Text 6b

PACKETS AND CLIPPERS

By the early 1800’s, trade between the United States and European countries had increased tremendously. Also, a great demand had developed for better transatlantic passenger service. American ship owners met the demand by offering something new in service – ships that sailed on regular schedules. Such vessels were called packet ships. Before this time, ships sailed only if they had a full load of cargo and passengers. Also, the weather generally had to be favourable. Packet ships sailed at a scheduled time, fully loaded or not and regardless of the weather. The packets also became the first merchant vessels to stress the comfort of passengers. Packet service began in 1818, between New York City and Liverpool. The Black Ball Line started the service. It was so successful that other US lines, such as Red Star and Swallowtail, quickly followed.

To meet the schedules and the competition, the packet ships had to sail as fast as possible. But the ships themselves were ordinary sailing vessels that had not been designed with especially sharp lines for speed. Their speed came from their captains, who drove the ships furiously night and day all weather. The eastward crossing took them from three to four weeks. The westward crossing took longer – from five to six weeks – because the ships had to sail against the westerly winds and took a longer, more southerly route.

The first packets measured about 100 ft (30 m) long. By the 1840s, as passenger accommodations became larger and more comfortable, ships 160 ft (49 m) come into use.

Clipper ships, the most beautiful and romantic of all sailing ships, became queens of the seas during the mid-1800’s. The clippers, with their slender hulls and many sails, were designed for speed. Their name came from the way the ships “clipped off” the miles.

The United States built the first true clippers in the 1840’s. They were designed to sail from the East Coast, around the tip of South America, to China and bring back tea. The discovery of gold in California in 1848 and in Australia in 1851 hastened the clipper’s development as fortune seekers and supplies were rushed to the gold fields. The ship’s success led the British to build a fleet to carry tea from China and wool from Australia.

Clippers had as many as six tiers of sails to a mast. Some ships had as many as 35 sails. Driven at top speed, clippers could cut through water at 20 knots. Many could race from New York City, around South America, to San Francisco in less than 100 days.

Donald McKay, a Canadian, became the greatest designer of clipper ships. His shipyard in East Boston, Mass., turned out a number of them. McKay’s first clippers measured about 200 ft (61 m) long and could carry 1,500 t. He steadily increased the size of his ships. In 1853, he launched The Great Republic, which was the largest sailing ship of its time. This sailing giant was about 335 ft (102 m) long, had four masts, and could carry more than 4000 t.

Clippers and packets were rather reliable in comparison with former riggers but if the force of hurricane exceeds opportunities of crew on management of sails, there was a radical emergency means which had been used for centuries: a fore-mast - for a board, as a floating anchor, that transformed storming high-speed sailor in its historical prototype with sails, displaced in an aft, at the expense of the stayed mast and bow, pressed to water by force of a towed mast.

Ex.12. Answer the questions:

1. Why had a great demand for better transatlantic passenger service between the United States and European countries developed by the early 1800’s? 2. What became new in that service? 3. What were the advantages of packet ships? 4. Could a packet journey be dangerous to your mind? 5. When and where were the first clippers built? 6. What for were they designed? 7. What hastened the clipper’s development? 8. Who can be called “the father” of clippers? 9. What was the largest sailing ship of that time? 10. What radical emergency means was the last in case of a hurricane?

Ex. 13. Agree or disagree with the following statements. Give grounds to your answer:

1. Regular transatlantic passenger service existed since the times of colonial expansion. 2. Packets and clippers were invented in America. 3. Packets were so fast due to their hull contours and rig. 4. Packets and clippers were merchant vessels. 5. The transatlantic crossing took about five or six weeks. 6. Clippers were named after their inventor. 7. Clippers were constructed specially for tea trading. 8. Because of their high speed clippers were less reliable than their ancestors. 9. A radical hurricane emergency means was to free the ship from the masts.

Ex. 14. Translate into English:

1. До изобретения пакетботной службы, грузовые и пассажирские суда отправлялись только после полной загрузки. 2. Если погода будет благоприятной, восточный переход займет около пяти недель. 3. Несмотря на погоду, пакетботы отправлялись по расписанию. 4. Скорость пакетбота зависела от капитана. 5. Создатели этих торговых судов делали акцент на комфортабельных условиях для пассажиров. 6. Большое количество клиперов было спущено на воду верфью в восточном Бостоне. 7. «Чайный» путь проходил с восточного побережья США вокруг Южной Америки в Китай – и обратно. 8. Двигаясь на полной скорости в 20 узлов, клипер буквально разрезал волны. 9. Ваше задание превышает наши возможности. 10. Экипажу пришлось использовать последнее радикальное средство спасения: свалить за борт фок-мачту, чтобы она сыграла роль плавучего якоря.

Ex. 15. Define the main topic and idea of the text, split it into the logical parts, make up the plan of the text.

Ex. 16. Abstract the text.

Ex. 17. Study the picture 11, paying attention to the rig terms and describe the constructional features of this clipper-type vessel.

Pic. 15. A Full-rigged Tall Ship of a Clipper-type:

Ex. 18. Read and try to understand the text: