Rigged Model, Extreme Gold Rush Clipper <I>Challenge</I>
date: label: Date made
content: 1965
label: ship launched
content: 1851-05
label: ship sold
content: 1861
label: ship sank
content: 1877-02
name: label: designer
content: Webb, William H.
label: captained the ship on its maiden voyage
content: Waterman, Robert H.
label: maker
content: Arthur G. Henning Inc.
notes: label: Description
content: The extreme clipper ship <I>Challenge</I> was built at New York by the famous shipbuilder William H. Webb. At its launch in May 1851, the $150,000 <I>Challenge</I> was the largest merchant ship ever built, measuring 227 feet in length by 42 feet in beam and 2006 tons. The high length:beam ratio of 5.4:1 was what made the three-decker an extreme clipper, and it set a few speed records over the course of its working life.
label: Description
content: The <I>Challenge</I> was expected to set a record on its maiden voyage, and Capt. Robert H. Waterman was offered a $10,000 bonus if he could drive the ship to San Francisco in under 90 days. He pushed his 60-man crew hard, but poor weather and a mutiny by 50 crewmen off Rio slowed the <I>Challenge</I> to a 108-day trip. The mutiny and the unrelated death of seven crew on that maiden voyage gave the ship a bad reputation. Capt. Waterman was relieved of his command after reaching San Francisco, but the next master had to pay a signing bonus of $200 to lure new crewmen aboard for a China trip. Another mutiny on this second leg of the maiden voyage occurred as well—testament to how driven these men were to sail hard and fast.
label: Description
content: Over the next decade as a China clipper, an additional mutiny, widespread crew illnesses, frequent dismastings and leaks, and other events cemented the bad reputation of the vessel. It was sold to its captain for $9,350 in 1861. The <I>Challenge</I> changed hands a few more times before sinking off the Brittany coast in February 1877.
place: label: ship built and sailed from
content: United States: New York, New York
label: ship sailed to
content: China
label: ship sailed to
content: United States: California, San Francisco
topic: label: Subject
content: Sailing Ships
label: related event
content: Expansion and Reform
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
label: See more items in
content: Transportation
label: See more items in
content: On the Water exhibit
label: Exhibition
content: On the Water
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: National Museum of American History. On the Water exhibition website
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.326530
label: catalog number
content: 326530
label: accession number
content: 255036
objectType: label: Object Name
content: ship
label: Object Name
content: ship model
label: Object Name
content: clipper ship, rigged model
label: Other Terms
content: ship; Maritime; Clipper
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: textile (part: rigging lines material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 48 in x 72 in x 18 in; 121.92 cm x 182.88 cm x 45.72 cm