Thatcher Magoun (clipper)

Thumb
History
United States
NameThatcher Magoun
OwnerThatcher Magoun and Sons, Boston
BuilderHayden & Cudworth, Medford, MA
Norway
RenamedHercules
FateReported lost off the coast of Africa in the early 1880s.[1] Listed in 1882 RAFS. Not listed 1884.[2]
General characteristics
Class and typeExtreme clipper
Tons burthen1248 tons OM, 1155 tons NM[3]
Length200 ft. OA
Beam40 ft.
Draft24 ft.[2]

The Thatcher Magoun was an extreme clipper launched in 1855. She was built in shipyards on the Mystic River at Medford, Massachusetts by shipbuilder Thatcher Magoun. Magoun died the year she was launched, and the ship was named after him.

Noting that the ship's figurehead resembled Magoun, in his book published in 1937, Hall Gleason described the ship, saying "Her figurehead was a life-like image of the father of ship building on the Mystic".[1]

Voyages

[edit]

According to Hall Gleason, Thatcher Magoun made five passages from Boston to San Francisco. For this route, the clipper's fastest journey was completed in 113 days, and its slowest in 152 days. Moreover, in 1869, Thatcher Magoun made seven passages from New York to San Francisco, averaging 96 days per voyage.[1]

On one of its voyages from New York to San Francisco, Thatcher Magoun carried locomotives CP 88, 89, and 95 for the Central Pacific Railroad company. This voyage began July 10, 1868, and lasted 117 days.[4]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Gleason, Hall (1937). Old Ships and Ship-Building Days of Medford. Medford, MA: J.C. Miller. p. 78.
  2. ^ a b Crothers, William L. (1997). The American-Built Clipper Ship, 1850-1856: Characteristics, Construction, Details. Camden, ME: International Marine. pp. xvii. ISBN 0-07-014501-6.
  3. ^ Bruzelius, Lars (2000-01-08). "Clipper Ships Built in the United States: Massachusetts". The Virtual Maritime Archives. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
  4. ^ Huffman, Wendell W. (Spring 1999). "Railroads Shipped by Sea". Railroad History. 180 (180). Westford, Mass.: Railway and Locomotive Historical Society: 7–30. JSTOR 43522103.
[edit]