Carrier Pigeon (the ship)

History
United States
Name:	Carrier Pigeon
Namesake:	Carrier pigeon
Owner:	Reed, Wade & Co., Boston
Builder:	Hall, Snow & Company, Bath, Maine
Launched:	Oct. 18, 1852
Fate:	Sunk on maiden voyage, 1853
Status:	Sold as wreck, with cargo, for $1500
General characteristics
Class and type:	Medium clipper
Tons burthen:	843
Length:	175 ft 5 in (53.47 m)
Beam:	34 ft 5 in (10.49 m)
Draft:	21 ft 0 in (6.40 m)

Carrier Pigeon was an American clipper ship that was launched in the fall of 1852 from Bath, Maine. Her value was estimated at $54,000. She was wrecked on her maiden voyage off the north coast of Santa Cruz County, California (now San Mateo County).

On January 28, 1853, Carrier Pigeon left Boston. The clipper was bound to San Francisco on her maiden voyage. As a commercial ship, she was to deliver general merchandise. The ship and her cargo were insured for $195,000.

In the mid 19th century, the Panama Canal had not yet been created, and thus the only way to reach the Pacific Ocean from the Atlantic Ocean was to sail around Cape Horn, an area infamous for its shipwrecks. The prevailing winds in the vicinity of Cape Horn and south, blow from west to east around the world almost uninterrupted by land, giving rise to the "roaring forties" and the even more wild "furious fifties" and "screaming sixties." Despite this, Carrier Pigeon encountered no difficulties rounding the Cape.

On June 6, 1853, the clipper was sighted at Santa Cruz, California. San Francisco is located only about seventy nautical miles north of Santa Cruz. The cool California Current offshore, enhanced by upwelling of cold sub-surface waters, often creates summer fog near the coast, and June 6, 1853, was no exception. As night approached, so did the fog. The captain of Carrier Pigeon, Azariah Doane, believed that the ship was far from shore, and so he gave the order to sail eastward toward the shore. In few minutes the clipper hit the rocky bottom.

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Wikipedia