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Glory of the Seas
Clipper Ship
East Boston, Massachusetts, 1869

Click on the image to download a 56k detail

This clipper ship was one of Donald McKay's most famous creations. Glory of the Seas was also his last, for she was the ship that quite literally bankrupted him and left the famous builder without a cent, never to recover...

Built on spec and funded entirely by McKay himself, Glory of the Seas was launched at his East Boston yard in 1869. Nothing was too good for this ship. In fact the whole ship is one of superlatives and a reporter writing of her launching in the Boston paper waxed eloquent describing her as “a magnificent vessel... Her talented builder, Mr. Donald McKay, has produced many splendid vessels, but we consider this one an improvement on them all.” He went on to describe her “matchless beauty” further writing that she had “all the imposing majesty of a ship of war...”

She truely was a vessel of superlatives. The choicest mahogany, maple and the finest appointments fitted out her spacious cabins. The after cabin specially fitted with stained glass windows and a recess sofa on each side. The Southern Pine spars (the mainmast was 41 inches( over 1 meter) in diameter - try putting your arms around a stick that size!) were reported as being “without a blemish or knot.” 8000 sq. yards (6,700 sq.meters) of the best cotton duck went into her sails. Rigging was of the finest Manila hemp. The list is endless and McKay poured dollar after dollar into the ship confident that, with his name, he would readily find a buyer once she was completed.

But when McKay launched her, he couldn’t find a buyer - at least a buyer who was prepared to pay what the ship was worth. Great wooden ships powered by the wind were on the wane; iron and the steam age were the coming king. So, mortgaged to the hilt, he raised even more money to secure a cargo and took her out to California himself. Desperately hoping to raise some ready cash pay off his creditors. It didn’t work and the ship taken over by his creditors to whom he owed close to a quarter of a million dollars - an astronomical sum in 1870. Finally the ship was sold at auction in 1871 to a syndicate of creditors for a mere $90,000.

Photos from Picture Australia

Glory of the Seas was fast and made many great passages until, like all wooden ships she began to show her age. In 1909, she was finally sold for conversion to a barge, then sold again in 1911 and converted into this floating Salmon Cannery and towed North to Alaska. Then, as most great ships ended in the hungry days of the late 20’s, she was driven on shore set afire and burned for her scrap iron.

This model was commissioned by the client as a special accent decoration for his house in Beverly Hills. His desire was for a "representative American clipper ship" and during the discussion prior to building, I asked him whether he wanted the ship under full sail in calm seas or driving hard, well-heeled under shortened sail in a storm. The stormy sea was chosen and this model resulted. A nice action piece with the ship scudding before the storm. Of course, I told him that some wag would be bound say that the ship looked as if it were sinking but I told him the position of the ship was true enough and that he should retort: "Hard-driving clipper ship captains often times drove their ships so hard that the lee rail would be under and the decks awash...."

The stand was also specially designed to be minimal and unobtrusive, yet provide enough support to the ship in event of earthquakes (the stand was to be affixed to a Lucite shelf, and the to bottle, with conservator's wax). The neck was stoppered in the traditional manner with cork and tar. Details of the ship, next photo. Bottle size 20 ounce. Ship size can be seen from my hand.

For more on this fascinating old ship, read Michael Jay Mjelde's history of the ship, Glory of the Seas. Published for The Marine Historical Association by the Wesleyan University Press, 1970. 303 pp, ill.

Displacement: 2103 Tons Length: 240 ft (43.5 m) Beam: 44 ft (8.2 m)
Scale: 1 in 970 Length of Model: 4.75" (120 mm)

Model ship photos & text © D.S. Smith 2003