Red
Jacket
Clipper Ship
History of the Red Jacket
The Red Jacket was built by George Thomas at Rockland,
Maine in 1853.
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Length overall
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251'
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Beam
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44'
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Draft
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31'
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Gross Tons
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2305
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The extreme clipper ship Red Jacket was designed by Samuel
H. Pook and built by George Thomas at Rockland, Maine. She was
launched November 2, 1853 and towed to New York to receive spars and
rigging. The owners were Seacomb & Taylor of Boston.
The maiden voyage of the Red Jacket is one of the most
famous in clipper ship annals. Captain Asa Eldridge, a Cape Cod
skipper of world wide reputation, was in command and she left New
York on January 11, 1854, bound for Liverpool. Through the fearsome
winter gales of the North Atlantic with snow, hail, or rain every day,
the Red Jacket tore along carrying every bit of canvas she
could wear. Exactly 13 days, 1 hour and 25 minutes later she dropped
her hook in Liverpool Harbor, an all time record smashing run. During
this voyage she logged 413 sea miles in 24 hours, thereby becoming
one of the seven fastest sailing ships in history. The other six that
logged over 400 miles in 24 hours were: Flying Cloud, Great
Republic, Donald McKay, Lightning, James Baines, and Sovereign
of the Seas.
After this convincing performance the Red Jacket was
immediately chartered for a voyage to Melbourne and at the completion
of that voyage, was purchased by the White Star Line for $30,000. She
continued in the Australian passenger trade for some time and later
made voyages to Calcuttaa and other ports. Later she was used in the
timber trade from Quebec to London and, after 1882, eventually went
to Cape Verde as a coal hulk.
The Red Jacket was named for a Seneca Indian chief,
Sagoyewatha, of Revolutionary War fame who habitually wore a red
jacket given to him by the British. The Red Jacket was
celebrated for the delicate beauty of her graceful lines. To the end
of her sailing days she was considered the handsomest of the large
American built clippers.
Our Model
The Red jacket has been built with great care and skill
from the scaled-down plans based on the original lines. The hull was
carved from select basswood and has been finished to give the
appearance of the original ship. The hull is dull black and the
bottom is antiqued copper-green to simulate the sea tarnished copper
bottom of the real ship. The deck houses are white with gray tops and
other fittings include detailed hatches, water casks, ship boats and
brass capstan. The masts are white and natural with black yards. The
base is mahogany with brass finished nameplates on each side of the
name block.
Model Measurements
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Length overall
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21"
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Height
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14 1/2"
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Width of main yard
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5 1/2"
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How to Order
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