View source for Great Republic (1853 clipper)

{{Short description|American clipper}}
{{For|the steamship|SS Great Republic (1866)}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin |display title=ital}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=GreatRepublic ca1853 byButtersworth PEM.jpg
|Ship caption=Clipper barque ''Great Republic'', painting by [[James E. Buttersworth]]
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=[[United States]]
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1851}}
|Ship name=''Great Republic''
|Ship namesake=Poem by [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]]
|Ship owner=*Donald McKay (Boston, 1853);
*[[Abiel Abbot Low|A. A. Low & Brothers]] (New York 1854);
*Capt. J. S. Hatfield ([[Yarmouth, Nova Scotia|Yarmouth, N. Scotia]]) 1866;
*Merchant's Trading Company ([[Liverpool]] 1869)
|Ship operator=
|Ship registry=
|Ship route=
|Ship ordered=1852
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Donald McKay]] (designer & builder)
|Ship original cost=$ 450,000.00 (1853)
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=1852
|Ship launched=October 4, 1853
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship christened=October 4, 1853 by Capt. A. Gifford
|Ship completed=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship maiden voyage= February 24, 1855 to Liverpool, England
|Ship in service=1854
|Ship out of service=1872
|Ship renamed=''Denmark'' in 1869
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=[[Boston]] (1853); [[New York City|New York]] (1855); [[Yarmouth, Nova Scotia]] (1866), [[Liverpool]] (1868)
|Ship identification=*Code letters L 2 T 5
*{{ICS|Lima}}{{ICS|Pennant_Two}}{{ICS|Tango}}{{ICS|Pennant_Five}}
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
|Ship honors=
|Ship captured=
|Ship fate=Sunk in storm off Bermuda on March 5, 1872
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=figurehead: gilded eagle and a second gilded eagle with outstretched wings across the stern board
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship type=
|Ship class=*four-masted medium [[Clipper]] [[barque]]
*three-masted full-rigged ship from 1862 
|Ship tonnage=*4,555 GRT, 4,100 [[Net Register Tonnage|NRT]]
*3,357 GRT, 3,100 NRT, from 1855 
|Ship displacement=~6,600 tons (5,000 tons cargo plus 1,600 tons ship's mass){{Citation needed|date=November 2021|reason=Weight of the ship is much less than the weight of the materials used to build it.}}
|Ship tons burthen=
|Ship length=*{{convert|334|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref>[http://www.schoonerman.com/grerep.htm Great Republic<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
*400 ft (122 m) [[Length overall|over all]] length
|Ship beam={{convert|53|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship height=*{{convert|247|ft|abbr=on}} keel to masthead truck,
*216 ft (66 m) deck to masthead truck
*(original measures)
|Ship draught={{convert|25|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship draft=
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship decks=4 continuous wooden decks, after rebuilt: 3 (with additional poop and forecastle decks)
|Ship deck clearance= 8 ft
|Ship ramps=
|Ship ice class=
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=Sails
|Ship sail plan=*<u>Original plan:</u> 50 sails (6,400 m²):
*17 square, 10 stay sails, 5 [[jib]]s, spanker & spanker top sail, 16 [[studding sail]]s;
*<u>Reduced sail plan</u>: 42 sails (5,400 m²):
*15 square, 8 stay sails, 5 jibs, spanker & spanker top sail, 12 studding sails;
*sail area (full-rigged ship): 29 sails (5,200 m²):
*18 square, 5 stay sails, 5 jibs, 1 spanker sail, 12 studding sails
|Ship speed=19 [[knot (unit)|kn]] (35.2 km/h)
|Ship range=
|Ship endurance=
|Ship test depth=
|Ship boats=
|Ship capacity=5,000 [[long ton|ton]]s max.
|Ship troops=
|Ship complement=60; originally planned: 120
|Ship crew=
|Ship time to activate=
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=
|Ship armour=
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft=
|Ship aircraft facilities=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
When launched in 1853, '''''Great Republic''''' was the largest wooden ship in the world. She shared this title with another American-built ship, the steamship ''[[Adriatic (1856 ship)|Adriatic]]''. She was also the largest full-rigged ship ever built in the United States.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Essex Institute historical collections. Vol. LXIII|publisher=Essex Institute|year=1927|pages=193|oclc=6140167}}</ref>
She was built by Donald McKay for trade on his own account to Australia.

