Taeping
_-_SLV_H91.325-1033.jpg) The taeping under full sail (Photo of a painting by Allan C. Green, 1925)
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The Taeping was a British three-masted full-rigged ship that in 1863 a composite structure of Robert Steele & Co. in Scottish Greenock was built. She was considered to be one of the fastest and most elegant Chinese clippers of her time and was the first ship of this type that the shipyard built - using iron frames and planking made of green heart wood - and teak . Designed as a so-called extreme clipper, it had a reduced loading capacity in favor of higher speed and was explicitly intended to be faster than the Fiery Cross - the clipper that won the tea races in 1861 and 1862 and the valuable first delivery of tea from the new harvest from China coming in London (more precisely: in Gravesend ) could delete .
Taeping's first voyage to Great Britain began on July 1, 1864 in Shanghai . However, as early as July 23, she was towed into the port of Xiamen by the gunboat Flamer after she broke her mast in a typhoon off Taiwan and lost both the foremast , the bowsprit and parts of the main and cross mast . The figurehead was also lost. After the repair, they continued their journey, the tea was, however, before entering the Thames in Deal in the County of Kent sold. Also in the season 1865 the taeping was not very successful because it reached the docks in Fuzhou too late and could no longer take tea on board there. Therefore one had to switch to Shanghai and accordingly arrived later in London, where the cargo could only be sold at a low price.
The Taeping will be remembered by posterity in particular when it came to one voyage: The “ Great Tea Race of 1866” , in which a total of nine ships took part. On May 30, she cast off in Fuzhou and reached the mouth of the Thames bow to bow with the Ariel , but then unexpectedly gained a head start due to her lower displacement and finally landed after 102 days with only 20 minutes. This was the closest of all tea races and met with great media and public interest - also due to the bets placed on the possible winner. Each crew member of the Taeping received ten shillings per loaded ton and this bonus was shared with the crew of the Ariel . Captain McKinnon also shared his £ 100 commission with John Keay, the captain of the closest competitor. Donald McKinnon, under whose command the ship was initially, came from the island of Tiree in the Inner Hebrides . On the first voyage after the legendary Tea Race, however, he fell seriously ill on the way to Shanghai and disembarked in Algoa Bay, South Africa . First mate Joseph Dowdy took over the capacity duties . On December 3, 1866, MacKinnon died on his way home in Table Bay at the age of only 41. In 1867, the Taeping crew under Dowdy succeeded in delivering the first batch of tea of the season in London - this time with a week ahead of the competition.
On September 8, 1871, the Taeping set out on her last voyage. She had taken tea on board in Xiamen and headed for New York City under Captain Gissing . In the South China Sea , she ran onto Ladd's Reef a fortnight later and had to be abandoned. All crew members boarded lifeboats, but only the boot of Maats with six men on board was the wandering bustle be taken up after three days.
| number | Beginning | Arrivals | begin | target | charge | Duration in days | comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 07/01/1864 | July 23, 1864 | Shanghai | London | 23 | Canceled in Xiamen . | |
| 2 | October 08, 1864 | 04/01/1865 | Xiamen | deal | 88 | ||
| 3 | June 29, 1865 | October 27, 1865 | Shanghai | London | 104 | In Fuzhou , tea could not be taken on board due to delay. | |
| 4th | May 30, 1866 | September 06, 1866 | Fuzhou | London | 779.30 t | 102 | Victory in the "Great Tea Race" |
| 5 | 03.06.1867 | September 15, 1867 | Fuzhou | London | 498.91 t | 102 | Victory in the tea race |
| 6th | May 28, 1868 | 03.09.1868 | Fuzhou | London | 102 | Fourth place in the tea race | |
| 7th | July 13, 1869 | October 23, 1869 | Fuzhou | deal | 102 | ||
| 8th | 05.06.1870 | September 28, 1870 | Guangzhou | London | 115 | ||
| 9 | 08.09.1871 | September 22, 1871 | Shanghai | New York City | 14th | Last drive; Loss of ship. |
Individual evidence
- ^ Outline of the nautical history of the Taeping , on bruzelius.info , accessed on April 3, 2013.
- ↑ Brief portrait of Taeping , on spurlingandrouxwatercolours.com , accessed on April 3, 2013.
- ↑ Detailed trip description of the Taeping , on shipstamps.co.uk , accessed on April 3, 2013.