Scottish Maid facts for kids
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Scottish Maid, painting by J. Fanner (1888)
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Alexander Nicol & George Munro |
| Port of registry | Aberdeen (4 November 1843) |
| Route | Aberdeen to London (originally) |
| Ordered | 1839 |
| Builder | Alexander Hall and Sons |
| Cost | £1700 |
| Yard number | 101 |
| Laid down | 1839 |
| Launched | 15 July 1839 |
| Homeport | Aberdeen, Scotland |
| Identification | UK Official Number: 3507 |
| Fate | Wrecked (26 August 1888) |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Schooner, clipper |
| Tonnage | 142 GRT ("1836 measurement"), 136 NRT |
| Length | 89.25 feet (27.20 m) (internal) |
| Beam | 19.6 feet (6.0 m) (internal) |
| Depth | 11.4 feet (3.5 m) (internal) |
| Sail plan | Two-mast topsail schooner |
| Complement | c.6 |
| Notes | Coaster: general cargo; constructed of wood |
The Scottish Maid was a special kind of ship called a packet boat. She was a two-masted wooden schooner built in 1839 in Scotland. Her builders, Alexander Hall and Sons, made her for the Aberdeen Line. Many people say she was the very first clipper ship built in Britain.
Her unique design had a sharp, forward-sloping front part, which was later called the "clipper bow" or Aberdeen bow. This new design helped many bigger clipper ships get built, especially in Aberdeen, Scotland.
The Scottish Maid was designed to be very clever. Back then, ships had to pay taxes based on their size. Her designers found a loophole in the 1836 tax laws. This meant her official size (and thus her taxes) was low, even though she could carry a lot of cargo. Her special shape also made her very fast. The front of the ship was shaped to cut through the water smoothly. This design was very successful and inspired many other ships.
The word "clipper" was first used for fast sailing ships in the United States. For a long time, people argued if the Scottish Maid's design was copied from America. Now, most agree that "clipper" just means a fast merchant sailing vessel. It seems that similar designs were developed separately in both Britain and America.
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Building Fast Ships in Aberdeen
Shipbuilding in the 1800s
In the early 1800s, the word "clipper" became popular in Britain for describing a fast sailing ship. At the same time, the shipbuilding industry in Aberdeen grew a lot. Ships were the main way to travel between Aberdeen and London, sailing along Britain's east coast in the North Sea.
Aberdeen's first steamship, the Queen of Scotland, was built in 1829. After that, many similar ships were made. The most famous shipyard in Aberdeen was Alexander Hall and Sons, started in 1790. They built hundreds of ships over the years.
In the 1830s, the Aberdeen Line faced competition from faster steamships. They asked Hall's shipyard to design a better sailing ship for the London route. In 1839, the Scottish Maid was launched. She was the first of many amazing ships built by Hall's.
The 1836 Tonnage Law Explained
In 1836, a new law changed how a ship's size (called "registered tonnage") was measured in Britain. This measurement was important because it decided how much ships paid for things like using a maritime pilot or entering ports.
The new law measured a ship's total internal space. Hall's designers realized something clever. If they made the bow (front) and stern (back) of the ship angle outwards above the waterline, the official measured size would be smaller. But the ship could still carry more cargo!
They also figured out that a pointed bow, angled sharply forward, would make the ship faster. This smart design meant the Scottish Maid could carry more goods, pay less tax, and still be super speedy.
Designing the Scottish Maid
The Famous Aberdeen Bow
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The 1836 law made it good to have ships that were wider above the waterline and pointed at the front and back. The Scottish Maid was the first ship built specifically to use this new law. She had a very pointed bow with the front part angled sharply forward. This made her look very different and striking at the time.
The builders, Hall's shipyard, were worried that buyers might not like such a new design. So, they built the back of the ship first. Then, they made a temporary "skeleton" bow at the front to show the Aberdeen Line owners. Once the ship was finished and launched, the Scottish Maid was even better than expected!
How the Ship Was Built
The Scottish Maid was designed by James and William Hall, the sons of the company's founder. She was a two-masted gaff-rigged schooner with a topsail. Her hull was built using the carvel method, meaning the planks were laid edge-to-edge to create a smooth surface. She had one deck and a female figurehead at the front. She also carried two smaller boats, a longboat and a jolly boat.
In America, some ships, like the Baltimore clippers, were already called clippers. The Scottish Maid and her sister ships also started to be known by this name because of their special hull shape. The Scottish Maid's "clipper bow," also called the "Aberdeen bow," was made to make the ship fast and easy to steer.
