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ClipperFan

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  1. ClipperFan
    In a recent email discussing how many skylights 2 vs 3 were on Glory's Rear House, Michael Mjelede cleared up some confusion for me on that topic. He stated that a picture of a large Sailing Ship, which has a similar Rear House surrounded by Turned Rails is incorrectly identified as "Glory of the Seas." He also informed that each of the paintings published in his two books were personally verified with descendants of Captains or Owners who commissioned them. He then shared a copy of this work of art: ca 1871 Charles J Waldron oil painting commissioned by Captain Elisha F Sears. He admits that her Bow is inaccurate as to proportion but otherwise in general appearance this is true to "Glory of the Seas" which the artist had to have seen himself.
  2. ClipperFan
    Michael Mjelde reminded me in our latest emails that he's sending another package to his Naval architect Ron Haug in Australia by the end of this week. He gave me a resource to download the image of the fishing crew from Alaska 1917. We're trying to establish accurate height of Glory's Bulwarks. At first I thought they were 8'. From going back to check the published description in Mike's first book, I've discovered some of my previous assumptions were wrong. My apologies. The little bit of information there is refers to her Bulwarks being 6' above the Main deck. Then it describes a Rail above that but doesn't give a specific dimension to that. The Alaskan photo shows a very substantial wall. It looks to be more than 6'. Mike suggest we use Glory's 1869 Broadside fitting out photo to calculate the height. He also told me about another 1998 publication from Peabody Essex Museum "Capturing Poseidon" which he said has a high quality photo of Glory from 1869. I'm unsure if he meant the one of her on the Ways or her fitting out Broadside. Abe books has many fine copies available for very reasonable rates.
  3. ClipperFan
    Rob and anyone else who's interested, Michael Mjelde is spending next week organizing his 3 file drawers of research papers on "Glory of the Seas." Since he's began this in 1957, it's a fair guess that this is the most comprehensive collection of information on McKay's last Clipper available to us. I'm going to do my level best this weekend to develop my list of specific items I need to address in order to have sufficient specifications and requisite images to recreate "Glory of the Seas" in the ultimately accurate plans to the minutest detail possible in every aspect available.
  4. ClipperFan
    Hi Rob, These are the only two images Mike has sent me so far. He's using the last week of this month to reorganize his files. Mike has 4 or 5 pics of Glory 1907 printed from original negative & roughly the same amount, some color of her lovely Figurehead. My apologies, I can't orient the close up to appear horizontal, I've tried. When I enlarge the other full image, it looks like it's a watercolor instead of a photo.
  5. ClipperFan
    Rob, the 2 new images Mike sent me give us a better opportunity to nail down Glory's accurate angles and dimensions. The Bow detail particularly is much sharper than the one I enlarged from the book. It's now apparent that what we took as a near verticle drop just before she goes below the waterline is actually a shadow behind. Her true Bow is just slightly angled, as I always suspected from other images. If you can compare compass readings on this new detail photo, it would be a way to contrast to her launch photo. Speaking of which, I would also like to know the angle of inclination of the Bowsprit too. Based on contemporary published accounts of McKay's other Clippers, I've been using an 8 to 3 rise, 3 units up for 8 units out. It would be fascinating to see if that remained consistent in Glory. As an accurate measure we can use Glory's 90" Figurehead as a way to get fairly close to her other Bow dimensions. It won't be perfect due to having to estimate where her head resides, in the Bow detail since she's in shadow and in her scene on the Ways, we're viewing her from below. So that has to be taken into consideration too. By comparing the two readings though we should be able to get a very close approximation to work with. Tell me what you think.
  6. ClipperFan
    Rob, Yeah, it probably was me. I got it from Abe Books and it was just the one copy. It was published Jan 1994 by Grand Manan Museum. Apparently Captain Daniel McLaughlin retired to that Nova Scotian Island when he retired. I will keep an eye out for another. I got it because I remember I first took it out from the Bristol, CT library. It was my first time reading about "Glory of the Seas." I didn't discover Michael's books til years later.
  7. ClipperFan
    The 2 images are the only ones in this small booklet. One reason I bought it was in hope of finding a rare picture of Glory. There's a beautiful albeit inaccurate model of her but that's it. I'm sure Mike's 2nd book has far more details than this thin little book but anyhow....
  8. ClipperFan
    So this neat little book arrived from Canada today. It's a first person account of Captain Daniel S McLaughlin's 42nd & final voyage from NY to San Francisco on the Clipper "Glory of the Seas" by Daniel C McLaughlin, his son accompanying him on his 1st voyage. Pretty neat.
  9. ClipperFan
    A fact I overlooked in Mike's message was his timeframe. He specifically mentioned that he plans to take the last week of this month to do his "Glory" file review. That gives us just under 2 weeks to assemble our wish list of a man who has informed us he began his research on McKay's last Clipper since 1957, over six decades ago. My one suggestion is we can focus on the different modifications done to Glory's Deck and Masts, mainly in her early years. This would give modelers options to capture her likeness at varying times. The most noticable one I see is the innovative expansion of her Wheelhouse to fully protect the helmsman. A standard practice over many decades of service for all Sailing Ships was to lower Mast heights to reduce stress on aging Hulls, including converting them to Barks to utilize smaller crews. Glory's mast heights were reduced, though she never became a Bark while she was still in full service as a merchant sailing vessel.
  10. ClipperFan
    A few days ago I received a very encouraging email from Michael Mjelede. He mentions that he has about 4 to 5 detailed images of Glory at San Pedro 1907, in addition to 3 filing cabinet drawers full of "Glory of the Seas." Since he can't go on a normal vacation trip due to the pandemic, he's going to make use of his time instead to reorganize all his Glory files here's the rest of what he wrote to me verbatim: "if you have specific questions regarding her (Glory of the Seas) please supply me with a list so that I can zero in on those items. I commend you and Rob for the thorough work you and others are accomplishing to come up with a more accurate plan of Glory. Best Wishes, Mike"
  11. ClipperFan
    Rob, I agree about your description of "Great Republic." Duncan McLean's amazing 37 page pamphlet "Description of the Largest Ship in the World the New Clipper 'Great Republic' of Boston" there are 6 large depictions of her in minute details. One shows her internal construction with a depiction of the iron latticework which literally forms a skeletal trusswork cage to reinforce her wooden structure. Since "Great Republic" was constructed 15 years earlier than "Glory of the Seas" I wonder if it was less expensive to use wooden trusses instead to accomplish the same result or was it because Glory would be almost half the length of "Great Republic?"
  12. ClipperFan
    I lightened up both images so they can be seen better.
  13. ClipperFan
    Rob, Is this the book you refer to?
  14. ClipperFan
    Jorge O Diaz My best guess is William Crothers "The American Built Clipper Ship" which goes into extensive construction detail with associated images. Rob can correct me if I'm wrong. It's a great resource to have. You can find on line for $28 to $35.
  15. ClipperFan
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  16. ClipperFan
    If anyone can instruct me how to add a pdf file, I saved a copy and can share the file. It's really a neat publication of the National Park Service full of detailed sketches which enumerates each structural component.
  17. ClipperFan
    I googled "Maritime terminology of Pointer in wooden sailing vessels and found "Schooner Comet a submerged national resource, pdf file. Page 50 illustrates "Pointers" which are indeed diagonal structures to reinforce the Bow structure.
  18. ClipperFan
    Pointers may be diagonal riders that extend across the hull to prevent hogging of the keel. I'm not sure, just an educated guess. There's a fascinating article in a National Geographic Magazine about these massive riders being reinstalled in the Frigate USS Constitution 'Old Ironsides' once it was confirmed that these devices were originally installed at her construction.
  19. ClipperFan
    Rob, From an 1881 photo: Clipper 'Anni' formerly 'Garibaldi in Port, Mystic Seaport on line library image. Something I've noticed. Half hulls usually don't include the ship's cutwater, figurehead, monkey rail or keel. Compare this picture to her half Hull and you get the idea. Besides, I thought you'd appreciate another image of an 1860s American Clipper.
  20. ClipperFan
    EdT You're welcome from Rich aka "ClipperFan." We met briefly, years ago in Mystic, CT for the annual Model Ship Builder's Convention. That was just shortly after publication of your first book on constructing the Hull of Young America. I am constantly thrilled to find more images on line of these wonderful vessels, that previously have been buried in museum vaults.
  21. ClipperFan
    Michael Mjelde's 1970 publication "Glory of the Seas" Appendix 1 has the best, most highly detailed description of her in exhaustive detail. Page 257 describes that Glory was indeed metal sheathed 22' up to her waterline.
  22. ClipperFan
    Fascinating that both Medium Clippers came from Mystic Shipyards. 1855 Mystic Clipper BF Hoxie, 1387 tons, 1860 Mystic Garibaldi, 1431 tons. Both vessels were much smaller in size than Donald McKay's "Glory of the Seas" 2102 tons. It does look like if you melded the Bow of the top vessel with the Stern of the bottom it approximates Glory to a degree. Personally I favor the scientific method we've begun to develop. Combined with accurate measurements of the ship based on comparisons of her figurehead length with other components will lead us to the most complete reproduction. Incidentally the 22' yellow metal sheathing is in the highly description of Glory at her launch, most likely by Boston Daily Atlas writer Duncan McLean.
  23. ClipperFan
    EdT & Randy Todd This is off topic but I thought you would appreciate this. While digging for rare images of "Glory of the Seas" in San Francisco Maritime Museum images, I stumbled on a beautiful starboard broadside view of "Young America." Her impressive lofty rig, long low hull and distinctive trailboard of a lady seated between two crossed flags are convincing evidence of her identity. Original photo is first. The second image has been brightened up to allow better viewing.
  24. ClipperFan
    This is probably the most significant "Lightning" relic, her alleged Figurehead. I've lightened her up a lot in order to reveal her details. Ironically, like Glory her right outstretched arm previously grasping lightning, is missing. This seems to be a phenomenon of ocean going vessels. Also barely visible are the end of the Naval Hood and Carved Arch. This confirms my strong suspicion that models of McKay's Clipper Bows have been greatly simplified. I see "Glory of the Seas" as a sort of 'Rosetta Stone' to finally reveal the full beauty of at least one of his magnificent ships. From her example, once satisfactorily determined, my personal goal is to accurately reconstruct many of McKay's lost glorious Clipper Ships.
  25. ClipperFan
    Rob It occurs to me that the fellow who owns the rest of this venerable relic could possibly start his own small business, selling small sections of the original Clipper "Lightning." What McKay Clipper fanatic could resist a chance to own a piece of "Lightning?" I have an original piece of the Frigate "Old Ironsides" removed during her last restoration. I bought it at the USS Constitution Gift Store and it came with papers. What amazes me is when I got it, I could smell salt water and oak wood, even though it's in a plastic bag container. Then a few years ago I managed to get an original 1900s book on South Street Seaport, by Richard McKay I'm pretty sure. What's really neat is it has a small square sliver of wood from the Clipper "Glory of the Seas."

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