History of the James Baines
Clipper (3m). L/B/D: 266 loa ×
44.9 × 29 dph (81.1m × 13.6m × 29m). Tons: 2,275 reg.
Hull: wood. Comp.: 700 pass.; 100+ crew. Built:
Donald McKay, East Boston, Mass.; 1854.
The third of the Donald McKay-built
clippers ordered for James Baines & Company's Black Ball Line in
1854-55, James Baines was a three-deck ship built for the
Australian passenger trade. She set single topsails, royals, and
skysails, with a moonsail on the mainmast, and studding sails on the
fore and main. Her life was brief but brilliant. Under Captain
Charles McDonnell, she sailed from Boston to Liverpool in a record
12 days, 6 hours, though her best day's run was only 342 miles. Her
maiden voyage to Australia, with 1,400 tons of cargo, 691 passengers
(74 in first class), and upwards of 100 crew, was 65 days, and she
returned in 69½ days. Among the stores shipped for this crowd, the
Melbourne Argus of February 13, 1855, reported that there
were "in addition to the usual stores, 73 sheep, 25 of which are
preserved in ice; 86 pigs, 6 of which are in ice; and 100 dozen of
fowls, 30 dozen of which are in ice, the live stock being reserved
for use after the vessel has crossed the line."
In 1857, James Baines was
one of three Black Ball ships chartered to carry troops out to
India. While lying in Portsmouth with Champion of the Seas, she was
reviewed by Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort. "On taking her
leave," reported the European Times,
Her Majesty expressed herself much
gratified by the visit. She had no idea there were such vessels in
the merchant service, and complimented Mr. Mackay [a shareholder of
James Baines & Co., not the builder] and the Captain individually
on the size and equipment of the James Baines and the
Champion of the Seas generally.
James Baines
sailed for India with about 1,000 men of the 97th Regiment; she
returned from Calcutta the following spring laden with jute,
linseed, rice, and hides. While she was lying at Husisson Dock,
Liverpool, a fire broke out in her forward hole on the morning of
April 21, 1858, and she was burned irreparably.
Hollett, Fast Passage to
Australia. Howe and Matthews, American Clipper Ships.
Stammers, Passage Makers.
