Challenger (clipper)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Challenger (clipper)

Challenger was a wooden clipper ship built in 1852 at Blackwall Yard in London by Richard & Henry Green for Hugh Hamilton Lindsay. It was the 291st ship produced by the yard and its design was inspired, in part, by the American clipper Oriental.

In 1852–1853 Challenger raced the American clipper Challenge from Canton to London, beating the larger ship by two days and boosting British efforts in the China tea trade. On 8 August 1853, Challenger raced the Nightingale from Shanghai to Deal and arrived two days earlier.

Under Captain James Killick, Challenger averaged about 115 days from Shanghai to London; after he left command the average rose to about 129 days. In 1863 she sailed from Hankow to London in 128 days with tea.

Challenger measured about 174 feet in length, 32 feet in beam and 20 feet in draught, with a tonnage around 699 NM (about 650 GRT). She was built for the China tea trade.

Ownership changes: In 1865 she was bought by Killick Martin & Company and operated by them until 1868. She then passed to William Stewart, London, and four days later to John Grice, Thomas Grice & James Septimus Grice. In 1871 she was transferred to Melbourne but was abandoned soon afterward near Plymouth, England.

Legacy: In 1984 Killick Martin & Company received a painting of Challenger to mark the company’s 100th anniversary of representing Challenger in London. The old Killick Martin & Company building at 42 Adler Street was later named Challenger House and still bears the name today as a hotel. A bas-relief of Challenger is on the Richard Green statue outside Poplar Baths in London.