This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Donald McKay" clipper – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(October 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Donald McKay

Donald McKay
History
United Kingdom
Namesake	Donald McKay, ship builder
Owner	James Baines & Co.
Builder	Donald McKay,East Boston
Launched	January 1855
Fate	Burned and broken up in 1888
General characteristics
Type	Clipper
Tonnage	2604 RT, 2486 GRT, and 1616 NRT
Length	266 ft (81 m)
Beam	46.25 ft (14.10 m)
Draft	29.4 ft (9.0 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	She was equipped with Howes patent double topsails

Donald McKay was anextreme clipper designed byDonald McKay, his last. Built forJames Baines & Co., she sailed onthe Black Ball Line of Liverpool from 1855 to 1868, carrying passengers and mail between England and Australia.

Donald McKay achieved several notable voyages during her active years. One of her most significant accomplishments was setting a record for the fastest voyage fromLiverpool, England, toMelbourne, Australia, completing the journey in just 63 days.

Unfortunately, like many otherclipper ships, her commercial success was relatively short-lived. The advent ofsteam-powered ships and changes in maritime transportation gradually rendered all sailing vessels less economically viable, especially the fast but limited hull displacement clippers.

Donald McKay ended her days as acoal hulk in Portugal. Her figurehead is located at theMystic Seaport Museum^[1] inMystic, Connecticut, USA.

Donald McKay was launched on Donald McKay's shipyard inEast Boston, USA, in January 1855. Newspapers reported that she had "all the airy beauty of a clipper combined with the stately outline of a ship of war and, though not sharp, yet her great length, buoyancy, and stability, indicate[d] that she [would] sail very fast, and be an excellent sea boat".^[2] Her passenger capacity was reported at 591 plus crew.^[3]

• In 1855, on her maiden voyage, she sailed fromBoston toLiverpool under command of Captain Henry Warner in 17 days.
• In 1855, from 6 June to 21 August she sailed from Liverpool toPort Phillip, Melbourne, in 81 days.^[4]
• In 1855, from 2 October^[5] to 28 December she sailed from Melbourne to Liverpool, in 86 days.
• In 1856, from 4 October to 1(?) January 1857 she sailed from Liverpool to Melbourne.^[6]
• In 1857, in February, she cleared out 365.25 ounces of gold through Melbourne customs for Liverpool.^[7]
• In 1857, from 8 July to 29 September, she sailed from Liverpool to Port Phillip, Melbourne, in 83 days.
• In 1857, in November, she cleared out 205 ounces of gold through Melbourne customs^[8] and sailed to Liverpool from 5 December to 1 March 1858.^[9]
• In 1858, on 8 August, she arrived in Melbourne from Liverpool.^[10]
• In 1858, in November, she cleared out 34,390 ounces of gold through Melbourne customs for Liverpool.^[11]
• In 1859, on 4 July, she arrived to Melbourne from Liverpool, in 87 days.^[12]
• In 1859, on 8 November, she departedPort of Melbourne for Liverpool,^[13] carrying 4 ounces of gold.^[14]
• In March 1861, upon arrival in Melbourne from Liverpool,Donald McKay was placed inquarantine due to cases ofsmallpox on board.^[15]
• In 1862, on 9 October, arrived in Melbourne.
• In 1863, on 30 July, arrived in Melbourne.
• In March 1864,Donald McKay bound for London collided with the barqueAlbina inthe English Channel.^[16]Donald McKay was at fault and fined the full amount of the damage of £15,000 toAlbina.^[17]
• In 1865, on 4 December, she arrived in Melbourne.
• In 1866, she was sold to Thomas Harrison and was chartered back to the Black Ball Line under the new ownership.
• Her arrivals of the last three voyages to Melbourne were on 22 December 1866, 21 November 1867 and 19 November 1868.
• In 1874, after arriving in Melbourne on her 13th voyage, she was sold for £8,750. She was placed on the Pacific trade.
• In 1879, she was sold to the German company Bertus Bartlin' ofBremerhaven, reportedly becoming old and leaking water.

• In 1886, she was used as a coal hulk inMadeira.
• In 1888, she caught fire and was broken up.

• List of clipper ships

• Detailed description ofDonald McKay, based on a 1855Boston Daily Atlas article, source1 and2.
• Donald McKay onBruzelius
• List of the ships of the Liverpool Black Line at TheShipsList
• Era of the Clipper Ships

• Individual sailing vessels
• Ships designed by Donald McKay
• Ships built in Boston
• 1855 ships

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles needing additional references from October 2020
• All articles needing additional references
• Use dmy dates from October 2022