Antelope of Boston
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
|
|
| Name: | Antelope |
| Owner: | William Lincoln and Co., Boston |
| Builder: | James. O. Curtis, Medford, MA |
| Launched: | November 1851 |
| Acquired: | June 1855, sold to New York parties. 1858, owned by J. Morewood & Co., New York |
| Fate: | Lost on Discovery Shoal, Paracels Reef, China Sea, Lat 17 N Lon 112 E, en route from Bangkok to China. Abandoned August 6, 1858. |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Medium clipper |
| Tons burthen: | 587 tons |
| Length: | 140 ft (43 m). LOA |
| Beam: | 29 ft (8.8 m). |
| Draft: | 19 ft (5.8 m). |
| Notes: | 2 decks |
Antelope was a medium clipper built in 1851 near Boston, in Medford, MA. She sailed in the San Francisco, China, and Far East trades. She was known for her fine finish work and for her crew’s escape from pirates. She is often called Antelope of Boston to distinguish her from an extreme clipper launched in 1852, Antelope of New York.
Antelope was designed "to combine large stowage capacity with good sailing qualities." Her frame was white oak, with yellow pine planking and a rock maple keel.
Her ends are clipperly in their form, and her water-lines slightly concave; and, although she has only 8 inches dead rise at half floor, yet, as her stem is almost upright, her floor long, and her keel deep, she is expected to hold as good a wind as most of the sharp-bottomed clippers of the same register.
The hull was black, the inside dark buff with blue waterways. Her cabin was "beautifully panelled with satin and zebra woods, set off with rose wood pilasters." The "Boston Daily Atlas" praised Antelope’s ornamental work as "infinitely superior to most of the gaudy stuff now in vogue."
Antelope sailed from Boston to San Francisco on her maiden voyage in 149 days, rather than the expected 130 days or less, under the well known Captain Tully Crosby. From there she sailed to Shanghai, returning to New York with a passage of 118 days.
In 1853, Antelope arrived in San Francisco from New York under Captain Snow on August 31 after a passage of 128 days, returning to New York via Callao in 178 days.
After one more round trip to the West Coast of South America Antelope went into the China trade.
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Wikipedia