The Baltimore clipper is a type of fast, sharp-hulled sailing ship developed in the Chesapeake Bay region of the United States in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, built with a narrow hull, raked masts and a large sail area relative to its size to achieve speed rather than maximum cargo capacity. Used originally for privateering, smuggling and the fast transport of valuable, time-sensitive or illicit cargo such as coffee and enslaved people during the era of the transatlantic slave trade, the type's speed also made it valuable to the young United States Navy and to privateers during conflicts including the War of 1812. The Baltimore clipper's design lineage is often cited by maritime historians as an important precursor to the larger, similarly fast clipper ships built decades later for the tea and other long-distance trades.
Facts
SignificanceFaster, more heavily armed privateer Baltimore clippers, among them the Chasseur, Prince de Neufchatel, and General Armstrong, were built to evade the British blockade in the War of 1812 1 Manufacturer or BuilderShipyards of the mid-Atlantic United States, chiefly Baltimore, Maryland 1 Sources
1. Wikipedia: Baltimore Clipper
WikipediaLead section, first sentence
A Baltimore clipper is a fast sailing ship historically built on the mid-Atlantic seaboard of the United States, especially at the port of Baltimore, Maryland.
History section, War of 1812 sentence
During the War of 1812, merchant schooners were too small and slow to escape the British blockade, and larger, faster, more heavily armed, purpose-built privateer Baltimore clippers were developed.
History section, famous privateers sentence
The most famous of these larger vessels were the privateers Chasseur, Prince de Neufchatel, and General Armstrong.
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