything over a four-knot breeze.
This ship was employed largely as a packet between New York and Liver- pool, making some sixty to seventy passages across the Atlantic. Her best
run was to the eastward, February 27- March 12, 1859, in thirteen days, eight hours, being within seven hours of the fastest record of a sailing ship, made by the ” Red Jacket ” in 1854.* The ” Dreadnought ” has been credited with a much shorter passage but it is difficult to substantiate this claim and in his history of the ship contained in ” From the Forecastle to the Cabin,” Captain Samuels does not mention such a voyage but particularly refers to the above- mentioned run of thirteen days, eight hours.
Captain Samuels
Biography of Captain Samuel Samuels
After a short career the ** Dreadnought ” was wrecked off Cape Horn in 1869.
The Dreadnought Memorial in Newburyport
The following thorough dissertation on the Dreadnought is taken from The Clipper Ship Era, by Arthur H. Mckay, 1910:
“The well-known packet ship Dreadnought also came out in 1853. She was built by Currier & Townsend at Newburyport, and was 1413 tons register; length 210 feet, breadth 40 feet, depth 26 feet. This ship was owned by Governor E. D. Morgan, Francis B. Cutting, David Ogden, and others, of New York, who subscribed to build her for Captain Samuel Samuels. He superintended her construction and under his able command she made some remarkably quick voyages between New York and Liverpool, sailing in David Ogden’s Red Cross Line, with the Victory, Racer, and Highflyer.
Captain Samuels was born in Philadelphia in 1823 and went to sea when he was eleven years old, and a narrative of his adventures afloat and on shore is contained in his interesting memoirs entitled. From the Forecastle to the Cabin, published in 1887. He was a most amiable and entertaining companion, full of good humor and penetrating wit. He also cherished a belief in the uplifting influence of an enterprising press agent, and perhaps no merchant ship of modern times has been better advertised than the Dreadnought. She sailed on her first voyage from New York for Liverpool, December 15, 1853, and from that date until her arrival at New York, January 28, 1855, had made eight passages between New York and Liverpool, the average time of her eastern passages being 21 days 15 hours, and her western passages 24 days 12 hours from dock to dock.
Captain Samuels commanded the Dreadnought for ten years, and during that time she made from seventy to eighty passages across the Atlantic, and must have had ample opportunity to make fast voyages and day’s runs. The following abstracts from the logs of her best passages are therefore of interest: She sailed from New York for Liverpool, November 20, 1854; passed Sandy Hook at 6.30 p.m. and ran to noon, November 21st, 120 miles; 22d, 57 miles; 23d, 225 miles; 24th, 300 miles; 25th, 175 miles; 26th, 125 miles; 27th, 250 miles; 28th, 263 miles; 29th, 240 miles; 30th, 270 miles; December 1st, 242 miles; 2d, 222 miles; 3d, 212 miles; 4th, 320 miles. Total 3071 miles. The log records:
At noon on the 4th took a pilot off Point Lynas; was detained eight hours for want of water on the bar; arrived in the Mersey at 10 p.m.; thus making the passage in 14 days 4 hours, apparent time. Deducting eight hours for detention by tide at the bar, and also deducting the difference of longitude, 4 hours and 45 minutes, gives the mean or true time of passage, 13 days 11 hours and 15 minutes. Average speed for the passage, 9½ miles per hour. On this passage, the Dreadnought was off Cape Clear, Ireland, in 12 days 12 hours from Sandy Hook.
She sailed from New York, May 4, 1855, and arrived at Liverpool May 20th; passage recorded as 15 days 12 hours.
She sailed from Sandy Hook, January 24, 1856 (time not given), and ran to noon, January 25th, 345 miles; 26th, 312 miles; 27th, 252 miles; 28th, 223 miles; 29th, violent gale, drifted 90 miles west-southwest; 30th, 115 miles; 31st, 212 miles; February 1st, 228 miles; 2d, 208 miles; 3d, 185 miles; 4th, 238 miles; 5th, 252 miles; 6th, 244 miles; 7th, 212 miles; 8th, off Point Lynas. Hove-to until daylight for pilot and tide. Total distance run 3116 miles in 14 days, or an average of 222 miles per day. The Dreadnought sailed from New York, February 27, 1859; at 3 p.m. discharged pilot, and ran to noon, February 28th, 200 miles; wind south to west-northwest, brisk breezes. March 1st, 293 miles; west-northwest fresh breezes. 2d, 262 miles; north-west to north-northwest brisk gales and snow-squalls. 3d, 208 miles; north-northwest to north heavy gales and snow-squalls. 4th, 178 miles; north-northeast to north heavy gales and snow-squalls. 5th, 218 miles; north to north-northeast heavy gales and snow-squalls. 6th, 133 miles; north-east to south light breezes. 7th, 282 miles; south-southeast brisk breezes and clear. 8th, 313 miles; south-southwest to south fresh breezes and clear. 9th, 268 miles; south to southeast brisk gales. 10th, 205 miles; southeast to southwest brisk breezes and squally. 11th, 308 miles; south to southwest strong breeze and squally. 12th, 150 miles; southwest, thick weather. Distance sailed from Sandy Hook to the Northwest Lightship, 3018 miles; passage 13 days 8 hours, mean time.
It was during this passage that the Dreadnought is supposed to have made the run from Sandy Hook to Queenstown in 9 days 17 hours, but an analysis of the abstract log shows that 9 days 21 hours after discharging her pilot to the eastward of Sandy Hook she was not within 400 miles of Queenstown.How this mythical tale originated, is difficult to imagine, but it has been passed along from one scribe to another these many years, until at last it has reached the dignity of an “historical fact,” having recently been embalmed in an encyclopedia. Curiously enough, Captain Samuels appears to be
The “Dreadnought”
almost the only person who has written about the Dreadnought who does not refer to this fable. In his memoirs, he makes no mention of it.
The best passage to the westward made by the Dreadnought was in 1854, when she ran from the Rock Light, Liverpool, to Sandy Hook in 19 days. While it cannot be said that the Dreadnought ever made the fastest passage of a sailing vessel between New York and Liverpool, as the records in this respect are held by the Red Jacket, Captain Asa Eldridge, from Sandy Hook to the Rock Light, in 13 days 1 hour, in 1854, and by the Andrew Jackson, Captain John Williams, from Rock Light to Sandy Hook in 15 days, in 1860, still the uniform speed of the Dreadnought’s many voyages entitles her to a high place among the celebrated packet ships of the past.
The Dreadnought was a strikingly handsome and well-designed, though by no means a sharp ship. Her masts, yards, sails, ironwork, blocks, and standing and running rigging were of the best material and were always carefully looked after. She was a ship that would stand almost any amount of driving in heavy weather, and her fast passages were in a measure due to this excellent quality, though mainly to the unceasing vigilance and splendid seamanship of her commander. She was wrecked in 1869 while under the command of Captain P. N. Mayhew; her crew were rescued after being adrift fourteen days in the boats, but the noble old packet ship went to pieces among the rugged cliffs and crags and roaring breakers of Cape Horn.”