Romance of the Sea (clipper)

Romance of the Sea was a clipper ship launched in 1853.[1][2][3][4] She was "the last extreme clipper ship built by Donald McKay for the California trade".[3] Her original figurehead was "a small female figure, intended to represent Romance, with the name of [Sir Walter] Scott on one side, and [James Fennimore] Cooper on the other - the greatest romancers of the century".[4] She lost that figurehead during a storm on her third voyage.

History
United States
Name:	Romance of the Sea(see note)[notes 1]
Owner:	George B. Upton
Builder:	Donald McKay of East Boston, MA
Launched:	October 23, 1853
Fate:	Unknown; sailed from Hong Kong December 31, 1862 and was not heard from again
General characteristics
Class and type:	Extreme clipper
Tons burthen:	1782 tons
Length:	240 feet (73.2 m)
Beam:	36.5 feet (11.1 m)
Draft:	29.5 feet (9.0 m)
Sail plan:	Double topsails; fore and mizzen royals; main skysail[1]

In her nine year life, Romance of the Sea made six round-trip voyages from North Atlantic ports before being lost during her seventh voyage.

Her voyages

The Romance of the Sea's voyages are listed here. Sources disagree on some items; disagreements or ambiguities are individually cited. City names are as they were at the time.

Voyage	Origin	Depart	Destination	Arrive	Days	Captain
1	Boston	December 16, 1853	San Francisco	March 23, 1854	96	Philip Dumaresq
1	San Francisco	March 31, 1854	Hong Kong	May 16, 1854	45	Philip Dumaresq
1	Hong Kong	May 9, 1854[3]	Deal, England[1][3] or London[2]	September 21, 1854[3]	102[3] or 103[1][2]	Philip Dumaresq
2	Deal		Hong Kong		99	William H. Henry
2	Shanghai	November 1, 1855	Deal	March 7, 1856	126	William H. Henry
2	Deal		Boston	August 15, 1856		William H. Henry
3	New York	July 3, 1856	San Francisco	October 24, 1856	113	William H. Henry
3	San Francisco	November 17, 1856	Shanghai	December 22, 1856	113	William H. Henry
3	Shanghai	February 16, 1857	New York	May 27, 1857	100	William H. Henry
4	New York	July 3, 1857	Batavia, Dutch East Indies	September 28, 1857	88	Eben Caldwell
4	See note[notes 2]					Eben Caldwell (see note)[notes 3]
4	Shanghai	March 20[1] or 21[2], 1859	New York	June 22, 1859	94
5	New York	August 11, 1859	Hong Kong	December 6, 1859	109
5	Manila	June 23, 1860	Boston	October 10, 1860	109
6	Boston	December 28, 1860	San Francisco	April 13, 1861	105	Ashman J. Clough
6	San Francisco	May 12, 1861	Queenstown, Ireland	August 13, 1861	93	Ashman J. Clough
6	Liverpool	September 29, 1861	Boston	October 27, 1861	34	Ashman J. Clough
7	New York	February 7, 1862	San Francisco	May 24, 1862	106
7	San Francisco	June 7, 1862	Hong Kong	July 24, 1862	46
7	Hong Kong (see note)[notes 4]	December 31, 1862	San Francisco	Lost during voyage

Artifacts

• Donald McKay's original half-hull working model is held by the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.[5]
• Sailing cards advertising Romance's first two voyages to San Francisco are held by the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Museum of MIT. The one for the first voyage is reproduced in Yankee Ship Sailing Cards.[6]

Notes

1. A contemporary account (McLean) calls the ship Romance of the Sea, and that name is on the original half-hull model. However, since the early 1900s references have called the vessel Romance of the Seas.
2. Romance spent from late 1857 to early 1859 trading among Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Shanghai.
3. A privately-printed family history, Caldwells & Clipper Ships, states that Captain Caldwell fell ill at Hong Kong and left the ship there.
4. Between July and December 1862, Romance sailed to Bangkok and back; the exact dates are not known

References

1. Howe, Octavius T.; Matthews, Frederick C. (1926). America Clipper Ships 1833-1858. II. Marine Research Society. pp. 530–535.
2. Cutler, Carl C. (1967). Greyhounds of the Sea. United States Naval Institute. pp. 285–287, 356, 371, 431.
3. McKay, Richard C. (1928). Some Famous Sailing Ships and Their Builder Donald McKay. G.P. Putnam's Sons. pp. 249–254, 370, 376.
4. Duncan McLean (Lars Bruzelius, transcriber) (November 8, 1853). "The New Clipper Ship Romance of the Sea, of Boston". The Boston Daily Atlas. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
5. "Half-hull working model: Romance of the Seas". Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
6. Forbes, Allan; Eastman, Ralph M. (1948). Yankee Ship Sailing Cards. State Street Trust Company. p. 47.

See also

List of clipper ships