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.
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| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Thatcher Magoun |
| Owner | Thatcher Magoun and Sons, Boston |
| Builder | Hayden & Cudworth, Medford, MA |
 Norway | |
| Renamed | Hercules |
| Fate | Reported lost off the coast of Africa in the early 1880s.[1] Listed in 1882 RAFS. Not listed 1884.[2] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Extreme clipper |
| Tons burthen | 1248 tons OM, 1155 tons NM[3] |
| Length | 200 ft. OA |
| Beam | 40 ft. |
| Draft | 24 ft.[2] |
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
editAccording 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- ^ a b c Gleason, Hall (1937). Old Ships and Ship-Building Days of Medford. Medford, MA: J.C. Miller. p. 78.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Bruzelius, Lars (2000-01-08). "Clipper Ships Built in the United States: Massachusetts". The Virtual Maritime Archives. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
- ^ Huffman, Wendell W. (Spring 1999). "Railroads Shipped by Sea". Railroad History. 180 (180). Westford, Mass.: Railway and Locomotive Historical Society: 7–30. JSTOR 43522103.
External links
edit
Media related to Thatcher Magoun (ship, 1855) at Wikimedia Commons- The New Clipper Ship Thatcher Magoun of Boston
