Nonpareil

A medium clipper ship built in 1853 by Dunham & Co., Frankfort, ME, USA, with George Dunham as master builder. Dimensions 220x41'6"x22'5" and tonnage 1431 tons, old measurement and 1097 tons, British measurement.

1853 November: Launched at the shipyard of Dunham & Co., Frankfort, ME, for their own account.
1854 January: Sent to Boston to be sold to Summers & Swift.
1854 March 1: Sold to Thomas Richardson & Co., New York & Philadelphia, for $76.000. Captain Edward Dunn was given command of the vessel.
1855 March 27 - April 12: Sailed from Philadelphia to Liverpool in 16 days. Chartered to French Government to carry troops and stores to Crimea.
1855 September: Arrived to Toulon in tow of a French steam frigate after having been run down by a French steamer while at anchor off Seraglio Point, Constantinople. She had lost the bowsprit, cut-water, figurehead and also received other damage.
1855 December 10 - February 9: Sailed from Liverpool to Philadelphia in 61 days after a difficult passage during which she lost two suits of sails. Captain Foulke replaced Captain Dunn who had been taken ill. Employed as a Philadelphia - Liverpool packet ship until 1858.
1858 December 12 - April 7: Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 115 days under command of Captain B.G. Green. The Cape Horn had been passed 59 days out.
1859 October 2 - February 7: Sailed from Shanghai to New York in 128 days or 87 days from Anjer. Spoke the Pampero on October 2 in the Straits of Gasper on voyage from Shanghai to New York. The latter arrived to New York nine days ahead of the Nonpareil.
1860 April 17 - August 24: Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 129 days.
1860 October 7 - January 21: Sailed from San Francisco to Falmouth f.o. in 106 days.
1861 June 20 - October 22: Sailed from New York to San Francisco in 124 days.
1861 December 29 - May 16: Sailed from San Francisco to Falmouth f.o. in 138 days.
1863 May 11: Sailed from New York for Shanghai. It has been reported that she then sailed from Shanghai to Liverpool in 84 days.
1865 May 26 - July 17: Sailed from Hong Kong to San Francisco in a light-wind passage of 52 days.
c1865: Sold to the Globe Navigation Co., Liverpool, together with the Sanspareil at the death of Thomas Richardson. Captain Edward Worrall Smith was given command of the ship.
1865 November 8 - February 16: Sailed from San Francisco to Falmouth f.o. in 100 days.
1869: Sold to W.S. Lishman, Newcastle.
1871 June 27: Sailed from Bombay for New York under command of Captain Johnson.
1871 October 11: Foundered at sea with only three survivors out of a crew of 22 and three passengers. The survivors were picked up by the schooner Delmont and taken to Martinique.

References:

Clipper ships, general references.

Updated 1998-08-24 by Lars Bruzelius

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