Challenger

An extreme clipper ship built in 1853 by Robert E. Jackson, East Boston, to the design of Samuel H. Pook. Dimensions 206'×38'4"×23' and tonnage 1334 tons.

1853 December 19: Launched at the shipyard of Robert E. Jackson, East Boston, MA, for W. & F.H. Whittemore, Boston.
1854 February 17 - June 9: Sailed from Boston to San Francisco in 112 days.
1855 June 2 - October 14: Sailed from Boston to San Francisco in 134 days.
1857 October 24 - February 17: Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 115 days.
1859 April 16 - August 15: Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 121 days.
1860 ____ - October 4: Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 128 days.
1860 ____ - December 9: Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 118 days.
1861 October: Collided with the ship Roswell Sprague in a gale in the roadstead of Bremerhaven.
1863 February 7 - June 20: Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 128/133 days.
1863 July: Sold to N. Larco, agent for the Peruvian Government and was renamed Camille Cavour. Used in the transport of Chinese coolies to the guano islands.
1875 October: Damaged in a gale on voyage from Port Discovery to Peru and was abandoned off the coast of Mexico. The wreck drifted ashore at Manzanillo.

References:

Clipper ships, general references.
Fairburn, William Armstrong: Merchant Sail.
Fairburn Education Foundation, Inc., Center Lover, ME, 1945-1955. 6 vols.
[McLean, Duncan]: The New Clipper Ship Challenger, of Boston.
Boston Daily Atlas, 1854, January 26.
Howe, Octavius T. & Matthews, Fredric C.: American Clipper Ships 1833-1858. Volume II. Malay - Young Mechanic.
Argosy Antiquarian, New York, 1967/1926 (facs.).

Updated 1991-01-25 by Lars Bruzelius

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