 Ariel andTaeping inThe Great Tea Race of 1866 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Ariel |
| Builder | Robert Steele & Co.,Greenock |
| Launched | 1865 |
| Fate | Foundered 1872 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Clipper |
| Tonnage | 852.87 NRT[1] |
| Length | 197.4 ft (60.2 m)[1] |
| Beam | 33.9 ft (10.3 m)[1] |
| Depth | 21 ft (6.4 m)[1] |
Ariel was aclipper ship famous for making fast voyages between China and England in the late 1860s. She is most famous for almost winningThe Great Tea Race of 1866, an unofficial race betweenFuzhou, China andLondon with the first tea crop of the 1866 season.
Ariel was afull-rigged ship of 853tons net register, measuring 197.4 feet (60.2 m) x 33.9 feet x 21 feet (6.4 m). She was built in 1865 byRobert Steele & Company,Greenock for Shaw, Lowther & Maxton ofLondon. Like the majority of tea clippers launched after 1864, she was composite built, of timber planking over iron frames.[2]: 136
A premium was paid for the first consignment of tea to reach London in each season. The clipperFiery Cross left Fuzhou on 29 May andAriel,Taeping andSerica on the 30th. On 6 SeptemberTaeping docked twenty minutes ahead ofAriel, and about two hours ahead ofSerica.Fiery Cross andTaitsing arrived two days later.
After 99 days and almost 16,000 miles (26,000 km) the leaders were still tied and raced within sight of each other the full length of the English Channel and into the Thames.Taeping, under Captain McKinnon, drew less water and was able to tie up in the London docks twenty minutes ahead ofAriel, under Captain Keay.Taeping divided her winnings of 10 shillings per ton with the owners ofAriel and Captain McKinnon divided the captain's £100 with Captain Keay, who hailed from Anstruther.
With the completion of theSuez Canal the tea trade was taken over by steamships and most of the clippers transferred to the Australian trade, carrying general cargo to eitherSydney orMelbourne, and returning with wool — for which a premium price[citation needed] was also paid on the first shipments of the season.
Ariel sailed from London for Sydney on 31 January 1872, but failed to arrive. She is assumed by most who knew her to have been fatallypooped (i.e., had a wave break over thestern) - her fine lines always made her at risk of this.[2]: 157 [3]: 55 Around August 1872 the remains of a teak-built ship's life-boat carrying abrass fitting with the gothic-script letterA were found onKing Island inBass Strait. It was believed to have come from the missing vessel, which, if the assumption was correct, probably foundered in theSouthern Ocean after rounding theCape of Good Hope.
