N.B. Palmer (clipper)
The N.B. Palmer was a clipper ship owned by A.A. Low & Brother which was active in the China trade.
 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Owner: | A.A. Low & Brother, New York |
| Builder: | Westervelt & MacKay |
| Launched: | 1851 |
| Fate: | Sold to Norway |
 Norway | |
| Owner: | Registered in Arendal, Norway |
| Out of service: | 1892 |
| Fate: | Abandoned in the North Atlantic at 45°N, 43°W |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Clipper |
| Length: | 202 ft. 6 in. |
| Beam: | 38 ft. 6 in. |
| Draught: | 21 ft. 11 in. |
| Notes: | "Sailed from Shanghai to New York in the record time of 82 days (64 from Anjer)"[1] |
One report states that the N.B. Palmer was "the first clipper ship out of New York to China."[2]
In 1858–1859 the N.B. Palmer, with her 28-year-old Captain Hingham tied the record of 82 days for the Shanghai to New York run.[3]
N.B. Palmer was named after explorer, sailing captain, and ship designer Nathaniel Palmer. Along with the Sweepstakes, she was perhaps the most famous clipper built in New York's Westervelt yard. In China N.B. Palmer was known as "the Yacht", and with her nettings in the tops, brass guns, gold stripe, and her lavish entertainment on the Fourth of July and Washington's Birthday, she well deserved the title. A full-rigged model of the N.B. Palmer was exhibited at The Crystal Palace, London, in 1851, and attracted much attention as a fine example of the American clipper ship.[4]
References
- Lars Bruzelius (1996). "Clipper ships: 'N.B. Palmer'". Retrieved 2010-02-20.
- Martha A Crosley Graham (2006). "Santa Barbara, Ventura County, & San Luis Obispo Biographies". Retrieved 2010-02-20.
CAPTAIN CHARLES P. LOW…of Santa Barbara, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1824 ... hen he shipped for Rio Janeiro, then on the Houqua, Captain N. B. Palmer, the first clipper ship out of New York to China.
- Ross, Donald Gunn, III. Minnehaha figurehead. p. 68. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
- The clipper ship era: an epitome of famous American and British clipper ships, their owners, builders, commanders, and crews, 1843–1869 (1910) by Arthur Hamilton Clark, page 162, ISBN 978-0-548-09581-2.
Further reading
- Low, Charles Porter (1905). Some recollections by Captain Charles P. Low, commanding the clipper ships Hoqua, Jacob Bell, Samuel Russell, and N.B. Palmer in the China trade, 1847-1873. Boston: Geo. H. Ellis Co.