Snow Squall (clipper)

Snow Squall on a Library of Congress record
History
United States
Name	Snow Squall
Builder	Cornelius Butler, Turner's Island, Cape Elizabeth, Maine
Cost	$30,410
Launched	15 July 1851
Fate	Ran aground, condemned and sold, 1864
General characteristics
Type	Clipper
Tons burthen	743 tons
Length	157 ft (48 m)
Beam	32 ft (9.8 m)
Draft	16 ft (4.9 m)
Propulsion	Sail

Snow Squall was an extreme wooden American clipper ship built in Maine for the China trade. A large part of her bow was preserved and is the sole remaining example of the American-built clipper ships.^[1]

History

She was launched by Cornelius Butler at Turner's Island, Cape Elizabeth, Maine. She was bought by Charles R. Green of New York for $30,410.^[2]

She served on the Pacific and Atlantic routes for over ten years. She made the New York-San Francisco trip in 155 days. 

On 1 March 1864, while carrying gunpowder among other cargo from New York to San Francisco, Snow Squall ran aground in the Straits of Le Marie in South America.^[3] She was delivered to Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands, where she was discharged of her cargo and found damaged beyond repair. In July, she was condemned and sold. The largest surviving piece was used as a dock at Port Stanley.

In 1979 she was rediscovered in the Falklands, and in 1982 a 32-foot portion of her bow and other remains were returned to Maine. Since 1995 the bow resides at the Maine Maritime Museum, Bath, Maine.^[4] It is the sole remaining example of the hundreds of American-built clipper ships.

See also

• Clipper
• Extreme clipper
• List of clipper ships

Further reading

• "The Clipper Ship Era" by Arthur H. Clark (Available to read on Wikisource)
• Nicholas, Dean (2001). Snow Squall: The Last American Clipper Ship (1st ed.). Tilbury House District (published July 1, 2001). ISBN 978-0884482314.

References

External links

• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. ME-7, "Clipper Ship SNOW SQUALL Bow, Spring Point Museum, Southern Maine Technical College, South Portland, Cumberland County, ME", 10 measured drawings