Witch of the Wave

An extreme clipper ship built in 1852 by George Raynes, Portsmouth, NH, at a cost of $80.000. Her dimensions were 220'×40'×21' and tonnage 1498 tons old measurement. The figurehead was a female figure in flowing white garments.

1851 April 6: Launched at the shipyard of George Raynes, Portsmouth, NH, for Gidden & Williams and Hunt & Peabody, Boston.
1851 May 20 - September 21: Sailed from Boston to San Francisco in 123 days under command of Captain J. Hardy Millet.
1852 January 5 - April 5: Sailed from Whampoa to London in 91 days with a cargo of 19.000 chests of tea. The best day's run during the voyage was 338 miles.
1852 June 22 - October 19: Sailed from Boston to San Francisco in 119 days under command of Captain Benjamin Tay.
1853 January 23: Put into Singapore, nine days out from Hong Kong, after having damaged the rudder in a collision with the barque Spartan.
1853 April 13 - December 11: Sailed from Sand Heads, Calcutta, for Boston. The Cape of Good Hope was passed 37 days out, a passage time equal to the clipper ship Typhoon's record. She arrived at Boston 81 days out which is the record for the passage.
1853 August 16 - December 11: Sailed from Boston to San Francisco in 117 days under command of Captain Lewis F. Miller.
1855: Sold to owners in Amsterdam and was renamed Electra.
1871: Listed with van Eighen & Co., Amsterdam, as owners.

References:

Clipper ships, general references.
McLean, Duncan: The New Clipper Witch of the Wave, of Salem.
The Boston Daily Atlas, May 19, 1851.
McLean, Duncan: The Clipper Witch of the Wave.
The Boston Daily Atlas, May 28, 1852.

Updated 1997-08-13 by Lars Bruzelius.

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