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When launched in 1853, '''''Great Republic''''' was the largest wooden ship in the world. She shared this title with another American-built ship, the steamship ''Adriatic''. She was also the largest full-rigged ship ever built in the United States.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Essex Institute historical collections. Vol. LXIII|publisher=Essex Institute|year=1927|pages=193|oclc=6140167}}</ref>
She was built by Donald McKay for trade on his own account to Australia.
Just as she was completing loading in New York for her first commercial trip, she was involved in a disastrous fire. She was scuttled to try and save the hull, with only limited success. McKay decided to abandon the wreck to his insurers, who sold the damaged hull to new owners, who rebuilt her with three decks instead of four. She was employed on trans-Atlantic and California routes, with a period under contract to the French government for the [[Crimean War]]. She was never used on Australian routes. <ref name="MacGregor 1993">{{cite book |last1=MacGregor |first1=David R |title=British and American Clippers: A Comparison of their Design, Construction and Performance |date=1993 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press Limited |location=London |isbn=0 85177 588 8}}</ref>{{rp|page=124-129}}
==Construction==
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The [[Essex Institute]] Historical Collections provide a very detailed description of ''Great Republic'' in Volume LXIII, published in 1927.<ref name=":0" />
==Fire and re-
On December 26, 1853<ref name=Jennings/> a fire broke out in the buildings of the Novelty Baking Company on Front Street near the piers where ''Great Republic'' and several other wooden merchant vessels were moored.<ref>{{Cite news
| title = GREAT CONFLAGRATION!; SEVERAL BUILDINGS AND SHIPS ON FIRE. Ship ''Great Republic'' in Flames. Over $1,000,000 worth of Property Destroyed.
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