Mary Robinson (clipper)
Encyclopedia
Mary Robinson was an 1854 medium clipper in the San Francisco, India, and the guano trades. She was known for having spent an entire month attempting to round Cape Horn
in bad weather.
off Cape Horn on this trip, and beat Carrier Dove to San Francisco by 18 days.
On her maiden run, Mary Robinson had been less fortunate. She spent 30 days rounding Cape Horn in "heavy gales and continual snow storms."
During the commercial panic of 1857
, Mary Robinson was one of the many American clippers that was put into the more profitable British trade between India and England.
Mary Robinson made a very fast passage in 1858 of 58 days from San Francisco to Melbourne, continuing with 40 days from Melbourne to Honolulu.
at Jarvis Island
for New York.
Mary Robinson was lost June 27, 1864, on a voyage from San Francisco at Howland’s Island
, in the Pacific, Lat 1 N Lon 176 W. She was loading guano
when a squall drove her up on the reef. The next day she slid off and sunk in deep water, with 1300 tons of guano aboard.
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
in bad weather.
Voyages
Mary Robinson made six voyages from Boston and New York to San Francisco. Her fastest run was 115 days, in 1864. She was in the company of Carrier DoveCarrier Dove (clipper)
The Carrier Dove was an 1855 medium clipper. She was one of two well-known clippers launched in Baltimore that year, the other being the Mary Whitridge.-Construction:...
off Cape Horn on this trip, and beat Carrier Dove to San Francisco by 18 days.
On her maiden run, Mary Robinson had been less fortunate. She spent 30 days rounding Cape Horn in "heavy gales and continual snow storms."
During the commercial panic of 1857
Panic of 1857
The Panic of 1857 was a financial panic in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Indeed, because of the interconnectedness of the world economy by the time of the 1850s, the financial crisis which began in the autumn of 1857 was...
, Mary Robinson was one of the many American clippers that was put into the more profitable British trade between India and England.
Mary Robinson made a very fast passage in 1858 of 58 days from San Francisco to Melbourne, continuing with 40 days from Melbourne to Honolulu.
Guano trade and loss of the ship
In 1858, Mary Robinson loaded guanoGuano
Guano is the excrement of seabirds, cave dwelling bats, and seals. Guano manure is an effective fertilizer due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen and also its lack of odor. It was an important source of nitrates for gunpowder...
at Jarvis Island
Jarvis Island
Jarvis Island is an uninhabited 4.5 square kilometer coral island located in the South Pacific Ocean at , about halfway between Hawaii and the Cook Islands...
for New York.
Mary Robinson was lost June 27, 1864, on a voyage from San Francisco at Howland’s Island
Howland Island
Howland Island is an uninhabited coral island located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean, about southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia and is an unincorporated, unorganized territory of the United States. Geographically, it is part...
, in the Pacific, Lat 1 N Lon 176 W. She was loading guano
Guano
Guano is the excrement of seabirds, cave dwelling bats, and seals. Guano manure is an effective fertilizer due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen and also its lack of odor. It was an important source of nitrates for gunpowder...
when a squall drove her up on the reef. The next day she slid off and sunk in deep water, with 1300 tons of guano aboard.