The early clippers had steeply raked masts, square topsails over the gaff rigged main, a huge gaff rigged sail with a square topsail on the aft mast and a few flying jibs. This rig was popular but only one of many variations, for it was the underwater profile of the clipper ship that was uniformly similar. The Baltimore clipper was less a specific type than a name associated with clippers, as many were built on that part of the Atlantic coast. Many of the later larger clippers were built by Donald McKay in East Boston, but Maine yards built their share. As more clippers were built, different rigging plans were used. The larger mid-century vessels were ship rigged (square rigged), and some captains experimented with these rigs. The lines of the American clipper ship have been traced to the American privateer schooner Prince of Neufchatel, believed built at New York in 1812. One of the largest privateers at 110 feet on deck and 25-foot beam, there were many of similar size. This ship had great success as a privateer in the War of 1812. In 1814, pursued on the Grand Banks by three British frigates in heavy late December seas, she was taken at the end of the day after losing spars while too heavily canvassed. The British brought her to England, took the lines off and built fast ships like the Red Rover for, among others, their East India trade. Their famous, respected and 200-year-old East India Company (the same company that helped settle America) was by then in need of fast ships for the more infamous and less respected opium trade. The Portuguese began trading China tobacco from Brazil for silk in the 1600s. But it was the Dutch mixture of opium and tobacco in the Spanish pipe that set off opium smoking like a wildfire in China by the early 1700s. The Dutch reported earning 400% profits on opium in the 1670s. Opium had been known in China since the 8th century, but had been a pharmaceutical and luxury product. This increased demand in its new context led to the first attempt to check the use of opium in China. In 1729 the Chinese emperor issued an edict banning the smoking of opium. The British however, expanded the business in the late 1600s with the rapidly growing and demanding customer base by smuggling past bribed officials. The East India Company, “the company” as it was known, had developed an enormous balanced trade triangle that they wanted to preserve. They had succeeded in transforming opium from a recreational/luxury item to something with the reliable demand of food. Trade figures for the 1820s indicated that from India they shipped about 20 million pounds sterling worth of opium and cotton to China, from China they brought 20 million pounds worth of tea and silk to Britain, from Britain they brought textiles and machinery to India. Technically illegal in China, cheap and superior Indian opium generated huge profits for a not-very-perishable commodity. However, market demands increasingly called for speedy shipment, evasion of authorities and escaping pirates enroute – the clipper ship delivered. Making 16 to 18 knots was fairly common, with 20 knots regularly recorded. A 30- to 40-day trip from Calcutta to Canton was common with most ships carrying a few hundred chests of opium. The best “opium passages” recorded were made by the Red Rover – 17 days, Poppy – 22 days, and Lanrich – 25 days. The clippers carried less cargo than other ships, but speed was important and 400% profit margins made up for volume. There were also cotton clippers, coffee clippers and others that carried the same cargo regularly. The British continuously faced opposition to this trade from the Chinese government and encouragement from corrupt officials. They gained control of most of the production and sale of opium in India through military force in 1773. Processed under supervision at two “Company” factories, opium was formed into balls. Forty balls were packed into wooden chests. Each chest weighing 140 pounds bore a trademark. These became the means of measuring volume shipped, as are barrels of oil today. As a currency, opium was traded for tea, silk and a range of products that became popular in the West, not the least of which was tea. Tea has a long consumer history in China; its use beginning with the recognized need to boil water for drinking. English traders introduced England, its colonies and neighbors to tea drinking. There was trade of all kinds between China and the West at this time. Chinese antiques, art, tea cups and pots reverently preserved in some collections on the Maine coast were brought back by ships in this era. Centuries before the West, the Chinese had developed a superior durable porcelain. Opium made Canton a great trading port for tea and its accessories. The city remains a center for china, the narrow cart-width streets of the old city along the waterfront are loaded with shops selling new and antique tea paraphernalia. Driven by the Chinese from other ports, the British agreed to only ship to Canton (Guangzhou today) a few miles up the Pearl River from Hong Kong. These cities in south China were due east of India, however, upwind of the typhoons that regularly swept west across the South China Sea and Indian Ocean. It was the clipper ship’s windward ability that made it particularly suited to this trade route. Clipper ships with speed their namesake, were often driven hard under a heavy press of sail. As a result they sustained more rigging damage.
Demand for opium in China continued to outstrip supply. The emperor’s ban meant there was no competition in China. China grew opium later, but it was inferior to Indian opium. British sea captains bribed Canton officials and smuggled the chests into southern China freely, where the Indian opium brought two and three times the price of the Chinese product. Control of production and soaring demand drove the price per chest up 600% in the 15 years before 1814. Americans became Britain’s most daring and successful competitors in the Chinese opium trade. Unable to buy opium at the now British-controlled Calcutta market, they bought it in Turkey and sailed around the tip of Africa. The biggest American company was the Samuel Russell Company established in 1818. Britain after forcing a limited opium production policy to control price, later shifted to unlimited production. Chinese opium imports went from 270 tons in 1820 to 2,558 tons in 1840. When the East India Company lost its charter in 1834, the loss of control opened the way for American traders, and a new fleet of clippers was launched. Increased building of ships was seen from the mid-Atlantic states to Maine. Demand for opium continued to rapidly rise with an estimated 3 million addicts in 1830. The Original War On Drugs The increase in production led to an opium glut. This, American competition and Chinese opposition, all threatened British dominance. Britain as a result fought two wars in defense of its commerce in opium. In 1838 the emperor’s most effective anti-opium campaign had mixed results. Opium traders were ordered to forfeit their opium. More than 20,000 chests were confiscated after the British government offered to compensate traders, and the opium was destroyed. The British, in their version of regaining market share, later sent six warships to capture Canton in 1839. Chinese ships, large junks, were blown up and sunk at will by British warships. The war ended in 1842 with Britain getting Hong Kong, five other ports and for the first time ever, access to interior markets. The lease agreement with Hong Kong lasted until 1997. China still refused to legalize opium. Demand soared and frenzied buying at Calcutta drove prices higher. The fast run to the China coast was now more essential than ever. There were 48 new clippers launched for the opium fleet at this time. The second opium war ended in 1858 with the British forcing the legalization of opium imports. The era of the opium clipper ended with this new treaty. As domestic production rose, it slowed the frantic pace of demand and profit. This event coincided with an economic depression in the United States from which the clipper ship did not emerge as a major ship type. The shipping of opium continued as demand grew until around the turn of the century. The British had sent deep opium trade roots into the countryside. After the Chinese legalized opium growing in 1858, opium became widely grown and a medium of exchange in many areas. It was so commonly available that some students traveling to Bejing for examinations took opium with them to pay expenses along the way. Clipper ships, once newsworthy for their speed, disappeared from the front pages of American newspapers as shipping and the U.S. economy went into decline. When the economy rebounded shipping was done in big schooners. The schooner went through its own fast-paced development of larger and larger ships. Although volume replaced speed in the ships, below the waterline the clipper ship had not been forgotten. The photo of the Pride of Baltimore appears in the book Sailing with Pride by Greg Pease (C.A. Baumgartner Publishing, 23 East 22nd Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, 410-332-0583.)
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