Just as she was completing loading in New York for her first commercial trip, she was involved in a disastrous fire. She was scuttled to try to save the hull, with only limited success. McKay decided to abandon the wreck to his insurers, who sold the damaged hull to new owners, who rebuilt her with three decks instead of four. She was employed on trans-Atlantic and California routes, with a period under contract to the French government for the [[Crimean War]]. She was never used on Australian routes.<ref name="MacGregor 1993">{{cite book |last1=MacGregor |first1=David R |title=British and American Clippers: A Comparison of their Design, Construction and Performance |date=1993 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press Limited |location=London |isbn=0-85177-588-8}}</ref>{{rp|page=124–129}}

Even in her rebuilt form, ''Great Republic'' had difficulty accessing many ports when fully loaded, due to her great size. She regularly had to partially unload into lighters so that she could then enter locked basins to finish unloading. She did make the fast passages expected of her by McKay – so vindicating the design concept.{{r|MacGregor 1993|pp=124–129}}

==Construction==
[[File:Great Republic, Donald McKay 1853.tif|left|thumb|''Great Republic'', as originally built in 1853]]
Designed by naval architect and shipbuilder [[Donald McKay]] as a four-deck four-masted medium clipper barque, ''Great Republic''&mdash;at 4,555 tons registry<ref>Most likely [[Gross Register Tonnage]] or [[Gross Register Tonnage|GRT]] measurement</ref>&mdash;was intended to be the most profitable wooden sailing ship ever to ply the [[Australian gold rush]] and southern oceans merchant trade. The ship's launch was planned for September 4, 1853—builder [[Donald McKay]]'s birthday—but it was postponed to October 4 due to problems with the timber supplies. The City of Boston made the launch a public holiday.<ref>J. Ernest Kerr, ''Imprint of the Maritimes'', 1959, Boston: Christopher Publishing, p. 135</ref> Between 30,000 and 50,000 spectators attended, among them Ferdinand Laeisz of the [[Flying P-Line]] of Hamburg. The ship was christened by Captain Alden Gifford using a bottle of pure [[Cochituate]] water. The ship's name was drawn from the title of a poem by [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]]. After outfitting, ''Great Republic'' sailed in ballast from Boston to New York, where in December 1853 her first cargo was loaded.
[[File:Great Republic Currier.jpg|thumb|300px|Currier and Ives print of ''Great Republic'']]

''Great Republic'' required "1,500,000 feet of pine ... 2,056 tons of white oak, 336½ tons of iron, and 56 tons of copper" - about three times as much pine as was typically required for a large clipper ship.<ref>{{Cite book
  | last = Crothers
  | first = William L
  | title = The American-built clipper ship, 1850–1856 : characteristics, construction, and details
  | publisher = International Marine
  | year = 1997
  | location = Camden, ME
  | pages = 114
  | isbn = 0-07-014501-6}}</ref>

The [[Essex Institute]] Historical Collections provide a very detailed description of ''Great Republic'' in Volume LXIII, published in 1927.<ref name=":0" />

==Fire and re-building==
On December 26, 1853<ref name=Jennings/> a fire broke out in the buildings of the Novelty Baking Company on Front Street near the piers where ''Great Republic'' and several other wooden merchant vessels were moored.<ref>{{Cite news 
  | title = GREAT CONFLAGRATION!; SEVERAL BUILDINGS AND SHIPS ON FIRE. Ship ''Great Republic'' in Flames. Over $1,000,000 worth of Property Destroyed.
  | newspaper = The New York Times
  | location = New York
  | page = 1
  | date = December 27, 1853
  | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1853/12/27/archives/great-conflagration-several-buildings-and-ships-on-fire-ship-great.html
  | access-date = March 15, 2010}}</ref> The fire quickly spread to the [[packet ship]] ''Joseph Walker'', and to the clippers ''White Squall'', ''Whirlwind'', and ''[[Red Rover (clipper)|Red Rover]]'', with sparks from the fire showering onto the deck of the ''Great Republic'', whose crew was mustered shortly after midnight to unsuccessfully dowse the sails.<ref name=Jennings/> The first three ships were destroyed; ''Red Rover'' was damaged, and ''Great Republic'' burnt to near the waterline and was scuttled at dawn to save her hull at dock.<ref name=Jennings>{{cite book|title=Clipper Ship Days: The Golden Age of American Sailing Ships|url=https://archive.org/details/clippershipdaysg00jenn|url-access=registration|first=John|last=Jennings|publisher=New York: Random House|date=1952|page=[https://archive.org/details/clippershipdaysg00jenn/page/162 162]}}, accessed May 30, 2018.</ref><ref>{{Cite news 
  | title = The Great Conflagration. Three Clipper-Ships Destroyed. Total Loss of the ''Great Republic.'' Burning of the ''White Squall,'' and ''Joseph Walker.'' Nine {{sic|nolink=y|Buidings}} Destroyed on Front-St. Loss, $1,500,000. Insurance, $500,000 to $700,000. Additional Fire--Incendiarism, & c.
  | newspaper = The New York Times
  | location = New York
  | page = 1
  | date = December 28, 1853
  | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1853/12/28/archives/the-great-conflagration-three-clipperships-destroyed-total-loss-of.html
  | access-date = March 15, 2010}}
</ref><ref name="THE AMERICAN ALMANAC AND REPOSITORY OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE, FOR THE YEAR 1855">{{cite book|title=The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge, for the year 1855|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ca0TAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA345|access-date=31 March 2013|year=1855|pages=345–}}</ref> Bloated by grain which burst her seams,<ref name=Jennings/> ''Great Republic'' was declared a total loss, and Donald McKay, who was said never to have gotten over the tragic event, was compensated by insurers. The sunken hulk was sold by the insurance underwriters to Captain [[Nathaniel Palmer]], working on behalf of A. A. Low and Bro., who salvaged and rebuilt it as a three-deck vessel with reduced masts.
[[File:Greatrepublicclipper.jpg|thumb|300px]]

