Great Republic (1853 clipper): Difference between revisions

On December 2726, 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

</ref> The fire quickly spread to the packet ship ''Joseph Walker'', and to the clippers ''White Squall'', ''Whirlwind'', and ''[[Red Rover (clipper)|Red Rover]]'', andwith sparks from the fire showering onto the deck of the ''Great Republic'', whose crew was mustered shortly after midnight to unsuccessfully dowse the sails.<ref name=Jennings/> The first three ships were destroyed,; ''Red Rover'' was damaged, and ''Great Republic'' burnt to near the waterline and was scuttled at dawn to save her hull at dock.<ref name=Jennings>{{cite book|title=Clipper Ship Days: The Golden Age of American Sailing Ships|first=John|last=Jennings|publisher=New York: Random House|date=1952|page=162|accessdate=May 30, 2018}}, accessed May 30, 2018.</ref><ref>{{Cite news

</ref><ref name="THE AMERICAN ALMANAC AND REPOSITORY OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE, FOR THE YEAR 1855">{{cite book|title=The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge, for the year 1855|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ca0TAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA345|accessdate=31 March 2013|year=1855|pages=345–}}</ref> Bloated by grain which burst her seams,<ref name=Jennings/> ''Great Republic'' was declared a total loss, and Donald McKay, who was said never gotto have gotten over the losstragic event, was compensated by insurers. The sunken hulk was sold by the insurance underwriters to Captain [[Nathaniel Palmer]] who salvaged and rebuilt it as a three-deck vessel with reduced masts.