Designers even tested models of the ship in a water tank! They chose a pointed bow with the front beam angled sharply forward (about 50 degrees from straight up). The back post and masts were angled backward. The front of the ship was designed so the planks went all the way to the very front, helping the ship cut through the water cleanly. The bowsprit (a pole sticking out from the front) was kept low to make room for bigger headsails.
The Scottish Maid was incredibly fast. She could travel between Aberdeen and London (about 500 miles (800 km)) in just 49 hours. That's an average speed of about 9 knots! She was so good that she could compete with steam-powered paddle steamers. Because of her success, Hall's built three more sister ships with the same design in 1842.
Scottish Maid's Journeys
The Scottish Maid was a packet boat, meaning she carried both cargo and passengers between Aberdeen and London. At that time, about 250 sailing ships and many steamers used this route. A ticket for a cabin passenger cost two guineas (£2.10), much cheaper than traveling by road or train.
The Aberdeen Line used three clippers to offer a weekly service in each direction. In 1847, a manager of a company with similar ships said that these clippers were twice as fast as older ships when sailing against the wind. He also said he had never seen any ships as good for sailing, carrying cargo, and handling bad weather.
In February 1854, the Scottish Maid carried people moving to Australia. These passengers wrote to newspapers, praising the captain for his kindness and care.
The ship had some interesting moments. In 1853, the ship's captain, Arthur Sinclair, was accused of having more whisky on board than he declared. The case was dropped when he said he didn't know about the extra spirit. In 1862, a crew member fell overboard and drowned while the ship was being towed down the River Tyne in Jarrow. In 1867, while sailing from Stettin to Newcastle, she hit ice and was pushed ashore at Kronborg. She was later pulled free and towed to Elsinore.
In 1884, the Scottish Maid was sailing to Sunderland when a big storm hit. Many other ships sank, but the Scottish Maid was blown past her destination. She managed to anchor safely in Bridlington Bay and was towed into Bridlington. She then sailed back to Sunderland, but had to be towed to Aberdeen for big repairs because her topmasts and rigging were destroyed.
On August 26, 1888, the Scottish Maid was carrying 200 tons of stone from Aberdeen to Newcastle. She hit the Knivestone reef, a mostly underwater rock near the Farne Islands. This is the same area as Longstone Lighthouse, famous for the 1838 Grace Darling rescue. The crew tried to pump out the water for almost seven hours, but they had to give up as the ship sank and was completely wrecked. Luckily, all six crew members were able to reach shore safely near Seahouses using their lifeboat.
Scottish Maid and Aberdeen Clippers
In the early 1800s, the journey between London and Leith (Edinburgh's port) was slow. It was served by single-masted cutter-rigged smacks. These ships had a large, hard-to-manage mainsail and needed a crew of 14. The 460-mile (740 km) trip, carrying passengers, mail, and cargo, took 50 hours at best (about 8 knots). But it could take 5-6 days for a quick trip, and several weeks in bad weather. There were no railways connecting the cities yet.
By 1830, two-masted schooners started to be used. Their better sail plan, with both square and fore-and-aft sails, made the journey faster and more predictable.
Before 1836, a law against smuggling meant ships could not be more than 3.5 times longer than they were wide. This made ships broad and short. But in 1836, the law changed, allowing for narrower ships. This was great news for ships designed to be fast!
In 1839, some Aberdeen ship owners wanted a fast schooner because of new competition. They asked Hall's shipyard, and after the Scottish Maid's success, orders for three more sister ships followed. The new bow design was praised for making the ship faster. By 1848, thirty-six similar ships had been built, with twenty-seven of them being schooners. After 1845, Hall's even got orders from London and Liverpool, and ships from other countries started copying their designs.
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Aberdeen's first large tea clippers, built in 1846, were not as fast. The "Aberdeen bow" worked better for smaller ships. Still, for smaller vessels, the Aberdeen bow became famous in shipbuilding. Hall's clipper ship Stornoway, built in 1850, became known as a "China clipper." The Thermopylae of 1868, built in Aberdeen, was designed to compete with the famous Cutty Sark (1869). However, 1869 was the year the last clipper, Caliph, was built in Aberdeen. This was because the opening of the Suez Canal made clippers less useful, as steamships could use the canal more easily.
Images for kids
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Non-Such (1842), sister ship of Scottish Maid and very similar in appearance, showing "Aberdeen bow"
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Looking north from near Longstone Lighthouse to see waves breaking over the Knivestone (right of photo), site of Scottish Maid's sinking
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Hall's clipper ship Stornoway