==Voyages==
Still the largest clipper ship in the world at 3,357 tons registry, ''Great Republic'', under command of Captain Joseph Lymburner, started back in merchant service on February 24, 1855. Her maiden voyage brought her to [[Liverpool]] in 13 days.

''Great Republic'' was "chartered by the French Government to bring munitions and troops to the Crimea," and served in the general cargo and [[guano]] trades.<ref>{{Cite news 
  | title = SEA AND SHIP NEWS.; Voyage of the Clipper-ship ''Great Republic.'' THE FALKLAND ISLANDS--PORT STANLEY AND OTHER HARBORS-THE PEOPLE, SOIL AND CLIMATE--TRADE OF THE ISLANDS--THE PATAGONIAN MISSION.
  | newspaper = The New York Times
  | location = New York
  | page = 3
  | date = July 6, 1858
  | url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B04E2D7153CEE34BC4E53DFB1668383649FDE
  | access-date = March 15, 2010}}
</ref> In 1862 the fourth mast was removed and the others re-rigged, and the clipper became a three-masted full-rigged ship, a so-called three-skysail-yarder. In 1864 Captain Lymburner retired and the ship's registry moved to [[Yarmouth, Nova Scotia]]. In 1869 she was sold to the Merchants' Trading Company of  Liverpool and renamed ''Denmark''. She continued sailing until March 5, 1872 when a hurricane off Bermuda caused the ship to leak badly and she was abandoned.

==Records set==
During her 19-year merchant career, ''Great Republic'' proved to be very fast under leading breeze conditions and often out-distanced the fastest merchant steamers on Mediterranean routes. Sailing around [[Cape Horn]], ''Great Republic'' averaged {{convert|17|kn|km/h}} to set a record by logging {{convert|413|nmi|km}} in a single day.

==Comparison to other large wooden sailing ships==
A [[Largest wooden ships|wooden sailing vessel larger]] than ''Great Republic'' was launched nearly three decades earlier in June 1825: the 5,294-ton ''[[Baron of Renfrew (ship)|Baron of Renfrew]]'' was a [[disposable ship]] built for a single voyage from [[Quebec]] to [[London]]. There it would be dismantled and sold piecemeal to English shipbuilders at premium prices since large timbers were in short supply. The vessel itself was exempt from British taxes imposed on "oak and square pine timber cargoes" and thus gained an economic advantage. Unfortunately, ''Baron of Renfrew'' was wrecked as it was being towed toward London in a storm. Although reports differ, most indicate the timbers were recovered and sold, and the venture was ultimately successful. Nevertheless, when the British tax on timber cargoes was changed shortly afterwards, the economic advantage disappeared and ''disposable ship'' construction ceased.

