Scudding Foam - 'Herald of the Morning'

Herald of the Morning was one of the greatest examples of the extremely fast `flat floored’ clipper designed by Samuel Harte Pook and built by Hayden & Cudworth at Medford, Massachusetts in 1852. Owned by Thatcher Magoun & Sons of Boston, the Herald of the Morning was primarily used to supply the demands of the Gold Rush in California. The Mauritius Commercial Gazetteer described her bow as `so sharp as to take the form of a razor, the keel forming the edge; there are no rails at the bow, which is quite unencumbered’. This sleek design resulted in the Herald of the Morning becoming one of only 16 vessels to make the westbound passage to California in less than 100 days, recording 99 days in 1855 under the command of Captain Otis Baker, Jr. She still holds the record for an eastbound passage of only 76 days set in 1853 from San Francisco to Boston. She rounded Cape Horn no less than 34 times in her 25 year career under the American flag. The passage was often hazardous. On one voyage she collided head-on with a sperm whale and lost seven feet of her bow, necessitating the jettisoning of part of her cargo to prevent her sinking.