''Great Republic'' was the largest, but not the longest wooden sailing ship ever built. Despite her 400&nbsp;ft length overall, the record of being the longest wooden ship is held by the six-masted schooner ''[[Wyoming (schooner)|Wyoming]]'' built at the Percy & Small shipyard, [[Bath, Maine]], in 1909. Her overall length including her {{convert|86|ft|m|abbr=on}}-long jibboom and her protruding spanker boom was {{convert|450|ft|m|abbr=on}}, {{convert|334|ft|m|abbr=on}} on deck.
[[File:GREAT REPUBLIC (Ship) (c112-01-42).jpg|thumb|Sailing card]]

==Further reading==
*Francis B. C. Bradlee: ''The Ship Great Republic and Donald McKay Her Builder''. The Essex Institute, Salem, MA, 1927. Reprint of the ''Historical Collections'' of the Essex Institute, Vol. LXIII.
*Octavius T. Howe & Frederick C. Matthews: ''American Clipper Ships 1833–1858''. New York 1926, pp.&nbsp;33–35
*[[Basil Lubbock|Lubbock, Basil]]: ''The Down Easters''. Brown, Son & Ferguson, Ltd., Nautical Publishers, Glasgow (1929); Reprinted 1953; pp.&nbsp;49–53; p.&nbsp;253
*Richard McKay: ''Some Famous Sailing Ships and Their Builder Donald McKay''. New York 1928, pp.&nbsp;210–225
*Duncan MacLean: ''Description of the largest ship in the world, the new clipper Great Republic, of Boston, designed, built and owned by Donald McKay and commanded by Capt. L. McKay. Illustrated with Designs of her Construction. Written by a sailor''. Eastburn's Press, Boston 1853. [https://archive.org/details/descriptionlarg00sailgoog <!-- quote=clipper ship. --> Available online].
*"Barons of the Sea: And Their Race to Build the World's Fastest Clipper Ship", [[Steven Ujifusa]] (2018), Simon & Schuster

==Notes==
<references />

==References==
*[http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/Ships/Clippers/Great_Republic(1853).html ''Great Republic'' on Nautica]{{Self-published source|date=June 2020}} , checked 2009-01-29
*[http://www.globalindex.com/clippers/museum/great_re.htm Clipper ship history by Lars Bruzelius] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070826175945/http://www.globalindex.com/clippers/museum/great_re.htm |date=2007-08-26 }}{{Self-published source|date=June 2020}} , checked 2007-08-22

==External links==
{{Commons category|Great Republic (ship, 1853)|Great Republic}}
*[http://mobius.mysticseaport.org/detail.php?type=related&kv=122438&t=objects Figurehead from clipper ship ''Great Republic''], Mystic Seaport
*[http://www.dhub.org/object/238166,design Model of ''Great Republic'']
*{{Cite news
  | title = Description Of The Largest Ship In The World, The New Clipper, ''Great Republic,'' of Boston. Designed, built, and owned by Donald McKay. (From The Novascotian)
  | newspaper = The Newfoundland Express
  | location = St. John's, Newfoundland
  | page = 3
  | date = January 7, 1854
  | url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UJIxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VSkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5427,121602&dq=great-republic+clipper+description&hl=en
  | access-date = March 15, 2010}}
*{{citation |chapter-url=http://www.shippingwondersoftheworld.com/great-republic.html |chapter=The biggest sailing ship of her time |title=Shipping Wonders of the World |year=1937 |pages=491–494 |editor-first=Clarence |editor-last=Winchester }} illustrated description of ''Great Republic''
*{{cite journal |last1=Pacific Marine Review |year=1921 |title=Our Greatest Wooden Ship |journal=Pacific Marine Review |volume=Consolidated 1921 issues |issue=December  |page=706 |publisher='Official Organ: Pacific American Steamship Association/Shipowners' Association of the Pacific Coast |url=https://archive.org/stream/pacificmarinerev1821paci#page/n975/mode/1up |access-date=24 September 2014}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Matthews |first1=F. C. |year=1921 |title=The Clipper Ship Great Republic |journal=Pacific Marine Review |volume=Consolidated 1921 issues |issue=December  |pages=707–710 |publisher='Official Organ: Pacific American Steamship Association/Shipowners' Association of the Pacific Coast |url=https://archive.org/stream/pacificmarinerev1821paci#page/n976/mode/1up |access-date=24 September 2014}}

{{World's largest wooden ships}}
{{Clipper ships}}
{{1872 shipwrecks}}
{{coord missing|Atlantic Ocean}}

[[Category:Individual sailing vessels]]
[[Category:Age of Sail merchant ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Troop ships of France]]
[[Category:Guano trade]]
[[Category:Ships built in Boston]]
[[Category:Ships designed by Donald McKay]]
[[Category:1853 ships]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in March 1872]]